northernbook Chapter 56: A Bolt from the Blue for the Japanese, Powering the Nation
Chapter 56: A Bolt from the Blue for the Japanese, Powering the Nation
Chishan County, government office building.
Jiang Hua was chatting with Jiang Jingrui, the young commander of the Saibei Army.
The topic was about the war situation in Qidong Province.
"Brother Jiang, the island city was bombarded by the Fuso giant warships. These Fuso people are so arrogant that they regard the lives of the people of our ancient country as worthless.
But they do have the capital to be arrogant. Their navy is too strong, while our navy is too weak.
Take our Saibei Army for example. Although we have a Saibei Fleet, the largest tonnage is not as large as a slightly larger cruiser of the Fuso people. It is really pathetic. "
Jiang Hua heard Jiang Jingrui's voice becoming increasingly low, and knew that he was still feeling very aggrieved.
Just as he said, the Fuso Navy does have the capital to be arrogant and is indeed very strong.
The gap between the two sides is despairing, but in Jiang Hua's opinion, as long as he is given a few years, the gap can be caught up or even surpassed.
However, he would not simply let go of the fact that they bombarded the island city, causing countless casualties among the people of the ancient country, and this blood debt could not be settled by simply destroying a fleet.
"Brother Jingrui, don't worry. I will make them pay for this blood debt, and it won't take too long.
As for the Fuso warships that participated in this bombardment, none of them can escape, and they must pay with blood."
"what?!"
Jiang Hua’s first sentence was nothing, but the second sentence confused him.
"Could it be that Brother Jiang has a fleet that can defeat the Fuso Navy?"
"Not yet, and not likely to be in the near future."
"So what do you mean, Brother Jiang? Do you have a way to deal with the Fuso fleet?"
Hearing Jiang Jingrui's question, he just smiled and stopped talking.
Using shore-based aviation to attack the Fuso fleet was a top secret. Once it was revealed, the great powers would know that fighter planes were capable of threatening battleships.
Then why don't they work hard to develop fighter jets and aircraft carriers?
After all, many people's concepts have not changed yet.
Jiang Hua doesn't want to be a naval reformer and lead the global naval reform, at least not now.
Just when Jiang Jingrui wanted to continue speaking, Ling Liang's voice came from the door.
"commander!"
Ling Liang's heroic figure appeared at the door of the reception room. He looked at Jiang Jingrui and then looked back at Jiang Hua.
She came to see me at this time, it must be because there was good news from the naval battle in Qidong.
"Is this the battle report from Qidong? If so, just tell me directly."
The result of this naval battle must be announced nationwide, so it doesn’t matter if Jiang Jingrui hears it. It’s just a matter of knowing it a day or two earlier.
Ling Liang understood what Jiang Hua meant and nodded, saying, "Gu Zhengyang sent a telegram saying that we won a great victory in this battle. We completely wiped out two Fuso battleships, five cruisers, and eight destroyers, with a total tonnage sunk reaching 12 tons."
"Great!"
Hearing this exciting news, Jiang Hua finally felt relieved and stood up excitedly.
Jiang Jingrui, who was standing by, was stunned when he heard the news, his eyes full of disbelief.
"Sorry, could you please say that again?"
Even though he heard it clearly, Jiang Jingrui still found it hard to believe.
Two battleships, five cruisers, and eight destroyers were sunk.
What a niche word this sounded to him.
He remembered that the last time more than two battleships were sunk was on the Western battlefield.
After a while, Jiang Jingrui stood up and looked at Jiang Hua as if he was looking at a monster.
"Brother Jiang, is this news true? How did you do it?"
Jiang Hua nodded and said, "I can confirm that this news is true. As for how it was done, I will keep it secret."
After hearing Jiang Hua's exact answer, there was only deep shock in his eyes.
This news was too much of a shock to him.
"I want to call home and tell them the news, is that okay?"
After a moment, Jiang Jingrui suddenly reacted and looked at Jiang Hua expectantly.
Jiang Hua knew that he wanted to tell Jiang Yulin the news, but it didn't matter. The news would be in the newspaper tomorrow, so there would be no leak.
"can!"
Jiang Jingrui left the study immediately.
Only then did Jiang Hua ask, "What are our casualties?"
"Seven fighter planes were damaged, and one of them crashed because it didn't make it to the airport. However, the pilot ejected, so we lost one fighter plane."
Jiang Hua was also a little shocked after hearing this number.
He originally thought that dozens of fighter planes would be killed or injured, but he didn't expect that only one fighter plane crashed, and it was because it was on the way back with injuries, and was not shot down on the scene. This is really hard to believe.
Ling Liang also noticed Jiang Hua's shock, and with a smile on his face, he said, "The Fuso warships' anti-aircraft firepower was very weak. The shore-based aviation forces first destroyed their warships' anti-aircraft firepower before launching the attack, so the casualties were better than expected."
"Great! Please edit the manuscript and then issue a telegram to the whole nation. Then send the photos taken on the scene to major newspapers through the Intelligence Bureau. (There won't be any photos of the planes, just the pictures of the battleship sinking.)
Let the people of the whole country know this good news."
This is a good opportunity for the Fuxing Army to enhance its reputation, and it can also boost the national confidence of the people. It is certainly worth reporting nationwide.
After returning to the guesthouse, Jiang Jingrui used a dedicated line to call the Marshal's Mansion in Shengzhou City, Andong Province.
"Hello, I'm Jiang Yulin, you're Jingrui, right?"
Jiang Yulin's deep and deep voice came from the other end of the phone.
"Dad, it's me!"
Jiang Jingrui couldn't wait to share the news with him.
"Dad, I just came out of Brother Jiang Hua's study and learned some news.
The Fuso fleet that bombarded the island city, causing heavy casualties among the civilians, was completely annihilated. The Restoration Army, through unknown means, sank two Fuso battleships, five cruisers, and eight destroyers.
"what?"
Jiang Yulin's voice on the other end of the phone immediately rose several degrees, even a little sharp.
Obviously, this news had a huge impact on Jiang Yulin.
"What? They completely wiped out the Fuso fleet and even sank two battleships?"
Jiang Xiangyang's exclamation was heard from the other end of the phone.
"Are you sure what you said is true?"
This news was so shocking that even Jiang Yulin had to confirm it again.
"Dad, it's absolutely true. I've already confirmed the news. I don't think Brother Jiang Hua needs to scare me with this."
There was an immediate silence on the other end of the phone.
Jiang Yulin and Jiang Xiangyang looked at each other with disbelief in their eyes, not knowing what to say.
"okay, I get it!"
Jiang Yulin put down the phone and slowly sat down.
"Xiangyang, how do you think they did it?"
Jiang Xiangyang recovered from his shock and shook his head, saying, "This is unheard of, unbelievable."
These two idioms are also Jiang Xiangyang's answers.
Unprecedented means that among all the naval battles in the past, only Jutland can be compared with this one.
In that naval battle, John's people lost three battlecruisers, three cruisers and eight destroyers, totaling 8 tons.
汉斯方面沉没战巡1艘、前无畏舰1艘、巡洋舰4艘、鱼雷艇5艘，总吨位6.2万吨。
Among the Japanese battleships, the lowest tonnage is 3 tons.
The two battleships alone weighed 60,000 tons.
In other words, the tonnage of the Japanese warships sunk in this battle was probably no less than 100,000 tons.
It is precisely because of this that Jiang Xiangyang still finds it hard to believe this news.
However, Jiang Jingrui's tone was so certain, which meant that the news was highly credible.
As for how he did it, he couldn't think of it, couldn't figure it out, and even many people couldn't figure it out.
The people who got the news the fastest were not Jiang Hua, but the Fuso people on the other side.
The battleships Fuso and Yamashiro sank because of the secondary explosion, so they did not have time to send out the message.
At this time, the entire fleet became leaderless.
So before sinking, the heavy cruiser Ashigara used the ship's long-wave radio to send a farewell telegram to the Combined Fleet Headquarters in the mainland.
When the Combined Fleet Commander Takahashi Yoshiyama translated the contents of the secret message, he stood up suddenly, his whole body froze, and his mind went blank.
It is simply impossible to believe this unacceptable fact.
After a while, Takahashi Yoshiyama rubbed his eyes, reread the contents of the secret message, and began to tremble all over.
Then he slumped down in his chair, muttering, "How is this possible? How is this possible? This is absolutely impossible..."
However, the farewell telegram was a secret message, which also described the sinking of the battleships Fuso and Yamashiro. He had to accept this fact even if he didn't want to.
Knowing the seriousness of the situation, Takahashi Yoshiyama drove to the Military Affairs Headquarters with the secret telegram. He was a little distraught along the way.
Seeing Takahashi Yoshiyama losing his composure in front of him, the Chief of the Army, Prince Ryunosuke Nagashima, frowned and warned, "Takahashi, is the sky falling? You've lost your composure."
There is not only Ryunosuke Nagashima here, but also a group of high-ranking naval generals.
Takahashi Yoshiyama did not say anything, but handed the secret message in his hand to Nagashima Ryunosuke.
When Ryunosuke Nagashima saw the above content, his eyes widened and his heart seemed to skip a beat.
"The entire task force was wiped out... How is this possible? This is absolutely impossible..."
Prince Nagashima Ryunosuke's tone was full of disbelief.
His words were like a depth bomb, leaving all the senior naval officers in the conference room stunned.
"What? Takahashi-kun, what on earth is going on?"
"How could the Qidong Task Force be completely wiped out? Who did it?"
Suddenly the whole conference room was in chaos.
This task force alone is the first fleet in Dongzhou, and the entire Dongzhou does not have the ability to sink this fleet.
So no one can believe that this fact is true.
"It was the Restoration Army. They deployed hundreds of fighter planes. The Fuso and Yamashiro were attacked and sunk by the enemy's torpedo planes."
This news was like a bolt from the blue for everyone.
Especially when the emperor heard the news, he even smashed everything that could be smashed in the palace.
In the ancient country, early the next morning, a telegram that shocked the entire country and even the major powers of the world came from Chishan County, Beire Province.