Chapter 1112: The Shadow of War

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Imperial Garden, Tokyo, Japan. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

Emperor Meiji walked slowly on the lawn, accompanied by Hirobumi Ito, but always kept his distance.

"Are you really going to go to war with Qianguo?" Emperor Meiji stopped and asked.

"Yes, Your Majesty, the situation has become irreparable by the fact that the Qianguo has repeatedly rejected the imperial government's proposal to jointly reform the internal affairs of Korea." Ito replied respectfully, "The people's anger against the Qianguo has reached its peak, and if the imperial government does not take action against the Qianguo in accordance with the will of the people, it is very likely that something will happen that no one wants to see." ”

Emperor Meiji listened to Ito's answer, turned around sharply, and stared at Ito, who stood with his head down and did not look up.

"There are many exiles from the two classes of Korean nobles in Japan, but the pressure is not that great, is it? Although the internal reform carried out by the DPRK under the supervision of Yuan Weiting aroused the resistance of the conservative forces in the DPRK, it did not have a great impact on Japan. Emperor Meiji asked.

Because Yuan Weiting carried out strict reforms in Korea, he forced the Korean king to issue a "class division order" and severely reduced the number of people in the two classes in order to expand the government's tax sources and make the Korean people get a share of the land occupied by the two groups, which aroused the strong resistance of the two groups.

Although the entry of hundreds of thousands of Koreans into Japan caused a certain amount of panic, because many of them came with their family wealth and because the Japanese government had taken effective measures to resettle them well, the pressure on Japanese society was not as great as some newspapers and media claimed. Of course, the arrival of these people increased the hostility of the Japanese people towards the Korean suzerain, the Qianguo.

Emperor Meiji did not fully approve of the Japanese Government's plan to start a war with Qianguo under the pretext of the internal affairs of Korea, so he would specifically ask Prime Minister Hirobumi Ito on such a private occasion.

Ito Hirobumi was silent for a while, and then said: "Your Majesty is right, the internal affairs of Korea are not enough to cause a war between the two countries, but for the sake of the future of the empire and the world, it is necessary to wage war against the country now. ”

"What's your reason? Ito-qing? Emperor Meiji frowned.

"If we don't start a war with the Qianguo now, with the current development speed of the Qianguo, the gap in strength between Japan and the Qianguo will be further widened," Ito Hirobumi raised his head and met the gaze of Emperor Meiji, "If the war starts earlier, Japan will still have a chance of winning, and if it is a few years later, there will be no chance of victory." ”

After listening to Ito Hirobumi's answer, Emperor Meiji understood and couldn't help but look up to the sky and sigh.

Of course, he knew that Ito was telling the truth.

"How is the strength of Japan's navy and army compared to that of the Qianguo?" Emperor Meiji asked.

"The equipment of the Imperial Navy and Army is slightly inferior to that of the Qianguo Navy and Army, but its training and morale are far superior to that of the Qianguo." Hirobumi Ito replied, "If we go to war now, the odds are very good. ”

"How many ironclad ships does the Qianguo Navy have now?" Emperor Meiji asked again.

"There are 4 first-class ironclad ships, 'Dingyuan', 'Zhenyuan', 'Jingyuan', 'Laiyuan', 1 second-class ironclad ship, 'Ningyuan', 4 third-class coastal defense ironclad ships, 'Longwei', 'Pingyuan', 'Longwu', 'Qingyuan', a total of 9." Hirobumi Ito replied.

"What about the Imperial Navy?"

"The Imperial Navy has four first-class ironclad ships, namely 'Fuso', 'Yamashiro', 'Shubo', and 'Iwami', and the two ships 'Hanoi' and 'Settsu' that have been completed in Germany and are on their way home, a total of 6." Hirobumi Ito replied, "In terms of ironclad ships, the gap between the Imperial Navy and the Qianguo Navy is not large. ”

"How many land forces are there in Qianguo?"

"The Qianguo Army has a total of 2.5 million people, but most of them are old army troops, although they are regular troops, but they have no combat effectiveness, and they can be used to fight irregular troops in various provinces, with a total of about 600,000 people. However, these troops are stationed very scattered, and with the current distribution of railways in Qianguo, it is difficult to concentrate them in wartime. ”

"What about the Imperial Army?"

"The Imperial Army has 800,000 men, all of whom are elite soldiers who have been trained for many years and can be directly used in combat.

Emperor Meiji's furrowed brow soothed.

He began to pace again, and Ito Hirobumi lowered his head again and followed him.

After a long time, Emperor Meiji asked again: "If there is a war, Lin Yiqing will definitely participate, right?" He is now the secretary of the military department of the Qianguo, and he still can be the minister of the navy, and his power is much greater than before. ”

"He's not going to participate." Hirobumi Ito replied.

Emperor Meiji stopped abruptly and looked back at Hirobumi Ito, "Why?" ”

"He is now seriously ill and cannot be a director, and the position of secretary of the military department has been handed over to someone else." "His condition is very serious, and his life expectancy is likely to be only half a year. ”

Hearing this, Emperor Meiji's face showed a rare look of joy.

"This is really good news, without his command, no matter how strong the Qianguo Navy and Army are, they will not be able to give full play to their strength."

"That's right, Your Majesty."

"Then, once the war starts, apart from Lin Yiqing, who else might be the commander of the Qianguo army?" Emperor Meiji asked again.

"If the war starts in Korea first, and Korea belongs to the Beiyang Defense Zone of the Qianguo, then the commander of the Qianguo army should be Li Shaoquan, the governor of Zhili and the minister of Beiyang." Hirobumi Ito said, "

Koukou

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