"Prime Minister, gentlemen, after defeating the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Germany—the Empire's mortal enemy—has grown even stronger. Now, their Pacific Fleet has officially entered Lion City, and their warships have begun cruising the Western Pacific. German warships have even been sighted along the Empire's coastline. This is unquestionably an enormous threat to the Empire," Navy Minister Admiral Katō Tomosaburō said at the Cabinet meeting.
Prime Minister Masatake Terauchi and the senior officials of the Island Nation's Cabinet all wore grave expressions. The German blow against the Island Nation still remained fresh in everyone's memory. The fall of Okuma Shigenobu's previous Cabinet was undoubtedly inseparable from that.
"The Germans are now the world's overlords. Everyone knows how powerful they are. Who knows when the Empire will be able to take its revenge?" Masatake Terauchi sighed.
The other Cabinet Ministers nodded repeatedly. Mighty Germany was like a great mountain pressing down upon their heads, leaving them almost unable to breathe.
"Prime Minister, gentlemen, Germany is indeed powerful. But Germany's principal enemy is not the Empire—it is the United States across the ocean. Therefore, even if we go to war with Germany, we will not be facing the Germans' main force. What we must deal with should be the German Pacific Fleet, with the Indian Ocean Fleet added at most. If we make a greater effort, it is not as though we lack the strength to deal with them," Admiral Katō Tomosaburō continued. He did not mention the Mediterranean Fleet, or these senior Cabinet officials would surely have been driven into even deeper despair.
"Katō, even the German Pacific Fleet and Indian Ocean Fleet alone will probably be difficult to handle, won't they?" Masatake Terauchi said.
"Yes, Prime Minister. But we must have the courage and confidence to chase after them with all our strength.