From Churchill's standpoint, of course, he hoped that China and Japan would die together. But even if you think about it on your knees, you know that this is impossible, so Churchill can only hope that the two countries will lose in the conflict.

As for the help that Britain needs from these two countries of the Far East? Churchill was well aware of the current pressure on the Entente. But he didn't feel that without China and Japan, the empire really couldn't play. After all, the war had just begun, and neither the Entente nor the Central Powers were so big as to have to ask for help.

In Churchill's view, it would undoubtedly be worth the loss to allow a new threat to emerge in the Far East for the sake of the smooth passage of the European battlefield.

What's more, in the previous battle of Longkou Bay, China also showed a certain amount of wisdom.

But on the whole, Churchill was still more optimistic about Japan, after all, the Japanese had proven their strength on the battlefield, while China had not. Although there is a Longkou Bay now, after all, there is an element of tricks in the sneak attack tactics of Longkou Bay, and with this example, I believe that no country will make it possible for China to repeat Longkou Bay again next time.

At least after the news of the Longkou Bay incident spread, the various naval powers began to discuss how to protect against underwater threats. And last night, Churchill and the rest of the Navy were even more busy all night before they came up with something.

It's just that what Churchill said makes a lot of sense, but what exactly should be done about Herbert and George? Lloyd and others hesitated. The front-line support for Japan can also be said to be for the sake of the war situation in Europe. If you continue to support it this time, you won't have anything to say...

Moreover, for almost all Britons, Europe is far more important than Asia. There is no doubt about that. In the midst of the war in Europe, Herbert and the others neither wanted nor wanted to bother with the affairs of Asia...

So although they felt that there was some truth in what Churchill said, Herbert and others still failed to make a decision at the meeting. Churchill was not discouraged by this, because he never thought that such a thing would be successful at one time, but only thought that it would be said later.

It's just that when the Battle of the Marne broke out a few days ago, Churchill no longer had the leisure to do so...

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Ride on horseback. Kamio Mitsutomi looked up at the plane that had just flown overhead, and his face became a little ugly.

Due to the relationship of Longkou Bay, according to the domestic order. Kamio Mitsutomi had to find a way to organize an offensive as a response and revenge for Longkou Bay, as well as to appease the situation in the country―――――― originally in the eyes of the Japanese people, the 'Imperial Army' should be invincible. It can even kill the Chinese army lightly and throw off its armor. It's like during the Sino-Japanese War, and that's what the Japanese government propagandized.

It is precisely because of this propaganda that the Japanese people are willing to live with heavy taxes and hard work day after day. However, in Longkou Bay, the huge fleet actually lost most of the main ships in the blink of an eye, and the army that they were proud of did not have the slightest achievement in Shandong.

The reason why the people are burdened with heavy taxes is because they hope that the army will bring them glory and benefits, and they do not want to hear the news of the army's defeat. So the news of Longkou Bay has just reached Japan. All sectors of society are already in an uproar. In this regard, the pressure on the Okuma cabinet is very great, but the pressure on the Japanese military department is also not small. After all, both the army and the navy are under tremendous pressure.

Therefore, the Japanese government urgently needs a victory to ease the pressure at home.

And...

In the Battle of Longkou Bay, Japan lost more than half of its main ships, and even though many of them were on the verge of being eliminated, this was still a big loss for the Japanese government. So the Japanese had to find a way to make up for this loss. However, as I once said, the Japanese government's finances are very tight now, and I am afraid that it will not be able to do it on its own, not to mention that the scale of the Shandong Campaign is so large, and the Japanese government is barely able to maintain it, where can it pay to make up for the losses of the navy?

It is precisely because of this that the argument that there will be another Sino-Japanese war and a reparation from China has become very attractive.

Of course, it was also because ――――――of the Russo-Japanese War that Japan not only lost all the benefits won by the Sino-Japanese War and the Gengzi Incident, but also owed a lot of money to the British, but it also did not need to mention this.

As mentioned earlier, the Japanese government alone will certainly not be able to make up for such a huge loss this time, and in fact, even the Japanese government is barely able to maintain the current war. But if it is possible to defeat China in Shandong and win a reparation as it did during the Sino-Japanese War and the Gengzi Incident......... The difficulties faced by the Japanese government can be easily solved, and this is very tempting for the Japanese. This is also the reason why Kamio Mitsutomi will go to the front line of Linglong Town at this moment, at this time, the Japanese army is confronting the Chinese army on the front line of Linglong Town, and he is needed as a commander to go.

However, listening to the buzzing sound coming from overhead, Kamio Mitsutomi couldn't help but frown.

"No one can even see his whereabouts clearly, how can this battle be fought..."Seeing that the plane belonging to China turned around several times above his head, Kamio Mitsutomi said with some annoyance.

Glancing at the plane overhead, the officer beside Mitsutomi Kamio frowned similarly.

Since the Battle of Longkou Bay, the reconnaissance of the Japanese troops in Longkou Bay by the Chinese air force has become much more explicit, and almost every day many planes have to go around the heads of the Japanese troops twice and take some pictures back.

Mitsutomi Kamio knew very well that if he continued to indulge Chinese planes in reconnaissance, his military deployment would be clear to the other side. Is there anything more terrible on the battlefield than that?

So after Longkou Bay, Mitsutomi Kamio transferred almost all the planes under his command, including the seaplanes of the army and navy. I want to get rid of all the planes flying around my head.

But not long after he made this decision, the planes in the sky gave him a hard slap in the face, and at the same time told him and Yuzaburo Kato a secret that had been haunting them for a long time. That's why all the planes going to Linglong Town disappeared without a trace.

It turned out that the reason was simple, because they were all shot down by the Wehrmacht.

When the Japanese troops in Longkou Town discovered that there were three or two Chinese fighters spitting out flames above their heads, chasing after nearly 10 Japanese planes, and from time to time a few of them were shot down, the morale of the Japanese army, which had already fallen a lot because of Longkou Bay, suddenly fell a lot again.

And after several times, there were no more planes in the hands of Mitsutomi Kamio, and almost the entire sky of Qingdao could be said to be owned by the Wehrmacht.

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Piloted an airplane on a reconnaissance mission. After making sure that the companion behind him had taken all the photos, Lu Yu turned his head and said loudly to his companion while maneuvering the plane.

"I'm going back soon, let's take out the gifts we prepared for them first..."

"No problem!" Heard Lu Yu's words. His companion sitting behind him shouted at the top of his voice, and with that he had finished pulling out a bundle of things from under his seat to ―――――― a whole bundle of grenades.

Seeing that his companion had already taken out the things, Lu Yu didn't talk nonsense, but directly turned the nose of the machine. Fly towards the nearest Japanese platoon on the ground. At the same time, the altitude of the aircraft was lowered as much as possible to ensure that the hit rate of the companion could be improved.

At the same time, Lu Yu's companion also raised the grenade high, and when he felt that there was no problem, he pulled the fuse, and then threw it at the nearest Japanese army.

Looking at what was thrown down on the plane belonging to the Chinese, the Japanese troops who were still on the march suddenly stopped and looked up, not thinking at all what was thrown down. Meanwhile. After discovering that his companion had done what he had to do, Lu Yu also hurriedly raised the nose. And fly off into the distance...

Then I only heard a 'boom', flesh and blood flew sideways, and the queue that was originally full of Japanese soldiers was blown out of a blood-colored clearing, and there were many stumps scattered on the clearing.

The scene just now seemed to startle the Japanese, and it took a while for anyone to think of rushing to treat the wounded. Just looking at the bloody scene in the clearing, many recruits who went to the battlefield for the first time suddenly vomited, and even those veterans, after many years, couldn't help frowning.

When he dropped something on the plane, Mitsutomi Kamio on horseback happened to see this scene, and he was also thinking about what tricks the Chinese were doing. It's just that just when he couldn't figure it out in his heart, the explosion suddenly happened.

Mitsutomi Kamio has been in the army since 82, and of course it is impossible not to have seen a dead man. But at such a close distance, seeing twenty or thirty people being blown up with his own eyes, even for the first time for Kamio Mitsutomi, looking at the bloody scene in front of him, as well as those wounded people who were covering their wounds and moaning, Kamio Mitsutomi who was riding on horseback was suddenly shocked. Even if it didn't take long for Kamio Mitsutomi to return to normal, the scene just now still cast an indelible shadow on his heart.

At the same time, after seeing the scene just now, Lu Yu and his companions couldn't help but celebrate, if it wasn't for the inappropriate time and environment, I'm afraid they would also punch to celebrate.

Regarding the matter of sailing with a grenade, in fact, Lu Yu and they also had a temporary idea. If I have to say it, this incident probably started a few days ago, when Lu Yu had seen a report about the Italian-Turkish war.

On November 1, 1911, during the Italian-Turkish War, when Italy and Ottoman Turkey were fighting over Libya in North Africa, Second Lieutenant Gavoti of the Italian Air Force took to the air in a pigeon monoplane to reconnoiter enemy forces. Unlike in the past, he carried four 'Sipelly' grenades weighing 2 kg each. Flying over enemy positions, Second Lieutenant Gavoti threw a grenade and carried out the first bombardment in the history of the war. Of course, the results of this bombing were very small, but in any case it was the first bombing in the history of mankind.

And Lu Yu was inspired by this incident, so he thought of taking a grenade to shoot out―――――― anyway, why not bring some grenades to pop out, if you are lucky, maybe you can kill a few enemies, which is equivalent to giving it away for nothing.

It was under Lu Yu's clever tongue that finally his superiors agreed to his request.

With permission. Lu Yu got 20 grenades, and asked a few people from the army to help make cluster grenades―――――― at this time the planes either belonged to the army or the air force, and Lu Yu and they were army aviation. So it's not a hassle to get someone from the army to help.

Since they didn't know how powerful it was, Lu Yu and the others only brought this bundle over, but they didn't expect...

"It's unbelievably powerful..."

After turning around and glancing at each other with his companions, Lu Yu said in his heart.

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Seeing that the plane had gradually flown away, Mitsutomi Kamio let out a long sigh and didn't say anything more, just motioned for the team to move on.

However, a scene that has just happened. Whether it is for ordinary Japanese officers and soldiers or for Mitsutomi, it has a great impact, especially Kamio Mitsutomi, and the shadow in his heart has always lingered.

But in any case, the war still has to be fought. He also knows that the current situation in the country requires a victory. About a few hours later, the troops led by Mitsutomi Kamio arrived at the front line of Linglong Town, where only one division of troops was stationed in Longkou Town, the base camp.

At the same time in Longkou Bay. There were also a few old cruisers that could not run and ships that had been damaged in the previous attack and could not move. These ships currently function as fixed batteries in Longkou Bay.

After Mitsutomi Kamio led his troops to the front line of Linglong Town, the number of Japanese troops on the front line of Linglong Town reached more than 70,000. At the same time, the Wehrmacht on the front line of Linglong Town also had five infantry divisions with as many as 100,000 people―――――― and the extra few thousand were artillerymen.

This time, for the Shandong campaign, Cai Ye and Jiang Baili concentrated all the heavy artillery transferred to Shandong and used it to form a three-regiment artillery brigade. Two of the regiments were armed with 150mm guns, cannons or howitzers, and the other was armed with 210 and 240mm heavy guns, due to their large size and insufficient numbers. This regiment had only 18 heavy guns, which could not be compared with the number of 72 guns in the other two regiments. But even so. Cai Ye and Jiang Baili still concentrated 162 heavy guns here, in addition to more than 300 75mm guns and 105mm light howitzers from the other five infantry divisions.

When all of them are combined, the number is already more than 500, which is quite an astonishing number even if it is pulled into the European battlefield. In comparison, the number of Japanese artillery was significantly smaller.

But...

"Most of our artillery has just begun training, and I am afraid there is a big gap compared with the Japanese..."

In the headquarters, Jiang Baili said helplessly.

A considerable part of the troops concentrated in Shandong this time were drawn from various places, and those units were originally local units, and the number of artillery pieces they had in the past was very small, and it was impossible for those warlords to allocate enough shells for artillery training, so the quality of the artillery of these units was very worrisome. Although there have been some improvements in the process after accepting the reorganization of the national government, after all, it is impossible to make great progress so quickly, so in terms of a certain process, they are still in a relatively early stage.

"There's no way around it, after all, time is too tight..." In any case, at least in terms of equipment, we still have the advantage, even if the quality of the soldiers is a little worse, it is still no problem to fight an even artillery battle..."

This time, in order to take the Qingdao fortress smoothly, the Japanese even got a lot of heavy howitzers of 240mm caliber, and the number of other artillery pieces was not small. Although it is certainly not comparable to the National Social Army in terms of quantity and quality, it is not too far behind, especially the Meiji 45-year 240mm heavy howitzer, which is still very good in terms of performance.

(The 918 incident in history seems to be the first shot fired by this thing)

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At this time, both the Japanese army and the Wehrmacht were ready, but although they had an advantage in numbers and equipment, Cai Ye and Jiang Baili did not give the order to take the initiative. Instead, the troops were ordered to squat within the defensive line.

At the same time, Lu Yu and the others, who were driving the plane back to the base, also came to their superiors.

After hearing Lu Yu's description of the power of the cluster grenade, their boss did not approve all the pilots who carried out reconnaissance missions to bring grenades as Lu Yu and the others imagined―――――― of course, he still praised Lu Yu and the others.

But then he touched his chin and said. "Since it really works, then it's better to just bring cannonballs next time, why bring any grenades..."

Although the power of grenades is not bad, especially when bundled together, it still can't be compared to artillery shells. And after hearing the words of their boss, Lu Yu and the others couldn't help but nod.

In any case, due to the success of Lu Yu and the others, in the end, the construction of the two of them was approved. Next, all the pilots who went to the skies over the Japanese army to carry a certain number of shells into the sky and then threw them at targets that they considered valuable.

Although the number of shells that the aircraft can carry is very small, it is a good thing that it can kill the enemy. However, before that, the base also reminded the pilots that they must always pay attention to the altitude.

Recently, perhaps the harassment of the army aviation units has become a little unbearable, and the Japanese have begun to shoot at the planes in the air with machine guns. Although the power of the three-year and three-eight types is not very good, and not a single plane has been shot down so far, it is better to be careful after all. (To be continued......)