Xie Zhangtai's words were very pertinent, and immediately beat Yang Rui's interest in accepting his younger brother, even if China can win against Japan, it will not be able to dominate the Far East. This makes it very difficult to make a choice of policy toward Japan today, and if we fight hard, then China and Japan will never come together in the future, and the Japanese archipelago will become a forward base for the United States as it will be in the future. If you don't fight hard and leave a few more breaths of vitality, then as soon as Britain and the United States support you, little Japan will tremble again.

"Actually, from a diplomatic point of view, Shenyang must not be lost." Xie Zhangtai warned that he also understood that he had to rest assured that the Japanese would fight, otherwise they would not be able to annihilate the Japanese army, and that would have an impact on the landing on Taiwan.

"What, you're worried that someone will see us weak and want to do it at this time?" Yang Rui said vigilantly.

"Exactly!" Xie Zhangtai said. "The first day is undefeated, where is Gengzi? Since we are a weak country, we cannot be defeated, and once we are defeated, other jackals will bite us, and when the situation is unfavorable, foreigners will continue to look for trouble. Now we have taken over the railroads because the peasants and soldiers from all over the country have stopped them, but once it turns out that these people are only silver-tipped guns, the situation will be ......."

The whole country has entered a state of war, and there is mobilization from the cities to the countryside, and the churches of foreigners are spread over more than 1,000 counties across the country, some in the cities and some in the countryside, so the situation of mobilization is extremely clear. When the missionaries saw that so many peasant soldiers patrolling and guarding suddenly appeared, they almost thought it was the Boxer Fist, and after the false alarm, the situation was passed on to the consuls of various countries, which made the foreigners who wanted to cause some trouble suddenly stopped, but this made the countries more determined to blockade.

Common sense judges that even if China can have its own substitute for South American nitrate, the production and quality of ammunition will drop significantly. In addition, sulfuric acid, another raw material for the manufacture of ammunition, is judged according to the industrial plan and the original factory in the Gazette of the Chinese Government. China also needs to import (although the production of nitric acid from synthetic ammonia requires sulfuric acid dehydration, sulfuric acid can be recycled. Therefore, the production of sulfuric acid is low), so based on various intelligence, as long as the raw materials are blocked and countries do not import ammunition, it is completely calculable how long China can support it. In addition, before China's major military factories had foreigners and craftsmen, some foreigners were even the general managers and assistants of the factories, how much they could produce, and how much after the expansion of production, these can be calculated; And ammunition imported from the United States. Numbers aren't a secret either.

Based on the calculations of the British MI5, it is believed that under the blockade, with the current number of troops, China's artillery shells will last for a maximum of seven months, while the bullets can last for one year; At the meeting of the Japanese base camp, Major General Masataro Fukuda, director of the Second Department (Intelligence Department) of the General Staff Headquarters, believed that the breech artillery shells of the Chinese army were only 2 million rounds at most, and that the three battles like the Battle of Shenyang would be exhausted. Although black powder could be used, it was bound to be greatly reduced, and it was difficult for them to play a role under the suppression of Japanese artillery.

The Japanese were extremely optimistic about the start of a war between China and Japan. As for why the Renaissance Army was able to hold out in Yanzhou for so many years, it is believed that first, the Qing State could not be completely blockaded at the beginning, and secondly, the scale of the war at that time was not large. The intensity of the war was very low, and this time the two armies fought an all-out battle in Mukden. The people of China will surely learn a lesson that will never be forgotten.

Xie Jintai's reminder reminded Yang Rui of the newspaper reviews and opinion polls in Japan that the Intelligence Bureau showed him, and he didn't know if it was a public opinion blockade or other reasons. The Japanese press and public opinion all believe that Japan will completely defeat China by the end of this year, and some people even believe that there is no need to wait until the end of the year, and the army will be able to occupy Beijing before the Tianchang Festival.

"Chong'an, don't worry, I will let Qingyuan pay attention to proportion, just like Ou Maozi, only retreat and not be defeated, and wait for the final battle under Shenyang City, and then completely defeat them!" Yang Rui said very confidently, he only felt that time was too slow, and even wanted the submarine not to be so close, and let the Japanese go ashore first.

When Yang Rui was talking about the submarine, another person in the capital was also talking about the submarine. Vice Admiral Moffett, an American, deputy commander of the Navy, has recovered from his injuries after four months of recuperation. In the First Battle of the East China Sea, he was in the command tower of the Haiqi, and was seriously injured in the explosion of a 12-inch shell, thanks to the world-leading blood transfusion technology of the Renaissance Army, he did not die at sea, and the use of sulfonamides allowed him to avoid wound infection, and finally survived without disability.

Moffett remained unconscious after his injury, and was only awakened by the pain on his body the day after arriving at the Zhoushan base. At this time, he was covered in gauze, and he didn't know that he was a world famous general, and when he opened his eyes, he didn't see God but only saw the doctor, and his first sentence was: "Japanese ......"

The general was so dedicated that the doctors and nurses were extremely moved, and only after learning that 'the Japanese ships were sunk and our army was completely victorious', he fell asleep under anesthesia. And over the next few months, he gradually learned about the course and results of the entire naval battle. He did not accept the praise given to him by the Chinese government and world opinion, because the whole naval battle was finally won by a senior officer of the Royal Submarine Force, and he did not remember the name of the man, but he remembered the appearance of the man, and the shout he uttered in front of the cannon in the command tower...... Banzai! ”

Although the lieutenant general was standing beside him at that time, he could only hear the last two words of the sentence, and after carefully asking for the translation, he understood what the words "long live" meant, but he could not remember what the words before "long live" were. Under the repeated inquiries of the lieutenant general, he finally knew the name of the officer: Wu Fan, colonel of the Royal Submarine Force, and nothing else was known, and what happened to Wu Fan, according to Cheng Biguang's description, he died after being shot in the command tower, and because the Haiqi was about to sink at that time, his body sank with the battleship to the bottom of the East China Sea at a depth of several hundred meters.

True heroes are always unfortunate, and it is this misfortune that makes their souls more stretched in the suffering, which is like the spring flowers that bloom prematurely in the cold spring, constantly fighting against the cold current, constantly trying to bloom, it just wants to burn the dreams and energy contained in life in a limited time.

Lieutenant General Moffitt didn't understand the concept of burning, but he recognized it — after he arrived in Beijing and Premier Yang Rui gave a speech to Congress, he felt that many Chinese around him were burning. He didn't think it was terrible, but it was extremely kind, and only at this time. He could finally feel that the future of this nation could be looked forward to.

He didn't wait long outside the Yin'an Palace, and Yang Rui personally greeted him outside the hall. Moffett understood that in China it was a very important etiquette for the master to greet him personally. Dressed in a navy uniform, he immediately saluted Yang Rui solemnly.

"Good work, Baron Moffitt!" Yang Rui smiled and called this American who had just been canonized as a nobleman. While he was still being treated. Congress and public opinion are arguing over what title should be given to the Americans, and the navy has been able to wash away the humiliation of the past, which has made the officials and people of the whole country feel very excited, and it is all because of his command. Some people mention that they should be named a viscount because of such a meritorious service, and some people think that the viscount is too high and can only be named a baron, so they pull it up. The last one to be sealed was the baron.

"I... It's not hard. Lieutenant General Moffett did not understand how to answer this sentence - in fact, the standard answer to this sentence was: Serve China! Fortunately, Yang Rui didn't care about his words, but patted him a few times from his shoulders to his waist.

"Mr. Prime Minister, the doctor has confirmed that I am fully healthy." Lieutenant General Moffett was a little excited when he saw the prime minister of a country paying such kind attention to him. Even if the various things of this country do not resonate with him spiritually, it is always warm to be cared for.

"That's good!" Yang Rui said naturally, and then led him into his study. "William, the current situation is that China and Japan are at war, and our navy is too weak to confront the Japanese navy head-on. So I ordered them to stay in the harbor and wait for the right moment before attacking. ”

"I've heard that, sir." Lieutenant General Moffett nodded in understanding. The commander of the cruiser, Cheng Biguang, was unscathed in the naval battle, so he is now acting in his power. And the fleet. At present, in addition to the old ships Haichen and Haichou Nengeng, there are also newly built Feihong, Yingrui, and Zhaohe, but they don't care about the new and old ones. These were light cruisers with a displacement of more than 2,000 tons. The caliber of the main gun is 6 inches (152 mm), and the fastest speed is 22 knots. The ships really went out to meet the Japanese cruisers. If you can't hit it, you can't run it, so you will become a living target. Therefore, the order given by the General Staff to the Navy was to avoid the Yangtze River and wait for an opportunity to dispatch, and to use the Yangtze River Fleet and the Cruiser Fleet to avoid the Yangtze River and the other to Xiangshan.

"But, Mr. Prime Minister, the navy should not avoid war, they should keep attacking, and I ask your Excellency for permission to make a sample of the fleet." Lieutenant General Moffitt suddenly asked to fight at the moment when Yang Rui thought he had approved the order, which was really unexpected.

"But what if you meet a Japanese?" Yang Rui asked, "You must know that they are very careful now, and it is difficult to ambush them with a submarine again." ”

"Mr. Prime Minister, I just want to go on patrol, not really to find the Japanese and go to war with them." Lieutenant General Moffitt said. "As long as there is submarine protection, we can go out, which is of great significance for cutting off the Japanese army's sea supply lines."

"But we don't have a suitable anchorage?" Yang Rui thought about the plans of the Americans, and felt that this was not a good idea, there were ten submarines to escort the cruiser, so it was better to go directly to engage in unlimited submarine warfare.

"Isn't Huludao good?" Vice Admiral Moffitt insisted that he was a brave man, and now that the Sino-Japanese war was going on, it was not a solution for the navy to always shrink in the military port. "We can send a few cruisers to Haizhou Port at night, which is said to have been mined, as long as the fleet hides in the minefield, then the Japanese will have nothing to do with them, and as long as the Japanese relax, then in another night, the fleet can sail to the Huludao base."

To the north of the Yangtze River, only Haizhou, Huangxian, Qinhuangdao, Huludao, Yingkou, and Andong need to be defended. From Xiangshan to Huludao for more than 700 nautical miles, it would take the fleet nearly 40 hours to reach it even at a high speed of 20 knots. In today's radio, it is still very simple to intercept the fleet, so Vice Admiral Moffitt has this method of advancing in sections.

"Nope! It is not possible to transfer all the cruisers to the north, at most two cruisers can be transferred to the north. Yang Rui felt that although this move could boost the morale of the navy, it was not in harmony with the overall strategy, and although the cruiser going north could threaten the North Korean coast, its more important role was to protect the landing fleet when it landed on Taiwan. Of course, this is only my general idea, and the real specific strategy needs to be calculated by the general staff before a decision can be made. Our Navy has only five cruisers, which is very valuable, and although the General Staff is trying to find a way to buy a heavy cruiser, there has been no news yet. ”

"Buy a heavy cruiser?" When Vice Admiral Moffett heard the news for the first time, he immediately forgot about the fact that the fleet could not be transferred north.

"Yes!" Yang Rui said. "It is necessary to buy a heavy cruiser, preferably new. The speed was greater than twenty knots, but there were few such ships. Britain and France will not sell to us, and Germany will not want to, the United States ...... Most of their new ships were on slipways, while the old ones were too slow. We are still choosing, if everything is suitable, it will come back within a year, if it can't come back within a year, then this plan can only be abandoned. ”

"But why not buy a dreadnought?" Lieutenant General Moffett asked, thinking the idea of buying a heavy patrol was strange.

"Because the General Staff believes that the current dreadnoughts will soon become obsolete again. Now the fastest ships have twenty-five knots, but one day the maximum speed of the fleet will exceed thirty knots, so if you buy ready-made ships, you can only buy a bunch of dreadnoughts of about twenty knots, which is a complete waste. It is best to buy a cruiser under 10,000 tons, as long as its eight-inch main gun can knock out the batteries on land. Yang Rui said.

"Batteries on land?" Moffett felt a little dizzy, and he was eager to say when the ship would be ready to fight the shore guns. But in the face of Yang Rui, he still used 'My God!' Instead.

"While you're healing, the Navy has tested your genius idea, of course. Our technology was not enough to support it, so this was helped by some from the German Navy. The Navy can now use guò aircraft as observation points, while the fleet has barely managed to do Broadside-Firing with guò training. This is equivalent to saying that the gunnery chief of the fleet will measure and observe the target from the plane, and the guns will shoot in the smoke according to the number given by the plane. ”

What Yang Rui said was the salvo firing method before the invention of the shooting command board, which was the most primitive method to achieve salvo firing. The principle is the same as that of army artillery, except that the target and the artillery are changing. And the sea artillery also has a swing, which makes it more troublesome to fire a salvo from the whole ship. Lieutenant General Moffett was extremely clear about the principle of this method, which he had originally proposed, but he still disagreed: "Airplanes? Fumes? ”

"Yes. The entire warship was wrapped in smoke so that the enemy could not see them, and the planes flew high in the air, and they had an unobstructed view of the target. Well, William, this is just a tactical detail, the purchase of a heavy cruiser is also a detail, and we should not talk about such trifles. The plan of the General Staff is as follows: In the early days of the war, the navy will not fight for the time being and will only hide in the military port, and the army will ensure that the military port is not attacked on land, and when the time is right, you will receive the order to attack the whole army. ”

"When is the right time?" Vice Admiral Moffett felt that there were still many things he did not know, "Sir, as the deputy commander of the navy, I hope to know all the plans so that I can better cooperate with the operation. ”

"That's all there is to plan so far, William." Yang Rui does not regard him as his own: "The General Staff has a lot of plans, and even if the situation allows, the navy may go around the Japanese archipelago, but this has to wait for the right opportunity." What the navy should do is to ensure the safety of ships and personnel and maintain morale before the start of the war, so as to ensure that the entire fleet can leave the port within 12 hours of receiving the order, and then complete the task. William, can this be done? ”

"Of course, sir!" Vice Admiral Moffett saluted: "The Navy can definitely do this." I promise! ”

"That's great!" Yang Rui said with a smile. "In addition, the submarine force you have been thinking about has been stationed in Xiangshan and Huludao Military Port, and the submarine commander, Colonel Chen Ce, will report to you. However, he is now directly under the command of the General Staff, which means that you can cooperate with each other. Again, in due course, I will persuade His Highness to put the entire submarine fleet under command of the Navy. ”

"Colonel Chen Ce?" Moffitt thought it was Colonel Tian Shijie from the last time, and then he thought of the entire submarine fleet that Yang Rui said, so he asked: "Mr. Prime Minister, if you allow it, I would like to know the number of submarines in the entire fleet." ”

"Hehe, there are a lot of them!" Yang Rui smiled, "By this time next year, they will probably have more than a hundred." ”

"Ah, God!" Lieutenant General Moffett shouted.

"You have to keep it a secret." Yang Rui suddenly became stern, "The whole country will not know that this number will exceed ten." If the Japanese know about it, it will be very difficult to do things. ”

"Yes, sir!" Lieutenant General Moffett also sternly said, "I pledge with the honor of a soldier." Secrets will never be revealed! ”

"Very good!" Yang Rui understood what he said about honor, which is the highest pursuit of Western-style soldiers. And the American in front of him, according to Cheng Biguang's description. And it did.

When the number of submarines was being discussed in the Yin'an Hall in Beijing, the chief of the general staff of the Manchurian Army, Yusaku Uehara, who was in the headquarters of the Japanese Manchurian Army in Andong County, was also exclaiming: "How many submarines do the people of China have?" Don't those red deer in the Navy know? ”

The transport ships bound for Dalian were constantly sunk, and there was no place on the entire Manchurian coast that could unload supplies smoothly, and it was far from enough to rely on the Korean railway alone to supply Manchuria for the war, especially when the people of China were strong and cleared - Andong's development in the past ten years had been very prosperous, but as soon as the war began, the people in the city ran away without a trace. Labor, grain, grass, and building materials all have to be supplied by the DPRK. He suddenly had the feeling that he couldn't fight this battle.

"Your Excellency, the British once reminded us that the Chinese have built nearly 100 submarines in the independent country, and although this news has not been confirmed, there is still a possibility of zài." Major General Masataro Fukuda, who is in charge of intelligence, said. "And we can be sure that in the Huludao military port, there are no less than ten submarines in China."

"British!" The general suddenly felt a little disdainful, "They will provide information that is indisputable except true or false. What else to offer? These white animals, who curry favor with us when they need the empire and abandon us when they don't, are allies! ”

The voice of Marshal Oyamayan, commander-in-chief of the Manchurian Army, came from outside the newly renovated Andong County Ya, "Uehara Jun ......". He had just gone out to inspect the destroyed military port and the Anbong Railway, and he had only now returned.

Oyama Iwa was the elder of the army, and the last war against Lu was won under his command. It's a pity that the then Chief of the General Staff, General Kodama Gentaro, has passed away, otherwise this time the battle against the 'Later Ming'. The commander and chief of the General Staff will be the same as last time.

"Uehara-kun, is the situation at sea very bad?" Dashan Rock is over seventy-two years old. The reappointment of the commander of the Manchurian Army here was entirely at the unanimous request of Aritomo Yamaguchi and the Emperor. Although he is old, his brain is not old, and he didn't feel anything wrong when he was in Korea, but when he arrived in Andong, the situation in China was earth-shaking compared to the war against Lu ten years ago.

"Yes!" Yusaku Uehara, like all the other generals, has great respect for Oyama Iwa, "Your Excellency, about sixty percent of the supplies have been sunk by the Shina submarine, and those red deer in the navy have nothing to do about it. It's despicable that the people of China are hiding under the bottom of the sea! ”

"Uehara-kun, there are only victories and defeats in war, and there is no nobility and meanness." Marshal Dashanyan said slowly, and then said that he was worried: "I went to see the Andong Seaport and the Anbong Railway, and it was very damaged. The waterway of the harbor was blocked by a number of shipwrecks, and the railroad was completely destroyed not only by the removal of the sleepers of the roadbed, but also by a kind of machine. ”

"It was a large automaton called Lanxiang excavator, there were more than a dozen of them, and the roadbed was dug up by them." The Japanese consul in Anton, Shigeru Yoshida, added. "And the strange thing is that the Shina only completely destroyed the Anbong Railway, but not the Antong Railway - this railway only removed the steel rails and sleepers, and the roadbed is intact."

"Only destroyed the roadbed of the Anbong Railway?" Senior General Uehara Yusaku said: "Could it be that the Shina army wants to stop us from attacking Mukden?" ”

"That's right." Dashan Yan nodded, "The Chinese army likes to fight in the mountains and forests, maybe they think that this can give full play to some advantages that we don't have." If we are not able to transport war supplies and personnel to Luda and here, then we will not be able to fight a decisive battle in the plains and China as we did last time. And now they are completely blockading the seaports, destroying the railways, and diverting the people, just to drag the war into April, when the weather in Manchuria warms up and the rivers thaw, which will be very bad for our attack, and if it is the rainy season in July and August, the situation will be even worse! ”

Da Shanyan thought about the Manchurian rainy season he had experienced during the last war against Lu, and his teeth were actually a little sore, it was really helpless, and the entire Manchurian army was stuck in the mud and could not be turbulent. Compared with the Chinese army, which waits for work at leisure and has sufficient logistical support, it is completely at a disadvantage. (To be continued......)