Chapter 614 Meeting

In fact, in addition to France, Britain, Russia and the United States were all surprised by the Italian shipbuilding plan. But relative to France, they are more limited to surprise. The only thing that made a move was the United Kingdom. The British Imperial Navy transferred two battleships from the mainland to the Mediterranean Fleet, which was its response to the Italian shipbuilding plan.

It’s gone after that.

On the topic of its shipbuilding, not even as much as the new battleship Dreadnought.

Yes, the epoch-making Intrepid. For the ship, Lieutenant General Filscher, who was the commander-in-chief of Portsmouth at this time, was highly praised. He praised the Italian-built battleship as an epoch-making masterpiece and called on the British navy to keep pace and not fall behind.

However, the British Empire has its own national conditions, and the new battleship does not need to be demonstrated, how can it be built directly. Therefore, countries are still in the stage of demonstration, and the construction still needs to wait.

Just as European countries have their own plans for Italy to build a large navy, an undercurrent is surging in the Far East.

In Tokyo, the demonstrators have just dispersed, and the Russian flag has fallen to the ground. As the core point of the protest, the exterior wall of the Russian Embassy in Japan is colorful and beautiful.

And seeing the crowd disperse, the Japanese military and police guarding the embassy also breathed a sigh of relief. This demonstration to the Russians every now and then, and their policemen are exhausted. If it weren’t for their duty, they would all want to demonstrate to the Russian protests. In order to protect the interests of North Korea, their police officers only receive 60% of the public salary. How can a family live on this little money?

The thoughts of the little policemen do not matter to the big men involved in the disputes between the two countries, because they have more important things to pay attention to.

In the palace, a royal meeting is being held.

“Your Majesty and gentlemen, at present, the funds of our Ministry of Finance can last for three months. If we can’t do anything, then the government will go bankrupt.”

Arasuke Sone, the prime minister who came from the army together with the prime minister, informed everyone present about the situation in the province.

“Can you borrow some more from the UK and the US?” Minister of Agriculture and Commerce Tosuke Hirata made a suggestion.

Faced with this suggestion, Sone Arasuke said bitterly. “At present, there is no borrowing, and all the mortgages that can be used in our country have been taken out. There is only one way to use it.”

Although Sone Arasuke didn’t say what to do, everyone present knew what it was.

Speaking of Japan’s miserable finances, Carlo takes the credit. In the Sino-Japanese War, with the intervention of Italy, Japan suffered heavy casualties, and no compensation was obtained. If it were not for the support of the British Empire, even Korea would not be able to get a springboard for the mainland.

You must know that in the original history, after Japan received 230 million taels of silver compensation from the Qing Dynasty, its total fiscal revenue directly increased from 134 million yen in 1903 before the war to 279 million yen in 1895 after the war. With the rapid growth all the way, it reached 438 million yen in five years. (The Three Kingdoms intervened to return to Liao, and gave an extra 30 million taels of silver)

In the case of failing to obtain huge indemnities from the Qing Dynasty, although Japan has obtained the right of protection from North Korea, the Korean peninsula is not enough to supplement Japan’s finances, even if Japan mobilizes more people to work abroad, but Japan’s finances have been delayed. Exceeded the 300 million yen mark.

This also led to Japan’s continuous expansion of its military, and Japan’s finances were the first to be unable to support it. It was only 1903, and Japan’s finances could not stand it.

Faced with the complaints of Prime Minister Ozo, Prime Minister Katsura asked the foreign minister on the side.

“Kamura-kun, how’s your talk with the Russians?”

In the face of the Prime Minister’s inquiry, Komura Soutaro, who served as a crucial ambassador to the Qing during the Sino-Japanese War, replied immediately. “The talks with Russia are not going well at the moment, and I have a feeling that the Russians are deliberately delaying time.”

Komura Soutaro said that Japan wanted to demarcate their respective spheres of influence with Russia, because Russia also extended its hand into North Korea. In this case, of course, after the Qing forces withdrew from Korea, the small Korean court was afraid that Japan would be unfavorable to itself, so it attracted the Russians and tried to use the battle between the two to maintain its political status.

Japan’s negotiation with Russia is to occupy the Korean peninsula alone.

Facing the foreign minister’s words, Katsura thought about it and then asked the Minister of the Navy beside him. “Yamoto-kun, if your navy is against the Russian Pacific Fleet, what are the chances of winning?”

Although this is just a question from the Prime Minister, the important ministers present have paid attention to this issue, because it is related to the future of Japan.

In the face of everyone’s eyes, the Minister of the Navy, Yamamoto Quanhei immediately opened his mouth and said. “If the Combined Fleet engages the Russian Pacific Fleet normally, we have a 60% chance of winning.”

The 60% chance of winning made everyone present frown. Because the odds of winning are too low, Japan has already overwhelmed all the assets, and the odds of winning are too low and the risks are too high.

“What if you can do everything you can?”

The one who spoke was Prime Minister Katsura, and the Foreign Minister Soutaro Komura, who was familiar with diplomatic rules, changed his face after hearing this.

After saying this, Katsura didn’t care about other people’s faces, but stared at Yamamoto Quanbei, waiting for the other party to answer him.

In the face of the Prime Minister’s continued questioning, Yamamoto Quanbei thought about it. “Our Admiralty has also made such a plan before. If we want to defeat the Russian Pacific Fleet by all means, there are two points to consider. First, our fleet must be concealed. Second, the Russian fleet stationed in Lushun cannot be prepared. , we can use torpedoes to raid the docked Russian warships, try to annihilate some of them in the naval port, and then lure them out to sea to sink them in one fell swoop.”

“What if the other party doesn’t come out?”

Faced with this question, Yamamoto Quanbei showed a smile. “It would be better if that was the case. We sank the ship at Port Arthur’s estuary and blocked the Russian warships inside.”

As for the situation in Port Arthur, the Japanese Navy had already figured out the situation. Although Lushun is an excellent non-frozen port, it has shortcomings. The inner port of Lushun is narrow and the water is relatively shallow, and there is only one entrance and exit. Large warships can only enter and exit the inner port at high tide, and must be towed by tugboats.

Although Yamamoto Quanbei didn’t say what the odds are, Katsura measured it himself, so if it goes well, UU read www. uukanshu.com basically has an eight-tier chance of winning.

That being the case, then some means must be used.

“Kamura-kun, the negotiations with the Russians still have to continue. As for when the negotiations will be terminated, wait for the notice.”

In the face of the Prime Minister’s words, what else can Komura Soutaro say? For the final victory, a little reputation is nothing.

“Rest assured, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs knows what to do and will not let the Russians notice anything unusual.”

After getting the reply from Komura Shoutaro, Kataro looked at Yamamoto Quanhewei Road. “Yamoto-kun, I’ll ask your navy next.”

“Hey!”

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