"Working with the UK? Will the British abandon China? "The one who asked this stupid question was Senior General Oi Narimoto, Tanaka's fellow chief of staff.

Tanaka Yoshiichi smiled bitterly and said, "Oi-kun, haven't you understood the strategy of Britain and China? The purpose of Britain's cooperation with China was to force the empire to follow suit and return to an international order headed by Britain. After China and Japan become members of the new international order, it will be the turn of the United States next. If I am not mistaken, Britain will join forces with China, Japan, and perhaps France to propose an agreement to limit naval armaments...... The British don't have the money to continue playing the naval arms race!

But such a treaty is not a bad thing for the Empire, and our pockets are empty. The military expenditure of the navy has already accounted for one-third of the government budget, and if the 10 th Fleet is really built, I am afraid that the military expenditure of the navy will be increased...... But when the time comes, the United States will increase the construction of ships, how should we deal with it? The United States has at least 20 times more steel than the Empire, and there is no hope of winning by fighting with them. It would be better to have a treaty that restricts all aspects. It's not bad for the Army, right? ”

Hearing Tanaka's words, several army generals who had already reached the brink of rampage glanced at each other and seemed to have calmed down.

Akiyama Yoshiko smiled bitterly and asked, "Tanaka-kun, what do you mean...... When you become prime minister, will the empire seek to compromise with Britain and join the British-led international system like China? Then we can negotiate with the United States to limit the development of the navy, and save the military expenditure of the navy to develop the army? This tone sounds a bit like money-eyed.

Yoshiichi Tanaka nodded helplessly, he also knew that his prime minister had to be supported by the army to become the prime minister. And isn't the purpose of the Army's support for him to become Prime Minister so that he can obtain better development prospects? If he refuses the Army's request now, it will be difficult to say whether this prime minister will be able to become a prime minister...... As for how to bargain with the Army after becoming a soldier, that's another matter.

"That's natural!" Tanaka smiled and said, "At least the cavalry must be retained, but I also have one condition." His tone was already softened: "The national policy of going south must not be shaken, and the future battlefield of the army can only be the South Seas, not the East Asian continent!" This is my opinion, and this is also the meaning of His Excellency Yama County! Do you understand? ”

……

in Hong Kong. In the tranquil blue waters of Victoria Bay, British Navy warships are moored here, waiting for Chang Ruiqing's arrival. The early morning mist shrouded the massive battlecruisers, and the Hood was like a mountain floating in the fog, making people feel a sense of awe from the bottom of their hearts. And on this warship. Sailors and officers skillfully went about their daily work to the sound of whistles and announcements. Or they are doing a variety of training. These men, like the Hood, are part of the world's most powerful naval force.

At nine thirty a.m., two gray light cruisers appeared, followed by a heavy cruiser of the same color. According to the caliber of the main guns, it can be regarded as a heavy cruiser. If in terms of tonnage, just light cruisers. It was built by the British company Armstrong at the end of the 19th century for the Qing Dynasty navy, with a standard displacement of only 4,300 tons, almost one-tenth the size of the battlecruiser Hood.

When the Haiqi passed by the Hood. The brass military band on the deck played "God Save the King". After the performance, the British Royal Navy Band on the deck of the Hood also played the "National Anthem of the Republic of China" - the national anthem used by the Nanjing Provisional Government in 1912 and became the national anthem of the Nationalist Government after the victory of the Northern Expedition.

At this time, Chang Ruiqing was standing under the 203mm main gun of the No. 1 turret of the Haiqi, with Cheng Guangbi, Chen Ce, Chen Shaokuan and others, important generals of the National Defense Navy. Take a closer look at the Hood from less than 500 meters upclose. Churchill stood on the deck of the Hood across from them, wearing a blue Royal Navy uniform and waving at the Chinese small warship with a long cigar. There was a smug expression on his face that couldn't be hidden. Chinese, open your eyes and see, what a real navy looks like! If only that protective cruiser of yours were in England. It has long been dismantled into scrap steel!

At this time, Chang Ruiqing was imagining the scene of the Hood being sunk by the battleship Bismarck, and he was not interested in this kind of capital ship with huge costs. However, several admirals around him were debating in a low voice about the future allocation of the tonnage of China's capital ships - in the past few days of secret negotiations, Churchill on behalf of Britain was allowed to have capital ships of no more than 150,000 tons gross tonnage in the future Sino-British Naval Agreement! So the three generals of the Chinese Navy happily made wishful thinking, Cheng Biguang thought that China should build three 50,000-ton super battleships! And Chen Ce prefers battle cruisers. It is hoped to build five 30,000-ton battle cruisers; Chen Shaokuan felt that he should pay equal attention to both, building two 40,000-ton battleships and two 35,000-ton battlecruisers......

But Chang Ruiqing will not approve one, at most he agrees to build a few heavy cruisers and aircraft carriers. And it was after the completion of the Second Five-Year Plan. However, he still plans to keep the 150,000-ton capital ship construction quota, even if there is not a single capital ship.

After the "National Anthem of the Republic of China" was played. Chang Ruiqing smiled and said to several admirals around him: "The British Navy's lead is all-round. Even their marching bands are better than ours...... It's the best anthem I've ever heard. Everyone around smiled politely. Chang Ruiqing himself smiled, and he continued: "Since the British are so enthusiastic about helping us develop the navy, I think we can start by training naval officers and engineers who build ships and cannons." It is also possible to consider importing a training ship, several destroyers, and two more submarines from the UK. Then he waved his hand and declared the ceremonial review over.

Cheng Biguang beckoned Chang Ruiqing at this time and said, "Sit, the speedboat has been put down, let's go to visit the Hood." Seriously, it's the first time I've seen such a big warship! I don't know when our Chinese Navy will be able to have such a ship. ”

"We'll have better."

Chang Ruiqing took the speedboat of the Haiqi, passed through several hundred meters of calm water, from the small Haiqi to the huge Hood, which is equivalent to going from China to Britain, from a weak naval country to the world's number one naval power. This is a brand new battlecruiser, which was completed just a few months ago. Compared to the dilapidated flagship Haiqi of Chen Shaokuan (commander of the First Fleet of the Chinese Navy), it is simply another world. Chang Ruiqing saw the Hood's huge turret and twin 15-inch cannons up close, inspecting the Royal Marines lined up in three neat rows on the deck below the cannons. Then, together with Churchill, who was waiting there, he began to tour the giant ship under the guidance of the captain of the Hood. The group walked through the corridors. Outwardly, this battlecruiser was indeed invincible. Chang Ruiqing thought in his heart, but in actual combat, the table is so bad, probably the most expensive vase in the world, right? It is absurd that one of the world's most powerful naval powers would not hesitate to spend the last penny in their pockets to build such vases in large quantities.

The first stop on the visit to the Hood vase is an lavishly decorated officer's quarters. This cabin is huge. Maybe it's the largest and most beautiful officer's room in the world, right? Inside, it was furnished like a luxury clubhouse, with dark wood wainscoting, comfortable chairs, and rows of bookshelves filled with hardcover books. as well as a bar.

"How? My Chinese friend, it's beautiful here, isn't it? Churchill turned the long cigar on his lips. My favorite is also this officer's room - you know, long journeys at sea are very lonely, and most of the time is spent in this luxurious room. If you're going to build capital ships in the future, you can't save that money. ”

"That was a long time later." "Yesterday Sir Juerdian said to me that Britain hoped that in due course our two countries could come up with an initiative aimed at controlling naval armaments. When is this time appropriate? ”

Churchill furrowed his eyebrows and said, "I hope it will be a thousand years from now, but I tell you a secret." The British Empire is running out of money, so we want to end the shipbuilding race as much as possible. ”

Chang Ruiqing and Cheng Biguang looked at each other, while Churchill's gaze swept over the faces of both of them. Chang Ruiqing said: "I really didn't expect it, but it's not the first time in the history of the British Empire that a similar situation has happened, right?" You also spent all your coffers to defeat Napoleon, but it was not long before it was full of gold and silver. ”

"Yes. We will quickly pay off the debts we owe because of the world war, and then fill the treasury. However, that will take time, so we hope that China and the United Kingdom will jointly come up with an initiative to limit naval armaments after the joint statement of the two countries. This is also very beneficial to establishing China's status as a great power in the international arena. ”

Churchill made this request again. Chang Ruiqing knows. Historically, from 1921 to 1922, major countries in the world once held an international conference in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. The main topics of the meeting were the limitation of naval armaments and the Far East Pacific issue. The former was to free Britain, the United States and Japan from the bottomless pit of naval arms race, while the latter was to improve the imperialist world's peace system after World War I. And now, Britain clearly wants China to be the initiator of such an international conference.

"Okay, Mr. Chancellor, I think we can invite representatives of the major international powers to Shanghai to convene a conference aimed at limiting armaments and rebuilding the post-war world peace system."

"Well, that's good, and the British Empire will appreciate your help." Churchill said: "After this meeting, China will become a member of the civilized world." ”

"So who's going to be in this meeting?"

"Of course Britain and China are going to participate." Churchill took two puffs of his cigarette. "And the United States, Japan, France, Italy, the Netherlands, maybe Belgium, Portugal, Spain, Siam may also participate, right?"

"What about Russia?" Chang Ruiqing said: "Russia is an important country in the world, don't you let them participate? ”

"What the British Empire wants to build is a world peace system. If those Bolsheviks really want peace, we welcome them to this conference, and then we will win peace for at least one generation. Churchill spoke his opinion slowly, though a look of disgust could not help but appear on his face when he spoke of the Bolsheviks. But Chang Ruiqing can still feel that Churchill is still very much looking forward to peaceful coexistence with Soviet Russia. In the end, he said: "Well, Chairman of the Standing Committee, since you are the initiator of this peace conference, it is up to you to decide whether or not to invite the representatives of Soviet Russia to attend." ”

……

Yoshiichi Tanaka gently put down the newspaper in his hand and took a deep breath. His expression was very complicated now. It's a little dull, but it's also a little exciting. But it's more about a sense of mission that is about to take on a big responsibility. Japan has just held a parliamentary election. Thanks to the slogans of "land reform" and "labor protection" that cater to the ordinary Japanese people, and the Japanese Army's all-out auxiliary election, the Japanese National Socialist Party led by Yoshiichi Tanaka and Kita Kazuki became the largest party in the lower house of the Japanese parliament as it wished! Out of a total of 466 seats, the National Socialist Party won 209, although not a majority. But as long as you unite some non-partisan people or a small party. You will be able to get half of the seats you need to form a cabinet. Moreover, the Army, which has great influence in Japanese politics, has also made clear its support for Tanaka and the National Socialist Party. So Yoshiichi Tanaka is already ironclad to become the next Prime Minister of the Japanese Cabinet!

But at this time, he did not know how to fulfill the promises made at the election. Tens of millions of Japanese citizens craned their necks for his land reform and labor protection, and the Japanese Army looked to him, his own people, to give them more budgets and more opportunities for promotion. The Navy, on the other hand, wanted to build more battleships and battle cruisers to overwhelm the United States by virtue of its southward expansion -- but how could a country with a steel output of more than a million tons beat a country with a steel output of 20 to 30 million tons in a shipbuilding race?

The door to the entrance was gently opened, and a maiden dressed in a kimono bowed respectfully to the future prime minister. And Kita Yihui and the leader of the Japanese Kuomintang, Inu-Yangyi, stood at the door with a smile. The latter's Japanese Nationalist Party, which won 29 seats in the general election, was one of the targets that Tanaka Yoshiichi wanted to woo, and now it seems to have succeeded.

"Mr. Inukai, why don't you let people know when you come. I'm going to the door to greet you! Tanaka stood up as soon as he was busy.

Inuyang Yi waved his hand indifferently, and sat down with a big grin with Kita Yihui, frowning and looking at the newspapers on the desk. The photo of Chang Ruiqing standing with a white Humpty Dumpty who looked a bit like a pit bull stood on half the page. The photo also shows in large black and bold letters: China and Britain issued a joint statement saying that they will work together to rebuild a new post-war order and limit the construction of naval armaments.

Inuyang Yi patted the newspaper with a smile: "Tanaka-kun, this seems to be good news, the development of the empire really needs a relatively relaxed environment." And the naval arms race is too expensive...... If I had been open to spending money like that, I wouldn't have been able to be the Minister of Finance. ”

Yoshiichi Tanaka smiled reservedly, and he said lightly, "Mr. Inukai." Don't you see Sino-British cooperation as a betrayal of the Empire? It is rumored that the focus of Sino-British cooperation will be on the navy - Britain will help China build a huge fleet with 30% of the gross tonnage of the British navy! The navy can be considered a great threat to the hegemony of the Empire in the East! The Navy must intensify its efforts to build ships. The Army also considered it necessary to strengthen the Far Eastern Army and the Korean Army......"

Inu Yangyi snorted: "China has never been an ally of the empire, so how can you say betrayal?" As for the issue of Sino-British naval cooperation, we still need to wait for the explanation of the Chinese side...... But in any case, you can't do more shipbuilding. Because there is really no money left. He sighed softly: "According to the plan of the Ten Fleet, the empire still needs to build 18 battleships or battlecruisers in the next nine years, and according to the cost of 25 million yuan each, it needs to invest 450 million yuan!" And that's just an investment in capital ships. If you count the armored cruisers, protective cruisers, destroyers, transport ships, and even aircraft carriers that go with it. All together, I'm afraid that the investment of 1 billion yuan can't be stopped! This is simply not something that the empire's economy can afford! Therefore, the empire might as well take advantage of this step to go down, and join the new post-war order of Britain like China. ”

"Beijun, what do you think? Will the people think of it? Tanaka Yoshimi looked at Kita Kazuki, who was speechless.

"The people are most concerned about land." Bei Yihui frowned and said, "The empire should speed up the development of the Far Eastern Prefecture and distribute the land there to the peasants who lack land as soon as possible. ”

"That's going to require a lot of investment." Inuyang Yi reminded: "So we can't let the navy spend money without restrictions. ”

Yoshioshi Tanaka grimaced. "But the future of the empire is at sea, in the navy!"

"But we can't build a ship by competing with the United States, we can't win...... Because if the empire builds one, the United States can build ten! Inu Yangyi said, with a worried expression on his face. So we have to convince the Navy to agree to the Empire's participation in the arms control conference. If we can't spend money to defeat the United States, we might as well unite with other countries to restrain the United States. ”