After seizing the Qiandi, Jiang Zhongzheng immediately mobilized the army originally planted in Fujian to come here to continue to suppress the bandits. For a moment, the nearby defenses were empty again.

Terauchi Shouichi was overjoyed to learn the news, but he calmly sent a request to Hirohito to attack first. After all, these few times, Hirohito was really scared of the rebellion of the military department!

226 left a lingering shadow in Hirohito's heart, and if Hirohito was stimulated at this time, maybe he would really take care of the entire military department himself! This is extremely unfavorable to the unification faction, and the old thing in Xiyuan Temple is not dead.

If the emperor himself intervened, it would probably be a liberal restoration. Therefore, the military department does not want to give anyone a handle for the time being. Shouichi Terauchi honestly sent a telegram to Hirohito this time.

But what he didn't expect was that several divisions under his command would boldly gather together! Plotting to act privately in an attempt to wash away their former shame!

In the headquarters of Hirose Shousuke, he was sitting opposite Wakayama Zentaro, the commander of the 3rd Division.

"Wakayama-kun! This is our last chance......" Shousuke Hirose poured tea into the cup in front of him and said in a deep voice to Zentaro Wakayama, "According to reliable information, the Terauchi general is ready to attack!" If we don't get ahead of the curve, then the profit sharing of the credit will definitely be a big piece less! ”

Wakayama Zentaro nodded silently, in fact, after breaking up with Hirose Shousuke last time, he also began to secretly pay attention to the actions of the other side. Wang Jialie had an accident, and Qiandi was occupied by Jiang Zhongzheng.

And the troops subordinate to Fujian were transferred to Guizhou to suppress bandits, and he knew all this. Yes. He was also preparing for direct combat matters.

But he was also hesitating, indeed! Now that Fujian's troops have been evacuated, it is a suitable time to attack. However, the landing operation is inseparable from the support of the navy, how can this aspect be coordinated?!

To know. This attack on two divisions is nearly 30,000 troops! This problem of numbers and transportation is not a trivial problem, and once a fight starts, there is no fire support and no guarantee for landing operations, then all this is just empty talk!

"Hirose-kun, what does the navy say?!" After being silent for a while, Wakayama Zentaro said to Hirose Shousuke: "You know, without the support of the navy, our army would not be able to fly over with wings no matter how much it can fight!" ”

Hirose Shousuke couldn't help but nod with satisfaction after listening to Zentaro Wakayama's words, he was quite satisfied with the caution of his "comrade".

But when he saw him, he smiled, and said to Wakayama Zentaro: "Wakayama-kun, don't forget!" Except for the Navy. Our army also has warships! ”

Zentaro Wakayama was stunned when he heard this! He just remembered a few mysterious warships! These warships have been stuck in the port of Keelung in Taiwan for a long time. But many people still can't tell what they are used for.

Even within the Japanese military, descriptions of such warships are extremely limited. It is only known that these freighter-looking warships belong to the Army, but what they are used for is unknown.

"Wakayama-kun, I can tell you! These three warships are all the latest super warships belonging to our army, which also integrate landing operations and aviation support! Hirose Shousuke smiled at Zentaro Wakayama. His eyes lit up and he said loudly: "They are called 'Shenzhou Pill'!" ”

"These battleships are battleships specially developed by the Imperial ** Department for the operation in China!" Saying that, Hirose Shousuke gritted his teeth and said to Wakayama Zentaro: "Last time in Shanghai in China, the empire suffered the loss that the landing ship could not support the troops!" Therefore, our army specially built these warships for landing operations! ”

Zentaro Wakayama looked straight in surprise, and then said, "A battleship for the landing operation?!" So how many people can they load at one time......"

"The ship has a sea trial displacement of 7100 tons. It has a full load displacement of 8,600 tons, a total length of 156 meters, a perpendicular length of 146 meters, and a width of 19 meters. The freeboard is 13 meters high and has a draft of 5 meters. The main engine is one single-shaft steam turbine, and the main boiler is two ship-based ones. The shaft horsepower is 8,000 hp, and the trial speed is 19 knots. ”

At this time, a middle-aged man wearing the rank of lieutenant general walked out from behind! Wakayama Zentaro was taken aback, but saw Hirose Shousuke explain to Wakayama Zentaro with a smile: "Wakayama-kun don't be nervous! This is the commander-in-chief of the 'Shenzhou Maru' fleet - Vice Admiral Matsuda! ”

The man, known as Lieutenant General Matsuda, didn't pay any attention to Zentaro Wakayama's surprised gaze and continued to himself.

"The shipboard is armed with two eight-centimeter anti-aircraft guns, two 45-centimeter searchlights, and two 25-meter catapults. The aircraft on board are: 6 Type 94 light bombers and 6 Type 91 fighters. There are 7 assault boats on board, 7 'Daihatsu', 10 'Zhongfa' and 20 'Xiaofa'. ”

"There are 30 ship-handling officers, 160 dinghy pilots, and about 2,000 transport soldiers."

The man named Matsuda shrugged his shoulders and said to the two, "To put it simply, our three warships can carry six thousand people ashore at a time!" If you squeeze some, you can even carry 7,500 people. ”

"And we can provide you with air support! Each carrier carried six Type 94 light bombers and six Type 91 fighters, and there were eighteen fighters and bombers on three warships. It's all about covering your offense! ”

Zentaro Wakayama was completely stupid when he heard the words of this Lieutenant General Matsuda! He didn't expect the empire to hide such a huge handiwork! This kind of warship with landing and support was built by the army.

In fact, as Hirose Shousuke said, this battleship was the experience that Japan summed up after suffering a small loss from the Chinese side in the First Battle of Shanghai. They need a landing operation, but the War Department doesn't want those damn Navy horsemanure to get involved.

And so this battleship was born! Speaking of which, I have to admire the manufacturing ability and imagination of the Japanese.

After the 128 Incident, the Japanese Army felt inadequate. Immediately afterwards, the basic design was commissioned by the Navy's Naval Ship Headquarters, and the battleship was designed half a year later due to the Army's draft.

Subsequently, the Ministry of War expressed its satisfaction and placed an order directly with the Harima Shipyard to start construction. It was launched on March 14 of the following year and completed on November 15 of the same year.

In January of the following year, an aircraft catapult was installed at the Aviation Department of the Hiroshima Naval Factory, and the work was completed in late February, and the aircraft was tested by the Iwakuni Naval Air Force in Hiroshima.

Shortly after the completion of the project, in May of the same year, the first actual landing exercise was conducted on the Totoro coast in Miyazaki, Kyushu, under the personal inspection of Prince Yoshihito Chichibu Miyaji, the younger brother of the Emperor of Japan.

On the sea, about four kilometers from the coast, the "Jinshu Maru", known as the "special ship of the army", landed 620 soldiers, as well as a tank and two armored vehicles, in 21 large and small boats.

The total uninstall time only took about 40 minutes! This caused a shock among Prince Yoshihito Chichibu and others who were watching the battle, and some officials even said that more such warships should be built, so that the army would not be helpless in landing operations in the future.

Of course, their subtext is: our army can fight on its own without relying on the navy at all! Let those navy horse manure eat!

Japan's manufacturing speed is not unfast, and a newly designed warship can be directly completed or even entered active service in just over a year!

And after receiving the praise of Prince Yoshihito Chichibu and the rest of the officials of the War Department, the battleship was directly assigned to active service.

At this time, the most unexpected thing happened: the War Department, because it desperately wanted this type of battleship, asked Harima Shipyard to build a prototype ship, and also commissioned the Kure Naval Factory to build two identical warships!

This made Prince Yoshihito Chichibu a little angry, but after seeing the two battleships that had already been built, the prince knew that no amount of anger would help. You can't build it and tear it down, right?! Besides, this kind of battleship does have its own uniqueness.

Therefore, he turned a blind eye and agreed to the army's request to purchase two other warships on the grounds that "Taiwan needs overseas operations and urgently needs to be organized."

However, these are all regarded as the top military secrets of the Japanese army! If it weren't for the personal excellence of Hosuke Hirose and Vice Admiral Matsuda, the former Minister of Transport and the current commander of the battleship, he would not have gotten this news!

"Matsuda, this time we are taking a big risk! But I don't know if you're ready?! Hirose Shousuke said to his friend Lieutenant General Matsuda: "If we succeed this time, we can indeed get the attention of the military department and even His Majesty!" But if that fails......"

"I don't want to be a transportation minister for the rest of my life!!" When Matsuda heard this, his eyes suddenly turned red! Looking at Hirose Shousuke and Wakayama Zentaro, he said, "If I don't make any outstanding achievements, I can only stay in the Ministry of Transportation for the rest of my life!" It's not what I want in life......"

Zentaro Wakayama suddenly, this is also a person who is not willing to be lonely! No wonder he hooked up with Hirose Shousuke, it turned out that he also wanted to fight for the position.

There is no doubt that although 918 failed, Ishihara's success still made the entire War Department red-eyed! They never want to be able to accomplish or even surpass Ishihara's achievements!

"I got the news that General Terauchi Shouichi is in contact with the headquarters......" Matsuda said in a deep voice to the two of them, "If nothing else, the news from the headquarters will not be delivered in more than a week." In other words, we only have a week! ”

"Within this week, we must launch an attack on Fujian!" Matsuda looked at the two of them and said in a deep voice: "It's success or failure!" Let's see this time......"

Zentaro Wakayama and Shousuke Hirose nodded silently when they heard this, and then the three of them began to whisper in this room......