Generally speaking, in view of the changes in East Asia caused by the "Shanghai Commune Incident" and the subsequent proposal by Wang Jingwei and other pro-Japanese figures that the Japanese Army borrowed troops from Japan in the name of "suppressing bandits" and actually overthrowing Chiang, the judgment and logic of the Japanese Army are basically as follows:

First, after obtaining the "Freedom of Movement Permit" issued by Wang Jingwei, the Japanese army's dispatch of troops this time was no longer an invasion from a legal point of view, but was invited by the legitimate government of China to help exterminate the communist army of South China entrenched in Shanghai, which could avoid resistance to a large extent;

Second, although the "permits" issued by the people of China themselves do not necessarily work in the land of China at the moment, many things have to be taken into account the attitude of the United States and Britain. However, the "rampage" of the Communist Army and the "Comintern Column" in the Shanghai Concession had a great impact on the overseas interests of the United States and British imperialism, especially the destabilization of the global colonial order, and the danger far exceeded that of the Japanese Empire -- compared with the Red Movement and the wave of colonial liberation, the conflict between the interests of Japan and the United States and Britain in China and Southeast Asia was simply not worth mentioning.

In the view of the staff officers of the Japanese Army, as long as the Imperial Army can raise the banner of "eradicating the red tide" and in order to stop the red wave from sweeping Shijie, the United States and Britain should not mind sacrificing some Chinese interests to satisfy the appetite of the Japanese Empire...... If diplomacy had been done well, perhaps the Imperial Japanese Army, which was fighting for the entire capitalist Shijie, would have received economic support from the United States and Britain as it had been in the Russo-Japanese War.

Third, since even Japan has acquiesced in sending troops to support it on a large scale. Naturally, the United States and Britain would not mind that the Japanese army would advance its control from the Great Wall to the south to the Yangtze River, and at the same time set up a pro-Japanese central government in Nanjing, as the hardship of the Imperial Japanese Army's dispatch of troops to China to "suppress the red".

Fourth. Even if Wang Ching-wei succeeds in seizing power, Chiang Kai-shek's shili may not disappear immediately, at most it will be reduced to the level of a local warlord, and may be supported by the American-British Freemasonic consortium, but this actually does not matter - as long as China cannot be reunified, it will be a victory for Japan.

Zuihou, the massive expansion of Japan's shili in China. It will inevitably arouse the vigilance and hostility of the European and American powers, and even if they are temporarily forced by the situation, they have to express their acquiescence. I'm afraid I still have to toss after the matter has passed...... But that's for later. What Japan needs to do now is to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to swallow everything it can as much as possible. Let's wait until the future zaijian moves to dismantle the move!

The above is still a more implicit statement. Previously, at the staff headquarters in Miyake Han, Tokyo, those young young Zhuang staff officers simply shouted: "...... This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the Imperial State, and if the government is mediocre and cowardly, it will be tantamount to the greatest disloyalty! ”

There were even a few staff officers with the greatest courage, such as the famous "jackal staff officer" Masanobu Tsuji, who actually said in public that if the government and the military department dared to "ignore the blood and hearts of the loyal and brave soldiers of the empire." They were to rush to Tientsin and Manchuria at once and try to move the troops at the front. After learning from the precedent of the "September 18 Incident" and fighting the war vigorously, the Japanese Government in Tokyo was forced to admit it!

- No way, soldiers, there is only one way to get promoted and make a fortune, war. With whom to fight? You can fight anyone, as long as you can fight. Especially in the eyes of these nostrils of the imperial army staff, China is a terminally ill weak country, as long as it fights, is it not able to do whatever it wants? At that time, Ishihara Waner concealed from the military department and the government to carry out the "918 Incident", which not only created a "Manchukuo" for the Japanese Empire, but also made him a star figure, and jumped from Nakasa to major general in one go. Since Ishihara has done such a wonderful job, can't we juniors do it? Maybe these juniors can also make a whole country. How can there be a reason to close the door when you get into the car?

Therefore, even though Ishihara himself painstakingly persuaded them that "Manchuria is not yet stable and it is not suitable to expand the war," his colleagues covered their ears and resolutely refused to listen, and even felt that this guy wanted to block his way to promotion and fortune, and they all hated it one by one.

As a result, amid the cheers of many staff officers, the Japanese Army became a fanatical main combat faction from the very beginning.

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On the other hand, in the face of such a vigorous and passionate cry for war from top to bottom of the Japanese Army, Navy Minister Mitsumasa Yonechi and Prime Minister Keisuke Okada, who represent the Japanese naval faction, were all frowning and slightly feeling a little deeply unhappy in their hearts.

There are two main reasons for the upset. First of all, according to the previous unwritten "internal division", the Army's Shili was limited to North China, while South China was the Navy's Shili range, each with its own large commercial and intelligence agencies. Today, the Army General Staff Headquarters in Miyakezaka, Tokyo, is clamoring loudly to "send troops to the South Branch (South China) and punish the tyrannical red," which in a sense is tantamount to sticking chopsticks into the Navy's rice bowl......

Secondly, for the "atrocities" of the Red elements in Shanghai, the Japanese Navy, which suffered a big loss, also made a large-scale retaliation of its own before that, but that should be led by the United States and Britain, and they bear the main military obligations, while the Japanese Navy is just beating the side drum - when it comes to the losses in Shanghai, the United States and Britain are definitely much more miserable than Japan, because the Yangtze River basin has always been the Shili range of the United States and Britain, although Japan has garrisons and some investments in Shanghai, But compared with the self-made and long-lived operation of the United States, Britain and France in the Shanghai Concession, it is simply not worth mentioning.

By the same token, due to the perennial strength of the United States and Britain in South China, even if Shanghai is successfully recovered, it will be difficult for the Japanese side to seek more benefits here. In that case, why did the Japanese Navy sacrifice its liliang to fight for the interests and majesty of the United States and Britain?

Unexpectedly, just when the Japanese Navy was still grinding, the Japanese Army had already opened up such a scene within the Nanjing government!

Is this situation really a matter of the Imperial Japanese Navy, which has always been arrogant. I felt deeply ashamed and depressed.

Third, when the "South China Communist Army" and the "Red International Column" marched into Shanghai, the Japanese Navy's troops stationed there were beaten to the ground. The big defeat and loss, and even now it is not clear what Weishenme collapsed...... After that, the Combined Fleet Command hastily summoned the remnants of the Japanese Fleet in China and launched a series of sporadic harassments and retaliations against Shanghai, but it was not able to bargain for anything in the face of this formidable communist army that seemed to fall from the sky, except for blowing up some reeds and mud along the coast of Shanghai, and sinking three more gunboats at Wusongkou.

In this case. Let the army fight in South China, it feels like saving the uncontrollable navy - what a shame!

Of course, for the expansion of the territory and the annexation of China, the core strategy of the empire. The Japanese Navy also has absolutely no objections.

INTERVIEWER In terms of long-term goals, becoming a first-class power capable of competing for hegemony has been a consistent dream of the entire Japanese Empire for many years.

But the problem is that a big dealer who is able to bet on shijie hands. It must have a vast territory and a large population. This is the material foundation necessary to become a great power. However, Japan is only a small island country with very few resources. What's worse is that the explosive population growth that accompanied Japan's "civilized civilization" has deepened the social pressure on the country. With 80 million people crowded together in Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, and Hokkaido alone, the fragile economy simply cannot afford to increase the population by about one million a year, which is at sharp odds with Japan's "dream of becoming a great power."

The only way to resolve this contradiction is to expand the territory and expand the territory. Looking around at the East Asian continent around us, how can Japan resolve this contradiction? The answer is self-explanatory - of course, only to cut the flesh from China! Who calls all the good places occupied by this big man?

Truly. At that time, foreign colonial expansion was indeed the only way for Japan to revitalize the country. In other words, if you don't colonize others at that time, others will colonize you, and it is only right that the weak eat the strong. What's more, in the face of the imperialist powers that believe that the fist is the truth, as a small country, if they want to play "peaceful rise", "national self-determination", and "five principles of peaceful coexistence", it is simply a pig hitting the head!

In the short term, the institutional problems of the Japanese Empire, that is, the high degree of authoritarianism of the bureaucratic elite and the extreme oppression of the common people at the bottom, forced it to frequently wage foreign wars to alleviate internal contradictions. As a result, at the level of the whole country, a system similar to a robbery gang has been formed - the ruler is like the black boss of the robbery group, responsible for formulating the robbery jihua and directing the action; The imperial army is a thug and a little minion, full-time wielding knives and bleeding for their lives; The common people are like the family members of the little minions, who are tired and tired to support their families in peacetime, and send robbers out of the house during wartime; After the robbery was successful, the black boss divided the big head, the little minions divided the small heads, and the families of the little minions happily welcomed the robbers to return to the dynasty in victory, and by the way, they improved their lives......

This is why the Japanese Empire frequently launched foreign wars, and was particularly fierce in terms of land reparations - the poor eggs at home are waiting for the spoils of war to go to the pot! If you can't take something home immediately after winning the battle, the whole family will be so angry that you will beat someone with a rolling pin!

Therefore, the hapless Chinese thus became the target of long-term robbery by the Japanese Empire, constantly being stabbed from morning to night, without even a pause, and being slaughtered painfully, Zuihou forced out the anti-Japanese ideology of the whole people. In the same way, the Filipinos, who once regarded the Japanese as their saviors during the Pacific War, were also forced out by the endless oppression and looting of the Japanese occupation forces to send out hundreds of thousands of guerrillas. The "Manila Massacre" that broke out in the capital of the Philippines was also one of the atrocities of the Japanese army after the "Nanjing Massacre".

Of course, the Japanese in the era of militarism were naturally dismissive of the pain and hatred of foreigners. However, the problem is that even if so many resources are extorted back from abroad, because Japan's distribution system is extremely irrational, the war dividends are monopolized by the powerful and chaebols, and the huge military expenditures, the Japanese authorities are still unable and unwilling to implement a civilian welfare system, still less can they do a good job of easing domestic contradictions.

On the contrary, as a result of the successive victories in foreign wars of aggression, a large number of Korean and Chinese slave laborers entered the Japanese industrial system, and the income of the Japanese proletariat has been declining, and the unemployment rate has further risen. And the large amount of cheap grain plundered from Manchuria also overwhelmed the domestic grain market. This further led to the widespread bankruptcy of Japanese farmers...... In other words, the more the Imperial Army won, the more difficult it will be for the livelihood of the Japanese people!

Seeing such a ridiculous situation. The junior officers in the Japanese army became more and more indignant, feeling that they were bleeding and fighting on the front line, and their families were selling their children and daughters in the countryside to pay taxes, but the result was that they had fattened a gang of rotten chaebols, so there were constant commotions and frequent assassinations. Let the heads of the government and the army be at a loss, just as Chiang Kai-shek, no matter how much he engaged in the White Terror, as long as the social basis for the inducing revolution remains. The same is true for the fact that no revolutionaries in China can kill them all. No matter how strict the discipline of the Japanese army and navy is, as long as the sharp social contradictions in Japan remain unresolved, the government and military departments will not be able to control those young officers who are full of ideals and are keen to eradicate poverty and purge the decadent chaebols. It was even more impossible to calm the sky-high resentment in the hearts of the soldiers.

All in all, if Japan does not get out of its current impasse, it seems that Japan will have to sit back and watch a major revolution to destroy the old order.

However, the remnants of the feudal system in Japanese society are so stubborn that they have reached the point where "people die if they move a stool". Every village. Every town, and even every store, has its own feudal lord controlling or meddling, and there are so many unspoken rules that it is impossible to count.

If you want to settle so many vested interests, large and small, and force them to cooperate with the government's reform strategy and cede some of their own interests, so as to appease the people at the bottom and avoid the intensification of domestic contradictions...... This is a gross overestimation of some people's integrity. It's a dream.

Therefore, the only countermeasure that the Japanese authorities could think of. The only way to do this is to continue waging foreign wars and divert internal contradictions...... However, foreign wars are not so easy to launch, and although the army staff officers are vigorously clamoring for the "annexation of China," the high-ranking officials and important ministers of the government are worried about the United States and Britain who are eyeing the United States and Britain on the side. At present, Japan has many indispensable and important strategic resources, such as oil and rubber, which are stuck in the hands of Uncle Sam and John Bull, and since the Russo-Japanese War, the Americans have been looking at Japan unpleasantly, and the Anglo-Japanese alliance has long been broken.

In this way, in the face of the intensifying hostility of the European and American powers, the increasing restlessness of the officers and soldiers at the grassroots level and the general public, and the imminent outbreak of riots, the people in power in the Japanese Empire were really in a dilemma -- the current Japanese military and political circles have not yet reached the level of madness of the Second World War for the time being.

At present, since the Red Army has finally had an opportunity to break the situation by taking advantage of the Red Army's entry into Shanghai and Wang Jingwei's overthrow of Chiang, the Japanese authorities naturally refuse to let it go.

- In the eyes of the bigwigs of the military department, even if it is necessary to take a little risk for this, they will not hesitate......

So, when the important ministers present successively expounded their views, opinions, and worries, and incidentally told about the current restless behavior of some radical soldiers of the Imperial State, the political veteran of Xiyuan Temple Gongwang put his hands on his cane, slowly expressed his opinion, and made a final decision on the matter:

“…… Ladies and gentlemen, with regard to the policy towards military personnel, we are actually at fault as well. In the countries of the European powers, there are many things for the military to do in peacetime, such as in the mountains of Africa and the remote areas of India, and military conflicts similar to wars continue to occur in peacetime. After a soldier has been engaged in those military operations all his life and has done a lot of work, he can receive meritorious service, so there are not many stages and opportunities for military activities...... However, in a country like ours, which has a small territory and does not have so many colonies, there are not so many stages for military personnel to establish meritorious activities, and in recent years, the situation of disarmament has become more and more prosperous, and it is a bit too oppressive to military personnel. Children have the psychology of children, and it seems that there is no need to buy useless toys in the eyes of adults, but for children, toys are the necessities of daily life. The same is true for soldiers, and since there are soldiers, it is important to examine the psychology of soldiers, and if you take it lightly, you will regret it......"

——Although the whole paragraph is spoken in a fog, and there is no lack of reversing black and white and avoiding the important and trivial, the core meaning that the patriarch of Saionji Gongwang really wants to express is still hinted at through the unique "belly art" of the Japanese: the current domestic contradictions in Japan are so acute that they are already like on the eve of the chaos of the end of the Edo era, even if it is just to appease the riots of radical officers, it is necessary for the Japanese Empire to fight this battle! It's better to fight a foreign war than to have a civil strife!

At this point, at the invitation of Wang Jingwei, the chief executive of the Nanjing Nationalist Government, the Japanese Empire made a decision to send troops to China in response to the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army's invasion of Shanghai and the shaking of the imperialist colonial rule order in East Asia. Tomorrow, when the recital is officially written and presented to the Emperor Showa, preparations can begin.

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Under the dark night like black velvet, the Minister of War Hayashi said goodbye to his colleagues happily, left the Prime Minister's residence, and walked straight to his car. Halfway through, his private secretary quietly leaned in, "...... What is the situation with the Cabinet meeting, Your Excellency? ”

“…… Jihua passes! The 3rd, 5th, and 6th Divisions can begin mobilization and prepare a map of Jiangsu. ”

“…… This is wonderful good news, Your Excellency, and this time we have stepped on the Navy's head. The secretary said excitedly.

“…… Yes, but what happened to the things I asked you to investigate earlier? It was the Shanghai anecdote reported from the Nanjing Legation. ”

Lin Mijuro walked to the car door and stopped, turned to look at his private secretary, his expression was very complicated and tangled, "...... The Imperial Red Molecule who pilots strange giant robots, the Tesla coil that can unleash huge lightning, and the Flying Edgeworth Stream that once showed its brilliance at the end of the Bakugaku? A ship chopping knife that can cut through a battleship with manpower? and the girl whose surname is Little Bird...... It's a mess of the mind! ”

“…… Hi! The humiliation has been ordered, but it will take some time to get the investigation report. The secretary replied, "...... And...... Do you really believe that there is such a thing in the world? The mystery of the sword technique that can cut off an armored battleship with a single sword? This sounds like crazy......"

“…… Who knows? Believe it! If our country really has that kind of swordsmanship, it will be amazing! ”

Hayashi shrugged, turned around and got into the car, "...... In this world, there are so many unsolved mysteries of all kinds, and the fact that the magic capital of Shanghai was occupied by the Red Elements alone makes people feel like the babbling of a madman......" (To be continued......