The chimneys spewed thick black smoke, and the smell of burnt coal filled the air, making the base of one's tongue taste bitter.

The "behemoth" made of wood and steel roared repeatedly.

The deck, which was originally relatively stable, gradually became unsteady and difficult to stand on.

Before it arrived, Edo was left far behind as Kanrimmaru left the port.

At this time, Qingdeng realized belatedly: This was the first time in his life that he had taken a boat ride.

In his previous life, he had only ridden on that kind of small speedboat.

Not to mention in this world, he has never been to a port since time travel, and today is the first time.

Under normal circumstances, he might have admired the sea view with great interest and taken a look around the cabin of Xianlin Maru.

However, at this moment, he stood upright on the side of the ship, holding on to the railing, looking at the nine small dots on the sea in the distance.

At this time, Katsurin Taro suddenly appeared and walked to him with a solemn expression.

"... Qingteng, although my question seems to be too late, I still want to ask - how confident are you about this increasingly serious 'makuei negotiation'?"

Qingden smiled calmly.

He did not look at Katsurin Taro and continued to look into the distance:

"Rintaro, you are not the first person to ask me this question."

"Then I won't bother saying it again."

"Don't worry."

"I will never fight a battle that has no chance of winning."

"Since I dare to stand here, then I am sure of victory."

"It's just that there are very few 'unlosable battles' in this world."

"All I can do is give my best and wait for destiny."

Katsurin Taro then asked:

"Specifically, how do you plan to act?"

A meaningful look appeared on Qingdeng's face, and then he changed into a faint tone:

"All Western countries are bandit countries."

"They relied on their strong ships and cannons to burn, kill, and loot everywhere. They committed all kinds of evil and accumulated huge wealth."

"Finally, they package themselves up, claiming to be civilized, and then turn around to accuse and belittle those countries and places that have been invaded."

"It's so hypocritical and disgusting."

"They have been domineering for many years, so they are used to being unreasonable."

"Even if you speak a little bit of truth, you must be forced to do so."

"Therefore, you must never show weakness in front of them."

"Once they show weakness, they will only push forward and push their noses into their faces."

"Only by showing a tough stance of 'fighting at all costs' can we scare them and force them to the negotiating table."

"This is one of them"

"England is the most powerful country in the world."

"They have territory spread all over the world and a navy unparalleled in the world. They are truly the 'empire on which the sun never sets'."

"However, they are not invincible."

"France, Prussia and Lucia are all powerful countries that can make England feel deeply afraid."

"In order to suppress the European countries, England has been carefully playing with checks and balances and carefully preserving its own strength."

"European continent is its core interest, but the Far East is not."

"For the sake of a Far East that is not their core interest, they have lost a lot of troops - they will never do this kind of loss-making business."

"If they find out that a full-scale war breaks out with the shogunate, they will suffer huge casualties far beyond their expectations, and they will definitely take action and not dare to move lightly."

"This is the second one."

"In the end, it is the commonality of human beings."

"In a dark room, when you say you want to open the windows, others won't agree, but when you say you want to lift the roof, others will agree to open the windows."

"To sum up, as long as you grasp these three points, you will have a considerable chance of winning the negotiation."

Katsurin Taro listened very carefully, even his breathing slowed down unconsciously.

As a result...he only understood roughly.

Among them, the second point puzzled Rintaro Katsu the most.

Let the British discover that if a full-scale war breaks out with the shogunate, they will suffer huge casualties far beyond their expectations... What should they do?

Where did the shogunate get the ability to cause the British to suffer heavy losses?

Katsurin Taro fell into intense confusion and suspicion...

At this time, the Hamrim Maru had sailed into the depths of Edo Bay.

As the distance between the two sides continues to narrow, the nine "black spots" gradually reveal their "true identities".

For people who rarely go to sea, the Hamlin Maru equipped with a three-masted sail is already an incredible behemoth.

However, compared with these 9 British ships, Xianlinwan really pales into insignificance!

Hamrimmaru is just a junior battleship. Whether it is tonnage, speed, or combat capabilities, it can only be regarded as mediocre.

On the other hand, looking at the British fleet in Edo Bay - every ship in it is much larger than the Hamrimmaru!

The difference between the two is like a car and a large truck.

I saw nine British ships lined up in a row above the "T".

Anyone who has a little knowledge of the naval warfare tactics of this era will definitely be able to recognize this formation after seeing this formation of British ships: this is the classic attack formation of the 19th century naval battles!

In the 19th century...or in the era of "big ships and big guns", in order to be able to carry as much firepower as possible, the cannons were installed on both sides of the ship.

Therefore, only by turning the ships sideways, that is, arranging them into a "long snake", can the maximum combat power be exerted.

There is no doubt that the British fleet has already entered the attack mode!

As long as the attack order is given, all the ships can fire their guns together and rain down bullets on Edo.

Thanks to the efforts of the shogunate in recent years, the defensive capabilities of Edo Bay have been greatly enhanced.

Since the "Black Ship Incident", in order to avoid repeating the same mistake, the shogunate built a large number of forts on Edo Bay, most of which were supervised by Katsurin Taro.

For this reason, these nine British ships did not dare to get too close to Edo.

Otherwise, they would really dare to march directly to Edo Port like the "black ships" did 10 years ago and create a real "shogunate in the face".

However, it is a complete fantasy to completely block the British fleet from the shore with just these coastal defense guns.

Xianlinwan split the waves and sailed toward the British fleet alone, like a lone knight riding alone into the battle.

Looking at the opponent's huge hull and the numerous black gun muzzles, the crew members on the Xianlin Pill couldn't help but swallow their saliva, and all looked frightened.

Even Katsu Rintaro couldn't help but pursed his lips and tensed up his whole body.

Only Qingdeng still looked calm.

Suddenly, the rapid sound of "thump thump thump" came from behind Ayoto and Katsurin Taro.

Manjiro trotted over and said loudly:

"Nioh-sama! Katsu-sama! We are about to pick up the ship! We are about to pick up the ship!"

Katsurin Taro immediately responded:

"Well, everything cheers me up!"

Their destination was naturally the ship at the center of the British fleet - the flagship Iulialas.

Ironclad battleships had just been introduced not long ago.

Even for Western countries nowadays, this is a rare thing.

Ships "mostly made of wood and a small part of steel" still account for the majority of Western navies.

Therefore, these nine British ships, including the flagship Euryalas, without exception, all have wooden hulls.

Of course, these nine wooden ships are all equipped with advanced steam engines and are truly steam ships.

Qingden turned his head and said to Manjiro who was not far away:

"Manjiro, I'm going to trouble you later."

Manjiro stood up straight in a hurry:

"Yes! Lord Nioh, please rest assured! I am already familiar with the work of 'interpretation'!"
To be continued...