The sun never sets

Akiyama Saneyuki has been under a lot of pressure recently. After purging Yamamoto Gonbei and Togo Heihachiro, he became the most powerful general in the navy, commanding the entire joint wing and the Chinese fleet. However, many people are dissatisfied with him, believing that he betrayed the navy and colluded with outsiders to kill the navy's seniors, which is unforgivable.

In the Japanese Navy, which had a strict hierarchy, no one dared to accuse him to his face, but the naval veteran Saigo Tsunemichi was not one of them. After the Navy's coup failed, Akiyama Saneyuki once visited Saigo Tsunemichi with gifts, but Saigo Tsunemichi threw the gifts out. Akiyama Saneyuki knew that he had to win a hearty victory to wash away the stain on his body. Only victory could prove that his choice in the Navy coup was not wrong.

In order to completely defeat the French Far East Fleet, Akiyama Saneyuki formulated the "Seven-stage Operation Plan" and also came up with the unique tactic of turning back and seizing the "T" formation in front of the enemy. The so-called "T" tactic is to turn all of your warships sideways so that the main guns at the bow and stern of the warships can be fully utilized. When your warships turn sideways, the enemy warships are still facing the enemy with the bow, using the guns at the bow, which makes the horizontal and vertical angles 90 degrees, which is the "T" formation.

When the People's Army launched a fierce attack on the French positions using heavy howitzers, the battleship formation led by Akiyama Saneyuki headed towards the South China Sea. Soon after, it encountered the French Far East Fleet on the surface of the South China Sea, and a naval battle broke out.

At the beginning, the armored cruisers of the Combined Fleet and the People's Navy cruisers had been hovering around the French fleet, using more advanced firing directors to harass from 8,000 meters away. The latest firing directors were installed on the battleships, armored cruisers and heavy cruisers of China and Japan. The optical lenses came from Germany, and the mechanical computers were produced in Taiyuan. The combination of the two improved the shooting accuracy and effective range of China and Japan. Before the war, the fleets of the two countries also conducted rigorous training and destroyed nearly half of the stored ammunition. This training intensity caused many warships to replace the gun barrels in advance, but it also greatly improved the artillery skills of the navy officers and soldiers.

On the other hand, the French Navy traveled thousands of miles from Europe to

Although they could use the British ports for repairs when they came to the South China Sea, they were already very tired after drifting on the sea for several months. The People's Army took the initiative to declare war, and the Chinese and Japanese fleets bombarded the ports of French Indochina, causing the French Far East Fleet to be thrown into the battle without completing repairs. In addition, due to lack of money, the warships of the French Navy are difficult to describe. A battleship of the French Navy is equipped with naval guns that seem to have the same caliber, but in fact, even the models cannot be unified. The configurations and equipment of the ships built are also very different. It was nicknamed "Floating Artillery Museum" by European powers.

In the naval arms race, the Germans were looking at Britain, the British were looking at Germany, and France was simply ignored. After the Germans developed the dreadnought, Britain, the United States, Italy and other powers all developed their own dreadnoughts, while the French Navy was still lagging behind and developing the backward ship type, the pre-dreadnought - the Danton class.

In addition, the slow development of the French Navy was also influenced by an important theory, namely the "Green Water School", which advocated "mobile defense" and established a fleet composed mainly of a large number of light torpedo boats. However, although they were large in number and powerful, they could not support a strong navy compared to the battleships capable of decisive battles in the ocean.

The French were not interested in developing a strong navy, not only because they had no money, but also because of political factors. The French government moved closer to Britain, and no longer needed to fight the British Royal Navy, so there was no need to spend huge amounts of money to build a strong navy. The French voluntarily gave up developing a strong navy, and then suffered the consequences in the brutal naval battle in the South China Sea.

Neither China nor Japan had dreadnoughts, and the battleships of Akiyama Saneyuki's fleet were all products of the pre-dreadnought era. If they had encountered the main force of the British Royal Navy, they would have been beaten to a pulp. But now the target of the battle is the French Navy, and it is only a squadron, not the main fleet of the French Navy, but an expeditionary fleet that has come from half a world away. The Chinese and Japanese navies can then turn around and suppress the French Far East Fleet.

The "Sunrise" and "Aurora", as well as several cruisers of the Combined Fleet, followed the French fleet and occasionally rushed into the battle distance, which made the French officers and soldiers very nervous and weakened their morale. At around 11:40 noon, the battleship formation led by Akiyama Saneyuki entered the field of vision of the French Far East Fleet, and the black smoke from the battleships could be seen clearly ten miles away.

The French Navy has been harassed by the high-speed cruisers of China and Japan. They can't catch up with them if they want to chase them; they are too far away to hit them if they want to fire. The French Navy's cruisers can only accelerate to 21 knots, which is much slower than the 24 knots of the "Xia Guang" and "Zhu Guang". The destroyers can barely catch up, but they are too fragile and can't be defeated...

The bombardment of Chinese and Japanese cruisers could not cause effective damage to the French battleships, but in addition to battleships, there were many cruisers, destroyers, and transport ships in the French expeditionary fleet, and these ships were not as tough as battleships.

Seeing that the large fleets of China and Japan finally came out, the French Navy's already low morale was boosted again. The flagship "Palatine" issued a combat order, ordering the first and second squadrons to speed up to seize a favorable formation.

Chapter 414: First Battle

The French fleet wanted to seize a favorable formation, and Akiyama Saneyuki also needed a more advantageous position. In the era of battleships, whoever could seize the "T" position would have more advantages, and almost all naval commanders understood this truth.

The two huge fleets constantly adjusted their formations on the sea. Relying on the hard work of the fast fleet, the Chinese and Japanese fleets finally completed the formation conversion faster. The six battleships faced the French fleet from the side. After the shooting targets were assigned, the main guns of the battleships roared. The 305mm caliber main guns fired in turn, and the muzzle flames sprayed out for several meters. The huge reaction force pushed the heavy battleships back more than one meter. The 305mm caliber naval guns equipped on the four battleships Mikasa (flagship), Shikishima, Fuji and Asahi were products from ten years ago. The technology at that time was not mature, and they were not as reliable as the 305mm naval guns currently equipped by the British Royal Navy. They were inferior in shooting accuracy and power. During the Sino-Japanese War of 305-, the mm main guns performed very poorly.

But luck was on Akiyama Saneyuki's side. The first salvo hit the French Navy's flagship, the Patriarchate. The 80-inch shell blew up the chimney in front of the Patriarchate and tore a hole of more than centimeters in the armor belt. The firepower of the Patriarchate was not weakened, but the speed immediately dropped by two or three knots. The speed of the French Navy was not as fast as that of the modified Chinese and Japanese warships. The flagship was hit, which slowed down the overall speed of the French fleet.

Seeing that the battleship "Patrie" was hit in the first round of bombardment, Akiyama Saneyuki was in disbelief at first, but then he was overjoyed and immediately ordered the battleship formation to concentrate its firepower to attack the French flagship. The "Patrie" was hit by several 305mm and 280mm shells, and a raging fire ignited on the hull. The speed of the "Patrie" further decreased, and it had become a burden to the entire fleet. The French admiral, Vice Admiral Francois, had to replace the flagship to re-command the battle.

However, the new flagship, the battleship Lorraine, could not escape the bad luck. Vice Admiral Francois boarded

Less than ten minutes after the "Lorraine", this cutting-edge pre-dreadnought battleship was hit repeatedly by 280mm naval guns and turned into another burning torch.

"Lieutenant General, we lost the Lorraine!"

Vice Admiral Francois could only smile bitterly and said, "Fortunately, we don't have Alsace." After the optimistic vice admiral finished joking, he changed the flagship again. It was already two o'clock in the afternoon. Seeing that his fleet was being suppressed, Vice Admiral Francois had to order a retreat. Akiyama Saneyuki naturally could not miss such a good opportunity and ordered the Chinese and Japanese fleets to pursue.

In the previous artillery battle, the Mikasa was also hit by more than a dozen shells, and only half of the main guns could be fired. The speed dropped to 14 knots, and it had to withdraw from the battlefield and prepare to retreat to Guangzhou for rescue. Just as the "Mikasa" withdrew from the battlefield, the "Asahi" fired at the French warships that were going away. The 305mm main gun malfunctioned, and the shells exploded in the barrel, killing more than people on the spot and destroying a boiler. The speed suddenly dropped, so the "Asahi" had to withdraw from the battle. In the entire naval battle, the "Asahi" was not hit once, but it withdrew from the battle in this way.

Akiyama Saneyuki was furious. He knew that the cannons from ten years ago had many problems. He was afraid that other main guns would have similar problems. He did not dare to continue chasing. Moreover, he did not bring all the warships with him. He could only order the fleet to retreat. This naval battle sank two French battleships and an armored cruiser, while none of his own battleships sank. He had made a lot of money, so he decided to stop while he was ahead.

After the French fleet and the Chinese and Japanese fleets started fighting, two British warships came to watch and recorded the entire process of the exchange of fire. The arrogant British Royal Navy believed that both sides were weaklings, and that they were using pre-dreadnoughts to fight against sailing battleships in a naval battle, and both their weapons and equipment and tactics were outdated. However, the British also admitted that the artillery of the Chinese and Japanese fleets was very accurate, and the high-speed fleet composed of cruisers played a big role. Although they could not join the battle of battleships, they completely suppressed the cruiser and destroyer formations of the French fleet, preventing those light ships from rushing to close range to release fish.

The British captain said in a telegram to his superiors, "........We need a high-speed battleship. This high-speed battleship should have a main gun of the same caliber as a battleship...or it can be called a battlecruiser..."

The first naval battle in the South China Sea ended with the defeat of the French army. For more than ten days afterwards, the French fleet had been licking its wounds. Akiyama Saneyuki also needed time to wait for the two battleships to be repaired. At the same time, all the 305mm main guns had to be inspected to avoid another self-explosion incident.

During the waiting period, Akiyama Saneyuki reviewed the "front turn tactics" he had formulated. In the first battle, the Chinese and Japanese fleets successfully seized the "T" formation, but there were many mistakes in the subsequent changes in formation, so they failed to seize the opportunity to destroy the main force of the French fleet. Even if the "Asahi" had not exploded, the Chinese and Japanese fleets would not have been able to catch up with the fleeing enemy.

Because he sank two French battleships in the naval battle, Akiyama Saneyuki's reputation soared, and many generals who were previously dissatisfied with him changed their attitudes, believing that Akiyama's talents were enough to lead the entire navy. However, Akiyama Saneyuki was under increasing pressure. Not only did he have to formulate a battle plan against the French Navy, he was also worried about the British Far East Fleet watching from the sidelines.

Because of the changes in the Far East situation, the strength of the British Far East Fleet has increased a lot. There are no dreadnoughts in the Royal Navy's Far East Fleet, only a few battleships built in the pre-dreadnought era, but China and Japan also have no dreadnoughts, and the British can send more warships at any time. If the British government sent the three dreadnoughts deployed in the mainland...

Akiyama Saneyuki shuddered at the thought of that horrific scene.

Because of the defeats in Korea and Outer Manchuria, the financial situation of the Japanese government was very bad. It had to cut several standing army divisions and also wielded the axe to the navy's shipbuilding plan. After receiving technology transfer from China, the Japanese Navy Ministry prepared to build a "dreadnought", but it was vetoed by the Ministry of Finance, which was formerly the Ministry of Finance. Although Japan did not build a dreadnought, the power of the dreadnought can be seen from the paper alone. The veto system is temporary, and Japan must have its own dreadnought. But before that, it needs to worry about the British's new battleships suddenly joining the battlefield.

Sinking two obsolete French battleships was nothing. Akiyama Saneyuki did not feel the joy of victory, but felt greater pressure, which made him sleepless at night. He locked himself in the combat command room all night, thinking hard about the map on the table.

Akiyama Saneyuki not only wants to win, but also wants to win beautifully!

Chapter 415: Fight Again

Akiyama Saneyuki was losing weight at a speed visible to the naked eye.

After suffering a defeat, the French Navy fought several more battles with the Chinese and Japanese fleets, losing a cruiser and two destroyers, as well as some torpedo boats and transport ships, and then hid in the port. Akiyama Saneyuki sent destroyers to break into the French-controlled port at night and used the "torpedo tactic", that is, to launch torpedoes into the port and block the ports of Saigon and other places with mines.

The "torpedo strike tactics" and "mine blockade" played a certain role, sinking or damaging several French warships, but a cruiser on the Sino-Japanese fleet's side also sank due to a mine.

After that, there was no real battle between the two sides. The time for blocking the port with mines was very short, and the French were very fast in clearing mines, and it only took one or two days to clear a usable channel. The strength of the fleet in Akiyama Saneyuki's hands was not an absolute advantage. The result of the division of forces was that the French fleet caught the flaw. The squadron lost a destroyer and retreated to Hainan in embarrassment.

The British warships have been active in the South China Sea, passing on information to the French. Akiyama Saneyuki guessed this, but he had no good solution. Take the initiative to declare war on the British? Ito Hirobumi did not dare to do so.

Akiyama Saneyuki sent warships to intercept the French transport ship, and the French ship flew the British flag. Even Lin Yongchang could only tolerate this abominable behavior. The British Empire is not the United States. The American ships can only hang around America, but the British Empire has unparalleled naval power. In terms of long-range delivery capabilities, the two United States combined cannot match it.

The situation in the South China Sea remained deadlocked. The Chinese and Japanese fleets suppressed the French Far East Fleet, forcing it to stay in the port and not dare to go out, but they were unable to destroy it. Using mines to block the port can only play a short-term role, and mines are very expensive, and Japan is very poor... Using warships to block the port can last longer, but the main force of the fleet cannot always be blocked outside the port. After blocking the French fleet for half a month, the Chinese and Japanese fleets had to go back to replenish food, fresh water and coal. The French Navy took this opportunity to rush out, and when the Chinese and Japanese fleets turned around and wanted to have a decisive battle, they retreated again.

Faced with such a tough opponent, Akiyama Saneyuki had no choice but to slowly grind with the opponent and accumulate advantages through small-scale naval battles. However, this caused too much loss, and the fleet personnel were always in a state of tension, and morale gradually dropped. He thought this situation would last for a long time, but soon, things took a turn for the better.

The People's Army made a big circle in the depths of the jungle, crossed mountains and ridges, and captured Hanoi, turning the 100,000 French troops on the front line into a big dumpling. The French were only prepared to invest 20,000 local troops at the beginning. Because the battle was fierce, the French government repeatedly added war funds, and the number of French troops on the front line increased again and again. The local army and the foreign legion alone added more than 50,000 people. If the armed Vietnamese army is counted, the number of French troops far exceeds 100,000. When the People's Army captured Hanoi, a French army unit happened to be transported to Hanoi by water. It was an entire infantry regiment. The brave French rushed to the dock under the fire of the People's Army and rushed into the encirclement.

The Governor was very happy at first when he saw the reinforcements coming. He immediately asked the second lieutenant leading the team, "How many reinforcements have come?"

"An infantry regiment!"

"Where are they? I'm going to send troops to support them immediately!"

The lieutenant replied solemnly: "The rest of the 17th Infantry Regiment is here."

The governor looked at the less than one company of troops behind the second lieutenant and was so shocked that he couldn't even speak. After the shock, the governor chose to surrender without hesitation. His surrender didn't matter, but the 100,000 French on the front line became dumpling fillings. In order to rescue the army that was trapped in a desperate situation, the French Far East Fleet had to move out in a large scale and move towards Hanoi. This was the fastest way to recapture Hanoi, and this gave Akiyama Saneyuki the opportunity for a decisive battle that he had always dreamed of.

"This must be God's help!"

Overjoyed, Akiyama Saneyuki used all his skills and issued a series of orders. A huge fleet sailed out from various ports, gathered together, formed a mighty fleet, and then rushed towards the French fleet. This time, Akiyama Saneyuki dragged out all his assets, including 6 battleships, 4 armored cruisers, 10 cruisers, 20 destroyers, and 40 torpedo boats. This was only the assets of the Japanese Navy, and the Chinese Navy was also dragged out.

It was a gamble that put all their belongings on the table. Not only was Akiyama Saneyuki extremely nervous, but all the participants felt heavy pressure. In the previous mobilization, the political commissars analyzed the situation clearly. If they won, the people of East Asia would be able to enter a new era of "independence and self-reliance"; if they lost, the whole of Asia might return to the miserable situation of being slaughtered by European and American powers.

At 1905:6 pm on June 19, 1, Akiyama Saneyuki saw thick smoke billowing from the sea in the distance through a telescope. The French fleet also used anthracite, and the smoke coming out of the chimney was much lighter than before, but because there were too many warships, the traces of smoke could not be covered up at all.

At 2:21, the distance between the two huge fleets was within 8 nautical miles, and they were about to enter the battle distance. Akiyama Saneyuki ordered the flagship to send a signal, "The rise and fall of Asia depends on this, everyone, do your best!"

After receiving the signal, the surrounding warships all hoisted battle flags. Many generals of the Japanese Combined Fleet tied white cloth on their foreheads with Chinese characters such as "die for the sake of righteousness" and "long-lasting military fortune". Although the Chinese Navy was weak, it also pulled out all its assets. Two armored cruisers, six destroyers, and 6 torpedo boats were formed into formations according to different speeds and resolutely entered the battlefield.

At 2:48 p.m., the French

The battleships opened fire first. Akiyama Saneyuki strictly ordered the battleship formation not to retaliate, and used the extremely dangerous "big turn in front of the battle", also known as the "U" turn. 16 minutes later, the main fleets of China and Japan completed the turn, and at the cost of a battleship being slightly damaged and an armored cruiser being medium damaged, they managed to seize the "T" formation. At this time, the distance between the main battleships of both sides had been shortened to 6000 meters. Battleships such as the "Fuji" and "Izumo" roared and bombarded the French battleships with the most fierce firepower.

In just four minutes, the main fleets of China and Japan fired six salvos, completely destroying the superstructure of the new French flagship. Akiyama Saneyuki was both satisfied and dissatisfied. In the fierce battle, he ordered again, "Get closer! Close the distance between you and the enemy ship! The closer the distance, the more accurate the attack will be!"

Chapter 416: The Burning Sea

The closer you are, the more accurate you will be. This is a truth that does not need to be proven. But the closer you are, the easier it is to be hit. Akiyama Shinichi ordered the main fleet to approach the French battleships, and the others executed the order without any hesitation. Relying on the advantages of higher speed and firing rate, as well as the power of artillery ammunition, the Chinese and Japanese fleets gradually seized the initiative on the battlefield. The French battleships were hit one by one and caught fire.

At 3:4 p.m., the French flagship lost its ability to counterattack and its speed dropped to knots. French Vice Admiral François was seriously injured and unable to command the battle. The French Far East Fleet fell into chaos without command.

While the battleships were engaged, the cruisers of both sides were also engaged in a fierce battle. The cruiser exchange of fire began at about 3:25 p.m. During the battle, three cruisers of the Chinese and Japanese fleets were severely damaged, and several French auxiliary ships caught fire. By about 3:4 p.m., the French fleet was doomed to fail, and the route to Hanoi was blocked. As the fleets of both sides often lost contact in the smoke and the routes were in chaos, a melee ensued between the two sides.

At 4:50, some destroyers and torpedo boats of the Chinese and Japanese fleets entered the battlefield, looking for opportunities to launch torpedoes in the chaos. Torpedoes are charged with more explosives than 12-inch shells. As long as one hits and explodes successfully, it is possible to paralyze a powerful battleship. However, due to insufficient technical level, the reliability and range of torpedoes are not satisfactory. Faced with the fleet on high alert, it is difficult for destroyers and torpedo boats to enter the appropriate torpedo distance. If the French fleet had not fallen into chaos, the "torpedo tactic" would hardly work.

Some French warships wanted to break through the enemy's blockade and force their way to Hanoi, while others wanted to return to Saigon, but the western waterway was also blocked. The French Navy had to repel the Chinese and Japanese fleets before they could escape from the burning ocean.

At 7 p.m., the battle was still going on, and the roar of the battleships continued until 20: p.m. When it was completely dark, the huge French Far East Fleet had suffered heavy casualties. Three of the eight old battleships were sunk, one was thrown into the South China Sea, and the remaining battleships were also seriously damaged. Without repairs for three or four months, they would not be able to go out to sea again. The French Far East Fleet's main battleships were almost completely destroyed, and auxiliary ships such as cruisers and destroyers were better, with only half of them lost. The worst were the sixteen transport ships, which had almost no ability to fight back in the naval battle. After the French battleships were disintegrated, they had no choice but to surrender.

One transport ship was the most unlucky. It had already hoisted the white flag, but was hit by a torpedo that missed the target. The violent explosion broke the keel of the "Good Luck" and opened a large hole more than four meters wide in the middle of the transport ship. The survivors on the "Good Luck" had no choice but to abandon the unfortunate transport ship and leave in a hurry on a small boat. Five minutes later, the "Good Luck" sank into the warm sea water.

“It was a massacre!”

The sea was full of blazing warships. On the British cruiser watching the battle, a British naval officer expressed such emotion. Akiyama Saneyuki's reckless action achieved brilliant results. After destroying the new French flagship in the first place, the Chinese and Japanese fleets fought against the unorganized with an organized force, sinking and capturing more than 35 ships. In recent years, the naval equipment of the powers has been updated very quickly, but there has not been a large-scale naval battle. The last major naval battle was during the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, when the Japanese Navy destroyed the Chinese Navy. Although there were no dreadnoughts involved in this South China Sea naval battle, the scale and intensity of the battle have exceeded the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, making it the largest naval battle in the world in recent decades.

The officers of the British Royal Navy could look down on the backwardness of the Chinese and Japanese naval equipment, but they also admitted that the Chinese and Japanese fleets fought very bravely. At the most intense time of the battle, those old battleships and armored cruisers even rushed to a distance of 3000 meters to fire. The effective range of the newly launched dreadnoughts reached 3000 meters, but the Chinese and Japanese pulled the exchange distance to meters, for which the Chinese and Japanese suffered huge casualties. This is hardly brave, but almost crazy. If the Chinese and Japanese fleets had not won the victory in the end, it could even be said to be stupid.

At night, the main battleships of the Chinese and Japanese fleets withdrew from the battlefield, but the battle was not over yet. Destroyers and torpedo boats launched torpedo attacks on the remaining ships of the French fleet. Many French ships that staggered out of the battle area were sunk. The armored cruiser "La Galisania" was hit by torpedoes, but also sank a Chinese torpedo boat with artillery fire in the counterattack. Then it was hit by two torpedoes while escaping and finally sank in Vietnam.

The offshore.

At 10:8 the next morning, the French Far East Fleet could already see the lighthouse of Saigon Port, but between them and the port lay the main fleet of the Chinese and Japanese fleets. The Chinese and Japanese destroyer fleets rushed over from behind, and at 37:, the French Far East Fleet was once again surrounded. The battle broke out again on the sea. This time, the French fleet had almost no ability to resist. After being bombarded for more than an hour, Major General Lane ordered the white flag to be raised and surrendered to the Chinese and Japanese fleets. While accepting the surrender, Akiyama Shinji sent warships to search for fleeing enemy ships in all directions.

A day later, part of the remnant of the French Far East Fleet was surrounded again, and the cruiser "Renault Castle" hoisted a white flag, and most of the French ships also chose to surrender. Only one cruiser and a destroyer in better condition rushed out.

The fierce battle finally ended. In this naval battle, more than 800 Chinese and Japanese soldiers were killed or missing, and more than 4,000 French soldiers were killed and more than 3,000 were captured. The French fleet lost nearly 40 warships and auxiliary ships. The main fleet was either sunk or captured. All the transport fleets filled with weapons, ammunition and food were lost. Only three cruisers and two destroyers escaped into the British port.

The French Far East Fleet was almost completely annihilated, and the heavy losses made Paris speechless. Immediately, the angry Parisian masses took to the streets and held a massive demonstration. The reputation of the newly elected French cabinet members plummeted. They could only appease the people while trying to rescue the surrounded army. The navy suffered an unprecedented defeat, and the army was also surrounded and looked like it was going to be completely annihilated. Many people understood that this cabinet would be the fastest to fall.

The French Prime Minister and his cabinet members also understood this, but before stepping down, they still had to find a way to rescue the army. To this end, the French gathered all their forces in Southeast Asia, even incorporating colonial officials and engineers into the army, forming a force of more than 40,000 people to launch a rescue operation from land.

Chapter 417: Dragon of the South Sea

"...In the more than a year before the South China Sea Battle, we replaced the new firing director and used new gunpowder and shell fuses, which greatly improved the fleet's combat effectiveness... The strict training of the sailors before the war also played a big role. The hit rate of our artillery was significantly higher than that of the enemy..."

Akiyama Saneyuki had calmed down from his almost insane joy and began to write a summary of the battle. "The French Navy's lack of ambition was also one of the factors for our victory. It is said that the Danton-class battleships designed by the French Navy are still pre-dreadnoughts. They are already behind the times."

"But the main reason for this naval victory is...luck."

Akiyama Saneyuki attributed his victory to "divine help" and "unbelievable good fortune favored Japan..." He crossed out "Japan" and replaced it with "Asia", "... fate favored us again, and the bravery of the soldiers and their fearless sacrifices ensured that luck did not slip away from our hands... As for me, I just did what I should do."

Putting down the pen, Akiyama Saneyuki breathed a sigh of relief and completely relaxed. The war was not over yet. The French army was still attacking Hanoi, trying to rescue the troops trapped in the encirclement. In the encirclement, there were 40,000 French native army and nearly 10,000 French foreign legionaries. After deducting the casualties, there were still 30,000 to 40,000 elite soldiers. These were the essence of the French army and could not be lost like this. The loss of troops was only one aspect. What was worse was that the failure of the war would greatly hit France's international reputation and intensify the contradictions within France. The situation within France was much better than that in Russia, but the contradictions were also serious.

There are various factions within France, including royalists, liberals, Bonapartists, infinitely divisible leftists, right-wing ideas, nationalism... As the birthplace of the Great Revolution, France has always had various advanced ideas. Liberalism is widely spread. At the same time, nationalism is also very popular. Some people miss the glory of France in the Napoleonic era. Various ideas have caused serious disputes within France, far exceeding those in Germany and Britain, and only slightly better than Russia, which launched an armed revolution.

As a member of an imperialist country, failure in external wars will lead to the intensification of internal contradictions. This is a certainty. This is not only true for the imperialist powers, but also for most countries. For the only hope, the French put all their capital in Southeast Asia on it.

But those things have nothing to do with Akiyama Saneyuki for the time being, as the French expeditionary fleet has been completely annihilated. The combined fleet was disbanded, and the damaged warships returned to various ports in Japan and China for repairs. He himself returned to Tokyo with the relatively intact warships. This was part of the propaganda, which was to boost the morale of the people and to enhance Japan's reputation and status in East Asia and the world. Japan is not Korea and Mongolia, nor is it a vassal of China. After almost completely annihilating the French Far East Fleet and achieving a brilliant victory, the Japanese government decided to take back some of their things that originally belonged to them, such as the tariffs controlled by the British and the Ainu Principality controlled by China.

The Taisho government held a grand welcoming ceremony for the victorious navy.

With numerous flags hanging on the ship and the sound of military bands playing, the battleship slowly approached the shore. The Fuji was hit by two shells in the South China Sea, and the hull still bore traces of the war, which destroyed the overall beauty of the battleship. However, the tens of thousands of Japanese on the dock did not think it was a bad thing, but rather felt that it added a bit of majesty and ferocity.

Akiyama Saneyuki had known that Tokyo would hold a celebration ceremony, but he had not expected that there would be so many people in the port. After he walked out of the captain's command room onto the deck, he saw the dense crowd and heard the enthusiastic cheers. He felt a little uncomfortable, "What's going on?"

"We are all here to welcome you, General!"

Akiyama Saneyuki won the South China Sea Battle as a vice admiral, and his achievements were outstanding. He was promoted to general by the Japanese government before he returned. He did not care much about the status and title of admiral, and was somewhat uncomfortable with the respect of his naval colleagues. Because he helped Ito Hirobumi kill high-ranking naval officials such as Togo Heihachiro and Yamamoto Gonbei, he was regarded as a traitor by many naval generals and officers. However, after the victory in the South China Sea Battle, everything was different. The navy became respectful to him, even those who dared to confront him in person before.

I am no different than before, Akiyama Saneyuki thought as he climbed down the ladder from the battleship: It is the world that has changed, not me.

"General Akiyama!"

"Long live the Navy!"

"War hero! Akiyama!"

"The Dragon of the South Seas! Long-lasting military luck!"

Seeing Akiyama Saneyuki in general's uniform coming down from the battleship, the enthusiastic cheers almost turned the port upside down. Akiyama Saneyuki was not affected by the cheers, his expression was still calm and serious, even a little indifferent.

"General Akiyama, welcome back!"

Ito Hirobumi parted the crowd and appeared in front of Akiyama Saneyuki. The Prime Minister held Akiyama Saneyuki's hand, shook it up and down vigorously, and said loudly with a smile: "It's really amazing! Akiyama, well done!"

He was happy from the bottom of his heart. The navy had done better than he had expected. Now he could speak to the Chinese with his head held high! The attitude of the British was also much better. They were no longer as aggressive as they were a few months ago.

The calmness on Akiyama Masayuki's face was broken. "Prime Minister Ito, why are you here in person?"

Ito Hirobumi said loudly: "You are the hero who protected Japan and the whole of Asia. Why can't I come here in person? Akiyama, see, these are the people who are here to welcome you!"

The cheers from all around were so loud that Ito Hirobumi had to shout loudly to keep his voice from being drowned out by the waves. Akiyama Saneyuki pulled his hand out, bowed to Ito Hirobumi, stood up straight and said, "I'm not a hero, I'm just Saneyuki of the Akiyama family."

After becoming a war hero, Akiyama Saneyuki's attitude was the same as usual. Ito Hirobumi was very satisfied. He took Akiyama Saneyuki to accept the cheers of the crowd and then let Akiyama Saneyuki take a carriage to Sakurada Gate. There were cheering crowds along the way, and girls threw flowers, sachets and amulets at the carriage, which made Nagao Kanji, who was in charge of security, very nervous, fearing that someone would throw a bomb instead of a love sachet.

He was worried about the assassination of war hero Akiyama Saneyuki, and even more worried about the assassination of Prime Minister Ito. Reactionaries were suppressed batch after batch, but some people were still unwilling to fail, and the assassination activities against Prime Minister Ito never stopped.

Fortunately, no unexpected incidents occurred. The Metropolitan Police Department did a good job and no assassins or assassins jumped out this time. Watching the Prime Minister and Akiyama Saneyuki's carriage enter the Imperial Palace, Nagao Kanji wiped the sweat from his forehead and finally felt relieved. There were people arranged by Daikakuya Shishin inside the Imperial Palace, and the guards were much stricter than outside.

Chapter 418 The Future

Like Emperor Meiji, Emperor Taisho was weak and sickly since childhood. A few years ago, like other Japanese army generals, he admired the German army very much and even had a Prussian mustache. But in recent years, the situation has changed. Emperor Taisho read Lin Yongchang's works and began to study the successful experience of neighboring China. When it comes to learning from the strong, the Japanese have always done a good job.

It was the first time that Akiyama Saneyuki was received by the Emperor. He had never met Emperor Meiji or Emperor Taisho. He thought that the current Emperor would have a problem with Prime Minister Ito. After all, it was Ito Hirobumi who drove the previous Emperor out of power and promoted "people's democracy" in the country. But that was not the case. Emperor Taisho and Ito Hirobumi seemed very close.

The current emperor was very excited when he saw Akiyama Saneyuki. He stood up from his seat, took a few quick steps, looked Akiyama Saneyuki up and down, and said happily: "General Akiyama defeated the arrogant Westerners, and his name will surely go down in history!"

"It was not I, Akiyama Saneyuki, who defeated the enemy, but the loyal and brave marines."

Emperor Taisho smiled and said, "General, you are too modest. As the ancients said, it is easy to get thousands of troops, but it is difficult to get a general. If you were not the commander-in-chief, even if we could win, we would not win so easily!"

He asked Akiyama Saneyuki to sit down and asked many questions. The flagship Ito Hirobumi just sat beside him with a smile. Akiyama Saneyuki answered some questions and told them honestly about things he didn't know. When the Emperor Taisho asked again, Akiyama Saneyuki thought for a moment and then said, "I think