Ito Yuhiro saw that it took so long for the main guns of the "East" ironclad ship to be prepared, and he couldn't help but curse fiercely in his heart, "Damn the gun room!" A bunch of! ”

At this time, Ito Youheng had already made up his mind, after the end of this war, he returned to Japan, and he must go to the Ministry of War to carry out a drastic transformation of the "East"!

The first thing to be demolished is this damn gun room!

In the previous battle, the main reason why the main guns of the "East" fought so badly and fired so slowly was mainly because when the battleships were constantly changing positions, the time of the Japanese gunners was wasted on moving back and forth between the various gun windows in the gun room!

If it had been the open fort, the main guns of the "East" might not have achieved a "zero record" that not even a single Chinese sailing ship could hit!

Having said that, in fact, Ito Yuhiro said that he had wronged them a little by saying that he had wronged them, and if he went down to the gun room now, he would know that the Japanese gunners were actually operating with all their might. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

As an old ironclad ship built in 1865, the 11-inch Armstrong breech gun equipped with the "East" was advanced at the time, but in 1874, it has fallen far behind the times. It was not easy for the Japanese gunners to operate such an old gun, and it was quite difficult to prepare it in 10 minutes.

At this time, in the dark main gun room of the "East", under the command and order of the gunner, the Japanese gunners sweated profusely and slowly moved the muzzle of the main gun that had been loaded and aimed at the woods on the shore.

"Boom!"

With a loud bang, a cloud of black smoke with dark red flames erupted from the muzzle of the black hole, and an 11-inch cannonball flew towards the shore like a meteor, burrowing into the woods and exploding.

A huge black smoke ball rose from the woods, and Ito raised his binoculars to observe the woods closely, and he saw that after the explosion, more Japanese soldiers poured out of the forest and rushed towards the beach on the shore with their lives.

Not far away, the "Rijin" and "Meng Chun" also opened fire one after another, and one shell after another flew into the woods, exploding in the woods one after another, raising clouds of black smoke and a large number of broken wood and flying stones, flying into the sky one after another.

Seeing the navy come to the rescue at the most critical moment, Saigo felt a burst of gratitude from Dao's heart, but despite this, he was now in complete despair.

After falling from his horse, looking at the panicked defeated soldiers and the wounded all over the beach, Saigo screamed and snatched the sword from one of the guards, and was about to commit suicide.

The guards were horrified, howled one by one, and threw him to the ground, snatching the knife from his hand.

"Give me the knife! I'm going to kill myself and apologize! Saigo screamed as he struggled desperately.

Seeing this chaotic scene, Gu Gancheng couldn't help but be shocked.

"General! No, it can't be! Gu Gancheng stepped forward and snatched the Heavenly Knife from the guards, and shouted, "We still have a chance to win!" We're not going to fail! ”

The rumbling cannons of the navy's ships seemed to remind Saigo of something, and he sighed, gave up the idea of killing himself, and stopped struggling.

"The second army should have set off by now! As soon as our cannons arrive, we can blast all these savage creatures to pieces! Gu Gancheng said what he really thought in his heart, "We will definitely win!" Checkmate! ”

Saigo nodded and stood up with the help of the guards. He turned his head to look at the woods, which were already covered in black smoke, and shook his fist viciously.

At this time, on the flybridge of the ironclad ship "To", Rear Admiral Ito Yuma held a telescope and was engrossed in observing the situation in the woods, not noticing the almost suicide farce on the beach.

"We can't chase anymore." A Paiwan warrior looked at the craters formed by the explosion of shells in the woods and the large corpses around them, and a look of fear flashed in his eyes, and he turned to Erlan, who was clutching the rifle with the bayonet on it.

Erlan looked at the corpses with a gloomy face, these people were in tatters, half of their bodies were blown black, some of them had mutilated limbs, about a third of them were Paiwan soldiers, and the rest of those in black were Japanese soldiers.

Just now, just as the Paiwan warriors were struggling to chase down the Japanese soldiers, preparing to drive them out into the sea in one go, this sudden and terrible explosion forced the Paiwan warriors to stop their pursuit.

Those shells that came from the sky indiscriminately blew up all the Japanese soldiers and Paiwan people who were fighting in the forest.

Now these explosions have fallen in the other direction, where they continue to wreak havoc.

Of course, Erlan knew what caused such a terrible injury!

Cannon!

For cannons, Elan and other Paiwan warriors are actually no strangers.

They had seen the scene of the invasion of American ships and the guns used in the drills of the Qing garrison here, and they had seen it. The last time they saw artillery firing was when Lin Yizhe's "Weiyuan" ship was shooting targets at sea.

Although they had some knowledge of the power of the cannon, this time, they experienced first-hand the horror of this weapon.

Seeing that several of the injured Paiwan warriors were lying on the ground and screaming, Erlan and several of his companions stepped forward quickly, risking being hit by enemy shells, carrying or dragging them out. Soon, the Paiwan warriors evacuated the woods. And the explosions behind them still didn't stop.

"Stop shooting!" Ito Yuma put down the binoculars and ordered in a deep voice.

"The enemy may still come over there, and we should carry out a deep artillery bombardment." Ito pointed to a hill in the distance and said, "There may be enemies again." ”

"Save your shells!" Ito Yuma glared at his younger brother with some annoyance, "Don't forget! The enemy's main fleet has not yet appeared! ”

Ito woke up suddenly, nodded busily, turned around and gave the order.

Soon, all the cannons of the "East" ironclad ship fell silent, and as the flag signal was raised, the "Rijin" and "Mengchun", which saw the signal from the flagship, also stopped shelling.

Ito Yuma looked at the messy beach, lowered his binoculars, and let out a heavy sigh.

"I hope that when the main fleet of the Qing Kingdom appears, our reinforcements will also arrive in time." Ito Yuma stared at the beach and said to himself.

"The Qing fleet won't show up so soon, will it?" Ito understood what his brother meant, and although he was also worried that the Chinese fleet might appear at any time, he still felt a little unimpressed by the deep concern shown by his brother.

"You'd better pray to the eight million heavenly gods that the Qing fleet will never appear, or when it does, be destroyed by a storm." Ito Yuma said coldly, then turned away from the flybridge, leaving his stunned brother there.

Almost the same as Ito Yuma's melancholy mood, at this moment, on the sea near Penghu, another naval commander is also waiting for a turnaround with melancholy and helplessness.

"I don't know what happened to the coal carrier."

Standing on the flybridge of the armored cruiser "Fujing," Lin Yizhe couldn't help but sigh when he saw the dinghy coming from the dense fog and leaning towards the "Fujing."

Pei Jinquan heard the self-blame in Lin Yizhe's sigh, he looked at Lin Yizhe's bloodshot eyes, and secretly worried about his body in his heart.

In his impression, Lin Yizhe has never been so haggard as he is now.

He knew that at this time, Lin Yizhe was already a little messy.

Because the fog was still not dispersed, the anxious Lin Yizhe finally couldn't bear it, and ordered the fleet to set sail forcibly, trying to break out of the fog area, but he didn't expect that soon after the fleet sailed, the accompanying coal carrier "Huili" hit the reef, Lin Yizhe realized the danger, and had to order to stop sailing again, and make every effort to rescue the "Huili".

After a while, the people on the dinghy came to the "Fujing", and Lin Yizhe quickly stepped off the flybridge and asked, "How is the situation?" Is the injury serious? ”

"My lord, the 'Whaley' is on a reef, the bottom of the ship is damaged, the sea water has now poured into the hold, and now it is draining the water at full strength, if there is no wind and waves, it will not sink, but it is ......," said the officer who went to investigate the situation, "I am afraid that if the sea water rises again, it will flood the coal bunker......

Lin Yizhe was shocked, he knew that if the coal on the ship was polluted by seawater and could not be used, then the movement of the fleet would be greatly affected.

Lin Yizhe immediately ordered to send small boats to inform each ship in turn, and sent people to help the "Hyeri" drain the water, and at the same time rush to transport coal.

With Lin Yizhe's order, all the ships immediately began to act, because Lin Yizhe said that he did a good job, the rum and beef curry rice were served openly tonight, and the morale of the sailors was greatly boosted, and even the junior officers of each ship joined the ranks of rushing to transport.

Although everyone's mood is quite enthusiastic, Lin Yizhe's heart is always full of haze.

At this time, his mind was full of the shadow of Aya.

And Lin Yizhe didn't know that during this period of time, his heart was full of gloom, and the supreme ruler of the Japanese Empire, Emperor Meiji.

Royal Palace, Imperial Garden.

The attendant picked up the flask and filled each of the cups for Emperor Meiji and Hirobumi Ito, who were sitting across from each other and chatting.

"Wang Yangming once said a very famous sentence, does Your Majesty know?" Hirobumi Ito looked at the slightly melancholy Emperor Meiji and asked calmly.

"Wang Yangming has said a lot of famous sayings, I don't know which one Itoqing said......" Emperor Meiji sighed, and replied with a little absent-mindedness.

"It's a famous ......" Hirobumi Ito also felt the obvious uneasiness of Emperor Meiji, he picked up his glass, stared at the clear liquor in the glass, took a deep breath, and said: "'It is easy to break the mountain, but it is difficult to break the heart'!" ”

"Oh?" Emperor Meiji was stunned, and he looked at Ito Hirobumi with a little doubt, but did not continue to ask.

"Yamasan-kun, like me, was born from Matsushita Murajuku, the teachings of Mr. Yoshida Shoin, and he can be said to have engraved it in his heart, so he has always regarded the conquest of the Korean Qing Kingdom as the only way to revitalize the empire, and he never forgot to go to war against these two countries, which is a thief in his heart. And although Saigo-kun's appeal is different from that of Yamasan-kun, it is not far away......" Ito Hirobumi paused, let out a long breath, and continued: "Your Majesty is different from Itagaki-kun, when you think about the people's livelihood, you never forget to enrich the country and strengthen the army. But the so-called extreme things must be reversed, after being too persistent. This has also become a thief in His Majesty's heart! ”

"Then Itoqing thinks that I was mistaken by the thief in my heart?" Emperor Meiji's brows were habitually furrowed, but he always had a fatherly awe for Ito Hirobumi, and he did not take Ito Hirobumi's words for granted.

"Your Majesty, the minister is not saying that Your Majesty's proposition is wrong. In the same way, the minister did not think that there was any mistake in the strategy of the county monarch to conquer the Qing Kingdom and annex Korea, but in terms of grasping the timing, it was a little risky. Ito said to the emperor in a tactful tone.

"Yes! It was precisely because I felt that this trip was risky and that it might cause accidents, so I ordered to stop sending troops to Taiwan, but I didn't expect Saigo to dare to disobey his orders, which is really ......" Emperor Meiji's eyes flashed with a hint of resentment.

Ito pondered for a long time before continuing: "Your Majesty, do you think that with the national strength of Japan today, you can defeat the Qing State or Russia? ”

"Can't!" Emperor Meiji replied in the affirmative.

"The minister has been reading "The Biography of Napoleon" recently, and often covers the book and thinks for a long time. Why did Bonaparte's talent and France's national strength end up in such a dead end? "And the final conclusion is actually very simple, because Napoleon is using the power of France alone against the whole of Europe that Britain manipulates behind the scenes......"

He stared at Emperor Meiji, "Your Majesty understands this?" ”

"What do Ito-qing mean......" Emperor Meiji asked, after pondering for a long time, as if he had realized something, "does Japan have to fight for the British in order to rise?" ”

"It's not that simple." Ito Hirobumi picked up the wine glass, raised his head and drank it, and said, "Your Majesty, can Russia be regarded as a strong country?" ”

"Russia is naturally a great power." Emperor Meiji gave Hirobumi Ito an affirmative reply.

"Your Majesty." Ito Hirobumi nodded lightly and continued: "Today's German Empire, before defeating Austria-Hungary and fighting a decisive battle with France, seems to be called the Kingdom of Prussia, right? ”

Remembering that just a month ago, Emperor Meiji was stunned again, he didn't speak, just nodded quietly, listening to Hirobumi Ito's words.

"And how did the Kingdom of Prussia become the German Empire? There is only one reason...... "Ito Hirobumi continued, "because Prussia defeated Austria-Hungary, the recognized power of Europe, in the war, and almost defeated France, the overlord of the European continent!" ”

"This is the path of Prussia, and it is also the path that the empire should take......," Ito Hirobumi's eyes flashed with burning fire, "In the next ten years, the national policy of the empire should be centered on defeating Russia, and in order to defeat Russia, the empire must first defeat the Qing ......"

"Itoqing, but you also said just now that the time is not right to risk a war with the Qing Kingdom!" Emperor Meiji said as he looked at Hirobumi Ito with a slightly confused look.

"With the current situation, it is inevitable to fight with the Qing Kingdom in the next ten years!" Hirobumi Ito said, "Your Majesty knows that in the eyes of the British, compared with the Qing Kingdom, Japan is just a small country!" And the best way to get the British and the Western powers to abandon this misunderstanding was to defeat the Qing directly on the battlefield! ”

When Emperor Meiji heard this, his expression became solemn, and his eyes were shining.

"In addition, another advantage of defeating the Qing state is that it will create a favorable environment for the rise of Japan at the same time." Ito Hirobumi's voice was not high, and he seemed a little dull, but it was unusually clear, "If Your Majesty wants to lead Japan to compete for world dominance, then Japan must spend more than ten years seeking another major change after the Restoration!" And if you want to achieve this great cause, you can't get it without conquering the Qing country. Speaking of this, Ito Hirofumi was already sonorously moved, "The Qing country has a vast land and a large population, but the education is low and the people's wisdom is not opened, and its so-called foreign affairs are just the personal struggle of a few cadres!" And those who live in the temple are full of relatives and nobles and the so-called Han Confucians, either those who only know their personal wealth and do not know the general trend of the world, or they are those who only talk about the incompleteness every day...... As long as our navy and army can deal a severe blow to the Qing State on the battlefield, then the Qing court will lose all will to resist, whether it is ceding land or paying indemnities, as long as they can still stay in that position, they will accept all the demands of the empire. ”

"And as long as you get the money and land from the Qing Kingdom, then the empire will have a second chance to be excited!" Ito Hirobumi was already so excited that his nose was fluttering and he was short of breath, "Having such a large but weak neighbor as Kiyokoku is a God-given opportunity for Japan. The future Qing Kingdom will be to Japan, to Mexico, Inca to Spain, and India to England today, and if the empire cannot grasp this rare opportunity, it will be heaven and Buddha, and it will suffer from it! ”

Emperor Meiji had already heard the gods, and Ito Hirobumi's words just now were indeed like an initiation, and he carefully tasted Ito Hirobumi's words, feeling as if he was chewing a thousand-year-old olive, and the more he tasted it, the more meaningful it became.

It took a long time for Emperor Meiji to say, "If this is the case, it will be of great benefit to the revitalization of Japan...... But in the current situation, Ito-qing, what do you mean......"

At this moment, Emperor Meiji has already figured out what Ito Hirobumi just said, what is the purpose!

"This time, Xixiang has been disobeying the order of the province to send troops for many days, and in addition to sending ministers to negotiate with our country, although the Qing State has claimed to send troops to stop it, it has been shouting for many days, and there is no actual action!" Ito Hirobumi said in a deep voice, "This shows that Qingguo is just bluffing!" ”