Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 1009: Chapter 23, Feint to the East, Attack in the West

The British Government panicked, and as the protagonist, the Japanese Government was even more panicked. Unlike before, it had now truly reached a moment of life and death.

No one had anticipated that European countries would be so lacking in integrity, taking sides to the extent of direct involvement.

A casually mentioned “economic sanction” could cost the Empire of Japan half its life.

If they actually followed the content of the diplomatic messages, the regions under the Continental Union Eighteen Countries would all be off-limits; in that case, there was no need for the Japanese Government to engage in international trade—it might as well seclude itself from the world completely.

A look at the world map would show that the scope of the Continental Union’s influence already covered more than half of the globe. With the domineering approach of this era’s great powers, cross-border enforcement was commonplace.

Under such circumstances, Japanese merchant ships venturing into the open sea was tantamount to a journey of no return.

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Having lost both its international market and maritime capabilities, Japan had become meat on the chopping board, at the mercy of others.

And that was the civilized approach. Should they go too far, the Continental Union might directly eliminate the Japanese Navy and another “Black Ship incident” was not out of the question.

Rejection had serious consequences, but so did compromise. The war had progressed to this point with the Japanese Government giving its all; any compromise now meant all efforts were in vain.

Whether it was the severe casualties or the enormous expense of military funds, both had cornered the Japanese Government.

A step back no longer meant boundless opportunities, but a deep abyss instead. For the sake of this war, the Japanese populace had endured hunger for a long time; suddenly receiving the bad news of defeat, “National Traitor” was a necessary outcome.

The Imperial conference had started but this time, no one spoke first. There was no choice; the incident had arisen so suddenly that there was no time to prepare.

Under the Emperor’s nearly murderous gaze, Ito Hirobumi reluctantly opened his mouth, “The situation at hand, I believe everyone is prepared.

From the beginning of the Philippine War, we discussed the issue of international intervention, but we never imagined this day would come so soon, nor did we expect that European nations would act together.

Hiding is not an option; the worst-case scenario has already occurred, and now we prepare for the aftermath.

You need not worry too much; an economic crisis is currently erupting in Europe, and countries are not likely to easily provoke a war, especially one from which they see no returns.”

Comforting words, but Ito Hirobumi could not continue fabricating them. The initially anticipated international intervention was supposed to involve Spain bringing a few close allies to intervene, but who could have expected a union of eighteen nations to intervene?

How could they possibly deal with this?

They had the script of “Eighteen Warlords Against Dong Zhuo,” but they were not Dong Zhuo, nor did they have a world-shaking “Xiliang Iron Horse.”

The eighteen countries didn’t even need to organize an Allied Forces from their domestic troops; the military forces they already stationed in Southeast Asia could reach Tokyo in less than a month.

“Resistance” was a fallacy. Spain alone was an equal match to the Southward Fleet, and if the fleets of both the Netherlands and Shinra were to join, the Southward Fleet would definitely be defeated.

With the navy gone and the main land forces still struggling in the Philippine Islands, their obliteration was only a matter of time.

With neither army nor navy, what was left to resist?

“Operation One Hundred Million Shattered Jewels” was an insane plan that only emerged during World War II. At this time, Japan had a population of just over forty million, and the government was known for its “rationality” during the “Meiji Era.”

Initially, Ito Hirobumi wanted to mention their British allies, but seeing the disdainful expressions on everyone’s faces, he ultimately chose to swallow his words.

The people in this room were well-informed, they knew all too well what the “Anglo-Japanese Alliance” was all about.

In ordinary times, it didn’t matter to boast about such alliances, but in desperate times like these, relying on the British to provide help was less reliable than praying to Amaterasu for a divine wind to help eliminate the enemy.

Kiyotaka Kuroda said, “It is precisely because Europe is experiencing an economic crisis that we are in even greater danger. The European powers have always liked to launch wars abroad as a way to divert attention from domestic economic crises.

Especially in recent decades, almost every economic crisis has been followed by a wave of European expansionism. This includes the once-dominant Ottoman Empire in the Mediterranean, which fell under Shinra’s outward shift during their crisis.

With such precedents in mind, we must be vigilant. If we let our guard down and lose control of the situation, we will become the sinners of the Empire.”

As a rare voice of reason within the Japanese Government, Kiyotaka Kuroda had always opposed military adventurism. He especially detested the approach of gambling the nation’s fate on military ventures.

However, he was powerless to stop the people’s desire for expansion. In his view, the setbacks in the southward strategy provided a good opportunity to hit the brakes.

Making concessions under the pressure from the Continental Alliance wouldn’t be shameful. Another country in our place might perform even worse.

“No!”

“We can’t back down now. Both public sentiment and morale have been stirred up. Compromising with the Continental Alliance now would leave us with no way to explain ourselves to our citizens.”

Yamagata Aritomo’s insistence was not stubbornness, but rather because the Japanese Government was already in an awkward position. Both the military and the public could not tolerate failure.

If they chose to compromise, a revolution might very well erupt within the country. Despite the severe economic crisis ravaging the European continent, the situation in Japan was even more critical.

Unlike European countries, where governments, despite being impoverished, would still find ways to distribute relief food. Though not well-fed, at least lives were preserved.

The Japanese Government was incapable of this; all its money had been spent on the war, leaving its coffers completely empty. While European countries could borrow food from Shinra, the Japanese Government had nowhere to turn.

To stabilize the situation, the Japanese Government had already suppressed multiple uprisings. Japan was now a tinderbox, supported only by sheer spirit—if that spirit dissipated, lives would be at stake.

If the public was a tinderbox, the military was a bomb. With the outbreak of war, the radical faction within the military had begun to rise, wielding significant influence among the lower ranks.

Once these elements acted up, their capacity for destruction would far surpass that of ordinary citizen revolts. As a general who had just returned from the front lines, Yamagata Aritomo was acutely aware of how fragile the military was.

After exchanging a glance with Ito Hirobumi, understanding dawned, and Kimochi Saionji began to speak slowly, “The key issue now is not whether we should retreat, but whether we can withstand the pressure from the Continental Alliance.

Not just political and economic pressure, but also military pressure. If the Continental Alliance decides to intervene militarily, whether our forces can repel the invaders at our borders.

This is a matter of life and death for the Empire, and I hope you can respond rationally. Your judgments will directly affect whether the Empire of Japan can survive.

Please assist!”

While speaking, Kimochi Saionji also bowed deeply to the military representatives.

At that moment, tension suddenly filled the room. Representatives from the military, such as Saigo Tsugumichi, Ozan, and Yamagata Aritomo, felt the pressure instantly.

This was not the time for political struggles. One wrong step could doom not only themselves but potentially the Empire of Japan as well.

“The disparity in strength is too great,” they said, “let alone the European naval forces intervening, even if the Dutch’s Southeast Asian Fleet and the Spanish Navy were to join forces, the Imperial Navy could not keep the enemy beyond our national borders.”

Having said this, Saigo Tsugumichi seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, noticeably relaxing. Although this answer might hurt their own morale, it was the most responsible response for the Empire of Japan.

After the outbreak of hostilities in the Philippines, the Dutch Government increased their military deployment in Southeast Asia. Although the increase in warships was not substantial and there were no Pre-Dreadnoughts weighing ten thousand tons, it still proved to be the last straw that broke the camel’s back.

“Are your Navy all incompetent?” he began, “With so much military budget spent every year, and now you’re telling me…”

Before Ozan could finish, the Navy Chief of Staff Kusano Atsushi immediately retorted, “Mr. Ozan, you need to be accountable for what you say. Is the Navy’s annual budget really that high?

Do you realize that Spain, which we are currently battling, has had an average naval budget over the past decade that is twice ours?

The annual naval budget of our Empire is at most comparable to that of Portugal, not even reaching the levels of the Dutch.

As for the true naval powers, Britannia and Holy Roman Empire, it goes without saying. Their annual naval budgets could build two of our Imperial Navies.

Being able to create a modernized navy with limited funds, and to stand equal to the Spanish Navy, is a point of pride for everyone in the Imperial Navy!”

Your position shapes your perspective; although Kusano Atsushi initially came from the Army, once he became the Navy Chief of Staff, he had to defend the interests of the Navy, perhaps even more vehemently than others, to ensure his subordinates respected him.

Ignoring inflation and strategic needs, if we look purely at the annual military expenditures, the Japanese Navy is indeed budget-conscious.

However, if we consider all the factors, the Japanese Navy is anything but “economical.” The high cost of purchasing foreign ships is inevitable; the critical factor is that the Japanese Navy is comprehensively learning from the Royal Navy, often to a fanatical extent.

Not only are battle tactics and operational commands modeled after the British, even ship decorations and sailors’ diets mimic the Royal Navy. There are no imports from within the country, everything aspires to match the Royal Navy.

Whether or not this constitutes wastage, no one knows the answer. After all, navies in Europe and America operate this way, where steak and red wine are standard—a far cry from the austere life of the Army.

In an era marked by a severe lack of confidence and extreme adoration of foreign cultures, the entire Navy modeling itself after the British is beyond reproach. @@novelbin@@

These reasons, while plausible to the average person, are hardly sufficient to fool the die-hard opponents from the Army. Don’t think the Army high command doesn’t understand the Navy; in fact, they may spend as much time studying naval affairs as some of the top Navy officials if not more.

Ozan sneered, “Cut the nonsense. The Imperial Navy just needs to train in the port every day, while other navies have to travel around the world.

The annual military expenditures of those navies are earned by themselves. If you could earn back the military budget on your own, I wouldn’t care how much money you spent.”

He was correct; the navy budgets of Colonial Empires indeed financed themselves. Whether through plundering wealth from colonies or maintaining overseas trade, these activities were all closely linked to the navy.

This explains why countries with more and richer colonies have larger navies. Even if it appears they are losing money, it’s because the profits ended up in personal pockets. If they were truly losing money continuously, given the profligacy of European governments at that time, they would likely have ceased operations long ago.

For a specific example, consider Alaska; Russia had handed over this loss-making hot potato to Austria. Before the development of gold resources, there had been continuous calls within the Vienna Government to give up.

Only in recent years had the stance of the Vienna Government changed. More and more people recognized the value of territories, leading to another extreme—planting flags in unclaimed lands.

Of course, this “extreme” had little impact. After all, it was merely a matter of planting a flag along the way, not actually sending people to occupy. A few pieces of coin were nothing the Vienna Government couldn’t afford.

Kusano Atsushi rolled his eyes, his disdain obvious. If they couldn’t even handle Spain and still wanted to grab colonies, that definitely indicated a brain leak.

Seeing the conversation go off track, Emperor Meiji glared at Ozan and sternly reprimanded him, “Now is not the time for you to argue. The Empire is in crisis, can’t you be a bit more considerate?”

There was no doubt that Emperor Meiji was very dissatisfied with the army’s subject-changing tactics.

It just wasn’t acceptable, and everyone knew it. Was it so hard to admit that one’s own strength was insufficient?

The answer was: very hard, extremely hard.

The army was different from the navy, which was more rational. By looking at the ships, the navy could generally tell the disparity in strength between the two sides. How could they be stubborn when facing a strength gap of tenfold or even dozens of times?

The most critical issue was that the European naval forces were close at hand. If they continued to bluff, the enemy would come knocking directly. Boasting would be exposed immediately, and denial was not an option.

The army, however, was different. Any wise person could see that although the Continental Alliance was powerful, it was unlikely they would send hundreds of thousands of troops to attack Japan, as that would be too costly.

Since there was no need to really fight against the Continental Alliance, it was harmless to boast behind closed doors. Of course, defending the country far from its borders wasn’t something they could guarantee.

If the enemy commander went crazy and really came to attack Tokyo, it would all be over. Given the army’s achievements in the Philippine Islands, they truly couldn’t provide enough confidence.

Unable to boast and unwilling to admit their lack of strength and take responsibility, they could only try to muddle through. That was certainly better than telling the truth and being scolded by the Radical faction as a “National Traitor.”

Everyone present knew that from the moment the diplomatic note from the Continental Alliance was sent, the Japanese Government had no choice.

A head-on confrontation was impossible. If they truly angered the Continental Alliance, turning Japan into a colony was not out of the question.

Although this would result in a loss of money, the burden would be shared among eighteen nations, so the cost for each would not be too great.

There might even be more than eighteen nations involved. Their allies might also follow suit, ensuring their status in the Far East remained unshaken. This was something Britain had done often and would not mind doing one more time.

Seeing that the primary responsibility for the forced concession was thrown to the navy, Ozan knew he could no longer feign confusion. If they were unwilling to take any responsibility, they would become public enemies.

“Your Majesty, based on the current situation, confronting the Continental Alliance is indeed not a wise choice. However, directly giving up the Philippine Islands, we have no way to explain to our citizens.

To transition peacefully, the best approach is to pick a softer target.

Internally, we can use ‘attack South to justify going North’ as an excuse to placate our nationals; externally, giving the Continental Alliance some face means they won’t press us too hard.

The Continental Alliance interfered in the Philippine War primarily because of instability on the European Continent, fearing that a Spanish defeat could lead to uncontrollable domestic situations.

Going north carries none of these risks; even if we fight tumultuously, it would not significantly impact the situation in Europe.

By giving up the Philippine Islands as a price, even if we can’t garner support from all nations for moving north, securing their neutrality should be feasible.”