Nanyang Storm 1864

"The ruthlessness of the Chu Kingdom far exceeds our imagination. The harsh conditions they have put forward are aimed at the destruction and extermination of the Yamato people. We cannot agree to them even if it means death."

In a traditional Japanese garden in Tokyo.

The current Prime Minister, Katsura Taro, Marshal Oyama Iwao, and the elder statesman, Duke Yamagata Aritomo, sat facing each other with worried expressions. Several military and political ministers were also present, and the atmosphere was extremely somber.

Emperor Meiji is now bedridden. After learning of the devastating news of the large-scale invasion by the State of Chu, the repeated defeats have further weakened his spirit and made his illness worse. It is clear that he does not have much time left.

In Japan, the Emperor was a representative figure brought to the forefront by a group of Meiji Restoration elites. He was a symbol of the imperial state used to unite the powerful feudal lords, while real power was held by the elders and the government who lived behind the scenes.

This is different from the Great Chu Empire.

The Emperor of Fusang was revered as a supreme deity, detached from worldly affairs, and his secular power was still governed by the government and the behind-the-scenes elder statesman politics.

Two or three decades later, the military, inciting fanatical Bushido spirit to pledge allegiance to the Emperor, launched one coup and assassination after another, eventually seizing power.

This caused the Kingdom of Fusang to drift further and further down the road to destruction, like a runaway carriage.

At this point in time, nothing has happened yet, and the Japanese government and the elders behind the scenes still firmly hold power.

"Lord Oyama, there is no hope for the navy. Tell me the truth, does the Army General Headquarters have the confidence to withstand the Chu Kingdom's landing in Tokyo Bay? This is crucial to the future of the Yamato people."

"Your Excellency Yamagata, the army is absolutely confident that it can win the final victory, even if it means sacrificing lives. However, the towns along the coast are all within the range of the Chu fleet's artillery fire, and the army is powerless to stop them!"

"Damn it, those cowardly and timid navy idiots should commit seppuku. If they had fought with the determination to die, those precious warships wouldn't have sunk in the harbor in such a humiliating way, making them cowards despised by the great powers."

"It's fine to say this internally, but don't spread it around outside. Don't we have enough trouble already?"

"I'm so unwilling to accept this. This expensive fleet was saved by His Majesty the Emperor and all his subjects by tightening their belts and scrimping and saving. It's heartbreaking."

"The international prestige that the Fusang Empire had just won has been lost in a single day. The people of Chu are truly despicable."

"Let's be realistic. Look at the massive fleet that besieged the Fusang Islands. Stop being so arrogant as to say we can contend with the Great Chu Empire. Haven't we learned our lesson yet?"

"The biggest problem now is the food crisis, which has now spread to Kyoto and Kobe. The reserves are running low, food prices have skyrocketed several times, and people are starving to death in many towns and villages. This will cause a major upheaval."

"This is the tragedy of island nations. With the protection of naval power, the Japanese archipelago is strangled. The army alone cannot solve any problems, and they will eventually have to surrender."

"Lord Terauchi, please don't say such discouraging things. This is really embarrassing."

"It's better to be embarrassed than to starve to death. I must remind everyone here that the Yamato people are facing that shrewd and calculating emperor of the South Seas. He has held power for more than 40 years without ever failing, expanding the territory of the Great Chu Empire to the whole world. And this time, I'm afraid we've also failed."

"Lord Terauchi... Japanese warriors will never surrender."

"Hmph, that would mean dragging even more people to starve to death. That number could be millions or even more. Don't forget how many people died during the Irish famine. If that really happens, it will be a tragedy for the Yamato people."

"But... Chu's terms for a ceasefire are too harsh; they're practically enslaving the Yamato people."

"Think about it," Terauchi Masatake said with a sorrowful expression, "Since the Meiji Restoration, our great Japanese Empire has worked diligently and its national strength has been rising steadily. We have successively defeated our two major rivals, Qing China and Tsarist Russia. We have gained widespread recognition from the world's great powers. In the end, we abolished the unequal treaties imposed by various powers in the late Edo period, but all our efforts were in vain." He glanced at the crowd and continued.
"If you fall behind, you will be attacked and bullied."

I believe that the Yamato people, having learned their lesson, will strive to improve themselves and one day break free from the harsh treaties imposed by the State of Chu, joining the ranks of the world's strongest nations.

But not now. My inner reason tells me that I cannot confront the people of Chu head-on.

With each passing day, the people of Chu would not lose anything.

Never expect that terrible emperor in Southeast Asia will relent. During the various expansions and colonies of the Great Chu Empire, the number of people enslaved and slaughtered was in the tens of millions.
Which of the world's major powers stood up and said a word of justice?

No, true strength is never criticized; this is the law of the jungle in today's world.

Every day, thousands of people on the Japanese archipelago starve to death, die of disease, or descend into madness, and the situation is only going to get worse.

With foreign trade completely blocked, we are helpless.

Don't think this is just a situation during wartime. As long as they don't surrender, the Chu fleet will besiege them for another day, and the disaster will continue for another day.

The Chu expeditionary force might even bombard towns around Tokyo Bay and send troops to burn the nearly ripe winter wheat in Hokkaido, which would be a complete disaster.

As everyone here knows...

Hokkaido's winter wheat accounts for a quarter of domestic demand; losing it would have unimaginable consequences. Furthermore, the army's military presence in Hokkaido is extremely weak; I don't believe that cunning emperor of Chu couldn't see this.

If the Hokkaido winter wheat that is about to ripen is burned, a huge disaster comparable to the "Irish potato crisis" will befall it. Who can stop it from happening?
Everyone wants to live with dignity, but the prerequisite is to survive first.

The words of the Minister of the Interior, Terauchi Masatake, silenced everyone in the Reiwa Room. Even the hardliners who had vowed to resist to the end lowered their heads in silence.

Circumstances are beyond our control; even desperate efforts won't solve anything.

Finally, it was elder Yamagata Aritomo who stepped forward. His face was ashen, and he gave a cold snort before speaking.

"Then let's prepare for both possibilities. The Army Headquarters is prepared to meet an even more severe challenge and must strike back hard against any further invasion by the State of Chu."

To demonstrate the might and spirit of the Yamato people and gain the necessary leverage in negotiations.

As for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it continued its secret negotiations with the Great Chu Empire. The condition that "the Great Chu Empire should be recognized as the legitimate successor of the Celestial Dynasty, and the Japanese King should be willing to be a nephew and a vassal state forever" was absolutely unacceptable.

If the last two sentences could be deleted, or if that's not possible, the sentence "The Japanese King willingly became a nephew" could be deleted, which would be barely acceptable.

The temporary humiliation stemmed from the Fusang Empire's current insufficient strength; it would have to get its revenge in the future.

As for the Chu Kingdom proposing to "cede Kyushu Island," that is absolutely impossible. However, the establishment of Sasebo and Nagasaki as a leased territory for 99 years seems to be something worth discussing.

Regarding war reparations, let's try to keep them as low as possible.

Okay, that's settled then.

As the elder statesman Yamagata Aritomo spoke, he became increasingly distressed and choked up. His heart ached as if it were being torn apart, and the intense sense of humiliation almost caused him to lose his composure.

The Great Chu Empire was too arrogant and domineering. Every demand for a ceasefire they made was like a sharp sword piercing their bodies, harder to accept than being killed.

After decades of hard work, we've gone back to square one.

After decades of hard work, the Fusang Kingdom rose to power by stepping on the Qing Dynasty and Tsarist Russia. However, before it could stay on its laurels for long, it was brutally trampled into the mud by the Chu Kingdom.

The slap in the face came so quickly. The great glory that the Fusang army and navy had won was so laughable and so illusory in the face of the truly powerful Chu state.

Only by being in this Japanese-style room can one understand the despair these great figures felt and the profound inadequacy of the Japanese archipelago.

Without the protection of a strong navy, if the Japanese archipelago is blockaded, it will definitely be forced to surrender.

One point that Yamagata Aritomo didn't mention earlier;
That is, during the ceasefire negotiations, the State of Chu made it clear that the State of Fusang was not allowed to develop its main battleships, not even a single battleship. It was only allowed to develop some heavy cruisers and light cruisers, and there were strict restrictions on that as well.

In this way, life and death, as well as the fate of the nation, are in the hands of the State of Chu, which also means that the people of Fusang will never be able to hold their heads high in front of the State of Chu again.

Who can think of
The Battle of Tsushima was the last glorious moment for the Japanese Combined Fleet, like cherry blossoms in full bloom, only to fade away quickly.

It can be said that every ceasefire condition proposed by the State of Chu struck at the heart of the State of Fusang, causing great pain to these self-conscious yet ambitious Meiji Restoration elites.

Once these humiliating armistice treaties are signed, they will inevitably be condemned by the people, thus triggering greater domestic ideological turmoil.

However, when faced with the life and death of the nation, one can only choose the lesser of two evils.

This private conversation in the Japanese-style room set the tone for the future fate of the Fusang Kingdom, with far-reaching consequences.

1908st January 3

Much later than originally expected, the Great Chu Empire's expeditionary fleet, having completed its repairs and replenishment, finally arrived late, reaching the waters off Tokyo Bay.

The expeditionary fleet arrogantly sent a telegram in plain text.
The fortresses guarding Tokyo Bay were ordered to surrender within three hours by raising a white flag, or else "the Heavenly Army will arrive in an instant, and all the towns and cities along the coast will be burned to the ground."

Tokyo Bay is located in the central-eastern part of Honshu Island, at the mouth of the Pacific Ocean. It is the heart of the Japanese island nation, home to more than half of the country's population. It is dotted with villages and towns, densely populated, and has an extremely long history of agricultural culture.

Major cities along the northwest shore of Tokyo Bay include Tokyo, Yokohama, and Kawasaki. To the west lies Yokosuka, to the east Chiba, and to the south, the Miura and Boso peninsulas encircle the area, leaving only a small opening through which the Uraga Channel flows into the Pacific Ocean.

The Tokyo Bay Fortresses were located at both ends of the Uraga Channel, namely the Miura Fortress and the Boso Fortress, like two steel guards protecting this vital bay waterway.

The Chu expeditionary fleet insidiously used coastal towns as leverage, forcing two fortified batteries to surrender and thus completely opening the gates to Tokyo Bay. (End of Chapter)