Zhu Erdian's departure was very quiet, and at this time, Beijing, which had received accurate news of the battlefield and knew that the Revival Army was counterattacking Japan, had no time to care about the departure of a foreigner. Even if he is British, he has no way to decide the war between China and Japan, let alone affect the victory or defeat between China and Japan. The Chinese people didn't have time to care about the British minister's stay or stay, and Yang Rui didn't have the heart to express any emotion, he was fortunate to have a lot of things to do, the most important of which was how to end this war.

In the inner study room of the Yin'an Palace, Xie Zhangtai, a foreign affairs secretary, Wang Guangqi, a former minister to Japan, Zhang Shi of the Intelligence Bureau, Zhang Zongxiang, director of the Japan Department of the Intelligence Bureau, Yang Du, speaker of the National Assembly, Zhang Taiyan, a secretary of the Ministry of Rites, Cen Chi, Yang Rui's personal adviser, and Xu Jingxi, a general staff officer, were holding a research meeting on the strategy toward Japan. Although Yang Rui already has ideas about Japan in his heart, he still has to listen to everyone's opinions, so that when the Standing Committee meets in the evening, these plans can be discussed collectively by everyone.

Everyone in the study room was familiar with each other, but Wang Guangqi, the former minister to Japan, and Zhang Zongxiang, director of the Japanese Department of the Intelligence Bureau, sat in the room with some apprehension. Especially Zhang Zongxiang, he is not a member of the Revival Association, he is no longer a revolutionary party, and his official rank is also low, he was already surprised to be taken to Yin'an Hall by Zhang Shi of the General Office, and then he was in the same room with the prime minister and others, and he sat on an equal footing, which made him feel like there was a charcoal fire under his buttocks, and he was uncomfortable for a long time, but fortunately, Lieutenant General Xu Jingxi, who was the General Staff at the beginning, introduced the war situation to everyone, and everyone was immediately attracted by the war situation, and he was also slightly natural.

“…… Now the 7th Army in the Northeast has surrounded the Japanese Guards Division in Dagu Mountain, and has routed a division sent by Anton to reinforce it; The 10th and 11th armies in the direction of Motianling and Kuandian also launched a diversionary offensive, and now the 1st Division of the 7th Army is attacking Andong. If you want to take down Anton. And deep into the DPRK, that under the blockade of the entire submarine forces. With the exception of the two divisions of the 4th Army, which were bitten by the 1st Army, the entire Japanese army would lose its retreat to the east. It can be said that our army has imprisoned most of the entire Japanese army in the coastal zone.

Because of the extremely resolute execution of the fortified wall, once the Japanese army loses the supplies that arrived by sea, it will collapse on its own after the supplies it brought are exhausted. The Japanese army in the direction of Ji'an was in the best situation, although it was bitten by the 1st Army, but whether the supply line was smooth or not depended on those Korean volunteers; Although the Japanese army in the Andong direction has not been fighting, although there is a supply problem, as long as the 7th Army occupies Andong, these divisions will be crushed on all fronts; Only in the direction of Lushun there was a fortress for the Japanese army. Food and other materials are the most abundant here, and judging from the current number of people here, it will not be a problem to support it for three to five months;

In order to prepare for the next offensive, the ships of the Japanese army some time ago were transporting troops and shells, and although grain was transported, there were 670,000 people hoarding here, and nearly 1,000 tons of supplies were consumed every day. According to the calculations of the intelligence services, even if the Japanese only eat one meal a day. After twenty days, there will be no food, of course, the army has a lot of livestock, but even if you kill the horses, you can only last a month.

In this situation, the Japanese army will have two response plans, one is to attack. Attacking Beijing before the food run out would be considered by them to be the only way to win; Second, the army did not attack or surrender, and immediately drove away the Korean laborers who had been recruited to save a large amount of food. And then hold on for as long as you can, the real purpose is to wait for the naval assault. If there is really no way, then the only way is to obtain an agreement to withdraw with dignity through diplomatic mediation. If you can't do it, you will fight to the death.

Twelve hours have passed since our army announced the blockade of the Bohai Sea, and if the Japanese army does not attack before dawn tomorrow, then they will adopt the second plan. If the Japanese army chooses the first option, it may cause great damage to our army, but it will also be greatly weakened in the attack, and eventually the whole army will be annihilated; The second option may also not be able to get rid of the end of the annihilation of the whole army, but at least it can survive for a while longer. ”

After Xu Jingxi briefly introduced the situation of the enemy and us on the map, he retreated with the sentence "Gentlemen, I have finished the introduction". Just as war is a continuation of politics, what is to be discussed now is not military issues, but political issues.

After he finished speaking, the next person to speak was Xie Zhangtai, his introduction was actually aimed at Zhang Taiyan, Yang Du, and Cen Chi, and only they didn't know much about the current diplomatic form.

"The most favorable form for our country today is the Great War of the European Wars, and at the same time the Russian army was annihilated and pinned down by our army, which made it impossible for Britain and France to interfere in the Sino-Japanese war. And the United States, the only one that can interfere in the affairs of the Far East, is completely on our side - before this meeting, a telegram from Washington's Minister to the United States, Lu Zhengxiang, said that the United States fully supports our landing on Taiwan, and even, considering that the Ryukyus are also a former subject country of China, President Wilson suggested that we should land in the Ryukyus, and even Japan, in the same way......"

When Xie Jintai said this, Zhang Taiyan and Yang Du in the room spoke at the same time: "Despicable! "Don't be fooled!" Both of them were eager, but Xie Jintai was not interrupted by them, but continued: "The purpose of our war is to take advantage of the fierce war between the European powers to completely defeat Japan, take back Taiwan and Peng, recover Korea, and redraw the East Asian order when inspiring the Chinese people, so as to obtain a favorable diplomatic environment."

Some people say that since Japan and Russia have been defeated one after another, and the United States has the support, then the next step should be to demand that Britain, France, Germany, and Austria return the concessions and abolish the unequal treaties, but the general strategy is not like this. The war in Europe consumes a huge amount of materials, and we have set an example for unlimited submarine warfare, which will eventually be taken by Germany and Austria, and then the world's merchant ships will be sunk by a large number of German and Austrian submarines, so now our country has the best opportunity to make money.

In addition, the prices of steel, coal, shipbuilding, and shipping are set to double under the long-term war in Europe, so we cannot be at fault with the European countries, especially with Britain and France, as for the relations between the two sides after the war, it will be a matter after the war.

Against the backdrop of this diplomatic form, it is now necessary to consider post-war relations with Japan. Now that the Japanese army is trapped in Zhili, the revival army has the ability to fight to Busan. Submarines can blockade the Bohai Sea and blockade Japanese ports. Also, I forgot to introduce a new army just now. That's the ...... of the Baath Air Force"

"I really forgot about it." Xu Jingxi stood up and added: "The reason why the Russian army in the northeast was annihilated so quickly in the middle of last year was that they were hit hard from the air as soon as the war began. At present, the Air Force has more than 1,000 planes, many of which can fly nearly 1,000 pounds of bombs, and can take off from Pusan and go straight to the Japanese mainland. Japanese dwellings have always been made of wood, and once a bomb is dropped on a major city, it will inevitably cause a fire, and the wind will fuel the fire. Including Tokyo will also be burned to the ground. ”

Xu Jingxi is a soldier, and he didn't say much after introducing the situation, and then Xie Zhangtai said: "Between China and Japan, there will be negotiations in the end, but how the negotiations should be discussed, where to take the proportions, and what the post-war relations between China and Japan should be are extremely worthy of in-depth study." Let's talk about that, as is custom. Start with the youngest officer. ”

As soon as the leader spoke, it was difficult for the people below to guarantee that they would not agree, so the practice of the seminar was that the youngest official would say it first, otherwise he would really wait for Yang Rui to open his mouth and set the tone. There is no need for this meeting.

As soon as Xie Jintai finished speaking, everyone looked at Zhang Zongxiang. He studied in Japan, and he was highly appreciated by Prince Su and Prince Qing in the former Qing Dynasty. Later, Guangxu came back to negotiate with Japan on the Anbong Railway, which was completed with the assistance of him, Cao Rulin and others. After the new dynasty was settled, he was incorporated by the National Security Bureau because of his presence in the patrol police system. Later, because of the background of studying in Japan, he was transferred to the Japanese Department of the Intelligence Bureau to do civilian work, with his study abroad experience and intelligence, he soon became the director of the Japanese Department, although the mix is not as good as the previous dynasty, but it is not much worse, but unlike the former Qing Dynasty, there is no cap on the head of the new dynasty, as long as there is really ability, it is very possible to be the director and co-organizer.

The previous introduction to the war situation only made Zhang Zongxiang marvel at when the revival army became so strong, and Japan was also a world power, so it was defeated by the light yì, and it was still without a navy. When the war situation was introduced, Xie Zhangtai's speech made him think deeply about how China could get the most out of this victory. At this moment, Xie Jintai asked him to start the opening and talk about what to do with Japan, which made his heart, which was no longer anxious, start beating wildly again.

"Prime Minister, everyone... My lord..., Xia Guan ...... "Seeing such an adult staring at him, Zhang Zongxiang was sweating, and he dreamed of being able to speak freely in front of the prime minister, but now he can't say a word."

His subordinates were nervous, and Zhang Shi next to him coughed and said, "You should give you a general introduction to the situation in Japan, so that you adults can understand the situation in Japan more clearly." ”

"Yes! Be! Zhang Zongxiang finally thought of what to say, and immediately spoke: "Although Japan is said to be an emperor country, its domestic political situation is completely controlled by the nine elders, and as the years have passed, the nine elders of the Meiji era are now only six people left in Yama Prefecture, Masayo Matsukata, Inoue Shin, Oyama Iwa, Katsura Taro, and Saionji Gongwang. Among them, Aritomo Yamayama, Katsura Taro, and Inoue Shin were all from the Choshu Domain, while Oyama Iwa, although he was from Satsuma, was consistent with the Choshu Domain in many positions.

This time Japan launched a war against our country, the instigator was the people of the Choshu Domain, and Emperor Taisho was also extremely supportive of this, the year before Shenmu, the Japanese army invaded Liaodong, and Emperor Taisho strongly supported, but this was not approved by the parliamentarians, so Taisho later had a lot of outrageous attitudes, in fact, this popularity is short-lived, and he is very happy, advocating Western Europeanism, and only wants to expand the territory, and he can't listen to the advice of Xionji Gongwang, Inoue Xin and others......

Zhang Zongxiang said that it was a little chaotic, but everyone could still understand the meaning, and when he saw that everyone nodded their heads, his heart became stronger, and he began to briefly describe the ins and outs of Japan's China policy:

"Japan's attitude towards our country, before and after the First Sino-Japanese War, is divided into two stages, the former stage is mainly the embodiment of the idea of conquering the country and strengthening the army, such as the strategy of first conquering Korea and then conquering China represented by Yoshida Shoin at the end of the shogunate, which is actually the inheritance of Sato Nobubuchi's secret strategy of mixing up in the Uchi, during this period of time, the theory of the Japanese conquest of Korea and China is just a delusion in the study;

Later, in the Meiji era, the Shoyi theory was replaced by the Xingya theory. However, at this time, in addition to the theory of conquest of Korea, there were also theories of Japan-Qing cooperation, such as the preface to Tarui Fujii's theory of the great East Asian alliance, which attracted the attention of the people of the time, and Miyajima Seiichiro, a major member of the Japanese Left House, advocated the cooperation of Japan and Europe to fight against Europe and the United States; Finally, there is the Koya Association organized by Toshitora Sone, which advocates that Asian countries 'share the same will, help each other in times of emergency, share joy and sorrow, and revitalize Asia'.

However, the remarks of these people are not mainstream in Japan, and it is difficult to argue whether they are Xingya or Zhengya. Perhaps his people have the intention of promoting cooperation between China and Japan. But the former Qing Dynasty could not cheer up, and its heart to conquer Asia rose again. The Xing Yace advocated by the Japanese spy Arao Seiki in the First Sino-Japanese War was actually the Zheng Yace. Under his influence, Kotaro Munakata was also an active supporter of Seiya, and the Rakuzendo founded by Arao Seiki in Hankou was the earliest espionage organization in Japan. A afternoon. The Otomi Comrades Association, which was formed by many Japanese people in Hankow's Rakuzendo, was later reformed by the chairman of the House of Nobles, Atsuki Konoe, and renamed the Tongbunkai, and three years later merged with the East Asian Society founded by Kotaro Hiraoka, Inukai and others, and became the East Asian Tongbunkai.

At this time, the vast majority of the Xingya theories were Zhengya theorists, but although the former Qing Dynasty ceded Liaodong after the first afternoon, the Japanese had to return Liaodong under the intervention of the three countries. This has poured cold water on those who are on the Asian quest, that is, the European and American countries will not sit idly by and watch Japan annex China. It is precisely because of this that Ito Hirobumi completely disagreed with Katsura Taro's decisive battle on the Naoli Plain in the first day of that year, because once the former Qing court collapsed, the European and American countries would definitely divide our country, and Japan would still be under the threat of Europe and the United States, so Katsura Taro was finally recalled to Japan by the Japanese emperor in the name of recuperation. However, the Choshu clan such as Katsura Taro thought that this was a bad thing for civil officials and deeply regretted it. That's why the Japanese army landed in Gyeonggi and tried in vain to fight a decisive battle with our revival army.

After the First Afternoon, the Japanese, who knew that it was impossible to conquer Asia, began to raise the theory of protecting the Shina as representatives of Konoe Atsuki and others, and began to sing the theory of the same language, the same species, the unity of Asia, and mutual support. However, at this time, they are no different from European and American countries. What it is fighting for is only Japan's interests in China. ”

Zhang Zongxiang's introduction was finished, but this was only an introduction to the evolution of Japan's China policy in the past 100 years, and there was no mention of his views on the current Sino-Japanese war, so Xie Zhangtai asked: "That is Japan, which only wants to fight for its own interests in China now." Now that we have fought this war, what will be his policy toward China in the future? ”

"This ...... It depends on what we take this time. Taiwan is not too important to the Japanese, after its acquisition of Taiwan. Because of the huge investment, he once wanted to sell Taiwan to France. Now although the island is well built and there is a lot of investment. Compared to North Korea, Taiwan is still unimportant. In the words of Hirofumi Ito. North Korea is like a dagger aimed at Japan's abdomen, so among Taiwan and North Korea, Japan is bent on protecting North Korea, and Busan is too close to Japan.

If this war is only to recover Taiwan and punish Japan lightly, it will have a great change in its treatment of China. However, this is another premise, that is, Emperor Taisho and Yamaguchi Aritomo, especially Yamaguchi Aritomo, can truly understand that Japan has no hope of defeating our country, and only then can its China policy be truly changed and return to the theory of cooperation put forward by Japan before the First Sino-Japanese War. The difficulty of this lies in the fact that Yamataro has a friend, this person is only controlled behind the scenes, and even if Katsura Taro is stimulated by the defeat to overthrow himself, with his many forces in the army, Yama County still has great influence. Therefore, Xia Guanzhi believes that if the Japanese threat is to be resolved once and for all, it is necessary to make it have no hope of defeating our country; And to make it desperate, it is necessary to defeat it with real strength, especially in its proudest places. ”

Zhang Zongxiang was more and more smooth, but among the people who listened, two questions couldn't help but arise, one was how to really defeat Japan, and what is the proudest thing about the Japanese? The second is why Yamaguchi Youtomo had a greater influence on Japan than the emperor.

As soon as his voice fell, Yang Du said, "Youpeng in Shan County and Gongwang of Xiyuan Temple are both elders, Xiyuan Temple is still an aristocrat, isn't Xiyuan Temple's influence great?" Also, you said that Laishan seems to have more influence than the emperor, why is that? ”

"My lord, Yama Prefecture Aritomo and Ito Hirobumi are the same generation, and Saionji is a student of Ito Hirobumi, so this influence is naturally weak. In fact, the great feudal lords of Japan had the right to collect many small feudal domains in the country in the name of the emperor; And the emperor, although the constitution clearly states that he has many rights, the emperor cannot even speak, and he is simply a statue. Taisho this time is just right for the appetite of Youpeng in Shanxian County, otherwise no one will pay attention to him. Zhang Zongxiang said.

"Master Zhang, let me ask you how to defeat Japan with real strength, and what is their most worthy of pride?" Xu Jingxi thought about what Zhang Zongxiang said, and he was a little unclear.

"This ......" Zhang Zongxiang, who was talking eloquently before, hesitated a little this time, but under Zhang Shi's cough, he still had the courage to say: "General Xu, now that the encirclement and annihilation of the Japanese has been completed, if they cut off food and pay for a decisive battle with them, Japan is afraid that they will not accept it, and in their opinion, this battle is just a trick won by our country." ”

"Fluke?!" Xu Jingxi stood up suddenly, "Pure army against army, the Japanese still dare to say that they are lucky, if it weren't for the threat of Russian troops in the north, we would have retreated to the sea to feed the fish!" ”

Xu Jingxi was a literati earlier, but after joining the army, he became extremely rough, and he was the strongest of many generals, as soon as he stood up, Zhang Zongxiang's face turned pale in fright, but fortunately, Yang Rui on the side knocked the table with a pen, and he sat down resentfully. However, Zhang Zongxiang didn't dare to say anything anymore after being frightened.

After Zhang Zongxiang finished speaking, he was followed by Wang Guangqi, the former minister to Japan, who was much more confident than Zhang Zongxiang, and said as soon as he opened his mouth: "In the war against Japan, it is best to take this opportunity to completely cut off Japan's desire to invade the mainland." To achieve this policy, it should not be a trade-off of interests, but a blow to morale. The Japanese have a very strange personality, on the one hand, they are extremely tough, and on the other hand, they are extremely obedient. If you want to make it obedient, you need to break its toughest side completely. Specifically, in this battle, in addition to completely encircling and annihilating the Japanese army, causing the Katsura Taro cabinet to fall and Yamaguchi Aritomo to lose power, it was also necessary to severely damage the navy that had broken through into the Bohai Sea by severe means. The more brutal the war, the more reason the Japanese had to obey. Therefore, I believe that there is no need to be merciful to the Japanese army, and there is no need to deliberately make a fair and decisive gesture, as long as the Japanese people die as they deserve. The more the Japanese people lost, the more sufficient the reasons for their obedience in the future, and this is the logic of the Japanese people. ”

I can't see that Wang Guangqi, who is from Shanghai, is actually a hawk, and as soon as he said this, Xu Jingxi's face relaxed a lot. Whether the war is fair or not, especially whether the decisive battle is fair or unfair, is just a scholar's opinion. In addition to relying on strength, the winner of every decisive battle in history relied more on luck, and now it is not easy to surround the Japanese, so can they continue their food and grass?

Wang Guangqi was very eloquent, and after saying his viewpoint, he took a sip of tea, and then continued: "The current world situation is favorable to me, and the battlefield situation is also favorable to me, but we must not fail to guard against the intentions of the United States. The reason why the United States will fully support our country is not only to try to gain more benefits in China, but also to use our country to weaken Japan. No matter how tragic the battlefield is, as long as it is not a massacre or a battle, it will be forgotten after a long time, but if it is to take the land of Japan, although the Ryukyus are not the land of Japan, they have the most connection with Japan, and this place is at the door of the Japanese.

Unlike Korea, Korea has been a country since ancient times, and it has nothing to do with Japan, and it has only been four years since it was annexed, and the Ryukyus were controlled by the Japanese before the annexation, and there are many people who regard each other as people of the same country as Japan, and if Japan forcibly occupies the Ryukyus, then Japan will definitely hold a grudge.

Japan has a population of tens of millions, its national structure is already perfect, and its navy is extremely strong. In the past, there was a story in the newspapers that Japan was a slave of the British, and that if the war was won, it would be necessary to enter Tokyo. This is true, but it will cost people lives to enter Tokyo, and once the European war is over, the great powers will definitely interfere with it, so it is completely impossible to destroy Japan; Since you can't perish, don't sin deeply. Besides, once Japan goes, the United States is bound to become bigger, although it is said to be a democratic country and a free country, but its interference in the Americas has no democratic and free wind, after China's victory, what we really need to do is to cooperate with China and Japan and support each other, so that they will unite against Europe and the United States and recover the Asian colonies, and this is the most important responsibility that China should bear. (To be continued......)