1890 King of Southeast Asia

"Yamashiro and Hiei were attacked in the east of Jeju Island, and the fleet is currently staying nearby." Terauchi Masaki handed the telegram to Yamagata.

"Submarine? Chinese submarine? How bold!" Yamagata did not take the telegram. He could probably guess what was in the telegram.

He was sighing, sighing about the changing situation.

In the past, Chinese people were conservative and unwilling to adopt new things. Even if they bought the latest products, they often did not know how to use them, or were not allowed to use them.

For example, the old witch, the foreigners built the railway, and she bought it and dismantled it, which cost the treasury money!

And in order to coax her to build a railway, Lord Li built a small railway in the Forbidden City. She did not use steam engines or internal combustion engines, but used horses to pull the train.

The car provided by Lord Yuan made the driver kneel down to drive. Fortunately, the development of automobile technology was not fast and it ran slowly, otherwise it would have overturned long ago.

Under this situation, the Westernization of the Great Qing Empire always remained on the surface. It established a number of industrial and mining enterprises, and also established heavy industry and machinery manufacturing, which was powerful for a while.

However, Yamagata saw these enterprises very clearly. This was just a political task that was not cost-effective. Once the task was completed, it would soon lose its vitality after losing the resource tilt.

As for the military, it was even more ridiculous in Yamagata's view. The only change that the Qing Empire made to the military was to divide the army among the big and small military leaders, which successfully formed internal friction.

"Since the emperor surnamed Liu came to power, the Chinese have become radical, and countless novel items have appeared in Nanhua."

"At the beginning, we did not attach importance to this new indigenous country. It was poor and white, and there were not even a few people."

"Now it seems that we have lost since we were arrogant."

Yamagata shook his head.

Yamagata, Ito and other Japanese elders promoted Japan's modernization and formulated hegemony strategies at the time. The most important point was the Qing Empire at that time.

Japan is an island country with poor resources and many volcanoes and earthquakes. It is impossible to complete industrialization quickly by relying on its own capabilities. A group of Japanese elders are very clear about this.

Its neighbor happened to be a country that was stagnant, constantly attritional, corrupt and ignorant, but also vast, populous and resource-rich.

So, the Japanese elders invested their limited wealth in the military and military industry and took a gamble.

They won the gamble, not only in war, but more importantly in diplomacy. Britain began to shrink strategically after the Boer War and needed someone to guard against the Russians and the Chinese.

The United States wanted to open up the Chinese market, and it also needed a partner in the western Pacific to suppress the Russians and South China.

Both chose Japan.

It stands to reason that God should bless Japan at this time, but South China appeared. In the last few years of the Japanese Empire's war preparations, a Chinese country appeared in Southeast Asia.

Japan tried to destroy this country, but unfortunately, the journey was too far and Japan could not afford this war.

Then, the Chinese began to boldly participate in new things, new artillery, cars, airships, destroyers, new battleships, etc.

Behind every industrial product, there is an entire industrial chain supporting it.

When Yamagata heard that the fleet was attacked by submarine torpedoes, he felt a lot of emotion in his heart. Japan's torpedoes were still imitations, and the submarines were still in the imitation stage.

Moreover, except for two 450-ton S-class submarines imported from France, the remaining submarines were less than 100 tons and could only operate around the port.

The place where the fleet was attacked was in the east of Jeju Island, which means that even if the Chinese submarines departed from Lushunkou, there was a straight-line distance of 500 to 600 kilometers to here.

And Japan's submarines are still far away from home, and China has left Japan far behind.

Yamagata actually knows that Japan's only chance is to pray that China will not wake up, but to keep sleeping like this.

Once China wakes up and forms an efficient organization like Japan, Japan will be far behind China.

(This is also why Japan was so active in the late Qing Empire and for a period of time afterwards, supporting different people at all costs.)

"At present, the speed of Yamashiro and Hiei has dropped seriously, and the fleet has to reduce its speed. The Combined Fleet asked for the next instructions."

"Continue to perform the original mission, or take the opportunity to return?"

The fact that Terauchi Masaki asked this question proves that he is inclined to return. Yamagata knows a little about the navy, while Terauchi Masaki is a pure army.

Terauchi Masaki was able to climb all the way up, and he still has some brains. According to his idea, the Combined Fleet has been damaged and can't run fast, so it's better to return to the port for repairs first.

This will ensure that the Combined Fleet will maintain the greatest combat effectiveness when encountering the Chinese Navy, and the chance of winning will be greater.

In any case, if the fleet wins, it can always strive for greater benefits.

"No." Yamagata shook his head.

"Japan, there is not enough fuel. Recall the fleet. Even if there is enough coal by then, the speed will still decrease because there is no fuel."

"Speed ​​is very important for warships. Instead of letting everyone slow down, it is better to use the two damaged warships as bait to gain combat advantage."

Yamagata's tone was very cold, and he didn't care about the hundreds of soldiers on a battleship.

Of course, this is related to the fact that both of them are army.

"Tell Shimamura Hayao that the army transport ship has set off, and the combined fleet should continue to carry out this mission. The rise and fall of the empire depends on this move. I hope he will know shame." Yamagata waved his hand and didn't want to say more.

Huaxia has been activated. Yamagata knows that the longer the time drags on, the more disadvantageous it will be for Japan.

"The size difference between the two sides should not be opponents competing on the same stage!" After Terauchi Masayoshi left, Yamagata looked at the map alone. The huge China and the tiny Japan formed a huge contrast.

(The scale of this map is small, in order to magnify the territory of Japan, the territory of China is also larger.)

"God gave Japan a chance, but why is it stingy and unwilling to give more time?" Yamagata looked at another map that had been placed aside for a long time.

On that map, the Chinese part was still "Qing", and the Southeast Asian part was still hung with the Spanish and Dutch flags. That was the most passionate time for Japan, and it was also the time for him to make achievements.

...

"Where are we?" Huang Shuai held a telescope and looked at the endless sea and the scattered islands on the sea.

The first mate fiddled with the sextant beside him, constantly confirming their location.

They swam underwater for a long time, and after floating up, they found a bunch of scattered islands.

According to their route, they should be between the peninsula and Japan, southwest of Tsushima Island, and there should be no such islands around.

Huang Shuai immediately realized that they were lost.

"Probably, off the southeast coast of the Korean Peninsula. According to the coordinates, we are no more than 20 nautical miles away from the peninsula." The first mate looked at Huang Shuai in confusion.

Huang Shuai was also a little confused. Yesterday they clearly turned right and sailed northeast, and the navigation compass also indicated this. Why did the route deviate nearly 100 kilometers to the west?

But the first mate made a mistake. This kind of scene of islands scattered all over the sea seems to only exist in the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese archipelago in this sea area.

"Did the radio respond?" Huang Shuai was confused for a while and shouted to the people below.

"I couldn't contact the airship, but I called the army brothers on the Green River. I asked them to help us forward it." The second mate poked his head out.

"Maybe the radio of the airship is broken again. The storm cloud seemed to drift north last night. I wish them good luck." Huang Shuai nodded. It's okay if they can contact.

"Captain, the submarine sent us a message saying that the Japanese fleet was found. The Japanese fleet is staying in the Tsushima Strait and has opened the anti-torrent net. Please give us further instructions." The second mate shouted again.

The instructions were certainly not from Huang Shuai, but the submarine could only contact Huang Shuai. The airship used for relay communication disappeared inexplicably, and they could not contact Ryukyu.

"Forward it together, call them back, report our position, and my troops will rest here." Huang Shuai took a breath of fresh air and shook his head.

"Starboard, a large fleet was found!" The sailor who was observing the situation shouted, pointing to the starboard.

"Report the situation." Huang Shuai immediately raised the telescope to look over.

This is a huge fleet, emitting a lot of black smoke, which is larger than the smoke column of the Combined Fleet, but the distance is too far, so only the smoke column can be seen, not the ship.

"Go over and take a look, and fully charge the battery. I have a hunch that we can have a good time again this time." Huang Shuai put down the telescope and said to the first mate.

The first mate climbed down and went to command the submarine.

…………

"My God, how much stuff are these ships carrying? The boilers are so hot that they can't run." The second mate put away the periscope and looked at Huang Shuai and the first mate.

"This is a transport fleet. The ships should be carrying supplies for the army." Huang Shuai touched his chin.

"There is only one old cruiser escorting us. Don't worry at all." The first mate added.

"Don't worry? Why don't you help the army brothers? I heard the army brothers complain that the Japanese are like mad dogs, attacking all the time 24 hours a day." The second mate scratched his head.

"There are still four torpedoes. It's useless for us to take them. It's better to shoot them all, but pay attention to the main attack on the troop transport ship." Huang Shuai nodded and agreed after hearing this.

"Wow!"

"Fuck him!"

The sailors were all excited.

Life in the submarine is boring, especially this time, the duty has exceeded the scheduled time.

Huang Shuai also considered this point and agreed to fire the torpedo. If there is a victory, there will be credit, and everyone will be more excited.

…

"We will dock tonight, Lu Renjun, I heard that women on the peninsula don't wear clothes, I really want to see it."

"Why do we have to dock tonight? There are still hundreds of kilometers to the front line, right? How do we get there?"

"I heard that the fuel is not enough, it's enough now, and the next batch can only come by sailing boat."

"Hahahaha, I hope they won't be thrown upside down..."