RNP Page 71
Page 71
No matter how disgusted and repulsed the Japanese were, they still had to obediently sit down at the negotiating table, because the British had begun to shift their attention to Europe, and their resources were being poured into the fierce arms race in Europe.
Without British support, the Japanese, with their meager national strength, wouldn't have lasted a month to sustain the war.
Revolution is constantly being introduced into Japan, and some revolutionary parties have even become so radical that they want to overthrow the Emperor's rule. The current Emperor Taisho no longer cares about the war on the front lines; he only cares about whether the increasingly violent revolutionary riots can be completely suppressed domestically.
Unfortunately, the main force of the Japanese army, numbering over 600,000, was being consumed on the Korean Peninsula, and they were unable to break through Wang Chongshan's defense system for a long time. Instead, they continued to deplete local resources.
This is a vicious cycle: the longer the fighting goes on at the front, the more unstable the rear becomes; the more unstable the rear becomes, the less effective the fighting becomes at the front.
When the price of rice in Japan is 20 cents per liter, long live the Emperor! When the price of rice in Japan is 30 cents per liter, the Emperor is incompetent! When the price of rice in Japan exceeds 40 cents per liter, overthrow the Emperor!
Even starving Japanese people will rebel. The Bushido spirit can't fill an empty stomach. When you're starving to death, who the hell is still loyal to the Emperor? Just give them food!
Due to their own reasons, Britain and Japan were unwilling to fight when they were able to, and unable to fight when they were willing to. Everyone was marveling at how lucky the Chinese were.
Zhao Yan believed he was unlucky, always falling short at crucial moments, but his enemies never thought so. Instead, they thought Zhao Yan had exceptional strategic vision, seizing every opportunity despite being at a disadvantage.
The war was launched shortly after the end of the Boer War and the Russo-Japanese War. The armistice took place at the height of the European arms race, when both Japan and Russia were at their weakest.
That foresight is unparalleled! If it had been two years earlier or two years later, the situation would have been completely different, but it just so happened to be stuck in the most awkward year.
After China, Britain, and Japan all agreed to begin armistice negotiations, the French chose Shanghai as the most pragmatic location for the talks. In this place, the Chinese had the advantage on land, while Britain and Japan had the advantage at sea, and each had its own advantages.
The location of the negotiations at the beginning was similar to that of the Russo-Japanese War. Although it was an Asian war, the armistice negotiations were held in Europe, with the French choosing Paris as the venue.
The Republican government firmly disagreed, and Britain and Japan also expressed their rejection, arguing that it was too far away and that it would take a month for the envoys to get there, a time that no one could afford.
Britain chose Hong Kong, Japan chose Tokyo, and the Republic's government chose Nanjing. All three parties involved requested that the negotiations be held on their own turf.
In the end, the French compromised and settled on Shanghai as the location, reasoning that neither side could gain an absolute advantage there, and both sides would have some advantages.
The three countries stopped arguing and unanimously agreed on the location for the negotiations.
On March 3, the trilateral negotiation delegation of China, Britain and Japan arrived in Shanghai. At the same time, the French representative also arrived, as did representatives from Germany, the United States, Russia, Italy and the Netherlands. In particular, the smaller European countries that were involved in the war were also required to attend. They certainly did not have a say in the major interests, but they still had to participate in paying money to ransom prisoners of war.
The Netherlands, Spain, and Portugal, these countries that joined in the fun, originally thought they could get some benefits by following the big shot, but they never expected to encounter Zhao Yan, this killing god.
Instead of getting any meat, they were brutally beaten. They were incredibly unlucky, and now they have to figure out how to ransom the prisoners.
As for the other neutral countries, they were simply there to watch the show, after all, this was the war with the largest number of participants, the largest scale, and the widest range of combat areas in the new century or even the last hundred years.
Everyone watched the whole thing from beginning to end, so we can't miss the finale!
Of course, it wasn't until much later, when these neutral countries, who had been watching the spectacle, became embroiled in another war of greater scale and number of people, that they realized this war was merely a rehearsal.
On March 4, delegations from the three main belligerent nations entered the venue for talks. With France presiding and other countries watching, the negotiation venue turned into a negotiation marketplace that day.
First, there's the issue of etiquette on behalf of the Chinese representative, Minister Gao Dewu. He was very courteous to the British, showing all the proper manners, but when dealing with Japan, he directly referred to them as "Wa" (倭国) and refused to recognize the legitimacy of the Japanese Emperor.
Japanese Foreign Minister Komura Jutaro was furious on the spot and immediately cursed the Chinese. Gao Dewu was no ordinary man; he had followed Zuo Zongtang into Xinjiang in his early years. Not only was he handsome, but he was also physically strong. He immediately beat up the Japanese Foreign Minister.
The scene was extremely chaotic. The Germans clapped and applauded, while the Russians added fuel to the fire. Komura Jutaro, who had suffered a great loss, even tried to grab his weapon, but was decisively stopped by the British representative.
The negotiations ended in discord and yielded no results that day, but Japan felt that the British had taken sides. Moreover, the British did not react to Gao Dewu's approach of respecting Britain and belittling Japan, which made Japan feel a chill of betrayal.
The British representatives, as the parties involved, didn't feel much about it. They had little respect for Japan and simply regarded it as a henchman and watchdog.
Being able to lend a hand to break up the fight is already a big favor. Gao Dewu's physique is so good that he could easily kill you with his bare hands, why would you need to grab a weapon?
The negotiations continued on the second day. The French skipped the formalities and the representatives from all three parties entered the venue simultaneously through three different entrances, then went directly to their seats without any contact whatsoever.
After the negotiations began, the three main belligerent nations made their demands. China demanded that Japan return the Kwantung Leased Territory, withdraw from Korea, and pay 100 million taels of silver in reparations.
Japan demanded that China withdraw its troops from the Korean Peninsula, return the South Manchurian Railway, cede the entire Liaodong Peninsula, return all leased properties to Japan, and pay an indemnity of 200 million taels of silver.
And that was it. Before the British representative could even state the terms of the negotiations, the Chinese and Japanese representatives started throwing things at each other from a distance. They picked up ink bottles, folders, teacups, kettles, stools—anything they could lift—and hurled them at each other.
After throwing things away, they would spit and hurl insults at each other's families, using extremely vicious language that even a translator couldn't understand.
The unluckiest American representative was hit on the head by a water glass thrown by someone, causing him to bleed profusely. The glass contained boiling water, which also scalded him.
The British representative didn't even have a chance to propose any conditions before the negotiations broke down. The Chinese and Japanese representatives exchanged heated words and left the meeting on bad terms.
For the next two days, nothing was accomplished. The only achievement was that the British representative finally announced his ceasefire conditions. They didn't even dare to be too outrageous, only asking for the return of Hong Kong and the New Territories and the withdrawal of troops from Burma. That was all the conditions they had, because the British were already exhausted.
Gao Dewu didn't seem to be there to negotiate at all; he was purely there to mess with the Japanese. He insulted Japan in various ways and ignored the British. They barely exchanged a few words about business before starting a fight.
Gao Dewu's plan was very cunning: to sow discord between Britain and Japan. Basically, he would target one of them and beat them to death, just like when children fight. When facing two opponents, ignore the other one and focus on beating the one in front of you to death first.
Gao Dewu never intended to negotiate with Britain and Japan simultaneously; his aim was to sow discord between the two countries and create an opportunity to negotiate with only one of them.
At the same time, the pressure of negotiating with the Anglo-Japanese alliance was too great. If Britain and Japan tacitly agreed to advance and retreat together, China would not gain any advantage at all and could only drag on.
However, if the alliance is broken up and negotiations are conducted separately, there will be much more room for maneuver and things will be much easier to discuss.
The British were at a loss for what to do about this irreconcilable conflict between China and Japan. They have always been troublemakers, and the British have always been happy to see a continental country and an island nation at odds with each other.
So they didn't try to mediate, but instead stood by and watched. These kinds of geopolitical conflicts are something the British have always liked to stir up. So at most, the British will just make some verbal appeals. Expecting them to actually mediate Sino-Japanese relations is impossible. The British never act as mediators; they only act as troublemakers!
But the British ignored Japan's feelings. "You are my boss and my ally. Why don't you help me and just stand by and watch? How disheartening is that?"
The British did offer some verbal support, but there was no actual practical backing. The British were happy to see a deep-seated enmity between China and Japan, the deeper the enmity, the better.
Only in this way will Britain feel comfortable turning its attention back to Europe.
The British aren't stupid. They noticed something amiss from Gao Dewu's unusual behavior. Officials who can sit at this level of negotiating table are neither fools nor madmen.
But seeing through things doesn't mean exposing them. The British were happy to see this balance of power on the continent; a monolithic East Asia would be the most terrifying nightmare.
In reality, the Chinese order led by Zhao Yan was incompatible with Japan. However, the British were unaware of or did not fully understand the historical origins and unique culture of East Asia. They believed that China and Japan could form an alliance, something that was common in Europe, and the British themselves had done it before.
The British are quite relieved that China is now displaying such hostility towards Japan.
The British were relieved, but Japan was worried. It was being worn down in negotiations and on the battlefield. The ruthlessness of the British and the deep-seated hostility of China made Japan feel panicked.
The British ruthlessness was to be expected, after all, they're European white bastards. But what about the deep-seated hostility from the Chinese? Japan probably doesn't think the two countries have reached that point of life and death, does it?
Some Japanese even believe that the Russo-Japanese War was actually Japan helping China resist Russian aggression, so why is Japan targeting them so much?
Japan in 1908 was not the same as Japan in 1938. At that time, they still maintained some awe towards the vast China, and were far less arrogant than they would be thirty years later.
Now, no Japanese dare to shout that they will conquer China in three months, especially after Zhao Yan emerged. Japan has completely changed its attitude. At this point, even the most fanatical Japanese dare not shout the slogan of conquering the mainland in front of Zhao Yan.
But the deep-seated hatred that Zhao Yan revealed in his bones, and the ruthlessness that was focused on killing the Japanese, has always been a mystery. Even the top leaders of the Republic couldn't figure out why the head of state was so hostile to Japan.
Negotiations continued with difficulty, and relations between Britain and Japan went from being like birds flying in the same forest to flying separately. The British representative even watched the spectacle as if he were a bystander.
The deeper the differences and conflicts between China and Japan, the better it would be if they didn't talk. But after they did talk, the fighting on the Korean Peninsula front actually intensified.
Gao Dewu's goals were gradually being achieved, and the Shanghai Peace Conference gradually began to adopt a separate negotiation mode: talks between China and Japan on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays; talks between China and Britain on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays; and talks between China and those other countries on Sundays.
Gao Dewu simply refused to negotiate with the two powerful nations, giving them no chance to unite, and resorted to all sorts of tricks, including deception, to sow discord.
When Gao Dewu met representatives of European countries, he was a humble, polite, cultured, and elegant foreign minister of the Republic. But when he met Japanese people, he was a Far Eastern foreign rogue with bloodshot eyes who would start a fight and insult their entire family.
The Japanese are baffled: Am I the British's dog, or are you? Japan dares to bare its teeth at Britain, so why is China acting so arrogantly?
Show the same spirit you had when you beat the British in Liaodong! Keep it up! The Japanese didn't know what "green tea" meant before, but they understood after seeing Gao Dewu.
When Gao Dewu negotiated with the British, the compromises went very smoothly. Apart from the fact that reparations and territorial concessions were off the table, everything else was negotiable. He even agreed to the British demand to stop exporting revolution to the Commonwealth and its colonies.
They offered to withdraw their troops from Burma in exchange for concessions from the British on Hong Kong Island, as well as free passage through the Strait of Malacca for China. They even invited British capital to invest in China and offered various preferential policies. What the British couldn't achieve even after winning the Opium War, they got this time despite not winning the war.
When the Japanese heard the conditions, they expressed their desire to enjoy them as well, but were ruthlessly rejected. The British, on the other hand, simply watched with amusement and offered no assistance.
As the rift between Britain and Japan widens, Gao Dewu is working harder and harder. The central government's directive is clear: hurry up and send the British back to Europe to fight like dogs.
Once Britain is no longer the troublemaker in the Far East, all that's left is Karami.
How should we describe Britain in those days? It was probably equivalent to Yuan Shao in the Three Kingdoms period! Later generations always underestimated Yuan Shao, thinking he posed no threat at all, while Cao Cao was the one who was most worthy of fear.
But Britain at this time is like Yuan Shao before the Battle of Guandu! Anyone who encounters this situation would feel despair. Never use the historical outcome of decades later to deal with the current situation.
Zhao Yan is now trying everything he can to get the British attention back to Europe and stop messing with him. He's already taken a whole set of attacks from the British and almost died.
Next up should be the Germans carrying out the British offensive, and Zhao Yan has no intention of helping the Germans avoid World War I!
Chapter 127 The Rise and Fall of the Koreans
March 10, 1908, outside Pyongyang, North Korea.
At a sizable construction site, tens of thousands of North Korean laborers are diligently building a road. This is a North Korean strategic highway project, which starts from Andong, China, on the north bank of the Yalu River and winds its way south. As for where it ends, no one knows for sure yet; it depends on where North Korea's manpower and resources end.
This highway was approved and constructed by the Ministry of Transportation of the Prime Minister's Office in Beijing. The approval was granted very quickly because the government did not need to pay for it; all materials and manpower were requisitioned from North Korea.
It is expected that at least the section of the road from the Yalu River to Seoul will be completed this year. Currently, 170,000 North Koreans have been recruited to participate in the construction project, which is being carried out simultaneously in multiple sections. The road is being widened and repaired based on the existing official road in North Korea.
There was no other way; the original official roads in Korea were too inadequate. The roads were only wide enough to accommodate two horse-drawn carriages, with the widest sections being only five or six meters wide and the narrowest sections only two meters wide. Moreover, some mountain roads were simply narrow, winding paths.
The laziness of the North Koreans has infuriated the National Defense Forces. Do you expect the great nation of China to build your own roads? North Koreans have to do their own things!
The new strategic highway follows the national highway standards of the Republic, with a width of at least 15 meters. Moreover, it cannot be a perfunctory excavation; it must have a roadbed, be paved with gravel, and then the road surface must be paved with a mixture of lime, sand, and clay, and finally compacted and tamped.
Shoulders must be set up on both sides of the road, as well as drainage ditches, and various facilities such as material transfer points and temporary storage warehouses must be set up along the route.
The official roads in North Korea in the past were not highways at all; they were just roads that became roads because so many people walked on them. But now North Koreans have to make up for all the laziness they slacked off in the past, with interest.
The National Defense Army was not the Ming army during the Wanli era. At most, the National Defense Army would not burn, kill, or loot; otherwise, it would do everything else.
This time, no money was paid for conscripting Korean laborers to build roads. All the necessary supplies and food were conscripted locally. The entire Korean bureaucracy in the occupied area was mobilized, and all taxes were handed over to the National Defense Army for unified distribution.
North Korean civilians are also required to perform corvée labor, bringing their own food and even tools to assist the stationed troops with various tasks.
At this moment, Colonel Dai Mingde, who was inspecting the construction quality at the site, was sitting comfortably under a thatched shed on the construction site, with a small square table in front of him and a small stove burning charcoal on the table.
A small pot sat on the stove, the soup inside bubbling and steaming.
"Sir, this place is remote, and we can't find anything to serve you. All we have is this kimchi and tofu."
"It's alright. I'm here to inspect the work, not to eat and drink recklessly. You can go about your business. Just leave your things on the table!"
"Yes, sir! Here's a bottle of captured sake as a token of my respect!"
"Yes, that's thoughtful of you. When the spring and summer bedding is distributed this year, you'll receive double the amount!"
"Thank you sir!"
"Go on with your work, business is important!"
"Yes, sir!"
The temperature in early spring wasn't too high, so you still had to wear thick clothes. Dai Mingde, wrapped in a trench coat, saw his subordinates off and then stared intently at the small pot on the stove.
After the small pot had been bubbling for five minutes, Dai Mingde immediately and quickly poured in the kimchi, pickled radish, winter melon, and other things that his subordinates had brought over.
After waiting a short while, Dai Mingde felt that the time was right and immediately opened the leather ammunition box on his waist belt.
While others' ammunition boxes were filled with bullets, gun oil, and maintenance tools, Dai Mingde's ammunition box was filled with oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and various spices.
He opened a small bottle, poured in some soy sauce, added some salt, but it still didn't seem enough, so Dai Mingde reluctantly sprinkled in some pepper.
Turning around, he opened the ammunition box on the other side, which contained a small silver bowl, chopsticks, and a spoon. Dai Mingde took them out and neatly arranged them on the table, with each piece of tableware having a fixed place.
After setting out the tableware, a steaming aroma wafted from the pot. Dai Mingde didn't dare to be negligent. He immediately and carefully lifted the tofu block with his palm, then swiftly pulled out a knife—or rather, a bayonet.
With three horizontal cuts, three vertical cuts, and finally a cut in the middle layer, Dai Mingde skillfully divided the whole block of tofu into even small pieces, which were then poured into the boiling soup.
Silently counting down, after two minutes of boiling soup, Dai Mingde couldn't wait to scoop out the tender tofu cubes with a ladle, and before eating, he didn't forget to silently chant, "Long live the Führer!"
In no time, most of the tofu in the pot was gone into Dai Mingde's stomach. The salty and savory tofu, along with the rich flavor of pickled vegetables, was so delicious that it turned into a surge of rich egg white as soon as it entered his mouth, before he could even bite into it.
A satisfied smile appeared on Dai Mingde's face. He then poured himself a glass of Japanese sake and drank it all in one gulp.
"After eating kimchi and tofu, even the Führer can't compare to me!"
Zhao Yan had no idea what his handpicked logistics minister, Army Colonel Dai Mingde, was doing at this very moment. If he had known, Zhao Yan probably would have chopped the guy into pieces and cooked him in a cauldron.
Anyway, now everyone on the front lines in North Korea and in the rear in Northeast China knows that there is a logistics minister named Dai Mingde who is known as a "big eater" and eats wherever he goes, whatever is available.
I will never neglect my stomach, but I also won't let it interfere with my work.
Regardless of how other generals might criticize Dai Mingde, everyone had to admit that he was a logistics genius who never made any mistakes in his work. The only odd thing he had was a peculiar habit of always wanting to eat, regardless of the occasion.
This guy dares to start eating at the head of state's dinner table first, and he even dares to scoop the best dishes for himself. He pours his own drink first and makes the head of state offer him a toast first. Anyone who hears this will get goosebumps.
Dai Mingde's only advantage was that he wasn't picky about food. He would eat whatever was offered, whether it was delicacies or pickled vegetables and tofu.
"Now that we've eaten and drunk our fill, let's get to work!"
After satisfying his cravings, Dai Mingde finally got to work, taking his notebook and leading his subordinates on a tour of the construction site.
While referring to the National Highway Construction Acceptance Standard Manual issued by the Ministry of Transport, they carefully examined the quality of the road construction.
Dai Mingde was an expert on everything related to logistics, from the classification, transportation, and storage of supplies to the allocation and use of labor, as well as road construction and maintenance. No detail could escape his notice.
"The standard stipulates that the roadbed must be paved with crushed stone with a diameter of at least three centimeters. What is this? It's almost like sand. Are you trying to fool me?"
"And the road shoulders, they must be constructed with bluestone or hard rock that meet the hardness standards, mixed with cement. What the hell is this? They even incorporated limestone?"