On March 29, 4608 (10) of the Yellow Emperor Era, at 2:40 a.m., the Imperial Navy, which had completed its shelling, began to quickly evacuate from the sea area where Eta Island was located. The Imperial Navy not only destroyed the Etajima Naval Academy, but also fired more than 500 305-mm high-explosive bombs at the Kure Port Naval Base. Although it is uncertain whether these two targets have been completely destroyed. However, the power of more than 500 high-explosive bombs is undoubtedly very terrifying.

"Order the fleet, accelerate to twenty knots. Destroyers and light cruisers, ready to defend against the attack of the Japanese torpedo boats. Admiral Sa Zhen suppressed the excitement in his heart and gave the order to retreat.

Now that they have completed the attack on the Etajima Naval Academy and the Kure Port Naval Base, they only need to evacuate safely to bring this operation to a successful conclusion. It would be a pity if you paid some unnecessary losses at the last minute. Although the Imperial Navy eliminated the main force of the Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet, there were still a lot of small torpedo boats left in the Japanese Navy. In the narrow Seto Inland Sea, under the cover of the islands, these torpedo boats were undoubtedly extremely powerful.

The fleet departed at high speed, and each battleship increased its speed to twenty knots. In this case, except for the destroyers and small torpedo boats of the Japanese Navy, it would be impossible for other warships to catch up. It was also completely delusional for the shore defense artillery positions built by the Japanese Navy to hit the Imperial Navy sailing at this speed.

In fact, the Japanese Navy was very slow to react. When the Etajima Naval Academy was attacked, the Japanese did not react immediately. It was not until the Kure Harbor naval base was also attacked that the Japanese reacted. The Imperial Navy's attack on the Kure Port Naval Base lasted only fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes later, the Imperial Navy was gone.

Tokyo. Admiralty Building. The Admiralty Chancellor stayed here all this time. Although, the crushing defeat of the Combined Fleet will definitely affect him. He won't be able to do it for long. After China and Japan reach an agreement and sign a peace treaty, the Saionji Kowang cabinet will step down. A new cabinet will be formed, and the position of Minister of the Navy will be taken over by someone else.

But. Minoru Saito still stuck to his post at the last minute. For nothing else, he hopes that after leaving office, he will not be liquidated. Otherwise, his life would be sad.

"My lord, a telegram from Kure Harbor Naval Base." A staff officer walked into the office and reported to Minoru Saito.

"Is it a question of the construction of the battleships 'Aki' and 'Settsu'? Go, help me make a cup of coffee and come in. Minoru Saito rubbed his forehead, he looked very tired now.

"Hey, sir." The staff officer immediately went out to make coffee for Minoru Saito. But. His back rushing away looked like he was running for his life, which made Saito stunned.

Then, when he read the contents of the telegram, he didn't feel sleepy at all.

"Baga, the people of China actually attacked the Kure Harbor Naval Base. The battleships 'Aki' and 'Settsu' were both shelled. Those despicable Shina people, fleeing for their lives in order to weaken the strength of the Imperial Navy, really do everything they can! Minoru Saito was furious.

The head of the Kure Port Naval Base claimed in a telegram. The construction of the battleship "Aki" will be delayed until the middle of next year, and the construction of the battleship "Settsu". That's more delays. This is undoubtedly unacceptable to the Japanese Navy.

That's not the most important thing, though. The people from the Kure Port Naval Base also reported that the direction of Eta-shima was shelled before the Kure Port Naval Base, and they were sending people who dared to go to Eta-do to check the situation.

"What are the people of China doing in shelling Etajima?" Minoru Saito frowned. But then he thought of something, and his face turned pale. There was no blood at all.

"Bastard, the people of Shina are going to destroy the Etajima Naval Academy, they are going to cut off the foundation of the Imperial Japanese Navy!" Minoru Saito thundered. However, there was no other way for him to do it than to get angry.

"Someone. Hurry up and get Yamamoto-sama and Togo-sama here. Minoru Saito knew that such a major event was no longer something he could decide.

Half an hour later, Gonbei Yamamoto and Heihachiro Togo arrived at the Admiralty. And Minoru Saito has already received another telegram from the Kure Port Naval Base at this moment. The people from the Kure Port Naval Base have landed on Etajima. However, they were presented with ruins. The entire Etajima Naval Academy has been razed to the ground, and the casualties are very heavy.

When Gonbei Yamamoto and Heihachiro Togo learned about the situation, the two of them were also pale. They never imagined that the Chinese Navy would actually target the Jiangtadao Naval Academy. If they can still accept the loss of the Kure Port naval base and the delay in the construction of the two battleships. The casualties of those instructors and cadets of the Etajima Naval Academy were unacceptable to them.

"Despicable Shina, if the navies of the two sides fight each other in a dignified manner, they will not be many of our opponents at all. But now, they are taking such despicable and shameless methods, which is really shameless. Minoru Saito scolded viciously. However, he was just talking about it. The navy of the Chinese Empire adopted such tactics, and he was practically at nothing at all.

"It is even more difficult for the Japanese Navy to catch up with the Shina Navy." Heihachiro Togo spit out these words with a depressed expression. He knew that this time the actions of the Chinese Navy had already caused irreparable losses to the Japanese Navy.

"The people of China are doing this precisely because they are afraid of us. That's why such despicable and shameless methods are adopted. The more this is the case, the more it proves the fear in the hearts of the Chinese people. The Etajima Naval Academy was destroyed, and we can rebuild it, and there are other naval schools. In the future, we will still have enough elite naval officers and men. The Imperial Japanese Navy would not have been defeated so easily. Gonbei Yamamoto said. As the father of the Japanese navy, although he was very angry in his heart. However, he knew that now was not the time to be angry, and the most important thing was how to minimize the damage and how to avoid a devastating blow to the confidence of the Japanese Navy.

The elders of Japan soon learned the news. While Prime Minister Saionji remained in China to negotiate, Japan's political situation was actually still controlled by these elders. It's just that after learning that the Jiangtadao Naval Academy and the Kure Harbor Naval Base had been attacked by the Chinese Navy, these veterans were of course very angry, but more of them were deeply helpless.

After the Japanese navy was annihilated by the Imperial Navy, their sea frontier was no longer defenseless. The Chinese Navy can rely on its strong strength to constantly attack them. Now, the Etajima Naval Academy and Kure Port Naval Base have just begun. As the Chinese Navy continued to carry out similar operations, the coastal cities of Japan would become targets for the Imperial Navy.

Japan is an island nation, and almost all of its major cities are located along the coast. While this makes shipping in Japan very convenient, it also makes these cities extremely vulnerable to attack. While the Japanese navy was still strong, they certainly had the ability to protect these cities. However, after the crushing defeat of the Japanese Navy, the cities were left almost undefended.

In order to prevent more cities from being attacked by the Chinese navy, the Japanese elders believed that it was necessary to reach an agreement with the Chinese Empire as soon as possible. Only when the war is over will Japan no longer be attacked by the Chinese Empire.

However, the conditions proposed by the Chinese Empire were so harsh that Japan could not accept them at all. The patriarchs had no choice but to instruct Saionji Gongwang to obtain the best conditions possible for Japan.

Although, this seems very aggrieved. But there is no way around it. If the Chinese Navy really launched an artillery bombardment on Japan's coastal cities, Japan would pay even heavier losses!

On March 29, the day of negotiations, as soon as the negotiations began, Japanese Prime Minister Saionji Konozo was full of anger and complained about the atrocities of the Imperial Chinese Navy.

"Gentlemen, last night, the navy of the Chinese Empire brazenly launched a large-scale artillery bombardment of the Naval Academy on Etajima and the port of Kure. Thousands of teachers and students were killed in the shelling, and thousands of civilians were killed in Kure Harbor. This wanton attack on students and civilians by the Chinese Empire was undoubtedly an atrocity. War has nothing to do with student civilians. The Japanese Empire solemnly demanded that Britain, Germany, and other major powers impose sanctions on the Chinese Empire's behavior and seek justice for the innocent civilians who died. Xiyuan Temple Gongwang said with a flushed face.

"Oh God! Is the Chinese Navy really hands-on with civilians and students? How is this possible! This is definitely not something that a civilized country can do! The British Minister, Sir Jurdian, had already exclaimed.

It's just that Yang Du, the prime minister of the empire, and Tang Shaoyi, the foreign minister, are expressionless.

"There was nothing wrong with the Imperial Navy's attack on Etajima and Kure Harbor. The Etajima Naval Academy trains officers of the Japanese Navy, and all of them have strong anti-China ideas. For the sake of the Empire's security, the Empire must first deal with them. As for Kure Harbor, it was simply a naval base. It was only natural for the Imperial Navy to launch an attack on the enemy's naval base during the war. Yang Du said expressionlessly. (To be continued.) )