The big discussion on Japan lasted from 11:00 after the gun-giving ceremony to 4:00 pm. During the lunch period, it was simply resolved in the conference room, but the five-hour meeting was finally reached.

Japan must intervene because Japan's strategic position is really important. Although 90% of the senior generals of the new army were soldiers from the mainland, they all realized how important the ocean was during an expedition that spanned half of the earth last year.

The Chinese have always been a wise nation, but sometimes they are swayed by the power of habit and their heads are temporarily offended.

Regarding the ocean, China's elite class has only continued the mainland's national policy for thousands of years and is unwilling to change it, or they are disdainful to go abroad to learn about the outside world.

But once they walk out, the thick shell of habit wrapped around the Chinese will be broken. The Chinese are extremely smart. There are many truths you don’t need to say more about. As long as they take a look at them with their own eyes, they will immediately understand the truth.

How important is the marine interests? Xiao Letian no longer needs to repeat them every day. Every officer who has been to Europe or has permanently resident in Ryukyu has already figured it out.

Look at the endless fleets of ships on the ocean, look at the massive amount of goods and commodities across the entire earth, look at the world of European warships protecting the commercial interests of their own countries, look at the tide-like capital throughput... Every Chinese was shocked.

We have also had such glory. The Chinese took the big heads of the Silk Road in the Han and Tang Dynasties, and the Chinese merchant ships of maritime trade in the Song and Ming dynasties also traveled all over the world. That was when the commercial interests on the earth were waiting for the Chinese to take the big heads of the world.

But everything is already in the past, and now the interests of the sea have been firmly controlled by the Westerners. The navy of the Empire of the Sun never sets is now following the famous double-strength strategy in history.

What is a double-strength strategy? It is that the British navy must not only be the world's first, but also exceed the sum of the total naval volumes of the second and third powers.

If you can formulate such a maritime strategy, you can imagine how dependent the UK on maritime interests is.

Xiao Letian will not challenge the maritime interests of the British now, and he does not have the strength, but he can still compete for control of China's offshore. Now it is not the strategy of the big naval force, but the so-called island chain strategy.

The Japanese archipelago ultimately needs to be controlled by oneself. From the Japanese archipelago south to the Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan Island, and the northern part of the Philippine Islands, these are all areas that Xiao Lotte can control.

The first island chain that blocked China in the past has now become the first bridgehead to protect China.

Not only that, Xiao Lotte's eyes also turned to the second island chain in the Pacific Ocean, Guam, Hawaii, Iwo Jima, Mariana Islands and even some ports in New Zealand and Australia. These strategic areas have not yet highlighted their strategic value. If they can grab their own hands before the United States takes action, there will be no enemy strongholds in the Western Pacific.

The ideal is magnificent, but it is not impossible to realize it. Hawaii will be annexed by the United States until 1898, which is more than 30 years away. The United States, which had just experienced a civil war, has no extra naval power to annex the place.

Xiao Letian negotiated with the French to buy Tahiti in the South Pacific, which was actually just an attempt by his strategy. He first left a flying boy outside the second island chain, regardless of whether he could defend it or not. Of course, Xiao Letian did not expect to be able to deploy troops now, but now taking up sufficient legal principles will definitely be beneficial to future rule.

Dominate the world, this ideal is full of vitality, but the reality is very skinny. When even East Asia is not well managed, it is too ambitious to think about those unrealistic things. This is not Xiao Letian's style.

Facts have proved that there are still many smart people in this world. Since Xiao Letian wanted to go to the South Pacific to get a flying boy, France can also inject a wedge into the first island chain.

Your strategic focus of Xiao Letian is that those corrupt scholars in the Qing Dynasty cannot understand, but it does not mean that the French cannot understand. Where did the batches of arms in the hands of the four vassals come from? This cannot be hidden from the French.

France is willing to do something that can make Xiao Letian a headache, and the hatred between the Emperor and Xiao Letian has long been out of order.

During the long meeting, these intelligent brains gathered together to think desperately, from the domestic situation in Japan to the situation in East Asia, from Japan's strategic role in protecting China, and also mentioned the illusion of blockade of the first island chain.

This was a brainstorm that was destined to be recorded in history, until finally everyone present reached a little consensus and two differences in their eyes.

The consensus is simple, that is, we must interfere with the situation in Japan. Xiao Letian's forces must control the situation in Japan and make Japan a controllable bridgehead in Asia, thus becoming a strategic buffer zone in northern China.

The two differences mainly involve what means to interfere in Japan. The hardliners represented by Luo Huo hope to send troops immediately, and they will also have to station troops in Japan for a long time after victory. Controlling Japan by force is their goal.

Xiao Hexin and others are representatives of the moderates. They are unwilling to force Japan too much, but hope to use economic, diplomatic and other soft power to influence Japan. Unless the four deities of the fallen sea seek help from the prime minister, the new army is just waiting and watching.

These two views were quarreling in the conference room and continued until the sun set. In the end, Xiao Letian made a conclusion on the meeting and announced the end of the meeting.

"It's just February, and the French have just begun to assist the shogunate. The soldiers and weapons have a long period of running-in period. The French are also very concerned about re-training, so three months of queue training is indispensable..."

"Then the people and equipment are running in. This takes another two or three months. With the addition of domestic troops to prepare supplies, the shortest time for conflict will be until the ** month. In the golden autumn season, we still have plenty of time. During this period, we have more than 10,000 new troops we have recruited will soon be formed..."

"So, let's not be confused first, we should work hard to accumulate our military equipment first. In the final analysis, everything depends on strength... Go, remember that starting from tomorrow, every day is a war preparation day, so I will train my troops well."

"Yes." The entire conference room stood up and saluted the Prime Minister.

Xiao Letian walked out of the smoke-filled conference room, and several waiters trotted in and began to clean up. Ten large jars were emptied by the ashtray alone, and all the windows were blown in by the cold air.

"If you don't learn, you'll learn bad things. Each one of them is addicted to smoking at that time. You must forcefully quit smoking when you look back..."

Just as he was complaining, an old and thin figure came over. It was Xiao Letian's father-in-law Fan Jian, who ran over excitedly.

"Oh, great joy, the first batch of submarine cables shipped from the United States have entered the port. The engineers said that we can lay the first cable after three days of rest..."

"Really, oh my father, this is the first good news I have heard these days. Come and take Mr. Nobir to see..."

After Xiao Letian and his party arrived at Naha Port, the three dark clippers were tied with rolls of black cables, which were as thick as copper coins.

The submarine cables of this era are much simpler than those of later generations. In later generations, there are not only copper wires for communication but also a considerable part of optical fibers. In addition, copper tubes and lead block counterweights should be added to the cables, and there should be a thick protective layer on the outside to prevent damage from deep-sea sharks and other animals.

The diameter of truly modern submarine cables must reach a thickness of thirty or forty centimeters, and the cost is of course high enough that Xiao Letian could not imagine.

However, the most primitive cable is not that complicated. In fact, the insulation layer is wrapped in copper wire, which can ensure the transmission of telegrams and is already in use.

Historically, the Atlantic Cable Company was established in 1856. In 1857, the company began to be responsible for the cable laying project. Although the laying was successful, it failed due to the cable manufacturing that was not up to standard and the insulation layer was corroded.

In 1856, the second submarine cable was broken when it was sinking into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and fell into a 360-meter abyss. In 1866, the Atlantic Cable Company built a third cable, and was presided over by the famous electrical scientist Thomson, and finally achieved success.

Scientist Thomson was awarded the title of Lord Kelvin for his contribution to opening up the Atlantic submarine cable.

Since there is already mature technology, Xiao Letian is of course used directly. However, in order to improve safety, Xiao Letian specially asked a circle of heavy lead wire to be added to the rubber protective layer of the cable. Although this increased the cost by 15%, the reliability of the cable increased by 25%.

In the light of the horse lantern, Xiao Letian spread a unique map. "Mr. Nobir, look, this is the seabed topographic map of the Ryukyu Islands leading to Kyushu Island. It took our hydrologist two years to roughly draw it..."

"Ryukyu main island, Wabo Island, Deno Island, Amami Oshima... This series of islands proves that underwater is actually a continuous mountain range that leads directly to Japan. Since there are a large number of islands to be transferred in this section of the sea, the optical cable laying will definitely be very smooth..."

"Including the cables leading to Tanggu in Ryukyu, Shanghai will not be as responsible as the Atlantic cable plan, because China's coastline is a continental shelf structure and does not have direct big cliffs. Most of the cables can also be hidden in the deep silt under the sea. The safety is much better than the turbulent Atlantic Ocean..."

It is too fulfilling to be able to show off your knowledge in front of a scientific master like Nobel. Anyway, Nobel does not understand cable technology, nor does he understand ocean currents, and he doesn't let Xiao Letian fool him.

But the American engineers who lay cables are experts. When they heard Xiao Letian's reliable jargon, their eyes lit up, "Oh God, the pastors of the church are really right. Mr. Prime Minister is really the first awakened person in Asia. Your extensive knowledge has convinced us..."

If you don’t accept it, you can start undersea hydrological detection two years ago. What an advanced vision. If you don’t have absolute confidence in new technologies, you can’t make such a decision.

"Yes, the Prime Minister said that it is right. The cables we brought are enough from Ryukyu Shop to Kagoshima. Since there are many islands to rely on, we believe that within three or four months, you can send the first telegram to Japan..." This book was first published from 17K Novel Network, and you can read the genuine content as soon as possible!
Chapter completed!