The ministers were in an uproar when they heard Emperor Mutsuhito definitely point out that the Lanfang Republic, which was located in a corner, was actually the culprit that caused Japan to fall into an embarrassing situation. ('Piaotian Literature Network Novels
"Lanfang Republic? How is it possible?" Prince Fushimi Miyazada asked in disbelief: "Your Majesty the Emperor, are the decision-makers of the Lanfang Republic suffering from hysteria and not afraid of getting burned? Do they have the confidence to defeat the empire's army? This It¡¯s incredible.¡±
"It's a bit incredible." Ito Hirobumi interjected: "Your Highness, the Lanfang Republic is just one of the culprits. It is impossible to push the empire to this point with their strength alone. However, with the United States The support makes all the difference.¡±
Then, Ito Hirobumi returned the Boxer Indemnity from the United States, established good relations with the Qing court, talked about the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and the Lanfang Republic, not only sold arms and warships to the Lanfang Republic, but also helped the Lanfang Republic train its navy. It is pointed out that the United States probably designed to unite Lanfang Republic to deal with the Empire of Japan in order to check and balance the increasingly powerful Japan.
The more Ito analyzed, the angrier he became. In the end, Hate concluded: "In short, like the British, the politicians in the United States are also very vicious, deliberately making both the empire and the Lanfang Republic suffer, so that they can reap the benefits.
¡°Sigh, whether it is the Indonesian anti-foreigner army or the Lanfang Republican Army, they are both tougher nuts to crack. After this war, the empire's strength, which it had finally recovered with great difficulty, was about to suffer another heavy blow. "
"So that's it." Foreign Minister Komura Jutaro suddenly realized: "No wonder the Imperial expatriates in the United States of America are being brutally squeezed and plundered, so that in the past two months, the Empire has only received letters of help from them instead of US dollars. (Read and see)¡±
Everyone talked for a while, and Emperor Muruhito waved his hand to stop him, and said solemnly: "Everyone, since I fell into the enemy's conspiracy, just over 4 months have passed. The empire's economy has been overwhelmed, and its strategic reserves have been exhausted. Very huge. Faced with this bad situation, do you have any good ways to deal with it so that the empire can survive this crisis?"
Saionji Kongwang, who had been silent all this time, was the first to suggest: "Your Majesty the Emperor, in my opinion, the Battle of Borneo will be protracted. And the Chinese people's movement to boycott imperial goods will also continue.
The most critical thing at the moment is to order General Nogi to speed up the attack at all costs, quickly destroy the Indonesian anti-foreign forces, occupy South Borneo, and squeeze the maximum benefits from the colony.
As long as a stable colonial rule is established locally, the logistics supply problem of the army can be solved. Then, after some recuperation, General Nogi's army can continue fighting and capture the entire Borneo. Then, wait for a favorable opportunity to capture the entire Nanyang, so that the enemy countries who are plotting against the empire can steal the chicken without losing the rice."
"Yo Xi" Emperor Muruhito nodded in agreement, discussed with several elders such as Yamagata Aritomo for a while, turned to Hasegawa and said kindly: "Hasegawa-kun, after the meeting is over, you should immediately send power to Borneo and give Nogi Nogi and Kuro Mu Weizhen and the two were demoted and retained as punishment, and they were ordered to capture South Borneo as quickly as possible at all costs."
"Hai" Hasegawa Yoshidao didn't know the specific terrain and conditions of Borneo. He also felt that Nogi Nogi's movements were too slow, so he respectfully accepted the order.
Immediately afterwards, Prime Minister Katsura Taro said loudly: "His Majesty the Emperor, in order to tide over the current difficulties, I propose to issue deficit public bonds to make up for the inflated fiscal expenditures and huge fiscal budget. At the same time, I propose to seek loans from Great Powers such as Britain and France. To gain their support and tie them to our interests again."
Emperor Mursuhito looked at Ito Hirobumi, who said thoughtfully: "Your Majesty, based on the current situation, the empire is indeed in urgent need of foreign support."
Prince Fushimi Miya Sadai frowned and asked: "Your Majesty Ito, last year the empire had a lot of trouble with Britain, France and other powers because of the adulteration of opium in food. Now if we borrow money from them, will they lend it to us?"
"Haha, they want to borrow money to help our country fight the war." Ito Hirobumi said with a smile: "The more chaotic Asia becomes, the more the great powers can fish in troubled waters and seize countless benefits. In the Sino-Japanese War of 1898 and the Russo-Japanese War, the great powers all He benefited greatly from borrowing money from the empire.
Now that the empire has become stronger due to the two wars, they are very uneasy, so they can take advantage of the passive opportunity of this imperial expedition to lend money to the empire to continue fighting.
In this way, they can not only achieve the purpose of weakening the empire's strength, but also share the benefits gained after the war. Such a good thing that has the best of both worlds, why not do it?¡±
Finally, the ministers put forward some suggestions on how to deal with the boycott of Japanese goods, then bid farewell to Emperor Meiji and left to do their own business.
Soon, the Borneo Expeditionary ForceThe headquarters received telegrams of reprimand and supervision from Japan.
However, after discussion with Nogi Nogi, Kuroki Weizhen and others, they believed that there were still many difficulties in launching an attack quickly.
First of all, the expeditionary force came a long way across the sea, and recently they have been living in rainy weather all day long. Many soldiers have become acclimatized, which has led to a significant increase in the number of non-combat attrition of the expeditionary force.
Second, due to man-made destruction of roads and constant erosion by heavy rains, the road conditions in South Borneo continue to deteriorate. The frontline army cannot maintain multiple lines of advancement at the same time and can only squeeze into a few major roads, making the march slower and slower. .
Although the recent heavy rain has not been as intensive as some time ago, it has become intermittent. However, road repairs will take time, and it is very rare for the army to maintain its current speed. It is simply impossible to speed up the attack immediately.
Third, logistics supply lines are constantly being harassed.
The grain storage warehouses built along the way had too little inventory. Sometimes the warehouses were burned down by squads of the Indonesian Anti-foreign Army, and the logistics could not keep up. As a result, the frontline soldiers were unable to have enough to eat, and there were many complaints.
Fourth, the morale of the expeditionary officers and soldiers on the front line is seriously low.
Because when they finally saw a town and gathered up their morale to rush in and prepare to fight the enemy, they found that the town was empty and had been completely destroyed.
This deprives the expeditionary officers and soldiers of neither having a chance to vent nor getting the supplies they deserve, thus making the morale of the expeditionary officers and soldiers even lower.
At this time, the Indonesian Anti-Foreign Army, which has been recuperating and recuperating, must be gathering momentum somewhere ahead.
"If we wait for the weather to improve, the expeditionary force will speed up and head towards South Borneo.
¡°If the troops lose connection and the forward troops are once again attacked by the cunning Indonesian anti-foreign forces, it will cause a greater blow to the expeditionary force. .
Long Teng Nanyang Chapter 372 How to deal with it (Part 1) (Text)