Junzaburo Yamada complimented: "Your Excellency the Deputy Commander alone is equivalent to ten divisions, and naturally there are dozens of ways to prolong the war, but how can there be such a majestic person as Your Excellency?" ”

Akashi Motojiro said: "Yamada's words are wrong! As long as we get the right development opportunities, we are far beyond the reach of our great Japanese empire. Just like Sun Yuanqijun, the scientific community has always been dominated by Westerners before this, and when you open various natural science textbooks such as physics, chemistry, and astronomy, they are also full of the names of Europeans such as Galileo, Newton, Maxwell, Mendeleev, and Copernicus, and even various units of measurement are named after their scientists. So much so that before the twentieth century, all historians of science in the world considered the Far East to be a barren land of science and technology.

Who knew that Sun Yuan Qijun was born later. With his own strength, he completely overthrew the classical physics system that countless scientists in Europe had painstakingly constructed for hundreds of years, and established his own theoretical framework. He has also made outstanding contributions in many fields such as chemistry, astronomy, electronics, and genetics. He subverted not only the European and American perceptions of East Asians, but also the human perception of the whole world. Nowadays, if you open all kinds of natural science textbooks, you can see his traces almost everywhere. Japan's founding of the Restoration was earlier than China, and its investment in science and technology education was greater than that of China, but who can compete with Sun Yuanqijun today?

Moreover, Sun Yuanqijun also single-handedly established Jingshi University, the most famous university in the Far East, trained a large number of outstanding scientific researchers for China, and successfully developed countless world-leading technological inventions. So that the country's strength has been rapidly improved. Such a masterpiece, how dare you look at it? The French Emperor Napoleon once said that China was like a sleeping lion. Once awakened, the world will be shaken. Therefore, we must not despise China, we must be cautious! ”

Junzaburo Yamada: "It is precisely because it is a sleeping lion that cannot be taken lightly, so we must completely defeat and dismember it before it is about to wake up, otherwise with the First Sino-Japanese War, the Gengzi Qing State Incident, the Japan-Korea Merger Treaty and other reasons, our Japanese Empire will not be at peace in the future?" ”

Akashi Motojiro sighed, "I am not opposed to the use of force against China, but I am not in favor of using force against China when the situation is unclear. Because of the slightest carelessness, the future that Yamada-kun said will meet today! ”

August 16, 1914, the day after Japan declared war on Germany. The 6th and 18th Divisions, with a total of about 60,000 men, set out from Nagasaki under the escort of the Navy's three fleets (about 25,000 officers and men), aiming directly at the Shandong Peninsula. Kumamoto, where the 6th Division was formed, and Kurume, where the 18th Division was formed, were both located on the nearest island of Kyushu to China, and were close to Nagasaki, the famous military port of Kyushu Island. This was one of the fundamental reasons why the Japanese military headquarters mobilized these two divisions.

Nagasaki is less than a thousand kilometers from Qingdao. The speed of the main warships of the Japanese Navy is between 16 and 22 knots, that is, the Japanese army can reach the waters near Shandong in two or three days at the earliest, and it will only take five or six days to slow down. Therefore, after receiving the information, Sun Yuanqi immediately ordered reconnaissance planes to take off from the Rongcheng Airport and Qingdao Airport in Shandong, which had been temporarily repaired, and from the Shanghai Military Airport, which were relatively close to Nagasaki, to carry out uninterrupted surveillance and search on the surface of the Yellow Sea, and strive to discover the whereabouts of the Japanese fleet as soon as possible.

On the other hand, Sun Yuanqi also urgently summoned the German minister Hahausen. It is required that the German armed personnel must completely withdraw from the Jiaoao area within three days, and those who cannot be withdrawn should be disarmed. and report to the local squadron. In the next three days, the squadron will take over the defense of the Jiaoao area and the Jiaoji line, and hopes that the German side can cooperate.

After a moment's consideration, Minister Hahausen simply agreed to the Chinese side's request. In fact, at noon on August 17, the German-Austrian mixed fleet sailed out of Jiaozhou Bay in turn, ending their 16-year history of leasing in the Jiaoao area.

After Sun Yuanqi learned that the German and Austrian fleets had withdrawn from Jiaozhou Bay, he was about to summon the new Japanese minister to China, Hichiki, to tell him the news, but he and Kohata Youkichi came to the door first. Although he could guess that Rizhiyi would definitely be unreasonable this time, Sun Yuanqi still patiently met with them, wanting to see how shameless they could be.

As soon as they met, Sun Yuanqi asked with a smile: "Minister Nichi, Secretary Kohata (before was Kohata Youkichi was the temporary acting minister of the first secretary of the Legation), they all said, 'Nothing will go to the Three Treasures Palace', today the two of you are here, I don't know what to teach?" ”

Ri Zhiyi replied with a straight face: "I don't dare to give advice, I am only informing Your Excellency the Prime Minister on behalf of the Imperial Government of Japan that my country has officially declared war on the German Empire on August 15, and yesterday the German Empire and Austria-Hungary also declared war on our country, and the three countries are in a state of war in an all-round way." Our country appreciates and supports your country's position of absolute neutrality, but in order to prevent Germany from undermining peace in the Far East and at the same time to avoid harm to your people, on behalf of the Japanese Empire, I would like to request that your country designate the area south of the Yellow River in Shandong Province as a neutral zone and withdraw all Chinese garrisons in this area, so that the Japanese army can land at any place of their choice and fight the German and Austrian forces in the area! ”

"The area south of the Yellow River in Shandong Province?" Sun Yuan got up and made a slight gesture on the map, and his eyes suddenly became cold: "Wouldn't that include the land of Shandong Province?" As far as I know, when the Qing government signed the agreement with Germany, the only area under lease was Jiaozhou Bay. Even if it was later expanded, it was only promised that the 100-mile coast of Jiaozhou Bay would be designated as a neutral zone, and the German team would enjoy the right of free passage; and German merchants enjoyed the right to mine within 30 miles on both sides of the Jiaoji Railway. However, your country has demanded that all the areas south of the Yellow River in Shandong Province be designated as a war zone, and that our country should withdraw all the troops stationed in this area. ”

There was no trace of shame on his face, and he explained solemnly: "There is a famous saying in your country called 'soldiers are fierce and dangerous', which means that the war is very dangerous and terrifying, and once it breaks out, it will be difficult to control the scale and area. The reason why the Japanese Empire has asked your country to designate all the areas south of the Yellow River in Shandong Province as a war zone is to protect the safety of the lives and property of your people. I hope that Your Excellency will be careful in your wording and not damage the friendly diplomatic relations between China and Japan because of this! ”

Sun Yuanqi was so angry that he didn't bother to talk nonsense with them at the moment, and said directly: "On behalf of the government of the Republic of China, I officially informed your country that at noon on August 17, that is, today, the German Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire have completely withdrawn from Shandong, and the Jiaoao area and related industries leased by it have been officially returned to Chinese management. In other words, at this moment, there are no German and Austrian armed personnel in Shandong, and the preconditions for your country to land in China in the name of 'maintaining peace and stability in the Far East' no longer exist.

"And hereby reiterate that neither of the belligerents shall fight in the territory, territorial waters, concessions, or leased territories of the Republic of China. We will reserve the right to make further responses and take corresponding measures against any act that violates the territorial integrity of the Republic of China and endangers national sovereignty and the safety of people's lives and property, including but not limited to protests, condemnations, economic sanctions, military actions, etc. I hope that your country will think carefully and think twice! ”

Not only has the mind been cultivated to the level of calm waves, but the cheeks have been honed to the point of invulnerability, Ri Zhiyi still looked immobile when he heard the news, and shook his three-inch tongue to defend: "First of all, the so-called 'German and Austrian troops have completely withdrawn from Shandong, and the Jiaoao area and related industries have officially returned to Chinese management' is only a one-sided statement of your country, which is not enough to rely on. What the specific situation will be, it will have to be officially determined after a large-scale search by the Japanese army.

"Secondly, even if, as your country said, the German and Austrian troops have completely withdrawn from Shandong, and the Jiaoao region and related industries have officially returned to China's management, they can go and return and continue to endanger peace and stability in the Far East. The determination of the Japanese Empire to safeguard peace and stability in East Asia has been consistent and resolute, and it will never be easily shaken. I hope that your country will weigh the pros and cons and accede to all our requests. Otherwise, the Imperial Government of Japan reserves the right to act alone if necessary. ”

Sun Yuanqi sneered: "Your Excellency the Minister means that China has to agree if it agrees, and if it doesn't agree, it has to agree?" ”

Rizhiyi put on a dead face, and still replied respectfully: "Your Excellency the Prime Minister can understand it like this! ”

Sun Yuanqi did not pretend: "Sun still said that although the Chinese government is not warlike, it is not afraid of war, and China's determination to defend its territorial integrity will not waver in the slightest." Since your country is bent on going its own way and wants to invade the territory of Shandong in our country, then come ahead! I'd like to see if the east overpowers the west wind, or the west winds over the east! Drop-off! ”

Hichiki stood up and asked, "Your Excellency, can I interpret what you just said as a declaration of war against the Japanese Empire?" ”

Sun Yuanqi shook his head: "No, China adheres to its position of absolute neutrality and will never take the initiative to declare war on any country, including Japan, so as not to be confirmed in the future." However, not taking the initiative to declare war does not mean that you will not defend yourself and fight back. ”

For the next two days, both the Chinese and Japanese propaganda machines fanatized the war fanatia.

On the Chinese side, there are many articles recalling the First Sino-Japanese Naval War, the Gengzi National Rebellion, and the atrocities committed by the Japanese army in the Russo-Japanese War.

In addition to preaching the righteousness of the occupation of Shandong, the Japanese side also talked a lot about Shandong's military value, saying that it not only has a huge amount of untapped materials buried in it, but also has an advantage as a shortcut to Beijing, and can also use Shandong as a base to penetrate into China's economic heartland on both sides of the Yangtze River, which is a God-given opportunity for the new era of Taisho.

In any case, however, a major war between China and Japan was inevitable.