Tanegashima is one hundred and fifteen kilometers south of Kyushu Island, which is quite close, as long as China occupies here, it can easily pose a threat to the Japanese mainland, especially Tanegashima can also be used as a naval base, occupying the Ryukyu Islands, which is equivalent to taking the gate of Japan, and Tanegashima is the door of Japan, if these two gateways are taken, then Japan will be completely exposed to China, without any ability to resist.

Therefore, Japan attaches great importance to Tanegashima and absolutely cannot afford to lose it, but the problem is that Japan's forces are now overstretched, and most of the army is contained in Korea and the Far East, and with the disappearance of sea supremacy, the defense of the homeland has to be put on the agenda, and this is still the top priority.

For two thousand years, the Central Plains Dynasty had little interest in barren places like Korea and Japan, so they survived, and the only Mongols who wanted to attack Japan encountered a kamikaze, so Japan was able to exist, and now the Japanese mainland is once again threatened by the Central Plains Dynasty, and the impact is immeasurable.

When a huge fleet of Chinese planes flew over Tanegashima and began to wantonly drop bombs, the mentality of some Japanese politicians quietly underwent an important change, and at this time, US President Coolidge and British Prime Minister Baldwin once again jointly issued a proposal for peace talks, demanding that China and Japan first achieve a cease-fire, and then hold peace talks to end the disputes in East Asia.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry agreed, but China, as the party that firmly occupies the upper hand, naturally has to put forward some demands, such as a ceasefire between China and Japan in accordance with the areas under their current actual control, and Japan to bear the responsibility for the war and compensate China for its losses.

These conditions are basically what a winner deserves, and the United States and Britain do not have too many objections, after all, they have always played like this, which has become the rule of their peers, and the loser will have to cede the land and pay compensation, and there is no other negotiation.

However, whether Tokyo can accept it or not is still a matter of choice, and the new emperor Hirohito was actually in high spirits at the beginning of the war. He did not believe that China would be able to withstand a Japanese attack. In most cases, like the First Sino-Japanese War, Japan will once again be able to extend its tentacles into the Asian continent and realize the grand hegemony of Emperor Meiji.

Hirohito was not unaware of China's growing military strength, but Hirohito still firmly believed that Japan could win, after all, the First Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War were both weak and strong, and this time Japan's naval power also occupied a great advantage, and the loyal and brave Imperial Japanese Army would definitely be able to win the final victory.

But after the real war. It shocked Hirohito, both on land and at sea, he was passively beaten everywhere, and he was defeated one after another, and the huge ships of the navy sank to the bottom of the sea one after another.

In particular, the loss of the Ryukyus hit Hirohito the hardest, and it was the land that was taken over in the Meiji era. Now that he has been taken back by the Chinese, isn't he a loser!

Even more alarming to Hirohito was the suicide attack on Kure Harbor, where twenty planes penetrated deep into the Japanese mainland and sank the last two aircraft carriers, which undoubtedly meant that the mainland was not safe either!

Kure Harbor was attacked! Tokyo will be attacked as well!!

If the warship can be blown up and sunk, whether the emperor's safety is also threatened, and whether Japan's homeland air defense is not a joke, these terrible thoughts linger in Hirohito's heart. Let him not forget it for a long time.

Every night, Hirohito would even wake up from a nightmare. As long as there was any movement in the palace, Hirohito would be awakened. Did the Chinese plane arrive?

In this torture, Hirohito is getting thinner and thinner, his eyes are red, it is obvious that he has reached a limit, the news of China's air raid on Tanegashima is the last straw that breaks the camel's back, Hirohito gathered all the civil and military officials together overnight, Prime Minister Wakatsuki Reijiro, the representative of the army Tanaka Yoshika, the most powerful Yamamoto Gonbei of the navy, the patriarch Saionji Konobo and other important ministers gathered in the palace.

Hirohito barely controlled his emotions, and still asked in a calm voice: "Zhongqing, the war between the empire and China has been going on to this point, who has a solution to the current dilemma, and what is China's bottom line?" And what did the Great Powers think? ”

Everyone present knew that Japan was in a bad situation, but no one wanted to say anything, and saying too much at such a juncture would mean that they would have to bear the blame, and in the end Prime Minister Reijiro Wakatsuki had no choice but to speak.

"Your Majesty, the Chinese side has put forward a demand for peace talks, and our side must admit the defeat, compensate for the losses, and at the same time hand over Taiwan, Okinawa, Sakhalin and other territories to China, and also recognize the establishment of the Korean state as a buffer zone between China and Japan; The Great Powers have sent several telegrams demanding that the Empire accept the terms of the talks, and the United States has also sent secret telegrams privately, hoping that the Empire will choose peace talks, and the United States will guarantee to maintain the Empire's sphere of influence as much as possible! ”

When Hirohito heard this, he asked, "Does the Prime Minister think the empire should accept peace talks?" ”

This sentence was asked, and Retsuro Wakatsuki suddenly didn't know what to say, according to the current situation, it was a blessing in misfortune to negotiate as soon as possible to keep the Far East and southern Korea, but would Japan be willing to spit out most of the land that had been hard won over the years!

Will those fanatical middle- and lower-level officers and ordinary people agree, Prime Minister Hara Jing is a lesson from the past, and it is necessary to guard against it, of course, what is even more incomprehensible is Hirohito's attitude, if the emperor agrees to peace talks, it would be good, if he does not agree, a traitor's hat will be buttoned down, who can bear it.

However, as the prime minister, you can't say that you don't have an attitude, that would be even more contemptible, so Retsuro Wakatsuki said cautiously: "Your Majesty, whether or not to agree to peace talks must be based on the interests of the empire as the primary consideration, if the army can still fight, we should insist, if not, it is better to end it as soon as possible." ”

If Reijiro Watsuki kicked the ball at the feet of the army, Tanaka Yoshiichi and Yamamoto Gonbei couldn't help but speak, Yamamoto Gonbei took the lead in bowing and saluting, and then said: "Your Majesty, I think the empire should not accept peace talks easily, the empire is not smooth on the battlefield, once the peace talks begin, you will face the blackmail of the Shina people, not only to hand over the land, but also to pay compensation, the contradiction between the empire and the Shina has been going on for a long time, and the Shina people will definitely get an inch, insatiable!" ”

Hirohito nodded, in fact, this is what he has been worried about, in the First Sino-Japanese War, Japan slaughtered China, and now that the positions of the two sides have been reversed, can Japan not be afraid. Moreover, China's high-level anti-Japanese tendencies are very serious. Can they give up the opportunity to be ruthless against Japan, and besides, China is not a rich country, and the lion will definitely open its mouth.

"Aiqing Yamamoto, since you are against peace talks, then there must be a way to deal with the people of China, speak out and listen!"

Yamamoto hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, this time the navy of the Shina people attacked Tanegashima. This is already the last barrier of the Empire, and it must not be lost, so I suggest that the main force of the Imperial Navy be put into it, keep Tanegashima, and take the opportunity to sink the fleet in China! ”

When Hirohito heard this, a look of doubt appeared on his face. Hurriedly asked: "Yamamoto Aiqing, the Imperial Navy has lost the help of the air force, can it still deal with the Chinese people?" ”

After Hirohito asked, Tanaka Yoshiichi on the side hurriedly spoke: "Your Majesty, the army aviation also has some cutting-edge pilots who can provide escort for the navy, as long as the battleships can approach the Shina fleet, they can sink the opponent's aircraft carrier!" ”

Tanegashima is just over 100 kilometers from Japan. Land-based aircraft taking off from the Japanese island of Kyushu are more than enough to cover here. Therefore, this method is very good, but the Japanese navy and army have been at odds before. Japan, on the other hand, does not have an independent air force, only naval aviation and army aviation, which belong to the navy and the army.

According to the consistent virtue of the Japanese, the two armies are opposites, and the army will definitely not provide aviation to escort the navy, but now is a matter of life and death, and the two sides cannot but work together and prepare to rely on their own superiority to inflict heavy damage on China's aircraft carrier fleet.

After careful consultations, Japan finally approved this battle plan, and for this reason Japan transferred the last batch of pilots to Kyushu Island, and assembled more than 170 planes, which can be said to be the last strength of Japan.

However, as Tanaka Yoshiichi described, these pilots are indeed cutting-edge pilots, and the best flight time among them does not exceed 120 hours, and many of them can only take off simply, and do not know how to fight at all, and it is still too difficult to pose a threat to China's aircraft carriers with such pilots, but the Japanese are now learning and selling, and they have also made a batch of suicide planes, preparing to carry out a kamikaze attack on China.

After China occupied the Ryukyus, Japan's southern sea trade routes were completely cut off, and submarine warfare made Japan even more miserable, and the Japanese cargo ships sunk by China accounted for more than 60 percent of the total tonnage before the war, and the remaining ships were no longer enough to maintain the needs of an island nation.

In order to meet the needs of the battlefield, the Japanese government has already deprived the peasants of the last grain of grain, and it can be said that the Japanese government is already sitting on a powder keg, and a larger-scale rice riot is brewing, and the destructive power is bound to be even more amazing.

In fact, Japan had no way to retreat, and the Battle of Tanegashima had to be won, otherwise the Japanese people's morale would collapse first, and after intense preparations, all the remaining battleships of the Japanese Combined Fleet, with the Nagato as the core, quietly left the Seto Inland Sea and headed for Kyushu Island.

The Chinese side is also aware of Japan's changes, and China's reconnaissance planes also frequently visit Kyushu Island, and Japan has to build many airports in order to arrange planes, and these cannot be completely unaware, and China's intelligence system also has a lot of influence in Japan, especially Qiao Yu once funded two Japanese, Shimoda Takao and Mizumura Masa.

They are all the leaders of the rice turmoil, and there is still a group of followers in Japan, especially after receiving funding from China, their power has developed rapidly, and a large net has been spread in Japan, although the top level has not yet been reached, but a large number of Japanese warships have been dispatched, and the port of Kure has been emptied, they can still be aware of it, and the intelligence soon spread to the Chinese navy.

Chen Shaokuan, Tang Qianming, Shen Honglie and others were all in the command room above the starting point to carefully look at the combat map, Tang Qianming said with a smile: "This time Japan is afraid that it will be the last dying struggle, and we will also have to fight a decisive battle!" (To be continued.) )