The Japanese archipelago in October is bathed in the alternating sunshine of late autumn and early winter, but the sunshine is blocked by clouds. For Japan, this winter seems to have arrived earlier than before. (To read text novels, go to 'Piaotian Literature Network'

')

On the other side of the sea, the Chinese battlefield is currently in the silence before the war. But in the silence, the smell of war is stronger, more tense, and more breathless.

In Jinan, trains of military supplies were transported into the station. Carloads of Jiangsu Army officers and soldiers with live ammunition were transported here. Then thousands of soldiers moved towards Jiaoji. At this time, the Jiangsu Army rushed towards Jiaoji.

The main force, the strong soldiers, is preparing for a larger-scale war.

In the capital, Yuan Shikai presided over the highest military meeting day and night. Telegrams and phone calls were sent to all directions. It seemed that at this moment, the whole of China had entered the final moment of boiling water. Soon, this country would once again

Boil.

However, the Tokyo-Okuma cabinet is still hesitating.

"The Navy suffered a heavy setback."

At a dinner held yesterday for embassy staff from the United Kingdom, France and Russia, the deputy chief of staff, Lieutenant General, whispered to Okuma Shigenobu.

"In Lianyungang

Okuma Shigenobu said somewhat unbelievably, what kind of setback will it be if you suffer a heavy setback?

"Yes, all eight battleships of the First Fleet were sunk!"

When he heard the news, Okuma almost fainted. After a long silence, he spoke.

"This information must not be exposed. It must be kept strictly confidential."

Keep it confidential!

How can it be kept secret?

Okuma didn't know, so he quickly ended the meeting and went to see the senior ministers. Although the emperor was nominally the supreme ruler of Japan, Emperor Taisho was different from Emperor Meiji. Emperor Taisho, who had meningitis as a boy, had an IQ of only

He is equivalent to a teenager in his teens, and has a violent personality. As an emperor, he is by no means a competent emperor. In fact, since Emperor Taisho succeeded to the throne, the center of power in Japan has long been transferred to the elders.

As the car drove towards Marshal Yamagata's residence, anxiety and annoyance attacked Okuma like ghosts that could not be dispelled.

"Damn Yuan Shikai, damn Li Zicheng, and the disgusting China War."

In the car, Okuma couldn't help but curse out loud. When he was cursing the other person, he even felt like crying. (For written novels, go to 'Piaotian Literature Network')

Indeed, even if he was not from the navy, when he learned that eight battleships had been lost, and they were the eight most elite battleships in Japan, apart from crying bitterly, his mind was completely blank.

After the imperial conference approved the declaration of war against Germany, the occupation of Jiao'ao was also approved at the imperial conference. However, China later unilaterally accepted Jiao'ao. Although he agreed with "China's preservation", he accepted it after the war in Jiao'ao reached a stalemate.

The General Staff Headquarters recommended increasing troops to Jiao'ao, and at the same time forming a Second Army to invest in Lianyun, so as to win this conflict. For Japan, the defeat in China was unacceptable.

As a result, a conflict that seemed to have little impact turned out to be like a wild horse running wild in this situation, running all the way to the horizon. The investment of the First Army, the formation of the Second Army, and the dispatch of the First Fleet were all part of the North Korean effort.

As the abyss of the war expanded, he was still thinking about how to prevent the war from continuing to expand.

There was no special reason why he wanted to restrain the troops. In fact, he knew clearly that the ultimate purpose of the expansion of the Jiao-ao conflict was to pave the way for political purposes. As for supporting the revolutionaries, it was just a record and he was fully committed to the battlefield in China.

, whether in terms of economy or military strength, it was a poor strategy, and it also expanded the front line thousands of miles. Even if it fought on both sides of Jiao'ao and Lianyungang at the same time, Japan's military strength was already insufficient, let alone expanding to

across China.

But just when he was still thinking about avoiding the expansion of the war, the First Fleet suffered a disastrous defeat. Almost all the main forces of the Second Army it escorted were buried in the sea. Now it is no longer a question of the expansion of the war, but

How to end war.

Without the escort of the navy, unless Japan is determined to fight from Kanto to Kansai, the only option is to end the war. But even if this decision is made, I am afraid that a lot of things will have to be given up. At the moment, ending the conflict in China and Japan's

The contradiction between dignity troubled him deeply again. He wanted to take the fish, but was reluctant to part with the bear's paw, and wanted the bear's paw, but could not let go of the fish. This contradiction made him face a dilemma.

I hope the elders can make a choice!

While thinking this in his heart, Okuma was also thinking about his own fate. The annihilation of the First Fleet meant that the remnants of the Second Army were likely to be annihilated by the China Army in the next few days, and all this would eventually lead to

As a result, under the premise that Japan has spent a lot of manpower, financial resources, and material resources and suffered huge losses, but Japan has not received anything in return, as the Prime Minister, he must take responsibility for this matter-resign!

Elder, in Japan, is an informal title. It refers generally to politicians who have been retiring or semi-retiring since the late Idyllic era. They have been awarded the privilege of "preferential treatment" and the edict to "support the great government", which is the so-called "

The appointed elders controlled the direction of Japanese politics behind the scenes. From the time when Ito Hirobumi and Kuroda Kiyotaka were "received" in 889 to the time when Saionji Konobo was appointed in 1912, there were 9 people including Ito Hirobumi, Yamagata Aritomo, etc.

People become elders. (For written novels, go to 'Piaotian Literature Network')

The elders have always been above the cabinet, and the elders who are still alive today include Yamagata Aritomo, Matsukata Masayoshi, Inoue Kaoru, Ozan Iwa, Saigenji Konobo, and Katsura Taro, who retired from politics after resigning due to the "Siemens Incident"

, also lost their status as elders. After Emperor Taisho succeeded to the throne, the five elders all considered themselves to be the guardians of the cabinet and the emperor, and the elders were the deciders of national policy.

Among these five elders, the oldest one is Aritomo Yamagata, who was born in the army, followed by Masayoshi Matsukata and Kaoru Inoue. As for Ozanyan and Saigenji Konobo, they were only "appointed" as new elders two years ago, so Okuma only

I will first visit Youpeng in Shanxian County.

After reading the telegram in his hand, compared to the shock of others, Shanxian Youpeng, who had experienced countless storms, looked at the telegram with a serious expression, and then said with a suspicious face,

"In the intelligence I know about China, it seems that it has never been mentioned that China's aircraft can drop torpedoes!"

Okuma nodded vigorously. But in his opinion, this is normal. After all, Japan is far behind Europe in aviation technology and has not yet been taken seriously. Maybe this technology was just introduced by the Chinese from Europe.

"Maybe it's a technology just introduced by the Chinese!"

Shanxian just nodded.

"Now, can we confirm the loss?"

"It's hard to answer if it's someone else, but we have already contacted the Second Army. This is a telegram from Osako Shodo. It has confirmed the loss of the First Marine Team. The Third Team, there is no further news yet.

But it shouldn’t be wrong!”

Okuma Shigenobu explained.

In just a few hours, everything changed! While he was sighing in his heart, Yamagata Aritomo looked at Okuma and said.

"Okuma-kun. If this is true, this may be the Chinese's Battle of Tsushima, but Japan has turned into a Lucian and defeated a huge fleet with a toy-like aircraft. This is really unprecedented.

ah!"

As a soldier, Yamagata Youto never believed that the Chinese army would make such a leap, or even believe that a small plane could sink a huge warship.

"But it has been sunk! It was sunk by the Chinese army! This is beyond our imagination!"

Listening to Okuma Shigenobu's narration, Yamagata half-closed his eyes and didn't know whether he was happy or angry, but he spoke slowly and softly.

“It’s really beyond our imagination!”

At this time, Okuma Shigenobu did not know that in fact, the oldest veteran in the empire was actually struggling on the edge of anger and reason. As a soldier, Yamagata Aritomo knew better than anyone what the naval defeat meant.

What is meant is not only the failure of the conscious navy, but also the failure of Japan's attempt to use this war and the westward shift of Western powers' sights to this golden opportunity to expand China's expansion policy. (For text novels, go to 'Piaotian Literature Network'

)

"Your Excellency, now we have to choose whether to hold a royal council on the China issue or..."

Okuma Shigenobu did not say the last sentence, but said it tactfully.

"Sir, what do you think we should do? If someone needs to be responsible for this matter, Okuma is willing to take any responsibility!"

Okuma spoke with some skill, and he would only bear the responsibilities he should bear. As for the failure of the navy and possible failure of the army, that is not what he, the prime minister, needs to be responsible for.

"Ah! This!"

Shanxian said as he pondered and slowly calmed down.

"Let's hold a meeting of elders!"

Yamagata Aritomo's answer made Okuma Shigenobu sigh in relief. This was exactly his purpose.

A meeting of elders was convened the next day.

The venue of the Elders Meeting was not located in the prime minister's villa as usual, but was moved to the villa of Kaoru Inoue, another elder who has great influence in the political and economic circles, in Kōtsu-cho, Shizuoka Prefecture.

The reason why I transferred here was because Inoue Kaoru could not go to Tokyo due to health reasons, so the other elders had no choice but to condescend.

When the sun had just dried the dew, the elders arrived one by one.

Inoue Kaoru's villa has been built for several years, and has long been integrated with the nearby forest, springs and other scenery. Yamagata Aritomo came from the summer resort of Oiso, and Matsukata Masayoshi was born in Satsuma, and he came from the summer resort of Kamakura.

Yes, in fact, these elders who have the power to decide on the choice of prime minister, support the bureaucracy, and the party cabinet rarely go to Tokyo unless there is no important matter. Only when necessary, they will gather together to hold a meeting of elders.

After Dashanyan, Xiyuanji Gongwang and others all arrived, the elders began to hold a meeting.

"Yesterday, in order to prevent the Second Fleet from being attacked by air, the Naval Command ordered the Second Fleet to withdraw to Lushun!"

At the beginning of the meeting, Okuma Shigenobu said with some helplessness that he had tried to stop the navy from doing this, but in the end, his efforts had no effect. (To read text novels, go to ‘Piaotian Literature Network’)

"If the Second Fleet is not withdrawn, if the Second Fleet is attacked by air again, who will bear the responsibility?"

The rhetorical question from the Naval Command left Okuma Shigenobu speechless. Japan is an island country, surrounded by sea, facing the United States across the Pacific to the east, and Russia eyeing it to the west. Japan cannot live without a navy.

But what annoyed Okuma was that the Navy was not even willing to leave even one cruiser to save face. If he hadn't repeatedly begged, the Navy would have withdrawn the fleet to the mainland instead of Port Arthur.

The contradiction between the Japanese navy and the army has been around for a long time. Because Japan is surrounded by sea, Japan attaches great importance to the construction of the navy. For decades, Japan has continued to devote its national power to the development of the navy. This has aroused the jealousy of the army. With each ship

With the introduction of battleships into the sea, the ambition of the navy, which became increasingly large, expanded much faster than the development of the navy itself. Especially after the Battle of Tsushima, the navy became the hero of all Japan.

Under such circumstances, the navy was naturally no longer willing to be subordinate to the army. It began to exert its influence in the cabinet, the military department in the Privy Council, and all important departments to compete with the army. The contradiction between the two sides developed from this, and to Yamamoto

Gonbei formed the cabinet, and the navy's influence in the government once exceeded that of the army.

In the end, by chance, the Army used the "Siemens incident" to destroy the development of the Navy in the political world, and the Navy returned to being subordinate to the Army. The reason why the Navy worked hard in this conflict was that it was controlled by the Army and to restore its reputation. But
To be continued...