Seven Seas Beacon Fire

Fortunately, the businessman surnamed Jin was so focused on the franchise rights promised to them that he either didn't notice or was deliberately ignoring it for the sake of business. In any case, he paid no attention to the opening remarks made by Crown Prince Zhaoren, and in the ensuing questioning, he answered every question as if pouring beans from a bamboo tube.

What's the current economic situation of the Tang Empire?

What's the political climate like in the Tang Empire right now?

Have the Tang Empire's army and navy started mobilizing yet...?

"Crown Prince Zhaoren," Kim Eun-myung said with a wry smile, "I really want to answer all your questions, but I am, after all, just a businessman, not a spy. There are some questions I don't want to answer, but I genuinely don't know!"

Chapter 266 A Punch That Opens the Way (7)

"Tang has not made any response so far... Could it be that the Tang cruiser encountered in Iquique Port was really just an accident?"

For several days, no diplomatic inquiries were received from the Tang Empire, and neither did the United States of Colombia or the Victorian Empire. This made Prime Minister Daisuke Takahashi of the Kingdom of Kii feel uneasy.

Sometimes he wondered if he was being too "cheap." Wasn't it just as good that the Tang Empire hadn't noticed? By the time the two ships entered Yingzhou's naval port, it would be too late; the die would be cast... The Tang Empire would have to accept this loss, even if they didn't want to.

Although emotionally he hoped things would ultimately develop in that direction, his rationality told him that things wouldn't be that simple.

This situation, where it felt like there was always one shoe hanging over their heads, lasted for about half a month. During this time, the Kii Kingdom managed to smuggle more than 2000 naval officers and soldiers into the port of Ikik in several batches, disguised as tourists or immigrants, as quickly as possible.

These 2000-plus officers and soldiers are basically the absolute elite and seed that the young garrison fleet of the Kii Kingdom can currently muster. You have to know that Yingzhou has gone to great lengths to provide nearly 5000 officers and soldiers for its four main battleships. As for the two battlecruisers that were purchased urgently by the United States of Colombia Navy in order to secure their positions before the naval treaty negotiations officially begin, they certainly cannot gather qualified personnel in a short period of time.

For small navies, it is already extremely difficult to assemble a ship with enough sailors. For example, the Ottoman Empire sent its naval officers and men to the Victorian Empire before the war to take over the sacred ship (later the Agincourt) and they were detained by the Victorian Empire. Essentially, the best of their navy was wiped out.

Although the Leitanian Empire then took the opportunity to sell one of its battlecruisers, which was stuck in the Mediterranean, to the Ottomans, successfully bringing the Ottoman Empire onto the Allied chariot, the Ottoman navy was unable to muster enough manpower for even a capital ship because the officers and soldiers it had previously assembled were detained. Therefore, it had to continue to hire Leitanian officers and soldiers to operate the ship.

The Kingdom of Kii had a stronger naval foundation than the Ottomans, but even so, in order to operate the two ships as soon as possible, the garrison fleet had basically transferred all the officers and soldiers from the battlecruisers "Amagi" and "Akagi" (after thinking about it, I decided to keep Akagi with her sister and change the name in the previous text as well; the name of Atago's ship will be given to the Lion-class). Now, only a hundred or so caretakers remained on those two battlecruisers, and at this moment, they could only stay at home in the port.

However, just as two battlecruisers from the Victorian Empire were preparing to set sail from Iquique Harbor, a message from the Victorian Royal Navy's Australian Squadron cruiser HMS Hawkins, which had been previously scouted, was delivered to the Japanese court through the Victorian ambassador to Japan.

In the waters north of Australia, they discovered a Haiqi-class battlecruiser and a Zhiyuan-class battlecruiser.

Because of the relatively long distance, it is impossible to distinguish which Haiqi-class battlecruiser it is, but it is certain that the last remaining Zhiyuan-class battleship, the Jingyuan, is the only one of its kind.

Before the Colombian Navy's Lexington-class battleships were completed and commissioned, and given that the Royal Victoria Navy currently had no battlecruisers in the entire Pacific, this was the most powerful battlecruiser in the Pacific at the time.

Although the lead ship of the Zhiyuan-class battleships was sunk in the Battle of the Java Sea, this will never overshadow the brilliance of this type of battlecruiser. After all, whether in terms of combat record (the two sister ships together took down 6 kills and 2 assists against capital ships) or actual performance, the Jingyuan is still a formidable force.

These two battlecruisers, both capable of speeds exceeding 27 knots, appeared in the waters north of Australia. What were they doing there? Were they there to threaten Australia?

Even the Royal Navy of Victoria probably wouldn't think so, because Australia is really quite far from the Tang Empire, separated by so many islands. Whether from a geographical point of view or from the current situation after the war, the Tang Empire wouldn't have any designs on the world's smallest continent or largest island.

However, it is clear that the waters where these two battlecruisers are located happen to block a shipping route. If a ship departing from South America were to attempt to pass through the waters north of Australia and return to Yingzhou, it would be very likely to be discovered and captured by these two ships in this area.

Although on paper the two Victoria Navy city-class strategic cruisers have slightly larger gun calibers, no one would believe that these two battlecruisers could defeat the Jingyuan and another Haiqi-class cruiser in a one-on-one duel.

After all, the Lion-class battlecruiser's nine-inch side armor had proven ineffective against even the 330mm main guns that used older armor-piercing shells. The opposing side had 250mm main armor at a 15-degree angle plus 70mm dome armor, and 250mm vertical armor plus 70mm dome armor (the error in the previous data on the Haiqi's armor has been corrected to 250mm). Although the West still cannot confirm these two exact figures, through a series of subsequent battles, the Victoria Navy and the Colombian Navy have basically determined that these two battlecruisers have better protection than the Lion-class.

Even disregarding the vast difference in the naval personnel between the two sides, if a direct conflict were to occur at sea, even two fully equipped Lions would likely have little chance of winning.

Of course, sending these 2000 people onto the ships wasn't really about fighting. Daisuke Takahashi also believed that the possibility of armed conflict was low, but they had to be prepared for it. Having these 2000 people gave the two ships theoretical combat capability, which would make the Tang Empire more hesitant to act rashly. If each ship had less than 200 people, then don't blame them for sending several destroyers and cruisers to board the ships and take control of the entire vessels.

However, since two Tang Dynasty cruisers have appeared in northern Australia, this shipping route is no longer usable. After all, it's one thing to think that the other side is unlikely to use force, but it's quite another to go and approach someone who is carrying a knife at the crossroads.

While the staff at the Yingzhou Naval Garrison Command were still fiercely debating whether the appearance of the two battlecruisers there was a coincidence or intentional, a Colombian naval survey ship in the southern South China Sea sent back a message that they had discovered three Suiyuan-class battlecruisers there.

The Suiyuan would be considered an obsolete capital ship by today's standards. However, this battlecruiser was more acclaimed than the early battlecruisers of the Victorian and Leitanian Empires at the time, because they were the first battlecruisers in the world to arrange all their main guns on the centerline.

Although the performance of the three ships was average, even if the two Lion-class battlecruisers were piloted by Royal Navy officers and sailors, they would at most be evenly matched with these three battlecruisers.

More importantly, the presence of these three ships at the southern end of the South China Sea means that they have blocked the Strait of Malacca and the Sunda Strait. In other words, even if they wanted to take a long detour through southern Australia and then return to their homeland via the Bashi Channel from the South China Sea, they would be blocked.

The following day, the Colombian Navy spotted two more Haiqi-class battlecruisers operating in the waters around Midway Island. Undoubtedly, these two battlecruisers were eyeing the route passing through Hawaii.

By this point, the situation was quite clear—the Tang Empire had not issued any warnings, but they were obviously aware of the two battlecruisers and were preparing to intercept them directly at sea.

Daisuke Takahashi, filled with worry, went to see Juichiro Saito, the Minister of the Navy, to ask him what to do next. However, when he arrived at Juichiro's residence, he discovered that someone had already visited before him.

The visitor was none other than His Highness Crown Prince Zhaoren, who had recently recovered from his illness.

Crown Prince Akihito also came to Saito Juichiro's residence to discuss the two battlecruisers at sea. Daisuke Takahashi's expression swept across the two men's faces. He could see that Saito Juichiro's expression was full of hesitation, while Crown Prince Akihito's expression was excited and eager to try.

When Saito Jujuro saw Takahashi Daisuke, his expression immediately brightened. He stood up and warmly welcomed the prime minister as if he had seen a savior and a relative, and even offered to personally pour tea for the prime minister.

This action made Daisuke Takahashi somewhat uncomfortable. He had visited Saito Juichiro's residence before, but he had never done it like this before.

"What happened, Saito-kun?"

Before Saito Juichiro could even speak, Crown Prince Akishino said, "Prime Minister, we are now facing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

???

A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?

Now?

I don't see anything particularly special about this opportunity. I just feel that my future is bleak. If I, as a bald man, can't lead the Kingdom of Kii through this difficult time, then my career as a fortune teller is probably over.

I saw no once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in the strategic cruisers that the Tang Empire's Royal Navy was preparing to intercept us at sea.

Zhaoren realized that the Prime Minister did not believe what he said, but that did not matter. During his all-night conversation with Kuroki, Crown Prince Zhaoren not only saw the economic pressure and various internal problems that the Tang Dynasty was facing from the person brought by the black curtain, but also...

Zhao Ren believed he had thoroughly seen through the weak nature of the Tang Kingdom, this giant with feet of clay. Even though the Tang Kingdom's main naval fleet had been deployed in full force these past two days, he thought it was nothing more than a bluff, a gesture deliberately put on to give an explanation to the people at home.

General Kuroki is right in this regard. If the Tang Empire really could not accept Yingzhou having capital ships, then they should have intercepted it when Columbia transferred those four Leitanian Empire battleships and battlecruisers to Yingzhou. But at that time, the Tang Empire only made some different protests.

Zhao Ren still remembers the analogy Hei Mu used—offenses are something that can only happen once or countless times. Since the Tang Empire could accept previous offenses, they can certainly accept this one as well.

Now that the Tang Empire is prepared to use this show to give its citizens an explanation, Yingzhou can also use the media to create a new and different Yingzhou for its people!

Yin Yingzhou, a nation that stands tall and resolute in the face of a powerful Eastern nation, arguing with reason and courage!

An island that is adept at navigating international relations and has close ties with the two major Western powers!

The goal is to demonstrate to the people, in particular, Yingzhou's determination to build a powerful navy, and how, under the benevolent rule of His Majesty the Emperor, the Tang Empire's navy was ultimately forced to retreat in disgrace during a naval confrontation.

Kuroki even sent invitations to more than 100 media outlets, inviting them to board the battleship "Amaterasu". According to the plan, as the only two main battleships in the Yingzhou Navy with a certain combat capability, these two battleships will be responsible for receiving the two battlecruisers and covering their entry into Yingzhou Port. In the process, a confrontation with the other side is inevitable.

In short, the key is to maximize the success of internal communication!

However, when Crown Prince Akihito revealed the entire plan to the Prime Minister at this time, the Crown Prince, who expected to receive affirmation and praise, was met with an extremely shocked expression from Prime Minister Daisuke Takahashi.

He couldn't help but turn his gaze to Saito Juichiro: "Saito-kun, if I remember correctly, we still haven't decided whether to deploy two battleships. I really didn't expect that your navy could do so many things behind my back."

Before Saito Juichiro could offer any explanation, Prime Minister Takahashi Daisuke turned his gaze to Crown Prince Akishino: "Your Highness! The plan you just described is far too simplistic. Everything you've done is based on the assumption that the Tang army won't open fire. But what if they do open fire?"

“They won’t fire,” Zhao Ren said confidently. “First of all, these two battlecruisers will still fly the Chilean flag before entering our territorial waters. Would the Tang Empire attack ships from a third country so easily?”

"Your Highness, do you really think the Tang Empire doesn't know whether these two ships belong to us or to Chile?"

"It doesn't matter if he finds out."

Zhao Ren raised another finger: "Prime Minister, among the more than 2000 officers and men on these two battlecruisers, about one-tenth are actually officers from the Colombian Navy or the Royal Victoria Navy. The main task of these officers, besides helping Yingzhou train its sailors, is that they are still on these ships—these people are actually our hostages!"

Chapter 267 A Punch That Opens the Way (8)

While Crown Prince Akishino's words seemed to make some sense, they were actually somewhat one-sided and naive, and did not completely convince Daisuke Takahashi. As an old man born in the mid-20th century, Daisuke Takahashi had experienced too many ups and downs.

He witnessed the Colombian Civil War in his youth, where people who were originally from the same country showed no mercy to each other on their own land, and carried out a policy of scorched earth policy in the areas under their control.

In his youth, he witnessed the Germanic tribes defeat the dominant European power, the Gallic Kingdom, and capture their king, thus establishing the Lateranian Empire.

In his middle age, he witnessed the Victorian Empire mired in the Boer Wars, a world superpower making such a fool of itself in front of the whole world.

In his old age, he witnessed the collapse of the Ming Dynasty, which was like a divine kingdom on earth in the East, and then saw a new Tang Dynasty return like lightning in less than a year.

He had seen far too much; to use an old Chinese saying, he had eaten more salt than Crown Prince Zhaoren had eaten rice.

The series of diplomatic rules he has summarized over the past few decades can be summarized as follows: there are never any diplomatic rules.

All existing diplomatic rules are summaries of the previous era, while players in the new era will always establish their own rules. If he can have a conversation with Li Che on this point, then the two will most likely become kindred spirits.

In another world, Li Che had seen many people on the internet who firmly believed in the original Western values, but whose moral compass was shattered when faced with Trump's demands to annex Canada and his claim to Greenland.

Even so, Daisuke Takahashi could only agree with the Crown Prince's plan to recruit people. With the certainty that the Tang army would not dare to open fire, he would use the Tang army's interception to create hype, making a fuss in both domestic and foreign propaganda, in order to achieve the so-called "showing the new Yingzhou to the international community and the domestic people".

Because Daisuke Takahashi had no choice at all.

In his original plan, if the Tang Empire was unaware of the situation, then everything would be fine. However, if the Tang Empire was aware of the situation, he was prepared to deal with any inquiries from the Tang Empire.

However, the Tang Dynasty only sent battlecruisers to the ocean, and made no other announcements.

This silence left Yingzhou somewhat bewildered.

After all, Yingzhou can't very well go up to the Tang Dynasty and explain, "My purchase of these two ships is not directed against any third-party country," can he? Putting aside the question of whether the Tang Dynasty would believe him if he dared to say that, if he went up to them without anyone coming to him, he would be seen as a provocation—no one reported him, but he went to the game's official account and said that "small shots don't count as opening, I was just aiming at the frame and shooting," what do you think the consequences would be?

Compared to Daisuke Takahashi, Gotsuki Kuroki, who has the support of Crown Prince Akihito, is already entertaining the invited media reporters. The invited reporters are not only from Japan, but also reporters or writers from countries around the world such as Victoria, Colombia, Gaul, and Syracuse.

When Kuroki Gotsuki invited these reporters, he did not explain the real reason. The reason given by the naval command of the garrison was to invite them to visit the Yingzhou Navy's military exercises.

Although the Japanese navy is only third-rate by world standards, thanks to this world war, Japan has become a hot topic in the world, and news related to them naturally attracts attention.

In addition, although many countries' navies open their warships to the public on holidays or anniversaries, few public figures have ever personally boarded a warship to participate in military exercises. Therefore, when the garrison fleet extended an invitation, the invited media, apart from a few from Colombia, flocked to it.

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"Editor-in-chief, are we really going to let go of such a hot news opportunity?"

Thomson, a special correspondent for the Xinxiang Times, watched from the window of a three-story building by the sea as the main force of the Yingzhou Garrison Fleet was leaving its post. In reality, the main force consisted of only two battles and four patrols, with a few tugboats and destroyers accompanying it.

However, against the backdrop of the traditional, low-rise wooden civilian buildings on Yingzhou, the two King-class battleships, which once belonged to the Second Empire of Leitania's High Seas Fleet, now looked as magnificent as mountains on the sea. Even with just these two main ships, the Yingzhou garrison fleet already had the imposing presence of a blue-water navy.

Thomson believed that all news releases about the country's current affairs were in high demand, but the editor-in-chief of the Yingzhou branch passed up this easy opportunity.

This morning he also ran into Charles from the Victorian Empire Moon, who, upon learning that he wouldn't be boarding, assumed he hadn't been invited and immediately mocked him: "We're all going to a huge party at sea today, let's see who hasn't been invited."

This is absolutely infuriating!

This puzzled Thomson greatly, because he knew Editor-in-Chief Lando quite well; this overweight middle-aged man would never have missed such an easy opportunity to report a story.

Just last month, I went with the editor-in-chief to conduct fieldwork in the village most severely affected by the epidemic in the suburbs of Yingzhou New Kyoto. In this era where everyone is terrified of the epidemic, the editor-in-chief didn't hesitate for the sake of news. And now, this golden opportunity has been delivered right into our hands…

“I know you’re very unwilling, but a few days ago, a colonel from the Pacific Fleet approached me and told me not to accept any more invitations from the Yingzhou Navy, and to make sure that all the Colombian journalists in Yingzhou do not board any of Yingzhou’s warships.”

Did the colonel offer an explanation?

"No, that guy's face is like a poker card. I can tell he won't tell me even if I ask, and I don't want to deal with people like that, so I didn't ask."

The editor's words made Thomson's eyes widen. Although he was young, he was definitely not stupid. The navy had specifically sent an officer to warn them not to board the Japanese navy ship...

"Is the Yingzhou Navy in trouble? Is it because it's extremely dangerous that the navy specifically came to warn us? But who can threaten two battleships right now...? Could it be the Tang Empire?"

"The situation is obvious." Editor-in-Chief Lando grinned. "If it weren't for that major power in the west, it couldn't be that these two steel behemoths encountered some terrifying giant monster at sea after setting sail, which is why they are in danger, right? Even if they did encounter a monster, those are two behemoths with a full load displacement of nearly 3 tons. Besides an equally enormous steel behemoth, what else could threaten two battleships sailing at sea?"

After Thomson figured everything out, he didn't feel the ecstatic joy of escaping danger and surviving a disaster. Instead, he was overwhelmed with uncontrollable excitement.

"Such big news happening right after the war? God, I regret not boarding that ship even more now! Even though it's risking our lives... we can't give up on this kind of news!"

"You think I'd let this story slip by?" Editor-in-Chief Lando's lips curled into a smile, then, to Thomson's surprise, the editor pulled a key from his pocket: "I've already rented a large speedboat; you should still have your camera case, right...?"

"Of course!" Thomson exclaimed excitedly, immediately turning around and running upstairs. "Wait two minutes! I'll be right down with the boxes!"

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"We have finally arrived at the sea area east of Hokkaido."

On the bridge of the Lion-class battlecruiser, tentatively named "Atago," Acting Captain Hachiro Sakamoto finally breathed a sigh of relief. Although he was a veteran of the Navy with over 20 years of service, the pressure he faced on this voyage was unlike anything he had ever experienced before.

On the eve of their departure, news came from the mainland that the Tang Dynasty Royal Navy had deployed almost all of its battlecruisers to the sea, and the seven battlecruisers were divided into three squadrons, blocking their original three planned routes.

At that time, they already clearly realized that their plan to purchase warships through the Chilean Navy had failed. Obviously, the Tang Dynasty already knew who the real buyers of these two battlecruisers were, and they had begun to prepare to block or even intercept them at sea on their way to Yingzhou.

They had initially planned to cancel the plan, since the Tang Empire's battlecruisers couldn't stay at sea forever. Sakamoto Hachiro decided to stay in South America for a while longer, and then set off again when the Tang army's battlecruisers had to return to port.

This is indeed a safer option, but the suggestion was met with unanimous opposition from the domestic authorities and the Chilean Navy. After all, these two ships were originally a private transaction with Yingzhou. You've already been in the Chilean port long enough. If you stay any longer, the Navy won't be able to explain to the President. What if something goes wrong? Who will be responsible? You have no insurance!

Back in Yingzhou, there were no further reasons, only a simple urging for them to embark on their return journey as soon as possible, as if their trip was merely a spring outing and would not involve any danger.

Under these circumstances, Hachiro Sakamoto ultimately chose to take a route that few people had ever traveled, sailing north along the coastline of the Americas. When he arrived at the northernmost port on the west coast of Colombia, he carried out coaling operations at the port. He then continued to sail along the west coast of the Dominion of Canaan until he reached the northernmost point, almost to Alaska. He then turned west and sailed south along the Aleutian Islands. After passing the Kuril Islands, he finally arrived at the waters around Hokkaido.

This northernmost route successfully allowed them to avoid the interception forces of the Tang Dynasty's Royal Navy in the Pacific. Now they can see the coastline of their own country. All they need to do is continue south and follow the coastline to reach Edo Bay.

Thinking that the nerve-wracking journey was finally coming to an end, Hachiro Sakamoto's mood improved. Although the journey had been relatively uneventful, it had been a vivid and memorable one in his memoirs and diary. He figured that if he could organize the two battlecruisers to sneak back to the mainland, he could definitely secure a higher position in the garrison fleet.

As for the memoirs that haven't been written yet and the daily diary entries, I imagine that publishers will buy them and publish them in the future, so that even someone like me with mediocre writing skills can reap the literary benefits of this era.

With this feeling in mind, the scenery that Hachiro Sakamoto could see now seemed even more pleasant. He began to use the rangefinder on the bridge to observe the scenery that he had once thought was ordinary but now felt particularly familiar.

Look at the snow on the shores of Hokkaido that hasn't completely melted yet;

Look at this vibrant spring, where everything is flourishing;

Look at these whales active at the entrance to the Tsugaru Strait;