After Takahashi was cleared, Youpeng in Shanxian only laughed at the "prime minister", but several senior generals of the War Department in Youpeng's family in Shanxian County were already angry. In the Japanese Army, it is impossible to admit a phased defeat, and if it does, it must "bravely assume responsibility," and then there must be a large number of people who need to apologize. Except for the commander of the 19th Division who fled back, several other divisions and regiments were completely annihilated, which means that no one can "bravely assume responsibility", and without the division commander bravely assuming responsibility, then the responsibility can only fall on the heads of the living, and someone in the War Department must be brave.

The People's Party is the party's command gun, and commanders at all levels are basically party members, party committees of party members, operational meetings of command organs, pre-war mobilization meetings and discussion meetings of commanders and fighters, and post-war discussion meetings. The many meetings that brought the whole army together seemed complicated, but after the discussions at the various meetings that covered almost the entire army, the responsibilities became clear. If there is a problem in all aspects of the operation, it is extremely difficult for anyone to really shirk responsibility.

The Japanese War Department is different, and the hierarchy has made the army itself full of various inequalities, and the lower ranks are even more unequal than the others. Holding senior officers accountable is simply not realistic in Japan.

However, scolding Takahashi is a clear can't solve any problems, and Yama Prefecture Youpeng is too lazy to scold these juniors of the War Department, but the old man has mentioned several times that Emperor Meiji forcibly recalled him from Korea to Japan. Shan Shan thought that if Japan had been more determined and had done its best to enter Beijing, it would have been very easy to force the Manchu government to cede Northeast China completely.

The generals and colonels of the War Department listened to the old marshal's complaints, and they did not dare to have the slightest disrespect on their faces, but they couldn't help but laugh in their hearts, if Emperor Meiji had not recalled Yamaprefecture Aritomo to Japan at that time, Yamaguchi Aritomo would have to apologize for his defeat. Where is it now to hear him complain and scold so much.

"Your Excellency, are we going to let Takahashi Kiyoshi walk through defeatist remarks?" The deputy secretary of the War Department asked Yama Prefecture Youpeng.

The so-called people are old and well-made, and Youpeng in Shanxian doesn't want to wipe the butts of these people in the War Department at all. War is more realistic than anything else, no matter what is said about "seven lives to serve the country", Yama Prefecture is very clear that every general of the War Department expects that every general of the War Department will "win the victory of seven lives" by participating in a victorious war, rather than giving up their lives in vain in a losing war. After the tragic war in Northeast China, the Japanese Army had died trying to compete with the People's Party on the battlefield of the Snow Field. The Battle of Qingdao also proved that winter was not a decisive factor for the People's Party to annihilate the Japanese divisions. The War Department has not yet figured out a clear idea of how to fight a future war. Even if "the war must be fought," which is the only content on which there is consensus in the War Department, when and under what circumstances the war should continue is also a matter of debate.

"It wouldn't be a bad thing if that little prime minister could bring the British in." Shan County Youpeng said.

Those people in the War Department were stunned for a moment, but they quickly understood what Shan County Youpeng thought. What the Army needs now is time to reorganize its troops, and Japan now has a total of 21 regular divisions and four mixed brigades. The total number of troops is around 700,000. Since the Battle of Qingdao, the Japanese Army has been annihilated by four divisions and one brigade, plus other troop losses that he can definitely make up for one brigade, and five divisions have been wiped out on Chinese soil. Even with the logistics department, some units of the five divisions remained in Japan and were not completely annihilated, but more than 100,000 troops were killed on the front line. In addition, the Manchurian Railway, which had a close relationship with the army, was completely wiped out by the People's Party, and the total loss of the Japanese army exceeded 150,000 men.

Generally speaking, if a unit loses thirty percent of its troops, it can be considered that the unit has lost its combat effectiveness. The Japanese Army is now losing more than 20 percent of its strength, which is very close to the danger line of losing 30 percent of the army. If the war continued, the 8th Division in Korea would have to face tens of thousands of troops rushing into Korea from northeastern China. Judging from the combat effectiveness, the 8th Division could not resist it in any case. If the Eighth Division were completely annihilated, only 16 of Japan's 21 regular divisions would remain, less than at the end of the Russo-Japanese War 10 years ago.

It's one thing not to admit defeat, but it's not a bad thing to be able to prevent the war from expanding further in the short term and give Japan a respite. If the British were able to be drawn into the war completely, Japan might be able to turn defeat into victory.

"But Takahashi is now asking the army to admit a phased defeat, and his purpose is to limit the size of the army." said the Deputy Secretary of the War Department.

"Takahashi is Kiyoshi who has to limit the size of not only the army, but also the navy. Do you think those people in the Navy can't see through this? "This little prime minister wants to completely suppress Japan's armaments, save money to carry out his economic plan, and the longer-term goal is to establish the sound democratic politics he fantasizes about." Saionji Gongwang wanted to promote constitutional politics and what kind of world Japan was, but they did not understand that the world today only relied on strong military power. If, when the Manchu Qing Dynasty fell, we could take advantage of the situation to enter Manchuria and annex Manchuria, where would we still be in the current predicament. ”

The generals of the War Department knew that Yamaguchi Aritomo had proposed this military plan at the time of the collapse of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, but Saionji Gongwang tried to support the Beiyang government, and although he expanded Japan's interests in China, he was repeatedly criticized by Yamaguchi Aritomo. Attacking the Xiyuan Temple Gongwang was a common thing for Yama Prefecture Youpeng, but the generals of the War Department noticed that the Xiyuan Temple Gongwang did not advocate an immediate battle with the People's Party this time.

"Send five more divisions to North Korea, and at the same time send someone to tell Takahashi that the War Department will definitely not lose the courage to attack because of this small setback, and let Takahashi Shiqing allocate pensions. If he can do it, I think we should all work together at this juncture. Shan County Youpeng said.

The army generals quickly understood the meaning of Yamaguchi's words, if Takahashi did not accuse the army of failure, and continued to pay war funds, and quietly took out the death pension, then the War Department could support Takahashi is "nonsense" at the current stage of the Qing Dynasty.

Needless to say, the first two things naturally go without saying, but the biggest headache for the War Department is the issue of pensions. According to what the War Department has learned, most of these 150,000 people were killed in the war. The War Office was furious at the war dead. Not only have they ruined Japan's sense of military superiority over China that Japan has built up over the years, but the more practical content is the large amount of pensions. Although these army officers and soldiers all died in Chinese mainland, and for the time being, they can deal with it with "unascertainable", but sooner or later the truth will come out. How will the War Department deal with the bereaved families of those who died in the war? Therefore, a pension must be prepared, and as long as there is money, coupled with the manipulation of public opinion and the suppression of tongue, the War Department can suppress the opposition from the people. Otherwise, if hundreds of thousands or millions of bereaved families of the deceased make a fuss, the War Department really can't stand it. At that time, Takahashi Seiyoshi overthrew the Katsura Taro cabinet under the pretext of "maintaining the constitution", and it was not a few years since the experience was made.

Although there are friends in Shanxian County who like to chatter and complain like old people of the same age, the old man still sees the problem very clearly in such a major matter. This made those Japanese army officers who were once dissatisfied with their hearts immediately have great respect in their hearts.

Takahashi was Qing never expected the War Department's reaction to be so fast, and as soon as he left the Yama County Youpeng's family and returned to the official residence, people from the War Department came to visit. The demands made by the War Office are not even excessive, compared to their usual position. But Takahashi Kiyoshi also knew very well that the War Department would definitely make its own requests.

Sure enough, the deputy minister of the War Department who came to visit suddenly asked, "Takahashi-kun, are you a patriot?" ”

Takahashi smiled: "I think patriotism is not a matter of quick success, but it requires devoting one's life to serving the country." More importantly, patriotism does not mean that you can override the country by virtue of patriotic ideas. ”

The Deputy Minister of War sighed slightly, "Takahashi-kun, the current Japanese people only know how to shirk responsibility. When encountering difficulties, I don't know how to work for the country, but I put the responsibility on the top. In this case, why not unify Japan under one ideal, and tens of millions of people will sincerely unite and serve the country wholeheartedly. Only in this way can we resist the great powers and complete the eternal foundation of the Great Japanese Empire. ”

Takahashi is pure in his heart, this is called a greasy taste, the ideal of the War Department and does not evaluate, but the rhetoric of the War Department is quite "unchanged for ten thousand years". It is nothing more than the unity of the whole people under one ideal and one goal, and to put it bluntly, the War Department wants to take charge of the whole of Japan and turn Japan into a big military camp. This is precisely what Takahashi Kiyoshi is most opposed.

"I'm not against war, but I'm against thinking that war can solve everything. War must be commensurate with one's own national strength. Takahashi tried to instill some concepts of a modern state in the War Department again, "In the Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, we in Japan made full use of the international situation, and with the hard work of the monarchs, there was a series of victories. However, in this war, Japan fought alone, so we encountered all kinds of setbacks. However, as long as the current situation is stabilized, the international situation is very favorable to Japan's exports. Working hard from this year, we still have a chance to solve the debt problem once and for all......"

The deputy minister of the War Department looked at Takahashi is Qing like a monster, how big the huge debt Japan owed, the deputy minister of the War Department was not unclear, Takahashi Shiqing actually thought that he could pay off the debt, which could not help but make the army vice minister suspect that Takahashi was crazy.

Although Takahashi did not think that the deputy secretary of the War Department could read the economy, he still took out a thick plan and put it on the table. This plan is the culmination of Takahashi's painstaking efforts to procure the European War Entente countries, the economic survey of Asian countries and regions, and various evaluations and expectations. In the final chart, Takahashi predicted that by 1918, Japan would be able to pay off all its debts by cutting back on food and clothing.

Regardless of whether the War Minister was able to truly understand these economic issues, Takahashi Shikiyo's voice was full of enthusiasm after explaining this, "As long as the debt yoke is freed, the Great Japanese Empire will have a bright future." We in Japan will be able to stand on the world stage with a new attitude. ”

Perhaps moved by Takahashi Isaki's attitude, the War Minister also said in an enthusiastic tone: "If we can really get rid of the debt, Takahashi-kun, we can join hands and build a new world belonging to the Great Japanese Empire together!" ”

Takahashi was originally in a mood of good ideals, and was disgusted by these words, and the "new world belonging to the Great Japanese Empire" mentioned by the vice minister of the War Department must be a new world conquered by military conquest. The brain of army horse manure is the same as horse manure, but there are no folds on it. But Takahashi Kiyoshi didn't want to destroy any more of the progress that had been made so hard. Without the cooperation of this group of army manure, this diplomatic work really could not have been carried out.

If you want to keep Korea, you have to rely on the British and rely on the Entente. But the negative impact of Japan's failed solo action on the British was by no means something that could be eliminated in the short term. When the British struggled to convince the British that Japan would not continue to go on a rampage alone, the army horses and horses went back on their word and all of Takahashi's plans would be in vain.

Holding back his dissatisfaction and uneasiness, Takahashi said: "The most important task at the moment is to get the British to get involved in the situation at hand, as long as the British demand in the name of the Entente that the People's Party cannot enter Korea, it will play a great role." Once we have stabilized the Korean front, we will do our best to secure the import of raw materials from Korea to Japan, and at the same time, we will do our best to participate in the development of Southeast Asia, and the unfavorable situation will be greatly improved. ”

"Then the matter of punishing tyranny can't be mentioned now?" The deputy secretary of the War Department knows how to climb the pole very well.

Takahashi almost pinched his nose and replied: "I am not against war, as long as the situation is restored now, as long as the People's Party does too much, there will definitely be a new coalition operation against China, and at that time, I hope that you will be able to fight bravely against the enemy!" ”

Since the two sides have reached the most basic understanding of their positions, the vice minister of the War Department and Takahashi have bargained over the three issues raised by Aritomo in Yama Prefecture, and apart from the third pension issue, Takahashi Shiqing did not dare to fully agree to it, and the other two sides finally reached an agreement on the other two matters. Finally persuaded one of the leaders of the army's horse manure, Takahashi is Qing sent away the deputy minister of the War Department, tired to sit on the sofa and didn't want to move.

Soon, however, official business began to take place. Prime Minister is not an idle position, as long as you are willing to work, there is endless work. Takahashi Shiqing, who works weekdays, really doesn't want to move anymore today, and the current situation is really difficult. Whether it is the War Department or the Navy Department, there is a lot of manpower behind it as support, but Takahashi is the prime minister of the cabinet, but he is alone. The obedience of the bureaucracy is only the attitude of subordinates obeying superiors within the system, and no one has to be loyal to Takahashi. So far, Takahashi Kiyoshi seems to have done a lot of things. However, all this is just that others can't find a solution to the problem, so they have to temporarily compromise with Takahashi Kokiyo. He, the prime minister, is dancing on a tightrope. As long as the situation changes significantly, all the efforts of Takahashi Shikiyo will come to naught.

It is precisely because of this cognition that Takahashi is clear and let it go. Because he knows that if he fails this time, there will be absolutely no one in Japan who will be able to drag Japan into a brighter future in the short term.