"That's natural. They have killed so many politicians. There must be some changes. The army will also face a major purge, and the members of the Imperial Faction will basically be expelled from the army." Kenta said.
"No way. Most of the middle and lower-level officers in the Japanese army have imperial ideas. If they are all expelled from the army, it may cause greater turmoil." Lu Ming said.
"I'm referring to the imperial figures at the top of the army. As for the middle- and lower-level officers, as long as they don't have the support of the top, they can't make trouble even if they want to. You have to know that this mutiny was precisely because of the secret support and support from the top.
Only with connivance do they dare to do this." Qiantian said with a smile.
Lu Ming nodded. The Japanese army's "culprits" in the Japanese army were not blind. In fact, this situation only occurred due to hints from the higher-ups. The higher-ups also did this to confuse the public.
Lu Ming has always believed that there was a mastermind behind the "September 18th Incident". The Japanese government insisted that it was an unauthorized act by middle- and lower-level officers of the Kwantung Army and went against the wishes of the military. This is a complete lie.
The Kwantung Army did not have many troops stationed in the Northeast at that time, but they were ready to mobilize defenses at any time.
Besides, if it was really the middle and lower-level officers who violated the wishes of the military, the Kwantung Army that occupied the Northeast could have withdrawn. In fact, not only did they not withdraw, but they further expanded crazily and soon occupied the entire Northeast.
It can be concluded that the "September 18th Incident" was by no means an accident, but a long-planned strategic act.
Japan's so-called "lower class offends the superior", where middle- and lower-level officers make their own decisions, does happen under normal circumstances, but it is absolutely impossible in major incidents.
Although most of the members of the Imperial Society are middle- and lower-level officers, there are also many people in the upper echelons of the military who admire the ideology of the Imperial Society. This is a complex group.
Famous figures in the Imperial School include: former Army Minister Sadao Araki, former Director of Education Jinzaburo Masaki, and the commander of the First Division, Yanagawa Heisuke, are among them.
The cause of this mutiny was precisely because the ruling faction used their own power to vigorously attack members of the Imperial faction. They transferred the commander of the First Division, Yanagawa Heisuke, to Taiwan as the commander of the garrison, and the First Division was transferred to Northeast China.
Regional operations.
The First Division is the ace guard in the Japanese army. They have been stationed in Tokyo for thirty years. They are also the first standing divisions established after the Meiji Restoration. There are only seventeen divisions in Japan now.
Yanagawa Heisuke was stationed in Tokyo, which was indeed a very important position, making the ruling faction uneasy.
Of course, the Japanese army's reserve system is very complete. As long as they want to expand their army, they can almost expand the army to dozens of divisions in the shortest possible time, and the combat effectiveness of the army will not drop much.
Reducing the number of standing divisions is also to save military expenses. After all, Japan is currently suffering from an economic crisis, and on the other hand, it must speed up the construction of large battleships. These large battleships and aircraft carriers are the real gold-swallowing beasts.
The First Division is the stronghold of the Emperor's School of thought. It is said that the Emperor also hates the thoughts and members of the Emperor's School. Although the purpose of the Emperor's School is to be infinitely loyal to the Emperor, it advocates that all rights belong to the Emperor and that all powers given to the bureaucrats should be taken back.
etc.
Naturally, the ruling faction regarded the First Division as a thorn in their side, so they wanted to transfer them out of Tokyo and exile them to the Northeast. This suddenly aroused a strong backlash from the members of the Imperial Faction in the First Division, which led to the mutiny.
It can also be said that this mutiny was a decisive battle between the Kodō faction and the Tōtō faction. The Kodō faction wanted to make political demands to the emperor through the mutiny, asking the Emperor to re-employ members of the Kōdō faction and demote senior members of the Tōtō faction.
As a result, the emperor ordered the capture of the rebels, and the Kodō faction's mutiny lost the support of the supreme commander and soon failed.
"You also know that generally speaking, the emperor cannot express his position clearly on political events. He usually adopts a hint approach, but why did the emperor adopt an unconcerned attitude towards the mutiny this time? That's because the highest supporter of the Emperor's Dao Sect is
The emperor's younger brother, Prince Yonghito, took a train to Tokyo on the day the mutiny occurred." Kenta said in a low voice.
"Oh, that's it. It involves different opinions within the palace, so it's complicated."
Of course, Lu Ming knew that the palace was always a non-stop place. In ancient China, there were few dynasties that lived smoothly.
"Prince Yonghito is inclined to the ideas of the Kodo Sect, and therefore disagrees with the emperor's political views. Members of the Kodo Sect once publicly threatened that Prince Yonghito was their leader, so as soon as Prince Yonghito arrived at Tokyo Station, he was held hostage by a large number of military police.
Taken to the palace and put under house arrest, what the emperor fears most is that members of the Imperial Sect openly support Prince Yongren, in which case the mutiny will turn into a palace coup." Kenta said with some lingering fears.
Lu Ming was shocked. He really didn't know what was going on. This was the real inside information.
The intelligence he received did not include any plot that Prince Yongren participated in the mutiny. Of course, according to Qiantian, it cannot be said that Prince Yongren participated in the mutiny.
But when the mutiny happened, he eagerly took the train to Tokyo to join the rebel troops. This was Sima Zhao's intention, and it was obvious.
In the history of Japan, it is common for imperial families to kill their fathers and brothers in order to usurp the throne. It is nothing new.
Since the Meiji Restoration, the situation has changed. The emperor has firmly controlled the military power, and usurpation of the throne has never happened again.
"The essence of this mutiny is different from what is seen from the outside. Although the political demands of the members of the Imperial Faction are to support and be loyal to the Emperor, the Emperor still ruthlessly orders a resolute suppression of them because His Majesty the Emperor knows that they support and support peace.
The one who is loyal is not himself, but Prince Yongren." Qiantian looked around and said.
"Do the rebels have the ambition to support Prince Yongren as emperor?" Lu Ming was also curious. Palace dramas are always mysterious and exciting.
"If you look at the high-ranking officials killed by the rebels, you will understand what is going on. They are basically the emperor's most trusted ministers. Even the emperor's captain of the bodyguard was killed. This shows that they are cutting off the emperor's wings.
This is a replica of the standard Chinese Qing Jun side." Qian Tian said with a meaningful smile.
This is indeed like a palace coup, but the taste is completely wrong and out of shape.
According to Lu Ming's idea, if it was really a palace coup, the rebels should first occupy not the Army Ministry and the General Staff Headquarters, but other key departments, but capture the palace.
Holding the emperor hostage to order the princes, this is the standard Chinese version of the Qing emperor.
Could it be that these Japanese officers did not learn Chinese history well and misled the Qing emperor? In the end, it turned into a nondescript military mutiny.
Regardless of whether the rebels intended to establish a new emperor, the Japanese navy had already taken precautions. They sent marines ashore to try to pick up the emperor on a warship to prevent him from being kidnapped by the rebels, but they did not get the emperor's approval.
Lu Ming felt that it was unlikely that the rebels would stage a palace coup, but it was clear that they wanted to use the royal influence to change the status quo and give them a sigh of relief.
The rank of these officers was too low, and they only made political demands to the Emperor through mutiny, because they had no other channels to approach the Emperor, let alone make political demands to the Emperor.
However, if Prince Yongren joins the rebels after arriving in Tokyo, then the nature of the mutiny will change and it is likely to turn into a palace coup or even trigger a civil war.
Of course, this is just Lu Ming's idea. Qiantian was born in a noble family and may have a higher-level intelligence source and know some behind-the-scenes information that outsiders don't know.
"Kenta-kun, have you ever thought about whether this mutiny will ferment and cause greater conflicts, especially between China and Japan?" Lu Ming asked.
Lu Ming's research on this mutiny was ultimately for this purpose. He always had an ominous premonition that this mutiny would not be a good thing for Japan or China.
"Mutiny is definitely not a good thing, but I have never thought about whether it will trigger conflicts between China and Japan. Why do you think so?" Qian Tian thought for a while and asked.
"I feel that this mutiny is not only a decisive battle between the ruling faction and the emperor's faction, but also shows that Japan's domestic problems have reached a point where they cannot be alleviated. In this way, there will be two results, positive and negative..."
Lu Ming said gloomily.
"What's right and what's wrong, Lu Sang, please tell me." Qian Tian paused and asked.
"On the positive side, it is possible to stop exerting pressure on China and concentrate all energy on solving domestic problems; on the contrary, it is the opposite result, transferring domestic problems to foreign countries and easing and covering up domestic conflicts by launching aggressive wars."
Lu Ming had already had this idea in his mind. He certainly believed that the probability of the latter situation was much greater than the former, although that was the outcome he least wanted to see.