Chapter 185: Secret Moves

Whenever a major event occurs in a country, a group of people are always indispensable to take the opportunity to express their views. Especially in the early years of the Republic of China, the literati atmosphere was very noisy. The Republic of China also has a propaganda department, but it does not care about literati who express their personal opinions. The task of the Propaganda Department is to make the voice of the government heard.

As the official mouthpiece, the "Republic of China Times", under the command of Propaganda Minister Zhang Shizhao, published articles one after another, criticizing all kinds of old and miscellaneous remarks today, some of which are very irresponsible, especially when the Japanese army has already set foot on Chinese territory. What is the significance of the peace talks in Qingdao? The German government returned Qingdao, and the Republic of China government took over Qingdao, which was a normal exchange between China and Germany. On the premise that the government of the Republic of China had taken over Qingdao, the Japanese military government still sent troops to attack Qingdao, which was a naked act of aggression.

The country has been invaded, and it is incumbent upon the army to fight back. Could it be that ceding Qingdao to Japan is the so-called sanity? How is this different from betraying the country? If this is the case with the government of the Republic of China, the National Defense Forces will withdraw without firing a shot? What will the citizens of such a government think? At that time, what will those who keep saying that "we must look at the strength gap between China and Japan rationally" say? When the dignity of the Chinese nation was trampled on for no reason, the National Defense Force went to the battlefield without hesitation and fought for the national interests and national dignity. The soldiers are bleeding and dying, what should we do for them? Those who stand and say cool words, should they consciously close their mouths?

"What, the two heavy cruisers of China disappeared?" The commander of the Second Fleet, Yuzaburo Kato, was shocked, and his first reaction was to walk towards the chart. The two heavy cruisers left the Wusong military port on September 11 and announced that they were going to the South Pacific for exercises. As an ally of Japan, when it was inconvenient for the Japanese warships to track, the British Far East Fleet sent a destroyer to follow all the time.

Originally, everything was fine, but after Qingdao started, the Japanese navy tore off the veil of warmth and sent the cruisers Kasuga and Nisshin. Form a formation and monitor the two heavy cruisers of the Chinese Navy together. The two cruisers had a displacement of 7600 tons, 1 single 254-mm gun and 1 twin 203-mm gun with the main gun. The Japanese Navy meant that with these two cruisers following, the two heavy cruisers of the Chinese Navy would definitely not be able to defeat the battle-hardened Japanese Navy.

Because there was no official declaration of war between China and Japan. The Japanese government also had no intention of all-out war. The Japanese Navy had an attitude of surveillance towards these two cruisers, and did not intend to sink them, so as not to make the Shina government unable to come to power. Japan wanted the interests of Qingdao and did not think of a full-scale war with the Chinese government.

The problem is that these two battleships are completely different concepts in the line of sight and out of sight, the cruiser can't hit the front, and it's a good hand to hit your transportation line. The main gun of 203 hits a cargo ship, which is not like playing. Now that China and Japan have not officially declared war, what if the government has entered the water and really declared war? These two cruisers were for Japan's sea transport lines. That's the nightmarish existence of zài. Can't you send battleships out to escort them? That's a lot of gas! The Japanese government was not even willing to send troops to Europe, and even if it was willing to send troops to help the British Navy encircle and suppress the German Far East Fleet, it would not contribute to the work and would frequently help it. The angry British kicked out this ally and went it alone for a while. The Japanese Navy also seized the opportunity to seize German islands in the Pacific Ocean.

All in all, there are too many bad things that two heavy cruisers can do on the sea. In this era of no radar and no satellite positioning, if you want to find two warships that are deliberately hidden in the vast sea, it is really like looking for a needle in a haystack. Japan was a country that was extremely dependent on sea lines of transportation, and once the Chinese government declared war, the destructive power of the two heavy cruisers was great. Don't expect any Anglo-Japanese alliance, which would have bothered the British Far East Fleet with the German Far East Fleet sailing across the oceans. Speaking of which, this account has to be counted on the heads of the Japanese. An ultimatum under August 15. The Japanese navy blocked the sea of Qingdao, and just like that, the fleet led by Shi Pei broke out of the encirclement. The discontent in the hearts of the British must be very heavy, but at the moment we can't do anything about the Japanese dog, the European battlefield in the Impel region of Belgium. A campaign is being planned. After the start of the war, the French, who had high hopes from the British, were beaten by the Germans and almost lost Paris. The Russians were slow to move, and now the British were counting on Japan for help, first, to pursue the German Far Eastern Fleet, and second, to send troops to Europe.

The British endured the matter of letting go of the German Far East Fleet. But how did these two heavy cruisers go missing?

After the detailed report came up, the Japanese Admiralty learned that on the night of the 15th, the Shina battleship encountered heavy fog in the sea near Miyaya Island, and after the dense fog dissipated, the British and Japanese battleships discovered that the two Chinese battleships were missing. Urgently search the nearby seas, and there is no trace of it. Fatally, that night

The British destroyer, which was responsible for approaching and tracking, suddenly broke down and was thrown off, which led to the disappearance of two battleships. Of course, the disappearance was said by the Japanese.

The Japanese Navy did not dare to complain about the sudden failure of the British destroyer, so it had to report it with fear.

There is a fierce battle going on in Qingdao, and it is a shame for the Navy for this kind of thing to happen. After all, it's not the first time, you must know that if the army doesn't listen to your explanation, it will definitely die in the navy. 14 is really not a good year for the Japanese Navy. The Siemens bribery scandal that broke out at the beginning of the year has brought the army-backed prime minister Shigenobu Okuma to power, and the army has proposed to equip two new divisions, and the navy and the army are competing. The country is small, the resources are small, so there is just a few things, the army occupies more, and the navy is less.

Speaking of which, Japan was still too poor at this time. It has not yet been able to take the opportunity of the First World War to annex the German colonies in the East, and it has not yet developed through the First World War. Originally, I thought that it would be easy to fight Qingdao, but unexpectedly, the government of China was unexpectedly tough.

The entire Japanese Navy became nervous because of these two heavy cruisers that had lost their traces, and what if they touched the Yellow Sea and dealt a blow to the Japanese fleet that was being transported at sea? It's hard to say! Even if the Yellow Sea is blockaded and cannot enter, sinking a few ships for the Japanese convoy near the East China Sea is not a responsibility that the Japanese Navy can afford.

The Japanese Navy was attracted by the attention of the two heavy cruisers, and when they were looking for them everywhere, the Chinese task force that had left the Miyaya Strait was heading in the direction of Hawaii. Well, there is an exchange event between the Chinese and American navies, and that's it.

Qingdao, the Germans left a few naval battleships, all of them are some little guys. There was still someone on the dock watching, and this person was Chen Fu, the commander of the submarine force. Last night, six submarines quietly found out of Qingdao Port. The target is naturally the Japanese transport fleet that sails to cross, and I don't know if these six latest submarines can play a role, Chen Fu has no bottom in his heart.

Standing on the dock and looking at the sea, Chen Fu could only secretly pray in his heart for the attacking submarine. I can come back anyway, and I don't want to be successful. Hey, I don't know what the marshal thinks, he is actually full of confidence in such a low-level thing as a submarine, the navy cannot win a naval battle by relying on submarines, and it is impossible to win sea supremacy. If you want to dominate the ocean, you still have to rely on the big guys.

In the early morning of the 16th, the positions outside the city of Ye County were shrouded in a sea of fire, and the Japanese army began a new day of offensive. Yesterday's air raid caused considerable losses to the Japanese troops, especially the loss of ammunition. Therefore, today's Japanese artillery bombardment appeared stingy, and the shelling stopped after half an hour of artillery preparation, and the Japanese troops holding plaster flags began to attack.

Almost at the same time, the front-line positions of Liushutai were also shelled by the Japanese army. The howitzers of the Japanese army were heavily bombarded the positions of the willow platform. Look at this meaning, the Japanese army has no intention of detouring the flank, and is very confident!

Along with the bombardment of heavy artillery, Japanese mountain artillery and field artillery also began to fire. And it was quickly found its place by artillery observation posts at heights. Xu Chongzhi, who returned to the command post, did not rush to let the artillery counterattack, but ordered to be more patient.

When the Japanese shelled for nearly an hour, Xu Chongzhi looked at the watch on his wrist and nodded at the chief of staff Han Meng, Han Meng picked up the phone, and was about to speak after connecting it, when a muffled sound of sand fell down, and it seemed that a shell fell not far away. Han Meng frowned and ordered loudly: "Artillery regiment, fire!" ”

The Japanese army knew about the fact that the new mountain guns equipped by the squadron had a long range. However, relying on the presence of heavy artillery, they thought that they could find and counterattack the opponent's artillery at any time, so they shelled unscrupulously.

Unexpectedly, the knock-off version of Bofors had an unexpectedly long range. On the Japanese mountain artillery position, it was a scene facing the sky. Many soldiers were shirtless, firing shells incessantly.

When the whistling came down from the sky, the artillery positions were first in shock, and then they went into hiding, but it was too late. The rate of fire of the Bofors Mountain Cannon is fifteen rounds per minute, which is called a fast fight. But in the blink of an eye, the Japanese mountain artillery and field artillery positions turned into a sea of fire. The artillery does not have to worry about not being able to hit accurately, and all suitable artillery positions are pre-set. The observation post sends back a number of jù, which can directly turn the predetermined area into a hell on earth.

The Japanese army did not have time to react at all, and a mountain artillery brigade and a field artillery brigade were turned into scrap metal in the face of the rapid fire of 24 Bofors. The Japanese heavy artillery wanted to suppress it, and the hot air balloon that lifted off took time, not to mention, and after the number was calculated, it was dumbfounded, and it was impossible to reach the artillery position of the Zhina Army.

The Japanese army's heavy artillery can also hit more than 10,000 meters, the Bofors has a range of 9,000, and the Japanese-made mountain artillery field artillery has a range of more than 4,000 meters, and there are Japanese mountain artillery positions in between.

When the artillery was getting happier and happier, the roar of the engine was faintly heard in the air.