The next battle really did not surprise Luo Yue, although the People's Army gave the defenders of Kobe and Osaka a few days to prepare, but the Japanese army's combat effectiveness was too poor, and there were not many reinforcements around, and there was only one brigade stationed in both cities, and the number was not enough, so after the People's Army arrived, Kobe and Osaka tried their best to resist, but they were really powerless, and in one day, both cities were lost one after another, and the People's Army successfully occupied Kobe and Osaka.

And the next day, the fleet of the People's Army sailed into Osaka Bay, and this fleet was the fleet that attacked Tokyo from the sea, with the battleships Yuanyang and Yueyang, and the armored cruisers Bahai and Irikai as the core.

After the convergence of the two sides, Luo Yue was also completely relieved, because after the convergence with the fleet, the landing force had strong naval fire support, and in an emergency, it could calmly retreat from the sea, so the belt plan formulated by Luo Yue also achieved complete success.

Next, the People's Army naturally picked the fruits of victory, Luo Yue first distributed the strength of the People's Army, and assigned two regiments of each division and about 5,000 Russian mercenaries to garrison in Kobe and Kyoto, and Luo Yue himself led the remaining regiment of two divisions and 10,000 Russian mercenaries to garrison, and then plundered these three cities.

Although Japan's economy is basically collapsing now, because this area is the most developed area in Japan's economy, industry and commerce, the population, wealth, and materials are relatively concentrated, and rich merchants gather, and the reserves of materials are also quite abundant, so at this time it is much stronger than other regions of Japan, and of course, for the KPA, the looted population and materials are far more abundant than in the Noto Peninsula. In just five or six days, the People's Army captured more than 300,000 people, more than 100,000 tons of grain, more than 2,000 kilograms of gold, and a large number of other materials, and also captured 10 merchant ships in Osaka Bay.

Fortunately, Luo Yue has strict military orders, just arresting and looting, but it is forbidden to kill people indiscriminately, and it is even more strictly forbidden to set fires, because the houses in Japan in this era are basically wooden structures, and once they are set on fire, it is likely to form a spreading effect, and the whole city will be burned down. Because of this, the cities of Kyoto, Kobe, and Osaka were preserved, and apart from the people captured by the KPA, not many residents were killed, which of course has to do with the fact that the residents of these three cities did not resist the KPA too strongly.

Because the Japanese are accustomed to obeying the strong, or bullying the weak and fearing the hard, and in the past three or four months, the notorious reputation of the People's Army in Japan has spread far and wide, and most of the three-year-old children dare not cry when they hear "the People's Army is coming." Wherever the People's Army goes, the Japanese people really do not dare to resist, and this not only facilitates the capture and looting of the People's Army, but also reduces the casualties of Japanese residents.

However, the captured population is still more boys and girls, and the ratio of men to women is not even 4:6, this is because young and middle-aged men in Japan are conscripted into the army, or are conscripted for labor, so most of the people who stay at home are women and children, of course, young and middle-aged women are also laborers, and children are the labor force of the future. Luo Yue ordered that all the captured people and looted materials should be transported to Osaka for concentration, and then through Qingdao, and a fleet of ships would be organized to Osaka as soon as possible to be shipped back.

And now it's up to Japan** to react.

―――――――― Divider ――――――――― Dividing Line――――――――

"Ito-kun, is there no other way to do it if it's so difficult?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, although this fact is indeed unacceptable, but now, there is really no other way than to negotiate with Huadong ** and accept the conditions for the payment of reparations. ”

"Yama Prefecture-kun, I heard that the KPA attacking Osaka is only 40,000 or 50,000 people, and now there are more than 200,000 troops gathered in the Tokyo area, and the KPA has just repelled the attack on Tokyo, and the morale is high, can't we send troops to Kyoto and Osaka to repel the KPA?"

"Your Majesty, this point is really not possible now, although the number of our army is greater than that of the enemy, but the training time of the army is insufficient, and it lacks actual combat experience, and the weapons and ammunition are also insufficient; although the enemy's strength is small, but they are all soldiers of a hundred battles, and they are well-armed, and they have naval fire support, and they cannot be underestimated by the enemy, and the defense of Tokyo is our army's defense, and the enemy's attack can still be resisted, but if Runuo attacks Kyoto and Osaka, it is the enemy's defense, and our army attacks, and our army is still insufficient. In addition, the enemy still has a surplus of troops, and if our army goes to the rescue of Kyoto and Osaka, Tokyo will be empty, and if the KPA makes a comeback, Tokyo will be in danger. Therefore, as Ito-kun said, he can only negotiate with Huadong ** and accept the conditions for the payment of compensation, and there is really no other way. ”

...... ......

"Please ask the Emperor to judge. ”

Emperor Meiji looked at Katsura Taro, Ito Hirobumi, and Yamaguchi Aritomo who were kneeling in front of him, and couldn't help but smile bitterly, the imperial adjudication power is one of the few political powers of the emperor, and generally when there is a major national decision, and the cabinet is difficult to reach a consensus on the decision, it can be handed over to the emperor for ruling, and the emperor's ruling is the final result and cannot be changed. However, Emperor Meiji had never exercised the imperial power since his ascension, and even in such a major strategic decision as a war against Russia, the cabinet reached a consensus that the imperial power of the emperor would not be used, but the Meiji Emperor did not expect that he would face such a difficult situation when he exercised the imperial power of the emperor for the first time.

It turned out that the news of the loss of Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe reached Tokyo, and Ito Hirobumi also understood that negotiations with East China ** must be held as soon as possible, and there could be no delay for a moment. Therefore, Ito Hirobumi met with Katsura Taro and Aritomo Yama Prefecture again, and asked them to do everything possible to persuade the hard-line personnel of the War Department to accept the results of the negotiations with East China.

In fact, Katsura Taro and Yama Prefecture Aritomo also knew that they couldn't drag it out, but to convince the hard-line personnel of the War Department, the two really didn't have any good methods, and Katsura Taro proposed a way to simply make a decision by the cabinet to bypass the War Department, but it was vetoed by Yama Prefecture Aritomo. Although Katsura Taro's suggestion is procedurally feasible, Yamaguchi Aritomo knows very well that the consequences are serious, and who knows what these red deer will do.

Hirobumi Ito thought of the emperor's imperial judge, and only by using the emperor's authority could he suppress these red deer. Katsura Taro and Yama Prefecture Aritomo also think that there is only this way now, and they have to give it a try if they succeed or not. In fact, this is the person who the three of them are unwilling to come forward to be the lord and the peace, and they have buried the name of the first generation, so they asked the emperor to come out and carry this pot.

So the three of them entered the palace together, met with the emperor, and asked the emperor to negotiate with Huadong **, of course, the three of them were very clear about asking the emperor to choose to negotiate.

Emperor Meiji was silent for a while before he said: "As Qing and others said, if peace is negotiated with East China, compensation will be paid to East China, I am afraid that the amount is huge, and Japan's treasury is empty now, how to pay this compensation?"

Ito Hirobumi said: "Please rest assured, Your Majesty, Britain, France, the United States and Germany have agreed that as long as the negotiations are concluded, they will provide Japan with a low-interest loan, which is enough for Japan to pay reparations." ”

Emperor Meiji said: "Britain and France are not trustworthy, not to mention that our country has incurred a lot of debts for this war, and now the debt is on top of the debt, which is tantamount to making matters worse, and the loan must be repaid after all, and now that Japan's treasury is empty and devastated, how can it repay the loan?"

Ito Hirobumi said: "Your Majesty's heart is not unreasonable, but after the end of this war, East China will inevitably rise in Asia, and it will inevitably threaten the interests of Britain, France and the United States in Asia, and the three countries are thousands of miles away, and only Japan can balance East China After the end of the war, the three countries will give Japan an interest-free loan to help Japan recover as soon as possible, and the United States also intends to make large-scale economic investment in Japan, and the ministers have their own plans to make full use of the advantages of Japan in various countries to win the greatest interests for Japan, so your Majesty can rest assured that it will rebuild after the war. ”

Emperor Meiji nodded, Ito Hirobumi is Ito Hirobumi in the end, although in such a crisis situation, everything is still in order, but this imperial judgment is indeed not a good ruling. Emperor Meiji also knew very well in his heart that the so-called imperial judgment of the emperor was actually to take the blame for Japan's **, and let the imperial family bear the charge of surrender and betrayal.

In the shogunate era, the emperor was actually a puppet, and all the power was in the hands of the shogun, and after the fall of the shogunate, although the emperor had no real power, Bi Jing officially became the spiritual leader of Japan, the symbol of the country, and was forcibly shaped into a godhead, from a human to a god, so of course the status has been greatly improved, and the shogunate era is naturally not the same.

The Meiji Emperor was not willing to be just a spiritual leader, but hoped to be a monarch like the Emperor and the Tsar, who could truly control the administrative power of the country, so after succeeding to the throne, he also deliberately shaped the majesty and mysterious image of the emperor, and dressed himself as the protector of Japan, constantly improving the prestige and status of the emperor, and working hard to gain real power. It can be said that Emperor Ji has been on the throne for more than 30 years and has always done well. But if the Imperial Judge negotiates with East China ** at this time, although it cannot be said that the emperor's character is completely destroyed, it is indeed a major blow to the emperor's prestige.

However, Emperor Meiji did not dare to make a decision lightly when he made a contrary ruling; first, Katsura Taro, Aritomo Yamaguchi, and Ito Hirobumi were all powerful figures in Japan at present, and they could not be easily offended; second, Emperor Meiji also knew that Japan now has no capital to continue to be tough, and just a few days ago, the People's Army's attack on Tokyo has only made Emperor Meiji feel uneasy, and he does not want to do it again. Therefore, Emperor Meiji said, "Okay, Rong Zhen will think about it all night, and I will reply tomorrow." ”

Happy birthday to our dear motherland!

Happy holidays to all book friends!