Yoshiichi Tanaka had just stepped down, and Japan's new prime minister had not yet taken office. The defeat of Lushun and Shanghai again cast a shadow over the arrogant island nation.

China's strong arms sales capability has also made the voices of those clamoring to continue attacking China's right-wing forces become less and less. Even if you are arrogant, you can see that people have the ability to produce those equipment. Not to mention that Japan doesn't have the technology to produce those things now, even if it does, it can't produce so much. The scarcity of resources has greatly limited Japan's production capacity, and it is difficult to meet the needs of imports alone.

After decades of gambling, Japan is in a winning position. Whether it was the First Sino-Japanese War or the Russo-Japanese War, Japan was gambling on its national fortunes, and it won the first few gambling victories and also gained great benefits. The gamble, which I thought would be a sure bet, unexpectedly failed, which made the Japanese side extremely depressed. But what can be done, the situation is stronger than people. The navy did not dare to attack, at least until new battleships came out, and it could not confront the Chinese fleet.

The Japanese Admiralty lamented more than once, 'Why did Shina have the strength to build such a battleship, with a displacement of 50,000 tons, and the empire did not have a plan for such a battleship until now.'" But he was lucky, at least he didn't sleep at the bottom of the sea like Shirakawa Yoshinori.

The intelligence department in Zhonghua has been wiped out, and the current Japanese side knows very little about the Chinese side. Today, however, the Japanese side still received a piece of news, a piece of information deliberately revealed by the Chinese side.

After Yoshinori Tanaka went to the wilderness, Yuyuki Hamaguchi became the prime minister. This is a completely different prime minister from Yoshiichi Tanaka, who is a prime minister who does not support foreign expansion. After that, the navy was cut for a time, which aroused the dissatisfaction of the right-wing forces and the military department, and he was assassinated in 1930, which led to the Manchurian Incident in later generations.

However, the current Yuyuki Hamaguchi has only just sat on the throne minister, and he is not the real prime minister yet.

Base camp in Japan.

The deputy chief of staff was the first to speak: "Your Majesty the Emperor, after the Chinese side occupied Lushun, their fleet has cut off our connection with Taiwan, and the Chinese side has sent us a message that if we do not surrender, Taiwan will be attacked in three days. ”

"Your Majesty the Emperor, please allow our navy to form a combined fleet and wipe out the Shina navy in one fell swoop. As long as the other side's navy is wiped out, Taiwan can be saved. Admiral Keisuke Okada said with a resolute expression. At this time, when he heard that China was going to attack Taiwan, he no longer cared about what was not local.

"Is the Navy capable of annihilating the China fleet? Even if it succeeds, will our navy still have the strength to protect our lifeline? "Hirohito did not agree to the proposal of the Minister of the Navy, the main thing is that he cannot afford to lose, and if the Navy also fails, it will really be irreparable. At that time, the only result for Japan will be that the 100-year effort will be ruined, and it will not be able to afford this crime, and it will not want to bear it.

During the period of Japanese rule in Taiwan, it was stipulated that the army and military police were responsible for the security of the mountain area; The police are responsible for the security of the village; Between the mountains and the villages, the gendarmes and the police are on guard. This is a colonial law in which the army, the military police, and the police work together to suppress the people who rule Taiwan. During the Japanese occupation, there was a common saying among Taiwanese people to scare children: "Adults are coming!" The so-called "adult" refers to the Japanese police at the time. In 1896, the first Japanese policemen arrived in Taiwan. Since then, the police, with the Japanese police as the main body, have become a ghost that has penetrated into the daily lives of the Chinese, and they are the executioners who directly slaughtered the Chinese in Taiwan. The Japanese police are present in all corners of Taiwanese society, and Taiwan has become a veritable police society. Taking 1902 as an example, there were 10 police sections, 97 branch offices, and 992 police stations in Taiwan, and at the most in the future, there were more than 1,500 police agencies of various types and more than 18,000 policemen. In Taiwan's economically developed areas, there is a police presence every 2 or 3 kilometers; There is one police officer for every 300 people. Taiwan under Japanese occupation can be said to be the world of Japanese police, and under the fascist control of the police, the basic rights of Chinese are deprived.

The most important thing for Taiwan to Japan is that the sugar industry is also the resource that Japan has plundered the most. However, Taiwan's annual expenditure accounts for 7 percent of Japan's total economic output, and if it were not for the sugar industry to make up for it, it can be said that Japan would not be of any economic help if it took Taiwan. There was also a joke at the beginning, '100 million francs to sell Taiwan.'" However, this is economic, as well as military and strategic, and Taiwan's strategic significance to Japan is very important, and its role in protecting and maintaining the lifeline of the sea is irreplaceable. This is also one of the reasons why Keisuke Okada is so excited, the lifeline at sea is gone, and the fuel and steel for returning to the army will be greatly reduced, which is enough to kill the navy.

"Your Majesty the Emperor, why don't you make peace with China, since we are not ready for war, why do we have to hold on. What I'm worried about now is not Taiwan, but the DPRK, and if the Chinese side attacks the DPRK, then our efforts for several generations will come to naught. However, it is not yet known whether Taiwan can be saved. "Yuyuki Hamaguchi has never supported a war against China, and even if there is a war, it will have to develop the domestic economy, and how can a war be fought without economic strength.

Hamaguchi's words made the originally quiet base camp talk for a while. In fact, many people think the same thing as Yuyuki Hamaguchi, but they don't dare to bring it up. There are also many people in the army who support peace for the time being, and when they are strong enough, they will repay today's shame.

"Talking about peace means defeat, and that will make our hard-won international status collapse in an instant. The empire's international influence will also cease to exist. Admiral Minister Keisuke Okada did not approve of such a proposal.

"But you know, now we don't have the ability to fight anymore." Yuyuki Hamaguchi responded.

Keisuke Okada: "We still have a navy, and we can mobilize the people to fight. ”

"But you must know that the Chinese Navy has two very powerful battleships, and more than ten other advanced ships, and many of our navy's warships are old ships. As for what is said about mobilizing the people to participate in the war, it is even more nonsense. Mobilizing citizens to fight a war with little future would destroy the fruits of our generations' efforts. Our economic power will also set back by decades. For Keisuke Okada's words, Yuyuki Hamaguchi fought back sharply.

"Don't talk about it, we haven't reached the point where we have to negotiate peace with China." Hirohito listened to it for a long time, and finally made a version.

"Does Your Majesty agree to send the navy to fight a decisive battle with the Chinese navy?" Keisuke Okada was very happy to hear that the emperor was on his side.

"Your Majesty, the navy can't move." Although Hirohito did not support Hamaguchi Yuyuki, he did not intend to let the navy get his wish, but still insisted on his idea: "Our homeland and North Korea's maritime transportation need to be maintained by the navy, and if the navy is damaged, we will not be able to achieve our goal, and we will probably lose North Korea." ”

"Your Excellency, what do you mean, why do you keep saying that the navy will definitely fail, and why do you keep saying that the navy will definitely fail. Don't forget the annihilation of the Beiyang Naval Division and the Russian Pacific Fleet, which time was not that we were at a disadvantage, but we used our lives and won in the end. Keisuke Okada said unhappily.

"Your Majesty, I have no intention of doing so, just on the facts. This time is different from the past, now our Third Fleet has been completely annihilated, its strength has been greatly reduced, and it is difficult to guarantee that the other side has no other warships, if it were me, I would not have lifted all the hole cards. You must know that before China dispatched the fleet, we didn't have any news at all, what if the other side still had hole cards? There is a saying in China that 'knowing oneself and knowing one's opponent will not be defeated in a hundred battles', and now we have not even figured out the specific situation of the other side, let alone winning a war. Yuyuki Hamaguchi retorted.

Regarding Hamaguchi Yuyuki's rebuttal, Keisuke Okada couldn't find a word to answer at once, so he could only keep quiet helplessly. It's not that he hasn't thought about this, but he doesn't dare to think about it. If the Chinese side really still has hole cards, then Japan can only be defeated, which is unacceptable to him.

Hirohito also made a difficulty, and the peace talks meant failure, and it was also a failure during his own tenure, which was a black spot that could not be erased. If it weren't for the peace talks, once the situation mentioned by Yuyuki Hamaguchi happened, then he really had no face to meet the emperors of the past dynasties.

"The navy did not dispatch, but the Taiwan side did not reply, and ordered Kawamura Takeji (the governor of Taiwan at this time) to gather all the police forces and armed expatriates to cooperate with the garrison division to resist the Chinese offensive, and we must hold Taiwan, so that we can have a chance." In the end, the emperor reluctantly announced this decision.

Hirohito's final decision, so that Hamaguchi Yuyuki can only reluctantly accept, this is also the best way at present.

――――――――――――――

On 7 July, Kinmen Island had become the general headquarters of the Battle of the Ascendancy.

After three days of preparation, a brigade of marines and two corps of infantry have been assembled here. The airfield in Xiamen was also simply built, and a large group of bombers and fighters was also gathered there. On the naval side, two battleships and eight cruisers, eight destroyers, plus a large number of amphibious landing ships also arrived in Keelung.

The battle was jointly commanded by Cai Yi and Chen Shaokuan, with the Marines as the core of the attack, and the infantry of the two armies at the rear. Cooperate with naval artillery and air force to carry out three-dimensional sea, air, and ground strikes, wipe out the Japanese army in Taiwan in one fell swoop, recover the motherland's treasure island, and regain the dignity of the country.

Before Cai Ye set off, Chen Shao solemnly explained: "This battle must be fought beautifully, only when this battle is fought well, can we really rise." ’

During the attack on Taiwan, the troops of a certain army had already assembled on the Korean side, assuming a posture of attacking at any time.

(To be continued)