In September 1903, Japanese Foreign Minister Sutaro Omura launched a formal visit to the East China government. Of course, the main purpose was to negotiate and cooperate with the East China government on all matters of war against Russia.

The Japanese government originally planned to negotiate with the East China government in July and August, but it was delayed until September. The main reason was that Japan's diplomatic activities have been very frequent in the past few months. Two rounds of negotiations have been held between Japan and Russia, but both sides are still unwilling to make concessions, so there is no result. Although the two sides did not announce the breakdown of the negotiations and agreed to hold the third negotiations from November to December, even Japan and Russia did not believe that the third negotiation could make any progress.

The reason why both sides are willing to negotiate again is not only with one-tenth of hope for peace, but also an important reason is that both sides are not fully prepared yet, so it will take some time. Of course, both sides do not rule out using this period of preparation to force the other party to make concessions. After all, it is best not to fight.

Of course, there are quite a difference between the two sides' unpreparedness. Russia has not been fully built, which has caused extremely inconvenient transportation of Russian troops and materials. In addition, the low efficiency of the Russian government and the intensification of conflicts among all classes in China, Russia's military preparations in the Far East were very inadequate. Although Russia had gathered nearly 400,000 troops in the Far East at this time, the navy had 7 battleships and 4 armored patrols.

There are indeed quite a lot of foreign ships in terms of force, but the army is only equipped with 8 Maxim machine guns. Although there are quite a lot of artillery, there are only field artillery and no mountain artillery. Moreover, the base of most artillery shells is insufficient. In addition, the army does not have an accurate map of the Far East. In terms of force distribution, the Russian army is mainly concentrated in Lushun, Liaoyang, Fengtian, San Vladivostok and other places, while there is no garrison army in the border areas bordering the Korean Peninsula in the northeast.

In terms of the naval, Russia originally had two naval bases in the Far East, namely Lushun and San Vladivostok, so the fleet had to be stationed in two batches. However, these two naval bases were more than 2,000 kilometers apart and lacked unified command. The distribution of warships was extremely uneven. All seven battleships were anchored in Lushun Port, and there was only one armored cruiser; in San Vladivostok, there were three armored cruisers, and no battleships. In addition, the battleships reserved in Lushun Port only 153 rounds of 12-inch shells, while San Vladivostok, which did not have battleships, had 1,037 12-inch shells.

In contrast, Japan's war preparations were much better. By this time, both Japanese navy and army had been fully prepared for war. Theoretically, war could be started at any time. Japan's shortcomings lie in the international environment and the attitudes of other countries. In the eyes of Japan, Russia is still a giant. Without external forces, Japan would not dare to go to war against Russia alone.

After the second negotiation between DingJapan and Russia, Japan immediately launched a series of diplomatic activities, sending officials to visit Britain, France, Germany, the United States and other countries, either negotiating, negotiating, tempting, or pulling the country. Of course, they are making final preparations for the war, and the East China government can only put it behind.

Komura Sutaro, who visited the East China government this time, was an outstanding Japanese diplomat in this era. He served as Minister of State in North Korea, the United States, Russia, and the Qing Dynasty. After Kamitaro came to power, he became the foreign minister. Although he was short and cunning and treacherous, he was nicknamed "Rat Minister", in the handling of major events such as the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the Eight-Nation Alliance invasion of China, the Japanese-British Alliance, and the Manchuria issue, Komura Sutaro performed very well in terms of macro diplomatic strategies and specific diplomatic skills.

At the beginning of the establishment of the East China Government, Sutaro Komura was the Minister to Qing Dynasty. He had dealt with and participated in Shanghai negotiations. Therefore, he still had a good understanding of time travelers. Before going to Qingdao, Sutaro Komura had just visited the UK and reached a series of agreements with the UK. The UK once again promised to support Japan's war against Russia in accordance with the framework of the treaty of the [British-Japanese Alliance].

It was precisely because of this confidence that Komura Sutaro returned to China for only three days and immediately embarked on a journey to visit Qingdao.

Speaking of which, this is the first time that the East China government has received an official visit from a sovereign state since its establishment. Although Germany had sent Prince Heinrich's private naval minister Tirpitz to visit Qingdao before that, Prince Heinrich was not a formal official of the German government. Tirpitz's one was a secret visit, and neither the East China government nor Germany disclosed the content of the visit. This time, Komura Sutaro visited Qingdao as a Japanese foreign minister and brought a formal letter of state, which was actually regarded as a sovereign state.

The East China government also received Sutaro Komura very grandly. Now the two sides are still in cooperation. Xia Bohai met Sutaro Komura as soon as possible, received the letter of state, and held a banquet to entertain Sutaro Komura. Of course, the talks between the two sides were false, after all, Sutaro Komura could not negotiate with Sutaro Komura himself. The real information was on the third day, with the negotiations between Foreign Affairs Committee Li Sanjie and Sutaro Komura.

Since the two sides had reached a cooperative relationship before, they did not make much courtesy. After greeting each other, Sutaro Komura went straight to the point and said, "Committee Li, according to our Japanese judgment, Russia is likely to launch a war in the first half of 1904. Russia is the biggest threat to the East China government and Japan. If Russia is allowed to launch a war, and our two sides passively respond, it may be unfavorable to us. Therefore, I think we should take the initiative to attack. I wonder if the East China government can launch a war in the first half of 1904?"

Li Sanjie despised Sutaro Komura in his heart. Didn’t he just want to use the tactic of sneak attacks to fight undeclared? He also said that sneak attacks were the old method of Japan. This was the case with the Sino-Japanese War of 1894 and the Russo-Japanese War. In the old time and space, the later Pacific War was still the same. However, it could not be said in front of Sutaro Komura, but Li Sanjie had already responded, saying: "Folk Foreign Minister, according to the information we have, Russia basically could not start a war in the first half of 1904, because they were not ready for war. Although Russia had assembled a large number of troops in the Far East, the distribution of troops was extremely unreasonable, and the materials and ammunition were not sufficient. More importantly, the Siberian Railway had not been completed yet. Therefore, we believe that before 1905, even in the first half of 1905, Russia could not start a war."

Although he was hit by a nail, Sutaro Komura's expression remained unchanged. He was a person who had dealt with overseas Chinese and knew that this group of people was not easy to fool. He also knew that since 1903, overseas Chinese had set up more than 10 shopping malls in the Northeast region under the name of trade. Of course, they were all for collecting intelligence. Although overseas Chinese started late, they were Chinese after all and were easily supported by local people. Therefore, overseas Chinese should be able to check the actual situation in Russia clearly.

Komura Sutaro didn't want to argue with Li Sanjie when Russia would launch a war. This was just an excuse and said: "There is an idiom in China that is called 'Never be tempted by the soldiers'. Maybe Russia is not fully prepared for war, but if Russia launches war at this time, wouldn't it just be a surprise to us? From the perspective of military tactics, this is called accidental, so we must not be careful."

Li Sanjie nodded. Sutaro Komura was indeed a traitor. Although it was a distortion, it could not be said that there was no reason. Of course, he would not argue with Sutaro Komura and said: "Our preparations for war are prepared for the war in 1905. The ideal time is in the second half of 1905. Before 1905, unless there is conclusive evidence that Russia is about to launch a war, we will not provoke a war on its own initiative."

In fact, Li Sanjie's answer was also expected by Sutaro Komura. After all, the East China government is recruiting soldiers on a large scale and ordering warships in Germany. These things cannot be concealed. Therefore, it is not difficult for Japan to infer the preparation time of the East China government. According to the analysis of the Japanese government, this situation is beneficial to Japan. At the beginning of the war, Japan fought alone against Russia. If it could win, of course there would be nothing in the East China government. After the war, Japan would of course gain the huge benefits brought by the war alone.

If Japan loses to Russia, or the war reaches a stalemate, and the East China government sends troops to fight against Russia, it can save Japan's defeat or break the stalemate. In this way, although Japan cannot obtain the benefits of the war alone, at least the winner can not only protect its own interests on the Korean Peninsula, but also gain some other benefits, which is better than a complete failure.

Of course, some people think that if Japan and Russia both end up losing both sides, overseas Chinese may reap the benefits of the fisherman and deal with Japan and Russia. But someone immediately suggested that once overseas Chinese send troops to attack Japan, then Japan is fighting with two countries, which constitutes a treaty to launch the [British-Japanese Alliance]. Britain must send troops to participate in the war. If Britain participates in the war, what are the Chinese overseas who are afraid of?

Although some people suggested that when that time comes, Britain may not respect the treaty and send troops, and may sit idly by the East China government, Russia and Japan, this opinion has not been taken seriously by the Japanese government.
Chapter completed!