Twentieth Century Chronicle

Page 212

However, the army's high command was well aware that even Ito, a veteran with close ties to the army, had repeatedly tried to weaken the military's power after the Sino-Japanese War. In the eyes of ordinary officers and soldiers, Ito Hirobumi seemed to be kicking away the bridge after crossing the river. They had just won the war against China and won the founding war of Japan, and Ito, representing the government, had begun to try to suppress the military's power.

However, for Tamura, Kodama's confidant, he could actually understand that what Ito Genro wanted was the separation of military and political power. The past feudal system was fundamentally Japan's traditional politics. The military of the Meiji Restoration replaced the samurai of the shogunate era and ruled the country. This kind of samurai politics obviously could not bring Japan into a normal country.

For politicians and generals like Ito and Kodama who advocated a thorough learning of Western civilization, the purpose of preserving the emperor system was not to preserve Japanese traditions, but rather a compromise with them. However, all systems outside of the emperor should be Westernized, or so-called "civilization."

Tamura actually supported the idea of ​​Westernizing this system. He believed that the military-controlled political model could not make Japan a truly civilized country like Europe, because military personnel who held power would only wage war and monopolize social resources. This kind of politics could not solve people's livelihood problems at all.

However, focusing solely on external expansion and plundering resources from outside to alleviate domestic conflicts is essentially the same as the fantasy of fighting a war and hoping to sustain it through war.

Sun Tzu's Art of War does indeed contain the saying: "One bushel of food from the enemy is worth twenty bushels of our own." However, Sun Tzu also emphasizes that "taking from the enemy" refers to taking food from their territory, and only a wise general can accomplish this.

"Seize the enemy's supplies." Modern generals, however, treat Sun Tzu's words as gospel; they only remember "seize the enemy's supplies," completely ignoring Sun Tzu's emphasis on the strategic principle: "Victory is the most important thing in war, not prolonged campaigns."

In other words, the most important task of an army is to defeat the enemy, not to seize food from the enemy to sustain the war. If an army misunderstands the purpose of war, the country will inevitably be drained of its manpower and resources by endless and meaningless wars. This is why, in all mature and civilized countries, the state controls the army, rather than the army owning the state.

Katsura Taro admired the German military system, believing that German soldiers created the German Empire and were a model of soldiers defending the country. However, Tamura did not agree with Katsura Taro's views. Tojo Hideaki refuted Katsura Taro's claims on this issue, arguing that the Kingdom of Prussia was able to unify Germany precisely because politicians firmly controlled the army.

Tojo said: Although Bismarck was a military man, he demonstrated the demeanor of a statesman in the process of unifying Germany. First of all, he excluded Austria from the scope of Germany, thereby preventing the emergence of two political cores in Germany.

This method of strengthening Prussia's core position by giving up a portion of territory reflects the conquering mentality of politicians rather than soldiers. Furthermore, the series of wars subsequently launched by Prussia kept the scale of the war within the range that the army could win, which further demonstrates how tough Bismarck's control over the military was.

Hideaki Tojo was indeed the only Japanese who truly understood the theory of war. He and Taro Katsura made drastically different assessments of the role the army played in the Prussian unification of Germany. Therefore, Tojo advocated that the army should be subordinate to the needs of national politics, rather than the state cooperating with the army's strategy.

Although Tamura leaned towards Tojo's position, the army's high command unanimously opposed it. Even Kodama was dissatisfied with Tojo's rhetoric of military subordination to politics. He argued that the relationship between the army and the government was an alliance, that the military could not exist independently of the state, but that the state could not neglect national defense, otherwise it would inevitably be invaded by foreign enemies.

Therefore, it was only natural that Tojo was expelled from the army. Although Kodama protected Tojo when he was in power, he did not actually pay much attention to Tojo's political views. Kodama only needed Tojo Hidekichi's appeal as the first-year leader of the Army War College to win the support of the Army War College graduates.

Tamura was much more tactful than Tojo. Although he thought Tojo was right, he always followed Kodama closely and expressed his complete support for Yamagata's lifeline and interests, thus winning the trust of the Choshu faction.

However, he now felt that Tojo Hideaki was not the only one in Japan who understood the theory of war; someone in the navy must also understand it, otherwise that person could not have forced the army into its current predicament.

If Hideaki Tojo could only understand the theory of war, then someone in the navy could apply it flexibly.

The army's current isolation from various sectors of the country has indeed taught it a lesson about what it means for the military to be subordinate to politics.

In fact, even Katsura Taro and Terauchi Masatake, who had always clamored for the military's independent decision-making ability, lost confidence in continuing to confront the government after Kikoshi's resignation. They realized that the army had no supporters on the issue of military expansion. Even the citizens who had always supported the military in protecting the country were now discussing the new cabinet's economic policies rather than the army's claims to protect the country.

This top-down neglect of the army has put it in the same awkward position that the gentry had before the Southwest War. The reform government's policies of opening up the country and abolishing feudal domains and establishing counties completely eliminated the gentry's power and channels for participating in politics. The gentry, neglected by the state, chose to fight to the death in order to avoid being wiped out. However, the gentry uprising, which had no supporters, was eventually suppressed by the state.

The current army is actually quite similar to these samurai; they are losing their power, but apart from themselves, no one in the country cares about their immense sense of loss. The country is only concerned with whether the economic development proposed by the current Yamamoto cabinet can bring them any benefits.

Therefore, astute individuals within the army, such as Tamura, had already foreseen that the army could not possibly bring down the Yamamoto cabinet. Or rather, even if Yamamoto Gonnohyōe failed to form a cabinet, the next cabinet would still adhere to the policy of military austerity and would intensify its suppression of the army.

Because the army has now become a destabilizing factor in the eyes of all parties, it is necessary to curb the army's influence in order for the country to function normally.

The Army's insistence on expansion has successfully pitted it against other political forces, to the point that the Army has now lost the ability to coordinate with other forces. It can only consider continuing to persist and waiting for an event similar to the Satsuma Rebellion to purge the Army, or surrendering to the government and accepting the policy of military downsizing.

What alarmed Tamura was that Yamagata and Katsura Taro had hinted that he should take over as Minister of the Army, which was clearly a demand for him to take responsibility. What responsibility? Obviously not the responsibility of confronting the government, but the responsibility of betraying the Army, accepting the policy of military austerity, and sacrificing himself to preserve the Army and the Choshu faction's position.

You're asking if Tamura supports it or not?

If Tamura were truly supportive, he wouldn't have been in such a rush to meet with Togo Masamichi. He wanted to secure a dignified end for himself, rather than being forced out of the army. However, Tamura wasn't sure what meeting with Togo Masamichi would change. In fact, the Navy's stance had become quite clear after numerous tests, but some people in the army simply refused to acknowledge it.

The conflict between the Army and Navy over the issues of military expansion and downsizing made it difficult for Tamura to accept the Navy's advice. He worried that this would solidify his reputation as a traitor to the Army. Otherwise, after accepting the appointment as Minister of the Army, it would have been a logical step for him to follow the Navy's advice and promote the establishment of the Japan Electric Power Company to resettle retired officers and soldiers.

As Tamura sat in his room, feeling lost and troubled, there was a knock on the door. The guest he had invited that evening had finally arrived.

Togo Masamichi did not come to the meeting alone; he brought a young man with him. Tamura quickly recognized him as Hayashi Nobuyoshi, a rising star in the navy who was increasingly valued by the General Staff. Seeing the young man's arrival, Tamura felt relieved.

Based on the intelligence he possessed, within the Ito-Kawahara faction, the one who truly had the power to influence the two bigwigs was Hayashi Nobuyoshi, not Togo Masayuki. Hayashi Nobuyoshi's presence here actually increased the Navy's attention to him.

Just as Tamura had guessed, Hayashi Nobuyoshi's presence here with Togo Masamichi indeed represented the Navy's will and was a communication between the Navy and Army Minister Tamura. Just as the Army continuously investigated the Navy, the Navy had not relaxed its research on the Army. According to the analysis of the Naval General Staff and Navy Ministry officials, after Kikoshi's resignation as Army Minister, the most likely successor to the position was Minister Tamura.

For this reason, after receiving Tamura's request for a meeting, Togo Masamichi did not dare to meet as usual. Instead, he first informed the Navy internally, because he knew that Tamura wanted to understand the Navy's position, and he himself obviously could not represent the Navy's position. For example, Yamamoto Gonnohyōe and Saitō Makoto would not agree to him making any promises on behalf of the Navy.

Of course, after discussion within the Navy, it was deemed inappropriate to send someone of higher rank than Togo Masamichi to meet with Tamura. In this delicate atmosphere, the meeting could very well become a stain on their personal reputation. The unwillingness to take responsibility ultimately manifested itself in these high-ranking Navy officers. In the end, everyone recommended that Hayashi Shinji accompany Togo Masamichi to the meeting. This way, Hayashi Shinji's suggestions could represent the Navy, but he would not have to take responsibility for his promises. After all, taking the promise of a lieutenant commander seriously was Tamura's fault.

Lin Xinyi was well aware of the treacherous intentions of these high-ranking naval officers. The more he did, the more likely he was to leave himself open to criticism. After all, his actions were exceeding his authority, meaning he was risking his political future. If nothing happened, all the better. But if problems arose, he would be the only one to suffer; everyone else could quickly distance themselves from him without worrying about any long-term consequences.

However, he still came with Togo Masamichi because after meeting with Ito Hirobumi, he knew that continuing to pressure the army would not yield any benefits, as Ito Hirobumi would not allow the army to fall at this time, and he did not have complete trust in the navy.

Therefore, if Tamura can be persuaded to comply with the Navy's requirements, then at least a seed will be planted in the Army, which would obviously benefit the Navy's future.

While Lin Xinyi was observing Tamura, the Army Chief of Staff also focused most of his energy on Lin Xinyi. Although Tamura Yiyou had met with Togo Masamichi many times, he did not think highly of Togo Masamichi because he felt that Togo was very mediocre in the conversation and had nothing special about him.

The reason why Togo Masamichi was able to establish his current personal relationship with him was not because of Togo himself, but because the development of the navy forced the army to have access to the navy's internal channels. Togo Masamichi was the personal channel that Tamura had built to understand the navy, and of course, it was also a channel used by army and navy generals to exchange benefits.

Frankly, this was unimaginable five or six years ago, because Saigo Tsugumichi forcibly severed many connections between the Army and Navy in order to make the Navy completely independent of the Army and Navy concept, including private connections between Army and Navy generals.

Yamagata Aritomo allowed Saigo Tsurumichi to reform the naval system because he felt that the connection between the army and navy was difficult to sever. After all, the army and navy were formed by the merger of the anti-shogunate coalition and the shogunate navy. The high-ranking officers in the army and navy actually came from the army generals in the anti-shogunate coalition, with only a few coming from the shogunate navy and the marine corps founded by Sakamoto Ryoma.

However, Saigo Tsugumichi carried out a major personnel change in the Navy by appointing Yamamoto Gonnohyōe, which forcibly severed the close ties between the Army and Navy generals. In order to avoid being seen as loyal to the Army, many Navy generals distanced themselves from their relatives and friends in the Army. Even close brothers like Akiyama Yoshifuru and Akiyama Saneyuki rarely talked about their respective work in their letters home.

It can be said that during Saigo Tsugumichi's time, the communication between the navy and the army and navy was mainly reflected in official business, with very little private contact between individuals. However, after Saigo Tsugumichi's death, this unspoken rule of strictly dividing the boundaries between the army and navy was not valued as much. For example, towards the end of the war, the army, through Lieutenant Colonel Tanaka and Yamamoto Gonnohyōe's subordinate Tsaibe Hayao, made private contact to decide on a joint expansion plan for the army and navy after the war, which would have been unimaginable in the past.

From one perspective, this also shows that the Army has realized that it can no longer control the Navy's political stance as a whole, so it is trying to influence the Navy's decision-making from within through personal relationships.

In other words, if generals want to control the army in the future, they will have to consider their understanding and influence over the navy. If they cannot do this, it will be difficult to gain the recognition of the army, because the military refers to the merger of the army and the navy, not the army alone. It can only decide the direction of the army, but cannot understand and influence the direction of the navy. Therefore, the military cannot give a unified voice.

For example, the reason why the army is so passive on the issue of troop reduction is because the navy supports troop reduction, which leads to a conflict of opinion between the navy and the military, making the palace and government less wary of the army's proposals.

If, as before this war, the army and navy both agree to fight Russia, then even the government and the court, which oppose the war, will eventually yield.

Tamura Iyozo believed that Togo Masayuki was mediocre because he saw that Togo Masayuki actually did not have the ability to influence the direction of the Navy. He might support the Army's position on some issues, but he could not determine whether the Navy would agree with those positions.

Although Tamura himself submitted to Yamagata and Katsura Taro, he still harbored the idea of ​​changing the army. This was the basis for his belief that he and Togo Masamichi were not on the same level.

As for Hayashi Shin-yi, although he is only a lieutenant colonel at the moment, judging from the various intelligence gathered by Tamura, Hayashi Shin-yi is undoubtedly a powerful figure who can influence the Navy; otherwise, he would not have become a core figure in the Ito-Kawahara faction.

So the conversation between the three of them eventually turned into an exchange between Tamura and Hayashi Nobuyoshi.

Togo Masamichi quickly realized this, but he ultimately chose to remain silent because he found that their conversation touched on issues he found difficult to address. For example, Tamura asked, "The Navy insists on downsizing, while the Army insists on expansion. What if this leads to conflict between the Army and Navy if they cannot reach a compromise?"

Togo could only avoid such questions because he couldn't make a decision for the Navy.

However, Lin Xinyi bluntly stated, "Even if the Tokugawa Shogunate brought Japan three hundred years of peace, when the people wished for its destruction, the Shogunate was destroyed. The conflict between the army and navy is not important; what matters is what kind of country the people need. The navy is solely dedicated to upholding the will of the people; nothing else matters..."

Chapter 692

Chapter 692

　Tamura Iyozo was a graduate of the former Army Academy, which refers to an army officer training school that adopted the French military system. At that time, Japan was just beginning to learn from the West, although the Japanese people at that time knew nothing about the West.

But this was also the time when Japan was most intellectually free. Even when some people thought that learning from the West meant importing every brick and piece of wood from the West to build schools, they were not questioned.

Therefore, Tamura was actually very clear about the origin of the Emperor-controlled army. It was not that the army was truly loyal only to the Emperor, but rather that the army needed a pretext to resist the government's control over the army.

In the early stages of the Meiji Restoration, Japan paid a heavy price for its comprehensive learning from the West. This money came from the heavy exploitation of the Japanese people. Therefore, some people believed that fiscal expenditure should be reduced to alleviate the burden on the people, while the government believed that limiting the expansion of the military was the most effective way.

The Meiji Restoration government limited the military's power by suppressing the samurai leadership and encouraging the promotion of commoner officers. This caused many samurai to lose their military positions and status as heroes in the overthrow of the shogunate, leading to the samurai uprising led by Saigo Takamori.

The samurai uprising was eventually suppressed by the new government, but the new government also paid a heavy price, including the assassination of Okubo, which directly led to the collapse of the Satsuma-Chōshō regime.

After the Southwest War, the Choshu faction restructured the domestic political landscape and eventually reached a compromise with the military, establishing the Choshu-Satsu regime based on military strength. At this point, the reformed government could no longer interfere with military personnel as it had in the early stages.

During the Satsuma-Chōshū regime, government interference in military affairs led to a major incident in which Saigo Takamori resigned along with his close associates.

Having learned from the lessons of the Satsuma Rebellion, the military realized that without a righteous banner, it would be difficult for soldiers to fight against the government, because the people would not support a direct conflict between the military and the government. Thus, Yamagata Aritomo created a new image for the Emperor's army and stipulated the sanctity of the Emperor's command authority in the Imperial Constitution.

The Emperor-controlled army was essentially a way for the military leadership to learn from the lessons of how veterans like Saigo Takamori were branded as traitors during the Satsuma Rebellion, and to bolster their own prestige.

This meant the government could no longer mobilize the people in the name of the Emperor to suppress the rebels, since all armies were under the Emperor's command and the government was not allowed to organize its own army.

Lin Xinyi is now telling him that the navy aims to uphold the will of the people, which is actually setting up another banner outside the army's advocacy of the emperor's system.

In other words, even if high-ranking army officials like Yamagata could persuade the Imperial Household, the navy would not accept the Emperor's edict, because the navy could use the will of the people to demand that the Emperor amend the edict.

If it were merely a political struggle between the army and the navy, then even if the navy raised this banner, it would actually be unable to withstand the pressure from the army.

Because of the huge size difference between the navy and the army, it means that in a fair fight, the navy would definitely lose. After all, the navy cannot stay at sea forever, and the families of naval officers and soldiers have to live on land. Therefore, the army has always held the upper hand over the navy.

To put it bluntly, if the army and navy were to actually clash, the navy would be doomed to defeat if the army took over the security of Tokyo.

Because the navy can't take Tokyo except by bombarding it with naval guns, and the army that controls Tokyo is essentially controlling the two major sources of political power, the palace and the government. The navy would be branded as traitors in an instant.

The problem now is that this is not a fair fight between the army and the navy. Now, all parties support the navy to fight against the army. If the army intends to deal with the navy, it will first arouse suspicion from all parties. If even the navy cannot protect itself, then what can these politicians and tycoons who do not have power use to fight against the army's military force?

Therefore, Lin Hsin-yi's statement about the will of the people actually has another meaning: all parties except the army are on the side of the navy. If the army continues to resist, it will only become the common enemy of all parties. This will force even the neutral parties to side with the navy, because the army's actions have already damaged the interests of all parties.

Realizing that the Navy would not back down on the issue of military downsizing, Tamura, after much deliberation, had no choice but to take a step back and inquire about the Navy's intentions regarding the direction of the downsizing, namely whether the Navy's proposed downsizing was a temporary solution due to financial problems or a long-term plan to weaken the Army's power.

When Tamura asked this question, Hayashi Shin-yi knew that the Army was prepared to make concessions on the issue of military downsizing. Tamura's question was actually an excuse to appease discontent within the Army. Once the Navy indicated that it was only a short-term policy during a period of financial difficulties, the Army would then take the opportunity to demand the restoration of the plan to strengthen military equipment once the national finances improved.

Sitting next to him, Togo Masamichi looked at Hayashi Shin-yi and nodded slightly. Clearly, the Vice Chief of the Naval General Staff had also sensed the Army's intention to back down, and therefore felt that a temporary solution could be offered to the Army to achieve a compromise. As for what would happen next, that would naturally be left to the future cabinet, since the Navy couldn't remain in power forever.

However, Lin Xinyi did not intend to reach a compromise with Tamura so simply, because he could see that when Tamura asked this question, he was not putting himself in Tamura's shoes, but rather in the Army's shoes.

In other words, Tamura had no personal gain in this compromise, which means he had no intention of maintaining the private agreement between the Army and Navy.

This was clearly not the meeting Lin Xinyi wanted. His reason for coming here to meet Tamura was not only to represent the will of the naval high command, but also because he had his own ideas. For example, he wanted to use the mutual trust that Tamura and Togo had built up through their many meetings to further undermine Tamura's sense of belonging to the Choshu faction, thereby gaining friends in the navy within the army.

Therefore, before Togo Masamichi could speak, Lin Xinyi said to Tamura, "Actually, the question of where the army should go is one that the army itself should ask. What appears to be a political struggle over whether to reduce or expand the army is actually a matter of the army losing its direction."

That's why the army chose to blindly expand. After all, expansion is a short-term benefit for everyone in the army. As for what to do after the expansion is complete, the army clearly has no clear objective; otherwise, it wouldn't be so fixated on expansion but would have directly stated its goals.

Tamura naturally could not accept Hayashi Nobuyoshi's denigration of the army, so he immediately retorted: "How can the army not have its own goals? Yamagata Genro has long said that Korea is Japan's lifeline, and Manchuria is Japan's interest line. The army's goals have always been clear. We are not blindly expanding our military..."

Lin Xinyi remained unmoved and replied without hesitation: "Neither the lifeline nor the interest line clearly points out who Japan's enemies are. Could Korea and China be threats to Japan?"

No, the purpose of seizing Korea and Manchuria was to counter the European powers, which were predominantly white.

To be precise, based on the more than one hundred years of modern history, the enslavement and oppression of people of color by the global colonial system established by white people demonstrates that people of color cannot obtain freedom and dignity under this global order established by white people.

Some Japanese intellectuals who advocate "leaving Asia and joining Europe" are essentially afraid of Japan becoming an oppressed entity in this global colonial system, and are trying to gain entry into the system by accepting it.

The lifeline and interest line advocated by Yamagata Genro actually meant accepting the colonial order established by white people, attempting to establish Japanese overseas colonies on the East Asian continent, and trying to enhance Japan's national power by developing these overseas colonies, thereby resisting the global colonial system dominated by white people.

Therefore, Japan's enemy was clearly defined: the global colonial system established by white people, not its powerless neighbors. The attempt to leverage the colonial order created by white people to strengthen Japan's national power and then resist this global colonial system, I believe, was a result of Yamagata Genro's ignorance of history.

If Yamagata Genro had looked at the history of global colonial expansion, he would have known that the path he envisioned had been proposed and implemented by Native Americans and Mughal governors, but the end result was that the Americas became a white colony, while the Indian subcontinent became British India.

Therefore, the army's continental expansion policy will not succeed. Once the army successfully occupies Korea and Manchuria, it will be the beginning of Western powers supporting China to fight against Japan. East Asian peoples will bleed to death in this confrontation. Perhaps China can survive with its large population of the main ethnic group, but Korea and Japan will inevitably turn to Western culture due to the massive loss of their populations, and eventually become Native Americans and Indians under white rule.

"Commander-in-Chief Tamura, you are a smart man, and I believe you should be able to see this. As long as you are not blinded by the Army's self-interest, you will see what Japan's future holds."

Tamura Isozo was undoubtedly a clever man. He was Kawakami Soroku's beloved student and Katsura Taro's main assistant in promoting the German military system. Although Katsura Taro proposed reforms to the military system, Tamura was the one who actually handled the administrative work. So when Hayashi Shinichi pointed out the true nature of racial conflict in the world, Tamura fell silent. As an elite who had studied in Germany, he was well aware of the Europeans' prejudice on racial issues.

In fact, European colonialism and imperialism developed from the idea of ​​racial confrontation. The history of confrontation between the Ottoman Empire and Europe provided a good historical argument for European racism and made Europeans deeply believe in the theory of racial confrontation.

Those Japanese elites who advocate for Japan to "leave Asia and join Europe" either genuinely have a superficial understanding of European civilization, failing to grasp that Europeans distinguish human species by race—that is, non-white people are essentially humanoid beings rather than true humans—and that this is the ethical basis for Europeans to enslave people of color to alleviate their own guilt. Other Japanese elites, however, place their hopes on the idyllic fantasy that white people will abandon racism, thus deliberately concealing European racism from the Japanese public.

Tamura is not an ordinary Japanese person. He doesn't need to learn about the world through introductions from these Japanese elites; he can directly understand the current state of the world.

Therefore, he naturally knew that in this era, it was not considered a crime for white people to burn black people in America, nor was it considered a crime for Europeans to kill and harm black people in Africa. The fact that the Belgian king frequently cut off the hands and feet of black people, even black children, in the African colonies just to force them or their families to work for him showed the brutality of Europeans.

As Lin Xinyi said, whether it's a lifeline or a line of interest, the ultimate goal is to strengthen Japan's national power to defend against European invasion. For the army's continental expansion policy, Korea and China were not enemies, but prey; the real enemies were Western powers such as Russia, Britain, and the United States.

The army advocated expansion into the mainland. A basic understanding was that Korea and China would sooner or later be divided and occupied by the great powers. Therefore, Japan wanted to occupy a piece of land before this happened, so as to lay a material foundation for international confrontation after the destruction of Korea and China.

Of course, the army's position was not agreed upon by everyone. At least many Japanese elites advocated that East Asia was of the same language and race and that it was necessary to rely on East Asian unity to counter Western powers, rather than attacking their own neighbors first.

Lin Xinyi's propositions were clearly quite close to East Asian preservationism, but he was bolder than East Asian preservationists. First, he proposed to confront the global colonial system, and second, he refuted the army's continental expansion policy. East Asian preservationists were vague on these two issues and refused to give a direct answer.

While Lin Xinyi's propositions may be infuriating at first glance, they are actually admirable once one calms down. This is because he did not shy away from the key issues. Although his words were harsh, his stance was at least clear. He was not the kind of opportunist who was ready to switch sides at any moment. Tamura deeply despised such opportunists because they were impossible to communicate with and would disappear at the slightest sign of trouble.

Even if someone like Lin Xinyi is an enemy, he's at least someone you can trust, because you don't have to worry about him changing his stance and causing chaos. For a soldier, a clear and powerful enemy is easier to deal with than a chaotic situation; at least you know where the enemy is.

Of course, Hayashi Shinichi was not Tamura's enemy; at least, Tamura was not so steadfast in his policy of continental expansion. In fact, he opposed the Choshu faction's designation of Russia as the next major adversary in support of their continental expansion policy, because Tamura saw no hope of victory.

Having studied in Germany for many years and conducted in-depth research on Germany's national strength, Tamura was well aware that Russia, which the Germans were wary of, was a large country with a deep military tradition and a large population and geography.

Even Germany, which boasts the best army in Europe, has never regarded Russia as a target for conquest. The Germans' basic stance on Russia is divided into two categories.

One is Bismarckian Oriental pacifism, which aims to eliminate the threat to Germany from the East by forming a political alliance with Russia;

Another approach was the expulsionist policy, which aimed to drive Russian influence east of the Dnieper River, completely removing Russia from the European political landscape and transforming it into an Asian country like the Ottoman Empire.

The Germans, who pride themselves on being a land power in Europe, do not dare to easily use force when facing Russia. What makes Japan think that as long as Russia is driven out of Korea and Manchuria, the Russians will accept defeat and stay there without moving?

Therefore, going to war with Russia requires not only considering how to defeat Russia in the war, but also how to make Russia accept reality after the war.

Tamura believed that Japan would have difficulty even winning the war, let alone getting Russia to acknowledge its defeat in the Far East after the war.

The Russians and the Ottoman Empire fought ten battles from the 17th to the 19th century, nearly driving the Ottoman Empire out of Eastern Europe. But the Russians were still not satisfied and hoped to capture Constantinople in the next war.

Japan is not like the Ottomans, whose ancestors were once powerful. Let alone ten battles, they probably wouldn't even be able to hold out for two.

Therefore, Tamura opposed war with Russia within the army. Of course, as one of the army's top staff officers, although Tamura opposed war with Russia, he was the only staff officer capable of organizing such a large-scale war. Thus, Tamura, who opposed war, ultimately became the one who drafted the plan for war against Russia, which can be considered a unique feature of Japan.

Tamura took on the task of drafting the war plan against Russia not because he was being hypocritical, but because he could not come up with a concept to prevent the war against Russia, that is, he could not come up with a new concept to stop the policy of continental expansion. With no other choice, he could only do his best to ensure that Japan could win the war. Only by winning the war first could he consider the future.

Now, Lin Xinyi has brought up the issue of continental expansionism to his face, believing that this is a dead end. Apart from his momentary annoyance, Tamura's main reason for this is his subconscious dissatisfaction with the Navy's accusations against the Army.

However, once Tamura calmed down, he immediately acknowledged that Hayashi Shin's argument made sense, since continental expansionism was the idea of ​​Yamagata Genro and Katsura Taro, not his own.

Chapter 693

Chapter 693