Chapter 247 Continue to sleep, Japan

Before the news of the self-judgment of Ijiyuan Goro, Lieutenant General Kawamura Jingming, the commander of the 14th Division, had been killed on the battlefield. The command of the 14th Army in the city was captured and the artillery positions were captured.

At this time, the second transport fleet arrived in Tengnian Bay, and the real heavy troops arrived. An artillery brigade from the Jianghuai Corps joined the battle. 72 155mm howitzers were mounted on the range and began to cooperate with the various artillery units of the Fujian and Zhejiang Corps, as well as the temporary capture of more than 60 Japanese troops 122. The mm howitzer fired a suppressive shot at Jinwu Bay.

The second station of the Japanese joint fleet finally fell into collapse.

The tenacity of the Japanese soldiers was still terrible. They continued to persist until 4:17 p.m., when the Japanese submarine force collectively completed self-destruction, and the second station of the Japanese joint fleet raised the flag and surrendered under the leadership of Major General Shouyoshi Ito.

At this time, nearly half of the nearly 100 warships of the second station have been lost, and the rest are basically small ships, and all the six battleships of the main force were sunk. In the army, the 14th Division was destroyed, the 15th Division suffered more than half of the casualties, and the rest retreated to Wuwo Island.

The Battle of Jinwu Bay has ended since then.

Since the beginning of the Far East War, the most tragic war between China and the two sides was born on this Ryukyu island. The number of casualties on both sides exceeded 15,000. In the early days, the advantages accumulated by relying on the use of chemical weapons disappeared, and the strategic goal of trying to cut off the lifeline of China's economy was also declared bankrupt.

Even if the Battle of Jinwu Bay did not open the curtain of the Chinese team's official counterattack, it at least proved that the actual combat strength of the Chinese team was seriously underestimated.

Hu Chuyuan stayed on the big island of Ryukyu for two days, received officers at all levels who participated in the war, and rewarded them one by one.

According to the original plan, the Pacific Fleet officially made Jinwu Bay Port a new headquarters base, began to restrain the Japanese sea power, forced the Japanese navy to withdraw to carry out strict defense in Nagasaki, and at the same time created opportunities for the general attack of the Beiyang Fleet.

The destruction of the second station of the joint fleet and the whole army of the 14th division shocked the whole upper class of Japan. They could only choose to block the news, claiming that the Japanese army was still fighting on the Ryukyu Islands, and even repelled a counterattack of the Chinese navy.

It is said that our people can only continue to sleep in the lies and dreams fabricated by politicians for them, continue to think that it is everyone's obligation to recover the Ryukyu Islands, it is everyone's duty to defeat the pedantic, backward and ugly low-level Chinans, and lead Asia to the future of this empire.

Sick...!

When he returned to Fuzhou in a convoy composed of three Xiangyang-class cruisers, Hu Chuyuan thought on the way. He felt that the time was ripe to attack the French "Chinese fleet" in Vietnam.

To evaluate why Japan failed in the Jinwu Bay landing battle, a very important reason is that Russia underestimated China's war strength, did not force France to declare war on China in accordance with the covenant, and sent the main fleet to Vietnam as agreed in advance... Even if there is no decisive battle with the Chinese navy, it can I thought that Russia shared the pressure of the navy.

After nearly half of the strength of the navy is defeated, Russia will understand that if France does not send its navy to participate in the war, the allied countries may really be defeated, and they will inevitably force France to fulfill the alliance agreement.

So... Hu Chuyuan believes that it is necessary to defeat the French "Chinese fleet" and ambush the main fleet of the French headquarters in the Strait of Malacca or in the eastern waters of the Pacific Ocean. It depends on where the French headquarters fleet chooses to enter. Pacific Ocean.

Or, instead of rushing to defeat the "Chinese fleet", it uses the method of besieging the city to force and forcing France to send its main force into the Pacific Ocean in a hurry.

Hu Chuyuan crocheted this plan in his mind. At this time, he always felt that he was a little crazy like Hitler.

Fortunately... France is still easy to bully.

After the continuous expansion of the army, the Chinese navy is already the second largest navy in the world in terms of total strength, higher than the total tonnage of the French navy, and the advantage of the main warship is also great.

When the Japanese navy is only enough to defend the mainland, it is not too difficult to deal with the Russian and French fleets alone.

To some extent, the Japanese was more like Hitler. He took the initiative to open the offensive against the Ryukyu Islands. As a result, he was forced to fall into a tug-of-war with the Fujian-Zhejiang Corps and the Nanyang Corps. The navy and the submarine forces, which were regarded as secret tricks, were more than half of the damage.

In order to better delay the opportunity for the Japanese army to go north, after returning to Fuzhou, Hu Chuyuan opened the prelude to the further expansion of the Fujian and Zhejiang Corps. The Liangguang Corps and the Southwest Corps also began to increase their troops to prepare for a decisive battle with France in Vietnam.

Multi-faceted expansion also means a large-scale increase in military spending, which makes Hu Chuyuan a little headache.

Tokyo, Shipani Shinjuku-dori, Chiyoda-ku, French Embassy in Japan.

Biwitz is a senior adviser to the French minister in Japan. He is a professor of French and modern humanities in a specialized school in Tokyo. Similarly, he is also an expert on East Asian issues in France.

He has another identity, that is, the external spy of the General Intelligence of China. To be precise, he is a double-sided spy who is responsible for helping France collect military intelligence from Asian countries and selling Russian intelligence to the State Intelligence Administration.

Bivetz's father is a missionary who worked as a missionary in Fuzhou. He spent his childhood in Fuzhou. He did not return to Europe for university education until his youth and completed his doctorate in philosophy at the University of Paris.

After graduation, he first worked as a translator at the Consulate General of France in Fuzhou, and later was absorbed into the then secret bureaus abroad. With the help and training of the secret bureau, he gradually became the best intelligence collector and expert on East Asian issues in France.

Because of his deep understanding of Japanese culture and intelligence, in 1894, he was sent to Tokyo as the highest-level consultant and publicly identified himself as a professor at a specialized school in Tokyo.

Biwitz has a reading office in the French embassy, where he can browse all the intelligence and information at will and provide diplomatic advice to the French political axe.

Now, one of his tasks is to confirm the strategic adjustment plan and the number of submarines as soon as possible, as well as whether there are follow-up submarine research and development and production plans.

He is not the only spy of the General Administration of National Intelligence in Japan, and even within the senior management of Japan, there is also an informant of the General Administration of National Intelligence.

As a double-sided spy, in Tokyo, he participated in a wider spy information trading market, and the information collected from there convinced Biwitz that France had better not participate in the war.

Bivets collected all the information available, carefully analyzed it, and finally came to a conclusion - it was supposed to shift the strategic focus to the northeast. The troops currently gathered in Hiroshima and Maguan are not to go south to "reclaim" Ryukyu, but to go north and the Russian army. He launched a large-scale army attack from the area of Mudanura.

Japan is analyzing a large number of "Qing Army" new weapons in the Battle of Jinwu Bay, trying to find secret manufacturers internationally. They do not believe that these weapons are developed and produced by the Chinese themselves, and target them in Germany.

To this end, Japan is actively negotiating with Germany, proposing some exchange conditions for Germany to stop supplying weapons to China and stop all military assistance to China.

Biwitz carefully analyzed the information in his hand. He had the right to read and even be forced to read most of the secret information between the French and Russian Allied Organizations in order to make the best judgment for the national interests of France.

At the same time, he will continue to sort out another report on Russia and sell it to the liaison officer of the State Administration of Intelligence at a less cheap price.

Intelligence is life.

Toshio Shibata is a very strange person. He is low-key, introdent and shrewd. He is the adopted son of Mr. Kondo Hidekawa of the Chinese class of the Zhoubo Clan in Kyoto. He was educated in the United States in his early years and graduated from Yale University in the United States. He has a good educational background and background. He once served as the secretary of Shigenobu Okuma and was deeply valued by Shigenobu Okuma. Now he serves as the deputy minister of the cabinet in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

In the political circle of Japan, Toshio Shibata, who is only 34 years old, has always been regarded as a promising person. Moreover, he has his own factional power and supporters, especially the Kyoto chaebols from Kyoto, Kobe and Osaka, and those people are nicknamed "Osaka's little businessmen".

Yes, Toshio Shibata's political position has always represented the small business class.

It seems that he has nothing to do with foreign intelligence agencies, let alone spies, but the truth is cruel. Whether it is the Kyoto chaebol or Toshio Shibata himself, the Chinese are a very important force in the process of growing up.

When he was studying at Yale University, he joined the self-love association and formed an organization similar to the self-love association in the United States. Later, after Ouyang Geng's introduction, he secretly joined the revival club.

Because he has a high personal reputation among small merchants, Japanese Kyoto chaebols, and overseas students, even after the fall of Okuma Shigenobu, Yama Prefecture Aritomo and Ito Hirofumi, who later served as prime ministers, did not move his position.

These days, the defeat of Ryukyu Island has brought Ito Hirofumi's cabinet to an end. The emperor has ordered the reorganization of the cabinet. In the selection of the new prime minister, Katsura Taro, who was born as the Minister of the Army for four consecutive times, became the only candidate for public recommendation.

In the past few days, Taro Katsura's contiary said that Masayoshi Terauchi, the deputy director of the Army's staff headquarters, came several times to secretly contact with Toshio Shibata, discuss the plan to unite with Shibata forces, and invite Shibata to be the minister of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

This plan was strongly opposed by Kaoru Inoue, the agent of the Mitsui consortium, and also by the Mitsubishi Iwasaki family. However, the Constitutional Friends Association led by Katsura Taro and Saionji Gongwang are eager to unite the forces of Shibata.

To be precise, they want to ease the relationship between the Constitutional Friends Association and the Liberal Progressive Party of Okuma Shigenobu through Toshio Shibata to ensure the stability of Japan's internal politics and unite with the outside world.

With the continuous defeat of the Satsuma valve and the naval faction, as well as the development of the partisanship of the cabinet, the political struggle in China has gradually evolved from the early vassal struggle to the political party struggle.

Toshio Shibata, who is only 34 years old, is second only to Chongxin Okuma in the Liberal Progressive Party. His personal political intentions are very similar to the "cosmopolitanism" represented by Xiyuan Temple Gongwang. To a large extent, he is suppressed by the militaristic faction of Youpeng in Shanxian, and is also a thorn in the eyes of the right-wing members of the imperial sect. .

At noon that day, Toshio Shibata was in his private residence in Minhe Valley.

Zhengyi in the temple came again. Wearing an army uniform, he had the rank of lieutenant general in the army. His forehead was bare, with a surprising hanging eyebrows, a high nose, and a thick eight-character beard on his upper jaw. He looked like a very majestic person, because the ears on both sides were obviously big and small, and they also looked It's weird.

He is 48 years old. He once served as the principal and the first education director of the Japanese non-commissioned officer school. The existing military education and compulsory education policies were formulated by him, and he was also one of the successors of the Ming Liushe system.

These days, he always keeps going in and out of Shibata Residence in Minghe Valley. There are always many gratifying details in the quiet and elegant traditional residence. It can be seen that Toshio Shibata, a young generation of politicians, has abundant financial support.

That's true. Toshio Shibata's wife is the youngest daughter of the Nakamura family, a plutocrat in Kyoto. This mansion is also one of the dowries donated by the Nakamura family.

Entering the lakeside club of Shibata Residence, Masayoshi Terauchi took off his shoes and entered the traditional hall. Toshio Shibata, who was younger and less senior than him, bowed politely.

No one doesn't like handsome men, especially like Toshio Shibata, who are rich, powerful, young, well-educated, well-ed, and polite young.

During this period of time, Masayoshi Terauchi appreciated Toshio Shibata more and more. He was convinced that if Toshio Shibata became the Minister of Commerce and Industry, he would bring real benefits to Japan.

Zhengyi Terauchi replied politely and said, "Mr. Shibata... We meet again!"

"Hi!"

Toshio Shibata looked particularly sincere and invited Masayoshi Terauchi to sit down. The two drank sake together and began to chat with a few dishes, sushi and sashimi.

It's not gossip. Masayoshi Terauchi is not a roundabout person, which is also the reason why Taro Katsura sent him to contact Toshio Shibata.

As soon as Masayoshi Terauchi sat down, he talked about the problems of the Mitsubishi Consortium and Kobe Shipyard. He and Toshio Shibata asked, "Is it possible for Fuji Bank to borrow a sum of money from Kobe Shipyard?"

"Is it?"

Toshio Shibata was slightly surprised and then said, "The people of the Iwasaki family... are willing to do this? In terms of capital, the financial resources of Tokyo Mitsubishi Bank can continue to be supported!"

Masayoshi Terauchi said, "That's the problem. If you become the Minister of Commerce and Industry of the Empire, the Iwasaki family is likely to stop lending to the Kobe Shipyard. You have to be clear about one thing. Here is... The base of the submarine project, the empire must maintain its production. If possible, we also hope to expand production, especially to step up research projects on engines and diesel engines. Once China cuts off our trade channel with France, we can't continue to use French firewood. It's an oil engine."

"Well...!"

Toshio Shibata thought silently in his mind, thinking that he finally knew the base of the Imperial submarine project and actually handed it over to the Mitsubishi consortium under their eyes.

Originally, he always thought that the Mitsui consortium was carrying out these affairs.

"So...?" Toshio Shibata thought that if it was the Iwasaki family, there would be nothing to worry about. He immediately said, "Leave all these things to the Nakamura family. There should be no problem!"

Zhengyi in the temple hummed and said, "However, another derivative problem is that if you want to help the empire raise 60 million yuan of treasury bonds, it won't be a big problem, right?"

Toshio Shibata understands that all this is a political deal.

If he wants to be the Minister of Commerce and Industry, rather than the candidate recommended by Mitsubishi and Mitsui Consortium, he will also be responsible for raising military funds for Japan.

He nodded silently and said, "It won't be a problem."

"So...!" Terauchi Zhengyi was finally relieved and said, "Then it's settled. Mr. Shibata, I hope you can make your due contribution in the position of Minister of Commerce and Industry of the Empire."

"This kind of thing still needs your full support!"

Toshio Shibata smiled, but felt sad in his heart.

He really doesn't want Japan to fall into such a meaningless war. If he can reverse the situation and speech, adopt a freer economic policy, give up the existing foundation of militarism and chaebol economy, and determine a formal trade agreement through cooperation with China and its colonies, Japan can still continue to develop. Go.

Unfortunately, Japan's economy is completely monopolized by the chaebols.

As a politician who mainly studies economics, and a politician who is about to become the minister of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the real idea in Shibata's heart is precisely to sink Mitsui.

It is true that there are no two leaders in Asia, but it is impossible for Japan to bear this responsibility, and it is impossible to start a war for this.

This is his idea.

However, he had never expressed such an idea. He just destroyed all this with practical actions, and then he wanted to build the Japanese book in his mind.

The communication with Masayoshi Terauchi continued until the evening. After sending Masayoshi Terauchi left, Toshio Shibata immediately called Hiroshi Nakamura, the president of Fuji Bank, and his father-in-law to confirm the financial problems.

In addition, they have to reschedule to talk about more secretive issues.

Toshio Shibata hopes to take over the Kobe Shipyard as soon as possible to find out as soon as possible the progress of the submarine project called the Empire's top-secret plan, how much will be produced in the future, and what the technical standards will be like.

Then, he will transfer the information to the branch president of the Fuxing Society, which is lurking in Japan through his own channels.

On the premise of not ceding the land, he hopes that the war will end soon and he will be in charge of everything.

Where is the future of Japan and where is the future of Asia?

Regarding all this, Toshio Shibata has his own answer. He just can't be sure... How to defeat such a huge consortium as Mitsui.

He firmly believes that there should not be two emperors... The question is how to do this.

(to be continued)