For the Allied and Allied joint expeditionary fleets defeated the main fleet of the Chinese Empire, other countries in the world that did not participate in the war are also extremely shocked, you must know that the entire Allied and Allied joint expeditionary fleet, but with 72 dreadnought battleships and 72 all-steel battleships, including thousands of warships, the total displacement even exceeds 5.44 million tons, you say that such a powerful fleet was defeated by the hands of the Chinese Empire's navy, can you not make people feel frightened by the strength of the Chinese Imperial Navy!

In the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Japan, Emperor Meiji urgently summoned Japan's Prime Minister Saionji Kobo, Foreign Minister Yoshimoto Tomobayashi, War Minister Katsura Taro, and Navy Minister Togo Heihachiro to the palace, and Emperor Meiji said in a deep voice: "According to accurate information, the main fleet of the Chinese Empire's navy defeated the combined expeditionary fleet composed of the Entente and the Central Powers in the sea area of more than 280 nautical miles northwest of Sri Lanka Island on November 19, resulting in very heavy losses for the entire joint expeditionary fleet. Fifty-three dreadnoughts were sunk alone, 48 all-steel battleships were sunk, and a number of ironclad battleships, large fast armored cruisers, fast protection cruisers, submarines, destroyers, and torpedo boats were sunk or captured by the Imperial Chinese Navy in naval battles. ”

Prime Minister Saionji Gongwang listened to Emperor Meiji's words, his face did not change, this news was just brought by him to Emperor Meiji, Saionji Gongwang had already known this amazing news one step ahead of Emperor Meiji.

However, Foreign Minister Yoshimoto Tomobayashi, Minister of War Katsura Taro, and Navy Minister Heihachiro Togo had just learned the news, and they were immediately shocked and couldn't help but exclaim.

"What? The Combined Expeditionary Fleet was defeated? ”

"How is this possible?"

"I'm not dreaming, am I?"

Prime Minister Saionji Gongwang said in a deep voice: "Gentlemen, please pay attention to the etiquette in front of His Majesty the Emperor!" ”

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty the Emperor, but I'm really shocked by this news." Foreign Minister Tomobayashi Yoshimoto said immediately.

"The minister is not questioning His Majesty the Emperor. He really did not expect that the powerful combined expeditionary fleet of the Entente and the Central Powers would be defeated by the main naval force of the Chinese Empire. War Minister Katsura Taro also hurriedly explained.

Admiral Minister Heihachiro Togo also said, "Your Majesty the Emperor, the minister is well aware of the disparity in the strength of the two fleets, and is so surprised that the Combined Expeditionary Fleet has been defeated, so much so that the monarch has lost his honor. Please punish His Majesty the Emperor! ”

Emperor Meiji waved his hand and sighed and said, "This emperor was also very shocked when he heard the news brought by the prime minister, Prime Minister, you tell Yoshimoto-kun about the specific situation of the naval battle." ”

Prime Minister Saionji nodded to Emperor Meiji, and then said to the other three Japanese ministers: "The intelligence systems of several countries in Europe of our Imperial Japanese Empire have transmitted the specific details of this naval battle of unprecedented scale......"

Subsequently, Prime Minister Saionji Konozo gave Yoshimoto Tomobayashi, Katsura Taro, and Togo Heihachiro a detailed account of the naval battle between the main fleet of the Imperial Chinese Navy and the combined expeditionary fleet of the Entente and the Allies obtained by the Japanese intelligence services.

After listening to this, Heihachiro Togo couldn't help but sigh and said: "The performance of the Chinese Empire's fighters has always been ahead of all countries in the world, and the reason why the joint expeditionary fleet suffered a crushing defeat this time. Most of the reason is due to the bombers that suddenly appeared in the Chinese Empire, but are those bombers of the Chinese Empire really seaplanes? Our intelligence department of the Great Japanese Empire did not get any information about the seaplanes of the Chinese Empire. ”

Prime Minister Saionji Gongwang said with a wry smile: "The intelligence department of our Great Japanese Empire in the Chinese Empire has suffered many blows from the Chinese Empire, and is currently in a semi-paralyzed state, and it is already extremely difficult to get some important information about the Chinese Empire, but our intelligence personnel of the Great Japanese Empire in Britain have received information, and the British think that these bombers of the Chinese Empire may not be seaplanes." Rather, the Chinese Empire had a kind of warship that could carry bombers, and the deck of such a warship had a runway that allowed the bombers to take off. The bombers were taken directly to the sea not far from the Joint Expeditionary Fleet, and only then could they carry out multiple rounds of bombing of the Joint Expeditionary Fleet. ”

Heihachiro Togo nodded thoughtfully and said: "If the Chinese Empire has such a warship, it can be explained, otherwise it is just a seaplane, loaded with so many aerial bombs, it is difficult to take off on the sea." ”

Emperor Meiji let out a long sigh. Then he said with a gloomy face: "This emperor was originally prepared to wait for the opportunity to join this war against the Chinese Empire after the combined expeditionary fleet of the Entente and the Allied Powers defeated the main force of the Chinese Imperial Navy and eliminated the threat of the Chinese Empire's navy to our Great Japanese Empire itself, so that the Great Japanese Empire could wait for the opportunity to join this war against the Chinese Empire in order to avenge the blood feud between our Great Japanese Empire and the Chinese Empire, but unfortunately it backfired. The incomparably powerful Combined Expeditionary Fleet was defeated, and even the land forces of the Entente and the Central Powers were beaten by the land forces of the Chinese Empire. ”

Prime Minister Saionji Gongwang said: "Your Majesty the Emperor, although the navy of the Entente and the Allied Powers has suffered very large losses this time, if they are desperate, they can still form a joint expeditionary fleet of no inferior scale again, and the combined strength of the Entente and the Allied Powers is extremely strong, that is, the current naval and land battles are in an unfavorable situation, and the possibility of the Entente and the Allied Powers reversing the tables is still very large, maybe our Great Japanese Empire should still have the opportunity to join this war and take revenge!" ”

Emperor Meiji rubbed his temples and said, "I hope so!" In a short time, the Entente and the Central Powers will not be troubled by the Imperial Chinese Navy, and now we can only see how the land war between the two sides goes. Katsura Taro, what does the Imperial War Department think about the situation of the land battle between the two sides in the future? ”

War Minister Katsura Taro sighed and said: "In this war, the Chinese Empire has occupied a comprehensive advantage on the battlefield on land, and on the battlefield of the British Asian colonies, the troops of the Chinese Empire have occupied the British Nepal and Bhutan, and the situation in Burma is also very bad, and it will be fully occupied by the Chinese Empire, that is, sooner or later." The situation was slightly better in India, where the British Army had kept the Chinese Empire's troops at Islamabad and Dhaka, but the British did not have much regular troops in India. Most of them were colonial armies composed of local Indians, and the combat effectiveness of these colonial armies was comparable to that of the Chinese Empire, which was really a world of difference, so the minister was not very optimistic about the situation in India. ”

After a pause, Katsura Taro continued: "On the Russian battlefield, the army of the Chinese Empire has successively won the battles of Novosibirsk, Omsk, and Chelyabinsk, and the troops of the Chinese Empire have crossed the Ural Mountains. Entering the region of Russia and Europe, the troops of the Chinese Empire are now massing towards the Russian city of Ufa, and if the city of Ufa is occupied by the troops of the Chinese Empire, it will be difficult for the whole of Russia to stop the advance of the Chinese Imperial army. ”

Foreign Minister Yoshimoto Yubayashi suddenly interjected: "The intelligence does not say that now that the Entente and the Central Powers have gathered more than 5 million troops in Ufa City, and this number is still increasing, I do not believe that the army of the Chinese Empire can continue to win in Ufa City." ”

Katsura Taro shook his head and said: "The Chinese Empire occupies absolute air superiority, and at present, the Entente and the Allied Powers have no effective means to suppress the fighters of the Chinese Empire, but just like Yoshimoto-kun said. The armies of the Entente and the Central Powers occupied a huge advantage in terms of troops, and it was really difficult to say whether the victory or defeat would be in Ufa City, and the ministers could not be sure who would kill the deer. ”

Emperor Meiji rubbed his temples again and said: "Now when the Chinese Empire is mentioned, this emperor has a headache, and our Great Japanese Empire still seize the time to develop our own strength." Wait for your chance! Katsura Taro, how are the 30 new divisions of the army formed? ”

Katsura Taro heard Emperor Meiji ask about the newly formed 30 divisions. He immediately smiled and said, "Your Majesty the Emperor, at present, 30 newly built army divisions and regiments of our Great Japanese Empire have been formed, and now our Great Japanese Empire has 96 standing divisions and regiments, with a total strength of nearly 2.9 million. ”

Originally, the whole country of Japan had to cut down on food and clothing, and they also wanted to form 30 new army divisions, but later the Americans bought Japan's government bonds worth $60 million. All of a sudden, Japan's funds became abundant, and not only immediately placed an order for three Amagi-class dreadnought battleships for Japan's own shipyards, but also transferred part of the funds to the Japanese Army.

The Japanese Army was asked to replenish the tanks and armored vehicles that were lacking in the original 66 standing divisions and regiments, and also equipped the 30 lightly armed divisions and regiments that were originally planned to be newly formed with the artillery, tanks, and armored vehicles that were standard in the standing divisions. As a result, all 96 divisions of the Japanese Army have become heavy divisions with armored units.

Emperor Meiji finally smiled a little, and then asked the Minister of the Navy, Heihachiro Togo, "What happened to the new batch of warships built by the Empire?" ”

Heihachiro Togo said: "I would like to inform Your Majesty the Emperor that the construction of three Amagi-class dreadnought battleships, four large fast armored cruisers, eight fast protection cruisers and eight destroyers has all begun, that all eight fast protection cruisers and eight destroyers will be able to enter service in the Great Japan Combined Fleet in May and June next year, that four large fast armored cruisers will be able to join the Great Japan Combined Fleet at the beginning of 1910, and that three Amagi-class dreadnought battleships will not be commissioned until April or May of 1910." ”

Emperor Meiji asked, "So, Togo-kun, how is the design of our own super dreadnought battleship in the Great Japanese Empire?" ”

Heihachiro Togo hesitated for a moment and said: "Your Majesty the Emperor, the ship designers of our navy have designed a super dreadnought battleship of our Japan, with a standard displacement of 24,500 tons and a full load displacement of 26,100 tons. The length of the ship is 162.5 meters, the width of the ship is 27.5 meters, the maximum draft is 9.2 meters, the design maximum speed is 20 knots, and it is equipped with 5 twin 45 times the caliber 343 mm main gun, 12 152 mm secondary guns, 16 47 mm anti-aircraft guns, 16 anti-aircraft machine guns, 5 450 mm torpedo tubes, horizontal armor belts 220 mm to 356 mm, deck armor 76 mm, main turret armor 356 mm, conning tower armor 254 mm, crew 1028 people, but ...... The cost of this super dreadnought battleship reached 35 million yen, which would have cost at least two at the same time, and if only one super dreadnought battleship were built, the cost would be several million yen more. ”

Emperor Meiji, Prime Minister Saionji Konozo, Foreign Minister Yoshimoto Yurin, and War Minister Katsura Taro, when they heard the cost of the dreadnought battleship, they all couldn't help but take a breath of relief, 35 million yen According to the current exchange rate, it is equivalent to nearly 3.3 million pounds, and the super dreadnought battleship is definitely a battleship that is piled up with money.

Togo Heihachiro then smiled bitterly, he knew that although there were still some of the $60 million that Japan got from the Americans, the 2.9 million Japanese Army and hundreds of warships of the Combined Fleet now need money to support, and it will take 3 or 40 million yen to build one super dreadnought battleship at every turn, which is really not something that Japan can play with now.

Prime Minister Saionji Gongwang sighed and said: "The cost of 1 Amagi-class dreadnought battleship is only 21 million yen, I didn't expect that the super dreadnought battleship will be so expensive, at present, our Great Japanese Empire can raise the construction cost of 2 super dreadnought battleships, but we still need to keep this money for raising troops, after all, nearly 3 million army officers and soldiers and more than 100,000 naval officers and soldiers, as well as the army's heavy equipment and hundreds of navy warships, need a very large military expenditure every month, Relying only on the monthly financial income, we simply cannot support such a huge naval and land army, and if all the money is used to build super dreadnought battleships, our imperial Japanese army will have no money for its usual expenses. ”

Emperor Meiji gritted his teeth, in his own imperial treasury, the treasures left by the emperors of the past dynasties were taken out and sold, in exchange for the money used for the formation of 30 new army divisions, the current imperial treasury, has been empty, as the emperor of Japan, he has been so poor that he has been cutting the expenses in the palace, and can no longer take out the money to build super dreadnought battleships for the navy.

Emperor Meiji said in a deep voice: "Super dreadnought battleships are what our Great Japanese Empire must have, Prime Minister, you immediately contact the Americans to see if they can buy some more of our Imperial Japanese bonds, the Americans also need our Great Japanese Empire to contain the Chinese Empire, especially after the Chinese Imperial Navy's navy defeated the combined expeditionary fleet of the Entente and the Central Powers, the Americans should need us even more." (To be continued.) )