Jagged Warlord

The Northeast activities of the Restoration of Korea have greatly restrained the hands and feet of the Japanese troops stationed in North Korea. In addition, Li Mohan has deployed heavy troops in the Northeast, so the Japanese will not easily attack from North Korea to the Northeast.Li Mohan is also not worried that Japan will randomly select a point from China's long coastline to attack, because China has no borders at present, and most of the sea areas are not at the discretion of China.This has advantages and disadvantages, that is, the Japanese can only choose a few locations that do not involve the interests of other Western powers.This at least makes the Chinese navy, which is better than nothing, less tired of coping.

It is impossible for Li Mohan's large-scale military mobilization in Shandong to be hidden from the eyes of the Japanese. The Japanese also dispatched troops quickly, intending to cover up what they failed to get from Yuan Shikai and the "21 Articles" Get it back with the United Fleet.

However, the Western powers who are still sharing the spoils in Paris are unwilling to see another large-scale war in the Far East.From the perspective of Britain, France and other countries, their post-war reconstruction requires Japan to provide them with a large amount of industrial equipment and other materials.Once Japan and China are at war, Japan's industry will inevitably turn to military production again, which is very likely to delay their post-war reconstruction plan.More far-reaching, it will affect the plan of the joint military intervention in the Russian civil war.

Therefore, the British Minister Zhu Erdian, the French Minister Conti, and the American Minister Ren Enshi invited the Japanese Minister Hiki Masaki and the newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs Chen Youren to meet in Dongjiaomin Lane to mediate the Sino-Japanese conflict.

Chen Youren, native of Shunde, Guangdong, was born in Trinidad, West Indies in 1878.His father participated in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement and was the personal bodyguard of the Eastern King Yang Xiuqing. After the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement failed, his father boarded a ship and fled to Central America and settled here.Chen Youren received British education since he was a child (Trinidad was a British colony) and is a well-known local Chinese lawyer. In the autumn of 1911, Chen Youren went to England for vacation as in previous years.In London, he met old friends Philip Tao and Dr. Wu Lien-teh.At that time, the news of the outbreak of the Revolution of [-] had just reached London, and the long-buried patriotism made the three of them sleepless all night. After much deliberation, they decided to return to China immediately.Originally, he wanted to go home and make arrangements, but his reason told him that if he went back, he would be trapped by the affection of his children, so he made up his mind and only sent a telegram to his wife, telling her of his decision, and ordered the children to be sent to the hospital. Went to England to get an education, then hurried back to China.

In 1911, Chen Youren returned to China for the first time via Siberia. He began to join the Beiyang warlord government and was hired as a legal adviser by the Ministry of Communications. In 1914, he left the Ministry of Communications and became the editor of "Beijing Daily News".

At the time of the outbreak of the First World War, when the Chinese government announced its support for the Allies, Chen Youren expressed his disagreement. He was in favor of adopting a neutral policy. He believed that "Japan may use its Allies status to expel the Germans from the Shandong Peninsula and replace them. , establish their own sphere of influence, and violate China's sovereignty." His remarks directly contradicted the official position, and he was forced to resign.Therefore, he founded the English "Beijing News" by himself and acted as the editor-in-chief. In 1915, when Yuan Shikai attempted to establish an imperial system, Liang Qichao wrote "The So-Called State System Problem", opposing Yuan's proclaiming himself emperor. At that time, only Chen Youren's "Beijing News" published it exclusively and caused a sensation.

Because of his proficiency in Western legal codes and his anti-imperialist stance, Chen Youren was called an "iron-fisted diplomat" at that time.

His attitude was very arrogant. He claimed that Japan had signed the "Paris Peace Treaty", and the "Paris Peace Treaty" was legally effective. As a civilized country, it should abide by the peace treaty that has come into effect.

Chen Youren said unceremoniously: "Our country has not signed the treaty, so the treaty is not binding on our country."

Hiki said loudly: "You are challenging the entire civilized world."

Chen Youren chuckled and said, "Who said that? Our country just asks Japan to give up its illegal demands on Shandong and Qingdao."

In this way, Chen Youren and Rizhiyi debated tit for tat all afternoon.

Zhu Erdian, Kandi and Rui Enshi became spectators, helpless and powerless.So Rui Enshi called Zhu Erdian and Kandi outside under the guise of smoking a cigar.Rui Enshi said directly: "The Japanese took advantage of the opportunity of the European war to dominate China. Fortunately, only one strong person in China curbed the Japanese ambitions."

Both Zhu Erdian and Kandi nodded in acquiescence.

Rui Enshi added: "According to the battle reports we have received from Russia, the Red Russian forces are winning steadily, and White Russia may be completely defeated. Who will take them in at that time? Only China. If Red Russia is established, then who will be so powerful?" How much manpower and material resources are there to contain him? In my opinion, China is the only one.”

Condy said: "I don't think the Chinese are so capable. After all, the Japanese defeated the Russians in the Russo-Japanese War."

"That's Tsarist Russia, that country is as bloated and lazy as those alcoholic Russians. But Red Russia is different." Zhu Erdian said that he agrees with Rui Enshi's views. China has a large population and sufficient manpower, material resources and strategy To contain Red Russia in depth, Japan certainly cannot do it.

Rui Enshi lit a cigar for Candy, and then asked, "Do you remember the painting of the Bodhisattva riding a dragon by William II?"

Candy nodded and replied, "Of course I remember."

Zhu Erdian said: "If the Japanese conquered China and got rich manpower and material resources, then that picture will become a reality. Although I don't like the former German emperor very much, I have the same view on the situation in East Asia. It is consistent with him. China and Japan must contain each other, and even hate each other."

Kandy was a little puzzled, and he asked: "Then gentlemen, didn't we bring the two of them here today to mediate and avoid war?"

Rui Enshi smiled and said: "Sometimes, in order to prevent a war, we have to start another war."

Before Rui Enshi finished speaking, he heard the door of the room being pushed open heavily.Chen Youren and Ri Zhiyi came out one after the other, Chen Youren saluted Zhu Erdian, Kandi and Rui En, "Thank you for the coffee, I have something important to do, so I will take my leave first."

Hiki Yi also bowed and saluted, "Farewell."

Candy shrugged his shoulders. "It seems they couldn't reach an agreement."

Rui Enshi said: "We feel that we should help the Chinese secretly, so that the war will not be one-sided, and the two countries can continue to be hostile for a long time."

Zhu Erdian exhaled a smoke ring and said with a smile, "I agree."

"So what do we do instead?" Candy asked.

"This~" Rui Enshi actually didn't think about it yet.

"Mr. Minister." While the three of them were still racking their brains, a staff member of the British Legation came to Zhu Erdian with a telegram, "Mr. Minister, near Qingdao, Japanese planes bombed the squadron."

*****Dividing line*****

Japan's military aviation was first created in the late Meiji period. Even in the Taisho period, most of Japan's military aircraft were foreign goods bought from Europe and the United States. Replacement.

Japan's development speed on aircraft carriers is even comparable to traditional maritime powers such as Britain and the United States.Japan's first aircraft carrier, or seaplane carrier, was the Wakamiya Maru.Moreover, in September 1914, this warship achieved the first air attack launched from the sea in world history. The "Wakamiya Maru" hoisted 9 seaplanes on the sea, and then used these planes to bomb the German target in Qingdao, China. The "Wakamiya Maru" had actual combat experience during World War I.But tracing back to the source, the "Wakamiya Maru" originated from a Russian cargo ship seized by Japan in the Russo-Japanese War in 4, with a displacement of 1905 tons. In 7700, Japan decided to convert the "Wakamiya Maru" into a seaplane carrier.In fact, this Russian freighter was built by Britain in 1913.If the "Wakamiya Maru" could not be considered a waste ship at the beginning, then the 1900-year-old ship is enough to become an "old ship".

However, the main personnel of Japan's Ministry of War and Minister of War at that time came from the army, and the policy it pursued was also a mainland policy!So the strength of the army is huge!In addition, Japan's Shanghai faction and land faction compete for power, so the army pays more attention to the development of the army, and the navy pays more attention to the development of warships under the influence of strategic and tactical views such as ship warfare!In addition, due to concerns about the excessive size of the aircraft carrier target, Japan restricts this!In particular, the victory over Pearl Harbor will further optimize the power of the Shanghai faction!Therefore, the air force is restricted by the power struggle between the land and sea factions!

Because at that time, the air force was not the main force in combat from a global perspective, and most of the Japanese military leaders believed that the air force did not need an independent command.Furthermore, if the Air Force is independent, it will infringe on the existing interests of the traditional navy and army factions, so the Air Force cannot be independent at all.Although Japan learned the aviation tactics of the European continent at the beginning, Japan is an island country surrounded by sea.At that time, fighter planes did not have aerial refueling technology and could not fly far, so the combat radius was not large.There is no large-scale air force supply base in Japan, in order to integrate the combat capabilities of aviation, sea and sea.The Japanese army vigorously developed aircraft carrier technology.Therefore, the air force followed the battleship group, forming a situation in which the air force relied on the navy.This was the strategy implemented at the time, and it also met the actual needs at the time. The navy led the air force to fight at sea.After landing, the air force also supports the army's operations.Therefore, the Japanese Army Air Corps and the Army Aviation Headquarters were formed.In short, the Navy and the Army have never allowed the Air Force to be independent.

Although the pilots on Wakamiya Maru have some actual combat experience, they are still in the initial stage of aircraft carrier development.The inexperienced pilots and the not-so-good performance of the Farmand seaplane made the Japanese pilots who were conducting flight exercises near Qingdao mistakenly drop a bomb on the head of the National Defense Forces convoy that had been delivering supplies.