"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has made up his last decision" A Japanese army officer walked into a small box on the train with a gloomy face, although it was already early spring, but the climate in Siberia was still very cold, even colder than the cold winter in Japan, this Japanese officer was still wearing a tweed army coat, just walked into this small and stuffy room full of wine and smoke, a thin layer of sweat oozed from his forehead, this Japanese officer hung the rank of major general, It was Sadao Araki, the military attache of the Japanese embassy in the Soviet Union, who was now escorting Hirohito back to the Far Eastern State, and in this small box, several officers were already crowded around a Nanyang area and were talking in a low voice

Hearing Araki's words, all the big Saka Sasa here stopped talking, and all eyes were focused on Araki, Araki pointed to Tojo Hideki, who had the lowest rank here, and said, "Tojo-kun, go and guard the corridor outside, and if someone comes, hurry up and knock on the door of the box."

"Hi" can't participate in the discussion, of course Tojo is very unwilling, but there is no way, who made him stupid, mixed up until now is a middle sa? Moreover, his grades in the Lu Shi were mediocre, and he took the Lu University exam three times before he was admitted, so he could only be regarded as a marginal person in the elite group of the Japanese Army

After Tojo left, Araki sat down in the place where Tojo was originally sitting, and looked at several of his accomplices with a stern face, and said in a deep voice: "Since Your Highness has such a determination, we, as courtiers, should carry it out for Your Highness!" Do you have any ideas? ”

Nagata Tetsuyama Daisa, who was beside him, seemed to smile bitterly, and was the first to speak: "We not only discussed the details of the assassination operation, but also studied the countermeasures in case the operation failed, and we all felt that if a battlecruiser was used to assassinate Chang Ruiqing...... It is impossible to cover up the truth, if Chang Ruiqing escapes, he will definitely retaliate by means of war, and such a sensational assassination will definitely make the empire isolated in the international community, and now France, Germany, and Italy, which have signed a mutual defense treaty with China, will definitely stand on the side of China, the United States will definitely sanction the empire, and Britain will not support the empire...... What is even more troublesome is that the Reich's army has not yet recovered from the last war, and it is very likely that it will suffer a major setback in the early stages of the war and even lose the Far Eastern states, unless the Soviet Union can join in in time to fight alongside the Reich......"

This Osa spoke a little hesitantly, and he was a little bit of a retreat to be honest, this risky plan proposed by Hirohito, all the army officers in this room also felt that it was too risky! Moreover, without understanding the cabinet and the emperor, it is a bit perverse to use the navy to fight a war without authorization

But these Japanese army elites had to admit that such an extremely risky assassination was the only way to reverse the growing decline facing the Japanese empire on the East Asian continent, especially after the contents of the Four-Power Defense Treaty were publicly announced

"Nagata-kun, if you don't do this, is there any other way out for the empire?" Sadao Araki looked coldly at the so-called No. 1 brain in the Japanese army in front of him, who always thought too much and too far, "In case of failure, don't think about it, Your Highness has made up your mind, we will let this matter succeed!" Be sure to succeed! Gentlemen, do you understand? ”

It's very hot in the box, and there may be a nervous factor, Nagata Tetsuyama Osa has already opened the collar of his military uniform, and there are beads of sweat on his forehead, I don't know if it's a cold sweat Araki Sadao is ready to go to the soup for Crown Prince Hirohito, he gritted his teeth and continued: "The lower officials think that the assassination may fail, and they can't ignore it!" The Far Eastern Army must also be ready for a big war! These words immediately aroused a wave of opposition

"How is the Far Eastern Army preparing? If you want to call up reservists to prepare for war in a big way, you must go to the military department! In this way, you can't hide it from Your Excellency Tanaka! ”

"Prime Minister Tanaka won't support it! If he knew, the whole operation would have been stopped! ”

"The key now is to make the assassination successful, and if it is to succeed, it must be strictly secret, and it must not be known to the Tokyo side!"

Several army elites who had come here also knew that it was impossible for such a mischief to be supported by the majority of the Japanese ruling circles, including the top echelons of the army

"How can you completely hide it from Tokyo? What do you think a battle cruiser is? Is it an infantry squad? For the operation to succeed, it must have the support of the Prime Minister...... If we can convince the prime minister, we can send all the submarines to South China, so that Chang Ruiqing can be eliminated without knowing it! ”

"Nagata-kun! You don't have to worry about how to mobilize the battlecruisers! As for the country, it is not impossible to hide it for the time being! Sadao Araki slapped the table hard, and the force was so great that everything on the table jumped up at the same time, "We are the army after all, let's think about what to do after eliminating Chang Ruiqing!" Can you take advantage of the chaos in China to seize Manchuria? ”

Nagata Tetsuyama sighed softly, bowed his head and apologized to His Excellency the Major General, and then sat on the side without saying a word, Kenji Dohihara, who was in charge of intelligence work in the Chinese region, took over the topic and said: "At present, Chang Ruiqing is still stranded in Berlin because of illness, and it is said that he will not be able to leave until early April, and a large number of weapons and equipment from France and Germany to aid China have already been shipped and will arrive in China before Chang Ruiqing, do we want to intercept this batch of equipment?" ”

"No interception" Araki shook his head and intercepted it was impossible, first, there was no name, and it was not easy for Tokyo to approve it; Second, I am also afraid of startling snakes

Tu Feiyuan frowned and said: "Then the military strength of the Nanjing government will be further strengthened, and 0 artillery regiments will ...... I'm afraid it's not appropriate to act rashly."

Sadao Araki glanced at the big Zuo who was in charge of intelligence work, shook his head slightly, and smiled: "Before leaving Moscow, Ambassador Katayama has already negotiated with the leader of the Soviet GCD, and the Red Army will cooperate with our actions at that time......" The people in the box were all in good spirits, and their eyes did not blink, but Araki did not intend to continue, he turned his head and said to Nagata Tetsuyama: "Nagata-kun, you are a senior staff officer of the Far Eastern Army, and when the visit is over, you still have to return to serve in the Far Eastern Army...... What do you do about it? ”

Nagata Tieshan took a breath, frowned, and said, "If there is a war with China, the gains and losses of the Far Eastern State will depend on two railways - the Far Eastern Railway from Yanpu to Boli, and the Eastern Railway connecting Yanpo and Chita...... The Far Eastern Army believed that once a war broke out with Tongchina, the center of gravity of the decisive battle between the two sides would be near the intersection of the Eastern Railway and the Far Eastern Railway, that is, north of Yanpu and south of Xingkai Lake! The Imperial Army will defend on this line with one or two divisions, hold out until domestic reinforcements arrive, and if it cannot hold on, retreat to Yanpu, and rely on this first fortress in the Far East to hold on to the end."

Araki was stunned for a moment, and asked with a gloomy face: "Nagata-kun, now His Highness wants to know if the Far Eastern Army has any way to seize Manchuria!" ”

"There is no such way!" Nagata Tetsuyama stood up suddenly, stomped his feet, and said, "You can't take the matter of war for granted!" Now the strength of the army is inferior to that of the opponent, the deployment of the Far Eastern Army is mainly to deal with the Soviet Union, and Yanpu is far away from the central cities of Manchuria, Shenyang and Harbin, even if the Far Eastern Army uses the convenience of a surprise attack to seize some territory, it will not pose a fatal threat to the Manchurian squadron, so there is no way to take a trick, and it can only fight steadily and steadily......"

Nagata said the truth, the Japanese officers in the box knew that Araki was of course no exception, he waved his hand, stopped Nagata's speech, thought for a while, and said: "Nagata-kun, Your Highness thinks that China will fall into a situation of fragmentation because of Chang Ruiqing's death, so the China Army in Manchuria may be chaotic, and the Soviet Union will also take the opportunity to send troops to China, so based on such conditions, formulate a plan to seize Manchuria...... Both the Far Eastern Army and the Korean Army will be involved, and it will be formulated on the train, and His Royal Highness will arrive at this plan before reaching the Far Eastern State! ”

……

"The negotiations between the Ministry of Commerce and Germany and France on barter trade have been successful, and this trade method was originally conceived by the German Minister of Economy, Dr. Schacht, and the relevant agreements have been signed between France, Germany and Italy, and we are just joining in...... In this way, we will be able to exchange our domestic agricultural and mineral products for their equipment, and with the franc and lira loans we have from France and Italy, we will not have to pay for the funds we need for industrialization for the next few years! Song Ziwen's face was full of excitement, and his eyebrows fluttered to Chang Ruiqing to introduce his Ministry of Commerce's gains in this visit to Europe, Chang Ruiqing really sold the friendship with the Soviet Union at an unexpectedly high price this time!

Chang Ruiqing was a little absent-minded, and now he and Song Ziwen were sitting in the officer's room of the Haitian heavy cruiser -- he had left Berlin three days ago after saying goodbye to Sun Yuexun, who had almost cried tears, and the itinerary was kept secret from the outside world, and the German side did not hold a farewell ceremony

As for the visit to Europe, of course, it was a success, and it would be even more successful if you consider the secret conversation between yourself and Mr. Jack Morgan! However, while succeeding, Chang Ruiqing is even more confused about the future...... In this time and space, it is not only China whose situation has changed greatly compared to history! Germany seems to be the biggest beneficiary of its butterfly effect, having escaped the collapse of '92, which to be honest will not be much less devastating than the First World War! After escaping the catastrophe, Germany has also become a "strong wall to defend Christian civilization", you must know that it is only 92 years now, if the world's World War II is still in 99, then the Germans still have 6 years to prepare, God knows what they can do with World War II? Won't really play a Hitler dynasty!

When Chang Ruiqing was absentmindedly listening to Song Ziwen's words, the cabin door was suddenly knocked gently, and then he saw the adjutant Pan Wenzhao walking in with a thick stack of Wen Jiàn Chang Ruiqing's original adjutant Zheng Zhongyuan was left in Berlin this time, while studying at the German Staff College, and on the other hand, Sun Yuexun was also responsible for taking care of Sun Yuexun's position It was Chang Ruiqing's original adjutant who replaced him. Pan Wenzhao, who studied in France to study armored troops, of course, he will temporarily hold this position, and after returning to China, he will go to the armored forces school to be the chief of education! China's future armored corps relied on him and several other young officers who had studied in France to teach

"Commission, the Military Intelligence Bureau has sent a summary of the intelligence of the visit of the Japanese crown prince Hirohito to the Soviet Union" Pan Wenzhao's brows frowned slightly, as if the news was not very good

"What's wrong?" Chang Ruiqing took the text and asked, "Is it that Hirohito and Trotsky Lenin are fighting hotly?" ”

Pan Wenzhao didn't answer, just glanced at Song Ziwen Song Ziwen immediately stood up, nodded at Chang Ruiqing with a smile, said goodbye and left

At this time, Pan Wenzhao said: "The report of the Military Intelligence Bureau says that the Chinese GCD international delegation to the GC has been heavily monitored by Soviet agents, and Zhong Zhijie has no way to carry out activities at all, so we do not know anything about the secret agreement reached with the Soviet side during Hirohito's visit to the Soviet Union."

Chang Ruiqing smiled faintly and said: "We have now sold the Soviet Union for a good price, and we don't expect to maintain any friendship with the Soviet Union anymore, Wen Zhao, go and send a telegram to the Military Intelligence Bureau, so that all the personnel in the GC international delegation can withdraw to the country."

"Okay" Pan Wenzhao recorded this order, asked Chang Ruiqing to sign it, and then turned to leave

When this order was sent by the Haitian radio to the headquarters of the Military Intelligence Bureau in Tangshan, Nanjing, the conference room of the Military Intelligence Bureau was also discussing this matter, and the current Soviet Union was almost an airtight police state, and there were no diplomatic and trade relations with the vast majority of countries in the world, and the foreigners operating in the Soviet Union were mainly the representatives of the Foreign Workers' Party in the Soviet Union, so the military intelligence bureau in the Soviet Union relied on the information network of the Chinese and G delegations to the GC to carry out its activities. The information collected was also sent back to China through the long-wave radio station of the Chinese and G delegations, and now the Chinese and Chinese delegations to the GC and the international missions have been closely monitored, and as soon as this intelligence center is paralyzed, those Chinese spies lurking in the key departments of the Soviet Union have completely lost their role overnight, and the intelligence work on the Soviet Union, which has been painstakingly operated for many years, has suddenly become a blank!

"The chairman wants us to withdraw the people in the GC international delegation first," Ren Yijiang took the telegram sent by the adjutant, glanced at it, frowned, and said, "What are you doing?" ”

"It's all irrelevant," said Zhao Zhen, the acting chief of the General Staff, while smoking a cigar, sitting in the smoky conference room, "The key now is what conspiracy is the Soviet Union planning?" Could it be that they are trying to cover up some large-scale military movement when they suddenly increase their surveillance of the GC international mission? Like last year before the Polish-East Prussian war? ”

"Yougong, are you saying that the Soviet Union is preparing to invade us?" Ren Yijiang took a breath, and his eyebrows gradually leaned together, this possibility is not impossible, although there is now the "Four-Power Mutual Defense Treaty" supported there, but Germany's military strength has not fully recovered after all, even if the Soviet Union transfers part of the forces on the Western Front to the Eastern Front, they may not have the strength to recover Poland and East Prussia from the Soviet Red Army

"Well, there is such a possibility" Zhao Zhen did not deny it, took a few puffs of cigarette, and then asked: "Where is Japan?" Is our intelligence network in Japan still normal? ”

"It's normal, it's normal, and I didn't find anything abnormal in the Japanese army, and they didn't mobilize...... If the Soviet Union were to invade, Japan would probably not be involved, right? If Japan had not participated, the USSR would not have ......"

"It is possible that the Soviet Union will do it first, and then Japan will join it, and the Japanese army's reserve mobilization system is not rewarded, and it will not take a month to replenish the troops," Zhao Zhen said...... It is possible for the Soviet Union to take a defensive position in the Far East and an offensive in Central Asia, but our forces in Xinjiang are weak and we will certainly not be able to defend it, and we will not be able to fall all of Xinjiang...... If we were to transfer troops to counterattack Xinjiang, the forces on the northeast and southeast coasts would be relatively empty, and this would make it possible for Japan to seize Manchuria! He paused, and then said to Ren Yijiang: "Yichen, I mean that the people of the Intelligence Bureau in Moscow will not withdraw for the time being, so that they can try their best to find out the movements of the Soviet Red Army."

Now that Chang Ruiqing is not in the country, the National Defense Force is headed by the Four King Kongs, and Zhao Zhen is attending the meeting of the Intelligence Bureau on behalf of the "Four King Kongs" today, so his words are also an order Ren Yijiang nodded with an embarrassed face, and several big spies sitting there seemed to be fighting for their opinions When his gaze swept to Colonel Liu Peng, the youngest deputy director of the Science Department of the Intelligence Bureau in this conference room, he saw this person standing upright, nodded to Zhao Zhen and Ren Yijiang, and spoke loudly: "Again, sit down, There is a building in the Ministry of Occupation, so let's test the Soviet Union."

"Oh, how to tempt?" Zhao Zhen asked

"Mobilize the troops! The two standing armies will be fully manned, and the armies of the Northeast and Mongolia will all be on combat alert, and if the Soviet Union has no ghosts in its heart, it will definitely find a way to ease the situation."