The telegram sent from the Haitian arrived at the Military Commission building in Nanjing at a speed of 00,000 kilometers per second. On duty that day at the Military Commission was none other than Minister of War Bai Chongxi (Wang Junhao was the acting minister), and Rao was the bearing of the number one general under Chang Ruiqing, and when he took this telegram from His Excellency the Chairman of the Committee, he also gasped and sat for a long time, speechless.

Is this going to be a war with the Japanese? It also does not go through the national government, nor does it pass through the Guò Legislative Yuan or the Political Council...... With Chang Ruiqing's order, China and Japan are in a state of total war? This is too unruly, too authoritarian, right? It's fine if you win, but if you don't, how can you step down?

Before Minister Bai could come to his senses, the other three of Chang Ruiqing's four King Kongs, as well as Prime Minister Pan Yucheng, Director of the Military Intelligence Bureau Ren Yijiang and others had already arrived. The reason why they came here was not because of Chang Ruiqing's "telegram to start war", but because of the telegram that the Military Intelligence Bureau had received from Tang Jiu and that Japan and the Soviet Union had conspired to assassinate Chang. While forwarding this telegram to the cruiser Haitian, the Military Intelligence Bureau of course also informed the four great King Kongs and Premier Pan Da of the news, but as for Hu Hanmin, Mao Zd, Chen Duxiu, and Song Qingling, they were not notified. This Ren Yijiang turned out to be a master who knew how to deal with politics, and he knew that in case Chairman Chang couldn't escape this catastrophe, whoever got the news first and was prepared would be greatly advantageous! At this time, he must stand on the side of the Four King Kongs with a clear banner!

"The Haitian is being shelled by Japanese ships! But it shouldn't be a big deal...... Bai Chongxi didn't wait for a few people to sit down, so he told them the news he had just received, and finally put the telegram in his hand on the conference table. He spread his hands and said, "The chairman wants us to start fighting immediately." What do you guys think? ”

Hearing the news, several of Chang Ruiqing's henchmen and important ministers all took a breath of cool air. Before everyone's originally hanging hearts had time to let go, they mentioned their throats again. A few people, you and me, I look at you, no one knows how to express their position. After a long time, I heard Zhao Zhen, the acting chief of the general staff, speak first.

"Let's fight! Since Yaoru wants to fight, what else do we have to hesitate about? Little Japan is also too much, and it doesn't count if it hurts the first president. Now we want to harm our chairman, how can such a country not teach a good lesson? ”

Bai Chongxi frowned and said: "There is no problem with the army, the current two armies are all full, and there is civil strife on the side of the Soviet Union for the time being, so we can't take care of it...... But did the Navy really leave the port? The navy is done with this bit of blood and bones......"

"yes!" Pan Yucheng also nodded and agreed: "There is no official declaration of war yet. Let's attack their merchant ships and fishing boats...... Doesn't it seem to be in accordance with public international law? This matter is reasonable and unreasonable. ”

"Why don't you let the Army fight a dozen?" Wang Junhao also said. "There is a battalion of 2 7-inch cannons deployed in the Tiger Head Fortress, which can block the Far Eastern railway line as soon as it is fired, which is the seven inches of the Japanese devils, and they can't stand it if they keep it."

"But Yaoru's order is for the navy to attack!" Wu Shi glanced at Wang Junhao and said, "This capital is his, we can't help but listen to his orders." I think it always makes sense for him to ask for a naval attack, so let's hurry up and give an order to the Admiralty, because if it's too late, I'm afraid that the Japanese will blockade the port. ”

This is a bit heart-wrenching, but it is also a big truth, the brothers are only about thirty years old. They are already the rank of general! Didn't you rely on the promotion of Chairman Chang Da? At such a critical moment now, can they not listen to Chang Ruiqing? But the question is, how can the navy beat the Japanese? If the entire Chinese Navy is wiped out because of the impulsive order of Chairman Chang Da, it won't be a problem? A few admirals are in a dilemma. I heard a sound of footsteps outside the door, and saw the old man Cheng Biguangcheng, the Minister of the Navy, striding in anxiously. There was a direct telegraph connection between the Admiralty and the heavy cruiser Haitian, and when the Haitian was attacked by a Japanese ship, they sent a telegram to the Admiralty. At present, the navy of the Republic of China is not as coaxing as the army, and when I heard that there was a war with the Japanese, it was a mess at that time! Old Man Cheng also had no idea, so he had to come to the Military Commission building in person, and he didn't know if he was here to report or ask for instructions? The old man probably ran all the way here, and when he walked into the house, his face was covered in sweat.

Seeing that the Minister of the Navy arrived, a few people in the room knew that the Admiralty had also gotten the news, and before Cheng Biguang could sit down, Bai Chongxi, who was presiding over the meeting, stood up and nodded at him: "Henggong, you came just in time, you already know about the attack on the Haitian, right?" Cheng Biguang nodded, and Bai Chongxi said: "The commission has just sent a telegram to ask the navy and army to launch a counterattack, and the task of the navy is to attack the Japanese merchant and fishing ships, and all the ships that can go to sea must be dispatched to the seas of the South Sea, the East Ocean, and the North Ocean, and see the ships flying the Japanese flag or capture or sink them, and inform our ships to return to the port quickly, if they can't return to China, they must also hide in the nearest harbor of a neutral country......

"This is to learn from Germany to break the war!" Minister Cheng stomped his feet. "Have you asked the powers what they mean? What do the ambassadors of Great Britain, France, and the United States say? France should support us, right? There is still room for me to turn around this incident. ”

Now that diplomacy is also under the control of the Government Council, Premier Pan replied while wiping the sweat from his head: "Not yet, I haven't consulted the major powers, and I just found out." ”

"Then I can't do this errand, it's too nonsense, the navy is not a pirate......" Minister Cheng shook his head like a rattle.

Bai Chongxi's face had sunk. "Heng Gong! This is the order of the commission! It is a military order, and it is the duty of a soldier to obey, so should the Admiralty disobey the military order? ”

Cheng Biguang was stunned for a moment, and the sweat on his head was dripping down. The discipline of the Wehrmacht is very high now! This crime of disobeying military orders can be punished by imprisonment and lawsuits, and at worst shot and eaten peanuts! And it's still an extraordinary period, if you really provoke Chang Ruiqing, you should take someone if you send another telegram, right?

Minister Cheng has also been up and down in the sea for many years, and he knows that he can't have a hard head with his superiors. It is really better not to achieve yang and yin than to oppose the above. Besides, the above person has been very generous in terms of naval military spending in the past two years. The Navy should not be able to show it...... Thinking of this, Cheng Biguang gritted his teeth and nodded heavily. "Come on, since it's a military order, of course the navy can't help but listen to it...... But the ships of the navy have gone out to rob, who will guard the various sea ports? ”

"Henggong doesn't have to worry about Haikou's affairs, he has built a lot of coastal forts over the years, and he has also imported a lot of large-caliber cannons." Zhao Zhen took over the topic and said. "The General Staff has long made a plan to defend Haikou, and I believe that it can be foolproof."

Can it be foolproof? Cheng Biguang smiled bitterly and nodded. As soon as he stood up and was about to go back to the Admiralty to study how to deal with the errand, he saw a colonel and staff officer of the headquarters of the Military Commission rushing in and pushing the door in, holding a telegram in his hand, and shouting: "Good news! Good news! The Sea and Sky sank a Japanese destroyer! The navy has won the first battle! ”

……

Some people won the first battle, of course, some people lost the first battle, and some people watched the battle dumbfounded.

Now the battlefield of the first Sino-Japanese war has shifted to the Strait of Malacca, an extremely busy water transportation artery. The heavy cruiser Kaitian, which had just wasted several tons of ammunition and finally sank the destroyer Shimakaze, was still desperately fleeing, while the Japanese battlecruiser Kongo was chasing after it like crazy! Belch. Although the distance between the two is getting farther and farther, the Japanese still refuse to give up, and the 56mm caliber armor-piercing shells seem to be fired out as if they don't need money, although they did not hurt Chang Ruiqing's hair, but they scared the merchant ships of various countries passing by and the British gunboats patrolling near the Strait of Malacca. This is how a lieutenant commander in the Royal Navy named James Tierlet described the scene when he was interviewed by a Times reporter in the evening.

“…… The scene was shocking. I have served in the Royal Navy for over 20 years and have never imagined anything like this. A heavy cruiser is running through the actual busiest channel at full speed, like a drunken truck crashing into London's Oxford Street or France's Champs-Élysées! And there is also a tank driven by a presumably madman chasing behind, and while chasing, it is still firing! That's a 4-inch cannon! It was enough to knock down a solid building, and none of the dozens of merchant ships in the strait at that time could withstand this kind of artillery bombardment! ”

The reporter asked: "James." How many merchant ships passing through the Strait of Malacca were sunk at that time, right? ”

"Two ships were sunk, both Japanese merchant ships passing through the Strait of Malacca. It was the Chinese heavy cruiser that was running away who did it! It's terrible, it's so barbaric, it's sunk with a 75-inch gun without warning! It's not war, it's murder...... Afterwards, the Chinese actually explained that they had received information that the two merchant ships were loaded with explosives and were ready to die with the Haitian by ramming. ”

"It seems that there is such a saying."

"The Chinese are completely lying, those two steamers are far away from the Haitian, and even if they are filled with explosives, they will not threaten this heavy cruiser and the chairman of the Central Committee on it. I think it was the shameless assassination of the Japanese that infuriated the Chinese dictator, and then he gave the order to attack the Japanese merchant ships, without a formal declaration of war! ”

"You must have been the Japanese who fired first? Now there is a saying that this war is a conspiracy of the Chinese. ”

"That can't be, the secret appearance of the Japanese battlecruiser Kongo and the destroyer Shimakaze in the vicinity of Singapore has proved that this is a Japanese conspiracy, and according to custom, they should have informed us in advance, because it was the British sphere of influence. Moreover, a shipload of French and German officers witnessed the scene of Japanese battle cruisers firing at the Chinese heavy cruisers. What an unheard-of despicable act, uh, both sides are pretty much the same, without a bit of gentlemanly demeanor......"

"I don't think Asians are gentlemen when they fight, right? Thank you for accepting my visit, Colonel Thielles. ”

Of course, the Japanese Navy Osaseki Kansei didn't care about any gentlemanly demeanor on the evening of June 7, 92. Because a European gentleman doesn't need seppuku to defeat a war, and if he thinks about these things now, he can only explain them to the past! The naval elite was already a little hysterical, holding a saber in one hand and a telescope in the other, and his eyes were red staring at the heavy cruiser Haitian that was about to turn into a small black dot on the sea in the distance. He scolded as if he was crazy, urging his subordinates to speed up and catch up. I can't wait to let this battle cruiser of more than 26,000 tons fly! But the dot in the distance grew smaller and smaller, and finally disappeared altogether......

This operation is really stealing chickens and rice. The Chinese dictator's ship was unscathed, and the Imperial Japanese Navy took in a destroyer and more than a hundred naval officers and men! What made Guan Dazuo feel even more indignant was that when this Chinese heavy cruiser was fleeing for his life, he didn't forget to sink the two Japanese merchant ships passing by to make soy sauce! I don't know what's on it? If it is purchased from Europe at a high price, then this time it is really a big loss. Moreover, there seem to be many Japanese merchant ships in the Indian Ocean, if you don't sink this Chinese heavy cruiser quickly, I don't know how much to sink it? Even the maritime trade between Japan and Europe will be interrupted! This is quite unfavorable for Japan to maintain its war against China!

Just as Guan Gancheng was jumping on the bridge of the King Kong and reprimanding a group of disgraced naval officers. Kenji Hihara, the one sent by Crown Prince Hirohito, suddenly interjected loudly: "Guan Dazuo! Now is not the time to curse, and there must be a plausible international explanation for this incident. Failure to do so would put the Empire at a very disadvantage in the subsequent negotiations. ”

"Explain? How to explain it? Guan Gancheng glared at Kenji Dohihara, and when he saw a faint look on the other party's face, this navy chief was eager to split him with a katana! This time the incident was caused by this bastard (Hirohito can't complain), what explanation can be made like this now? The bombardment of the Chinese Haitian by the King Kong is not unseen, and there is also a French cruise ship to visit! Can you still talk nonsense about this by yourself? Besides, it is not necessary to explain internationally, but also to the Naval Command Department and the Combined Fleet! If the Chinese dictator is killed, it is better to say. He Guan Gancheng naturally acted according to orders, and he was very loyal.

But now let Chang Ruiqing run! Three ships have been sunk on his side, and now the Navy and the Cabinet can spare themselves? And can you bite Crown Prince Hirohito out? If you can't, then you will send a false military order to mobilize warships to murder foreign leaders, and in the end you have not succeeded! Isn't this a sinner of the Great Japanese Empire, what else could it be? There was only one way to die, and he exhaled heavily at the thought of this. Carrying his saber, he walked outside.

"Guan Jun! Where do you want to go? Kenji Tsuchihara shouted to stop Guan Gancheng.

"Go find a place where no one is and secretly seppuku!" Guan Gancheng said with a sad face. Things have reached such a point, probably only seppuku, and you have to find a place where no one is to cut quietly, because your sins are definitely irreparable, and you can't fool around with a seppuku. The Yasukuni Shrine will definitely not accept it, and after he dies, he can only go to hell.

"Guan Jun. It's not the time for seppuku yet. "Tu Feiyuan said coldly." This matter is not so easy to understand, and it is expected that a joint investigation mission will be organized internationally, and the domestic cabinet and navy will also investigate, so someone needs to come forward and take responsibility for the crime! Saying that, he bowed deeply towards Guan Gancheng, and said in a deep voice: "The person who takes responsibility can only be Your Excellency!" So please take care! Please! ”

After listening to Tu Feiyuan's words, Guan Gancheng knew that it would not be easy to even want to die! When something so big happens, you always need a scapegoat. He gritted his teeth and looked at Tu Feiyuan with resentful eyes. "Tu Fei Yuan-kun, how should I take responsibility now?"

"First of all, of course, to report to the Combined Fleet what happened."

"How?"

"Of course, it's true. The battlecruiser Kongo and the destroyer Shimakaze were suddenly attacked by the heavy cruiser Shinashi, and the Shimakaze was shot and sank, and the Kongo counterattacked and pursued, but failed to sink the opponent. ”

Hearing Tu Feiyuan's words, everyone gave a thumbs up in their hearts. This one is really good at making up nonsense, and he doesn't blush at all! Heavy Cruiser Raid Battle Cruiser...... Can anyone believe this nonsense in the world?

"So how do you explain the presence of the King Kong in the South China Sea? The Combined Fleet had never given such an order. ”

"Of course there will be orders!" Tu Feiyuan said lightly. "The mechanical malfunction of the King Kong was cleared on its own shortly after it broke away from the formation, and then it was notified to the Combined Fleet of its request to continue its mission of patrolling the waters near Taiwan, where the South China Sea is located."

"Is that okay?" Guan Gancheng asked with a wry smile.

Tu Feiyuan nodded solemnly: "Of course, this is the truth!" This attack was entirely part of a war plot provoked by the Shina side against the Japanese Empire! In fact, it was not the King Kong and the Shimakaze that were attacked, but also the Far Eastern Army! He paused, looked coldly at the stunned Japanese naval officers in the bridge, and continued word by word: "Although the Great Japanese Empire loves peace, it is definitely not afraid of war!" Since China dares to go to war with the Empire, let the Empire's navy and army deal a heavy blow to the Tyrannical Branch, so as to win the final victory in the war! This is also what His Royal Highness the Crown Prince meant! ”