"Lord Earl, Lord Heihachiro Togo, Lord Minamijiro, and Lord Kuniaki Koiso would like to see you." ”

On the outskirts of Tokyo, in a secluded spring water villa, a gray-haired old man, dressed in a traditional samurai uniform, is sitting under the eaves of the house, quietly enlightened.

An old servant cautiously stepped in front of him, stooped and bowed to report.

"Let them in."

This frightening old man, whose hair and beard were all pale, opened his falcon-like eyes, and it was hard to believe that such an old man could still have such a compelling momentum, but this momentum was more of a kind of anger of a person who had been in a high position for a long time.

From time to time, the old servant led an old man with the same gray hair, and two middle-aged men walked in.

"Lord Count."

The three of them were all dressed in military uniforms, the oldest old man was wearing the uniform of a marshal, which was decorated with ribbons and medals, and the other two were wearing the uniforms of military generals.

This old man who is extremely old is the sea soul-like character who used to be called Ben, Yamamoto Gonbei. Togo Heihachiro was promoted by him back then.

A few people then entered the house, sat on the tatami mats, and talked about national affairs while drinking the sake that had just been served.

"Lord Earl, we are here to ask you for your views on the situation."

After talking for a while about the military development of the empire, Minamijiro was the first to break the silence and ask this difficult question to answer.

Sure enough, Yamamoto Gonbei shook his head slightly, pointed in the direction of Tokyo, and said, "I'm already old, I'm afraid I'm going to see Amaterasu soon, military affairs, you just have to make your own decisions." ”

"Lord Count, as the father of the Imperial Navy, we would like to hear your teachings." Togo Heihachiro, who is also a marshal and has great military achievements, although he is also a lot old and is almost old, he still maintains basic respect for Yamamoto Gonbei. "There are those who have betrayed the sacred duty of the military and who are trying to push the empire to the brink of destruction, and you, as a very important imperial minister, should stand up. I, Heihachiro Togo, am willing to follow you, Lord Earl, and make one last effort for the future of the empire. ”

Seeing that Yamamoto Gonbei still didn't speak, Minamijiro glanced at Koiso Kuniaki, who had no choice but to bow his head and say, "Lord Earl, Prime Minister Saito entered the palace again yesterday to see His Majesty the Emperor. ”

"Hmph, he forgot the mission of a soldier. With the support of the Xiyuan Temple Gongwang behind him, he didn't pay attention to the military department at all. ”

Minamijiro snorted, and in his opinion, although Saito was born in the navy, he was a conservative who opposed radicalism and was on the same page as Saionji Gongwang.

Yamamoto Gonbei smiled faintly, then raised the sake and took a sip, "Time flies so fast, we are all old in a flash, even Togo-kun can't escape the magic of the years." I think that in those years, in the Korean War, the Battle of Lushunkou, and the Battle of Tsushima, Dongxiang-kun made great achievements, and he fought the Russians and Chinese without the power to fight back, and was the first hero of our imperial navy from weak to strong. ”

"It's all about the cultivation of adults. If it weren't for the old age, I would have liked to lead the troops again, and I would have been better than those bunch of waste. Heihachiro Togo said sincerely.

Yamamoto Gonbei nodded, noncommittal, and continued: "The Great Empire is an island country, located in East Asia, adjacent to China, North Korea, and Russia. Korea is a colony of our empire, and the Chinese and Russians have defeated us several times, so that our empire can reach the height of an Asian power.

Today, however, our Navy is defeated again and again. I heard the news just coming that in the Battle of the Bohai Sea, after losing seventy percent of the carrier-based aircraft and one battleship Fuso, the commander of the fleet, Isoroku Yamamoto, ordered a retreat. Although it retained the elite naval power of the Empire, it lost almost all of its carrier-based aircraft.

We, once again, were defeated. ”

Facing the three dignitaries of the Emperor Fang Ying who listened attentively to his words, Yamamoto Gonbei continued: "Since the beginning of the Sino-Japanese War, at the beginning, we have achieved great results in land wars, occupying the entire northeast of China, which is a remarkable achievement.

However, the Chinese named Zhang Shusheng changed the war and changed this Sino-Chinese showdown.

In the Battle of Jinzhou, we were defeated. In the Battle of Beijing and Tianjin, we were defeated. In the Battle of Tianjin, we were defeated. In the Battle of Shenyang, we were defeated, and in the Battle of the Bohai Sea, we were defeated.

Tell me, guys, what is left of the Empire?

The navy, which is the foundation of the country, is so frightened that it retreats at full speed, can the empire still compete with the huge China?

Is Yamamoto Fifty-six cowardly and cowardly? No.

Is there not enough battleships in the Empire? No.

Is it that the naval shipbuilding capabilities of the empire are worse than those of the Chinese? It's not."

Maybe it touched his heart, Yamamoto Gonbei raised his head and took a big sip of wine, "Since the start of the war, I have thought a lot, because this may be the last time I pay attention to the war in the empire. After a long period of observation, I came to a conclusion.

When the Chinese were still weak, we could defeat them with a good navy, an elite army, a fearless offensive spirit, the tenacity of bushido, and the idea of loyalty. Today, however, they have a modern army, a modern navy, and they have the advantage of a deep homeland defense that we have to face.

Once the navy is defeated, the continuation of the war will only drag down the entire empire!! The era of battleships has passed, and the Chinese use the British, with the defeat of the empire, to tell the world that the future naval battle will be the battlefield of naval aviation. ”

"However, the Chinese's negotiating demand was that the empire must admit defeat, which the emperor [***] could not accept. His Majesty the Emperor has been deceived by those politicians who have conspired to betray the country. Koiso Kuniaki said hatefully.

Yamamoto Gonbei didn't answer his question, but said something else, "Two days ago, Lord Kobo of Saionji Temple sent me a letter, and he said that it was given to him by Matsui Ishone. I read what was written in the letter, and it made sense. ”

"My lord, what is written on it?" The other three didn't get a chance to see the letter.

Yamamoto shook his head, "The empire may have chosen the wrong enemy and the wrong time from the beginning. When the period of reflection of the war has passed, the wounds have been mended, and the strength has been restored, the empire may have a real chance. Go back, and obey the Emperor's decision, for Your Majesty is a wise man with strategic foresight. ”

Then he waved his hand and signaled to send off the guests.

The three of them left gloomily, and even Heihachiro Togo didn't figure out what his old boss meant, but it was obvious that the old boss actually supported the emperor's letter to the people and supported the armistice negotiations.

He and others still want to win over this veteran, so as to force the palace to die, it seems that this road is not going to work.

After Togo Heihachiro and the others left, Yamamoto Gonbei took out the letter from his bosom and couldn't help but say to himself: "If this person is born in the empire, he must be the backbone of the empire." He is quite right, the rise of the Chinese is unstoppable, the living space of the empire does not need to be exchanged for the burning of jade with the Chinese, our target can be South Asia, it can be the Soviet Russian Far East. There are also abundant resources and vast land, but without exception, these territories lack enough strength to resist the emperor's [***] army.

If one day, the Russians are finally dragged by Europe, and the British and French powers are dragged by Europe, then the Far East of Soviet Russia and South Asia of Britain and France will be the basis for the real take-off of the empire. If I can achieve these two strategic goals, I will be dead, and I will be relieved of the empire. ”

After the emperor issued a letter to the people and the Chinese political axe issued a response statement, the whole country suddenly fell into a great anger, however, in just three or four days, this opposition voice seemed to disappear, I don't know who it is, what forces operate from behind, those sit-in soldiers, political axe staff, those cabinet officials who threaten to resign, those celebrities, and political axe veterans. The students who marched and demonstrated, the newspapers that condemned it, all began to turn, began to reflect on the war, and began to face up to the rise of the Chinese.

Forced to study China, he found that unconsciously, Chinese products have been all over the book, some directly imported from Hong Kong, China, and other places, some imported from Western traders, although the label of the United States or other countries is attached, but when the label is pulled to the book, tearing off the surface label, you can see that there are four Chinese characters made in China inside, from cars, radios, washing machines, televisions, to stockings, cosmetics, lighters, high-end fashion, etc., almost all of them have Chinese existence.

In fact, China's political axe refused to sell advanced products to Yuben, and after investigation, Yueben's newspaper found that these products, which were extremely popular in Yueben, were actually products of the older generations of Chinese, and were far worse than those sold by Chinese at home and abroad to Europe and the United States.

In other aspects, the local textile enterprises, garment enterprises, grain processing enterprises, small machinery production enterprises, etc., which have been squeezed by China's economy, have been unknowingly crushed by the Chinese.

In the past, their bankruptcy was attributed to the economic crisis and the disadvantages of war.

Now, in reflection, I have found that since two or three years ago, these factories have never received overseas orders, and domestic orders have gradually been crowded out by unknown "Western imported goods".

As the war progressed, many problems were swept under the rug, and the bankruptcy of the economy was classified as a continuation of the economic crisis, but few people had previously identified these as signs of China's economic rise.

"The empire is being overtaken by the Chinese in all aspects!"

Far from making him hate China even more, this kind of new China threat argument has found a self-comforting excuse for the defeat of the war.

It's not that the empire is too weak, it's that the Chinese are getting stronger. He needed to face up to this gap, and perhaps ending the war would be a good option, so that he could learn from his powerful neighbor and improve himself quickly, as he did before.

At a time when the whole story was surging, an unexpected event finally decided the direction of Sino-Japanese relations in the short term.

In 1933, November 17, Hanjing, Zhang Shusheng's office.

After repeated discussions and arguments, Zhang Shusheng finally picked up the red phone on the table in person. "Immediately execute Operation Plan C."

This is not a super-large-scale strategic battle plan, but it is one of several battle plans drawn up by the Navy for a long time. In order to carry out the decision of the top level on the direction of the Sino-Chinese war, the No. C operation plan was formulated to hasten the end of the war.

China cannot be beaten passively forever and needs to fight back. China cannot be dragged on forever in this Sino-Chinese war, so Zhang Shusheng urgently needs the navy to complete this No. C operation plan, otherwise, the protracted war will affect the more far-reaching strategic arrangements and be very detrimental to the rejuvenation of the entire Chinese nation.

A complicated but clear battle plan was drafted half a year ago under the careful work of the Navy General Staff.

The premise of ensuring the implementation of a seemingly simple order is the result of a long period of hard work by the personnel of the Navy's General Staff, China's special agents, and the Navy's fleet.

November 20, 1933, was the sixth day of the statement issued by the Chinese political axe.

The sky over the East China Sea is cloudless, however, under the reflection of the morning sun, there is a dense reflection of bright light over the East China Sea, if someone can fly to the clouds, they must be stunned, it is a full hundred fighters.

"It's so beautiful."

Over the entire East China Sea, under the reflection of the rising sun, a group of 55 fighters and 49 bombers was like a golden bird of prey swimming through the sea of clouds.

On the C-32 bomber numbered 55, Wang Han, a soldier with a cannon, couldn't help but praise, and at the same time picked up his registered Shuguang license plate camera, clicked, and recorded the aircraft group on the side of the porthole.

A perfect aerial close-up.

As a member of the naval aviation unit, Wang Han is also a part-time reporter for the military newspaper, and he is able to take some photos and post them to the internal military newspaper without affecting combat operations.

At the front of the group, all the escort fighters were Jian-2 fighters, and the Jian-2 fighter piloted by Tong Tianming was one of them.

Looking at the dense planes outside the porthole, Tong Tianming felt his blood boiling.

The task had been issued three days earlier, and after the task force had left behind some of its bluffing warships, the main force quickly and secretly moved south, entered the East China Sea as soon as it had been resupplied at Tsingtao, and then turned around and sailed in its own direction.

After crossing the middle line of the Chinese People's Republic of China, less than 200 kilometers from the mainland, the Chinese Navy's task force finally took off this batch of large-scale aircraft fleets.

Thinking of this combat mission, Tong Tianming couldn't help but secretly laugh to himself, he always thought that the brothers of the bomber unit were not as chic as himself, and he could often shoot down one or even more planes in a single battle. But now, they can bomb the homeland more comfortably than themselves.

The task of the escort group was to shoot down the lagging native aircraft and at the same time destroy the enemy's sparse anti-aircraft fire. The bomber group all carried 100-kilogram, 250-kilogram, and 500-kilogram high-explosive aerial bombs, and several C-32 mountain-moving bombers carried some incendiary bombs for verification.

Looking at the fighters and bombers in front of him, on the left and right, and even at the bombers below, looking at the wings and portholes of the planes that glittered in the sun, he had a dreamy feeling.

For the first time, for the first time in history, we in China were able to bomb the homeland, burn the flames of war to the ground, and give them the final blow.

"At the beginning of the war, we were still passively beaten, and even the biplane wooden planes were pitiful, and in just two years, we were able to counterattack the book and forcibly descend the cruelty of the war on Yue himself."

Tong Tianming reached out and touched the one-inch photo of his wife in the cabin, and said with a smile: "Wife, I love you." From today onwards, our children will no longer hear horror stories of devils coming. Because, this time it was the Chinese who passed. ”

Sasebo Naval Base.

Early in the morning, the military port himself got up early in the morning, and as one of the most important military ports in the city, the Sasebo Naval Base was one of the busiest military ports. There is not only a modern shipbuilding industry, but also the Second and Third Fleets that remained after many naval battles between China and China.

In the past few days, the Sasebo Naval Base has been busier than usual, because it has welcomed Yamamoto Isoroku's task force here. With all the loss of carrier-based aircraft, Yamamoto Isoroku decisively ordered the task force with up to 5 battleships to retreat, and although it also lost one old battleship, the "super crossbow" battleship Fuso, 2 aircraft carriers and the remaining 4 battleships were saved.

"The imperial navy is still strong, but in the face of the naval aviation units of the Chinese, we can only be passively beaten." Although it was early in the morning, Yamamoto Fifty-six was a little drunk, something that had not happened for many years. Compared to his alcoholic colleagues, Yamamoto was very demanding of himself, but this time, he had a hangover.

The entire empire, including this loss, was sunk by the Chinese with a total of up to four battleships, but there were still as many as six battleships available, Kongo-class, Fuso-class, Ise-class, Nagato-class.

Any battleship has a larger displacement than the Chinese warships, and any battleship is larger than the Chinese's main guns.

However, it was the Chinese aircraft carriers whose displacement was even inferior to the Imperial battleships that drove the fleet from China back to the city like a duck.

He was willing to take responsibility for the defeat in the battle, but could not watch the remaining main forces of the Imperial Navy sink in China.

"Could it be that the era of battleships has really passed......"

This was his deepest thought, and although he was unwilling to accept it, the facts told him that it was true, especially when he saw with his own eyes that the battleship Fuso was bombed by the Chinese's dense locust-like carrier-based aircraft, but he had no power to fight back, and finally realized that aircraft carriers are important in modern naval warfare.

"In just five years, the empire will have at least ten aircraft carriers, and when the time comes, maybe we will no longer be afraid of the Chinese." They only have three. ”

This is also the reason why Sanmoto Fifty-Six dared to retreat decisively, the Empire could convert battleships into aircraft carriers, so that the Empire could have more aircraft carriers in a short period of time and quickly, instead of letting them be sunk meaninglessly.

Looking at the two battleships in the harbor of Sasebo, Yamamoto Isoroku was uneasy. Several others have already left for several other naval bases, and the two Kongo-class battleships will form the Second and Third Fleets to defend the homeland.

"Huh? What was that? ”

Yamamoto suddenly heard some strange sounds, almost subconsciously looking towards the sky, and then, his face turned pale.

"Chinese is coming......"

"Fighter groups pay attention to cover and suppress anti-aircraft fire points, bomber formations and torpedo formations pay attention to attacks. Boys, the free assault has begun, so use your results as a gift to yourself! ”

When the order of the commander of the fleet finally came from the radio command channel, the pilots from the carrier-based aircraft unit of the Chinese aircraft carrier went crazy.

"Woohoo!!"

Tong Tianming was as excited as the other boys, but he calmly pulled the longitudinal rod of the plane, and then began to descend and dive in the first batch.

According to the detailed distribution map of the Sasebo base that was sent to the pilots two days ago, Tong Tianming easily found an anti-aircraft fire point.

Looking at the ground that was getting bigger and bigger in his field of vision, and looking at the soldiers who had just run to the anti-aircraft gun position and seemed to have dilated their pupils in fright, Tong Tianming resolutely pressed the cannon launch button.

"Boom, boom, boom......"

Although the caliber of the fighter cannon with the replacement of high-explosive shells is not large, it is the best thing to use to deal with this kind of antiaircraft gun position; the machine gun that fires at high speed is fired seven or eight times, and the antiaircraft artillery position of the Japanese army is plunged into a sea of fire.

"Da Da Da ......"

An antiaircraft machine gun air defense point finally opened fire, but before Tong Tianming could fly over, a Jian-2 flew over, and in the midst of a terrible dive, a short shot, dozens of rounds of aviation machine gun bullets smashed the antiaircraft machine gun, tearing people with guns.

Rumble!!!

Rumble!!!

There were explosions everywhere, and after the muffled explosions, the bomber units behind the group also began to drop bombs, and the torpedo attack aircraft and dive attack aircraft units also began to dive.

"Hahaha, a big fish!"

A torpedo attack aircraft was the first to enter the horizontal combat position, and looking at the behemoth battleship at a distance of several tens of meters, the pilot shouted loudly: "Quick, launch the torpedo." ”

The torpedo crew in the attack aircraft immediately aimed at the huge battleship not far away, held his breath, and finally launched the torpedo.

"Snort... Snort..."

The torpedo, like a big fish churning over the waves, began to run towards the battleship, at a distance of several tens of meters, a few breaths away, and the battleship moored in the harbor could not resist at all.

"Boom ......"

With a huge explosion, the battleship jumped violently, and the torpedo warhead, which weighed several hundred kilograms, tore a huge hole near the battleship's waterline, and the sea water rushed into it frantically in just an instant.

", do it again."

The pilot of the torpedo attack plane suddenly pulled the plane up, and there were two heavy torpedoes on the plane, and this torpedo attack plane, named the Great White Shark, was newly developed on the basis of the previous experimental torpedo attack aircraft, and was a real torpedo attack aircraft or horizontal bomber.

However, before the "Great White Shark" could again enter the horizontal launch position, two bombers flew by at almost dangerous low altitudes, and four 500-kilogram aerial bombs fell on the battleship like eggs.

"Boom ......"

To add insult to injury, the upper deck was broken again after the waterline was penetrated, and finally, an aerial bomb finally hit the ammunition compartment, causing a violent explosion, and the entire battleship jumped violently, then began to break from the bow position, and slowly sank into the harbor.

This battleship is finished, and even if it can be salvaged in the end, it can only be recycled as scrap metal.

And the same scene was played out on another battleship and several warships.

The huge formation of dozens of fighters and 49 bombers made Sasebo, one of the largest naval bases in Japan, unable to resist.

Except for the occasional anti-aircraft guns on warships and anti-aircraft fire in the military port, not a single plane took off from the airfield of the military port, and in the first wave of air raids, these old and tattered planes were all blown up on the runway.

"Hahaha...... Shipyard!! ”

When the H bomber team was the first to rush to the sky above the shipyard, they actually found two behemoths in the shipyard, saying that their own battleships were waiting quietly in the shipyard.

The four bombers of the H bomber squad dropped all the bombs without the need for fighter escort.

"Boom ......"

The only C32 mountain-moving bomber in the bomber squad dropped two incendiary bombs in succession, and in the skyrocketing fire, the important facilities of the entire shipyard were plunged into a sea of fire.

And in the firelight, there were the boatmen who were constantly running, and they were engulfed in the fire without even knowing where the enemy was coming from.

After bombing airfields, warships, shipyards, oil depots, etc., the group bombed his barracks, port facilities, and even port buildings indiscriminately until all the ammunition was dropped at the Sasebo naval base.

In just ten minutes, ten minutes, the Sasebo Naval Base, which had been peaceful and quiet, was in ruins, with skyrocketing fires, buildings and warships with smoke everywhere, the wreckage of airplanes burned to slag, half-sunken warships, warships with keels burned and bows blown up, everywhere.

Of course, there were more dead bodies, and under the bombardment of this scale, the army at the Sasebo naval base also suffered heavy losses, not to mention that the two military port barracks alone were blown up into the sky by more than a dozen heavy aerial bombs, and thousands of soldiers were killed before they even had time to pick up their rifles and fire into the sky.

"Happy, it's so happy, goodbye Sasebo, I hope there is still a chance to come!!"

The Chinese pilots pulled up the plane, and the plane, which had dropped all the bombs, looked extremely light, and the pilots made a circle, and then reluctantly left the Sasebo naval base.

No one knows, the Chinese do not know, not even the Yue himself, how their naval rookie, Admiral Yamamoto 56, survived this air raid by the Chinese.

Only one of the guards, who had been killed by the plane's strafing, saw their naval fleet commander run into a toilet before he died, and coincidentally and luckily dodged a 100-kilogram aerial bomb that exploded later.

An air raid that lasted only ten minutes resulted in the sinking of two battleships, three cruisers, seven destroyers, and many more auxiliary ships, in addition to the Sasebo airfield and the Sasebo Naval Shipyard, all of which were blown into ruins. The loss of personnel amounted to more than 2,000 people, and nearly a third of the naval force was wiped out in this sudden and incomparable air attack.

The construction of the mainland's air defense airfields was backward, the vigilance of the military ports and airfields was insufficient, and the radar for early warning was lacking.

When the emperor received the report of the air raid, he did not even dare to imagine that a few days ago the Chinese were desperately cutting off the sea supply line in the Bohai Bay, but now they have come to bomb the mainland.

At the end of November 1933, the day after the air raid on the Sasebo Naval Base, Prime Minister Saito formally submitted a request to China for negotiations premised on defeat in the war.

(To be continued)