"General, what is the order we have received now?" Tan Renhao swallowed his saliva, he didn't feel nervous, he just felt a strong threat.

"Let's get back to Naha as soon as possible, and then take a rest and report to the Navy Command and Cabinet on our visit to Japan." Wu Xianyu answered Tan Renhao's question.

"That is, this time the empire did not pay attention to the naval conflict between Japan and the Kingdom of Korea?"

Wu Xianyu nodded, and then smiled bitterly. "The wolf is coming" can only be shouted three times, and Japan has made so many small moves in the past six months or so, and each time it will make the empire sound the battle alarm, but over time, the empire no longer attaches so much importance to these provocations of Japan.

"What about the orders of the other fleets?" Tan Renhao is even more sure that this is no longer a threat, but a prelude to war.

"The First Fleet remained in Naha to exert pressure and threats on Japan. The Second Fleet will once again return to the waters east of the Philippines to serve as our counterpart. The Third Fleet will move south to the Java Sea to threaten Japanese military bases on the island of Timor, while the Southwest Fleet will operate in conjunction with the Third Fleet. "The Naval Command will inform the fleets of the actions of the other fleets in the area so that the fleets can cooperate in their actions. Wu Xianyu shrugged his shoulders, "However, this time the headquarters did not issue a ******, not even a combat readiness order, but let us continue to pay attention to the activities of the Japanese fleet, and before receiving more information and determining the movements of the Japanese main fleet, the headquarters did not intend to take drastic actions." ”

"This is an order personally issued by Prime Minister Xue Xiyue, and now our diplomats are actively engaged in the hope of bringing Japan back to the negotiating table and striving to solve the problem through negotiations." Liao Hanxiang added a sentence that made Tan Renhao understand that this was not an order from Marshal Sajiting, but a direct intervention from above.

Tan Renhao sat down in his chair, and now, he was almost certain that what the Japanese wanted was not negotiations, but a sudden attack, destroying the Imperial Navy in the shortest possible time and forcing the Imperial Navy out of the Pacific Ocean. As long as Japan gained sea supremacy in the western Pacific, it would be able to guarantee an active advantage in the early stages of the war, and the empire would be forced to defend strategically. Perhaps, in the end, the empire will still be able to win, but it will have to pay a greater price for victory.

"Major, do you think there's anything wrong?" Liao Hanxiang frowned slightly, it was the first time he had seen Tan Renhao's dejected appearance.

Tan Renhao was slightly startled, and then stood up. "Commander Liao, war is definitely about to break out!"

The three generals were all taken aback, and then looked at Tan Renhao in disbelief. In their opinion, if war were to break out, there would have been several opportunities ahead, but Japan did not make a move. This time, it was just a little conflict between Japan and the Kingdom of Korea at sea, and it was not directly related to the empire, so would Japan take the initiative to declare war on the empire because of this?

"If Japan were to declare war on the Empire, and if they wanted to win, they would never declare war first and then start fighting, because Japan was by no means an opponent of the Empire in terms of overall strength." Tan Renhao took the cigarette from Ji Xiaobin's hand, and then lit it a little tremblingly, "If Japan wants to win, it must grasp the initiative on the battlefield, drag us to fight as much as possible, so that we have no way to concentrate our forces, and then by occupying the Nanyang region, expand the production of strategic resources, force the empire to defend in the early stage of the war, and finally force the empire to recognize Japan's hegemony in the western Pacific region with huge war losses." If the empire had suffered huge losses in the war and its industrial infrastructure had been severely damaged, then it would be quite possible for us to recognize Japan's position in the Western Pacific, avoid even greater losses, and then concentrate our efforts on preparing for the next war. ”

Ji Xiaobin frowned. "If Japan has the covert support of the Western powers, we may have to withdraw from the Atlantic Ocean and the Eastern Pacific, then the global order dominated by the empire will completely collapse, Japan and the Western powers will become the new world dominant powers, and the empire will decline into a second-rate country."

Wu Xianyu hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "It is very likely that Japan has always had close relations with the Western powers, and that the German Empire and the French Empire are now at loggerheads over Belgium. It is said that Wilhelm III has approved a new military expansion bill, and the German Empire will issue an ultimatum to the Kingdom of France in the near future, and if the Kingdom of France does not withdraw from Belgium, then the European continent will become a battlefield. The British Empire, on the other hand, had been secretly supporting the Kingdom of France and secretly contacting Japan to win over the United States of America. If these four countries come together, then our war with Japan will surely evolve into a new global war. ”

"There is also the conflict between the Persian Empire and the Russian Empire in the Caucasus." Liao Hanxiang smiled bitterly, and then let out a long sigh, "The Persian Empire has always been our most important ally, if their conflict with the Russian Empire turns into a war, then the Empire will inevitably support the Persian Empire, and even directly declare war on the Russian Empire." At present, Prime Minister Xue Xiyue attaches the most importance to the problems of Central Asia, so he has always asked the navy to exercise restraint and not to have any conflict with Japan until the contradictions between the Persian Empire and the Russian Empire have been settled. ”

"But that's not something we can do with concessions!" Tan Renhao looked a little reckless, "Commander Liao, now the war is not up to us to decide whether to fight or not, the power to start the war is in the hands of the Japanese." If Japan decides to fight, then no matter how much the empire makes concessions, it will not be able to avoid it. ”

"Yes, I know, but what can we do?" Liao Hanxiang lit a cigarette, "Major, the crux of the matter is that Japan was beaten down by the First Fleet in the last war, although they have been lying on their backs for more than 20 years and have been thinking about revenge, but do they have the strength?" If Japan had not been able to defeat the Empire, at least the strength of the Imperial Navy, would they have rushed to war? ”

The other two generals also looked at Tan Renhao, and it was clear that they needed more reasons.

Tan Renhao nodded slightly, and then pulled the chart over, he had to convince General Liao Hanxiang to believe his point of view, as for whether General Liao Hanxiang could convince Marshal Sajiting, it was not something he could decide.