Aimi Island, this big island after Master Li went to change its name, did not appear like the Ryukyu Island with chimneys and roaring machines. Patches of mangrove forests have kept this beautiful island intact, but the most attentive person will still notice that change is still present in this beautiful landscape.

The road is the best place to reflect this change, the gravel paved road has been completely replaced by a concrete road, the clutter of low trees on both sides has been replaced by neat rows of windbreaks, and the huge bulbs on the street lamps during the interlude period light up the entire island like shining stars every night.

No one has counted how many of these street lamps there are on the island, except that a new hydroelectric power station on the river provides electricity for these bulbs, and when night comes, you will find that the island seems to be inlaid with strings of brilliant crystals.

Although there is no heavy industry, it is not without it, and with the help of the policy tilt of the Government Council and small loans, fishing has become a mainstay industry, and the small bay is full of fishing boats, including several large distant-water fishing vessels.

More than 30,000 tonnes of canned fish and processed fish products are shipped around the world in just three months.

In addition to fishery, the abundant silkworm resources also attracted a lot of silk cloth merchants from Jiangnan and other places to immigrate, and gradually developed purely handmade silk, under the influence of young master Li, Honolulu merchants who paid great attention to packaging and quality, and entered the ranks of European and American luxury goods for the first time, bringing a lot of wealth to the locals and those immigrants.

If the development of Ryukyu Island is vigorous, then it can only be described as moisturizing things silently, but it is this kind of quiet and inadvertent change that makes Keisuke Otori feel even more uncomfortable.

It has been half a month since he came here, and in addition to apologizing to Li Mo for the last assassination incident and sending medical expenses on behalf of His Majesty the Emperor, he has come to negotiate in the hope that the Pacific Fleet can temporarily open the Uraga waterway and allow the four capital ships that have been stationed in the open sea for a long time under the protection of the US [***] ships to return home.

The negotiations were arduous, with cynicism, foul language, and invective attacks one after another, because everyone knew that if it were not for the protection of the Americans and the flying of the American flag, the Pacific Fleet would have been dispatched to attack the four capital ships long ago.

But he had to grit his teeth and persevere, smiling in front of those young novices sent from Honolulu who were obviously using their own experience to train themselves, showing the determination of the Great Empire not to give in. But in fact, even he didn't know whether Li Mo would agree to open the waterway and let the four ships go home in this negotiation, in which both Britain and the United States sent representatives to participate.

The long table in front of him, the neatly arranged teacups, the flowers in the center of the table that changed every day, and the smile on the corner of the young official who handed over the agreement, after jumping into the eyes of this moment, he always felt full of weirdness and intrigues, and suddenly he felt as if he had become a swimming fish that had left the sea and was placed on the board, gasping for breath.

He lost count of how many times he'd walked into this room? Even the people around him were numb, and he only knew that soon after he came here on time every day, the other party would repeatedly entangle over the opening hours, the order of entering the waterways, and other trivial details, and finally find a boring opportunity to announce the adjournment of the meeting.

Then, there was a small multilateral mediation, then into negotiations, and then a recess!

It was like a nightmare that would never wake up, endlessly invading everyone in the negotiation delegation that had come to Aimei Island, and even the news that four capital ships had arrived in the open sea under the protection of the American [***] ships a few days ago did not make him feel the slightest sense of excitement.

As a diplomat, Keisuke Otori has an extraordinary calmness and is more sober than those who are far away in the Tokyo base camp, and he even has to thank his opponent for giving him the opportunity to visit Ryukyu Island once and see each other more intuitively with his own eyes! But it was this passage that he saw with his own eyes that made him understand the fact that it was perhaps extremely painful, that it was impossible to win this war!

Yes! He couldn't say these frustrating things to outsiders that were considered "insulting to the empire", but he couldn't deceive his eyes, and when he looked at the factories scattered all over the Ryukyu islands and listened to the incessant roar of the factories all night long, he knew that Ben had lost completely!

Three years ago, when the Honolulu people launched a sneak attack, the two sides were still on the same starting line, because at that time, the initial industrial system had already been established, but with the shelling of the Pacific Fleet, the hard-working industrial system was not only completely paralyzed, but even the Yokosuka shipyard was taken as compensation!

Although His Majesty the Emperor did his best to expand the only Yokohama shipyard with all resources, various excuses, intermittent blockades, and warships of the Pacific Fleet that frightened merchants from coming to the open seas completely cut off all hope of catching up.

Because Ben is not a big country in terms of resources, and even inferior to North Korea in some aspects, and almost all important materials are imported from overseas, the blockade of the sea means that the blood vessels of the heart are broken!

At the same time, the opponent is developing at a rocket-like pace, they have built a large factory on Oahu, and then they have initially completed the industrialization of the Ryukyus, and now they have obtained the three northeastern provinces with rich resources, which not only solves the worries of insufficient resources, but also obtains the most valuable human resources!

What's more, in his eyes, that Li Mo's investment in industry is extremely amazing, and the funds invested in the industrialization construction of the Ryukyus alone are several times or even dozens of times that of the capital! If you count it as a whole, he has invested more money in industry in the past two years than even some old powers!

In three years, he trained hundreds of thousands of Ryukyuan people from farmers to workers!

In three years, he took advantage of trade with Britain, Germany, Italy and other countries to send more than 50,000 students!

In three years, he ruled only one shipping company, and owned dozens of times more large freighters than the empire combined, traveling to and from every corner of the Pacific Ocean, bringing him countless supplies and money!

In just three years, he had the Ryukyu under the control of the Empire, which had no industrial capacity, build a huge shipyard and began to refit and build new warships for him!

Originally, the empire also had the opportunity to catch up with the other side, at least not so big, but after obtaining a loan from the United States, the base camp spent all the money on expanding the army, half of the rebuilding navy was spent, the army was divided into a part, and in the end, most of the rest was used for stockpiling materials and preparing for war, except for the expansion of the Yokohama shipyard, the money invested in other infrastructure and industry was basically ...... Zero!

The anger of hatred blinded the eyes of all who said that they had forgotten what an empire without heavy industry and only on a shipyard could use against an opponent armed to the teeth!

Even if it is victorious, even if the Pacific Fleet is disabled, the opponent can still rely on the powerful industrial force in a short time to re-establish a formidable army!

Now, the two battleships they bought in Germany have been towed into the Ryukyu Dockyard, ready to be retrofitted with these two new warships that incorporate German, Italian, and perhaps British technology! Even if he is not an expert, Keisuke Otori knows how much technology is involved in this modification, and how many experienced workers and technicians are needed!

The Hawaiian shipyard was suddenly unsealed, but it was as empty as everyone expected, and the four warships that were supposed to be exposed suddenly disappeared from everyone's sight. At the same time, there are also four large cruisers that were originally repaired and renovated in the Ryukyu shipyard!

No one knows where these eight warships went, as if they had never appeared!

But they do exist, Keisuke Otori knows very well, although he has begged Britain, the United States, France, Germany and other countries that are also interested in those eight warships to provide intelligence help, but so far there is no news to say that, over the past two years, the crazy expansion of the army has not only not narrowed the gap, but under the other party's leisurely stroll, relying on strong economic capabilities, the gap is getting wider and wider! Especially at this moment, when the newly purchased four capital ships have to be docked on the sea due to the blockade, and the new domestic sailors can only stare dryly and cannot board the ship for training, can the inexperienced new combined fleet win?

The answer can actually be obtained from the other party's constant entanglement in the negotiation!

It's not so much that the people of Honolulu are looking for an excuse to blockade, but rather that they are making final preparations, otherwise with their strength, they could have launched an attack a few months ago, and they would not have given the fleet a chance to come back at all!

But they didn't!

Keisuke Otori didn't think it was strange, because he knew that the Pacific Army was not merciful, let alone forced by diplomatic pressure, as others said, they just didn't bother to start a war now, and their appetite was probably bigger than anyone imagined!

Because they are waiting for the emperor's [***] ship to return home, what they want is to annihilate the Imperial Navy again!

Taking a deep breath, Keisuke Otori struggled to put on a smile and bowed to several young diplomats opposite, just as he was about to sit down to start a tug-of-war for the new day, a document suddenly pushed in front of him.

"Mr. Keisuke Otori, this is for you."

Keisuke Otori raised his head and looked at the smiling young Honolulu negotiator opposite, a little distracted, and only after a long time did he open the document, and a wave of joy rushed into his mind, the Pacific Army agreed to open the waterway for a day!

But soon, his joy was enveloped in doubts and uneasiness, why on earth was that? Why would the Pacific Army be willing to open waterways? A deep sense of fear suddenly rose from his heart, and in an instant it spread all over his body, until the attendant around him pushed him, and he stood up numbly and took the agreement from the other party's negotiator.

The emperor's apology and 100,000 pounds were only exchanged for one day of opening of the waterway, which means that unless they choose to start the war first, the four capital ships returning home will become inland sea gunboats that can only circle in the harbor!

There was a suppressed excitement from the accompanying officials, looking at their clenched fists, looking at the smiles on the corners of their mouths, Keisuke Otori's heart was even colder.

This is a humiliating agreement, and the warship even needs to look at the enemy's face before returning home, but this is an agreement that he has to accept, and he can't refuse to sign the agreement, because both the empire and the base camp urgently need to get the four capital ships back immediately to boost morale!

He knew that Li Mo was by no means a hungry wolf who suddenly changed his appetite, nor was he a conscience discovery, this agreement, which seemed to be extremely important to the empire, was actually a declaration of war, indicating that the Pacific Army had completed all the preparations!

"This may be the last contract I signed in my life!" Keisuke Otori took a deep breath, signed his name on the agreement, and walked out of the conference room without looking back, boarding the freighter home.

Three days later, when the ship of the Samoto negotiating delegation arrived in Tokyo, it was discovered that Keisuke Otori had committed suicide by poisoning himself in the cabin just before returning home.

Outside the Uraga waterway, on the flybridge at the top of the bridge of the Antarctic Star, Ji Weishan even found a ladder to stand on the two battleships and two heavy cruisers that were still flying the American flag in order to see clearly that they were slowly entering the waterway.

"I really laid mines in the waterway!" Looking at the U.S. fleet, which was lined up immediately after entering the waterway and slowly changing its course, his eyes were a little cold.

The last time the Pacific Fleet blockaded Vladivostok with mines, causing Kamapov's death, it is not surprising that he would choose this method to ensure the safety of the choke point in Tokyo Bay, but it is knowing the threat of mines that makes him feel more troubled.

Under the ladder, several staff officers also gathered around, pointing to the fleet that had turned into a small black dot in the distance, and talking in a whisper.

"What the hell do you think the staff is up to? According to me, go straight to war and sink them. ”

"That's not good, people are flying the American flag now, and the people on it are all American sailors, and the soldiers are all on the American [***] ship."

"I think the chief of staff and his neighbors are confused this time, and if he doesn't open up, won't it be over? If we force them to do it first, we won't have to waste time. ”

"Don't worry, the plans of the staff are all approved by the young master, I think the young master must have other plans."

"Come on, I said you guys don't guess, in a month and a half, you'll know everything!"

The staff officer's words made Ji Weishan frown slightly, to be honest, he couldn't understand why the general meeting agreed to let the warship go back, although it was impossible to train a real fleet in the narrow Tokyo Bay, but the return of the four ships was undoubtedly an encouragement to the company, a great publicity to boost confidence, why did the young master give them this opportunity?

"Report, General Staff Emergency Telegram."

At this time, a rush of footsteps climbed the gangway, Ji Weishan hurriedly jumped off the ladder, but when he took the telegram marked as urgent and top secret, he found that there were several pieces of paper thick!

This made him suddenly surprised, you must know that although the radio is convenient, but to send such a thick telegram, a few hours is absolutely not enough, what kind of telegram, it takes a few hours to send?

When he avoided all gaze and unfolded the telegram, his pupils contracted sharply.

"Report, Polaris, Antarctic is here!" In the distance, black smoke billowed into the sky, and the majestic bows of the two Polar-star battleships cleaved the waves and joined the blockade fleet.

Half an hour later, the waterway, which had just welcomed the four capital ships back, was once again blocked by the Pacific Fleet, and this time the blockade had been changed from two battleships to four battleships.

The port of Yokosuka was unfurled today, and the docks were crowded with high-ranking officers from the Tokyo base camp, and the sailors changed into new white uniforms, while the ordinary people in the outer circle were even more excited, everyone tilting their heads and tiptoeing in anticipation.

There was no noise, no gongs and drums, and the sound of the ebb and flow of the tide mixed with the sound of heavy breathing, so that there was no other noise in the Yokosuka harbor.

Saigo stood at the front of the welcoming procession, the quiet and oppressive scene around him made his heart tremble slightly, thinking back to the scene a few years ago, when the Yoshino returned home, although the number of onlookers did not decrease, although there were more officers from the base camp than at that time, but compared with the noise of drums and music at that time, this quiet made him feel extraordinary.

This is abnormal, and this abnormality stems precisely from the fact that the Pacific Fleet, which has been flaunting its military might outside the waterway for several months, has had doubts about whether the convoy could win the war after the convoy was completely wiped out again, and some pessimistic people even thought that even if all the capital ships returned to China, they would no longer be able to win the war.

This may be what the Pacific Fleet wants to achieve by blockading the Gulf of Tonkin.

Saigo sighed deeply and tried to make himself stand a little straighter, hoping to give more confidence to the ordinary people behind him, because it represented the Great Navy, which was about the life and death of the Empire!

Soon, there was a stir in the crowd, Saigo hurriedly looked over from the road, only to see that four huge shadows appeared on the sea level, and the imperial navy flag fluttering high on the mast suddenly blew away the haze over the harbor, he hurriedly raised his binoculars, until he saw that there was no trace of damage on the hulls of the four warships, and then he breathed a sigh of relief in the call of the crowd!

It is very surprising that the Pacific Fleet really did not intercept four capital ships!

Why is that? Is it because of the relationship between the American escort? Looking at the battleship that was getting bigger and bigger in his field of vision, Saigo glanced at the crown prince who had come to welcome the warship in the distance, and his heart suddenly swelled with a bad feeling.

"Your Excellency, there has been a telegram from England that there has been a serious freighter collision outside the port of Manchester, and General Yamamoto has called us to say that four of our battleships are blocked in the harbor and cannot enter or leave, so he must wait for the British to clear the waterways before he can set out, and it will be about May 15 when he arrives in Manchester!

"Half a month late!"

Saigo Congdao finally knew why he had been restless, Li Mo finally made a move, and in such a way that no one expected, he rushed directly to the door of the world's first naval power, creating a good show of blocking the opponent's waterway!

Accident!

It's just an accident that even the British can't lose their temper!

On 15 March, a serious collision of freighters suddenly occurred in the narrow waterway of the British port of Manchester, and two freighters sank in the middle of the waterway.

On 16 March, two battleships, the Satsuma and the Yasumo, and two large armored cruisers, the Izumo, which had been ordered from the United States in the 1894 version of the Iowa class, arrived at the port of Yokosuka.

However, due to the fact that the Uraga waterway continued to be blocked by four Arctic battleships, the four capital ships returned to Japan had to rely on Tokyo Bay for regular training, but everyone knew that the new combined fleet was waiting for the day of the decisive battle! ……

(To be continued)