Could Yonai prevent war by prosecuting the officers?

Could Yonai offer an olive branch by prosecuting the officers who opened fire?

He might try, but the number and political connections of the implicated officers would make a face-saving prosecution extremely difficult.

Yonai had disciplined an officer after an attack on Americans and might seek a similar political escape from the Tsingtao crisis. This case would require sacrificing far more than one captain: the cruiser commanders, their admiral, shore authorities, customs officials, and possibly army figures could all be implicated. Those men belonged to powerful factions backed by senior naval leaders and Prince Fushimi. Prosecuting the entire chain was therefore much less plausible than punishing an isolated officer after an accident.