In the end, the 'Asahi' failed to escape the pursuit of the Chinese fleet. After escaping for about 6 nautical miles, it was overtaken and massacred. By three o'clock in the afternoon, the entire battle lasted seven hours. This battle determined the fate of China and Japan. The naval battle was basically over.
The thick smoke that stretches for several kilometers in the nearby sea is full of fragments of warships and corpses, and coal and other fuels drifting on the sea are still burning.
None of the four Japanese battleships escaped. The flagship Mikasa was scuttled by Japanese sailors after Togo committed suicide. Shikishima, Fuji, and Asahi were all sunk.
Of the twelve cruisers on the day, only three escaped. China also lost six cruisers and one destroyer, and the Shanghai was also seriously damaged and had to be sent back for overhaul.
It can be said that the brutality of this naval battle is not comparable to the previous ones. The main reason is that the Japanese would rather die than surrender. In the previous naval battles, the British and American fleets had ships that saw the opportunity and surrendered.
Of course, the results of the battle will be brilliant. The elite Japanese navy was completely destroyed in this battle. Naval celebrities such as Togo Heihachiro, Dewa Shigehara, and Kuaou Gaiyoshi were killed in the battle. The Japanese combined fleet was out of ten, and it no longer had the ability to compete with the Beiyang Fleet. A battle was over.
The Japanese combined fleet was annihilated, causing the Japanese, who depended on the sea for survival, to completely lose their ability to engage in foreign wars. They were like castrated male dogs that could no longer bark.
Thirty years of naval construction by the Japanese were ruined. The only thing the Japanese could do was to guard their own land and wait for the arrival of the squadron at any time.
In the Japanese Imperial Palace in Kyoto, several powerful officials from Japan gathered together, waiting anxiously for the news. They had been restless since the Japanese base camp received the telegram from Dongxiang.
"Your Majesty, the navy is over, it's over!"
The Attendant Attach¨¦ and Chief of the Military Interior, Army Major General Okazawa Seifuka, appeared at the door with one foot and one foot, holding a telegram in his hand. He walked in dejectedly, and then fell to the ground, sobbing.
All the ministers looked at each other and became pale. Navy Minister Saigo no longer cared about etiquette and hurriedly crawled over, picked up the telegram in Okazawa Sei's hand and read it.
This telegram was sent by a Japanese cruiser that had a lucky escape. After reading it, Saigo's hands and feet felt cold.
"Your Majesty, only the Hashidate, Itsukushima, and Chiyoda ships of the fleet that went for a sneak attack escaped. The other ships were probably shattered by the empire." Saigo said these words with difficulty. Come.
For a moment, the entire palace became extremely silent, and the Japanese felt that the sky outside suddenly sank, making them breathless.
Even though there was a charcoal fire burning in the hall, Mu Ren could not feel any warmth. This news was like a bolt from the blue, leaving him speechless, and there was no trace of blood on his pale face.
Mu Ren's body went limp and he almost fainted and fell to the ground.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, you have to hold on." Okazawa cried bitterly, stepped forward and hugged Muren's body, shouting loudly.
Several other Japanese ministers also recovered from the blow, and they all burst into tears with tears streaming down their faces.
They may not have fully understood the importance of the navy before, but since the Chinese submarines launched unrestricted submarine warfare, these Japanese have experienced the feeling of being in a cage.
Only by breaking out of the cage can Japan have hope, but now the only hope of breaking out of the cage, the navy, has been cut off.
No wonder Mu Ren had such a reaction.
"My dear friends, our navy has suffered unprecedented losses, and the empire has been in danger." Mu Ren looked at the ministers kneeling below, his eyes filled with tears and sorrow.
"Your Majesty, I am so ashamed of you. I ruined the future of the Japanese Navy!" Saigo faced the ground and kowtowed in apology.
Yamamoto Gonbei originally supported the Japanese navy to huddle in the port. At this time, he felt like he had lost his soul. He regretted that he had not persisted. If he had remonstrated, maybe the navy would have been able to escape this disaster. .
Seeing that blood was pouring from Saigo's forehead, Mutsuhito stood up tremblingly, helped him up, and said sadly: "Saigo-kun, I hope you take care of yourself. The empire still needs you, and the imperial navy is still waiting for you to revive. Don¡¯t stay negative like this.¡±
"Your Majesty!"
Xixiang Congdao kept wiping his tears. Decades of hard work were ruined in one moment. It was a good thing that he didn't collapse and go crazy.
Among all the people present, Katsura Taro was probably the only one who was secretly happy. He thought to himself: In this way, the master will be able to rule the entire world of yellow people in the near future, and then compete with the white people.
Katsura Taro¡¯s ideological realm has already reached a new height.??Not all the Japanese present can compare with each other, but in order to help Liu Zhenming unify the yellow world as soon as possible, Katsura Taro had to continue to endure the humiliation and pretend to be sad.
Mu Ren cheered up, looked at the panicked ministers, and said slowly: "Gentlemen, the empire is facing destruction, and if the Chinese are unwilling to give up, Wei Jichen will definitely continue to attack."
"So, I hope you can work with me to tide over the difficulties. Decades ago, we were able to rise from the Western invasion. This time, we can also recover from the Chinese invasion. As long as we are sincere and united, there will be no war." Can¡¯t win.¡±
Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi wiped his tears with the corner of his clothes and echoed: "Your Majesty is right. Although the navy failed, as long as our army is still there, it is impossible for the Chinese to conquer the Japanese Empire."
However, other people in Japan were not as optimistic as Ito Hirobumi and Mutsuhito. On that day, the news of the defeat of the Japanese Combined Fleet spread throughout Japan at a terrifying speed.
The Japanese government, from high-ranking officials and wealthy people to traffickers and lackeys, all appear panicked. The atmosphere in Japan as a whole is one of panic and uneasiness.
Once upon a time, the Japanese were so confident that they thought they could defeat China and dominate Asia and then the world. But now, when some of their glory was deprived, they discovered that they were just clowns on a small island. Even those who thought they were the best The navy that took action was lost.
In the future, what else can be used to block the Chinese attack from the sea? Originally, Liu Buchan led the fleet to attack the Japanese coastal cities. The Japanese still had hopes in their hearts, hoping that their fleet would defeat the Chinese fleet. However, now all their hopes have come to nothing. , it¡¯s time to wake up from the daydream.
People in Japan¡¯s coastal port cities are packing up their things and moving inland, making the Japanese economy, which is already on the verge of collapse, even worse.
The extreme character of the Japanese people was also fully demonstrated at this moment. Some ordinary people, wearing white cloth strips on their heads and samurai swords in their hands, rushed into the streets, vowing to protect the emperor to the death and die with the enemy.
¡°And some people are pessimists, as if they think the end of the world is coming, and there are obviously more people drinking and dissolute late at night.
When Wei Jichen got the news, it was already evening, and heavyweight officials such as Liu Kunyi, the governor of Liangjiang, Lu Chuanlin, the governor of Jiangsu, and Wang Zhichun, the governor of Anhui, were visiting him.
The Chinese people always like to meet in private when doing things, and these people came secretly to find out what Wei Jichen had to say.
"Some of Wei Jichen's words today were quite meaningful, and they couldn't sit still.
**, it was a common phenomenon in the Qing Dynasty. From Li Hongzhang, a feudal official, to Ronglu, an important official in the central government, to a seventh-rank Xiaozhima official, all officials were truly corrupt.
Liu Kunyi was certainly aware of this. Wei Jichen issued the strongest anti-corruption declaration in history - he sent a telegram to all provinces on the night of New Year's Eve, asking provincial officials to be honest and caring for the people. It is not an exaggeration to say that it was the strongest anti-corruption declaration in history. Liu Kunyi, like Li Hongzhang, had already withdrawn at that time, but there were still many greedy people in his faction and his subordinates. In order to find a way out for these people, he naturally had to intercede with Wei Jichen.
"Your Majesty, I am afraid that the old problems left over from the previous dynasty cannot be changed for a while. Moreover, the salaries of some officials are a bit low and cannot even subsidize their families. In addition, colleagues usually send gifts and dinners. Without some additional income, I'm afraid I can't hold on any longer." Liu Kun said this bravely in front of Wei Jichen.
Jiangsu Governor Lu Chuanlin and Anhui Governor Wang Zhichun both stood aside with their heads lowered, but their eyes secretly glanced at Wei Jichen who was sitting in his seat drinking tea.
They all say that Emperor Jianwu kills people without calculation. When I saw him today, it was true. He even had a faint smell of murder on his body.
Wei Jichen put down his tea cup and said in a serious tone: "So, Mr. Li thinks that the corruption of ink is reasonable? Officials give gifts to each other. Could it be that the thicker the gift is, the greater the promotion will be?"
Liu Kunyi did not dare to answer directly, but said with a slight embarrassment: "I don't mean that, I just hope that your majesty can take it for the sake of the truth, otherwise it will easily cause turmoil. After all, we are fighting against Japan now. critical period."
"Absurd!" Wei Jichen slammed the table, raised his sword eyebrows high, and shouted: "Open the net to one side? I have already opened the net to many sides. Don't these people know that I am a murderer and think that I have done it?" The emperor wants the world to be benevolent and virtuous? It is reasonable and reasonable. What does it mean to be reasonable? Such layer upon layer of exploitation will eventually fall on the common people of Shengdou. These common people will cause trouble if they cannot survive. When trouble occurs, the world will fall apart. You Liu Kun will not understand this truth. Right? If the country is compared to a house, the people are my cornerstone, and the officials are at best justOne pillar after another, if the pillar is broken, just replace it. If the foundation stone is damaged, the house will not be far from collapse. "
Wei Jichen's words caused cold sweat to break out on the foreheads of all the officials, and no one dared to express his anger.
Wei Jichen wanted to speak, but Su San walked in quickly under the grateful eyes of all the officials, and then whispered in Wei Jichen's ear: "Your Majesty, a telegram just came from the front line, the navy has achieved a great victory, the Japanese main fleet destruction."
The angry look on Wei Jichen's face suddenly turned into a happy look.
"Okay, I don't believe it. It's more difficult to govern officials than to defeat the Japanese fleet!" Wei Jichen stood up and said loudly.
Defeat the Japanese fleet?
Liu Kun and others looked at each other and saw surprise in each other's eyes.
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