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

"Submarine? A Chinese submarine? How bold!" Shanxian did not receive the telegram. He could probably guess what the telegram said.

He was lamenting the changes in the current situation.

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

For example, the old witch bought and demolished the railways built by foreigners. This was a waste of money from the treasury!

In addition, Master Li built a small railway in the Forbidden City in order to coax her to build a railway. She did not use steam engines or internal combustion engines, but horse-drawn trains.

The car Mr. Yuan donated had the driver kneeling to drive it. Thanks to the slow development of automobile technology, the car ran slowly, otherwise it would have overturned.

Under this current situation, the Westernization of the Qing Empire was always only on the surface. It established a number of industrial and mining enterprises, as well as heavy industry and machine manufacturing, which was very prestigious for a while.

However, Shan County sees these enterprises very clearly. They are just political tasks regardless of cost. Once the tasks are completed and the resources are lost, they will soon lose their vitality.

As for the military, it is even more ridiculous in the eyes of Shanxian. The only change the Qing Empire made to the military was to divide the army among large and small military leaders, which successfully caused internal friction.

"Since Emperor Liu came to power, the Chinese people have become radicalized, and countless novel items have appeared in Nanhua."

"At the beginning, we didn't pay much attention to this new indigenous country. It was very poor and had only a few people."

"Now it seems that from the time we were arrogant, we have lost."

Shanxian shook his head.

Yamagata, Ito and other Japanese elders initially promoted Japan's modernization and formulated a strategy for hegemony. The most important point was the Seo Empire at that time.

Japan is a resource-poor island country with many volcanoes and earthquakes. It cannot quickly complete industrialization by relying on its own capabilities. Many Japanese elders know this very well.

And its neighbor happens to be a country that is stagnant, constantly experiencing internal friction, corrupt and ignorant, but also has a vast territory, a large population, and rich resources.

Therefore, the Japanese elders invested their limited wealth in the military and military industry, taking a gamble.

They won the bet, 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 Chinese.

If the United States wants to open up the Chinese market, it also needs a partner in the Pacific West to restrain the Russians and South China.

Both chose Japan.

Logically speaking, God should bless Japan at this time, but Nanhua appeared. In the last few years of preparations for the Japanese Empire's war, a Chinese country appeared in Southeast Asia.

Japan has tried to eliminate this country, but unfortunately, the journey is too far and Japan cannot afford to fight this battle.

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

Behind every industrial finished product is an entire industrial chain supporting it.

When Yamagata heard that the fleet was attacked by a submarine torpedo, he felt deeply. Japan's torpedoes were still imitations, and the submarines were still in the imitation stage.

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

The location where the fleet was attacked was in the east of Jeju Island. In other words, even if the Chinese submarine set off from Lushunkou, it would still be a straight-line distance of five to six hundred kilometers.

However, Japan's submarines still cannot leave home, leaving China far behind Japan.

In fact, Yamagata knows very well that the only opportunity for Japan is to pray that China will not wake up and continue to sleep like this.

Once China wakes up and forms an efficient organization like Japan, Japan will be far unable to compete with China.

(This is also why Japan was so active at the end of the Qing Empire and for a period of time after that, 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 is asking for next instructions."

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

The fact that Masaki Terauchi could ask this question proves that he is a group that prefers to return to the sea. Yamagata knows some about the navy, and Masaki Terauchi is a relatively pure army.

Masaki Terauchi was able to climb all the way up, but he still had some head on his shoulders. According to his opinion, the combined fleet had been damaged and could no longer run fast, so it was better to return to the port for repairs.

This can ensure that when the combined fleet encounters the Chinese Navy, it can maintain its maximum combat effectiveness and have a greater chance of winning.

No matter what, if the fleet wins, it can always achieve greater benefits.

"No." Shanxian shook his head.

"Japan no longer has enough fuel and is recalling the fleet. Even if there is enough coal by then, the speed will still drop because there is no fuel."

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

Shanxian's tone was very indifferent, not caring at all about the hundreds of soldiers on a battleship.

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

"Tell Shimamura Hayao that the army transport ship has set off and the combined fleet should continue to perform this mission. The empire will rise and fall in one fell swoop. I hope he will realize his shame." Yamagata waved his hand and did not want to say more.

China has been activated, and Yamaxian knows that the longer it takes, the worse it will be for Japan.

"The difference in size between the two sides shouldn't make them rivals on the same stage!" After Masaki Terauchi left, Yamagata looked at the map alone. There was a huge contrast between the huge China and the tiny Japan.

(The scale of this map is small to enlarge the territory of Japan. Similarly, the territory of China is also larger.)

"God has given Japan a chance, but why is it so stingy that it doesn't want to give it more time?" Yamaxian 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 still hung Spanish and Dutch flags. That was the time when Japan was most passionate, and it was also the time when he made great achievements.

…

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

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

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

According to their route, they should now 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, the southeastern coast of the Korean Peninsula. According to the coordinates, we are no more than twenty 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. The navigation compass also indicated this. Why did the route deviate nearly a hundred kilometers to the west?

But maybe the first mate made a mistake. This kind of island dotted scene seems to be only found on the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese Archipelago in this sea area.

"Is there a response from the radio station?" Huang Shuai was confused for a while and shouted to the following.

"We couldn't contact the airship, but we called the army brothers on the Green River. I asked them to forward it for us." The second officer stuck his head out.

"Maybe the airship's radio is out of order again. The storm clouds seemed to be drifting northward last night. I wish them good luck." Huang Shuai nodded, as long as he can be contacted.

"Captain, the submarine sent us a message, saying that it has discovered the Japanese fleet. The Japanese fleet is staying in the Tsushima Strait. It has opened the mine protection net and requested further instructions." The second officer shouted again.

Of course, the order was not from Huang Shuai, but the submarine could only contact Huang Shuai. The airship used as a relay communication disappeared inexplicably, and they were unable to contact Ryukyu.

"Forward them together, call them back, and report our location. Our department will rest here." Huang Shuai took a breath of fresh air and shook his head.

"Starboard, the fleet has been spotted!" the sailor who was observing the situation shouted pointing to the starboard direction.

"Report the situation." Huang Shuai immediately raised his telescope and looked over.

This is a huge fleet, emitting a lot of black smoke, which is larger than the smoke column of the United Fleet, but the distance is too far, 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 fun again this time." Huang Shuai put down the telescope and said to the first mate.

Boom boom, the first mate climbed down directly and went to command and control the submarine.

…………

"Oh my god, how many things have these boats hauled? They can't even run with the boilers burning like this." The second mate put away the periscope and looked at Huang Shuai and the first mate.

"This is a transport fleet, and what's on board should be supplies for the army." Huang Shuai touched his chin.

"The escort is only an old cruiser, so there is no need to worry." the first mate added.

"Don't worry? Why not do your Army brothers a favor? I heard Army brothers complain that the Japanese are like mad dogs, attacking all the time 24 hours a day." The second officer scratched his head.

"There are still four torpedoes. It's useless for us to hold them. We might as well shoot them all, but we must pay attention to them, the main force is troop carriers." After hearing this, Huang Shuai nodded and agreed.

"Wow!"

"Fuck him, son of a bitch!"

The sailors were all excited.

Life in a submarine is boring, especially this time of departure, which has already exceeded the scheduled time.

Huang Shuai also took this into consideration before agreeing to fire out the torpedoes. If there are results, he will get credit, and everyone will be more interested.

…

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

"Why do we have to dock tonight? The front line is still several hundred kilometers away, right? How are we going to get there?"

"I heard that there is not enough fuel. It is already available. I heard that the next batch can only come by sailboat."
Chapter completed!