Chapter 205 Attack the Manchus

On the evening of April 7, 95, Wang Yuze held a joint meeting of the Cabinet and the General Staff Headquarters in the conference room of the embassy in western Sichuan. c。 The contents of the Treaty of Shimonoseki signed between the Manchus and Japan have been transmitted.

This morning, Li Hongzhang has signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki with Japan on behalf of the Manchu government, which requires Korea to be completely "autonomous," which in fact recognizes Japan's control over Korea; ceded China's Liaodong Peninsula, Taiwan Province, Penghu Islands and other places; indemnity 200 million taels of silver; allowing Japanese capitalists to set up various factories in China's treaty ports; Suzhou and Hangzhou were opened as treaty ports. Such a humiliating treaty cannot be accepted by any Chinese. In addition, Western Sichuan will no longer remain silent and allow the Manchus to betray the sovereignty of the country! Wang Yuze said with a stern face.

The cabinet members attending the meeting, the chief of staff and deputy chief of staff of the General Staff Headquarters, and the Minister of the Navy Zhang Cheng were all in a surging mood. As early as last summer, Kawanishi had already begun to prepare. Both the cabinet and the military have long been prepared. The army and navy have completed their pre-war preparations and are ready to attack at any time. In the Navy, after the launch of the first batch of four "Chengdu"-class heavy cruisers and the second batch of "Leshan"-class light cruisers, the construction of four second-batch "Chengdu"-class heavy cruisers and the third batch of "Leshan"-class light cruisers has already begun. In addition, the ship design institute in Kawanishi is also actively designing its own latest class of capital ships. According to Wang Yuze's requirements, the concept of cannon giant ships will be brought into full play. But even with Barclays? With the addition of Smit, Kawanishi is still very weak in the design of battleships. Now the design of this new capital ship continues, and it is expected that construction will not begin until next year or even the year after. As a result, the Kawanishi Navy had to build four more heavy cruisers to serve as capital ships.

"We, in western Sichuan, have waited for so many years, and now the Manchu Qing Dynasty can't even beat small Japan, and they have signed such a traitorous treaty, which has been spurned by the people of the whole country. This is a great opportunity for us. We must take this opportunity to overthrow the Manchus and unify the whole country! Prime Minister Liang Xingrong said first. Over the years, Kawanishi has been preparing for this day. Now, that day has finally arrived.

"The Ministry of Finance has prepared a special fund of 100 million yuan to support this war. If it's not enough, you can continue to borrow from the Bank of Sichuanxi! Finance Minister Wang Wenhua said. Of course, taking out 100 million yuan at one time will also put huge pressure on the finances of western Sichuan. In fact, last year, the fiscal revenue of western Sichuan was only 22.5 billion yuan, an increase of 20 percent, which was due to the large-scale infrastructure construction in western Sichuan, which made the economy of western Sichuan develop rapidly. However, at present, western Sichuan is still building railways, highways and other infrastructure on a large scale, steel plants, heavy equipment manufacturing plants, non-ferrous metal smelters, and so on. It can be said that all the 100 million yuan in military spending taken out by the Ministry of Finance was borrowed from banks. It's just that everyone has a lot of confidence in western Sichuan, and after defeating the Manchu Dynasty, they will definitely be able to obtain huge wealth, and they will definitely be able to repay this debt at that time, and there will be a lot of legacies.

Although the Manchu government was a little poorer, the privileged strata were all rich. Li Lianying alone has a family property of tens of millions of taels of silver, plus those clans of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, if all of them are scraped, at least one billion taels of silver can be scraped. With this money, large-scale construction after the unification of the whole country in western Sichuan will be guaranteed. Therefore, it is natural that the cabinet will give full support to Kawanishi to win this battle.

"Marshal, give the order! The army and navy are ready. We must speed up the defeat of the Manchus, lest the Manchus pay the war reparations for the Japanese, which is 200 million taels of silver! If we overthrew this indemnity before the Manchus paid this indemnity, then we would naturally not admit this debt! Cai Yun said with some urgency.

"Haha!" Everyone laughed, this clearly shows that they want the Japanese bamboo basket to be empty! Japan has been preparing for this battle for decades. has invested almost all his family resources in this battle, hoping to defeat the Manchus in one battle, bite off a big piece of fat from the Manchus, make up for the previous investment, and make a lot of money at the same time. If the Manchu Qing Dynasty had not paid the reparations and was overthrown by the western Sichuan, wouldn't they have earned nothing? Even the Japanese government will go bankrupt because of this.

"It's a good idea, and it's perfectly actionable. However, avoid the Japanese dog jumping off the wall! The Japanese have a large number of troops in the Liaodong region, and if we attack and the Japanese also attack the Jingshi, it will be a bit of a problem! Xiong Wu said.

"The 1st and 2nd Cavalry Corps are ready. After the battle was launched, they would once again enter the grassland from Yulin in Shaanxi, and enter Rehe from Suiyuan and Chahar to hold the Shanhaiguan Pass and block the way for the Japanese troops stationed in the country to move south. The army stationed in Shaanxi will also launch an attack on Shanxi with all its might, and will go straight to the city of Beijing and take the Beijing division in one fell swoop! Wang Yuze said. Western Sichuan garrisoned three divisions of troops in Shaanxi, namely the third, eleventh, and twelfth divisions, and after the expansion, the 22nd and 23rd divisions were transferred into Shaanxi, bringing the total number of troops deployed in Shaanxi to more than 90,000 people in five divisions. With the cooperation of two cavalry corps, there is no problem at all in taking the Beijing Division.

"Marshal, what about our navy? What is our mission? Do you want to attack the Japanese Combined Fleet at once? Minister of the Navy Zhang Cheng said. At present, the West Sichuan Navy is already a strong force ship of 10,000 tons and four heavy cruisers of nearly 10,000 tons, making the West Sichuan Navy the most powerful fleet in Asia. Even if Britain had sent two "Junquan" class battleships to join the British "Chinese fleet", it was far from being a match for the Western Sichuan Navy.

"How's the Marines preparing? Can I put it into practice? Wang Yuze asked. At a time when the Navy was desperately building ships, the development of the Marine Corps did not stop, and by now, four Marine brigades have been built.

"Report to the commander! After almost a year of training, the Marine Brigade is already fully ready for battle! Zhang Cheng reported.

"That's good! After our war against the Manchus, the Navy escorted the Marine Brigade to land in Taiwan and Penghu, disarming the Qing troops in these places and preparing them to fight the Japanese. In addition, the army will also send a division to garrison Taiwan. Wang Yuze said. This is to snatch all the spoils of Japan before Japan lands on Taiwan! At that time, the Japanese not only could not get the war reparations, but also the land ceded by the Manchus. They have worked hard for decades, but in the end it is still in vain.

"Yes, handsome! We promise to get the job done! Zhang Cheng said.

"Marshal, will this make Japan go to war against us?" Liang Xingrong asked.

"Of course, even if Japan doesn't go to war with us. After the Manchus are settled, we will declare war on them as well. Perhaps, before the overthrow of the Manchus, the Japanese will go to war with us. It's not a big deal, though. As long as the navy defeats the Japanese combined fleet, then Japan loses! Will the Navy be able to defeat the combined fleet of Japan? Wang Yuze asked.

"Report to the commander! Although the Japanese Navy exerted extremely strong combat effectiveness in the Battle of the Yellow Sea, the Kawanishi Navy was sure to defeat them at a small cost! Zhang Cheng said with great certainty.

"Well, that's no problem!" Wang Yuze said with a smile. Wang Xiao worked hard for so many years, but he did not go to western Sichuan to unify China until his death, and now, this qiē is finally about to be realized under his leadership.

"Handsome! Although the army now has 2 infantry divisions plus a instructor, 2 heavy artillery brigades and 2 cavalry corps, if we unify the whole country, this number of troops is still too small, and we need to expand the army again! Defense Minister Jiang Xingguo said. At present, the territory of western Sichuan is only equivalent to one-third of the country. With this amount of troops, it is still a little insufficient to defend such a vast territory.

The people on the cabinet side frowned. In their coming, with the current strength of western Sichuan, there will be no problem in defeating the Manchus, and even with the addition of Japan, there will be no big problem. Once the whole country is unified, it will cost a lot of money in western Sichuan. If the military expansion continues, it will inevitably put greater financial pressure. It is also not conducive to economic development.

"How much more do you need to expand?" Wang Yuze asked.

"At least twenty divisions!" Jiang Xingguo asked.

"Disdain, twenty divisions are too many!" Before Wang Yuze could say anything, the cabinet was already opposed.

"Twenty divisions is definitely not much. After the overthrow of the Manchus, we will have to defeat the Japanese. In addition, the Russians in the north have always coveted our northern territory, and it is difficult to guarantee that they will not take advantage of the fire this time! Xiong Wu said.

Regarding this statement, Wang Yuze nodded, the Russians want to occupy Northeast China and Mongolia, this is not a matter of one or two days. Overthrowing the Manchu Qing is just a trivial matter, but to keep the foundation of the ancestors, then the western Sichuan will do its best.

"Alright! In accordance with the requirements of the Ministry of Defense, expand the army by 20 divisions! Wang Yuze said. Now that Wang Yuze has made a decision, even if the cabinet is dissatisfied, it has no choice but to admit it.

"Ladies and gentlemen, tomorrow will be a new era for us. The new China needs everyone to unite and struggle. Please, everybody! Wang Yuze said solemnly.

"Don't worry, we will be dead!" Everyone replied excitedly.

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