Japan, the waters of Tosa Bay.

At this time, more than 60 large and small warships had gathered in this sea area, and all the main warships of the entire Japanese navy, as well as some battleships that had retreated to the coastal defense fleet, had rushed here.

At this time, a meeting was being held on the battleship Kongo, the flagship of the Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet, which was presided over by Commander Shigetaro Yoshimatsu of the Combined Fleet, and was attended by his Chief of Staff Shibayoshi Yamanaka, Commander of the Second Fleet, Kantaro Suzuki, Chief of Staff Yamaya, Commander of the Third Fleet, Gentaro Yamashita, Chief of Staff Sojiro Tochiuchi, Commander of the Fourth Fleet, Isamu Takeshita, and Chief of Staff Keisuke Okada. In addition to being the commander of the Combined Fleet, Shigetaro Yoshimatsu also served as the commander of the First Fleet, and Shibayoshi Yamanaka also served as the chief of staff of the First Fleet.

Shigetaro Yoshimatsu studied in France when he was young, he participated in the First Sino-Japanese Naval Battle, when he was the captain of the Yoshino, he was part of the Second Fleet in the Russo-Japanese War, he served as the captain of the Joban, and participated in the Battle of Ulsan and the Battle of Tsushima under the command of the commander of the Second Fleet at that time, Hikonojo Uemura, and it can be said that he was a Japanese admiral with very rich combat experience. Only Shigetaro Yoshimatsu's generation can support the Japanese Navy.

Shigetaro Yoshimatsu was a middle-aged man in his fifties, with shaved hair on his head and only a little stubble, and his scalp was still shiny in the light of the conference room.

He sat on the main seat with the hilt of the command knife and looked at the other generals and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, in two hours we will set off for the Caroline Islands, this time the Empire's decision to fight against Australia has been carefully considered, and the war has been going on for more than half a year. Our war reserve resources are depleted very quickly, and of course the Entente will not sell us strategic resources, and the allies have no surplus to sell to us, and even if they have, they cannot be shipped, and many things such as iron ore, rubber, and oil can only be purchased by China from the outside. In terms of strategy, the United States and China have raised prices aggressively, which has caused our country great losses, and some of the wealth accumulated over the years has been consumed, so in order to obtain strategic resources, we can only seize them from the Entente, and Australia is relatively close to us. And the forces are too far away from our country, so as our country's preferred target, as long as we can quickly capture Australia, we will be able to obtain a large amount of war resources, so this time I ask you to do your best. For the sake of the future of the Great Japanese Empire, please! After speaking, he bent down and bowed his head.

Seeing this, the other generals immediately bent down and bowed their heads at the same time and agreed: "Hey! ”

At this moment, the communications staff officer rushed in with a telegram and rushed in with a pale face, and came to Yoshimatsu Shigetaro and leaned over

He whispered in his ear: "Your Excellency, Commander, in an emergency, I just received a telegram from the Military Command Department of the Navy Province that Hua Guo declared war on our country a quarter of an hour ago!" ”

"What?" Yoshimatsu Shigetaro exclaimed when he heard this, and the other generals at the meeting all looked at it, and he turned his head and asked, "What's going on?" Why is this happening? ”

The communications staff officer whispered in detail the clashes that had occurred in Tokyo in recent days between the Chinese and overseas Chinese in Tokyo and the Japanese ronin.

After listening to the report of the communications staff officer, Shigetaro Yoshimatsu's face changed several times. After two minutes of silence, he asked, "Did the Military Command Department issue an order other than informing us of this news?" ”

"Yes!" The communications staff officer took out the telegram in his hand and said: "The Military Command Department orders us to temporarily abandon our plans to go to the Caroline Islands and wait for further orders!"

Yoshimatsu Shigetaro's face became extremely stern. He took the telegram and quickly glanced at it and put it on the table, looked up at the generals on both sides, and saw the inquiring eyes and expressions of the others, and said in a deep voice: "You tell you that I don't know whether it is good news or bad news, Hua Guo declared war on our country a quarter of an hour ago, and the Military Command Department of the Ministry of the Navy has ordered us to temporarily abandon our plans to go to the Caroline Islands. Stand by now! ”

"Ahh

"What?"

The commander of the Second Fleet, Kantaro Suzuki, was furious, slapped the table and got up and said angrily, "Yaga." Yagaya deer, arrogant Shina people. We didn't declare war on them, they declared war on our country in turn, and it just so happened that we didn't have to go to the Caroline Islands, and we could also get a lot of strategic resources by capturing China! ”

"Yo Xi!" The commander of the Third Fleet, Gentaro Yamashita, said with a grim face: "Actually, I have long been against attacking Australia, that place is too far away, it is better to attack Huaguo directly, but unfortunately no one listened to my advice before, now it's okay, we don't mess with Huaguo, Huaguo will provoke us instead, this just fulfills my wish, what are you waiting for?" Your Excellency, Commander, why don't we leave for China now and land in Shanghai or Hangzhou Bay! ”、

Yoshimatsu Shigetaro knocked on the table and said in a deep voice, "Okay, don't talk angry, is it time to be angry?" We are soldiers, not a rabble, and we must obey military orders, and we will stand by the order that the Military Command Department of the Navy Ministry has sent to us to stay put! Chief of Staff, have all the ships and troop carriers of the fleets arrived? ”

Chief of Staff Yamanaka Shibakichi immediately said: "Yes, Your Excellency Commander, according to the plan, all the ships that should arrive and the troop transport fleet on which the four divisions of the army are riding have all arrived!" ”

Yoshimatsu Shigetaro waved his hand and said, "Give orders to all fleets and ships, turn off the boilers, drop anchor, and wait for the next order!" ”

"Hey!"

Yoshimatsu Shigetaro looked at the commanders and chiefs of staff of these detachments and said, "Guys, where do you think the next step plan of the Military Command Department will be?" Will it continue to target Australia or will it turn to attack China? ”

"Does that need to be said? China is close at hand, and Australia is too far away, you must know that the naval strength of the Great Japanese Empire is all with us, if we leave, then we will not let the Chinese naval fleet run rampant in our waters? I thought as long as those bastards in the Military Command Department were not stupid, they would know what to order."

??????

Huaguo, Jingshi Presidential Palace, Strategic Command Office.

Xiao Zhenlei put one hand behind his back and held a cigarette in the other. Quietly in front of a huge sand table, the sand table simulates the topographic map of East China, the East China Sea, Japan and the seas around Japan. In the easternmost part of Japan's island of Shikoku, five model fighters are inserted, each representing a flying party (100 fighters), representing the first wave of attack aircraft that have arrived near Tosa Bay. There are also five fighters on the surface of Kyushu Island and the East China Sea, representing the second and third wave of attack aircraft groups. Each fighter model has the Chinese flag logo on it.

In the waters of Tosa Bay, there are more than 60 models of Japanese warships, flying the Japanese flag, and around these warships, there are some smaller submarine models, and the hulls of the models are printed with the Chinese flag.

Eighty nautical miles south of Tosa Bay, there is a large fleet model with the flag of China. The number of ships in the fleet is forty-two, which is much less than the number of models of the Japanese naval fleet, and this is the main fleet of the Chinese naval fleet, which can almost be said to be dispatched, and the Japanese naval fleet in Tosa Bay is only a standing fleet of Japan. The Western Sea Fleet did not rush over. Whether it is the tonnage of the ships, or the scale of the number, the Chinese fleet can not be compared with the Japanese fleet, the difference between the two is too great, but the Chinese naval fleet is not useless, in this fleet there are four seaplane carriers, each of which carries 35 fighters, the reason why they are seaplane carriers. Because they are all converted from bulk carriers of more than 10,000 tons, and not real aircraft carriers, many of the functions of aircraft carriers. None of the seaplane carriers.

Here, in addition to Xiao Zhenlei, there are also Jiang Fangzhen, Cai Yi, Cai Guodong, Xu Shaozhen, Ma Hanlong, Fan Zhiyong, Zhang Xiaozhun and other members of the Supreme Military Council.

At this time, an officer came over with a bunjiàn clip and stood up and saluted: "Report, the first wave of attack planes sent a telegram that they have arrived over the waters of Tosa Bay, and that the reconnaissance planes have discovered the Japanese naval fleet. In another half an hour you will be able to launch an attack on the enemy, and preparations are now being made for the attack; The second wave of attack aircraft sent telegrams. Arriving over Kumamoto City on the island of Kyushu, a third wave of attack aircraft arrived over the sea area 60 nautical miles south of Fukue Island. There is not much difference between the attack aircraft groups and the predetermined time interval, and within the normal range, if they are not greedy for combat during the battle, they can return safely in time! ”

"In addition, Cheng Biguang, commander of the Navy's front-line fleet, sent a telegram saying that preparations had begun on the four seaplane carriers, and carrier-based aircraft had begun to rise to the deck, and it was expected that the fighters would be lifted into the air in an hour, and the first wave of attack aircraft would take off within a quarter of an hour."

As soon as the officer who reported on the war situation left, the secretary Xiao Gao walked over quickly and reported: "President, U.S. Minister Nunnshi asks to see you!" ”

Xiao Zhenlei took a puff of cigarette and asked, "Did he say something was wrong?" ”

Xiao Gao said: "He didn't say it, I think it might be a declaration of war on Japan!" ”

Xiao Zhenlei nodded when he heard this: "Yes, we are allies with the United States, and it really seems impolite to declare war on Japan alone without informing the United States in advance, everyone, I will go first."

All the generals expressed their understanding that Xiao Zhenlei was going to send the Americans, which was not a good thing, because the Americans had come to Xingshi this time to ask for guilt, and it was not possible for the Americans to settle the alliance alone this time, and the Huamei Secret Moon Period would be gone forever.

??????

Over Tosa Bay, the first wave of attack aircraft swarms.

In the AWACS aircraft, Lan Rulong stood in the cockpit and looked ahead with a telescope, and many black spots were faintly seen at the end of the sea in front of him, which was the Japanese Navy fleet!

Lan Rulong immediately shouted: "Order, the Japanese fleet is ahead, and all battle teams and flying combat groups are ready for battle!" ”

"Yes, sir!"

In the conference room of the battleship Kongo, the staff officer walked in quickly and reported to Shigetaro Yoshimatsu: "Your Excellency, the following report just now said that a sea reconnaissance plane flying to the northwest did not fly back at the scheduled time to report the situation. ”

The commanders and chiefs of staff of the detachments were still in a meeting and did not leave, and the commander of the Third Fleet, Gentaro Yamashita, laughed shamefully when he heard this: "I said Your Excellency the Communications Staff Officer, your nerves are too nervous, to the northwest is Shikoku Island, what danger can there be?" Could it be that the Chinese fleet rushed to Shikoku Island from the west, and then rushed over from Shikoku Island to fire on our country? ”

"Hahaha??????" The commanders and chiefs of staff of the fleets laughed when they heard this, thinking about it, how could there be danger in the northwestern direction? At this time, there were only a few of the Japanese Navy's seaplanes, and the maximum flight range was only 160 kilometers, and if they ran a round trip, the maximum reconnaissance radius would only be 80 nautical miles.

Although Yoshimatsu Shigetaro wanted to laugh, he was also the highest commander here, and he still maintained a certain strictness, but the effect of the corner of his mouth showed that he also wanted to laugh at this time, and he waved his hand to the communications staff officer: "Okay, you send a telegram to the local official on Shikoku Island, ask them to send someone to check on it, see if there is any of our seaplanes landing or crashed, let them give a reply, if there is really something to do, let them help take care of it, don't let the idlers and others get close to the wreckage of the plane, If the pilot is still alive, ask them to take good care of it! ”

The communications staff officer hesitated: "But there are rumors that Huaguo has developed an aircraft with a long flight range, could our seaplane be shot down by Huaguo's plane?" ”

Shigetaro Yoshimatsu looked at the communications staff officer like a fool, "I think you have delusional masochism, right?" Not to mention China, even now the British and German planes have a maximum range of only more than 200 kilometers, a flight time of only two hours, and a flight speed of only 123 kilometers per hour. Idiot, don't get out yet! ”

"Hey!" The communications staff officer walked out with a look of shame on his face, walking in a particularly wolf posture, almost hiding his face and fleeing.

Yoshimatsu Shigetaro and the others continued the meeting and discussion just now, and after another ten minutes or so, a large amount of noise and noise came from outside, followed by a rumbling sound.

Ten minutes ago, the communications staff officer ran in wolf again, and Yoshimatsu Shigetaro was about to send someone out to ask what was going on outside, when he saw the communications staff officer running in wolf, he immediately asked: "What's going on outside, why is it so noisy?" (To be continued) R580