Prince Zaihito, chief of the general staff of the Japanese army's base camp, and Koone, minister of war, and Yohei Kono, minister of the navy, discussed issues at the campaign level, specifically the designation and implementation of the plan, and the work of Senior General Ito Yanzaburo, commander-in-chief of Japan's Southwest Pacific Dispatch Force.

Seeing the battle plan that was brought back, and seeing the telegram personally taken by the Minister of War, General Mitsuichi Yonechi, among them, there was no lack of accusations, and General Ito was shocked to sweat all over his body, this disaster can be a big deal, even the emperor Xià was alarmed, and he made such a play, in the eyes of those bigwigs in the army system, it was very embarrassing!

In fact, he himself felt wronged, Admiral Ito did not take the navy seriously, including the chief of staff, Rear Admiral Kawashima, when making the plan, the thinking habits were still the same as the army, neither of them remembered that they still needed the participation of the navy, perhaps, subconsciously, they did not want to have any contact with the navy at all.

Throughout the day, Admiral Ito and Chief of Staff Kawashima were immersed in the revision of the battle plan, and in the evening, after the revised battle plan, it was again reported to the General Staff of the base camp, and the revised plan was to add the part that required the cooperation of the navy, and it was very detailed, to what direction and what tonnage of warships were needed to escort the ship.

The reaction of the General Staff of the base camp was also quite fast, and after the plan was reported, it took more than four hours for it to be approved by the General Staff, and, very simply, "Please ask His Majesty the Emperor for approval." Agree to the plan and implement it now! ”

Along with the telegram, there was also an order, and Admiral Ito was promoted again, not only commanding more than 800,000 troops sent by the Southwest Pacific of the Japanese Empire, but also commanding two fleets of the navy, that is, soldiers running on land, planes flying in the sky, and warships swimming on the sea, all under his control, so to speak. The power of General Ito Yanzaburo has reached the pinnacle of the first-level commander of the army theater!

All day on 21 August, General MacArthur in Manila greeted him with joy and greeted the British and Australian troops who had landed on Luzon one after another. As for Lieutenant General Wagnarze, the chief of staff who commanded the reinforcements, MacArthur used all his strength. Treat him as a guest. Let the chief of staff of Wagnarze, there is a feeling of flattery.

Others don't know this General MacArthur, Lieutenant General Wagnerdze, but they are quite aware of the temper of this American four-star general, and his arrogance is his signature. Since General MacArthur was gracious, Lieutenant General Wagnerdze did not embarrass him, and as soon as he went ashore, he took command of the troops. Handover to General MacArthur, not so much on the order of Commander-in-Chief Fernandez.

General MacArthur, who was busy greeting reinforcements from the British and Australian armies, and General Ito Yanzaburo, commander-in-chief of Japan's Southwest Pacific Dispatch Force, was not idle, and after receiving approval from the base camp for his battle plan, Admiral Ito decided to convene a supreme military meeting of the dispatch force on the night of 21 August.

The meeting took place in the mountains of Calais, in a small town completely destroyed by Japanese soldiers.

It should be admitted that the Japanese are natural saboteurs, and they have an innate instinct for sabotage, so that when General Ito entered a town full of ruins, rubble, and a choking smell of burnt in the air, he couldn't help frowning, and he was not very happy.

Major General Kawashima, the chief of staff who followed closely, saw the commander-in-chief's frowning movements, unhappy face, and impatiently smiled bitterly, searching the entire Calais Mountains, but could not find a complete building, the energetic imperial soldiers, after killing all the residents, used their excess energy to deal with these buildings, and fully exerted the destructive ability of the outstanding descendants of the Yamato nation.

Ignited everything that could be burned, even the stones had to be stabbed three times, this town that had become a ruin, relatively speaking, was still the best preserved, at least, there were a few ruins left, relying on the charred black walls, and military tents could be erected, otherwise, a military meeting of the highest level of the dispatch army could only be held on the hillside or in the wild forest.

Of course, Major General Kawashima would not have grievances with Commander-in-Chief Ito for these words, and as the organizer of the meeting, his attention was focused on the commanders of the various armies who participated in the military conference.

The Japanese generals who came to attend the military conference were all members of the 100 to 200,000 troops in command, and they came from various parts of the Southwest Pacific theater, and the commander-in-chief, General Ito Yanzaburo, was of a distinguished position, so naturally he would not condescend to personally greet and arrange for these army commanders with the rank of lieutenant general, and the task naturally fell on the chief of staff, Major General Kawashima.

The meeting was held at eight o'clock in the evening, and after entertaining the commanders who had come from all over the country and having a rare dinner of pure Japanese flavor, the time was almost up, but Chief of Staff Kawashima discovered a problem, even Lieutenant General Shinno Masahiko, commander of the Fifth Army, who was far away in Sumatra, arrived on time, but Lieutenant General Yoshihiko Haruta, commander of the 14th Army on the Manila front, was nowhere to be found.

Chief of Staff Kawashima couldn't help but be very dissatisfied in his heart, he personally informed Lieutenant General Haruta, and he also promised to attend the military meeting on time, but when the meeting was about to be held, he didn't even show a figure, what is going on?

At 7:40 a.m., the commanders of the various armies had already entered the meeting hall one after another, that is, a large tent, and the chief of staff of Kawashima once again called the headquarters of the 14th Army on the front line in Manila, and the staff officer on duty reported, "Your Excellency, the commander, after receiving your notice, hastened to the mountains of Calais this morning!" ”

Putting down the phone, Chief of Staff Kawashima was taken aback, and a bad thought came to mind, "Could it be Lieutenant General Haraita on the way to the meeting, there was an accident, and the biggest possibility is that it was attacked by the remnants of the American army that were not cleared, but, no, the entire Calais mountain area has been turned over by more than 90,000 imperial soldiers, and there are definitely no remnants of the American army alive." ”

Seeing that the meeting was about to begin, with a nervous mood, Chief of Staff Kawashima entered the venue, leaned in the ear of General Ito and muttered a few words, and General Ito nodded.

Glancing at the several army commanders who were sitting precariously, General Ito said: "Gentlemen, the time of the meeting will be postponed for a while, Lieutenant General Yoshihiko Haruta is on the way here, let's all wait patiently for a while!" Lieutenant General Haruta is busy with affairs and is fighting fiercely with the US army, everyone can understand! ”

After listening to General Ito's words, several Japanese generals were silent on the surface, but they were very disapprehensive in their hearts, "Why? For the sake of Yoshihiko Harata, let everyone sit here, a few of our brothers, that is not other regions, annihilated the US and Philippine troops, or tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of Spanish and Indonesian troops, he Yoshihiko Haruta fought on Luzon Island for more than two months, and he has not been able to help MacArthur until now, it is long overdue, it seems that he is important, what kind of big cloves of garlic! ”

Although they were slandered in their hearts, these army commanders all knew that Yoshihiko Haruta was now a celebrity next to Commander-in-Chief Ito, and a commendation order full of praise explained a lot of problems, and in front of Commander-in-Chief Ito, he naturally wouldn't be bored, so he was patient and sat back and waited.

At about nine o'clock, the roar of cars outside came to an abrupt halt in front of the tent, and the curtain of the tent was vigorously lifted, and Lieutenant General Yoshihiko Haruta, commander of the 14th Army of the Japanese Army, came in with a murderous look on his face.

Entering the tent, regardless of the other army commanders, with strange expressions, Lieutenant General Haruta said in a rough voice: "Commander-in-Chief, the Americans have come to reinforce the troops, MacArthur is bold, he dares to take the initiative to attack, I am commanding the troops, counterattacking, at this time, you hold a military meeting, MacArthur finally shows his head, what if the Americans retreat?" My soldiers, won't they be able to fight a big battle! ”

Several other army commanders looked at each other, listening to the meaning of this guy Haruta, blaming the commander-in-chief for ordering him to come to the meeting, and he was bold enough to accuse General Ito in person, which was unpleasant, but with Commander-in-Chief Ito here, no one intervened, with a schadenfreude and a lively mentality.

Unexpectedly, to the surprise of several Japanese lieutenant generals, General Ito didn't care, he actually stood up and greeted this guy Haruta in person, "Chuntian-kun, it's been hard all the way, we're all waiting for you, sit down first, you'll fight!" ”

Speechless, several Japanese army commanders were completely speechless, exchanging glances with each other, they are all generals of the Imperial Japanese Army, and they are all subjects of His Majesty the Emperor, why is the treatment different, if our brothers come to such a show, keep a violent training from Commander-in-Chief Ito, maybe they will be hit by a few big mouths, and I don't know what kind of shit luck this guy Haruda Yoshihiko has taken, and he has actually entered the eyes of General Ito, and he is favored, a celebrity!

When the people arrived, General Ito's face turned pale, and he said sternly: "Gentlemen, I will summon you from all over the world to participate in this military meeting, and there is only one content, that is, to deploy the main force of the army I sent to attack Australia!" ”

Then, he stood up abruptly and shouted loudly: "All stand up, His Majesty the Emperor, Senior General Ito Yanzaburo, Commander-in-Chief of the Southwest Pacific Dispatch Force of the Empire of Japan, assumes the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Australian Campaign, controls all the army and navy units participating in the war, and has full authority to command the battle!" ”

(To be continued) (To be continued.) )