In front of the Japanese Emperor, Emperor Taisho looked at all the important ministers, including the Minister of the Navy, the Minister of War, and some highly decorated veterans, these people gathered together to discuss this biggest crisis since the Meiji Restoration in Japan, in order to seize Shandong, China, the combined fleet occupying Qingdao may be more auspicious, Japan spent 20 years, with countless foreign exchange and senior efforts, and finally formed a super fleet, which has not completely bloomed its brilliance, has sunk into the sea, especially the King Kong, The cost of more than 3 million pounds, but just after the sea trials, when not even a little meritorious service was established, it completely sank into the sea, which is simply sad.

The fleet is very expensive, but no matter what, the accumulation of money can also be bought, at present, Japan is building Kongo-class there are 3 ships, the earliest construction of the Hiei, is the keel laid in 1911, is expected to be completed next year, which is a great support for the Japanese Navy, and the follow-up two, will also be in service in a few years, this was originally an opportunity for the rapid expansion of the Japanese Navy, Japan spent 20 years, built a complete shipbuilding system, and at a huge cost, from the hands of the British, With the Kongo-class method, Japan can finally produce capital ship-class warships, and in time, Japan will become a maritime power, just like Britain.

It's a pity that this qiē has been cut off here, although the warships of the Combined Fleet are very important, but what is more important is that those naval soldiers, who spent 20 years, spent a lot of money, and even continued to send people to study abroad, and this is the formation of a group of naval elites, all of whom follow the United Fleet. Sinking into the ocean, just this blow. It's not something that can be made up for in three or five years, when the time comes. Even if the King Kong-class and a series of subsequent warships are built, who will drive them?

The navy has encountered a big problem, but the current focus is not the navy, but the army, and there are at least 40,000 remnants of the army, which are surrounded by the Northwest Army in Qingdao. These are all elite soldiers. Emperor Taisho's eyes first fell on the navy, and the Minister of the Navy, Minoru Saito, had a somewhat ugly face and said: "The combined fleet has not returned, and for the time being, the remaining forces of the navy can only protect the homeland, and there is no way to support the war against China." ”

The entire combined fleet has already been lost, and Minoru Saito doesn't want to continue to lose at this moment, this is all his strength, and if he loses it again, he, the Minister of the Navy. will become a bare-bones commander, even if it is the personal inquiry of Emperor Taisho, he will intuitively refuse it.

Minoru Saito shirked responsibility, but angered War Minister Yukihiko Kurose. He said with some anger: "The navy can't fight, so our 898th Division is waiting to die!" ”

Japan is an island nation, and all the land forces if they want to go abroad to fight. All need the support of the navy, which is also the key to focusing on the development of the navy. The contradiction between the army and the navy is also here. Not only in terms of investment, but also in terms of competition with each other, the Army is not valued compared to the Navy. However, the army is fundamental, whether it was the First Sino-Japanese War or the Russo-Japanese War, basically the navy opened up the situation, and it was the army that really decided the victory.

Since the Russo-Japanese War in 1906, although the navy is still important, the army has also been greatly developed, the status has been significantly improved, the construction of 18 permanent divisions and regiments, it has definitely taken a lot of effort, and now the remnants of 3 divisions and 1 brigade are still surrounded in Qingdao, which is almost one-sixth of the strength of the entire army.

"You can break through!" Minoru Saito didn't dare to look at Yukihiko Kurose's eyes, and said with some muttering.

"Break through, if Mitsutomi Kamio can break through, what else is he doing with this telegram, according to the telegram sent by Britain and France, maybe the northwest has colluded with the Germans very early, the main force of the Northwest Army has been stationed in Qingdao, which is a strong army that can confront the Russian million-strong army, numerical advantage, geographical advantage, combined, we can not be defeated. In addition, the reason why our army suffered such a big blow was that it was not long due to the combined fleet, and without the combined fleet, our army could only rush to the shore at a critical juncture and be surrounded by the superior forces of the other side. ”

The two sides began to quarrel endlessly, the navy has the saying of the navy, the army has the doctrine of the army, in short, the quarrel is endless, some old guys who came from the Meiji era, even almost made a move, seeing that the whole shape shì has signs of getting out of control, Emperor Taisho also has a headache, these arrogant soldiers are left by his father, he made slight adjustments, but he can't control the situation, especially the contradictions between the land and the sea, which are deep-rooted, and are not transferred by his will at all.

There is no way to solve it, but this Kamio Mitsutomi wants to save it, and Japan is weak and weak, so some of the things that can be rescued are some: "Enough, now it's a question of how to rescue, these armies must be rescued, Minister of the Navy, how many ships can you use." ”

Emperor Taisho's direct questioning made Saito Minoru stunned for a moment, he didn't expect that Taisho would ignore their construction and ask him directly, and some didn't know how to answer. Yukihiko Kusunase next to him was unusually happy, Mitsutomi Kamio was a cutting-edge general he was optimistic about, and the 18th Division was also the strongest among all divisions, the most powerful in combat, if it could be preserved, the loss of the army this time would be much smaller, with these veterans who lived in the aftermath of the war, the skeleton was there, and the three divisions were restored, and it would not be so difficult. As for the navy, no matter how much it loses, given the contradictions between the army and the navy, the more deaths, the better.

Facing the suppression of Emperor Taisho, Saito Minoru was a little unable to resist, and someone next to him suddenly checked a sentence: "Your Excellency the Emperor, do you want to make sure whether the Kamio Mitsutomi Department is in Qingdao first, and then make a decision, otherwise if these armies have been wiped out, we will send the fleet and subsequent reinforcements to the dangerous place!" ”

On this occasion, under the coercion of Emperor Taisho, the only one who still dared to speak was the old man of the navy, and the official Togo Heihachi, who was born in the Satsuma Domain and participated in the Sato-British War, was on the battery that hit the British ship at that time, and he was a well-known figure in the Japanese military circles in later generations, gunner Oyama Iwa, assistants Yamamoto Gonbei and Togo Heihachi.

As a first-class figure of the Japanese military god, Togo Heihachi's words, even if it is Emperor Taisho, can not refute too much, besides, Togo Heihachi is right, according to what was said in the telegram, these soldiers left Qingdao on the night of the war, that is to say, it has been 6 days now, under the premise that there is no danger to defend, and a large number of naval warships have been sunk, can he hold it?

Kusunase Yukihiko didn't expect that if he wanted to send troops, he had to contact Kamio Mitsutomi first, but this couldn't be done at all, how many spies did the staff headquarters make, and they wanted to enter Qingdao to find out what was going on, but unfortunately they lost a large number of spies, but they didn't find anything, the army's ability is not as strong as the general staff, and if you really want to send someone to investigate, it is not a day or two to figure it out, and when the time comes, the daylily will be cold.

But Dongxiang Hei Ya Yan spoke, he was a little minister of the army, and he really couldn't stand it, so he had to turn his eyes to the old minister's side for help. Sure enough, at this time, Kodama Gentaro interjected and said: "It's because it's been too long, so we should act immediately, how long can Kamio Mitsutomi support it, we are ready with both hands!" ”

Kodama Gentaro's words immediately gave the army great support, and it was immediately changed because of the situation that Togo Heihachiro created Zào, plus Emperor Taisho himself was also inclined to rescue, and immediately the pressure returned to the Admiralty, Saito Minoru could no longer refuse at this time, and he began to really think about how to send troops. If it is less, it will definitely not work, the other side has three seas and some destroyers and submarines, and at present, there may only be 7 old warships, there are ironclad ships, there are armored cruisers, but they are too old to be of use at all.

Minoru Saito is an excellent admiral, before just focusing on the loss of the combined fleet, this loss, is the entire Japanese Navy since the establishment, the largest loss, for Japan, it can be said to be a broken bones, but if you really want to calculate, the northwest is just a sneak attack with large-caliber shore fire resistance, and then there is the role of submarines, although Japan in the exploration of submarines, the strength is very poor, but there are still depth charges to attack submarines, big deal auxiliary ships to a little, Distribute more depth charge projectors, and it will be over, so that the navy is still relatively safe.

Minoru Saito quickly counted the family funds, and got out some of the sealed ones, whether they are old or not, and the battleships that can be fought with combat effectiveness were brought out, at least a fleet of more than 60 warships was pieced together, compared to the former combined fleet, the difference is not ordinarily large, if it is really on the top, it is not the opponent of the previous combined fleet at all, but against the Chinese Navy, it should be overwhelming, although the combined fleet concentrates almost all of Japan's cutting-edge warships, this almost, There are still two cutting-edge armored cruisers left in Japan, one is just built and is undergoing sea trials, and the other is a routine overhaul, it is these two ships that give Saito Minoru confidence that when he encounters the so-called three seas, he will definitely have the upper hand in terms of strength.

Minoru Saito lit up his family in 1510, and he got all the warships he could put together, the number was not small, and it also made Emperor Taisho more satisfied, the navy was faster than before, and came up with a plan, and dispatched a huge fleet of the army, when Emperor Taisho turned his eyes to look at Yukihiko Kurose, Yukihiko Kusunase smiled bitterly in his heart. (To be continued......)