Zomoto, Tokyo.

After the glamorous news of the victories in Vladivostok and Sovetskaya Port, the city exploded. Various service groups organized one victory march after another. Tokyo's Shoshogu Palace, which enshrines Aunt Amaterasu, and the Yasukuni Shrine in Kudanzaka, are even more crowded. Army and navy generals, political axes and high-ranking officials came one after another. Celebrate the blessings of the gods and sacrifice the souls of the deceased. In the evening, Shinjuku Kabukicho is crowded with dignitaries from both the military and political circles holding a drinking party and cheering to celebrate the victory.

One suggestion after another was put forward, it was nothing more than that the army and navy were heroic and invincible, the fortress of Vladivostok was in ruins, the city of Boli was ready to fall, and the Soviet Union had no strength to resist. The empire could annex the entire Primorsky region of the Soviet Far East and the northern island of Huatai (Sakhalin), and then consider whether to move west into Manchuria or north to annex more Soviet territory.

But Yoshiichi Tanaka was far from being so optimistic and did not participate in such boring gatherings. Just night after night in the prime minister's office, staring at the military map, waiting for any news from the front. frowned tightly, silently thinking about something. But tonight is an exception. Nagata Tetsuyama, who is known as the number one brain in the army, had just arrived from the headquarters of the Vladivostok Dispatch Army in Hiroshima, and as soon as he got off the train, he came to see Tanaka Yoshiichi.

In the Prime Minister's official residence, in a small Japanese-style meeting room, Yoshiichi Tanaka and the dusty Nagata Tetsuyama sat cross-legged opposite each other. There are only a few simple dishes on a small table, but Nagata, who can't take care of dinner after a day's journey, eats with relish.

Tanaka Yoshiichi's brows tightened even tighter at this time. Just now, Nagata Tetsuyama told him that the call for expanding the war within the dispatch army was getting louder and louder. Because the war went smoothly in the early days, both the generals at the front and the staff officers in the headquarters of the dispatch corps were optimistic about the prospects of the war, and they were extremely contemptuous of the Soviet Union, a behemoth. It is even believed that the combat effectiveness of the Soviet Red Army is inferior to that of the Chinese [***] team, no wonder it will lose so ugly in Manchuria...... With the combat effectiveness of the army, it is completely possible to fight ten at a time!

Almost filling his belly, Nagata Tetsuyama put down the dishes and chopsticks in his hand, bowed his head to Tanaka, and respectfully looked like a primary school student: "Your Excellency Prime Minister, now is the time to think about how to end the war." While the terrible war machine of the Soviet Union has not yet fully started...... The empire still has a chance to get a decent victory. ”

Tanaka Yoshiichi snorted: "But where will the army and navy understand the hardships of the political axe?" They now want to expand the war so hard that they can't wait to go to Moscow in one go. Even ...... Even His Majesty is like that! No one at all thinks that the empire actually does not have the strength to conduct a long war! No one thinks about how much oil the combined fleet burns in a day, and every shell fired by tens of thousands of troops under the city of Boli has to be transported thousands of miles from the mainland! And China ......"

Tanaka didn't say any more, Nagata Tetsuyama knew these things better than him. For the sake of this chicken rib war, the sluggish economy is now becoming more depressed, and the already small foreign exchange reserves are also being depleted at an accelerated pace. Since the Soviet Union has now declared war, the cargo ships of Europe and the United States and other countries are now in accordance with their countries' neutrality laws and can no longer transport goods and materials for the Soviet Union, so the export market of the Soviet Union has shrunk greatly. And strategic materials such as oil, steel, and grain had to be imported through gritted teeth...... What makes Tanaka even more unacceptable is that the fast-growing light industry in southern China is happily accepting orders that originally belonged to our company!

"Your Excellency...... It is now necessary to draw a red line for military action. Nagata Tetsuyama hesitated for a moment, and then made another suggestion: "It is proposed that Boli and the Amur River be the end of this war...... At the same time, the fortress of Vladivostok should not be occupied, just bomb it into ruins. There is also the North Island of Huatai Island (Sakhalin Island) ......"

Nagata looked up at Yoshiichi Tanaka, waiting for his decision.

…… Boli, a small city on the banks of the Amur and Ussuri rivers next to China, is now attracting the attention of the world. In order to compete for this transportation hub on the Trans-Siberian railway line, the armies of the two countries have already set up a battle formation under the city of Boli and have begun to fight. Nearly 50,000 troops of the 2nd and 8th Divisions, which had landed at Soviet Harbor 400 kilometers away, had already arrived at the city of Boli with all their artillery and baggage. On the Soviet side, there were two infantry divisions transferred from Vladivostok, as well as artillery regiments and baggage units belonging to the two divisions that had been sunk in Soviet Port, with a total strength of about 30,000 men.

The great leader of Moscow, after a furious roar at Yegorov's disobedience to military orders to weaken the defenses of Vladivostok, now recognized the importance of the city.

In the luxurious and exquisite office of the Kremlin, Stalin, with a pipe in his mouth, is stepping on a thick plush carpet and standing in front of a huge military map in a daze. His brown eyes, full of wisdom and trembling to all his enemies, were now staring at the important town of Khabarovsk on the Amur River. A battle that could well decide the outcome of this war is now unfolding there!

"Comrade Voroshilov, do you think we can win the battle of Khabarovsk (Boli)?" Stalin looked back at Voroshilov, who was standing aside.

Voroshilov now looks a little haggard, and as chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Soviet Union, he has also been under great pressure in recent times. The previous Sino-Soviet wars were defeated, defeated by poor China! The ensuing war with the Soviet Union had an unfavorable start, with successive losses and defeats. Only more than 20 days after the declaration of war, the army has already reached the city of Khabarovsk (Boli), if it can no longer be defended...... The door to the Primorsky region of the Soviet Far East is about to be closed!

"Comrade Stalin......" Voroshilov's tone was heavy, his eyes were full of despair, and he shook his head bitterly.

The battle of Khabarovsk (Boly) began five days ago. Although in this campaign, the Soviet Red Army was not very inferior in terms of numbers and weapons and equipment. The Soviet Red Army defended the attack of 50,000 men with 30,000 men, and in terms of firepower, the Soviet Army had 144 artillery pieces from four artillery regiments, while two divisions of the Soviet Army carried 180 cannons, and the two sides were basically evenly matched. However, the army exclaimed that the harsh and rigorous training and decades of brainwashing education since the Meiji Restoration are now beginning to show great power! Five days and five nights of non-stop fierce attacks have brought the Soviet Red Army in Khabarovsk (Boli) to the brink of collapse, and if it were not for the non-stop supervision of the political commissar and internal affairs personnel around the night, these troops would have abandoned their positions and weapons and fled to China on the other side of the Ussuri River to become White Russia, right?

It was rare that Stalin did not roar...... Maybe he is now accustomed to the defeat of the Soviet Red Army, right? After all, the defense of Khabarovsk (Boli) was fought for five full days, and it is estimated that it will last for a few more days. Compared to the defeat of Zalainorr and the Soviet port, the progress is still obvious!

"Has the Trans-Siberian railway line been repaired? When will our reinforcements arrive? When can the counteroffensive begin? ”

Voroshilov seemed to exhale softly, and the expression on his face was much more relaxed...... Stalin seems to have accepted the imminent fall of Khabarovsk.

"The railway line has been repaired this morning and reinforcements are on their way. Soon two divisions of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army would arrive in Birobidzhan, and more troops would arrive afterwards. The Revolutionary Military Council planned to start a counteroffensive against Khabarovsk (Boli) after the end of June, with a planned mobilization of 150,000 to 200,000 troops......"

"Late June...... Why does it take that long? Can't it be faster? Stalin interrupted Voroshilov with some impatience. Probably hearing that there were 150,000 to 200,000 Red Army troops available, his tone regained firmness, and at the same time waved his left hand slightly, and commanded loudly:

"The fighting in Khabarovsk during this period has shown that the imperialist offensive power is gradually weakening. It is clear that their power is coming to an end and is about to go downhill. The counteroffensive of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army should have been carried out in a timely and rapid manner, and it must not give the Workers a chance to breathe. Because then they will seize this time to build strong fortifications along the Amur, which will not be conducive to the offensive of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army! ”

Listening to Stalin's orders, Voroshilov again felt powerless. However, he did not dare to argue with Stalin, and could only whisper in his heart to protest against Stalin's amateur and blind command of the military! The great leader simply did not know how much supplies would be needed to launch a real offensive with an army of 15 to 200,000 men? How many trucks, wagons, and logistical personnel need to be requisitioned, hundreds of artillery pieces need to be mobilized, hundreds of thousands of shells need to be hoarded, tens of millions of rounds of ammunition need to be hoarded...... In short, every day's battle needs to consume thousands of tons of combat materials, and if you want to dare to go to the sea in one go, you must prepare tens of thousands of tons of various materials and a large number of means of transportation in advance! Fighting a war is not just a matter of people!

...... "Mr. Sun...... Are you saying that you want to mediate this war? ”

If it weren't for Inu Yangyi hearing Sun Yat-sen say the news with his own ears, he would definitely not believe it. Now it is China's turn to take the lead in mediating the war between Ben and the Soviet Union! This kind of thing seems to be done only by big countries and powerful countries, right? China is quite big...... But is it powerful?

Inside the luxurious living room of Sun Yat-sen's official residence on Mo Mountain in East Lake, Wuhan. Sun Yat-sen was sitting on the sofa with a red face, and the visiting dog Yangyi was sitting opposite him. Luo Yaoguo and Wang Jingwei stood respectfully behind Sun Yat-sen, both of them standing with their hands down and their hearts and eyes, a good picture of loyal and loyal ministers.

Sun Yat-sen nodded with a graceful smile and replied in fluent Chinese: "This second Russo-Japanese war is quite unfavorable to the stability of Japan and the Asian region. Moreover, once the war machine of the Soviet Union is fully operational, your country simply cannot cope with it. If it is only a short-term war, then I believe that with the elite of your army and navy, it is completely capable of defeating the Soviet Union. But once it becomes a long-term war...... The resources and national strength of the Soviet Union are ten times more than the capital of the Soviet Union! At that time, it will definitely be your country that will not be able to persevere. Therefore, out of consideration for establishing long-term friendly relations with the Soviet Union, I decided to come forward to appeal for peace, invite the United States, Britain, France, and the Netherlands to mediate the contradictions between the Soviet Union and the Soviet Union, and also want to sign a peace treaty in Asia that includes our seven countries. Gather the strength of the seven countries to jointly maintain peace and stability in Asia and the Western Pacific...... Such peace and stability will also be clearly beneficial to the development of our two countries, and I believe that your political axe and the emperor will not oppose it, right? ”

Inu Yangyi frowned slightly, and his mind turned quickly. He has no objection to this "Asian Peace Treaty" or anything. This old man is a journalist-turned-politician, not the kind of politician who has been turned into a reserve general, and his mind is not so fanatical. Moreover, he was born in the second year of Anzheng (1855). Throughout his youth and middle age, China was a powerful empire in East Asia! Before the Sino-Japanese War, these ordinary people had a little bit of awe for this vast empire to the west. It was only after the First Sino-Japanese War that he regarded China as a weak country that could be bullied casually. But now this big and weak China seems to have begun to exalt! And not so long ago defeated the mighty USSR! Maybe this old country is really starting to revive now...... In this way, this "Asian Peace Treaty" seems to be a guarantee of the rights and interests of the Japanese people, after all, there are still North Korea and Taiwan on the territory of the Japanese people!

"Premier Sun, I have no objection to this Asian Peace Treaty. It's just that...... At present, the war between Ben and the Soviet Union is not over, I wonder how you plan to mediate this war? The Empire is a victim of this war, and we are entitled to adequate compensation...... Otherwise, the political axe of this empire and the army and navy will not accept it. Inu's words were slow, as if he was considering the words.

Sun Yat-sen smiled slightly, turned around and pointed to the two people behind him and said to Dog Yangyi: "I am still a sick person now, and the specific things are left to the young people to do." These two dog breeders know each other, right? I would like to entrust the two of them with specific responsibility for mediating the war between the Soviet Union and the signing of the "Peace Treaty." Of course, I have to communicate with the Yanjing side before doing so. ”

…… In Kasumigaseki, Tokyo, a small meeting was being held in the official residence of the prime minister of the army and navy to discuss the issue of drawing a bottom line for the war between the Soviet Union and the Soviet Union.

Inside a small conference room in the Prime Minister's residence. Prime Minister Yoshiichi Tanaka, Minister of War Yoshinori Shirakawa, Chief of the General Staff Soroku Suzuki, and Minister of the Navy Keisuke Okada sat separately. At this time, there was silence in the conference room, and Prime Minister Tanaka's brows were tightly locked, and his face was pale. The three admirals of the army and navy also had elongated faces, and their faces were also not good-looking. It was clear that the meeting was not very harmonious.

The leaders of the army and navy did not express much dissatisfaction with Tanaka's suggestion that a red line should be drawn for the war and that armistice negotiations should be held. However, when it comes to the terms of the armistice, the demands put forward by the army and navy really do not sound like much possibility of being realized. The Army wanted all the territory of the USSR south of the Amur, east of the Ussuri River! That is, the entire Primorsky Territory of the USSR was to be ceded to the Soviet Union. The navy wants the whole of the North Island of Sakhalin, and they want oil there. And what Yoshiichi Tanaka, the head of the empire, wanted, was war reparations from the Soviet Union, the more the better, and an agreement with the Soviet Union to carve up China. Therefore, he wanted to make concessions in terms of territorial claims, that is, to make territorial claims only to the North Island of Huatai (Sakhalin), and the final bottom line was not to ask the Soviet Union to cede any territory.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Manchuria in China is the real goal of the Empire! And now the strength of China is growing! The empire no longer has the strength to swallow it alone, and there is only hope for it to be divided together with the Soviet Union. So...... In this war, our asking price cannot be too high! That would have offended the USSR to death! And the Reich did not have the possibility of fighting a long war with the USSR! Do you understand? ”

As he said this, Tanaka Yoshiichi's eyes looked at War Minister Yoshinori Shirakawa, as if he wanted to get some support from him. Tanaka is an army general and a former minister of the army, so he always feels that the army is at the same end as him, and he should stand up at a critical moment, right?

Shirakawa Yoshinori also frowned, sighed lightly, shook his head, and said, "Your Excellency, but the morale of the army is very high now!" Everyone felt that they should not give up the benefits that the soldiers had exchanged for their blood and heroic spirits. So...... I beg your Excellency to support the armistice conditions on the part of the Army! ”

The army of the Zoben was a strange organization in this era, and they seemed to be a monster somewhere between a warlord and a national army. Unlike China's warlords at the time, they were not a few big bosses who could have the final say. Therefore, Shirakawa Yoshinori knew that Tanaka Yoshiichi's words were reasonable, but he couldn't support him, because he was now representing the interests of the entire army! If he concedes to Tanaka now, the entire army will unite to squeeze him out!

As soon as Yoshiichi Tanaka wanted to open his mouth to continue his persuasion, he heard a rush of footsteps coming from outside the door. As soon as the door opened, a secretary of the Prime Minister's Office rushed in, still holding a freshly translated telegram in his hand, and as soon as he entered the door, he shouted: "It's an urgent telegram from Mr. Inukai, and Sun Wen, the leader of the Kuomintang in China, wants to unite and stop the war between the empire and the Soviet Union!" And...... They also wanted to use this opportunity to join forces with Britain, the United States, France, and the Netherlands to sign an Asian Peace Treaty with the Reich and the Soviet Union. ”

(To be continued)