When he walked into the imperial study, he saw that Emperor Hirohito had completely regained his composure, at least from the expression on his face, there was no trace of abnormality, but he knew that less than fifteen minutes ago, Emperor Hirohito was still losing his temper in his study, and even broke a pair of blue and white porcelain from the Yuan Dynasty.

Seeing the Xianyuan Palace Zairen walking into the study, Hirohito said leisurely: "Uncle Huangzu, two hours ago, my palace guards and the visiting British mission held an equestrian competition, although it was only a friendly match, but whether it was the British or my guard soldiers, they all went all out and fought bravely, and the result was not unexpected. ”

Xianyuan Gong Zairen whispered, "It must be His Majesty's guards who won." ”

Hirohito nodded and said: "Yes, my guards won the game, but the British did not admit defeat, they said, the game is just a game after all, not a war, no matter how good the game is, it does not mean that it will be able to win on the battlefield, in the face of the British doubts, I am speechless, because of the Sino-Japanese war, the performance of the imperial army is indeed not excellent, not enough to convince the Western powers, let alone make them afraid!" ”

"Hello." Xianyuan Gong Zairen suddenly said, "It is the incompetence of the ministers, which caused His Majesty to be humiliated by the British." ”

Hirohito shook his head and said: "It's nothing if I was humiliated by the British, if my humiliation can be exchanged for the imperial army fighting bravely on the battlefield, I would rather be humiliated by the British a hundred times, ten thousand times, but ......"

Speaking of this, Hirohito paused abruptly, and then his tone became heavier, and he said: "But what I can't bear is that I have just been humiliated by the British on the equestrian field, and after returning to the palace, I was immediately humiliated by the Shina people, and our commander, the commander of the Imperial Army's Central Branch, Admiral Sugimoto, actually committed suicide by seppuku!" ”

Saying that, Hirohito's anger rose again, and he swept all the ornaments on the desk to the ground, and a pair of inkstones were even more smashed, but Hirohito didn't even blink his eyes, and said sharply: "The commander of a front army, the general of the imperial army, was forced to commit suicide by a small commander of the Chinese army!" ”

Xianyuan Gong Zairen couldn't say a word of justification, but felt the old face burning.

Hirohito was still angry, and then said angrily: "Xu Rui, it's this damn Xu Rui again, first Matsui Shigen, and then Shanshan Yuan, there have been two commanders of the Central China Front Army planted under this Xu Rui's hands, if you count the previous jade shattered Fushimi Palace Toshihiko Imperial Uncle, the empire has already had three high-ranking generals destroyed at the hands of this person, Xu Ruisi people have simply become the sworn enemy of the empire, and they have simply become the nemesis of the imperial army!" ”

Seeing Hirohito furious there, Xianyuan Gong Zairen didn't dare to say a word.

Matsui Ishine and Sugi Shanyuan, the two successive commanders of the Central China Front Army did not perform well, and he, the chief of the army general staff, was also disgraced; in any case, he recommended the two successive commanders to Hirohito, and what made him even more nerve-wracking was that he had to recommend the third commander.

When Hirohito calmed down, Xianyuan Gong Zairen asked in a low voice: "Your Majesty, Shanshan Yuan has already maintained the dignity of himself and the Shanshan family in the way of a samurai, and the empire should not be harsh with the imperial family, and the top priority is to elect the successor of the commander of the Central China Front as soon as possible, and then rush to the Central Branch Battlefield as soon as possible to preside over the crisis situation in Anhui." ”

Hirohito frowned and asked, "The situation in Anhui is really bad?" ”

"Your Majesty." Xianyuan Gong Zairen sighed, "It's not bad, but it's terrible!" ”

Hirohito has an intuitive feeling about Shanshanyuan's seppuku suicide, but he lacks a specific concept of the serious damage that the loss of Feicheng may bring to the Japanese army in central China, because he feels that no matter how defeated the Japanese army is, it will eventually be in an offensive situation, so no matter how unfavorable the situation in central Anhui is, there will be no major reversal.

But after listening to the words of the Kanin Palace, Hirohito realized that he was thinking a little simpler.

At that moment, Hirohito frowned and asked, "Uncle Huang, can you tell me specifically, how bad is the situation in Anhui?" Could it be that the loss of Feicheng will lead to the defeat of the entire battle of Xuzhou? ”

"What's more!" Xianyuan Gong Zairen said, "If the imperial army cannot recapture Feicheng as soon as possible, if it cannot reopen the Feiwu Highway in the shortest possible time, then the northbound cluster that has advanced to the front line of Fuyang and Mengcheng at this time will have to stop because the logistics support cannot keep up. ”

Hirohito frowned and said, "Isn't this still a defeat in the Battle of Xuzhou?" Could there be other consequences? ”

"Of course." Xianyuan Gong Zairen said, "If Feicheng can not be recaptured within seven days, the northbound cluster will be forced to stop advancing, if Feicheng can not be recaptured within half a month, then the situation will be more severe, at that time, the main force of the fifth theater of China near Xuzhou and the main force of the third theater of China in southern Anhui will advance north and south, and the northbound cluster will be surrounded near Fuyang and Mengcheng, and at that time, the 9th and 13th divisions of the northbound cluster will very likely repeat the mistakes of the 5th and 10th divisions!" ”

"Nani?" Hirohito's face suddenly changed when he heard this, and he said, "Repeat the mistakes of the 5th and 10th Divisions?!" ”

Hirohito can be said to have a vivid memory of the fiasco of the 5th and 10th Divisions at Taierzhuang and Zaozhuang, and this fiasco also greatly dwarfed the image of the Japanese Army in the international community, and the German High Command even doubted the ability of the Japanese Army for a time and put forward a motion to suspend the alliance with the Japanese Government.

Seeing that Hirohito even changed the tone of his voice, Xianyuan Gong Zairen hurriedly persuaded again: "But Your Majesty don't worry, this is just an extreme situation, as long as the base camp is adjusted in time, as long as the Central China Front can recapture Feicheng in time and reopen the lifeline of Feiwu Highway, the situation will definitely not be like this." ”

Hirohito nodded, and said, "So, does the Emperor have a suitable candidate?" ”

Xianyuan Gong Zairen said: "Your Majesty, it can only be Shunroku Hatata, whether it is from seniority......"

"Qualifications, qualifications, qualifications!" Without waiting for the Xianyuan Palace Zairen to finish speaking, Hirohito immediately interrupted rudely, and said, "Uncle Huang, you always say that seniority, choose Matsui Shigen because of seniority, choose Shanshanyuan or because of seniority, no matter how old the seniority is, can it be transformed into ability?" No! These people are already old, they can't keep up with this era anymore, why can't you choose a young Zhuang faction with outstanding strength? ”

"What, choose a young Zhuang faction?" Xianyuan Gong Zairen was dumbfounded.

"Why, it's so difficult to choose a young Zhuang faction?" Hirohito said dissatisfied.

Xianyuan Gong Zairen said with a bitter face: "Your Majesty, have you forgotten the 226 incident?" ”

"The 226 incident?" When Hirohito heard this, his face immediately became gloomy.

The 226 incident that occurred two years ago is definitely a lingering shadow in Hirohito's heart, and the cause of the incident is that a part of the young strong officers of the Imperial Road faction launched a mutiny in the name of the Qing monarch's side, although they played the banner of supporting the emperor and eliminating the bureaucrats around the emperor, but in fact they wanted to abolish the monarchy!

Fortunately, the 226 incident was finally suppressed with iron blood.

But since then, Hirohito no longer dares to trust the young Zhuang officers in the army.

He was also in a hurry just now, so Hirohito forgot about this stubble, but as soon as he was reminded by the palace of Xianyuan, he immediately remembered it again, and immediately said, "Okay, then Shunroku Hata." ”

"Your Majesty, although Shunroku Hata was born as an artilleryman, he once served as a military attache stationed in Germany, systematically studied Western military theories, strategies and tactics in Germany, and has visited China twice to inspect and has a deep understanding of China, so the minister thinks that it is most suitable for him to succeed him as the commander of the Central China Front." ”

Hirohito nodded and said, "Uncle Huang, I agree that Shunroku Hata will succeed him as the commander of the Central China Front, but before Shunroku Hata goes to China to take up his post, I want to meet with him and say a few words to him in person." ”

"Your Majesty, in fact, Shunroku Hata is already waiting outside the palace. ”

"Uncle Huang is really scheming." Hirohito knocked on the idle courtyard palace without a trace, and immediately ordered the guards to invite Shunroku Hata in.

Soon Shunroku Hahata walked into Hirohito's imperial study.

Shunroku Hata is thin and described as withered, and people who are not familiar with him say that this person is an addict.

However, few people know that Shunroku Hata was not like this at the beginning, before the age of 25, Shunroku Hata was actually a typical Japanese soldier, although he was short, but he was very strong, only because he was shot through his lungs in the First Battle of Jiguanshan in the Russo-Japanese War, and since then he has fallen into the root of the disease, which has become what he is today.

According to the etiquette in the army, Shunroku Hata gave Hirohito a military salute.

Hirohito replied with a military salute and said, "Hata-san, the emperor's uncle specially brought you here to see me today, and you should be clear about the intention, whether it is ability, seniority, or understanding of China, you are the best choice for the commander of the Central Branch Front, and I also have deep expectations for you, hoping that you will not disappoint the empire." ”

"Hello." Shunroku Hata paused again, "The minister must do his best to be loyal to the empire." ”

Hirohito continued: "I am not worried about your ability at all, I only remind you that Xu Rui is the sworn enemy of the empire, after you take office, the first priority is to recapture Feicheng and turn the tide of the battle in Anhui, but after the situation in Anhui turns safe, you must do everything possible to eradicate this fang first." ”

Xianyuan Palace was worried that Shunroku Hata would question, and then said: "Hata-san, you should know the danger of Xu Rui, the two commanders of the Central China Front, one was dismissed because of him, and the other was even more because he chose seppuku, in addition, my imperial nephew Fushimi Palace Toshihiko also died at the hands of this person, such as Chiaki Shigeto, Yukio Tachibana, Shuichi Hamura, Heiji Kawaguchi and Adachi Winga, there have been eight generals who have fallen into the hands of this person, this person can be described as the sworn enemy of the empire!" ”

"Hello." Toshiroku Hata paused heavily, and said solemnly, "The minister must have this fang." ”