Richthofen and other senior executives of German HNA and companies such as Heinkel and Junker did not think that the aircraft of Japanese HNA would be very powerful, but in view of the benefits that Messerschmitt had gained in the improvement of Zero Battle, they still took it and tried it with suspicion, and as a result, they were very surprised when they looked at the technical indicators of Tianshan and Comet, because the two indicators far exceeded the improvements that the German Navy was preparing to improve on the basis of Stukka. In particular, the use of Aichi AE1A Atsuta engine (Japanese copycat version of the DB-601 engine) comet ship explosion made the Heinkel company feel a familiar sense of disobedience, because the comet is improved on the basis of the company's He-118 dive bomber, when competing for the German dive bomber project, He-118 was valued by the Air Force senior General Udet who was responsible for the selection because of its more advanced technical indicators than Stuka, and was once designated as a new generation model. Who knew that the He-118 was unstable due to too advanced technology, and the He-118 piloted by Udet disintegrated in the air during the model selection verification meeting, but fortunately the German dive bomber became the world of Stuka since then, and the Heinkel company later sold the design of the He-118 to Japan. Now that he saw the results of the flowers blooming in the wall and the incense outside the wall, he immediately jumped out and said that I had taken care of the comet's improvement, and the old rival Junker Company, of course, could not choose Henkel's "Japanese bastard", so he took over the work of improving Tianshan.

When the news of the complete victory in the South Pacific campaign reached Tokyo, the top brass of the army and navy cheered and was full of enthusiasm at the meeting on the follow-up operations, but there were also a lot of discordant voices. There are disagreements on the next strategic direction. The first is a re-examination of the so-called Indian Ocean strategy, and the second is about the withdrawal of troops from the Chinese side. In order to calm down this discussion, the eight high-level leaders of the army and navy, the prime minister, the Tibetan minister, and the foreign minister can only sit down again to discuss.

"The question of the Indian Ocean Raiders cannot be shaken." Admiral Minister Isoroku Yamamoto was the first to make a statement. "I know that there is a lot of opposition within the Navy to the withdrawal of troops from the Nanyang Islands, and there are also people who advocate seizing the opportunity of the weakened US Navy to further attack Australia and New Zealand, which is completely impossible. It can be seen from the Battle of Kuah Island that the US garrison has strong firepower, high combat power, and the cooperation of mecha forces, and our army is not an opponent at all with the same number of people, and there are too many people to guarantee logistics and materials. Although the U.S. Navy has suffered setbacks, it still has a large number of rich troops at home. It only takes one month to be transferred, and this one-month gap is not enough to play Australia and New Zealand. ”

This is understood by everyone, in order to shell the airport of Kuah. The Combined Fleet used its main artillery to bombard all night, and the ammunition that was poured out took months to produce, but fortunately it was part of Horikichi's overall strategy, if only to suppress the firepower on Kuah Island. This is a completely loss-making business (I don't know if the Americans will be heartbroken after hearing it). Therefore, the march to Australia and New Zealand is completely hot-headed by middle- and lower-ranking officers, and there is no market at the top level, but the resistance to the withdrawal of troops from China is much greater, and not only is there a large number of middle- and lower-level officers who are resolutely opposed, but there are also many people who oppose it at the general level -- General Yan Junliu, commander of the Chinese Dispatch Army, has always held a restrictive stance, but he is unable to stop others from expressing how much resistance there is. He also sent a telegram to Ishihara, clearly listing the opponents within the dispatch army.

So Ishihara sighed bitterly at the meeting. On the one hand, he said that he was determined to withdraw and shrink, and on the other hand, he said that he did not know how to start, and the Tibetan minister complained that the Chinese battlefield consumed too much military spending, and although it was not over in 1942, it was estimated that the military expenditure would exceed 18.5 billion yen, equivalent to more than 75% of Japan's national expenditure, and the Chinese battlefield accounted for 60% of it. But it is likely to be defeated financially. ”

Everyone had just rejoiced in the victory of the Great Battle and was full of confidence in the follow-up Indian Ocean strategy, and when they heard the complaints, their hearts suddenly sank, Prime Minister Ugaki Issei planned to play a round to relieve pressure in all aspects, but he didn't expect that he had just stood up and had no time to speak, and an inexplicable scene appeared that surprised everyone: Admiral Minister Yamamoto Fifty-six suddenly stood up angrily and scolded Vice President Toyoda of the Military Command Department: "The affairs of the Navy will be destroyed on you red deer who don't know how to advance or retreat...... While speaking, he still felt puzzled, and stretched out his hand to "pop" and slapped Toyota's vice martial arts twice, the latter was probably stunned, covering his face for a long time and not daring to move, unable to say a word. After beating people, Yamamoto Fifty-six didn't say much, only nodded slightly at Ugaki Kazunari and left, and then Inoue Narumi followed angrily. Deputy Toyoda, who was beaten, didn't want to stay at the scene and be embarrassed, so he left after a while, and the meeting could only end up unhappily with the wry smiles of others.

Everyone was in a fog and didn't know what to do, and after asking the reason afterwards, everyone was surprised: at the meeting, the deputy head of the military command department, Toyoda Deputy Takedu, muttered to the head of the military command department, Fushimi Miyahiro Kyoshi, who was dissatisfied with Hori Yiji, not only because he consumed a lot of planes (he would rather run out of fuel to let the pilot parachute if he didn't let him return to refuel), but also said that he didn't cherish the general flagship, and insisted on taking the Yamato charge, and finally suggested that Musashi could not be given to him in this operation, and that it would be okay to have Ise and Hyuga.

Originally, it was okay to mutter in private, but these words were heard by Yamamoto Fifty-six, who already had great opinions on Toyota's vice-martial arts (Yamamoto repeatedly said that two Toyotas in the navy must not be available, one refers to Toyota's vice-takeshi, and the other is an "official fan" Toyota Sadajiro), and now when he heard the other party make such a big statement, he couldn't suppress his anger and burst into a rage. Yamamoto's military rank is higher than that of Toyota's deputy martial arts, and his qualifications are deeper than him, and the latter did not dare to fight back in the end, but the Minister of the Navy beating the deputy director of the military order department is always an unprecedented big event, involving the coordination of military and political affairs and military orders, plus so many pairs of eyes staring at the scene of the beating, the news inevitably spread.

The generals of the army initially thought that the navy would definitely settle the matter, and Admiral Yamamoto might apologize in private, but the development of the situation was completely beyond their expectations: there were many people who supported Yamamoto in this matter, and in the eyes of many people, Yamamoto won Pearl Harbor, and Horiyoshi, who was guaranteed by Yamamoto, won the Battle of the South Pacific.

Originally, the news was still circulating among the top military and political leaders in Tokyo, but somehow the news spread that the Military Command Department refused to transfer Musashi to the front line, including Kondo Nobutake, Shimizu Mitsumi and a large number of fleet backbones on the front line were anxious, and hurriedly sent a telegram to Tokyo to scold, fully supporting Hori Yoshi's approach, I don't think how about taking Yamato to attack, the wounded Yamato is at least better than the "Yamato Hotel", as for Musashi, it must be used if it is made well, and now the Indian Ocean strategy is a battle of national fortunes, and it will be moldy without Musashi? The turmoil became bigger and bigger, and in the end, even Hirohito began to pay attention to this matter, so the fate of Vice Toyoda was soon sealed, and on the third day, he was ordered to transfer to the reserve, and at the same time, an order was issued to promote Horikichi to admiral, and the deputy chief of the military command department was replaced by Koga Mineichi.

The whole incident is known as the Navy A Incident (also known as the Toyota Incident). Of course, everyone is a high-level elite, and no one will simply regard Yamamoto's lesson Toyota as a personal grudge between the two, which is entirely due to the incompatibility between the military and the government and the military order after the imperial military order, and the situation of the army is slightly better than that of the navy, because the chief of staff, Minoru Higashikurenomiya, listens to Ishihara Waner, and Ishihara Waner has a close relationship with the Minister of the Army, Tadajun, and the performance of the army vice minister Shimomura is also very low-key, so the four giants of the army maintain a harmonious atmosphere on their faces.

However, unlike the line of the Japanese Navy's middle- and lower-ranking officers, who supported Yamamoto and Horiyoshi, there has always been a lot of resistance within the army to the shrinkage of the South Seas and the withdrawal of Chinese troops. Yan Shunroku himself was in favor of shrinkage, and although the strength and intensity of the contraction were not exactly the same as Ishihara's thoughts, he felt that he couldn't control the generals below, so he made the move to submit the list - he was originally trying to show Tokyo how serious the resistance below was, but the situation developed to a level that he did not expect at all.

If it was the previous Ishihara Wan'er, maybe he still had the patience to do the ideological work of the red deer on the list, but under the stimulation of the navy's great victory and the Toyota incident, his methods also became intense, based on the list of Yan Junliu, on November 9, the Ministry of War issued an order to transfer 3 lieutenant generals, 7 major generals, 14 major generals, and Zhongzuo into the reserve, all of which were figures in the Chinese army who opposed the withdrawal of troops, known as the Army A incident (also known as Tada Adjudicator, Tada Jun cried, I was used as a gun). This provoked a strong backlash from the Chinese troops, but Ishihara was tougher than them, telling them that if they did not withdraw their troops, all the arms and materials to the Chinese troops would be withheld next month, which hit the heart of the dispatch troops. Due to the strong support and dredging of the chief of staff, King Minoru Higashikurenomiya, the personnel adjustment plan was finally determined.

However, Hyakutake Haruyoshi, who had opposed the withdrawal of troops in the past, was probably frightened by the tragic situation on Kuah Island, and this time he became an advocate and supporter of active adjustment, so the structure of the 17th Army was restored and became the main force of India's war, and the divisions drawn from the 18th Army and the three divisions drawn from the Chinese battlefield will become the scheduled Indian troops. However, it will take some time for the army to attack India, at least the navy can only send the army units over after opening the Indian Ocean shipping route and gaining sea control in the Indian Ocean, so Ishihara still has a chance to improve the dispatch force.

At this point, everyone understands that Ishihara has gambled everything on his own, and his political life has been completely linked to the Indian Ocean Raiders, and once there are twists and turns, it will be completely shattered.

Note: I know that everyone is in a hurry, so these two chapters explain the necessary transition, and the next chapter will turn back to the Eastern Front. (To be continued.) )