The year 1895 was eventful, as Joseph Chamberlain became Minister of the Colonies in the new London Cabinet, and his friend Cecil Rhodes became Prime Minister of the British Cape Colonies.

In private correspondence, Cecil Rhodes strongly complained about the hostility of the Transvaal Republic and the Orange Free State towards British nationals and the enactment of many discriminatory policies, which were an invisible contempt for the arrogant British Empire, and revealed the intention of the Paul Kryuger regime to overthrow the Transvaal by force.

Joseph Chamberlain, Minister of the Colonies, was ambiguous about this, but stated at the end of his reply; "South Africa's policy is unacceptable, and it must be pushed to change in the right direction."

This sentence laid the foreshadowing of the "Janssen Expedition".

The "Jensen Expedition" was a landmark event for South African politics, after which relations between Britain and Germany deteriorated rapidly, and London was determined to use force to solve the South African problem once and for all.

July 11, 1895

Off the coast of Tokyo

Led by four heavy cruisers, the Blue Dragon, the White Tiger, the Suzaku and the Xuanwu, a huge strike formation composed of 10 Brave-class cruisers was assembled to carry out a deterrent cruise in Tokyo Bay, and this was the third day.

Every day starts early in the morning

As many as 100,000 people gathered along the shores of Tokyo Bay, just to catch a glimpse of the demeanor of the joint strike formation, and in the concept of the Fuso people, they only admired the strong, and every time the warships of the formation showed their majestic figures, they would always attract cheers of envy.

Don't look at Fusang's fierce and bully against the weak, but it is very soft on the strong.

At the Tokyo Imperial Council

Every participating court minister had a solemn face, the current situation has developed to the extent that the country is in danger, standing on the edge of the abyss of life and death, it is far from being as simple as destroying a few broken kilns as Li Fushou, the king of the Ocean Kingdom, said.

Today is the last day for the Ocean Kingdom to threaten to launch artillery bombardment, and the final time is before 4:00 p.m., and if there is no positive response, the joint strike group roaming in Tokyo Bay will show its hideous face, and the thousand-year-old capital may be burned.

This will deal a serious blow to the foundation of Emperor Meiji's rule and cause unrest among the remnants of the local feudal states, and the future is unthinkable.

So it's impossible to continue to play dead, and you have to make a decision today.

The atmosphere of the imperial meeting was solemn and breathless, and all the ministers did not speak, as if they were saw-beaked gourds playing the role of clay carvings and wood sculptures.

In fact, everyone has the answer in their hearts, but they don't dare to say it, for fear of falling victim to those fanatical army katanas, shouting the slogan of "punishing the country thief" and killing people in the streets, these soldiers with the spirit of bushido in their heads have completely done it.

Hesitate for a moment

Fuso Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi had a constipated expression on his face, and said in a dry tone; "Today, all the methods that can be tried have been used, and the news from Europe and the United States clearly shows that we have no other choice, whether to fight or to make a public opinion."

"Prime Minister, it seems that we don't even have the right to fight back!"

"Yes, it feels so humiliating to be beaten unilaterally, to see one beautiful city after another destroyed by artillery fire but unable to do anything!"

"We have a responsibility to prevent this tragedy from happening, and we really can't fight it!"

"Give it, just give it, and you can still drop half of it."

"What can be done if you don't give it, His Majesty of the Ocean Kingdom can't change it, and in turn put pressure on us, and those hateful Americans say it beautifully, but when they really need it, they can't see anyone."

"With so much money, I'm really reluctant!"

"Let's be inspirational, as long as you defeat the old Maozi of Tsarist Russia in the future, you can claim more war compensation from them, and any losses will be returned."

"Yo Xi, this is reasonable."

The opinions of the cabinet ministers were one-sided, and they all favored spending money to eliminate the disaster, and to be honest, it was a miracle that such a large sum of money could be dug up from the Fuso people who were searching.

This is inseparable from the favorable time, place, and people, the reason for the Fuso people to take the lead in launching the war, the inability to cope with the current situation, the suppression of absolute naval strength, and the threat of life and death.

Emperor Meiji, who had been in power for 28 years and had presided over the Meiji Restoration, was a rare wise monarch in modern history.

"If we delay the matter of coastal defense for one day, we will hate it for a hundred years," and asked the government and parliament to "work together to overcome the difficulties."

Prime Minister Hirobumi Ito was instructed to personally go to Australia to make a pilgrimage to His Majesty the King of the Ocean Kingdom, express his submission and sign the relevant treaty.

Even if you are beaten, you must have a correct attitude.

As for the civil unrest to be suppressed with an iron hand, he also said that in accordance with the old practice, 300,000 yen would be allocated from the imperial family funds every year for the next six years, and that civil and military officials should also pay 1/10 of their monthly salary to the national treasury for the next six years to supplement the shortage of funds for the construction of ships.

Since you have tightened your belt for so many years, it doesn't matter how many years you have tightened your belt.

The scale of poor fishermen in the South China Sea should be increased, tentatively at 200,000 to 230,000 per year, as long as they can make a little more money.

Anyway, Fusang is used to living a hard life, and he doesn't care about the slightest hardship of this star.

At the end, Emperor Meiji composed a haiku in a melancholy mood;

How difficult it is to move forward, a few steps and a stumble, at first glance to see the rising sun, and the eclipse of the sun, how big the appetite, the momentum is difficult to defeat, the way to the south has been extinct, can only go north.

After the haiku was finished, Emperor Meiji brushed his sleeves away.

Watching his desolate figure leave, the courtiers were touched by the deep affection contained in the poem, and they couldn't help but wet their chests with tears and fell to the ground and cried; "Your Majesty the Emperor, the death of a minister is not enough to atone for his sins!"

The important message of Emperor Meiji's haiku is that there has been a decisive shift in expansionist policy; The southbound road is cut off, and the only way up is north.

1:00 p.m

A small steamer carrying Foreign Minister Matsunaga Joan of Arc of the Fuso Cabinet arrived at the Joint Strike Formation hovering in the Gulf of Tokyo, and boarded the flagship heavy cruiser Seiryu, where he met with the commander, Admiral Geng Guigui, and truthfully conveyed the attitude of the Fuso government to bow its head and admit it.

Other words;

Through a tripartite intergovernmental agreement between the Ocean Kingdom and the Manchu Qing Dynasty and the Fusang Kingdom, the Fuso Government agreed that the Manchu Qing Dynasty would transfer half of the original 70 million taels of silver to the Sino-Japanese War reparations, and give priority to the compensation to the Ocean Kingdom.

This fee is the war reparation of the Fusang State, and during the payment of 35 million taels of silver, the Fusang State shall not separately demand compensation from the Manchu Dynasty.

Finally got the desired result, Admiral Geng Guigui was overjoyed, and while warmly receiving Foreign Minister Matsunaga Joan of Arc, he also arranged for him to visit the flagship "Qinglong", looking at the mountain of tall ammunition boxes piled up on the side of the ship, Admiral Geng Guigui explained like this;

"All-out artillery bombardment is a complex and sophisticated war operation, which does not tolerate any slackness, thorough preparation is extremely necessary, and a strong navy embodies every bit of detail, which is the experience gained with the blood of countless naval officers and men."

The ship's 305 mm gun can be used to raise ammunition from the lower ammunition depot through a hydraulic mechanism under the gun mount.

However, the 152-mm rapid-fire gun did not have this condition, and the shell boxes used were piled up on the side of the ship, and the empty shell boxes were easily pushed into the sea, and the shells were collected and reloaded with ammunition.

These shell casings are made of copper, which is very valuable and cannot be wasted easily.

Foreign Minister Matsunaga Joan of Arc looked at the mountain of shell boxes and felt numb, and secretly rejoiced in his heart that the Imperial Council had made a timely decision to give in, otherwise, it would have been a complete catastrophe for Fuso Country.

He said in a flattering tone; "Your country's military strength is at its peak, and Fusang is far from it, I just hope that after this incident, Fusang will be able to learn a lesson and reconcile with the Ocean Kingdom for generations, which is really troublesome for you."

"Hehehe...... It's easy to say, it's easy to say. ”

"There is another matter that I would like to ask Your Excellency Commander to be merciful, since our government has made a decision and the war is over, I hope that the surviving officers and men of the 6th Division trapped in the Ryukyu Islands can be released, and I am very grateful."

"Oh, this matter, I will immediately arrange for someone to send a telegram to the Ryukyu Kingdom, and your Japanese government will also send a representative there, I hope it will be too late!"

"I'm sorry for your trouble."

"It's a trivial matter, but it's not enough to worry about."

responded with a faint smile, but Geng Guigui sighed in his heart, to be honest, his temperament is still relatively loyal, far less ruthless than His Majesty the King, hahaha in front of him, and a dead hand behind his back.

The 6th Division had been trapped in the Ryukyu Islands for 17 days now, and there was little to feed on other than to use small boats to find some food in the sunken cargo ships.

But these Japanese soldiers were really persevering and tenacious, and they heard that they had begun to eat dead flesh when they were trapped on the island, and they were still very fierce.

The latest news was received six days ago when the Joint Strike Formation set sail from the port of Naha, when the Japanese army had only more than 600 people left, and it still maintained a strong combat effectiveness, which is not to be underestimated.

This has caused the three Ryukyu divisions to lose more than 13,000 troops, of which most of them have been killed and more than 4,000 have been wounded.

According to His Majesty's will, he is not prepared to stay alive, and only God knows whether he will survive until now.

After the Japanese representatives arrived at the Ryukyu Islands, there were still more than 140 people left in the headquarters of the 6th Division (including more than 30 naval officers and men), and they took advantage of the geographical advantage and hid on the hills, causing great damage to the soldiers of the Ryukyu Kingdom.

More than 460 Japanese officers and soldiers were eliminated, and the regular army of the Ryukyu Kingdom paid more than 2,900 casualties, and the battle situation was simply miserable.

It is necessary to know that the ones who survive to the end are the elite soldiers of the elite soldiers, the strongest of the strong, and any one of them is a soldier born in a down-and-out samurai family, and they are skilled in combat skills, especially good at hand-to-hand combat.

In white-knuckle combat, often seven or eight people could not kill a single Japanese soldier, and these desperate and stubborn Japanese soldiers were like wounded beasts, dangerous and deadly.

These Japanese soldiers usually hid in caves and trenches, and could not come out even if they were shelled and bullets, cherishing every physical strength and using it in critical battles.

When the soldiers of the Sulphur Ball Kingdom rushed up, they jumped up and rushed into the crowd to fight frantically, shouting like beasts from their mouths, often causing chaos among the attacking soldiers, leaving behind large corpses and retreating.

It's helpless, and it's not easy to make small moves at this time.

The Ryukyu Kingdom had no choice but to allow the 140-odd survivors to return to Fuso Island, where they were received by the military headquarters and hailed as "warriors of a hundred battles," and were promoted to a high position as practitioners of the bushido spirit.

The ferocious and powerful performance of the officers and men of the 6th Fuso Division deeply shook the officers and men of the 1st and 2nd Divisions of the Royal Praetorian Guard, who had watched the battle from beginning to end, and left an indelible deep mark on their hearts.

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