Just when Japan was laying a net of heaven and earth, closely monitoring the whereabouts of the Russian fleet, and preparing to intercept the Russian fleet, the East China Government was also not idle, and Hong closely followed the movements of the Russian fleet, because taking advantage of the decisive battle between the Japanese and Russian fleets, it severely damaged the fleets of the two countries in one fell swoop, so as to formally intervene in the war, which was an operational plan formulated by the East China Government a long time ago, and now the implementation of this plan is getting closer and closer.

After the Russian fleet left Cam Ranh Bay, the East China government dispatched the Yueyang ship to search for the whereabouts of the Russian fleet, and on April 28, the Yueyang ship discovered the Russian fleet in the waters south of Taiwan, and then followed the Russian fleet ever since. Because the Yueyang ship could lock on to the Russian fleet by radar, it was always out of sight of the Russian fleet, and the Russian fleet did not detect the trace of the Yueyang ship at all. The East China government, on the other hand, had complete control not only of the movements of the Russian fleet, but also of the movements of the Japanese reconnaissance ships.

Moreover, the communications equipment on the Yueyang ship can communicate with the East China Government at an extremely high time and report the movements of the Russian fleet at any time, so the East China Government actually knows more about the movements of the Russian fleet than Japan, and after the Russian fleet sailed into the East China Sea, the East China Government also knew that although there were some discrepancies in history, the fleets of Japan and Russia were still engaged in a decisive battle in the Tsushima Strait.

On 1 May, the East China Government dispatched a ship from Sanya to the vicinity of the port of Zoseburg in the southwest waters of Japan to monitor the movements of the Japanese fleet, and was also responsible for listening to and receiving Japanese radio signals and deciphering them in order to understand Japanese communications.

After the combined fleet departed from the port of Sasebo, the Sanya ship immediately reported back to Qingdao, and at this time the East China Government had already set up a military command group, and in addition to the five giants, it also added Shang Jinfeng, minister of the navy, Zhu Yaping, minister of the army, and Shang Qisong, minister of security, who were responsible for the command and organization work in wartime.

At this time, the East China Government's war preparations had been completed, and the navy now had one battleship detachment, one armored cruiser detachment, four protective cruiser detachments, and four destroyer detachments, and the Marine Corps also had two fleets. In the port of Yantai, of course, this is not because the navy deliberately disperses the fleet, but now that the navy has become large, one port can no longer accommodate so many warships, so it can only be dispersed.

The army has also been organized into 1-5 armies, each with a strength of about 60,000, in addition to marines and 6 reserve divisions, with a total strength of about 450,000. In addition, three divisions were also set up in the Hehu base area, if they were added up, it would be about 500,000, and there were about 100,000 army logistics personnel, at this time the 2nd Army had already been stationed in Liaoxi, the 1st Army was also stationed in Yantai, preparing for the first wave of sorties, and the rest of the army was stationed around Qingdao.

Although it is not necessary for the KPA Navy to launch an immediate attack, it should be ready to dispatch at any time, so the command group unanimously decided to raise the war warning to the first level, that is, as long as the Central Military Commission gives an order, it can be dispatched within one hour.

According to the operational plan drawn up by the Central Military Commission, after the Japanese and Russian fleets were annihilated, they would attack simultaneously from the two fronts of Liaoxi and Lushun, and in the Lushun battlefield, it would be an amphibious operation, so the marines, which had been established for more than one year, would be the first to fight.

Now the establishment of the Marine Corps has been expanded to 1 division, 2 regiments, with a total strength of about 20,000, and two fleets, one is the fire support fleet, that is, the four ironclad ships at the head of the town, these 4 warships are about 20 years old, and the maximum speed is only 12 knots. The other is the landing fleet, which has four newly built 1,000-ton landing ships, each of which can carry the strength of one battalion, and four that are converted from transport ships, all of which are 5,000-ton ships that can carry the strength of one regiment.

The 2nd Army has already been stationed in western Liaoning, and has forced it into the west bank of the Liaohe River, and in order to increase the firepower of the 2nd Army, the Central Military Commission has drawn two 200-millimeter self-propelled guns to the 2nd Army, which can launch an attack on Liaodong at any time; and the Central Military Commission has also ordered that the marines will be marched from Qingdao tomorrow and stationed in Yantai, because this is the closest port to Lushun, and there are not a few days left before the war.

After dealing with these things, Xia Bohai said: "After the last time Russia put forward the request to let the fleet dock at Qingdao Port, does the Russian consulate have any other requests in the past few days?"

Wang Yunpeng said with a smile: "There are no other requirements, but the consul came again yesterday, but he did not mention the signing of an agreement with us, but only put forward the hope that when we enter the war, we can inform Russia that the Russian army will also attack the Japanese army from the northern front, so that the Japanese army can be quickly defeated, which is beneficial to both of us." ”

Xia Bohai smiled and said: "Then you can agree, once we join the war, the first opponent to face is the Japanese army, and the Russian army is not able to fight for the time being, so you can use the Russian army and let them consume the Japanese army as well." ”

It turned out that the East China government proposed to let the Russian fleet dock at Qingdao Port, but the command of the fleet must be handed over to the East China government, and Russia naturally could not accept such conditions, and Russia also understood that the East China government had no intention of uniting with Russia to deal with Japan, and Nicholas II also lost his temper in the palace, scolding the yellow-skinned monkeys for being too self-righteous, and Russia wanted to unite with them, and they already looked up to them。

However, the Russian ministers still know very well that it is very difficult to defeat Japan by relying only on Russian strength, and although the Russian fleet has already passed through the Far East, it is difficult to say whether it will be able to reach Vladivostok safely, and Japan will never let the Russian fleet go easily, and even if it reaches Vladivostok, will it be able to gain sea supremacy? Obviously, it is impossible, not to mention anything else, it is impossible for these warships to go to Vladivostok without two or three months of repair and maintenance. Therefore, if Russia wants to defeat Japan, it must rely on the strength of the East China government.

Although the East China Government has no intention of uniting with Russia, there is no need for the two sides to unite, as long as the East China Government enters the war and Russia also takes advantage of the situation to launch an attack on the Japanese defense line, Japan will definitely be unable to resist the enemy on its belly. Of course, after defeating the Japanese army, the two sides are likely to exchange fire, but the Russian army can take advantage of the defeat of the Japanese army to push the battle line forward, which is also beneficial to Russia.

Wang Yunpeng said: "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has promised them. ”

Xia Bohai said again: "What is the situation in Europe, where has the Moroccan crisis fermented?"

Xu Jichao said: "Germany has increased the strength of five divisions to the German-French border, and there is also a call for declaration of war on Germany in France, so according to the European media, the war has entered the time." ”

Xia Bohai said: "Will France and Germany fight?"

Qin Zheng said: " No, first of all, a Morocco is not worth a big fight between the two sides, because it is Germany, there is no interest in Morocco, it is really not worth going to war for Morocco, and the allies of both sides are not willing to start a war for this; second, Germany's request is to hold an international conference to solve the Moroccan problem, this price is actually not high, France has exchanged interests with other countries for the sake of Morocco, and the other countries have no intention of changing the situation in Morocco, so if an international conference is held, France's chances of winning are also very great, and there is no need for war; third, both sides are not ready for war, and Britain, France, and Russia have not formally formed an allianceIn particular, Russia is still at war with Japan, and Germany's strategy for fighting France is the Schlieffen plan, which is to attack France by detouring Belgium, and if it really wants to go to war with France, it will never increase troops to the Franco-German border, and the current increase in troops is also a big intimidation. Therefore, I think the two sides will never fight, but it will not be easy for this crisis to calm down, and it is estimated that it will not be completed in half a year. ”

Xia Bohai nodded and said, "It makes sense, the affairs of Europe have little to do with us, and it should be about the same for half a year." If we do not achieve a decisive victory in half a year, it is tantamount to defeat. After a pause, he added: "How is the work of the Ministry of Security? Our plans for preparing for and participating in war must not be interfered with." ”

Although it has gone through more than five years of development, after all, the foundation is too poor, so there is still a considerable gap between the comprehensive strength of the East China government and that of Japan and Russia, and it cannot withstand the long-term and high-intensity war attrition, and if it cannot lay the foundation for victory within half a year, then the East China government will fall into the attrition of the war, which is very likely to lead to defeat. The strategic plan of the East China Government was also to take advantage of the fact that Japan and Russia were suffering from defeat, and to win a decisive victory in a short period of time with lightning speed, forcing Japan and Russia to sit down at the negotiating table and accept the East China Government's conditions. Even if Japan and Russia are unwilling to give in, the overall situation on the battlefield has been decided, and the East China government can slowly grind with the two countries at a relatively small cost.

Shang Qisong said: "The Japanese spies in Qingdao, Yantai, Weihai and other places have been seriously monitored by us, and they can be arrested at any time, even if our warships start, they will definitely not let them pass on the information as soon as possible, and on the Shanghai New Area, they have also made full preparations, and they can start arresting tomorrow morning, of course, it will have a certain impact on the environment of the Shanghai New Area, but we will try our best to minimize the impact." ”

Xia Bohai said: "Okay, most of our supplies rely on the Shanghai New Area for transit, so the Shanghai New Area must not be chaotic." ”