In the early morning of April 17, Okuma Shigetsu, as the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, resolutely decided to cooperate with the UK despite the obstruction of the civilized ministers of the cabinet.*www. Just before the imperial meeting held in the morning, Okuma Shigetsu privately signed the Japan-UK Strategic Cooperation Treaty with British Ambassador Bruce Hayelis, allowing British teams to enter Japan's borders and station at will, and at the same time promised to establish the Japan-UK Joint Staff Department within twelve hours.

Not only that, in order to increase the weight of Okuma Shigenobu's speech at the Imperial Conference, the UK also temporarily signed a "Memorandum of Economic Aid", stating that the UK will restart its aid, investment and debt relief plan to Japan within two months.

At the imperial meeting, the military and civilian ministers were quarreling endlessly. The former insisted on cooperating with Britain and declared war on China and North Korea again, while the latter believed that even if there was British aid, it would be useless. Moreover, there was no idea what kind of aid Britain could provide.

However, when Shigetsu Okuma took out the treaty and memorandum that had been signed with the British, the situation of the meeting immediately turned to the military faction. Although the Minister of Taoism cursed Shigetsu Okuma to sign the treaty with the British without permission, the matter was over. Could it be that he would break the contract with the British at this time?

Shigeon Okuma said very seriously: "This is a decision related to the fate of our Great Japanese Empire. Since we have been defeated before, we can fight back and give it a try. The great Japanese Empire is able to reach this day because we are fighting with iron and blood. Why do we choose to give up at this time? If this war still fails, all the responsibilities will be borne by me alone! I would rather bear the accusations of the whole world with an honorary attitude!"

In the end, Emperor Taisho accepted Okuma Shigetsu's proposal and decided to cooperate with Britain to start war again.

This matter was not immediately announced to the whole country. On the one hand, it was that it did not want the military operations to be influenced by public opinion, and on the other hand, it was that it wanted to cover the British French Legion.

The entire decision was very rapid. Whether it was Xiyuanji Gongwang or Yama Prefecture Akito, the two veterans had not even reacted, and Japan had already started to arrange the work of the Ying team.

On the morning of April 18, the British Royal Navy's "Courage" battlecruiser arrived at Yokohama Port. Lieutenant General Douglas Restrait, Chief of Staff of the French Legion, and the British Indian Advance Delegation, landed to meet with the Japanese General Staff Headquarters. Due to the urgent time, all polite work was spared. Just twenty minutes later, Japanese and British officers held a meeting in Yokohama to discuss related matters about the establishment of the Japan-UK Joint General Staff.

In the afternoon, the second British Royal Navy warship, "Royal Hope", arrived in Tokyo with three American merchant ships, and sent the vanguard of the French Legion to its destination. At the same time, the Japanese and British officers in Yokohama also took a train to Tokyo. After a brief ceremony, they announced the establishment of a joint staff in the Japanese General Staff Building in a very low-key manner.

Immediately afterwards, Lieutenant General Douglas gathered senior staff officers of both Japan and Britain to convene a so-called "strategic discussion meeting". However, in fact, the British team had already made strategic arrangements in advance. The so-called "discussion meeting" was just a little face to give Japan a little bit of face. To put it simply, it was to assign combat tasks to Japanese officers.

"To be honest, the vanguard of our British Empire French Legion is just a few logistics soldiers, responsible for establishing bases and transportation in Japan. The real French Legion vanguard will arrive at Jeju Island in seven hours, and the subsequent troops will arrive in Busan, Fukuoka, Incheon and other places within the next three days." Lieutenant General Douglas said meticulously.

After the translator said his words loudly, all the Japanese officers present were surprised and immediately realized that the British had already had their own set of ideas and did not invite them to discuss them at all.

Before the Japanese officers' discussion ended, Lieutenant General Douglas continued: "The French army will launch an attack in two groups, which is a sudden attack. The first route is to land in Incheon and take the train directly to the north of Seoul. It is expected to launch a strong attack on Kaesong within one day. As for the second route, we will be covered by warships on April 23rd and launch a landing battle against Jinzhou Bay directly."

The Japanese officers were shocked again, and obviously more severe than before.

The British actually planned to use naval cover to directly attack the Jinzhou Bay in northern Lushun. This move is really too cruel!

Not to mention that the Japanese officers present did not expect it, I am afraid that even the Chinese would never guess that Britain would launch such an unexpected surprise attack.

Lieutenant General Douglas paused and then said: "From now on, our French army will serve as the main force of the offensive, but at the same time, we hope that Japanese friendly forces can provide sufficient help. This war is not a matter of our British side, nor is it a matter of your Japan side, but a common task of our Allies."

Japanese Army Major General Sasaki Shinyan stepped forward and asked with a solemn expression: "Our army in North Korea still has seven divisions, with a total of about 150,000 troops. However, now there is a serious lack of strategic materials and many railways that are mastered cannot be used. We really don't know what kind of help we can provide."

Lieutenant General Douglas said slowly: "According to the information we currently know about Japanese friendly forces, we hope that after the meeting, the Joint Staff immediately issued an order to the 19th Division and the 8th Division in the north of Seoul, allowing these two divisions to move towards Kaesong and occupy all controllable land. In addition, all the logistics troops in Seoul rushed to Incheon to assist our French Legion in landing and unloading supplies."

He said, while sweeping the audience with a serious expression.

The Japanese officer was stunned for a moment, and immediately ordered the adjutant to quickly record the orders of Lieutenant General Douglas so that he could follow the orders after the meeting was disbanded.

Seeing this, Lieutenant General Douglas felt satisfied. Piaotiansi.com said: "In addition, the Fifth Division of Japanese friendly forces in Lushun should also be prepared for support. The merchant ships sent to Lushun this afternoon will pretend to be used to assist the 5th Division in retreat, but in fact they will transport a batch of strategic materials, including cannons, ammunition and some food. At that time, the wounded personnel of the Fifth Division can be transferred to the merchant ship first."

The Japanese officers whispered and talked, and most of the officers showed happy expressions on their faces. They could continue to fight with military supplies. It is conceivable that the British were still very sensible.

Lieutenant General Douglas's expression gradually became serious. He said solemnly: "The battle in Lushun is crucial to us, which means that our French army will directly attack Chinese territory. I don't need to say much about the strategic significance of this surprise attack. I believe you all know it very well. Therefore, I hope the Fifth Division can cooperate fully and cooperate with our army to fight a surprise attack with tacit understanding, determination and strength."

Several Japanese generals who were in high spirits immediately spoke out: "Teach the Chinese pig a lesson!"

"We must take revenge and let the Chinese pig know who is the Asian overlord!"

"With British friendly forces coming forward, we must do our best."

"Gentlemen, our British Empire will provide several batches of strategic materials in the next month to help Japanese friendly forces in North Korea restore combat effectiveness, but one major premise is that the first battle must be performed. China's deployment of troops in North Korea should not be underestimated. If the first battle of the surprise attack cannot be successful, it will have a very serious impact on our future combat plan." Lieutenant General Douglas said loudly again.

Subsequently, British officials and Japanese officers discussed in detail tactical deployment, including how to cooperate with the landing landing in Jinzhou Bay in Lushun, details of the contact work from Incheon to Seoul, material investment of the Seoul Railway, and the battle to restrain the main forces of China, etc.

At the following meeting, the UK also stated that it would provide a series of air defense equipment and air force training. Although the UK is currently unable to transport aircraft from Europe to North Korea to participate in the war, Japan already had an army air force. In addition, half a month ago, India reached a trade agreement with the United States and paid a relevant deposit, requiring the United States to transport 100 aircraft to Busan within three months.

The strategic goal of the fighter fleet is not to attack China's air force, nor to compete for air supremacy with the Chinese. Both Britain and Japan know that China has invested a lot of manpower and material resources in the development of the air force. It can be said that the biggest advantage of the Chinese team is to have a sound air force system. For Britain and Japan, which are still in the "land aviation era", they know that it is impossible to compete for air supremacy with China in the "aircraft era".

The main purpose of forming a flight formation is to deal with the Chinese airship forces and provide a wider range of air reconnaissance.

At the end of the meeting, the Joint Staff determined the steps for the formal attack. At five o'clock in the morning on April 22, Chuncheon battlefield launched a sudden counterattack, and at least a large-scale counterattack was carried out according to the requirements. Before 12 o'clock on the same day, two infantry brigades of the French Legion landed in Incheon met with the 8th Division and the 19th Division of the Japanese Army, and launched a strong attack on Kaesong.

The Kaesong operation is divided into two parts. The first part is that the 8th Division serves as the main attack force to launch the attack first. The second part is that the two infantry brigades of the French Legion and the 19th Division detour to the two flanks of the Kaesong and launches a raid at the same time.

There is only one purpose for all the operations on April 22, which is to attract the attention of the Zhong □□□ team and make the Zhong □□□ team believe that the British reinforcements launched an offensive from southern North Korea to cover the surprise attack troops in Jinzhou Bay.

The surprise attack in Jinzhou Bay will consist of the Middle East Fleet and the First Fleet of Japan, which will use its huge naval advantages to control the Yellow Sea and provide artillery fire suppression on the land shore. From five o'clock to eight o'clock on April 23, two special combat brigades of the French Legion launched a landing battle against Jinzhou. The specific attack time and landing location will be kept confidential and will not be officially announced on the day of the battle.
Chapter completed!