Expedition to Europe

Just before Qin Zhiyuan ascended the throne, Lan Fang's cargo ship was suddenly illegally inspected and even directly seized by the Japanese, which immediately caused an uproar in Lan Fang.

After receiving Henry's telegram, the two destroyers of the Vladivostok Squadron immediately started and went to the sea area where the incident occurred to try to rescue, but they did not find the "Minnan" when they arrived.

The Japanese naturally would not stay there and wait to anger the Vladivostok Squadron. At this time, the "Minnan" had been taken to the Japanese port and detained by Japanese warships.

Although the captain of the destroyer was unwilling, he could not go directly to the Japanese military port to rescue the "Minnan". So he could only report it helplessly.

Coconut City, Royal Palace.

Qin Zhiyuan convened a meeting in front of the emperor, and Huang Bohan, Qin Zhisheng, and Foch attended.

"... This is basically the process of the matter. Let's talk about it. How do we deal with this matter?" Qin Zhiyuan reported the situation.

In order to take care of Foch, Qin Zhiyuan still used French, and everyone present could understand.

The Japanese detained the "Minnan" without reason, which was very provocative. At this time, it depends on Lan Fang's response. One careless move could lead to war.

And at present, Lan Fang is obviously not ready for war.

"The Japanese are going crazy. Although our ships will pass through the Tsushima Strait and the Japanese can threaten our shipping lanes at any time, there are countless Japanese ships passing through the Strait of Malacca every day. If we target Japanese cargo ships in the Strait of Malacca, the losses of the Japanese will be greater. Don't the Japanese know this?" Huang Bohan spoke first.

Although Huang Bohan is the prime minister, he is still a businessman at heart. It is okay to deal with domestic affairs with a businessman's way of thinking, but if he uses a businessman's way of thinking to deal with international relations, it will be a disaster.

So Huang Bohan really can't understand the behavior of the Japanese.

"The Japanese have a tradition of overthrowing the superiors. Since the Meiji Restoration, the Japanese have always launched a coup from the bottom up. Will this be the behavior of some individuals?" Qin Zhisheng knows more about Japan.

At present, Qin Zhiyuan is the commander-in-chief of the three armies of Lan Fang, and Qin Zhisheng is the chief of staff of the three armies.

Since he is responsible for the important task of the staff, Qin Zhisheng must strengthen his own ability. Japan is Qin Zhiyuan's internal target for the next stage of the attack. Qin Zhisheng has already had a deep understanding of Japan, so he has a deep understanding of Japan's situation.

"It is not necessarily the behavior of a few people. Japan is now in a mess, and the call for the emperor to abdicate is endless. The Japanese may deliberately provoke conflicts with us in order to divert domestic attention, so as to arouse the common hatred of the enemy in Japan." Qin Zhiyuan's temperament is becoming more and more calm.

Dealing with emergencies is the most challenging test of the governing ability of national leaders. If you are at a loss, you will inevitably be at a loss. Only by being calm can you face it calmly.

Qin Zhiyuan is in the process of progressing to "calm and calm".

"If that's the case, then we should expose the conspiracy of the little Japan, let the whole world understand the intentions of the Japanese, and use the pressure of public opinion to force the Japanese to release the people and ships. In that way, we will occupy the moral high ground, have a psychological advantage, and be able to deal with the Japanese from a high position. At the same time, we should order the relevant departments to increase the subversion of the Japanese government, at least to let Japan continue to be in chaos." Huang Bohan is inclined to solve the problem through diplomatic means.

Although Qin Zhiyuan has pointed out that Japan is the opponent of Lan Fang in the next stage, Huang Bohan is not willing to start a war if he is not forced to do so.

Huang Bohan belongs to the civil service group, which is naturally opposed to the military service group. If Lan Fang goes to war with Japan, the military will have the upper hand, and may even implement martial law, then the civil service group will lose power. At least if Lan Fang wants to prepare for war, it will inevitably increase military spending, which will affect Lan Fang's ongoing construction.

Of course, if Qin Zhiyuan is determined to go to war, Huang Bohan will also execute it unconditionally. If a war really goes to war, it will be a war related to the fate of the country, and Huang Bohan will not pull his legs anyway.

Huang Bohan is fully aware of this point.

"They seized our ship, so we seized his too. If they seized one of our ships, we would seize ten of theirs. We must stand up to the Japanese and not retreat a step, otherwise these people will definitely push their limits and the tragedy of the Qing Empire will repeat itself on us." Qin Zhisheng tends to use violence to solve the problem.

Think about it carefully. If there is a war between Lan Fang and the Japanese sooner or later, it is better to fight this war earlier than later.

Lan Fang's current shortcoming is basic military industry.

Although Lan Fang's business is large, it has not yet seen results. Even the raw materials used to produce bullets and shells need to be imported. This does not matter much in normal times, but if a war is entered, more aspects must be considered.

Although the British shouted that they wanted to establish an "alliance" relationship with the Japanese, they have not made a final decision. If Lan Fang and Japan go to war, it is not ruled out that the British will stab Lan Fang in the back. After all, most of Lan Fang's current imported materials must be imported from Europe. If there is a problem in Europe, Lan Fang may face the dilemma of poor supply.

However, this situation is the most extreme one, because at the same time when the British and the Japanese formed an alliance, the French were also allies of the Lan Fang people. At the same time, because of France's advantage in the Mediterranean direction, if the Lan Fang people went to war with Japan, France would definitely stand on the side of the Lan Fang people. At this time, it is a big question mark how much help the British can provide to the Japanese.

It seems that it is better to fight early than late.

Because while the Japanese used Lan Fang to divert domestic attention and strengthen domestic cohesion, Lan Fang could also use the contradictions between them and the Japanese to increase Lan Fang's cohesion.

"There must be retaliatory actions, but the degree of retaliation must also be considered. If we seize ten Japanese ships, then the Japanese may block the Tsushima Strait, and we cannot block the Malacca Strait now. In this regard, we have no advantage." Huang Bohan was worried.

From the map, one side of the Malacca Strait belongs to the British and the other side belongs to the Lan Fang people. The Malacca Strait is also an extremely busy waterway. Almost all countries in the world will use the Malacca Strait when they have contact with East Asia. Therefore, it is very difficult to block it and the impact is not good.

The Tsushima Strait is different. Currently, North Korea is occupied by Japan, and the two countries are considering merging the two. At present, most of the ships passing through the Tsushima Strait belong to Lan Fang, which makes it easier for the Japanese to block the Tsushima Strait, and the impact is not as great as Lan Fang's blockade of the Malacca Strait.

"How much supplies are stored in the Northern Xinjiang District now?" Qin Zhiyuan first found out how much money he had.

Just after the Northern Expedition Corps occupied the Northern Xinjiang Region, Lan Fang began to stockpile supplies in the Northern Xinjiang Region, including bullets, artillery shells, aerial bombs, aviation fuel, and even food and clothes. No matter what kind of supplies, as long as the Northern Xinjiang Region can use them, they must be stockpiled.

"In the past few months, we have mobilized hundreds of cargo ships, one of which is in the Northern Xinjiang Region to stockpile supplies. So far, the relevant military supplies have been stockpiled to nearly one million tons, of which weapons and ammunition account for the vast majority. If we go to war with the Japanese now, according to the usual strength of our army, we can only support it for one month." Qin Zhisheng's expression is not without worry.

This is the disadvantage of the foreign legion's usual extravagance. Even if it is a small-scale battle, it must first conduct half an hour of firepower preparation. It would be strange if the consumption of supplies is not large.

The original text is available at Liu # 9 @Shu/Bar!

Think about it carefully. From the day the Foreign Legion was born, the logistics supply has always been sufficient. Because the Allies paid for it, the Foreign Legion has never worried about logistics issues, which has caused the Foreign Legion to always use superior firepower to crush the enemy in combat.

This kind of war is indeed very exciting, but at the same time, the consumption is also amazing.

"When the General Staff formulates combat plans in the future, we must consider our existing capabilities and cannot always use the consumption in Europe as a reference. Although our firepower intensity will be reduced in that case, the Japanese are not as durable as the Germans. Whether in terms of equipment or training level, the Japanese and Germans cannot compare. As long as it is enough, there is no need to waste it lavishly." Qin Zhiyuan made a request.

"Wait, do you mean to go to war with the Japanese?" Foch finally came to his senses.

Foch is currently the chief adviser of the three armed forces of Lan Fang. This position is very special. Because of Foch's own reputation, he actually has the same voice in the Lan Fang military as Qin Zhisheng.

"With this plan, we certainly won't take the initiative to provoke a war, but if the Japanese must provoke a war, we won't back down. Lan Fang never backs down." Qin Zhiyuan said loudly.

Lan Fang won't back down!

Qin Zhiyuan is ready to take this as Lan Fang's principle.

"No, no, no... Now is not the right time to start a war. Lan Fang currently does not have the ability to defeat the Japanese. In the war in Europe, the Lan Fang army did show potential. If Lan Fang and Japan bordered each other, then I believe Lan Fang at least had the strength to compete with the Japanese, but the problem now is that Lan Fang and Japan do not border each other, so Lan Fang's powerful army may not even be useful. The threat of the Japanese naval fleet must be taken into account, which should not be underestimated." Foch's expression was solemn.

In terms of personal status, Foch is now the world's number one military person, there is no doubt about this.

But at the same time, Foch is also a representative of the old military. Although Foch is not opposed to new weapons such as tanks, machine guns, and airplanes, he does not have a deep understanding of the value of these new weapons.

In Foch's concept, Lan Fang lacked effective countermeasures to deal with Japanese warships, so Foch was not optimistic about Lan Fang and Japan going to war now.

"The Japanese fleet is indeed strong. Lan Fang now has only one battleship, but the Japanese have six, and they are even stepping up construction. But if a war breaks out, it does not mean that Lan Fang has no ability to fight back. The Japanese warships have not even installed radio systems, which will make communication between their warships difficult. Lan Fang also has a large number of submarines, which can pose a huge threat to the Japanese. At the same time, Lan Fang also has the most powerful bomber force in the world. When facing bombers, Japanese battleships can only be a tragedy!" Qin Zhiyuan asserted.

Qin Zhiyuan was going to go to the Aircraft Research Institute after the meeting to supervise the progress of the torpedo aircraft research and development team.

"Tragedy? Not necessarily!" Foch was stubborn.

Foch did not finish his words. If Lan Fang and Japan went to war, then tragedy would definitely occur.

However, Foch felt that "tragedy" would not necessarily happen to the Japanese.