On the eve of the fall of Liaodong, he led his troops in a remonstrance against the young marshal.

Cabinet meeting room, Japan.

Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi sat at the head of the long table, his hands crossed on the table, his thumbs rubbing together.

He had experienced the First Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War, and the annexation of Korea in his life, and had seen countless storms, but at this moment he was rubbing his thumb twice as fast as usual.

Before him lay a telegram just sent from Fengtian, next to which lay a crumpled special edition of the Asahi Shimbun, its front page headline in extra-large lead type: "Northeast Army Sends Clear Telegram!"

Army Minister Jiro Minami was not seated.

He stood at the other end of the long table, his hands on the surface, leaning forward like an enraged wild boar.

From the day he became Minister of War, he has been advocating the "Manchurian lifeline" theory, wishing he could swallow the whole of East Asia tomorrow.

At this moment, the expression on his face was so distorted that it was almost deformed, the veins on his forehead were bulging, and a clump of white saliva was piled up at the corner of his mouth.

"This is contempt for the Empire!"

Nanjiro slammed his hand on the table, causing the teacup in front of Inukai Tsuyoshi to jump.

"We haven't even investigated their crimes of massacring our citizens, nor have we investigated their crimes of annihilating two regiments, and yet they've already sent a declaration of war to the whole world!"

"This is turning the tables! This is like shitting on the empire's neck! Who gave them the guts? Who gave them the guts?!"

He grabbed the telegram in front of him and shook it in his hand.

"Zhang Xueliang! That good-for-nothing son of Zhang Zuolin!"

"The entire intelligence network of the Kwantung Army considered him a coward! A piece of trash! But what about now?"

"Now this coward has actually dared to attack the Empire!"

He slammed the telegram on the table, turned to face the huge map of East Asia on the wall, and poked his finger at the location of Fengtian, making the map rustle.

"There's only one explanation: this coward has someone backing him up! Nanjing! The Chairman!"

"The chairman must have given him some promise, otherwise he would never dare to be so arrogant!"

Foreign Minister Kijuro Shidehara sat opposite Minami Jiro, his arms crossed over his chest, his brow furrowed.

He was a veteran diplomat who consistently advocated for the gradual annexation of Manchuria through economic infiltration and diplomatic pressure, rather than direct military action.

But at this moment he did not refute Nanjiro's words.

The telegram was broadcast to the world in plaintext, meaning that all countries received it simultaneously.

Even if the empire wanted to engage in diplomatic maneuvering and portray the Mukden Incident as a local conflict, it was already impossible.

The other party has already blocked the door.

"Gentlemen."

Admiral Mineo Ōsumi, the Minister of the Navy, slowly stood up.

He was dressed in a pristine white naval uniform, with the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun, First Class, pinned to his chest, and his hair was neatly combed.

"This is not a diplomatic dispute, this is war."

"In their telegram, the Northeast Army described the Empire as an aggressor and their resistance as a just war."

"This message has been broadcast all over the world."

"If we don't respond with the strongest possible response, the Empire will lose all face on the international stage."

"All countries would feel that the dignity of the empire can be arbitrarily humiliated, and the Chinese in Manchuria would feel that the empire is weak and easy to bully. This precedent must not be set."

He paused, turned to face Inukai Tsuyoshi, and lowered his voice slightly: "I suggest that we immediately order the Combined Fleet to launch carrier-based aircraft to carry out retaliatory bombing of Fengtian."

"The Northeast Army headquarters on the city wall of Fengtian, the barracks of Beidaying, and the Fengtian arsenal were all listed as bombing targets."

"We must let Zhang Xueliang see with his own eyes what the consequences are for offending the empire."

"Let the entire city of Fengtian burn in flames for three days and three nights, and let the Northeast Army tremble at the sound of airplane engines from now on!"

"I agree!"

Minami Jiro whirled around, "Not only must we bomb Fengtian! The army must also act immediately!"

"The 19th Division stationed in North Korea is already assembling towards the Yalu River, and the 20th Division has also completed its combat readiness mobilization."

"I request the Cabinet's immediate approval to allow both divisions to cross the river and advance at full speed towards Fengtian along the Anfeng Railway!"

「同时国内的第3师团、第4师团、第5师团、第6师团即刻进入一级战备状态，48小时内从门司港登船渡海！」

"We will use overwhelming force to crush Fengtian into dust before the Northeast Army completes its full assembly!"

"Crush the backbone of the Northeast Army, section by section!"

Lieutenant General Yamasugi Gen, the Deputy Chief of Staff, sat at the end of the table, remaining silent throughout.

In front of him lay a thin intelligence document, its cover stamped with a red "Top Secret" seal.

He read this document over and over again, no less than ten times, and every time he read it, his temples throbbed.

The document was sent urgently by the Kwantung Army's intelligence section, and the title consisted of only one line.

"Intelligence Assessment Regarding the Change of Actual Command of the Northeast Army!"

The report's core conclusions had been weighing his options over the past few hours, leaving him unsure whether to disclose them at the meeting.

But seeing Nanjiro and Osumi Mineo getting more and more excited, he knew that if he didn't speak up now, it would be too late.

Gentlemen.

Yamasugi Gen stood up, holding the intelligence document in his hand. "Before making a final decision, I hope you will read this intelligence document first."

He opened the file and pushed it to the center of the table.

Nanjiro frowned as he walked over and glanced down at the object.

Ōsumi also came over to take a look.

"The Kwantung Army's intelligence department discovered that Zhang Xueliang had been taken hostage by his younger brother, Zhang Xueming."

"At the Northeast Military and Political Conference yesterday afternoon, Zhang Xueming publicly executed Zhang Jinghui, who advocated negotiating with the Empire, and then used force to coerce all attendees into expressing their support."

"Zhang Xueliang himself never agreed to declare war from beginning to end, but he had already lost actual control of the Northeast Army."

The conference room was silent for a full five seconds.

"Zhang Xueming?"

Nanjiro's voice sounded like it was being forced out of his throat, "Zhang Zuolin's second son?"

"How old is he? Twenty-five? Twenty-six? A little brat who hasn't even grown his first hair, yet he dares to kidnap his brother? Dares to execute Zhang Jinghui?"

"It's him."

Yamasugi Gen turned to the second page of the document, "The Kwantung Army Intelligence Section confirmed that the execution order for the expatriates on the Fengtian city wall was personally issued by him."

"This person has effectively taken control of all the Northeast Army troops around Fengtian."

Nanjiro slowly turned around, facing the map, with his hands behind his back, his fingers clenched tightly together, his knuckles making a soft cracking sound.

"Zhang Xueming".

He repeated the name as if he wanted to chew and swallow each word, "A mere brat who killed two of my regiments, beheaded over a thousand of my expatriates, and then sent telegrams to the world condemning me as an invader?"

His voice suddenly rose, turning into a roar.

"What gives him the right? What on earth gives him the right?!"

Ōkaku Mineo spoke coldly:

"Regardless of his reasons, the facts are now clear."

"The enemy the empire faced was not that coward Zhang Xueliang, but a desperate man ten times more ferocious and ten times more insane than Zhang Xueliang."

"If we cannot crush him as quickly as possible, he will become a banner for all of China, and more and more outlaws will follow his example."

"By then, the foundations of the empire's rule in Manchuria will be uprooted."

He turned to face Inukai Tsuyoshi and said, "Your Excellency the Prime Minister, I request immediate approval for retaliatory bombing of Mukden."

"The aircraft carriers Akagi and Kaga of the 1st Carrier Division are on standby off the coast of Port Arthur. All Type 96 carrier-based attack aircraft on board are fully armed and ready to take off at any time."

"The distance from Lushun to Fengtian is less than 400 kilometers, which is fully covered by the carrier-based aircraft's full-load range."

"With just one order, Fengtian City can be turned into a sea of ​​fire within two hours."

Inukai Tsuyoshi did not answer immediately.

He placed his hands on the table, rubbing his thumbs together, his cloudy old eyes staring at the Asahi Shimbun extra edition in front of him.

Besides the words "Declaration of War," the extra edition also featured a blurry photograph.

It was a photo of a female student waving goodbye on the platform of Beiping Railway Station. The caption below the photo was smudged by tea, but Inukai Tsuyoshi had seen the photo before and knew what the caption said.

She is going to Fengtian to support Fengtian. She is nineteen years old this year.

A nineteen-year-old girl, wearing a thin cotton robe, rushed to the front line in the freezing cold.

They weren't after promotions and fortunes, nor were they after official positions and privileges for their families; they simply wanted to fight against the Japanese invasion. How many people like this are left in this country?

Inukai Tsuyoshi slowly closed his eyes.

He is 82 years old this year and has been in politics for more than half a century. He has never been an indecisive person.

But at this moment he hesitated.

He recalled that he was forty-five years old during the First Sino-Japanese War. The whole country was in an uproar, and everyone was shouting for a decisive victory over the Qing Dynasty. In the end, the empire won the gamble and obtained Taiwan and two hundred million taels of silver.

He was fifty-six years old during the Russo-Japanese War, and the empire won its gamble again, taking over the South Manchurian Railway and the Port Arthur leased territory.

With each successful gamble, the empire's appetite grew even larger.

The empire's appetite has now grown so large that it wants to swallow up the entire Manchuria, the entire China, and the entire East Asia.

Can you really swallow that bite?

"Gentlemen."

Inukai Tsuyoshi opened his eyes. "Before making a final decision, I have a question to ask."

Everyone turned to look at him.

"This Zhang Xueming,"

Inukai Tsuyoshi tapped the table lightly with his fingers. "Is he really alone? Is there really a Nanjing government behind him?"