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The commander of the Combined Fleet, Ito Youheng, had no choice but to abandon the old and small tonnage sampans and give priority to some of the crew's placements on these behemoths. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

This is far from filling the huge shortfall, and now even the "Sanjing Ship", which is equipped with 320 mm terrorist guns, has to vacate personnel.

Anyway, with eight new battleships, there is no need for these three Teady Cruisers to balance the Beiyang Naval Division's "Ding, Zhen" two ships.

If a war against the Qing was launched this fall, Ito would not dare to guarantee that these crews would be able to make the Mikasa-class fully exploit its formidable combat effectiveness.

According to the requirements of the navy, the "Sanjing Ship" should dismantle the Tona cannon and replace it with a more pragmatic 150-mm rapid-fire gun.

After the replacement of the power system, the speed of the three ships "Matsushima", "Itsukushima", and "Hashidate" will reach about 19-20 knots.

Together with the 19-knots "Chiyoda", they joined the 1st Guerrilla Force, and together with the "Yoshino", "Naniwa", "Akitsuzu", and "Takachiho", they formed a fast cruiser fleet.

The squadron consisted of eight Mikasa-class battleships, which would be responsible for the output of firepower and suppress any obstruction by the enemy fleet.

The eight clippers of the 1st Guerrilla Group were responsible for sweeping the tail of the ship, looking for opportunities to annihilate the enemy ships that had been heavily damaged, left behind, and ran away.

The concept of the 88th Fleet thrown out by Emperor Taisho Xiaotian was refreshing to the Navy and cabinet ministers, and even more impressive.

The 88th Fleet consisted of eight battleships and eight cruisers, and once it formed its combat strength, it was bound to become the king of the East Asian seas.

In 1888+1, Britain passed the Coastal Defense Act, which built a total of 70 ships, including 10 battleships, 42 cruisers, and 18 torpedo gunboats, with a total budget of 21.5 million pounds.

At that time, Britain believed that their naval strength should be higher than that of France and Russia, the two major naval powers next to them, the so-called "two-power standard".

Now that there are eight Mikasa-class battleships, Navy Minister Saigo and Navy Commander Shikinori Kayama have also drawn up a "two-strong standard."

That is, the strength of the Japanese navy should be at least equal to the combined strength of the Pacific Fleet deployed by Russia in the Far East and the fleet of the British Royal Navy in Southeast Asia.

There is no doubt about the combat effectiveness of the battleships of the "Mikasa" class, except for the "Monarchy" class, whose main guns are inferior to those of the British, all other indicators surpass those of the British without exception.

The freeboard of the "Sovereign" class was too low, and in bad sea conditions, the waves on the deck were too severe, and the 343-mm main gun became an ornament.

The difference between the combined fleet and the large cruisers, or 10,000-ton armored cruisers, and the name of the British Royal Navy is a cruiser of the first rank.

However, this thing is expensive, and the Italian-made "Garibodi" class has a displacement of 8,000 tons, and the export price reaches 65-750,000 pounds.

Eight is £6 million, and if the navy wants to equip 10,000-ton armored cruisers, it means a budget of at least £7 million.

Otherwise, let's take advantage of the good mood and play with the model......

"Ladies and gentlemen, I have drafted a new battle plan, and it is still relatively sketchy, please take a look at it!" Emperor Kosho (Taro Kojima's soul + Taisho's body) has seen the landing battle plan formulated by the army, and now that the navy has a new type of battleship, he feels that there is no need to stick to the old rules.

The army plans to devote six to eight divisions and regiments to the Chaoxian battlefield, with a strength of about 100,000 to 150,000, and strive to defeat the main force of the Qing army supporting Chaoxian within a month.

After seeing it, Da Shanyan, who is the Minister of War, immediately bowed: "Your Majesty's Wenzhi and martial arts subordinates admire it until this battle plan is really the opinion of a top strategic master, which is extremely valuable and has the possibility of implementation!" ”

Emperor Kosho's plan included three battle plans, and Plan A still landed in Chaoxian and pushed it over step by step.

Plan B is to refer to the British and French troops of the Second Tooth War, land from Tianjin Dagu, and go straight to the capital of the Qing Dynasty!

Plan C is to raid the tax areas in the south of the Yangtze River, and if possible, along the coast, rob the coastal areas of the Qing Kingdom!

The advantage of option B is that it does not have to fight a long land battle with the Qing army, leaving the opponent with a limited defensive zone and a very short reaction time.

The elite troops of the army, who invested 100,000 shotguns in the exchange of artillery, could completely grind the Huai people of the Beiyang Group into powder.

As for the Eight Banners & Green Battalion, in the eyes of the base camp, they are not the combat troops of the 28th Classic......

Xiao Zheng thought that the Qing Emperor and the Empress Dowager did not dare to stay in the capital at all, otherwise they would end up as prisoners of their own side.

The Japanese army set out from Tianjin, along the corridor, and arrived in the capital within two weeks, forcing the other side to sign an alliance under the city.

The advantage of Plan C is that it does not have to fight in the north with the Qing army, which is full of troops.

Whether it is Shangyang, Jiangning, Suzhou, or Chuzhou, Wuxi, and Lubo, they are all the land of fish and rice, and a prosperous place.

Xiao Zheng expects to seize at least 50 million to 80 million taels of silver from many places in the south of the Yangtze River, which is equivalent to more than 10 million pounds.

Combined with the indemnity of the Qing State, Japan should be able to harvest 150 million taels of silver, that is, more than 20 million pounds.

With this money, his navy and army can quickly modernize their military forces and become the premier trump card power in the Far East!

"What do you think, Mr. Prime Minister, of my plan?" Komasa believes that Hirobumi Ito is one of the few successful politicians in Japanese history

This product was born in the Choshu Domain, and naturally replaced part of the army's will.

"Your Majesty, the minister is inclined to implement Plan B or Plan C. The return on investment of the two solutions is extremely high, and the cost paid is smaller than that of plan A!

Option B has been practiced by the United Kingdom and France and has proven its feasibility. Plan C was able to avoid the main force of the Qing army and surprise the country's rich Jiangnan region. "Hirobumi Ito can be prime minister, naturally he is not an idiot.

The others were cautious in expressing their opinions, so as not to create a bad impression on the little emperor, and Aritomo Yamagu, who served as the chairman of the parliament, saw the thoughts of everyone.

Although he is now a civilian official, he is the head of the army generals of the Changzhou Domain, and his qualifications are extraordinary.

"The minister seconded the prime minister's opinion, if there is little trouble in the summer and autumn of this year, the Qing State will send the army into the country to help the Li royal family stabilize the government, and it will definitely involve part of its troops.

Our army can take advantage of its unpreparedness and concentrate superior forces to attack the capital or the Jiangnan region. In Lao Chen's view, the probability of success in achieving the established strategic goals can reach more than ninety!

Whether it is plan B or plan C, it can hit the Qing country hard, obtain a large amount of compensation, and create a good foundation for China's strong rise! ”

After Youpeng finished speaking, everyone nodded yes and agreed with his opinion, and this big man's vision will naturally not be wrong.

In contrast, the army's original plan to attack Chaoxian was too chicken.

"Your Majesty, the army is changing its outfit, and the speed may not be optimistic!" War Minister Oyama Iwa had no choice but to report the truth so as not to delay the new plan.

After Ito Hirobumi's mediation, the navy has agreed that they or the new battleships will transfer part of the saved military expenses to the army for rearmament.

The funds were mainly used to purchase Murata Type 22 repeaters that could be loaded with 8 rounds, because Army soldiers were still using Murata Type 18 single-shot guns!

And they found an even more problemtic problem, the factory capacity could not keep up with the demand and installation schedule, which meant that they had to buy rifles!

Emperor Kosho has instructed the Army that the new rifles should be smaller in caliber so that soldiers can carry more bullets, preferably around six millimeters.

The 8mm bullet was more suitable for strong European and American animals, and for shorter Asians, especially Japanese soldiers, 6mm was quite suitable.

But this was a post-war affair, and the Army was looking at Western products such as the British 7.7mm Lee-Enfield rifle, the German 7.92mm Mauser 1888 rifle, and the Italian 6.5mm M91 rifle.

Of course, Xiaozheng prefers to load domestic goods, and has issued specific indicators to the R&D department, which is not difficult to achieve.

This is a new Murata rifle, 6 mm caliber, with a ten-round magazine design, the total weight of the ammunition does not exceed 4.5 kg, and the effective range is about 500 meters.

If even the most basic weapon, the rifle, cannot be domestically produced, what is there to talk about dominating the Far East and competing for the great powers?

In later generations, small-caliber bullets were popular, and Japan even learned from the United States and played with the 5.56 mm NATO standard bullet.

Studies have shown that 5.5-6 mm is the best caliber for bullets, but this was a blind spot until the 20th century.

If a 6mm bullet can't kill an enemy, a replacement with an 8mm bullet won't necessarily kill you, but the soldier carries half as much ammunition.

Before the tank became a land artifact, the infantry was still the king of the battlefield, especially the relatively poor Japanese Army.

Xiao Zheng instructed Da Shanyan: "Rifles can still be considered slowly, and the 'Makqin' machine gun and artillery must be purchased as soon as possible, so that the combat troops can have enough time to run in and train!" ”

"Obey the holy decree, don't dare to obey!" Dashan Yan immediately solemnly bowed his head and agreed

The new emperor demanded that each division be armed with at least 100 "Maxim" machine guns, as well as 12 heavy guns of more than 100 mm and 36 medium-caliber guns of about 75 mm.

If there is still a surplus in military spending, the number of heavy weapons procured will increase somewhat, and Xiao Zheng hopes that each division and regiment should be equipped with 200 "Makqins."

In the absence of a submachine gun, this X-man invisible automatic weapon can compensate for the slow rate of fire of a single-shot bolt-action rifle, and is the best choice for defeating the enemy.

Xiao Zheng knows that as long as the salary is good, he is not afraid of not being able to recruit soldiers, but experienced veterans are a valuable asset, and they cannot be sent to death on the battlefield in vain.

Since the development of the "Maxim" machine gun, its true power has not yet been known to the world, and it can just be used as a killer feature.

From heavy machine guns to field guns, there is a gap in medium-caliber weapons, and you can buy some "Woo Hoo Gun" or something to make up the number.

However, Japan does not have so much military spending to burn, so let's talk about it when it has money, and it will cost a lot of money to buy a bunch of new weapons now.

Because these things have to be imported, there is no time to achieve large-scale domestic production.

If you wait for the local factory to produce it and then equip the troops, Dashan Yan will be shocked by his jaw.

"Your Majesty, the minister suggests that the army and navy should reserve more ammunition and weapons, so as to avoid the arms embargo imposed by European and American countries on the warring sides after the war!" Hirobumi Ito is very far-sighted and must not let himself suffer in this regard.

Emperor Komasa nodded in agreement: "What Mr. Prime Minister said is that the navy can be decided in a war, and the army will have to go through many battles, so you must not take it lightly!" ”

Da Shanyan immediately reported the progress of the work: "Please rest assured, Your Majesty, the army is speeding up the ammunition reserve to meet the needs of 300,000 people fighting for six months!" ”

The army believes that half a year is enough to solve the Qing army, and no matter how long it takes, neither Japan nor the Qing will be able to support it.

One is a large agricultural country, and the other is a quasi-industrial country that is preparing to leave Asia and join Europe, and the latter will lose two front teeth on the threshold!

"If Plan B or Plan C is implemented, the Navy will do its best to cooperate with the Army to capture coastal and riverside cities!" The Minister of the Navy, Saigo, is generous

Compared with the land, the Japanese combined fleet has long been different from what it used to be, and even if several fleets of the Qing State are assembled, they cannot match it.

Because the difference in strength between the two sides is too great, the outcome of the naval battle can already be predicted more than half a year in advance.

After the combined fleet annihilated the Beiyang Naval Division, it was natural to bombard the southern cities of the Qing State with heavy artillery.

Whether it is a coastal operation, or going upstream, shelling targets on the line of the Yangtze River, the main combat ships of the Navy have no problem.

The firepower of a cruiser is comparable to that of a brigade, and the firepower of a battleship of the Mikasa-class class is even more than that of a division!

One can imagine how spectacular it was for thirty-two 12-inch mm guns on eight Mikasa-class battleships to fire at the same time!

With just one salvo, the hundreds of people on the opposite position will instantly turn into minced meat, and it is a miracle to be alive!

"Then please Xixiang-kun!" Oyama Rock is also from the Satsuma Domain, and he is a fellow countryman from Saigo, so there is no problem of not being able to get over face.

Xiaozheng can only summon warships, not tanks, artillery, and armored vehicles, so the navy has taken a huge advantage, and the army can only stare dryly, waiting for the other side to give out excess military spending.

"Dashan-kun doesn't have to be polite, the navy will go all out!" Saigo understands from the road that the last share of the stolen goods depends on how much the army guys can rob!

It is conservatively estimated that the military can get about half of the amount, and the navy and army can divide it equally, and each family can also pocket more than 5 million pounds.

If you calculate it this way, the funds that the Navy expects to purchase eight armored cruisers will be basically the same.

Even if there is still a bit of a gap, it is not very difficult to fill it, and the 88th Fleet can really take shape and crisscross the Pacific Ocean.

In short, the matter has come to this point, and the whole base camp has cleared up their differences, unified their views, and obtained confessions.

If you have money to fight, you have to fight if you don't have money to borrow money, and in any case, the battle of Nisshin is inevitable.