At 5 p.m. on May 30, Ito Hirobumi returned to his mansion with a tired body, and his wife Meizi was waiting in the entrance, and personally helped Ito Hirobumi take off his coat, change into light home clothes, and brought Ito Hirobumi facial water.

Although Ito Hirobumi has no public office now, only the title of a senator, but he is still the leading boss in Japanese politics, belonging to the people who stomp their feet and tremble at the four city gates, although they are not as wealthy as Li Hongzhang, but only rely on personal salaries, and live very richly, the family has more than 10 doormen alone, and there will naturally be no shortage of servants, and the things that serve him to change clothes and wash his face should have been done by the subordinates, but his wife Meizi insisted on doing it herself, and it became a habit.

While changing clothes, Hirobumi Ito said, "Is Miyamoto-kun here?"

Meizi said: "I've been here for a while, and I'm waiting for you in the study?"

Ito Hirobumi nodded and said, "Wait a while to bring today's dinner to the study, and bring two bottles of wine, I have something to discuss with him, it will take a long time." ”

After the Shanghai attack, Miyamoto returned to Japan and served in the Army Intelligence Department, where he and Ito Hirobumi were in constant contact to discuss current affairs, and were frequent visitors to Ito's home.

After washing his face, Ito Hirobumi came to the study, and at this time Miyamoto Naoto was reading the newspaper in the study, and when he saw Ito Hirobumi coming back, he also hurriedly stood up and said, "Mr. Ito is back." ”

Ito Hirobumi said: "Miyamoto-kun, it's been a long time, please take a seat, you're welcome." I have ordered dinner to be prepared. ”

Miyamoto said, "Okay, then bother." ”

So the two sat down facing each other, and by this time Meizi had brought two servants and brought dinner, and then took his leave and left.

Hirofumi Ito poured a glass of wine for Naoto Miyamoto and said, "I've kept you waiting." ”

Miyamoto Naoto said: "Fortunately, I don't know what the result of Mr. Yamaguchi's negotiation with Mr. Yama County was today?"

Ito Hirobumi sighed and said, "Yamachi-kun has decided to send a telegram to the Manchurian Army Headquarters tonight, so that they can decide for themselves according to the actual situation on the battlefield and can take any action." ”

Miyamoto Naoto was stunned for a moment, and immediately understood that this was Yamayama Youpeng deliberately shirking his responsibility, so he let the soldiers on the front line decide to act on their own, so he said: "How can this be done, can Mr. report to the emperor and let the emperor judge it?"

Ito Hirobumi shook his head and said, "It's useless, the emperor will not be easy to judge, and he will definitely leave it to the army to decide." ”

When Miyamoto Naoto heard this, he couldn't help but feel a little excited, and said: "If they are not willing to take on this responsibility, then what should be done about Japan's interests? What about the hundreds of thousands of Japanese soldiers in Liaodong?"

Ito Hirobumi smiled bitterly and said, "Miyamoto-kun, you can listen to me slowly." ”

It turned out that yesterday Miyamoto Naoto also came to visit Ito Hirobumi, and the two talked about the war situation in Liaodong, Miyamoto Naoto believed that at this time, Japan should not continue to garrison Liaoyang at all, but should cede Liaoyang to the People's Army, and withdraw all the troops to Phoenix City to garrison, or even retreat across the Yalu River. Because Miyamoto Naotaka believes that at this time it is meaningless for Japan to continue to occupy Liaoyang, the north of Liaoyang is the Russian army, and the west is the People's Army, although the Russian army is pulled into the war group and becomes a three-way melee pattern, but the back road of the Russian army and the people's army is worry-free, only the back road of the Japanese army is under the threat of the people's army, and the people's army will not easily turn its face with the Russian army for the time being, and the Russian army will not easily unite with Japan if it does not suffer a few big losses, so in this three-legged pattern, it is the most unfavorable for Japan. As soon as the KPA attacks the Japanese army's withdrawal route, the Japanese army will be plunged into a great crisis, and it may cause the entire army to be defeated.

After the Japanese army withdrew from Liaoyang, it became a confrontation situation in which the Russian army occupied Shenyang and the People's Army occupied Liaoyang, and the two sides would definitely fight, and at this time, the Japanese army retreating to Phoenix City could jump out of the circle, preserve its strength, and sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight.

Miyamoto Naoto believes that the Russian army will certainly not be able to defeat the People's Army, and after the Russian army has been severely taught a lesson by the People's Army, it will naturally take the initiative to come to Japan for a coalition, and then Japan will be able to wait for the price and sell at a price, and calmly sit on the ground and raise the price, and depending on the situation at that time, if the People's Army is consumed by the Russian army, the Japanese army can once again enter the war, defeat the People's Army, and reap the benefits of Liaodong; and if the consumption of the People's Army is not large, the Japanese army can also retreat from the battlefield and preserve its own vital strength, first, to preserve Japan's vitality; second, it will have enough bargaining chips at the negotiating table to ensure Japan's interests。

Although Ito Hirobumi was a civilian official, he participated in the Battle of the Curtain when he was young and was also involved in many military affairs, so he was no stranger to military affairs, and before talking to Miyamoto Naotaku, Ito Hirobumi also considered withdrawing troops from Liaoyang, but he also felt that the situation had not deteriorated to that point. In addition, Ito Hirobumi also knew very well that the proposal for the Japanese army to withdraw from Liaoyang was absolutely thankless, and he would be fully responsible for Japan's defeat in Liaodong, and it was very likely that he would be used as a scapegoat after the end of the war.

But after listening to Miyamoto Naoto's analysis, Ito Hirobumi understood that the original situation had reached a critical point, and if the troops were not withdrawn from Liaoyang as soon as possible, the consequences would be very serious, and Miyamoto Naoto thought of the problem of responsibility, so he also gave Ito Hirobumi an idea, that is, Ito Hirobumi and Yama Prefecture Aritomo took the lead, and pulled the current Japanese military and political circles of the bigwigs and giants in, and came to a joint resolution, so that the responsibility is also borne by everyone, and there is no question of who bears the blame.

After listening to this, Ito Hirobumi also felt that this method was feasible, and there was a way to do justice and not to blame the public, so early this morning, Ito Hirobumi went to visit Aritomo in Yamayama Prefecture and negotiated with him about the withdrawal of Japanese troops.

In fact, Yama Prefecture Youpeng has a much clearer understanding of the war situation than Ito Hirobumi, and naturally knows that the situation of the Japanese army is indeed very critical, and the withdrawal of troops is naturally the best way to resolve the crisis, but Yama County Aritomo's consideration is indeed the same as Ito Hirobumi's thoughts, and he is also afraid of taking this responsibility, in addition, he also knows that Liaoyang has sent the 4th Army Corps back to Phoenix City and Jiulian City, and Shan County Youpeng also has great expectations for the 4th Army Corps, if the 4th Army Corps can reach Phoenix City in time, the Japanese army will have a great confidence that it will be able to hold the retreat of the Japanese army. Therefore, he was naturally reluctant to take the lead in proposing the withdrawal of troops, even if there was a joint name with Ito Hirobumi, so he pushed Ito Hirobumi left and right.

At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, Yamayama Youpeng received a telegram from the Manchurian Army Headquarters, only then did he know that the 4th Army Corps' plan to return reinforcements had failed, and although the People's Army had not conquered Phoenix, it had cut off the route of the Japanese army's withdrawal, and the Manchurian Army Headquarters hoped that the Army General Staff would instruct the next move.

At this time, Youpeng in Shan County couldn't help but feel a little uneasy, because the worst situation had already happened, and if the Japanese army did not take effective action, it might really be wiped out.

However, this matter is very important, and Yamaguchi Youpeng thinks that it is himself and Ito Hirobumi, and they can't decide yet, so they called Katsura Taro and Terauchi Masatake, and the four of them negotiated together.

But Katsura Taro, Terauchi Masayi is against joint decision-making, the reason is also very simple, because Ito Hirobumi Bi Jing is a civilian official, and now there is no public association, so the responsibility on the battlefield is not his, even Ito Hirobumi also participated in the joint name, in the eyes of ordinary people, the main responsibility is definitely not him, and in the end it is still carried by the military, who is the army, will be the main person in charge of this defeat, and it is likely that the prestige of the army will be discredited because of this, and also hinted that Yamaguchi Youpeng is very likely to be the same as Li Hongzhang, so that Ito Hirobumi can cover the sky in the Japanese political arena and be invincible。

When Yama Prefecture heard it, it suddenly dawned on him that Hirobumi Ito's suggestion still hid such a conspiracy. And Ito Hirobumi couldn't help but be a little anxious, and severely accused the three on the spot, only for their own reputation and political interests, regardless of the interests of the country, completely deviating from the original intention of participating in the actions of the downfall, honoring the king, and destroying the country, and only said that the three of them bowed their heads and said nothing.

Later, it was Terauchi Masashi who came up with a solution, suggesting that an order could be given to the Manchurian Army Command, because the situation on the front line was complicated, and it was difficult for the Army Staff to make a judgment and decision on the battle situation in a timely manner, so the follow-up actions could be decided by the Manchurian Army Command and any action could be taken. Of course, it is actually up to the commanders at the front to take on this responsibility.

Ito Hirobumi listened, although he was still a little dissatisfied, but admitted that this was also a solution, after all, the commanders of the front line were different from the officials in Japan, and the actions they chose would be directly related to their life and death, so they would definitely make the right choice, and of course they would bear the responsibility for the defeat, but this had nothing to do with Ito Hirobumi, so Ito Hirobumi also accepted this suggestion, and then said goodbye and left, and Yama Prefecture Youpeng also immediately issued an order to Liaoyang in the name of the Army Staff.

After listening to Hirofumi Ito's speech, Naoto Miyamoto was speechless for a long time. In the old time and space, Japan admired this group of elites in the Meiji era quite a lot, whether it was about their monographs or films, and all of them portrayed these people as selfless and wholehearted for the country, and even endured humiliation and burden. However, from the experience of several years in this era, from the contact with Ito Hirobumi, Yamaguchi Aritomo, Katsura Taro and others, they are not much different from those Japanese politicians in the old time and space, and they still compete for power and profit, grab merit and blame, tear each other apart, and put personal interests above national interests, which is probably the normal state of politicians, and it does not vary from era to era.

However, the elites of the Meiji generation are still better than the Japanese politicians in the old time and space, and they are throwing the pot and tearing the pot, but Bi Jing still did the thing, and the Japanese politicians in the old time and space have retired to only throwing the pot and tearing up, but they can't do anything.