The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression entered its second year, and after the early state of confrontation, the Japanese army began to increase its troops on the Chinese battlefield with the strength of the whole country. In the three major battlefields of Northeast China, Shandong, and Songhu, the Japanese army invested a total of more than one million troops, including several newly formed heavy armored divisions.

At the same time as the number of troops was greatly increased, the commander-in-chief of the Three-Way Army was also adjusted accordingly, and the sinister and cunning Itagaki Seishiro was sent to the Northeast Battlefield to serve as the commander of the Kwantung Army and many Manchurian multi-route armies; And Okamura Ninji, who wore glasses and seemed to be polite, was sent to the North China battlefield; Matsui continued to serve as the commander-in-chief of the Shanghai Dispatch Army.

The commanders of the three dispatch armies were scolded at the highest military meeting held before the Spring Festival.

A few days later, just after the Lunar New Year, the first heavy snow fell in Tokyo, and the snow fell on Sakurayama in a particularly beautiful way, and Emperor Hirohito convened a military council in front of the Imperial Palace. The three generals who took off their uniforms and a group of high-ranking Japanese generals met with the emperor under the leadership of the imperial family.

The emperor did not appear directly, but discussed military affairs with his samurai through a gauze-like curtain. Through the gauze, you can see a rough silhouette of the emperor, he is not tall, his face seems to have two mustaches, and there is an eye hanging from the bridge of his sunken nose, which looks no different from an ordinary person.

However, the generals here regarded him as a god, and many of them saw the emperor for the first time.

The Imperial Military Council began, and the Emperor first heard a report from Minister of War Sugiyama Moto. Sugiyama was a radical guy who frothed at the emperor and described the impending victory.

"Your Majesty, the failure to make a breakthrough in the war in China is actually the result of our army's lack of too much energy. During the Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, the empire fought against it with all its might, so it was invincible. Today, however, he is hesitant about the war in China. ”

"The purpose of formulating the spring offensive is to concentrate the forces of the country to wage a decisive battle with the government forces of China, to defeat its main forces and occupy the entire territory of China."

After Sugiyama finished speaking, several more generals said some in turn, and everyone's overall opinion was already very clear, that is, to invest more military and material resources in the war against China, and to achieve the final victory!

After everyone had finished speaking, the emperor on the other side of the gauze curtain remained silent, and all the officers knelt on either side of the table, their waists straightened, and their heads bowed silently, and they could not look directly at His Majesty, because it would be rude.

But their hearts were always entangled, thinking about His Majesty's intentions.

"I already know what you said. How is the armament ready now? Hirohito said this slowly, and the generals began to secretly rejoice in their hearts as they bowed their heads in contemplation, and the emperor asked this question, indicating that he had become interested in the plan to increase the number of troops in China.

"Your Majesty, we have now mobilized more than fifty divisions and regiments, and our strength has been maintained above one million. In addition, the troops in North Korea, Taiwan and other places have no worries about the soldiers. At the same time, the supply of ordnance can also be fully guaranteed, the navy will protect the shipping lanes, the United States and Britain and other countries are still providing industrial raw materials, and there is no problem with the war in China. "A general in charge of logistical maneuvers bowed his head and reported to the emperor everything he knew.

Hirohito didn't react after hearing this, and there was a moment of silence, and after the silence, Hirohito said slowly: "The United States and Britain are profiting from it, but the empire must be a place for industrial raw materials. The land of China was rich in products, and the occupation of the land where China could control the raw materials was the basis for the expulsion of the Anglo-American powers......"

The Emperor's words were short, but the meaning was very concise, and everyone understood it, and it seemed that the Emperor was far-sighted and was already thinking about dealing with the United States and Britain after the occupation of China.

Without waiting for the generals to be excited for a moment, the emperor summoned Okamura Ninji, Itagaki Seishiro and Matsui Ishine, and the three of them knelt down at the foot of the steps in front of the emperor, their buttocks pouting.

The emperor was still silent, and after a moment of silence, he said slowly in that hoarse voice: "The three Aiqing have worked hard for the empire, and I hope you will open up the territory with the will of the martyrs!" ”

The three of them were moved to tears, and beat their chests to express their mission. With that, Emperor Hirohito adjourned the meeting and left the conference room. The other generals also knelt there to send them off.

After the emperor left, they began to make concrete plans. Since the transfer of troops had already been completed, the main discussion now was about the date and strategy of the attack, and the result of this untechnical thing was quickly discussed, and after the Imperial Council was over, the three of Okamura Ninji rushed to their respective battlefields by special plane from Tokyo, and at this time, on the ocean under their feet, there was an endless stream of Japanese troop carriers and ships carrying weapons and equipment.

……

On the sixteenth day of the first month of the lunar calendar, just over half of the first month, on the first day after the Lantern Festival, there is still a lot of New Year's atmosphere in Nanjing. But unlike these relaxed and joyful atmospheres, the conference room in the Ministry of Defense building on Zhongshan Road was tense and depressing. The Japanese troops in the three major battlefields had already launched the offensive of large corps, and the front-line troops suffered heavy losses, and many positions were lost.

Not long ago, Huang Ke personally answered a phone call from the Northeast Theater, and Zhang Xueliang said with a headache on the phone: "Sir, the Japanese have mobilized 200,000 troops to attack from South Manchuria a few days ago. They came fiercely and didn't give me a chance to fight back at all. ”

"The 11th Army, which was at the forefront, was considered a well-equipped force, but the Japanese army used several divisions to attack. One of my infantry brigades on the front line was wiped out in less than a day! The 11th Army had only been working for three days, and more than half of the troops had suffered casualties. ”

"It's not that the brothers don't want to fight, this battle is really too bad, can you withdraw to the front line of Shenyang, or replace it with other troops to repair? If this continues, I'm afraid that the 18th and 11th armies will be wiped out......"

Huang Ke had no other way but to say, "Han Qing, if you persist on the front line for one more day, the more you persist, the more you will be able to buy some time for the brothers in the back." Japan is now fighting a life-and-death war with us with all its might, and we can only defeat it once and for all. ”

"It's not that I don't want to hold on, it's just that if this battle continues, I'm afraid that all the brothers in the old Northeast Army will be defeated......," Zhang Xueliang said in a choked voice.

"Han Qing, how can you talk like this?!" Huang Ke said in a reproachful tone: "In the sequence of the National Defense Force, how can there be any old Northeast Army? At present, the great enemy does not distinguish between old and young, and the land does not distinguish between north and south, why are you still clinging to the feudal warlords? ”

After hearing this, Zhang Xueliang also realized that he was a little anxious, so he changed his tone to a slower tone and said, "I'm sorry, sir, I was a little anxious just now and said the wrong thing." ”

Huang Ke knew that this was the scene he didn't want to mention in his heart, after all, the rectified Northeast Army was the largest local force in the sequence of national defense forces controlled by the central government.

But Huang Ke would never say that.

He changed to a persuasive tone and said: "Han Qing, don't have such a regional prejudice, the troops on the Shanghai front line and the Shandong front line are all brought out by me from Xiguan according to your statement, but the orders I gave them are to fight to the last man." It's not that I'm too ruthless, if I don't insist on building a second line of defense, then I will destroy the country and the species! ”

"......" Zhang Xueliang was silent, and after a while, he said: "Sir, Xueliang knows!" ”

After speaking, Zhang Xueliang hung up the phone, but Huang Ke held the receiver but couldn't put it down for a long time.

Even Zhang Xueliang, who has always been cynical, lamented the fierceness on the battlefield, which shows that the soldiers on both sides are fighting to the death. Huang Ke naturally did not doubt the loyalty and courage of the soldiers on the front line, but he had to personally issue an order for them to hold on, because once the front line of the three major battlefields broke through, the Japanese army might drive straight in!

In fact, as early as a few years ago, He Yingqin believed that the Japanese army might have a major military operation in the near future, because Japan continued to recruit men of appropriate age into the army, various ordnance factories worked overtime day and night, and huge ships with thick smoke shuttled back and forth between China's coastal ports and Japan's mainland...... The General Staff concluded that the Japanese would launch a general offensive in March.

To this end, the Ministry of National Defense made preparations for organizing the group army to build the second line of defense: the originally repaired First Group Army, together with other units, formed the First Front Army, and was transferred to the Jinan and Qufu lines to build the second line of defense; Du Yuming's Songhu Armed Police Force also joined other units to form the Second Front Army, which was fortified in Suzhou and Nanjing; Lin Zuoda's Fifth Army was transferred to the northeast, and the Eighteenth Group Army and other troops formed the Third Front Army to spread a defensive line on the Jinzhou front.

At the same time as mobilizing troops for mobility, the Ministry of National Defense also launched a wartime mobilization order, all walks of life took military supplies as the primary service object, factory production was all based on the primary principle of serving the military industry, a large number of school-age young people were conscripted into the army, governments and propaganda at all levels opened a large amount of wartime propaganda, and the centralized executive power was reflected step by step.

But what they never expected was that the Japanese army would move so quickly, and they launched an attack a month earlier than expected, which also shattered the original hope of building a perfect second line of defense.

Huang Ke did not want to see the tragedy of the defense of Nanjing in history repeated, he knew that the consequence would be the destruction of tens of thousands of people, so the front-line troops had to withstand it no matter what.

But the Japanese army obviously came prepared, and they were prepared for a long time. In Songhu, North China, and Northeast China, they were attacked by large-scale Japanese troops, and their degree of mechanization was much higher than before, and a large number of new tanks and artillery were put into the battlefield, which also made the Wehrmacht, which had previously relied on mobility, lose in the battle.

Huang Ke knew that only by strictly ordering the front-line troops to defend to the death and win valuable time for the deployment of the second line of defense could he have any hope of winning.