In the early morning of July 23, Tokyo was in midsummer. Yesterday's heat gradually dissipated. Tokyo, which had been noisy for a day, finally calmed down. During the day, the noisy streets were cool and lonely at this moment, with noisy sounds. Under the dim street lights, you can still see the wandering figures of street girls.

In the summer and autumn of 1916, Japan quickly became "luxury" under the "European War Tianyou". Not only countries or enterprises, but also ordinary workers benefited from the opportunities brought by the war. Working in artillery factories can make money, and working in private factories can also make money. Many workers can earn as much as 15 yen in factories for 12 hours. The sharp increase in income directly led to these workers becoming more generous. Some of them even booked a woman in order to stimulate the spirit of gold, commuting back and forth from entertainment stores to factories every day without going home. At this time, Japan seemed particularly fanatical, excited, and uneasy.

The prosperity and prosperity are perhaps the most true portrayal of the current situation in Japan. People who get rich get rich will live a luxurious and slutty life when they get money. They play stocks, go to brothels, go to hotels, build private houses, and ordinary people who have money overnight also seek pleasure and enjoy life. It seems that for Japan, the lives of many people changed by the "God Blessing" many of them seem to be immersed in this imagination and yearning for a better life.

In an exquisite and elegant Japanese villa on the outskirts of Tokyo, General Kenichi Oshima dreamed of walking thousands of miles on his comfortable tatami. Sometimes it was the smoke of gunpowder in Manzhou, the armor was rushing, sometimes it was the artillery fire in China, fighting, sometimes it was the pale faces and terrified eyes of those officials

Suddenly, a rapid bell rang in his ears, echoing and never dissipated for a long time. He opened his teeth and sat there in a daze, his mind was in a mess, and his dream just now was still churning. It was not until the phone rings suddenly rang again. He grabbed the phone lazily.

"Your Excellency, the emergency call from the Embassy in France has arrived. The Chinese Expeditionary Force has won a great victory. Please come to our headquarters as soon as possible."

Listening to the phone, Oshima Ken was shocked and woke up completely. Then he immediately asked someone to prepare a car. Although there are only a few thousand cars in Japan now, as the Minister of the Army, he still owns a special car.

The black Ford sedan was speeding on the quiet road in the early morning, and Kenichi Oshima's brain was also churning. Although there was no mention of the urgent phone call on the phone, he could still guess some of the content.

After China sent an expeditionary force to Europe, the Army General Staff was boiling like a pot. After the Jiaoao Incident, both the navy and the army suffered heavy damage. After the incident, Japan had to make up for the losses of the army and the navy as soon as possible. However, due to the military expenditure issue, the army and the navy did not attack each other, and the contradictions changed from private to open in the past. In order to compete for military expenditure, the two sides could do everything they could to compete for.

After China sent an expeditionary force to Europe and provided funds to arm it with France, the Army had a similar idea, but that idea just flashed. For Japan, perhaps the Army wanted to arm more divisions in case of "Jiaoao Shame", but the Army was unwilling to squander the blood of the army in Europe. After all, it was a war for the Westerners.

But although they were unwilling to send troops, the General Staff Headquarters still realized that after China participated in this war, the impact on China's international status and even their extremely unhappy determination, once the European war ended, China, whose international status rose sharply, would likely completely clear Japan's presence in Manchuria.

Therefore, in the past few months, the officials and assistants at all levels of the Army Province and the General Staff have held many consultations and discussions on the future Manchuria issue, and some teachings and speeches have often arranged in time to make the atmosphere in the military headquarters continue to rise, and it seems that the solution to the Manchuria issue is imminent.

On July 4, Kenichi Ojima delivered a speech at the division commander meeting held by the Military Heads, publicly asserting that the development of the situation in Manchuria and Mongolia is very unfavorable to Japan, making people feel that the situation is serious, which is a pity. The reason is that the long-term publicity and cultivation of neighboring countries (referring to China), the xenophobic idea of ​​restoring state power, and the development of emerging economic forces to Manchuria and Mongolia, and other major events are no longer temporary, but long-term phenomena.

The news reached the outside world. The Prime Minister of the Cabinet urgently summoned him, accusing him of making a conclusion at the meeting of senior officers, making inappropriate speeches, ignoring the cabinet, attempting to expand the seriousness of the Manchu problem, provoking soldiers to exclude the cabinet, and inciting force to solve the Manchu problem. But Oshima Kenichi didn't think there was anything wrong with his point of view.

Manchuria is the last Japanese force in China. It was exchanged for 100,000 athletes' lives and blood to stop Lucia's invasion. Similarly, for Japan, Manchuria is still the most important material base in Japan. The simplest example is that if Japan loses Manchuria, Japan will lose 85% of the source of iron ore.

However, those conservative cabinet officials ignored this point at all, and kept talking to the politicians' diplomatic rhetoric. When they encountered international problems, they always had a clear harmony and were always weak on the Manchu issue. They always tried their best to suppress the suggestions of the General Staff Head Office, but they obeyed the weak Foreign Minister Yinhara, which made Oshima Kaichi very disappointed. He knew that it was not the time to compete with these literati politicians, so his accusations against Masato Tsaiuchi were more shirkish and quibbling.

Therefore, when he received the news from France, he objectively said that he was more happy than worried. In fact, victory, the victory of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, is beneficial to China, but on the other hand, it confirms another reality - the Manchuria issue. In the next few years, at the earliest end of the European War, it will become a problem that must be resolved between China and Japan.

“A problem that has to be solved!”

With this sentence lightly, Kenichi Oshima smiled coldly in his heart. Those politicians will realize this issue because of this victory and realize that the future between China and Japan is no longer optimistic. Japan must make complete preparations as soon as possible to ensure Japan's interests in Manchuria. What is required for this complete preparation is that Japan must build an army that is strong enough and equipped with advanced enough.

This will inevitably help the army compete for military expenditure with the navy!

While thinking so under the heart of Kenichi Oshima, his car was slightly bumping on the asphalt road and climbing to the gentle slope of the Highlands of the City Valley. On the side of the road, the azaleas appeared in a blue-gray color under the dim lights. After walking the slope, the car turned to the right at a "y"-shaped fork. Bypassing a rockery piled up with a cold beauty, it stopped in front of a solid building with a "gao".

This is the heart of the Japanese Army, located in the Shikaya Highlands of the Japanese Army. At 5 a.m., senior generals from the Tokyo Japanese Army gathered in the General Staff Headquarters and hurriedly held an emergency meeting. The horizontal head of the large table was opened, and Oshima Kane sat upright, with a huge sun flag hanging above the wall behind his head, which was a fierce atmosphere.

Before the meeting, only Army Minister Kenichi Oshima, Army Chief of Staff Uehara Yusaki and a few generals including the army, read the urgent telegram from the Kanto Army, and more people didn't know what major happened. At this time, the orthogonal head asked in a low voice. Uehara Yusaki looked at Kenichi Oshima. Seeing that the other party nodded, he turned to the deputy chief of staff, Male Nakachi, and said:

"Let's start!"

Official Yoshi Tanaka, who was in charge of the meeting, gave a brief explanation on the telegram he received, and then instructed Colonel Wuteng and Xinyi to read the call from the Embassy in France to the people. The atmosphere at the venue was solemn and quiet, and only Wuteng and Xinyi were both urgent. The powerful voice passed by the generals and echoed in the room:

"On the afternoon of the 22nd, as the German army surrendered to the Chinese team on the Somme battlefield in France, the German army surrounded by the west bank of the Somme was completely wiped out by the Chinese Expeditionary Force..."

Sure enough, as soon as his words fell, the air in the conference room suddenly tightened, and everyone's faces were filled with incredible expressions. The Chinese team wiped out the German team, nothing more shocking than this. You know, the German army is the best army in the world, and now, such an army has suffered heavy damage and even been wiped out in front of the Chinese Expeditionary Force!

"2. According to the information we have so far, the Chinese Expeditionary Force invested 145,000 troops on the west bank of the Somme within 15 days, with about 100,000 casualties. The German army was about 64,000, with the ratio of troops between the two sides being about 2.1 to 1, and the casualties were about 2 to 1..."

After hearing this further information, everyone here took a breath. They were all professional soldiers and knew clearly. What this force ratio and casualty ratio mean, at least one fact, is that the quality of the Chinese Expeditionary Force may even be far better than the German Army, otherwise it would be difficult for them to have such "slight" casualties, that is, to achieve such results.

"Three, the expeditionary force, which blocked the German army's contact between the east and west banks, was firmly controlled the front line in the east and west for fifteen days, facing the attack of 100,000 German troops, and its defense force was 68,000..."

After reading the telegram, everyone looked shocked. At this time, the venue was still silent, and only Kenichi Oshima's eyes came to everyone's faces.

Kenichi Oshima fully understood the shock of the officials at that time. The progress of the Chinese army was too rapid. Based on the results of the last "Jiaoao Battle", they clearly realized that the Jiangsu Army was just a well-equipped army unit. They relied on machine guns and heavy artillery to block the Japanese army. What about now? Did they achieve this result by relying on their weapons advantages?

All this is just a testimony to a result - the progress made by the Chinese team in the past two years has far exceeded their imagination. Correspondingly, when the Chinese team was developing rapidly, the Japanese Army suffered various weakenings. This weakening was not only caused by the "Jiaoao Incident", but more due to the internal struggle between the army and the navy.

In the spirit of the "Outline of the Plan to Solve the Manchurian Problem", the General Staff Headquarters emphasized that it would last for another year to three years. Once the situation worsened to an irreversible situation, it would be a comprehensive solution to the unsolved Manchurian case, whether it was to resolve this problem through war.

But now the situation has reversed. The great victory of the Chinese Expeditionary Force and the changes in its army have made the future full of various variables. Now, even the most confident person may find it difficult to express confidently - the words that can easily defeat the Chinese team.

Now, the Chinese team is using Europe to sharpen their swords little by little, and where will this sword be swung in the future? In addition to Japan, will it swing?

Perhaps, there are still some doubts outside the outside world, but no one in the headquarters of the army would doubt that the future conflict between China and Japan, compared with the "limitations" of the "Jiaoao Incident", may at that time, that battle will be an unprecedented full-scale war. After all, Jiaoao is only a war between one province and the same country, while the future Manchuria will be a war between one country and another, similar to the total war in Europe!

Seeing that no one spoke, Uehara Yuzusa glanced at the people sitting and said in a deep voice:

"Now, everyone knows what happened, so please discuss the countermeasures, mainly the judgment of the current situation and the next steps."

When Uehara Yuki's voice fell, Oshima Ken spoke, and he raised his voice. He put away the slightest smile on his face, and became extremely serious at the same time.

"I said last month that the Manchuria issue has been developing in a serious direction for a long time. Although we emphasize tolerantness, the situation in Manchuria may not be too heavy. At present, the Kanto Army in Manchuria has only 3,000 soldiers and poor equipment. In the past six months, Zhang Zuolin's troops have not been weakened, but have been further strengthened. In addition, the internal affairs troops under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the State Council also have 10,000 stationed on the Sino-Korea border on the grounds of suppressing bandits. It can be said that China has always been against Manchuria for a long time.

We are all eyeing each other, and we are at a disadvantage. At the same time, we must also consider the idea of ​​excluding foreign countries and regaining national power that is popular in China. Remember that Manchuria has a 1 billion yuan investment from Japan, and the undead of 100,000 imperial elites. Losing Manchuria is equivalent to losing the national defense lifeline of the empire. It will inevitably harm the great cause of the empire. The empire will not agree, even the undead of the empire who abandoned corpses of Manchuria will not agree. Therefore, the situation in Manchuria must be paid attention to. Please talk about your own views on the next step of the disposal."

The first thing to stand up to break the deadlock was the tall and majestic military director Mataro Fukuda. At this time, he swept away the leisurely and detached impression he had given people in the past, with a grim expression and a calm eyes. He had a strong military spirit and said in a serious tone:

"I think now, we must consider strengthening the Kwantung Army. It is definitely not possible to have less than one brigade troops in Nanman. The General Staff and the Army Province should give Kwantung Prefecture full support. I personally think that we must send two or more divisions to Nanman. Only in this way can we avoid being caught off guard by the Central ** team in Nanman when the war breaks out in the future."

His words were concise and his attitude was clear. In fact, before the meeting, he discussed the content of the telegram with the Chief of Staff, and had a complete glimpse of the attitude of the head of the staff towards this incident. Therefore, he seemed even more hesitant and showed his edge when he came up with his own point of view. The military generals and assistants who attended the meeting had actually accepted it in their hearts that Manchuria would solve this concept by force in the future.

The difference is just the time when this day comes. Now, facing the achievements made by the Chinese Expeditionary Force in France, even if they were extremely confident in the past, they now feel that the strength of the South Manchuria was too weak, which made them believe that if they want to save South Manchuria, they must increase. So his words immediately attracted a group of responses. The meeting held in a hurry quickly reached a consensus.

Finally, the army's response policy was determined, "To ensure Japan's rights and interests in Manchuria, three brigades must be added to the south Manchuria and one division to northern Korea." After the meeting, the General Staff immediately ordered the Army Provincial Military Section to prepare a proposal to make a proposal to increase the troops to the cabinet.

At 10 a.m., an emergency meeting of the Japanese cabinet was also held at the Prime Minister's Residence in Tokyo.

Before the meeting, Masato Desun still insisted that doing so was too risky, and before the meeting began, he had asked Oshima Kazuichi:

"Can the Chinese really think that this time the increase of troops is a normal increase of troops? If any misunderstandings are caused, it will be troublesome at that time!"

trouble!

As Prime Minister, Masato Terauchi had thought in the future that he would encounter so many troubles, the openness of the dispute between the army and the navy, and the army took China as an imaginary enemy, thus gaining more military expenditure. Now, finally, with the victory of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, the army finally had a reason to expand its army.

The increase in troops to South Manchuria and North Korea is just the beginning. The next step is that they definitely hope to expand!

"Now, it is not a misunderstanding or misunderstanding. We must consider that if we do not have enough power in South Manchuria, then in the future we are likely to lose South Manchuria in one blow, and the war may expand to North Korea."

Oshima Jianyi replied unambiguously.

After the "Jiaoao Incident", Masato Teraucai, who served as Japanese Prime Minister at the forefront, fell silent. At the beginning of his tenure, he determined the policy of governing the country first, first, then outside, and tried his best to stabilize the domestic political situation first. He worked tirelessly and coordinated his relations with soldiers, chaebols, politicians and other parties. At the same time, he also tried his best to use the European war to achieve the rapid development of Japan's economy, hoping that this war would first reverse the economic downturn, and then based on this, vigorously develop and suffer heavy damage to national defense.

In this process, what the army needs is patience. Despite all the pressures, he has been struggling to continue this policy. Now,...

He looked at the telegram again, but he knew that he might not be able to bear it anymore! Japan must prove some things through its own actions!^-^^-^

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Chapter completed!