The arrogant Japanese had not tasted such a defeat for a long time, at least before the outbreak of the Pacific War, although the Japanese had suffered the defeat of Pingxingguan, the defeat of Taierzhuang, or even the defeat of Nomenhan, but these were not taken very seriously by Japan. At Pingxingguan, the Eighth Route Army attacked the second-rate baggage troops of the Japanese army with several times the strength, and the actual losses were comparable to those of the Japanese army, but a lot of things were captured. At least in terms of psychological superiority, the Japanese army can conclusively disdain the Dirt Eight Road. As for Taierzhuang, although it is known as a great victory, it is also fighting for a scale many times that of the Japanese army, and there are several times the casualties higher than the Japanese army, and it has won a momentary advantage on the tactical battlefield, but in the end Taierzhuang is still lost, and the Japanese army only regards the victory of Taierzhuang as its own short-term disadvantage, and does not take it to heart.

Whether it is Pingxingguan or Taierzhuang, the propaganda of the great victory is actually more to boost the morale of the nation and confirm that the Japanese army is not invincible, but from the perspective of the slightly larger overall situation, it cannot be regarded as a real victory. Just like the Battle of Xuzhou, to which the Battle of Taierzhuang belonged, the Guofu army was completely defeated, and later historians have to say that it dealt a blow to the arrogance of the Japanese army and prepared for the deployment of the Battle of Wuhan later. Of course, what is the outcome of the Battle of Wuhan, it is not just like the Battle of Xuzhou, it is also a complete defeat.

Judging from the entire stage of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Chinese army was still not enough to defend itself, let alone go in to regain lost territory, and some of the victories it achieved were either to attack the enemy's rear and harass the enemy army in the style of the army, or to successfully defend some relatively important strategic positions, such as several Changsha battles. Some people say that the Battle of Stalingrad is such a famous battle, and the Soviets fought a defensive operation. However, after this turning point, the Soviets launched the "Ten Stalin Assaults" and recovered all the territory, while in the entire Chinese War of Resistance against Japan, there were very few battles to actually regain the lost territory, and they were highly concentrated in the period of the end of the Japanese army in 1945.

This reality is also an important basis for the Japanese to maintain a long-term look down on China in later generations, and it is also an important basis for the Japanese to never admit that they were defeated by the Chinese. It may sound flattering, but in a way it's true.

But now, Japan's two main army divisions, two of the 17 standing divisions and regiments maintained before the war, were completely annihilated by the New Fourth Army in Anhui, which the Japanese army had always looked down on, and not a single person from the whole army escaped, and it was only confirmed through some local rumors that the 6th and 13th divisions were completely wiped out.

The Japanese base camp would rather believe that the two main divisions were abducted by aliens, or that they were collectively derelict in their duties and looking for a place to solve their physical problems, rather than believe that they were completely annihilated by the Chinese army. Because this fate is too torturous to the "noble self-esteem" of the Japanese, and the Japanese base camp also feels too "surreal".

At this time, the only people who could gloat were the Minister of the Navy and Shiro Kawako, and the army horse manure planted a big heel, so that the navy and the whole army had a rhetoric, and they jumped out and began to lobby the Konoe cabinet and the emperor.

"When did the imperial army's army become so weak, this is no longer a matter of a little setback, but two divisions and regiments of peak size were completely annihilated by the guerrillas who were not even equipped in China, could it be that they have been pampered in Nanjing for too long, and they are used to enjoying it, and they don't even know how to fight?"

"Shame, it's a shame for the empire, and it's a blasphemy against His Majesty the Emperor's martial arts, someone in the army must be responsible for this, I'm afraid seppuku is light! The jade fragments of more than 20,000 imperial men, as well as the damage to the prestige of the empire, will inevitably inspire and encourage a group of people who do not know the height of the sky to strengthen their resistance to our empire, which is obviously intolerable! ”

"I think it's a crime to waste the empire's hard-earned wealth on the army! The Army is living up to the expectations of His Majesty the Emperor and his subjects of the Empire, who are no longer even able to maintain their dominance in China, and it is time for the Empire to shift its strategic focus to Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Borneo has plenty of oil, which can make the dry imperial warships and planes start, Malaysia and the Philippines have a series of important metal resources such as copper, gold, nickel, etc., and they are also important food producing areas, which can supply more imperial people, and getting here is the future of the empire! ”

The Admirals of the Navy began to sell their ideas and plans, and in fact the Japanese policy of southward expansion had been fully on the agenda since Normenheim, and they had defeated the French in Vietnam last autumn and occupied most of Vietnam. With Britain and the Netherlands already mired in Europe, and their colonies in Southeast Asia in a defensive void, Japan, hungry and not caring how much it could digest, was greedily coveting the land and resources there.

Of course, Konoe Fumima knew what was going on in the Navy, although he also planned to take this opportunity to knock the Army, because the Army Cousin led by Hideki Tojo was not respectful and could pose a threat to his power at any time. Konoe was not a politician from the military, he had the blood of the noble Five Regents, belonged to the power of the House of Nobles, and was also used to reconcile the contradictions between land and sea and suppress the increasingly arrogant military department. However, it was precisely because of the contradictions with the military ministry that Konoe's first cabinet experience ended in resignation, and after he introduced the "principle of national unity" in line with the will of the military department, he returned to the long-awaited second cabinet.

But Yanzhòng's attack on the army is likely to cause instability, and he even suspects that he may be shot and killed by the radical guys like the 226 coup. The strength of the military department, especially the army, was rapidly increasing, and Konoe was deeply concerned about this.

"The empire's southward expansion policy is already a sure thing, and it is not advisable to advance too early, and it should be implemented in an orderly and step-by-step manner. However, the state of affairs in China has become beyond our control, and we should not have any indulgence or tolerance for this. A thorough investigation must be carried out into the tragedy of the two masters. It is rumored that the Red Elements of China have obtained some powerful weapons, which is the reason for the misfortune of the two master groups this time, and this should be the focus of our understanding. Konoe Fumima said.

Hideki Tojo immediately followed: "We must not tolerate the people of China, and I mention that we should conduct a punitive battle to let the people of China know the power of our imperial country." According to the available information, it should be that the New Fourth Army in the south has had an incomprehensible increase in combat strength, but the Eighth Route Army in the north does not seem to have changed much. We can launch a large-scale sweep against the Eighth Route Army, carry out retaliatory killings against the Chinese people, and pay tribute to the actions of the New Fourth Army in return. ”