"If we can defeat China..."

"If we can secure the market..."

"If only we could..."

Such were the words heard in those "anti-government salons." It was as if all of Japan's problems could be solved simply by eliminating other countries and seizing their possessions.

There were too many flaws in this line of thinking for Kita Ikki to systematically critique. Putting aside the fact that these fantasies had absolutely no possibility of realization, Kita Ikki felt the most laughable thing was that these Japanese lower classes actually believed the Japanese ruling class would share the majority of the benefits with them after achieving these goals.

In the system constructed by the People's Party, they strived to turn all laborers into China's ruling class. regardless of how large the ruling class ultimately was, the benefits obtained by China were naturally shared by this massive ruling class. But as the ruled class, the Japanese lower strata could only depend on the whims of others, waiting for the ruling class to scatter some leftovers to feed them. The state is a tool of class rule; laborers who cannot become the ruling class are destined to have no future. The level of consciousness among the Japanese masses made Kita Ikki feel like a tiger trying to gnaw on a hedgehog—there was no place to sink his teeth in—when he attempted revolutionary propaganda.

Even so, whenever Kita Ikki had time, he would appear in various counter-revolutionary salons. If one wanted to mobilize the masses, one could not detach oneself from the masses. Getting his face known was also preparation before the propaganda work.

Opportunity faces everyone equally; only those who are prepared can discover it. Kita Ikki had just sat down and hadn't even had time to take a sip of his watered-down sake when he saw several young military men who were pontificating look at him with very unfriendly gazes. Drinking alone slowly, without any display of sorrow—this was a very uncommon sight in Japan.

Lifting his sake bowl, Kita Ikki smiled amiably at those young soldiers. He had no intention of taking the initiative to strike up a conversation. However, those young soldiers were unlike Kita Ikki. A young man wearing the rank of Second Lieutenant stood up, walked over to Kita Ikki, and asked loudly in a very unfriendly tone, "What have you been looking at us for?"

To make it to Second Lieutenant, one could be considered to have stepped into the lower-middle levels of the military. The Second Lieutenant wasn't old; he had learned to speak loudly in the army, but he hadn't yet reached the level of casually using violence against civilians. Kita Ikki stood up and smiled, "I was just listening to you gentlemen discuss the current situation and felt somewhat moved, that's all."

Kita Ikki didn't know if he should tell the truth. The young officer's behavior clearly showed he didn't know the cruelty of war, let alone what kind of bloody storm he would encounter if he went to the battlefield. The biggest characteristic of these half-baked types was their daring to talk big.

Seeing Kita Ikki hesitate to speak, the Second Lieutenant felt even more annoyed. "Do you think there's something wrong with what we said?"

Kita Ikki smiled. He felt that nothing the Second Lieutenant said was right. Seeing the other party was quite relentless, Kita Ikki said, "The number of Japanese troops is currently around 500,000, while the Chinese troops number 5.5 million. As far as I know, the equipment and training of the Chinese army are no inferior to the Japanese army. If war breaks out, even if the Japanese army doesn't have to fight one against ten, it will at least face three times the enemy. I don't think we would have any advantage in such a situation."

The Second Lieutenant clearly hadn't expected Kita Ikki to speak so logically. This time, it was his turn to be temporarily speechless. The last war between China and Japan had only been six or seven years ago; the Japanese army had not yet forgotten the last tragic defeat.

The other soldiers eating together were equally surprised. Although the figure of 5.5 million Chinese troops wasn't blocked information, they hadn't expected a Japanese person to be able to state this number clearly. Another Second Lieutenant had already stood up and walked over. He looked Kita Ikki up and down carefully, then asked, "May I ask for this gentleman's name?"

"I am Kita Ikki."

"...Is it Mr. Kita from Takushoku University?" the newly joined Second Lieutenant asked hurriedly.

"..." Now it was Kita Ikki's turn to be surprised. He hadn't deliberately publicized himself; he hadn't expected the other party to know about Kita Ikki leading the social investigations.

"I have a junior high classmate who is a student at Takushoku University and is currently in your social investigation group," the Second Lieutenant said excitedly. "My classmate says your learning is unfathomable, that you are a true scholar!"

For young people from ordinary backgrounds, the best path at present was to go to university or military academy. To become a commissioned officer at a young age meant they were naturally from a military academy. With a social connection, the situation that was just swords drawn and bows bent immediately turned into a warm invitation.

Kita Ikki joined the table of young soldiers. After chatting, it became clear that these young men were all from near Tokyo and would soon be transferred to be stationed in Korea. This was also why they had proposed such radical ideas regarding Korea.

Korea had already been the place of greatest casualties for the Japanese army in recent years. Guerrillas throughout Korea, especially in the north, attacked Japanese troops everywhere. In the early years, the Japanese army could still suppress these Korean guerrillas. But the guerrilla war had dragged on for five or six years, and the combat effectiveness of the Korean guerrillas grew by the day. Many of these young men's seniors from the military academy had lost their lives in Korea. The seniors who returned alive dispiritedly told their juniors that if possible, they should try their best to be assigned to the southern plains of Korea. The northern mountains were already ablaze with beacons of war; Japanese soldiers died every day. A large area of Korea backed by the Yalu River had even become the domain of the guerrillas. The Japanese army had encircled and suppressed them repeatedly, failing each time. Those Koreans appeared and disappeared unpredictably; they fought if they could win, and ran into the deep mountains and old forests if they couldn't. When chased urgently by the Japanese army, they even crossed the border into China. According to data brought back by seniors, the Japanese army now suffered thousands of combat deaths annually.

These officers were quite lucky to be assigned to Seoul. But this army stationed in Korea often had to mobilize; being stationed in Seoul didn't mean they wouldn't participate in the war in northern Korea. Because of the great unease in their hearts, the young soldiers simply proposed the view of killing all Koreans.

"Kill all Koreans?" Kita Ikki smiled bitterly. Korea had a population of over ten million at any rate. The number of Japanese troops stationed in Korea was less than 150,000. If they really wanted to kill all Koreans, the Koreans who were not yet participating in armed resistance against Japan would be forced into a desperate situation and would definitely fight for their lives. 150,000 Japanese troops facing over 15 million Koreans—the Japanese army couldn't even wipe out the guerrillas in northern Korea, let alone fighting one against a hundred.

Hearing Kita Ikki's explanation, these Second Lieutenants all fell silent. None of them had participated in war. At least in the education they received at the military academy, war was victory and glory! But the seniors who returned to the country were all depressed, showing no excitement or satisfaction from serving the country. This had already greatly stimulated everyone's psychology. Hearing Kita Ikki's completely reasonable explanation, the young men's moods became even worse.

"If it weren't for the Chinese supporting them from behind, it would be impossible for us to be fighting like this!" Second Lieutenant Miyazaki, who had originally sought to provoke Kita Ikki, said angrily.

"Korea has always been China's vassal state; how could they not support Korea?" Kita Ikki felt the young men were truly too cute.

"But Korea is already Japanese territory! It's wrong for them to do this!" Second Lieutenant Miyazaki's attitude remained indignant.

Even without Kita Ikki saying anything more, Second Lieutenant Matsushita, who had a classmate in Kita Ikki's social investigation group, said, "After China was defeated and lost Korea, they definitely want to try every means to take Korea back."

"Then we'll just fight another battle with China!" Second Lieutenant Miyazaki said loudly, as if in a fit of pique. "We could defeat China last time, and we can still defeat China this time! The school's assessment is that the Chinese need at least a two-to-one troop advantage to fight us."

Kita Ikki was almost amused by these words. However, after holding back his laughter, he realized this matter was actually not funny at all. Not only was it not funny, it could even be said to be somewhat terrifying.

Ever since the defeat in the war with China, the Japanese Army Ministry had tried its best to avoid war with China; this was a very wise choice. However, looking at it now, the Army Ministry was still doing unwise things, which was to start using lies to deceive the army.

Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles. If the army cannot face the facts but instead starts using lies to deceive its own soldiers, the result will be terrible. Soldiers who don't believe the lies will naturally lose trust in the army. And soldiers who believe the lies are even worse off; they are very likely to take irrational actions because they overestimate themselves.

Kita Ikki knew that China actually desired a war between China and Japan far more than Japan did. From a strategic perspective, once China took back Korea, it would be equivalent to pressing a dagger against Japan's waist. No matter how strong the Japanese Navy was, it could only take the nearby Korea as its primary target. In this way, the threat of the Japanese Navy, which held total superiority, to China would be greatly reduced.

Once the Japanese troops, frustrated in Korea, arrogantly believed the Army Ministry's lies and thought they could win against China, once war started, the one to suffer would definitely be Japan, not China.

Just as he didn't know how to advise them, he saw another Second Lieutenant, who hadn't spoken much the whole time, open his mouth. "You can believe the Army Ministry's words too? If their words were credible, the Korean guerrillas would have been flattened long ago!"