Chapter 508 Little Feet 'Color' (II)

It's late at night, but the office building is still brightly lit.

This is Lushun. After the abolition of the Kwantung Prefecture, the military and political center of the Japanese leased "Kanto Prefecture", the "Kanto Office" was established in the former Kanto Prefecture.

This office building is the main office area of the "Kanto Office", and since the new "Kwantung Agency" Tsami Asuke has not yet arrived, all military and political work here is still presided over by the former Kwantung Governor Yoshimasa Oshima, and his official position is now "Commander of the Kwantung Army".

It was already past two o'clock in the morning, and Oshima Yoshimasa had not rested, but was still presiding over the meeting in a conference room in the office building, and in addition to the high-ranking officers of the "Kwantung Army," several civil affairs officials were also invited to attend the meeting as observers.

The main topic of the meeting was about the current situation in the South Manchurian region and how to deal with it; due to the anger of the Chinese side caused the Chinese side to set up the "Kwantung Office" without authorization, the "Northeast Asian crisis" broke out, and with the large-scale northward advance of the Chinese National Defense Forces, the situation tended to become more and more intense; although Britain and the United States mediated between them, as a member of the "radical" forces of the Japanese military department, Oshima Yoshimasa himself was not at all worried about the outbreak of war, and he believed that the Imperial Japanese army, which had defeated the Russian Empire, would be in this situationVictory in the "Manchurian War", and in one step, the South Manchurian region and the entire Manchurian region were incorporated into the Japanese colonial circle. More importantly, if he could command the Japanese Kwantung Army to victory, then he would use it as his stepping stone.

Now that Japan's Meiji Emperor is terminally ill, all those who know the inside story know that once this "spirit" idol of the Restoration era dies, then the Japanese political pattern formed since the "Meiji Restoration" is likely to change, and this upcoming redistribution of political interests is an unavoidable topic for every big man, which has both opportunities and challenges, and for the rising Japanese military forces, the biggest challenge comes from the constitutionalist political forces in Japan.

Seven years ago, with the victory of the Russo-Japanese War, the Japanese military forces successfully shaped themselves into national idols, and the status of the military was elevated, and the balance of power in the government was achieved.

However, as the war of the great anti-Japanese uprising in Korea continued, the Japanese military not only failed to quickly quell the resistance of the Korean patriots, but dragged the whole of Japan into the quagmire of war. The high cost of the war, the gradual increase in the number of casualties among soldiers, and the condemnation of public opinion from the international community, especially China, the United States, Germany, and other countries, all caused the discontent of the Japanese people to "surge" Later, however, with the arrival of the stalemate in the war, the Japanese people began to point the finger at the Japanese military department, accusing the military department of incompetent command, and on the other hand, the Japanese left-wing forces, which had become increasingly strong in the economic depression of the previous years, also joined the contest, and the anti-war voice became increasingly loud, all of which made the Japanese political and military departments in a dilemma.

Korea is Japan's most important colony, and if we count from the end of the Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese government has been painstakingly operating on the Korean Peninsula for more than 10 years, and if it is not possible to quickly quell the Korean people's resistance and return the Korean Peninsula to Japanese colonial rule, not only Japanese politicians, but also Japanese people, will never agree. But on the other hand, due to the delay in the end of the war, a large amount of Japan's political and financial resources were consumed in the contest with the Korean anti-Japanese guerrillas. The Japanese Empire was also unable to concentrate on international affairs, and even the economic infiltration of China, which had been unwilling to relax, was also restrained, which was very unfavorable to the Japanese Empire, and the domestic economic development also began to tilt towards the military industry, and a small number of chaebols made huge profits from the war, but the living standards of the majority of the people dropped significantly.

Workers' strikes, students' strikes, merchants' strikes, hawkers' riots...... In the past two years, these embarrassing events abound, the mood of the people has become more and more difficult to control, no one knows whether it will develop into **, that year, because of the defeat of the war with Japan, Tsarist Russia broke out once swept the country, and considering the strengthening of the left-wing forces, Japanese politicians generally have a sense of crisis.

Indeed, when the great anti-Japanese uprising in Korea first broke out, the vast majority of the Japanese people did not realize that the war would last for two years, and most of the Japanese believed that as long as the troops arrived and the guns were fired, the Korean rabble would disperse in a hurry, as had been the case in previous revolts. But the Japanese could not have imagined that on the Korean Peninsula they would encounter the kind of guerrilla warfare that the British army had encountered in South Africa, and that the Korean guerrilla warfare was more flexible and superior in terrain than the guerrilla warfare of the South African Boers, and more importantly, that the Korean guerrillas had theoretical guidance, and that the source of their tactics was the pamphlet "Guerrilla Warfare."

"Guerrilla Warfare", it is said that this tactical booklet was compiled by the Chinese President Zhao Bei, and many tactics on it are jaw-dropping, such as sparrow warfare, tunnel warfare, sabotage warfare, and 'riot' disturbance warfare...... Compared with the anti-British guerrilla warfare of the Boers in South Africa, the anti-Japanese guerrilla warfare of the Koreans was particularly flexible, and the Japanese colonial forces on the Korean Peninsula did encounter a completely new tactic.

In order to study the tactics of countering guerrilla warfare, the Japanese translated "Guerrilla Warfare" into Japanese, the military was studying, and the people were also arguing. The Korean Peninsula was immediately turned into ruins and killing fields, as the Japanese soldiers discovered that the best way to eliminate the guerrillas was to eliminate the civilian population.

However, it is impractical to exterminate all Korean civilians in a short period of time, and the international influence is too bad, so many people in the Japanese political and military departments believe that the anti-Japanese forces in Korea should be "pumped" from the bottom of the kettle and cut off their logistical supplies, especially the supply of guns and ammunition.

China has been supplying weapons to the anti-Japanese forces in Korea for the past two years, a fact that the Japanese military has long been aware of, but due to the cautiousness of the Japanese government. It has always been impossible for the Japanese military headquarters to take any effective and swift measures to cut off the arms supply to the anti-Japanese guerrillas in Korea, and for this reason, the Japanese elders and the top military leaders are very helpless.

Now, however, as the signs of instability in Japan's domestic political situation intensified, the Japanese government has finally lifted the "shackles" on the head of the Japanese military department and agreed to the Japanese military department's plan to "draw salaries from the bottom of the kettle," and this plan is the "Northeast Asian crisis."

If the Chinese central government is unwilling to make "satisfactory concessions" on the issue of supporting the anti-Japanese forces in Korea, then no one can guarantee that war will not break out, and once war breaks out, the Japanese military department will never again allow it to be dictated by those domestic politicians, and it is determined to take this opportunity to further strengthen the military forces, and even if necessary, the military personnel will organize a complete war cabinet. Kick the constitutionalists in Japan out of the way and clear the way for Imperial Japan's expansion in Northeast Asia.

Understanding this background, he also understood the mood of Yoshimasa Oshima when he presided over this meeting, nervous but very excited, of course he understood that with the current domestic situation in Japan, launching a full-scale war against China is very risky and even very dangerous, after all, since the United Front came to power, China has taken advantage of the two years that Japan has no time to take care of it to carry out a drastic rectification and reform of its industry, although the "four-year industrial development plan" has not yet been completed, but no one can deny it. China's current industrial strength has been strengthened to make not only most of the army weapons, but even airplanes, and at the same time, thanks to the establishment and familiarity of the modern military mobilization system, China's armed forces can rapidly expand to more than one million men in a short period of time. Then, perhaps, Japan will be completely dragged down.

On the other hand, however, Yoshimasa Oshima also saw that once the military forces were strengthened by taking advantage of the war with China, Japan's military expansion strategy in the future would be fully implemented and implemented, and without the restraint of the Diet and the government, Japan's pace of expansion would be even faster, and if the situation in Europe became more tense and a war broke out in Europe, then Japan would quickly rise to become the only power in the Far East.

Therefore, Oshima Yoshimasa's heart was somewhat contradictory, he wanted China to go to war with Japan, but now he felt that the time was not ripe enough, so he was excited and nervous, and only hoped that the domestic telegram would be taken as soon as possible, so as to relieve his hesitation.

Most of the people present at the meeting were as hesitant as Oshima Yoshimasa; according to the domestic instructions given a few days ago, the "Kwantung Office" must be well prepared for war; once war breaks out, the Japanese "Kwantung Army" will quickly resolve the Chinese garrisons along the South Manchurian Railway, and then go all the way along the Gyeongbong Railway to kill Shanhaiguan, and then continue to march southward to attack Beijing and Tianjin with the "Korean Army" that has landed at Dagu, and strive to take the Chinese capital in one fell swoop, so as to prompt those local powerful factions in China to change their stance and move closer to Japan and the foreign powers, even if they cannot eliminate the United Front, and drive them back to Hubei and Sichuan.

However, the difficulty of implementing this strategy is too high, since the United Front came to power, under the personal auspices of the strongman president, China's national defense strength has long been different from what it used to be, even if the Japanese army can quickly occupy Tianjin and Beijing, China's central military force will not quickly collapse, and once this goal of quick victory cannot be achieved, then this Sino-Japanese war will definitely become a protracted war, and Japan will be dragged down.

Judging from past experience, as long as China's central government is defeated and its prestige is reduced, then the centrifugal tendency of the local powerful faction will intensify, and opportunities will arise for Japan, but the question is, has China's political strength undergone a fundamental 'character' change during the two years that the United Front has been in power? Do the overseers and town guards in those provinces still effectively control the military power? Until there is no action, all this is unknown for the Japanese government and the military department.

The reason why the meeting in the Kanto Hall dragged on until the early hours of the morning was to discuss how to divide the local powerful factions in China.

However, before Yoshimasa Oshima and his staff could discuss a practical solution, a military secretary from the Kanto Agency walked into the conference room with a telegram and 'handed over' the telegram to Yoshimasa Oshima.

Yoshimasa Oshima read the contents of the telegram with a straight face, then stood up expressionlessly and announced the end of the meeting.

"Ladies and gentlemen, there is no need to discuss it. Domestic order, the 'Manchurian operation' is postponed indefinitely, from now on, all the troops of the Eastern Army concerned will immediately stop military exercises, all the garrisons along the South Manchurian Railway will withdraw to the neutral zone, and without an order, they will not enter the Chinese border again! ”

Everyone was in an uproar, and the order was a little 'chaotic' for a while, and Oshima Yoshimasa had to reprimand everyone for being quiet.

"Do you think that the government is compromised? No! It is China that has compromised! The Chinese have promised to stop supplying weapons to the Koreans, and soon, the empire will re-stabilize the order of the Korean governorate, and the empire's reclamation will continue to be carried out in Korea! ”

The crowd applauded happily and rejoiced at this "great victory of the Imperial Government's 'foreign relations'."

Looking at these subordinates, Oshima Yoshimasa was still expressionless, walked to the window, and read the telegram from China again with a wall lamp, just now, he only told everyone about the first half of the telegram, as for the second half of the content, he felt that it was not suitable to make it public.

The content of the second half of the telegram was cold, and Oshima Yoshimasa's heart was also cold:

“…… According to a report by the ambassador to Berlin, the German fleet to China officially set sail from the port of Hamburg yesterday to the Mediterranean, and in addition to the supply ships, it has a total of six warships, namely: the former dreadnought 'Wittesbach,' the former dreadnought 'Hesse,' the light cruiser 'Bremen,' the light cruiser 'Königsberg,' the light cruiser 'Emden,' and the mine-laying cruiser 'Albatross'. Judging by the route, the fleet will sail from the Suez Canal to Qingdao, China. In addition, the British ambassador to Japan has officially informed the cabinet ministers that the British government will temporarily suspend all plans to borrow money from Japan until the conclusion of 'negotiations' with China. ”

Judging from the content of the second half of the telegram, Japan's government did not achieve any "major victory in foreign relations" at all, and the reason why China and Japan decided to end the situation of military tension and confrontation was entirely because of the intervention of the European and American powers.

Although Japan is far stronger than North Korea and stronger than China, compared with the old European and American powers, Japan is a small 'color'.

With a sigh, Oshima Yoshimasa pushed open the window and looked at the Port Arthur, where the lights were flickering, all of them were signal lights on the warships, which had just arrived at the port from Japan, but now, I am afraid that they will soon be transferred back to Japan.