The news of the arrival of the expeditionary force in Shanghai also alarmed China and Japan.

In Tianjin, Li Zhongtang breathed a sigh of relief after learning that the Italian expeditionary force had arrived in Shanghai.

"Immediately send someone to inform Yuting of the news that the Italian people have arrived in Shanghai, and let them arrive in the last three or five days, and the reinforcements will arrive."

"Yes, my lord!"

made Li Zhongtang worry about Weihaiwei so much, or Weihaiwei fought too hard. There are more than 10,000 officers and soldiers, and there are still more than 3,000 people left after the battle, which is too miserable.

For this reason, Ding Ruchang, the commander of Beiyang, who was responsible for commanding the battle of Weihaiwei, sent a telegram to report. "Although the officers and soldiers of Weihai Wei fought bravely and repaid the kindness of the court and the lords, but the Japanese soldiers were not inferior to us, plus the guns were sharp, our Weihai Wei defenders suffered heavy casualties, although they killed more than 10,000 enemies (Japanese statistics, more than 2,000 casualties), but the remaining officers and soldiers were only 3,000, if the reinforcements did not arrive in five days, it may be difficult to hold on."

From this telegram, it can be seen that although the defenders hold on to the advantage of the terrain and fortifications, they are already reaching the limit, so they have a five-day deadline.

And now, the Italian army that has arrived in Shanghai can directly reinforce Weihaiwei next, Li Zhongtang has a hanging heart, and he has let go of most of it.

Li Zhongtang's heart is half down, and someone's heart is about to hang.

As one of the countries concerned, the Japanese paid more attention to the arrival of the Italian expeditionary force in Shanghai.

As soon as they arrived in Shanghai, the Japanese received the news.

As the stronghold of the Japanese, Tokyo is particularly nervous.

"The army of the Italians has reached Shanghai, do you have a way to deal with it?"

As the first person responsible for initiating the war, Prime Minister Hirobumi Ito even convened the Imperial Council overnight.

"Gentlemen, now that the Italians have arrived in Shanghai, we need your cooperation next."

Although Ito Hirobumi said this, his eyes were fixed on the two ministers of the Navy and Army.

Other important cabinet ministers, including Emperor Meiji, also looked at the two ministers representing the military with scrutinizing eyes.

In the face of everyone's gathered gaze, how could Takashima Tonosuke and Saigo Komichi, the two ministers of the Navy and Army, ignore them.

In this case, Saigo was obviously more experienced than Takashima Tonosuke, who had only been the Minister of War for a short time, and spoke first.

"Our Navy has used the maximum available carrying capacity to provide sufficient replenishment capacity for the Army, and now we are in a dilemma, and the Army has an unshirkable responsibility."

Saigo's words made Takashima Tominosuke feel his blood pressure rise sharply when he heard it. He didn't expect the Navy to be so shameless and put the blame on the Army.

"Bastard, our army has been unable to take Weihaiwei for a long time, and your navy has an unshirkable responsibility."

After scolding angrily, Takashima Tonosuke continued to fight back. "If your navy is willing to send warships in time and join forces with our army, you would have taken the north and south forts of Weihaiwei and Liugong Island a long time ago, how could there be such trouble."

What Takashima Tonosuke said was a dispute between the army and the navy some time ago, and Aritomo, who was under deep pressure in Shanxi, besieged Weihaiwei in Shandong, asked the navy for help, hoping that the other side could send the main warship to threaten Weihaiwei from the sea and reduce the pressure on land.

It was also his reluctant decision to let Yama Prefecture Aritomo, the founder of Japan's modern army, ask for help from the navy. Although the 25,000-strong Japanese troops who landed on the Shandong Peninsula looked strong, only a little more than 10,000 were actually able to attack Weihaiwei.

The other troops either needed to guard the mountains of materials piled up at the Rongcheng landing field, or they needed to guard against other Qing troops who had gathered, and they also needed to block the reinforcements of the Qing army to Weihaiwei, and they were also responsible for the transportation of supplies. In this situation, there are only so many troops in his hands that can be used to attack Weihaiwei.

Some people may ask, since there are not enough troops, why not send more troops up, isn't that good?

To be reasonable, this really doesn't work. This isn't a game, just move your mouse. The Japanese army, which has not yet been able to take Weihaiwei, can only rely on Rongcheng Bay to transport supplies at present, and it can only support the current troops, and no more supplies will be enough. As for taking other places, don't think about it, it will delay time, and when the Italians are coming, delaying time is increasing the chances of defeat.

As for the tactic of forcible attack, Shan County Youpeng has not tried it, as long as he can achieve the goal, he will not care about the death or injury of the soldiers.

However, after an attempt at a team-level assault, he immediately gave up on the idea. For the first time, the defenders' Maxim and Grimm machine guns were unearthed from warships and warehouses, giving him the figure of thousands of daily casualties. It can't be done by force, it is slowly grinded by water milling, and he has no time, so the dilemma of Shan County has no choice but to try to ask for help from the navy.

However, Yamagu's request was rejected by the navy on the grounds that the navy needed to deal with the threat of the Italian fleet. In the words of Combined Fleet Commander Sukehiro Ito, every warship in the Navy is precious and must play its best role. It's not clear what that means.

That's why Takashima Tonosuke was in front of the minister, and the reason for the accusation in person.

"Are you accusing our navy of not cooperating with you?"

"So to speak."

Hearing the other party's blunt words, Saigo was angry from his heart. "You want our naval warships to threaten the battery, and you really chose a good time when the Italian battleships are coming."

"Didn't your navy just get a batch of warships from South America, can't you tell the difference at all?"

Takashima Tonosuke was also not polite, and went back directly.

The battleship he was talking about was the one that Japan had purchased from Chile. After Italy prepared to intervene in the Sino-Japanese War in the Far East, Japan spent 1.85 million pounds sterling to quickly acquire a batch of warships from Chile.

With the relationship between Britain and Chile, Japan was able to buy warships so quickly, and I think I know the reason for it on my knees. In addition, Japan urgently borrowed this money from the British bank.

It must be said that the warships that the British replenished for Japan were not bad. Its most commendable is the "Bulard", which is a large ironclad ship with a displacement of nearly 7ooo tons, with a main gun caliber of 283 mm and a speed of 18.3 knots, the fast cruiser "Blanguenkarada" also reaches 4600 tons, and the dome cruiser "Esmeralda" with a displacement of 295o tons, plus the domearmored cruisers "Erachulis" and "Pingdu" with a displacement of 2o47 tons, and two torpedo cruisers "Condell" and "Linze" with a displacement of 713 tons Number.

Although this did not give the Japanese Navy an advantage over the Italian task force, it was at least not without the strength to fight a war. As long as it is used properly, then this war is still going on, and of course this is what the British thought when they did not know that the Italian fleet had a secret weapon.

Seeing that the two navy and army ministers were making a little noise, Prince Komatsumiya Akihito, who was in charge of coordinating the navy and army and was the chief of staff, had to stand up.

"Two, now is not the time to discuss right and wrong, the Italian fleet is coming, and the Great Japanese Empire is at a dangerous moment, and I hope that the two of you can cooperate sincerely and put aside disputes."

Prince Akihito Komatsumiya, who is an imperial family, is strong enough to suppress the two naval and army ministers.

"I'm sorry we were rude."

After seeing that the two softened, Hirobumi Ito, who originally wanted to stop the quarrel between the two but was interfered by Prince Akihito Komatsumiya, spoke again. "Saigo-kun, what is your navy's plan for dealing with this?"

"Our navy is ready to set out at any time to intercept the Italian fleet and prevent it from reinforcing Weihaiwei."

That's right, in Saigo's view, the Italian fleet is working on an expedition, and the combined fleet is waiting for work, and there is still a chance.

"Our army will also intensify the siege of Weihaiwei and will not let the Italians use the port."

Tonosuke Takashima's answer shows the Army's determination.

In the face of the reply given by the navy and the army, Emperor Meiji, who never took his position lightly, stood up. "Very well, I'm here waiting for the good news from the two of you."

"Hey, I'm willing to be loyal to the Empire."