Li Zhongtang has his own difficulties, but who can not have some difficulties. As the supreme commander of the Qing army in Shandong, Ding Ruchang is currently very difficult, and the main reason for his difficulties is from Lieutenant General Alvaro, the supreme commander of the Qing Dynasty.

"Lieutenant General A, Your Excellency's ideas are too radical, and they won't work at all on the side of adults, and they won't work."

Ding Ruchang didn't care about anything else, and successively compared the meaning that it didn't work.

There was no way not to let him be in a hurry, and as soon as Lieutenant General Álvaro came, he came up with a plan that shocked people's jaws.

With the 1st Guards Division, which had just finished the Shandong operation, as the main body, and then, under the leadership of the fleet, landed on Jeju Island to occupy the island.

Lieutenant General Álvaro also made a lot of preparations for this, and he had a considerable understanding of the hydrological characteristics of Jeju Island, as well as the number of troops garrisoned, the situation of the port, etc.

The occupation of Jeju Island is a stroke of genius, at least that's how Lieutenant General Alvaro sees it. Because Jeju Island is located outside the Tsushima Strait, it is perfectly suitable to blockade its strait nearby, forcing the Japanese troops who landed in Liaodong and Korea to the point of running out of ammunition and food.

It's just that after this plan that satisfied Lieutenant Alvaro came out, Lieutenant General Ding kept saying that it was not feasible.

"Ding, what's not feasible about this, it's completely better to occupy Jeju Island than to land directly in Liaodong, and even we can surround the 100,000 Japanese troops who landed, as a soldier you can't ignore this tempting result."

However, no matter what Lieutenant General Alvaro said, Ding Ruchang looked like he couldn't do it, which made him very distressed, and he even directly bypassed the incompetent General Ding and reported directly to the Prime Minister Li, believing that he would definitely support this great plan.

Feeling that he was talking to this General Ding in the same boat, Vice Admiral Álvaro wasted no more words and returned directly to his ship, the Turin.

"General, Your Excellency the Minister is here."

"Invite him over."

Lieutenant General Álvaro, who was still depressed just now, immediately felt much better.

"Lieutenant General Álvaro, long time no see."

Minister Jaliwen soon appeared before him.

"Hello Your Excellency, why are you here, but is there anything I need help with?"

Lieutenant General Álvaro's last words were not in vain, because the task force he led not only participated in the Japanese war, but also cooperated with Minister Jia Liwen to expand its influence in China.

Faced with Lieutenant General Álvaro's inquiry, Jia Liwen said with a smile. "There is nothing to do this time, mainly to come and see our officers and soldiers after the bloody battle."

"At present, the young men are very good, they all maintain this good mental state, and the materials are also good, and the Qing people sent them in time, except for some Qing generals whose heads are like stones, everything is so beautiful."

Lieutenant General Álvaro still couldn't help but complain when he said this, and how could Jia Liwen, as a minister, not hear it, and spoke directly.

"What's going on?"

Lieutenant General Álvaro directly told Minister Jia that his idea of preparing to land on Jeju Island and lay an absolute victory for the Qing State was not recognized.

In the end, His Excellency the Lieutenant General still couldn't help but say. "Do you say that these Qing generals are as stiff as a stone, no wonder they can't beat the Japanese."

Faced with Lieutenant General Álvaro's complaints, Jia Liwen smiled. "I don't know if the heads of the Qing generals are like stones, but if I were the Qing generals, I would never accept your proposal."

"Why?"

Hearing this, Lieutenant General Álvaro was very curious, because this should not be, as the minister of his own country, can't he see whether this plan is good or bad.

"Because you didn't take political risk into account in your plan."

Minister Jia said directly by name. "At present, the Japanese army has occupied the line of Haicheng and Liaoyang, and its very political position of Mukden City is about to be attacked by the Japanese army, at this time you propose to occupy Jeju Island, trying to cut off the sea in the Tsushima Strait to besiege the enemy. Let's not talk about whether it is reliable or not, how long will it take to achieve the siege? ”

"Three to six months."

"Lieutenant General, I can tell you responsibly that Prime Minister Li told me that if we don't see our army appear in Liaodong for half a month, then it will be difficult for his army to resist the enemy's offensive."

"In fact, according to the observation of my personal envoy, delaying the footsteps of the Japanese was more of a bad road situation and a problem of food and grass, and the Qing army in the local area played a very small role, except for the scourge of the local people, no one else was quick to see the enemy attacking. However, this also had the advantage that it was difficult for the advancing Japanese troops to raise food and grass from the local area, even if they used some inhumane methods. ”

"What does Your Excellency mean that the current Qing government attaches great importance to Liaodong, and they will not agree to actions that cannot directly affect the battle in Liaodong?"

"That's right, you got it right. While your plan seems to be paying off very well, my gut tells me that the greater the appetite, the more caution is needed. If you don't get the support of the Qing people themselves, don't think about doing other actions. ”

Minister Jia's words made Lieutenant General Alvaro pick up his plan again and look at it, and then put it down again. It seems that he did underestimate the impact of politics, and if he was thinking about it at this time, he felt that the plan was too good.

The blockade of the Tsushima Strait is a bit difficult for its own task force, and the sea conditions in the Tsushima Strait are unknown, so it is difficult to say that in the event of a sneak attack by the enemy in the event of complicated sea conditions.

In addition, even if the Tsushima Strait was blocked, Japanese ships could still sail from the Sea of Japan to the ports in eastern Korea for transportation, and in addition to making it more difficult to replenish them, they would also not be able to trap the enemy.

Therefore, as soon as various difficult factors were considered, the previous idea of wanting to occupy Jeju Island and trap the enemy felt a little out of place.

This is because in military affairs, thinking about everything for the better is called completely detached from reality.

I didn't expect that I would make such a low-level mistake because I wanted to make a big contribution.

If it weren't for Minister Jia's words, he would have really been carried away by the victory and treated the Japanese as waste. You must know that in the previous naval battle, he almost suffered a loss.

"It seems that the reinforcement of the Liaodong Peninsula is the most important thing next, and I will study the choice of landing site."

Seeing that Lieutenant General Álvaro was finally back on track, Minister Jia Liwen was also relieved, otherwise he would have blurted out the instructions at home.

Actually, it's nothing, I just don't want this war to end too soon. After all, both the Italian navy and the army still have to eat, who dares to step forward and smack their rice bowl.

It's just that what Minister Jia thinks, and someone really does it, but in Rome.