On August 17, Tokyo was shrouded in a lingering shadow.

Of course, ordinary Tokyo citizens may not know what is going on, but if they take a glance at the passing car, they will see that the face of the political axe official sitting inside is full of gloom.

"Bastard, bastard, it's such a big loss, the two bastards, Yuzaburo Kato and Dingyoshi Kato, deserve to !! seppuku"

Emperor Taisho's Imperial Admiralty Minister Yashiro Rokuro tore the telegram in his hand to shreds, and the other political axe officials were also whispering there with heavy faces.

The telegram that Yashiro Rokuro had just shredded was a loss report jointly signed by Yuzaburo Kato and Dingyoshi Kato, and in addition to the losses of the "Hiei", "Mikasa", "Iwami", "Satsuma", "Yakumo" and "Takachiho" in the first two air raids and a destroyer formation, the damage suffered during the third air raid after the end of the second air raid was also added...

The third air raid ...

Although the results of the second air raid were not satisfactory, they also sank one of the battleships of the Japanese army anyway. Compared to the sunken battleship, the Wehrmacht's consumption of bombs and torpedoes was nothing to mention.

Therefore, after returning home to replenish fuel and ammunition, the bomber formation of the Wehrmacht Air Force flew again to the sea area where the air attack had just been launched.

And when the bomber formation resisted, Yuzaburo Kato, who was in charge of commanding the expeditionary fleet, also made a decision. That is to divide the expeditionary fleet into two parts, one is the ships that have been well preserved in the air raids, or relatively intact. The other part is deeply damaged and can no longer be saved...

Yuzaburo Kato made this decision out of desperation, because the bomber group was too fast to go back and forth, and if the remaining ships of the fleet continued to act together, it would only plunge the entire fleet into the abyss.

At this time, it is better to separate the two fleets, and then let the more damaged one be the "bait", so that the other fleet can have a better chance of surviving...

Yuzaburo Kato's decision was cruel, but it was the only and most reasonable solution.

So when the bomber group arrived, they only found the deeply wounded abandoned children near the sea, and the remnants of the main force led by Yuzaburo Kato were fleeing in the direction of Port Arthur.

Losing the traces of Yuzaburo Kato, it goes without saying that the pilots are annoyed.

After a few rounds and still finding nothing, the bombers could only vent their anger on the remnants of the fleet, which was slowly returning to their homeland.

Soon after, in the hand of the Minister of the Navy, Rokuro Yashiro, the following names were added to the telegram in the hands of the Minister of the Navy, in addition to the list at the beginning...

Three second-class cruisers such as the battlecruiser "Kurama", the armored cruiser "Iwate", the "Otowada", "Tone", and "Akitsuzu", as well as a formation of one and a half destroyers ...

Perhaps it was really Amaterasu blessed that after the loss of four battleships, the only thing the Navy lost this time was the old battle cruiser "Kurama". If he had lost four battleships and then lost that one, even if it was an old-fashioned battleship that he had captured from the Russians during the Russo-Russian War, I am afraid that Rokuro Yashiro would vomit blood instead of going crazy in front of Emperor Taisho. (Kurama is the lead ship of the Kurama-class armored cruisers, and there are two ships in this class, the Kurama and the Ibuki.) In August 1912, the class of the two ships was changed to cruisers, that is, battlecruisers, with a standard displacement of 14,626 tons, a full load displacement of 15,595 tons, and two 305 mm L/45 guns of the 41 type. It is worth mentioning that the construction of this class of ships took only 6 months, which is said to be due to the fact that the British "Dreadnought" was launched within 4 months of its launch, and all workers stopped working overtime. ）

If it were a change of the usual and seeing the appearance of Rokuro Yashiro and even Shigenobu Okuma, I am afraid that the Minister of War Okaichi Nosuke would be happy for a few days, but now...

"The losses are just too great..."

Seeing that Rokuro Yashiro looked a little crazy, Okaichi Nosuke sighed.

No matter how big the contradiction between the army and the navy is, he knows how big the impact of this incident is...

Those armored cruisers, second-class cruisers and destroyers will count, but four battleships and two battle cruisers? This is already a third of the capital ships of the Navy. In particular, the sunken battle cruiser "Hiei" was the capital ship of the British Navy.

Now that he was sunk by the "toy" of the Shina people without firing a shot, not to mention Yashiro Rokuro, even the Minister of War Okaichi has a feeling of wanting to vomit blood.

However, while the Minister of the Navy, Yashiro Rokuro, was still going crazy there, Shigenobu Okuma on the side said in a deep voice.

"Okay, Yachidai-kun, pay attention to your appearance in front of Your Majesty..."

Although everyone here knew how unlikely it was for Emperor Taisho to make a "crane sound", after listening to Shigenobu Okuma's words, Rokuro Yashiro obediently closed his mouth.

After all, Emperor Taisho was the object of their allegiance—————— except for politicians who regarded Emperor Taisho as mentally retarded.

After Yatsushiro Rokuro regained his composure, Shigenobu Okuma said with a worried face.

"Originally, we were ready to acquire all the rights and interests of Germany in Shandong, but the Chinese did something unexpected and caused us unexpected losses..."

Saying that, Okuma Shigenobu glanced at Yashiro Rokuro and wanted him, the Minister of the Navy, to sit down and explain.

It's just that Yashiro Rokuro has not yet calmed down at this time, and in the end there is no choice but to let the naval officer rectify the road as soon as possible.

"Morning Speed, you can explain."

"Yes."

Saying that, he quickly stood up and said.

"According to the information provided by us and the Black Dragon Society, the attack on the expeditionary force fleet this time was the newly established air force unit of China, and the military department does not have too detailed information about this newly formed force at present. However, according to our intelligence, the current situation in Shandong should be the entire main force of this army..."

“……… That..."

Minister Osaura, who can also be seen as the Minister of Finance, asked Wakatsuki Rijiro.

It is no wonder that he would ask such a question, you must know that it is still a debtor country, and its finances are quite tight, and the price of a large warship is often tens of millions of yuan. It has only been two days since the start of the war, and the navy has already lost a third of its main force, and if it continues like this, he, the minister of the Great Zo, will not need to go any further.

And after listening to Wakatsuki Rijiro's words, Haya Sho said with a wry smile.

"Your Excellency doesn't need to worry so much, I admit that the air force of the Chinese people is indeed very powerful, and our losses this time are indeed very large, but next time, it will be very difficult for the Chinese people to get such a record again..."

"Oh?"

Wakatsuki Rijiro's face was full of disbelief.

However, Zao Suo Jie continued.

"According to the information sent back by Lieutenant General Kato, it was the first attack and the worst loss. At that time, the expeditionary fleet was anchored in Longkou Bay, because it did not expect such an attack from the Chinese army, so neither the expeditionary fleet nor the expeditionary force on the shore were defenseless. It is precisely because of this that when it is attacked for the first time, the expeditionary fleet will suffer huge losses.

By the time of the second attack, Vice Admiral Kato led the active ships of the expeditionary fleet out of the bay, and although the fleet was caught up by the Shina Air Force later, it was only after a simple maneuver to evade it..." "It's an evasive maneuver when a torpedo is being avoided."

Although there are all kinds of people here, it is said that it is an island country, and it is an island country that attaches great importance to the navy, so everyone here quickly understood the meaning of early rectification.

And after seeing that everyone present understood what they meant, he quickly continued.

"After making a simple evasive move, the probability of the fleet being hit in the event of an attack was greatly reduced, and in the whole attack, although many warships were damaged, only one "Satsuma" was sunk that had been wounded in the first attack, according to the information sent back by Vice Admiral Kato, at that time, the "Satsuma" was besieged by more than a dozen Shina aircraft, and after being hit by at least three torpedoes and five or six bombs, the battleship "Satsuma", which was already getting slower and slower, sank to the bottom of the sea..."

"As for the third subsequent attack, because the target of the attack by the China Air Force at that time was the ship responsible for acting as a decoy, there was no need to analyze it..."

Saying that, he continued as soon as possible.

"According to the preliminary analysis of the above information, although the planes of the China Air Force pose a great threat to the Imperial Navy, their hit rate is extremely low, and unless the ships of the Navy are stagnant as they were in the first attack, the probability of being hit will be greatly reduced if they make a slight maneuver. And in addition to the torpedoes thrown by the Air Force, the heavy bombs thrown by it can only incapacitate the ships, and cannot sink large ships..."

"So the threat of the Air Force is low?"

"No, quite the opposite..."

"Although maneuvering evasion can indeed reduce the probability of the ship being hit, I believe that all the monarchs here also understand the truth that if you hold it for a long time, you will lose. The Reich is different from China, for China, both bombs and torpedoes are cheap, and it doesn't matter how much is wasted, as long as one can hit. But for the Empire, even one hit will cause irreparable damage to the Empire, to the Navy, and to His Majesty the Emperor..."

"Therefore, Xia Guan suggested that before coming up with a way to deal with it, try to minimize the chance of the expeditionary fleet approaching the coast of China, so as to avoid being attacked by the China Air Force and thereby reduce losses..."

Except for Emperor Taisho, almost everyone present nodded slightly.

Later, however, Shigenobu Okuma spoke.

"Zaosu-kun, do you think that if the empire also starts to form an air force, how long will it take to have the same combat power as the Chinese air force..."Between the words, Okuma's eyes flickered a few times.

Although the current Air Force does have such and such shortcomings, its advantages cannot be concealed, especially heavy bombers equipped with the Wehrmacht Air Force...

Of course, after listening to Okuma's words, there are some people who disagree, but almost all of these people are admirers of the doctrine of big ships and giant guns. And if you want to let planes, or rather, aircraft carriers replace battleships in the Navy, it will take at least 20 years ...

In front of Emperor Taisho, the Okuma cabinet quickly made a decision.

Until a solution is devised to deal with the National Defense Air Force, the expeditionary fleet will never approach the coastal areas of Shandong unless necessary.

Under these circumstances, if you want to defeat the Wehrmacht in Shandong, you can obviously only rely on the army.

Looking at the expectant or worried eyes of the others, Okaichi nosuke patted his chest and assured that even without the assistance of the navy, the army could defeat the Shina army.

It's just that after what happened to the navy, it still cast a shadow on the hearts of Okuma and others.

In particular, Okuma himself began to consider sending more reinforcements to Kamio Mitsutomi on the Shandong Peninsula. lest the expeditionary force in Shandong suffer another crushing defeat.

However, this idea, which was no different from doubting the ability of the army, was finally rejected by the arrogant Okaichi Nosuke.

"Please rest assured, the Shenwei Jun in Shandong will definitely be able to win new glory for the Great Empire..."

——————————

While Tokyo was still reviewing the losses of the Longkou Bay Expeditionary Fleet, Great powers such as Britain and the United States were also shocked by the achievements of the National Defense Air Force.

"The crushing defeat of the Imperial Navy?!"

"The end of the age of the air, the end of the age of the sea?"

It is no wonder that the newspapers of Britain and the United States would take such headlines, but it is really said that the losses of the expeditionary fleet in Longkou Bay were too heavy.

Four battleships, two battle cruisers, and a considerable number of cruisers and destroyers ...

If all the front and back are added up, the navy has lost at least one-third of its capital ships in Longkou Bay, not to mention those ships that are damaged and need to be repaired.

Such a record is actually made by the Air Force that no one has paid attention to in the past...

As soon as everything that happened in Longkou Bay spread, many countries flocked to see what the "air force" that played a role in Longkou Bay really looked like.

Except for Ilya. In addition to Russia, the country of origin of the Muromets bomber, there are also countries such as France and the United States, but the most urgent ones are Britain and Germany.

The former is the maritime hegemon of the world today, and the latter is the second power that wants to challenge the hegemon...

Both, very curious about the mysteries of the Air Force ...

In particular, Germany, although Germany's high seas fleet claims to be the second in the world, and indeed has the second strength in the world. But everyone knows that the High Seas Fleet is by no means an opponent of the British Royal Navy if it is a head-on encounter. So, the Germans had to take another shortcut.

And this shortcut is the Air Force that has just created a miracle in Longkou Bay ...

——————————

Compared with the shock of the great powers, the people of the country were only excited by the results obtained in Longkou Bay.

How many years? How many years has it been since China has not enjoyed victory in a foreign war?

In the past, every war ended in a crushing defeat, followed by land reparations. There were a few times when the situation was a little better, but it was also an undefeated defeat. Although the opponent is only an Oriental devil now, the Orientals are also one of the great powers. Being able to inflict heavy losses on the Orientals on the battlefield is indeed an exciting thing for the Japanese people.

Coupled with the many atmospheres after the establishment of the New Deal, many Chinese people have even begun to feel that this is a harbinger of China's rise.

So in the end, on the streets of cities such as Yanjing, Nanjing, and Shanghai, not only those enthusiastic students, but also some ordinary citizens came up. Celebrating the victory of the Wehrmacht in Shandong, Yan Guang's prestige in China also reached the peak because of this victory.

"But the president, do you want to send a telegram to remind Chief of General Staff Cai, so that he must not be careless because of the victory in Longkou Bay..."

After attending an interview about the war at the Capitol, an Army general suggested.

Yan Guang, who returned to the office, shook his head after hearing his words.

"Don't worry, I don't dare to say anything else, but Matsuha's words will never be careless because of this matter..."

Yan Guang is still very confident in Cai Yi. After all, under his hands, there are only a few people who have the demeanor of famous generals, and Cai Ye is definitely the most capable one among them.

In fact, because he has not experienced the misdiagnosis of quacks, the current Cai Ye is more than ten times stronger than him in history in terms of physical condition. This is also one of the reasons why Yan Guanghui will reuse him.

But to be honest, although Yan Guang had high expectations for the Air Force, he was also stunned when he saw the telegram sent back by Xu Tianchuan. After all, the results achieved by the National Defense Air Force in Longkou Bay can no longer be described as astonishing.

There are more than 60 Ilya. The Muromets bombers were able to sink and damage so many capital ships, you know, any one of these capital ships would cost more than this group of Iria. The entire sum of the Muromets bombers.

However, Yan Guang also knows how accidental it is to be able to achieve such a record.

If it weren't for the fact that it was early in the morning, if it weren't for the fact that the navy had not expected such an attack, and if the navy had been able to install more air defense weapons and equipment on its warships, I am afraid that the national defense air force would not have achieved such great results.

Even in the course of the air raid, the air raid force was completely annihilated, which is not an impossible thing.

After all, the planes of this era are too fragile, and they are quite simple in terms of offensive means, even if it is just an ordinary Hatch Chase machine gun, it can pose enough threat to these aircraft...

"But then again, if it's just the Air Force, it's still a bit bad to get the British to notice us, or even pay attention to us. Moreover, although the Entente and the Central Powers are fighting fiercely on the battlefield in Europe, if they do not fight for a year or two, it is unlikely that they will run out of oil......... Sure enough, in the end, we still need a land war to prove our strength..."

Thinking so, Yan Guang looked into the distance.

And in Shandong, after arriving in Laiyang with a division of troops, Cai Ye also began the initial deployment work.

As for the problem of underestimating the enemy that some people in Yanjing are worried about, these have never appeared in Cai Yi's heart.

That's right, after learning about what happened in Longkou Bay, Cai Ye was also surprised by the power of the Air Force. However, he is well aware that the current Wehrmacht has not yet despised the qualifications of the army. Cai Yi once studied in Yueben and was very aware of the combat capability of the Yue Army.

It is true that the Wehrmacht is indeed stronger than the Wehrmacht in terms of individual equipment, but in terms of the quality of individual soldiers, the Wehrmacht is much higher than the Wehrmacht. Moreover, unlike the Beiyang Army that it faced in the past, in the case of having a quality higher than that of the National Defense Force, the Yue Army can only be described as fearless of death in many cases.

Therefore, Cai Ye must be cautious, otherwise he will not only live up to Yan Guang's trust in him, but also ruin his wisdom.

"At present, because of the great victory of the Air Force in Longkou Bay, the whole country is excited. We must not fail at times like these, you know?! ”

Sitting in the Laiyang Temporary Headquarters, Cai Ye looked at the more than a dozen generals with gold stars shining on their shoulders and said coldly. And after listening to Cai Yi's words, these generals also stood up one by one and replied.

"Understood!"

"Good..."

Seeing that the generals were so energetic, Cai Yi nodded with satisfaction.

Later, Cai Ye took out a telegram and put it in front of everyone.

"According to the intelligence obtained by the Military Intelligence Bureau, the army did not wait for us to come to the door in Huang County, but took the initiative to come to the door after leaving the strength of a brigade in Longkou Bay, Huang County." Saying that, Cai Yi smiled and said. "It seems that I want to get back the field I lost in Longkou Bay..."

Hearing Cai Ye say this in a relaxed tone, these generals in the headquarters also laughed one by one.

Speaking of which, before the war, although people like Cai Yi were relatively relaxed, there were still many people who were quite psychologically heavy. After all, in any case, in terms of national strength, it is said that it is stronger than China, and it is at least a cut stronger.

This is not nonsense.

Needless to say, the difference between the Navy and the Army, just the fiscal revenue.

In 1911, that is, during the Xinhai Revolution, the financial revenue of the Manchu government axe was 300 million taels of silver, that is, more than 500 million silver dollars.

Because of the chaos in the country after the Xinhai Revolution, China's fiscal revenue has been maintained at around 500 million silver dollars in the past two years. In 1913, the first year of Taisho, the final account of the annual income of the political axe was 687,392,480 yuan...

If it is converted into silver dollars, it is more than 680 million silver dollars, and a little less than 690 million. After 1914, that is, in the second year of Taisho, the fiscal revenue of the political axe reached 721,975,484 yuan, or more than 720 million silver dollars...

Compared with China at the same time, the fiscal revenue is at least 200 million silver dollars more than China...

One is a "small" one, and the other is a "big" China, and the gap between the two is so big that it's really embarrassing...

(To be continued)