H2> Japanese concession was forcibly entered and searched by the Huafu army, which was quickly reported by the Japanese consulate personnel, and reported to Japan at a very fast speed, and in the morning, the news was reported to Japanese Prime Minister Shigenobu Okuma.

This big man, who served three terms as Japan's foreign minister and two terms as prime minister, was an advocate and practitioner of the invasion of China's territory; he formulated the incident of forcing Yuan Shikai to sign the 21 Articles, invaded and occupied Qingdao and Jinan, implemented radical reform programs at home, and carried out militarist aggression abroad; he was an out-and-out politician and aggressor.

Okuma Shigenobu was shocked to hear that Guo Yu sent troops to forcibly break into and search the Japanese concession in China, and also killed and injured many Japanese nationals. After all, interests in China are the center of Japan's East Asian aggression plan, as the prime minister of Japan, a qualified politician, understanding the changes in the political situation in the Republic of China is a necessary lesson, and Guo Yu's sudden rise is also the focus of many people's attention, and it is also one of the important tasks sent to the consul of the Republic of China to win over the warlords of the Republic of China.

Nowadays, there has been an incident in which the Japanese concession was broken into and Japanese nationals were killed. Bare. Naked provocation, is an unforgivable act, must receive punishment and retaliation, after hearing this, Okuma Shigenobu's first reaction is anger, in his heart is to look down on the Republic of China, in the past few decades, the decaying Qing Dynasty has brought China into the abyss, the Japanese can stand on the Republic of China and ravage at will, what a happy thing, now there is a small warlord in the Republic of China to stand up and challenge the authority of a country in Japan, this is an unforgivable act.

"Why did this happen, why did Guo Yu break into the concession and kill Japanese nationals." Shigenobu Okuma asked his secretary with a gloomy face.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, according to the report of the consulate in China, the Shanghai consul Harada Yizhi was dissatisfied with Guo Yu's monopoly on the silk market in the Republic of China and the impact on the empire's overseas silk export trade, and after negotiating with Guo Yu to no avail, he dispatched the Shanghai ninja team to destroy Guo Yu's silk factory, which was discovered and chased by the other party, our ninja warriors were killed and wounded 43 people, and the rest fled back to the Japanese concession, and then Guo Yu's army launched a search on the Japanese concession, and exchanged fire with the ninja team in the Japanese concession, killing 5 people and capturing 8 people, The eight people who are still alive have been taken to their barracks by Guo Yu. "The secretary reported the situation as it was.

"Bastard, what a waste, such a little thing turned out like this, that Harada Takeshi is such a stupid. This Guo Yu is also hateful, he dared to send troops to search the Japanese concession, doesn't he know that the concession represents the territory of a country, and he must not be let go lightly. "Okuma Shigenobu also knew about silk, and the Ministry of Agriculture reported it to him.

After a while, Shigenobu Okuma gave instructions to his secretary and informed the foreign ministers, Tibetan ministers, land ministers, and sea ministers to hold a meeting to discuss the response to the Shanghai concession incident.

Thirty minutes later, at the official residence of the Japanese Prime Minister, Shigenobu Okuma took the main seat, and Foreign Minister Kikujiro Ishii, Minister of Treasures Taketomi Totoshi, Land Minister Kenichi Oshima, and Sea Minister Yuzaburo Kato sat on either side.

Okuma Shigenobu glanced at the few people present with a stern expression and said in a deep voice, "Everyone, a major event happened in China early this morning, Guo Yu, the overseer of Jiangsu Province of the Republic of China, sent troops to forcibly enter the Japanese Concession, and killed 5 expatriates and wounded 8 people in the Japanese Concession, and brought all these expatriates to the Republic of China army station and imprisoned them, on the grounds that the Japanese expatriates destroyed the factories of the Chinese people, and the 43 Japanese ninja warriors who participated in the destruction of the factories were directly killed in the factory by the Republic of China army. This matter is very strict, it has affected the reputation of our Japanese Empire, and it has damaged the sovereignty of the concession. ”

"Your Excellency Kikujiro, you are the Imperial Foreign Minister, and this incident was caused by Takeshi Harada of the Shanghai Consulate, how does your Ministry of Foreign Affairs deal with such a strict diplomatic incident." Shigenobu Okuma asked.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, now that such a thing has happened, our Ministry of Foreign Affairs bears a certain responsibility, and I will deal with the relevant personnel afterwards, but for Guo Yu, who dares to provoke the authority of the empire, the empire must not forgive him lightly, if this Shanghai concession incident is not handled well, the national pride and national self-confidence of the empire will be hit, and even His Majesty the Emperor will not agree." Kikujiro Ishii said with a calm face.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, as the highest organ of the Japanese government responsible for foreign relations, handles foreign policy, the dispatch of envoys, trade and navigation, and the conclusion of treaties, and acts as a bridge between the units stationed abroad and the domestic government, and is responsible for intelligence gathering and analysis, care and protection of overseas Chinese, and cultural propaganda.

This incident is mainly designed to the specific affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the cause of the incident is also caused by the Shanghai Consulate, so Ishii Kikujiro can only admit this responsibility, but Ishihara Takeshi, who is not good, is full of resentment.

"What is the opinion of the War Office and the Admiralty?" Shigenobu Okuma looked at the land minister Kenichi Oshima and the sea minister Yuzaburo Kato.

Lu Xiang Oshima Kenichi frowned and said: "We only have 2,000 people in the Tianjin garrison in China, the Northeast Manchuria garrison, including the road escort team, there are about 10,000 people, and Qingdao Jinan has about 3,000 people, Guo Yu's Huafu army showed a high tactical level, and the weapons were very sophisticated, the Huafu army even had a chariot storage, and in the end, if it wasn't for the Republic of China government bowing its head, it is estimated that Guo Yu would have conquered the territory of several provinces. ”

"Then which of Guo Yu's army is stronger than the empire's army?" Prime Minister Takeshi Tomi asked.

"This is not a good evaluation, because the soldiers of the Beiyang government have always been low, and the Chinese do not have any modern militarization concept in war, otherwise they would not invite our Japanese army to help them train the army, but according to intelligence, the weapons of this Huafu army are very sophisticated, with a large number of machine guns, grenades, artillery and combat vehicles, and the strength of equipment should be stronger than that of the imperial army." Kenichi Oshima analyzed.

"Then we will threaten them from the sea, Guo Yu is just a local warlord, he does not have a navy, even if it is the navy of the Republic of China government, there are only a few small boats, and they are not in the eyes of the imperial combined fleet at all." Umi Kato Yuzaburo said.

The development of the Japanese army and navy is unbalanced, as an island country, Japan attaches the most importance to its own naval construction, and now the Japanese army has 21 divisions and regiments, the number of which is about 400,000 people, and its army size is not ranked at all in the world, while the Japanese navy is investing heavily in development, at this time the total tonnage has exceeded 700,000 tons, ranking fifth in the world's navy, and several dreadnought-class warships launched in recent years have made the Japanese navy burst with information, and it feels that it is to challenge Germany and have the power to fight a war.

In the Battle of Japan in the Russo-Japanese War, after Japan's great victory over the Russian Pacific Fleet, Japan's momentum reached its peak, and counting the battleships it built and the ships that captured Russia, Japan became a world naval power and the largest naval power in East Asia.

I heard Kato Yuzaburo continue: "Now that the two southern fleets are fighting jointly with the British fleet to compete for German colonies around the world, it is difficult for the First Fleet, as the local defense force, to be dispatched, and I think the Second Fleet can carry out the mission of threatening to attack Jiangsu." ”

Okuma Shigenobu thought about it for a while and nodded and said: "The Second Fleet has participated in the Battle of Incheon, the Battle of Ulsan, and the Battle of the Sea of Japan between Japan and Russia, and is a fleet with rich combat experience, and Rear Admiral Tsuchiya Kanemitsu commanded the Second Fleet also has outstanding achievements, I think we can send them to Shanghai to directly threaten Jiangsu, let Guo Yu bow his head, we are seeking greater benefits from it, I believe that it is also feasible to establish an independent Japanese concession in Shanghai, and we are trying to subdue Guo Yu, or let him be the spokesperson for our interests in China." ”

Shigenobu Okuma believed very much that the Second Fleet had such a capability, because after Japan declared war on Germany, it was the Second Fleet that was sent to shell Qingdao from the sea, causing casualties among the German army and a large number of ordinary Qingdao citizens, and finally the Japanese Army captured and occupied Qingdao.

The Second Fleet was entirely devoted to cruisers and cruisers as the main force of the front-line forces. Its combat power is even stronger than that of the First Fleet, which is the home escort force, and the Second Fleet is the fleet that exists as an outgoing strike mission.

"Please ask the Ministry of Finance to do a good job in the budget for sending troops." Okuma Shigenobu said to Okuma Prime Minister Taketoshi Tomitoshi. The Ministry of Finance, as the financial agency of the central government of Japan, is in charge of Japan's finances, finance, and taxation.

It is estimated that it will not take much time to send troops this time, and the cost of sending troops to the Second Fleet should not be large, so the Prime Minister of Finance, Taketomi Tokitoshi, agreed without too much consideration, otherwise it will be very difficult for Japan to send troops on a large scale and for a long time due to the current financial situation of Japan, so all departments of Japan will try to avoid a battle without benefits.

"Your Excellency Kikujiro, your Ministry of Foreign Affairs should do your best to send a note to the government of the Republic of China to protest against Guo Yu's act of sending troops to attack the Japanese concession, and severely punish the soldiers of the Republic of China who entered the concession. Release the captured Japanese nationals and compensate the dead and wounded Japanese nationals. We demand that the government of the Republic of China publicly apologize to the Japanese government, open Shanghai to establish an exclusive Japanese concession in Shanghai, and demand that Guo Yu accept the trial of the Japanese judicial organs. ”

"Yes, Your Excellency Prime Minister." Kikujiro Ishii replied.

"Okay guys, let's go and report this to His Majesty the Emperor." Shigenobu Okuma stood up and walked out of the office first. R1152