Emperor Meiji of Japan had already made up his mind to join this war against the Chinese Empire in order to repay the blood debt left by Lin Daxin to Japan, so the Entente and the Allied Powers were only willing to give all kinds of technology, and were unwilling to give loans and free aid, and the Japanese did not change their original intentions, but still stepped up their arrangements in Japan and prepared to declare war on the Chinese Empire.

The Americans, who were preparing to join Japan in the war, heard that the Allied and Allied powers were unwilling to provide Japan with a loan or free aid, so they took the initiative to contact the Japanese and gave the Japanese a loan of 50 million US dollars to serve as Japan's military expenses in this war.

The United States considers, after all, it has signed a unilateral offensive and defensive alliance with Japan against the Chinese Empire, and this time the United States and Japan join the war together, which can be regarded as an extension of that offensive and defensive alliance, and the United States also needs Japan to play the role of the younger brother of the United States in this war, especially in the army, the Americans are ready to use their American Army and the Japanese Army together, and it is very necessary to show goodwill to Japan at this time.

Japan received some much-needed technology from the Entente and the Allies, and also received a large loan from the United States, so the declaration of war against the Chinese Empire was already on the agenda, and the United States also obtained from the Entente and the Allies the production technology of new air defense weapons against the Chinese Imperial Air Force, and began to brew the matter of declaring war on the Chinese Empire.

In recent years, the intelligence network of the Chinese Empire has spread to most countries in the world, especially those countries in the world that have conflicts of interest with the Chinese Empire, and the strength of the intelligence department of the Chinese Empire cannot be underestimated. It is impossible for the Chinese Empire not to be unaware of such a big move by Japan and the United States.

In the Qianqing Palace in the Forbidden City in Beijing, the capital of the Chinese Empire. Lin Daxin urgently summoned Wang Yan, prime minister of the cabinet, Wu Peifu, minister of national defense, Jiang Hui, vice minister in charge of the navy of the Ministry of National Defense, and Li Kun, director of the Military Intelligence Bureau.

Lin Daxin said to Li Kun, director of the Military Intelligence Bureau, in a deep voice: "Tell Premier Wang, Minister Wu and Minister Jiang about the information obtained by the Military Intelligence Bureau. ”

Li Kun immediately said: "Premier Wang, Minister Wu, Minister Jiang. According to the information obtained by our military intelligence bureau from many countries, it can be confirmed that Japan and the United States are ready to join the war between our Chinese Empire and the Entente and the Allied Powers, and the Entente and the Allied Powers have agreed that the two countries will join their side, and at present Japan and the United States are making pre-war preparations and may declare war on our Chinese Empire at any time. ”

Wang Yan, Wu Peifu and Jiang Hui couldn't help but frown when they heard this information.

Prime Minister Wang Yan frowned and said: "Your Majesty, the strength of Japan and the United States is not weak, especially the US Navy is definitely a strong enemy, plus Japan is next to us. In Yichen's view, the United States and Japan are ready to join this war, which is nothing more than the impact of the great victory in Ufa City declared by the Entente and the Central Powers, and the minister thinks it is better for us to immediately hold a press conference to clarify the real data of the losses of both sides in the battle of Ufa City, so that Japan and the United States have scruples, and perhaps they will dispel their thoughts of joining this war. ”

Lin Daxin sat on the throne of the main hall, waved his hand and said, "The Entente and the Central Powers claim to have annihilated more than 2 million of our army elites in the Battle of Ufa City. I don't want to talk to them, anyway, it is difficult to distinguish between the true and the false, so it is better to compete on the battlefield. So they let them brag, but they didn't expect that anyone really believed the Entente and the Central Powers, who couldn't get a draft, and the Japanese and Americans popped up at this time. I want to fall into the trap of our Chinese empire, and we will come out to clarify it at this time. The Japanese and Americans will also think that we are afraid of them and cover up our defeat in the battle of Ufa with false data. I see that we are not clarifying, the Japanese and the Americans are determined to join this war. ”

Wang Yan thought for a while and sighed and said: "Dealing with the Entente and the Allies, we have already made our Chinese Empire exert all its strength, and now there are more Japan and the United States, and if this war is to achieve final victory, there will be many twists and turns." ”

Wu Peifu also said at this time: "If Japan and the United States join this war, our strategy will also need to be adjusted considerably, and we must immediately transfer troops to Far Eastern Province, North Island Province, and Yalu River Province, after all, the Japanese are very close to these three provinces, especially North Island Province and Japan's Honshu Island are only separated by a light Tsu Strait, and it is very easy for Japanese land forces to land in North Island Province." ”

Kitajima Province is a few years ago Lin Daxin forcibly seized the island of Hokkaido from the Japanese, this island was originally the second largest island in Japan, but now it has become a province of the Chinese Empire, and there are no Japanese living on it in Kitajima Province, a few years ago after Lin Daxin's war with the Eight-Nation Alliance was completely over, the Japanese in Kitajima Province were sent back to Japan by Lin Daxin by boat, and now there are more than 400,000 Chinese immigrants living in Kitajima Province.

In order to ensure the safety of the civilians of the Chinese Empire in Kitajima Province, in addition to a 60,000-strong garrison of Kitajima Province in Kitajima Province, there are more than 50,000 people from the 3rd Marine Division stationed at the naval base in Hakodate Port, just to guard against the Japanese, in the battle to attack Australia and New Zealand, 3 Marine Divisions were mobilized, but the 3rd Marine Division did not move, and has been staying at the naval base in Hakodate Port. In the port of Hakodate, the Imperial Chinese Navy also stationed a garrison fleet of Hakodate Port, which was not weak.

Lin Daxin asked Li Kun: "How many standing armies does Japan have now?" ”

Li Kun replied: "The Japanese Army currently has 96 standing heavy divisions, and the strength of these 96 standing heavy divisions is nearly 2.9 million, and Japan is expanding 40 light divisions, and if these 40 light divisions are completed, the strength of the Japanese Army will exceed 4 million." ”

Lin Daxin said to Wu Peifu: "Ziyu, Japan's declaration of war on us at this time has already threatened the security of our homeland, they are too close to us, and most of our army's forces are now invested in the Russian battlefield, how many additional troops can be sent to Far East Province, North Island Province and Yalu River Province in a short period of time?" ”

Wu Peifu hesitated for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, the Second Guard, the Seventh Guard, and the Eighth Guard. All of them can be sent to the three provinces mentioned above, and the Sixteenth, Seventeenth, and Eighteenth Field Armies that are ready to be sent to the Russian battlefield can also be transferred to the above three provinces. After all, we will not make much movement in the Russian theater in a short time, everything will have to wait for the opening of the railway from the city of Novosibirsk to the Ural Mountains. We will launch a new offensive against the combined forces of the Entente and the Central Powers, and at present our army is temporarily on the defensive in the Ural Mountains, and a dozen main armies on the front line are sufficient to cope with the offensive of the coalition forces. ”

Lin Daxin nodded and said: "Then transfer the 6 main forces to the Far East Province, Beidao Province and Yalu River Province, plus the current garrisons of the 3 provinces, which also have more than 1 million troops, it should be no problem to hold these 3 provinces, and in the face of Japan, our Royal Navy is the main force." When it is completed, your navy will immediately mobilize the main fleet and station it at the naval base in the port of Busan, the naval base in the port of Vladivostok, and the naval base in the port of Hakodate. ”

Upon hearing the emperor's order, Jiang Hui immediately said: "Your Majesty rest assured, the minister immediately transferred warships from the main fleet and stationed them in the naval bases of the three provinces, and now our navy has 12 admiral-class super dreadnought battleships in service, the Japanese naval combined fleet." If it weren't for the fact that the U.S. Navy would definitely help the Japanese Navy, our Imperial Chinese Navy would even be able to penetrate Tokyo Bay and bomb Japan's Tokyo into a pile of ruins. ”

Lin Daxin said: "We really need to be wary of the United States. The Americans' navy has a lot of strength, and their 6 super dreadnought battleships have just been commissioned, plus the Americans' original 26 dreadnought battleships and 31 all-steel battleships. Definitely one of the fierce rivals of the Royal Navy of our Imperial Chinese Empire. The Navy's task will be very difficult in the future, not only to prepare for the possible re-formation of the Combined Expeditionary Fleet by the Entente and the Central Powers. It is also necessary to guard against the powerful US Navy, and even the Japanese Navy cannot be underestimated. The Japanese Navy also had as many as 11 dreadnought battleships. ”

At this time, Wang Yan suggested and said: "Your Majesty, Japan is an island country, can we concentrate the main force of the Royal Navy, and annihilate the main force of the Japanese Navy in one fell swoop before the US Navy arrives in Japan, so that the Japanese have more than 4 million land forces, and they cannot threaten the mainland of our Chinese Empire, you must know that the combat effectiveness of the Japanese Army is definitely not much worse than that of the Entente and the Allied Countries, the only difference is weapons, if the Japanese Army has more than 4 million troops, It's all on our heads, and for the Royal Army, which needs to fight on several fronts, the pressure will be very great. ”

Lin Daxin patted his forehead and said: "I also understand how great the threat of Japan's more than 4 million army forces to our Chinese empire is, but it is definitely not a simple matter to annihilate the main force of the Japanese navy. ”

Jiang Hui said with a wry smile: "Prime Minister, Japan has built a large number of artillery batteries in many ports where its navy is stationed, and many large-caliber coastal defense guns are placed in these batteries, and before the US Navy arrives in Japan, the Japanese navy will definitely retreat in these ports, and if our navy forcibly launches an attack on these ports, it will really succeed in annihilating the main force of the Japanese navy, and our navy's own losses will definitely be very, very large!" Our navy had to deal with not only the Japanese navy, but also the more powerful Allied and Allied navies, as well as the U.S. navy, which needed our Royal Navy to resist, so it was impossible for our navy to consume all the strength of the Japanese ports. ”

Wang Yan sighed and said: "The combined strength of the U.S. Navy and the Japanese Navy is not even weaker than the Royal Navy of our Chinese Empire, and then counting the navies of the Entente and the Allied Powers, the task of the next Navy is indeed very arduous, although the U.S. Army is not very strong, but now the strength is more than one million, plus the more than 4 million Japanese Army, this time it will add more than 5 million enemies to our Army, which is really bad enough, since it is impossible to prevent the United States and Japan from entering the war, The Navy will not be able to add more warships in a short period of time, so I wonder if the Army will be expanded again? to counter the threat from the Japanese Army and the US Army. ”

Wu Peifu said at this time: "In the battle of Ufa City, the number of casualties of our front-line troops exceeded 480,000, and there were tens of thousands of wounded, and they could not return to the team in the short term, so we need to replenish about 530,000 officers and soldiers to the troops on the front line of the Ural Mountains, and the Fifth Field Army and the Sixth Field Army withdrawn from India also need to replenish more than 70,000 people, and these more than 600,000 officers and soldiers will be replenished into the troops. But junior officers are a big problem. ”

Lin Daxin stood up at this time and said loudly to Wu Peifu: "Premier Wang's suggestion is very right, our Chinese Empire now has to face the Entente Britain, France, Russia, the Allied Germany, Italy, Austria and Turkey, as well as the United States and Japan that are preparing to join the war, we need to strengthen the strength of our own army in order to deal with the joint attack of so many enemies, Ziyu, the Ministry of Defense immediately began to prepare for the expansion of 2 new guards and 5 new field armies, and the grassroots officers are not enough to be drawn from the garrison army, of course, from the garrison army of the inland provinces, In addition, some veterans in the army can also be promoted to serve as grassroots officers of the newly formed troops, and if they are not enough, they can also directly pull out the students of the Shenyang Military Academy, and the battlefield is the best military school, and it is completely possible to let the military cadets who have studied systematically for two or three years serve as the grassroots officers of the newly formed troops. ”

The normal school system of the Shenyang Army Academy is four years, and at present, the fourth-year military cadets of the Shenyang Army Academy have not yet graduated, and at the time of the last expansion, they were assigned to various units to serve as grass-roots officers.

Lin Daxin turned his head to Jiang Hui and said: "In the naval battle of Chittagong, the two Bellerophon-class dreadnought battleships captured by the navy have already been repaired, and personnel will be arranged to go to the shipyard to receive them immediately, and other warships captured in the naval battle will also be arranged to go up, which is also a large sea force." (To be continued.) )