"Your country's attitude of undermining the principle of neutrality is a shameless betrayal of the civilized world, and will be strongly condemned by all countries."

In the royal palace, Carlo sat in a chair and listened to the British ambassador Mandison, uttering deafening words of justice.

Carlo knew that the British were in a hurry, and had just decided to support Japan to encircle Russia, and wanted to find some compensation for Japan, but he met Italy and personally went to Japan, how could the British Empire, as the boss behind the scenes, sit still.

No, Ambassador Mandison's protest was sent directly to Carlo.

How could Carlo not be clear about the anger of the British.

But Italy is not a British follower, so why should it listen to the British. Italy also has its own interests, and it is not in Italy's interests to make the Japanese big in the Far East. Although from a historical point of view, the rise of the Japanese is unstoppable, but for Carlo, a few years can be stopped, and anyway, Japan cannot be allowed to share too much of the cake of the Qing Dynasty.

"Your Excellency, do you need a glass of water first?"

After Mandison finished speaking, Carlo asked with concern. This made Ambassador Mandison so angry that for a long time the monarch did not take what he said to heart.

Don't blame Carlo for being too blunt, the protests of the British are really nothing. As long as the British did not personally come to Japan's aid, then Italy was not moved at all.

There's no way, money is moving, not to mention Italy, which is currently poor and crazy. According to the estimates of the Ministry of Finance, there will be at least 200 million lira of direct income and more than 300 million lira of indirect income to help the Qing Dynasty. This is a huge amount of money, and if you want to make Italy give up in the vernacular, don't even think about it.

In fact, Ambassador Mandison also knows that he is doing useless work, and in fact, London knows this too. But there are some things that you know are useless and you have to do them, otherwise everyone will not look good.

Otherwise, the newly acquired little brother was beaten, how can it be convincing if he doesn't show anger.

Of course, it is impossible to end up in person, and it is good to be able to scold him in person. The British knew very well who was more important, Japan or Italy, which was also a great power.

Carlo also knew this, which is why he intervened in the war in the Far East.

In fact, before helping Qingguo to help boxing, Carlo had already analyzed the pros and cons. As long as the British did not act hostile to Italy, then it was not a big problem. The probability of the British personally ending up for Japan is zero, which is the result of Carlo's calm analysis in light of the current British diplomacy and the previous troop environment.

In addition to the British, the United States, as another country supporting Japan, is even more unlikely.

In addition to these two countries, Russia, which has the greatest geographical advantage in the Far East, was initially happy to see the Sino-Japanese war happen. However, as Japan crossed the Yalu River and entered the Kanwai River, its attitude changed. Russia, which has come to regard Kanwai as its own meat, has become hostile to Japan. France, on the other hand, was influenced by Russia and had a bad sense of Japan.

Germany's entry into Italy is a mixed bag. The good news is that Italy is its own ally, and Italy's growth can be said to be an increase in its own strength, but the worry is that Italy's impulsive and desperate approach makes it a little worried about such an impulsive ally as Italy. As for Austria-Hungary, the Far East was too far from Austria-Hungary and its influence in the Far East was limited.

Therefore, looking at it, there is no way to stop Italy from making trouble in the Far East, and of course, if Italy divides the sphere of influence in the Qing Kingdom, this is another matter.

Since other countries will not or cannot intervene in Italy's actions, this is definitely the worst news for Japan.

In fact, after the Qing Dynasty made it known to the world, Japan was worried about the malice from Italy.

"The war with the Qing State has now entered an eventful season, do you have any good suggestions?"

At the Imperial Council, Ito Hirobumi, as the prime minister, did not hesitate to express his inner thoughts in front of the important ministers of the Manchu Dynasty.

There's no way, seeing that this war is going smoothly and messing up, so that Ito Hirobumi and others are ready to reap a wave of benefits, I was suddenly told that what you just fought was just a miscellaneous soldier, and now the boss is going to play. can not scold people shamelessly, it is already very educated.

But swearing will not solve the problem, and the most urgent demand for Japan now is how to deal with this new opponent with the arrival of the Italians.

"Saigo-kun, do you have any plans for the Admiralty?"

Hirofumi Ito directly opened his mouth and asked the Admiralty to come up with a solution. As for why the Admiralty was named first, the reason is simple: whether it is to protect sea transportation lines or to fight for sea supremacy, the Navy is needed. It can be said that there was no navy, and the Japanese troops in Liaodong Korea were all floating roots.

It is really in view of the importance of the navy that I was the first to ask the navy.

In response to the Prime Minister's inquiry, Saigo Yomichi, who is the Minister of the Navy, whispered a few words with the commander of the Combined Fleet, Ito Yuhiro. "Our Navy does have a plan."

As soon as I heard that the Navy really had a way, everyone present became interested.

"Please also ask Saigo-kun to tell me the truth."

At this time, Ito, who was on the side, said, "Before we say that, let's explain that this plan is a bit bold. ”

"It's okay, the empire is troubled at the moment, please speak up."

After receiving Prime Minister Ito's approval, Saigo said from the road. "Our navy's plan is to immediately land on the Weihaiwei side and seize Weihaiwei, the most important military port in Beiyang, so that it will not be used by Italy."

"Nani?"

The words of the Admiralty Chancellor took the others by surprise because it was too dangerous.

"It's just nonsense," he said.

As the new Minister of War Takashima Tonosuke, who had replaced the first army Oyama Iwa, he immediately retorted. Because of this plan, it would be very dangerous to land the Japanese army, and they must take Weihaiwei before the Italian army arrives, otherwise they will fall into a desperate situation.

Faced with Takashima's rebuttal, Ito Yuhyung immediately said in a loud voice. "That's the best way to do it."

Then he explained. "The most dangerous thing for the Italian army is its fleet, and in the North China Sea, there are only three that can be used as its port of call: Lushun, Weihaiwei, and Tianjin. At present, Lushun is already under the control of our army, while Tianjin penetrates deep into the Bohai Bay and is surrounded by Lushun and Weihaiwei. As long as they can occupy Weihaiwei, then the Italian army will have no ports available in the North China Sea, so they can only stay in Shanghai.

From Shanghai, we will have plenty of time to respond, and this will also drag down its combat effectiveness. So we have to win only if we win Weihaiwei. Once the Italian army arrives in Weihaiwei, all previous efforts will be wasted. ”

In fact, Ito Yuhiro has a premise in this statement, that is, the Japanese combined fleet cannot defeat the Italian fleet. In fact, within the Japanese Combined Fleet, several deductions have been made, and no matter how they are deduced, the result is the same, and when the Combined Fleet and the Italian Navy meet, there is only one ending.

Not to mention anything else, the three 15,000-ton Turin-class battleships are a problem that it cannot solve.

Of course, if the Japanese army shamelessly set up, the Turin-class broke away from the formation and entered the narrow sea, and the Japanese torpedo boats came out together, then they could win. But this condition, except for sexual immorality, is simply impossible. It would take an Italian commander to make such an idiotic move, and it would be impossible for anyone to do so in the Combined Fleet, because it would have been brought to court-martial.

So the only way at present is to seize Weihaiwei first, leaving no usable port for Italy.

Of course, in order to convince his plan enough, Ito picked up a telegram.

"According to the investigation of our intelligence officers in Pontianak, the Italians are currently buying winter clothes in Pontianak. According to the period of the reserve warehouse personnel we bought, the Italian army currently only has more than 3,000 winter clothes, and the Italian army, which lacks winter clothes, will not set sail for at least half a month, plus the time to go north, we have at least twenty days, which is also our last chance. ”