"It seems that as you said, the Japanese rejected our offer..."Glancing at the telegram that the secretary had just sent, Yan Shao smiled and said to Jiang Baili, who was sitting opposite him.

The telegram had just been sent back from Japan, but after reading the contents of the telegram, Yan Shaozhi was not very surprised, and his demeanor still seemed very relaxed.

"It's not strange..."Sitting opposite Yan Shao, Jiang Baili said with a very relaxed expression. Now the Japanese don't really have no chance, plus they have suffered such a big loss this time, let them bow their heads and admit defeat now, they will definitely be unwilling, and with their kind of gambler mentality, it is definitely not surprising to want to use the chips in their hands to gamble again..."

"Do you use the last bit of chips in your hand to gamble..."Hearing Jiang Baili say this, Yan Shao sneered and said. There are such stupid guys in this world, who know that they don't have many chips in their hands, but they still don't know how to stop, and they always try to turn the book with this bit of chips, and finally make a fortune before they regret it..."

"This is the so-called gambler's mentality, anyway, it is not far from bankruptcy, so it is better to really forget it, anyway, with the little chips in his hand, it is no different from bankruptcy. And most importantly, what if they really win? Wouldn't they be able to turn the page back and win back what they had lost? This kind of mentality is possessed by every gambler, and whether it is the Sino-Japanese War or the Russo-Japanese War, the Japanese played the role of that gambler, and in the end, they really let them win the bet. This is probably one of the reasons why they will choose to continue gambling...", but Jiang Baili still couldn't help but shake his head.

Hearing Jiang Baili say this, Yan Shao nodded slightly.

Not so long ago. Yan Shao has sent a formal note to the Japanese Government through the Chinese Legation in Guò. No matter how nice the words are used, there is actually only one true face of this note, and that is 'persuasion'!

Obviously, the Japanese government is also very aware of this, so it didn't even read the content, and almost without thinking, it rejected this mentions...

Faced with this situation. Yan Shao and the others had no choice but to follow the path chosen by the Japanese except to sigh with emotion like 'I would have turned my heart to the bright moon'. Keep fighting...

There was silence for a while, and after half a sound, Yan Shao spoke.

"Since the Japanese have rejected our offer, it seems that we have no choice but to fight."

"That's right." Jiang Baili also agreed. "The only way to end this war now is to make the Japanese realize the reality..."

"Okay. That's it. It's getting easier..."Saying this, Yan Shao grabbed the phone on the side, and after a slight pause, Yan Shao said to the other side of the microphone. "Send a telegram to Dandong, let them let go..."

At the same time, after respectfully receiving the order, it didn't take long for a telegram to be sent to Dandong...

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Because of the progress of the lì. Not only was Pyongyang captured by the 17th Army, but even the Japanese troops in Dandong had been driven out by Feng Guozhang. Now Dandong has been completely recovered. At the same time, in order to be able to better command, Feng Guozhang has also placed the headquarters in Dandong City...

Although it has been reduced to ruins after more than half a year of fighting, it is still China's largest city on the border with North Korea...

At present, in Dandong, a large number of troops have entered and confronted the Japanese troops who have been driven across the river. At the same time, Feng Guozhang also deliberately arranged a group of troops to start cleaning up the ruins in the city, and prevented the people of Dandong who rushed to return to their hometowns after hearing the news―――――― although Dandong had been recovered smoothly, this did not mean that there was no danger. After all, the war has not yet achieved a final victory, and since this is the case, then Dandong still has the possibility of encountering war. So no matter from which point of view, Feng Guozhang has to be cautious.

He had too much trouble on his body now, and he didn't want to get into any trouble.

In the face of such an order, it is natural that some people who have returned to their hometowns feel a little dissatisfied, but the army has many responsibilities, in addition to fighting, stopping riots is also one of them, although it cannot be said to be a riot at the moment, but for the army, stopping the noise of ordinary people is also a very light thing, so it has not caused any problems...

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Dandong, after receiving the telegram, Feng Guozhang just nodded and didn't say anything more.

For Yan Shao, Feng Guozhang is already grateful to Dade, but he didn't say it on the surface. After all, if it weren't for Yan Shao, I'm afraid Feng Guozhang would have been dismissed from office with disgrace. And Feng Guozhang also knows very well that the reason why the 17th Army was able to capture Pyongyang actually has little to do with him at all, and now that Yan Shao has given him a chance to save his reputation, Feng Guozhang naturally can't be grateful to Yan Shao...

But for now, Feng Guozhang's priority is something else...

For example, how can we make the Japanese recognize the reality as soon as possible and admit defeat as soon as possible...

"The reason why the Japanese are not surrendering at the moment is because they think they still have a chance to retake Pyongyang..." So the only way to make the Japanese realize reality is to frustrate their attempts..."

"At present, the 17th Army has begun to restore the fortifications originally built by the Japanese on the outskirts of Pyongyang, and at the same time has built several more lines of defense on the basis of these fortifications, as long as the logistics supply can be reinforced, with the strength of the 17th Army and the 33rd Army, plus all kinds of equipment equipped by the two armies, it is by no means impossible to hold Pyongyang under the offensive of the Japanese army..."

The other officers in the "........." command room also nodded in agreement.

Now the most critical issue is the issue of supply, and the ammunition of the 17th and 33rd armies has reached a very dangerous point. The Seventeenth Army is okay to say. At least after the capture of Pyongyang, some weapons and ammunition were captured, especially Pyongyang, the largest city in northern Korea. itself has a considerable reserve of ammunition. Although some of them were burned during the bombing, some of them fell into their hands. Nowadays, there are quite a few officers and men of the 17th who have been equipped with Japanese-style equipment, although these equipment cannot be compared with the equipment of the Wehrmacht, but at least it is much stronger than the bare hands...

Compared with the 17th Army, the situation of the 33rd Army is much more dangerous.

First, half of the ammunition of the 17th Army was allocated, as well as all the heavy equipment, so that they could seize Pyongyang. Immediately after that, they fought fiercely with the outflanked Japanese troops on both flanks for such a long time. Although the 33rd Army is also using the capture of the battlefield, it cannot be compared with the 17th Army, which has obtained part of Pyongyang's arsenal.

At present, the 33rd Army is almost unable to support it, if their positions suddenly collapse. Then Pyongyang could really be a little dangerous...

"How's the supply for the navy..."Standing in front of the map, looking at the shape of the Seventeenth Army and the Thirty-third Army, and frowning slightly, Feng Guozhang opened his mouth to ask.

"Already on the way. However, it may take some time to reach Pyongyang. Moreover, according to the information we have received, Japan is already preparing to move its fleet to the position of the mouth of the sea and blockade Pyongyang, but because the 17th Army has arranged artillery positions on both sides of the mouth of the sea one step earlier, it has not yet taken shape, but even so, the position of the mouth of the sea has been blocked for most of the time, and if the navy's transport ships want to enter Pyongyang along the way. You have to take advantage of the darkness of the night and find a way to sneak in from the blockade. Otherwise..."

Speaking of this, the staff officer's face also had a little complaint.

Although the army has asked the navy to send an escort fleet to protect the transport ships into the sea and ensure that the transport ships will not be intercepted or attacked by the Japanese army, even if there is a fight with the Japanese navy when necessary, the safety of the transport ships must be ensured.

However, the navy rejected the army's request and simply continued to maintain this confrontation at sea.

The Navy means that let the transport fleet try it first, and if it really doesn't work, send the main fleet of the Navy to escort it.

However, this is also something that cannot be helped, because the navy does not have much confidence in a hard-to-go battle with the Japanese. Therefore, it has been trying to avoid direct conflict with the Japanese Navy. Otherwise, if it really loses in the naval battle―――――― the navy has been trying to catch up with the Japanese navy for all these years, and after several years of hard work, the navy has some hope for this.

In particular, in terms of the main fleet, the navy is now able to build its own 10,000-ton heavy cruisers, in addition to three dreadnoughts purchased from South America and several former dreadnoughts, quasi-dreadnoughts, and one strategic cruiser captured in Longkou Bay. And they have already begun to plan to build strategic cruisers and battleships with a larger displacement and at the same time stronger combat effectiveness...

Although the scale of the Japanese Navy is now much larger than that of the National Defense Navy, the Navy has already issued a very large shipbuilding plan, of which the number of battleships and battle cruisers alone exceeds 10, or even ......... The navy intends to build at least two battleships and one battle cruiser every year, and with the current financial situation of the national government, as long as the war is stopped and the country finds a way to recuperate for two years, this plan is not very difficult for the national government...

If at this time, a decisive battle with the Japanese fleet had occurred, and it would have been great if it had been won, but if it had failed, it would have been a catastrophe for the navy.

The most important point is that even if Japan does not put forward some harsh conditions after the defeat of the war, China will probably have to pay a lot more time and cost if it wants to catch up with Japan, and it is even likely that the development plan of the entire navy will be postponed until ten years later.

And if the navy is really hit hard, then those port cities along the coast may also become targets for the Japanese navy. This is especially true in the emerging series of shipyards along the coast. The Japanese have been looking down on the shipyards along the coast for a long time, and if they have the opportunity to destroy these shipyards, I believe that the Japanese will never let go of such an opportunity.

If that is the case, China's shipbuilding industry will not dare to say that it will go back ten years, but there will be absolutely no problem in five or six or seven or eight years...

And this. But it is a price that the navy is absolutely unwilling to pay, especially Sa Zhenbing himself, after experiencing the humiliation of the First Sino-Japanese War. I finally saw the hope of the revival of the navy, and naturally I didn't want such a thing to happen again, which disrupted the revival plan of the navy.

Therefore, he would rather seek stability and let the navy gradually surpass Japan in the long course of events, rather than take the risk of taking the initiative to go to war against Japan when he is at a disadvantage...

Yan Shaozhi also agrees with this, after all, time is on China's side. It can be said that the longer the time drags on, the more beneficial it will be to China, so Yan Shao is not in a hurry to start a full-scale war at all. And the current international shape is unlikely to make Yan Shao so...

It should be noted that the original plan of the National Defense Navy was to build at least two battleships and battle cruisers every year, so as to catch up with the Japanese Navy in the shortest possible time at such an extremely high rate of shipbuilding.

If a qiē can really go according to plan. It is indeed not difficult to catch up with the Japanese Navy. After all. It is almost equivalent to launching at least four capital ships every year, and it only takes three years to reach twelve.

After several years of development, China's shipbuilding industry has also been relatively developed, especially after experiencing the stimulation of the European war. At present, China has formed several large port cities such as Dalian, Tianjin, Shanghai and Guangzhou as the main shipbuilding industry center, especially the shipyard under the jurisdiction of Yushi Group in Shanghai...

These shipyards, after years of development, especially the strong support of the national government, basically have the ability to build ships of the class of battleships.

Merely...

Originally, this plan had already been formulated. Although several other departments, including the Ministry of Internal Affairs, were more opposed to such a huge plan (because of this plan, only four capital ships. Almost 90 million military expenses are needed every year), but in the end, it was able to get through...

But it was at this time that the Battle of Jutland broke out ...

After the lessons of the Battle of Jutland, although the navy still attached great importance to battleships, the importance of battle cruisers declined greatly. If it weren't for the fact that there was a real lack of capital ships, I am afraid that the Navy would have even terminated the battle cruiser program, and even now, the interest in battle cruisers is far less than that of battleships.

A battle cruiser is a type of large warship built in the early 20th century. It is a new type of capital ship with strong functionality that evolved on the basis of armored cruisers. Britain's extensive and interconnected colonial interests of long sea lines and commercial networks required the protection of a strong naval fleet that could be assembled quickly. The British Royal Navy needed a warship that could not only effectively combat enemy attacks, but also be able to quickly deploy to deal with unexpected events. So the British Navy designed the battlecruiser under the name of the 'ideal cruiser', a battleship that combined the powerful firepower of a battleship with the high mobility of an armored cruiser, and at that time new technology offered the possibility of building a new type of warship.

The main idea behind the design of the battlecruiser was that it could easily hunt the cruiser, as its main guns allowed it to attack enemy ships before they even came within range of the cruiser. And its high speed allows it to hunt down ordinary cruisers, evade its nemesis battleship, or attack the opposing side's damaged battleships in naval battles. Therefore, the most classic design principle of a battlecruiser is 'fasterthanthestrongest, strongerthanthefastest' - faster than the strongest, stronger than the fastest (referring to the cruiser).

It's just that during the First World War, what happened to the battlecruisers turned out to be a complete tragedy.

In 1916 at the Battle of Jutland, a British fleet of battlecruisers tried to fight German battlecruisers and battleships before the arrival of the British main fleet, and the result was a major defeat. The Lion was forced to flood its own ammunition depot to avoid the same end. The German battlecruisers, though better armoured, did not end much better, as they also encountered British battleships (and the faster Queen Elizabeth-class battleships). The battlecruiser Lyutzov was sunk, and the battlecruiser Seydlitz was heavily damaged. Thankfully, Hipper's timely escape prevented him from repeating the Falkland Islands naval battle. This battle proved that battleships are the true hegemons of the seas, and battlecruisers are clearly difficult to pick up on the task.

Even the overlord and representative of this model, and the largest battleship at that time, the "Hood", in the early days of World War II, because of its weak armor, finally led more than 1,000 people on the ship, and in the end only three people survived...

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Although it is not clear what the Hood did in later generations, in World War I, the battle cruiser's appearance was indeed very unsatisfactory, and it was for this reason that the Navy was disappointed with this type of ship.

After the end of the First World War, almost no major naval power began to build such warships, only China...

Originally, the Navy also planned to cancel the quota of two battle cruisers for battleships.

But in the end, it was Yan Shao who saved this warship...

Because Yan Shao felt that the failure of the battle cruisers was not entirely their fault, but more importantly, during the First World War, they were used by mistake.

The core point of a battle cruiser is that it is faster than a battleship and stronger than a cruiser.

Large-caliber guns made battle cruisers usually have firepower that was not inferior to that of battleships, or at least far superior to that of cruisers. The commander of a fleet always wants the more firepower of his fleet as possible. And the idea of adding the guns of battlecruisers to your own fleet was very tempting. As a result, battlecruisers were always sent to battleship battles, and were also used as spearheads (because they were fast).

The problem was that the battlecruiser was only a 'functional battleship', designed only to hunt cruisers. In battleship battles, their speed advantage was not enough at all (in fact, they were only a few knots faster than battleships), their armor could not carry the battleship's cannons at all―――――― and using them in a duel with battleships could easily expose them to great danger, which was evident in the Battle of Jutland.

Yan Shao's plan is also very simple, that is, to let the new battle cruisers, which have only been born for many years, and the ships that are about to disappear be put into their proper mission, instead of being designed to deal with cruisers, but they are incorporated into a large fleet and arranged to deal with battleships...

It is especially important that the battle cruisers are very useful for China.

Who is China's main adversary? Needless to say, the biggest rival at this stage is Japan, and the biggest rivals in the future are Britain and the United States.

Japan is an island country, and all of it depends on foreign trade, because it does not produce any resources itself, so whatever Japan wants to produce, it can only rely on the resources obtained from external trade, such as rubber, oil and steel, etc.?

And if this trade can be interrupted, then Japan will inevitably collapse without a fight, because they simply do not have the materials to fight...

In this case, a battle cruiser, a ship that is faster than a battleship and stronger than a cruiser, can come in handy. At least until the birth of aircraft carriers, the entire ocean will become a hunting ground for battle cruisers, because warships below the battleship level are no match for battle cruisers at all, especially targets such as merchant ships, which can only be their targets.

And if it really ran into a battleship, the battlecruiser could immediately turn around and run.

Basically, as long as this kind of warship is not used in large-scale fleet battles, there will not be much of a problem ...

And the United States, which is also a country that is very dependent on foreign trade, but they rely on foreign exports, which is the opposite of Japan.

But even so, war cruisers are still very useful for those that are specifically designed to target American merchant ships or cruisers.

Having said that, the status of battle cruisers on the sea has always been inferior to that of battleships, so in the end the Navy will decide to cancel the quota of a battle cruiser―――――― and the Ministry of Finance and other departments are very welcome to this decision, because the abolition of a quota means that at least more than 20 million military spending can be saved, which is also very critical for the current relatively tight national finances. (To be continued......)