On May 6, 1905, the Russian fleet sailed into the waters off Taiwan, only about five days away from the Yellow Sea.

With the war approaching, the Japanese Cabinet once again convened a cabinet meeting to discuss the war that was about to resume, and the meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Katsura Taro, and the only four participants were Ito Hirobumi, Yama Prefecture Aritomo, Ito Yuhiro, and Komura Keitaro.

Katsura Taro first said: "The Russian fleet has sailed into the waters off Taiwan, and the combined fleet will set off this afternoon to block the Russian fleet in the Tsushima Strait. ”

Komura Shoutaro said: "This morning, Ambassador to the United States Kogoro Takahira called and held talks with President Roosevelt, in which President Roosevelt expressed his support for us, and believed that as long as we can inflict heavy damage on the Russian fleet, there is a great chance of ending the war, and the United States is willing to maneuver around it to facilitate us to start negotiations with Russia." ”

Katsura Taro said, "What do you think of President Roosevelt's statement? ”

Ito said, "What is the attitude of other countries?"

Komura Shoutaro said: "Yesterday Britain once again expressed its support for us, and also issued another warning to the overseas Chinese, asking them not to intervene in the war, and the French government also warned the overseas Chinese. ”

Hirobumi Ito said, "So how did the overseas Chinese answer?"

Komura Shoutaro smiled bitterly and said: "It's still the same thing, they will take the most appropriate action according to the principle of safeguarding China's interests, sovereignty, and territory, including war actions, and will not be bound by other countries." ”

Ito Hirobumi nodded and said, " I don't think that the pressure of the British and French people on the overseas Chinese can play any role, if the overseas Chinese were succumbing to the foreign oppression, they would not have been so forcefully involved in the situation in China five years ago, so we must make two plans, one is that the overseas Chinese will definitely participate in the war, and the pressure of various countries will have no effect; the other is to deal with the overseas Chinese, we can only rely on ourselves, and other countries cannot count on it, at least we cannot put all hope on them, if we cannot realize these two points, we will not be able to achieve the final victory。 ”

Katsura Taro frowned and said, "But can I defeat Russia and overseas Chinese at the same time by relying only on Japan's own strength? Not to mention that now our Japanese war potential has almost reached its limit, and overseas Chinese are a new force participating in the war at this time." ”

Shan Shan Youpeng said: "To tell the truth, if the overseas Chinese really unite with Russia to deal with us, it will be quite difficult to win. ”

Ito said: "What is happening on the Russian side?"

Komura Shoutaro said: "According to our report in the eyes of the Russian government, Russia has been communicating with overseas Chinese, hoping to reach an agreement with overseas Chinese to jointly deal with us, but overseas Chinese are not very enthusiastic about this, and the conditions offered are unacceptable to Russia. When the Russian fleet left Cam Ranh Bay, Russia proposed to the overseas Chinese that the Russian fleet would dock at Qingdao Port to make up for the situation, and even that the two sides could form a joint fleet to fight, but the overseas Chinese proposed that the Russian fleet must hand over the command and that the overseas Chinese should organize and fight, but the Russian refused. ”

Ito Yuheng wiped a cold sweat and said, "If the Russian fleet is really anchored in Qingdao and even forms a joint fleet with overseas Chinese, then the threat to us will be too great. ”

Youpeng of Shanxian was in high spirits and said: "This shows that the overseas Chinese have no intention of joining forces with Russia at all, and their goal is to monopolize the Northeast, which may be our chance to win." ”

Ito said: "I am not very proficient in military affairs, and I don't know how the army and navy judge the development of future wars?"

Yama Prefecture Aritomo and Ito Youheng glanced at each other, and Yama Prefecture Aritomo said: " According to our division, the overseas Chinese should be waiting for our fleet and the Russian fleet to participate in the decisive battle at the moment, for the overseas Chinese, the most ideal result is that our fleet and the Russian fleet are both defeated, so that the overseas Chinese can easily obtain sea dominance, and their subsequent war is the most beneficial, even if we can win, they will definitely have certain losses, the overseas Chinese's naval strength is not weak, and their shipping is mainly in the Bohai Sea, which can not only ensure their sea transportation lines, but also threaten our sea transportation lines。 ”

Hirobumi Ito said, "So what is the Navy's vision for this battle? ”

Ito Youheng said: "The problem of defeating the Russian fleet is not big, but the final result is difficult to determine, 10 years of the Great Donggou War, although we sank 4 warships of the Beiyang Naval Division, but the two main ships of the Beiyang Naval Division, Dingyuan and Zhenyuan, were retained, and we also had 5 warships wounded, and we could not go to sea to fight within 2 months, which can be used as a reference for this war." ”

Ito Hirobumi nodded, this inference is very reasonable, and said: "When overseas Chinese participate in the war at this time, how will they choose to participate in the war?"

There is a friend in Shan County: " At present, there are more than 60,000 overseas Chinese in western Liaoning, but we have already arranged 70,000 garrisons along the Liaohe River, which can completely resist the initial attack of overseas Chinese; the second is to attack Lushun from the sea, and now we have deployed 30,000 troops in Lushun, and the defenders on land are completely sufficient, but Lushun is a port, and the sea and land must be fixed; when Russia occupied Lushun, it built a large number of batteries and fortifications along the port and arranged powerful firepower, but our attack destroyed most of the batteries and fortifications, the remaining artillery also reinforced the troops on the front, although after the victory in the Battle of Mukden, we repaired the coastal defense batteries and fortifications in Arthur, but after all, the resources were limited, not even half, so without the assistance of the navy, it would be very difficult to hold Arthur, and if Arthur was lost, it would be quite unfavorable for us. ”

Ito Yuheng smiled bitterly and said, "Before the decisive battle with the Russian fleet, it is difficult for the navy to send warships to assist in the defense of Arthur. ”

Ito Hirobumi nodded again and said, "If you can still hold Lushun after the decisive battle of the Russian fleet, what will happen to the follow-up battle?"

Shan Shan Youpeng thought for a while and said: "It is possible to be attacked by overseas Chinese and Russia on two fronts on land, but our defense is well arranged, and we can maintain the existing defense line for at least half a year." ”

Ito Youheng said: "The garrison of Lushun is divided into two situations, one is that after the decisive battle between us and the Russian fleet, the casualties are large, and we cannot fight a decisive battle with the overseas Chinese fleet in a short period of time, we can first send some warships to Port Arthur to assist the army in defending Arthur, and at the same time repair the warships at home; second, if the loss is not large, we can go to sea to attack the fleet of overseas Chinese attacking Lushun after a little repair, and find an opportunity to have a decisive battle with the main fleet of overseas Chinese. ”

"We also have two battleships in the UK, the Kashima and the Katori are under construction, these two battleships are more powerful than any warship in the current Combined Fleet, and the British side has promised that they can deliver these two warships to us by the end of this year, and if we can wait until these two warships join the Combined Fleet and then have a decisive battle with the overseas Chinese, it will be more certain. ”

Yama Prefecture Youtomo turned to Katsura Taro again and said, "Our national strength can maintain the war until the end of this year?"

Katsura Taro said: "At present, the funds we are preparing can maintain the war until September or October, and I want to increase our efforts to maintain it for another two or three months, which is completely doable, and if we defeat the Russian fleet, it will also help to raise funds." ”

"I'm a layman in the military, so I can't give you any useful advice, but I can help you in other ways, first of all, Colonel Akashi Genjiro has already contacted many Russian dissidents and anti-government figures, and has provided them with funds for their activities, and is planning an operation on a larger scale than 'Bloody Sunday,' and with the help of British intelligence officers, the Russian government is likely to be self-conscious, and its ability to support the war will be greatly reduced." ”

Shan Shan Youpeng nodded and said: "This is indeed good news, but after the war starts again, our biggest opponent is the overseas Chinese, not Russia, if we can also plan an operation in Shandong." ”

Hirobumi Ito smiled bitterly and said, " The intelligence department has been working hard for this goal, and more than 20 intelligence personnel have sacrificed for this purpose, but the overseas Chinese are not Russians, and their ability to control the civilian population is quite strong, and we cannot find such an opportunity in Shandong, but fortunately, there is still a loophole in the overseas Chinese, that is, their Shanghai New Area, and our intelligence personnel have made arrangements in the Shanghai New Area, and are ready to launch a large-scale operation around May 10, striving to cause great damage to the Shanghai New Area, although it is impossible to contain the energy of the overseas Chinese for a long time, but in a short period of time, the overseas Chinese cannot fully devote themselves to the battlefield, and even the time to refrain from participating in the warIt can be done. I think we can at least drag the overseas Chinese until after our decisive battle with the Russian fleet. ”

Ito Yuheng was a little excited: "That's fine, as long as we can stagger the time of the decisive battle between us and the Russian fleet, the navy can have sufficient strength to deal with the overseas Chinese." ”

Shan County Youpeng also said: "Yes, so I also have the confidence to maintain the war." ”

Katsura Taro frowned and said, "Even if this is the case, we can only maintain the war until the end of this year at most, do we have the ability to achieve a decisive victory within this year?"

When Yama Yama and Ito Yuhiro heard this, they stopped talking, because they both knew that Japan's national strength was too high, and in the face of the participation of the East China government in the war, it would be good to be able to maintain the war, and it would be almost impossible to achieve a decisive victory.

Ito Hirobumi said: "If we can maintain the war, we will have time to maneuver, Britain, France, the United States and Germany and other countries will not sit idly by and watch the overseas Chinese grow in the Far East, and then they will take substantial intervention actions, and it is not impossible to have another eight-nation alliance." In addition, sooner or later, overseas Chinese and Russia will turn against each other, and that will be our chance. ”