Machijiri said: "Hai, Fushimi Palace is undoubtedly a young and promising soldier. ”

"Yes, if there are still people among the children of the royal family who are worthy of the four words young and promising, except for my imperial nephew of the eternal line, I am afraid that it is also my Junyan imperial brother." Higashikuretsuhiko nodded, and continued, "However, who can believe that such a young and promising Emperor Brother Toshihiko actually killed an unknown Chinese turtle on the first day he set foot on the Chinese battlefield. ”

Machijiri Liangji corrected and said: "Your Excellency Commander, Xu Rui is not a little-known Chinese turtle, he is a sparring partner of the Brandenburg special forces training camp in Germany, the imperial intelligence department has specially checked with the relevant German departments, and the sources fed back from the German side said that the Brandenburg special forces training camp does have a group of high-level sparring partners, and there is indeed a Chinese among them, but now he has disappeared." ”

"Okay, Xu Rui is not a turtle, he is a very good special soldier." Higashikuretsu waved his hand, and continued, "What I just meant was that Emperor Toshihiko was so young and promising, but he died in battle just after he entered the battlefield, and my ability is far inferior to that of Emperor Toshihiko, Machijiri-san, how long do you think I can live on the battlefield?" ”

Machijiri was dumbfounded when he heard this, he never expected Higashikuri to say such a thing in the end, this, this is simply to destroy his own prestige! This is also a private talk between the two of them, if this really spreads, it must not seriously dampen the morale of all the officers and men of the 2nd Army?

You are not confident in the commander of the group army, how can the officers and men below be confident?

Higashikure smiled and said, "Machijiri-san, do you think I'm particularly unambitious?" ”

How do you ask Machijiri to answer this? Shaking his head, Machijiri could only say: "Your Excellency, Commander, I just feel that this holy war empire can only be won and not defeated. ”

"Machijiri-san, you misunderstood me." Higashikuri waved his hand, but the expression on his face suddenly became more serious than ever, and said, "I just want to tell you that this time I came to China, I didn't plan to return to Japan alive, although my ability is not as good as Emperor Toshihiko, but I will put in ten times or a hundred times the effort, no matter what, I will avenge Emperor Toshihiko, no matter what, I will personally cut off Xu Rui's head!" ”

The expression on Machijiri Liangji's face immediately turned solemn, and he paused and said: "Your Excellency Commander's determination is admirable, but I think that Your Excellency, as the commander of a group army, should not worry too much about personal grievances, but should put the interests of the empire first. ”

"The interests of the Empire?" Higashikuri smiled coldly, but his mind recalled a conversation with his imperial nephew Hirohito when he returned to China not long ago.

After the Zhang Gufeng incident subsided, Hirohito specially recalled Higashikure Tsukihiko to Tokyo to teach in person.

During that pre-imperial meeting, Hirohito unabashedly told Higashikure that he was deeply dissatisfied with Shunroku Hata's delay in exterminating the Dameishan Independent Regiment and his failure to kill Xu Rui to save face for the royal family, especially the defeat in the Battle of Hijo and the capture and surrender of Shiro Inaba, which deepened Hirohito's dissatisfaction with Shunroku Hata.

Higashikuri even vaguely felt that Hirohito seemed to have the idea of changing the coach.

Of course, this is just Higashikure's speculation, and he doesn't know whether Hirohito has the idea of changing the coach.

However, there is one thing that Higashikuri is very clear, that is, Hirohito's bitter hatred for Xu Rui! Higashikure has never seen Hirohito hate someone so much!

Based on this alone, Xu Rui is already proud enough.

Higashikure asked Machijiri Ryoki, "Machijiri-san, speaking of the interests of the empire, what do you think are the primary interests of the empire at this stage?" ”

Machijiri said without hesitation: "Of course, the Shina incident is resolved as soon as possible, and the Shina government is forced to surrender to the empire as soon as possible!" After all, the empire can't afford to spend it. ”

"No, you're wrong." Higashikuri waved his hand and said quietly, "I can tell you clearly that it is impossible to solve the Shina incident in a short period of time and force the Shina government to surrender!" After the defeat at the Battle of Xuzhou, this possibility was lost forever, and at this stage, the main interest of the empire was no longer to occupy the entire province as soon as possible, but to digest the occupied areas as much as possible and accumulate enough manpower and material resources for the next stage of the offensive. ”

"Nani?" Machijiri couldn't help but be a little dumbfounded.

In this case, I am afraid that even a royal child like Higashikuru would dare to say it.

Higashikurehiko is almost openly contradicting the Japanese base camp.

Dong Jiu Tsuruhiko said: "That is to say, after the end of the Battle of Wuhan, the Imperial Army will no longer be able to launch a large-scale offensive in a short period of time, and the follow-up war will be more of a public order and a normal battle in the vast occupied areas, which means that the Communist forces behind enemy lines represented by the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army will replace the regular army of the Nationalist Government and become the main enemy and primary target of the Imperial Army!" ”

"Hello." Machijiri Gyoki paused heavily and insisted on his own opinion, saying, "But at least after the Battle of Wuhan is over, and now the Battle of Wuhan has not yet been decided, although the 11th Army occupies the entire Jiangxi and half of Hunan, but it is also mired in the quagmire of the Nationalist Army's desperate entanglement, and I am afraid that it will not be able to capture Wuhan in a short period of time, and it is precisely because of this that His Excellency Shunroku Hatata, the commander of the Central China Dispatch Army, will repeatedly ask the base camp to let our 2nd Army go south to Central China, and it is precisely because of this that the Empire will make major concessions to the Soviet Union on the Soviet-Manchurian border. In order to calm the North Manchurian incident. ”

Higashikure said, "Machijiri-san, what do you want to express? ”

Machijiri Weigh Keaton said: "I just want to remind Your Excellency the Commander that everything should be focused on the capture of Wuhan!" ”

Dong Jiuer twisted his hand and waved his hand, and said abruptly: "The capture of Wuhan is Okamura Ningji's business, and my task is to sweep the Dameishan Mountains and smash Xu Rui's Dameishan Independent Regiment!" ”

"Nani?" Machijiri Liangji was dumbfounded again, "Your Excellency Commander, for the sake of just one Xu Rui and just one Dameishan Independent Regiment, is it really worth the empire to send three field divisions of a group army?" ”

"No, no, you're wrong again, the main force of the 2nd Army will still follow the plan of the base camp and attack Xinyang from the north out of Dabie Mountain, so as to cut off the connection between Wuhan and Guanzhong, but I won't join in the fun." Higashikure waved his hand and said, "I will lead the 10th Division to go ashore from Pukou, and then turn to Pucheng and take Meizhen directly." ”

As they spoke, there was a sound of unhurried footsteps behind the two.

Immediately, a short figure appeared in front of Higashikuri Tsuruhiko.

Machijiri looked fixedly, but it was the division commander of the 10th Division, Yoshio Piggy.

Yoshio Piggy strode up to Higashikuri and said, "Your Excellency, Commander! ”

Higashikuri replied and said indifferently: "Little Piggy-san, have all the orders been issued?" ”

"Hello." "The order has been given to the various wings on time. ”

"Yo Si." Dong Jiu Yi nodded and said, "Then prepare to go ashore in Pukou." ”

"Hello." The little pig Yoshio paused again and turned away.

(Dividing Line)

Nanjing Fanghua Garden, Central China Dispatch Army Headquarters.

Shunroku Hata glanced at the situation map of the enemy in front of him with a gloomy gaze, and there were joys and worries in his heart.

Glad that the commander of the 3rd Division drove straight in, he had occupied the whole of Jiangxi and most of Hunan, which was definitely a major blow to the Nationalist Government, because after occupying Changsha, the Japanese army not only cut off the railway transportation from Guangzhou to Wuhan, but also threatened Yunnan, Guichuan, and especially rarely, captured the granary of the world!

This also laid a good foundation for the next stage of the Japanese army's strategic offensive!

At present, the imperial treasury is empty, the financial resources are exhausted, especially the food shortage, and there is a serious food shortage in the country, and the empire is no longer able to launch a major offensive, but the industrial base of the empire is by no means comparable to the national government, and in two or three years at most, the financial pressure of the Japanese government can be alleviated, while the financial affairs of the national government will only become worse.

At that time, the Japanese army will be able to send troops from Hunan, Hubei, and Shanxi at the same time, and wipe out the remnants of the Nationalist Government in one fell swoop, and may still not be able to completely annihilate the main force of the Nationalist Army, but the Nationalist Government will be forced to move to Kangzang, and from then on it will be completely reduced to a local government, and at that time, the China Incident will be completely over.

But that's only the good side, and in addition to the good things, there's also not-so-good news.

The bad news is that the progress of the 2nd Army is too slow, after nearly two months of hard fighting, the more than 200,000 officers and men of the 11th Army have long been exhausted, and now is the time when the 2nd Army is urgently needed to support this new force, but the main force of the 2nd Army is still on the way, and it is not known when it will be put into battle.

The 2nd Army did not arrive for a day, and the Battle of Wuhan was always difficult to win.

Moreover, Shunroku Hata faintly has another layer of worry, he is worried that what moths will come out of Higashikuri Twistahiko.

Shunroku Hata was very dissatisfied with the appointment of Higashikure Tsukihiko as the commander of the 2nd Army at the base camp, and his dissatisfaction was even more than the appointment of Okamura Ninji as the commander of the 11th Army.

For Okamura Ninji, Shunroku Hata mainly thinks that his qualifications are too shallow, but he still recognizes Okamura Ninji's ability, but how can Tokuri Twisthiko, a famous prodigal, be the commander of a group army? Isn't this a child's play with the lives of hundreds of thousands of officers and soldiers of the 2nd Army?

What worries Shunroku Hata even more is that Higashikure Twisthiko is still the younger brother of Toshihiko Fushiminomiya's mother.

How did Toshihiko Fushimiya die? As soon as he got off the car, Xu Rui was beheaded, as the younger brother of Fushimi Palace Toshihiko's mother, and a famous prodigal child, after he arrived in Central China, what kind of reaction would he make, it seems that it is not difficult to guess, yes, he is likely to find an opportunity to find Xu Rui for revenge!

As the old saying goes, the more you are afraid of something, the more you will come.

Shunroku Hatatake was still worried that Higashikure Tsuruhiko would go to Xu Rui for revenge, but Kawabe Shozo walked into his office with a solemn expression and immediately reported: "Your Excellency General, I just received a telegram from the 2nd Army, and His Royal Highness Tsukihiko has already taken the 10th Division ashore from Pukou. ”