Chapter 1117: Ding You Goes to War

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Tokyo's "Shiji Shimbun" reported on 4 March: "The two countries then went to war, and the dry ships fired first, and our ships responded to the battle." A telegram arriving from Busan yesterday morning reported a large express report: At 7 a.m. on 1 March, near Toshima, because the Qianguo warships fired artillery to challenge us, our warships fought back and were unable to support them, and two warships, namely the 'Tsukushi' and 'Kaohsiung,' were savagely sunk, and more than 500 officers and men were killed. The four Naniwa ships fought bravely, were shot in many places, and suffered heavy casualties among officers and men...... It is ...... for a dry country to brutally trample on public international law and bully the weak."

On March 5, 23rd year, Guangxu sent a telegram to the Military Aircraft Department: "Order: ...... The Japanese secretly attacked our boat division outside the Yashan Pass, and I escorted the ships to fight bravely, fought for a long time, sank two Japanese soldiers, and was quite effective, and the king of Qingjun issued a decree to reward ......"

On March 10, 23rd year, Guangxu declared war on Japan:

"North Korea has been a member of our Great Cadre for more than 200 years, and it is known to China and foreign countries for its years of cultivation and tribute. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoIn the past ten years, there have been civil strife in the country from time to time, and the imperial court has repeatedly sent troops to survey and send personnel to garrison the country's capital to protect it at any time. Last year, there were bandits in Korea again, and the king asked for help to suppress them, and the love words were urgent. Li Shaoquan was immediately ordered to send troops to help, and as soon as he arrived at Ashan, the bandits scattered. The Naiwa people sent naval warships to Korea for no reason, and then increased the number of land soldiers by more than 10,000 and forced the DPRK to change its national affairs. I am subordinate to the Fusui Domain, and its internal political affairs are taken care of by the order. The treaty between Japan and Korea is a subordinate country, and there is no reason to force the government to reform the government by bullying and oppressing them with heavy troops. The public opinion of various countries is that the Japanese division is nameless and unreasonable, and it is advised to withdraw troops and negotiate peacefully. He blatantly ignored it, and so far he has not come to say, but has added troops one after another. The Korean people, Qianguo businessmen, and the people of the country were increasingly disturbed, and they went to protect them with additional troops. In the middle of the journey, there were suddenly a number of Japanese boats, and while I was unprepared, they opened artillery bombardment on the sea outside the Yashan Pass, but fortunately repelled our escort team. The situation of deception is far from unexpected. The country's failure to abide by conventions, its failure to abide by public law, its arbitrariness, its arbitrary tricks, and its provocation are clear. With a special notice to the world, Yu Xiaoran handled this matter in the imperial court, which was really benevolent and righteous, and the Japanese people and the Chongqing League provoked it, which was extremely unreasonable, and it was difficult to tolerate it again. Wang Yikuang of Zhuqing County and Li Shaoquan, the direct governor of Qingjun, sent various armies to quickly advance and suppress, gather strong divisions, and march one after another to save the Han people from the ashes. In addition, the generals and ministers of the army along the rivers and coasts were to reorganize and march in order, and when a Japanese steamer sailed into each mouth, they immediately attacked head-on and annihilated all of them, so that they would not retreat a little and commit crimes. Make this encyclical known. Chin this. ”

Japan's Meiji Emperor Muhito declared war on Qian:

"The Emperor of the Japanese Empire has shown that he is loyal and brave in the world: I have declared war on the Qianguo, and the hundreds of bureaucrats have the will to fight against the Qian, and the sea and land are at war with the Qian, and strive to achieve the goal of the country. If you do not violate public international law, you should do everything in your power and by all means, and you must do everything you can. However, since I ascended the throne, I have been in the field for 30 years, seeking to transform civilization into peaceful governance, knowing that it is impossible to make friends and neighbors lose harmony, and strive to make each of them have the friendship of friends and countries. Fortunately, the communication of the nations has become more and more friendly year by year. The incident of the DPRK is a dishonest and righteous act against our neighbors. Korea was the first independent state of the empire to join forces with other nations, and the Qianguo called Korea a vassal state and interfered in its internal affairs. In the midst of its internal strife, he sent troops to Korea under the pretext of saving his subjects. In accordance with international conventions, we dispatched troops to prepare for mutinies, so that Korea would never be in trouble and would ensure public order in the future. The empire then persuaded Korea to reform its government, strengthen the foundation of internal law and order, and establish the right and righteousness of complete independence externally. Although the DPRK has made promises, the Qianguo has always secretly tried every possible means to obstruct it, and all kinds of pretexts have been used to slow down its timing in order to reorganize its military armament on land and water. Once it is done, it is intended to achieve its desires by force. He even sent a large army to attack our ships in the Han Sea, which was extremely arrogant. The only way to do this was to make the foundation of public order in Korea go unchecked, and the treaties signed between the empire and Korea were ignored in order to harm the rights and interests of the empire and make peace in the East forever guaranteed. As far as what he did, he was familiar with it, and his plan was to sacrifice peace from the beginning to fulfill his hopes. At this point, although I have always been at peace with the end of peace, in order to proclaim the glory of the empire in China and abroad, I have to openly declare war, relying on the loyalty and courage of the people, and hope to quickly overcome peace forever, with the glory of the whole empire. ”

Emperor Meiji sighed when he looked at the edict on the declaration of war against the Japanese published in his own name published in the newspaper.

Of course, this edict was not made by him, but was drafted by someone from the Imperial Household Province, and he himself simply copied it.

In his heart, he was reluctant to write such an edict.

However, he could not fail to write.

What Hirobumi Ito said to him that day was already very clear.

If Japan does not take advantage of this time to start a war with Qianguo and defeat Qianguo and become the hegemon of East Asia, it will never have a chance in the future.

But will Japan really be able to defeat the Qianguo?

The outcome of the Battle of Toshima, he already knew.

The Japanese Navy did not make a good start, and originally went to attack the troop carriers, but not only did it not succeed, but instead lost two old ships, "Tsukushi" and "Kaohsiung."

Although the loss of these two warships had little impact on the overall strength of the Japanese Navy, it was a heavy blow to the morale of the Japanese military and civilians.

You can tell from the newspaper in his hand.

Just behind the "Edict on the Declaration of War" on the front page is a small Japanese-style painting entitled "Combat Map of the 'Ningyuan' Dry Ships" as a warning that "the dry ships can fight."

Although the Japanese people showed extremely fanatical support for the government to launch a war against Qian, they did not fully believe that they could defeat Qianguo.

This time, will Japan really be able to defeat the Qianguo? Emperor Meiji asked himself more than once.

What happens if you fail?

"Your Majesty." Hirobumi Ito's voice pulled Emperor Meiji's thoughts back.

"Oh, it's Ito." Emperor Meiji looked at Hirobumi Ito, who had been called, nodded, sat down in a chair, and pointed to another chair opposite.

Hirobumi Ito bowed again to Emperor Meiji and sat down in his chair.

"Ito-qing, you've been to see Minister of the Admiral Ito, is he still going to take the blame and resign?" Emperor Meiji asked.

After the defeat in the Battle of Toshima, Vice Admiral Ito Yuma, Minister of the Japanese Navy, deeply remorseled himself and told the media that he would resign on the same day.

Brothers Ito Yuma and Ito Yuhiro both participated in the Battle of Moss Bay, and are senior generals of the Japanese Navy, contributing a lot to the development of the Japanese Navy.

"Lieutenant General Ito has made up his mind and cannot be retained, and the minister thinks that it is time for His Majesty to consider a candidate to replace him." Hirobumi Ito replied calmly.

Listening to Ito's answer, Emperor Meiji let out a heavy sigh.

Of course, Ito understood what the emperor was worried about, but he couldn't tell the emperor the truth right now.

He had consulted Katsu Haizhou, who was quite popular in Japan, about the prospects of the war, and asked Katsu Haizhou to take up the important post of Japanese Minister of Navy, but Katsu Haizhou clearly told him that the Japanese Navy could not defeat the Qianguo Navy, and at the same time resolutely refused to serve as Minister of the Navy.

The former Minister of the Navy, Takehiro Nasumoto, resigned before the war, citing health reasons, and Ito Hirobumi tried to keep him, but Takehiro Natsumoto insisted on resigning, and said similar things to Katsukaishu.

These two famous Japanese naval figures unanimously believed that Japan could not defeat the Qianguo!

Probably sorry for Ito Hirobumi, Katsu Kaishu then instructed his student Vice Admiral Ito Yuma to serve as Minister of the Navy on his behalf, which was regarded as an explanation to Ito Hirobumi.

After Ito Yuma became Minister of the Navy, he made no small contribution to the development of the Japanese Navy, but despite this, like his teacher Katsu Kaishu, he was also pessimistic about the prospects of the war and did not advocate a war against the Qianguo.

After trying to persuade him to no avail, Ito Hirofumi confessed that he had to be replaced by someone who was confident of victory in the war to serve as Minister of the Navy.

Hirobumi Ito's candidates for the Minister of the Navy are Vice Admiral Nakamuta Kuranosuke, Renrei Keifan and Rear Admiral Gonbei Yamamoto.

Koukou

Mouth mouth mouth

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