Rouge Alley, big black house.
There is a banquet in a pavilion. It is the time for the guests and the host to enjoy themselves.
The position that Tokugawa Qi Zhao set up for Zhuge Weidao is really "unique". There are a lot of various dishes, including carp miso soup, sea bream sashimi, fish slabs, sweet egg rolls, yokan, wild duck meat, salt-grilled anchovies, steamed abalone, mullet roe, etc., all of them are used It was served in a black lacquered wooden box, wooden plate, and wooden bowl, which was very formal. In addition, sake and rice are also prepared.
Zhuge Weidao, who married the adopted daughter of General Tokugawa (Okoku Sora), knew that these dishes were already the highest standard of Japanese cuisine at the moment - Tokugawa Ieki also ate them. But if you go to the Daheiwu in Rouge Alley to eat, who cares whether the food is good or not? The key is whether the "program" is good or not.
As for the special program that Tokugawa Qi Zhao arranged for Zhuge Weidao, there was no special program at all... In a Japanese-style room, there were Tokugawa Qi Zhao, Zhuge Weidao, and Yu De, as well as a tea pourer. The maid in the big black room of wine.
Daikokuya serves food first quickly and then slowly, so that customers can rest their hunger first. After they are half full, they can slowly talk about things or watch "programs".
Tokugawa Qi Zhao did not arrange any special programs for Zhuge Weidao. Of course, he just talked about business while eating. He speaks Chinese fluently, so he doesn't need any translation, he can just talk directly.
"Ah, Mr. Zhuge," Tokugawa Qi Zhao said with a smile, "I heard that your country is preparing to send an envoy to Vienna to participate in the peace conference?"
Zhuge Weidao nodded and said: "It is true... Nicholas I, Louis XVII and Franz I have all come forward to make peace, so naturally we have to give some face. And we ourselves also It will take time to rest and reorganize the fleet. During this process, a large number of new hulls will be commissioned, so it doesn’t hurt to talk about it for a few months.”
"Really?" Although Japan no longer has a navy in the true sense, Tokugawa Saiaki is still in charge of the navy, so when he heard "new ships", his eyes turned red, "I don't know if there are any new ships." , can you reveal it?"
"Of course," Zhuge Weidao said, "In the next six months, in addition to the three Shuzhongwang-class aircraft-carrying battlecruisers that will all enter service, there will also be at least two Shi Huangdi ships with a standard displacement of 25,000 tons. -class battlecruisers, 3 Hero-modified battleships with upgraded guns and a standard platoon of 20,000 tons, 4 Kongming-class light cruisers, as well as some Warrior-class cruisers, escort-class destroyers and heavy mine destroyers...the number is not the same It’s not too much, but the advantage over the British Navy can still be maintained.”
Although the Hero Kai and Kongming-class light cruisers are not as dazzling as the Shihuang-class, Zhongwang-class, and Shu Zhongwang-class, they are very practical battleships.
Among them, the hero modification changed the configuration of six twin 280mm cannons to five twin 300mm cannons arranged on the central axis. It also strengthened the protection under the waterline and enlarged some hulls, making the standard displacement exceed 2 Thousands of tons. However, the power system of the hero modification is still the same as that of the hero, so the speed is further slowed down and it becomes a slow battleship.
The Kongming-class light cruiser is a large light cruiser with a standard displacement of more than 12,000 tons. The most distinctive feature of this light cruiser is the two triple-mounted 155mm turrets at the front and rear. Before this, Ming Dynasty had not equipped a ship with triple-mounted 155mm turrets. This is the first time!
If you use it well, you can try to install a large-caliber triple turret in the future.
In addition, the Kongming class also has two configurations: high speed and heavy mine. It will also be equipped with a 630mm large steam gas torpedo, whose effective range will reach 10 kilometers.
It can be said that if this light cruiser is used properly, it can kill armored cruisers and even battleships in an instant!
"Isn't this much?" Tokugawa Qi Zhaoxin said: "It's already dumplings, but it's not much? And there are as many as 8 large ships with a standard displacement of more than 20,000 tons! Once the Ming Dynasty's industrial strength is brought into play, it will really be It’s too scary. It seems that Japan made the right choice by siding with Ming Dynasty!”
"Zhuge Jun," Tokugawa Qiaki put away his thoughts of envy, jealousy, and hatred, and said with a smile on his face, "then... in the next six months, it should be inconvenient for China to break up with Britain. Are you going to fight again?"
Zhuge nodded and said: "In the future,
We still need to take a breather for a period of time, not necessarily in 6 months, but there should be no war in 3 months. "
Fighting and stopping may be a characteristic of this world war. After all, both sides are very tolerant. No one expects a quick victory or a quick defeat. It is even impossible to completely eliminate the other party in a single battle.
Tokugawa Qi Zhao seemed to be waiting for Zhuge Weidao's words, and immediately asked: "In this case, it is not convenient for China to send troops to North America to support the Texas battlefield in the next six months, right?"
really!
Zhuge Weidao said in his heart: "You Japanese devils really want to colonize the United States!" He thought for a while, nodded, and then looked at Tokugawa Qiaki intently.
"Japan and I can take care of the army... We can send a division to the Mexican Empire by sea at any time!" Tokugawa Saiaki said, "But we cannot fight in Texas without the navy! There is no railway from Texas to Mexico City. , all logistical supplies depend on water transportation.
If China cannot send its navy into the Caribbean. So can Japan... rebuild its navy and send out a combined fleet? "
Zhuge Weidao was also surprised at this time: "What? You want to send a navy to the Caribbean Sea? If you take the Pacific Ocean and bypass South America, you will have to travel almost 20,000 nautical miles, right? If you take Malacca, cross the Indian Ocean, and bypass Africa, Then it’s 16,000 to 7,000 nautical miles, right? Isn’t it too far?”
Zhuge Weidaoxin said: "This distance is comparable to that of the Second Division of the Pacific Fleet from the Baltic Sea to the Far East during the Russo-Japanese War!
Do you, the Japanese Combined Fleet, want to imitate old Maozi? "
Tokugawa Saiaki nodded and said seriously: "You are right, it is indeed a bit far. But in order to help the Mexicans resist the American invasion, my Japanese samurai, why should we fear that the journey is long and dangerous?"
Zhuge Weidao thought: "Are you Japs going to help Mexico fight against the United States? That sounds pretty righteous!"
Although I don't believe that you are so righteous, the Japanese devils want to cause trouble in the Americas and should still be encouraged. After all, this is a good thing to win to eliminate troubles and to kill to resolve internal worries. "
"In this case... we should still help with this." Zhuge Weidao thought about it, "But let's forget about the new large ships, because they won't be able to form combat effectiveness in the short term if they are given to you.
But we can get you some old-fashioned armored cruisers, cruisers, destroyers and torpedo boats. "
Zhuge Weidao thought for a while and then said: "Tokugawa-don, you can propose a small Caribbean fleet to cooperate with the Mexican Emperor's navy."
"That's all!" Tokugawa Saiaki was immediately overjoyed, "With these, we will be very sure of the battle in Texas!"
In fact, Tokugawa Saiaki did not want to revive the Japanese navy, but really wanted to establish some colonies in North America... If he wanted to establish colonies there, it would be impossible without a navy.
Without the navy, the Japanese city of Texas could easily be turned into an isolated city by the Americans. Without foreign aid, the siege could be fatal.
Of course Zhuge Weidao also understood this principle, although he did not expect that the Japanese and the Mexican emperor's navy could defeat the United States. But it can last for a while, right?
As long as they can hold on for a year or two, the Ming Navy will be able to free up its hands and build an expedition fleet to sail over. Then I might actually have the opportunity to set fire to the white house...
Thinking of this, Zhuge Weidao finally made his final decision and said to Tokugawa Qiaki: "Tokugawa-don, I will help you formulate a plan later and you will propose it. Our side will naturally pass it... so you can do it now You can go summon the old navy department!"
