(62) The Final Ultimatum

  Those guys are complete speculators, they've always wanted to exchange our support for conditions like handing over Manchuria and Mongolia to us. At least now, they don't dare to sell us out so openly." Recalling the long letter he received from the leader of the Nationalist Party, ōkuma Shigenobu let out a heavy hum.

  Kato Takayuki looked at the Prime Minister with some trepidation, for a moment unsure of what to do.

  "It's no longer meaningful to investigate who leaked the information." said ōkuma Shigenobu, looking at Katō Takaaki, "What we should do now is to force the Chinese government to surrender as soon as possible, without giving Britain and the US a chance to intervene."

  Kato Takamasa nodded repeatedly, indicating he understood his meaning.

  "We don't need to pay much attention to the attitudes of Britain and France, the main trouble comes from the Americans." Ito Hirobumi continued, "We can acknowledge the contents of numbers one through four, try to deny the existence of number five to the Americans as much as possible, if it's really not feasible, then just say that number five is advisory in nature."

  "I understand," said Takao Kato.

  "Don't give the Chinese any more time, if they're still intentionally stalling, just issue an ultimatum. This time our policy is to be quick, unfortunately it's been delayed by the cunning Chinese for quite some time. If not for the war in Europe, we wouldn't have such a good opportunity."

  "Please rest assured, Prime Minister, I will handle it properly." Katō promised.

  ōkuma Shigenobu nodded and turned away from the hall.

  ōkuma Shigenobu arrived on the street, at this time the sky became particularly gloomy, with large and dense dark clouds rolling in, foretelling an impending storm.

  ōkuma Shigenobu looked up at the sky, feeling the wind blowing stronger and stronger across his face. He stood there expressionlessly, holding open the umbrella in his hand.

  Heavy rain came down quickly, at this time, another Chinese man in a suit and top hat with his entourage holding an umbrella, hastily walked into the Chinese Embassy in Japan.

  "How's that?" Minister Counsellor Mei Shengwen asked Lu Zongyu, the Chinese minister to Japan who was still dripping with rainwater. "Have the Japanese elder statesmen agreed?"

  "They actually didn't even know about this matter." Lu Zongyun said with a gloomy face, "How detestable!"

  "Are they trying to shirk responsibility and cheat us?" Mei Shengwen asked in surprise.

  "No." Lu Zong shook his head, "They really don't know. Okuma and Katō didn't tell them at all."

  "What did the elders say?" Mei Shengwen asked again.

  "They did promise to help," Lu Zongyu, who had just finished "Qin Ting's Cry", replied with a tinge of sadness, trying not to recall those painful scenes. He simply said, "I don't know how much effect it will have."

  The Russian envoy just sent someone to inform us secretly that the fifth item is actually an "advisory" nature. Mei Shengwen said, handing a note to Lu Zongyu.

  "What kind of advice?" Lu Zongyun glanced at the note and his hand clenched into a fist involuntarily, "Damn it!"

  "Since it's just advice, why are you forcing us all to agree?" Mei Shengwen asked in puzzlement.

  "They have been arrogant towards us, wanting to swallow us whole in one mouthful," said Lu Zongyu. "If we yield and admit defeat, they will gain an advantage; if they make concessions due to foreign intervention, they will just call it 'advice' and gloss over it."

  "What should we do?" Mei Shengwen asked somewhat anxiously.

  "Immediately send an urgent telegram to the Beijing Foreign Ministry, telling them that No. 5 is of an advisory nature and must not be agreed to, it's best not to discuss the content of No. 5 with them again." Lu Zongyu said, "The previous Nos. 1-4 should still be delayed as much as possible, the American, British and French envoys have already sent inquiries to the Japanese government, the longer the delay, the more beneficial it is for us."

  Lu Zongyu again emphasized some details to Mei Shengwen, after Mei Shengwen turned around to send a telegram. Lu Zongyu looked at the paper strip in his hand, took out a lighter, ignited the paper strip and put it into a glass ashtray.

  The paper strip burned in the ashtray, Lu Zongyu watched as it turned into ashes bit by bit, and let out a heavy sigh again in his heart.

  May 7, 1915, Beijing, Ministry of War of the Republic of China.

  "Is Zhang Jingyao's illness true or false?" Duan Qirui angrily threw Zhang Jingyao's telegram onto the desk and loudly roared.

  "No matter what, he still sent troops." Xu Shuzheng said to Duan Qirui, "The commander of the Jiangxi garrison Yang Shouming led the troops, bringing with him the newly formed 5th and 6th mixed brigades of the Jiangxi army, totaling 11,200 people. They are all elite soldiers from the Jiangxi army."

  "What a fine army, don't listen to Zhang Jingyao's boasting!" Duan Qirui sighed and shook his head, looking at the thick stack of telegrams on the table. "After so many days of effort, more than half of them are just a mob, if we really fight, I'm afraid they won't even last a day."

  "But this Jiangxi army is not a mob. Xu Shuzheng smiled and said, "I didn't think they would come."

  "What's the difference? It's just a new compilation, just a number of civilians pulled together. Duan Qirui sneered, "Those two brushes of Zhang Jingyao are just practicing with the militia."

  Xu Shuzheng listened to Duan Qirui's words, smiled and shook his head. He clapped his hands, and an officer carrying a small wooden box walked in.

  Xu Shuzheng nodded to him, and the officer placed the wooden box on the table, opened it, and took out a long gun that looked like a large-caliber hunting rifle.

  "What is this thing?" Duan Qirui looked at the thick and large barrel of the gun and the oversized "bullet" placed next to it, about the size of a teacup, and asked in surprise.

  "They call this thing a 'rifle grenade'," Xu Shuzheng said with a smile, "It fires like a cannon and is very powerful."

  "Duan Qirui asked, 'I've never heard of this kind of gun before, where did you get it from?'"

  "This was sent by Yang Zongbai, the commander of Western Jiangxi, a few days ago. It's from a munitions factory called 'Renhe Company' in his jurisdiction," said Xu Shuzheng. "It is said that this rifle was personally designed by Commander Yang himself."

  Duan Qirui, who had studied in Germany before, looked at this exquisitely crafted grenade launcher with his eyes wide open for a moment, as if he couldn't believe the fact in front of him.

  But the Chinese characters engraved on the gun clearly told him that this newly designed grenade launcher was purely "made in China".

  "Where are they going now? And what for?" Duan Qirui thought for a moment and asked.

  "It should have passed Zhengzhou by now." Xu Shuqing looked at the map and replied, "It's said that they have a lot of baggage, so they're moving a bit slowly."

  "This is already very fast," Duan Qirui looked at the calendar on the wall and said to himself, "Why haven't I heard of this person before? It seems like a rare talent."

  "We should meet him. I heard he brought all his men, just to have a go at the Japanese," said Xu Shuzheng, "Looking around the country, there are not many people like him who are willing to sacrifice themselves for the nation."

  "That's right, Cai Songpo is usually loud-mouthed, but now his two divisions from Yunnan are nowhere to be seen, and no one knows where they've gone." Duan Qirui couldn't help but sneer at the thought of Cai E, who had been anxious and irritable these past few days, and was almost unable to speak due to a sore throat.

  "Now that Yang Zongbao is willing to make such an effort, it's clear he wants to get in good with us," said Xu Shuzheng. "Someone like him should be properly won over."

  "Send him a telegram and ask him to come to Beijing himself," said Duan Qirui, "I want to see him in person."

  "He himself is said to have arrived in Beijing and is waiting for an audience with the President and Premier." Xu Shuzheng said with a smile.

  At this moment, an officer rushed in and saluted Duan Qirui and Xu Shuzheng respectively, then whispered a few words to them.

  As soon as the officer finished speaking, Duan Qirui and Xu Shuzheng both jumped up from their chairs. Both of them saw shock and horror in each other's eyes.

  "This is the final ultimatum submitted by our government to your government, please respond before 6 pm on May 9th." Japanese proxy minister Kohei (Kohei replaced Kishida after he was injured in a fall from his horse at Andingmen on March 17) said proudly to Lu Zhengxiang and Cao Rulin sitting across from him, "Deleting the content of the fifth item is already the greatest concession that our government can make. The current revised plan must be accepted by your government, if your government is still unwilling to accept it, all consequences arising therefrom will be borne by your government."

  "Do you want all Chinese people to hate Japan for the rest of their lives by doing this?" Lu Zhengxiang stood up and angrily asked, "Is this what you call 'friendly relations between two countries' and 'maintaining peace in Asia'?"

  "I'm sorry you take Japan's goodwill towards China in that way," Kobayashi said coldly.

  "This is not a negotiation, it's an outright robbery!" Cao Rulin, who was sweating profusely, could no longer hold back his indignation and stood up to say loudly, "At the beginning of the negotiations, Viscount Kikujirō Ishii told me that the current global crisis would force Japan to take 'far-reaching' actions. He even made a joke-like analogy, saying 'When a jewelry store catches fire, it's impossible for neighbors living nearby not to grab a few jewels.' But now, what you're doing is not just grabbing a few jewels, but taking over the entire jewelry store! You are thieves! Thieves through and through!"

  Kobayashi looked at the Chinese vice minister of foreign affairs, who had been weak and timid in the negotiations for days, waving his arms and shouting loudly. For a moment, he was taken aback, but he quickly regained his original arrogant demeanor. He ignored Cao Rulin's loud shouts and turned around coldly, walking out without looking back.