"If you don't prepare, will you wait for the People's Party to do what Japan did at the time of the Great Kaihara Earthquake?" Yoshiichi Tanaka asked. After the outbreak of the Haiyuan earthquake in China at the end of 1920, seismic stations around the world were sideways to seismic waves. On the day after the earthquake, China's central government informed Duan Qirui's local government in the northwest that it would go to the relief effort. The next day, troops from the four military regions of Henan, Hebei, Inner Mongolia, and Outer Mongolia of the People's Revolutionary Army under the People's Party entered the northwest region still under Duan Qirui's control.

Japan reacted sharply and immediately increased its forces in Korea, and the navy stepped up patrols in the Chinese seas. Japanese intelligence agencies in China determined that even Guangzhou in southern China felt the earthquake. At that time, rumors were really rife in China, and Japan also participated in spreading many rumors about the wrath of the People's Party.

The National Security Bureau of the People's Party (BJP) has arrested many people who spread rumors, and newspapers, broadcasts, and various organizational units have organized the popularization of high-intensity earthquake knowledge, and it is not easy to restore order.

Japan has neither aided nor shown any positive signs other than adding to the chaos caused by the earthquake. With Japan's "jewel in front," Tanaka Yoshiichi is worried that the People's Party will be "in the back."

"The Anglo-Japanese alliance is the guarantee of Japan's basic strategy, and the People's Party will definitely not easily test the bottom line of the Anglo-Japanese alliance." Takahashi is Kiyoshi does not support Tanaka's attitude.

When it comes to the Anglo-Japanese alliance, Tanaka Yoshiichi is angry. The admiralty, who did not seek to make progress, always regarded the Anglo-Japanese alliance as a talisman, and in Tanaka's view, the Anglo-Japanese alliance was a shackle around Japan's neck. Without the Anglo-Japanese alliance, Japan would have been able to take action against China long ago. Of course, Tanaka Yoshiichi knew very well that the result of unleashing military action against China was likely to be failure, but there was no all-out war, and many people in the War Department were "very dissatisfied" with this.

Prime Minister Gonbei Yamamoto didn't care about such a dispute at all, and he asked Takahashi Shikiyo, "How much aid can China provide?" ”

"It depends first of all on whether we make a request to China. With the current Japan-China relationship, it is unlikely that they will take the initiative to propose any amount. Takahashi Kiyoshi replied very frankly.

"What if China links this issue to the University of Tourism problem?" Yoshiichi Tanaka asked loudly. Before the earthquake, Tanaka could certainly remain silent. But after the earthquake, Japan was on the side of the disaster, and Tanaka completely changed his strategy.

"What do you think of Tanaka-kun?" Takahashi asked.

"China must be asked to declare that the issue of the University of Tourism will be shelved until the end of Japan's disaster relief." Yoshiichi Tanaka said calmly.

The faces of the cabinet members were immediately difficult to look at. The timing of Yoshiichi Tanaka's request was too ingenious. Takahashi scolded in his heart, "Despicable villain! "Many of the Admiralty factions kept their faces open, and if they didn't, they were afraid that they would be angry with Tanaka.

As if he didn't see the expressions of these cabinet members, Tanaka continued: "If this is not done, the cabinet will not be able to account to the Japanese people. ”

None of the cabinet members who supported party politics were not deeply comical in the midst of great anger and deep amusement about Tanaka's remarks. Isn't it the greatest farcical that the big head of the War Department actually took into account the thoughts of the people?

Inukai Yi, who joined the cabinet of Yamamoto Gonbei on the condition of "implementing universal suffrage in Japan as soon as possible", was even more furious, precisely because he advocated the politics of universal suffrage in Japan, Inukai Yi was more aware of Tanaka Yoshiichi's sinister intentions, and at this critical moment, Inukai Yi spoke extremely politely, "Is Tanaka-kun ready to use Japan's domestic laws and regulations to restrain the Chinese government to abide by them?" ”

Tanaka Yoshiichi's face flushed slightly, and being directly exposed to his true face was not comfortable at such a high-level meeting.

Inukai Takeshi has no intention of stopping at all, he once launched a constitutional defense movement with Ozaki Yukio to overthrow the Katsura Taro cabinet, and is a figure who is called the "god of constitutionalism" together with Ozaki Yukio, and has never had any tolerance for those who maliciously exploit public opinion. "Tanaka-kun, the problem of the University of Tourism is the problem of the University of Tourism, and the problem is the problem of disaster relief. Do you want to demonstrate to China, or are you going to show weakness to China? ”

This time it was Tanaka Yoshiichi's turn to look extremely ugly, and Inukai Yi had no intention of ending the attack, he continued to ask: "Tanaka-kun, or do you want to provoke a conflict between China and Japan and pull the British in?" Expanding Britain's voice in Japan by using the Anglo-Japanese alliance? ”

Tanaka Yoshiichi didn't expect Inukai Yi to be so polite, and Tanaka Yoshiichi didn't really think about it so much about whether to use the Anglo-Japanese alliance. What good is it for Japan to pull the British into the Japanese thing? The entire Japanese War Department wanted to use Britain, not to sell Britain. For Tanaka Yoshiichi, all he has to do is dismantle the current cabinet and force the current cabinet to not support it. On the issue of the brigade congress, the top level of the War Department and even most of the middle level understand very well that Japan cannot resist China's attack. And in terms of grand strategy, China does not eat the Japanese threat. If China wants to recapture the University, it will definitely be able to recapture the University.

Faced with Inukai-yi's aggressive attitude, Tanaka Yoshiichi turned the defense into an attack, and he sneered and asked, "Then what are Inukai-kun going to do?" Can't just withdraw from the brigade? ”

"If you can only withdraw from the brigade, then withdraw from the brigade. I think you all know very well how much you spend on maintaining it every year. Inu Yangyi replied solemnly.

Yoshiichi Tanaka sneered, "What about after withdrawing from the brigade university?" Withdraw from North Korea again? Withdraw from Taiwan again? The Chinese have long had plans to seize these two regions in their national strategy. It's not that we in Japan don't expect peace, it's that China doesn't expect peace at all. Any concessions will be futile now, Russia has ceded North Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands to China in Japanese hands, and when China has seized Korea and Taiwan, it will be their turn. What are you going to do at that time? ”

When Yoshiichi Tanaka gets serious, he doesn't just play some shady tricks. The competition between countries was so cruel that Yoshiichi Tanaka was given a blow to the head, and the members of the Yamamoto Gonbei cabinet couldn't say anything.

Seeing that the situation was saved, Tanaka Yoshiichi took advantage of the victory and pursued it, "Is China's assistance necessary?" I don't think it's necessary. Whether there will be a war between China and Japan, I think there will be a war. So what should Japan do next? Is it trapped in the current situation? Or will they fight back and defend Japan's national rights and interests? I still insist that I should fight to the end. Any compromise and concession will only fuel China's ambitions. In this regard, we must not be shaken by the earthquake that struck Japan. ”

If the areas mentioned by Tanaka were to be taken away by China, which was more than half the size of Japan's current territory, Japan would be completely reverted to the way it was before the Meiji Restoration, and half a century of hard work would be wiped out. Not just the people in the War Department, but also the people in the Admiralty could not have accepted it. Inuyoyi did not dare and did not want to make such a political decision.

Looking at the silent crowd, Tanaka Yoshihiro said loudly: "To take a tough stance on China now is to prove to China that we in Japan have not been defeated by this disaster. We have the ability to fight China, and this can temporarily dampen China's ambitions. And I can now explain to you that I am not unacceptable to abandon the Luda region. However, the Luda area is now the forefront of our resistance to China, and only by resisting in Luda can we attract China's attention. If you give up on Luda, what will happen next is an inevitable series of failures. If Japan wants to maintain a balance of power over China, it can only attack. Any concession would cost Japan its country. ”

Japan has challenged China and won a series of victories. It was not until the rise of the People's Party that Japan was defeated repeatedly. What Yoshiichi Tanaka said completely unveiled the truth of the present. China has only halted its decline, and is far from a period of revival. However, judging from the current trend, China has embarked on the road of rejuvenation, and the time is not on Japan's side at all. Now the Army is not at all an opponent of China, and what will happen to the Japanese Navy, which has almost total superiority, in the future? Will it be strongly challenged by the Chinese Navy? By that time, what strength would Japan have to resist the Chinese attack?

The fact that the content of the cabinet meeting turned into a debate on Japan's future national strategy was really much beyond Yamamoto's expectations. The grand strategy for the future is important, but the immediate problem is the problem of the Great Earthquake in Japan, and the whole of Tokyo is still burning, and if this problem is not solved, it is not impossible to expect a total collapse of the Yamamoto Gonbei cabinet.

Gonbei Yamamoto reluctantly retracted his mood that had been made even more depressed by Tanaka's predictions, "Now let's talk about Japan's own disaster relief." He said helplessly.

The fires in Tokyo and Yokohama took three days to extinguish, and Tokyo is full of the smell of barbecue. Not only those who were buried directly in the rubble and burned to death by the fire, but the victims tried to hide in some open spaces to avoid the fire, but the raging fire was full of dumplings, and tens of thousands of people were burned to death together There have been several incidents.

Yokohama is filled with the smell of boiled meat, and many Yokohama citizens fled into the park, sitting in the water with only their heads above the water, trying to escape the fire demon in this way. But when the fire hit, sparks flew around their heads, and their hair was mostly burned. More than 24,000 people in Yokohama Park who tried to escape the fire were surrounded by flames and burned alive. Even the water in the park was scorched by the fire, and those who jumped into the lake were cooked alive by the hot water.

Even the people on the beach could not be spared, and thousands of people in Yokohama fled to the beach, jumping into the sea and grabbing some floating objects and the edge of the boat. Fire and water are incompatible, and it seems natural to jump into the sea to avoid the flames. A few hours later, an explosion occurred at an oil depot near the beach, and more than 100,000 tons of oil were poured into Yokohama Bay. The fire ignited the oil on the surface of the water, and Yokohama Bay became a veritable sea of fire. More than 3,000 people who took refuge in seawater were cooked by a fire burning on the surface of the water.

The hellish situation completely frightened the residents of Kanto, a so-called "land of gods" who believed that there were gods in everything. Even without the need for China to incite it, all kinds of rumors have already spread in the disaster-stricken areas of Japan. The most common rumor is that a large number of Koreans who came to work in Japan did not fear the Japanese gods, which caused the earthquake.