However, Okamura Ninji did not dare to sweep the former Minister of War and the current commander-in-chief of the Kwantung Army in person, and Nanjiro tapped the map with his baton and said assumedly: "Of course, there is also such an argument in the base camp, that we should first eat the relatively backward China, use the resources of the China Empire's technology and industrial base, and work hard for thirty years before fighting to the death with the Soviet Union!" ”

Nanjiro looked around proudly: "Actually, this official is more inclined to the latter's argument, China and the empire are not countries at the same strategic level, and eating China first will be at an extremely favorable strategic high point for the empire, but it is a pity that China does not have oil, nor does it have rubber, which are important strategic materials urgently needed for the empire's grand strategy, and the empire's combined fleet needs a lot of oil to exert its great power, but the oil is controlled in the hands of Southeast Asian European countries, How terrible it is that he can completely kill the entire war potential of the empire by blockading the Strait of Malacca with oil and rubber! ”

In an uproar, Nanjiro used his baton to point at Rehe, Shanxi, and then to Shanghai: "Fortunately, the empire has a strong navy, and the ultimate responsibility for solving the problem of China will be borne by our glorious Kwantung Army, if the empire mobilizes its fleet to blockade the coast of China, cut off its foreign aid channels, organize a large corps to land from Shanghai, and directly insert it into Nanjing, the capital of China, while the main force of our Kwantung Army is divided into three routes, all the way to attack Rehe, Chahar, Suiyuan's Zhang Xuewu Division, all the way to attack the Northeast Army Zhang Xueliang's Division, All the way directly through Beiping to attack Shijiazhuang, directly attack Taiyuan, the hinterland of Shanxi, avoid Xinkou, Niangziguan and other dangerous places on the west road, the navy plans to transport two divisions to land from Qingdao, and plan to complete the horizontal cutting off of the Jinpu Road by the main force, echoing the north-south attack with the Shanghai dispatch army, and destroying China in three to six months! ”

In a round of applause, Itagaki Seishiro frowned, Itagaki Seishiro, who started by speculation, is actually a strategic and tactical steady, the implication is that he can do it, but he can't do it himself, but he can't do it himself, and he can be bold himself, but he can't see others taking risks.

The fact that Minamijiro was able to make such remarks at a meeting of senior officers of the Kwantung Army proves that this argument of quick victory occupies an absolute peak in the country, the military headquarters, and even the base camp, and it is likely to represent the opinion of some high-ranking generals in the general staff headquarters, the base camp, and even Emperor Hirohito!

After the meeting, Okamura Ninji and Itagaki Seishiro returned to the chief of staff's office on the third floor of the west building, and as soon as Seishiro Itagaki entered the room, he said, "How can Your Excellency the Commander-in-Chief talk about the absolute strategic secrets of the empire in front of so many people? What if that person gets into drinking too much and goes out talking nonsense? It was some of our own people who almost ruined the Manchurian Incident. ”

Okamura Ninji smiled slightly: "Maybe the secret in our opinion is not a real strategic secret at all!" The Empire's guidelines for Manchu and Mongolia come from stabilizing the Manchu and Mongolian politics and military, making it the lifeblood of the blood transfusion to the Empire, so the Kwantung Office was abolished and all the military and political power was given to the Kwantung Army, which is the trust of His Majesty the Emperor and the responsibility! ”

Seishiro Itagaki was still a little dissatisfied: "The responsibility of the empire is on our shoulders, and some high-ranking officials do not seek political power in their positions, and they have been in the position for a long time, how can His Excellency General Nanjiro, as the commander-in-chief of my Kwantung Army, publicly make so-called strategic remarks in front of so many people?" How dangerous is this? This is tantamount to telling the enemy to hurry up and prepare! The imminent start of war is a highly irresponsible statement and act. ”

Okamura Ninji glanced at Seishiro Itagaki meaningfully and said, "Itagaki-kun, this is not like you!" I remember that Ishihara-kun loves to scratch, and the position of senior chief of staff of the Kwantung Army was originally reserved for him, but Ishihara-kun's scratching made some people in the military department very unhappy. At such times, it seems that we should say less, and we can only do our best to do our best for things that we cannot control, and this is the duty of the emperor who is loyal to His Majesty the Emperor. ”

Itagaki Seishiro was stunned by Okamura Ningji's words, hesitated for a moment and said ashamedly: "Okamura-kun's lesson is right, I am also in a hurry, the empire has not yet entered the wartime system, and it has begun such a large-scale military expansion, which will make more countries in the world worry and go to the opposite side of us, and the empire's economy may not be able to support it for long, two or three years may already be the limit." ”

Okamura Ninji was slightly stunned and said, "Didn't His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief say it today!" To launch a full-scale war against China in two to three years at the latest, Rehe Xue shame is just a gimmick of the military headquarters, the general staff headquarters, and the base camp, and the real significance is probably to prevent the unification of China's military and political power, and to try to give the Chinese a fierce blow before the completion of the reorganization plan of the Chinese political axe to complete the reorganization of sixty German armament divisions, and to destroy the will of resistance of the Chinese political axe on the premise of ensuring the inherent interests of Manchuria, so as to completely end this war in a very short time. And all this depends on the progress of the early stage of the war, in fact, you and I are very well aware of the guys in the General Staff Headquarters, where do they have any goals and established strategies to speak of? It's all guys who take one step at a time, I'm afraid if you ask him what he eats at night, he will have to think about it for a while, don't expect too much from them! ”

Itagaki Seishiro also sighed helplessly and said: "Since the Meiji Restoration, Emperor [***] Fei is the first large-scale tilt towards the army, if you don't grasp this opportunity to win the greatest glory with the army, then the army's advantage in front of the navy will probably be lost, and they will be trampled on the top of their heads in the future and unable to turn over, some of the military department is too self-conscious, too child's play!" The strategic implementation of the empire is related to the future fate of the empire. ”

Okamura Ninji handed a file on his desk to Seishiro Itagaki and said, "We use tactics to make up for the lack of strategy, when have we ever been so pessimistic and depressed?" The empire has one of the most powerful navy in the world and an invincible army, and it is said that the imperial army is invincible! Take a look at this profile! This is about the general list of weapons purchased by Zhang Xuewu's department from Germany and the deployment of troops, as well as the construction progress of the construction of four fortress cities in Chaoyang, Chifeng, Chengde, and Zhangjiakou. ”

Itagaki Seishiro actually disagrees with what Okamura Ninji just said, "We will use tactics to make up for the lack of strategy", idiots know that in addition to the economy, industrial base, and war reserve potential, the most important thing to dominate a war is the formulation of national strategy, and Itagaki Seishiro has not heard of the lack of strategy that can be made up by tactics? Is this what the chief of staff of the Kwantung Army should have said? It is obvious that Okamura Ninji's words just now are perfunctory.

Obviously, Okamura Ninji is also an overall supporter of the strategy of the Shina continent, and it seems that the defeat of Rehe really did not affect His Excellency the Chief of Staff in the slightest, and Seishiro Itagaki felt more helpless about this kind of move within the military that only selects factions and people and does not choose strategic policies.

The actual rise of the Kwantung Army has already shown the determination of the Kwantung Army to make a big move in the hinterland of China, because without the containment of the political axe, the military seems to be more like a fish in water, and a Manchurian incident has almost made the man a lonely man and an international orphan, if it were not for the mercenary Americans, I am afraid that at this moment the economy of the city would have collapsed, and a large number of loans from the United States allowed the company to use the military industry to drive heavy industry, plus it could be openly plundered from the Manchukuo they concocted. That's why it was able to support such a crazy expansion of the army.

The continuous increase in Manchuria had caused great international turmoil and panic, because at the same time the new leaders of Germany, who had revived in Europe, were frantically shouting the slogan of revenge, which made the British and French very worried, and under the guidance of the spirit of appeasement, Britain and France decided to make all concessions to the irascible German children, after all, the Treaty of Versailles almost crushed Germany, and the principle of avoiding war was to sacrifice as many other people's interests as possible.

As the United States, which has the world's most powerful industrial base and economic strength, isolationism is the only consensus among American businessmen and politicians that it only makes money and does not bear any international responsibilities.

Time passed quickly, Zhang Xuewu, who was reorganizing the army in Rehe, successively sent a German delegation composed of as many as 2,000 officers and soldiers in May 1934, and then sent more than 5,000 skilled workers, technicians and engineers from all walks of life to study in Germany. In order to maintain the combat effectiveness of the troops for a long time, Zhang Xuewu must pay attention to the reserve of talents.

Hao Wenbin and Li Songtao are almost resident in Germany, going back and forth to various places, Zhang Xuewu heard that even Hao Wenbin can even use simple German conversations? This seems to be no small miracle, how far can Sino-German relations go? Zhang Xuewu didn't count at the moment, because Germany is also evaluating the so-called national value between China and China, and the Germans will inevitably need a strong ally if they want to rise in Europe, and China seems to be vulnerable compared to this?

What Zhang Xuewu can't understand the most is whether it is a German or himself? Why do you have to be so radical in your focus on the Soviets? Could it be that the defeat of the Soviets is an epic and glorious task that is difficult to accomplish in history?

With the support behind Zhou Ying, Zhang Xuewu deliberately mobilized the funds to finally be abundant, but the poor Zhang Xuewu did not dare to spend a lot of money, but Zhang Xuewu will definitely not be stingy with the things that should be bought, taking advantage of the US financial crisis When a large number of enterprises went bankrupt, Zhang Xuewu used Shen Hanze's relationship to buy a part of the factory in the United States to dismantle and transport it back to Tianjin in the transfer of Baotou, while the other part continued to operate, because once the flames of the war ignited again, there is no doubt that heavy industry and military industry and related industries will become a golden assembly line, the Americans are used to making war money! Historically, not a single shell from World War II has landed on its own soil.

However, there was also something that greatly surprised Zhang Xuewu, that is, Zhou Ying actually became best friends with Shen Yilan with Shen Hanze's acquiescence? Zhang Xuewu also felt a little inexplicable, this is the one that is? However, the feeling to Zhang Xuewu is that Shen Hanze and Zhou Ying are almost out of the same nostril? Could it be that Zhou Ying is Shen Hanze's illegitimate daughter? The old man wants to marry both daughters to himself? Zhang Xuewu found that he was now more and more enthusiastic and impulsive to gossip?

However, he didn't dare to ask Shen Hanze about this, because Shen Hanze needed to come forward to complete the follow-up contact with the Soviet side, paving the way, etc., after all, now the Nanjing political axe has not officially broken with the German side, so the taboo against the Soviets is still quite deep, and before the signing of the "Non-Aggression Pact between the Soviet Union", Zhang Xuewu still has a lot of projects ready to cooperate with the Soviets.

As soon as the time entered 1935, Zhang Xuewu heard a thunderbolt on a sunny day, that is, three of the four armies of the Northeast Army were transferred to northern Shaanxi to continue to clean up the remnants of bandits?

Zhang Xuewu knew that Zhang Xueliang, who was now conservative and suffering, had the greatest wish to go back to his hometown in the Northeast, but this desire was too dangerous for Zhang Xueliang, especially the subordinate Wang Yizhe and Yu Xuezhong's various departments were not very stable, standing at the head of Shanhaiguan Pass, they couldn't counterattack back to their hometown, the morale of the officers and soldiers in the Northeast was already very low, and now they were going to go to northern Shaanxi to fight the civil war, and the officers and soldiers in the Northeast were even more unwilling in their hearts, and what they were most willing to do at the moment was to go back to their hometown in the Northeast!

Zhang Xueliang's personal emotions and tendencies Zhang Xuewu can't interfere, it can also be said that there is no way to say, Zhang Xueliang is also quite a person with his own opinions, the 200,000 soldiers of the Northeast Army have become rootless Ping, he has to bear full responsibility, and the Nanjing political axe tightens military spending makes him very embarrassed, even if Zhang Xuewu's Baotou military factory funds ordnance and ammunition, it is inevitable that there will be complaints or other ideas in his mind.

Zhang Xuewu also realized that history has indeed changed to a certain extent, but the main trajectory has not undergone a major reversal, for example, although Zhang Xuewu expanded the army to purchase and produce weapons and ammunition, in Baotou with the foundation of the original arsenal of the three eastern provinces, with the assistance of the German Krupp and Mauser brothers, expanded the largest military factory in China, five 75 mm Krupp L32 caliber field gun production lines, with an annual output of more than 300 guns, the Czech ZB-26I improved light machine gun production line, and the honorary tank assembly workshop, Cold rolled alloy steel production line and more!

But the strength of the army is also increasing, the defeat of Rehe made the army pay attention to the construction of armored combat vehicles, although the quality and design are basically the same as in history, but the quantity has changed greatly, Zhang Xuewu's Rehe regiment can be said to be not afraid of his own tank armored vehicles, but [***] other troops are not good, the overall comparison of the strength of the two [***] things is even worse than in history, this is also Zhang Xuewu's helplessness, the country has been weak for too long, and it is not something that can be reversed overnight.

Just like the two automobile production lines purchased from the United States, the two-and-a-half-ton Ford truck is off the assembly line, and it is very good in all aspects, but the domestic imitation engine is not good, the same four-cylinder engine imported from the United States is 127 horsepower, and the domestic one is only eighty-seven horsepower, the difference makes Zhang Xuewu embarrassed and can only comfort himself that it is produced, compared to the Calvance half-track introduced by Germany, which can better adapt to China's complex road conditions, and mount a machine gun or a 37-mm anti-tank gun, It is an armored car, which can tow and transport ammunition and battlefield ambulance, but its high cost and complex process and precise assembly have also made the engineers of Baotou No. 1 Automobile Factory repeatedly entangled.

At the end of 1935, it was said that the Kwantung region had reached the establishment of 37 divisions and regiments, and its commander Minamijiro held a special large-scale exercise of the Kwantung Army on an unprecedented scale. Zhang Xuewu also immediately decided to organize a large military parade of the Rehe Army in Chengde.

Zhang Xuewu has always pursued the spirit and principle of hiding the black hand at a critical moment, but if you think about it carefully, what is the secret of the arms he bought in Germany? Due to the lack of information in later generations, Zhang Xuewu knows that several famous lurking spies and Han Jian's are still very hidden at the moment, there is no evidence at all, the only way is to consider the use of targeted elimination methods, in order to reduce the loss of the future outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, as for most of the hidden agents and Han Jian, Zhang Xuewu also does not know, after all, Zhang Xuewu is only a person, not a computer and not the god of memory!

Zhang Xuewu took stock of his family background, and he now knew why Lao Mei in the future had a little good thing and hurriedly pulled it out, it turned out that this was called threat strategy.

Zhang Xuewu's Rehe Corps subordinate to the First Army has five divisions, each division has three brigades, each brigade has two regiments, the division has one 105-mm howitzer regiment, equipped with 24 imitation German-made 100-5 mm howitzers, one 75-mm mountain artillery regiment, 24 Krupp L32 mountain field guns, one 75-mm artillery battalion, two companies under the artillery battalion, each with four guns, and one heavy mortar battalion equipped with 24 100-mm mortars.

(To be continued)