Spy Wars: Return of the Red Luan

Chapter 116: Continue Strategic Deception

"Welcome to the Imperial Navy Fleet!" Prince Fushimi Hiroyoshi knelt upright and announced solemnly.

"Qingmu Qiao thanks His Excellency the Prince for his recognition, thanks His Excellency the Marshal for his recognition, and thanks to all the generals for their recognition. Qingmu Qiao is very willing to join the Imperial Navy Fleet Faction!"

"Hahaha, come on, everyone, fill your glasses! Cheers!" The waitress who was pouring wine was called out, and everyone had to pour their own wine. They were in a hurry and the scene was a bit messy and a bit funny.

Shibayama Masao, who was in the corner, felt that he could no longer regard Aoki Takashi as his opponent. He was not worthy, or in other words, if he became his opponent, he might die miserably.

The reason why he was able to enter the secret group of the Imperial Navy Fleet organized by Prince Fushimi Hiroyoshi as the last one was mainly due to the achievements of his father Shibayama Yahachi and the support of his uncle Togo Heihachiro, but this Aoki Takashi was younger than him and relied entirely on his own strength to gain the recognition of all the big guys!

We are not in the same league!
For Chen Jiehua, he came to the prince's house today on a whim. He originally just wanted to read some books or naval reports that his father-in-law's house didn't have, but he accidentally stumbled into a secret meeting of the naval fleet!
Then, through a series of deceptions and plotting, he actually managed to get himself into the core team of the fleet faction!
What an unexpected surprise!
Although it is already late at night, it seems that all the bosses are very excited and have no desire to sleep. Otherwise, how about I give you another strategic trick?
"Seniors, it's already quite late, but what Aoki just mentioned was only about the first point: building a top-tier decisive battleship."

"The second point is to fully promote the research and development and construction of strategic submarines. I think Senior Motoci has more say on this point. Aoki won't say much here. Aoki can provide the funding!"

"Hey! Aoki, you also have research on submarines?" Suetsugu Nobumasa was very surprised. A lieutenant general had been an unknown person here for most of the night, and now he could finally make his presence felt!
"Don't misunderstand me, Senior Motoci. I only thought of this when I saw your report on it at my father-in-law's house."

You must be given enough emotional value. I will not steal your credit or your right to speak. I just give you a push. Don't thank me.

"Regarding submarines, I'm thinking, this is definitely not within the agreed ratio, right? Even if it is, we could build a secret base, quietly build submarines, quietly train submarine crews, quietly launch them, and quietly conduct underwater navigation. Who would care?"

"Hahaha, what Aoki-kun said is very interesting. I have already mentioned my thoughts to the superiors before you came, and our opinions coincide with each other!"

It's truly astonishing! He actually understands the essence of submarine warfare!

Submarines, submarines! When the time comes, remind the organization to build or buy more depth charges and have the navy drop more of them in the battle zone. If there really aren't any navy, even ordinary fishing boats can do it. A one-for-one trade. How much is one of my fishing boats? How much is one of your submarines? How many people are inside? Let's all die together, and we won't even be able to get our bodies out!

Oh my, that’s too cruel. I’m really looking forward to it!

"Actually, after all that, Aoki, let me summarize: the most important thing for our Imperial Navy right now isn't building more battleships, nor is it giving our warriors more training, nor is it pursuing military budgets, but rather, it's sea power!"

"Sea power! Aoki-kun also agrees with the theory of sea power?"

"Hey! Aoki-kun actually understands the importance of sea power!"

"Hey! Aoki-kun is really one of us!"

Finally, Chen Jiehua threw out his theory of sea power, finally waking up the few drowsy leaders who had remained silent the entire time. Sea power theory was the core ideology of the Japanese Navy, especially the fleet faction, but Chen Jiehua didn't know it. He just saw a Japanese translation of a book written by an American general named Mahan, "The Influence of Sea Power on History (1660-1843)", in the Fujiwara family's collection.

This book is almost torn to pieces, which means that Duke Fujiwara often read it, or the book was lent to him by someone else, and the original owner read it a lot. This at least shows from another perspective that the Japanese may have highly respected the theory of sea power!
Chen Jiehua made a simple and in-depth analysis of this vague "intelligence" and thought that he could tentatively throw it out at tomorrow's meeting.

Now that the groundwork has been laid and the atmosphere has been created, it would be inappropriate not to bring it up. But I didn't expect that the theory of sea power would have such a shocking effect when it was brought up!

"Haha, I think the best decision I made today was to allow Aoki-kun to attend our meeting when the butler reports!"

"We should thank those two brats for sending Aoki-kun to us! Otherwise, Aoki-kun might still be in Shanghai right now!"

"Hahaha~~"

"This sounds strange, but it does seem to have a bit of the ancient Chinese sense of cause and effect."

"Hey, we'll discuss this later. Now let Aoki finish what he's saying. We still need to appoint a spokesperson for the compromise on rights at tomorrow's meeting."

"Okay, Your Excellency. The sea power that Tsuyoshi Aoki mentioned doesn't just refer to the narrow sea power described by Mahan, but sea power in a broad sense!"

"But no matter what kind of sea power it is, it must be possessed by a strong navy! This kind of strength is all-round strength! Battleships and cruisers are the traditional overlords of the sea surface. Aircraft carriers, with their carrier-based aircraft, are sea power plus air supremacy. Submarines are the sea power beneath the surface. This trinity, all-round dominance, is true sea power!"

"Yoshi! Very good! Very good! Today, Mr. Aoki has opened up new ideas for us old guys. I'll find some time later, Mr. Aoki, to tell us in detail about the true power of the sea!"

"Hayi, Qingmu is always ready to respond to the call of the prince and the seniors!"

As long as you are willing to listen, I can achieve my goal smoothly.

When Mahan wrote his book, he never imagined that decades later, a Japanese navy would follow his theory and use a group of bombers to launch the Pacific War against the United States! It was truly providential!
Next, everyone assigned roles according to Prince Bogong's arrangements and prepared speeches for tomorrow's consultation meeting. Since they were all experienced actors, these were all trivial matters and the assignments were completed quickly.

Because it was already early in the morning of the next day, it would take a lot of time for everyone to go home, so the palace arranged for everyone to stay. After all, the Imperial Palace is near the Fushimi Palace, only a 10-minute walk away.

Chen Jiehua arrived at the guest bedroom arranged by the housekeeper, the same one he'd stayed in the last time he got drunk. The housekeeper had made perfect arrangements, and there were even nine maids in the room! Damn, how can I sleep like this!?

(End of this chapter)