Yamada Junzaburo complimented: "The Vice-Chancellor alone is equivalent to ten divisions. Naturally, there are dozens of ways to prolong the war. But how can there be someone as talented and strategic as you in China?"
Akashi Genjiro said: "Yamada's words are wrong! China is a vast land with abundant resources and talented people. As long as it gets appropriate development opportunities, it will be far beyond the reach of the Japanese Empire. Just like Sun Yuanqi, the scientific community has been ignored before. Controlled by Westerners, open various natural science textbooks such as physics, chemistry, astronomy, etc., and they are full of the names of Europeans such as Galileo, Newton, Maxwell, Mendeleev, Copernicus, and even various measurement units. They are all named after their scientists. So before the twentieth century, all historians of science in the world believed that the Far East was a barren land for science and technology.
"Unexpectedly, Sun Yuanqijun came out next. With his own power, he completely overturned the classical physics system that countless European scientists had spent hundreds of years constructing, and established his own theoretical framework; in chemistry, astronomy, He has also made outstanding contributions in many fields such as electronics and genetics. He not only subverted European and American views on East Asians, but also subverted human beings' views on the entire world. Nowadays, if you look at various natural science textbooks, you will find them everywhere We can see traces of him. Japan founded the Republic of China earlier than China and invested more in science and technology education than China. But who can compare with Sun Yuanqijun now?
"Moreover, Mr. Sun Yuanqi also single-handedly established the most famous university in the Far East, Jingshi University, trained a large number of outstanding scientific researchers for China, and successfully developed countless technological inventions that are ahead of the world. This has rapidly improved the country's strength. How dare I dare to do so with such an outstanding person? Isn¡¯t it comparable? The French Emperor Napoleon once said that China is like a sleeping lion. Once awakened, the world will be shaken. So we must not underestimate China, we must be cautious!"
Yamada Junzaburo: "It is precisely because China is a sleeping lion that cannot be underestimated that we must completely defeat it and dismember it before it wakes up. Otherwise, due to the Sino-Japanese War, the Gengzi Qing Dynasty Incident, the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty, etc. Will our Japanese Empire have no peace in the future?"
Akashi Genjiro sighed: "I am not opposed to the use of force against China, but I do not agree with the use of force against China when the situation is unclear. Because if you are not careful, what Yamada-kun said in the future will happen today!"
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August 16, 1914, the day after Japan declared war on Germany. The Independent Sixth Division, the Eighteenth Division and other troops, totaling about 60,000 people, set out from Nagasaki under the escort of the three major fleets of the Navy (about 25,000 officers and soldiers), aiming directly at the Shandong Peninsula. ¡ª¡ªKumamoto, where the 6th Division is organized, and Kurume, where the 18th Division is organized, are both located on Kyushu Island, the island closest to China, and are close to Nagasaki, the famous military port on Kyushu Island. This is one of the fundamental reasons why the Japanese military mobilized these two divisions.
Nagasaki is less than a thousand kilometers away from Qingdao. The speed of the main battleships of the Japanese Navy is between 16 and 22 knots. In other words, the Japanese army can reach the waters near Shandong in two or three days at the fastest, and no more than five or six days at the slowest time. Therefore, after Sun Yuanqi received the intelligence, he immediately ordered reconnaissance planes to take off from the temporarily repaired Shandong Rongcheng Airport, Qingdao Airport, and the Shanghai Naval Airport relatively close to Nagasaki, to conduct uninterrupted surveillance and search of the Yellow Sea and strive for the first place. Time to discover the whereabouts of the Japanese fleet.
On the other hand, Sun Yuanqi also urgently summoned German Minister Harhausen. German armed personnel were required to completely withdraw from the Jiao'ao area within three days, and those who could not withdraw should be disarmed. And report to the local Chinese *** team. The Chinese ** team will gradually take over the defense of the Jiao'ao area and the Jiaoji Line in the next three days. We hope that the German side can cooperate.
After Minister Harhausen thought for a moment, he simply agreed to China¡¯s request. In fact, on the next day, at noon on August 17, the mixed fleets of Germany and Austria sailed out of Jiaozhou Bay one after another, ending their 16-year lease history in the Jiao'ao area.
After Sun Yuanqi learned that the German and Austrian fleets had withdrawn from Jiaozhou Bay, he was preparing to summon Japan's new minister to China, Hiroko Masuo, to tell him the news. Unexpectedly, he and Kobata Yukichi came to visit him first. Although he could guess that Rizhi Yi came here to make trouble unreasonably, Sun Yuanqi still patiently received them, wanting to see how shameless they could be.
As soon as they met, Sun Yuanqi asked with a smile: "Minister Hioki and Secretary Kohata (previously, Kohata Yukichi was the first secretary of the embassy as the temporary acting minister), they both said, 'Nothing goes to the Three Treasures Hall.' Today, the second Your Majesty is here, what advice can you give me?"
However, Hichiichi replied with a straight face: "I dare not give you any advice. I am just informing the Prime Minister on behalf of the Imperial Japanese Government that our country has officially declared war on the German Empire on August 15. Yesterday, the German Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire also declared war on our country." , the three countries are in a state of comprehensive war. Our country appreciates and supports your country's absolute neutrality, but in order to prevent Germany from destroying peace in the Far East, and at the same time avoidThe people of our country have been harmed. On behalf of the Empire of Japan, I would like to request that your country designate the area south of the Yellow River in Shandong Province as a neutral area and withdraw all Chinese troops stationed in the area so that the Japanese troops can land at any location and interact with the German troops in the area. Fight with the Austrian army! "
"The area south of the Yellow River in Shandong Province?" Sun Yuanqi stood up and drew a little on the map, his eyes suddenly turned cold: "Doesn't that mean covering the entire province of Shandong? As far as I know, when the Qing government signed the "Jiaoao Lease Treaty" with Germany "At the time, the leased area was only Jiaozhou Bay. Even if it was later expanded, it only promised to designate the 100 miles along the coast of Jiaozhou Bay as a neutral zone, with the German army enjoying free passage; and German businessmen enjoying the rights along the Jiaoji Railway Mining rights within 30 miles on both sides. But your country demands that all areas south of the Yellow River in Shandong Province be classified as war zones and allow our country to withdraw all troops stationed in the area. Is it possible that your intentions are not pure? "
There was no trace of shame on Hichiichi's face, and he explained solemnly: "There is a famous saying in your country called 'War is fierce and war is dangerous', which means that war is very dangerous and terrible, and once it breaks out, it is difficult to control the scale and area. I, the Empire of Japan, Requesting your country to designate all the areas south of the Yellow River in Shandong Province as a war zone is out of consideration for protecting the lives and property of your people. Why are you saying that you have impure intentions? I hope you will be careful in your words and not harm the friendly relations between China and Japan. !¡±
Sun Yuanqi was so angry that he no longer bothered to talk nonsense with them and said directly: "On behalf of the government of the Republic of China, I officially inform your country that at noon on August 17, that is, today, the German Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire have completely Withdrew from Shandong, the Jiaoao area and related industries it leased were officially returned to Chinese management. In other words, there are no German and Austrian armed personnel in Shandong at this time, and the prerequisites for your country to land in China in the name of "maintaining peace and stability in the Far East" have been It does not exist, so our country clearly rejects your country¡¯s request.
"And hereby reiterate that any belligerent party shall not fight in the territory, territorial waters, concessions, or leased areas of the Republic of China. We will reserve the right to further respond and take appropriate actions against any behavior that infringes upon the territorial integrity of the Republic of China and endangers national sovereignty and the safety of citizens' lives and property." The right to take measures, and corresponding measures include but are not limited to protests, condemnations, economic sanctions, military actions, etc. I hope your country will consider it carefully and think twice before acting!"
Not only has his mind been cultivated to the level of calmness, but his face has been honed to the point of invulnerability. Hikiyi's expression remained unchanged after hearing the news, and he defended with a sharp tongue: "First of all, the so-called 'virtue' The Austrian army has completely withdrawn from Shandong, and the Jiao'ao area and related industries have been officially returned to Chinese management. These are just one-sided words from your country and cannot be relied upon. The specific situation can only be officially determined after a large-scale inspection by the Japanese army.
"Secondly, even if, as your country said, the German and Austrian troops have completely withdrawn from Shandong, and the Jiao'ao area and related industries have been officially returned to Chinese management, they can definitely come back and continue to endanger the peace and stability of the Far East. We, the Empire of Japan, maintain The determination for peace and stability in East Asia is consistent and resolute, and will never waver easily. I hope that your country can weigh the pros and cons and agree to all our requests. Otherwise, the Imperial Japanese Government will reserve the right to take independent action when necessary."
Sun Yuanqi sneered: "Your Excellency, Minister, you mean that China has to agree even if it agrees, and it has to agree even if it doesn't agree?"
With a dead face on his face, Hikiichi still replied respectfully: "Your Excellency, Prime Minister, you can understand it this way!"
Sun Yuanqi did not hesitate: "As Sun said, although the Chinese government is not wary, it is not afraid of war. China's determination to defend its territorial integrity will not waver at all. Since your country is determined to go its own way and wants to invade our country's Shandong territory, Then come on! I want to see whether the east wind prevails over the west wind, or the west wind overpowers the east wind! See off the guests!"
Hichiichi stood up and asked: "Your Excellency, Prime Minister, can I interpret what you just said as a declaration of war against the Empire of Japan?"
Sun Yuanqi shook his head: "No, China adheres to its position of absolute neutrality and will never take the initiative to declare war on any country, including Japan, so as to avoid false claims in the future. But not taking the initiative to declare war does not mean that it will not fight back in self-defense. Please don't do this. You¡¯ll get the wrong idea!¡±
In the following two days, the propaganda machines of China and Japan were vigorously inciting war fever.
On the Chinese side, there are endless articles describing all the old and new hatreds between China and Japan since the Sino-Japanese War. Articles recalling the Sino-Japanese War, the Gengzi Revolution, and the atrocities of the Japanese army in the Russo-Japanese War are full of newspapers. Facts, reasoning, examples, analogies and other methods were used to criticize Japan's sinister intentions of provoking war, invading Chinese territory and undermining peace in the Far East.
In addition to promoting the justice of the capture of Shandong, Japan also talked a lot about Shandong's military value, saying that it not only contains a huge amount of untapped information, but also has the advantage of being a shortcut to Beijing.We can also use Shandong as a stronghold to penetrate into China's economic center on both sides of the Yangtze River. This is a God-given opportunity in the new Taisho era.
However, no matter what, a war between China and Japan is inevitable. (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature. The novels will be better and updated faster!