Chapter 764: Choice (8)

In Japan, not everyone can be called a navy. At least they have to be qualified by the Chief of the Military Command and the Minister of the Navy. Chiaki Matsuda can at most be called a "fleet", but now that each navy is a navy, it is obvious that the fleet has replaced the navy. If you want to use strong words to make sense, it is okay to call him the navy as a military counselor and a marshal of the navy. Prince Fushimi Miyahiro Kyo just feels disgusted and can't understand this tone.

"What do you want from your country?"

"It is not completely impossible for your country to pass American ships..." Matsuda said slowly, "We believe that firstly, it must be notified in advance to avoid misunderstandings; secondly, it must abide by the rules, and we will conduct boarding inspection and then follow the designated route. The third is to pay transit security fees, and the proportion will be calculated as 50%. The goods this time will be offset by the previous transit fees, and then everyone will be equal without holding each other accountable. "

The Soviet ambassador couldn't believe his ears. He could actually say such shameless words. He shouted: "Japan and the Soviet Union are neutral countries. Why do you do this? Do you still have international treaties in your eyes?"

"Why?" Chiaki Matsuda suddenly became stern, "With the impressive record of the United Fleet that spans the world and is invincible; with Commander Horikichi's reputation for commanding with determination and using troops like a god; when will your Pacific Fleet reach this level?" The size, strength, and proportion of the U.S. Pacific Fleet can still be discussed, but I want to remind you that the U.S. Pacific Fleet has been defeated by us and has lost all its aircraft carriers. It only dares to huddle in Pearl Harbor. If your country is not convinced, you can give it a try! "

"You!" It was always the Mao Xiong who threatened his opponent. Whenever it was Japan's turn to threaten him, the Soviet ambassador's face turned red, but he couldn't hold back a word.

Prince Fushimi Miyahiro's face became increasingly ugly. Matsuda Chiaki spoke of a combined fleet and a commander, completely ignoring the authority of the military command department. This was putting him on the fire.

Unable to gain any advantage in front of Matsuda Chiaki, the Soviet ambassador angrily turned his attention to Tani Masayuki: "Your Excellency, is this your country's official diplomatic reply?"

Gu Zhengzhi didn't dare to say anything. It was obvious that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was involved in the mediation today. In fact, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had no right to speak. He could only sit back and apologize. Now that the Navy had come out of the way, even he thought this condition was too much. How could he admit it? ? But he did not dare to deny Matsuda Chiaki's conditions, otherwise these officers and soldiers would do anything if they went crazy.

He turned his attention to Yamamoto Isoroku for help, and the latter understood and smoothed things over: "Well, I think the conditions are pretty good. If your country has any amendments, you might as well talk about it. In short, we are not interested in your country." There was no war intention. The exchange of fire between the destroyers was a complete misunderstanding. We will return all the Soviet personnel mistakenly detained to you immediately. Your Highness, what do you think?"

Prince Fushimi Gong Hiro Gong snorted heavily from his nose, neither saying yes nor saying bad.

"Let's do this. In order to give an explanation to your country and your ambassador, His Majesty will remove me from the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet as a punishment. This will not be the case again. Now your country will be satisfied..." Horikichi said with a smile. "As for the supplies, since we have agreed to charge 50% of the security fees for border crossings in the future, we will naturally do our best to protect them. Can your country speak more to the United States? After all, the routes are safe now and there is no need to be as sneaky and covert as before." Wouldn't it be a good idea to cover it up and send it 1 to 2 million tons every month? It would be a good story for everyone to get the best of both worlds..."

"Asshole!" the Soviet ambassador was furious, but couldn't say anything and left bitterly.

Inoue Narumi gave a thumbs up to Yamamoto Isoroku, which meant that he understood correctly: Horikichi was indeed retreating in order to advance, and the position of the combined fleet was no longer planned. What's even more awesome is that Horikichi saw it so accurately and punched the Russian's weak spot. Now the Russian wants to turn his back but dare not, and wants to continue but is unwilling to give in. This feeling is really uncomfortable.

Yamamoto Isoroku could only smile bitterly. In fact, after the appointment of Horikichi as military counselor was announced more than half a month ago, everyone knew that both the palace and Prince Fushimi Miyahiro Kyo had entertained the idea of ​​removing Horikichi from his post. However, I really can't find anyone to take over. The deputy head of the Military Command Department, Koga Mineichi, has sufficient qualifications, but lacks prestige and has a soft personality. Prince Fushimi Miyahiro Kyouichi thinks that he cannot suppress the people in the fleet, and Koga Mine himself avoids him for fear; the senior Nobu Kondo Takeru was originally the preferred candidate of Prince Fushimi Miyahiro Kyo, but he insisted on not accepting the position, believing that he was unable to take over the position.

As a result, it was difficult to choose the fleet commander. Kondo Nobutake himself is in the 35th Marine Corps, and he is ranked high. If you want to choose the commander of the Combined Fleet, you can only choose from before the 35th Marine Corps. Otherwise, the combined fleet commander's qualifications will not be as good as Kondo Nobutake, and this command system will not work.

According to this standard, there are not many people who are qualified: Hasegawa Kiyoshi in the 34th issue meets the conditions, but his political orientation is the same as the treaty and aviation faction like Horikichi, so Prince Fushimi Miyahiro Kyoto directly excluded him; Toyoda Teijiro originally had an appetite for it, but Yamamoto Isoroku firmly opposed it. Yamamoto always had the view that "the two Toyotas (Toyoda Fubu and Toyoda Teijiro) should never be used", so it was not possible; and there was Yoshida Yoshida in the 32nd issue. I don't dare to use it, but Fushimi Miyahiro Kyouo, because this guy happens to be the same classmate as Yamamoto and Horikichi, and he can't guarantee what kind of trouble he will get into; in addition, there are old fritters like Nagano Shushen and Yoneuchi Mitsumasa. How could someone who had served as commander-in-chief and navy minister condescend to serve as commander-in-chief of the combined fleet? Moreover, they had too much political power, and Fushimi Palace had no confidence that they could be controlled.

After much selection, only two people were left. One was Admiral Ikawa Koshiro, who served as the commander of the Yokosuka Naval Base; the other was Admiral Kato Takayoshi, who served as the commander of the Kure Naval Base. Both were 31st-term officers, had sufficient experience and a complete resume. Although the final choice had not yet been decided, Isoroku Yamamoto believed that Ikawa Koshiro was more likely. First, because he and Prince Fushimi Hiroyoshi had basically the same political views, while Kato Takayoshi was an aviation faction; second, because of the Navy B incident, Ikawa Koshiro and Hori Teikichi had a tense relationship - especially for Prince Fushimi Hiroyoshi.

Another option was to remove Kondo Nobutake from the position, so that there would be much more room for selection of the commander of the Combined Fleet - the later the term, the less experienced, and the easier it was to be controlled by the Military General Staff. But if Kondo Nobutake, the leader of the battleship unit, was dismissed when Tsukahara Jishizo, the leader of the mobile fleet, had already been suspended, the combined fleet would be in complete chaos. Moreover, Kondo Nobutake himself was a core member of the fleet faction, and even Hori Teikichi was particularly tolerant of him. Fushimi Palace had to consider the consequences if he wanted to move.

Yamamoto originally wanted to maintain Hori Teikichi's position, but once the interception of the Soviet fleet happened, especially the gentleman's agreement with the Kwantung Army, he knew that Hori Teikichi's resignation was a foregone conclusion.

What all parties lacked was an excuse to dismiss Hori Teikichi from his position in a logical way. Unexpectedly, Hori Teikichi came to the door without any trouble. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but blame his old classmate and old friend for not discussing such a big thing with him in advance. He had a vague feeling that he was increasingly unsure of the other party's thoughts.

After Tani Masayuki sent the Soviets away, all the diplomatic personnel left, leaving only the naval officials. Yamamoto Isoroku gave a wink, and Inoue Narumi and Matsuda Chiaki led all the other personnel out of the venue. Now the only three big men left in the conference room were Prince Hiroyoshi Fushimi, Chief of the Naval General Staff, Navy Minister Yamamoto Isoroku, and Hori Teikichi. Fushimi, who was furious, slammed the table and shouted: "Hori Teikichi, you are too much. Do you still have the Military General Staff and His Majesty in your eyes?"

"What do you mean, Your Highness?"

"You, you, you..." Fushimi pointed at his nose and cursed, "You arbitrarily provoked the Soviet-Japanese conflict and undermined the imperial strategy..."

"Stop!" Hori Teikichi said seriously, "Your Highness's words are so unreasonable. The intercepted footage and even the Soviets themselves admitted that the above were Americans, American ships, and American goods. As Japan declared war on the United States, His Majesty personally instructed that the strategy of attacking the United States at all costs and using any means was permitted and even encouraged. As the commander of the Combined Fleet, I faithfully fulfilled this order and duty. How come you said it was undermining the imperial strategy? Is Your Highness's strategy to let the Americans go? Or is it that only Your Highness can fight the US military, and I can't?"

"You are so bold, who gave you the power "Is it possible for you to mobilize the fleet? This is rebellion!"

With a "bang", Hori Teikichi also stood up and shouted angrily: "Nonsense, the Chief of the Naval General Staff is only acting as the commander-in-chief, and all major policies are decided by him. His Majesty's declaration of war against the United States is clearly written, and the fleet will naturally follow it. If the war is not over, of course the fleet will attack the enemy wherever the enemy is. Isn't the empire's homeland the front line against the enemy? Does the fleet not have to fight when it encounters the American fleet? Is it rebellion to follow His Majesty's edict? How dare you fake the imperial edict?"

This sharp-toothed rebuttal opened Yamamoto Isoroku's eyes: in decades of military service, he had never seen a fleet commander dare to challenge the Chief of the Naval General Staff. It was really strange every year, and this year was especially frequent. Thinking back to the time when he could only threaten to resign in order to promote the Pearl Harbor plan, his old classmate didn't care about the Naval General Staff at all and did it directly. His courage was really embarrassing.

"You you..." I didn't expect that he was just calling you His Highness, but now he even used the "false imperial edict". Acting as the commander-in-chief is just a piece of cake. What does the emperor know about the navy? The so-called acting as the commander-in-chief is naturally the chief of the military general staff who directly gives orders. This is a routine that everyone has agreed to understand, but when it comes to Hori Teikichi, he insists on the word "acting as the commander-in-chief", thinking that the fleet is directly under the emperor, and the military general staff can only command in accordance with the imperial edict - if you have the guts, bring an imperial edict that forbids attacking American ships!

It's easy to get out of this predicament, as long as the military general staff admits that this is not an American ship but a Soviet ship, but this judgment slips into the Soviet position, which means that the military general staff stands on the opposite side of the entire fleet and the Kwantung Army. Prince Fushimi Hiroyoshi can't resist even if he has three heads and six arms.