- Remember!

The twilight in Tokyo's Prime Minister's Office was as depressing as the overcast sky outside.

The impact of the 510 Incident three years ago on the city and the country is so great that it is difficult to describe it with any pen and ink, so much so that even today, we can still see many burned houses and workers who were injured and lost their jobs and became beggars. Although Japan received a lot of OEM orders after the outbreak of the European War, and Britain and France also took the initiative to reduce some debts, and the domestic finances finally showed signs of improving for the first time in three years, they no longer saw the fiery scene of the whole country being full of tide and excitement after the Nisshin and Nichiro wars.

What's wrong with Japan?

Yoshiichi Tanaka, who had won the two-year political battle, suddenly found that he had inherited not an imaginary Japan at all, but an extremely intractable mess. The defeat in the Continental War not only completely destroyed the gains made in the Meiji period, but also provoked fanatical populism across the sea, and various restrictions on Japan emerged. The stone is gone, the timber is gone, the coking coal is gone, and even the international students have all gone to Europe and the United States. Of the 30 kinds of important resources that have a bearing on the country's security, Japan itself can only provide two of them, and the Republic of China, which could have provided seven of them, deliberately took advantage of the war to unscrupulously trample on the "Eight Articles of the People's Agreement" that was reached at the beginning after scooping back all the tariffs and postal and telecommunications rights, and stopped exports to Japan under the pretext of war control or simply quoted a sky-high price, so that Japan suddenly returned to the environment before 1894.

No! Yang Qiu was even more amazing than he had done before 1894.

When Japan slowly struggled from the abyss, it found that the world had completely changed three years since the outbreak of the European war. The United States entered the war, the tsar fell, and Europe was exhausted with only one breath left! The Far East has become unimaginable even for a politician like him. By sending 800,000 Chinese laborers and 600,000 soldiers to the eastern and western fronts, Yang Qiu not only exchanged a huge amount of loans worth 5 billion yuan for the government of the Republic of China, but also obtained dozens of complete factories that were almost directly moved from Britain and France for free. Recently, under the slogan "Leave it to Germany and the poor party", it has been looting in Ukraine and the Urals. It is said that in Yekaterinburg and Chelyabinsk alone, dozens of tons of gold and hundreds of tons of silver were looted, and all Russian possessions in the northeast were taken over, and soon Boli and the entire Amur River valley would fall into his hands! Even if all that aside, at least 2,000 trains are moving day and night to the northeast and Kulen along the entire Trans-Siberian railway line. Let's use the simplest calculation. Based on the calculation that each train can carry 10 cars at a time and each wagon transports 30 tons, these trains can bring back 600,000 tons of various materials in one way! If you run for half a year, it will be 3 million tons! Even all the low-value steel is worth a lot of money.

Of course, Yang Qiu would not go to the precious wagons to transport cheap steel, and the gold, silver, jewelry, and complete sets of machinery and equipment that were looted were the main ones. The total value is more than the amount of loans provided by Britain and France. But these are just external inputs, and the inside is also changing with each passing day. Relying on huge local resources, the annual exports of the Republic of China to Europe have soared from 200 million US dollars in 1911 to 2 billion US dollars (about 10 billion yuan) now, of which only bulk tobacco, tung oil, refined tungsten demand, rice, pig bristles, sugar, raw silk, and cotton yarn can make a profit of 1 billion yuan per year, which is a profit not a total amount! And the largest export of ammunition and weapons for the army has broken through the stage of manufacturing and directly entered the most profitable technology transfer!

Looking back at myself, the people are still poor after decades of reckless militarism. The land problem has not yet been resolved, and food is not self-sufficient. Except for the naval warships piled up on the docks, there was hardly anything to scoop up. Therefore, Tanaka Yoshiichi was full of expectations for the Bordeaux Conference, and everyone in Japan believed that they could take the initiative to cooperate with their allies to fight against the poor Russian party, and take the opportunity of sending troops to Siberia to collect money in exchange for similar interests to the Republic of China, but a telegram shattered all illusions!

From the Amur River basin to Lake Balkhash in East Kazakhstan, the fertile land of East Siberia is 2,000 kilometers long and is entrusted by China, and Vladivostok is also directly entrusted by Britain, France, China and the United States as an international free port. Although I thought that these places would be taken over by China. But when the news came, everyone was still heartbroken. What is even more painful is that due to pressure from the United States, the Sea of Okhotsk and the Kamchatka Peninsula, which Britain had promised to itself, have been put on hold. In front of you is only a small island of birch (Sakhalin). There is a demand for coal on South Huatai Island and oil on North Huatai Island, which can indeed make up for the domestic demand a little, but the problem is that there is still no coking coal needed for smelting, and the detailed location of the large oil field with reserves of 100 million tons is also in the hands of the United States.

Buying a specific location from the United States?

Just kidding, the United States has long coveted the oil interests of Beihua Taidao, how can it be possible to sell the location of the oil field to others.

Now Tanaka Yoshiichi and the cabinet members present here regret it, and if Takahashi could firmly implement the plan proposed by Takahashi before his death to send troops in exchange for profits, everything that the Republic of China owned would now belong to Japan, and the steel and industrial revolution could be quickly completed in Japan. It is not like now, which is still in the dilemma of being half a farmer and half a worker.

"Prime Minister Tanaka. Let's not talk about the past, the Great Japanese Empire needs to look forward. "It was Yamanashi Hanzo who spoke. This lieutenant general of the army, who likes to be greedy for small and cheap, was fortunate to become the head of the War Department because of the death of Yusaku Uehara, Mitsutomi Kamio and Masashi Terauchi. He continued: "It is already clear from the telegram of Nagata Tetsuyama that the islands of North Birch, the Sea of Okhotsk and Kamchatka are all beyond the reach of the American whip. We don't have to worry about it at all, but we should scoop it down immediately to avoid long nights! Please allow us to accomplish this mission. ”

"Alright then, you Army will row your own boats."

As soon as Yamanashi Hanzo finished speaking, the ridicule of Umi Minister Kato Yuzaburo sounded next to him. The shrill voice made a few people next to him almost want to cover their mouths, and even a person as deep as Tanaka Yoshiichi couldn't help but laugh, but soon felt unseemly, and quickly straightened up: "Kato-kun, this is a cabinet meeting." ”

Yuzaburo Kato is a veteran of the Navy and served as commander of the First Fleet during the Sino-Japanese War. The reason for today's gaffe is entirely due to the fact that Hanzo Yamanashi's behavior of leaving the Japanese Army alone has aroused the anger of the Navy. I think that if it wasn't for the army taking away the useless little emperor without authorization, if it wasn't for insisting on going to war, if it weren't for the sensational 510 incident caused by the army officers of Aoki Xuanjun, how could the dignified Japanese Empire fall to this point? Of course, the most angry thing for the Navy was that the construction plan of the last two Fuso-class battleships was cut due to lack of funds, so that the Navy's coveted 88th Fleet suddenly lost 2 ships. Recently, due to the signs of financial improvement, Britain has also agreed in principle to supply better HT high-tensile armor steel, and has been pondering the construction of two stronger battleships to continue to maintain absolute superiority over the Republic of China Navy.

Yamanashi Hanzao glared at Kato in a huff. In my heart, I secretly scolded the navy for being despicable! Is the Army easy? Not to mention that the four divisions that were disabled in the Sino-Japanese War have not yet been formed. Just to deal with the North Korean guerrillas, they need to devour a lot of military spending every year. Seeing that Yang Qiu, who was on the other side of the sea, used British and French weapons and equipment and military expenses to build 35 infantry divisions in vain, and also surrounded and annihilated an entire German elite army alone, and trained a powerful army comparable to Europe, it is chilling to think about! Now Sinuiju is in the hands of others. He single-handedly supported the Korean guerrillas, and he also set up the Korean National Agency. Although his fist is still outside, he will come back sooner or later, and if he doesn't take advantage of the current time to send troops to reap the benefits and ask for more military expenses, will he be preparing after hundreds of thousands of troops return home?

The two giants of land and sea staring at each other made Yoshiichi Tanaka even more upset, and the country was like this, but the dispute between land and sea not only did not ease, but the confrontation became more serious because of the 510 incident. Seeing that Yang Qiu was making a lot of money in the north. Wouldn't it be even more tricky for Japan to take action if it didn't take action and wait for it to continue to extend the Amur River basin to the north after digesting it! So he endured this breath and asked, "Kato-kun, what should I do now with your opinion?" ”

Yuzaburo Kato waited for this sentence, and after pretending to think for a long time, he said: "Our navy supports the Prime Minister's decision, but it is too dangerous to advance northward, and the United States obviously does not want us to continue to develop northward." So I think we should take control of North Birch Island first, and as for the Sea of Okhotsk and Kamchatka, we need to wait. What's more, our navy has no money now, and it is very difficult to even go to sea. If the U.S. Navy intervenes, the Army will not be safe. "What does it mean that it is difficult to go to sea? Yes, Japan is indeed financially tight, but it has not reached the point where the fleet cannot go to sea, and this is simply a change of direction to reach out and ask for money! Yamanashi Hanzao exhaled: "Since the navy is not available, then let our army bear it, Lucia's navy is already trapped in Vladivostok and has no ability to interfere with Huatai Island, as long as a few merchant ships are leased." ”

"Lucia's navy is trapped, but don't forget that there is still a navy in China! The two Anhai-class battlecruisers they purchased from the United States (large cruisers are classified as battle cruisers by the outside world) had already passed through the Barakoma Canal three days ago, and the two they built themselves will also be commissioned next year. They have 4 cruisers, 8 submarines, 10 destroyers and a lot of speedboats stationed in Qingdao and Lushun! And don't forget that small ships can easily go north from the Tumen River into the Heilongjiang River. Then go from Phu Jin to the Amur River, so you can go directly to Hua Tai Island! If your army thinks it is capable of holding off the attack of naval artillery, then our navy is willing to continue to rest. By the way, it would be better for you to solve the Taiwan issue even in two years, and I will pray to Amaterasu and ask him to help your army block the 36 heavy guns on the 4 battle cruisers of China. ”

Yamanashi Hanzo's face suddenly darkened! Although Yuzaburo Kato doesn't listen to what he says. But the last few sentences are correct. At the Bordeaux Conference, China never agreed to hand over the island to Japan, France also supported China out of the need for China to strike at Russia's decision, and the United States did not want the northward development of China and Japan to threaten the security of Alaska, nor did it agree to cede the island to the north, so Britain chose to shelve it. Now, if Japan makes a move, even if the United States is bluffing, it is difficult to guarantee that China will not take the opportunity to make trouble, although large warships cannot avoid Japan, but small inland river shallow gunboats can easily go up the Heilongjiang River to the Sea of Okhotsk, threatening the security of Huatai Island and the army! The most important thing is that there are still two years before there is a showdown between China and Japan, and there is no chance to talk without the support of the navy, so no matter how arrogant he is, he does not dare to pack a ticket and not cooperate with the navy. ”

Yuzaburo Kato snorted for a long time and raised two fingers: "First, do not enter the Sea of Okhotsk and Kamchatka, it is an unwise decision to provoke the United States at the moment. Second, the ships of our Navy are too old to cope with the Taiwan crisis in 2 years, so it is necessary to build 2 new battleships, 8 light cruisers and 20 destroyers. "This time, don't say that Yamanashi is half-made, even Yoshiichi Tanaka jumped up directly. How much benefit is it to send troops to Beihua Taidao? If you can't find an oil field, you may not be able to scoop up the cost of sending troops, unless you enter the Sea of Okhotsk and Kamchatka, and it is possible to make up for the expenses, after all, where is the coal and some other needs that Russia has developed, but your navy not only does not support sending troops to two places, but also builds 30 warships in one go.

"You're going to sell me!". (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to come to the starting point (shuhaige.) to vote for recommendation, monthly pass, your support, is my biggest motivation?/d