The Japanese Civil War resumed, the cruises of the Chinese fleet continued, and the battleship Chongqing, the flagship of the cruising fleet, finally appeared in the Sea of Japan in the form it should have. There were no changes to the hull, only the four triple 380 guns that had been shoehorned on the deck became four twin 380 guns.

The 29,000-ton hull is unusually stable in the rough waters of Japan, and a large number of engineers observe and measure various parts of the warship. It is the job of the technician to find the fault and make targeted improvements. To the relief of these technicians, the Governor has already said that he will not consider building larger warships for the next decade. In this decade, China's new battleships, modeled after the battleship Chongqing, will be upgraded rather than enlarged.

When it was time to go to bed at night, the full staff and a large number of technicians stuffed the cabin to the brim, and the heating maintained the temperature in the cabin at 14 degrees, which was perfect for sleeping. However, the technicians did not fall asleep, they lay in hammocks and chatted about their work.

"This boat just works." His family knew about his own affairs, and the technicians did not give too high a high opinion to this majestic warship. Too many new technologies have been adopted, too many new ideas have been applied. The construction of this warship made all technicians fearful. Even when sailing on this warship, the technicians were not blindly optimistic.

"I just hope that the Governor will not make any other requests, and will continue to build new warships according to the specifications of this warship in the next few years."

"It doesn't take ten years, but five or six years always have to be."

Statements that are satisfied with the status quo have come one after another. The technological leap is too big, and everyone hopes to be able to stabilize for a few years and thoroughly understand these technologies. No one thinks that the Chongqing can exert any power in Northeast Asia, the enemy here is too weak, and putting the Chongqing here is simply a waste of resources. The real battlefield of the Chongqing should be in the Indian Ocean, it should be in the South Atlantic. The opponent should not be the Japanese Navy, which can be completely ignored, but the Grand Fleet of the British Royal Navy.

Not long after everyone chatted and gradually fell asleep, with a dull explosion, the warship visibly shook. The soldiers and technicians who had just fallen asleep did not move until the shrill sirens sounded.

"Enemy attack! Go to your post! Go to your post! "In the gap between the alarms, a hurried call came from the loudspeaker.

The officers and men of the Navy quickly got up from their bunks, quickly got dressed, and rushed towards their posts, but after they had taken their positions, they did not find the next news about the enemy. After waiting for a while, everyone felt that this time it was just a drill, and the mood of many comrades relaxed a lot. However, things did not dissolve as soon as everyone thought, and they went back to sleep, and it was not until more than an hour later that the people received orders.

The headquarters room was brightly lit, and the warship was indeed attacked, and no enemy fire was detected at the various observation posts. Coupled with the fact that there was an explosion and the impact felt on the hull, the command probably determined that the warship might have touched a mine. After having the direction, the inside of the command room did not feel relaxed. How heavy was the damage to the hull? Although the mines did not penetrate the hull, the damage was still there. The Meiji government was the only one that could lay mines in the Sea of Japan, was it because those scattered mines accidentally collided with warships, or did the Japanese deliberately lay mines on the shipping lanes? These things are unknown.

Mine attacks, unlike attacks by surface ships, can be detected or prevented. Mines are difficult to detect at night, and if they are encountered again, there is always a possibility that the warship will be traumatized. It's a terrible feeling.

The communications unit submitted to the Central Military Commission the incident of the Chongqing hitting a mine on the morning of the second day, and in a certain sense, this was the first time that the Chinese Navy had "suffered" in the Japanese Navy, and everyone's mood was not very good.

Weeser also discovered things that he hadn't paid much attention to before, and the unpredictability of war was beyond his imagination. It is unlikely that Japan deliberately laid mines on the shipping lane, and the Chongqing's luck seems to be very bad, as it hit a mine released by the Meiji Navy earlier. This kind of thing is very annoying, the battleship can rely on the rough skin and thick flesh to resist, what if it is a civilian ship that hits the mine this time? With the strength of the hull of the Republic of China, this mine can probably blow a hole in the hull of the civilian ship. How should China respond to this situation?

Before, Weeser felt that he could allow Japan to go to civil war on its own. Shedding more Japanese blood, Wei Ze did not feel any guilt in his heart. But this mine made Wei Ze feel that this idea might be a bit wishful thinking. The Asian part of the Republic of China and the American part of the country had more and more commercial and personnel exchanges, and the Sea of Japan was still a relatively dense shipping route. Is it just for the Chinese ships to bet on whether they will run into mines?

The Politburo held a meeting to discuss the matter, and although Wang Haiyang was a member of the Standing Committee, he did not dare to interject on this issue. He didn't understand after all. The main speakers were the military and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

What to do, it seems like there are not many options. Ordered the Meiji government not to allow the use of mines? The Minchao was very unoptimistic about the Meiji government's obedience. Naturally, the Meiji government knew that the force behind the Hokkaido Army was the Minchao. Talking to the Meiji government about this would only make the Meiji government feel that it could grasp some of China's sore feet. What's more, the Meiji government's navy did not have an overwhelming advantage, and it could even be said that it had a considerable disadvantage. Mines were one of the important weapons of the Meiji government. Could it be that the Minchao said that the Meiji government would not be allowed to use it, and when the Meiji government was facing destruction, the dog jumped over the wall, what else did they have to fear? As a result, the direction of the discussion tended to simply eliminate the Meiji government.

Wang Haiyang also thinks that it is probably right to solve the problem in this way. But Wei Ze's opinion surprised Wang Haiyang a little, Wei Ze said: "If we are going to annex Japan, it is nothing. Since we have no intention of annexing Japan, there is nothing wrong with letting the Meiji government continue to exist. ”

"Why?" Wang Haiyang couldn't help but ask.

Wei Ze said to Wang Haiyang: "Hokkaido is now willing to cooperate with us fully because they need our support. In order to get our support, they naturally want to maintain their relationship with us as much as possible. If the Hokkaido government had unified Japan, we would not have been able to continue to support them so simply. It will become more difficult to cooperate. At that time, do we have to turn around immediately? ”

Wang Haiyang was speechless for a while, and in the eyes of the officials of the Min Dynasty, Wei Zedudu was an existence somewhat similar to a saint. Now Wang Haiyang suddenly found that when Wei Zedu was coldly considering the problem, he didn't look like a saint at all, but more like a cool official. There is no illusion of warmth, and there is no enthusiasm for ideas. It's just a standard that can be achieved. However, Wang Haiyang looked at the calm expressions of the military and the heads of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and he didn't dare to ask again.

Foreign Minister Li Xin said: "How about we let them cease fighting? ”

Ruan Xihao nodded, "The truce is good. When this war is fought on both sides, we can let them cease fighting. ”

Li Xin was very sympathetic to the army's views, and he said with a smile: "Japan also has the Northern and Southern Dynasties, so it's not bad to let them come again." The struggle in the Kanto and Kansai was already fierce. ”

Wang Haiyang felt that this attitude was really very different from the work in China, and he asked again: "When can the truce stop?" ”

"If you can't fight, you can naturally maintain it." Ruan Xihao replied with an educational tone for his little brother.

"What about mines?" Wang Haiyang found that everyone seemed to have forgotten the focus of the discussion.

"If it is for the purpose of an armistice, the problem of mines is simple. Tell the Meiji government that if they continue to lay mines indiscriminately, we will support Hokkaido to fight them. If they are honest, then we are not opposed to an armistice. Li Xin gave an answer.

Only then did Wang Haiyang understand the way the Standing Committee members talked about things, and it turned out that these people had already had many cases, and all they needed at the meeting was to determine the basic principles of war or peace. However, Wang Haiyang couldn't help but ask another question, "If the Meiji government does not accept our proposal at all, then there is only a fight?" ”

"Do you think there's any other way than to fight?" Ruan Xihao frowned and said.

In the face of such doubts, Wang Haiyang was prepared. He smiled, "If you want to increase the budget, please let us know in advance." ”

"There is no need for an additional budget to deal with Japan. The normal cruising operations of the Navy turned into shelling. Ruan Xihao replied very simply. The Dominic Dynasty's superiority in the western Pacific was so great that normal military spending could pacify Japan and Goryeo.

finally got rid of the crisis of losing face, and Wang Haiyang breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. He did not regret such a temptation, and if he did not try to find the boundaries of cooperation, he would inevitably be in a hurry in case something happened later.

The Minji Dynasty had its own diplomatic staff in both the Meiji government and Hokkaido, and those on the Meiji government's side quickly approached the Meiji government. Ambassador Masaseki said: "Our ship touched a mine laid by your country while sailing in the Sea of Japan, and we ask your country to explain this. ”

Outside the Meiji government, there was a lot of confusion for a while, what does this mean? After a nervous inquiry, the Japanese foreign minister breathed a sigh of relief. The Chinese warship hit a Japanese mine drifting with the waves and was not sunk. The Chinese side demanded that the Japanese Meiji Navy not continue to lay mines.

"Your country's demands are too much." The Japanese Foreign Minister immediately shook his head.

The Chinese ambassador's face sank, "This mine did not cause us any damage, so we do not ask you for compensation." However, if this kind of problem occurs again next time, and our Minguo Dynasty is hit by a mine and sinks, how is Japan prepared to compensate? Don't tell me that this is an accident, if Japan drops such mines that endanger the shipping lanes again, our government will not sit idly by! ”