World War: Battleship Arms Dealers

Chapter 229 The Torn Apart "Five Wise Elders"

Tokyo, Prime Minister's Official Residence, underground meeting room, 9:00 AM

The heavy oak door was tightly shut. Outside stood four army military police and four marines, three meters apart, their eyes deliberately avoiding each other, but their hands resting on their holsters. Inside were the core decision-making body known as the "Five Elders' Council"—Prime Minister Terauchi Masatake, Army Minister Oka Ichinosuke, Navy Minister Yamamoto Gonnohyōe, and two specially invited elders: Navy Admiral Togo Heihachirō and Army Admiral Yamagata Aritomo.

The meeting room had no windows, only the stark white light of an electric lamp. The air was thick with the smells of cigars, old papers, and a deeper, almost despairing odor. A huge map of Japan lay open in the center of the long table, with a large red X drawn over the East China Sea.

Terauchi Masatake rested his hands on the table, his gaze sweeping over the four people present. Seventy-one-year-old Yamagata Aritomo closed his eyes to rest, seemingly indifferent to everything before him; sixty-six-year-old Togo Heihachiro sat upright, his eyes, which had seen through the smoke of the Battle of Mahai, now as deep as an ancient well; Okaichinosuke's face was ashen, his fingers tapping the table unconsciously; Yamamoto Gonbei was expressionless, only occasionally picking up his teacup to take a sip.

"Gentlemen," Terauchi began, his voice hoarse, "the purpose of this meeting is clear to everyone. Lanfang's four battleships are still patrolling the waters off Kyushu. Their submarines have sunk our merchant ships and bombarded our ports. Diplomatic channels report that they are willing to talk, but on the condition that—"

"Unconditional surrender?" Okaichi interrupted coldly.

"It's not unconditional," Terauchi shook his head, "but the conditions... are very harsh."

He took a document from his briefcase, a "key point of informal negotiations" from Lanfang, forwarded by the military attaché to Switzerland through a neutral country. The document was only one page long, but every word was like a red-hot branding iron:

First, the Sakura Kingdom recognizes the Lanfang Republic's sovereignty over Borneo and relinquishes all historical claims in the region.

Second, the Sakura Kingdom shall pay 300 million yen in reparations for the losses suffered in the Lanfang War, to be paid in ten installments.

3. The total tonnage of the Japanese Navy shall not exceed 150,000 tons, the tonnage of a single main warship shall not exceed 20,000 tons, and the caliber of the main gun shall not exceed 305 mm.

Fourth, Japan opened the ports of Nagasaki, Yokohama, Osaka, and Kobe as treaty ports and granted most-favored-nation status to Lanfang goods.

Fifth, Japan recognizes Lanfang's freedom of navigation and resource development rights in the South China Sea.

6. Japan's relinquishment of the Treaty of Shimonoseki and its acquisition of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu

After the chanting ended at the temple, the meeting room fell into a deathly silence. Only Yamagata Aritomo remained with his eyes closed, as if he were asleep.

"Bang!"

Okaichi slammed his fist on the table, making a teacup jump. "Absurd! This is a treaty of national subjugation! Three hundred million in reparations? How much is the Empire's annual revenue? Limiting naval tonnage? What kind of navy are we then? Opening ports? What's the difference between this and the arrival of the American Black Ships back then?!"

He jumped to his feet, pointing at Yamamoto Gonnohyōe: "The Navy! It's all the Navy's fault! If you weren't so incompetent, if you hadn't destroyed the Combined Fleet, how could we have ended up like this!"

Yamamoto Gonbei didn't move, nor did he even glance at Okaichinosuke. He simply set down his teacup slowly and looked at Togo Heihachiro: "Lord Togo, what are your thoughts?"

Togo Heihachiro opened his eyes. His eyes were still sharp, but the wrinkles at the corners were deep and etched. He didn't answer directly, but instead asked a question:

"Minister Oka, have you ever seen Lanfang's Bismarck-class destroyers fire?"

Okaichinosuke was taken aback: "I...I've seen the photos of the exercise..."

"Photographs and actual combat are two different things," Togo said calmly. "I saw the Russian fleet fire in the Tsushima Strait, which was ten years ago. But according to the battle reports, the Lanfang's guns were ten times more powerful, ten times more accurate, and had a range that was more than 50% greater than the Russians'."

He paused, his voice growing deeper: "And our coastal artillery can't hit them. Our warships can't catch them. Our planes can't fly that far. Minister Okaichi, please tell me, under these circumstances, how does the army plan to 'defend the homeland'?"

"We can build a defense in depth! We can mobilize a million citizens! We can..." Okaichi's voice trailed off.

"You expect the people to fight 380mm artillery shells with bamboo spears?" Togo retorted, his tone still calm, but every word felt like a whip lashing Okaichinosuke's face. "You expect fishing boats to fight battleships? Or... do you think the army plans to swim out to sea and fight the enemy to the death?"

Okaichinosuke's face turned a deep shade of liver: "Lord Togo! You're boosting the enemy's morale while diminishing our own! The Imperial Army has 500,000 elite troops, the spirit of Bushido, and..."

"They have flesh and blood," Togo interrupted him. "But Lanfang has steel, explosives, and the technology of the new era. Minister Okaichi, have you ever been to the front lines? Not in exercises, but on a real battlefield."

"I……"

"You didn't," Togo said for him. "I was on the bridge of the Mikasa in the Tsushima Strait, watching Russian warships burn and sink in the gunfire. I know the cruelty of war, and I know the role of technology in war. And now, we are facing an opponent whose technology is a generation ahead of ours, whose tactics are a generation ahead of ours, and whose war concepts are even a generation ahead of ours."

He stood up, his back straight despite his age: "What will be the result of continuing the war? More ports will be shelled, more merchant ships will be sunk, food, coal, and oil will not be able to get in. Then factories will shut down, trains will stop running, and famine will spread. In the end, we will collapse on our own without the enemy even landing."

"Are we just going to accept these humiliating conditions?" Okaichi roared. "Lord Togo! You are a hero of the Battle of Tsushima! You are the symbol of the Imperial Navy! How could you..."

"It is precisely because I am a hero of the Battle of Tsushima that I understand reality all too well." Togo's voice suddenly rose. "We were able to win back then because we knew this sea better than the Russians, because we were better prepared, because... our technological gap wasn't as large as it is today!"

He walked to the map, pointing to the Japanese archipelago: "But what about now? We don't understand Lanfang's technology, their tactics, or even their war philosophy. We're still using the experience of the Russo-Japanese War to fight a completely different war. It's like using a samurai sword against a machine gun—there's only one outcome—"

He turned around and looked at everyone: "Total annihilation."

A deathly silence fell over the meeting room once more. Yamagata Aritomo finally opened his eyes, his cloudy old eyes sweeping over everyone before finally settling on Terauchi Masatoshi:

"Terauchi, you're the Prime Minister. What do you suggest we do?"

All eyes were fixed on Terauchi Masatake. The prime minister, a former military man, was pale, and fine beads of sweat glistened on his forehead. He knew that whatever decision he made, half the people would call him a coward, and the other half a madman.

"I..." He opened his mouth, his voice dry, "I think we should accept the negotiation."