Konoe Fumima Zhilu let Kawakoshiro play it will only make all the high-ranking officials of the empire feel a deep sense of crisis, and then they will vigorously support the battle plan of the base camp, and then his plan will be completely ruined, and he must make a move to disrupt Kawakoshiro's speech.

"Your Excellency, as the Prime Minister of the Imperial Cabinet, I would like to ask you a question on behalf of all the imperial elites present, and I hope that Your Excellency can answer truthfully, this is related to the fate of the Empire and all of us here!" Konoe Fumima asked in a deep voice.

"Duke Konoe, if you have any questions, I will tell you the truth!"

"Well, I want to know what are the chances of the empire winning if there is a war against the United States and Britain and other countries, especially when the China incident has not been fully resolved, that is, what are the prospects of this war?" Fumima Konoe knew that in order to influence the ministers here, they had to be made aware of the fact that although the empire was at its most dangerous, war was not the best way to solve the problem, because if there was a war with the United States, Britain and China at the same time, it would be no different from suicide.

Sure enough, Konoe Fumima's words cheered everyone present, and the original fanatical expression quickly returned to reason, yes, although the war can reflect the blood and courage of the Great Japanese Empire, but war is the most important thing for the country, not to say that you can fight if you want to, but if you want to fight, there will be victory and defeat in the war, and it is good to win, but there is no general who always wins in the world, and there is no war that will not be lost.

The current situation of the Japanese Empire is barely enough to deal with one branch. However, if war were to be declared with the United States, Britain, the Netherlands, and China at the same time, I am afraid that we would not be able to do so, and if we did not fight the war, we would destroy all the achievements of the Meiji Restoration over the past 100 years. The most important thing is that there are no eggs under the nest, if the empire is defeated, will they have a good end?

Think about Germany after World War I, even Kaiser Wilhelm had to abdicate and go into exile in the Netherlands, if the Japanese Empire was defeated in the war, the end can be imagined, so whether to start a war against the United States and Britain must be carefully considered, as Duke Konoe Fumima said. The fate of the empire and all of them is at stake. You have to be cautious.

Kagawa Koshiro looked at all the high-ranking Japanese officials present, and then said in a deep voice: "Regarding the prospect of the war, it is estimated that the United States and Britain are very likely to be based on long-term war from the beginning, so for the empire. There must be awareness and preparation to deal with long-term operations. If they try to do it quickly. The main force of the Navy's attack is coming. Ask me to fight quickly, that's what we can't ask for. ”

Then Shiro Kawakoshiro said, "Now, the war in Europe is continuing. The naval strength that Britain could send to the Far East would be quite limited. Therefore, if we intercept the combined British and American navy on the sea surface of the decisive battle I have planned, and taking into account such factors as the effective use of aircraft, I am sure that our victory will be very certain. However, even if the Empire wins this decisive battle, it will not lead to the end of the war. It is estimated that after that, they will inevitably rely on their unviolated geographical location, industrial strength, and material strength to turn into a long-term war. ”

Minister of Internal Affairs Hasamu Tanabe said unhappily: "According to His Excellency Kagawa, even if the empire destroys all the American and British forces in the South Pacific region, it will not be possible to achieve the final victory of the war, that is, if the United States and Britain and other countries continue to hold on, then the war of the empire cannot be stopped, right?" ”

It was not Kazukawa Koshiro who answered Tanabe's words, but the head of the Naval Operations Department, Nagano Shusei, who saw Nagano Shusei get up and said: "In principle, this is the case, but there is one thing to remember, the empire is now at a dangerous juncture of declining national strength, especially the materials are decreasing, that is to say, the empire is weakening, according to the estimation of the base camp, all the resources of the empire can only last for about a year." On the contrary, our enemies are growing stronger. Over time, the gap will continue to widen until the empire is dragged to death. ”

"Resolving this issue through diplomacy is only a temporary compromise, and in principle, it is a matter of tolerating what can be endured, not a fundamental solution to the problem. The longer things drag on, the more disadvantageous it will be for the Empire, if we fight now, I am sure that there is still a chance of victory, and the current situation in the world is very favorable for us to declare war with Britain and the United States, and if it drags on, I am afraid that this opportunity will disappear with time. ”

Kazukawa Koshiro also assisted, "For the empire, and because of the lack of domestic resources, it is extremely undesirable to fight for a long time. However, once a protracted war is turned on, in order to persist in a protracted war, the most important condition is to quickly occupy the enemy's important military areas and resource-rich areas at the beginning of the war, properly adjust the operational arrangements, and at the same time obtain the necessary materials from within the scope of his strength. ”

"If the first phase of the operation is successfully completed, even if the United States armaments are strengthened as planned, the basis for a long-term operation can be established because the empire has secured strategic points in the southwestern Pacific and maintained an inviolable posture. The situation thereafter will depend to a great extent on the strength of the country as a whole and on the evolution of the situation in the world as a whole, including various tangible and intangible factors. ”

Nagano Shushen also chimed in: "As His Excellency Kazukawa said, as long as the empire wins the first stage, then it will be invincible. It can be seen from this that the success or failure of the first phase of the operation has a great bearing on the success or failure of the long-term operation. In order to ensure a greater degree of success in the first phase of the operation, the Admiralty considered it very important to adopt the "Guidelines for the Implementation of the Imperial National Policy". ”

"In addition, the Admiralty would like to explain to His Majesty and your colleagues three points of view, which are the unanimous understanding of all officers of the Navy. First, in view of the actual state of our combat effectiveness, a decision should be made to start a war quickly; Second, don't let the other side take the lead, but let our side strike first; Thirdly, in order for the operation to proceed smoothly, it is necessary to take into account the climatic conditions in the area of operation. On the basis of the above considerations, the time for significant determination has been chosen in this proposal. Of course, operational preparations should be carried out cautiously and with full consideration given to the progress of diplomatic work. ”

"I would like to add that we must always insist on a path to the development and stability of the empire by opening up the present difficult situation with firm faith. This is by no means to say that wars that could have been avoided must also be fought. However, for the sake of the 100-year plan of the Imperial Kingdom, it should never be like the story of the Osaka Winter Formation. In this way, although peace was temporarily obtained, it was forced to fight in the summer of the following year. ”

The so-called Osaka Winter Formation story refers to the winter of 1614, Tokugawa Kakang led an army of 200,000 to attack Toyotomi Hideyori and besieged Osaka Castle, but in view of Toyotomi Hideyori's tight defense, he made a fake peace on the condition that Hideyori Timpei Osaka Castle was built, which is the so-called Osaka Winter Formation. In the summer of the following year, the Tokugawa clan broke the agreement and launched a surprise offensive to capture Osaka Castle in one fell swoop, and Toyotomi Hideyori was destroyed.

This story is very famous in Japan, and Nagano Shusei said this to remind Emperor Hirohito and all the ministers that since they have decided to fight, they should stick to the fight, and they must not be left unresolved at both ends of the first rat, and it will inevitably be the same as the fate of Toyotomi Hideyori after a long delay.

Nagano's words shocked everyone at the meeting, and even some ministers who did not support war with the United States and Britain were moved.

Seeing that the ministers who advocated war seemed to have the upper hand again, Konoe Fumima hurriedly got up and said, "Since the Admiralty's speech is over, then I would like to ask the Chief of Staff to make a statement!" ”

At this time, the chief of staff of the Japanese army was still Prince Zaihito of the Imperial Palace, although this seventy-year-old man had always behaved very calmly, even a little obscure, but no one dared to underestimate this old man of the imperial family, they knew very well that this old prince was one of the real people of the imperial army.

According to the 1889 Constitution of Japan, the Emperor of Japan is the supreme head of state and the supreme commander of the Japanese army and navy, and can command all the country's armed forces. However, in fact, due to the powerful power of the Japanese warlords after the 20 th century, a situation was formed in which the military personnel controlled the direction of national policy, and the most powerful military figures were the Minister of the Army, the Chief of Staff, and the Director of Training, who were called the "three chiefs" of the Japanese Army at that time.

The Minister of War is the head of the Japanese Ministry of War and is in charge of the government's national defense policy, troop mobilization, national defense budget, weapons development, etc. The Chief of Staff is the head of the General Staff Headquarters of the Japanese Army, and his main duties are to assist the Emperor in commanding the Army and to issue combat orders on behalf of the Emperor. The Director of Training controls all junior and intermediate military academies of the Japanese Army.

Therefore, the tendency of the Japanese Army's 'three commanders' often determines the direction of the Japanese military's decision-making. If the Japanese military is dissatisfied with the policies of a particular Japanese cabinet, it can not send an active-duty army lieutenant general or senior general to the government to serve as minister of the army, so that the cabinet cannot be formed or collapsed. In this way, the Japanese warlords were able to manipulate the policy direction of the country. Therefore, the opinion of Prince Zairen of the Xianyuan Palace was very important, and everyone was quiet for a while, waiting for the old general and the old prince to speak.

Prince Zaihito cleared his throat and said, "The War Department fully agrees with the explanation made by the two commanders of the Navy. The following is a group of views on the relationship between war preparations and diplomatic negotiations. In view of the present urgency of the Empire, and especially in view of the fact that the mobility of the Empire's national power is becoming less and less, the time has come to decide on peace and war. This is very clear from Prime Minister Konoe's explanation. The High Command must now quickly make the necessary operational preparations to cope with both the peace and the war. (To be continued......)