Sato Kuji was shocked, he never imagined that Jiangbei would once again become a dependent territory of the Qing Empire rather than become a proxy territory of the Japanese, which was simply unreasonable, and they made diametrically opposite choices with Sun Yat-sen and other revolutionary parties -- the negotiations caught Sato Kuji off guard from the very beginning. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

Soon, Sato Kuji ruined the country's decision report on Kohoku, and Prime Minister Katsura Taro was also a little dumbfounded, Kohoku was going to break the boat, and would rather his regime perish, but also drag Japan into the water, he instructed that the war preparations were not yet fully in place, but he could assist in negotiations from the perspective of war, and secretly instructed the commander-in-chief of the forward force, Yokota Hajiro, to carry out a tentative attack.

After the end of the unpleasant first meeting, the Jiangbei side also launched an emergency meeting, in fact, no one wants to return to the rule of the Qing court again after the liberation, which is not only related to the issue of reputation and reunification, but also related to everyone's interests, after all, although the Jiangbei government is small now, but everyone's rights are real, but if you return to the Qing court, what are you? Is it a traitor, or a courtier, if it is a traitor, he will be killed, and if he is a courtier, he will definitely not be able to enter the temple and make decisions, and he will even be liquidated.

Although Wang Yongan ordered further contact with the Qing court, he did not want the court to affect the political stability of Jiangbei, and even hoped that Jiangbei would maintain its current political status - a semi-independent warlord government. It is a pity that Yuan Shikai did not give him leeway, although Yuan Shikai supported the Jiangbei government on the issue of resistance against Japan, but Yuan Shikai did not allow Jiangbei to continue to be independent, and Yuan Shikai's negotiator Hu Weide directly told Wang Yongan that Jiangbei must not be independent, and the Jiangbei regime must return to the "central government".

Here, Yuan Shikai proposed the Central Committee, that is, Yuan Shikai decided to overthrow the Manchu Qing and no longer agree to the establishment of the Republic of China in the name of the Manchu government.

Immediately Wang Yongan's representative Zhang Jian proposed the establishment of the Federal Republic of China, but Yuan Shikai's representative Hu Weide and Nanjing Provisional Government representative Wu Tingfang opposed it at the same time; although Hu Weide once served as the Qing Dynasty's counselor to the United States, and Wu Tingfang once studied in the United States, both of them slandered the federal system of the United States, and held that the federal system was a special system produced by the United States under a unique environment, and it was not suitable for a large land, a large population, and a large number of ethnic groups. And in a country with such a vast number of ethnic minorities occupying the vast majority of the border areas, if China were to implement a federal system, it would give foreigners an excuse to meddle in its internal affairs, which would eventually lead to the division of China.

Although the north and the south are fighting over the issue of leadership, they are also firm in the great unification of the country, and Wang Yongan only said after learning of Zhang Jian's proposal: "Zhang Gong's thinking is too simple, he wants to maintain the independence of our Jiangbei, but he can't say it in his mouth, if the federal system is established, no matter who can unify China in the future, my Jiangbei will always be in a corner of peace, so the federation is absolutely undesirable." ”

Although the negotiations with Japan were relatively difficult, the negotiations with the north and the south were extremely smooth, and Yuan Shikai gradually let go of the persecution of Jiangbei and withdrew all troops from Jiangbei, while some enthusiastic young people of the southern revolutionary government quietly infiltrated Jiangbei to join the Jiangbei Army and resist the Japanese invaders.

At the second meeting between China and Japan, Wang Yongan put forward a demand, that is, the central authorities must send people to supervise the whole process of the negotiations, so the negotiations were postponed, and the Japanese also had this intention, so the two sides decided to suspend the negotiations and wait for the central authorities to come. Yuan Shikai appointed Yang Shiqi as the negotiation supervisor and gave him the privilege that Yang Shiqi could interrupt the negotiations at any time.

The Jiangbei government of China postponed the second negotiation with the Japanese government, and at the same time that Yang Shiqi set out from Beijing, Katsura Taro named the reorganization of the combat army for this dialogue as the China Crusade Army, which means to seek justice and innocence for the poisoned instructors, and the words were named after the crusading army.

It can be seen from the number of the crusade army that the attitude of the Japanese Katsura Taro cabinet government has gradually softened, and under pressure from all sides, he cannot turn this war into a war between the two countries, after all, it is the political party and the chaebol group of Saionji Gongwang who are now in control of Japan's money bags, not the military.

"Within a limited scope, give the Chinese the most severe blow." Katsura Taro said this to the generals of the military department, and then appointed the former Minister of War Yusaku Uehara as the commander of the crusade against China. Uehara Yusaku has been idle at home since he brought down the Saionji Konobu cabinet, and Katsura Taro naturally can't forget his merits, this time the appointment of Uehara Yusaku as the commander of the crusade against China is not only a reward for him, but also a sign of support for Katsura Taro within the military department, that is, anyone who supports Katsura Taro, Katsura Taro himself will never forget them.

When Yusaku Uehara asked about his strength, Katsura Taro told the regular army that there were the 16th and 17th divisions, the second-line troops had the Korean brigade and the Taiwan wing, and the third-line troops had the Chinese wing, with a total strength of 70,000 troops. When Uehara heard this, he hurriedly asked, "What about the navy?" ”

"The Navy is only responsible for limited support and logistics and will not be involved in this dialogue." Katsura Taro said regretfully.

Yusaku Uehara frowned and said, "If the navy does not have strong support, then the army will suffer very big losses this time." ”

Katsura Taro said in a low voice: "The navy is ready to recommend Yamamoto Gonbei as the next prime minister, so they won't do their best to help our army, these guys from the Satsuma Domain are sincerely looking at our jokes." Moreover, the relationship between the navy and the political friends association and the chaebol is very good, and they have been somewhat influenced by those people, and we have only one goal in this crusade against China, which is to turn Nantong into a springboard for the Japanese Empire. ”

Yusaku Uehara said: "There are some difficulties, but I should be able to do it, and please increase domestic publicity so that more warriors can support the front line." ”

Katsura Taro smiled bitterly: "It's not easy, after the Russo-Japanese War, the people have been recuperating for several years, and many people have forgotten the spirit of bravery." They will definitely try their best to stop it, so there won't be too much support from the rear, and I'll ask Uehara-kun to do his best. ”

"Yes, I will fight to the end for the glory of the Imperial soldiers." Yusaku Uehara said.

After the commander was determined, the Japanese crusading force began to move in an orderly manner, and Yusaku Uehara ordered Yokota Hajiro to launch an attack on Nantong, and told him to attack Nantong City with all his strength to create an opportunity for the landing of the 16th Division. As for the issue of naval guns, Yusaku Uehara also communicated with the Minister of the Navy Minoru Saito, and the Japanese Admiralty will send the cruiser Takachiho and the cruiser Akitsuzu and two destroyers to Nantong, and the range of the naval guns of these four warships completely covers Nantong City, and the Japanese crusading force can finally attack Nantong City with confidence and boldness.