After both Japan and Russia issued the declaration of war, they regrouped and prepared to fight again; while strengthening public opinion propaganda and finding supporters for themselves internationally.

Russia first launched an attack, accusing Japan of its undeclared war as a despicable and shameless act. Russia suffered a self-defense war after a sneak attack, and found out the old tale of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895. Japan also made a war without declaring it, proving that Japan is a despicable and shameless country. Therefore, it recruited all countries to blame Japan and support Russia's just war.

France first responded to the voices of its allies, believing that Japan's actions did violate international law, but at the same time expressed its hope that Japan and Russia can stop the war and resolve the dispute between the two countries peacefully.

In fact, the French have a very complicated mentality. Of course, they do not want Russia to fall too deeply in the Far East. If Russia focuses too much on the East, it must have a good relationship with Germany and relieve its worries. But this will inevitably affect the French-Russian alliance, because the main goal of the French-Russian alliance is Britain and Germany. Now the relationship between France and Britain has been significantly eased, and Germany has risen to become France's number one enemy. Therefore, France does not want Russia to win in this war. Only when Russia is defeated in the Far East will it turn its vision to Europe again, but France is afraid that Russia will lose too badly. After all, Japan has the help of Britain and the East China government, a collaborator, may not be easy to deal with. If Russia's vitality is severely damaged, then the movement to Germany will be limited, which is also unfavorable to France.

So France only expressed its support for its allies verbally, and also expressed its hope that the two countries could stop the war and renegotiate. Although France knew very well that this was impossible, it was necessary to express its attitude to its allies.

However, except for France, international public opinion did not reproach Japan as Russia hoped. Dr. Holland, an international law expert at Oxford University in the United Kingdom, published an article in the Times, claiming that "the declaration of war is not necessary for war, and Japan did not undermine the basic laws of war." The reason is that in the current international law, there is no provision for the declaration of war before the war begins. In the previous 150 years, about 110 wars broke out, of which only 7 were used to fight after the declaration of war. Therefore, declaration of war is not a necessary condition for the war.

Wolsey, a professor at Yale University in the United States, also publicly stated: "It is inappropriate to use treason and improper evaluations in Japan's attack on Russian warships. Because publishing a declaration of war only allows citizens and neutral countries to know the nature and reasons of the war. Moreover, in the letter of disconnection submitted by Japan to Russia, there is the "government reserves the right to take the most appropriate independent action in order to protect its own rights and interests" as including means of war. Therefore, Japan's behavior is irreproachable, and we can only blame Russia for not having a sense of prevention."

The German "New Freedom" published an article mentioning that in the Russian-Turkey War in 1877, Russia fought undeclaredly. Now Japan is just a means learned from Russia, and its tone is full of gloating mentality.

When Japan and Russia started war, Britain, Germany and the United States were happy to see and support Japan. Needless to say, the British alliance was established against Russia. Now the relationship between Britain and France has eased. The British have already begun to play a big game and fully support Japan in the fight against Russia. In this way, Russia's strength is weakened and its help will be limited. In order to compete with Germany, France can only turn to Britain. Then Britain can pull France to the same front, and Russia will have to return to Europe to seek expansion, which will inevitably intensify conflicts with Germany. Britain and France can take the opportunity to pull Russia back and form a situation where the three countries jointly fight against Germany. In the Far East, due to the rise of the East China government, Japan still needs the support of Britain even if it defeats Russia, and Britain can just use Japan to maintain the situation in the Far East.

The United States considers that there are not as many as Britain. The United States is still a beneficiary of the international order dominated by the United Kingdom. As it is the free trade guided by Britain, the United States is actually the biggest beneficiary. Therefore, the United States hopes to maintain the status quo in the Far East, while Russia's expansion is regarded as a destroyer of the order by the United States, so it naturally hopes to stop Russia's expansion. However, the United States mainly has economic interests in the Far East, and there are not many geopolitical interests, so it is not as nervous as Britain. In addition, the domestic isolationism sentiment is still very serious, and its military power is not strong, so it can only support Japan economically.

In contrast, Germany's behavior is more complicated, and it is contradictory. On the one hand, Germany hopes that Russia will invest its power to the east, so as to reduce its pressure on the east, destroy the French-Russian alliance, and bring Russia back into its own camp. Therefore, Germany has constantly expressed support for Japan's war to Russia and is willing to provide necessary help to Russia; on the other hand, Germany hopes that Japan will weaken Russia's strength so that it can better control Russia. Therefore, Germany supports Japan. However, German Emperor William II has his own explanation of Germany's conflicted behavior: that is, no matter which side Japan and Russia win, it will be beneficial to Germany. In fact, Germany's influence in the Far East is extremely limited, and no matter which side it supports, it will not play any role.

Although the great powers all have their own plans, overall, most countries in the world have not expressed opposition to Japan's undeclared war, and have issued neutral declarations one after another. This is of course the result that Japan hopes to see.

The East China government also recruited an executive meeting on the afternoon of February 10 to study the process of the Russo-Japanese War and the response of the East China government.

"So far, 27 countries including the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Siam, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Mexico, Argentina have issued declarations of neutrality. Except for France, no country accuses Japan. On the contrary, there are currently 11 countries that have passed different channels to indicate that Japan's behavior does not violate international law."

Jia Zhenzhao laughed and said, "This is interesting! The little Japanese can get so much support and even speak so well. Is this shameless?"

Wang Yunpeng said: "Forget it, Western countries have always been like this. When will we pass the test? We have experienced it in the old time and space. Laundry detergent and white helmets are the moral integrity of Western countries."

Ye Yanfu said: "Guanjian is a benefit, interest, interest, and important things must be said three times. As long as it is beneficial to your country, you can sell anything. What is your face? You can also place a price on integrity."

At this time, Qin Zheng said: "In fact, this is really not wrong. Because the international treaty that formally stipulates that war must be declared before the war begins was stipulated in the 3rd Hague Convention in 1907, also known as the Convention on the Beginning of War. Therefore, there are indeed no relevant provisions in the current international law, which can only be regarded as an unwritten habit. Therefore, in theory, Japan did not declare war in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 and Russo-Japanese War, and it was determined that it would not violate international law. Only sneak attacks on Pearl Harbor would violate the return of the [Hague International Convention]. Of course, using sneak attack tactics is generally unpopular, but with so many countries supporting Japan, we can only blame Russia for its poor character. Most countries probably have no good impression of Russia."

At present, the East China government is still outside the war, so the atmosphere of discussion is relatively relaxed, and most of them use a joking tone.

At this time, Xiao Jianjun said: "Everyone, don't think that this has nothing to do with us, because if we participate in the war, it is very likely that we will fight undeclared. I wonder if the international public opinion at that time is beneficial to us or unfavorable to us?"

Qin Zheng said: "Don't think, it will definitely be unfavorable to us. Our situation will be worse than Russia. After all, Russia is the victim now, and we have almost no say in the international community at present, because we will definitely not be in line with the interests of Britain, France, the United States and other countries. They have basically controlled the international voice. At that time, international public opinion will definitely put pressure on us, so we must be prepared."

Li Sanjie suddenly became a little nervous and said, "What should I do? Aren't we very passive in diplomacy?"

Xia Bohai said: "What should we do or what should we do? Don't worry about diplomatic matters. First of all, we have basically no formal relationship in diplomacy at present, and it is also a semi-official and semi-private nature with Germany. Comrade Li Sanjie, please don't mind. This is a fact and it is not your responsibility, so there is no passiveness."

After hearing this, Li Sanjie had to smile awkwardly.

Xia Bohai said again: "The second is that the current international relations are still dominated by the law of the jungle, the winner is king, and the winner takes all. The system of international law is not perfect, and the influence of international public opinion is still extremely limited. Therefore, as long as we achieve victory on the battlefield, it is the most important thing."

Qin Zheng also nodded and said, "Yes, things that cannot be obtained on the battlefield cannot be obtained at the negotiating table, and if you get them on the battlefield, you will not be lost at the negotiating table."

Xia Bohai said: "So what we should do or what we should do. Once we intervene in the war, fight as much as we should. Don't be jealous. Things outside the war will be handled by the government. The army will only focus on fighting and win the war."

Xiao Jianjun also nodded and said, "Okay, it's easy to do with this."

At this time, Xu Jichao said: "Now many countries have issued statements and expressed their attitudes. Should we also issue a statement and express our attitudes?"

Wang Yunpeng frowned and said, "Of course it is appropriate to make a statement, but Guan Jian is what our attitude should be. We should not declare neutrality."
Chapter completed!