.Chapter 275 Lobbying (asking for monthly votes!)

Ten years after the advent of the airplane, a powered and controllable aircraft, mankind's first large-scale war broke out, and the airplane also fell into the arms of the God of War. (Piaotian Literature Network updates super fast) Regarding this new aircraft that appeared on the battlefield

The role of flying, senior officers in the headquarters of combating countries are skeptical. Almost all marshals and generals have no confidence in flying. They believe that flying is "all good for sports, but of no use to the army." Aircraft are just

Used as a reconnaissance tool, it extends the commander's sight beyond the battlefield horizon.

That's all, but the aircraft serves as a reconnaissance tool, extending the commander's sight beyond the battlefield horizon. This function is obvious to all.

One, two, three...

From the morning until the afternoon, almost immediately after the first plane took off, planes continued to fly over the First Fleet. When those biplanes flew over the sky and took pictures with cameras, the first plane on the sea

The officers of the fleet also took photos in the sky with cameras, and there were even some sketchers who used telescopes and pencils to draw airplanes in the sky.

"This is the sixth plane. Since we appeared here, the planes of the Chinese army have been circling and conducting reconnaissance over the fleet. The Chinese army should be ready now."

Tomosaburo Kato is not worried about planes in the sky. In fact, there is no need to worry about planes and warships following them. Maybe the pilot on the plane may drop a bomb, but a bomb weighing several kilograms will not be pressed at all.

They cannot threaten battleships, so there is no need to worry about them, but it does make people feel extremely uncomfortable when they are always hovering overhead like they are now.

During this period, the 47mm anti-aircraft guns on several warships attempted several attacks, but they were unable to threaten the Chinese aircraft flying at least at an altitude of three thousand meters.

"Isn't it in line with the Army's plans for them to prepare?"

Tetsuzaburo Sato glanced at the plane through the telescope and replied with a smile.

"The Army hopes that we will attract the Chinese Army's troops as much as possible and create conditions for their landing. Now that they have discovered us, naturally their defense forces will be adjusted along with the fleet, so that the pressure on the Army will be reduced, so that they can break through

The current stalemate between Japan and China."

To his words, Kato Yusaburo did not make any response, but looked at the plane in the sky and said with some emotion.

"If the Chinese army develops an aircraft that can drop heavy bombs, perhaps the future of this war will completely change."

"Sir, I really don't know how long it will take until the current planes are not as heavy as bombs."

The war room of the Huaihai Economic and Strategic Affairs Office seemed quite quiet at this time, with only a few messages exchanged. It was not busy and the atmosphere was very peaceful. In the war room, Major General Jiang Zuobin was entertaining an admiral, Cheng Biguang.

The commander of the First Fleet of the Chinese Navy secretly came to Lianyun late last night.

"Even at the last moment, it will be difficult for the navy to engage in naval battles."

Cheng Biguang said truthfully. When he said these words, his expression looked a little bitter.

Before the Sino-Japanese War, after thirty years of Westernization efforts, the size of the Qing Navy once reached the largest tonnage in Asia. Then, it stopped purchasing ships and the ships became obsolete, resulting in the Beiyang Fleet, the elite of the Qing Navy during the Sino-Japanese War.

It was wiped out almost overnight, and after that, the situation of the Qing government and the entire navy also fell into a period of stagnation for a long time.

After the defeat of Weihai, the once powerful Beiyang Navy only had one training ship, the "Kangji". The Qing Dynasty's deputies in the DPRK and the Qing Dynasty criticized the defeat and accused the Westernization faction headed by Li Hongzhang of being cowardly, fearful of the enemy, and betraying the country.

Under the pressure of public opinion, the Qing government not only suspended the Prime Minister's Naval Affairs Office and all internal and external naval schools, but also subsequently abolished the military positions of the Beiyang Navy, totaling 315 from the admiral to the foreign affairs commission, and all soldiers were dismissed.

repatriation.

The huge indemnity paid to Japan brought the Qing government's finances to the brink of collapse, making it difficult to allocate funds to revitalize the navy. This is true, but the negative impact of the fiasco caused the Qing Dynasty's self-confidence in conquering the ocean to collapse.

.

The most disgraceful thing is that the navy that survived the disaster also started to fight in front of the battle. In 1900, when the Boxer Rebellion broke out, the Eight-Power Allied Forces attacked Dagukou.

The four ships "Qing" and "Haihua" did not go to aid the Qing army. Instead, they wanted to stay out of the matter. Before they could go, they were easily captured by the coalition forces. (Updated to the latest chapter of this book)

Such a performance of the navy further weakened people's respect for this army. A year later, during the Gengzi negotiations, a peace minister actually suggested that the five ships of "Tian" Qi "Rong" and "Chou" Chen be returned to Britain and Germany.

The two countries have stated that China has no attitude towards foreign war preparations." This idea of ​​simply giving up on the Chinese navy and coastal defense also shows the mentality of some people towards the navy of that day.

When the humiliation of defeat and its own corruption caused the dying Qing Navy to fall into a deep depression and receive a cold shoulder, the Western powers at this time attached great importance to the navy, which was completely different from China.

All this happened until Yuan Shikai became the Minister of Beiyang, and under his guarantor, the former Beiyang defeated generals began to serve as reinstatement officers. These naval officers who had been convicted of defeats once again shouldered the hope of the navy's self-rescue. At this time, Mahan

After the theory of sea power became popular in the West for more than ten years, it was gradually introduced from Japan to China. Chinese intellectuals began to discuss the unfamiliar field of "sea power". The Chinese people's view of the ocean gradually focused on trade and colonization.

, merchant ship, navy, these fresh words outline new thinking and new horizons. The result of this is different from the past is that the topic of the navy is no longer just a matter of the military and political officials of the imperial court, but

It has attracted wider attention from society.

Therefore, in the process of preparing for the establishment of the constitution, special attention was paid to reviving the navy. In the summer of 1909, the imperial court officially unified the Northern and Southern Fleets and divided them into cruise and river patrol fleets. Sa Zhenbing was appointed naval admiral, and Cheng Biguang

Commanded the cruise fleet, Shen Shoukun commanded the Yangtze River Fleet. At the same time, a seven-year naval plan was also formulated. It made more detailed and clear steps for the subsequent naval construction, and the branch decided that in the next seven years, they

18 million taels of start-up expenses and 2 million taels of annual funding will be raised for the navy. At this point, an ambitious blueprint for navy reconstruction has been sketched.

It was this ocean blueprint after painful experience, and a dilapidated fleet led by a group of defeated generals, that finally began to slowly set sail back to the blue sea in the closing years of the late Qing Dynasty. But executing this ocean blueprint will take time, and the navy

The existing warships are only the four cruisers "Qi", "Rong", "Chou" and "Chen" purchased when the navy was rebuilt more than ten years ago. How can such a weak navy be of great use?

It is precisely for this reason that after the Jiao'ao conflict, the four cruisers of the Navy chose to sail to Wusongkou for "outsider neutrality" after some decisions and colluding with the Naval Attaché of the Japanese Embassy.

The commander of a fleet, Cheng Biguang, naturally knew that this choice was a helpless choice forced by reality.

"However, in the navy, everyone from top to bottom supports your army's actions, but I hope Chief of Staff Chiang Kai-shek will forgive me. It is difficult for the navy to do much."

Feeling the looks from around him, Cheng Biguang felt a wave of heat. Now in response to the Jiao'ao Incident, the Central Army had also mobilized and transferred an army to Lianyun. But what about the navy? It still timidly chose to avoid the battle.

"Uh, that's right."

After drinking a cup of tea, Jiang Zuobin responded indifferently.

"I think, Commander Cheng, we all have the same views in some aspects."

"Over there," Jiang Zuobin put down the teacup in his hand and pointed to the war room.

"Now, we are fighting a real war. For us, we never consider the consequences. As soon as the war starts, our thoughts are very simple. We only think about victory. In Jiao'ao, the battle was fought smoothly

It was very fierce. At the beginning, the Japanese army only had one division and three brigades. Now, Japan has mobilized three divisions, an entire army, and two heavy artillery brigades to attack Jiaoao, but our people are still

Nailed there, the Japanese army couldn't even advance even a hundred meters. Therefore, they wanted to break the current deadlock, so they focused all their attention here, on Lianyun. Look, how terrible it is here now.

It's quiet, but soon, the silence here will be broken."

"Japan has dispatched its First Fleet."

Cheng Biguang nodded and said that he had already learned the news from the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Jiangsu Army, and that the First Fleet would arrive in Lianyun early tomorrow morning to face the Japanese Navy's First Fleet,'Qi', 'Rong'

What is the use of these four cruisers, 'Chi' and 'Chen'? The tonnage is not even as much as an old battleship of the Japanese Navy that is about to be eliminated, not to mention that the First Fleet also has a dreadnought.

"Commander Cheng, I hope you can understand that I am not asking you to fight the Japanese fleet."

Looking up at Cheng Biguang, Jiang Zuobin marked a position on the chart. This was the position just confirmed two hours ago. It was the position of the Japanese landing fleet.

"In fact, from the beginning, we didn't consider the navy at all."

Such words only made Cheng Biguang's face redder.

"But what is the current situation? It has exceeded our plan, so we have to make appropriate adjustments to the combat plan."

"Let's look at the chart and tell."

Jiang Zuobin walked to another map table aside.

A combat officer came over and made some changes on a large combat chart.

"what is that?"

Looking at the extra fleet heading in the other direction on the chart, Cheng Biguang suddenly asked.

"That's the Japanese landing fleet and escort formation, sir."

"Landing fleet?"

When Cheng Biguang was suspicious, Jiang Zuobin picked up a black pen and drew several long lines on the chart.

"These are the two routes currently taken by the Japanese fleet. Perhaps they are the two most likely routes. They may be here or there now. That's all we can tell you. The air force will send further information."

Cheng Biguang looked at the map without saying a word.

"In four hours, the main force of the First Fleet may be here."

A location was marked on the map with a pencil, and at the same time Jiang Zuobin drew an "x" with a pencil.

“This is the first point of contact”

"First point of contact?"

"Yes, that's where the first attack was launched."

Jiang Zuobin replied calmly.

"Launch the first wave attack here. 40 attack aircraft carrying torpedoes will carry out the first wave attack. The target is the capital ship in the fleet."

While Jiang Zuobin was making the introduction, he glanced eagerly at the officers and soldiers who were responsible for collecting telegrams at the telegraph office from time to time to see what news was coming. At this time, Cheng Biguang was attracted by the aerial torpedo attack.

"Aerial torpedo attack?"

Cheng Biguang asked quickly.

"Did a plane launch a torpedo?"

The plane fired a torpedo?

In Cheng Biguang's understanding, as a fleet commander, he would not miss any naval technological information, but he had never heard an aircraft fire a torpedo. In his opinion, that was almost impossible, as torpedoes were even worse than

The plane is still heavy and it carries a torpedo that is heavier than its own weight. Is it possible for the plane to fly into the sky?
To be continued...