World War: Battleship Arms Dealers

"Did you rest well last night, Your Excellency Dongxiang?" Chen Feng picked up the teapot and slowly poured tea into two teacups. The tea was amber in color, a Lapsang Souchong from Fujian, and its aroma slowly diffused in the air.

"Very good, thank you for the treat." Togo accepted the teacup with both hands, his fingertips touching the rim—the temperature was slightly hot, just enough to keep him awake. "The speed of Dubai's development is astonishing. Just three years ago, this was just a fishing village in the desert, wasn't it?"

"Three years ago, this place wasn't even a fishing village." Chen Feng picked up his cup of tea, but didn't drink it. He just felt the temperature with his palm. "There were only a few Bedouin tents and the thirty marching tents that we set up when we first arrived."

"From thirty tents to its current scale..." Togo paused, "This reminds me of Tokyo in the early Meiji era. The Meiji Restorationists also built a new capital on ruins."

Chen Feng raised his eyes: "The difference is that you overthrew the shogunate. What we want to reclaim is our homeland that was forcibly taken."

The very first sentence gets to the heart of the matter.

Togo's fingers traced the rim of his teacup. He was fifty-nine years old, a veteran of the Anglo-Saudi War, the First Sino-Japanese War, and the Russo-Japanese War, and had seen far too many negotiating tables. Usually, meetings of this caliber would begin with at least ten minutes of small talk, discussing the weather, the journey, and other innocuous pleasantries. But this young man before him had chosen the most direct path.

"Your Excellency the President," Togo put down his teacup and pushed one of the folders onto the table, "this is a draft of the 'Memorandum of Understanding on Technical Cooperation between Japan and Russia' prepared by the Imperial Japanese Navy Ministry. Please take a look."

The folder slid across the smooth wooden tabletop and stopped a foot in front of Chen Feng. Chen Feng did not reach out.

"What is the content?"

"It mainly consists of three parts." Togo's voice was calm, as if he were stating a battle plan. "First, the joint development of a new type of high-speed cruiser. Japan will provide hull design experience, while you will provide propulsion and fire control technology. Second, a technology exchange mechanism. Twenty engineers will be exchanged each year for six months of training. Third, procurement intentions. Japan hopes to order two capital ships of the same class as the 'Kuangfu,' with a budget of... four million pounds per ship."

After saying his last sentence, Togo looked Chen Feng straight in the eye. Four million pounds—that's a load of rubbish.

Chen Feng finally picked up the folder. He didn't open it, but simply ran his thumb along the kraft paper cover, feeling the texture of the paper. Then, he pushed the folder back.

The folder slid back to Dongxiang and stopped in the exact same position.

"What Minister Wang said yesterday represents the position of the Lanfang government," Chen Feng said.

The meeting room fell silent for five seconds. The old-fashioned wall clock clicked rhythmically, each click sounding like a count.

Togo didn't touch the document. He placed his hands on the table, a posture that made him look like he was meditating.

"Your Excellency President," Yoshimatsu Shigetaro couldn't help but speak, his Japanese tinged with a hurried Tokyo accent, "please allow me to explain that this memorandum has undergone repeated consultations with the Ministry of the Navy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Cabinet—"

"Yoshimatsu-kun." Togo didn't turn around, but just called out softly.

Yoshimatsu Shigetaro immediately fell silent.

Togo continued to look at Chen Feng: "I understand the emotional barriers brought about by historical grievances. But between nations, practical interests must ultimately take precedence. After the Russo-Japanese War, the Japanese Empire had become the most important power in the Far East. By cooperating with Japan, Lanfang could gain international recognition, financial support, and a voice in Asian affairs."

"Your Excellency Togo participated in the domestic wars, didn't you?" Chen Feng suddenly asked.

The question came abruptly. Togo's eyelids twitched slightly.

"Yes. I was the captain of the Naniwa at the time."

"During the Battle of Fengdao, when the troop transport ship 'Kowshing' was sunk, what did you see on the bridge?"

Togo paused for two seconds. On the morning of July 25, 1894, in the thin mist over the Yellow Sea, the cries for help from the British troop transport ship billowing black smoke drifted on the sea breeze…

"That was war," Togo said, his voice lower than before. "A last resort in war."

"Of the thousand Qing soldiers, fewer than two hundred survived." Chen Feng picked up his teacup and finally took a sip. The tea should have been cold by now, but he drank it slowly, as if savoring something. "International law stipulates that ships flying neutral flags may not attack. The 'Kowshing' was a British ship."

"The Qing army had already declared war at that time."

"But you didn't give the crew and soldiers time to evacuate before sinking them." Chen Feng put down his teacup, the bottom clicking slightly as it touched the table. "That's not the point. The point is, from that moment on, I understood a principle."

He leaned slightly forward, his hands clasped on the table. This posture made him look like he was sharing a secret.

"When one side has an absolute technological advantage, the rules are just words on paper. The Naniwa was a 4,000-ton cruiser with a speed of 18 knots and was armed with 260mm main guns. The Kowshing was a 2,000-ton merchant ship with no armament. So the rules didn't matter; what mattered was who held the gun handle."

Togo tapped his finger lightly on the table. It was an unconscious gesture as he was thinking.

"What does Your Excellency the President wish to say?"

"What I want to say is," Chen Feng leaned back in his chair, "that the current 'Kuangfu' is like the 'Naniwa' back then. And the Japanese Navy is like the 'Kowshing' back then. The difference is, we won't fire. We're just choosing not to do business with you."

He spoke calmly, but each word was like a steel nail that had been tempered and hammered into the air.

Yoshimatsu Shigetaro's face turned ashen. Lieutenant Ono's stenographer's pen stopped on the paper, the ink spreading into a smudge.

Togo Heihachiro closed his eyes. Three seconds later, he opened them, his eyes devoid of any emotion.

"So, regarding this memorandum..."

"There is no basis for negotiation," Chen Feng said. "Lanfang's warships will not fly the Rising Sun Flag. They didn't in the past, they don't now, and they won't in the future."

"Even if we offer five million pounds per ship?"

Even if it's ten million.

Togo let out a long breath. It was a slow exhale, as if he wanted to empty all the air from his chest. Then he did something that surprised both Yoshimatsu Shigetaro and Ono—he picked up the memo, held the paper with both hands, and slowly but firmly tore it in half.

"Sizzle—"

The sound of tearing kraft paper was particularly jarring in the quiet conference room. Togo tore it carefully, first folding it in half, then tearing it in two, then folding it in half again, tearing it into quarters. The fragments were neatly piled on the table in front of him, like paper money at a small funeral.

"I understand," Togo said, a hint of weariness finally showing in his voice—the weariness of a fifty-nine-year-old. "Then, please allow me to ask one last question."

"Speaking."

"What is Lanfang's ultimate goal? To rebuild the Lanfang Republic in Pontianak? Or... a much larger ambition?"

Chen Feng didn't answer immediately. He turned to look at the ancient map of Pontianak on the wall and stared at it for a long time. The bluish-green mountains on the map shimmered in the morning light, and the rivers outlined by silver lines seemed to be truly flowing.