Chapter 574: Surrender
"Humph, you navy guys are just taking advantage of the funding. Our army soldiers are like animals, eating coarse grains at best, and you guys only know how to enjoy yourself every day. Let's not talk about the navy's equipment, even if the food is the same as the army's, we won't target you navy guys like this!"
Although they said so, in fact the dispute between the army and the navy was for government power. The predecessor of the army was Satsuma Domain, and the predecessor of the navy was Choshu Domain. In ancient Japan, just like in the Warring States Period, different countries attacked each other, and Satsuma Domain and Choshu Domain were important driving forces for Japan's Meiji Restoration. The two sides united to deal with the more powerful shogunate, but after the formation of the new government, the previous contradictions still existed.
In addition, the Japanese Emperor did not want his subordinates to be too united, because Japan had the soil for revolution. If Japan also followed France's example and sent the monarch to the guillotine, the royal family would be in trouble. Therefore, as the supreme ruler, the Japanese Emperor hoped that his subordinates would not unite together, and it would be best if they fought to the death.
The dispute between Japan's navy and land also involved a dispute between the two state forms of Britain and Germany. The Japanese army naturally learned the German path, because Germany was also divided like Japan before, and both countries were latecomers. In addition, Germany's inspirational experience of counterattacking France can be said to be what the Japanese admired the most.
Needless to say, the template for the Japanese Navy was naturally learned from the world's number one country, Britain, including all aspects of the British Navy, even to a point of obsession.
For example, the bricks used to build the Etajima Naval Academy were all imported from Britain. This is very magical. Ernst guessed that there are three possibilities. One is that the Japanese worshipped the British Navy to the point of obsession, and even the details had to be exactly the same.
Second, it is to make it easier for some people to enrich themselves. The Japanese government is efficient, but does not care too much about corruption. After all, there are two privileged classes in Japan: the royal family and the nobility (the name of the Japanese aristocracy).
The third reason is to make friends with the British. This is not impossible. If Japan wants to learn from the British navy, it must pay a price. After all, Britain is not Japan’s biological father.
The third point is easy to understand. In this era, nothing would work without connections. For example, the reason why the construction of the East African Navy was so smooth was naturally inseparable from the connection between the East African government and the Austrian government, and with the help of Archduke Ferdinand, who was the former leader of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, so the Austro-Hungarian Navy would not keep anything to itself when teaching the East African Navy.
The Japanese Navy did not have such a relationship. Not to mention Japan, the construction of the Far Eastern Imperial Navy relied heavily on Britain. As a result, it was treated as a sucker by Britain and cheated out of a lot of money. This is also the reason why the Far Eastern Imperial Navy later chose to cooperate with Germany as a second choice.
Japan is not like the Far Eastern Empire, which is proud of its status and is willing to bow down before Britain like a good dog. This way, Britain can support Japan with more confidence. However, this Japanese dog will bite its master. It taught Britain a severe lesson in Southeast Asia in its previous life.
Therefore, it is easy to understand why the Japanese Navy imported bricks from Britain. Of course, Japan also got what it wanted, which was the maritime hegemony in the Western Pacific. Japan's so-called Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere was actually completed, but the enemy was too powerful, which resulted in Japan's sphere only existing for an extremely long time.
The Japanese Navy achieved brilliant achievements in the past, but it is hard to say in this time and space, because the rise of East Africa has caused great changes in history.
For example, at present, the East African Navy has successively captured the Lan Fang Overseas Province (northwest of Kalimantan Island) and the South Ryukyu Islands in the Western Pacific Ocean, especially the South Ryukyu Islands, which is equivalent to driving a nail into the region.
The Japanese Navy could learn from its previous experience and continue to move southward, but due to the existence of the South Ryukyu Islands, the risk would be greatly increased. The only way to avoid this risk is to invade Danwan Island. However, due to the disturbance in East Africa, it is unknown whether Danwan Island can be taken as easily as in the previous life.
This involves a very important factor, that is, the economy. Although Japan in this time and space is also developing rapidly, its economy is far inferior to that of Ernst's previous life. Therefore, Japan's financial resources are even tighter than in his previous life. This is also an important reason why the Japanese Navy's strength is inferior to that of the East African Expeditionary Fleet.
In the past, at this stage, the Japanese Navy would not have been at least one-fourth the strength of the East African Navy. It was all because of lack of money. Japan's two most profitable industries were agriculture, which was mainly due to the large volume, which is a characteristic of all agricultural countries, and the raw silk industry. Both industries had been weakened to varying degrees because of East Africa, so even if it was hard-earned money, it was not easy to earn.
Therefore, the Japanese Navy would like to tear a Japanese yen into two halves to spend. Although the navy lives a more comfortable life than the army, it pales in comparison with other countries. Therefore, in the eyes of the Japanese Navy, the army is completely ignorant of the cost of firewood and rice. Now that the army is slandering them, they naturally cannot bear the insult in vain.
"Tsuruo Ichiro, the navy is a very expensive military force, and soldiers are trained entirely on the sea, suffering from bumps and turbulence all the time. Sometimes they have to travel long distances and experience different weather changes. They are not like you, the army, who can be fine as long as they stay on land, so they must ensure adequate nutrition.
Moreover, naval warships are expensive to build. Considering domestic development, we have not ordered new warships for a long time. Compared with other countries, our strength is naturally far inferior. Now Japan's enemies are all from overseas. Our pressure is much greater than that of the army. You still want to cut naval funding. It's really unreasonable."
Tsuruo Ichiro said stubbornly: "Japan's security does not need to be protected by your navy. We can also keep the enemy out of the country."
"Haha, are you going to chop down the enemy's ironclad warship with a knife? Or are you going to scare away the enemy who is coming with a huge warship with rifles and cannons?"
"Humph, our army can also have its own warships. We can completely get rid of you and work on our own. Isn't it just moving the battlefield from land to sea? The enemy is also made of flesh and blood. As long as we dare to fight, there is nothing to be afraid of!"
The Japanese Army's shipbuilding is not a joke, because they might really do so, especially during wartime. However, the Japanese government is still very rational now, and the conflicts between the navy and the army have not escalated to that point.
Therefore, everyone just treated Ichiro Tsuruo's words as a joke and just listened to them. Only a crazy person would do such a thing.
"Okay, today's meeting is not to listen to your bickering, but to solve the Senkaku Islands issue!"
"There is nothing to discuss. At this time, we can only choose to endure it, unless we really go to war with East Africa. But whether we go to war or not, we will definitely be the ones who suffer."
"East Africa's attitude is extremely tough. They sent their fleet to the Far East just for a few small islands thousands of miles away. This shows that they will never give up the Senkaku Islands easily. This can also be heard from the East African diplomats. Minister Kade always speaks with sarcasm, so our hope of forcing East Africa to surrender is very slim."
"In the final analysis, our national strength is not as strong as that of East Africa. When the Japanese navy develops in the future, we will definitely take back the Sakishima Islands!"
In short, the Japanese government chose to give in to East Africa, especially since Japan's means of threatening and intimidating East Africa had no effect, and it could not afford the consequences of going to war, so it had no choice but to compromise.
(End of this chapter)
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