Master Yuan, start!

Prince Komatsu waved his hand, unwilling to argue with the young lieutenant colonel.

"Yes!"

The young lieutenant colonel swallowed his saliva and said in a trembling voice: Death

"President Yuan of the Republic of China called... Yesterday morning, the Chinese and Japanese joint fleet bombarded Vladivostok, destroying all Russian warships in the harbor.

In addition, China and Japan cooperated with the navy and army to capture more than 3000 Russian soldiers, and Vladivostok successfully changed hands!

but"

“Capture Russian troops?

Well, good news!"

Before the lieutenant colonel finished reading the telegram, Prince Komatsu Akihito could not help but interrupt after hearing the previous news.

He slapped his thighs wildly, his joy beyond words.

"Ito-kun, good move, wonderful move!"

Komatsu couldn't help but say "Yoshi" to Ito Hirobumi who was sitting across the table.

Prime Minister Aritomo Yamagata and Navy Minister Kiyotaka Kuroda also had satisfied expressions on their faces.

One felt that the bet was right, and the other felt that the navy was powerful and his position in the cabinet would definitely rise in the future.

As for Army Minister Oyama Iwao, seeing the navy's achievements, he could no longer contain his excitement and began to get ready.

If the navy wins, how far will the army be?

After the excitement subsided, Prince Komatsu Akihito smiled and looked at the lieutenant colonel whose arms were shaking. He asked with a smile:

Skirt, 8 x 60 x 73.80: 45$

"You, why are your arms shaking? Are you too excited and can't control yourself?"

"There's more news!"

"Okay, tell me slowly!" Prince Komatsu said with a smile on his face.

"The Great Japanese Navy suffered a naval defeat, with the entire force nearly annihilated. Only the Naniwa remained intact, and the rest are missing."

"Nani?"

"idiot!"

There were several exclamations in the base camp.

The first sentence comes from Navy Minister Kuroda Kiyotaka, and the second sentence comes from Prince Komatsu.

"It's fake, the information is fake, right?!"

Prince Komatsu Akihito grabbed the lieutenant colonel's collar and demanded, "Do you know what happens when you lie to your superiors?!"

"I'm sorry, Your Highness, this is a telegram sent personally by the President of China. It cannot be faked."

He claimed that he had heard in China that the Sino-Japanese combined fleet had won a victory, but that the Japanese fleet had been completely destroyed, and requested the headquarters to investigate the truth.

"The Imperial Japanese Navy, the Imperial Japanese Navy, how come there is only one ship left, the Naniwa?"

Prince Komatsu couldn't believe the bad news and murmured, "Where's Yoshino, Matsushima, and Takachiho?

Even if there were 10 fishing boats, they couldn't be destroyed so completely, right?

Why did it end up being almost annihilated?"

After hearing this information, Prince Komatsu clenched his hand, which had just been patting his thigh, into a fist, and cold sweat was dripping down his back.

The last time he sent the prince to Athens to apologize and compensated the Greeks with the two warships "Chiyoda" and "Itsukushima", he had already aroused public indignation.

At that time, the streets of Tokyo were full of protesters, and the liberal civil rights movement took this opportunity to give speeches and win over the hearts of the people.

In the end, he had no choice but to abolish the title of Prince Kitashirakawa Norihisa and bring the leading figure of the liberal civil rights faction, Okuma Shigenobu, into the cabinet to appease public anger.

This time, the entire fleet was almost destroyed. How can we explain this?

Who will be responsible?

In the Great Japanese Empire, how many princes are left whose titles can be abolished?

Is it my turn this time?

Komatsunomiya's body trembled, and he was unable to accept it for a moment.

The Japanese fleet, which was highly expected by His Majesty the Emperor and carried the expectations of 3000 million citizens, was gone just like that.

All the funds raised by the people and the personal donations from His Majesty the Emperor were wasted.

"Any more news?"

When Ito Hirobumi saw the look on Prince Komatsu's face, he forced himself to stay alert and continued questioning.

"Yes, yes!" The lieutenant colonel finally reacted and quickly looked at the telegram and continued to read:

"President Yuan... President Yuan declared that Japan would pool all of Fusang's resources to win the trust of the new China.

The Chinese will certainly not let down such a friend who is willing to stick by them through thick and thin.

Therefore, he decided to give Russia-occupied Karafuto Island as a gift to thank the Empire of Japan!

"Reward Karafuto Island?"

Hearing this, Prince Komatsu seemed to have grabbed a life-saving straw. He quickly stood up, grabbed the telegram and examined it carefully.

The Minister of War and the Minister of the Navy also came forward.

Only Ito Hirobumi couldn't help but frown after hearing this, and thought to himself.

Yuan Xiangcheng, it seems that you are the chess player.

As if Amaterasu had appeared, after Prince Komatsu snatched the telegram, a young major hurried in.

"Your Highness, Ministers, urgent message from Aomori Prefecture!"

"Hurry, speak up!"

"At noon today, two severely damaged warships were found stranded on the beach in northern Aomori Prefecture. They were later identified as the Yoshino and the Hashidate.

It was also discovered that 235 people including Fleet Commander Ito Toru and Yoshino Captain Togo Heihachiro survived!

"10 out of 3 ships survived, that's not bad, that's not bad"

After hearing this, Prince Komatsu let out a breath, collapsed on the ground as if relieved, and looked at Ito Hirobumi beside him and asked:

"Ito-kun, what should we do now?"

At this time, Ito Hirobumi had already made a decision in his heart.

He stood up with a serious expression and said in a strong voice:

"Your Highness, at this moment, the only option is to advance!

He ordered the Aomori Prefecture Army to gather ships and move them all to Hokkaido, ready to cross the sea to the north at any time.

Target, Karafuto Island!"

Drinking poison to quench thirst, even if Yuan Xiangcheng gave a cup of poisoned wine, the Great Japanese Empire must drink it now!

Chapter 337 The Fundamental Reasons for Russia's War

Heilongjiang Province, the middle section of the Songhua River north of Alechuka.

Alechuka, later called "Acheng", was originally a Qing garrison near the Songhua River.

However, after entering Guandong in this time and space, the population here gradually increased, and it was upgraded to a county town as early as 1893.

It is called Acheng County.

However, looking around Acheng County at this time, it was a deserted scene.

The merchant ships that were coming and going at the riverside wharf in the north disappeared one after another.

The people fled south or went up the mountains, fearing that they would be caught, tortured and robbed by the Russians and lose their lives.

Even under the strong urging of the surrendered Mongols Bayan Nemohu and Fu Yu, the Russians chose to put away their butcher knives temporarily.

But more than half of the population in the markets along the Songhua River still left.

The rest, mostly those who were unable to travel with their elderly and children, could only wait at home in fear, hoping that the Russians would spare their lives.

The weather has already warmed up. As a rule, spring plowing in Heilongjiang Province should begin at the end of May or early June at the latest.

However, looking out from outside the city today, apart from the endless black soil, there is no sign of restoration of cultivation on both sides of the Songhua River.

An inland gunboat slowly approached from the direction of Heilongjiang River in the east, with two people standing at the bow.

One of them had yellow skin, black hair, and looked no different from a Chinese person, but he was having a cheerful conversation with the Russian officer next to him.

"Ivanovich, how much food have you collected?" General Baranov of the Russian Primorsky Army asked the yellow-skinned man beside him.

"Reporting to the Lieutenant General, since the Imperial Army marched south, they have collected approximately 1 poods (160 tons) of grain, 8 jin (2000 kg) of liquor, and head of livestock in Linjiang Prefecture, Yilan Prefecture, Hulan County, and Acheng County!

These things are enough to support us in fighting a war without any worries!"

Nikolai Ivanovich Ji Fengtai patted his chest with a look of pride.

This name, which is neither Chinese nor Russian, is the pride of Ji Fengtai.

Ji Fengtai was a Chinese, born during the Tongzhi period.

After the Dingxu famine during the Guangxu period, he fled to the outside of the Great Wall with the disaster victims to seek a living.

However, after overcoming the difficulties, this man did not choose to give back to his hometown. Instead, in 1875, he joined the Russians and became a translator for the Khabarovsk Municipal Government of Russia.

What is even more surprising is that he applied for Russian citizenship in 1885.

After being baptized, he converted to Eastern Orthodoxy and was named Nikolai Ivanovich Jifengtai.

In addition, during the boundary demarcation negotiations between the Qing and Russia in 1886, he used his Chinese appearance to deceive his compatriots, resulting in the incorrect marking of the boundary of the Sino-Russian Hunchun Eastern Boundary Treaty, allowing Russia to gain a considerable amount of territory.

And Heixiazi Island is located in this territory.

This disastrous consequence was not resolved until the 21st century. Even if China becomes strong in the future, due to this treaty, it can only choose to jointly develop Heixiazi Island with Russia, sharing half of it.

Therefore, although this person looks like a Chinese, he is actually no different from the Shanxi merchants who betrayed the imperial court in the late Ming Dynasty.