On August 31, 1923, Okamura Ninji entertained two important guests, namely Nagata Tetsuyama and Kohata Toshiro.

"Tomorrow, His Royal Highness Prince Hirohito will hold a garden party to entertain ministers and cabinet ministers. I was ordered by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to go to the palace as a guard. Okamura Ninji said slowly, pouring tea for the other two as he spoke. The tea was given to Okamura Ninji by Kita Kazuki, and it is much more fragrant than Japanese tea. However, the three of them drank it slowly as they did the white water, and they didn't feel anything different at all.

In 1921, all three of them visited Europe as military attachés and secretly formed a gang in Baden-Baden, Germany. vowed to oppose the Chōshū gate lord in the army, overthrow Tanaka Yoshiichi, who had faintly become the leader of the army at that time, and put the crown prince on the throne. At the time of the conclusion of this covenant, Hideki Tojo was in charge of guarding the door. In addition to these three core people, they also gathered Umezu Mijiro, Yamashita Fumi, Isoya Ryosuke, Matsui Ishone, Nakamura Kotaro, Nakajima Imago, Kanshita Mura Tadashi and others from among the young talents who did not belong to the Choshu Domain, and formed a secret organization.

For several years, this small organization has taken advantage of the chaos in Japan and worked hard to expand the size of its own organization. Kita Ikki was able to return to Japan, although there were people in the upper echelons of Japan who wanted to take advantage of Kita Ikki, and the efforts of this small organization could not be ignored.

If other people heard that Okamura Ninji had been specially summoned by the crown prince, they would have felt jealous a long time ago, but Nagata Tetsuyama and Kohata Toshiro did not have such a reaction at all, Nagata Tetsuyama said frankly: "Then please Okamura-kun." Now that he has to stabilize the position of the crown prince, he must not let those guys with ill intentions do anything. ”

Emperor Meiji is also one of the relatively rare Japanese emperors in the past thousand years, and he can be regarded as able to influence the political situation in Japan, even if he does not hold great power. However, Japan has a strong tradition of hypocrisy, and a group of local princes killed the Tokugawa shogunate in the name of the emperor, and then wanted to continue to completely overthrow the emperor. The guys in the War Department talk about being loyal to the emperor, and they often do things that are contrary to each other, for example, the deceased Yama Prefecture Aritomo is completely in opposition to the current Taisho Emperor. He was extremely disgusted by Taizheng. However, Yamaguchi is not alone in wanting to completely epose the emperor, and the War Department, the Admiralty, the Cabinet, and the bureaucracy are almost on the same side in this regard.

To be sure, Okamura Ninji, Nagata Tetsuyama, and Obata Toshiro may not have been very loyal to the emperor, but they have the experience of Meiji victories, and if they can effectively borrow the emperor's name, it will be very beneficial to seize power.

In response to Nagata Tetsuyama's advice, Okamura Ninji replied slowly: "I will definitely do my best for this." ”

Toshiro Obata was worried about something else, "Okamura-kun, as far as you can see, can this person Kita Ichiki be of use to us?" ”

Okamura Ninji slowly shook his head, "This person will never be of use to us, he has been in China for too long, I can only say that he is more like a Chinese." However, Kita Ikki's understanding of this person is by no means comparable to that of ordinary Japanese, but it is a pity. ”

"If the situation continues like this, Japan's opportunities and national fortunes from the Meiji era will disappear completely." Nagata Tetsuyama said categorically. Unlike other Japanese soldiers, Nagata Tetsuyama did not boast about the Yamato nation and the spirit of bushido at all, but pointed out the essence of Japan's rise, "opportunity and national fortune".

Japan's rise was entirely based on China's weakness, and the European and American powers competed in the Far East, so that Japan could suddenly flourish in such a situation. However, a China that can defend itself will completely crush Japan's chances and national fortunes, and Nagata Tetsuyama sees this very clearly.

Of course, such a smart guy as Okamura Ninji completely agreed with Nagata Tetsuyama's point of view, and he still said slowly: "I think Kita Ikki's meaning is very clear, he wants China and Japan to form an alliance. Take advantage of the conflict between China and the European and American powers to expand more space for Japan. I'm not optimistic about this idea at all. There can never be an equal relationship between China and Japan. I don't think you'll accept a Japan that is subservient to China. ”

The other two nodded earnestly, Japan had finally waited for the opportunity of the moment, but the sudden rise of the People's Party had completely disrupted Japan's original plan. Nagata Tetsuyama is a recognized talent in the Japanese War Department, and after graduating from Lu University, Nagata Tetsuyama was immediately distributed to the Education Director Department, and soon he rose to prominence, writing the "Military Education Order". Lieutenant General Botaro Hongo, then head of the Education Headquarters (with the same status as Army Vice-Minister and Deputy Chief of Staff), was amazed and appreciative of the fact that this fledgling Lieutenant Nagata was able to take on an epoch-making plan for the education of the whole army.

In 1913, Nagata was promoted to lieutenant, and in the next ten years, he was posted to Europe three times, a period of six years. He was a man of great intelligence and intellectual curiosity, and he had a good foundation in German, and it was during the First World War, and he paid close attention to the war situation, and at the same time made an in-depth comparative study of the strategic resources, industrial standards, and the general mobilization system in which the human, financial, and material resources of each country were invested to play the function of the general war. In 1920, he submitted a rich "Opinion on National Mobilization" to the Japanese Army authorities, which was praised by Senior General Ugaki Kazunari, who served as Minister of War twice in the late Taisho and early Showa periods, as more brilliant than the overall war theory of General Ludendorff of Germany.

But nothing can ignore the reality of the situation, and after the People's Party curbed the trend of China's sinking, this "national mobilization opinion" became a joke. Even with the maximum force that could be used in this plan, the number of troops in Japan was only 8 million. In peacetime, the BJP maintains a standing army of 5.5 million men. Okamura Ninji is a Chinese expert, and the results of his investigation made Nagata Tetsuyama feel even more painful, the Chinese army has a three-year military service, and retired soldiers are treated quite well. According to the 4% war mobilization ratio of ordinary countries, China's 600 million population can even mobilize as many as 24 million troops with military experience in the event of a full-scale war between China and Japan. The number alone is three times that of Japan.

Nagata Tetsuyama was not a fool, he would not believe the nonsense that a Japanese soldier could be hostile to at least two Chinese soldiers. Even if China and Japan can have a 1:2 war of attrition, and all 8 million Japanese troops die in China, in exchange for the lives of 16 million Chinese soldiers, then China still has 8 million troops in its hands. Japan lost 8 million strong, and without China taking the initiative to attack, Japan's country with a population of less than 60 million collapsed on its own.

And the BJP has shown not only a strong mobilization, but also the determination to fight to the end. The reason why Tetsuyama Nagata, Ninji Okamura, and Toshiro Obata wanted to establish a strong emperor system was also largely influenced by China. East Asian countries are more likely to understand the concept of a strong leader, and Nagata Tetsuyama firmly believes that the People's Party (PBP) chairman, Chen Kejun, is one of the biggest reasons for China's rise in such a short period of time. Strong leaders are naturally able to lead a country on the right path. If you look at China from the perspective of the Japanese, once Chen Ke gives the order to fight to the last man, the Chinese army will carry out this order to the end. The enormous disadvantage caused by the demographic gap between Japan and China is fully exposed in the face of this incomparably strong determination.

And another issue is the age of Chen Ke, the leader of China who is too young. He was only 43 years old in 1923, four years older than Nagata Tetsuyama and Okamura Ninji, and five years older than Toshiro Obata. Such a person has at least 20 years to be in power, and if he can live to be 84 years old like Youpeng Yama County, who died the year before last, then he can still hold power in China for 40 years. Although anyone can make mistakes, based on Chen Ke's performance so far, Nagata Tieshan does not dare to have such illusions.

Every time he compares the situation between China and Japan, Nagata Tetsuyama feels a sense of despair. The powerlessness brought about by this despair sparked the passion of Nagata Tetsuyama and others. At present, there is a very "traitorous" view in the upper echelons of Japan, and those defeatists even believe that if Japan had not persecuted China so much in the Treaty of Shimonoseki, and if it had not been for the invasion of China by the Eight-Nation Alliance, which brought great humiliation to China, then it is very likely that the Manchu court would still be in power. Without the People's Party led by Chen Ke, Japan would have been able to easily gain the upper hand in the face of such a weak and internally contradictory China. From this point of view, Japan's rise has only served to stimulate China.

This kind of rhetoric may seem full of ridicule about China, but it is essentially a real defeatist attitude. Nagata Tetsuyama believes that no matter how much luck and national fortune Japan's rise is, it is also the result of countless Japanese soldiers forgetting to die. Now bow your head and admit defeat, and push everything to the will of God, all of them should be punished by God.

Nagata Tetsuyama said seriously: "Okamura-kun, please explain to His Royal Highness Hirohito no matter what, China is by no means invincible. As long as Japan is united, we will not be without opportunities. Yoshiichi Tanaka is certainly unreliable, but there is no one in the War Department who really works for the country. ”

Toshiro Obata nodded repeatedly, but what he said seemed to have nothing to do with it, "It seems that we must make concessions in the matter of the University, but North Korea cannot make any concessions in any way." What does Kita Yihui think about this matter? ”

"Chen Ke showed no signs of mixing things up, and Kita Ilki firmly believed that if we didn't send troops from North Korea, China would definitely not take the initiative to attack North Korea." Okamura Ninji said with a little egoist dissatisfaction, "So no matter what happens in the Luda area, it is impossible to provoke foreign interference." ”

This answer made the three outstanding Japanese soldiers very indignant, and the People's Party was sophisticated and cunning like a poisonous snake hidden deep in a hole in the ground, and any external change seemed impossible to make them lose ground, and Japan had no chance to take advantage of this point. If you want to kill China, you can only besiege the whole world like the Eight-Nation Alliance, but China will not give Japan such a chance at all. The British refused to take advantage of the fire, and in terms of the attitude of the Americans towards Japan, what they were doing now was to suppress the Anglo-Japanese alliance in an all-round way.

Nagata Tetsuyama didn't want to talk nonsense either, and he asked Okamura Ninji, "What do the young officers think?" ”

"Very dissatisfied." Okamura Ninji, who was in charge of intelligence, replied, "Dissatisfaction with the Choshu domain is the mainstream. With so many casualties in North Korea, the morale of the troops is getting lower and lower. The lower the will to fight, the worse the combat effectiveness of the troops, the worse the combat effectiveness, and the more people die. The more people who die, the lower the morale. It's already an endless loop. There will be no solution without radical institutional change. So I'm very interested in Kita's opinion. No matter how absurd his intentions may be, this man has real material when it comes to rebuilding order in Japan. He has grasped at least one point, that is, to bring down the chaebol and pay attention to grassroots construction. ”

"Grassroots construction?" Nagata Tieshan sneered, "The Political Friends Association, the political parties, and that dog Yangyi are still clamoring for universal suffrage!" Is this the grassroots construction in Japan? What the People's Party said in this matter still makes sense, if it simply liberalizes universal suffrage, that is, whoever has money can come to power. In the end, it was not the chaebols who came to power with a different brand. Whether capital controls power, or power controls capital, this is the essential question. Whether this power comes from the people's pursuit of money and capital, or from the state's pursuit of the development of productive forces, is a big question. ”

Borrowing the wisdom of the People's Party is a common thing in such a small group, and Okamura Ninji is even able to recite many documents of the People's Party in large sections. Modern industrial countries are huge organizations that integrate the entire country into the national capital operation system, and no industrial country can bypass the problem of people's power.

"At the end of the day, power in Japan must be in the hands of patriots. None of those rich people are worth trusting. Nagata Tetsuyama said loudly.

"I have made arrangements for these issues within my terms of reference." Okamura replied slowly, "We need time, and what we lack most is time. ”

"Then let Yoshiichi Tanaka go and mess around first, we must gather our strength in the army." Nagata Tetsuyama replied.

"So are we going to North Korea? Now we absolutely cannot lose the DPRK, and the War Department actually withdrew its troops by default in this case, but what if the Admiralty expands the war in an all-round way? Toshiro Obata asked.

This question is indeed an extremely nasty thing, and the Japanese side cannot afford a full-scale war, as long as it is not a fool. The Admiralty never seemed to engage in meaningless wars, but now that the Admiralty was in power, they were forced by domestic public opinion to the point where they could not make any concessions. Even if the Admiralty broke the tank and pretended to be a turtle with a shrunken head, the People's Party would still attack the brigade area without hesitation. It would be an extremely dangerous thing for the Admiralty to jump over the wall and use the navy to attack China's coastal cities under the strong pressure of public opinion at home at that time, and to expand the scale of the war from the brigade area to a full-scale war.

Although Yoshiichi Tanaka is a big bastard, as far as his vision is concerned, he ordered the War Department not to speak on this matter, and he also tried to reduce the war clamor from which the War Department was the source as much as possible, and in terms of political wisdom, he did not insult his status as the head of the army.

"In order to win wars, wars must be avoided." Toshiro Obata said with some difficulty, the Beiyang Fleet forced Japan to breathe, and at that time, Japan worked together, and finally killed the Beiyang Fleet. Now it seems that Japan will have to wait and try its courage.

Nagata Tetsuyama said with a cold face: "At this point, please also ask Okamura-kun to explain to His Royal Highness Hirohito that what Yoshiichi Tanaka is doing now is for personal purposes. And although we support it, we are genuinely for the future of our country. ”

"Please rest assured that Nagata-kun is here." Okamura Ninji replied very seriously.