He didn't answer Zhang Kui's words, he just smiled slightly, "Zhang Kui, no matter what we do, the first thing is to sit on our butts You immediately organize an officer corps and take over the training of the Ryukyu Army, do you have the manpower at hand to support this Ryukyu affair?" ”

"Defending the Ryukyus?"

"Yes" Qin Kai smiled and glanced at Zhang Kui, "Don't worry too much, if the next plan goes smoothly, the Wa Kingdom will not dare to reach out to the Ryukyus in a few years."

When Zhang Kui heard this, he smiled, "Teacher, that's no problem at all, you let Mawei Shipping set up a transfer station here, give me half a year, and I can build an impenetrable fortress with this Naha."

As soon as Qin Kai heard it, this guy is now full of war, according to his own estimate, the next thing that can have problems is Vietnam and North Korea, after the Ryukyu island chain is mastered, his own strength can be regarded as having a completely controlled overseas base area, but in addition to the good scenery, this broken place is a mess with poor resources, do you want to engage in Shenma tourism by yourself......

He glared, "Zhang Kui, let me ask you about business, you squeeze me a safe man to guard this side, leave an officer brigade, and train the Ryukyu Army, you pull the Shenma Fortress."

"Got it, teacher, I'll prepare the officers for you tomorrow, and you have to transfer my manpower again, and the team that I finally set up ......" Zhang Kui muttered two sentences, and then gave Qin Kai a glare and swallowed all the words behind

Qin Kai smiled slightly, Zhang Kui has been engaged in civil affairs and military politics in coastal defense, and he has not made great achievements, and this time he is not the main force in the Ryukyus, and he is also the auxiliary of the navy, but after this battle, the results of this fight are very brilliant.

"Don't grind, look at my governor's yamen, there are not many people, and you have so many people, you are not satisfied with helping me get these things done early tomorrow morning," After saying this, he kicked Zhang Kui out of the door.

Outside, a group of naval officers rushed in, and they all squeezed their eyebrows at Zhang Kui and shouted, "General Zhang, you have to invite you to dinner for this great victory, the prisoners that our navy can capture are a fraction of yours, and you alone slaughtered 2,000 Japanese soldiers."

"Go, go" Zhang Kui was naturally very familiar with Lu Han and Xu Shoushan, and knew that they were also deliberately ridiculing, so he ran away

Entering the house, at this time, several officers had already hung up the charts, Lu Han presided over this military meeting, Qin Kai has always been the mastermind behind the scenes, but he does not interfere in the specific battle arrangements, that thing is too professional, too brain-consuming, he has no mind and no energy to study more, so he has always been an observer, or only makes strategic speeches

However, there are a large number of people attending the meeting today, in addition to the senior officers of the Nanyang Naval Division, there are also Liu Buchan, Lin Taizeng, Deng Shichang, and Ye Zugui of the Beiyang Fleet, these are also high-grade generals according to their official positions, but after this coordinated operation at sea, this is the result of a hard-fought contest for the discipline and combat effectiveness of the Nanyang Naval Division, which makes them sincerely admire.

Speaking of which, they are all like-minded comrades-in-arms, and they all have the experience of the Mawei Ship Master School, but it is easy to temporarily integrate into the pre-war military meeting of the Nanyang Naval Division, here, these senior officers of the Beiyang naturally noticed Qin Kai's movements. The de facto ruler of the Nanyang Naval Division did not like to talk at military meetings.

The Qin governor only said two things, one was intelligence, and the other was affairs involving money and logistical supplies.

This military meeting invited the officers of the Beiyang Naval Division, which is naturally Qin Kai's meaning, and even this joint operation of the Beiyang Naval Division is also Qin Kai's meaning, Lu Han and Xu Shoushan's generals of course thought of some reasons, but they naturally buried these ideas deep in their hearts, which must involve the struggle of officialdom, for these generals who are good at military affairs, they are not far away from spending too much energy in the deceitful officialdom.

Lu Han first reported to the generals present the results of the battle, the results of the naval battle, these naval officers all knew, the three Japanese battleships escaped with serious injuries, but they did not know the results of the land battle, Zhang Kui's bloody battle on the island, to the military meeting only had 2,900 enemy annihilation, how many captures a series of figures.

Then Xu Shoushan talked about the damage of the battleship and the ammunition supply, the ammunition of the Nanyang Naval Division has been sent by Mawei Shipping day and night, and it is estimated that the supply can be completed within a few days, the only problem is that some of the ammunition of the Beiyang Naval Division is not universal, and Liu Buyun said that the problem is not big, and the loss of ammunition on their battleship is only one percent. ,

Speaking of this, several pipe bands in Beiyang are somewhat embarrassed, in this battle, although the most advanced Chaoyong and Yangwei of the Beiyang Naval Division have participated in the battle, but the effect is really unsatisfactory, only seriously injured the Japanese battleship of the same class "Tsukushi", and the loss of ammunition is obviously a measure of the strength of the battle, which shows that the artillery of the Nanyang Naval Division is far sharper than that of Beiyang.

Fortunately, the military meeting was very tightly arranged, and immediately began the next topic, Lu Han pointed to the map near the Ryukyu island of Anmi, "Everyone, the next battle plan is to recapture the Anmi Oshima, which is an important island in the Ryukyus," he drew a circle on the Anmi Oshima, and then drew a straight line to point to the northwest, and finally landed on a position in the southwest of the Japanese island nation

"The Japanese fleet that was routed by us will inevitably return here," Lu Han's stick tapped at that location on the map, "Japan's Sasebo Military Port in Nagasaki, this is our important topic today, continue to put pressure on Japan to destroy Japan's Sasebo Port and even more other ports"

Several Beiyang pipe belts sat together, at this time their expressions were somewhat surprised, but a little excited, and they had a simple exchange with each other's eyes, Liu Buchan, Deng Shichang and Qin Kai had the experience of having a long talk about wine, that was more than a year ago, when Deng Shichang also mentioned the question of when he would be able to dominate the world

Unexpectedly, a year later, the cooperation between the two sides once again was able to crisscross overseas, not only recovering the Ryukyus, which had been forcibly occupied by the Japanese for many years, but also defeating the entire Japanese fleet

As the flagship commander of the Beiyang Fleet this time, Liu Buyun naturally fully understands that this matter is somewhat different from being ordered to recapture the Ryukyus, and they naturally have to participate in the attack on Anmei Oshima, but the attack on the Japanese mainland Sasebo Military Port, in terms of their identity, still has some concerns, after all, the order issued by the Beiyang Minister Zhang Shusheng instructed to assist in the attack on the Ryukyus

He glanced at Qin Kai, got up and arched his hand, "Lord Qin, we will definitely obey the dispatch of the adults on the beautiful island, but this is ...... Sasebo Military Port, Lord Zhang didn't let me act cheaply when he left, I'm afraid it's a little inconvenient."

Qin Kai looked at Liu Buchan, the first student of the first phase of the Mawei Ship Administration, this political consciousness is quite high, it seems that they will not do things without a name, but in this matter, he must pull them to do it together, if there is a benefit, he will take it, and if there is no benefit, he will want to slip away, he smiled in his heart, look at my method.

"If you break into Sasebo this time, this is a big event that will be famous for a hundred generations, Zixiang, I don't know if you want to go? If you want to go, I will help you land in this name" After Qin Kai finished speaking, he looked at Liu Buyun and Deng Shichang with a smile.

Several people briefly exchanged opinions, and Liu Buyun finally said loudly and cheerfully: "Lord Qin, we are not afraid of things in Beiyang, so we naturally want to go."

"That's good......"

After several days of sailing, several Mawei cargo ships finally arrived at the special wharf of the Mawei port, and an officer hurriedly jumped off the merchant ship and got on the carriage specially used by the wharf and went straight to the governor's palace.

Zhang Peilun held the news sent back from the Ryukyus, with his sophistication and calmness, his hands were still a little trembling at this time, and at the beginning of the Ryukyu occupation, he was still just promoted to the emperor's side because of the editing examination, and it can be regarded as entering the direct channel for the promotion of civil officials.

He and Zhang Zhidong are known as the two major generals of Qingliu, and Chen Baochen, a bachelor of Hanlin, Huang Tifang, and Baoting, a servant of the general government, discuss political affairs all day long, and criticize traitors.

Unexpectedly, now he can re-incorporate Ryukyu into the vassal of the Qing Dynasty through his own planning, and this time he and Qin Kai and Ding Richang have not bothered much about this military dispatch, but Zhang Peilun is very satisfied with the participation of Cheng Dù now, if he wants to personally train the troops and raise salaries, he is really confused...... Thinking of this, he immediately asked people to prepare a car and brought the officer who delivered the letter to Ding Richang.

Lao Ding waited for this news for many days, and finally waited for the great news, after a secret discussion between the two, they naturally went to arrange, this is a great feat, the Qing Dynasty has been founded for almost 300 years, and there are no two major things such as opening up the territory and expanding the territory, but there are no two cases when Qianlong Ye regained the Western Regions and renamed Xinjiang If it is counted, this is also the second case, and the two of them are old fritters, so they naturally understand what a good opportunity this is. ,

Tianjin Wei, Zhili Governor Yamen, Governor Zhang Shusheng is losing his temper at a few small officials, a few small officials because of the disposition of the copy, was scolded by the Governor Bloody Spray, a few small officials while being submissive, while secretly sneering in their hearts, this kind of thing has not been done in the past, it was originally a trivial matter, but who let us touch the mold, just in time for the Governor Governor to be in a bad mood these days......

At this time, suddenly Zhou Fu hurried in, the old man was almost 60 people, but today's script was very relaxed, he took a telegram, hurriedly ran to Zhang Shusheng, and whispered: "Zhenxuan, win...... Victory."

Hearing these words, Zhang Shusheng immediately changed his expression, his eyes narrowed, the corners of his mouth also grinned, snorted, waved his hand to signal the officials to retreat, stretched out his hand to take the telegram handed over by Zhou Fu, and asked while reading: "Wushan, why is the news so late, I think something is wrong."

Zhou Fu and Zhang Shusheng are both veterans of the Huai Army, so they naturally understand how much benefit this victory can bring to Zhang Shusheng, and hurriedly complimented: "Zhenxuan, congratulations, with this victory, your prestige is nowhere to be affected except for Lord Zhongtang, why is this news late?" It is said that it was delayed for two days because of a storm at sea."

"Well, Wushan, come, we have to discuss this matter well, this time, our Huai army is more powerful," Zhang Shusheng said proudly while looking at it.

Zhou Fu was accompanied by a smile next to him, but he was quite scheming in his heart, this Qin Governor was really not simple, he tied Zhang Shusheng to his warship, so he really had to make some trouble in Beiyang, although this matter was not dominated by Zhang Shusheng, but it was an indisputable fact that Lao Zhang's reputation was like a sky.

Of course, the news of the Ryukyu War, he had already sent an urgent telegram to Lord Zhongtang, who was worrying about Ding, Lord Zhongtang was the Dinghai Divine Needle of the Huai Army, how could he not know about such a major event

In fact, the first person to receive the news in the land of the Qing Dynasty was the Japanese Minister to China, Fumio Yano, who had just received an order from the Japanese Imperial Governor Iwakura Goshi that negotiations with the Qing State should be resumed immediately, and the Japanese army was defeated in the Ryukyus

The Minister of Industry, Ito Hirobumi, also sent a secret telegram saying that the treaty must be concluded quickly at any cost

His message was two days earlier than the news that had arrived at Mawei, and had returned to Sasebo five days earlier, at 10 p.m. on 18 February, when the remnants of the Japanese fleet had returned to Sasebo, and when it set sail 10 days earlier, the mighty Japanese fleet consisting of 10 warships and troop carriers had returned, leaving only a lone flagship, the Fuso.

The two cruisers Tsukushi and Kongo, who retreated with the Fuso, were supposed to have their hulls damaged, and they were permeable to the water during the continuous storm at sea, and finally did not escape the end of sinking, and the Fuso rescued a few officers and men, and after more than two days of turbulence, it finally sailed back to the Sasebo Military Port.

Arai Arai Ariya committed suicide because of the failure of the naval battle command, and he took all the responsibility for the defeat, while several other officers who escaped and returned, including the commander of the cruiser "Kongo" Arima, were summoned by the Imperial Admiralty to inquire about the details of the battle.

Two days later, the fleet of the army Kuroda Osa, which had left for the Ryukyu Island, also appeared outside the harbor in despair, transporting four squadrons of the Mitsubishi fleet, bringing back less than 300 men, and the others were said to have all died on the island

This news was completely blocked for the time being, and only the highest-level political and military figures were informed of the news, and among the imperial government's highest power organs, Iwakura Gushi, Ito Hirobumi, Saigo Tsumichi, and Mixian Aritomo were discussing matters urgently.

The Minister of the Navy and the Minister of War, who were still confident before the expedition, were worried at this time, and it was really too unexpected that the army of the expedition to the Ryukyus had suffered such a miserable defeat, and from the statement of the surviving naval commander Arima Shinichi and the report of Arai Yugong who committed suicide, the naval commander revealed an astonishing news that the warships of the Japanese Navy, both in terms of quantity and quality, were far behind the fleet of the Qing State.

However, the report submitted by Kuroda Daisa, the commander of the Marine War, also stated the same situation: the Qing Army attacking the Ryukyus had a strong fighting will, and in terms of the power of guns and artillery, it was stronger than the Japanese Army

Since the second year of the Meiji era, the Imperial Governor has continued to increase the expenditure of the Japanese army, of course, the fastest growth is still the Japanese Navy, which has purchased new warships almost every year since 1874, and now the Nagasaki Shipyard and Hyogo Shipyard have also made considerable progress in the production of warships. ,

Of course, the technology of Japanese shipyards, in this era, is actually not as good as the Mawei shipbuilding before Qin Kai crossed, can only build wooden-hulled iron-waki, and can only imitate the single expansion steam engine, the quality is unsatisfactory, and now Japan's largest shipping group, Mitsubishi Chaebol's Mitsubishi Shipping Company, nearly 100 cargo ships, 9 percent of the purchase in China's Shanghai port.

Some right-wing books in later generations of Japan whitewashed how the Japanese were in the early stage of industry at that time, and it was completely impossible to change the technical clumsiness of Japan's government-run iron factories in this era, and for a country that had only just transformed from a feudal society and a constitutional monarchy, the bureaucratic style was still prevalent in those government-run industries

Of course, in the face of this erosive situation, Iwakura didn't have the slightest idea of panicking, this Ryukyu Island didn't have much resources in the first place, except for the port of Naha, which could also create some tariffs, the benefits in other aspects were not satisfactory, of course, in the case of having the strength to control it, he didn't mind occupying it at all.

However, in the current situation, the most important thing is not the gains and losses of the Ryukyus, but the impact of this defeat on his position as the left minister of the imperial government, and the political situation in Japan is now extremely unpredictable, and the opposition forces have established the Liberal Party with Itagaki Reinosuke as prime minister, and the Constitutional Improvement Party with Shigenobu Okuma as prime minister, all of which are engaged in a game for the election of the people.

These are all heavyweights in Japanese political circles, and now there is a wave of the establishment of an elected parliament in Japanese political circles, and these ideas are undoubtedly very radical practices in Japan, which has just ended feudal rule, and it is a political concept that separates itself from the system of taizheng officials.

In the past, in the process of conquest of the Ryukyus and Taiwan, although the goal of occupying Taiwan was not achieved, it still used diplomatic means and won the victory of China's symbolic indemnity, so these radical practices of wanting to divide power from the imperial government were temporarily suppressed, but now, a sudden defeat undoubtedly gave these opposition forces an excellent opportunity to fight back.