Australian Storm 1876

  Chapter 699 The road to the south is gone, and you can only go north.

  The Jiawu year of 1895 was an eventful year. Joseph Chamberlain became the new minister of the colony in the London cabinet, and his friend Cecil Rhodes, the mining giant, became the prime minister of the British Cape colony.

In private communications, Cecil Rhodes strongly complained about the hostility of the Transvaal Republic of South Africa and the Free State of Orange towards the British diaspora, and they formulated many discriminatory policies, which was an invisible contempt for the arrogant British Empire. The inside and the outside revealed the intention of the Paul Kruger regime to overthrow the Transvaal regime by force.

  Colonial Minister Joseph Chamberlain was ambiguous about this, but at the end of the reply he stated: “South Africa’s policy is unacceptable and must be urged to change in the right direction.”

  This sentence laid the groundwork for the "Jensen Expedition".

  "Jensen's Expedition" is a landmark event for South Africa's political situation. After the event, the relationship between Britain and Germany has deteriorated rapidly. London has since made up its mind and is ready to use force to solve the South African problem.

  July 11, 1895

  Off Tokyo

  Led by four heavy cruisers, Qinglong, Baihu, Suzaku, and Xuanwu, a huge strike formation consisting of 10 brave-class cruisers gathered together to conduct deterrent cruises in Tokyo Bay. This is already the third day.

  Every day starts in the morning

As many as hundreds of thousands of people gathered along the seaside of Tokyo Bay, just to see the style of the joint strike formation. In the concept of Fuso people, they only admire the strong. Every time the formation warship shows its majestic posture, it will always attract There were cheers of admiration.

  Don’t look at Fusang being aggressive and domineering against the weak, but soft to the strong quickly.

  Tokyo Metropolitan Government Conference

Every court minister who participated in it looked solemn, and the current state of affairs has developed to the point of national peril. Standing on the edge of the abyss of life and death, it is far from destroying several broken tile kilns as King of the Ocean Kingdom Li Fushou said. simple.

  Today is the last day when the Ocean Kingdom threatens to launch shelling and tolerance. The final time ends before 4:00 pm. If there is no positive response, the joint strike formation wandering in Tokyo Bay will show a hideous face, and the thousand-year-old capital may be destroyed.

  This will severely hit the foundation of Emperor Meiji’s rule and cause turmoil in the remnants of the local vassal state. The future is unimaginable.

  So it’s impossible to continue to pretend to be dead, and you must make a decision today.

  The dignified atmosphere of the Imperial Conference was breathless. All the ministers did not speak, as if a saw-mouthed gourd played the role of mud-carved wood-plastic.

  In fact, everyone has the answer in their hearts, but they dare not say it. They are afraid of being the victim of those fanatical army katanas. They chanted the slogan of "Zhou Country Thieves" to kill people on the street. These soldiers with Bushido spirits in their heads have completely done it.

  Hesitate for a moment

Fuso Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi had an expression of constipation on his face, and said in a dry tone; "Today, all methods that can be tried have been used, and the news from European and American countries clearly shows that we There is no other choice. It is Zhan Ye and ask everyone to make a public opinion collectively."

   "Prime Minister, it seems we don’t even have the right to fight back!"

   "Yes, I was beaten unilaterally. Seeing one beautiful city after another being destroyed by artillery fire but unable to do anything, this feeling is really awkward!"

   "We have a responsibility to prevent this kind of tragedy from happening. We really can't beat it!"

   "Give it, it's still half way down."

"What can I do if I don’t give it? The Majesty of the Ocean Kingdom has said so much that the British cannot change it. On the contrary, they put pressure on us, and those hateful Americans say they are beautiful, but when they really need it, No one can be seen."

   "So much money, I really can't bear it!"

   "Encourage new ideas, as long as you defeat the old Tsarist Russian Maozi in the future, you can claim more war compensation from them, and all losses will be returned."

   "Yo Xi, this is reasonable."

  The views of the cabinet ministers are one-sided, and they all tend to spend money to eliminate disasters. To be honest, it is a miracle to be able to dig out such a large sum of money from the Fuso people.

  This is inseparable from the right time, the place and the people, the Fusang people’s failure to start the war first, the inability of the current situation, the suppression of absolute naval power, and the threat of life and death.

The Emperor Meiji sitting at the top has been in power for 28 years. He presided over the Meiji Restoration reforms in one hand. He is a rare wise monarch in modern history. Seeing that the cabinet has reached an agreement, he nodded bitterly and issued an edict, saying :

  "The issue of coastal defense will be delayed for a day, and will be hated for a hundred years", asking the government and the parliament to "coordinate together to overcome the difficulties."

  Instructed Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi to personally go to Australia to make a pilgrimage to His Majesty the King of the Ocean Kingdom, express one of his surrenders and sign related treaties.

   Now that he was beaten, his attitude should be correct.

As for the domestic unrest to be suppressed with iron and blood, he also stated that in accordance with the old rule, 300,000 yen will be allocated from the royal family’s funds for the next six years, and civil and military officials will also be ordered to set aside 1/10 in the next six years. The monthly salary is turned over to the national treasury to supplement the shortage of shipbuilding funds.

  Since the belt has been tightened for so many years, it does not matter if the belt has been tightened for a few years.

  The scale of poor fishermen in Nanyang will increase. The scale is tentatively set at 200,000 to 230,000 per year. As long as they can get a little more money, it will be good.

  Fusang country is getting used to the hardships anyway, so I don’t care about this bit of suffering.

  At the end, Emperor Meiji wrote a haiku in a gloomy mood;

  How difficult it is to go forward, a few steps and a stumbling, and I see tomorrow rises, and I meet the sun god, how big my appetite, the momentum is hard to come to the end, the road to the south is gone, and I can only go north.

  Haiku was finished, and Emperor Meiji walked away.

  Looking at his widowed figure leaving, the courtiers were touched by the affection contained in the verse, and they couldn't help but wet their hearts with tears, crying to the ground; "Your Majesty, waiting for ten thousand deaths is not enough to atone for your sins!"

The important message in this haiku by Emperor Meiji is that the expansion policy has undergone a decisive change; the road to the south is no more, and you can only go north.

   1:00 pm

A small steamer carried the Fuso Cabinet Minister of Foreign Affairs Joan Matsunaga to the joint strike formation hovering in Tokyo Bay, and boarded the flagship Aolong heavy cruiser, met the commander-in-chief Admiral Geng Baogui, and truthfully conveyed the Fuso government’s bowing acknowledgment. Attitude.

  In other words;

  The tripartite government agreement between Ocean Kingdom and Manchuria and Fusang will be adopted. The Fusang government agreed to transfer half of the original 70 million taels of silver from the Sino-Japanese War compensation by the Qing Dynasty and give priority to the Ocean Kingdom.

  This cost is the Fusang country’s war compensation. While the 35 million taels of silver are paid off, the Fusang country shall not request the Manchurian compensation separately.

At last he got the desired result. Admiral Geng Baogui was overjoyed. While warmly receiving Minister of Foreign Affairs Joan of Arc Matsunaga, he also arranged for him to visit the flagship "Qinglong" and watched the tall ammunition boxes piled up on the ship's gunwale. This is how Admiral Geng Baobao explained;

"Total shelling is a complex and sophisticated war operation, which cannot tolerate any slack, and thorough preparation is extremely necessary. The powerful navy embodies every bit of detail, which is exchanged for the blood of countless naval officers. Experience."

  The 305mm main gun equipped on the ship can lift the ammunition from the lower ammunition library through the hydraulic mechanism under the gun mount.

  But the 152mm rapid-fire gun does not have this condition. The shell boxes used are all stacked on the side of the ship. The emptied shell boxes are easily pushed into the sea, and the shells after the shells have to be collected and reloaded.

  These shells are made of copper, which is very valuable and cannot be wasted easily.

  Foreign Minister Joan Matsunaga looked at these piles of cannonball boxes with scalp numb, and he secretly thanked the imperial meeting to make a timely decision to subdue, otherwise, it would be a complete disaster for the Fuso country.

  He said in a flattering tone; "Your country's military strength is strong, and Fusang is far from it. I only hope that after this incident, Fusang can learn a lesson from generations to repair with the Ocean Kingdom. It is really troublesome for you."

   "Ha ha ha... It's easy to talk and talk."

   “There is one more thing I would like to ask the Commander to show mercy. Now that the Chinese government has made a decision and the war is over, I hope to release the surviving officers and soldiers of the Sixth Division trapped in the Ryukyu Islands. I am very grateful.”

   "Oh, this matter, I will arrange for someone to send a telegram to the Kingdom of Ryukyu. Your Japanese government will also send a representative there, I hope it's still too late!"

   "I'm causing you trouble."

   "A trivial matter, not enough."

   responded with a faint smile on his mouth, but Geng Zhenzheng was embarrassed in his heart. To be honest, his temperament was relatively loyal, far less than His Majesty's cruelty, hahaha in front of him, and dead hands behind his back.

  The 6th Division has been trapped in the Ryukyu Islands for 17 days. Apart from finding some grain in the sunken cargo ship with a small boat, there is almost nothing else to eat.

  But these Japanese soldiers are really tenacious. I heard that they have begun to eat dead human flesh when they are trapped on the island, and they are still very fierce.

  The latest news was obtained six days ago when the joint strike formation set sail from Naha Port. At that time, there were only more than 600 Japanese soldiers left, and they still maintained a strong combat capability, which is not to be underestimated.

  This has caused the loss of more than 13,000 people in the three Ryukyu divisions, of which more than half were killed and more than 4,000 injured.

  According to His Majesty’s will, he is not going to stay alive. Only God knows whether he can live until now.

  After the incident, after the Japanese representative arrived in the Ryukyu Islands, there were more than 140 people (including more than 30 naval officers and soldiers) left in the 6th Division. They took advantage of the geographical advantage and hid on the mountain, causing great damage to the soldiers of the Ryukyu Kingdom.

   wiped out more than 460 Japanese officers and soldiers, and the regular army of the Ryukyu Kingdom paid more than 2,900 casualties. The situation of the battle was simply horrible.

  Notice that those who survive to the end are the elite soldiers among the elite soldiers. The strong ones among the strong ones, whoever comes out are all soldiers who were born in the fallen samurai family. They are skilled in combat skills and are especially good at close combat.

  In a hand-to-hand battle, seven or eight people often cannot do a single Japanese soldier. These desperately resisting Japanese soldiers are like wounded beasts, dangerous and deadly.

  These Japanese soldiers usually hide in caves and trenches, letting shells and bullets never come out. They cherish every physical strength and use them in key battles.

  When the soldiers of the Sulphur Ball Kingdom rushed up in black, they jumped up and rushed into the crowd and screamed frantically, screaming like beasts, often disturbing the attacking soldiers, leaving large corpses and retreating.

   Helpless, it's not easy to make small moves at this time.

The Ryukyu Kingdom can only allow these more than 140 survivors to return to Fuso Island. After they returned, they were received by the military with high standards and were hailed as "Warriors of One Hundred Wars". They were cast as practitioners of the Bushido spirit through publicity. Very high location.

The fierce and intrepid performance of the officers and soldiers of the Sixth Division of Fusang deeply shocked some of the officers and soldiers of the first and second divisions of the Royal Guards who watched the battle from beginning to end, leaving an indelible mark on their hearts, intentionally or unintentionally. He began to imitate the other side, and in the future, he will play a resounding name on the European battlefield, greatly enhancing the international status of the Ocean Kingdom. This is something to follow.

  　 Haiku is made up by the author, Mr. Grape. I only hope that everyone will smile when they watch it. In addition, I ask for monthly tickets, recommended tickets, and collections. Thanks to the generous rewards of enthusiastic book friends. Thank you all here.

  (End of this chapter)