Chapter 160: The Gloomy Japanese Diet!
For three consecutive hours, Toukou Heijou had been tightly furrowing his brow, his gaze locked onto the military power investigation report of Jade Island in his hand.
After a long time, all the anxiety on his face transformed into a long sigh.
After carefully comparing the fleet power in his hand with the military power of Jade Island and considering all possible consequences, Toukou Heijou finally arrived at an almost unacceptable conclusion.
However, the fact remained, and he had no choice but to accept it.
With a slightly anxious heart, Toukou Heijou picked up the communicator beside him and connected with the Prime Minister of Japan.
After reporting his final conclusion to the Prime Minister who had promoted him, the other side fell into a long silence.
...
A day later.
In Tokyo, in the National Assembly Hall.
A secret meeting was held here by political circles and a few military figures from Japan to discuss how to deal with the current standoff incident.
At the start of the meeting, representatives of the hawks and doves once again began a lengthy debate, just like in previous meetings, with seemingly no intention of compromise.
Especially the hawkish parliament members, who had strong intentions for the decision to send troops to Jade Island.
In fact, over the recent days, hawkish representatives had not only been lobbying across political and military circles but also privately inciting the public, spreading the theory of Jade Island's threat, aiming to escalate the situation.
Therefore, even at what was considered the final decisive meeting, they were unwilling to make any compromise, and their attitude was very firm.
Halfway through the meeting, when it seemed like they would part on bad terms again, the Prime Minister of Japan, who was seated at the head, slightly furrowed his brow and looked towards the silent Toukou Heijou, giving him a signal.
Seeing the Prime Minister's signal, Toukou Heijou realized it was time for him to step forward.
Thus, under the surprised gazes of the attending parliament members, Toukou Heijou took out several documents and distributed them to the high-ranking officials from the political and military circles, indicating that they should read them carefully.
What followed was a long wait.
The high-ranking officials present carefully examined the documents they received, but to everyone's surprise, this examination led to a long silence, as if the entire conference venue had frozen.
Everyone's attention was deeply captured by the content of the documents, and they could hardly look away.
The content of this confidential document was precisely the military power report of Jade Island!
After a long while.
"This... this can't be possible... how could this..."
A well-known elderly parliamentarian with a mustache, trembling slightly, pointed at the contents of the document, his eyes full of disbelief as he spoke.
At this moment, he was so agitated that he could barely speak clearly.
Clearly, the military power report on Jade Island shocked him greatly.
"Baka, how could Jade Island possess such a powerful military force, this is simply nonsense, utter nonsense!" Another famous hawkish figure exclaimed angrily, slamming the document hard on the table.
"Mr. Aida, this investigation report was collected by the Defense Agency Intelligence Headquarters, and it's certainly not arbitrarily falsified, so please, Mr. Aida, treat it with caution,"
said Toukou Heijou solemnly, looking at the agitated Aida Kaneyo beside him.
For these almost mindless hawkish figures, Toukou Heijou had a strong feeling of annoyance in his heart, but he had no choice. His eastern actions over the years still greatly needed the support of these people, so he didn't dare directly oppose them and could only reply in a persuading tone.
"General Tōgō, under your command is the strongest fleet of our Great Japan Empire. In your view, what do you think are our chances of victory if we go to war with Jade Island's fleet?"
At this time, another seasoned hawkish leader asked Toukou Heijou.
Compared to other hawkish figures, this leader was clearly more clear-headed, realizing that now was not the time for blind doubts but to first understand the strength comparison between both sides.
"Fifty percent!"
Toukou Heijou replied without hesitation.
On this matter, Toukou Heijou had already thought about it for a long time in his heart, so there was nothing more to consider, and he directly stated the conclusion he had long set.
"Boom!"
As soon as Toukou Heijou's words fell, the entire conference hall was stirred into an uproar.
When they initially read the Jade Island military power investigation report, although shocked, they still held some doubt, so their reactions weren't overly excessive.
However, when the most capable commander of the Japanese fleet expressed the same conclusion, they could no longer remain calm!
Because this most likely indicated that they stood a very real chance of being unable to conquer the long-dismissed Jade Island.
"How could this be possible? Jade Island has only been presented to the world for a mere two years, could it be that this Isle Master Jiang indeed possesses such extraordinary abilities to craft such a powerful fleet in such a short time?"
"Indeed, this is incredibly unbelievable!"
"So what do we do now? Our warships are already in a standoff with theirs."
"For the dignified Great Japan Empire to be unable to conquer a small island is truly embarrassing!"
"If this incident cannot hold Jade Island accountable, Japan will truly be disgraced before the world!"
...
In an instant, various parliament members in the conference room began expressing their views.
On everyone's face, there was a strong sense of melancholy.
Clearly, this result was simply unacceptable, yet, due to the opponent's formidable strength, an immediate retaliatory decision couldn't be made.
Faced with the lively discussion in the room and the oppressive atmosphere, the Prime Minister and Toukou Heijou, seated at the head, could only exchange a powerless glance, realizing there was no solution at hand.
Yet, the meeting still had to continue, and ultimately, they had to come up with a final countermeasure.
...
This highest-level military and political meeting, after nearly seven hours, finally concluded,
After the meeting ended, when the conference room doors opened, all the high-ranking leaders who attended the meeting walked out one by one like eggplants that had been frostbitten.
The expressions on everyone's faces were extremely unpleasant.
And finally, when Toukou Heijou walked out of the meeting hall last, holding the final decision report in his hand, he felt that the report was incredibly heavy, almost too burdensome to bear.