What's more, he still has a lot of questions that he hasn't figured out.

This time, in order to prevent the attack of the Chinese submarine, he did his best to arrange defensive measures, and it stands to reason that the Chinese submarine could not pass at all, but the attack still happened!

The difference between this Chinese sneak attack and the last one is that, judging from the way of explosion, they are too much like a torpedo attack.

It was precisely because of the torpedo attack that the gunners, who had tightened their strings, began to shell when the fog was thick and they could not distinguish between friend and foe, and took their own warships as Chinese torpedo boats and destroyers that came to attack them, resulting in this oolong tragedy.

But if it's a torpedo boat, why can't you see the slightest sign that the Chinese torpedo boat has been hit?

If you can't understand these questions, you won't feel at ease even if you die.

Thinking of this, Yuzaburo Kato stopped struggling, he slowly stood up straight with the support of his subordinates, and began to perform his duties.

A week later, Yanjing, Jurentang, the president's office.

"Great victory! President! Tianjin victory! President! Liang Shiyi, secretary of the presidential office, rushed into the office at a trot with a report, and reported to Yuan Shikai, who was sitting at the desk talking to Liang Qichao, in surprise.

"A big victory? Tianjin? Yuan Shikai, who was dressed in a dragon robe and wearing a melon skin hat, stood up from his seat and asked in surprise, "Tianjin victory?" Make no mistake, right? Not Shandong or Mukden? ”

"It's not Shandong or Mukden! President! Make no mistake! It's Tianjin! The Battle of Caofeidian was a great victory! Liang Shiyi was so excited that his hands began to tremble, "Our navy launched a surprise attack for two consecutive days, and defeated this navy!" Destroy two large ships! Sink two! A cruiser! Three destroyers! ”

A hint of confusion flashed in Yuan Shikai's eyes, and Liang Qichao beside him also had a puzzled expression.

As for the combat effectiveness of the Chinese Navy, Yuan Shikai actually knows very well.

Like the outbreak of the "Second Revolution" in July 1913, Yuan Shikai ordered the commander-in-chief of the navy Liu Guanxiong to personally lead the main force of the Chinese navy to the south and attack Shanghai with Chen Qimei as the commander-in-chief to attack Yuan's army. Due to the stubborn resistance of the Yuan army, the naval operation was very unfavorable, and it was unable to capture the Wusong fort for a long time. Yuan Shikai was very dissatisfied with the performance of the navy, and once called Liu Guanxiong, and the telegram contained such words as "The attack on the Wusongkou fort has not been carried out for many days, and outsiders here ridicule the navy's cowardice", which made Liu Guanxiong very frightened. It was not until August 13 that the Wusongkou Fort was finally captured by the navy. The Shanghai uprising failed. But Yuan Shikai was still very unhappy, and he called Liu Guanxiong again and said, "This time the capture of Wusongkou Fort, the famous bandit leader did not get a single person, which is incomprehensible." After receiving Yuan Shikai's telegram, Liu Guanxiong gave Yuan Shikai a detailed report on the capture of the Wusongkou fort and explained his accusations against the navy. From this, Yuan Shikai learned the true situation of the combat strength of the Chinese Navy and the gap between the Chinese Navy and the great powers.

And such a weak navy was able to defeat the powerful Yuben navy and achieve such a major victory, to Yuan Shikai's ears, it was like a myth in the "Classic of Mountains and Seas".

"The president still has official business, so I'll leave first." Liang Qichao got up and said.

"Zhuo Ru don't go, I still have something to discuss with you." Yuan Shikai waved his hand and motioned for Liang Qichao to sit down.

"I'm here to influence the president's official business, it's ......better to leave first," Liang Qichao pointed to the report in Liang Shiyi's hand, smiled, and said.

"Zhuo Ru, you are not an outsider, but you are just a battle report from the front, so what's the harm in listening to it together?"

Hearing Yuan Shikai say this, Liang Qichao did not speak again, but sat down according to his words, with a look of concentration on his face.

"Read." Yuan Shikai said to Liang Shiyi.

“…… From 22 to 24 July, the Chinese navy attacked Caofeidian at night, destroying the battleships "Hanoi" and "Settsu" with mines, sinking the battleships "Satsuma" and "Anyi", sinking the cruiser "Kasaki" and three destroyers. It is said that the fleet has now withdrawn from the sea surface of Tianjin......"

"Such a glorious record, the shame of the First Sino-Japanese War, is now snowing." After listening to the content of the report, Liang Qichao couldn't help but show an excited look on his face.

"Yes, yes!" Liang Shiyi said with a smile, "This is the headline, Zhuoru's brilliant pen, this time it can be useful." ”

Liang Qichao smiled and looked up at Yuan Shikai, as if waiting for him to show him.

A hesitant look appeared on Yuan Shikai's face, as if he was doubting the real surname of the content of this report, Liang Shiyi guessed Yuan Shikai's thoughts, and handed the few photos contained in the document bag to Yuan Shikai.

Yuan Shikai looked at the photo carefully, and his brows gradually relaxed.

Seeing Liang Qichao's eyes flashing with eagerness, Yuan Shikai handed him the photo in his hand.

Liang Qichao respectfully took the photo and looked at it carefully.

In the first photo, the figure of a huge battleship is clearly shown, which has capsized in the sea, and the bottom and propeller have been exposed. In the second photo, an equally massive battleship has been broken in two, half of its body is soaked in the sea, and the twin turrets on the surface of the ship are twisted and crooked. In the third photo, a battleship appears to be stranded on the shore, with the bow part of the ship exposed and the stern part submerged in the water. In the fourth photo, a battleship was broken into three parts, and the whole surface of the ship was so miserable that it could not be seen at all, as if it had been sacked by many violent explosions.

The remaining photographs show some of the smaller ships damaged by the sunk.

Seeing the caption under the photo, Liang Qichao has also determined that the content of this victory report should be absolutely true.

"Our navy has inflicted such heavy damage on the ship, and the officers and men must have suffered many casualties." Thinking of the fierce situations that may occur on the battlefield, Liang Qichao said with some sadness.

"Yes! After this battle, is there not a few ships left in our navy? Yuan Shikai listened to Liang Qichao's words, and also sighed.

"The report did not explain the casualties of our army, I asked General Liu, and General Liu told me that the navy only lost three small boats, and the casualties were minimal, but the damage to the coastal batteries was very serious, and it was difficult to recover for a while, and there were many artillery casualties." Liang Shiyi replied.

"After such a big victory, the losses were so small, how did they do it?" Yuan Shikai asked in surprise.

"General Liu said that because the matter is confidential and he is afraid of affecting the future war, the details of this naval battle are not convenient for disclosure to the outside world now." Liang Shiyi said.

"I see." Yuan Shikai nodded, indicating that he understood the priorities, "If this is the case, I am not in a hurry to know, anyway, I won, this time I dare not underestimate my China." ”

"If the president agrees, he will not be willing to publicize this great victory to our people, so as to boost the spirit of our people and help our navy and army on the front line." Liang Qichao said, "As for the details of the naval battle, the navy should also keep it secret, and we might as well use the power of the newspaper and media to exaggerate it, first, it can mislead the people, and second, it can boost the morale of our army." ”

"Then please Zhuo Ruyou!" Yuan Shikai looked at Liang Qichao happily and said, "There is also a promotion of raising military funds, and please ...... Zhuo Ru."

"The president doesn't need to say much, this is a major event related to the fate of the country and the nation, Zhuo Rudang should go all out, please rest assured!" Liang Qichao got up and replied with a straight face.

After sending Liang Qichao away, Yuan Shikai said to Liang Shiyi: "You go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ask them to hold a press conference immediately to make this victory public, and the bigger the momentum, the better." ”

Liang Shiyi understood the intention of Yuan Shikai's move, and nodded understandingly.

"Don't forget to ask Cao Rulin to take a look at that guy and listen to what that guy has to say." Yuan Shikai continued.

"Yes, I'll go over it." Liang Shiyi said with a smile.

In the afternoon, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China, the scene of the press conference.

"I am a reporter for the British newspaper The Times, and I would like to ask Vice Minister Cao, what evidence do you have to show that your navy has indeed won this major victory?"

Cao Rulin nodded reservedly, waved his hand, and a staff member immediately turned on the slide projector, and on the wall behind Cao Rulin, a huge black and white slide was immediately displayed.

This slide is based on one of the photos Liang Qichao has seen.

Seeing this slide that looked like a photo, the reporters sitting below immediately let out a burst of exclamation.

"Gentlemen who are familiar with the Saimoto Navy will surely be able to see that this is the capital ship 'Settsu', which is the flagship of the First Fleet of the Japanese invasion of our country, and you can see from the pictures that its keel has been broken......

Today's Cao Rulin has changed the impression of cowardice in the past, and when answering questions raised by reporters, he is proud and confident, and he also speaks with the flavor of a naval expert.

"I want to ask another question, Vice Chief Cao, as we all know, there is a big gap between the strength of the Chinese Navy and the Yueben Navy," the Times reporter then asked, "There is no doubt that judging from the pictures, this Yueben warship has indeed been destroyed, so how did the Chinese Navy do it?" ”

"As far as I know from our Admiralty, our navy used mines to destroy these large warships." Cao Rulin replied, "And the details, because Ben is still invading our country, in order to keep military secrets, we can't make it public for the time being." ”

"Your and your Admiralty's explanations are hardly convincing." The foreign reporter said as he pressed the shutter of the camera in his hand and took a picture of Cao Rulin.

"You think this victory is a little incredible, but I'm going to tell you, it really happened!" Cao Rulin looked at this unknown foreign reporter with some annoyance, and replied loudly, "I don't care if you believe it or not!" I believe it anyway! ”

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(To be continued)