Tokyo, Kasumigaseki, Prime Minister's Office. The Minister of the Navy, Minoru Saito, and the Minister of Naval Orders, Heihachiro Togo, arrived here in a horse-drawn carriage. The Combined Fleet had suffered such a crushing defeat that both of them needed to report to the Cabinet Ministers.

By the time Minoru Saito and Heihachiro Togo arrived, the other cabinet members had already arrived first. When Minoru Saito and Heihachiro Togo arrived in the conference room, everyone's eyes fell on them.

Through their respective channels, the cabinet ministers already know that the navy seems to have suffered a big loss this time. However, they still don't know what the specific situation of the battle will be. But even so, it is enough to make everyone not optimistic about the next battle situation.

"Your Excellency, what the hell is going on? Could it be that the combined fleet, which concentrates all the strength of the navy, is not yet an opponent of the Shina people? Before the war, you promised that you would be able to destroy the Chinese navy. "Prime Minister Xiyuan Temple Gongwang can no longer be calm. It is simply unimaginable that if the navy does not defeat the Chinese navy, but loses, it will have a great impact.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, we have indeed failed. The despicable and shameless conspiracy of the Chinese in the naval battle led to our defeat of the war. Minoru Saito said through gritted teeth. On the way to the Prime Minister's Office, he had already calmed down. In addition, the Admiralty also got an overview of the naval battle from the surviving battleships. This made Minoru Saito know why they lost this war.

Conspiracy? The cabinet ministers present all scoffed. The use of intrigue on the battlefield is understandable! What's more, this is what Japan is good at. At the beginning, in the First Sino-Japanese War, didn't they also adopt the despicable and shameless means of undeclared war to wipe out the main force of the Beiyang Naval Division in one fell swoop?

Besides. The combined fleet of the Japanese Navy has an absolute superiority in strength. In the face of absolute strength, how can it be defeated by the Chinese Navy using some conspiracy methods? It sounds like a fantasy.

"Saito-kun, how big is the loss of the navy? Do we still have a chance to defeat the people of China and seize the sea supremacy in the Far East? Shoyu asked. If the navy can't even guarantee sea supremacy. Then, the elite of the Japanese Army, which has ten divisions deployed on the Korean Peninsula, may be in danger. Therefore, Masaki Terauchi is very eager.

"The Combined Fleet has been completely annihilated." Heihachiro Togo said.

This sentence was like a bomb, and all the senior cabinet officials were stunned. Even if they heard that the Japanese Navy might suffer a big loss, they definitely never thought of it. The Japanese Navy is the fourth most powerful navy in the world, how could it be defeated so easily? Even if it fails, it won't be to the point of annihilation.

"Except for the battleship 'Zhoufang' and the battleship 'Azuma' because of the heavy damage. Outside of the battle in advance, the rest of the large warships were sunk. In terms of light warships, only a dozen or so destroyers escaped. The rest of the battleships were sunk. Heihachiro Togo didn't hide it at all, and told all this truthfully.

At this time, all the senior cabinet officials had to believe in this result. They knew that Heihachiro Togo would not joke about such a thing. The Combined Fleet really suffered a crushing defeat. Well, for Japan. It will undoubtedly be a catastrophic consequence!

"How so? How could the Shina Navy have the strength to defeat the navy of the Great Japanese Empire and annihilate them all? Did the Western powers intervene? By the way, the Chinese and the Germans had a close relationship, did there be German warships that intervened in this war? Xiyuan Temple Gongwang asked. He couldn't believe it.

"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, we have made contact with our British allies without the intervention of the Western powers. They confirmed that this naval battle was fought by the people themselves. According to the reports of the warships that we escaped, the people of China carried out a sneak attack on our fleet last night. They first used submarines to attack our capital ships from underwater, sinking many of our capital ships in one row. Subsequently. Destroyers were used to strike our fleet in a lightning strike, which once again inflicted heavy damage on us. These two blows caused us to lose most of our combat effectiveness. In the end, the main ships of the Chinese went to sea and fought a decisive battle with us. Although the number of capital ships of the China people is small, they are all cutting-edge warships. Although our warriors fought to the end, they still lost because the difference in strength was too great. Minoru Saito said.

"Damn the people of China, they will resort to such despicable means." A cabinet minister scolded.

"It's over, it's over. The navy lost completely, and the entire sea control of the Far East fell into the hands of the chinensis. If they start another war against us, the entire Japanese sea transportation line will be cut off. Minister of Agriculture and Commerce Matsuoka Yasui muttered. The last time the Chinese Navy carried out a diplomatic breakthrough operation, Japan had already paid a heavy price. That was when the Japanese Navy had sea supremacy. Now, sea supremacy has fallen into the hands of the Chinese navy. If they blockade Japan. Then Japan is really finished.

The faces of the other ministers also became extremely ugly. They also thought of such a consequence, which would probably lead to the destruction of Japan.

"The war cannot continue, otherwise our 250,000 troops deployed on the Korean Peninsula will be in danger. With the loss of sea supremacy, they are still alone. If the Tsushima Strait was cut off by the Chinese navy, they would lose their supplies and would be attacked by the Chinese army. Lu Xiangji said.

As early as the last war, it was proved that the Japanese Army was no match for the Chinese Army. The reason why it was able to retreat to the Korean Peninsula was entirely because of the threat posed by the Japanese Navy to China. Now, the Japanese Navy is finished. Then, China can attack the Korean Peninsula with impunity. The Chinese Army has more than a million troops, and it is not difficult to send hundreds of thousands of troops to the Korean Peninsula. In addition, the rear route of the Japanese army was cut off, and if you want to destroy these hundreds of thousands of Japanese troops, there will not be much problem at all.

With the Navy already paying a heavy price, if the Army suffers another heavy blow, Japan will really be finished.

"Now that the people of China have gained such a good chance of victory, will they agree to peace talks? Even if it is a peace talk, the people of China will definitely open their mouths. When the time comes, the conditions they put forward will inevitably be unacceptable to us. Foreign Minister Lin Dong said worriedly.

Think about the conditions that China put forward after winning the war against Japan, and you can see the greed of the Chinese. After defeating the Russians, they also slaughtered the Russians!

The atmosphere in the conference room suddenly became solidified. Before the war, everyone thought they would be able to win a brilliant victory. However, it turned out to be like this, which undoubtedly disappointed them!

"The current financial pressure is very high, and if the people of China demand compensation from us, our finances will definitely collapse." Tibetan Prime Minister Yoshiro Sakatani said.

After the Japanese won the First Sino-Japanese War, they thought that China extorted 230 million taels of silver, and if you add interest, the amount is even more. Will the Chinese be kind enough to let Japan go this time? That's absolutely impossible.

The Japanese cabinet is now faced with a dilemma. If you choose to make peace, you will inevitably be blackmailed by the Chinese. However, if the fight continues, Japan will have no chance of winning. If nothing else, even if China continues to blockade Japan with its navy, it will be enough for Japan to collapse. These two options, either way, are too much for Japan to afford.

Today, Japan has reached the point where it is difficult to ride a tiger. They had hoped that through this war, they would once again extort huge wealth from China, so that they could take off once. However, I didn't expect to be defeated in the end. It's like a gambler who puts all their wealth at the table, only to find out that they still lost most of the money after placing a bet. And, if they continue to gamble, they will lose more, or even go bankrupt.

Japan, without a doubt, is such a gambler. In the First Sino-Japanese War, they made the operation of the country a bet and poured their national strength into this battle. As a result, they won. The huge war reparations from China allowed Japan to take off.

Ten years later, they fought the Russians with all their might. Once again, they won the battle. This quickly made Japan a new world power. Even if it's a deformed power, it's a power!

Now, Japan wants to make a third bet, and if it wins, it will have a chance to take off. However, it was not more than three. This time the good fortune of the Japanese seems to have run out. At the beginning of the war, there was a crushing defeat. This directly sobered up the originally hot-headed Japanese. However, even if he came to his senses. But how to choose, they themselves do not know. In other words, no matter which choice it is, it is not a good thing for them.

Prime Minister Xiyuan Temple Gongwang is also very headache, according to his meaning, since there is no hope of victory. The best thing to do, then, is to end the war immediately and avoid even greater losses. But it's not that simple! (To be continued.) )

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