The last telegram sent by the Tone, the Hipchip, could also be received by the Japanese ships nearby, and the first reaction of all the Japanese captains when they saw the telegram was that the Tone had been sunk by the submarine in China, which was conducive to the breakout of the cruiser. Vice Admiral Kato, the commander of the Second Fleet, who received the telegram, ordered the navigator to immediately calculate the course and direction of the Shina fleet, and at the same time sent a destroyer to the sea where the Tone sank to rescue him. ”

"Armored cruisers?" The staff officer behind him dropped his jaw, "Your Excellency, there were only twenty-seven minutes of silence from the discovery of the China fleet, and the sinking of the Ligon in such a short time must have used water mines......" The chief of staff was also confused when he said this, in fact, armor-piercing shells with a caliber of more than twelve inches can also achieve this effect, and if they are hit by the ammunition depot, the sinking speed is not slower than that of torpedoes.

"Order: to send another telegram to Admiral Gillam, Commander of the Far East of the Royal Navy, detailing the details of the seaplane carrier in China; The Wakamiya's seaplanes intensified reconnaissance in search of large armored ships. "A ship has already been sunk, whether it is a water mine or an armored cruiser, Vice Admiral Kato can no longer act sloppily.

The Japanese ships were afraid of submarines and cautiously surrounded them, while the aircraft carriers that received telegrams of the results of the battle from the carrier-based aircraft were full of jubilation. The last time the ground bombing was the work of the Air Force, and only now this sortie is a real aircraft carrier operation. Therefore, all the officers in the command tower were very excited, and the tiger cub finally saw blood.

"What about the crew of the sunship overboard?" Colonel Xi Dingmo asked after reading the telegram.

"The inverted buckle drowned. I'm afraid there aren't many who survive. Colonel Zhu Tiansen understood what he was worried about, "Don't worry." They will clean up, and the Japanese army has arrived. It's just a corpse. ”

As far as possible, the bottom line is not to expose the aircraft carrier's combat capability, and this is what the General Staff Staff has repeatedly admonished, and Colonel Zhu Tiansen fully understands this truth. A country like Japan is a small country, and once it is stunned by new weapons and new tactics, it will be difficult for it to turn over; But no matter what kind of new weapons and new tactics are used, they will be exposed, but until that time. The strength of the two countries is completely different.

Colonel Zhu Tiansen didn't have so much mercy in his heart, and after he answered Xi Dingmo, he asked Lieutenant Colonel Wu Zhennan, the navigator again, "Where have they been, and when will they be able to completely break out of the encirclement of the Japanese ships?" ”

"Now they are in the waters east of Naha, because the Haichen has been injured, the fleet can only sail south at a speed of fourteen knots, and if they are not unlucky, they will probably be able to get out of danger after dark. However, the situation is not optimistic, and the telegrams sent by many submarines have confirmed that the Japanese army has mobilized many warships to encircle this sea area. Lieutenant Colonel Wu Zhennan said carefully, the charts were all imprinted in his heart. After he said that, he added, "It's just that we're too far ahead." If the Japanese ships expand the search area, it is very likely that there will be a danger of zài. ”

The aircraft carrier, although the cruiser fleet could not be seen, was in the sea one hundred and fifty kilometers to the southeast of it. It's just too close, or rather. It was already within the blockade of the Japanese Second Fleet. Although three reconnaissance planes took to the air to reconnoiter and make a reconnoitance, they had no choice but to flee with speed if they encountered a Japanese ship.

"Not necessarily!" Captain Zhu Tiansen vetoed. "The only thing that can threaten us is the fastest battleship Kongo, of course, if the Japanese submarine can go to sea, it is also a threat, but this is impossible. British submarines were also a big threat, but now that Germany had made them scorched, it was impossible for the Far East to come. Speaking of this, he thought of the Haichen, which was only 14 knots, and said, "If there are no Japanese ships nearby, we will join them in a moment." ”

Colonel Zhu Tiansen's words were unexpected, but aviation officer Yao Xijiu agreed, he looked at the others and wanted to object, and preemptively said: "A distance of 150 kilometers cannot guarantee too much safety for us, but if we want to stay farther away, the combat time of the carrier-based aircraft will become extremely short, how can the torpedo plane fly for a whole day, the people can stand it, and the engine can't stand it, and the convergence can solve this problem, so that we can maximize the role of the carrier-based aircraft." ”

"I agree with that." "If there is time, if there is no structural damage to the boiler of the Haichen, the maintenance department may be able to repair it, as long as the cruiser reaches a speed of eighteen knots, then most of the Japanese ships will not be able to catch up, and this is the key to getting out of trouble." ”

One is the maximum combat range of the carrier-based aircraft of 250 kilometers, and the other is that the maintenance department on the aircraft carrier estimates that it can increase the speed of the Haichen, which is dragging its feet. So, forty minutes later, Rear Admiral Liu Guanxiong received a telegram from the Deng Zilong to rendezvous.

"It's finally here." Rear Admiral Liu Guanxiong smiled deeply, he was still very curious about this battleship with such great power. And once they converge, no matter whether the command of the ship is in him or not, he, the commander, can move to the 10,000-ton ship, which is something that has never happened in his life.

"Ziying, who is in command of this aircraft carrier?" Zheng Zuyi, who had read the telegram, asked, but the telegram only said convergence, not the command issue at all. "This Zhu Tiansen seems to be a student sent to study in the UK by the Jiangnan Sailor Academy in the past, and he is from Jiangsu......"

"Yes! Jiangsu people. "Liu Guanxiong is accustomed to more and more non-Min officers gaining power, he only rose up in this generation, and he is not at all like some other people, the whole family eats navy meals from top to bottom." You don't care about the people there, and now it's someone who saves us, what so much mess. ”

After Liu Guanxiong finished his lesson, he ordered the Hai Chip to turn to the target sea area. The distance of 150 kilometers was not long, and after two turnbacks, the planes hovering over the head of the fleet flew forward, and half an hour later, the lookout reported that a large ship was approaching, and the sailors were surprised, Liu Guanxiong hurriedly shouted into the microphone, and then asked the signal officer to raise the signal flag to tell him that the ships behind him were friendly forces.

You can see things on the mastboard, and it will take a few minutes for the command tower to come, and in everyone's telescope, a huge battleship is cleaving the waves and speeding at high speed. Liu Guanxiong was surprised that the ship was afraid of no less than 20,000 tons [Note: After consulting the technical level of the American power system at that time. There are a few changes in the size of the aircraft carrier. ], a staff officer in the command tower was surprised: "Where is the artillery." Why can't you see the cannon? ”

"Cannon?" Liu Guanxiong also searched for it, but still didn't find it. Woman, it can't be a merchant ship.

The distance of 20 kilometers between the two sides is simply a matter of more than 10 minutes for a high-speed ship like Deng Zilong, and when it is 10 kilometers away from the cruiser, in order to sail with the fleet group, the aircraft carrier also has a full rudder on the left and begins to make a 180-degree bend. From the front, the Deng Zilong is no different from the width of an ordinary battleship, but when it turns sideways, its hull of more than 230 meters long suddenly startles everyone, and when everyone gasps. The Deng Zilong has completed the full rudder turn. In the silence of the command tower, Zheng Zuyi coughed and said softly: "There should be no two thousand yards." ”

"Hmm." Liu Guanxiong responded, "The full rudder maneuver will not exceed 1,600 yards, so flexible, it is really a good ship!" ”

Zhu Tiansen may have thought of the cruiser's amazement when he saw Deng Zilong, but now that he was on the battlefield, he didn't really think much about it, he just ordered: "Please General Liu board the ship." ”

After Liu Guanxiong handed over the affairs to his subordinates, he took a few staff officers to sit on the aircraft carrier in the small boat put down by Deng Zilong. When he was pulled up to the flight deck by the winch, looking at the hull that was painted gray and white, like Liu Guanxiong, the rest of the people who boarded the ship also began to tidy up their military appearance. this ship. If you can be a pipe belt, then this life will be worth it.

The largest ship in the first afternoon is more than 7,000 tons of Dingzhen, and the largest in the first afternoon is Haitian Haiqi, but even Dingzhen is too much worse than the current ship. Probably only the newly created Kongo by the Japanese is that big. However, the Kongo is a battleship, which is fatter than the current aircraft carrier.

When Liu Guanxiong and others did not go to the deck. Captain Zhu Tiansen, Deputy Captain Xi Dingmo, and Political Commissar Huang Jinhao were already waiting on the deck, and saw Liu Guanxiong and a few people emerging from the overboard. The signal soldier on one side began to blow the welcome horn, and the three of them, Zhu Tiansen, who was dressed in snow-white military uniforms, stepped forward and saluted: "Zhu Tiansen, the captain of the Deng Zilong aircraft carrier, has seen the commander. ”

Zhu Tiansen saluted, Xi Dingmo Jinjinhao also stepped forward to salute, and Liu Guanxiong and several people also saluted them one by one. After a brief meeting, Zhu Tiansen took Liu Guanxiong and others to the bridge. On the wide teak flight deck, there was a reconnaissance plane landing at the stern of the ship, and on the bridge, there were more than a dozen planes lined up, seemingly waiting to take off.

"This ......" Liu Guanxiong wanted to ask how much tonnage the ship had, but at this time, a plane took off in front of the deck, and he was stunned by the roar of the engine. After a while, he sneered: "How much tonnage is this ship?" ”

Zhu Tiansen waited for a long time and didn't think that he was asking this question, and said with a smile: "If it is really full, the drainage will exceed 21,000 tons." General Liu, if you want to take a look, Tiansen will take you around after this battle. ”

"Good! Good! Liu Guanxiong said with a smile when he heard this, it was all a pipe belt, and this big ship was actually managed by a young man, and he knocked over the five-flavor bottle in his heart, and he had any taste. The imperial court wanted to build a large navy, and it was to build a large navy under the premise of suppressing the Min system. As far as he is concerned, how the Min family has nothing to do with him, but his son and brother are also in the navy, Zhu Tiansen will actually become a pipe band, that is either related to Jingli, or he is valued by adults, and it is best to make friends.

Just as Liu Guanxiong and Zhu Tiansen were talking and laughing, the General Staff had just received a telegram from the convergence of the aircraft carrier and the cruiser fleet. Xu Jingxi wanted to report it to Yang Rui, but he was receiving the acting British minister Ma Mueller, and he had to wait.

This time, Britain was completely invited by Japan to mediate the Sino-Japanese war, and although Zhu Erdian had proposed an armistice and peace with Japan before, the Japanese government did not agree to it at that time. Hearing the words 'armistice' and 'peace' come out of the mouth of the British, Yang Rui couldn't help but interrupt Ma Mueller's speech with laughter, and the British were dumbfounded for a while before he finished speaking embarrassedly.

Even a well-trained diplomat was ashamed to propose peace talks at a time when the Chinese were blockading the Bohai Sea, occupying Anton, and besieging most of the Japanese army. When he bowed down and wanted to step down, Yang Rui spoke, "Then what is Japan going to talk about?" Taiwan? North Korea? Reparations? Apologize? ”

"Your Excellency, I don't know what Japan's conditions are, but I think that if your country really agrees to an armistice, it should be done on all fronts." Mamuller also knew that the Japanese could not come up with anything to talk about. But the word 'North Korea' in Yang Rui's words made him very alert.

"I would like to ask you to inform Japan. If you want to negotiate, then as soon as possible. The war plane of the revival army has been turned on. There will be no pause for a few words. Yang Rui understood that he was also a ventilator, so he served tea to the guests with a word of advice.

As soon as Ma Mule left, Xu Jingxi came in, and he smiled and said, "Sir, the navy has converged." They also sank the Japanese Navy's Tone, and our troops suffered no casualties. ”

"Can you hide from the Japanese fleet?" Yang Rui's face was also warm when he heard this, the navy is one of the pillars of the revival of China, like a young eagle, it has finally begun to learn to fly.

He did not sleep all night after yesterday's meeting of the Standing Committee. Thinking about the country's strategic layout in the future, US Minister Rui Enshi came in the morning, and he was accompanied by Syngman Rhee, whom he had met in the United States. Yang Rui had never received a report of Syngman Rhee's visit to China, but he was suddenly in Beijing, so there was only one explanation: he came in through diplomatic channels and put on makeup, which made the intelligence bureau and the security bureau have no information about him. The Americans actually hid Syngman Rhee in the legation in China, completely because they wanted to let Syngman Rhee enter the court with the king once the revival army invaded Korea.

Yang Rui's thoughts about Americans are not broken. He did not veto Rui Enshi's proposal, but only slightly persuaded that because the Chinese and Japanese armies were engaged in large-scale sniper warfare in the Liaodong area, it was extremely dangerous to enter Korea by land, and anyone who was not careful would be killed by Japanese snipers. This is still a soldier, if he really entered the court with great fanfare, he ambushed a few snipers in the mountains and woods at random. Then things are dangerous.

The China Times has a special sniper column to introduce the heroes, achievements, and sacrifices of the Renaissance Army. Except for those that cannot be leaked, everything else will be recorded in detail. But even so, the students were fascinated by it. Syngman Rhee doesn't seem to have read the China Times, but Rui Enshi knows about it, and after hearing this, this plan can only be abandoned.

In the Sino-Japanese War, although the United States supported China, it did not support China to a limited extent, at most it was only diplomatic support and ensuring trade routes. The former American ministers can't resist Britain and France, and the compradors of the latter foreign banks only recognize money and can get you anything they want, so Rui Enshi can't ask China to do anything like a creditor collecting debts, but even so, Yang Rui is very uncomfortable.

"Actually, the British have been here?" In the afternoon, Xie Jintai from Xin'er came, he wanted to come early, but Yang Rui said that he was not in a hurry, so he would come back in the afternoon.

"What are you up to?" Yang Rui looked in a hurry, a little strange.

"What else can you do?" Xie Jintai said with a smile: "Peru and Mexico are a few small countries thinking of promoting ministers to ambassadors. They also hope to send a military delegation to visit our country. ”

"Mexico can't be touched." Yang Rui said. Chile in South America is pro-British, and the top three powers in South America are not completely controlled by the United States, but Mexico is right under the nose of the United States, and it is asking for trouble for Mexico.

"I understand, I understand. But they have to send people, and we always have to say hello or not. Xie Jintai smiled and didn't want to say more about it, so he returned to the topic, "The British are coming, do the Japanese want peace talks?" ”

"That's right." Yang Rui nodded, and then took a big sip of the strong tea in the cup.

"Did you talk about how Japan wants to talk about it?" Xie Zhangtai said.

"No, he just revealed a meaning, what about me, I just asked him to tell the Japanese, if you want to talk, hurry up." Yang Rui put down the teacup, and remembered that the Standing Committee came last night.

Cai Yuanpei, Du Yaquan, Qiu Jin, and Xu Huafeng all thought that peace should be valued with Japan at first, and after this war, the reconquest of lost territory and the abolition of the treaty were immediate, and there was no need to be too bad with Japan, after all, it was a neighbor at the doorstep, and it was always good to have more friends and fewer enemies; And the reason why a few people think so is that Cai Yuanpei is due to nature, Du Yaquan and Xu Huafeng are cultural, Qiu Jin and Gengzi saw foreigners killing Chinese people in Beijing, and the Japanese saved the country, plus the experience of studying abroad, they also thought that they should reconcile with Japan; And Yu Huizu only looked at military expenses and indemnities, after all, this is where the duty lies, and when the war was fought, he realized that he spent more money than expected, but fortunately, the war plan was done for two years, but the war was only fought for one year, which saved a lot of money.

As far as countries are concerned, it is not culture, morality, and ethnicity that determine the relationship between the two sides, but geographical location, economic relations, and internal and external political patterns that determine foreign policy. Japan stayed in that position and annexed the Ryukyus, a position that would be fatal to China, which would always be an enemy rather than an ally until China was not a world hegemon.

This is Yang Rui's thinking logic, although he really wants to be friendly with China and Japan, and then go together to liberate the entire Asian colony, but this seems impossible to him. Because of the presence of the United States, China and Japan will not succeed, and no matter how much they liberate, the Asian pattern will eventually be beaten back to its original shape by the United States. In World War II, Roosevelt was Europe first and then Asia, but Japan, which relied on imports for most of its steel and oil, was too weak, and if China and Japan were to unite, the US policy would be Asia first and then Europe; As for what many people say about the atomic bomb, why did the Soviet Union fall in the end with so many atomic bombs?

The confrontation between the big powers lies in the amount of resources and technological accumulation that the two sides can mobilize, and more resources and higher technology can only come from the side with a larger market and more high-quality population, and these are not what China has, nor can the Sino-Japanese alliance have, so China and Japan cannot hold Asia alone, and once they can't hold it, Japan will instantly become a bridgehead for the United States to contain China. This is determined by its geographical location, interests, and world political pattern. Therefore, the war must be fought in Busan, North Korea, and North Korea and Taiwan must be under Chinese control.

Yang Rui's logic Xie Zhangtai completely agreed, in the long run, this war against Japan is not a war against aggression, but a war to gain strategic depth, after this war, it is impossible to fight further east, after the first war, Britain and France will definitely intervene in the Sino-Japanese war, and the war at that time will not be a war of the army, but a war of the navy. Because of this, he proposed to accept the Americans' plan to occupy the Ryukyu Islands if feasible, and if he could not, he would demand Ryukyu independence during the peace talks.

Xie Jintai agreed, Yu Huizu was at a loss, Xu Hua closed his eyes and pondered, Du Yaquan was silent, and Cai Yuanpei was still arguing, fortunately, Qiu Jin was deeply afraid that China would fall into the brink of extinction again, and the situation would be a little back, and finally Yang Rui expounded the theory of division of labor in the world industrial economy that he had been thinking about, pointing out that if China did not want to 'exchange 800 million shirts for a plane' in the future, and rely on the blood and sweat of laborers to enrich the country, it would inevitably embark on the road of confrontation with the United States. However, although this road is difficult, it can at least occupy some of the top of the world's industrial economy and become a power in the true sense.

Yang Rui's sentence of '800 million shirts for a plane' immediately woke up the pensive Xu Huafeng and the silent Du Yaquan, and Yu Huizu had sold MSG after all, and knew the power of science and technology, and the result of the vote was: the army has been pushed to Busan, North Korea, and Japan has been completely driven out of the East Asian continent; On the sea, the Ryukyu Islands can be occupied, but Taiwan must be defended no matter what; In order to make Japan have more money to build ships, there is no need for reparations for defeat, and Japan only needs to return to China the 230 million yuan paid by the Qing government in the First Sino-Japanese War, as well as 100 million taels of interest over the past 20 years, totaling 330 million taels; Finally, the minor ones were the abolition of the unequal treaties, the resumption of the railway in Northeast China and South Manchuria, Port Arthur, and the recovery of Kanto Prefecture.

The conditions were harsh, and in Xie Zhangtai's judgment, if Japan really wanted to accept these conditions, it was very likely that the country would fall into collapse, but among these conditions, only the repayment of the First Sino-Japanese Indemnity was agreed to by Japan, and everything else was already in China's hands or would soon be in China's hands. At the end of the meeting, under his advice, in line with reality, the repayment of 330 million yuan can be offset by the South Manchurian Railway, the Anbong Railway, and other Japanese industries in Northeast China, and the rest will be repaid by Japan, which is actually a sale of Japan's favor in the Russo-Japanese War of that year, objectively speaking, Japan started a war against Russia for its own sake, but China also benefited from it.

Xie Zhangtai built it like this, there were considerations about whether Japan would lose money, there were considerations for general righteousness, and there were considerations for saving Japan more money and building more warships, but Yang Rui didn't want to care about these things, he only thought about those problems that couldn't be solved with money.

Yesterday evening, the Standing Committee not only set the final strategy for the Sino-Japanese war, but also set the foreign policy toward Japan for the next few decades. Although Japan was weakened in this way, if he could make money with China during the First World War, he would have to build ships on a large scale after the war to defend against a strong enemy in the near future; If China offends Britain and France again when it cancels the unequal treaties after the war, then before the Soviet Union intervenes in the Far East, China and the United States will face off against Britain, France, and Japan, and the pattern of East Asia will be set in the tone. (To be continued......)