Chapter 117: Removal of Aritomo Yamagata
Although it was already late at night, the Japanese headquarters was still brightly lit and people were coming and going.
In order to deal with the situation on the front line in a timely manner, Mutsuhito moved the Japanese headquarters from Tokyo to this place - Hiroshima.
The battle reports and battle conditions on the Liaodong front were collected here through telegrams, and then analyzed by a group of staff members of the headquarters, and finally a reasonable battle plan was formulated and handed over to the Army and Navy Departments.
In the battle plan room, the Japanese Emperor Mutsuhito, dressed in military uniform, sat in the first seat.
It seems that there must be something important to discuss tonight, otherwise Mutsuhito would not be there in person.
Sitting on both sides are important figures in the Japanese military and political circles. The government cabinet includes Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi, Foreign Minister Mutsu Munemitsu, and Home Minister Nomura Yasushi.
The military department includes General Sugawamiya Akihito, Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Kawakami Soroku, Deputy Chief of Staff, Major General Kodama Gentaro, Vice Minister of the Army, Lieutenant General Saigo Tsunemichi, Vice Minister of the Navy, Major General Ito Junkichi, Chief of the Navy General Staff Kabayama Sukenori, Commander of the Combined Fleet Ito Yuheng, Army Minister and Second Army Commander Oyama Iwao and others.
It can be said that these people are leading the Sino-Japanese War.
Now, they are formulating a very grand battle plan, which is the plan proposed by Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi to attack Shandong and Taiwan to open up a second battlefield.
And the Second Army Commander Oyama Iwao also returned to Japan because of this matter.
The strategic policy has long been determined. What they have to choose now is where to land in Shandong, how to land, and how to attack.
After a round of greetings.
Deputy Chief Kawakami Soroku walked to the front and pointed to a huge map of China hanging on the wall and said: "Your Majesty, gentlemen, please look, China's capital is Yanji, with the Liaohai Sea on the right, Tianjin as the right auxiliary, Shandong as the left auxiliary, and Fengtian Jinzhou Lushun and Weihaiwei in Fushan County, Shandong are the key to the Liaohai Sea."
Kawakami Soroku's eyes burst into a gleam of light, and he continued ambitiously: "If the imperial army wants to enter Beijing, it must first take Lushun and Weihaiwei. Now Lushun has been occupied by our army, and Weihaiwei is still in the hands of the Beiyang Navy. If Weihaiwei is not taken, the Beiyang Fleet will cruise in the Bohai Sea, hindering our army's transportation of troops and affecting the Zhili combat plan. Therefore, it is crucial for the southern army to open up a second battlefield and destroy the Beiyang Fleet."
The Japanese present all nodded in understanding. Kawakami Soroku's words were just a drop in the ocean. They came here to discuss the opening of a second battlefield. How could they not know the importance of Weihaiwei?
The commander of the Second Army, Iwao Oyama, said: "It is urgent to capture Weihaiwei and annihilate the Beiyang Fleet. Some of the troops of our Second Army have begun to gather secretly in the Dalian Bay area. However, relying solely on the troops of the Second Army in Liaodong is a little insufficient. Therefore, I hope that the headquarters can reorganize the Second Army as soon as possible, increase troops from the country, and dispatch the Shandong combat army." The Chief of Staff, Prince Chihito Sugawa, is a royal elder. Iwao Oyama's words are mainly addressed to him. Prince Chihito Sugawa looked at Mutsuhito and said: "Your Majesty, what Iwao Oyama said makes sense. We should send more troops to China as soon as possible, and then gather in the Dalian Bay area, and finally go south to capture Weihaiwei." Mutsuhito looked like he was not surprised by the collapse of Mount Tai. He did not speak, but just nodded slightly. Everyone understood what he meant and continued to discuss. The commander of the Japanese combined fleet, Ito Yuheng, stared at the map for a long time before he spoke: "Gentlemen, Weihaiwei Fort is strong and powerful, and it is extremely difficult to attack it head-on from the sea. Therefore, I think we should attack from the rear by land. From the intelligence, we know that the Chinese fort has always been undefended in the rear."
Kawakami Soroku agreed with Ito Yuheng's opinion and nodded in agreement: "The Chinese are all show and no substance. We can first land outside Weihaiwei and then go around to its rear. As for where to land, I think this place is more suitable."
Kawakami Soroku pointed to a harbor not far from Weihaiwei on the map and continued: "This is Rongcheng Bay. After a long investigation, the former Imperial Navy Captain Guan Wenbing once said that if he wanted to capture Weihaiwei, he must first take Rongcheng Bay."
The Japanese really coveted China's territory and had been plotting for decades. Hai Wenbing had died a long time ago, and the Japanese had already seriously collected various intelligence about China at that time.
"Mr. Ito, where do you think it is more appropriate to land in Rongcheng Bay?" Qichuan Gong Zhiren looked at Ito Yuheng, because Ito led the joint fleet to attack the Chinese fleet several times and surveyed the terrain of China around Bohai Sea.
Ito Yuheng saw that everyone was looking at him, and he felt a little pressure in his heart. He did not dare to make a decision casually, so he replied: "I will further investigate the specific landing site, and I will submit the investigation results to the headquarters as soon as possible."
Oyama Iwa smiled and said: "That's great. When Mr. Ito finishes the investigation, my Second Army will almost be assembled. At that time, we will land in Shandong and attack Weihaiwei."
Just as everyone was still discussing the route of advance, a colonel staff officer hurriedly pushed the door with an urgent telegram.
The ministers who were disturbed by him all looked at him with displeasure. The colonel staff officer sweated on his forehead and could only bite the bullet and report: "Your Majesty, the commander of the First Army, His Excellency Yamagata Aritomo, has an urgent telegram from the front line."
Yamagata Aritomo actually sent an urgent telegram, which was worth seeing. Mutsuhito nodded slightly, and a guard came forward to take the telegram and handed it to him.
Mutsuhito took it, his movements were light and elegant, showing the style of the Japanese royal family.
It's a pity that it was better not to read it. As soon as he saw Mu Ren's face, his face quickly turned ugly, and his hand holding the telegram was trembling.
It seems like great news.
All the ministers were secretly looking at him. When they saw Mu Ren's expression changed, they couldn't help but make assumptions in their hearts.
Mutsuhito immediately calmed down the anger in his heart, and said slowly with no trace of joy or anger on his face: "Gentlemen, a friend from Shanxian County violated the instructions of the base camp for winter rest and ordered Katsura Taro's third division to capture Ximu Castle."
Although Shanxian Youpeng went against the wishes of the base camp, he still captured Ximu City. Kawakami Caoroku said: "Although Shanxian Jun has slightly overstepped his authority, the matter has come to this, so we can only give up. Fortunately, the Chinese army did not collide. , captured Ximu City without any danger."
Mutsuhito threw the telegram to Kawakami Soroku, and said calmly and powerfully: "This is the record of Shanxian Aritomo. Take a good look at it."
Kawakami Cao Liu hurriedly picked it up and took a look, his expression also changed drastically. He saw a brief description of the enemy's and our casualties: On the 20th, they attacked Ximu City, surrounded and annihilated Wei Jichen's troops, and killed more than 1,400 enemies. Wei Jichen led the remaining troops with only Five hundred people escaped, and the empire lost more than 1,600 warriors. I am frightened and beg for forgiveness. I hope that the base camp will replenish the troops of the First Army. I will avenge this. I have friends in the mountain county.
After Kawakami Soroku read it, he passed it on one by one, and finally returned to Mutsuhito's hands.
Everyone was silent, not knowing how to speak.
Shanxian Youpeng not only violated the orders of the base camp and attacked privately, but also caused heavy casualties to his own army. Even if Ximu City was captured, Liaodong's next spring operations strategy was disrupted.
"Youpeng in Shanxian County is arrogant and arrogant. He ignored the orders of the base camp and went his own way, causing heavy losses to the First Army. Gentlemen, how do you think he should be punished?" Mu Ren asked in a low voice as his eyes swept over everyone's faces. road.
The base camp adopted the combat plan proposed by Ito Hirobumi. Since Yamagata Aritomo was so disrespectful and did not take himself seriously, Ito Hirobumi naturally felt uncomfortable.
What's more, in today's Japanese political circles, only Yamagata Aritomo can compete with him, so Ito Hirobumi said without hesitation: "Your Majesty, I think Yamagata Aritomo should be dismissed from the post of commander of the First Army, otherwise everyone will follow his example. , ignoring the orders from the base camp, the empire’s command system has not yet fallen into chaos.”
Ito Hirobumi's words that added insult to injury made Mutsuhito's desire to withdraw from Yamagata Aritomo even stronger. He opened his mouth and was about to speak.
Kawakami Cao Liu had a friendship with Shanxian Youpeng. Seeing that Shanxian Youpeng was going to be in trouble, he couldn't help but said: "Your Majesty, from another point of view, it is a good thing for Shanxian Jun to attack Ximu City."
Some people in the war room looked at Kawakami Soroku with confusion, while some others were thoughtful.
Kawakami Soroku explained to Muruhito: "The Qing government sent Liu Kunyi, the governor of Liangjiang, to mobilize the Hunan army to deal with our army, and Lord Shanxian's attack on Ximucheng will definitely make Liu Kunyi think that our army will launch a massive attack on Liaoyang, Fengtian and other places. This will cover up our army's actual intention to attack Shandong. In this way, Liu Kunyi will definitely send all his troops to Liaodong, which is a good thing for us to attack Shandong. "
Although Kawakami Soroku's words were just thought of, they were reasonable and reasonable.
The expression on Mu Ren's face was slightly better, but he had long been dissatisfied with Shanxian Youpeng for repeatedly disobeying his orders. He said lightly: "Even so, he has been repeatedly defeated by the Qing army, and he is no longer suitable to be the number one." Army commander."
"Your Majesty, if you publicly remove Yamagata-kun from the position of commander of the First Army, Yamagata-kun will definitely commit suicide by caesarean section in order to save the face of the warrior. Why don't you specially recruit Yamagata-kun back on the grounds that you need to return home to recuperate?" Kawakami Cao Liujian couldn't persuade Mu Ren to take back his life, so he had to do the next best thing and try to save some face for Shanxian Youpeng.
Mutsuhito didn't want Yamaxian Youto to be too embarrassed, so he nodded in agreement after hearing what Kawakami Soroku said.
"After Yamagata Aritomo returns to China, the commander of the First Army will be replaced by Nozu Michizuki, the commander of the 5th Division." Mutsuhito thought for a while and immediately appointed a new commander.
The Minister of War, Commander of the Second Army, Oyama Yan, suddenly spoke slowly and said: "Wei Jichen has won many battles and has become a thorn in the side of the Japanese Empire. There are friends in Shan County who specially sent troops to encircle and annihilate him. I quite agree with it, but it is a pity that we have to let him go this time." He ran away. Alas, time and fate."
Wei Jichen's name kept appearing in the information of the staff at the base camp these days, along with news of the Japanese army's continuous defeats, so everyone here was relatively familiar with him.
Kawakami Caoroku obviously had different opinions and said with a smile: "No matter how brave Wei Jichen is, he can't change the decadent trend of the Qing army. As long as the empire annihilates the Beiyang Fleet and opens up the Shandong battlefield, it can directly enter the Zhili area of the Qing Dynasty. It is just around the corner to break through the gates of Tianjin, enter the city of Beijing, and tie up the enemy chief Guangxu."
Chief of Staff Qichuan Gong Chiren shook his head and said: "Although Wei Jichen cannot change the overall situation, he continues to make the empire lose face, which greatly encourages the resistance of the Qing soldiers. I only have two words for this person, get rid of him."
Mu Ren, who had not spoken for a long time, said without hesitation: "The base camp will immediately formulate a plan to deal with Wei Jichen. Whether it is assassination or encirclement and annihilation, we should get rid of this person as soon as possible."
Although Mutsuhito spoke slowly and leisurely, there was a lot of anger in his voice. He had already read the Japanese General Yama Prefecture Yutomo Chapter, and the things about him in it made him so angry that he kept talking in the palace that day. Countless vases were broken.
"Hi!" Kawakami said so when he saw the emperor, he quickly lowered his head and agreed.
Seeing everyone bowing their heads in silence, Foreign Minister Mutsu Munemitsu was thinking about how to deal with Wei Jichen. At this time, he finally found an opportunity to speak and solemnly said: "Your Majesty, gentlemen, the Qing government has hired the American Costa as a peace negotiation consultant. Zhang Yinhuan, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Qing Dynasty, and Shao Youlian, the governor of Hunan, are all powerful ministers and will soon enter the empire to negotiate peace with me. "
Ito Hirobumi frowned and said: "The Qing government actually hired an American as its legal adviser."
Mutsu Munemitsu knew it was time to express himself, and said with a smile: "Costa and I are close friends. The Minister to the United States, Kurino Shinichiro, sent a telegram saying that Costa had just visited him not long ago and talked about the legal adviser. , the smile will not harm the interests of the empire, and the spirit of friendship towards the empire remains as strong as ever."
"It seems that the Qing court has found the wrong person. It's just that the Qing court wants peace talks, and everyone here may not agree." After hearing this, Ito Hirobumi felt very relaxed and teased with a smile.
Navy Minister Saigo Mongdao smiled and echoed: "The empire has not yet annihilated the Beiyang Fleet and has not yet caused the Qing Dynasty to feel the pain. It is indeed premature to talk about peace talks."
Mutsu Munemitsu said: "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs can negotiate peace with the plenipotentiary ministers of the Qing Dynasty to paralyze the Qing court, and at the same time it can humiliate the Qing people to its heart's content. Why not do it?"
Everyone showed a knowing smile.
The entire combat meeting at the Japanese base camp went smoothly. If the unappetizing name Wei Jichen hadn't appeared in the middle, it would have ended perfectly.