In a tavern in Tokyo, several officers wearing army uniforms were drinking wine, with a look of dissatisfaction on most of their faces.

"What a bunch of idiots!"

After drinking a glass of strong liquor, Tsuneda Yoshimo complained angrily.

"Well, now the Chinese army has sent troops to Europe. The French have paid and provided technology to help China expand its arsenal. Then they have paid to buy rifles, machine guns, and cannons from Chinese arsenals to arm the Chinese army. The French even provided their

Military pay, with the help of the French, China will suddenly have a larger army!"

After drinking another glass of wine, Tsuneda Yoshimo emphasized again.

"Moreover, it is a new army whose equipment and tactics are on par with those of Western countries."

Angry words spewed out of Tsuneta Yoshimo's mouth, and his words only elicited a burst of responses from those around him.

"Really, they said that Japan established the army to defend the country, so it was unwilling to send out the army. Now the Chinese are taking the opportunity to induce the French to agree to their conditions, but what about Japan? Japan needs to spend huge sums of money, otherwise it will not be possible at all.

It is impossible to rebuild the severely damaged navy. Well, the army also needs to rebuild five divisions. On the other hand, the Chinese, relying on the French, will soon be able to build the most modern, well-equipped, and best-trained army in Asia.

The army with the most advanced tactics, Japan was completely thrown away by China this time!"

The officers angrily talked about China's participation in the war and the extremely favorable conditions for participating in the war that China had obtained. In fact, they had opposed participating in the war at first, but in the face of the extremely favorable conditions for participating in the war that China had obtained, they could not help but become jealous.

, as army officers, they know clearly what those conditions mean to the Chinese Army.

"Yoshimura, who is stationed at the embassy, ​​told me in his letter that a French division on the Western Front now has as many as 24 155mm and 105mm heavy guns, no less than 48 75mm field guns, and as many as 1,000 machine guns.

With as many as a thousand, it is truly a powerful European army. One of their divisions has more firepower than two of our divisions!"

When referring to the words in Mr. Riku's letter, Yokota Binzo's face was full of envy. Japan seems to have an extremely modern army. But in fact, compared with the armies of the European army powers, everything about the Japanese army is

But it is far behind, especially the equipment is far behind the European army powers.

"Yoshimura wrote in the letter that if Japan wants to suppress China in terms of army, it must seek the same conditions for participating in the war from European countries, and then send the military to have the power to compete with China in the future. If the French are armed with the same configuration

The China Army only needs to arm twenty divisions, and the China Army will become the number one army power in Asia!"

"Isn't it? The Army lost five divisions during the "Jiao'ao Incident". Although these divisions have been rebuilt now, the rifles they use are reserve Type 30 rifles, and even part of the artillery is made with exposed

In order to rebuild the navy, Congress even reduced military expenditures for the army!"

"It's not because those damn navies are busy. Without a successor, there would be no Japan. Without a navy, there would be no successor. They say that the navy is linked to Japan's national destiny. It seems that without the navy, Japan will soon perish. It seems that they are a group of shameless people.

Guys, if the navy is really that useful, China will be completely annihilated by China without a navy!"

"Navy, if our army hadn't besieged the Chinese Navy's Pacific Fleet in Port Arthur, and finally wiped them out in the port. How could the Navy, relying solely on the Navy, defeat the Second Pacific Fleet, which had joined forces with the Pacific Fleet? The Navy's

Glory is basically built on the sacrifice of the Army..."

The indignant words continued to echo in the restaurant. Although some guests in the restaurant did not necessarily agree with the views of these officers, they did not dare to say anything in the face of these drunken officers. As we all know,

The current discord between the Army and the Navy has become public last year when this year's military budget was formulated. By the time today's military budget was formulated, it has reached a fever pitch, to the point where soldiers from both sides may even meet on the street.

If a fight breaks out, at this time, it is wisest and safest to choose to shut up.

Shutting up and not intervening in the dispute between the army and the navy may be a choice that civilians can make, but for Masaki Terauchi, who is the prime minister, this is unavoidable. Last year, due to the

After the defeat of the Japanese War led to the dissolution of the Okuma Cabinet, Terauchi Masaki, with the firm support of Yamagata Aritomo, became the Prime Minister of Japan, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Tibet, and the Prime Minister of North Korea. He held four important positions in one person, which was unprecedented.

But for Masaki Terauchi, all he felt now was unprecedented fatigue and nervousness, so that after waking up in the middle of the night, he sat there blankly, thinking about his thoughts.

The scene of his meeting with Navy Minister Tomosaburo Kato in the morning flashed before his eyes. Since taking office as Prime Minister last year, he felt too tired and had obviously lost a lot of weight.

Until now, at the end of this year, he has not been able to make a decision on the military budget of the army and navy. On the issue of military expenditure, there was a quarrel between the cabinet and the army headquarters, and also with the navy. On the other hand, because

The army and navy were also at loggerheads over the issue of military expenditure allocation, and the entire city of Tokyo was in a state of chaos.

The Army wants to rebuild five divisions that were severely damaged in the Jiao'ao Incident, and also wants to form three more divisions to cope with the expansion of the China Army after China sent troops to Europe. This expansion is not limited to the expansion of numbers.

It is an all-round expansion. As far as Masaki Terauchi knows, since the "Jiao'ao Incident", no one within the Japanese Army has said that "the Chinese Army can be defeated with only a bayonet charge."

Last year, in order to find excuses for the "Jiaoao fiasco", the army on the one hand accused the navy of not doing its best, and on the other hand continued to exaggerate the strength of the squadron. For example, after the 38th year of Meiji, the Qing Dynasty trained its new army, which seemed to be a compilation

There are 36 towns to train the country's new army, which is equivalent to 36 divisions. After Japan's expansion, it only has 20 divisions. Of course, the army will not mention the country's 36 towns for the new army. It is just a number in the plan, but it emphasizes this.

The combat effectiveness of the New Army in Town 36 was by no means inferior to that of the Japanese army. Then the Army proposed that after the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the Republic of China established dozens of divisions. In short, the final failure of the Japanese Army was not due to tactics or weapons.

Rather, it failed because "its military strength was far inferior to that of the opponent."

As the Prime Minister of Japan, he naturally needs to be responsible to the cabinet, but as the Prime Minister, he also needs to be responsible for the army and navy. As a field marshal, he needs to be more responsible for the army, but both the army and the navy are the survival of Japan.

However, the army and navy that have suffered heavy losses have not yet recovered. However, the army and navy are fighting at home because of military expenditure issues. How can this achieve the great cause of the empire?

At this time, Masaki Terauchi felt a little regretful. He regretted why he became prime minister. He also regretted why he just turned a blind eye to the differences between the army and the navy when he was in the army. As a result, it is difficult to get back today.

The conflict between the navy and the army has been going on for a long time≡ Since Emperor Meiji founded the country and reformed the country, the Japanese navy has entered a period of great development. Because Japan is surrounded by seas and threats from the East are coming from Japan, Japan has paid more and more attention to the construction of the navy since Emperor Meiji.

.

Whether it is the war against the Qing Dynasty or the preparations for the war against the Lu Kingdom, the development of the navy is the core of military expansion and preparation for war. Japan is a poor country and cannot develop the army and navy at the same time. In this case, after multiple military expansions, Japan

Under the premise of favoring the navy, it naturally aroused the jealousy of the army.

As the navy's warships are launched one after another, more and more outstanding young people are willing to join the navy. Only those from the countryside and poor families in the valley are willing to join the army. On the contrary, the army has been limited in scale for many years.

Compared with the increasingly large navy, their ambitions have expanded much faster than the development of the navy itself. No longer willing to be subordinate to the army, they began to exert their influence in the cabinet, the Privy Council, and all important departments in order to

It competes with the army. The appointment of Gonbei Yamamoto, who was born in the navy, as prime minister is a manifestation of the expansion of the navy's power.

Faced with the Navy's attempt to challenge the Army's status, in order to attack the Navy, the Army subsequently used the "Siemens Incident". Akashi Genjiro planned to use the anger of the masses to successfully overthrow the Yamamoto cabinet. Subsequently, the contradiction between the Army and the Navy also deepened.

Come.

Last year, the army launched the Qingdao landing battle. The base camp headquarters originally planned to coordinate the army and navy for a joint landing. However, the navy, which was eager to take the lead, landed alone in the shallow sea near Shilaoren before the arrival of the army and occupied Qingdao. Then they came

The army was so angry that it marched into the city without even saying hello. As a result, the two sides clashed with each other and went to war. The looming contradiction between the army and the navy finally became public.

During the Battle of Xuzhou, the navy was ordered to cover the army's landing at Lianyungang, and then the navy cooperated to assist in the attack. However, after encountering stubborn resistance, the navy took the initiative to withdraw from the theater, which directly led to a series of disastrous defeats in the Battle of Jiao'ao.

In the Battle of Lanshan in Yunwaihai, after the navy ships were attacked, they completely ignored the land forces they needed to protect. They even tried to withdraw from the battlefield before they even got close to the coast and the main force landed on land. Although

The vast majority of ships were unable to withdraw from the battlefield. After all, no matter how fast a warship was, it could not outrun an airplane. However, for the army soldiers who were sunk on merchant ships, they could only swim ashore and fight alone without any weapons and equipment.

Afterwards, tens of thousands of army troops without any heavy equipment and only a few rifles in Lanshan were faced with the siege of the Chinese Army. In order to "protect the ship", the navy simply ignored the siege suffered by the army troops on the shore and at most only dispatched a few ships.

The cruisers gave symbolic support, but the besieged troops suffered heavy casualties and suffered a lot. In the end, it was the navy's "incompetence" that led to the army's disastrous defeat.

In Tokyo, after the Army Headquarters learned about it, they completely lost their intention to hide their discord and even cursed the Prime Minister of the Land and the Navy at the meeting. At the subsequent annual military budget meeting, the Navy almost completely failed to rebuild the military budget.

The battle fleet that was annihilated by the army occupied most of the military expenditures and even occupied the budget for the reconstruction of the fifth division of the army. This pushed the contradiction between the army and aviation army to a fever pitch.

The serious confrontation between the top brass of the Army and Navy quickly spread to the lower levels of the Japanese army. After all, in the "Jiao'ao Incident", both the Army and the Navy suffered heavy losses. In the eyes of the lower-level Army officers and soldiers, the Army's fiasco was the result of the Navy abandoning cover.

The responsibility of the troops lies with them, and in the view of the Navy, the reason why the Navy suffered heavy losses is simply because the Navy wants to "wipe the butt" of the Army.

A few months ago, when a group of young officers of the Tokyo Guards Division were drinking heavily in a restaurant in the city, several young naval officers not far away said, "If there were no army in Qingdao, there would be no need for the navy to do so."

The Army wiped its butt and caused the loss of all the main warships." This immediately angered the Army officers, and they rushed to fight with the Navy officers. The Navy has never been the Army's opponent in hand-to-hand combat. Before the police arrived, a Navy captain was beaten

He died on the spot in the fight. After the news spread, not only the streets of Tokyo were talking about it, but also all over Japan. Similar fights continued one after another, and now it has developed to the point where Army soldiers even deliberately "ambushed" them when they went out on vacation.

"The navy has specially organized its troops, waiting to attack at any time to "respond" to the army. If it were not for the fact that both sides are restricted by military law and cannot carry weapons out of the camp, otherwise, a civil war between the army and the navy might be staged in Japan.

Such a white-hot, uncontrolled conflict, even in the view of Masaki Terauchi, the Prime Minister with a background in the Army, the Army has gone too far. After all, it "ambushed" Navy officers and soldiers on vacation and intercepted the delivery of vegetables to the garrison.

The commercial carts are indeed a bit excessive. The current chaotic situation of the army and navy must not continue.

However, even as Prime Minister, Masaki Terauchi had no way to stop the impulse of the army's lower-level troops, especially after the Navy was allowed to build another main battleship and the Army's efforts to expand to twenty-four divisions once again came to nothing.

, the contradiction between the two sides was further intensified.

"What a bunch of guys that don't make anyone worry!"

Thinking of a conflict between the landing navy, Masaki Terauchi muttered.

"Join the armed division in the war?"

Suddenly, the suggestion made by the Minister of War once again appeared in his mind, and this suggestion was made after the Chinese Army joined the war. Faced with the favorable conditions obtained by the Chinese Army's participating soldiers, some senior army personnel put forward the suggestion to use the participation in the war.

Using Western financial resources to arm Japan's army, just like the Chinese did. But on the other hand, would the country agree to send troops to Europe to get involved in this war? The more important question is, now after China

Can Japan, which sends troops, receive the same preferential treatment as China for participating in the war?

A series of questions flashed in Temple Zhengyi's mind one after another. In the end, he sighed again, sat on the tatami, and thought about it again.

"I heard that some people in Japan are discussing sending troops to join the war recently, right?"

In Lu Zongyu of the Embassy in Japan, the Minister in Japan, known as the pro-Japanese faction, looked at Cui Guocheng in front of him. He was an official stationed in Japan from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce of the State Council. However, in Lu Zongyu's view, this businessman

In addition to basic industrial and commercial activities, the Ministry Office also carries out some unknown activities.

Most of the officials sent by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce to other countries have the mission of collecting intelligence. Although most of them are technological, economic, and industrial intelligence, as far as Lu Zongyu understands, they also collect military and political intelligence, and many of Li Zhiyuan's decisions are based on

Made based on information from the Industrial and Commercial Information Bureau.

"I have heard about this matter, but Minister Lu does not know the specific details."

Unlike Lu Zongyu, who looked a little stiff, Ji Guocheng leaned back on the sofa with a relaxed expression. In fact, most of the time, he seemed very relaxed. Even to outsiders, he and those

There is a clear difference between the serious officials of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.

"However, I think the reason why Japan has the intention to send troops now is probably because we have received very favorable conditions for participating in the war. Considering the current fierce dispute between the army and navy in Japan, I think Prime Minister Terauchi wants to send troops to meet the army's expansion.

willingness to resolve conflicts between the army and the navy."
To be continued...