On the afternoon of 9 September, the Japanese government received a telegram from the governor of Taiwan, General Sakuma Zuoma, that Taichung had been captured by the rebels. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Soon after, the Kingdom of Lanfang declared war on Japan.

Song Jiaoren issued a telegram announcing his separation from the League and exposing Japan's agreement with the League, exposing the ambitions of the Japanese to the world powers and becoming the enemy of the world powers in their struggle for the Chinese colonies.

Subsequently, the United States, Germany, and Russia successively issued statements supporting the just actions of the Lanfang Kingdom, making Japan extremely passive diplomatically.

In the evening, the commander of the 16th Division, Lieutenant General Nobuki Yamanaka, sent a telegram to the War Department, claiming that the attack of the Lanfang Kingdom was extremely fierce, and that the commander of the 38th Wing stationed in Taichung City had broken before he could even send a farewell telegram, and that the Lanfang Kingdom had already occupied Taichung City, Changhua County, and Yunlin County, and was attacking in the direction of Chiayi County and Tainan City, hoping that the Japanese Government would support Taiwan as soon as possible, otherwise the 16th Division alone would not be able to hold Taiwan.

The Secretary of War quickly took a telegram and went to see Prime Minister Xiyuan Temple Gongwang, saying that Taiwan must be supported as soon as possible, otherwise Taiwan will be lost. Prime Minister Saionji Gongwang also has no choice, if you want to send reinforcements, you must help the navy, and now that the military budget is tight, where to embezzle the funds? This matter must be reported to His Majesty the Emperor, and he cannot make his own decisions.

On the morning of September 10, Japan's Emperor Meiji convened an imperial meeting to discuss how to deal with the current situation.

War Minister Masashi Terauchi first accused the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of making a mess of diplomatic work, and now many countries have issued statements in support of the just actions of the Lanfang Kingdom, you must know that it is Japan that has been attacked by the sneak attack, and the sneak attackers have become righteous actions, and the sneak attackers have become unjust people, which is really funny, this is the biggest insult to Japan's diplomacy, and it is a manifestation of the incompetence of the foreign minister.

For Minoru Saito, the Minister of the Admiralty, as long as it is not a matter of the Navy, he will not be involved.

Emperor Meiji was very angry, and the consequences were very serious, and he loudly reprimanded: "The empire is in this state now, and all the monarchs cannot live in peace and unite with the outside world, will the army of our Great Japanese Empire blame each other?" Can't we come up with a way to deal with the current situation? ”

Minister of War Terauchi Masashi hurriedly explained: "Your Majesty the Emperor, the offensive of the Lanfang Kingdom is too fierce, and the wing commander of the 38th Wing stationed in Taichung City has not even had time to send a farewell telegram. “

Emperor Meiji was about to speak, when the Minister of the Interior came up with a telegram, "Your Majesty, the telegram from the defenders of the Penghu Islands is forwarded. “

After reading the telegram, Emperor Meiji's face turned pale, and after calming down his emotions, he said: "The Penghu Islands were attacked by the navy of the Lanfang Kingdom, resulting in the death of one squad of Japanese troops, and now they have blockaded the Penghu Islands, and the warships have been patrolling the surrounding waters, and they have also captured Japanese merchant ships passing by, hoping to send the navy to annihilate them." ”

The telegram began to be circulated.

The Minister of War felt that the defenders guarding the Penghu Islands had not lost face of the army, held their positions, and killed a squad of officers and men.

The Lord of the Navy saw the information he wanted from the telegram, that is, the navy of the Lanfang Kingdom only sent destroyers and torpedo boats, and there were no battleships and battle cruisers, so he was relieved.

However, thinking of the recent mysterious shipwreck in Jiuzhou, Saito realized that it was determined that it was the Lanfang Kingdom, and they must have used special means to place mines on important waterways, and the mines are very high-tech, and the navy sent people to investigate the cause, but there is no result so far.

There is also a rumor that the Dutch Navy and the Far East Fleet of the British Empire were first attacked by the mines of the Lanfang Kingdom, and the navy of the Lanfang Kingdom appeared after heavy losses.

After going back, you must explain all the warships, and in the future, you must pay attention to the mines in the Lanfang Kingdom, and ask the technicians to find a way to crack the mines.

When the emperor saw that everyone had finished circulating, he asked solemnly, "What do you think?" ”

Terauchi Zhengyi sorted out his thoughts and said: "Your Majesty, it seems that the Lanfang Kingdom wants to occupy the entire Taiwan Island, and now it wants to occupy the Penghu Islands and control the Taiwan Strait, and the empire's merchant ships will not be able to pass through there in the future, which is a heavy blow to the empire economically, so the opinion of our War Department is that we must not lose the Penghu Islands and drive the army of the Lanfang Kingdom out of Taiwan Island, the Lanfang Kingdom is far away from the island of Taiwan, and the distance from the empire to the island of Taiwan is much farther, and their logistical support pressure should be much greater than ours. This is a very favorable factor for the Empire. ”

"What is the Prime Minister's opinion?"

"Your Majesty, the island of Taiwan plays a very huge role in the empire, and is now the main supply base of the empire's agricultural products, if the island of Taiwan is lost, the price of grain in the empire will rise rapidly, and the ability to export sugar, camphor and other items to earn foreign exchange will be reduced a lot, and even completely stop this part of the source of foreign exchange. If the Lanfang Kingdom occupies the Penghu Islands and controls the Taiwan Strait, the empire's foreign trade will be hit hard, and the commercial losses will be very huge; In addition, if the Lanfang Kingdom used Taiwan as a supply base to attack the Korean Peninsula after occupying Taiwan, then their logistical supply would be very convenient, which would be a serious threat to the empire in the long run. The government wants to keep the Penghu Islands and drive the Lanfang Kingdom out of the island of Taiwan, but now the government really can't come up with the money to fight this war. ”

Emperor Meiji knew the importance of the matter, and made a very decisive judgment that the island of Taiwan could not be lost, and ordered: "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately contacts Britain, France, and other countries to obtain a certain amount of loans, and we can use Taiwan's sugar and camphor trade as collateral to raise funds for the war." ”

Foreign Minister Takaaki Kato thought about it for a while, and said with great embarrassment: "Your Majesty, the Lanfang Kingdom has announced the content of the agreement between the Empire and the Alliance, which has made the Empire very passive in diplomacy and harmed the interests of the great powers in China. Now the United States, Germany, and Tsarist Russia have issued telegrams in support of the Lanfang Kingdom in waging war against the Empire. ”

Prime Minister Saionji Gongwang said: "Aren't we in an alliance with Britain? If the empire is defeated, Britain will lose the powerful power of the empire in the Far East, and they will certainly not see the empire defeated and ask Britain for loans. ”

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, it is very difficult, Britain, France and Russia are allies, and the agreement between the Empire and the Alliance has seriously damaged the interests of Tsarist Russia in the Far East, and it is difficult for them to help the Empire."

"How do you know if you can't do it if you don't try? This time the empire can only survive this with loans. Besides, although Britain is an alliance with the Russian Empire, they are indirectly allied through France, and according to the British continental balance policy, they will certainly not be of the same mind as Russia. The British also want the Empire to contain the Russian Empire in Asia, so you can just look for the British. ”

"Yes, Your Excellency Prime Minister, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will do its best." Foreign Minister Takaaki Kato is a direct descendant of Prime Minister Saionji Konozo, and since the Prime Minister has decided, the Foreign Minister will absolutely give his full support.

Seeing that the government was trying to get a loan, Emperor Meiji's face was a little better, and in order to ease the atmosphere, he asked the Minister of the Navy, "Is there any problem on the Admiralty's side?" ”

Minister of the Navy Minoru Saito hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, the Admiralty absolutely supports all your Majesty's decisions. ”

"Okay, very good, the War Department will immediately prepare to set off and fully support Taiwan, and the Admiralty will cooperate and send a fleet to escort the troops of the Lanfang Kingdom to the sea to feed the fish."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

"Now is the most difficult moment for the empire, it is a test for the empire, and I hope that all the monarchs can work together to achieve greater results than the Russo-Japanese War."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

At this time, Prime Minister Nishijien felt that the emperor was going to end this topic, and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, our difficulties are all caused by the alliance, how will we treat the alliance in the future?" ”

"There are traitors within the Alliance, which leads to the failure of the whole plan, and the good reputation of the Empire in the international community is damaged, and now we must reverse this passive situation and firmly deny the agreement with the Alliance, which is all wishful thinking planned by the Alliance, the Empire does not know at all, the purpose is to provoke a war between the Great Japanese Empire and the Great Qing State, they can profit from it, in order to prove the innocence of the Empire, we must draw a clear line with the Alliance, and from now on, we must completely expel the members of the Alliance. This group of guys who have not achieved enough things and more than failed things have made trouble for the empire. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty, the total expulsion of the members of the Empire from the Alliance. Your Majesty, this time the Lanfang Kingdom has not declared war, which shows that they want to fight a full-scale war with the empire, I am afraid that if the empire shows its disadvantages and the Qing Congress participates in the war, we still have to prepare early. ”

The emperor became interested when he heard the words of Nishijien Konozo, and hurriedly asked, "What kind of preparations does the prime minister want to make?" ”

Xisiyuan Gongwang thought about it for a moment and said, "First, the domestic army is ready to assemble and prepare for the outbreak of a large-scale war with the Lanfang Kingdom; Second, the Imperial Army stationed in the northeast of the Great Qing Kingdom was on guard and issued weapons to the soldiers in the countryside to prevent the Great Qing Kingdom from suddenly entering the war; Third, the imperial troops stationed in the Korean Kingdom were assembled first to prevent the Russian Empire from taking advantage of the fire to loot; Fourth, increase grain imports from the DPRK and start storing grain at home to prepare for a long war; Fifth, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs actively visits the foreign ministries of the countries where the ambassadors and consuls are stationed in various countries to explain to the countries that the Japanese Empire was attacked by surprise and was forced to participate in the war, so as to ease the contradictions with other countries. The sixth is to order the overseas Chinese and enterprises in the Qing Dynasty to sell their assets and return to China as soon as possible to prevent accidents. “

After listening to the Prime Minister's words, the Emperor thought about it for a while, and felt that he still had to be prepared, and praised: "The Prime Minister's suggestion is really loyal, not bad, and it is considered very comprehensively, do other people have any suggestions?" “

The Minister of War felt that this was a good opportunity to expand the army, and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, the Prime Minister's words are very correct, we must be prepared, the War Department intends to form the 17th and 18th Divisions in Korea, and the 19th and 20th Divisions in the northeast of the Great Qing Kingdom, so as to protect the interests of the Empire in these two places." At the same time, 10 mixed brigades were formed in the local territory so that they could support the sudden war in various places at any time; As for military spending, the War Department suggested that the local governors and local generals should be responsible for raising them. “

The Emperor was very satisfied when he heard this, and praised: "It is good that the War Department can understand the difficulties of the empire and share the worries of the empire." If it is approved, it will be expanded by 4 divisions and 10 brigades. "It's still very good to be able to expand 4 divisions without spending money on the treasury, and as for 10 brigades, it won't cost much to build up a shelf and expand it slowly.

The Admiralty doesn't dare to give an opinion now, it just paid the funds to the 2 battleships of the Lanfang Kingdom, and now that the two countries are launching a war, the Lanfang Kingdom will not give the battleships to the empire anymore, it is the Admiralty that has caused the losses of the empire.

Seeing that everyone was silent, Emperor Meiji continued: "Since everyone has no opinion, then everyone will prepare reinforcements for Taiwan as soon as they go back, and implement the resolution just now." “

"Yes, Your Majesty!" (To be continued.) )