Tokyo, Japan.

The sun was setting in the west, the sunset was like fire, and the people who had finished a day's work dragged their tired bodies back to their dwelling houses with difficulty. Although it has been nearly half a century since the Meiji Restoration, Japan has won successive victories in the wars against the Qing and Russia, and it seems to be the hegemon in the western Pacific. However, the people at the bottom of Japan have not enjoyed much substantial benefits from the leap in their own strength and the improvement of their international status.

A large amount of the wealth and war reparations plundered from the colonies were rethrown into the bottomless pit of the arms race, and Japan, which was far behind the European powers in terms of economic aggregate and industrial strength, imposed exorbitant taxes on its own citizens far more than three times that of the European countries. Even a very small surplus on the premise of satisfying military spending has been carved up by high-level bureaucrats and vested interests. Under the decades of propaganda and brainwashing by a group of militarists and adventurous warmongers, the entire Japanese society is in a sick atmosphere of reckless militarism and pride in serving the locusts by joining the army. However, the broad masses of the people are brutally oppressed and exploited, and they pay the price of their blood and sweat and even their lives for the selfish ambitions of the ruling class.

"Yamamoto-kun, the British ambassador has just had a meeting with me. London strongly hoped that our Japanese Empire would immediately join the Entente camp and declare war on Germany, Austria and Turkey. This time, the British offered even more favorable terms: not only did they promise that after the victory, they would give us all the two colonies of the German Philippines and German Guinea to our Imperial Japan, but they would also allow us to receive no less than 50 million pounds of German reparations. Japanese Foreign Minister Nobuaki Makino helped the disc glasses on the bridge of his nose and said softly.

"£50 million? It's a tempting number, but it's also a good idea. I really don't see how confident the British and French armies were in the face of their losses, their retreats, and their Paris being directly exposed to the Germans' guns. We can start planning the distribution of benefits after the victory over Germany at the moment. As for the German Philippines and New Guinea, do they still need his British favors? As long as the Japanese Empire declares war on the Allies and sends troops to seize them, these territories will be captured! ”

In the elegant and exquisite room, Japanese Prime Minister Gonbei Yamamoto is sitting on a rattan chair and leisurely sipping tea; Although he was nearly sixty years old, he still looked burly and energetic. What is amazing is that as the prime minister, he is wearing a white admiral's uniform at the moment; Three delicate chrysanthemum ribbons are engraved on the epaulettes, indicating that he has attained the highest rank in the Japanese Navy after Marshal.

1898 year. Gonbei Yamamoto served as Minister of the Navy, and through his efforts, the Japanese Navy grew from a green water fleet fighting in the coastal waters to a powerful force capable of galloping in the blue ocean. He was a figure like Fisher and Tirpitz in the Japanese Navy. After being awarded the rank of general, Yamamoto entered politics in 1906. In February 1913, he succeeded in becoming prime minister and formed his own cabinet. Before that. The only people in Japan who can enter the prime minister are army red deer such as Yamaguchi Aritomo and Katsura Taro. And Yamamoto's worship is to show that the navy, which has never dealt with the army, has finally become famous.

In May, the flames of war broke out in Europe, and the five major powers of Germany, Britain, France, Russia, and Austria declared war at the same time in two camps, which was once the center of world civilization. At this time, it has become a slaughterhouse of blood and fire. This is undoubtedly a great opportunity for Yamamoto, who has only been in office for less than three months, to fish in troubled waters; After all, the European powers, which are fighting each other, can no longer have the spare strength to take care of the Far East!

As of now, though. Japan's opportunistic expansion was confined to the economic sphere; On the question of whether or not to join the war, Gonbei Yamamoto was extremely cautious and refused to put his share of the bet on the balance of the war. After all, the economic and industrial level of Germany in this dimension is much stronger than that of the same period in history, and the "Anglo-Japanese Alliance" was signed to resist Russia's expansion in the Far East. Japan's economy is still relatively dependent on Britain, but it is far from the outright kidnapping between Russia and France.

Therefore, although the army group and the navy high-ranking people coveted the German Philippine colony, due to the change in the situation in this plane, Yamamoto Gonbei did not declare war on Germany and Austria on the 23rd day of the outbreak of the war, as Okuma Shigenobu did in history. And the subsequent front-line war reports in Europe strengthened his determination not to join the Entente for the time being. The French army was defeated by Germany in the border battle and was almost defeated; And Russia suffered an unprecedented crushing defeat in the Battle of Tannenberg, and its entire army group was completely annihilated by the Germans, who were weaker than them! If Japan hastily joined the side of the Allies and Germany won on land, how would it end?

Yamamoto took a sip of the tea leaves in the cup and said leisurely: "Although the Germans have not yet captured Paris and completely defeated France, judging from the current situation, the probability of France's final defeat should be at least seventy percent. Large swaths of their northeastern lands had fallen, and millions of people, along with the corresponding coal, metallurgy, chemicals, and steel, had fallen under the control of the Germans; If we include Belgium's energy, the current disparity in strength between Germany and France can be said to be as great as the war of 1870! Now, even the sick Turks of Europe, infected by the German victory, were eager to show their scimitars at their Russian feud. Under such circumstances, how could I, the Imperial Japanese Empire, serve as cannon fodder for the British at this time? If you go to the British ambassador and tell the British ambassador, you will say that the empire just experienced a war against Russia eight years ago, and now it is still in a sluggish economic downturn and the people's livelihood is exhausted. ”

Makino frowned slightly, and said with some puzzlement: "Yamamoto-kun, are you so sure that Germany can win the war?" Although the French had the upper hand in the confrontation with Germany, they also had the aid of the Russians. Although the Germans are in the limelight for a while, they cannot hide the fact that they are fighting on two fronts; Once the Russian giant begins to exert its strength, the shape of land warfare will change radically. ”

"Makino-kun, other countries may be deceived by Russia's strength, but we, who have just fought with them, are all too aware of the weakness hidden under the huge body of this country. It's not that I deliberately belittle the guys in the army, even our army red deer was able to achieve five consecutive victories in a row against the Russian army, which had a huge numerical superiority, on the Manchurian battlefield, and the difference in the Russian army can be imagined. Yamamoto put down the teacup in his hand, looked directly into Makino's eyes, and said, "According to the post-war reports made by Marshal Yama (Aritomo), Marshal Oyama (Iwa), and other front-line generals of the army, they all agreed that the Russian army had poor combat skills and low morale, and was not an opponent of our Imperial Japanese army. And the current fiasco of the Russian army in the Battle of Tannenberg and the Battle of Lake Masuri also illustrates this point. ”

"If the Entente can achieve a decisive victory in the war that follows, then it is only natural that we should join them. And if Prussia's force remained as invincible as it had been 40 years ago, we would be completely incapable of being an enemy of this country. It is undoubtedly a highly unwise choice to be the enemy of the victorious country in the great war in Europe. Gonbei Yamamoto said.

"But in this way, won't the empire, which has always been on the sidelines, not get the Philippines? The Germans now rule most of the central and northern Philippines, with a total colonization population of more than 7.5 million, and if we could include them, it would undoubtedly greatly enhance the overall strength of the empire. More importantly, the empire that had acquired the German Philippines was fully capable of using this as a springboard to launch an attack on the United States, which had occupied the southern island group of the country, and completely expel the American power from the western Pacific Ocean! This would be of great strategic importance in a possible war between the Empire and the United States. Makino said a little unwillingly.

The corners of Yamamoto's mouth were hooked, and there was a hint of treachery on his face that was completely inconsistent with his military status, and he said hesitantly: "Makino-kun, why do you always set your sights on the German colonies?" Although they are the second largest economic and industrial entity after the United States, they are lackluster in the colonial territory; In this Far East, there are many richer colonies than the Philippines! ”

Makino Shin's body was shocked, and his eyes suddenly lit up, and he said, "Yamamoto-kun, what do you mean ......?"

"That's right, it's the French China of the French! It has a population of more than 17 million people, more than twice the size of the German Philippines; The French have been operating here for more than 30 years, and the wealth they can create is far from being comparable to that of the Philippines, which the Germans have been running for 15 years. If Germany is in decline, then we will naturally attack the Philippines; And if France is defeated, then we will take French China! In contrast, I am even more inclined to the latter. Yamamoto Gonbei smiled, and the wonderful sight of the plaster flag flying high in these two places already appeared in his mind.

Nobuaki Makino nodded slowly and said, "I understand." I'm going to reply to the British. (To be continued......)

PS: Thank you for the monthly ticket support of the book on February 30, and the rabbit and radish, zhouyu1976's reward~~~