Beneath the surface of the sea, there was an unpleasant stench from the stuffy jars. After the ambush at Lushunkou, the two sea wolves got in touch with the support ship in Qingdao on the night they escaped, and went south to the no-man's land near Lianyungang to rest for a few days.

The feeling of being nestled in a submarine with a narrow space for half a month is like putting dozens of pairs of smelly socks in a sealed bag and opening them after half a month. However, Chen Shaokuan and his submariners have gradually become accustomed to it, and at this moment, everyone's attention is focused on the Japanese fleet that is passing quickly in the distance.

After the first mate looked at it, he shook his head frustratedly: "It's too fast." ”

"yes." Chen Shaokuan also sighed, and depressedly opened the folding nautical table and spread out the chart again. I thought that I would be able to kill a few warships off the coast of Japan, but I didn't expect that the Japanese Navy would also learn to be obedient, and probably got submarine information from Europe, and basically maintained a cruising speed of more than 15 knots and left. It's too dangerous to go to a few important harbors, and it's not good to spend money on your family, and if you don't go, you'll only be left with some rotten fishing boats, small sampans, or civilian ships flying the flag of a neutral country, which is really hard to start.

You can't go back empty-handed, can you? Chen Shaokuan's eyes kept passing over the nautical chart, and the first mate also withdrew the periscope at this time, looked at the nautical chart and said: "In my opinion, there is no drama at all on this side of the ocean, it is better to go back to Lushunkou, otherwise it is okay to go to Qingdao, if it is really not possible, just block the Tsushima Strait." ”

That's right! The last sentence of the first mate made Chen Shaokuan's mind flash suddenly, and he understood where he was wrong. Because the first time was too smooth, he always wanted to do a big ticket this time, but how could it be so easy to get a big ticket? Looking at the course of the fleet just now, it is either to Lushun or Qingdao, it is difficult to harvest so many escort ships, not to mention that the second submarine formation in Shanghai should also come out, and they can go to the Tsushima Strait if they attack Qingdao and Lushun!

Chen Shaokuan touched his beard, and the corners of his mouth slowly hooked North Korea, but Japan couldn't lose it!

When the navy was doing its best, Yang Qiu had already returned to the command center. After learning that the war in Europe had started, the footsteps here were obviously a lot more dense, because everyone understood that Germany would follow Austria-Hungary in the next two days, and once Germany made a move, Japan would be able to put aside the shackles of declaring war first and attack Qingdao with all its might.

Three capital ships, these little Japan are ruthless enough!

Every officer who learned that the Japanese First Fleet had sent three capital ships, including the cutting-edge Kongo-class battle cruisers, to cooperate with the Second Fleet to attack Qingdao had a solemn expression, thinking that the 305 naval guns in Beiyang had once made Japan desperate, and if it were not for the rapid defeat of the army, the navy would never have failed. After 20 years, the caliber has increased to 356 mm, and the power has increased several times, and if you stop on the beach of Qingdao, there is no safety zone within a radius of 30 kilometers.

Everyone knows that the army, which had relied on the superiority of squad firepower and artillery before, was really going to bleed this time!

In the office, Yang Qiu also hadn't started to pay attention to the European war, because there were still two days left for Germany to declare war, so Yang Yang smiled at the war report in his hand: "7,973 shells were consumed in one night, I said Brother Baili, can't you tell those boys to let me save some snacks?" The school looks like it's all good babies, why don't you feel at ease when you let it out? If this telegram is sent back, it will not force the equipment logistics department to jump off the building. ”

Dai Tianqiu and Wu Zhaolin covered the corners of their mouths and smiled, but they also knew that Yang Qiu was not really angry. Jiang Baili knew that the logistics pressure was high, but the consumption was still worth it, and he smiled and said, "Commander-in-chief, you can't settle accounts like this." The factory price of 75 guns is 25 yuan, and if you count other large-caliber shells, it will be more than 500,000 yuan, but two Japanese gunboats will cost 1 million, and many things can be recovered after the war. No, after the two ships of Lin Jiatai were salvaged, the Fengtian Machinery Factory (Manufacturing Bureau) did not have to worry about the lack of steel for half a year. ”

Yang Qiu lost a look, Wu Zhaolin couldn't hold back beside him, and said happily: "Brother Baili, if you don't go to the Ministry of Finance, it's overkill." After everyone laughed and talked a few words, Yang Qiu turned the topic to the rear and asked, "Fear, how is the south now?" ”

Wu Zhaolin took out Tang Shaoyi's handwritten letter from his pocket and handed it to Yang Qiu, saying: "This is a handwritten letter from Premier Shaochuan to the commander-in-chief, he said that the overall situation is still good, but the voice of opposition to the war is still very strong in various places, but it has not yet gained momentum for the time being. In addition, after we mobilized in advance, private factories in various places were mobilized, and it coincided with the great increase in demand for European turmoil, and business was surprisingly busy. Resource exploitation has also increased, a year ago Jiangxi tungsten mining expanded after the growth of tungsten concentrate is the fastest, this year can provide at least 20,000 tons of refined tungsten ore to the market, in addition to meeting domestic needs can be exported at least seventy. Coal mines are also developing rapidly, with the eight southwestern provinces producing 3 million tons of coal in the first half of the year, and the national figure of 10 million tons for the whole year will certainly be exceeded.

However, steel is not optimistic, now the price of foreign steel has risen sharply, imported steel is basically broken, domestic railways and other construction needs are large, and the military industry is a little tight, so I came before Shen Shukai also went to check the progress. On the whole, grain growth is quite stable, and several grain-deficient households in Henan and Shaanxi have grown rapidly after switching to sweet potatoes and potatoes, and this year's summer grain is another bumper harvest; the premier said that if the momentum of autumn grain does not decrease, he is ready to sell the remaining grain reserves from last year to Europe, and now the grain prices of foreigners have skyrocketed by more than three times. It's really red-eyed. Also, before I came, my wife asked me to tell you that the luncheon meat production line you invented has been installed in Changsha by the Americans, and it will be able to start construction by the end of the year at the latest, and it is expected to process 500 tons of tin box meat per month. ”

"Hehe, our prime minister can't sit still. Three times can at least earn back tens of millions, right? Jiang Baili laughed happily when he heard that Tang Shaoyi, a great literati, had actually gotten into the eyes of money. Yang Qiu was also excited, but the excitement was not about the increase in the price of steel and raw materials, because he knew that this price increase was not over. He was excited that luncheon meat could be produced! This is definitely a strategic-level food substitute, processing 500 tons per month is 2 million cans, and each can is sold for $2 million! I must write a letter back later, Miao Luo, a stupid wife, does not tell her that she must stuff her solid eyes with meat, so she must find a black-hearted businessman to manage it! What intestines, rotten bones, all stuffed in, anyway, there are preservatives.

Wu Zhaolin didn't know that Commander Yang was thinking about exporting black-hearted food, and continued: "It's not just food, everything has risen in price. Tung oil, raw silk, tea, cotton, cement and steel have all doubled, the price of tungsten concentrate has skyrocketed fourfold, and other concentrates such as manganese, lead and zinc have risen fivefold! Xu Xiujun and Zhang Wenjing predicted that if the war was fought for one year, China's net profit from exporting raw materials alone would be 200 million, and at least 800 million would be earned in three years! If it hadn't been dragged to the war, the tariffs would have doubled before they were returned! But they also said that the more you earn, the more you consume. The nickel and copper needed for steelmaking has not yet been discovered in China, and these two imports alone will cost hundreds of millions of dollars every year, so miners are being recruited these days to try to mine the two nickel and copper mines promised by the French as soon as possible to relieve the pressure. Wenjing also asked me to tell the commander-in-chief that there were already five large mines in Luzon, and the output was very rich. He has contacted the local Chinese to buy all the mines and is preparing to mine, hoping that you can say hello to the United States to avoid any mess. ”

Yang Qiu, who was just happy because of the luncheon meat, frowned again, Luzon is the most important colony of the United States in the Asia-Pacific region, and it is still risky to mine there, but it is better than other regions, after all, there is no shortage of resources in the United States, but it is obviously impossible to do it blatantly at present, so it is necessary to use the private sector as a cover for small-scale mining before finding a way. As for nickel and nickel, the country is mainly concentrated in Yumen Pass and Xinjiang, and the western section of the Longhai line has not been repaired, and the money can only be hoped to quench the thirst.

After asking about the people's livelihood, Yang Qiu began to inquire about the military industry again, Wu Zhaolin came this time to report on these, and took out statistics and said: "After mobilization, all the enterprises with the ability to process metals in the country have been included in the manufacture of military accessories, and the third factory can now manufacture more than 8,000 rifles per month, 6 million rounds of various bullets, 900,000 artillery shells, 200 cannons, 1,200 grenadiers, 50 vehicles, 30 aircraft, and more than 200 tons of various explosives. According to Japan's military equipment manufacturing figures last year, Japan's military manufacturing capacity, excluding the navy and shipbuilding, has reached half of Japan's. However, Japan has recently cut off all raw material exports, and foreign prices have begun to rise again, so it has fallen instead of rising. But this is still a figure that has only just begun to mobilize, and it is not impossible to double the growth rate after a year. ”

Wu Zhaolin finally concluded: "Judging from the research of the president, the prime minister, and us, as long as we are not dragged by Japan for two or three years, we can still afford to fight, but in that case, all the money from the sale of resources will be filled into this big hole, and the good opportunity to rely on the European war to increase our national strength will be wasted!" ”

Of course, Yang Qiu didn't want to spend money on Japan, and finally survived the European war, no matter how he said it, he had to accumulate funds and wait for the bottom, so his eyes turned to Jiang Baili. The latter got up and walked to the map and said: "After Jiuliancheng suffered this big loss, the 20th Division of the Japanese Army will definitely not be able to attack within ten days. Terauchi Zhengyi did not have the 20th Division to attack from the flank, and it was impossible for one and a half divisions in the direction of the South Manchurian Railway to break through the flank attack, not to mention that he also had to face Yue Peng's squad attack and infiltration tactics with a company as a unit, and Mukden had already entered a stage of strategic stalemate before the arrival of the 2nd Division with domestic reinforcements.

Therefore, the main war has been moved to Shandong, and Japan must want to take Qingdao to establish a solid bridgehead in a short period of time, and then attack Laiyang from Longkou and Qingdao at the same time, and cut the Jiaodong Peninsula into two! In this way, we will be able to form a situation in which the two major peninsulas of Jiaodong and Liaodong rely on each other, completely cut off the exit from the Bohai Sea, and use their powerful naval forces to strike at us. Due to concerns about the relationship with Germany, our early mobilization in Shandong was very poor, and many civilians had not yet been transferred, so if the Japanese army cut off Laiyang, they could easily get food and supplies from the local area. For Songpo, if Qingdao is a dead end, then Laiyang is the last breath! ”

"Of course, we don't have a chance!" Jiang Baili's eyes were blazing, and the corners of his mouth returned to a smile: "** month is the typhoon and rain season in Shandong and Liaodong, the fleet has many restrictions and concerns, and it is even more difficult for the army to go ashore with heavy equipment. In addition, we reminded that all seven German and Austro-Hungarian merchant ships went to Sanduao to hide, Qingdao shipyards and supplies began to evacuate to the depths of Jiaozhou Bay in the middle of the month, and the German army also began to lay mines at the entrance of Jiaozhou Bay yesterday. Although the whereabouts of Spee's fleet are unknown, the Germans still have several torpedo boats and the 4,030-ton Austro-Hungarian Empress Elizabeth armored cruiser in Jiaozhou Bay, and Governor Waldeck even ordered all German citizens in Qingdao to take up arms, and also formed a 500-strong Chinese team, so it was not easy for Japan to fight a quick victory. ”

After Jiang Baili finished speaking, Cai Gongshi also walked in: "General Songpo telegraphed that a brigade of the Japanese army that went out of Laiyang was blocked and repelled by the Second Cavalry Brigade, and a regiment of the 103rd Division was then stationed in Laiyang!" Now the cavalry brigade has been dispersed, and the counties have been notified to speed up the evacuation and evacuation of personnel. ”

"Great!" Dai Tianqiu, who had been listening to the record, shook his fist fiercely, because the last breath in Jiang Baili's mouth just now was saved!