The real target of 272 is Hokkaido!

PS: The second update, asking for a monthly pass——

In his plush office, a delicate desk lamp shimmered with creamy yellow, illuminating the documents from the Far East that Tirpitz had just received, making it easier for him to read. (Vertex Hand Hit)

With the purchase of alternator manufacturing technology from Honolulu Lee Electric Company, electric lights have gradually entered all corners, and although the public will have to wait a few more years, as an important department such as the Admiralty, the power plant powered by the steam engine has begun to serve the important departments of the country.

Of course, in order to buy this technology, Germany did not pay for nothing, the purchase agreement of 50 large alternators, and the huge amount of royalties caused German businessmen to gnash their teeth and watch such a large sum of money be put into the pockets of the arsonist in the Far East.

What is even more infuriating is that although Germany obtained the technology to manufacture the generators in advance of the purchase of 50 large alternators, it does not include alternating current patents, so the German power plant must also pay a large amount of alternating current royalties to the Lee's Global Power Service every three months, according to the amount of electricity generated

This damn Oriental man has made all the money to Germany, but fortunately the other party did not propose that the warship should pay for the use of alternating current, otherwise Tirpitz really could not imagine what a ridiculous scene it would be if the alternator on the German Navy warship had to be installed with a meter that was so precise that every kilowatt-hour of electricity would leave traces, and a heavy insurance was set up to prevent unauthorized modification.

Fortunately, Germany was not the only one who was treated in this way, and the United Kingdom and the United States were forced to buy 100 large alternators to obtain the patented technology to build them, and Japan did not even open it at all

This cunning bastard

Tirpitz put down the Chinese piece in his hand, stretched his waist, and couldn't help but feel a little jealous when he looked at the light bulb, he was not jealous of Li Mo's wealth and business ability, but jealous that the other party was in a good place

The Pacific Ocean is too far away from Germany, and in addition to Britain and France, even the nouveau riche United States has not paid special attention to it, and that cunning guy has taken advantage of this opportunity to take the world by surprise one after another.

Britain and France were hostile to each other over the African colonial war, the United States Navy, which lacked the ability to fight in the oceans and had vast economic and industrial capacity, was exploited by Limer, and now Cuba and Puerto Rico would delay the United States' entry into the Pacific.

The Japanese navy has been completely crippled, and it is difficult to say whether it can keep the remaining seven capital ships, because the Qing country is weak, and the total sea power is not comparable to a battleship of others, with hundreds of millions of people and huge resources, but because of the conservative and decadent domestic situation, it has been held back.

As for the originally ambitious Nicholas II, he has already become the object of ridicule of the world

Why does he have so much good luck? And can you accurately grasp the situation?

Tirpitz grabbed a cigar from the table and turned his mind back to the telegram sent back by Lieutenant Colonel Percy from Honolulu to the United States.

Persey has already led 30 German Navy cadet officers to Honolulu, where they will rest for 10 days before officially becoming the first batch of German cadet officers in the Pacific Fleet, learning the skills and operational concepts of naval warfare that have been tested by each other.

The telegram described in great detail the naval battle between the Micronesian Islands and the Marshall Islands, but no one knew how the Pacific Fleet had discovered and located the Japanese fleet, but that was irrelevant.

Tirpitz and the German Navy were most concerned about their new cruiser with twelve 152-mm guns, the unique triple turret design, and the crucial rapid-fire technology of naval guns

Tirpitz knew better than anyone the importance of these technologies to the German Navy, and perhaps the new cruisers and triple guns were not the most important, so increasing the rate of fire of the naval guns was extremely important

It's a pity that Li Mo's guy obviously tightened these technologies, not only moved the main laboratory of the Honolulu Academy of Sciences to his private Niihau Island, and no one was allowed to enter or leave Nihau, but even the factory workers were given strict gag orders

As for wanting to go on the ship to check it out, let alone mention it, although the officers of the Pacific Army are allowed to enter the capital ship to serve in the name of trainee officers, they have strictly formulated the rules on where they can be opened and what are not, and in addition, they are new to the city and have no language barriers, so they cannot buy those low-level soldiers for the time being, so they cannot do it in a short period of time through intelligence spying.

And Tirpitz didn't want to risk Persey and others to spy on this kind of intelligence, he believed that since Limer had demonstrated these technologies, the powerful German Ministry of Industry would be able to crack it sooner or later, and he was still most concerned about the Pacific Fleet's increasingly sophisticated and battle-proven naval warfare theory.

That's what Germany needs most

The new French Military Act had been passed, and German dockyards were filled with warships under construction, and they needed experienced officers who could lead them to defeat the enemy.

Tirpitz finished his thoughts and turned to the next page of the document to see what Persey and the others had to say about the naval battle, but the sound of hurried footsteps made his hand freeze for a moment.

"General, Ambassador Haijing has just sent an urgent telegram, and His Majesty Wilhelm will immediately ask you and several other ministers to meet him after reading it."

Urgent telegram?

Tirpitz stood up abruptly and looked out the window, it was already late at night in Germany, and even if an urgent telegram was sent from the Far East to Germany after a truncated telephone line, I am afraid that two days had passed.

Since two days have passed, and the urgency has become non-urgent, why is His Majesty the Emperor, who never summons ministers late at night, so urgently?

"What happened?" Tirpitz grabbed his coat and walked out, questioning the officer who had come to deliver the message.

"That Li Mo agreed to the agreement to hand over the jurisdiction of Kyushu Island to us." The officer hurried after Tirpitz, and without waiting for the new Lord of the Navy to react, continued: "But he offered to exchange the Marshall Islands, and it was ....... ”

Tirpitz's footsteps came to a screeching halt, and under his burning gaze, the officer swallowed: "He also hopes that the empire will be the first to recognize his country after the establishment of the state in the future"

"His country" -

"What"

The Marquis of Salisbury snatched the telegram from the hands of Foreign Secretary Kimberley, and his face suddenly became very ugly.

The Japanese Navy surrendered? And the last few cruisers were sunk, and the four best battleships built by the British Empire were robbed by the Pacific Fleet without spending a penny

God, is this true? The four best battleships were towed, was it considered an insult to the British Empire, which supported Japan?

The telegram made the air in the British Prime Minister's residence suddenly freeze, and Salisbury even doubted whether the telegram that arrived in his hands after a long journey of dozens of hours from Hong Kong to Malacca, through India, via the Suez Canal, through dozens of telegraph relay stations, and after a long journey of dozens of hours, was true or false.

But another telegram of the same kind, transmitted from the United States, finally made him unable to sit still, and had to face the serious fact that Japan had really failed

Yes, even if Japan still has hundreds of thousands of land forces, even if their troops stationed in Korea are right under the noses of the other side, but without a single warship, Japan will completely lose its sea power, let alone this isolated emerging country without any external colonial support, even the British Empire will not be able to support the continuation of the war.

Desperately supported, did not hesitate to resist the accusations of the parliament, delivered two battleships that were originally ordered by Li Mo to the Japanese Navy in the form of loans, and finally armed a powerful fleet of as many as fourteen capital ships with the United States, which even Britain felt hot, but was crippled in the two naval battles of Micronesia and the Izu Islands, and thought that Japan could take advantage of the mine blocking in the Uraga waterway to repair the four strongest battleships that had returned to the country, and rearm the seven capital ships that were not too much lost to the other side, Delay the other party for at least one year.

But who would have thought that only a few days later, even Britain found it very tricky, and the Uraga waterway, which could not be passed without paying the price, was broken through by the Pacific Fleet, and directly inserted into the heart of Japan, destroying Yokosuka, and bombarding Tokyo, causing tens of thousands of deaths, and destroying Yokohama, Japan's last industrial base

God, how did they do it?

Two frontal naval battles, and a surprise attack that no one understands to this day, put the Pacific Fleet firmly in the position of the number one fleet in the Far East

In particular, the old eyes of Prince Badenberg, the First Minister of the Navy, were about to pop out, and before the start of the war, he gathered all the elites of the British Royal Navy and carefully calculated the price that the Pacific Fleet would have to pay, and everyone agreed that the Uraga Waterway and the Japanese shore artillery base and the remaining fleet stationed in Tokyo Bay would make the other side pay the price of at least three capital ships

But who would have thought that the other side only paid the price of a heavy blow to the Determination, which could only be regarded as a second-class armored cruiser, destroyed the entire Japanese Navy and drove Japan into the abyss

More importantly, they also swallowed the four best capital battleships built by Britain in the Japanese fleet, believing that as long as it takes a while and waits for those four capital battleships to be repaired, then there will be no one in the entire Far East who is an opponent of the Pacific Fleet, not even the current British Far East Fleet

New cruisers, triple turret designs, rapid-fire large-caliber naval guns, and new weapons similar to large airships mentioned in telegrams but not seen by anyone

That arsonist, madman war maniac, what else is there

Of course, compared with these eye-catching technologies, what makes everyone in the Prime Minister's Mansion even more uncomfortable is that because of the large-scale support for Japan against Honolulu, and the delivery of two battleships to Japan at the last moment, the current relationship between Britain and the other side has dropped to the freezing point, although everyone believes that Li Mo is not capable of challenging Britain, but the Far East Fleet is already at a real disadvantage, even if the first old man star battleship has been delivered to Philettman in advance, he also cannot change the disadvantage.

Is it really necessary to transfer the Atlantic Fleet to go to war with all its might?

Prime Minister Salisbury shuddered for a moment, and then dismissed this idea, the speech of Wilhelm II of Germany last year on the African colonies had already boosted the morale of the Boers, and war was inevitable, if it was drawn into a much larger war in the Far East at this time, would Britain still be able to cope with the two German and French who were constantly challenging themselves on the issue of African colonies?

No

Salisbury came to the decisive result, after the German naval bill was proposed, their dockyard was already full of warships, and soon there would be another opponent in the Atlantic, so Britain had to pay more attention to the Atlantic, rather than the long journey to the Far East, and a decisive battle with the madman of Limer

The present Far East policy must be changed immediately, and the madman must not be allowed to find any excuse to make trouble for the British Empire, especially at this time

"Your Excellency, I will persuade the Council to speed up the construction of the remaining four old man-class battleships, and I promise to put them in your hands within a year of construction." Salisbury looked at him seriously: "I want you to make sure at least that our interests in the Far East are not harmed during this one-year interval. ”

"Your Excellency Kimberley, you immediately go to the Far East to meet Li Mo and tell him that Britain will not continue to be hostile to Honolulu, and that he will be Britain's best friend." Before the First Admiralty could reply, Prime Minister Salisbury had already turned to Foreign Secretary Kimberley: "Also, I hope that you will persuade Li Mo to ensure that the interests of the British Empire in Japan are not harmed." ”

Salisbury thought for a while, and suddenly raised his head again: "By the way, you also have to meet the emperor of the Qing Kingdom and the retired Li Hongzhang, and tell them that our country is willing to sell them any arms, including battleships."

Kimberley smiled bitterly, it was no problem to win over the Qing State to delay Li Mo's footsteps, I believe that other countries will do the same soon, but the question is, can the Qing State afford to buy battleships? And be able to drive them back safely?

Although the Strait of Malacca was still under British control, the problem was that the occupation of Luzon had greatly reduced its control.

Salisbury also seemed to be aware of this problem, pressed his temples a few times, and waved his hand with a wry smile: "Forget about the warship, that will arouse Li Mo's disgust even more, but the army's weapons can be fully opened." ”

This sentence finally made Kimberley breathe a sigh of relief, at least Li Mo has not yet started a full-scale war with the Qing State, not to mention the huge arms interests, which will make all countries united, I believe that as long as the navy is not involved, in the face of such a big force, the other party will not act too drastically even if it is disgusted.

Arming the Qing State is the only means to contain Li Mo at present, and after the appearance of the 10,000-ton cruiser in Honolulu, it has already indicated that the other party can build its own warships, and the few technologies they showed this time have even moved the British Navy.

Just as Salisbury began to adjust British policy in the Far East, the United States was also shaken by the surrender of the Japanese Navy, and the newspapers began to laugh at the first time in history that the Japanese Navy had surrendered to a national government as a single service, and they were also dumbfounded by the change in the situation in the Far East and the Pacific Fleet's strong performance in this battle.

Compared with Britain's policy adjustment, the U.S. government has a harder time sleeping, and the disappearance of 50 tons of gold will not play any role in recovering it, except for triggering a war of words between Limmer and the United States. And with the Pacific Fleet taking full control of the sea power around Japan, American interests in Japan could not even be guaranteed, and a few years ago the huge loan was in a situation where it could not be recovered.

And just when various countries were once again sending special envoys to the Far East and were about to start a diplomatic game for their own purposes, on June 1, Li Mo signed the documents of the General Staff to comprehensively attack the Japanese troops stationed in Korea, seize Hokkaido, and support the Ezo regime.

On June 2, after much deliberation, Kaiser Wilhelm II finally agreed to exchange the Marshall Islands and Nauru for jurisdiction over Kyushu Islands, guaranteeing that it would be the first to recognize it after the founding of the country, but at the same time asking Limer to provide logistical assistance to the current German forces in the Far East, and to reserve Germany's right to enter the island of Shikoku and Japan in the future.

When Li Mo received this document, he finally breathed a sigh of relief, which indicated that he and Germany had entered the road of alliance, not to mention that he had never planned to really attack the densely populated Japanese island, which had hoarded almost all of Japan's army, and his real goal remained unchanged, that is, Japan has a small population, and there is also Hokkaido, which is the second largest ethnic group

Hokkaido is the second largest of Japan's four islands, and is home to nearly 80,000 Ainu living on the other three islands of a single ethnic group, and these Ainu, whom the Japanese consider untouchables, are the best excuse for the Pacific Force to intervene.

At this time, it was not 1997, but 1897, although the Japanese set foot in Hokkaido very early, but nominally did not officially declare their settlement until 1869, after Meiji came to power, and after more than 20 years of rule, plus no emphasis on development, the foundation of the rule was not stable, and the immigrants were only 400,000.

In addition, Hokkaido's geographical location is very important, bordering the Sea of Japan to the west, the Pacific Ocean to the south, and the Sea of Okhotsk to the northeast. The Tsugaru Strait in the southwest is adjacent to Honshu, and the Soya Strait is separated in the north, facing Sakhalin Island in Russia.

Since most of the Japanese garrisons were concentrated on the main island and the islands of Shikoku and Kyushu, which were closer to the south, Hokkaido had only three companies of 6,000 men, all of which were stationed in Hakodate and Sapporo, all within the range of the Yasukai-class naval guns.

Of course, more importantly, Master Li will not stop for the sake of a Hokkaido, and in the future, when East Siberia and a large number of Chinese immigrants enter Hokkaido, this big island, which is famous for its food and beautiful scenery, will never be able to leave his embrace

As for the other three islands, he still does not insist on direct attack, as a country that is almost a single nation, it is not easy to defeat and conquer, and it is even more difficult to conquer, even if he conquers them now, under the increasingly turbulent tide of national independence movements, Japan will have to embark on the road of independence sooner or later, so this time is not to conquer, but to support a pro-own force.

On 3 June, Limmer agreed to Kaiser Wilhelm II's request. On the same day, Lee finally persuaded Saigo to prepare for him to take the lead in forming a new Japanese government on Shikoku Island after the war.

And when Haijing excitedly accepted the agreement document, the whole of Germany once again lost sleep.

Because he found that above his head, a whole dozen huge airships that had been obscured by the sun had appeared