Chapter 1006: All Winners Vs No Winners
Chapter 986 – All winners vs. no winners
Time passed by, the war became more and more intense, the smile on Admiral Valkenhayn’s face had long since disappeared, replaced by a belly full of worry.
Fighting from ten o’clock in the morning, has lasted until five o’clock in the afternoon, the stomach hungry croak is just, the key is the enemy is dead and will not retreat.
Because of the lack of training hit rate is touching the reason, in the engagement at the same time, the Japanese constantly draw closer to the engagement distance, attempting to fight with them in close quarters.
After the warships suffered heavy damage, the Japanese first reaction is not to leave the battlefield, but to accelerate forward, want to “crash” on the same death.
The Japanese were crazy, but the Spanish fleet officers and men were still normal people. After the warships suffered heavy damage, the first time to choose to disengage from the battlefield.
According to reason, these severely damaged warships, can not pose a threat, but the Japanese still die biting not to let go.
The main ship to duel, no time to beat the dog, but stay in the rear to watch the sailing warships can.
Once the Spanish warships out of the battlefield, the Japanese sail fleet cannon fodder will swarm. The original sail battleship’s artillery power is limited, can’t help the ironclad ships, but this does not include the injured ironclad ships.
The Japanese were willing to take human lives to fill in, sacrificing a few sail battleships, always able to take away a seriously wounded ironclad.
In addition to these normal attacks, the Japanese also had a suicide attack ship, the ship was loaded with explosives, rushed up and detonated. Forcing them to split their firepower to deal with these small ships.
This kind of life for life fighting method, can be said to be the Japanese Navy’s original creation, before this time, not to mention encountered, even heard of it.
Anyone in his right mind would have a headache if he ran into such a group of lunatics. Admiral Valkenhayn is no exception, the original contempt has long since disappeared, and now there is a deep scorn.
“Report, the battleship Madrid has been hit and the ship is leaking, repairs are underway. The captain, Rear Admiral Alfandas, was killed in action, and now Colonel Wintergall is taking over command!”
Another bad news came, Valkenhayn’s heart sank, but his face remained indifferent, “Got it!”
At this point in time, both sides are fighting for resilience. The Spanish fleet suffered heavy losses, and the opposite Japanese fleet suffered even heavier casualties.
The gap in the quality of warships, the gap in the quality of officers and soldiers, relying only on the number to make up for, is doomed to bloodshed.
For the Spanish fleet, the most important thing right now is to beat off the enemy’s crazy strength, or the war behind is a disaster.
……
“Boom” a loud sound, unfortunately hit the “Tokyo ship” a violent shock, is commanding the battle of Admiral Ito Yuken sat down on the ground.
Not caring about the pain from the fall, Ito Yuken hurriedly ordered: “Quickly send people to repair the warship!”
Soon, a young officer ran over in panic, “Your Excellency the Commander, the Tokyo is badly damaged, it must be pulled back to the shipyard for repairs immediately, or it will be dangerous.”
There was no way around it, the British’s thin-skinned warships were just not up to the task. After taking a few hits, it was severely damaged. In contrast, the warships built by the French across the street were much more resistant to being beaten.
Of course, this is directly related to the construction time. The birth time of “Tokyo” is more than ten years earlier than the opposite “Madrid”. If the performance can not be surpassed, the French back then did not have the ability to challenge the British maritime hegemony.
Receiving this bad news, the always calm and collected Admiral Ito Yuken was also unable to calm down. Other warships sinking, he can accept. But “Tokyo” is different, not only is the flagship of the Japanese Navy, but also their only two “former dreadnought”.
Affected by the butterfly effect, the speed of naval development has been faster than a decade, but the biggest beneficiary is the old-school powers, for emerging countries like Japan, on the contrary, the gap is bigger.
It was not easy to buy two second-hand “former dreadnoughts” from the British, but it would be difficult to replenish them if they were lost now.
“Pull back, you mean to say that the power system of the Tokyo has been damaged and can not be driven back?”
The young officer explained, “Yes, from the start of the battle until now, the Tokyo has been hit by the enemy seven times, and its power system has collapsed.”
Looking at the battlefield, Ito Yuken shook his head, “The Tokyo cannot be withdrawn now, nor can it be withdrawn. Unless we hold out until nightfall, the enemy will not let us leave.”
Originally, this battlefield was chosen because of its proximity to the harbor, making it easy to run away after the defeat. How could it be that the plan did not change fast enough, the desperate Japanese fleet actually fought the enemy half-heartedly.
“Heavy casualties” was not a problem at all for Ito Yuken. As long as the battle could be won, any loss would be worth it.
You have to know that this war is not just a war for the sake of war, but at the same time, it is still a fight for the Great Powers to see.
The observation ships that stayed in the distance were not only from the Holy Roman Empire, but also from more than a dozen countries such as Britain, the United States, Russia, the Netherlands, and the Qing Dynasty. The performance of the Japanese navy at this moment will directly determine the position of the next countries to them.
Otherwise, Yohan Ito had enough to eat before gathering so many forces and the Spanish hard fight. Doesn’t it smell good to let a part of the Spanish army ashore so that the army horse manure can also make a contribution?
From the very beginning, Yohan Ito’s aim was to leave an impression of “daring to fight” and “madman” to all the countries, and only in this way could he deter all the major powers and discourage them from prying eyes on the Philippine Islands.
Otherwise, with Japan’s current power, even if it won against the Spaniards, it would not be able to keep the Philippine Islands.
The effect was indeed so obvious that Governor Chandler, who was watching the battle, had already decided to revise his strategic plan to capture the Philippines. He was not prepared to risk the Southern Fleet until he had gained the support of the mainland.
The British, who originally had misgivings about the fighting ability of the Japanese and were still hesitant to provide support, were expected to make up their minds when this battle was over.
……
The weather gradually darkened, and under the cover of night, the two warring sides withdrew from the battlefield. Along with the end of the naval battle, a telegram also flew from the South Seas to all over the world.
Vienna Palace, looking at the result of the first ironclad battle in the history of mankind, Franz had an indescribable sense of relief.
Who won between Japan and the West?
This question, I guess no one can give an accurate answer. Simply from the number of casualties, the number of sunken warships, the Spanish fleet is a proper big winner; however, from the overall strategic point of view, the Japanese Navy is the winner of this naval battle.
To break the myth of the invincibility of the white man and to have such a great achievement, even a big loss is acceptable.
“The naval battle has come to an end for the time being, according to the intelligence sent by the governor of the South China Sea, both the Japanese and Western navies have been severely damaged, and a great war should not break out again in a short period of time.
Next is the time for the army to perform, how is the fighting strength of the Spanish army, and does it have the ability to take the Philippine Islands from the Japanese?”
The coastline of the Philippine Islands was very long, and without defeating the Spanish Expeditionary Fleet, the Japanese Navy simply could not do a full defense.
With the poor relationship between the Japanese Army and Navy, it’s not unlikely that the Navy would be happy to watch the Army’s jokes. It would be perfect if the Army lost the war and then they came out to clean up the mess.
“We haven’t gotten an in-depth look at how the Japanese Army’s combat power is. But judging from their military spending, the fighting strength shouldn’t be too strong.
The Spanish Army’s combat power is average, and judging from their performance in the war against France, it can even be described as very bad. Same as their international status, definitely at the bottom of the list of the Great Powers.
Still, it should be a bit stronger than the Japanese army, and I’m more optimistic about the Spaniards when it comes to equal strength.”
It wasn’t that Fislav was looking down on the Japanese and the Spanish, after entering the Second Industrial Revolution, the factors of absolute army combat power had changed. Using the most popular phrase nowadays, “strong armies are fed by military spending”.
Not to brag or black, the Japanese army’s blood and courage is indeed powerful, but in front of the torrent of steel, this thing does not stand a chance.
The Spanish army, not to mention, if not become the victor of the anti-French alliance, the Spanish army has not completed the change of clothes.
If you take the same backward equipment, the Spanish cowboys against the Japanese army really do not have much advantage. Now although the updated equipment, but the Japanese closer to the mainland ah!
With Spain’s national strength, in the mainland can not play the steel flood, to the Philippine Islands, let alone.
Now the biggest advantage of the Spanish is probably the army equipment, ammunition are all trophies, saving part of the military expenses.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs to pay close attention to the internal situation of Spain, can not let this war affect the peace and stability of the European continent!”
There is no doubt that Franz is not optimistic about the Spanish. Not so many reasons, just one reason – distance.
If the Spanish government is a little more domineering, directly press all the land and naval forces, it is estimated that it can still be a quick battle.
Now this way the main force of the navy has invested most of the army, but the army has only sent a hundred thousand or so, it seems to be a great momentum, but lost the ability to kill in a single blow.
If you can hit the Philippine Islands, why can’t you attack mainland Japan? The present Japanese government is not crazy yet, and if they really bring the war to Tokyo, the possibility of them compromising is very high.
On the contrary, if we fight the Japanese in the Philippine Islands for consumption, the Tokyo government will not feel it deeply, and not only will it not be able to deter the Japanese, but it will stimulate their madness.
Of course, such a fight would be somewhat demanding on Spain. It would also be difficult to implement unless the government in Madrid put down blood money and gained the support of the European countries.
While Franz was preparing for the aftermath, the protagonists of this war were each declaring themselves the victors. The Spaniards were claiming victory, while the Japanese were using the phrase “breaking the myth of the invincibility of the white man” as a means of boosting public morale.
While they talked tough, their physical behavior was very honest. After the Battle of the Philippine Sea, the Japanese and the Spanish coincidentally launched a diplomatic offensive.
……
Sulawesi, the harassed Governor Chandler still received Admiral Valkenhayn. Compared to the previous contact, this time the Spanish were much more sincere.
There was no way out, the fate of the expeditionary fleet was now in the hands of the governor of the South Seas. While the Japanese were able to salvage their damaged warships by pulling them back to the mainland, the Spaniards had no way of pulling them back to Europe.
The Spanish had no way to pull their ships back to Europe. With such a long distance to travel, they could not wait to drive the damaged ships back, but they would be sunk halfway through the journey. In fact, on the way back, the Spanish fleet sank two more ships, including the badly damaged Madrid, because they hit the reef.
Of course, they didn’t lose out either, as the enemy Japanese navy also didn’t take advantage of the situation. On the way back to the mainland, the flagship “Tokyo” also sank.
The sinking of a warship does not mean that it is ruined, if the hull is not too damaged, it can still be salvaged.
Admiral Valkenhayn came here to salvage the “Madrid”. Although the Vienna government expressed support for them, but the specific implementation of the Governor of the South China Sea.
The “Madrid” can be salvaged, how long it takes to repair the warship, these specific issues still depend on the support of the Nanyang Viceroyalty.
The colonizers in the South Seas had never failed to spy on the Philippine Islands, and without the intervention of the colonial government, Admiral Valkenhayn could not even imagine what would happen next.
You can’t expect these repair shops to be knuckle-dragging, can you? They were in it for the long haul, and a short-term client like the Spanish Armada didn’t carry as much weight as the colonizers, who were the snakes of the land.
“Your Excellency Commander, you have to understand that this is the South Seas, not Europe. The repair shop is also not a shipyard, it is normal that the technology is flawed.
If we want to do the best we can, I personally suggest that your country should pull the warships back to Europe for repairs. Here, we really can’t guarantee the quality.”
The work was to be done, it was stipulated in the treaty. But exactly how it was to be done, that needed to be said.
From Governor Chandler’s standpoint, he would like nothing better than for Japan and the West to lose, and then for the Japanese to continue to occupy the Philippine Islands.
Even if the Spaniards took the case to Vienna, he was still in this position. As the governor of Nanyang, finding ways to expand the colony was supposed to be a duty. As long as one acted within the rules, no one could say it was wrong.
Admiral Valkenhayn shook his head: ”Your country’s maintenance factory in the Southern Ocean region is not an ordinary maintenance factory, not to mention simple warship repairs, I’m afraid that even warships can be built if needed. The technical strength shown at the moment is obviously not in line with the real technical capability of the repair plant.
We had an agreement with your country, and Madrid and Vienna have also reached an agreement on this issue, and with this kind of performance from your repair plant right now, I’m afraid that there are people who want to jeopardize the friendship between the two countries!”
Chandler waved his hand, “I’m sorry, Your Excellency, I’m afraid you have the wrong person. Regarding the technical issues of the repair plant, Your Excellency should talk to the capitalists, not me, the Governor.
Perhaps the capitalists want to take advantage of the fire, you know this kind of thing is their specialty, even our fleet they extort just as much.”
Admiral Valkenhayn would have been on the verge of stifling an outburst if he hadn’t been well-bred. Not to mention in the Holy Roman Empire capital suppression, even in the relatively strong capital strength of other countries in Europe, I have not heard of any shipyard dares to “blackmail” to the head of their own navy.
Colonies, not to mention, if you offend the Navy, was wearing shoes, every day blocked at the door to check smuggling, and then powerful shipyards do not want to survive.
The military does not have that many twists and turns in their dealings, and Admiral Valkenhayn can’t remember that much diplomatic rhetoric, let alone have time to talk about it here.
“What do we need to give to get Your Excellency’s help?”
(End of chapter)