Chapter 455
Looking at the guy in front of him who was still smiling even if he tore the invitation to shreds, thinking of the telegram that had just come back from China, Rizhiyi couldn't wait to throw all the pieces in his hand in his face.
But in the end, reason still prevailed over impulse, so Hi Zhiyi just issued an eviction order to the guy in front of him, telling him to disappear from his eyes quickly.
On the other side, watching Ri Zhiyi's expression distort and tear the invitation card to pieces, Lin Keyan's face did not show the slightest surprise. After all, after just winning the battle, he asked people to come over with invitations to invite people to participate in the banquet specially held for this victoryββββββ this kind of invitation can no longer be described as malice, in Lin Keyan's opinion, this kind of behavior of Rizhiyi is already unexpectedly rational.
To be honest, even if Rizhiyi called out a bunch of guards later and turned himself into a hornet's nest, Lin Keyan was not surprised, which was also one of the reasons why Lin Keyan did not make any irritating movements after walking in.
Although Lin Keyan thinks that he is also a bold guy, otherwise he would not have been able to take on such a task. But if possible, he still hopes to live longer, even if he does die one day in the future, he should die more worthwhile, rather than die on some malicious invitation mission.
So after getting Ri Zhiyi's reply, Lin Keyan didn't say anything, just said hello to Ri Zhiyi, and then turned around and left the legation without waiting for his answerββββββ even Yan Shao didn't think that Ri Zhiyi would accept such an invitation, for him, this invitation was just a malicious prank. There is no difference between success and unsuccess, since this is the case, Lin Keyan naturally has no pressure on the task.
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watched Lin Keyan walk out of the legation. Rizhiyi still had an angry expression, and his face turned red because of anger.
Just now, in addition to the idea of throwing confetti on Lin Keyan's face, Rizhiyi really had the urge to call the guards out and then beat Lin Keyan into a hornet's nest. But he also knows what the cost of doing so will be...
At present, China and Japan are at war, but for various reasons, the two countries are only in a state of conflict. Rather than a state of war, the two countries did not declare war on each other because of the conflict in Shandong. As a matter of course, as a Japanese diplomat in China. In this case, Nichizuyi also enjoyed many benefits that could not be enjoyed during the war. After all, the two sides have not yet started a war, and Yan Shao will not be able to do anything with him.
But...
If Ri Zhiyi really ordered it just now, then even if Yan Shao skinned him and dismantled his bones, no one would be able to say anything.
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Seeing that Rizhiyi is still panting like a cow. Stand aside. A young counselor said softly.
"Your Excellency, is it possible that the loss this time is really so big..."
At this time, almost half a day has passed since the incident, so the news has gradually spread, not to mention that they have also received news from China.
"It's not clear..."Hi Zhiyi shook his head, he didn't tell a lie, now it has only been almost half a day since the attack, and although the Japanese troops in the bay have begun to register, they have not been able to get an accurate loss report in a short time. After all, half a day is too short, not to mention that although Nippon Zhiyi is a Japanese minister to China. But it's just a minister, and it's not his turn to know about such a big thing.
"That's it..."Hearing Rizhiyi say this, he nodded, and the counselor said that he understood, and at the same time his eyes also looked at Rizhiyi.
Hichiki is the new Japanese Minister to China...
The original Japanese minister to China was Enjiro Yamaza, but we all know that Enjiro Yamaza had already knelt, and he was later replaced by Tsuneo Matsudaira, the original first counselor of the legation. However, as the original first-class counselor, Matsudaira Tsuneo is obviously not qualified to sit in the position of minister. So it didn't take long for Yukichi Kohata to take his place.
In the end, however, Kohata didn't stay in this position for long, as two months after he took over from Tsuneo Matsudaira, Hinati took his place.
When it comes to Rizhiyi, this person is extremely famous in history, of course, it is certainly not comparable to those in World War II. There are even many people in China who may not know this person, but if you talk about an extremely famous historical event in Chinese history, you must not talk about this person.
This extremely famous historical event is the famous 'Twenty-one Articles' in history, and the Japanese Minister who was in charge of the 'Twenty-one Articles' at that time...
After graduating from the University of Tokyo's Faculty of Law in 1888, Hichiki worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He successively served as Japan's envoy to Chile, Argentina and other countries. In 1900, he served as the first counselor of the embassy in China, and participated in the invasion of China by the Eight-Nation Alliance and the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion. In 1914, when he was the Japanese minister to China, he actively encouraged Yuan Shikai to become emperor, and was recalled to China in November. On January 18, 1915, on behalf of the Japanese government, he submitted to Yuan Shikai the 'Twenty-one Articles' aimed at destroying China. On May 25, he signed the "Twenty-One Articles" with Lu Zhengxiang as a plenipotentiary representative, and then participated in the special tariff conference in 1925.
In another time and place, like many people, Rizhiyi has a very close connection with Chinese history. However, in this era, because Yuan Shikai had stepped down before World War I, Rizhiyi had no chance to come up with the 'Twenty-one Articles' that deeply affected Chinese history, and therefore, Rizhiyi was still an unknown person at this time.
However, as the Japanese minister to China, Nippon Zhiyi can still get some information, such as the matter of Longkou Bay. The specific situation is not known because the losses have not been made, so Rizhiyi has no way to know, but according to what he learned from his friends in the military department, the losses of the navy this time are very large, and it is not even known whether it has combat capability.
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Just when Hichiki tore the invitation to shreds. In Longkou Bay, Yuzaburo Kato was also listening to the reports of his subordinates about the casualties. Just didn't listen to a word, Kato Yuzaburo's face became ugly. After listening to the entire report, whether it was Yuzaburo Kato, or Mitsutomi Kamio, who took the time to run over, his face became extremely ugly...
During the entire Longkou Bay incident, the Japanese First and Second Fleets (the three battleships of the Second Fleet, all captured during the Russo-Japanese War), were old and unsuitable for patrol duty. So it was left in the bay) combat ships, and a total of six battleships including Kawachi, Yasu, Satsuma, Hizen, Shikishima, and Shubo were sunk during the attack, and the Iwami was also torpedoed during the attack. It's just that I didn't get hit to the point, so I don't need to worry about it for the time being.
In addition to these, the only battleships that survived the attack were Yuzaburo Kato's flagship "Settsu", as well as the Mikasa and Tango.
But in addition to belonging to the Hanoi class. At the same time, it can also be called a quasi-dreadnought. The remaining two battleships had almost no research on combat capabilities. For example, the Mikasa, the fourth ship of the Shikishima-class battleships of Japan, served as the flagship of the Combined Fleet and was also the seat of the commander of the Combined Fleet, Heihachiro Togo, but this former dreadnought, launched in 1900, is 14 years old and is far behind the times.
With a displacement of 15,000 tons, there is no deterrent at all in this era.
As for the battleship Tango, it was the battleship 'Poltava' of the original Russian First Pacific Fleet. On December 5, 1904, during the Battle of Arthur Pass, the front and rear turrets were hit by Japanese shells fired from the 203 heights, and one 280mm caliber shell penetrated the waterline. Thus causing a stagnation. It was captured by the Japanese on January 2, 1905, but sank in water while towing from Arthur Pier to the outside of the port. The ship was then salvaged and towed to Japan, where it arrived in Maizuru via Sasebo and repaired at the Maizuru Naval Yard. On August 22, it was renamed 'Tango' and joined the Japanese Navy, and the ship class was classified as a first-class battleship.
Of course, if this is all there is to it, the problem is that the Tango was a first-class battleship that Russia began to build in 1892 in order to compete with Britain for its interests in Korea, construction began in St. Petersburg on May 7, 1892, was launched on October 25, 1894, and was completed and joined the fleet on August 18, 1896. The displacement of this battleship was only 10,960 tons, and the full load displacement was only 11,400 tons, which was pitiful. In terms of firepower, there were only two twin Vickers 254 mm L/45 guns, 10 single Armstrong 152 mm L/40 rapid-fire guns, and 16 single Armstrong 76 mm L/40 rapid-fire guns.
If he could, Yuzaburo Kato would even prefer to have three Tango in exchange for one 'Hanoi'.
In addition to the loss of the battleship, one of the two most precious "Kongo"-class cruisers in the navy was also torpedoed and sunk during the attack, this unlucky ship was the "Kongo", the lead ship of the Kongo-class, and the other "Hiei" was not damaged at all because there happened to be a ship in front of it at that time.
In addition, one of the two dealer battleships Kurama and Tsukuba was sunk, and several of the other destroyers were hit because they were too unlucky, and one of them was even blown in two because it hit the ammunition depot, and none of the people on the ship survived.
In the whole attack, the Japanese lost as many as eight capital ships alone, not counting those who were damaged, and many destroyers and other ships were also sunk and damaged. The entire Japanese fleet lost more than half of its capital ships, and the remaining ones, in terms of the quantity and quality of equipment alone, were even inferior to the Chinese Navy, which had been overwhelmed by them.
And because of this attack, the Japanese Navy suddenly became a third-rate navy.
Of course, both Yan Shao and the Japanese know that this is only temporary, after all, there are still two Kongo-class battle cruisers and two Fuso-class super dreadnoughts in Japan, and these four warships alone are already stronger than all the capital ships in the First Fleet and the Second Fleet except for the "King Kong" and "Hiei" ships, especially the Fuso-class lead ship, which was launched almost half a year ago and is currently undergoing sea trials...
As long as these capital ships are there. The Japanese Navy cannot be regarded as a third-rate navy.
But even so, such a big loss still makes every Japanese feel a heart-wrenching pain, after all, as a country with not many resources. So many capital ships. It was completely the family money they had accumulated over the years, and now they had lost so much at once, how could they possibly accept it.
However, on the other hand, in order to avoid another attack, the Japanese military department still ordered Kato Yuzaburo to move all the capital ships out of the bayββββββ if the war was not going on, the Japanese military department and the cabinet even planned to get all the remaining capital ships back home, after all, if there was an accident with the remaining capital ships. Before the follow-up ships of the Kongo-class and Fuso-class entered service, the Japanese Navy could be considered to be removed from the list...
But in the end they didn't, because if they did. In the event that the Chinese Navy, which was staying in Shanghai and Fuzhou, headed north, the army in Shandong would be in trouble...
However, the military department and the cabinet still asked Kato Yuzaburo to be vigilant to avoid such an accident again. Even if the people in the military department don't say this, Yuzaburo Kato will do it. Just on how to deal with threats from underwater. Yuzaburo Kato had no clue. But one thing is clear to him. This time, because there was a Kato Dingyoshi who took most of the responsibility, he was able to continue to command the ship "Settsu", but if something went wrong...
Next, he can only have a samurai disembowelment like Kato Dingyoshi...
Because of this, Kato Dingyoshi can almost be said to have fought twelve points, and the remaining forces of the First and Second Fleets were also merged into one at the request of Kato Yuzaburo.
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Because of the loss of Longkou Bay, many Japanese with fragile hearts fainted. As for those who didn't faint, they would rather faint themselves at this moment. And in the Japanese Cabinet. Shigenobu Okuma and others also held a meeting specifically for this purpose.
At the beginning of the meeting, it was natural to take out Kato Dingyoshi and Kato Yuzaburo and scold for half an hour, and even Mitsutomi Kamio was implicated and scolded for many small-scale failures.
However, after scolding, the cabinet also issued a resolution, that is, to speed up the construction of the next two battle cruisers of the Kongo-class and the two super-dreadnoughts of the Fuso-class. In this regard, the Minister of the Navy, Yashiro Rokuro, also made it very clear that in the case of the Navy losing a large number of capital ships, they urgently need new capital ships to support the scene, otherwise...
If the Chinese navy, which had been stationed in Shanghai and Fuzhou, suddenly went north, it would definitely be a disaster for the remaining Japanese navyββββββ which was too much for them to worry about, because even if the Japanese lost Yan ZΓ²ng, Yan Shao did not have the idea of transferring the navy to Shandong to fight a naval battle with them, although Sa Zhenbing and many other naval personnel had been on the side to strongly demand to wash away the shame of the Sino-Japanese war.
Yan Shao's idea is also very simple, first of all, it is not sure how big the losses of the Japanese are. Because at that time, the people of the submarine force were all picking up a big fight, and they ran away after the fight, and some of them had already begun to sink when they ran, and some of them had not yet sunk, and for a variety of reasons, it was not clear how much strength the Japanese Navy still had. If capital ships such as King Kong and Hanoi were unscathed, the navy would be unlucky.
Yan Shao still knows a lot about the current situation of the navy. Most of the ships were filled with new recruits, and the training in all areas had only just begun. Nowadays, they can only be regarded as qualified, and they can't compare with the Japanese at all.
Forget anything else, if Japan's two Kongo-class battle cruisers and two Hanoi-class quasi-dreadnoughts survive, I am afraid that in the end it will be themselves.
Anyway, now that the submarine force has made a lot of money, in this case, of course, it is to take it when it is good, not because of greed to lose everything that has been earnedββββββ although the Japanese have suffered heavy losses, but after all, there are still many capital ships that are about to be completed in the country, and they also have a very complete shipbuilding industry, which can build all ships, including super dreadnoughts.
And on Yan Shao's side, more than 4,000 tons is already the limit, if the Japanese fight it out, they can continue to build it themselves, but if Yan Shao's side fights it out, in a short time, within five years, don't even think about taking out the keel of a dreadnought...
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"But if the navy can't go on it, will the submarine force find a way to do it again?"
Seeing that Yan Shao vetoed Sa Zhenbing's suggestion, Feng Guozhang hurriedly interjected.
Hearing him say this, the others, including Sa Zhenbing, all looked over. To be honest, they didn't expect that the submarine, which they didn't pay attention to, would have such a big effect, and in just the first war, the Japanese Navy was almost wiped out. For this reason, they even regretted why they didn't build more submarines in the first place, after all, only more than a dozen of them have already achieved such great results, if there can be a few more...
Even if the Japanese navy were completely destroyed, it would not be impossible.
And if the surface fleet goes north, the danger is indeed greater, but the submarine is no problem, if the remaining ships of the Japanese fleet can be cleaned up, Sa Zhenbing is even confident that he will overwhelm Japan again in the futureββββββ and forever...
However, after listening to their words, Yan Shao shook his head.
"With such a lesson, it is impossible for the Japanese not to be vigilant, and I am afraid that there is no hope for such a thing. And in addition to cleaning up the remnants of the fleet in the bay, I have another task to give them..."
After speaking, Yan Shao crossed his hands and put them in front of his chin, and said with a gloomy face.
"Contact the submarine forces and let them fight in the shipping lane between Shandong and Japan, as long as the ships that deliver supplies to the Japanese army in Shandong, all of them will be sunk by me!" (To be continued......)