"Shiretoko Peninsula hit by bombs"
This news caused great uproar at Imperial Headquarters.
The Army arrived at the scene and put the area on high alert.
An object believed to be an unexploded torpedo was recovered from the scene, and upon detailed analysis it was determined to be a torpedo intended for Soviet submarines.
"This must be the work of the Soviets! Wake up the Soviet ambassador!"
Under the armistice agreement with the Soviet Union, the military was to withdraw to Manchuria, with some of its troops being used to fight against the United States.
Troops that had already reached the Korean Peninsula immediately turned back, and the area around the border became a powder keg that could explode with just one bullet.
-Embassy of the Soviet Union-
"Recently, your country's military forces attacked a fishing port on the Shiretoko Peninsula in Hokkaido. Your country has signed a ceasefire agreement, but are you planning to break it?"
the Foreign Minister asked, suppressing his anger.
"What are you talking about? At least, we in the Navy have no recollection of this."
The Soviet ambassador tilted his head as if he was hearing this for the first time.
"I see. Then please take a look at this document. This is the torpedo that was recovered at that fishing port the other day. Is this the torpedo carried by your country's submarine?"
Even when presented with irrefutable evidence, the Soviet ambassador's attitude did not change.
"It is true that this torpedo belongs to our Navy. But do you have any evidence that our Navy fired this torpedo?"
Even if that's the case, there's no evidence of that.
The ambassador continued:
"Could it be that this, no, this too was staged by you guys?"
"What are you talking about?! Where is an army that would kill its own people?!"
"But has your country forgotten its foolish deeds in Manchuria?"
"They blew up the railroad tracks, blamed it on China, and then unilaterally invaded and established a new country. Isn't it strange to ask us to believe what a country like that says?"
"There's no point in talking any further," the minister thought, slammed the documents on the table and left the embassy.
-Imperial Headquarters-
"There is no doubt that this was the work of the Soviet Union! If we do not launch an immediate retaliatory attack, it will threaten the prestige of our country!"
"That is what the Soviet Union is aiming at! They will get us to make a move, and then they will use that as an excuse to start a war, labeling Japan as a 'bad country that unilaterally broke the treaty,' and they will call out to the whole world to attack us!!"
"I'll contact the Japanese embassy in Moscow and talk to the minister there directly!!"
"It's useless! Now that there is no evidence, they will just pretend they didn't know anything about it."
War with the Soviet Union may be imminent.