Chapter 500: Insincere Negotiations

Yokota Hajiro had to be cautious, and he immediately discussed with his senior Suzuki Sanji, who was two levels below him, whether the Japanese army should really attack the Chinese defenders with less than 10,000 troops after the opponent's army increased to 100,000, especially in areas where naval ships and guns could not provide support. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

Although Yokota Hajiro is a reckless man, he is by no means a stupid man, and even if others look down on Suzuki Thirty-two, he also knows how proud the top students of the Army University are, and they can use a thousand temporary troops to firmly deter the enemy's 20,000 elite troops, and the two sides confronted each other for three days and three nights without losing morale.

Suzuki Thirty-two told Yokota that this attack on Nantong, China, was definitely the most unsuccessful war choice for Katsura Taro's cabinet, and that the Japanese military department was not prepared, and even the General Staff Headquarters had no war plan in recent years. The reason why Katsura Taro's cabinet started the war was not for political purposes, but out of a blow to a rival (Saionji Kobo). Therefore, Katsura Taro now not only has China as an enemy, but also a Japanese political party as an opponent, so he is not optimistic about this war.

As Suzuki Thirty-two expected, there was a lot of criticism in Japan about this dialogue operation, and even the elders debated about it, and Yamaguchi Aritomo originally supported the punishment of the Kohoku government, but after seeing that Katsura Taro was preparing to turn the war into a national war, he was afraid that this move would cause dissatisfaction with Britain, France, Germany, Russia and other countries and would fall short, so he advocated solving the problem at the negotiating table. Yamaguchi Aritomo was very prestigious in the Japanese military and influenced the attitude of the Japanese imperial family, and many people in Japan who supported Katsura Taro were shaken.

And Matsukata Masayoshi, who was born in Saionji and Satsuma Domain, was resolutely opposed to fighting against China at this time, and only Inoue Shin, who had been deeply diagnosed at home, temporarily supported Katsura Taro, but Inoue Shin and Ito Hirobumi are the five masters of Choshu, and Saionji Konobu is the successor of Ito Hirobumi's mantle, so if even Inoue Shin is against it, Katsura Taro will be too difficult to support. But when Ito Hirobumi resigned, Inoue Xin served as prime minister, but there was a Russo-Japanese War, Inoue Xin fought against Britain and the United States by force, so he handed over the post of prime minister to Katsura Taro, so that Katsura Taro "thundered" to defeat Russia, Inoue Xin also got a good reputation for making Xian, which is a great favor owed to Katsura Taro, which is why he had to support Katsura Taro.

The political struggle in Japan was serious, and the instructions for the front line were also chaotic, so Suzuki Thirty-two sighed and said with a wry smile: "Let's do our duty." ”

On April 12, Wang Yongan's Jiangbei government formally held its first meeting with representatives of the Japanese government, and the Japanese side sent a negotiating delegation headed by the cutting-edge diplomat Kuji Sato to Yangzhou for negotiations, and Kuji Sato's teacher was none other than General Yasumasa Fukushima, the most outstanding spy of Japan at this time. Before coming to Yangzhou, Kuji Sato followed his teacher to serve as a staff officer in the General Staff Headquarters, and supported his teacher as the governor of Kanto, so this dialogue and negotiation was actually a generous gift from Fukushima Yasumasa to his students. In Yasumasa Fukushima's view, the dispute between Japan and Jiangbei between Japan and China will definitely end in the end with Japan's victory, so Hissaji Sato's negotiations will be a great success anyway.

In the face of Wang Yongan, head of the Chinese Jiangbei local government delegation, he openly said that Japan's decision to let Wang Yongan personally rush to Japan to apologize to the families of the deceased instructors on the basis of the principle of friendship between the two sides is the sincerity of the Japanese Government, and he hopes that the Chinese side will show sincerity.

Wang Yongan frowned, he was very angry with this old fellow, and the Japanese came to negotiate as if it was a reward for them.

Without waiting for any reaction from the Jiangbei side, Kuji Sato put forward six demands, and if the Chinese Jiangbei side agreed to these six demands, Japan could consider stopping the war.

The six requirements are:

First, the Jiangbei government officially apologized to the Japanese government and promised not to make another mistake in the future;

Second, the Jiangbei government wants to formally compensate the families of the Japanese victims, with a total amount of 5 million taels of silver;

Third, the Jiangbei government opened Nantong to Japan as Japan's exclusive treaty port;

fourth, the Japanese fleet was allowed to be stationed in Nantong as a temporary supply depot and to protect the Japanese trading companies;

Fifth, Chinese troops are not allowed to be stationed in Nantong County, but some police officers are allowed;

Sixth, Nantong County established a Sino-Japanese Condominium Committee to manage the public security, commerce and civil affairs of Nantong County, and the tax revenue was handed over to both China and Japan.

"Too much deception!" The Chinese representatives participating in the negotiations were collectively angry, and where this is negotiation, it is simply a naked insult, an insult to the Chinese, an insult to China.

Originally, Wang Yongan very much hoped to sit down and settle it peacefully, and even considered the worst-case scenario - going into the field by himself, but the other party was insincere and bent on humiliating China, so he couldn't help but slap the table and said angrily: "We will not satisfy you with any of them, the Jiangbei government is just a local government of the Chinese government, and the only agreement we can reach with you is the compensation agreement, as for any other agreement, we have neither the right to negotiate with you, nor do we want to negotiate territorial rights with you." ”

"Do you still have room to negotiate?" Kuji Sato laughed, his eyes full of contempt.

Wang Yongan said: "The 300,000 troops in Jiangbei and the 1 million troops in China are our backing. ”

Sato Hisaharu said: "There are 300,000 troops in Jiangbei, and it is estimated that there are only 100,000 warriors, right?" Do you think the Chinese army will help you? You're thinking too simply, hahaha......"

Wang Yongan sneered: "So do you think that if China is temporarily divided, you will be able to reap the benefits from us?" That's impossible. ”

Kuji Sato shrugged his shoulders and said: "This is the case, it is not that we want to take benefits from you, but if you want to solve this trouble, if you want to survive, if you want the Jiangbei government to continue to govern legally, you must accept our conditions in full." If you accept our terms, we will assist you in building the Jiangbei Railway, and even help you conquer the world and conquer China. ”

"Oh? Do you really think so? Wang Yongan sneered.

Kuji Sato said: "The Great Japanese Empire needs an agent, and you Jiangbei are qualified to be our agents." In fact, there are many people who want to be agents of the Great Japanese Empire, but you don't know how to be blessed when you are in the midst of blessings. ”

Wang Yongan stood up and laughed, and then said coldly: "Jiangbei people, never commit treason, the negotiation is over!" Then his subordinates said: "We are fully prepared to negotiate with the Qing government, and we are willing to stop the recovery of Jiangbei and restore the unification of China." ”