From November 17 to 21, the People's Army Navy launched a strike on coastal cities such as Kitakyushu, Saseburg, Miyazaki, Shizuoka, Yokosuka, etc. in Japan, destroying 4 ports in total, damaging 3 ports, and then returning to Qingdao.

This time the sea strike caused a huge impact on Japanese society, and the losses of personnel were secondly. Guan Jian was a psychological blow to the Japanese government and the people. Because this was the Japanese mainland again threatened from Shanghai after the "Black Ship Founding" incident. Before that, although the Russian Vladivostok fleet posed a great threat to Japan's maritime transportation lines, it did not cause harm to Japan. This time, the Japanese government and residents finally realized that in this war, the Japanese mainland could no longer be out of the matter.

After completing the maritime strike against Japan, the East China government also formally responded to the United States, saying that it would accept President Roosevelt's new proposal and give up paying compensation as a prerequisite for negotiations, hoping to start peaceful negotiations with Japan and Russia.

After receiving the reply from the East China government, President Roosevelt had to smile bitterly. Of course, he could see that the East China government was sending a demonstration to Japan and Russia. Although the East China government gave up paying compensation as a prerequisite for negotiations, it did not mean that the East China government gave up the compensation. Moreover, the sea shelling occurred before the East China government's reply, so the behavior of the East China government also complies with international rules. Of course, it depends on Japan's attitude now.

Sure enough, after learning that the East China government was bombarding Japan's mainland at sea, it immediately expressed its acceptance of the United States' proposal and gave up paying compensation as a prerequisite for negotiations. It was also extremely angry. Isn't this obvious demonstration to Japan? Beat Japan first and then tell Japan: We can negotiate, isn't this bullying Japan?

So the Japanese government immediately issued a government statement, first of all, strongly accusing the East China government of shelling Japanese mainland, causing a large number of civilians to accidentally hurt them. This also shows that the East China government has no sincerity in negotiating. Therefore, although the East China government accepted the suggestions of the United States, Japan needs to reconsider the suggestions of the United States.

Britain and France also accused the East China government, believing that the East China government had accepted the US suggestion and had cracked down on Japan before it was not only meaningless, but also added obstacles to future negotiations and undermined the process of restoring peace in the Far East. The East China government met all responsibilities for this, and also required the East China government to maintain restraint and not do anything like this.

The Russian government also clearly stood on the side of Japan, severely accusing the East China government of undermining peace, and pointed out that the rise of the East China government is a new round of * and the biggest threat to European civilization. Therefore, European countries must unite, support Russia, and jointly deal with the East China government. However, no European country responded to the Russian government's speech.

In contrast, the US government's reaction was much more moderate. On the one hand, the United States expressed its appreciation for the East China government's acceptance of the new mediation proposal from the United States, and on the other hand, it also made a tactful statement, hoping that all parties should maintain restraint and do more helpful things for restoring peace in the Far East.

The East China government has always been unwilling to admit defeat, so it has also issued government statements in succession to respond to the accusations of the East China government by Japan, Britain, France and other countries. It stated that the behavior of the East China government is completely in line with the rules of war. Japan and Russia fought hard on China's territory, causing huge losses to China. Why can't the East China government attack Japan's territory and ridiculed that if Japan cannot bear the attack on its territory, it is best not to start a war. If it starts a war, it must be prepared to be beaten. Japan is not a country blessed by God, it can only fight other countries, and other countries will not attack Japan.

The East China government is not polite to Britain and France, accusing the two countries of being sluggish, not working hard for the Far East, but helping their allies. Without Britain and France's support behind Japan and Russia, the war would not have broken out.

He expressed his intention to reconsider the US's peace proposal to the Japanese government, and the East China government was even more merciless, saying that Japan was just pretending to be a pretentious person and would eventually accept the proposal of loving the United States and could not deceive anyone. He also thought that Japan had the confidence to refuse negotiations. At the same time, he also announced that given that Japan wanted to reconsider the US's peace proposal, the East China government regarded Japan as having not accepted the US's peace proposal and would launch a crackdown on Japan's local area at any time.

Of course, President Roosevelt knew that on the surface, the three parties were engaged in unintentional bickering, but in fact they were putting pressure on the other party, and striving to overwhelm the other party in momentum and gaining the main power for negotiations. Japan dressed itself up as a victim, creating a tragic feeling to win the sympathy of other countries; Russia was pulling a tiger's banner, trying to let other European countries endorse themselves; while the East China government was in a state of being a stunning attitude that you should not negotiate with me, let's fight another battle.

But in comparison, Japan and Russia are actually bluffing. Everyone knows that in this war in the Far East, Japan is not the role of a victim, and there is no European country that will endorse Russia. Only the East China government is really confident, because Japan and Russia can't hold on the battlefield now, and they need peace more than the East China government.

Roosevelt was also afraid that the three parties would become more and more irresistible, and they would eventually not come to Taiwan, which would lead to the inability to hold the negotiations, so he hurriedly came forward to smooth things over. First, he told the East China government that he hoped that the East China government would remain restrained and not attack Japan. The East China government replied that if Japan did not want the local government to be hit again, it should immediately accept the US suggestions and hold negotiations instead of reconsidering. Therefore, the United States should do Japan's work now, and not waste time with the East China government.

After a soft nail was encountered by the East China government, President Roosevelt had to smile bitterly. This mediator is really hard to be a mediator, and the East China government is really hard to fool. It turns out that the United States did a little trick in doing the work of the East China government first. If all parties agree to hold negotiations in the end, it will give people the East China government the first compromise. Japan and Russia agreed after seeing the East China government compromise. This will invisibly give Japan and Russia a certain psychological advantage. To put it bluntly, this is a game of blinking first. However, the East China government obviously saw through this trick, so it kicked the ball to Japan's feet and asked Japan to choose first.

President Roosevelt dared not force the East China government too much. After all, the United States must maintain the neutrality of mediators. Although the United States is everywhere in Japan and Russia, it cannot be done too clearly. In addition, Roosevelt was also worried that if they forced the East China government to be too late and refused to negotiate, wouldn’t it be a mistake? After all, the East China government has the capital and confidence to refuse negotiations.

So President Roosevelt contacted the Japanese government again, advising Japan not to act irritably or accept the negotiation proposal as soon as possible, otherwise the consequences would be unfavorable to Japan.

The Japanese government felt that it could not swallow this, so it proposed that the East China government make a decision first, thinking that the East China government would accept the negotiations and Japan would follow up. But President Roosevelt warned Japan very seriously that if the East China government was asked to make a decision first, the United States could not guarantee that the East China government would choose to negotiate, and perhaps the East China government would choose to continue the war and then continue to launch an attack on Japan's mainland.

The Japanese government was a little stupid now because Japan did not have the capital for war. At this time, the UK also suggested to Japan that it would be the most in line with Japan's interests to promise that negotiations were the most in line with Japan's interests. Therefore, the Japanese government finally issued a statement again, saying that although the Japanese government was dissatisfied with the actions of the East China government, for the sake of peace in the Far East, Japan was willing to accept the advice of the United States and participate in peace negotiations.

However, the East China government did not let Japan go, saying that it had known that it was the result, and mocked the Japanese government for pretending but could not continue. Of course, it finally stated that the East China government was willing to negotiate and stopped the war during the negotiations. Although Japan was not worried about his face, it also knew that it was not the time to act irritating, so nothing happened.

Russia had already agreed to the negotiations and had not made any trouble. Of course, the United States did not need to do any work anymore. Therefore, now all the three parties have finally agreed to the negotiations.

After confirming this, President Roosevelt also felt a little tired. The mediator was really difficult, and Roosevelt was also a little exhausted. However, the three parties finally agreed to the negotiations, which was also a very good result, and the next step can be carried out. President Roosevelt first decided to set up the three-party negotiations in Portsmouth, the port city of New Hampshire, about 200 kilometers away from Washington, the capital of the United States. For developed railway transportation in the United States, it only takes half a day to arrive. If the time is tight, you can walk back and forth in a day. In this way, President Roosevelt can also pay attention to the negotiation process at any time. If necessary, if the negotiations enter a deadlock, President Roosevelt can invite negotiators to Washington, or come to Portsmouth in person for mediation and handling.

After the location is determined, the next step is the negotiation time. After all, the East China government, Russia and Japan are not close to the United States, and the journey takes at least 20 days. Moreover, all parties need to prepare for negotiations, so there is at least one month. It was the end of November, so President Roosevelt set the negotiation time on January 1, 1906, so that all three parties will have more than 30 days to arrange their respective work and itineraries.
Chapter completed!