Chapter 272 The real target is Hokkaido!
- In the luxurious office, a delicate desk lamp flashed milky yellow, illuminating the documents just received from the Far East in Tirpitz's hand, making him read more clearly.
With the purchase of the alternator manufacturing technology of Honolulu Lee Electric Company in Germany, electric lights have gradually entered every corner. Although the people have to wait for a few more years, as an important department such as the Ministry of the Navy, power plants powered by steam engines have begun to serve important departments of the country.
Of course, in order to buy this technology, Germany is not free of charge. The procurement agreements of fifty large alternators and huge patent fees made German merchants grit their teeth and watch such a large amount of money put into their pockets by the Far East arsonist.
What's more annoying is that although Germany has obtained the manufacturing technology of generators in advance of the purchase of 50 large alternators, it does not include AC patents, so German power plants must also pay a large amount of AC electricity to the Lee's Global Power Service Company every three months according to the amount of power generated. Patent royalties!
This damn Oriental made money to Germany. Fortunately, the other party did not propose that the warships had to pay for the use of alternating current. Otherwise, Tirpitz couldn't imagine it. If the alternators on the German naval warships were to be installed with that precision that every degree of electricity would leave traces, and heavy insurance was set up. What kind of ridiculous scene would it be to prevent a meter from being modified without permission?
Fortunately, it was not Germany that received this kind of treatment. The United Kingdom and the United States were forced to buy 100 large alternators to obtain the construction patent technology. As for Japan, it is not even open at all!
This cunning bastard!
Tirpitz put down the documents in his hand and stretched out. Looking at the light bulb, he couldn't help but be a little jealous. He was not jealous of Li Mo's wealth and business ability, but that the other party was in a good place!
The Pacific Ocean is too far away from Germany. Except for Britain and France, even the upstart United States has not paid special attention to it. The cunning guy took advantage of this opportunity to catch the world off guard.
Britain and France are hostile to each other for the colonial war in Africa. The U.S. Navy, like Germany, lacks ocean-going combat capabilities and has huge economic and industrial capabilities, but it has been exploited by Li Mo. Now Cuba and Puerto Rico will delay the United States' entry into the Pacific Ocean.
It is said that the navy has been completely disabled, and it is difficult to say whether the remaining seven capital ships can be preserved. The Qing Dynasty is weak, and the combined sea power is not as good as that of a battleship. It has hundreds of millions of people and huge resources, but it has been delayed because of the conservative and rotten domestic situation.
As for the originally ambitious Nicholas II, he has become the object of ridicule by the world!
Why does he have so much luck? And can you accurately grasp the situation?
Tirpitz grabbed a cigar from the table with great interest, and his thoughts turned back to the telegram sent back by Lieutenant Colonel Percy from Honolulu to the United States.
Percy has led 30 German naval intern officers to Honolulu. After ten days of resting there, they will officially become the first batch of German intern officers in the Pacific, learning the other side's tested naval skills and combat concepts.
The telegram detailed the naval battle between the Micronesian Islands and the Marshall Islands, but no one knows how the Pacific Fleet found and positioned the Japanese fleet, but it has nothing to do with the overall situation.
What Tirpitz and the German navy are most concerned about is their new cruisers equipped with twelve 152mm naval guns, the unique triple turret design, and the extremely critical naval gun rapid fire technology!
Tirpitz knows better than anyone that these technologies are important to the German navy. Perhaps the new cruisers and triple guns are not the most important, so it is extremely critical to improve the firing speed of the ship's gun!
Unfortunately, that Li Mo obviously covered these technologies very tightly. Not only did he move the main laboratory of the Honolulu Academy of Sciences to his private one, but also did not allow anyone to enter or leave Nihao Island, and even the factory workers were given a strict ban!
As for those who want to go on the ship to check, not to mention that although the officers of the Pacific Army allowed them to enter the capital ship to serve in the name of interns, they have strictly formulated regulations on which places can be opened and which places can't be allowed. In addition, they are new to arrive and can't understand the language, so they can't buy those low-level ones for the time being. Soldiers, so spying through intelligence can't be done at least in a short time.
And Tirpitz does not want to risk letting Percy and others spy on this intelligence. He believes that since Li Mo has demonstrated these technologies, the powerful German Ministry of Industry will sooner or later have the ability to crack it. What he cares most about is still that the Pacific Fleet is becoming more proficient and the naval battle theory that has been proven in actual combat.
That's what Germany needs most!
The new French bill has been passed, and the German shipyard is full of warships under construction. What they need is experienced officers who can lead them to defeat the enemy.
Tirpitz ended his thoughts and turned to the next page of the document to see Percy's and other views on the naval battle, but the rapid footsteps made his hand stagnate.
"General, Ambassador Haijing just sent an emergency telegram. After reading it, His Majesty William immediately invited you and several other ministers to meet him."
Emergency telegram?
Tirpitz suddenly stood up and looked out of the window. At this time, it was late at night in Germany. Even if the emergency telegram was sent from the Far East to Germany through a thorn of telephone line, I'm afraid it would have been two days.
Since two days have passed, the emergency has become unurgent. In this case, why does His Majesty the Emperor, who never summons the ministers late at night, summons the ministers so urgently?
"What happened?" Tierpitz grabbed his coat and walked out, asking the officer who came to deliver the news.
"That Li Mo agreed to the agreement to hand over the jurisdiction of Kyushu Island to us." The officer hurried behind Tierpitz, waiting for the new Secretary of the Navy to respond, and continued: "But he proposed to exchange it for the Marshall Islands, and..."
Tirpitz's footsteps suddenly stopped. Under his burning eyes, the officer swallowed: "He also hopes that the empire will be the first to recognize his country after the founding of the empire in the future!"
"His country!" --
"What!"
The Marquis of Salisbury robbed the telegram in the hands of Foreign Secretary Kimberly, and his face suddenly became very ugly.
The navy has surrendered?! And the last few cruisers were sunk. As for the four best battleships built by the British Empire, they were robbed by the Pacific Fleet for nothing!
God, is this true? Are the four best battleships towed away a humiliation to the British Empire that supported Japan?!
The telegram suddenly solidified the air in the British Prime Minister's residence. Salisbury even suspected that the telegram from Hong Kong to Malacca, through India, through the Suez Canal, through dozens of telegraph forwarding stations, arrived in his hand after dozens of hours is true or false?
But another same telegram from the United States finally made him unable to sit still and had to face a serious fact that he really failed!
Yes, even if there are hundreds of thousands of troops in Japan, even if their troops stationed in North Korea are under the eyes of the other party, no warship will completely lose their sea power. Without sea power, not to mention this isolated island and emerging countries without any external colonial support, even the British Empire can't support the continuation of the war.
Desperately supported, and did not hesitate to accept the accusations of the parliament, and delivered two battleships originally ordered by Li Mo to the Japanese navy in the form of a loan. The United States finally armed up to 14 capital ships. Even Britain felt that the powerful fleet was eye-catching, but it was disabled in the two naval battles between Micronesia and the Izu Islands. It was thought that Japan could have repaired the four strongest battleships that returned to China by making up for the mine barrier in the Uraga waterway, and re-armed the seven capital ships that did not lose too much to the other side, delaying the other party for at least one year.
But who would have thought that only a few days have passed, even Britain felt very tricky. The Uraga Waterway, which could not pass without paying a price, was broken through by the Pacific Fleet, directly inserted into the heart of Japan, destroyed Yokosuka, and bombarded Tokyo, causing tens of thousands of deaths and destroying the last work of Japan. Industry base Yokohama!
God, how did they do it?
Two frontal naval battles and a raid that no one has understood so far have made the Pacific Fleet firmly seated in 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 stare out. Before the war, he gathered all the elites of the British Royal Navy and carefully calculated the price to be paid by the Pacific Fleet. Everyone agreed that the Uraga Waterway and the Japanese Artillery Base and the left-behind fleet stationed in Tokyo Bay. At least it will make the other party pay the price of three capital ships!
But who would have thought that the other party only paid the price of a heavy hit by a second-class armored cruiser, which destroyed the entire Japanese navy and hit the Japanese army into the abyss!
More importantly, they also swallowed the four best main battleships built by Britain in the Japanese fleet. I believe that as long as the four main battleships are repaired after a while, no one in the whole Far East will be an opponent of the Pacific Fleet, even the current British Far East Fleet will not work!
New cruisers, triple turret design, large-caliber ship rapid-fire technology, and new weapons similar to large airships mentioned in the telegram but no one saw with their own eyes!
That arsonist, madman! War maniac, what else is there?
Of course, compared with these eye-catching technologies, what makes it more difficult for everyone in the Prime Minister's official residence is that because of the large-scale support for Japan against Honolulu and the delivery of two battleships to Japan at the last minute, the current relationship between Britain and the other side has fallen to the freezing point, although everyone believes that Li Mo has not yet Challenge Britain, but the Far East Fleet is really at a disadvantage. Even if the first old-star battleship has been delivered to Felitman in advance, he can't change the disadvantage.
Do you really want to transfer the Atlantic Fleet to fight with all your strength?
Prime Minister Salisbury shivered and immediately gave up the idea. German William II's speech on African colonies last year has encouraged the morale of the Boers. War is inevitable. If it is involved in a larger-scale Far East war at this time, Britain will still have the ability to cope with it. Do you want to challenge Germany and France on the African colonial issue?
No!
Solsbury decisively came to the result. After the introduction of the German naval bill, their docks were already full of built warships, and soon there will be one more opponent in the Atlantic Ocean, so Britain must pay more attention to the Atlantic Ocean, rather than a long journey to the Far East and fight with the madman Li Mo. Fight!
The current 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 parliament to speed up the construction of the remaining four elderly star battleships, and I promise to hand him over to you within a year of construction." Salisbury's eyes are serious: "I hope you at least make sure that our country's interests in the Far East will not be harmed during this year's gap."
"Mr. Kimberly, you immediately go to the Far East to meet Li Mo and tell him that Britain will not continue to be hostile to Honolulu. He will be Britain's best friend." Before the First Secretary of the Navy to answer, the Prime Minister of Salisbury had turned to Foreign Secretary Kimbery: "In addition, I hope you can convince Li Mo to ensure that the interests of the British Empire in Japan will not be harmed."
Salisbury thought for a thought and suddenly raised his head: " By the way, you also want to meet the emperor of the Qing Dynasty and the retired Li Hongzhang, and tell them that our country is willing to sell any arms, including battleships to them!"
Kimberly smiled bitterly. It's no problem to pull in Qing to delay Li Mo's footsteps. I believe other countries will do the same soon, but the question is, does Qing have the ability to buy battleships? And you can drive them back safely?!
Although the Strait of Malacca is still under British control, the problem is that the occupation of Luzon has greatly reduced its control.
Salisbury also seemed to be aware of this problem. He pressed his temples a few times and waved his hand with a wry smile: "Forget it, that would arouse Li Mo's disgust, but the army's weapons can be fully open."
This sentence finally made Kimberly breathe a breath. At least Li Mo has not yet started a full-scale war with the Qing Dynasty. What's more, the huge arms interests will unite all countries. I believe that as long as the navy is not involved, in the face of such a large force, the other party will not move too fiercely even if he is disgusted.
Arming Qingguo is the only means to contain Li Mo at present. After the appearance of the 10,000-ton cruiser in Honolulu, it has predicted that the other party can build its own warships, and the several technologies they showed this time are even a little moved by the British navy.
Just as Salisbury began to adjust Britain's policy in the Far East, the United States was also shocked by the surrender of the Japanese navy. The newspaper began to laugh at the first time in history that the Japanese navy surrendered before the political axe of a service and the country, which was also a change of the situation in the Far East and the Pacific Fleet in this war. The strong performance in the fight was stunned.
Compared with the British adjustment policy, the American political axe is more difficult to fall asleep. The disappearance of 50 tons of gold will not play any role in recovering except for the war of words between Li Mo and the United States. And with the Pacific Fleet taking full control of the sea power around Japan, the interests of the United States in Japan could not even be guaranteed. A few years ago, the huge loan fell into a situation of irrecoverable.
And when countries once again sent special envoys to the Far East to launch a diplomatic game for their own purposes, on June 1, Li Mo signed the documents of the General Staff's comprehensive attack on the Japanese army stationed in North Korea, and the occupation of Hokkaido, and supported the Ezo regime.
On June 2, after repeated deliberation, Kaiser Wilhelm II finally agreed to use the Marshall Islands, Nauru and other islands in exchange for the jurisdiction of Kyushu Island, promising to be the first to recognize it after the founding of the People's Republic of the People's Republic of China, but at the same time, he asked Li's Republic of China to provide logistical assistance to the current German troops in the Far East and retain Germany's future entry, including four The rights of the national island and the main island.
When Li Mo received this document, he was finally relieved, which indicates that he and Germany have entered the road of alliance. What's more, he did not intend to really attack the densely populated island, and almost hoarded all the Japanese army. His real goal is still unchanged, that is, the Japanese population is small, and And there is also Hokkaido, which is the second largest nation!
Hokkaido is the second largest island among the four islands of Japan. Compared with the other three islands of a single ethnic group, there are still nearly 80,000 Ainu people living here. These Ainu people, who are regarded as paries by Japan, have become the best excuse for the Pacific Army to intervene.
At this time, it was not 1997, but 1897. Although I set foot in Hokkaido very early, it was not officially announced to settle down until 1869 after the Meiji came to power. After more than 20 years of rule, I did not pay attention to development, so the foundation of rule was not stable, and there were only 400,000 immigrants.
What's more, the geographical location of Hokkaido is very important. It is bordered by the sea in the west, the Pacific Ocean in the south, and the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast. It is adjacent to the Tsugaru Strait in the southwest, and the Zonggu Strait in the north, and far away from the Russian Sakhalin Island. It is a strategic place to control the two gorges. Later generations are also known as the key of the north gate.
Because most of the Japanese garrison are concentrated on the main island and closer to the southern Shikoku and Kyushu Island, there are only three companies and 6,000 people in Hokkaido, all of which are stationed in Hakodate and Sapporo, both within the range of the Jinghai-class naval guns.
Of course, more importantly, Master Li will not stop for a Hokkaido. In the future, when Eastern 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 arms!
As for the other three islands, he still does not insist on attacking directly. As an almost single-ethnic country, it is even more difficult to defeat them. Even if he has conquered them now, under the increasingly turbulent tide of the national reading movement, sooner or later, he will still embark on The road of reading, so it is not to conquer at this time, but to support a force that is close to oneself.
On June 3, Li Mo agreed to the request of Kaiser Wilhelm II. At the same time, Li Enfu finally persuaded Xixiang to take the lead in forming a new Japanese political axe on Shikoku Island after the war.
When Hai Jing excitedly took over the agreement document, the whole Germany suffered from insomnia again.
Because he found that there were twelve huge airships above his head that were even covered by the sun! ......
(to be continued)