At sea, although Liu Guangyuan and his adjutant were a little worried―――――― his chief of staff also came over later. But most of the soldiers are still relatively happy, after all, they are now beating the Japanese on the battlefield, and they have not thought about what will happen if they are discovered by the Japanese on the way...

But they didn't think about it, it doesn't mean that Liu Guangyuan doesn't want to.

After all, they knew very well that the fleet under their feet would not be able to guarantee their safety. If it is really discovered by the only remaining surface fleet of Japan on the way, even if this fleet is attacked by submarine forces twice in a row, it can still easily deal with the gunboats and cruisers that protect them...

Especially the Queen Elizabeth, this cruiser, which has been launched since 1890, is already in its 20s. Protected by such a cruiser, Liu Guangyuan really didn't have much security.

It's just that he also knows what his task is, so Liu Guangyuan didn't complain.

It was not only Liu Guangyuan's troops who were responsible for cutting off the rear route of the Japanese army, but also sent a large number of troops to outflank the two flanks of the Japanese army. There is at least one infantry division in each direction, that is, more than 18,000 troops, although it is not a lot, but Terauchi Masaki's men do not have too many troops to call, so at least they still have an advantage in terms of troops.

The reason why Cai Yi was so anxious was entirely because of a piece of information that Yan Shao had just gotten.

――――――――――――――――――――

According to the information obtained by the Special Affairs Bureau from Japan, the Japanese government has begun preparations to evacuate these tens of thousands of troops from Shandong. After all, leaving them in Shandong is tantamount to giving China a bargaining chip for nothing. Although Yan Shao has already made it very clear that if Japan does not agree to his conditions. He will take it himself, but withdrawing these tens of thousands of troops will eventually strengthen Japan's defense capability in Korea.

Although they lost the battle, these tens of thousands of troops were all from Japan's standing divisions after all, and they can be regarded as elite. Moreover, according to the information obtained by the Japanese government, the large amount of weapons and ammunition previously stockpiled by the Kokusha government has been consumed a lot, if they can hold out until the Kokusha government runs out of ammunition. Maybe it's their turn...

In the eyes of the Japanese, the reason why the Chinese were able to overwhelm them in Shandong was entirely because they were much more powerful in weapons and equipment than the Japanese army. And not because they are more elite than the Japanese army―――――― in fact, it is true, no matter how rigorous the training of the Wehrmacht is, after all, it is impossible to turn all the troops into elite in such a short period of time...

And if they get things done, then the national government will lose its most powerful bargaining chip. After all, if possible. Yan Shao is also unwilling to use force all the time.

The point is that Masashi Terauchi is not stupid. It will fail in Shandong only because of the difference in strength. With the advantage of the National Defense Army, the possibility of losing in Shandong is too small―――――― equipped with more than 3,000 light and heavy machine guns, plus other new equipment, so there are only two possibilities for losing, one is that all the people who use these equipment are strong men who have just been caught, and they have not yet been able to use weapons proficiently, and even the guns are unstable. There is also the possibility that the soldiers are not ready to fight...

If the soldiers are not willing to fight, no matter how good the equipment in their hands is, it is useless.

This kind of thing has happened many times in Yan Shao's history. For example, the Qing Dynasty army during the Sino-Qing War, for example, during the Anti-Japanese War and many later national armies (it is undeniable that many national armies fought very tenaciously during the Anti-Japanese War, but there were also many national armies who fought like pigs) and so on...

Aside from weapons and equipment, the Wehrmacht may not be as good as the Japanese army in terms of combat capability, but it is not as good as that. Even the former local army, which had just been reorganized, maintained a high morale with adequate food and military pay. What's more, as soon as the Japanese landed, they were severely cleaned up by the navy, and there was absolutely no problem in terms of morale...

Considering that the entire battle in Shandong was fought by the Wehrmacht against the Japanese army, those officers and men who fought in Shandong had basically established a psychological advantage over the Japanese army.

Having said that, after all, the war in Shandong had not yet been born out of positional warfare, and even if the morale of the Japanese was low, the resistance was still very tenacious. As a result, although the Wehrmacht was gaining superiority in both the frontal battlefield and the flank directions, they were only 60 percent sure whether they could occupy Longkou Bay before the Japanese army withdrew and completely eat up the Japanese troops in Shandong.

Therefore, if you want to achieve complete victory, you can only win by surprise, and Liu Guangyuan's troops are like this.

However, although the sword can win more benefits at a smaller cost, the danger is much greater than that of ordinary models. Although Liu Guangyuan did not want to land directly in Longkou Bay, because of this, the landing time would be extended (because if there was no port, the landing of troops would be very slow, after all, there were neither landing craft nor hovercraft in this era), and if it was discovered by the Japanese, the consequences would probably be similar to that of the Japanese fleet that was attacked in the first place.

But as long as the landing is successful and Longkou Bay can be captured, then the only way for the Japanese to retreat will be blocked, and the rest of the matter will be settled. After all, no matter how strong the Japanese will to resist after being surrounded, there will be a day when they run out of ammunition and food, and as long as they can eat these Japanese troops in one bite, the war in Shandong can be declared over, and Yan Shao will also win the final victory.

And in Yan Shao's view, living Japanese are obviously more valuable than dead Japanese.

――――――――――――――――――――

"As long as you can eat the Japanese troops in Shandong in one bite, no matter how stubborn the Japanese are, there is only one way to go..." got up and poured himself a glass of water, Yan Shao faced Duan Qirui and the others who were sitting opposite him. With the prisoners in our hands, we can use this to make the Japanese bow their heads, and the victory of this war can be regarded as completely in our hands..."

"Victory..."Sitting in his own seat, hearing this word, whether it was Duan Qirui or Feng Guozhang, their eyes revealed a trace of longing.

Although the word seems to be a bit inappropriate with their age. But they did have that emotion in their eyes.

As old men who have experienced the two periods of the former Qing Dynasty and Beiyang, today's Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang can already be called the veterans of the Three Dynasties. But because of this, they also experienced one of the most humiliating periods in China...

Not to mention the two Opium Wars. This is too old, like the Second Opium War, Yuan Shikai was only three years old at the time, and Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang were not born yet. But they experienced the subsequent Sino-Japanese War and the Gengzi Incident, as well as the Russo-Japanese War, which was obviously a war fought on their own soil, but they had to survive as neutrals......... Is there anything more humiliating in this world than this?

It can be said that from the time they were born. China has never experienced a foreign war in which it can win.

Although it has only defeated one Japan now, it has defeated its opponent after all, and it is no longer necessary to pay compensation for land cession as in the past. What's more, Japan is one of the great powers, even if it's only the weakest, and...

"I finally avenged the revenge of the first Wu Nian...", with a weak grasp of his right palm, Duan Qirui said in a low voice.

It seems that he heard Duan Qirui's words. Xu Shichang, Feng Guozhang and others also showed a hint of emotion in their eyes. When he looked at Yan Shao. There was also a hint of gratitude in his eyes. They knew very well that it was because of them that they could win, and if Yuan Shikai was still in power, they might only watch the Japanese capture the Qingdao fortress in Shandong, just like the Qing government during the Russo-Japanese War.

However, they did not despise Yuan Shikai at all, on the one hand, Yuan Shikai was their old club after all, and on the other hand, they ......... If Yuan Shikai is still around, I'm afraid they don't have the courage to do anything with the Japanese like Yuan Shikai. After all, the old men of their period already had a psychological shadow on the great powers, so they naturally had no right to blame Yuan Shikai.

"Winning is winning..."Yan Shao said with a smile. After speaking, he walked to Duan Qirui and the others with a cup and sat down. "But let's keep a low profile for the next time."

"How?" Hearing Yan Shao's words, whether it was Duan Qirui or Feng Guozhang, or Li Liang, who had not experienced the First Sino-Japanese War and the Gengzi Incident, so they didn't have so many emotions, they were all a little puzzled in their eyes.

After all, they finally won a war, and it was the most suitable time to publicize it, Yan Shao actually told them that they should be more low-key, and it was impossible to say that it was not strange.

"The President?" With a puzzled look on his face, Feng Guozhang looked at Yan Shao, and he didn't quite understand what Yan Shao had just said.

"How can I say it..."After taking a small sip of the water in the cup and moistening his throat, Yan Shao looked at a few people. This low-key, well, I know some of the remarks in the current government, I think that we have won the battle against the Japanese, and the Japanese have won the war against the Russians, so it seems that both the Japanese and the Western powers can ignore it, many people have begun to think about the territories that have been taken away by the powers, and some people seem to think further, but here we must make it clear that Japan was able to defeat Russia because Russia did not concentrate all its strength in the Far East, and in addition to that, the distance between the navy and the navy was too far..."

Even so, the Japanese won the war at a huge cost of money, not only losing all the profits they had earned during the war, but even owing Britain a lot of money, and they got almost nothing but the false name of a great power. At present, although our strength is already relatively strong, but there is still a relatively large gap compared with the great powers, I called you here this time to get to the bottom of it, and at the same time let everyone understand the core of the government's future foreign policy, four words are enough, 'Taoguang Yanghui', that's all..."

"Taoguang Yanghu...", Li Liang's eyes showed a trace of doubt. I know what this idiom means, but ......... Why? ”

At this time, Li Liang's morale was already relatively high, although when he followed Yan Shao, he had already planned to make a career, but he never thought that Yan Shao would be able to climb to his current position, and even with him, he could sit in the position of the prime minister, who was above 10,000 people.

Especially now that the Nationalist government has just won another big victory.

The credit for the victory must be attributed to Yan Shao's leadership, which is also inevitable, even if it is not for sycophancy, Li Liang is also very clear. At present, China can have the current achievements, and Yan Shao's credit is indeed the greatest. But as the prime minister of the national government, half of the credit falls on him, and I believe that others have nothing to say. This is for Li Liang, who came out with Yan Shao and wanted to make a career and glorify his ancestors. It is undoubtedly a very satisfying thing. The next thing seems to be very simple, take advantage of the victory and pursue it, expand this glory to the maximum, and he and his family will also be recorded in history in the process. Everyone knows what it was like to mix the former Qing Dynasty and the Beiyang government when the Guoshe government was not established, according to the 'feudal period', they can be regarded as Zhongxing famous ministers, but at this time, Yan Shao said that he wanted to keep his light and keep his eyes open. Li Liang was naturally a little incomprehensible.

"That's right, and even if there is still a big gap between us and the great powers, there's no need to make any Taoguang obscurity..."Seeing Li Liang speak. The others were bold enough to speak.

"You can't say that..."Yan Shao shook his head, somewhat understanding their thoughts, but still continued. We all know very well, for those white people. Neither a strong China nor a strong Japan would be happy to see them..."

Heard Yan Shao say this. Someone opened their mouth.

Seeing that someone was about to speak, Yan Shao waved his hand and said with a smile. "That's right, now Europeans are busy fighting the European war, and they don't seem to have the time to care about this side of the business, but the war will always end, and there is a United States in addition to Europe, compared with Europe, Americans discriminate against the Chinese more severely. I believe Li Liang, you should know this very well, after all, you grew up in the United States. I know more about the situation in the United States than anyone here, and that includes me..."Although Yan Shao has also lived in the United States for a while, most of the time he is tired of being at home with Elaline and them, or he is just coding, plagiarizing some research of later generations, and he already has a great reputation at that time, even if he is a yellow race, he is by no means something that ordinary Americans are willing to provoke, and he naturally does not have much understanding of what happened to Chinese people in the United States.

Li Liang nodded, growing up in the United States, of course they knew about the discrimination of Americans against the Chinese, which was also a reason why they were willing to follow Yan Shao in the first place. After all, the United States at that time had a Chinese exclusion bill, and although their Li family was also very powerful in Chinatown in the United States, the status of the Chinese in the United States was too embarrassing, and even they were very humiliated.

Seeing that Li Liang agreed, Yan Shao continued with a smile.

"What I'm worried about now is not that they take the initiative to come to the door to find ballast, on the European side, even if the war is over, it is difficult to say how much strength is left. Moreover, the war has just ended, and even if their government is willing to fight, after a long war, I am afraid that their people will not be in that mood. The U.S. side won't be unwise enough to come to the door..."

"For those white people, it is better for the world to be ruled entirely by white people, and it is better for people of color like us to have no one left, and even if they still exist, they should be in a position of lower rank than them, so that they can show us some of their mercy in the sense of superiority of others as a sign of their nobility and civilization. But now this problem is a bit troublesome, during the Russo-Japanese War, a Japan emerged, but this Japan can be used to contain Russia, so the British should have no opinion, but the Americans must be very tired of this country, and now, another China has emerged, which is more annoying, but in the case that Russia is also an Entente country, China and Japan can just contain each other, and with Britain next to it, it is just right to maintain a balance, next......... When the opportunity arises, maybe Britain and other white countries will attack us..."

"But now that Japan has been defeated by us in Shandong, and the elite navy is almost completely wiped out, here I can also boast that our development potential is far more than Japan, or even ten times that of it, so after defeating Japan, which country should they use to contain us? Thailand? It's just a country caught between Britain and France, and in the Far East, apart from us, Japan, and Thailand, they can't find a fourth country that can survive on their own..."

"So, Japan seems to have become their only choice, after all, even if this country lost badly some time ago, there is still a certain strength there, but at this time they are still a little hesitant, because Europe is busy with the European war, and the United States is also busy making war money, plus the original bad feeling towards Japan, and is not very willing to help Japan, but if we are too arrogant at this time..."

Speaking of this, Yan Shao smiled. "Maybe the Americans, as soon as their heads are hot, will run over to support Japan and fight against us..."

It is precisely because he once lived in the United States that Yan Shao understands how xenophobic the United States is.

In the past, Yan Shao had a good relationship with the Americans, on the one hand, because of his investment in successive presidents, but on the other hand, it was not because the Americans wanted to use him to check and balance Japan―――――― China at that time fell in the eyes of Europe and the United States, but it was much weaker than Japan, and it was more in the interests of the United States to use China to contain Japan.

But now, Yan Shao has defeated Japan in Shandong, and has almost completely wiped out the Japanese surface fleet, which has already left Japan with a broken heart, and it is difficult to compete with China...

It seems that this is a good thing for the United States, right? Is it exactly why they used China in the first place? But don't forget, China is a yellow country, and the United States is a white country. He was friendly with China not because Americans liked China, but because China could help the United States balance Japan at that time.

But now Japan has failed, and it is China that has more potential than Japan has come up...

Will the United States be foolish enough to sit back and watch China grow up and eventually become a more dangerous country than Japan?

After all, no matter how you look at it, China's potential is much greater than Japan's, and if China is allowed to develop, it will pose a greater threat to the United States than Japan.

Based on some of Yan Shao's contacts in the United States, it seems that the U.S. government has begun to discuss a restrictive policy toward China to prevent it from developing enough to threaten the United States. Some even feel that Japan should be given some support so that China and Japan can maintain a balance of power.

This kind of rhetoric has begun to have some market in the United States, but because of the contradictions between the United States and Japan in the past, there are not many people who agree with it. But if the Chinese table is too offensive at this time...

Maybe something will change...

"So we'd better keep a low profile in the last few moments, and if we win the battle, of course it's worth celebrating, but other than that, like I said, it's a good thing to do. The current bustle in Europe is the most suitable time for our development, and it is better for us to make a fortune in silence than to make the British and American powers run to support our enemies........."