In mid-January 1926, there was no end in West Borneo.

The decisive shelling of Hunhe and Feihong was effective, not only scaring the thugs to flee deep into the rainforest, but even the local ordinary people who were originally watching the fun began to evacuate from West Borneo. The Dutch colonial government of Batavia did not dare to neglect it. Not only did it transfer the only two cruisers, but it also sent more than 700 soldiers to maintain public order and arrest the murderers involved in the riot and killing the Chinese, hoping to resolve the crisis as soon as possible.

But Lord Deco was uneasy that more and more warships gathered on the coast of West Borneo. No one expected that the British Empire, which was deeply involved in the post-war recession, would be so determined this time. Not only did the entire Far East Fleet dispatch, but also sent three cruisers from the Mediterranean Fleet to Malaya, preparing to support the Far East Fleet if necessary.

The young Chinese Navy was also unwilling to be outdone. Amid the intense protests in China, it also sent a fleet of two battlecruisers, four heavy cruisers and 15 other ships. What made Britain most uneasy was that unlike the crisis in the last Sumatra oil field, the Chinese Navy also dispatched a large number of submarines this time. In just three days, it was found that five new submarines with displacement of about 800 tons were found, one of which even appeared at the entrance to the South China Sea of ​​the Strait of Malacca.

Submarine traces were found in Bashi Channel, Balintang Channel, Palawan Islands and other areas!

This act of mobilizing naval forces to the South China Sea without any concealment made the whole world hold their breath. Even the most optimistic European newspapers changed their tone and believed that the war would break out within a few weeks. Japan, which has always coveted the South China Sea, naturally would not miss this opportunity to study the Chinese and British navy. As both sides continued to mobilize troops southward, there was also fierce discussion within the headquarters of the Tokyo Joint Fleet. For them, this was a good opportunity to peek at the Chinese and British trump card. But when it comes to actions or participation, even the most optimistic Japanese generals shook their heads.

The reason is simple...no money.

The Kanto earthquake had a great impact on Japan. Two years later, today, the severely affected areas in Tokyo are still full of shanty towns. Grain prices have soared several times again. Faced with this situation, Prince Hirohito strengthened the power of the imperial dynasty, and appointed Nagata Tengshan to exchange machines for resources for Soviet trade. He also imported scrap steel from the United States to refine scrap steel. Due to the huge demand for reconstruction in the Soviet Union, Moscow Bar, which lacked gold reserves, was not allowed to exchange precious metals for industrial equipment to save foreign exchange and gold. Nagata Tengshan finally suggested that the Soviet Union would be nationalized. It greatly weakened the power of domestic chaebols and made chaebols a manufacturing tool for the country to exchange resources. Then Hirohito appointed Okamura Nagato as the responsible for Guinea immigration. It was his active work that has led to 470,000 Japanese entering Guinea under the name of "developing wasteland and growing grain for the empire". In just three years, millions of arable land were reclaimed for rice and rubber.

Although the two worked hard and the treasury gradually became rich, they could not change the fundamental situation where the sufferings among the people became worse, and the United States took the opportunity to dump and led to the shrinking of manufacturing industry.

The chaebols also hated Nagata Tetsuyama because their exports were all taken back and wealth flowed into the treasury rather than their pockets. The army unanimously accused Nagata Tetsuyama of an army traitor because the Tank Division's plan was rejected again. However, the Japanese Navy supported the policy opposite, because most of the income obtained from this trade was used for naval expansion. Hirohito's support made the navy very happy to fight against the Taiwan Island-class heavy patrol. After the modification of the Aoba-class with 8 203mm naval guns, it was only launched. Four more high-level heavy cruisers were started. However, the four heavy cruisers that almost hollowed out the national treasury had finally passed the budget, and the news that the 1925 naval plan was approved by the Congress of the Republic of China. The plans of 2 first-class battleships, 4 heavy cruisers, 2 light cruisers, 2 aircraft carriers, 26 destroyers and 4 auxiliary ships made Japan very worried.

At this time, the representative of the Democratic Party and former Ambassador of the Republic of China to Japan, Wang Rongbao, returned to Japan with a desire to seek support. However, the Japanese government was not cold to the former ambassador, which shows that they did not believe how much the Democratic Party could do. On the contrary, they attached great importance to the Chinese Supervisory Group of the Washington Navy Treaty that suddenly and quietly visited in advance.

In order to supervise that all countries do not violate the treaty, the contracted countries have similar supervisory bodies, and regularly check whether all countries abide by the treaty. This time, the navy was Zheng Zuyi, the chief of staff of the Navy. It was him and Cheng Biguang who joined forces to fight the first real naval battle in the Republic of China in the Yellow Sea. But from the perspective of the navy, the battle of the Yellow Sea was a failure! Not only did the losses exceed that of Japan, but the Anhai and Zhenhai were also seriously damaged. The navy has even downgraded them. If it weren't for the Navy Treaty restricting retirement for no reason, the two ships might have been deleted from the Navy sequence of the Republic of China.

In the Yokosuka Naval Shipyard, Zheng Zuyi led the naval delegation to inspect the heavy cruiser of the Myoka, which had just been laid on the keel. Japan naturally would not open high secrets for possible enemies, but all countries actually did not know it. Everyone checked the size of the hull and planned to do it as long as it was not too obvious. After the inspection, the Japanese Navy held a feast to entertain the Chinese delegation. Not only did the senior Japanese Navy officials come, but even the current Massacre and Finance Biao came from Tokyo to attend the dinner.

The luxury of the navy is unimaginable to the outside world. Even if Japan is deeply in a state of shock and cannot extricate itself from suffering, the table is still full of expensive delicious foods such as cod, fresh shells and caviar. The wines that are popular in Europe, Japanese rice wine and Chinese liquor are consumed more like running water.

In order to find out the specific data of the two first-class battleships planned by China's 1925 Navy, Zheng Zuyi was almost surrounded by Japanese naval officials, and all the topics were not separated from the two new battleships and West Borneo in crisis.

"Your Excellency Chief of Staff, I heard that your country is planning to build two new battleships? Is it using the 40-mm naval gun from the United States? Your country already has 8 main battleships. Are you not afraid of causing disputes between our two countries and destroying peace in Asia?" The question was that after the Battle of the Yellow Sea, the fleet led to a fierce battle towards Taiwan, but finally faced Lieutenant General Gentaro Yamashita, who failed to get out of the hole.

This question made Japanese naval tycoons such as Tobabe Biao prick up their ears. They actually didn't care about the two battleships. Because in the eyes of the Japanese Navy, China is a typical mainland country, and the naval talent reserves are too poor. It is hard to say whether four such good Taiwan Island-class heavy cruisers can perform at their full level, but they are deeply worried about the vague Sino-US cooperation.

There is a chance of winning against the Chinese Navy, but it is very bad against the joint attacks between the Chinese and US navies. Although this may be very small, the Japanese Navy does not dare to relax its vigilance. Especially at present, the trade complementarity between China and the United States is obvious, and Yang Qiu suddenly visited the United States despite the crisis, which brought too great associations.

Before coming to Japan, Zheng Zuyi was instructed by the General Staff. So he had already thought about the words: "Lieutenant General, you are wrong. At present, my country has only 6 main battleships, and 2 American battleships have been returned. As for the two Joint Force-class battleships purchased from Europe, they will be retired and demolished after the new battleships are put into service, so we do not think that the new ships will cause regional tension. On the contrary, the European colonists returning to Asia are the root of the turmoil. They are deliberately creating ethnic conflicts and desperately dumping goods into our two countries. I believe you must have a deep sense of this."

After saying that, he deliberately sighed and asked: "As for artillery, our country has indeed proposed to the United States to purchase 40mm cannons, but unfortunately the offer is too expensive. I wonder if your country's 41mm cannons can be sold?"

Just kidding, of course, it is not possible to sell Nagato's 410mm artillery, which is a technology that Japan took decades to break through! But Caibe Biao was surprised that China was willing to dismantle two joint force-class battleships. Although this kind of warship is too old, it is still possible to defend against nearshores such as the Bohai Strait. Don't believe it: "Are the general telling it seriously? Your country really wants to dismantle two main battleships? So should we build two more substitutes after demolishing them?"

"We originally submitted four 35-mm battleships, but the Minister of Defense believes that the technology is insufficient. Congress only agreed to allocate funds to build two. Alas... These army-born people don't understand the navy at all." Zheng Zuyi shook his head while saying this. Whether it was true or false, the navy did submit four plans, but it was cut into two. In the end, in order to consider the speed, the 360mm naval gun was preferred. The navy was very resentful about this.

36mm? Tsaibe Biao and Japanese naval officers didn't believe it. Yang Qiu actually chose this caliber! Is the technology of large-caliber naval guns not broken through? This is possible. After all, the United States sold 305mm naval gun technology at the Anhai class. The technology of large-caliber naval guns will not be easily taught in all countries. If it weren't for the British-Japanese alliance, Japan would probably not be able to manufacture 41mm super naval guns so far. Since it was 35mm, it was nothing more than Fuso and Ise-class (Japan designated two British lion classes as Ise-class), and even if it was built, it would not pose a threat to Nagato.

However, Caibu Biao was still worried and blurted out: "Your country really wants to build a first-class battleship of 36 mm?"

Zheng Zuyi pretended to realize that she was letting go, and looked around and then blew it: "Look soon, our country will announce the details according to the provisions of the treaty, please wait patiently."

Seeing that he was unwilling to answer in a positive way, Yamashita Gentaro took a cup and pretended to be very worried: "Why do you need to build such a small-caliber battleship? Britain, France and the United States are eyeing us Asia, and even the Netherlands is inciting the indigenous people. This caliber cannot dispel their hostility at all."

Zheng Zuyi agrees with this sentence: "Lieutenant General at the foot of the mountain is very right, which is exactly what I am most worried about. Due to various reasons, our country is still unable to build larger-level warships, so countries such as Britain, the United States, France and the Netherlands are becoming increasingly unscrupulous! I think that although our two countries have had misunderstandings and unhappiness before, as the only two major countries in Asia, there are not only Chinese expatriates in the South Ocean but also your expatriates. At present, they are still engaged in some low-cost work. Many resources and oil have been plundered by colonists. Even small countries like Portugal control the exploration of oil in the eastern part of Timor Island! So I think we should form a cruise fleet and go to the South Ocean regularly to protect expatriates from oppression."

Before tonight's banquet, the Japanese Navy had actually thought about supporting China. Because there are also many Japanese expatriates in Southeast Asia, supporting China's autonomy is equivalent to giving their expatriates greater opportunities. Moreover, Japan now has the idea of ​​giving up. After all, the country has already done this, who does not support it? The key is how many benefits it can get.

Zheng Zuyi knew Japan, which was also the key to his sudden inspection of Miao Gao. Because Japan is almost the dominant naval force in Japan, and the army is suppressed very well, whether the navy supports it plays a key role. He put down his wine glass and said in a slow tone: "Maybe I am too abrupt, and forming a cruise fleet is just my personal idea. However, when I came, the Presidential Palace heard that your country was slowly in the hilly areas of Guinea and could not solve the serious food shortage of your country, so he was very worried about the lives of the Japanese people and specially asked me to bring 100 small tractors for mountain and hilly areas. Our Navy Department also raised 3,000 tons of rice, hoping to alleviate the food tension in your country."

"In addition!" He took a deep breath and took out the last card he brought: "I will also send a message to your country with your hospitality. Our Prime Minister hopes to visit Tokyo in the near future to find an opportunity to restart the normal relationship between our two countries!"

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