"The Americans want to increase their troops, and the Spaniards want to increase their troops? It's a tough thing to do. Hirobumi Ito said as he sat on the throne and looked at the information in his hand.

"Americans may have realized that we have ideas about the Philippines. The Americans were not satisfied with the occupation of Cuba and wanted to stretch their hands to the East. This is absolutely not allowed by the Empire. And the Spaniards were supposed to be on guard against the United States. Yamamoto Gonbei analyzed.

"I now have a question, has there been a change in the Empire's attitude towards the United States and the Philippines? Will we retreat from the intervention of the United States, whether to turn the occupation of the Philippines alone into a sharing of the Philippines, or will we simply give it up? Yamamoto Gonbei stared at Ito Hirobumi as he spoke, and there was a hint of ruthlessness and decisiveness in his sharp gaze.

"Spain is a sheep, and the United States is a tiger, and if you retreat, you will give him an inch. For such an enemy, we can only exclude it from the sphere of influence of the Empire! Now that the Americans' industry has not yet been transformed into military power, and their base system is not enough to support a large fleet in the Far East, if we do not act at this time, we will miss the last chance to dominate the Far East! The Russians are a paper tiger, and the British are our friends. The United States is a terrible enemy, and in the face of such an enemy, we will not retreat! "Hirobumi Ito's words have made it very clear that no matter what difficulties Japan faces, Japan will bring the Philippines under its control!

Japan really has no way back this time! In order to take the Philippines, the Japanese government invested a lot of money and manpower in 3 years! Not to mention anything else, the Japanese government spent almost 5 million pounds on 4 super armored cruisers alone! If you change it to silver, it will be more than 30 million taels! In order to occupy and control the Philippines, the Japanese Army also withdrew 3 divisions from the country! A total of about 70,000 troops! This is again a huge military expenditure, and the replacement of army equipment and the salaries of personnel and others add up to no less than 3 million pounds! In order to ensure that such a force could be transported over, the Japanese government also had to transfer tens of thousands of tons of merchant ships.

These costs are huge enough. But this only gave Japan the ability to fight, and in order to meet the support for the war, the Japanese government raised another 6 million pounds for war expenses! More than 90% of them come from bonds sold in the UK and US! You read that right, quite a few Americans have also bought Japanese bonds!

Although the Japanese government is vigorously developing industry, commerce, and national industries, if there is no other investment, the immediate debt will be enough to crush Japan. Japan needed colonial markets and raw materials, and in such a situation, the blatant suspension of the plan would undoubtedly be tantamount to making previous preparations go to waste! For the current Japan, there is still a way to survive, and it can rely on selling the property and privileges of the colonies in exchange for funds. And if it does not fight, it will be a dead end, and in this case, the Japanese government will naturally be able to make a decision.

"Hehe, it's not just the U.S. Navy. When they are accustomed to being the king and hegemon in the Americas, they feel invincible, do they still think that today's Japan is the Japan of the shogunate period? The hatred of the Black Ship incident should also be liquidated today, if we occupy the Philippines and the Americans don't take action, then forget it, if they want to do it, then I don't mind teaching them a lesson. Gonbei Yamamoto said with a smile.

"Because of the intervention of the Spaniards, we are going to change the plan. The original plan to preemptively defeat the Spanish fleet and create an established fact was somewhat difficult, and the Americans strengthened their fleet in the Far East. Until the return of the Asami and Yakumo, our fleet strength is not enough to deal with the Spaniards and Americans at the same time, so to be on the safe side, we will wait for the return of the two warships before acting! On the side, Kayama Shiki took out the revised battle plan and handed it to Ito Hirobumi and others for review.

"If the United States and Spain had done it first, would we have been more reactive diplomatically?" Xiyuan Temple Gongwang said with some concern.

"Until Asami and Yakumo return, any slight mistake will lead to irreparable damage. The British had made it clear that they would maintain strict neutrality during the war. They won't give us new ships anymore, and it's always better to be passive diplomatically than militarily. And I don't think that the land forces of the Americans will land so quickly. What can truly assert sovereignty is the actual occupation. Saigo said.

"In the military's plans, the Navy intends to defeat the adversary after the US fleet enters the waters around Luzon. So have you ever wondered what would happen if the American fleet was stationed in Samoa and then waited for domestic reinforcements? If the Americans, realizing the lack of strength, transferred their 4 battleships to the Far East. So how should the Navy cope with the full range of U.S. naval forces? And this time the Germans seem to be intending to help the United States? Hirobumi Ito asked.

"This. The Americans' fleet still had to stay on home against the Spanish fleet stationed in the West Indies, right? There's no way they're going to transfer all the warships, right? "Gonbei Yamamoto didn't think about what to do if the Americans didn't come! The Navy's plans are all about the Americans coming over, and then how we will fight each other in the Philippines, and the final battle will be won or lost. And if the Americans don't come, won't everything change?

"I have already thought for you, if, after all our armored cruisers are in place, the Americans do not act, then we will take the initiative! With 4 Asami-class armored cruisers in hand, we were able to easily defeat the Spanish fleet and then send land forces to occupy the Philippines to create an established fact. ”

"In this case, it is quite possible that the United States will take military action to seize the southern islands of the Philippines, and in this case, we must completely destroy the American fleet in the Far East in one fell swoop! More than just driving them away! We're even going to hit American Samoa in one go! Japan will be safe only if this fleet is completely defeated! Ito Hirobumi said these words in an extremely flat tone that made everyone present feel cold sweat!

"You're going to make a bad deal with the Americans! Use force to force the other party to submit. Xiyuan Temple Gongwang sighed and said. If Japan preemptively occupies the Philippines and the United States does not act, then diplomacy will be in a passive position. And when the main islands of the Philippines are occupied, the cost for Americans to get the Philippines will skyrocket.

So if the Americans really intend to take away the Philippines, then eighty percent will immediately seize the southern islands, and in this case, a conflict between the two sides is certain! This is Japan forcing the Americans to make a decision, and if the Americans decide to fight, then the Japanese fleet must completely defeat the opponent!

First of all, the author wants to apologize.,The chapter number of the previous chapter is wrong.,But the content is right.,You can read it with confidence~~~.

Thanks to the book friend First Tank Guards Brigade, Ye Zhong 2015, only the city, bighill1982 for the tip~~~, as well as the book friend hotbed, fat ape, wolf must be very sexy, youbo's monthly pass support ~~~. It seems like a terrible subscription today! (To be continued.) )