What is a Concession?

For the countries that ceded their concessions, it was a symbol of colonization and disgrace. But for the countries that got the concessions, it was a sovereign and inviolable area. This is the same as the consulates in foreign countries in later generations, no matter how the war is fought, everyone is reluctant to touch this piece, because the diplomatic disputes involved are too big and too big. If it is not a matter if Germany took the initiative to withdraw, then trying to forcibly take over the Japanese concession is tantamount to provoking the entire group of powers, because if this bill is passed, it means that the bill on the British and French concessions may also be passed in the future.

But for the Japanese government at that time, it had no intention of paying attention to why Yang Qiu threw out this draft.

On the streets of Shinjuku, Tokyo, Chen Haohui wore an ordinary worker's costume and slowly walked towards the Suyama Tavern at the end of the street. This humble tavern is very famous in Japanese political circles, and the feudal lords represented by Yama Prefecture Aritomo have always regarded it as a thorn in their side, if it were not for the fact that the democratic forces have flourished in recent years, and it also has a very wide appeal among the people, and the naval Satsuma faction has also intentionally or unintentionally sheltered the faction of the Chōshū clan of the army, perhaps this tavern may have been swept into history long ago.

With his identity, he can't enter this tavern under any circumstances, but that doesn't mean he can't know the secrets inside. Chen Haohui lowered his head, like a worker hurrying home in the night, and after turning around the tavern to make sure that no one was following, he suddenly flashed into a nearby bungalow. On the second floor of the bungalow, a telescope disguised as a chimney tube was just right to see through the tavern ventilation window. The intelligence officer who was in charge of monitoring was also startled when he saw Chen Haohui, you must know that his identity is special, and only three or five of the intelligence officers in Japan know that there is such a person, if he hadn't participated in the southwest operation at the beginning, he wouldn't have known about this matter at all, so he hurriedly asked: "Head, what's wrong with you." ”

"Lu Shi is on vacation for the time being, and most of the students are going home to die, so I'll come and see if I'm fine." Chen Haohui walked to the telescope, the world in the lens was tense and noisy, many well-dressed democrats waved their fists and seemed to be arguing fiercely, this picture made him slightly hook the corners of his mouth, although the news in Japan was blocked by the military department, and the vast majority of ordinary people could not know the news that the front line had failed, but these people obviously couldn't help it.

In the face of the agitated members, Takahashi Shikiyo on the side had an indescribable feeling, he was the core figure of the Constitutional Council, but he was also an active force in promoting Japan's invasion of the mainland, and it was his several visits to Europe and the United States to raise huge amounts of public debt for Japan that helped Japan win the decisive Russo-Japanese War. However, no one could have imagined that those "juniors" would fail his efforts and drag Japan into a war that should not have happened, directly leading to the gradual disappearance of the gains made ten years ago.

"Did Kato-kun hear about it? It seems that the military department still wants to continue fighting. What do you think you should do now? Takahashi is Kiyoshi twisted to Takaaki Kato next to him. The latter is not only the foreign minister, but also the largest source of finance for the Constitutional Council, as he himself is the son-in-law of the Mitsui chaebol. To put it bluntly, the struggle between democracy and the feudal lords in recent years is actually a game between the chaebols and the feudal lords, and as Japan's national strength has gradually strengthened, the chaebols represented by Mitsui have been dissatisfied with their political status after obtaining huge profits, and they are trying to challenge the situation of the feudal lords being dominant.

Takaaki Kato is not only the foreign minister, but also one of the most active mouthpieces of the Mitsui zaibatsu, and his independent foreign policy is incompatible with the factions of the prefecture, so there have been recent statements of impeachment against him. Picking up the wine glass, narrowing the mouse eyes, he sighed: "Takahashi-kun, please forgive me, the war must not continue!" I had just returned from Yokohama, and Hachiman Steel was already seriously short of raw materials, especially coking coal, which had reached the reserve warning line. The quality of China's self-produced coking coal is too poor to be used in steelmaking, and if it cannot be replenished, the steelmaking furnace must be stopped. Steelmaking furnaces are very fragile machines, and if they stop for more than three months and can't be restarted, they will all be damaged! ”

Takahashi is Kiyoshi has lived in Europe and the United States for a long time anyway, and knows some things about steelmaking and machinery and equipment maintenance, not to mention that steel production is the most important data to measure a country's economy and comprehensive strength, and this year's output is likely to be less than 150,000 tons, if the steel furnace is damaging the fledgling Japanese industry, it will be all over, so he is also anxious: "But if we don't continue the war, we still can't replenish it, and now the European war has been inextricably fought, and Britain and France can't help us anymore." The price of steel and coking coal in the international market has doubled. ”

Takaaki Kato is a very alcoholic, but sake is undoubtedly an expensive luxury in the absence of food, especially now that even the reserves of grain are starting to be scarce, and even large chaebols like Mitsui usually limit their supply. So I drank two more sips before continuing to speak: "Your Excellency Takahashi was the greatest hero of our country's last war, can't you understand it after being in Europe and the United States for a long time?" Britain and the United States still need our country! As long as an armistice can be agreed with China immediately, our country will not sink. It may take a long time to recover, but it's better than continuing to play. ”

Seeing that Takahashi was silent, Takaaki Kato continued: "Besides, don't you think it's a good opportunity now? Those ugly feudal lords will surely be abandoned by the people because of this defeat, and although the people of China are very hateful, they have helped us. ”

Takahashi is not the spokesperson of the chaebol like Takaaki Kato, although he is also inextricably linked with the major chaebols, but it is not yet the time to completely obey the mercy, not to mention that the one standing behind the feudal faction is really terrible. Although he also admits that this is the best opportunity for the Constitutional Council in decades, if it is done well, there is even hope that it will withdraw from breaking the foundation of the feudal system and establish a new Japanese political structure controlled by the zaibatsu from now on, but will this lead Japan into turmoil? The rice incident, the constitutional council parade, and many other battles can be seen that the power of the feudal lords is still deep-rooted, and will they be defeated again after a rash showdown? So he worried, "Isn't this going to cause some trouble?" ”

"Trouble? Are we in less trouble? If the war cannot be ended as soon as possible, the military department will probably use its strength to further deepen its position with the war, and that person is not an ordinary opponent. Takaaki Kato's last remark at the Five-Prime Ministers' meeting that "allies should be informed that war is going on first" was forgotten by the military department, and he was very angry. So he didn't have any good impression of the stiff-faced little old man, and said: "Your Excellency Takahashi doesn't have to worry too much, the navy has already spread the idea of ending the war, I think now I should find an opportunity to convince Okuma and Inukai Yi as soon as possible, as long as they promise to end it, then what can't be done?" ”

Just as the two were whispering, a rush of footsteps suddenly came from outside, and everyone who was debating fiercely hurriedly turned their heads to look, only to see an official of the Constitutional Council coming from outside, shouting: "Gentlemen! Something happened, and just now Kiyoura Keigo and Shirane went to see His Majesty the Emperor and formally asked for all rights to be granted to the military department and to win the war with the strength of the whole country. ”

"These damn feudal lords, do they want to drag Japan to hell?!"

"The war must end! If it continues, the Great Japanese Empire will sink! ”

The news made the tavern explode, Takahashi Shiqing and Kato Takaaki quickly looked at each other and said that it was not good, they didn't believe that the military department would be stupid enough to continue the war! No one in Japan knows that Kiyoura Keigo and Shirane are the "Four King Kongs" among the old bureaucrats of the Yama Shan faction, and they are simply the vanguard of that person. It must be that he wants to take advantage of the fact that the news of Qingdao's defeat has not yet spread to control the domestic situation as soon as possible, so as to prevent it from being attacked by the Constitutional Council!

"I think I should go meet Okuma yet." Takahashi Shiqing put down his wine glass, and Kato Takaaki also quickly got up and saluted: "It's time for me to say goodbye, maybe soon the British and French ambassadors will flock to him." After the two finished speaking, they walked out of the door together and greeted the carriage and hurried to the Prime Minister's Office.

Looking at the back of them leaving, Chen Haohui's eyes were cold: "Is there any indication in the country?" What's next? The intelligence officer quickly closed the curtains, handed him a cigarette, and frowned: "Boss Fang said that he wanted to find a way to make Japan completely chaotic. ”

"That's not easy!"

Chen Haohui lit a cigarette, the inferior Japanese cigarettes made him frown and quickly snuff them out after taking a puff, and then hooked his finger at the intelligence officer, and when the latter leaned to his side, he suddenly pointed to the tavern below: "Find an opportunity to find a few radical ones from those North Korean manpower to blow up here!" With that, he smiled and quickly rolled up his sleeves, and turned into the poor worker and walked out.

"Let the North Koreans blow it up?!" The intelligence officer's eyes are about to pop out, and it will be hell to kill a group of diehard members of the Constitutional Council and Japan will not be chaotic! When the time comes, regardless of who did it, this basin will definitely be buckled on the heads of the radical military headquarters. After he came back to his senses, he exhaled a big sigh, and cocked his thumb at Chen Haohui's back: "Black, it's really *** black!" ”

The departure of Takahashi Shiqing and Chen Haohui indicates that a storm has begun to brew. But at this time, except for a few people, there were many people who did not know what was about to happen, especially the Japanese military headquarters had completely messed up. When the news of the defeat in the Battle of Qingdao came, the fact that they had lost as many as 30,000 men and four capital ships in one day and one night was like a slap in the face of a slap in the hands of the officers who were dizzy, and no one expected that the stalemate would suddenly undergo such a major change that no one would be able to come up with a practical and effective solution for a while.

A total of three divisions in front and back! The four capital ships were sunk, the Iwate didn't know if it could be repaired, and the transport fleet was repeatedly ambushed, not to mention the baggage and materials lost for this battle, all of which added up to nearly 300 million national dollars in just two months! And that's not even counting the hundreds of millions of assets lost in the war and the huge pensions needed after the war! What is even more serious is that due to the defeat in the Battle of Qingdao, the remnants of the Guards Division and the Ninth Brigade were surrounded in the narrow Longkou, and how to rescue them as soon as possible has become the most urgent problem. And Jinzhou! Since Jinzhou has also been surrounded, the 21st Brigade led by Otani Kikuzo can only shrink and wait for reinforcements, can the fleet rescue them despite heavy losses? If these two lone soldiers are lost, no one can imagine what will happen.

"There can be no truce!" In the conference room of the military headquarters, the radical officers led by Junnobu Aoki looked excited, rolled up their sleeves and shouted: "The offensive must be strengthened!" Even negotiations need to be made before the empire's dominance in the Kanto Prefecture can be carried out! Manmeng is the lifeblood of the empire, and it will be unimaginable if it is lost. ”

"That's right, before the news spreads, we should take the lead and order the 21st Brigade and the Guards Division to carry out a jade attack, only in this way can we restore the dignity of our Imperial Japanese Army."

"We must not stop, we must not be frightened by temporary setbacks, there are still hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the empire who are willing to give their lives at any time."

"The Navy should immediately go out and continue south, not to be frightened by enemy submarines. They should concentrate their forces on attacking Shanghai and the Yangtze River, marching on Nanking to destroy their capital in one fell swoop, forcing China to lose its brains and blow their confidence. ”

The shouts in the direction of the conference room made Hasegawa Yoshimichi in the chief of staff's office even more upset, and asked the guards to close the forbidden door before turning to look at Tanaka Yoshiichi who was standing in front of him: "Has the county cabinet elder answered?" ”

Tanaka nodded respectfully and said, "I have already reported the situation to the elder of the pavilion, and after asking about the losses and the mobilization forces needed to continue the war, he has asked His Excellency Keigo Kiyoura and Shirane to meet His Majesty the Emperor. But with all due respect, I think it's very difficult to fight back as quickly as possible. The Second Fleet is basically unable to fight, and although the First Fleet is preparing, it is the last force that the Empire uses to conquer the world, and it cannot be acted upon unless necessary. Moreover, I have calculated that if we want to stabilize the situation of the war, we will need to throw at least six more divisions into the Kwantung Prefecture and the Jiaozhou Peninsula, and perhaps we will be able to mobilize these forces, but if we want to send them to China quickly, it will take at least 50 troop carriers of 10,000 tons and a month, and we have already lost 12 merchant ships in a row, with a total tonnage of more than 50,000, unless we can lease them from various countries. Speaking of this, he was also gloomy: "With our current maritime capacity, it will take at least two months to complete the deployment, and in between, we need to sink those cunning submarines first." ”

50 10,000-ton troop carriers ?!

Where do you get this?

With the outbreak of the European war, Germany's submarines also began to wreak havoc in Europe, and since the start of the war, it has sunk nearly 10 warships of various types and hundreds of thousands of tons of transport ships in more than a month, resulting in a serious shortage of ships on the Far East route, and the entire Pacific Ocean except for the US fleet has only the 12 10,000-ton ships and 16 other merchant ships that were urgently sold to a Chinese ocean-going shipping company before the war. But now that they are already Chinese, they can't go to the enemy to borrow, right? What do you take to transport troops without a ship? Not to mention the fact that there are several ghostly submarines that threaten the shipping lanes at all times.

What to do? Hasegawa was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot and asked, "So did Elder Ge give any other instructions on our report?" "Nope." Tanaka Yoshiichi shook his head: "But when I came back, I heard that His Excellency Takahashi Isyoshi had gone to meet with Prime Minister Okuma, and Foreign Minister Kato also seemed to have contacted the ambassadors of Britain and France, and they seemed to be starting negotiations." ”

Negotiation? Could it be that the empire is really going to withdraw from the mainland? No, there must be no withdrawal from the mainland! Hasegawa gritted his teeth and clenched his fists fiercely.