In fact, the military also has differences on this matter, but their differences lie in another aspect, that is, should the indigenous people of Nanyang be conscripted or the people of Korea and Japan?
As "On War" says, a large amount of time in war is spent without fighting.
As a complex assembly, the exchange of fire, offensive and defensive actions between the two sides during the war actually only took up a small amount of time. The army actually spent the main time marching, patrolling, reconnaissance, counter-reconnaissance, standing guard, digging bunkers, laying mines, and setting up obstacles. Boring things like loading and unloading goods and delivering supplies.
This is why the army has been accompanied by a large number of baggage personnel since ancient times. In particular, arranging obstacles, digging bunkers, and transporting supplies are very energy-consuming and time-consuming. It is really practical to let professionally trained "humanoid machines" do this kind of work. It's a waste.
Prioritize the soldiers to rest and maintain a good mental state, so that they can maximize their abilities.
But those time-consuming and laborious tasks must be done by someone, so whether in ancient times or modern times, a large number of civilians must be recruited to fight a war.
Therefore, rather than "whether to arm the Japanese army," the Ming military headquarters was more concerned about the issue of recruiting civilians from Korea and the Japanese Islands.
To the surprise of cabinet ministers and people from various factions, the emperor uncharacteristically made a clear stance on such a matter that was “not considered a top-level national issue”——
"We will not consider arming the Japanese army on a large scale for the time being. For reorganization matters, please refer to "Assumption/After the Pacification of Japan/Army Reorganization/Defense". They cannot be equipped with field heavy artillery, and some heavy artillery must be limited to coastal defense forts."
"State Affairs" and "State Affairs" are two terms. The latter specifically refers to major policies and is not a common word, such as Emperor Guangxu's "Dingguo Shi Zhao".
The so-called "Envision on the Reorganization of the Army after the Pacification of Japan" was jointly presented by two officials of the Metropolitan Governor's Office four years ago. It was used as a reference template for the Ming Dynasty to implement the strategy of reorganizing its defense forces against Japan.
The plan was to maintain the feudal system that existed in local feudal towns. The central government of Japan established four divisions and four brigades, all of which were light infantry units.
Their artillery units have a 12-gun system. The artillery wing of the division is only equipped with 12 105mm class howitzers and 24 75mm class howitzers; the brigade's artillery brigade is only equipped with 12 75mm class howitzers.
In addition, there are two independent engineering brigades, two independent cavalry brigades, and four independent anti-aircraft artillery brigades.
These soldiers and horses totaled 100,000, forming the central land defense force of the Japanese state.
In addition to some of the existing shabby and old gadgets, the Navy has established an offshore defense force, including: forty small torpedo boats, six to eight 300-ton small submarines, twenty submarine hunting boats, and ten minelayers , ten minesweepers.
In addition, there are a certain number of coastal defense units deployed in important waterways and ports to operate coastal defense guns or coastal defense torpedoes.
As for the aviation force, it is a typical defensive aviation force, with a scale of 400 fighters, 100 dive bombers, 100 torpedo planes, and 40 light twin-engine bombers.
For the sake of balance, local vassal towns also planned to have their own independent armed forces, which were recruited and organized into one regiment in each county. They were also light infantry units.
Japanese "counties" are relatively large and belong to first-level administrative divisions, with a total of more than forty.
These troops directly take orders from various local vassals and towns, and undertake the tasks of basic defense and reserve personnel training.
At the same time, because the total strength of the more than 40 regiments can reach as many as 140,000, they can prevent the imbalance of military power between the Japanese central government and the feudal towns while restraining each other.
The Constitutional Council itself agreed with the adaptation strategy described in this memorial, and most cabinet ministers also felt that this approach was better.
There is more time to test the Japanese people's compliance, and there is no need to rush to expand their military now.
If there is really a need then, it will not be too late to expand the army. We can train casually for three or four months, and then spend ten days and a half on exercises once before we can leave. This level of training is enough for maintaining security and stability in the rear.
Now that the emperor has made his position clear, we will proceed accordingly.
One thing has happened and another has happened. What is troubling the cabinet ministers now is that the Germans are still tirelessly demanding negotiations on trade matters.
In the Wenhua Hall, several members of the Zhongshu House brought a stack of documents and placed them on the long table one by one.
Yu Shenhua glanced at the three people next to him and said: "Germany still hopes to restore the previous trade scale. They proposed to avoid the requirements of the signed agreement through intermediary transactions."
"A third party? Who?" Li Guangyuan asked doubtfully.
Unlike in history, today's German society is more isolated diplomatically. Although Norway, Sweden and other Nordic countries still have trade relations with them, they are very obedient to British instructions.
Iron ore is not bad. After all, steel is also an essential civilian resource and cannot be classified as a strategic resource. But if rare metals were traded through them, it would almost inevitably be discovered by the British.
Therefore, Li Guangyuan acquiesced that these Nordic countries would not be bold enough to become middlemen.
As for other countries, they are either influenced by British influence or French influence. Nowadays, when the colonial system has not yet been disintegrated, it is really difficult to find a country that does not belong to the great powers but can be independent.
"What they proposed was Türkiye, and they don't know what the actual situation is."
"Oh, this is... maybe it's feasible. They have probably negotiated with him privately."
"I'm afraid so."
Li Guangyuan stared at the cup thoughtfully, nodded slightly and said, "Okay, I think we can consider it and discuss it at the regular meeting tomorrow."
The Germans are really anxious about the series of changes that have occurred in recent years.
As the international situation becomes increasingly tense, countries on the Eurasian continent are preparing for war, hoarding strategic resources, organizing military exercises, formulating combat plans, etc. In order to defend the fruits of victory of socialism, Germany, Hungary, and the Czech Republic are also actively preparing for war.
Historically, not only could Germany purchase tungsten sand from China, but Portugal, which has the largest tungsten mine in Western Europe, also exported large quantities to both the Axis and the Alliance, making money from both sides.
But it is different now. The attitude of the Portuguese is relatively negative. In addition to ideological differences and strict orders from Britain and France, the Portuguese volunteers were severely damaged by the Red Eagle Legion during the Spanish Civil War last year. This is also a major reason.
Therefore, the Germans now really lack channels for importing rare metal resources. In order to occupy the Japanese islands and consolidate their own sphere of influence, the Ming Dynasty signed an agreement with Britain and France. The French spared no effort to cheat the Germans, which directly caused the Ming Dynasty to reduce their trade volume.
Therefore, Germany must restore a certain amount of trade as much as possible, otherwise, regardless of armor-piercing bullets, the production quality of rolled armor steel and machine tool cutting heads will decline.
Daming now also has demand for multi-axis lathes, presses, and aerospace engines. Although the problem has been solved, the first two have always been in short supply, and it is indeed necessary to purchase another batch.
As for aero engines, the technical level of German radial air-cooled engines is not very good. The three major engine manufacturers, Junkers, Mercedes-Benz and BMW, all focus on liquid-cooled engines. Only BMW and a small company called Bramo have related matters. The experience of radial engines, and the technology sources are also from Pratt & Whitney in the United States and Bristol in the United Kingdom.
Although Ming Dynasty's aero engines are mainly radial engines, in view of the fact that it is not appropriate to follow only one path, the Ordnance Bureau and the Air Force considered introducing a liquid-cooled engine and followed that path.
At nine o'clock in the morning on March 23, the wind was warm and the sun was shining brightly, and people of all kinds gathered in front of the Erzhong Bridge to the east of the Imperial Palace.
Originally the canonization ceremony was to be held yesterday, but the weather was not good and the weather was gloomy, so it was postponed to today.
Although it was essentially a political event, some Ming army generals also participated in the ceremony. After Zhou Changfeng and Mu Yu got off the car, they finally passed through the crowded perimeter.
The latter looked left and right and commented: "Compared with the Forbidden City, the Imperial Palace of Japan looks much fresher and more natural. The red Forbidden City is particularly majestic and majestic."
"There is a difference in style, and it is relatively small here." Zhou Changfeng pointed to the Sakashita Gate in front and said: "The predecessor of the Tokyo Imperial Palace was Edo Castle where the Tokugawa shogunate was located. Later, the emperor moved the palace from Kyoto to here."
At this time, several other military officers, diplomats from various embassies and some carefully selected reporters were also preparing to enter.
The group crossed the double-arch bridge called the "Double Bridge" and entered the Imperial Palace through the double gate.
After walking for a while, we came to the main hall and prepared to go to Pine Pavilion. White walls, brown columns, and green roofs. This typical Japanese style and Chinese style can be described as seemingly inseparable. The Japanese style, which was deeply influenced by the culture of the Tang Dynasty and gradually evolved, is of great significance to today's Ming people. It's "familiar yet strange."
Accompanying the imperial envoys were some officials from Honglu Temple and the Ministry of Rites. Under their guidance and arrangements, all the decorations and seats here had been arranged.
According to their request, the Ming army officers who came to participate in the ceremony did not wear formal clothes, but wore regular clothes, and sabers were required to be hung on their waists according to regulations.
In the eyes of diplomats and reporters from various countries, such attire is to show the posture of a winner and show off the military might of the sovereign country.
The arrangement of the seats is very particular, divided into three places: east, west, north and west. The north position is vacant because it represents the ascendance of the Ming Emperor.
Reporters were distributed in three corners, southwest, northwest and northeast, taking photos from multiple angles to record this historic ceremony.
Amidst the melodious music, the envoy slowly took the two imperial edicts from the attendants and then opened them.
After the song was finished, the emperor knelt down to listen to the envoy reading the imperial edict.
"The Emperor issued an edict to King Yongren of Japan: I believe that peace is the top priority in all matters in the world, and that the land where the sun and moon shine at home and abroad is an integral whole. While establishing China, we must not harm our neighbors. I look up to the lotus and heaven, and respectfully accept the fate of the people. ..."
I don't know if the imperial envoy did this on purpose, but Zhou Changfeng always felt that the speed at which he read out the imperial edict was a little slower than normal.
The characters are straight and round, with rhythm and rhythm.
He raised his hand and glanced at his watch. It seemed that the imperial edict with less than a thousand words had been read for nearly five minutes?
A slight "click" sound came from the side. It was that the camera had used up one roll of film and was switching to a new roll.
"...Thank you very much, I have ordered you to obey it without any disobedience."
In this way, Yong Ren finally read out the imperial edict, but he still had to kneel down and shout "I obey the decree."
The imperial edict is a document used to admonish the subjects, which can be said to be an instruction. After this, the book for canonization is read.
"The people of the world ordered the emperor to make a statement:...In the past Wanli, the emperor was so kind that in order to eliminate the disaster of war, he gave you the land of Dongying with the turtle button seal...Now my army is sending Fusang. Although there are only a few who resist, it can be said that it is high and low." I am respectful, and I am not Jin Huairou. I hereby designate you as the King of Japan, and grant you the imperial edict..."
In this way, Yong Ren kowtowed three times to the west where Yingtian Mansion was located, shouting "Long Live the Mountain". Finally, he took the book and the golden seal with both hands, and raised them above his head, trying to maintain balance and ease. Get up slowly.
If you accidentally lose your balance and fall in front of the public and the camera, it will be a shame for you.
In addition to the imperial edict and seal, it also comes with a complete set of king-shaped python costumes.
Kings are also divided into county kings and princes. The king of Ryukyu is at the level of a county king. The king of Korea is special. Although he is a county king, his physical level is equivalent to that of a prince. The king of Annan is at the prince level.
It can be said that participating in this canonization ceremony gave Zhou Changfeng great satisfaction.
Watching the other party kneel and listen to the instructions in a public video, it gives people an extraordinary sense of relief. Thanks to the fact that the Ming Dynasty is a special country with a dual constitutional monarchy, otherwise if we change the political system, today we will only see the other party bowing.
After the ceremony, there is a banquet, which is a necessary process for a vassal country to entertain envoys sent by the suzerain country after being enthroned. The dishes are also the best local delicacies.
However, due to the implementation of Westernization after the Restoration, the Japanese court had already switched to Western food to entertain foreign guests, and because it had been under the influence of British influence for more than 30 years, it has been maintained.
Obviously, Honglu Temple and the officials of the Ministry of Rites did not agree.
It's okay to eat Western food and wear Western clothes in normal times, but the banquet after the canonization is part of the vassal system, so it is natural to avoid mixing with Western customs.
So after a long time of tossing, the Tokyo Hotel's chief chef personally prepared the banquet. Dishes such as iron fan shrimp, smoked salmon, pickled cucumbers, steamed abalone, egg custard, etc. were quite good.
In fact, some people are considering adding puffer fish sashimi, but considering the risks - although the probability is small, if it really eats people to death, then...
So after being scolded again, the suggestion of a dish of tender and smooth puffer fish sashimi was rejected on the spot.
"By the way, Brother Zhou, do you know?" Mu Yu picked up a piece of abalone with his chopsticks and said, "Some of the remnants of the resistance army that retreated into the high mountains in the central part of the country are not dead. Aerial reconnaissance shows that there seem to be activities of people suspected of them."
"Really?" Zhou Changfeng, who was pouring sake into a small cup, said casually: "Keep resisting. It will be quite troublesome if you harass them from time to time. Let's suppress them together. Special forces are very suitable for dealing with these small groups of resistance organizations."
"What special forces?" Mu Yu thought he heard wrongly and wondered: "Engineers, heavy troops? Did you make a mistake..."
(End of chapter)
