After returning to the Crown Prince, Yazki reported the results of his negotiations with the other party to Matssevic. In fact, this result was not beyond Matssevic's expectations, so he immediately recruited the officers on the ship to discuss the conditions proposed by the People's Army.

In fact, most Russian officers were mentally prepared for the results of the negotiations. When they heard that overseas Chinese agreed to the prince’s famous proposal to moor the ports of neutral countries instead of surrendering, most of the officers immediately agreed to accept this condition. After all, the saying of mooring the ports of neutral countries is of course much better than surrendering, and it also makes the officers think that the dignity of soldiers has been preserved. Why not do this? Of course, no one wants to die if they can die.

Although some officers believed that this idea was just a self-deception and surrender in essence, so they insisted on fighting the People's Army and Navy to fight to the death, but after all, there were few people and the power was small and could not change the overall situation. In the end, Matssevic adopted the most democratic method, which was to vote and decide. In the end, the majority who voted 13 votes, 6 abstentions, and 2 votes opposed, passed the conditions to accept the East China government.

After sending a signal to the People's Army Navy to accept the conditions, the Crown Prince quickly received a reply from the People's Army, resetting the artillery and covering it with a cannon jacket to indicate that the battle was given up. The 1st Battleship Detachment was responsible for supervising and returning to the brigade. The four warships of the 2nd Cruiser Detachment returned to the brigade first for notification.

When the 1st battleship detachment and the brigade gathered, it was around 10:30 pm, and the other two routes of intercepting Russian ships had already ended. All the intercepted Russian ships chose to compromise and accepted the conditions issued by the East China government. In the name of anchoring the ports of neutral countries, they disarmed the warships and handed over the warships to the East China government for their management in exchange for the identity of non-prisoners of war.

Wang Hailong was also very happy and immediately ordered the formation of the fleet and the surveillance warships were allocated. Each Russian ship was assigned two warships to monitor, one left and one right to hold the Russian ships in charge, and the other warships formed another formation to deal with accidents. Both fleets were sailing at a speed of 10 knots, and they also warned the Russian ships not to move abnormally, otherwise they would be sunk.

This interception operation achieved a successful success, with a total of 8 Russian warships captured. On the way back, Wang Hailong couldn't help but start calculating the results of this operation. The eight warships include 1 battleship, 3 protective cruisers, and 4 destroyers. The total tonnage is about 30,000 tons, and the total value is about 2.5 million pounds. Of course, these 8 warships are injured or damaged. They need to be repaired before they can fully recover their combat effectiveness. Therefore, when calculating the total value, the corresponding maintenance costs should be deducted.

But the harvest is still extremely rich, because the value of these 8 warships cannot be measured by money alone, and there is also the value of time. In this era, the construction cycle of a battleship was 2-3 years, and these 8 warships require at least three years of construction time. Even if it only takes about half a year to repair, it is equivalent to saving a lot of construction time for the People's Army Navy.

Moreover, although the scale of the People's Army Navy fleet is not small now, the number of main battleships is serious shortage. The main warships of this era are battleships and large armored cruisers. For example, before the Russo-Japanese War began, the main battleships of the Japanese Navy were the "Six Six Fleet", plus two armored cruisers purchased from Italy; the Russian Navy's Pacific Fleet and the Vladivostok squadron had a total of 7 battleships and 3 armored cruisers. The People's Army Navy only had 2 battleships and 2 armored cruisers. Therefore, in terms of the number of main battleships, the People's Army Navy fleet was very different from Japan and Russia. If it were not for the People's Army's Pacific Fleet and the Vladivostok squadron, it would be impossible to fight against the Japanese and Russian seas.

Now there is the Crown Prince, and the East China government has 4 armored cruisers, 2 battleships are built in Shandong and Germany respectively, and are expected to be completed and put into service in 1906. At that time, the People's Army Navy will have 5 battleships and 6 armored cruisers. Even if you don't use modern warships, it will be enough to compete with the navies of Japan and Russia.

When the fleet returned to Qingdao Port, it was around 6 o'clock in the morning, and the port had already received the news and was ready to welcome the return of the fleet. The eight Russian ships were dispatched by the port at berths or docked, and then turned off the engine. Then there were naval personnel and medical personnel boarding the warship. First, they reiterated the conditions issued by the East China government to the Russian officers and soldiers on the warship, which was also to stabilize the emotions of the Russian officers and soldiers; then they took the injured person for treatment, and asked the Russian officers and soldiers to pack up their personal belongings and prepare to leave the ship, but they were not allowed to carry gun weapons. The officers' swords and guns can be carried, but the guns must be withdrawn from * and bullets. And someone immediately sent food, but except for the power room, ammunition depot and other important cabins, the rest of the personnel returned to the dormitory or the restaurant on the ship to wait and were not allowed to walk around at will.

Sure enough, after this action, the mood of the Russian officers and soldiers stabilized. The East China government provided a rich diet, including meat and vegetables, and each person was given a small bottle of white wine. This made the Russian officers and soldiers very happy.

At about 9 o'clock in the morning, the warship managers and engineering and technical personnel boarded the warship to learn about the situation of the warship from relevant personnel, collected relevant documents, navigation logs, etc., and also checked the warship's injuries.

At noon, the preliminary inspections of each warship were completed, and the Russian officers and soldiers on the warship were also notified to leave the ship, and the basic information such as names, military ranks, and positions were counted on the shore. After statistics, there were 2,317 people on the eight warships, including 322 officers, and 41 others were injured. They were sent to the hospital for treatment in advance. After lunch, the rest were sent to a dormitory area of ​​the naval base. This was for the sake of these Russian officers and soldiers to urgently vacate a dormitory. There were more than 200 houses, a "back" building, and they were allocated one by one, and they were assigned meal cards, documents, etc. After this work, it was around 5 pm, and all the Russian officers and soldiers were finally placed.

At this time, the preliminary inspection reports of the eight warships were also released. Overall, the injuries of these eight warships were not too serious. Except for the Crown Prince, the maintenance time of the other warships took about 4-5 months. In fact, although the damage of the Crown Prince was severe, the power system was not damaged after all, and it was not difficult to repair. But the troublesome thing is that, first, the dock that can repair the Crown Prince was occupied by two warships under construction, and second, a main gun turret of the Crown Prince was destroyed, and both the turret and artillery needed to be replaced. However, the technical capabilities of the East China government cannot manufacture the Crown Prince's turret and 305mm caliber main gun, and can only be purchased from Germany.

Of course, with the current relationship between the East China government and Germany, it is not difficult to say when Germany can supply the goods, so the maintenance plan for the Crown Prince can only be put on hold first.

On the afternoon of the same day, the East China government received a diplomatic letter from the Japanese government. It turned out that Japan sent a serious protest to the East China government because the East China government's fleet was dispatched without notifying the Japanese government in advance. It violated the cooperation agreement reached by the two sides and asked the East China government to explain its military plans and apologize to Japan to ensure that similar incidents will not occur in the future.

The East China government has also prepared for Japan's accusations and responded to Japan the next day. This is a misunderstanding. The East China government has no military plan, and the fleet dispatch is not a military operation, but a routine maritime training plan. Because the training waters are near Qingdao, according to the cooperation agreement between the two sides, the training plan does not need to be informed of each other. It is just that the Russian warship flees, so the warships are dispatched to intercept it. It is an accident. The East China government originally planned to inform Japan afterwards, but the corresponding information is being sorted out and it is expected to be submitted to Japan in 1 or 2 days.

After receiving the reply from the East China government, Japanese Prime Minister Kae Taro did not dare to ignore it and immediately recruited cabinet members to discuss the intentions of the East China government. This time, the sudden dispatch of the People's Army Navy did shock the Japanese government. In fact, not only Hirahachiro Togo, but also the Japanese government has been guarding against the East China government. Therefore, when he heard the news that the People's Army Navy was dispatched in full swing, he was extremely nervous. He didn't know whether the East China government was going to directly participate in the war or was preparing to attack the Japanese fleet.

In fact, everyone can see that the East China government's explanation is completely quibbling. What kind of military training should make the entire naval fleet dispatch. However, the People's Army Navy only intercepted the fleeing Russian ships and did not attack the Japanese fleet, which also made the Japanese cabinet officials feel relieved. To a certain extent, the East China government's actions are still beneficial to Japan. If these warships are really allowed to escape to Vladivostok, it will be a huge threat to Japan's maritime transportation lines. Therefore, the Japanese government did not continue to pursue them.

Of course, the officials of the Japanese cabinet would not think that the East China government really planned to help Japan. After discussions, they believed that the East China government's behavior this time was to show its strength to Japan, reminding Japan not to underestimate the combat effectiveness of the East China government, and also gave an explanation to the country. However, there was no intention to oppose Japan. Now the situation on the battlefield of Russia and Japan is gradually turning to Japan, so there are no troubles at this time.
Chapter completed!