Heihachiro Togo on the temporary base on Iwo Jima had not slept all night, and although no one, including the emperor, wanted him to drag his sick body to Iwo Jima in a harsh environment, he was stubborn in his desire to know the results of the exercise as soon as possible -- this was not only about what he wanted all his life, but also about the ultimate command of the Chinese and Japanese navies. China wins, and in the future, East Asian sea power will be dominated by China; Japan wins, and the opposite is true.

After hours of anxious waiting, the briefer finally arrived. Togo's heart hung high with the heavy steps of the comer, and when the door was opened, the long-waiting King Fushimi Miyahiro appeared at the door, his previous leisure was completely gone, and his face was not as if he had cried.

"Defeated?" Togo, who was carrying his heart, wanted to put it down but couldn't, he asked with a trembling twist.

"Hmm!" King Fushimi Miyahiro didn't answer right away, he knelt down in front of Togo and stood alone behind the white wall.

"How?" Togo seemed to hear that something in his body was broken, and his thoughts were in a state of confusion, but inertia still made him ask this question, which didn't make much sense.

"They ......" Fushimiya's sorrow, which he had managed to hold back just now, rushed out again, and he was sobbed and speechless—according to the judgment of the referee team, the combined fleet was almost completely wiped out in the four-hour attack. Although, this is due to the fact that the battleship is not really sunk and the other ships cannot stay, and there is also the reason why the own side panicked in the dark night and did not know the essentials of night fighting, but defeat is defeat, not to mention night combat technology, only to say that the overwhelming superiority of the air carrier over the battleship has been fully demonstrated in this battle.

"The fast air carrier unit broke away from the ...... at the first time," Fushimiya added. Only the Fengxiang sank, and three more battleships. Tomorrow, the remaining forces of our navy will have a final showdown with the Chinese navy in an open and honest manner! ”

"Is it still necessary?" Fushiminomiya wanted to use this chat to comfort his Yamato soul. But Heihachiro Togo smiled dismally.

"And, of course!" Fushiminomiya's voice suddenly rose high and hysterical, "Neon hasn't fallen yet. Hundreds of millions of nationals have not yet been shattered, and even if the Chinese navy sinks all our warships, they will not be able to land on Neon! ”

As a member of the royal family, Fushimi Palace, who has always been well-behaved and extremely well-behaved, has actually become a gambler who has lost all his eyes, which makes Togo Heihachiro's body tremble even more. It doesn't matter if you lose, but because you lose, you lose the most basic calmness and confidence of a soldier, and this is the most terrible. Looking at Fushimi Palace, which was becoming more and more frenzied, he said, "Okay, Your Highness is hard." Now that it's late at night. Then please come back. ”

After the First World War of Tsushima, Togo was already the god of the Japanese Navy, and Fushimi Palace still listened to his words. After hearing this, Fushiminomiya, who had collected his mood, got up and took his leave, and as soon as he left, Togo, who had just held back his tears, immediately burst into tears, and he seemed to hear the laughter of the Chinese.

In fact, the Chinese did not laugh, because the Chinese Navy has never used the Japanese Navy against its opponents. This exercise was like an adult bullying a little girl, and I felt a little guilty when it hurt. At this time. Xu Jingxi and others, who withdrew from the referee hall of the exercise, all had relatives in their hearts -- the aircraft carrier squadron struck two waves of strikes, sinking a total of four battleships and one light aircraft carrier of the Combined Fleet, and seriously damaging three other battleships. Zhu Tiansen's guy hit mercilessly, making them extremely twisted in the face of the panicked Japanese, and it was inappropriate to comfort or not comfort them. It seems that the big brother has to be thick-skinned.

"...... this thing is done, do you want Zhu Tiansen to let it go a little tomorrow? Give them a few results as well. General Zhou Sixu banged on the special folding table in the army, extremely melancholy.

"Say it's a drill. But it was live ammunition, at least the Japanese were live ammunition. How can you let it? "General Xu Jingxi, chief of the General Staff, immediately objected." Thirty-nine pilots have already been lost tonight, how much more will be lost tomorrow? ”

"Actually, there is no need for the drill to go on." Ditto Besan would be another opinion. "The first purpose of this battle is to make the Japanese Navy understand that future sea supremacy will be in the hands of sea-based aviation. I think that after going through this exercise, the Japanese should fully understand this. If you continue to fight, you will have red eyes, injuries and anger. Also, the loss of pilots is also a big problem, they are all old flights, is it necessary to die here? What we really have to watch out for is the U.S. Navy! ”

"Ji Mei is right." Xu Jingxi nodded, "I think, tomorrow morning, it is better for me to propose to the Japanese to suspend the exercise, it is really useless to continue fighting, it will only hurt each other's harmony." Let's keep our eyes on the Red Sea, the telegram we just received, Mussolini of Italy said that he would never submit to the yellow race, and the great Italian army would crush all the obstacles! ”

Xu Jingxi's statement made the generals present nod, but when the Chinese and Japanese officers arrived early the next morning, it was Togo Heihachiro who came to the scene first to propose to suspend the exercise. The Japanese who love face actually asked for a strike so simply, which couldn't help but make Xu Jingxi look at all the Japanese generals, obviously, these puffed up grandsons are all thinking about 'jade shattering', but Dongxiang's prestige is enough to suppress all objections.

"I fully accept your offer." Xu Jingxi nodded and accepted Togo Heihachiro's request, "We are not enemies!" This exercise was proposed to your navy because the former prime minister could not bear to see your navy go astray. Adults have said that Japanese soldiers are 100% soldiers, and generals are 100% brave, but they are not cunning, so only bloodshed can make it possible for them to make changes. We hope that through this exercise, you will understand that science and technology are advancing every day, so the mode of warfare and specific tactics are undergoing extremely rapid changes, and the army that cannot 'finish things day by day and improve day by day' will eventually be eliminated. ”

Admiral Xu Jingxi, who said that he was well-intentioned, but he was accustomed to teaching people, clearly had a sense of teaching in his words, but this did not displease the Japanese, who remembered every word he said as they did when they were at the Portsmouth Naval University in England.

"Yes, we are not enemies." Dongxiang weakly repeated Xu Jingxi's words, and when the staff officers on both sides informed the two sides of the exercise to strike the war, he turned to ask: "I want to ask Your Excellency, how did your army manage to attack at night?" ”

I have long known that the Japanese will ask this question, and this issue has been discussed internally, but it is Xu Jingxi who said: "It's very simple. We search your fleet with bats, and then we send torpedo bombers to carry out torpedo attacks. ”

"Bats?" Heihachiro Togo asked puzzled. He didn't know what it was, it couldn't be a live bat.

"It's an electric detective." Xu Jingxi explained. When he saw that the Japanese statue listened to the book of heaven, he smiled and said: "This is actually developed by Professor Yagi Hideji of Northeast Imperial University in your country, and it seems that because your country is not interested in the electric detective he said, he was hired by my country's Tianzihao Group." This kind of electric exploration, if installed on an airplane, can find warships dozens of kilometers away, and very small submarines can also be easily discovered, so all the old submarines in our navy have been decommissioned. Now European countries are also working on similar equipment, and there should be some results. Maybe in a few years, this new equipment will be installed. ”

"What about the rice country?" Major General 356 couldn't help but ask, this kind of interjection is very rude, but fortunately, this is a matter of concern to everyone in Japan.

"Of course, the United States is also researching, and according to intelligence, it is said that it is about to be installed." Xu Jingxi said. "However, they are one step behind us for the time being, and they only have models that are installed on land for air defense search, and they have not yet been installed on aircraft for sea search. Maybe it's because the U.S. is geographically located and doesn't have to worry about submarines like the U.K. does. ”

The nations of the day. That is to say, Britain, the United States, Germany, and China are at the forefront of military science and technology, and Britain was afraid of submarines in the last war, and until the end of the war, it can only study effective means to deal with submarines; Germany, on the other hand, is more and more restricted, and the more it is tormented, it is full of thoughts about winning the next war; And the United States. Because geography has always been slack on military technology, but the navy is obviously not independent, and technology related to naval warfare has always been at the forefront. As for France and the USSR. The former has no money, and the latter has the intention but lacks accumulation......

Xu Jingxi was thinking about the attitude of various countries towards military science and technology. Fushiminomiya suddenly asked, "Your Excellency, can my country buy an electric detective?" ”

"Of course." Xu Jingxi saw that he had been twisting. I thought it was a problem. He said with a smile: "Since China and Japan are allies, they naturally treat each other equally and without reservation. It's just that... It's just that the price of this thing is ......, it's expensive! ”

As soon as Xu Jingxi said the price of the bat artifact, he couldn't help but feel the pain, he was like this, and Bei Shoutong and Zhou Sixu, who knew the specific price, were also very painful. However, if they could know that the first primitive surface-to-air radar of the United States, the broken radar installed in the Japanese plane found at Pearl Harbor, cost a total of 100,000 dollars, and that the United States spent a total of 3 billion dollars to purchase radar equipment in World War II, they would not have this expression; Besides, good radar was invaluable in World War II.

"For ships and land detection aircraft, 200,000 Chinese dollars are required each; Loaded on the plane, it needs 300,000 Chinese yuan......" Zhou Sixu, the head of the General Logistics Department, was extremely familiar with this price, and quoted the bid on the spot, but the Japanese were not too shocked by this price, after all, last night because of the lack of these hundreds of thousands of equipment, the entire fleet was buried.

"This is the purchase price of our army, and if some of your troops go to purchase ......, you can intercede with Professor Yagi, who is an important shareholder of the company, and see if you can get a discount." Xu Jingxi said with a smile. "But to get back to the point, I suggest that your country should buy a few trials and train relevant personnel first. Rash purchase of large quantities, first, this kind of high-tech equipment is not mature, in a few years it is estimated that the performance will be improved, and at the same time, the price can also be reduced after the yield rate goes up; Second, as far as the world is concerned, China's navy is equipped with ship-borne radar and airborne radar. Fortunately, the airborne radar will be exposed once it is installed, which will alert all countries. ”

The argument that the bat artifact was developed by the Japanese made the Japanese generals sit a little relieved, and perhaps it would not be an exaggeration to say that this exercise was a defeat of the Japanese. The Japanese were completely out of the expectations of Xu Jingxi and others, but these are not important things, and now the matter of Italy's imminent invasion of Abyssinia, after he saw that the Japanese present were affectionately relieved, he said: "Ladies and gentlemen, the Italian government has decided to withdraw from the League of Nations in order to annex Asibinia. Britain, France, and other countries are prepared to sit idly by because of the European balance, but as permanent members of the League of Nations, it is really necessary for your three countries to send troops to the Red Sea to safeguard justice......"

Everyone present had known about the fact that China, Japan, and the DPRK had sent troops to East Africa to prevent Italy from annexing Abyssinia, but everyone's minds were focused on the exercise and confrontation.

Fushimi Palace, who was the leader, looked at Togo and Suzuki Kantaro before saying, "Your Excellency, is it really to uphold justice?" ”

"Indeed!" Xu Jingxi only realized at this time that the Japanese had no concept of sending troops. "This is the explanation given to me by the Prime Minister of our country, because of the relationship of position. I have to be convinced of this. And there is another purpose in this matter, that is, ......" Xu Jingxi looked at the people present. Seeing that the rest were all leading figures, he said: "The government's considerations are ignored for the time being, and the soldiers will carry out the orders as they are ordered, but I have an idea for the time being, that is, to deliberately let Italy sink an ......aircraft carrier."

"Nani!" Fushimi Palace and Yamamoto Fifty-six were surprised, but Togo and Suzuki Kantaro were not surprised, but nodded frequently. "Why?" Fushimiya asked urgently.

"The second half of the year is the second London naval treaty negotiations, and we hope to renew the contract." Xu Jingxi said, he saw Fushimi and Dongxiang's eyebrows a little touched. Then he smiled again: "Soldiers regard obedience as their duty, and since the government intends to renew the treaty, then I can only accept the result of renewing the treaty, but, judging by all aspects of intelligence, the Americans do not want to sign this treaty."

The economy, industry, and science and technology of our two countries are developing with each passing day, and the two countries are now almost one. Sooner or later, we will challenge the United States for sea power in the Pacific, and then it would be better to go to war now while we are in the middle of our fledgling. Therefore, my judgment is that even if we agree to dissolve the Sino-Japanese alliance and agree to a 10:6 tonnage condition for capital ships, they will still find a way to refuse to sign the treaty. in order to go to war in the next few years.

And with the industry and economy of the United States, it will be difficult to match unless the countries of the entire Eurasian continent are united. Therefore. The crux of the strategy toward the United States lies in misleading -- since the navies of the world have not been as sure as we are about the importance of aircraft carriers and air forces. Then we should mislead the U.S. Navy into throwing more resources into battleships.

No matter how strong a country is. Its dockyard of more than 850 feet is also limited. If we knock out the existing aircraft carriers of the US Navy as soon as the war starts, and at this time there are quite a few battleships lying in the US docks, then for a long time our aircraft carriers will greatly exceed the number of US Navy. This period of time is a favorable time to end the war, and of course it is possible that the Americans will endure it for two or three years, and it may be impossible to fight back after they have built a sufficient number of aircraft carriers. The cost of the misguided strategy is simply to lose an aircraft carrier that should be dismantled next year, which is not too high. ”

The Washington Treaty will end next year, and when I heard that China will abide by the treaty and dismantle the aircraft carrier next year, Fushiminomiya, who adheres to the Japanese-style stingy style, said: "Your Excellency, since the United States will not sign a naval treaty, and the treaty will be completed by the end of next year, then why not keep this aircraft carrier?" If it's too old, you can find a way to modify it. ”

Both the Changning and the Yongning were ordered at a Japanese shipyard that year, and Xu Jingxi mistakenly thought that the Japanese were reluctant, and he explained: "Changning and An Ning have served for nearly 20 years, which is really too old. Moreover, both ships were built as test ships to verify the rationality of certain designs, and we have gained a lot of valuable experience over the past 20 years of use. Although the modification can make it re-enter active service, some fundamental things cannot be changed, and it is really better to say that it is better to make a new one. Compared with ships, talent is the most important, and an unqualified warship will only waste the crew that has been trained with great difficulty. ”

Speaking of this, Xu Jingxi, who didn't want to delve into it, changed the topic, and he said: "Everyone, since sending troops to Abyssinia includes such a purpose, then the main force of naval warfare can only be you. Although Italy had ten battleships, four were old, one was new but the hull was scrapped, and only two of the Dulio class, two of the Duke of Cavour, and one Dante class were really capable of fighting. Although Italy modernized these ships last year, the caliber of their main guns is only 320 mm, which is not as good as your country's King Kong class. Based on this, I would like your country to send at least three or four battleships......"

Japan has 10 battleships, and any one of Nagato Mutsu can beat the battleships seen in Italy during World War I, but the lineup is too large, and the battle will not be able to fight, and it is best for the government to suppress people with force, but for the soldiers, they only go to show off their might but do not fire a single shot, and they always feel aggrieved.

In a few words, the two sides determined the specific ships to fight, that is, the three Japanese Kongo-class battleships, and in addition, in order to have the intention of training the air carrier, Fushimi Palace asked the Chinese side to send only two ships Changning and Yongning to fight, and the other two ships were replaced by Akagi and Amagi. After the capital ships were arranged in this way, the two sides lined up four heavy cruisers and a number of destroyers, and finally auxiliary ships such as hospital ships, oil tankers, ammunition supply ships, and landing ships. After such an arrangement, the total tonnage is actually more than 300,000 tons.

The Chinese and Japanese military leaders determined the general details of the dispatch of troops on Iwo Jima in one morning, and it cannot be said that they were unhappy, but the changes in the international situation caught people off guard, and the wounded warships here had just returned to Japan, and Italy on that side brazenly invaded Abyssinia in disregard of the warnings of the League of Nations. (To be continued.) )