The dark clouds pressed over Tokyo, as if a fierce storm was about to come.

There was still a scene of people rushing on the streets. In the newspapers published that day, it was still predicting that the Imperial Navy won a huge victory, and optimistic speculations on how many Chinese warships were sunk. Many retired old bastards expressed their passionately that in their lifetime, they would see the second glorious victory of the "Jiangwu" and the new spring of the empire is coming!

It seems that they are full of blind trust in such prophecies. Most people have a ray of longing and expectation on their faces. Many young students even made an appointment to go to Wujungang to welcome the triumph of the navy, nervously gathered money to buy banners, wrote big characters, and fiercely discussed the possible battle situation, the arrangement of troops, and the rapid changes in the situation in China caused by the consequences. What measures will Japan take to consolidate this victory.

In major newspapers, young reporters stretched their necks and waited outside the Navy, hoping to catch the news of the victory as soon as possible. Many manuscripts have even been written, just waiting for the news of victory to arrive, or the approximate number will be filled in and printed, and distributed nationwide!

In short, there is optimism and expectation.

And what has been circulated in China is known everywhere that the news of the sensational victory of China and the Japanese Navy's defeat was severely blocked, and radio stations, wireless telephones and other channels to China were all supervised, so there should not be any leakage of information. There were not many radios that could receive short-wave signals from the public, and few people understood Chinese. They were concerned about the content and news that were played in China.

The military command, which had no preparations for this, wasted a lot of effort before it could barely deploy. Ships and planes that drove from other places were severely reminded not to spread any "fake news" that was not conducive to Japan. On the surface, it was still full of singing and dancing and optimism.

The main officials of the Navy, Military Command, and Shimamasa Head Office were urgently summoned when they took a sharp turn early in the morning. Minai Mitsumasa, Fushimi Miyaki Hirokyo, Lieutenant General Ueda Soshiki, etc. were all here, and a bunch of people were waiting in the conference room with a serious expression, frowning in a meeting room with a little British style. Various newspapers and outs and outs of the air transported from China were piled up. A table was piled up.

Mine Mitsumasa held both hands and placed them flat in front of his lower abdomen, and placed his military cap on the table with his left hand in a regular manner. His eyes were closed and his face was expressionless, as if he was resting, but the corners of his mouth that drooped downward at a large angle and his gray face as if he was smoked clearly showed his real situation.

Fushimi Miya's eyes were cold and cold, trying to force himself not to tear the newspaper in his hand into pieces. His cheeks twitched twice, and his voice asked dryly: "The news has been confirmed. It is impossible for the concealment of the people to be too long. What can I do?"

Everyone bowed their heads together.

What can I do? The whole country is looking forward to a big victory. It has been promoted since yesterday. Today, you tell them that the Imperial Navy suffered huge losses and returned from a crushing defeat. Until now, it is not certain that there are several main ships that can be returned. What will they think? Not to mention ordinary people, I am afraid that the madmen in the Army Department will directly wave their swords and kill them, and dismantle them, the main responsible persons?

Fortunately, the Army was beaten to pieces last time when it launched an attack. It hasn't been so arrogant recently. Otherwise, the second Tokyo Bloody Night will definitely be staged again on 8.26 August!

The decisions were all made by them together. The action plan, the military command and the Navy Ministry worked together and planned in detail. In order to judge the enemy's naval forces, the Shipbuilding Headquarters could not escape the relationship. In other words, the warships that were assured that the opponent's warships were counterfeit and shoddy products that were thin and stuffy, and were definitely not the opponent of the "Nagom-level" battleships. What was the result? They all died there! On the contrary, the opponent's air force was not very effective. This resulted in the empty plan. I really don't know what to say!

He refused to speak, right? Fushimi Miyaki Hirokyo's heart was filled with anger, and glared at Minami Mitsumasa with a chill and shouted: "Minai Navy Minister, should you give some useful insights?"

Mine Hiromasa raised his eyelids slightly, and the corners of his mouth moved for a few times without saying a word immediately. Before the launch, he was not particularly optimistic about the plan, and repeatedly stated that the Chinese people's usual insidiousness would never allow people to see their true strength. Rampantly formulating a combat plan that only thinks is perfect will suffer.

Even after the fleet chased out more than a thousand nautical miles, he once again raised concerns that it was too far away from the local area and in a particularly complicated Pacific Ocean, anything could happen, and the other party ran there without fear and had some support. Before discovering, it is best to act cautiously. The key is not to anger the Americans. Run eastward and enter the US Navy patrol area.

No one listened. Japan actually didn't welcome him as a stubborn conservative. If the Army had not been defeated continuously, and the Cabinet and the Senate wanted a safe person to take the helm, he would not let him, who would keep silent, be the Prime Minister of the Sea. The Imperial Japanese Navy had talents!

But in the current situation, it seems that if he makes a big fuss about the crow, it will be even more jealous. The first name of Fushimi Palace is him, and he may not have no bad intentions. The Navy, someone will take the blame!

Mine Mitsumasa seemed to have specially accumulated confidence and slowly spoke: "It is always necessary to control public opinion to the greatest extent, but it is not easy to hide it for a long time. China has deployed many spies in the empire to spread news that are unfavorable to the empire and to crack down on the confidence of the people. The key tasks in front of us are to see if we can find ways to cause more damage to China and save some situations; secondly, divert the attention of the people and reduce the impact of unfavorable combat news to the greatest extent. Moreover, this matter must be submitted to the Emperor's Holy Reign, and we cannot make the decision."

The Kiku-hui battleship representing royal dignity and the Imperial Navy almost sank. If you don’t tell Hirohito, how can you succeed?

Fushimiguchi felt a little relieved. No matter what, the sea prime minister was still very helpful. The two points he put forward were very important. He turned his head and glanced around everyone: "According to the advice of the Navy Minister Mine, you can take out any specific action strategies. Now is not the time to get angry!"

Someone started to start, so there was no need to worry about responsibility for those behind. As Yamamoto Iroku and the backbone of the Navy’s Aviation Department, Oshiki Takijiro bulged his eyes and saw that the generals refused to speak, so he stood up straight and said: "The most important thing at the moment is to strengthen the air force of the special fleet as soon as possible! Take off fighter jets and bombers from the local area. It can provide effective support within a few hours!"

The eyes of a group of people immediately glared at me, and Mine Mitsumasa said calmly: "Colonel Oshi's words make sense, but have you ever considered whether the fighter can fly back?"

The fleet that set out to fight is now more than a thousand nautical miles away from the local area! That is, the distance between two thousand kilometers and zero is not impossible if the fighter takes off. The latest A6m3 or the 96-4 fighter with a roadbed can reach 3,000 kilometers, and twin-engine bombers can also reach this distance.

But the problem is that the maximum range must be light load. Without bombs, it can only be aerial combat escort. It is difficult to form a direct strike against enemy naval ships. The worst thing is, how can they come back if they can go but have no place to fall? Or, why don’t they come back at all?

Takijiro Oshiki said carelessly: "Compared with warships, the value of the aircraft is nothing. As long as it can protect the fleet from safely disengagement, or launch a heavy blow to the Chinese Navy, it is worth it to lose some losses!"

This seems to make sense! No matter how bad a battleship is, it costs tens of millions of dollars; what about a fighter plane? It’s less than 100,000 to die. It’s a good deal if you lose a hundred thousand!

The key is that no one cares or cares about how much the aircraft has lost, but the main warship has been destroyed, which will cause panic among the people!

It's almost a mortal rescue operation! But no one cares about that. At worst, give each plane a parachute?

Fushimimiya nodded gently with her mouth puffed and said, "Col. Osashi's proposal is very good, and it can be implemented as such. So, what about other methods?"

Others? There is really no good idea. It is so far away, but the battle situation is so urgent. It takes at least two or three days for the ship to get to the fore. Only the plane can manage the business.

Lt. General Ueda So-God, the head of Shimamasa, proposed: "To divert the attention of the people, it is best to downplay the news of fighting against China from now on, so that they can focus on our new warships. At present, the two new main warships are close to completion, and we can open them in advance to arouse national interest and replace the original warships in their minds. In this way, even if the news is leaked, there is always room for relief."

Fushimiya's eyes lit up, and a hint of satisfaction appeared on her face: "This proposal is excellent! The strength of the navy is the foundation of the empire's strength. It is better to let them see more hope than staring at something irrelevant. This can be done!"

As the head of the military command, Fushimi Miyagi Hirokyo was an unswerving core leader of the fleet. In his mind, the larger the navy, the better! The more warships, the better! Of course, don't say much about the differences with the army.

At present, the two supplementary warships that passed the proposal in January 1936 and started construction that year completed the main construction at the end of last year. It has only been barely completed the installation and installation of the water. In fact, it will take some time to officially launch the water. The internal equipment installation and debugging have not been completed, and the ammunition depot is empty, forming combat power, at least at the end of the year... But when things are about to come, I can only take them out to hold the bar first. After all, the naval guns and other things have been completed, and the surface is radiant, no problem!

"But in this way, the real situation of our newly built warships will be known to other countries. Although they have withdrawn from the naval agreement, it will be bad if they arouse vigilance and blockade from each country at this critical moment."

The more cautious people immediately put forward different opinions. Everyone present knew that the newly built warship standards had already seriously exceeded the standards of the Washington Navy Agreement. The standard displacement was 47,500 tons, a huge load of 55,000 tons, and a big guy with three triple-mounted 410mm turrets was sure to be the world's first-class level, with thicker armor and more powerful, and if pulled out, it would definitely scare the eyes of the ground. It was too much more than the maximum 35,000 tons standard in the agreement.

But now that it is so open and unrestrained, is it really okay?

Nagano snorted disdainfully: "What's the matter! In the current situation, which country do you think is still interested in the issue of the naval agreement? The Germans are building powerful battleships on a large scale. Why can't Japan? Don't forget, we have always wanted to form an alliance with Germany! Without strong naval power, how could the Germans agree to a close cooperative relationship! If they turn to the Chinese because of the defeat in this battle, that would be a big trouble!"

In the eyes of the fleet's personnel, whether Japan has strong strength and sufficient value depends mainly on the number of warships and the strength of the navy. Most of the combined fleets that have been destroyed and the combined fleet with brand new and powerful warships are completely different!

Nagano Cultivation, who stood on the political standpoint and led to Japan's withdrawal from the naval agreement, was qualified to say this.

Mine Mitsumasa rarely echoed: "This is the right way to consider it. The empire must have strong allies, and Britain, the United States and other countries will only create more trouble and traps for us. I support the proposal of Minister Shimamasa."

After all, he is also the backbone of the navy, so he can't watch the navy fall into a slump.

This article was passed again. Time is urgent. Even if it is always nonsense and disagreeable, it is rare to show enough patience and sincerity in the future of the entire navy and the empire. It is much better than the bastards in the army.

The meeting ended in a few hurried hours, and more than a hundred fighter jets that were taken off from the local area flew towards the vast sea at high speed. They had to rush to the battlefield before dark, and cover the fleet's slow evacuation in the air until the air fuel was exhausted and fell to the sea.

The slow seaplanes and bombers did not dare to send them in the end. That thing is almost a living target. At this time, don’t expect to turn defeat into victory. Let’s save your strength as much as possible first.

Subsequently, several core people including Minumasa and Fushimimiya met with the Emperor.

Emperor Hirohito, who was in the palace, was not deaf about the matter outside the window. He had no shortage of shortwave radios bought from China, and he had known about the reports of China's Volume. Therefore, when a group of naval elites came, his face looked like he had wiped half a pound of white gray, which was so ugly.

"Is this how the ministers are loyal to the empire? The main force of the dignified joint fleet has been fully produced, but it has caused such great losses. How do you think I should explain to my subjects?" (To be continued)!~!
Chapter completed!