Chapter 866

After the gunfire, there was only wreckage left in Tokyo Bay. The Japanese people were busy cleaning up the ruins, and the scene was particularly miserable.

As the saying goes, "Revenge never waits overnight." With the defeat of the Battle of Malacca, the Japanese Navy lost its sea power, and the Spanish Navy immediately attacked.

Intercepting merchant ships and shelling ports had now become the daily work of the Spanish Navy. It seemed that if they didn't come to cause trouble for a day, they would feel uncomfortable all over.

Perhaps because of hatred, or perhaps to solve the security problem of the Philippines once and for all, the performance of the Spanish in the battle against the Japanese was particularly eye-catching.

In this context, the Japanese were naturally out of luck. The Japanese people, who were already in a state of panic, were now panicking.

However, the imagined settlement of Shinra did not come, and the revenge of the Spanish came first.

Between the Japanese and Shinra, they could still use "attacking the Russians" to save their lives, but the Tokyo government and the Spanish had nothing to talk about.

One was in the easternmost, and the other was in the westernmost, separated by a series of countries. Whether the Russian Empire was doing well or poorly, it had nothing to do with Spain.

Not only did the two sides' spheres of influence not border each other, but even in international trade, there were few disputes of interest.

Emperor Meiji's recent days were very difficult. How to get rid of the entanglement of Spain had become the biggest problem for the Government of Japan.

Saionji Kōwang said, "In the past half month, we have lost hundreds of ships, large and small. Now even fishing boats dare not leave the port, and foreign trade lines are almost all interrupted.

Affected by this, domestic prices have risen sharply, and some industrial raw materials have even been out of stock.

In particular, the frontline is still fighting. Without the support of local supplies, the frontline troops may not be able to hold on for long.

If we don't take action and let the Spanish continue to plunder like this, I'm afraid the Empire will … "

In the end, he still didn't say the word "collapse". However, it could be seen from everyone's nervous expression that the smart people present had finished imagining it.

Everyone was aware of the danger, but how to solve the problem was a big problem.

The Navy could not be counted on. The Battle of Malacca had broken the backbone of the Japanese Navy. The lucky ones who had escaped the disaster had not yet come out of the panic.

What's more, the main force had been wiped out, and only a bunch of auxiliary warships were left.

Foreign Minister Inoue said, "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has done its best. We have contacted the Spanish, but they did not talk to us at all.

In order to solve the problem, we even communicated with the Government of Vienna, and they acquiesced to us to continue attacking the Russian Empire.

But the Government of Vienna made it clear that the war had broken out. The Spanish Government of Vienna made it clear that the war had broken out.

The rules of the game were cruel and ruthless. Although the Vienna government could solve the problem with a simple gesture, the Japanese were not powerful enough.

The smoke from the Battle of Malacca had just dissipated, and both sides were stained with each other's blood. It was impossible not to hate each other.

The. and the of the of the war. The Government of Vienna did not of war. of of. of the war of the of of of. of the of of the war of the War.

If he couldn't handle it, it was because he was incapable. If he couldn't even get past Spain, suppressing Russia would be unrealistic.

If they could not even get past Spain, it would be unrealistic to suppress Russia. If they could not help the Holy Roman Empire suppress the Russian Empire, Japan would lose its value.

In order to protect the Nippon Nation and its own prosperity, the Nippon government must solve the current problem and prove that its existence is valuable.

In the War of the Malacca, the enemy used air bombardment. We can do the same. In the War of the Malacca, the enemy used air bombardment. We can do the same.

If it doesn't work, we can recruit death squads, tie bombs on the planes, and directly hit the enemy's warships.

Spain is rotten. It is already very difficult to maintain the current size of the navy. They can't afford to lose it. "

Although Yamayama Aritomo's proposal was cruel, it was generally true. Without risking their lives, the current Japanese Navy was no match for the enemy.

Although the death squads could not defeat the Spanish navy, they could at least drive the Spanish away and restore the trade lines in the Far East.

It was impossible to object. In Japan these days, the most worthless thing was human life. As long as the problem could be solved, no matter how many people died, there was no pressure.

This kind of decision that needed to bear the infamy in the future naturally could not let the Emperor participate. The professional scapegoat Prime Minister Katsura immediately said: "Okay, let's do it!

I don't care what method you use, as long as you drive the Spanish navy out of Japanese waters, it will be the greatest victory!

This is a crisis of life and death. I hope everyone can put down their prejudices and work together to overcome the difficulties. "

It was obvious that the last sentence was meant for the military. Although the government also had internal strife, it was far less intense than the Army and Navy.

After the Battle of the Malacca, the Japanese navy, which had the upper hand in the struggle, was directly trampled by the Army.

Most of the jokes that were circulating among the people to insult the navy were made up by the Army. The main purpose was to discredit the navy.

Originally, Katsura Taro, who came from the Army, should have added fuel to the fire, but as the Prime Minister of Japan, he must consider the overall situation.

In any case, Japan was an island country. Since it was an island country, it was destined to be inseparable from the navy.

Especially the arrival of the Spanish navy made Katsura Taro realize the importance of the navy. If they continue to suppress the navy, Japan would have no future.

As for the effect, it depended on whether everyone's mind was clear. But those who realized the importance of sea power would not kill the navy.

Militarism was not without its advantages. Not only in terms of efficiency, it surpassed democratic countries by a large margin. Even the death soldiers were also a lot.

The news of the recruitment of pilots to crash warships had just spread out, and there was a long queue at the recruitment point. Unfortunately, there was a threshold for pilots. Not everyone could be a pilot, and they could only waste everyone's enthusiasm.

The more they were dissuaded, the more enthusiastic people were to sign up. Just like in the later period of World War II, many pilots were forced by public opinion to sign up to participate in the suicide squad.

Driven by the butterfly effect, the famous "Kamikaze Agent Team" stepped onto the stage of history ahead of time.

Then, there was no then. There was no experience to talk about a plane crashing into a warship, and there was no training to talk about.

As long as the plane crashed into a warship, regardless of whether it hit the target or not, both the pilot and the plane would be finished.

…

On March 16, 1905, the Shinra East African Front Army broke through Djibouti, and the remaining British troops were forced to lay down their weapons and surrender.

Overnight, the Cape of Good Hope became the last stronghold of Britannia on the African continent. For a time, the pressure on the Government of London increased.

Under an inconspicuous building was a temporary air-raid shelter. This was the British government conference room.

Because of the deadline, there was no time to renovate the conference room. Perhaps it was for aesthetics, or perhaps it was for convenience, the surrounding walls were full of military maps.

There was even a huge sand table in the center of the desk. Standing in it was like being in a military command center, but this was indeed a government conference room.

The military style in the room was forced out by the war. Since the outbreak of the war, the main responsibility of the Government of the United Kingdom changed from governing the country to serving the war.

Colonial Secretary Kerman: "We can't let this go on! If we don't take action, we will lose Africa forever. "

It was not to the extent of losing Africa, but at least there was Madagascar. However, a lone island obviously couldn't be compared to a continent.

Once the Cape of Good Hope fell, Britannia's route to the Indian Ocean was equivalent to being interrupted.

Although they could take a detour, they knew that this time it was not a small detour.

Without supplies from India, Britannia could only rely completely on the Americas. From an overall strategic point of view, this was undoubtedly extremely fatal.

Everyone knew that it was important to keep the Cape of Good Hope, but no one could accurately answer how to keep the Cape of Good Hope.

"The Ministry of the Army has sent reinforcements, but to keep the Cape of Good Hope, we still need the cooperation of the Logistics Department, Navy, and Air Force."

It was not that Marcus wanted to shift the blame, but the situation at the Cape of Good Hope was special. Not only was it stormy, but it also lacked water.

In later generations, Cape Town was known as "the city with the most water shortage in the world." Although it was not so serious now, after the outside water supply was cut off, it was still difficult to rely on groundwater alone to meet the demand.

In the last South African War, the Cape Town colonial government experienced the feeling of water shortage and even used ships to transport fresh water to the front line.

After the war, the colonial government learned a lesson and increased freshwater reserves. However, the thing that bureaucrats were best at was short-lived popularity.

To store water for hundreds of thousands of people was not something that could be done with a few reservoirs. It required a lot of manpower, material resources, and a long-term investment.

Except for the first governor after the war, who took advantage of the popularity and attached great importance to it, the successors were not interested in this unrewarding project.

The plan was ambitious, the investment was large, and the duration was long. The key was that it could not produce any political achievements. Even if the underground water storage project was completed, everyone did not have much of an intuitive feeling.

Instead of filling this bottomless pit, it was better to use money for urban construction and traffic improvement. At least these were things that everyone could see.

Anyway, as long as there was no war, Cape Town would not lack water. Smart bureaucrats naturally knew how to choose.

However, now that the war had broken out, with the continuous contraction of the line of defense, the lack of water resources had become a problem for the Cape Town garrison.

What was even more tragic was that the enemy's air force was rampant. It was flying overhead every day, and ships entering the port during the day was like a disaster.

If the logistical problem was not solved, even if reinforcements were sent, it would only increase the enemy's battle record.

Sensing everyone's concerned gazes, Air Force Minister Attilio waved his hand helplessly. "Don't look at me like that. Everyone knows the situation of the air force. If we could suppress the enemy, we wouldn't be so passive. "

The safety of London's skies could not be guaranteed, let alone the Cape of Good Hope. Even if fighters were transferred over, it would only delay them for a few more days at most. It would still not change the outcome of failure.

The defense of the Cape of Good Hope itself was a battle of weakness against strength. Attilio was not optimistic about confronting the Holy Roman Empire on land.

No matter how important the Cape of Good Hope was, if they could not win, they could not win. Britannia could send reinforcements, and so could the enemy.

For a moment, the shadow of failure surged in everyone's hearts. For the first time, everyone carefully considered the possible consequences of failure in the war.

Seeing everyone's solemn expression, after hesitating again and again, Minister of War Sigmund slowly said, "There's something worse. According to our intelligence agents lurking in the Holy Roman Empire, the enemy is planning to land on land.

The specific battle plan is not clear for the time being. But we can roughly infer that the enemy is preparing to use the navy and air force to cover the land landing.

If we can't disrupt the enemy's air superiority, the Royal Navy will be very risky to intercept the enemy landing.

Maybe this is a trap, deliberately luring the main force of our navy to a specific battlefield and using the power of the air force to encircle and annihilate. "

True and false, false and true. Since the beginning of the war, both sides had passed false information to each other.

But it was different this time. Once the enemy landed on land, even if they knew it might be a trap, the Royal Navy could only bite the bullet and fight.

An overt plot was so terrible. Even if they knew there was a trap, they had to step on it. The Government of the United Kingdom would not gamble with the safety of the British Isles.

If the Royal Navy did not intercept, the enemy's fake show would become real. Once the enemy landed successfully, the Oceanic Alliance would immediately collapse.

No matter how closely everyone was bound before, and how much interest was involved, everyone would still fly separately at the moment of life and death.

In fact, if it weren't for the inconvenience of information transmission these days, and the countries were just immersed in the prestige of Britannia in the past, not knowing the specific situation, it was likely that some people would have already begun to cut off their own flesh to stop losses.

It was dangerous to jump ship in advance, but the probability of survival was higher than struggling to call for help after the ship had sunk.

Without the support of allies, it was only a matter of time for the British Empire to lose once they entered the stage of close combat.

First Lord of the Admiralty Swindin said fiercely, "This must be the enemy's plot against the Royal Navy. Landing before gaining sea power is in itself a risk.

Even if the enemy has air supremacy, the air force is not omnipotent. It will still be difficult to cover the landing of the army.

If surface ships are inconvenient to dispatch, we can still use submarines. If we were to sink one of the transport ships, an entire regiment of troops would be gone. No one can ignore such a loss.

If we are really forced, we can also follow the example of the Japanese and organize a suicide squad to use planes to hit the enemy's ships.

One man, one plane, one bomb for one ship, we … "