Super Dictator

January 8, 1895, in a secret room in Hiroshima Base Camp.

Japanese Prime Minister Hirobumi Ito, Chief of Staff General Sugawa Miyazakihito, Deputy Commander-in-Chief Kawakami Kōroku, Lieutenant General Kodama Gentaro, Vice Minister of the Army, Lieutenant General Saigo Yumichi, Minister of the Navy, Major General Junkichi Ito, Vice Minister of the Navy, Shiki Kayama, Chief of Naval Staff Da Shanyan, Minister of War and Commander of the Second Army, Youpeng Shanxian, the supervisor of the army, were all on the list.

They sat around the round table, and in front of each person was a document, which was Wei Jichen's "On Protracted War."

Qichuan Gong Chiren first picked up the document, raised it in his hand, and said solemnly: "I believe you have all read Wei Jichen's article. I don't know what you think."

Everyone's expressions were not very good.

Ito Hirobumi stood up, first bowed deeply to Kawakami Soroku and Yamagata Aritomo, and then said with a gloomy face: "Wei Jichen is really terrible. He has a set of tactics and strategies. Fortunately, he was The imperial intelligence department assassinated him in time, otherwise it would become a serious problem for the empire. "

Kawakami Soroku was the chief of intelligence against China, and it was he who personally guided and planned the assassination.

Kawakami Kōroku also looked happy.

Dashanyan sighed, took a serious look at Shanxian Youpeng, and then said: "We still underestimated Wei Jichen. Now it seems that Shanxian Jun is right to annihilate the Wei Zijun regardless of casualties. No matter what the empire pays, No matter what the cost, as long as Wei Jichen is killed, it will be victory."

Youpeng from Shanxian County also said with a frightened look: "Wei Jichen hit the weak point of the empire with a few thousand words. Now the Qing Dynasty has become agitated because of his article. Not only many scholars jointly wrote to Guangxu, demanding a decisive battle with the empire, but also the governors of the Qing Dynasty's provinces He also submitted a memorial, analyzed the pros and cons, and declared that as long as the war lasts to the end, victory will definitely belong to the Qing Dynasty. "

Qichuan Gong Chiren nodded and said: "Wei Jichen's article has an immeasurable impact on the morale of the frontline soldiers of the Qing Dynasty. One thing he said is very correct, that is, the empire is indeed not suitable for a long-term war with the Qing Dynasty, so the empire must use thunder to This will destroy the Qing Dynasty's determination to resist, and then seize the benefits it deserves, opening the way for the empire's next expansion. "

"As long as the empire obtains the land of Liaodong and Taiwan, it can support war with war and slowly encroach on China's territory. The reason why Wei Jichen's article on protracted war is so powerful is that he sees that the empire's resources are poor and the war cannot last long, and he combines the two sides' The national conditions are true at all. Trading space for time has dragged the empire into a quagmire of long-term war. Until now, some stupid civilians in the country have launched a rebellion because of their own small interests. Little did they know that as long as they obtained China's large territory will be rich from top to bottom in the empire." Qichuan Gong Chiren also looked helpless when talking about the unscrupulous people.

Ito Hirobumi echoed: "Since the war, the empire has been heavily in debt. The arms purchased from the great powers are either raised domestically through the issuance of national bonds or loans from the great powers. The government cannot support it for too long. 's war.”

All the Japanese were worried. They never expected that the empire, which they thought was in good shape, was actually facing such a predicament.

Deputy Chief Kawakami Soroku stood up and said solemnly: "Therefore, we must immediately open a second battlefield. As long as we annihilate the Qing's Beiyang Fleet and take Taiwan into our hands, we will be able to defeat the Qing as a winner. Through threats and blackmail, our ultimate goal is to obtain the Qing Dynasty's Liaodong land and Taiwan. "

General Kawakami Soroku looked at everyone one by one, and suddenly raised his voice and said: "As long as we obtain these two resource-rich places, we can have children and rest, and immigrate here from the country, five or ten years later , the empire will no longer be a small country with a few people, and China will surely be destroyed step by step by the empire."

【

】

"Yes, it is urgent to open the second battlefield now. Only by destroying the resistance of the Qing court as soon as possible, obtaining these two places before the Qing people wake up, and obtaining a large amount of Qing war reparations, all the crises of the empire can be solved in a short time. It will be lifted within 1 hour," Chief of Staff Qichuan Gong Chiren said firmly.

All the Japanese nodded in agreement, and Youpeng from Shanxian County reminded: "In addition to opening up the second battlefield, the imperial army cannot stop its pace in Liaodong, otherwise the Qing Dynasty will really think that our attack is weak and we will be lucky." Guitaro has proposed to the base camp to attack Haicheng immediately, making everyone in the Qing Dynasty understand that Wei Jichen's counterattack on Ximucheng is just a joke. "

"Nogi Nogi also mentioned this to me. With the death of Wei Jichen, the Qing armies in Haicheng have fallen into a leaderless state. This is when we can easily capture it." Dashanyan said with a smile.

Seeing that both generals agreed to fight on two fronts and attack at the same time, Qichuan Gong Chiren agreed.

"Saigo-kun, has Ito Yuhiro selected a suitable landing site?" Sukawa Palace Chihito thought for a while, then turned to ask the Navy Minister Saigo Nobuchi.

Saigo Congdao quickly took out a document from the folder. Saigo Congdao was born in the army. As the Minister of the Navy, he had limited knowledge about the navy.

But he knew how to appoint talents and put them to good use, and handed over all the tasks in his hands to his talented people. He was able to handle the job of shopkeeper very smoothly. His number one general was Yamamoto, who was later known as the "Father of the Japanese Navy" Quan Bingwei.

"Ito Yuhiro submitted an investigation report, which said, 'South of the mountain corner of the Shandong Peninsula, there is a small protruding peninsula - Ryusu Island. Opposite to the west of Ryusu Island is Longkou Cliff, with a bay in between. It is more than 3,000 meters wide and 2,500 meters long. Dozens of large ships can be berthed in the bay. It is surrounded by the mainland on three sides, and only the south side faces the sea. The water depth is suitable, and it is a rare place to dock by sampan or motorboat. Landing location'"

Xixiang Congdao is completely following the script, but all the Japanese generals here know that Xixiang is the "so minister", which means that Xixiang Congdao doesn't know much about the navy. When his subordinates reported to him, he suddenly realized it. Then he uttered the famous "That's it" sigh.

Sichuan Gong Chiren continued to ask unfazed: "Does the Navy have a general policy on how to annihilate the Beiyang Fleet?"

This time it did not involve specific naval matters, just general policies. Saigo put down the document and talked eloquently: "Our Navy Ministry believes that to annihilate the Beiyang Fleet, we should not engage in direct combat with it. Our ships must not be damaged, and our ships must not be used. The enemy ships were sunk and surrounded, and when the Beiyang Fleet ran out of ammunition and food, and its morale was low, it was forced to surrender to the Imperial Navy. "

Sukawa Palace Chihito is very satisfied with this strategy. In this way, after this battle, the Imperial Navy will not only not suffer any losses, but will also capture many Qing ships, greatly increasing its strength. However, this requires the cooperation of the army, and only the sea and land forces will If we work together and capture Weihaiwei, the Beiyang Fleet will run out of ammunition and food.

"In this case, gentlemen, please actively prepare for the war after you go down and win this war as soon as possible. Long live the empire, long live your majesty!" Qichuan Gong Chiren made the final speech.

"Long live the empire, long live your majesty!" All the Japanese generals stood up and shouted loudly.

Don't mention it. After shouting these two sentences, the Japanese generals seemed to have taken stimulants. They suddenly became extremely excited and full of longing for the future.