Tokyo, Japan!

In this palace, which is admired by all the Japanese, the atmosphere at the moment is a little depressing, Emperor Meiji is sitting high in the center of the main hall, below are the ministers of the government and the army, at this moment, no one dares to stand up and speak, because they no longer know what to say. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Emperor Meiji looked at the battle report from the Second Army, and his heart was even more angry.

This is not the first time, and Emperor Meiji has absolutely reason to believe that this will not be the last.

The Japanese army always likes to gamble on its own fate, and now Japan is like a gambler, once it fails, they will face a situation from which they will never recover.

As Emperor Meiji, who overthrew the shogunate and built a powerful empire, he had a far greater strategic vision than the ministers below.

However, Emperor Meiji was also helpless, and the people below seemed to have become accustomed to such a life. They always liked to disobey orders, and before that, Emperor Meiji didn't have any reason to clean up disobedient generals.

Over time, Emperor Meiji began to get used to such days, and it seems that even Emperor Meiji felt that maybe there would be times when Japan was worth taking a gamble.

The First Sino-Japanese War, in fact, Emperor Meiji did not want to fight, after all, the Beiyang Naval Division of the Qing State at that time was the first navy in Asia, although it had not been updated for ten years, their strength was still not something that the Japanese could resist.

And on land, Japan simply did not have enough troops to defeat the Qing army.

However, due to the private decision of the navy and the army, the Meiji Emperor had to order a war with the Qing State. Although the final result was victorious, no one knew how worried Emperor Meiji was.

If that war is lost, the gains that Japan has endured for decades will be burned. A large amount of war reparations gave Japan a new impetus for development, and the money was used by the Japanese government to develop domestic industry, which greatly increased Japan's domestic industrial strength.

However, the Japanese, who had just 'taken advantage of the Qing Dynasty' on the battlefield, were still not satisfied with the status quo. They seem to have forgotten that a third of the officers and men of the Fifth Division on the expedition to China were killed there.

Less than a year after the end of the war, and less than half a year after the contract was signed, the War Department once again put forward a proposal to send troops to the northeast.

This time, Emperor Meiji categorically rejected the offer. But what I didn't expect was that the next day, the Admiralty also jumped out and proposed to send troops to the northeast.

Everyone knows what the purpose of sending troops to the Northeast is? However, Emperor Meiji knew very well that even if he could win this time, Japan would win badly. Moreover, it will not be able to gain international support, which will only make life more difficult for Japan in the future.

While Emperor Meiji explicitly rejected the Japanese army and navy, the War Department put forward a new proposal, and they applied for additional troops in Korea, since there was no way to go to war, then take a step back.

The Japanese army Chen Bing exerted tremendous pressure on Wang Sirui, so that he did not dare to continue to block the ore from being transported to Japan.

Eventually, Emperor Meiji agreed to this decision, but repeatedly ordered that he should not cross the border, let alone start a war.

At this time, the Western powers had made it clear that they hoped that Japan would be able to resolve the issue calmly and in a peaceful manner. But those damn armies have started a war again.

As a result, there is no trace of the Gengzi indemnity that should have been paid, and the Shina people refused to pay all the reparations on the grounds that Japan had started a war. For a time, this put Japan under tremendous pressure on the diplomatic front.

Just yesterday, the British government officially asked Japan that if Japan continued the war, then the British side would sell several warships under construction in British shipyards to other countries or equip them with the British Navy.

Even the British, Japan's potential future allies, have shown such a tough attitude, and other countries can imagine? The Russians even clamored that if Japan did not withdraw its troops, then Russia would send troops to the northeast to fight the Japanese army.

A series of diplomatic pressures made Emperor Meiji very disappointed with the War Department men.

And today, just before Emperor Meiji decided to convene an imperial council to discuss this matter, Emperor Meiji actually received a front-line battle report from the Second Army Okuhoko.

The Japanese army was defeated!

The war lasted only two days, and half of the casualties of the third and fifth main divisions of the attack were carried out, and the Korean division was defeated and retreated by the Chinese army.

There are still the details of the battle, but Emperor Meiji no longer has the energy to look at the details of those battles, he only knows that his two divisions were defeated and were killed by the enemy and lost their armor.

And this enemy turned out to be the defeated soldier who lost his armor and abandoned his armor last year.

'Smack! ’

Emperor Meiji threw the telegram in his hand to the ground, and his face was even more angry.

"Tens of thousands of soldiers of the empire died in battle like this, how do you feel?" Emperor Meiji asked in an unkind tone.

After waiting for a long time, no one answered Emperor Meiji, and then Emperor Meiji continued to ask, "Didn't you shout like I promised not to attack?" So who can explain, what this telegram is all about? ”

"Your Majesty, the army side of this incident is also forced to helplessly, and the people of China have repeatedly sabotaged our ore transportation plan, and the original average of several hundred tons of ore can be transported to the port a day, and the day before the start of the war is not even a hundred tons. The army also felt that we had been deceived by the Chinese people, and the Chinese people mobilized troops to the northeast to provoke, so they launched an attack. Prime Minister Katsura Taro stood up with some helplessness.

Those who can come here to participate in the Imperial Council are all people who can call the shots in Japan, and if the following generals are not responsible, then they must be responsible, and they are the kind that can't be washed away.

"Oh? So it was the people of China who provoked us first, and we were forced to launch a counterattack? Emperor Meiji asked rhetorically.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Katsura Taro said stiffly.

"The Russians have also deployed a lot of troops in the Far East, why don't you think that the Russians are also provoking us?" Emperor Meiji suddenly became angry and said that although there was anger in the past, it was finally overcome, and it brought a lot of benefits to Japan, even if Emperor Meiji had fire, he could not send it out, but he had to praise the generals and ministers who had established meritorious service.

But this time, the Japanese army was defeated, which also gave Emperor Meiji a chance to make a move.

It has been an old tradition for decades that the Japanese army has been defeating this for decades, and Emperor Meiji has long wanted to rectify this phenomenon, otherwise, who dares to guarantee that Japan will not fall into a situation of all-out war in the future because of the hot brain of a certain young man or a captain?

Japan's fate can only be in its own hands, not in the hands of those junior officers.

"You are always self-righteous and think that your decision is the right one, and when you win a battle, you always feel that you are invincible and invincible. But now? Can anyone tell me how I should account to my people for your foolish decisions? How do you account to the bereaved families?

I know that you hope that the empire will become strong as soon as possible, and that it will be able to compete with Britain and France, so why don't I want to? I even dreamed of surpassing Britain, France, and the United States to become the empire on which the sun never sets.

But desire has completely taken over your mind, it has influenced your decisions, so that you cannot make the right decisions, and in doing so, you will only bring untold pain to Japan and great difficulties to the development of the empire.

Now the British have officially warned us that if we do not stop this war, then the warships we are building in Britain will be resold to other countries. My Prime Minister, you say, what should I do? To satisfy the European powers and my people? Knowing that the emperor looked at Katsura Taro.

Gotcha, I'll carry this pot! Katsura Taro was secretly muttering in his heart, and he was even more aggrieved and almost burst into tears. "Your Majesty, the minister wishes to no longer serve as the Prime Minister of the Empire, please ask Your Majesty for permission."

Listening to Katsura Taro's words, Emperor Meiji couldn't wait to slap Katsura Taro's head, is it what you, the prime minister, should say if you resign?

Besides, Katsura Taro has only been in office for half a year, and he is the head disciple of the first elder of the army, Yama Prefecture Aritomo, and Katsura Taro can sit in the position of prime minister, all thanks to the strong support of Yama Prefecture Aritomo behind.

If Katsura Taro is allowed to resign because of such a trivial matter, the ghost will know that Yamaguchi Youpeng will make trouble behind his back? Although Emperor Meiji is the emperor and the supreme ruler of Japan, in the army, the influence of Yama Prefecture Aritomo is very great, even if it is Emperor Meiji, he has to give Yama Prefecture Aritomo three points of face.

Besides, Katsura Taro actually didn't just rely on relationships to get to where he is today, he himself is still very talented, and many plans are very appreciated by Emperor Meiji, and in his heart, Emperor Meiji still doesn't want to remove Katsura Taro, but someone must be responsible for this matter.

"This time it was decided privately by the army, what are you going to do with it? Do you want to retreat when you encounter difficulties? Emperor Meiji said.

After hearing the emperor's words, the Minister of War below, Kodama Gentaro, burst into tears in an instant, and secretly said in his heart, Damn, do you want me to carry this pot of feelings? Yes, since the emperor has already spoken, Gentaro Kodama can't even if he doesn't want to carry this pot.

"Your Majesty, I am willing to resign from the post of Minister of War and take responsibility for the recklessness of the Army this time." Gentaro Kodama resigned with a depressed face. (To be continued.) )