On October 23, 1915, the 21st day of the establishment of Sun Yat-sen's Provisional Government of the Republic of China, Wang Jingwei hurriedly ran into the "Great Presidential Palace". Sun Yat-sen was talking to his Japanese wife, Kaoru Otsuki, who was already pregnant with her second child.

Seeing Wang Jingwei coming in in a hurry, Otsuki Kaoru stood up with his stomach in his arms, first greeted Wang Jingwei first, and then retreated.

"Great President, a large number of Japanese prisoners released by the People's Party have gone outside the city." Wang Jingwei's face was full of anxiety, and he said straight to the point.

Sun Yat-sen didn't show any surprise, he just asked simply, "Really?" ”

Wang Jingwei didn't have such a good temperament, he then said: "President, although I don't know whether what the People's Party leaflets say is true, but now they may not really be telling nonsense. Now that the People's Party is likely to have encircled Mukden, the Japanese 19th Division has been unable to fly. ”

"So what?" Sun Yat-sen still replied calmly.

This time, Wang Jingwei saw a little that Sun Yat-sen's expression was not necessarily calm, but a little broken.

"President, why don't we test the Japanese and ask if we can go to Tianjin first as planned?" Wang Jingwei said. This was Sun Yat-sen's original plan, and after Japan occupied the Northeast, Sun Yat-sen would first go to Tianjin, which was still under the control of the remnants of Beiyang, to be recognized by as many countries as possible. As long as all countries recognized Sun Yat-sen's government as the legitimate government of China, Sun Yat-sen could demand that the existing Southern Beiyang Army and the Beiyang Army in Shanxi belong to Sun Yat-sen's sect in this name.

Sun Yat-sen has always attached great importance to foreign support. In private, Sun Yat-sen also once said to Wang Jingwei and others that now even if he promises many conditions to foreign countries. Once Sun Yat-sen becomes the real president of China, can the National Assembly reject these treaties? Foreign governments are parliamentary, and in any case, they must respect the will of the Chinese people. So Sun Yat-sen felt that his biggest problem at the moment was not being able to become the real president of China. So many of the means simply cannot be implemented. Therefore, no matter how difficult and dangerous it is, Sun Yat-sen's first priority is to be recognized by all countries as a great president.

However, the current situation is changing so fast that Sun Yat-sen really did not expect that the Japanese army, which was once thought to be invincible in the Far East, was hit hard one after another, and the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army began to throw leaflets at Shenyang after the airfield in the Panjin area was built. The 20th Division of the Japanese Army was annihilated, and the Yalu River Bridge was blocked. One after another, the bad news followed.

The Japanese army did not allow Sun Yat-sen and others to intervene in the slightest, and Sun Yat-sen sent someone to inquire about the whereabouts of the 20th Division, and the Japanese side replied coldly: "The 20th Division is now in Korea." ”

However, the BJP leaflet announced that the wounded soldiers of the 20th Division would be released on 20 October because the BJP did not have the capacity to contain them. Japan then imposed a total blockade on the entire Mukden. Wang Jingwei finally got a little news. This news just proves that the wounded soldiers of the Japanese 20th Division really arrived in Mukden.

After listening to Wang Jingwei's tentative suggestions, Sun Yat-sen's face finally changed. After a long time, he said, "We have to believe in our friends!" They need our support now. ”

When Wang Jingwei heard this, he really didn't know what to say. It stands to reason that this is not a wrong choice. However, at this time, if Sun Yat-sen said that he would find a way to protect his interests first, perhaps Wang Jingwei would feel happier.

"Mr. Sun, what if the Japanese army really fails?" Wang Jingwei asked.

"Do you believe that the Japanese army will fail?" Sun Yat-sen asked rhetorically, "They didn't use all their power. When I was negotiating with Japan, the Japanese army said that it would send 10 divisions to China. In the current situation, they will soon send more troops to China to fight the People's Party. At that time, Jingwei, did you still believe that the People's Party could be like now? ”

After hearing this inside information, Wang Jingwei suddenly felt that all the burdens in his heart were put down, but what immediately replaced this emotion in his heart was a kind of jealousy. Among the negotiators with Japan was indeed Wang Jingwei. However, it was Sun Yat-sen and Chen Qimei who really carried out the core negotiations. These secret information are also known only to Sun Yat-sen and Chen Qimei.

"No wonder Chen Qimei never reacted!" Wang Jingwei thought in his heart.

After the previous most concerned problem was resolved, a new question arose, and Wang Jingwei asked, "When will the Japanese reinforcements arrive?" ”

"This is something that only the Japanese know. It's useless for us to be in a hurry. Sun Yat-sen replied.

The Japanese command in Northeast China was indeed anxious about this matter, and in the original campaign design, Japan originally wanted to suddenly enter Northeast China, eliminate Zhang Zuolin and other Northeast forces, and support Sun Yat-sen's government. Militarily, it marched into Jinzhou and Shanhaiguan to block the road to the north of the People's Party, and after this winter, Japan could calmly arrange for its troops to take full control of Northeast China with the economic support of the Manchurian Railway.

This wishful thinking was disrupted by the swift action of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army. Zhang Zuolin of the Northeast Army is entrenched in Changchun, although there is no threat, but the military force that should have been eliminated in the plan still exists. Now not only because of the light enemy, the entire infantry of the 20th Division was lost, but the bridge over the Yalu River was also blown up. Looking at the news from the department that the loss is that it will take at least four months to fix it all. Next, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army began to purge Manchurian iron with murderous means. This was the real fatal blow to the Japanese army occupying Mukden. After the loss of the Manchurian Railway, the Japanese army no longer had a way to carry out railway maneuvers, and the intelligence sources of the Japanese army were also dug up. If the People's Party is a newcomer, the Japanese army in Mukden is no better than the People's Party.

Now that the People's Party has released thousands of wounded soldiers from the 20th Division, it seems to be full of humanitarianism on the surface, but in fact it is even more poisonous. It's the end of October and it's quite cold. The sudden addition of thousands of Japanese wounded in Mukden City was an unbearable logistical pressure for the Japanese army, which relied entirely on cattle for long-distance transportation. The current Japanese army is not the Japanese army of World War II, and they really can't do anything about forcing the wounded to die.

In addition to sending people to get the wounded into Mukden City first, the Japanese army in Mukden did not care about it, and kept transmitting news to Japan, asking the Japanese War Department to send additional troops to the northeast as soon as possible.

At this time, the Japanese War Department was also going crazy, and it was with great difficulty that Katsura Taro stirred up domestic sentiments for the war against China, and now the 20th Division was wiped out except for the cavalry units that remained in Korea. The 19th Division could not move in Mukden. North Korea is also completely empty, and the original plan was completely distorted from the beginning. Japan once told Sun Yat-sen that it would send 10 divisions to Northeast China. However, the purpose of saying this to Sun Yat-sen was actually to scare Sun Yat-sen and make him not have any dissenting intentions.

Now Japan also does not have the ability to swallow China in one gulp, not to mention that Britain will not agree at all. Japan's plan was also to first make Sun Yat-sen's government recognized by all countries, and then to support Sun Yat-sen as the real ruler of China as much as possible. At that time, Japan, which had made great efforts, was certainly able to reap the benefits of Tohoku. As for what kind of jump Sun Yat-sen signed with other countries, as long as it does not harm Japan's interests, Japan has no interest in accommodating it.

The current situation is precarious. If Sun Yat-sen's government had been defeated by the People's Party in Northeast China along with the Japanese army, Japan's losses would have been great. They lost once to the People's Party in Shandong, and if they lose again in the Northeast, they will be British and French, not to mention that there is now a war in Europe, even if the war is over, and the People's Party and Japan will go to war in Korea. Britain and France may not be willing to lend money to Japan again. Without borrowed military spending, what did Japan use to fight?

Originally, Katsura Taro looked down on Takahashi Shikiyo, who was born as a small servant, and the Japanese army was invincible, and the biggest contradiction was the issue of the War Department and the Navy Department competing for merit. In the face of a tough opponent, Japan is in a losing position. Katsura Taro suddenly understood what kind of great feats Takahashi had accomplished in the Russo-Japanese War.

It was completely impossible to send ten divisions to northeast China, and after the emergency mobilization of Japan, only three divisions could be sent to Korea first. After the Yalu River bridge was blown up, the Japanese army needed to use boats to cross the river, and it took several days to cross the river by transport boats, and it would take several days to rectify after crossing the river. According to the meteorological data collected by the Manchurian Railway, I was afraid that the first snow in the Northeast would fall at that time.

If the troops of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army in the northeast cannot be completely eliminated in a short period of time, then the Japanese army will have to fight a war in the snow that can descend to a depth of more than one meter in the northeast! The cold weather that lasts for four or five months, to put it mildly, even a hole in the finger may kill someone. Isn't this to fight in such weather!

"These incompetent things!" Thinking of the ugliness of the Japanese Army, Katsura Taro angrily patted the tatami mats and scolded at the same time.

The army generals in front of Katsura Taro listened to Katsura Taro's angry scolding, and their faces were all shy and embarrassed. If the opposite side is someone from the Admiralty, the War Department can treat it well and use insulting as an excuse to fight directly with the other party. Katsura Taro was his own man, and he scolded the generals of the War Department for not even having a reason to resist. Most of these War Department generals had participated in the Sino-Japanese War, and they really believed that the Chinese army was vulnerable to the Japanese army. Facts have also proved this idea, Zhang Zuolin's Northeast Army was indeed about to collapse in the face of the Japanese army.

Even if it is an alternative People's Party among the Chinese, the Japanese War Department believes that the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army has taken advantage of the geographical advantage in Shandong. They never imagined that even in the northeast, the Japanese army would still be vulnerable to the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army. In fact, many Japanese generals have privately discussed whether the reason why these alternative Chinese such as the People's Party can rise is that the combat effectiveness of China's northern army is far lower than that of the southern army. If we evaluate the BJP alone, we may be able to come to this conclusion. However, the Japanese generals had to face a paradox, when the Beiyang Army entered Zhejiang, it was a big victory all the way. There was no real resistance at all. From this point of view, the South is not necessarily stronger than the North. In addition, it was the Shandong troops of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army that annihilated the Japanese army, and compared with the south, Shandong can be regarded as the north. As a result, the special theories of Anhui, Hubei, and even Shandong about China have come out one after another. The Japanese Army was united in the face of the Navy. However, the army itself is also full of factions and has a strong sense of region. The contradiction between the Kanto and Kansai regions is the biggest problem.

Of course, the Japanese War Department in 1915 did not know that in Japan, a country with a big fart, in 2015, 100 years later, the power grids of the Kanto and Kansai regions were actually different.

However, at this time, the generals of the War Department had to do two things, the first was to shirk their responsibilities, and the second was to consider how to solve the problems at hand. So in front of Katsura Taro, the generals and officers of the War Department quickly turned the military contradictions of sending troops into factional contradictions, and from factional contradictions to regional contradictions.

Looking at this group of unassuming things, Katsura Taro had no choice but to slap the tatami mats again and roared, "You all shut up for me!" ”

In the end, under the restraint of Katsura Taro, the War Department finally reached an agreement on sending three divisions of army units to stabilize the situation in the northeast. However, the generals of the War Department demanded that Katsura Taro obtain from the Diet the conditions for the expansion of the army's division by at least six divisions. These generals of the War Department believe that the war with the BJP will not end anytime soon, and that if it wants to achieve its strategy of dominating Asia, the army needs at least 26 divisions or at least a standing army of more than one million.

Katsura Taro was the head of the War Department, but he was not the emperor of the War Department. His status is due to the consistency of political views and interest groups. It was not a matter of a day or two that the War Office wanted to expand its establishment, and he could not refuse these requests. As a last resort, he went to the official residence of the current Prime Minister Takahashi Ishiro in private for a private visit.

After listening to Katsura Taro's request, Takahashi did not immediately agree or object. After becoming the prime minister, Takahashi came into contact with more of the upper echelons and saw the great internal factional struggle that dominated Japan's political situation from a closer perspective. He used to think that working together was the king, and he was very disgusted with party and political disputes. Now Takahashi is Kiyoshi doesn't think so. Honestly, whether it's Katsura Taro or Saionji Kotochi, what they want to achieve is a strong Japan, a Japan full of futures. There are traditional reasons for the struggle between the navy and the army, there are factional interests, and even personal likes and dislikes. But in the final analysis, Japan's current weak national strength is not enough to support the ambitions of these Japanese political bigwigs. From this point of view, Katsura Taro is no different from Saionji Kobo.

"Mr. Gui, it's not that I can't agree to this request." Takahashi Shiqing finally said.

Hearing this reply, Katsura Taro was taken aback. Takahashi was the prime minister elected by the Admiralty and turned to support the request of the War Department, which is very strange to hear. Katsura Taro felt that Takahashi had something special to ask for, and he replied seriously: "So what does Takahashi-kun want?" ”

"If I accede to Mr. Katsura's request, can you guarantee that the Great Japanese Empire will be able to win the victory and seize the benefits you have stated?" Takahashi is Kiyoshi. With that said, he felt the need to add more, and continued: "I mean if I meet the request you have just made at the moment. Then you don't make any new supplementary requests during the execution process. ”

Katsura Taro was stunned. Takahashi is Kiyoshi said this condition, Katsura Taro knew that he would never be able to do it. If he could, there would not have been several war bonds issued during the Russo-Japanese War. Although the generals of the War Department patted their chests and said that if they could do what they could, the Army would be able to do what they could. But Katsura Taro himself doesn't believe in this kind of thing. If the words of the generals of the War Department really counted, Qingdao would have been conquered long ago, and Northeast China would have been occupied long ago.

Looking at Katsura Taro's hesitant expression, Takahashi Shikiyo said, "Mr. Katsura, now the navy and the army have reached a consistent attitude towards the people's party. But Japan's national strength can be sustained to this extent. If I meet your requirements, we will not be unable to support it in the short term. But once the battle fails, we all have to face an outcome. ”

Speaking of this, Takahashi paused for a moment, he looked at Katsura Taro seriously, and then said word by word: "That result is the complete collapse of the Great Japanese Empire." ”