Secretary of State Elihu Rout shook her head and said, " General, my judgment is exactly the opposite of yours, if Japan sends troops to attack Liaodong at this time, there will be no other benefit except that it will only attract all the firepower of the East China government to itself, and although Japan and Russia have signed an alliance agreement, this is signed under the pressure of the East China government and the mediation of Britain and France, and it is impossible for the two countries that have just fought to the death to become real allies all at once, so Japan will never set itself on fire for Russia. ”

Cha Fei said: "But as I said earlier, if Russia really loses in a comprehensive way, then Japan's end will not be much better, so Japan is not sending troops to rescue Russia, but also to save itself, and there will not be no such visionary people in Japan." ”

Roosevelt said: "Gentlemen, I think what you said is reasonable, of course Japan will not sit idly by and watch Russia be defeated by the East China government, but it will not send troops to enter the war at this time, but will choose a time that is most favorable to Japan." ”

As he spoke, Roosevelt came to the huge Northeast China area hanging on the left side of the desk office, and said: "We first estimate and set the goal of the East China Government as occupying Harbin, then the best time for Japan to send troops is when the People's Army attacks Harbin, because at that time, the main force of the People's Army will definitely be concentrated in the Harbin area, and the strength to defend against Japan is also the weakest, and Japan is most sure to break through the People's Army's defense line on the Yalu River and enter the Liaodong region again." If Japan had been wise, it should have immediately started negotiations with the East China government to stop the war. ”

Roosevelt's previous words were understandable to Chaffee, but when Roosevelt said that Japan should negotiate with the East China government immediately after breaking through the defense line on the Yalu River, he was a little puzzled and said, "Why do you want to negotiate with the East China government at this time?"

Root explained for Roosevelt: "Because at this time the East China government was about to achieve a complete victory in the war against Russia, and at this time it was natural that it did not want to interrupt the war against Harbin, so Japan proposed peace talks in exchange for withdrawing from Liaodong in exchange for the East China government's recognition of Japan's interests in Korea. If Japan's politicians were smart enough, it would be Japan's best option, which would have a much better chance of success than the two countries' joint defeat of the East China government. ”

Chafei suddenly realized that he was a pure soldier and didn't know much about the national government, so he didn't expect that there were so many routines in it.

Root continued: "But in this way, Russia will face the East China government independently, which is probably very dangerous. It is very likely that the entire Far East will be lost, and the East China government, after gaining these regions and populations, will quickly develop and become the largest power in the Far East. ”

Roosevelt was still staring at the map, but he fell into deep thought, the East China government in the Far East is not in the interests of the United States, the ideal is that there are many forces entangled, and the United States is fortunate to be left and right in it. But according to the current development of the situation, this is almost an irreversible result, and the United States basically has no good way to intervene, unless it is to directly enter the war, but this is also impossible for the United States to do at present.

"Is there really no way?" Roosevelt also felt a little desperate in his heart.

At this moment, only the sound of footsteps was heard, and Vice President Charles W. Fairbanks walked in and said, "Mr. President, I have been here a little late, and I have just received a message that Britain and France are already discussing matters related to the armed intervention in the Liaodong War. ”

Root frowned and said, "Are Britain and France really planning to enter the war?"

Fairbanks said: "This is not yet decided, it is only in the negotiation stage, but I think there is still a possibility that Britain and France will enter the war, after all, they do not want to see the rise of the government in East China in the Far East, let alone tolerate the complete defeat of Russia and Japan." Once that time comes, Britain and France will most likely choose to intervene by force. ”

When Roosevelt heard this, his whole body was shocked, and he immediately nodded again, and said: "Very good, this is really good news, so that we in the United States will also have a lot of space." Well, let's just wait for a moment. ”

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Tokyo, Japan, Cabinet.

When the news of the KPA's capture of Vladivostok reached Japan, it also caused quite a stir. Although there is a group of people who gloat, and although Japan and Russia have now signed an alliance agreement, the vast majority of Japanese still regard Russia as an enemy, so it is natural to gloat when they learn that Russia has failed again. However, some people with brains are worried, after all, the current situation in the Far East is dominated by the East China Government, and Japan and Russia can only join forces to confront the East China Government, but now that Russia has suffered another defeat, the momentum of the East China Government is even stronger, which is naturally unfavorable to Japan.

The Japanese Cabinet also held successive meetings to discuss how to deal with the current situation, and everyone agreed that Russia's defeat was a foregone conclusion, and that the jury was still undecided on how Japan should respond.

At the beginning of today's meeting, Foreign Minister Komura Shotaro first spoke: "Today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs received a diplomatic note from Russia through its ambassador to France, asking us to send troops to the war as soon as possible in order to reduce Russia's military pressure. In addition, the French prime minister also rejected the Japanese ambassador, hoping that Japan and Russia would cooperate sincerely and send troops to the war as soon as possible. ”

Yamachi said: "Why should we send troops to help Russia, just let Russia and overseas Chinese fight to defeat both, and wouldn't it be better for us to come forward and reap the benefits of the fisherman? ”

Yamamoto Gonbei frowned, and said: "Terauchi-kun, we can't be rash at this time, now Russia has no ability to fight with overseas Chinese, if we don't send troops, the consequence is only that Russia is completely defeated by overseas Chinese, and the next target of overseas Chinese is Japan, losing Russia's containment of overseas Chinese, do you think Japan has the ability to defeat overseas Chinese alone." ”

In fact, Terauchi Masashi is not ignorant of the truth of the cold lips and teeth, but Japan and Russia have been hostile for nearly 10 years, and they have been fighting for another year and a half.

At this time, Ito said: "Does the front know about this? What is their attitude? ”

Yama County Youpeng said: "Kodama Jun thinks that it is not appropriate to attack now, our army is not fully ready, and it will take at least a month." ”

Ito Hirobumi added: "What is the attitude of the United Kingdom?"

Komura Shoutaro said: "There is no news from the UK to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yet. ”

Ito Hirobumi nodded and asked again, "According to the military chess deduction in the base camp, what will the situation be like in a month." ”

The temple said: "The People's Army will at least take Changchun and Mudanjiang, and form a flanking attack on Harbin, or it may have already broken through Harbin." ”

Ito Hirobumi said: "Once Harbin is lost, Russia will completely lose the war, and the East China government will turn the spearhead against us Japan, so we must not allow the People's Army to capture Harbin, and we must attack before the People's Army attacks Harbin." ”

Shan County Youpeng said: "I agree, just when the People's Army was besieging Harbin, it was also when their strength on the front line of the Yalu River was the weakest, and we were sure to break through the People's Army's defense line on the Yalu River in one fell swoop by sending troops at this time." It can even take advantage of the emptiness of the rear of the People's Army to attack Liaoyang and cut off the rear route of the People's Army. ”

Ito Hirobumi shook his head and said, "Shan Shan Jun, can our supplies, weapons and ammunition on the Korean Peninsula be supplied to occupy Liaoyang? Even if we occupy Liaoyang, will we still have enough weapons and ammunition to deal with the counterattack of the People's Army?"

Yama Youpeng was stunned for a moment, and he couldn't speak for a while, because of course he knew that the weapons and ammunition stored on the Korean Peninsula could only fight one or two battles at most, and Japan had no way to send supplies to the Korean Peninsula on a large scale.

Ito Hirobumi said: "Yamaguchi-kun, I think that after we break through the defense line of the Yalu River of the People's Army, we should not expand the war, but should immediately ask Britain or the United States to mediate, and immediately negotiate peace with the East China government, on the condition that we completely withdraw from the Liaodong region and no longer interfere in the war between the East China government and Russia, in exchange for the East China government recognizing our interests in Korea and not compensating the East China government. ”

Youpeng was silent for a while, and finally nodded and said, "I understand." Ito-kun, I agree with you that such a peace treaty can be accepted if the East China Government can recognize our interests in Korea and not have to pay compensation to the East China Government. ”

Although in the old time and space, Yamaguchi Aritomo was regarded as the founder of the Japanese military dictatorship and the army, but he was not as simple-minded as the later soldiers, and only acted on his will, on the contrary, Yamakutomo was also a very strategically minded person, and he also knew that in the current situation, Ito Hirobumi's suggestion was indeed the best choice for Japan at present. That's why he agrees with Hirobumi Ito.

Seeing that Yama agreed to his suggestion, Ito Hirobumi was also relieved, he was afraid that the military would be hot-headed after breaking through the defense line of the Yalu River, and it would be dangerous to continue the war. And now with the support of Youpeng in Shanxian County, the chances of realizing your plan are much greater.

However, in order to realize his plan, the prerequisite is that the Japanese army breaks through the defense line of the Yalu River of the People's Army, and only then can Japan have a bargaining chip to negotiate with the East China government, so Ito Hirobumi said: "Yamaguchi-kun, this is the only chance for Japan to preserve its vitality, and everything depends on the performance of the army, so I can only ask you." ”

Yama Youpeng's face was solemn, and he said, "Ito-kun, don't worry, we will definitely do our best." ”