@@@@@@

Why? Why? Why!

Far Eastern diplomats hurried to Nanking and Lushun while leaving their belongings behind, repeatedly asking their subordinates or themselves. Why do you do it without warning? What exactly is the deal between Japan and the poor party? Why choose to go dangerously in Chinese mainland? Why would China and Japan fight over a ship that is not very important in the Yellow Sea?! Not to mention Britain and the United States, whose own interests are at stake, and even distant Moscow asks these questions again, for Lenin and others, who are likely to face pressure from both Poland and China, the outbreak of war between China and Japan is of course the most desirable sight.

Fog: The skies over the Far East during the last month of 1919 were filled with fog. With the mobilization of more than 2 million Chinese defense forces from south to north, and even the order for the mobilization of reserve forces, the possibility of a full-scale war breaking out between China and Japan has become higher and higher.

The most unlucky person at this moment is undoubtedly Prime Minister Tanaka.

The officials in the Prime Minister's Office were in a hurry, and everyone looked solemn and indescribably solemn. Tanaka Yoshiichi was even more restless, he never thought that Yang Qiu, who was still fighting in the northwest in the autumn, would suddenly point the finger at Japan, and he didn't expect that the weak Chinese Navy would be so resolute and throw in a complete fleet, including two battle cruisers, to intercept the breakthrough ships! Amakasu is on top, and it's hard to say if the entire fleet is dispatched to intercept a ship that breaks through the customs can be worth the gas money, right?

What's worse is that the ships and prisoners are in the hands of China, and the secret deal between Japan and the poor party will surely come to light in a few days, and I am afraid that even the allies will not be able to speak for themselves, right? The more Yoshiichi Tanaka thought about it, the more chaotic it became. Although the Paris Peace Conference did not achieve much of a wish. But the return of four British battlecruisers had made him a prime minister, and before he could experience the political joy, he was now thrown into the ice by the sound of guns on the Yellow Sea.

It's really wronged, if you lose this time, the prime minister's throne is probably going to be relinquished. So he could only grit his teeth and look at the navy that was causing trouble: "Kato Kaixiang, how is the situation now?" ”

This weak inquiring tone made Yamanashi Hanzo, who was the land minister next to him, very annoyed, and the last time the army got into trouble, the whole country appealed. Now that the navy is in trouble, it will be low-voiced, do you really think that the army will collapse after the death of Youpeng in Shanxian County? So there was a heavy cold snort in his nose. Yuzaburo Kato, who is the prime minister of the sea, glared, and he didn't want to meet these "grooms" in the same way as the urgency of the situation. frowned: "The situation of the Hiei is slightly better, and it has returned to Sasebo under the protection of the destroyer." The King Kong was so bad that it had lost most of its power. The water ingress was so severe that Nozaki Kojuro Osa had to turn to the port of Incheon for temporary refuge. According to our estimates, it will take at least 8 million national dollars to repair the two ships. ”

Strike.

Nobuaki Makino, who loves tea, squirted a sip of tea on the floor, and his eyelids jumped and he almost wanted to slap himself! What is this concept? Even if the Japanese currency depreciated after the last Sino-Japanese war, the cost of the Nagato-class battleships was only about 50 million. Because the King Kong class was built early, the cost of a single ship is less than 20 million, and now it will cost 8 million to repair it? Hanzo Yamanashi jumped up directly: "Hey! This is a military meeting, not a time for your navy to cry poor! ”

Yuzaburo Kato continued to ignore him, in fact, this time the Navy really didn't say anything. Not to mention that the Kurama caused the Navy to lose an important secondary warship, and the two damaged ships alone were not a small trouble. The loss of the King Kong was too heavy. The power system alone had to replace all the boilers, and the water ingress caused a large number of cabins to be flooded, the entire ship's electrical power was almost completely destroyed, the ship's guns were also lost as many as three, and the rangefinders, chimneys, and so on almost had to be replaced. Although the Hiei was lighter, it was hit into the water, and the rear bridge was blown away, and one of the ship's guns was damaged. Say that you still keep this money! If the Kongo cannot be put on the slipway immediately, and the internal water cannot be discharged for a long time, the maintenance cost will at least double. Continued: "We have learned that two more battle cruisers from China have headed north. About 30 destroyers and 20 submarines have set sail, and two combined-force battleships that are being renovated will be launched for delivery early next month. Their navy has already made an offer to Britain, France, the United States and Italy, hoping to urgently lease 4 capital ships and build 4! ”

Rent 4 ships and build 4 ships?! Yoshiichi Tanaka and everyone gasped. Kato Yuzaburo's blow is obviously not over, and continued: "At present, the squadron has been assembled in Sanduao, and about 13 10,000-ton ships are rushing there, and we suspect that they may send an army to land in the waters off Taiwan's Incheon Port in a few days, and I would like to remind you that when China took advantage of Russia's unpreparedness to attack Siberia the year before last, it had robbed 11 gunboats, 9 submarines and 3 large transport ships of the Russian Amur River Fleet, except for the transport ships that have been sent to Arthur, Eleven gunboats and nine submarines have been on standby at the mouth of the three rivers, and although the river is now frozen and unable to move, by spring they will be able to attack the island along the river. ”

Yamanashi Hanzao didn't care that the King Kong was blocked, and shouted, "What are you Navy doing? Do you want to watch China seize Taiwan and Huatai Island? Fleets should be sent to support and sink the transports immediately! ”

As a civilized person, Yuzaburo Kato disdained to talk to the groom, and only said when he saw Tanaka Yoshiichi's gaze: "Prime Minister Tanaka, our navy is now underarmed. ”

Flutter.

This is the second sip of tea that Nobuaki Makino squirts, will the navy be insufficient? 7% of the annual military spending has been taken away by you! Did it all go to the courtesans? Even such a democrat couldn't stand pretending to be poor, and said, "Kato Kaixiang, now is the time to be in the same boat." ”

Of course, Kato Yuzaburo knows that he has to work together in the same boat, but the construction of ships in the Navy is also important, and the 88th Fleet has no shadow now, so how can such a good opportunity not require more funds. "The Nagato-class battleships will not be commissioned until two years, and the four battlecruisers of the British allies are being refitted and will not be available until January next year at the earliest," he said. King Kong and Hiei were unable to attack again for half a year. Both Ikoma and Ibuki are armored ships and cannot deal with the battlecruisers in Shina, so we now only have 2 Kawachi-class, 2 Kongo-class, and 2 Fuso-class ships, and the rest are old-fashioned warships. ”

"6 capital ships are enough! Counting the two ships that are still being refitted, there are only 4 ships. Don't you have faith in your navy for 4 ships yet? Hanzo Yamanashi continued to accuse. This time Yuzaburo Kato was angry, got up and shouted, "Yamanashi-kun, pay attention to your tone!" It's not your turn to intervene in the affairs of our Navy! Let's take care of North Korea and the North first, and I hope that we won't come to our navy for help when the time comes. ”

The battle between land and sea is another battle between land and sea!

Yoshiichi Tanaka was fed up and shouted: "What a system, what a system!" Now is the moment of life and death for the Great Japanese Empire, and unity is needed! ”

In the end, it was the prime minister, these two shouts made both Hai and Lu shut their mouths. Hanzo Yamanashi deliberately turned his head, but Yuzaburo Kato said solemnly: "Prime Minister, I don't mean to lie. Do you know how many naval warships have been added to China in the past three years? As far as we know, in addition to 4 capital ships, they now have 10 cruisers, 57 destroyers and about 30 or so submarines! By the way, there are also 2 reconnaissance aircraft carriers. ”

"Wait, 30 submarines?! Is this true? Nobuaki Makino stood up suddenly: "Didn't there only be 6 ships in the last war?" Why did so many pop up all at once? "Even Yamanashi Hanzo turned his head, 30 submarines? Well, the Navy must have deliberately bluffed people to cheat military spending.

Yuzaburo Kato scratched his head, is it laborious to build a submarine of several hundred tons? Since Yang Qiu introduced all submarine manufacturing technology and special steel technology from Germany before the war, he has not stopped construction. At first, it was relatively slow due to technical and other reasons, but it has already accelerated in the past two years. With the benefits they gained from the European war plus the technology, it was already polite that they didn't directly get a few hundred, and these guys really thought that the submarine was a battleship! On the other hand, the German submarines and manufacturing technology that Britain promised to hand over have not yet been obtained.

6 ships made the navy half dead, and 30 ships Tanaka Yoshiichi was trembling and almost **.

Even the original intention to ask the army was gone, which made Yamanashi Hanzo extremely depressed, and took the initiative to say: "Prime Minister, the Shina Army has begun to mobilize troops in the direction of Korea and Huatai Island, and Taiwan and Ryukyu must also strengthen their defenses, and our army believes that reserves should be immediately requisitioned and reinforcements sent to these places, and it is best to form 10 more divisions." ”

Yoshiichi Tanaka was in no mood to blame the Army's ambitions. This battle was not what he wanted to fight at all, but the problem was that it was no longer possible not to fight now, and he had to teach Yang Qiu, who was becoming more and more arrogant, a lesson, so he took a deep breath and finally asked, "Kato-kun, do you have a battle plan?" ”

Yuzaburo Kato nodded and said: "We have enough destroyers to deal with submarines, and the number of capital ships is also superior, so I think we have the opportunity to cut off the Bohai Strait or the Taiwan Strait, and then launch an artillery bombardment on the coast to try to bring the Shina people to the negotiating table." "The navy can only ensure that it reaches the negotiating table, and it can be seen that even the navy thinks that the situation is not optimistic, and Yamanashi Hanzo has no confidence in wanting to pat his chest for this. 300,000 troops have to hold North Korea, Taiwan and Huatai Island at the same time, what a joke. Even if the reserves are recruited now, it will be too late to wait for the training to be good.

Tanaka Yoshiichi looked at the navy and then looked at the army, he really couldn't make up his mind, this battle was obviously not high-winning, but he would compromise and retreat without even fighting, and it was estimated that Japan could directly announce its withdrawal from the ranks of great powers, so no matter how difficult it was, it would have to be tough this time, at least until Britain and the United States intervened in mediation. "I'm going to see Your Majesty." He got up and looked at the slanting sun outside, the glare of the sun making his head a little dizzy.

After turning his head, he seemed to be a few years older, and said, "Makino-kun, please go to Shina once, I hope to buy some time for the army." ”…… (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to come to the starting point (qidian) to vote for recommendation, monthly pass, your support, is my biggest motivation. )