Chapter 377: The Problem of Philosophy

After listening to General Sugiyama's words, Okamura Ninji pondered for a while and said: "Your Excellency, Commander, I think that Your Excellency Tojo is a proud person, and that he can directly ask for help from our North China Front Army at this time without going through the base camp, which in itself means that the situation is already more critical than what he said in the telegram, otherwise a person with such a high heart and arrogance as him would not have sent such a telegram!" ”

"Yo Sai, Okamura-kun has a point, Your Excellency Tojo is a proud man, and the fact that he was able to pull down his head and send this telegram proves in itself that the front line of Tongliao has reached a very critical time!" The commander of the 12th Division, Koiso Kuniaki, nodded in agreement, saying that he had been fighting with the Chahar side for the longest time in the North China Dispatch Army, and he also knew the combat effectiveness of the Chahar Aviation Force the best.

But Seishiro Itagaki on the side shook his head and objected, "But our North China Dispatch Army only has one flying division, if we all support the Kwantung Army, then what should we do, we can't say that we don't need air support!" ”

In the second half of last year, Itagaki Seishiro defeated more than 30 divisions of the Chinese army with half a division, which can be regarded as a great feat, so Itagaki Seishiro also had a group of supporters in the North China Dispatch Army, and even Emperor Hirohito, who was far away in Tokyo, heard of his name. Itagaki also agreed with this statement. "As the so-called father dies and mother marries, everyone takes care of everyone", your Kwantung Army's own butt is still good to wipe by yourself, we ourselves don't think the plane is enough, how can we have this time to take care of you.

"Stupid!" Okamura Ninji couldn't hold back any longer, stood up and said loudly: "There is an old saying in the people of China, "Lips are dead and teeth are cold", don't you understand this truth? If the Kwantung Army fails, what good will it do us? When the time comes, the Seventh War Zone will immediately turn around and attack us! Don't you understand? ”

"Okamura-kun!" Itagaki Seishiro also stood up, not caring about the face of his old classmates: "But our North China Dispatch Army also has only one flying division, if they are all sent to the Kwantung Army, do you dare to guarantee that they will not be wiped out like the first flying division of the Kwantung Army?" At that time, what can we use to resist the attack of the 7th Theater of Operations? I don't know if Okamura-kun dares to make a bet with me, if our Fifth Flying Division loses too much, the base camp will definitely not be replenished to us at the first time, and if the Seventh Theater takes the opportunity to counterattack Tianjin, what will we be able to resist? ”

Okamura was silent, because Itagaki Seishiro's words were not unreasonable, in the heart of the base camp, Manchuria was the foundation, and if the base camp was asked to make a choice between the Kwantung Army and the North China Dispatch Army, their certainty would be beyond doubt.

"Moreover, I can be sure that if our Fifth Flying Division is sent over this time, it will definitely be the horn of cannon fodder, I know that 'senior soldier' too well!" Itagaki sneered and said, "He can even abandon Commander Umezu, let alone a few of our planes?" ”

"Itagaki-kun, please be careful!" Sugiyama Moto, who was on the side, said with a straight face: "I know that you have a good relationship with Ishihara Wan'er, but Tojo-kun is a high-ranking general of the empire after all, so I can't help you accuse him like this!" ”

"Hello!" Itagaki Seishiro hurriedly lowered his head and apologized, just now he said this for his friend Ishihara Waner, who was excluded by Tojo, but he immediately realized that it was inappropriate for him to say such a thing, so he quickly apologized.

"That's okay, let's secondment the 17th and 18th Flying Regiments to the Kwantung Army first, so that they won't save us if we die in the future," Sugiyama Yuan thought for a long time, and finally came up with a way to make peace with the mud.

Seeing this, Okamura's opinion of Sugiyama Moto was degraded again, such a refueling tactic was clearly a taboo for soldiers, and General Sugiyama Moto, as the commander, would not fail to understand this, but he still did it. This shows that he did not want to offend most of the officers of the North China Dispatch Army by taking advantage of the Kwantung arms, and he was also afraid of offending Hideki Tojo, a rising star in the Japanese military circles with a promising future.

Doesn't he understand that the consequence of not wanting to offend both ends is likely to be to offend both?

After the meeting ended, Okamura Ninji was about to return to the headquarters of the Second Division, but Itagaki Seishiro found Okamura Ninji, "Okamura-kun, can you accompany Itagaki to have a meal with your face?" ”

Okamura Ningji stared at Itagaki Seishiro for a while before he smiled reservedly: "I don't dare to ask for what I want, Okamura can't ask for it." ”

The two laughed and walked hand in hand to a Japanese-owned hotel in Tianjin, where they summoned geisha and fine sake to drink. The two of them tacitly did not mention the differences in the meeting just now, but talked about the stormy night.

After three rounds of wine and five flavors, Seishiro Itagaki bent down and filled the wine glass in front of Okamura Ninji with sake and said with a smile: "Okamura-kun, there are not many of our sixteenth classmates now, retired from the army, and those who died in battle for His Majesty the Emperor, there are not many people who can still sit together and drink like us." ”

"yes!" Okamura Ninji nodded with emotion: "Thirty-five years have passed in the blink of an eye since we graduated, and the classmates of that year died in battle, and those who retired were retired, and there are really not many people left." ”

Seishiro Itagaki smiled and raised his glass, "Hehe, let's not talk about these uninteresting topics today, Okamura-kun, you just got married a few years ago?" I'm really sorry that I didn't congratulate you in person because of my busy military affairs, but I'm here to apologize to you now! After saying that, Seishiro Itagaki made a ninety-degree bow to make amends.

Okamura sighed and shook his head, and said for a long time: "Since the death of the branch, I haven't remarried, and I didn't reconcile until the year before last, so let's talk about today's things first!" Itagaki-kun, can you tell me why you oppose sending the 5th Flying Division to Manchuria? Are you just trying to give Ishihara-kun a vent? ”

"No, no!" Seishiro Itagaki shook his head: "Ishihara-kun and I are indeed best friends, although Itagaki is not talented, but he will not do such a thing for personal reasons." The reason why I stopped this is to keep a flying force for our North China Dispatch Army that can resist the Chahar government! ”

"Oh? What do you mean by that? Okamura asked curiously.

Seishiro Itagaki took a glass of wine and drank it all before he said indignantly, "Okamura-kun, let me ask you, why did our empire defeat Chahar's army repeatedly? ”

Okamura Ninji smiled bitterly, "Isn't Itagaki-kun testing me?" The Chahar army was well-equipped and disciplined, especially since their warplanes were much more advanced than those of the Empire. After my observation, I found that this Su Tong always fights in a decent manner, I have watched and figured out his tactics many times, and his tactics come and go with just a few tricks, nothing more than the first aircraft bombardment artillery, and then the infantry or chariot charge, nothing new. But it's such a simple move, but our emperor ** team has repeatedly put it in his hands, reconcile? ”

Speaking of this, the two of them looked at each other in unison before they said in unison: "Absolute strength!" ”

Itagaki Seishiro also sighed: "Yes, absolute strength, all yīn tricks are so pale and powerless in the face of absolute strength. That's why I'm so anxious to stop that, you must know that the fighters of the Seventh Theater are much more advanced than ours now, and I can assert that even if we send the Fifth Flying Division to Manchuria, it will only be to send food to the Chahar government, and it is better to retain our strength than to send them to death! ”

"Humph!" Okamura disagreed with Seishiro Itagaki's words, "Itagaki-kun is too pessimistic, it's true that our planes are lagging behind the fighters of the Seventh Theater, but we can't passively avoid war because of this." A brave samurai is one who dares to draw his sword in the face of a powerful opponent, and even if he loses, his reputation as a samurai will not be damaged. ”

"Hehe, but don't forget Okamura-kun, this is not a street samurai brawl, but the fate of a flying division! If you lose, you won't even have a chance to turn it over. Seishiro Itagaki was clearly a different taker from Okamura's samurai theory, so he didn't buy it.

"Hmph, Itagaki-kun, how can your merchant theory be related to bushido, it's related to the rise and fall of the empire." Okamura Ninji also argued about the spark.

"No, no, no," Seishiro Itagaki shook his head, "In my opinion, governing the country is no different from doing business, both are about pursuing the maximum benefit with the minimum cost. You see what the purpose of the existence of our army is, it is nothing more than to seek the greater good of the empire. Just as we fight a war, we have to exchange the least casualties for the greater gain. ”

"You're Itagaki-kun, have you forgotten the oath we made when we were at school?" Okamura Ninji pointed at Seishiro Itagaki and was so angry that he couldn't speak, and the two soldiers with two different philosophies were arguing in the hotel.

"I haven't forgotten, but don't you think that the senseless sacrifice should not be paid?" Seishiro Itagaki sighed as he looked at the figure of Okamura Ninji eating.

"Hmph, it seems that you have completely forgotten the teachings of your superintendent, Captain Daikoshi Kenkichi, and are becoming more and more greedy for life and afraid of death." Okamura stood up calmly, "Don't speculate for more than half a sentence, since that's the case, Okamura has taken his leave." ”

Looking at the figure of Okamura Ninji going out angrily, Seishiro Itagaki silently poured a glass of wine and drank it by himself, muttering in his mouth: "Did I make a mistake in retaining a division's plane for the empire, or Okamura-kun are you so sure that you can deal with the planes of the Chinese people?" ”