Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

Chapter 401 Sino-Japanese Conflict
In the afternoon of the same day, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a protest to the Ministry of the Navy and the Ministry of the Navy, strongly condemning the authorities for sending warships into China's territorial waters and killing, injuring, and illegally detaining Chinese citizens, which constituted a serious provocation to the national dignity of the Chinese Empire. Restrictions: 48. Unconditionally release detained Chinese citizens.Second, severely punish the perpetrators.[-]. Compensation for the loss of the family members of the dead and injured in China (the specific amount is to be determined). The above three items are limited to reply within [-] hours, otherwise China will take all necessary and powerful measures to recover the loss.

This paper of protest was thrown at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs like a blockbuster. After receiving the news, Takaaki Kato, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, was on pins and needles. On the surface, the Bird Harbor incident was an accidental conflict, but it was like a small drop of aqua regia. There is a vortex in the undercurrent of Sino-Japanese relations. After all, the other party is the powerful Chinese Empire. Before it became stronger, God knows what kind of decision Emperor Guangxu, who is high above the Forbidden City, will make a hot-headed decision, but even an immature Decisions have the potential to have devastating effects on the entire community.

The more Kato Takaaki thought about it, the more frightened he became, and he came to see Emperor Meiji with a letter of protest from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

At this time, Emperor Meiji was discussing state affairs with the ministers of the Ministry of the Navy in the main hall of the imperial palace "Matsunokaku" in the central area of ​​Tokyo. The center of the topic was the Tori Harbor Incident.The news brought by Kato Takaaki cast another shadow over Meiji's bad mood.

"This incident was entirely the fault of the Admiralty, and you should be fully responsible for the consequences of this incident!" Meiji reprimanded mercilessly.

Naval Commander Yuhiro Ito's face was ashen, obviously dissatisfied with the emperor's accountability, but he kept nodding and said: "Hi!"

The more the emperor said, the more angry he became: "What is the plan I explained to you, have you all forgotten? I asked you to go to the disputed waters between China and Japan to make tentative provocations, and then observe China's reaction. It is the national strategy of the entire great empire. If it wants to develop, it must go west. However, China will always be the biggest stumbling block to development. However, we have to admit that with our current strength, we cannot confront the mighty China at all, so we can only carry out Exploration. China is busy with the Eastern Aid Plan. Their eyes are always on Europe. They don’t pay much attention to the few islands under their feet. The sea plan is to secretly occupy the islands in the East China Sea and South China Sea The sea defense line is expanding westward. This was originally a very perfect plan, but what about you, your naval soldiers dared to kill and wound dozens of Chinese people, and even detained all the remaining Chinese crew members. Is China making an excuse for its second invasion? Bastard! God will not forgive your stupid behavior!"

Meiji was so enraged, he kept cursing these high-ranking officials of the Ministry of the Navy.Ito Youheng waited for a while, gritted his teeth and said: "Your Majesty, since things have developed to this point now, it is useless for us to be afraid. The Imperial Navy has made all preparations. It is ready to serve the Emperor at any time."

With a bang, Meiji overturned the wooden table in front of him to the ground, spilled the tea on the floor, stood up abruptly, pointed to Yuheng Ito and said, "You are still the Minister of the Imperial Navy, you are planning to go to war with China You should first look at the strength of our country’s navy, just relying on the capabilities of your existing warships to confront the powerful Chinese navy, have you forgotten? Even when the Chinese navy was weak in strength, it still defeated the The most powerful British Far East Fleet in the world later annihilated the largest Russian Far East Fleet in Asia. What's more, they now have super battleships such as the Zhonghua class, the Dreadnought class, and the Dingyuan class, as well as the only one in the world. Submarine force, most of our warships were purchased from Europe before the World War. They cannot be compared with Chinese warships in terms of firepower, performance, and quantity. I really don’t know what you officials of the Navy Department are thinking What!"

In the entire Songzhi Pavilion, there was no other sound except Meiji's shouting and cursing. The senior officials present were silent, and they didn't even dare to make a sound. In their minds, His Majesty the Emperor has always been a An elegant gentleman monarch, never seen him lose his temper so much.

Although Yuto Ito did not dare to say anything, he was full of complaints, thinking that the emperor was too afraid of the Chinese. Back then, the Chinese were able to defeat the British fleet when their strength was weak, so why was it impossible to defeat China's sea power? Well, he is determined to prove it to His Majesty the Emperor himself if he has the opportunity.

At this moment, a senior staff officer from the Ministry of the Navy quietly came to Ito Youheng and said a few words to him in a low voice. When Ito Youheng heard it, his face changed drastically, and he walked gently to Yu Nuwei. In front of the disappearing emperor, he whispered the news he had just received to the emperor. The more Meiji heard it, the more frightened he became. In the end, he couldn't believe that what Ito Youheng said was true. In just one minute, all his anger disappeared without a trace, and he just waved his hands weakly.Ito Yuheng didn't know what this meant, and in the midst of surprise, Meiji's most violent voice shouted: "Get out of my sight, if you can't handle this matter well, go see Amaterasu God !"

Since the bird harbor incident, domestic media with a keen sense of smell have surrounded the Ministry of Foreign Affairs every day. Later, I don’t know where they got the news. First, the Beijing Morning Post published a report in the form of a headline on the front page. "The warship brazenly invaded China's territorial waters and slaughtered Chinese fishermen bloody!" Once this news was published, it quickly caused an uproar across the country. Immediately afterwards, the Songjiang Evening News, Guangzhou Evening News, Shengjing Times and other media reprinted this report.The news of the navy’s invasion of China swept across the country like a storm, and it swept across the country with an unstoppable force. Schools, industrial and commercial alliances, etc. all over the country spontaneously organized mass demonstrations to protest the atrocities and strongly demanded severe punishment. The army, especially the navy, has a greater influence. Many grassroots officers have sent letters to the Ministry of the Navy, asking the military to take decisive measures against people.

For the strong reaction of ordinary people, Guan Xuqing supports it in his heart. This is an opportunity to unite the national spirit and arouse patriotic enthusiasm. However, he ordered the garrisons and security personnel in various places to maintain the normal social order in the localities and must not cause major incidents. large-scale riots.However, he was a little worried about the mood swings in the navy. He was worried that someone in the navy would make some uncalmly moves, which would affect the overall plan.For this reason, he summoned Liu Buchan and Lin Jianzhang many times, and repeatedly stated that he should control the emotions of naval officers and take strict precautions against accidents.

However, Guan Xuqing's worries were definitely not superfluous. Just two days after the Bird Harbor incident, something happened to the Imperial Navy.

It happened on the morning of April 21st.A fleet of naval vessels departing from Weihai arrived at Nagasaki Port after a half-day voyage. A torpedo boat broke into the port to demonstrate, whether it was unable to hold back its anger or was instructed by the high-level fleet, and pulled out a banner to write a letter. The 37 guns on the four blood-red characters "Blood Debt and Blood Repayment" also fired warning shots at some warships in the port.

Although people were intimidated by the large fleet outside the port, they still sent two cruisers to drive away the torpedo boat Bei C, but they never fired.Just rely on its own large tonnage and speed to swim with the torpedo boat.

After receiving the news, Ito Yuheng immediately returned to the Ministry of the Navy from the palace.To this end, he dispatched the Fuso ship and the Chiyoda ship to Nagasaki Port for support.He is very aware of the current predicament. The Chinese are deliberately provoking. If one is not handled well, it is very likely that it will bring disaster to all the possessions of the navy of the great empire currently in hand.As a newly promoted member of the navy, if it weren't for the bird port incident, the emperor once highly valued him, saying that he represented the future hope of the large navy.Facing his seemingly smooth career, Ito had to be more cautious for himself and for the Imperial Navy.

The telegram he sent to the garrison fleet in the military port was not to undermine the dignity of the country, but he did not take the initiative to cause trouble.Therefore, although the Chinese torpedo boat Bei Cing fired recklessly, the Fuso and Chiyoda ships never fired back. They were trying to use large tonnage to drive the torpedo boat out of the military port.

However, after a while, all the fleet left the waters outside Nagasaki Port and turned to the south, and the reconnaissance reports on the shore were continuously sent back to the ears of Yuheng Ito, the naval headquarters in Tokyo.

They voluntarily evacuated?What do the Chinese want to do?
Immediately afterwards, the telegram said: The enemy ship began to turn to the east.

Ito Yuheng's head exploded all of a sudden.The Chinese left a torpedo boat in the military port, but the large-scale fleet group bypassed Kyushu Island and then went straight to the east. Isn't the east just Tokyo?
As the Minister of the Imperial Navy, if the enemy fleet is allowed to pass through the defense zone of Sasebo Port and go straight to Tokyo Bay, in case of any incident, then he Ito Yuheng will not be able to atone for his sins even if he dies a hundred times.

After ordering to continue the observation, Ito Yuheng ordered all ships to abandon the Chinese torpedo boat Beibing, leave the port at full speed, and pursue the Chinese fleet.

Not long after, an unexpected thing happened.In the face of this nasty torpedo boat, the old captain of the Fuso Arai Yuki made a mistake of rushing to the heart. The semaphore just sent from the delivery of the Matsushima from the French Mediterranean shipyard indicated that the fleet must immediately prepare for battle and defend Tokyo. , but the small torpedo boat in front of him took advantage of its small size and fast speed to quickly break through the protective circle of the two cruisers and rush into the harbor.Because the fleet is about to set off to fight, if this torpedo boat is released into the port at this time, the consequences will be disastrous.Moreover, if you don't fight at this time, you will be even more unable to attack when the small boat enters the fleet and throws it at the mouse.

(End of this chapter)