"The real purpose of China's participation in the European war is to complete the process of industrialization in the shortest possible time." A fierce glint flashed in Ishihara's eyes, "Now, they are getting closer and closer to this goal. ”

"You may think I'm alarmist, but it's true." Ishihara continued, "Taking the China Navy, which poses the greatest threat to the country, as an example, the six super ballistae and six cruiser warships that constitute the main force of the China Navy are all made in the United States, but these capital ships are not enough, and these warships also need to be equipped with auxiliary ships, and although China does not have the ability to build such giant warships, a large number of light ships of the China Navy are made in the country, and they make the best use of the old equipment and technical personnel of the local shipyards. And the introduction of advanced shipbuilding technology and equipment from the United States, and take the opportunity of overcapacity in the domestic shipbuilding industry of the United States to introduce a large number of technical personnel from the United States. According to my research, the shipyards in China are now capable of producing 20,000-ton large ships. ”

Listening to Ishihara's words, the faces of many people sitting in the hot spring showed a look of shock, but only Nagata Tetsuyama remained silent.

"This is only one of the aspects, in fact, during the European war, China entered the war under the pretext of getting a lot of capital aid from Britain and the United States - mainly the United States - for domestic industrial development, you know, the people of China have a conservative and xenophobic surname, they have been very vigilant about a large number of foreign capital entering the country, like our enterprises have repeatedly planned to import capital into China, without exception have been resisted, such as the Duan Qirui incident. But this time, for the inflow of capital in the United States, the people of China did not have the slightest hostility, but showed an unprecedented welcoming attitude, is this accidental? No! It's no accident! It is the people of China who deliberately want to use the capital and technology of the United States to complete the construction goal of local industrialization! ”

"Cunning Shina man!" Toshiro Tsukuda swung his fist hard and slammed it into the water, as if there were mid-[***] ships floating on the water, and he was going to sink them all.

"This is the most cunning and daring, and the most well-designed plan I have ever seen, and the courage and wisdom of its designers are admirable." Ishihara said, "Even if Prime Minister Hirobumi Ito is alive, I am afraid that he will not be able to do this." ”

"Does Ishihara-kun know who the designer and main implementer of this plan is?" Nagata Tieshan was finally no longer silent at this time, he looked around at the people in the water and asked.

"Who is it?" Minshiro asked impatiently.

"This person's name is Yang Shuoming, and I think everyone has heard of this name." "He is now the finance minister of the Yanjing political axe. ”

"The fact that a soldier came to be the finance minister is intriguing in itself." Ishihara said, "This person has a deep background in the United States, and he can even be called the real agent of the financial capital forces of the United States in China." ”

"Damn!" Several people shouted in unison.

"If this continues, China will become a colony of the United States!"

"It will be a disaster for the empire if China becomes a vassal of the rice country! Disaster! ”

Nagata Tetsuyama waved his hand and motioned for everyone to be quiet.

"We should kill this guy!" Okamura Ninji said loudly, "And the sooner the better!" ”

"That's right! Kill him! Kill him! ”

Hearing everyone's shouts, a hint of displeasure flashed in Nagata Tieshan's eyes.

"We are not the only ones who want to kill him." Ishihara said calmly, "Someone has tried many times, but nothing has come of it except for losing his surname. ”

Ishihara's words froze, and the few people who were originally screaming were all muffled, and the hot vapor looked extremely depressing.

"Whether you can kill him or not doesn't really matter." Ishihara continued.

"Why?" Toshiro Kotsukuta's voice was evident with a hint of despair.

"Even if you can kill him, the people of the United States can still support new agents." Nagata Tetsuyama replied for Ishihara, "Killing him won't solve the problem fundamentally. ”

Listening to Nagata Tieshan's words, several people in the hot water had a look of sudden realization on their faces.

"How does Nagata-kun want to solve this problem?" Okamura Ninji asked a little impatiently.

"If you want to defeat China and the rice country behind China, the only way to make it really strong is to make it really strong." Nagata Tieshan said in a deep voice, "Only if you have the strength to fight against Yingmi, can you stand tall in the world and not fall!" ”

"But Ben's own resources are limited...... "Kotsukuda Toshiro suddenly remembered something, and immediately shrank back his words, and a pair of eyes also shone at the same time.

As if satisfied with Toshiro Kodazaki's reaction, Nagata Tetsuyama smiled slightly and nodded slightly.

"That's why I said that this battle for the conquest is not a complete failure." "Although Ishihara lost Taiwan, Ryukyu and northern Korea, he gained the more enrichment eastern Siberia, and these places can be described as 'Manchu and Mongolian second'!" As long as Ben can really gain a foothold here, he will still be able to defeat Shina! ”

Hearing Ishihara say this, the eyes of several people in the hot spring radiated a feverish light again.

"Ishihara-kun is right!"

"Yes, as long as we can make good use of this second Manchurian, we will build a more powerful warship than China! More tanks! Defeating China is never a problem! ”

"If you defeat China, you are not afraid that you will not be able to defeat the United States!"

"Everyone thought of going together." Nagata Tieshan's voice suppressed everyone's gossiping, "Everyone has actually realized by now that the biggest enemy of this book is actually not Zhina, but the United States. Do you have any thoughts about the victory over the United States? ”

Hearing Nagata Tetsuyama's question, the hot spring became quiet again. All of them focused their eyes on Nagata Tetsuyama and Ishihara Waner.

"Ishihara-kun, do you have any ideas?" Nagata Tetsuyama asked again.

"The strength of the rice country is very strong, even if it is really strong, but with the strength of the country alone, it is not easy to defeat the rice country." Ishihara said, "In addition to strengthening his own strength, he must also use foreign aid. ”

"Using foreign aid?" Okamura Ninji asked in surprise, "What foreign aid?" ”

Ishihara looked at Nagata Tetsuyama, Nagata Tetsuyama's face was still unfazed, but Ishihara Kanji saw the clue in his eyes, so he had the courage to say his answer.

"Soviet Russia!" Ishihara said loudly.

"What did you say?" Minshiro Kotani exclaimed, "You mean that you were going to use Soviet Russia as foreign aid? ”

"Not bad! It's Soviet Russia! Ishihara said categorically, "If you want to defeat China and the United States, there is no other way than to secretly link up with Soviet Russia as foreign aid!" ”

"But if you unite with Soviet Russia, won't you become the enemy of the whole world?" Okamura Ninji's voice became a little trembling when he spoke, and he was obviously terrified in his heart.

"Not necessarily." "In the face of national interests, differences in ideology and understanding are nothing. ”

Hearing Nagata Tetsuyama's words, the people in the hot spring were silenced again.

"This kind of thing is not without precedent in the history of the world." Nagata Tetsuyama continued, "Like Lucia during the Romanov dynasty, in order to deal with Germany, she did not hesitate to form an alliance with the French Republic, which opposed the imperial government, and later Britain and Zoben also joined this alliance, which is now the Entente bloc. During the Yulu War, in order to defeat Lucia, Yuben also got in touch with Lenin, the current leader of Soviet Russia, and gave a lot of funding, have you forgotten? ”

Seeing Nagata Tetsuyama's words, the doubts in everyone's hearts were dispelled at once, and Ishihara couldn't help but sigh secretly in his heart.

"The purpose of uniting Soviet Russia is to fight against China and the United States, because in the future, war with the United States and the United States is inevitable." Ishihara said, "With the assistance of Soviet Russia, the powerful Sayben had a chance to defeat China, defeat the United States, and pay a small price." ”

Ishihara's words plunged the conspirators in the hot springs into a frenzied and excited discussion again, and soon, in the steaming hot springs, the gang came up with three consensuses as a course of action for the future.

First, in order to change the phenomenon of [***] in the book, it is necessary to open a gap in the shelter of the army, the Choshu domain.

Second, follow the line of France in order to restore national strength.

Third, link up with Soviet Russia as foreign aid, jointly attack China, and then fight a decisive battle with the United States.

As a program of action, these three articles are actually a bit nondescript. In fact, after the end of World War II, Okamura Ninji, a survivor of the "Three Feathers", wrote this in his memoirs before he was executed: "There is a book called "History of the Rise and Fall of the Warlords of Showa", which mentions that in the 12th year of Taisho (1923), I, Nagata Tetsuyama, and Toshiro Kotsuda lit the 'revolutionary flame' at Atami Onsen in Shizuoka. Actually, this is not too much of an exaggeration. At that time, we carefully considered the affairs of other countries except China, such as Britain and Milit, and discussed not only the issue of the reform of the army. At the time, we were very serious. The contents of the so-called innovation include: First, there were factions in the army's personnel at that time, and the practice of the Changzhou faction monopolizing the army's personnel arrangements must be broken; Second, this situation must be reversed because the Army's reading power exercises the right of command, which has alienated the military-government and military-civilian relations. At that time, a few of us were determined to change these abnormal things in the army. Because when we went to Europe, we saw the military situation in these countries and thought that we couldn't do it otherwise. At that time, the positions of those of us were not high, and many of us were junior assistants, but that's how it started. ”

These young officers, who vowed to take the Choshu domain to start their revolution of "leading the company to the world," still inherited the strong sense of seniority in the army. In fact, in this meeting, there is another person, and this person's name is Hideki Tojo. Although he later served as the prime minister of the war, because he was one grade lower than the "Three Feathers" in the non-commissioned officer school, he had nothing to do at this important rally except to light a cigarette for Nagata Tetsuyama and stand guard at the door of the hot spring bathhouse. Not only was he not included in the core leadership of the "Three Feathers", but he was also unable to participate in the discussion of Ishihara and others.

In fact, there were eleven people who participated in this conspiracy meeting, and most of them were young officers who were talented in the eyes of Nagata Tetsuyama and did not belong to the Choshu domain.

Although the content of this secret gathering was somewhat shallow, it was later regarded very highly by scholars of modern history, and the eleven people in this meeting later became important figures in the military circles.

Their names are Tetsuyama Nagata, Toshishiro Kodazaki, Ninji Okamura, Wanji Ishihara, Mijiro Umezu, Fumifumi Yamashita, Kotaro Nakamura, Ishine Matsui, Seishiro Itagaki, Matomura Ding, and Ryosuke Isoya.

And these 11 people were the core backbone of the "Showa Warlord Group" that later relied on to start World War II.

July 27, 1923, the day of the Shizuoka Onsen Meeting, is regarded as the first day of the birth of the "Showa Warlords".

When the three crows, known as the "Three Feathered Crows", take off from the hot spring resort in Shizuoka, their outstretched black wings will bring unimaginable disaster to the East!

At about the same time, at the official residence of Prime Minister Gonbei Yamamoto, another secret meeting was also going on.

"What do you think of the proposal to limit the [***] of the United States?"

The seventy-one-year-old Yamamoto Gonbei looked at the ministers present, and although his hoarse voice showed an old state that was difficult to hide, he still looked like a fierce tiger at this time, and the powerful aura he exuded made the participants feel a strange sense of depression.

"Limitation of armaments, mainly refers to the naval side." Seeing that the people present were silent, the Minister of Finance was the first to speak, "Mi Guo intends to take this opportunity to suppress the scale of the navy this time, and the intentions can be said to be very sinister, and we must not be fooled." ”

"The size of the navy has been reduced to a pitiful level, and there is no need to reduce it." War Minister Yoshiichi Tanaka's words had obvious sarcasm, which made Yamamoto Gonbei, who had always been the "soul figure" of the Yamamoto Navy, flash a trace of anger on his face, but he couldn't say anything, so he could only swallow a sullen breath into his stomach.

Yamamoto Gonbei is known as the "father of the Tsunamoto"; when he was still Osa, he was called the "Minister of Gonbei"; he was the actual controller of the Tsunamoto Navy, and he was the actual controller of the Navy, from the formulation of the Qing Dynasty's theory of naval domination, the establishment of the Combined Fleet, the proposal of the "66th Fleet" and the "88th Fleet," to the retirement of old officers, the implementation of the hammock system, the victory of the Qing "Ding" and "Zhen" ships with rapid-fire guns, and the appointment of Ito Yuhiro and Togo Heihachiro as fleet commanders.

When Gonbei Yamamoto was in charge of the Chief of the Chief Cabinet of the Ministry of the Navy, he led the establishment of the Naval Command Department (a staff organization) that was relatively close to the Ministry of the Navy (military administrative organ), so that the navy, which was lagging behind the army, had an equal status with the army. In the process of personnel reshuffling at the same time, he also targeted fellow villagers, seniors, and those who had contributed to the Meiji Restoration, and dismissed 8 generals and 89 school officers. At that time, Yamamoto often had a short knife on his desk, and he met with the officers on the list one by one at the table and announced to them the decision to "lay off". Whether it was the roar of "rebellion against the rebellion" or the bitter pleading, Yamamoto Gonbei was unmoved, and completed the first "slimming operation" in the history of the Yamamoto Navy with a heart and a hard heart. He is able to hire people who are useful without bias. Figures such as Heihachiro Togo, Minoru Saito, Keisuke Okada, and Gentaro Yamashita were all promoted by Gonbei Yamamoto at that time. His political methods were appreciated by Aritomo Yamaguchi and Shin Inoue, who were born in the army. At that time, Yamamoto Gonbei, who was a native of Satsuma, realized the disadvantages of "cronyism", so he used the academic performance of the military academy to determine the method of promotion and promotion, and implemented the hammock number system to ensure "meritocracy", thus alleviating to a large extent the phenomenon that Satsuma was born to dominate the navy.

Yamamoto Gonbei was more than ten years younger than Kuroda Kiyotaka and Saigo Nomichi, who were also from the Satsuma Domain, and belonged to the second generation of leaders. However, due to his powerful background known as the "Minister of Gonbei", he served as Minister of the Navy for three consecutive terms from November 1898 to January 1906, becoming a central figure in the Navy.

Originally, the status of the navy had always been inferior to that of the army, and it was not easy to climb from the second oldest to almost equal to the army boss, and before World War I, there was nothing more important than the navy in the army, except for the chief of staff headquarters who was nominally the "emperor's chief of staff." The reputation of the navy and the beautiful military uniforms have always been the yearning of the young people, coupled with the innate longing for machinery of men, so that the earthy army was afraid that it would not be able to recruit people. Since the end of the Russo-Russian War, the Naval Academy has become the most difficult school to get into. However, in the two "requisition" wars and the First World War, the navy suffered a crushing defeat without exception, especially in the "Battle of Busan", which was almost completely wiped out by the Chinese navy.

Due to the loss of a large number of ships in the two wars of "requisition" and the fact that the navy itself has entered a serious "period of blood loss," coupled with the fear of the 12 50,000-ton ships possessed by the Chinese navy (the phobia of "being far from unsinkable" has returned), the government and the opposition have been despising the navy's performance in the war, and at the same time calling for "reforming" the navy (and expanding the navy at the same time).

(To be continued)