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Text Chapter 572: Only Britain is left

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    The Jiashen Task Force suddenly appeared in the South China Sea, and Wang Huzi's ingenious and inhumane bombardment of the arrogant little crabs obviously poured another bucket of hot oil on the already heated Sumatra giant oil field incident.

    The first to attack was the Far East Fleet of the British Empire. Two old battleships, five armored cruisers, and seven cruisers stationed in Hong Kong and Singapore were all dispatched and sailed toward the South China Sea. At the same time, the commander of the fleet, Vice Admiral Aina, showed no sign of action.  You are welcome to send a telegram to the Chinese Ministry of National Defense to inquire about the reason for the dispatch of the Jiashen Task Force. The reply was that "the fleet is conducting annual escort and evacuation exercises What is an exercise? When the British Empire was doing this, the Chinese Navy was still using sails.  Woolen cloth!

    So while Lieutenant General Aisne ordered the fleet to continue moving forward, he contacted Whitehall and hoped that the Hood and Repulse, which were sailing around the world, would arrive in the Far East as soon as possible. In the telegram, he even used the word "about to explode."  At the same time, the Netherlands, known as the little overlord of the South Seas, was also panicked. Two Holland-class protected cruisers and three gunboats rushed to the sea off Batavia for warning. At the same time, the harbor fortress also quickly contacted the British army.  I hope new propellants can be sent.

    Europe is all involved!  The Dutch Parliament immediately issued a statement condemning the Chinese navy for creating regional tensions and reiterated that the Netherlands is a neutral country and the East Indies is its legal colony recognized by all countries in the world.  After issuing the statement, he probably felt that it was too weak and unreliable, because the United States, which emerged more than 20 years ago, relied on the Spanish-American naval battle to defeat Spain and has since entered the ranks of naval powers. Therefore, the Dutch Prime Minister and the Ministry of the Navy quickly asked Lord Deco to dispatch troops.  .  Checking the harbor to see if there are any deliberately detained Chinese ships, in case they blow up is not child's play!  After the troops to inspect the harbor were dispatched, they loaded another two Holland-class protected cruisers with sailors and hurriedly set off from Rotterdam.  But the Netherlands also knows that even its little wealth is not enough to fill a gap in a Taiwan island class.  But what can be done?  The so-called Java-class light cruiser, which is said to be the best, is only similar to the Tumenjiang-class light cruiser, and it is still lingering in the dock.  In the end, he had no choice but to resort to a desperate move and send a special envoy to Britain to ask for help.

    Of course the UK cannot let the Netherlands be bullied.  What's more, the Strait of Malacca is a choke point that must be defended to death.  But now is the British Navy's hiatus, and the Hood and Repulse are still on vacation in Peru.  It would take at least 2 weeks to cross the Pacific, and the fleet in the Far East is not enough to ensure defeat of the Chinese navy with the Anhai class.  We can only ask about the attitude of the United States and France first, and then pick up the friendship between Britain and Japan and try to draw people into the water.

    France is obviously unwilling to wade into troubled waters.  Not only did they not express their position, but they ordered the fleet stationed in Vietnam to only monitor and not participate. The United States has little interest in oil fields after receiving the large refinery contract. In addition, the United Kingdom and the United States have been in trouble recently, especially the British taking German Guinea and Rabaul.  The 20-year lease to Japan directly led to a crisis on the Eastern Route from the United States to the Far East.  What's more, Shell itself is a thorn in Mobil's side. If they get this oil field again, it is estimated that Mobil will have to completely retreat from the Far East and Southeast Asia, which has a population of more than 600 million!  Therefore, the President's Office discussed for a long time before lazily issuing a statement that was obviously sabotaging, "We don't want the situation to escalate, and the countries concerned should sit down and discuss the future of Nanyang." Then it said that there was a humanitarian disaster after the earthquake in Japan, and the United States had more important things to do.  Depend on.  Continue to be an ostrich.

    Of course, the U.S. government does not really want to be an ostrich, but the isolation mentality in the country is serious, and it is not an earth-shattering event, so it is impossible to send a large fleet to set off, but it still quietly ordered the navy stationed in Luzon to be on guard.

    The giant oil fields in Sumatra once again let the world see the desire of upstart China to go abroad.  When the whole world was attracted by the vortex of the South China Sea and debated whether to accept the new rich, the first thing Whitehall did was not to roll up its sleeves and prepare for a fight, but to contact the ambassador to Japan.  However, the British Ambassador to Japan is currently recovering in the hospital. The terrible earthquake almost leveled the British Embassy to the ground, and all external communications were interrupted.  So not only did the ambassador not receive the telegram, he was still writing about what he saw and heard after the earthquake. Later, this diary recording the situation after the Kanto earthquake helped him win the Pulitzer Prize for Journalism.

    The Times later used "New Partners at the Dinner Table" as its headline to describe the gaming situation in Asian waters during this period.

    ?? Kono Yohei is an ordinary soldier of the Chitose Fort.  The garrison is different from the elite division. To put it bluntly, it is a place where the military headquarters collects garbage. The officers who manage the garrison are also disobedient or old, weak, sick and disabled.  With financial constraints and the need to ensure sea and land expenses first, one can imagine how difficult his life is. He cannot even support his family with one month's salary.  Of course, without the last rice riot, he would never be where he is today. However, two brothers who worked in the shipyard during the rice riot had their legs broken by the police because they participated in the strike. Although they recovered from their injuries, they were left disabled.  Resulting in loss of work ability.

    As a result, the family's life became even more difficult. Once, he even saw his sister-in-law being raped by several people in Firework Alley.Ronin walked into the room with his arms around him.

    Anger and disappointment with plutocratic politics led him to join the National Society, but he did not dare to reveal his identity. You must know that in Japan, the National Society and the Poor Party are both suppressed organizations, and the military and police have always kept a close eye on them.  After learning that he would go to Tokyo to perform rescue and security missions, he was given a task by his superiors, which was to use a miniature camera to take pictures of the aftermath of the earthquake. If he completed the task, he would receive 1,000 yen in community relief funds.  1,000 yuan is an unimaginable amount of wealth for an ordinary Japanese family, so he accepted the task.

    The troop transport slowly docked at Tokyo Port on the third day after the earthquake. The once prosperous harbor was devastated, with broken walls left behind after the earthquake everywhere. The masts on the sea surface were exposed like thorns and were densely packed.  Corpses floated on the waves.

    Amid the scoldings of the officers, Kono Yohei and his comrades walked towards the city with guns on their backs. The further they walked, the more terrifying everyone felt. In the end, the entire team fell into silence!  Because the surrounding area is so terrible, it can no longer be described as a mess, it is a complete hell on earth!

    The newly completed 12-story Tokyo Tower was broken like a matchstick, half of the Capitol collapsed, and the customs bell disappeared.  Hundreds of thousands of houses are missing!  In just two days, Tokyo became empty.  In the most miserable Sumida District, when Kono Yohei was ordered to come here for rescue, he discovered that the ground had sunk several meters, and all the buildings were burned to the ground by fire. Many people who were imprisoned here by the fire and could not escape were suffocated or burned to death!  Walking down the street, there were piles of bodies everywhere.  There were old people, middle-aged people, and women holding young children.  Some of the corpses had fairly clear faces, but many were so dark that their faces were completely indistinguishable.  Many of the bodies showed signs of decomposition in the hot weather.  Some even had their bellies split open, and their greasy intestines exploded out of them, causing birds to peck at them even if they didn't look closely.  We also know that the number of deaths here alone is tens of thousands!

    Later he learned that not only Tokyo, but also tens of thousands of people were burned to death in Yokohama, the hardest-hit area.  Last year, the 100,000 tons of oil purchased by Japan from Shell were all leaked due to an explosion at the oil depot. The oil was injected into Yokohama Bay and ignited, causing the entire bay to burn. At that time, more than a dozen merchant ships, including two destroyers, and thousands of  Ships burned.  Even distant Kobe, Osaka and Kure Port have not escaped.  Personnel were lost, houses collapsed, and the keels of the giant ships laid out in the dock, which the navy never forgets, were cracked and rendered useless.

    From Yokohama Bay to Tokyo Bay to Sagami Bay and other areas, a total of 8,000 ships of various types sank instantly!  That one is composed entirely of large freighters.  The trade fleet with Russia, which was expected to bring back countless precious metals and raw materials twice, also lost nearly half!

    In just one day, nature turned Japan's most fertile Kanto region into a hell. Both the fanatical zodiac sects and the pragmatic constitutional sects found that when they came out of each refuge, the country had completely changed.  Now let alone fight for Nanyang, I am afraid we have to be careful to guard against Chinese sneak attacks!

    "While no one was paying attention, Kono Yohei took out a small camera and kept pressing the shutter. When the miserable scenes around him were frozen, shouts and running sounds suddenly came from the street on the right.  He quickly rushed into a dilapidated house and looked outside, only to see dozens of army soldiers and ronin chasing a group of ragged people.  He is very strange.  Why is there still a chase at this time?  But the shouting made him realize who was running away.

    ¡°Catch these traitorous North Korean bastards!¡±

    "Kill them because they have offended the gods."

    ¡°The despicable and dirty Koreans should all be killed!¡±

    "kill him!"

    While shouting, the soldiers quickly caught up with the Koreans.  Seeing that he was surrounded and unable to escape, the trembling North Korean man simply grabbed the wooden stick on the ground and blocked the woman and child behind him in an attempt to resist.  But how could a wooden stick block the sharp bayonet, especially when the Ronin and Black Dragon Society warriors mixed among the soldiers waved their sabers and cut off their hands and feet!  They chopped off their heads, then killed the children who were so frightened that they were crying. Finally, they even grabbed North Korean women by their hair, stripped them naked and humiliated them arbitrarily, then kicked them to the ground and dragged them through the streets with hemp ropes.

    In just ten minutes, more than 20 North Korean men, women and children were executed in this way. Blood and heads were everywhere. The woman whose body was dragged was already dying. Only the blood marks told the sins after the earthquake.

    This brutal massacre was recorded as the shutter clicked. The bloody and horrific scene almost made Kono Yohei vomit, and he did not dare to reveal his head again until the soldiers were far away.  Later he learned that after the earthquake, those fanatical militarists shifted all the blame to the Koreans, Chinese and party members. They deceived and even convinced some Japanese who were afraid of the gods, saying that these people had offended the gods and caused the earthquake.  Driving them together to ridicule and insult them in every possible way, and do all kinds of thingsAfter a "street trial", he was finally beheaded in front of the earthquake survivors.

    The military officers and fanatical militarists who took the opportunity to incite the massacre of Koreans and party members gathered around the palace at this moment. They set up camp here and kept shouting, "To prevent cholera in the palace after the disaster, protect the emperor and the crown prince with their lives."

    In the palace, the sturdy Akasaka Palace became an isolated island due to earthquakes. The young Hirohito climbed up the tower with the help of his guards and raised the telescope with slightly trembling hands.  He didn't dare to look, but knew that if he wanted to become a real emperor, he had to face it. But when the lens was projected into the distance and the city was closer, he saw endless desolation and numb faces of the citizens.  Behind Hirohito's stunned back, there are tens of millions of Japanese citizens in frenzy, hundreds of thousands of casualties, a total of 30 billion US dollars of economic damage, massacre and turmoil!

    It¡¯s the end of the world The corners of young Hirohito¡¯s mouth twitched.  The achievements since the Meiji Restoration were almost completely destroyed. The dream of leaving Asia and entering Europe to become a rich country with a strong military was on the verge of death. Soldiers and troops who regarded death as home became anxious and took up arms to massacre Koreans and party members who had nothing to do with it. The Meiji spirit failed in the war.  , rice riots and earthquakes finally completely changed course, leaving only mania, anxiety and the fantasy of looking for a quick recovery in Japan.

    "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince." Nagata Tetsuyama walked behind Hirohito with the telegram.  The whole of Japan fantasizes about this young figure leading the country out of its shackles, but this earthquake is really not the right time.  He lowered his head and handed the telegram to the guard respectfully: "This is a telegram from His Excellency Minister Anzhen stationed in Singapore. He reported that the Chinese fleet has arrived off the coast of Batavia and asked Hirohito knew what Minister Anzhen wanted to ask.  .The giant oil field in Sumatrait was almost enough to hold in your hand! But it was destroyed by this earthquake!

    Hirohito returned the telescope to the guard, and the sharp-eyed Nagata Tetsuyama saw that his hands in his sleeves were very white.  There seemed to be no blood at all.  Hirohito took a deep breath and brought up the last trace of his fantasy: "Nagata-kun, you are the most outstanding officer in the empire. Please tell me, Nanyang I am very sad, Your Highness." Nagata Tieshan lowered his head and looked serious: "The situation is very serious.  Oops, the most important thing now is to appease the people, stabilize order as soon as possible, and prevent post-disaster riots. You should also speed up immigration to Guinea and other colonial islands, especially those families that have been hardest hit. You should give them your blessing and send them to the New World to start a new life.  Live, so that they will be grateful to you and the Empire. As for the rest. Our country has no energy. Not only should we not intervene, but we should immediately send a foreign minister to visit ChinaNorth Korea must not be unrest!"

    Hirohito had unlimited fantasies about taking over Nanyang and building a huge Japanese empire, but the reality was like a basin of ice water poured directly on Japan's head.  After a while, he looked up.  He took a deep breath and made up his mind: "Please ask Foreign Minister Ijuin Hikokichi to go to China immediately on behalf of my father, and you should go with me. Please take me to tell His Excellency Yang Qiu that I believe that the Sumatra oil field belongs to our Asian property, and please try to preserve it on your behalf."  In addition! Please tell General Shotaro Fukuda to immediately implement military control over the entire country for the sake of peace for the empire. Those who riot and take advantage of the situation will be severely punished!"

    "Hi!"

    Nagata Tieshan nodded, and even felt a little happy in his heart.  From his decisive support for China's acquisition of the Sumatra oil fields in exchange for North Korea's stability and to gain buffer time for the empire, it can be seen that Crown Prince Hirohito has finally grown up.

    When Ijuin Hikoyoshi and Nagata Tetsuzan took the naval cruiser and rushed to Nanjing as quickly as possible, Bernard also had a splitting headache.  It seemed that in a few months he would be able to leave office and return to the UK to enjoy his life and then serve as an expert on Asian issues in Congress, but he encountered this unlucky thing at the last moment.

    After pouring himself a cup of milk tea, he raised his eyelids and asked his assistant: "Is the United States really indifferent?"

    The assistant said: "Yes, your Excellency the Ambassador. The US Ambassador told me that he does not want to see unrest in the South China Sea, but he feels that governments should not interfere with normal trade and business activities among the people, but should let businessmen themselves  Go negotiate.¡±

    "Damn open door!" Bernard cursed incoherently, wondering why the United States was not interested in such a large oil field.  The assistant answered his doubts: "Obviously, they were bribed The Chinese sold them the 5 million-ton refinery project in the North Sea."

    A refinery with an annual processing capacity of 5 million tons, what else is there to say?  The damn American upstarts obviously compromised on the oil fields and the market of 500 million people and chose the latter.  Bernard picked up the tea cup and continued to ask: "Well forget it. I really shouldn't ask their opinions. What about Japan? How serious is the earthquake?"

    The assistant spread his hands and shook his head: "I'm sorry, all communications to Japan have been interrupted. There are no detailed damage reports yet." Major Ute said that he tried to enter the Uraga water channel to check the situation, but was intercepted by the Japanese navy.  Stop. Obviously Japan does not want us and other countries to enter chaos now.?.  But judging from these abnormal signs, I think the situation may be worse than we think.  "

    Bernard sighed again.  The Japanese earthquake has the advantage of forcing Japan to give up its peek into Southeast Asia, but the disadvantage is that the last bit of tacit understanding between Britain and Japan is gone.  If Japan's losses are too great, it will definitely abandon all strategies and significantly shrink. It will be impossible to use the Japanese navy to threaten the Chinese navy and eventually force them to abandon their oil fields.

    The upstarts of the United States are not interested, Japan is powerless, and Francemay support Chinese weapons in the hope of a war between China and Britain.  Now the only allies in Southeast Asia are the Netherlands, but thinking about the broken ships of the Dutch navy gave him a headache.

    Why is Yang Qiu¡¯s luck so good every time?  Is the British Empire really going to be isolated from the world?  "Find a way to figure out Japan's losses as soon as possible. I need to make a comprehensive judgment." Bernard cursed a few words secretly and waved his hand, but before the assistant left the office, the door was pushed open again.

    "Sir, you should take a look immediately!"

    The military attache placed the newly published Nanjing Daily on the table: "This is the newly published newspaper. The situation in Japanmay be very bad!"

    Bernard quickly opened the newspaper. Although the square characters on it were like a bible to him, the pictures accompanying them made him take a few breaths!  Burnt houses, piles of corpses, massacred mobs, and a completely unrecognizable city!

    "This is?"

    The military attache pointed to the newspaper title and said two words with certainty: "Tokyo!"

    "God To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my biggest motivation.)!~!

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