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Chapter 17 changes course

In the early morning, it was rainy in the city of Dijing, Australia. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

As the news of the two failed air battles and the inexplicable missile attacks on the Japanese archipelago reached the capital of the Japanese Empire, all the officials who received the news were extremely shocked.

At eight o'clock in the morning, the Japanese cabinet and the base camp held an emergency joint meeting, and the cabinet members led by Konoe to attend the base camp battle meeting, and the land minister Itagaki Seishiro personally introduced the war situation, but before the meeting was officially held, he received a phone call from the Minister of the Interior, Count Koichi Kido-Hirohito was very concerned about the war situation, and asked for the convening of the Imperial Council, which should be attended by the cabinet and the important ministers, the Ministry of the Army, the Ministry of the Navy, and the main generals of the base camp.

Konoe secretly called out bad luck, and said in his heart that this was not the result of the instigation of the emperor's hot-headed guys?

In the past, when Ishihara was the chief of staff, even if he suffered many defeats, the main forces of the navy and army were basically preserved, and it was completely possible to tear down the east wall and make up the west wall, and this was the excellent situation in Australia and the Americas.

However, now that Ishihara has left his post, his successor has suffered successive defeats, the navy and army have lost all their troops, not to mention the generals, and even the mainland has been attacked, especially the heavy losses caused by the attacks on Tokyo and the three major military ports, even if the government wants to cover it, the military and the people's hearts are in turmoil, the people's petitions, telegrams, and angry appeals are flying like snowflakes, and the government and the army have encountered an unprecedented crisis of confidence.

In order to shirk responsibility, it is not known who the emperor will push out as a scapegoat, and Konoe is deeply worried about this.

On the one hand, Hirohito and he grew up together as playmates and had a good relationship with each other, in order to maintain the honor of the imperial family, if necessary, he, the big brother, had to stand up at any time to shield the emperor's mistakes, on the other hand, the emperor was in the same line, and under the rendering of bushido and Shinto after the Meiji Restoration, the status of the Japanese people was sacrosanct.

An hour and a half later, Konoe led all the members of the cabinet and the main generals of the base camp into the palace, and held a meeting in a large tearoom surrounded by beautiful scenery in the early summer of the southern hemisphere.

As a result of the relocation of the capital, Japan has now formed a pattern in which the military and political plans are made by the cabinet of the capital, the army and navy base camps with the Ministry of War and the Navy as the main theme, and the General Staff Headquarters and the Military Command Department of the Japanese archipelago are left to carry out the specific implementation. In the past, when Ishihara was in the air, he could still control the overall situation with his personal ability, but now that the situation is out of control, the drawbacks of this military and political system will be seen at a glance.

The Imperial Council was presided over by General Tada, a member of the Military Council.

In front of the large world map, Tada introduced the current situation of each battlefield, first talking about the successive victories in the North and South American battlefields, as well as the defense of the Anjia army on the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan in Southeast Asia and the contraction defense of various islands in the Indo-Ocean, as well as the landing warfare under the command of General Koichi Ishikawa in southeastern Australia.

After that, Tada Jun spent more than an hour focusing on explaining the evolution of the situation in East Asia, from the defeat of the imperial ** army in Manchuria, the Far East, and the Northern Branch, to the tragic situation of almost completely annihilating the two counterattacks, and then to the huge losses after the Japanese archipelago was attacked by missiles. Templar Chapter

Tada Jun particularly stressed that after yesterday's failed air raid on the East Asian continent, the Japanese archipelago will face the danger of a counterattack by the superior air force of the Anjia Army and a mysterious missile strike at any time, and called for building a perfect air defense network.

After the explanation, while the martial arts officers were deep in thought, Tada Jun sat back next to his admiring friend Seishiro Itagaki with a look of appreciation, his eyes full of melancholy.

Hirohito's face was pale, his voice was still soft and delicate "crane sound", and the officials and generals kneeling on both sides were all trembling and cautious.

At this time, Hirohito's heart was also very depressed.

Seeing Ishihara's great strides and retreat from the East Asian continent, Hirohito believed that Ishihara, a strategist known as the "god of war", was already poor in donkey skills and could not be reused. Although the Japanese army won successive victories in the South American continent, especially the occupation of Venezuela, which has rich oil resources, which saved the decline of the Japanese army and made huge gains, Hirohito still has a lot of opinions about the loss of Manchuria, which Japan has operated for many years.

It just so happened that the German side asked Japan to attack on the eastern front, which involved the attention of the Anjia army, and Hitler indicated that he would use more than 80,000 troops to deal with South China, and Germany and Japan gave priority to solving the problem of the Anjia army and then meeting with the American continent, Hirohito was inevitably moved.

At this time, Sugiyama Moto, Toshitoshi Hata, Hideki Tojo, Minamijiro and others of the main battle faction instigated behind their backs, claiming that Nanhua was worried about internal and external troubles, and once they took the initiative to counterattack, they would surely win, and the important ministers also agreed that the opportunity was rare, and Ishihara Waner resolutely opposed the fire for the Germans, which angered Hirohito, who was full of self-confidence, and demoted Ishihara Waner to South America under a variety of factors, and Hideki Tojo, who was known for his "loyalty", was in charge of the staff headquarters.

However, loyalty does not mean ability, since Hideki Tojo came to power, he has meticulously implemented the resolutions of the headquarters and the important ministers' meeting, and a series of bad news has come one after another, and now, even the Japanese mainland has been attacked, which makes Hirohito difficult to accept for a while, and seriously hits his self-confidence.

Hirohito looked angrily at former War Minister Sugiyama Moto, who had threatened to "resolve the state incident in three months": "Sugiyama-kun, why is this happening?" What exactly is the problem there? Is it a mistake in decision-making or a poor execution by the front-line soldiers? Why did you old ministers preach in my ears some time ago that as long as the counterattack was effective, Manchuria, Mongolia and North Korea could be restored in one fell swoop, and the current losses of North Korea were defeated, what do you have to say? ”

Sugiyama Moto, who attended the meeting as a member of the important ministers' meeting, was sweating on his forehead and bowed his head deeply in the face of Hirohito's continuous criticism: "I'm sorry, Your Majesty, this is completely a judgment error on the part of the minister, and the minister will take responsibility for the mistake of advice!" ”

Speaking of this, Sugiyama Yuan raised his head with a painful face and looked around the venue: "However, taking advantage of the war on the western front of the German ** team, which involves the attention of the Chinese army, and our eastern front to seize the lost territory, this is definitely a good strategy, as for why it has become like this, I can't figure it out." Templar Chapter

"In addition, these successive defeats have a great deal to do with the weapons thrown into the Shina people, and the intelligence services should bear some responsibility. In yesterday's daytime air raid, the enemy used an anti-aircraft attack weapon, and almost all of our fighters attacking the Far East were shot down near the coastline, and a small number of fighter pilots who escaped said that the other side used a missile that was extremely fast and could turn around, and it was very difficult for our fighters to evade!

"In yesterday's afternoon's strike, the enemy used an unprecedented, long-range weapon capable of launching into the air far away from our territory and attacking our ground facilities at extremely fast speed and with relative precision. Even if we hadn't taken the initiative to attack, would we have been able to stop the atrocities of the Shina people? ”

Seeing everyone's thoughtful faces, Sugiyama Moto asked and answered: "I don't think we may have such a sharp weapon, it is equivalent to having all-round, all-weather strike means, if we don't have effective countermeasures, it is very dangerous." The former chief of staff, Ishihara-kun, may know a little bit of the inside story, otherwise he would not insist that His Majesty move the capital to Australia, nor would he repeatedly contradict His Majesty, not to mention the lack of resistance, and also have a negative attitude towards the counteroffensive This time he strangely asked to be the commander of the US forces in South Africa, I suspect that he also wants to stay away from this state of being frightened at all times! In comparison, Tojo-kun, who has the courage to take responsibility, is a thousand times better. ”

When Seishiro Itagaki heard this, he quickly stood up, bowed respectfully, and explained:

"Your Majesty, this is impossible! This kind of missile of the Chinese people can be said to be unheard of before, presumably it was developed recently for the research of such a powerful weapon, including in the empire, who is not kept secret as a high secret? No matter how smart Ishihara-kun is, he would never have thought that there was such a thing in the world!

"The reason why Ishihara-kun did not blindly obey the decisions of His Majesty and important ministers is that in his overall view, think about Ishihara-kun's strong opposition after the Shina Incident, think about the disastrous defeat of the empire in the 12th year of Showa, and Ishihara-kun's decisive abandonment of the Songhu battlefield and put the army into Lanyin in charge of the General Staff Headquarters, think about the huge benefits obtained by Ishihara-kun in the 13th year of Showa to attack the Far East and Siberia, and then think about the strategy of Australia and the Americas, which is of great significance to the empire.

"Ishihara-kun has talked with me many times through the night, and he said that the reason why he took the initiative to abandon the land on the Asian continent was that the manpower and material resources of the Yuchina people were far from being comparable to the empire, and that it was better to put these troops into the battlefield where they needed than to fight hard with the Anjia army, which had an advantage in troops and weapons and equipment. In recent years, although the empire has gradually abandoned places including Malaya, Burma, India and Manchuria, Mongolia, etc., in fact, our strength has not only not weakened, but has been improved to a certain extent, not to mention anything else, if there is no rich bauxite in Australia, where do we get so many aluminum to make fighters? If it weren't for Australia's high-quality iron ore, would we have so many tanks, artillery and warships? How could our industry have risen so quickly without the machine tools and production lines seized on the North American continent?

"The reason why Ishihara-kun insisted on the strategy of the Americas was that he wanted to gain the strategic rather than the tactical initiative by constantly squeezing and forcing the US government. The United States is the support point of the free world, but at the same time, the Americans are free and loose, and have the tradition of Westerners surrendering when the war situation is unfavorable, unlike the An Jiajun who fought to the death, even if they fought hard, they would never give up their positions, even if we won a partial victory, it would be a disastrous victory, and the sacrifice would be far greater than that of the opponent.

"Compared with the two, it is self-evident who takes advantage of it! As long as the Americans take the initiative to sue for peace, the British will definitely not be able to hold on, and South China, which is unable to hold on alone, can only seek peace with the empire if it wants to keep the territory it currently occupies, so that the empire can completely own the interests of the Pacific and the Americas, and replace Britain as a big maritime empire!

"Now Sugiyama Motojun has put the responsibility on Ishihara-kun, I think it is a very irresponsible performance, please think twice, don't chill the heart of a warrior who has worked hard for the empire!"

Hirohito sat on the throne, his wide dress was naked, the straps of his robe were neatly placed in front of his knees, and his face was slightly moved.

After a while, Hirohito said: "Sugiyama Yuan has negative hopes, and he also provoked the relationship between the important ministers of the empire and me, with ill intentions, and from now on, he will be ordered to withdraw from the important ministers' meeting and the active service of the army, and never use it!" ”

Sugiyama Moto's face turned pale, and he glanced at Itagaki Seishiro resentfully, bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty Longen!" Then he stood up tremblingly and withdrew from the tearoom.

The atmosphere in the conference room was extremely depressing, and Minamijiro, Toshitoshi Hata and others, who had previously instigated the emperor to go to war, were silent, lest they would be burned.

Hirohito didn't want to suppress the main battle faction too much, so he glanced around at Zhongwu and asked in a soft voice, "What is the cabinet's strategy in the face of the current situation?" ”

Konoe had already made a plan, and immediately replied: "The minister thinks that he can send someone to contact the Nationalist Government and the Nanking Government to explain that from now on Asia will be the Asia of Asians, and the Empire has decided not to have any more intentions against the mainland, and is willing to live in peace in the future and jointly seek the rise of Asia!" ”

After speaking, Konoe glanced at Hirohito, who was sitting upright on the throne, and saw that the emperor did not move, so he hurriedly buried his head.

Hirohito pondered for a long time and asked, "Will Chiang Kai-shek and An Yi accept the kindness of the empire?" ”

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, although we have lost an aircraft carrier group and a large number of fighters, the Imperial Navy is still the most powerful navy in the world, and at the same time, the Imperial still has tens of thousands of land forces, and the people of China will not think about it too much. In addition, since South China is fighting against the Germans, if we lower our posture, South China will certainly not be willing to fight on two fronts, and will consider our sincerity. Foreign Minister Yoyo Matsuoka replied respectfully.

"What if Nanchina does not accept our good intentions and insists on using force against the Empire? Does the base camp have any countermeasures for this? ”

"Your Majesty, the base camp has drawn up some countermeasures." Education Director Toshi Hata, Land Minister Seishiro Itagaki, Umi Xiang, and Shiro Kawakoshi looked at each other, and then Seishiro Itagaki replied:

"First, in view of the temporary unpredictability of missiles, in addition to strengthening the construction of radar base stations and antiaircraft artillery positions, we will use the military to help the government increase the strength of immigration, and strive to relocate a large number of migrants to Australia and the Americas, which are vast and sparsely populated, follow the example of the Chinese people, rely on immigration to improve the proportion of the population in the occupied areas, truly realize that occupation is production, and solve the military needs of the Americas on the spot;

"Second, a large number of factories and enterprises on the archipelago should be relocated to safe areas to avoid damage by enemy missiles, and at the same time, it will be conducive to the use of the abundant resources of Australia and the Americas nearby; Thirdly, forty divisions were organized into the archipelago to prepare for the landing of the Chinese or airdrop warfare; Fourth, all naval and army military academies and aviation schools are proposed to be relocated to Australia to avoid interference in the training of imperial talents; Fifth, we need to quickly get the missile information of the people of China and copy it, and when we also have this weapon, we will no longer be afraid of the other side's blows and blackmail! First, we should go all out to win Chiang Kai-shek and An Yi's government to accept our conditions and achieve peace in Asia! ”

After Itagaki Seishiro finished speaking, there was silence in the tea room, and the "ticking" sound of the eaves water outside the window could be heard clearly.

After a long time, Hirohito asked, "Hideki Tojo has suffered a series of defeats, and he is no longer suitable for the position of chief minister. What advice do you have for the next president? ”

Finally found a good scapegoat, Ishihara Waner rendered, and said excitedly to Konoe Mitsuki, who had always looked down on Hideki Tojo:

"Your Majesty, since you are back on the strategic track set by Ishihara-kun, it is better to invite Ishihara-kun back again and continue to lead the emperor's ** team from one victory to another! I believe that Ishihara-kun will live up to His Majesty's expectations and be able to reverse the current unfavorable situation in a timely manner. ”

Hirohito shook his head: "Don't think about Ishihara, in the position of chief of staff, didn't he also lose India, Malaya, Burma, Manchuria, Mongolia, the Northern Branch and the Far East?" He still has to bear the responsibility, and he can't overdo it! In addition, this gentleman has the ability, but he ignores the grace of the saint and makes me angry every time he commits it. Besides, didn't he say that the Americas were important to the Empire? Now that he is the commander of the US forces in South America, he can be regarded as having fulfilled his wishes, and I believe that as long as he is in South America, the empire will not have to consider the threat of the Americans! Someone else! ”

Konoe was very disappointed, Itagaki Seishiro knew Hirohito's thoughts, and quickly suggested: "I think Tada-kun is more suitable, Tada-kun and Ishihara-kun have many strategic views, and have a good relationship with Ishihara-kun, even if there is anything you can't figure out, you can contact Ishihara-kun to ask, I think in the current situation, this is a good choice." ”

Hirohito's eyes lit up, he was deeply impressed by Tada's explanation of the battle situation just now, and he had unique insights into the situation of each battlefield, but out of the majesty of the emperor, he did not express his position immediately, but stood up and said: "Wait for the decree, lunch time is coming, I don't have lunch prepared here, everyone go back and solve it by themselves." At present, the empire is facing a difficult situation, and I hope that all the monarchs will work together to share the difficulties! ”

"Hey—"

All the martial arts officers bowed to the ground and sent Hirohito away.

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