In Tokyo, upon receiving news that Austria had intervened in Philippine affairs, Emperor Meiji convened an Imperial Conference overnight.
It could not be helped—this was the deterrent power of a top-tier Great Power. Like most ordinary people of this era, Emperor Meiji suffered from a fear of foreigners.
Challenging Spain alone already made Emperor Meiji deeply uneasy. Add Austria to the mix, and life would truly become impossible.
Though the southward strategy had unfolded very smoothly this time, with the Spaniards proving even more useless than expected, and the Japanese army occupying nearly half the Philippines in just over a month—a truly brilliant victory—this was only the surface of things.
The Japanese army's triumphant advance had merely caught Spain off guard. Fundamentally, Spain's overall strength still surpassed Japan's.
No matter how remarkable the Meiji Restoration had been, it had developed for only a little over twenty years; it could not compare with the century-long accumulation of an old empire.
Of course, since it dared to become a challenger, the Japanese Government had advantages of its own: closer proximity to the homeland, stronger troop combat power, and higher morale.
Military superiority did not mean all was well. As the first nation to challenge a white country, Japan was at a complete disadvantage politically and diplomatically.
Fighting alone would have been one thing, but the crucial point was that it did not even have a single voice speaking up for it. It was even more isolated than France; Spain, by contrast, had at least won the sympathy of the European world.
Intervention by the Great Powers had thus become the greatest risk of this southward push. Upon discovering Austria's unusual movement, Emperor Meiji did not dare lower his guard, even if it seemed like a trivial matter.
Hirobumi Ito analyzed, "Your Majesty,