Chapter 188 The right to decide

The sea is very calm.

The First Fleet of the Zhenyang Fleet, led by Jingyuan, embarked on the way back at this time. At this time, the laughter and cheers ended with the sound of gunfire and smoke on the sea.

As a staff officer, Su Yueyang did not celebrate with his officers and colleagues in the officer's restaurant. Instead, he walked quietly on the deck alone.

The calm sea made him feel empty in his heart.

In Su Yueyang's view, this war should have been that the enemy and our shells flew around, and they were tearing the air. At that moment, there would be a strange noise in the vacuum environment created in an instant. The whole sea was boiling with falling shells, and fire broke out from the ships running east and west.

In the gunfire, the officers and soldiers of the enemy and us competed for technology and will. When all this became the past, the expression of the sea also returned to calm, and all the warships sailed slowly. Those ships, which were originally dark gray, fell off a little under the shells and flames, and the officers and sailors who returned from victory for the rest of their lives cheered the victory, were happy for their survival, and also sad for the death of their comrades-in-arms.

However, in this war, the taste has changed.

"Why, why do you have to fire!"

Su Yueyang, standing on the upper deck, could not understand why the commander ordered to fire, and even after the last shelling stopped, he ordered "stop". After watching in the distance for nearly three hours, he ordered the warship to sail and ordered the Japanese naval officers and soldiers who fell into the water.

At this time, the scene couldn't help but appear in his mind again. On the sea, a floating corpse, with broken arms and limbs floating on the sea. As the waves fluctuated, the sea seemed to have turned red.

Thinking of that scene, Su Yueyang's mood suddenly changed. Tears flowed from his eyes, and tears flowed down his cheeks.

As a soldier, he believes that he can accept that the tragic scene in the battle scene has caused a huge impact on himself. In his opinion, that is what soldiers must face.

But is that scene something that soldiers must face?

No!

It was a massacre!

A massacre in the true sense!

This not only violates the morality of soldiers, but also violates the creed of naval soldiers.

But Su Yueyang found that he could not stop all this at all, and even everyone around him agreed with it.

"From then on, there will never be a Japanese navy in the oceans of East Asia!"

From the conversation of his colleagues, he vaguely understood the officer's meaning. People and talents are the most precious. Warships need people to drive. No matter how advanced warships are, they must rely on people. They need the best sailors and officers to give full play to their advantages. What about now?

The joint fleet that was once ahead of China no longer exists, not only in the sense of establishment, but more importantly, in the sense of personnel, the essence of this navy for decades has been destroyed.

"Is there no way to accept it?"

A voice came from behind Su Yueyang. Listening to the strong Fujian accent, Su Yueyang turned around and gave an eye-catching salute.

"Your Excellency!"

After saying that, Su Yueyang wanted to leave. He really couldn't face the officer.

"I know,"

Liu Guanxiong sighed helplessly with a trace of sadness in his expression. This was the first time he showed such a look.

"You can't accept my determination, but..."

He looked at the fleet behind him, which is intact. From now on, this fleet will be the only force on the eastern sea. In the future, it will be stronger and will dominate the eastern sea.

"If we do that, we will fight with Japan again in ten years!"

"Impossible!"

Su Yueyang, who was about to leave, said categorically.

"Impossible?"

Staring at the young man with a smile, Liu Guanxiong shook his head and said.

"There is nothing impossible in the world, that is, half a year ago, we could not know that there would be today's result. I didn't imagine that it would be like this for half a year, let alone ten years?"

Thirty years in Hedong and thirty years in Hexi, no one knows what will happen in the future. The officer's words made Su Yueyang silent, but just a second or two later, he was arguing for his own views.

"But even so, we can't and can't go. Now, we can defeat them. Ten years later, we, we can definitely defeat them!"

"Exorcinate evil! Since there is a chance today, why do we have to wait for ten years later?

After a rhetorical question, Liu Guanxiong continued to speak.

"After this war, China will truly become an eye-catching country, and we may even become an important international force. Of course, if Westerners are unwilling to face it, we can't rule out that we choose to use..."

Although he did not say the whole sentence, Su Yueyang still understood the officer's meaning. Now China has the ability to use force to seek its own interests.

"We will gain a lot because of this war, and we will also lose a lot. As soldiers, perhaps we should not consider all this, but we must consider that in the next ten years, the empire will have a lot of changes, in terms of international status, international cooperation, and even our enemies. In the war, Britain showed their hostility to us, so we must take this into account, which means a change!"

"The change of status has led to a change in China's foreign policy!"

"Yes, so at this time, we will have a new enemy, and this enemy will be stronger. If this enemy becomes an ally, ten years later, we may win, but we are more likely to lose!"

"So..."

"So, even if we bear the crime, as soldiers, we must solve this problem for the country!"

After Liu Guanxiong said this, Su Yueyang was silent. Now the officer's meaning is very clear. In order to avoid the re-emergence of this navy ten years later, he must do so.

"Can..."

Just as Su Yueyang was about to say something more, Liu Guanxiong turned around and left. When he left, he only left a word.

"Okay, pack up your mood. We must go back to China to celebrate the victory!"

The officer's words made Su Yueyang mutter in his heart.

"Celebrating victory, what about... Japan?"

On December 22, although it was sunny in the morning, it began to be cloudy near noon. Tokyo Bay, a bay deep in the hinterland of the land, has more beautiful natural scenery than most bays. At this time, under the pressure of clouds, the whole Tokyo and the pine forest dyed white by snow on the Cape looks black, and the color of the sea in the bay is also lead.

Even in winter, this is definitely a gloomy weather.

By 12 o'clock at noon, it began to snow in the sky, and the heavy snow soon covered the whole city thickly, and it seemed that it was going to fall. A few days ago, there were also several heavy snowfalls. At this time, the snow was more than a foot deep. This was a heavy snow that had not been done for more than a decade.

Although Tokyo is dressed in silver, it looks almost still in both Western and Eastern colors. In the decades after the refinement, Japan has abandoned many of its past things belonging to Asia and become one of the most advanced and westernized countries in Asia. In the heavy snow, rail trams send passengers everywhere from time to time, which is even one of the symbols of Tokyo's westernization and advancement.

In Tokyo City, in the palace behind the moat surrounded by ice, the stone path between the gardens was carefully swept out, which would be covered by snow again. At this time, although snowflakes were floating in the sky, Meiji in a black robe was walking slowly in annoyance. The snow and the chill in the air seemed to be reflected. Against the dark clouds in the hearts of the people who claim to be the god of Tianzhao at this time.

At this time, the clouds are getting thicker and thicker.

In the past two years, this small country has miraculously defeated Lucia, but the war not only did not bring the expected economic benefits to Japan, but everything was like a bottomless pool, absorbing all the military expenses and soldiers. Even after the victory of the war, all the problems that were hidden during the war, like demons rising with the wind, suddenly filled all corners of the island country.

Inflation, the depreciation of banknotes, the outflow of gold and silver coins, and the silk industry, as the support of Japan's economy, has been seriously damaged in this economic turmoil. Although a large number of raw silk was born overseas, it did not give Japan for more foreign exchange, and even the inflow of gold and silver coins was at the war period against the Russian country. .

Now, the empire is engaged in an unknown war. The war against China, in order to divert the domestic crisis, also to obtain war reparations and solve domestic problems, it is necessary to carry out this war, but what is the result of this war?

"The Combined Fleet was defeated"

Thinking of yesterday's report, Meiji felt that he was still dizzy. The joint fleet was defeated, four warships and four armored cruisers were sunk, and six warships and armored cruisers were seriously damaged. Now the joint fleet is retreating cautiously, and the most terrible thing is that the Chinese First Fleet has not yet surrendered. Enter the battlefield.

What will happen if the First Fleet finds the Combined Fleet!

Whenever he thinks of this problem, Meiji finds himself completely shrouded in an unprecedented fear.

"I will lose everything!"

This is the first time that Meiji used me to describe himself. As the supreme emperor, this word was inappropriate, but at this time, he couldn't consider so many problems.

If the combined fleet fails!

What will happen next?

The nearly 300,000 troops deployed in North Korea will become an isolated army. North Korea can't afford to support 300,000 troops in any case. At that time, there is no need for the Chinese army to attack. It only takes a few months. The army without any supplies may collapse. Moreover, at this time, the whole Japanese The door is open to the Chinese navy.

As soon as the joint fleet is lost, there are only dozens of destroyers and torpedo boats left in the Japanese navy. At that time, as long as the Chinese navy is willing, they can shell any coastal city at any time.

If all this really happens, then there is no other choice but to seek a truce by all.

"I really shouldn't have done that!"

Meiji said to himself. Now he regrets his original choice. Why can't he stick to it? Why do you have to let those ministers control their own decisions?

In the Qing Dynasty War, I was influenced by the ministers and agreed to declare war on the Qing Dynasty. In the War, under their left and right, they agreed to declare war on Lucia and won twice, but what about this time?

Did you forget that sentence and forget "Can't it be two or three?"!

Just as Meiji fell into the intertwined emotions of panic and chagrin, a gentle sound of footsteps came from behind. He turned around and looked, and a attendant bowed his head to him.

"Your Majesty, Prime Minister Gui, the Minister of the Inland Temple, the Minister of the Sea of Yamamoto, and the Chief of Staff of Koyu are here."

Is it good news, or... waved his hand, and when Meiji was thinking from the bottom of his heart, he muttered in a low voice.

"I'll come."

When he appeared again, Meiji was still wearing the black kimono. He did not sit on the spacious and elegant throne, and stood in front of the half-open window, looking at the thin ice in front of the window. The gentleman was good water. Most of the time, he liked to look at the lake and think about problems, but he could not calm down. Come on.

And behind him, Prime Minister Katsura Taro, Luxiangji Nai Masayoshi, Kaisho Yamamoto Kumibei, and Undersecretary of Staff Tama Gentaro all stood there, but none of them took the initiative to speak.

"Say it!"

The silence of the four people made Meiji realize that it was bad news! As an emperor, he must keep calm. No matter what, he must be calm and attach great importance to how to maintain the saint in front of his civil servants and generals and the people. He said it to himself over and over again in his heart.

"I'm ready to accept the bad news!"

It's just bad news that I'm a year late!

Meiji said to himself in his heart that the bad news of being a year late, just think of it as a dream!

The four people looked at each other with a solemn expression. For a moment, they didn't know who should tell your majesty the news. They once patted their chests and told your majesty that they would definitely win. No matter how strong China is, it is not better than Lucia, but what about now?

"Your Majesty..."

Squeaked. As the Prime Minister, Katsura Taro knew that he was the only one to tell His Majesty. He just spit out two words. His voice became a little sobbing, and his eyes were confused.

It seems that the current situation is worse than I thought!

At this time, Meiji began to miss a person, Ito Hirofumi. He once told himself that in any case, even if China extorted in every way, he would have endured this breath, otherwise... Ito, why, hey... Thinking that Ito was so dead, Meiji sighed in his heart, but on the surface Without showing any expression, he even looked a little numb. He turned his eyes to Gui Taro, who seemed to be sobbing, and then turned his eyes to the prime minister of the sea. It's up to him to tell him the news.

"United Fleet..."

When every word is spit out, Yamamoto Quan Bingwei will give birth to a kind of suffocating pain.

The combined fleet is over!

The combined fleet no longer exists!

When the thunderous news sounded in Meiji's ear, he only felt a buzz in his ear. There seemed to be no other sound between heaven and earth, leaving only one voice.

The combined fleet was completely destroyed!

"Why, why do you sink yourself!"

At this time, he no longer wanted to defend the saint in front of the ministers. He almost asked angrily with his eyes wide open.

"In order to avoid being captured by the Chinese!"

As a naval soldier, Yamamoto can understand the practices of front-line officers, which may be the only choice for them.

In that case, only one shell is needed, and the severely damaged warships will be sunk. The warships can be sunk, but what about the naval officers and soldiers on the ship? That's the last essence of the navy. Without them, even if you buy back more warships, you can't build a navy.

"United Fleet!"

After a howl of sadness, Meiji found that something seemed to have slipped through his eyes. It was tears, exhausting the joint fleet built by the imperial crossbow. Unexpectedly, it could not be said that it was a great irony after it was finally destroyed by itself.

"My Combined Fleet!"

Looking at your majesty, whether it is Katsura Taro or Yamamoto Quanbingwei, Terauchi Masayoshi and Kodama Gentaro all bowed their heads. Your Majesty's howling is absolutely a great shame for his courtiers, enough to make them commit suicide.

But now is not the time to cry for the joint fleet.

"Your Majesty!"

Kodama Gentaro raised his head and looked at His Majesty with tears in his eyes.

"Now, we must be further prepared!"

"Prepare, what are you going to prepare?"

Of course, Meiji did not ask. As the emperor, he didn't even need to make any sound or express any attitude. The ministers would make a decision for him. It used to be like this, but it is still the same.

"...If we get to that point, I'm afraid only Your Majesty and the hundreds of millions of subjects will work together to resist the invasion of Luguo,..."

Once upon a time, in that cold winter, Ito Hirofumi once said to himself what he had to do after the defeat.

"...The army will become an isolated army in one fell swoop, and it will be completely anniversed in less than half a year, so..."

At this time, what Taiyuan Taro was saying, Meiji did not care at all, or would not have any influence on him at all. He just looked out of the window and did everything possible to calm himself down. In those illusions, he had already understood what would happen next, and everything next could not be simpler. I have to face a choice, to be precise, to make a choice.

Whether to continue the war or end the war without remembering the cost!

But in the same way, Meiji also understands that the right of choice is not in his own at all, and in the narrow palace of the neighboring country, the decision is now in the hands of that person.

(to be continued)