On May 6, 1905, the Russian fleet sailed into the coast of Taiwan, only about 5 days away from the Yellow Sea.

The war is approaching, and the Japanese cabinet has once again recruited a cabinet meeting to hold the last discussion on the war that will be reopened. The meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Kaitaro, and the participants were only Hirofumi Ito, Aito Yama Prefecture, Yuyuki Ito, and Kaitaro Komura Kaitaro.

Katsura Kanei said first: "The Russian fleet has sailed into the coast of Taiwan. The joint fleet will set off this afternoon. At the Tsushima Strait, the war between the Empire and Russia has entered the moment of Guanjian. The news we have received is that overseas Chinese have also entered a state of full mobilization. Both the navy and the army have assembled and may participate in the war at any time. This war will develop in that direction, which is the key issue we are discussing today."

Komura Sutaro said: "This morning, Ambassador to the United States, Kogoro Takahira, called and he held talks with President Roosevelt. During the talks, President Roosevelt expressed his support for us and believed that as long as we can severely damage the Russian fleet, there is a great chance of ending the war. The United States is willing to deal with it and promote negotiations with Russia."

Kanetaro said: "What do you think of President Roosevelt's statement?"

Hirofumi Ito said: "What are the attitudes of other countries?"

Komura Sutaro said: "Yesterday, Britain once again expressed its support for us, and also warned overseas Chinese again, asking them not to intervene in the war. The French government also warned overseas Chinese."

Hirobuki Ito said: "So how do overseas Chinese answer?"

Komura Sutaro smiled bitterly and said, "The same thing is the case. They will take the most appropriate actions based on the principles of safeguarding China's interests, sovereignty and territory, including war actions, and will not be bound by other countries."

Hirobu Ito nodded and said, "It seems that overseas Chinese are bound to participate in the war. I don't think that Britain, France and others can play any role in the pressure of overseas Chinese. If overseas Chinese succumb to foreign suppression, they would not have been so strongly involved in the situation in China five years ago. Therefore, we must make two plans. First, overseas Chinese will definitely participate in the war, and the pressure from various countries is useless; second, to deal with overseas Chinese, we can only rely on ourselves, and other countries cannot count on them, at least we cannot put all hope on them. If we cannot recognize these two points, we will not be able to achieve the final victory."

Kanetaro frowned and said, "But can I defeat Russia and overseas Chinese with only Japan's own strength? Besides, our Japanese war potential has almost reached its limit, and overseas Chinese are the new force when they participate in the war at this time."

Yutoto of the Shan County said: "To be honest, if overseas Chinese really unite with Russia to deal with us, it will be quite difficult to win."

Hirofumi Ito said: "What's going on in Russia?"

Komura Sutaro said: "According to our suspicious report from the Russian government, Russia has been communicating with overseas Chinese, hoping to reach an agreement with overseas Chinese to deal with us together. However, overseas Chinese are not very enthusiastic about this, and the conditions offered by Russia are unacceptable. When the Russian fleet left Cam Ran Bay, Russia once proposed to overseas Chinese that the Russian fleet would park in Qingdao Port to make up for its wealth, so that both sides could even form a joint fleet to fight. However, overseas Chinese proposed that the Russian fleet must hand over command and the overseas Chinese were marshalling the battle, which was also rejected by Russia."

Yuki Ito wiped his cold sweat and said, "If the Russian fleet is really anchored in Qingdao and form a joint fleet with overseas Chinese to fight, it will be too threatening to us."

Yutoto Yama County was excited and said, "This shows that overseas Chinese have no intention to join forces with Russia. Their goal is to monopolize the Northeast, which may be our chance to win."

Hirofumi Ito said: "I am not very proficient in military affairs. I don't know how the army and the navy judge the development of future wars?"

Yutorishi Yama Prefecture and Yuuki Ito looked at each other. Yutorishi Yama Prefecture said: "According to our division, overseas Chinese should be waiting for our fleet and the Russian fleet to join the war. For overseas Chinese, the ideal result is that our fleet and the Russian fleet are both defeated. In this way, overseas Chinese can easily obtain sea control rights, which is the most beneficial to their subsequent wars. Even if we can win, we will definitely suffer certain losses. The naval strength of overseas Chinese is not weak, and their shipping is mainly in the Bohai Sea, which can not only ensure their maritime transportation lines, but also threaten our maritime transportation lines."

Hirofumi Ito said: "So what is the Navy's expectation for this battle."

Yuyuki Ito said: "It is not a big problem to defeat the Russian fleet, but the final result is difficult to determine. In the 10-year battle of Dadonggou, although we sank four warships of the Beiyang Navy, the two main battleships of the Beiyang Navy, Dingyuan and Zhenyuan were retained, and five of our own warships were injured. We were unable to go to sea for combat within two months. This can be used as a reference for this war."

Hirobu Ito nodded. This inference was very reasonable, and said, "How would overseas Chinese choose to participate in the war at this time?"

Youpeng of Shanxian County said: "Overseas Chinese should participate in the war from two directions. One is to attack from western Liaoning, cross the Liaohe River, and attack Liaoyang and Fengtian. At present, overseas Chinese have more than 60,000 troops in western Liaoning. However, we have arranged 70,000 guard forces along the Liaohe River, which can completely withstand the initial attack of overseas Chinese; the other is to attack Lushun from the sea. Now we have arranged 30,000 troops in Lushun. The land defense is completely enough, but Lushun is a port, and both sea and land must be fixed, and Russia occupies Lushun. Shunshi, a large number of fortifications and fortifications were built along the harbor coast and strong firepower was arranged. However, our attack destroyed most of the fortifications and fortifications, and the remaining artillery also reinforced the frontline troops. Although after the victory of the Fengtianhui Battle, we repaired the shore defense fortifications in Lushun, the resources were limited and not even half were not. Therefore, it would be very difficult to defend Lushun without the assistance of the navy. If Lushun was lost, it would be quite unfavorable for us."

Yuki Ito smiled bitterly and said, "Before the decisive battle with the Russian fleet, it will be difficult for the Navy to draw warships to assist in defending Lushun."

Hirobuki Ito nodded again and said, "If he could still defend Lushun after the decisive battle of the Russian fleet, what would happen to the subsequent battle?"

Yutoto Yama County thought about it and said: "It is possible to be attacked by two-line attacks by overseas Chinese and Russians on land, but our defense is well arranged and we can maintain the existing defense line at least half a year later."

Yuuki Ito said: "The garrison in Lushun is divided into two situations. First, after the decisive battle with the Russian fleet, we suffered heavy casualties and could not fight the overseas Chinese fleet in a short period of time. We can first send some warships to Lushun Port to assist the army in defending Lushun, and at the same time repair the warships in China. Second, the loss is not large, so after a little repair, we can go out to sea to attack the overseas Chinese fleet attack Lushun, and find opportunities to fight the main fleet of overseas Chinese."

"We have two battleships in the UK, Kashima and Katae are under construction. These two warships are stronger than any of the current warships in the joint fleet. The UK has promised to deliver these two warships to us by the end of this year. If we can wait until these two warships join the joint fleet and then fight against overseas Chinese, we will have a greater grasp."

Yama Prefecture Aritoto turned to Katsutaro again and said, "Can our national strength last the war until the end of this year?"

Kanetaro said: "The funds we have prepared can maintain the war until September and October. I want to add another effort to last for 2 or 3 months. It is completely possible, and if we defeat the Russian fleet, it will also be helpful for raising funds."

Hirofumi Ito said: "I am an amateur in the military, so I can't give you any useful suggestions, but I can still help you in other aspects. First of all, Colonel Akashi Motojiro has contacted many Russian dissidents and anti-government figures and provided them with funding for activities. He is planning a larger-scale operation than the "Bloody Sunday" and has received the help of British intelligence personnel. By then, the Russian government is likely to be self-disciplined and its ability to support the war will be greatly reduced."

Yutoto of Shanxian nodded and said, "This is indeed good news, but after the war begins, our biggest opponent is overseas Chinese, not Russia. It would be great if we could plan an action in Shandong."

Hirobu Ito smiled bitterly and said, "The intelligence department has been working hard for this goal. More than 20 intelligence personnel have been sacrificed for it. However, overseas Chinese are not Russia. They have strong control over the people. We cannot find such an opportunity in Shandong. Fortunately, overseas Chinese still have a loophole, that is, their Shanghai New District. Our intelligence personnel have made arrangements in the Shanghai New District and are ready to launch a large-scale operation around May 10 to strive to cause huge damage to the Shanghai New District. Although it is impossible to restrain the energy of overseas Chinese for a long time, it is completely possible to prevent overseas Chinese from entering the battlefield in a short period of time, and even refuse to participate in the war. I think at least we can drag overseas Chinese until after our decisive battle with the Russian fleet."

Yuki Ito said excitedly: "That's fine. As long as we can stagger the time for the decisive battle with the Russian fleet, the navy can have sufficient strength to deal with overseas Chinese."

Yama County Youto said, "Yes, I have the confidence to maintain the war in this way."

But Kanetaro frowned and said, "Even so, we can only maintain the war until the end of this year at most. Are we able to achieve a decisive victory this year?"

After hearing this, Yuto Yama Prefecture and Yuuki Ito stopped talking because they all knew that Japan's national strength was too exhausted, and it would be good to maintain the war in the face of the East China government's participation in the war. It was almost impossible to achieve a decisive victory.
Chapter completed!