"Han Qing, why do you have so many courtesies between you and me?" Huang Ke walked over and said with a smile.

Zhang Xueliang withdrew his arm and said seriously: "Although Han Qing and the minister have a very personal relationship, you are always my superior in the army. What's more, it is in the meeting room of the Ministry of Defense, and the relevant regulations should be observed. ”

"Alright, let's sit down." Huang Ke sat on the sofa by himself and motioned for him to sit next to him.

Zhang Xueliang did not give in this time and also sat next to him. However, when he sat down, he still straightened his waist and did not sit down on the soft sofa.

"Tell me, what are you going to do this time?" Huang Ke took out a box of cigarettes from his pocket, handed one to Zhang Xueliang, and lit another one himself.

Zhang Xueliang took the cigarette and didn't light it, he thought about it and said: "Now the troops led by General Lin are centered in Jinzhou, and most of the main forces of the Japanese Kwantung Army are concentrated in this area. I wanted to start the offensive from the north of Rehe, go around behind the Japanese army, and cut off the material supply of the Japanese army to Liaoning and other places. At that time, General Lin launched an offensive from Jinzhou, carried out a two-sided flank attack, and formed a joint encirclement of the Japanese army. ”

"Yo, you have a lot of appetite. But hundreds of thousands of Kwantung troops are not so easy to eat? It takes a good pair of teeth. Although Huang Ke agrees with his tactics in his heart, he still has to see how Zhang Xueliang's personal emotions are.

"It is obviously unrealistic to defeat or annihilate the elite Kwantung Army of the Japanese army in a short period of time, but in the long run, it is still possible for us to gradually regain lost ground. I didn't rush this battle, I took the lead first, knocked them out and then slowly ate them. Zhang Xueliang also nodded, agreeing with Huang Ke's statement.

"Yes, the Ministry of Defense agrees." Huang Ke leaned back: "I gave you the specific general policy, and now I want you to fight it yourself." I will not interfere too much in your specific combat operations, and the War Office of the Ministry of Defense will only give you some general guidelines. If you let go, you will let go of fighting. However, it is necessary to uphold one operational principle, that is, to destroy the living forces of the Japanese army. ”

Zhang Xueliang nodded: "I have always remembered the minister's principles of military operations. ”

Huang Ke continued: "Military principles and theories should be flexibly applied in the light of reality. This is a little worse than Lin Zuoda. When you have nothing to do, you can study the theory of large-depth operations put forward by Marshal Tukhachevsky of the Soviet Union, and I think this will be useful for future big counterattacks. ”

Zhang Xueliang nodded.

At this time, Fourteen Tsai walked in and reported that the air raid siren had been lifted, and the air force destroyers had driven the Japanese planes away, that is, Zhang Xueliang could set off.

Huang Ke stood up and shook hands with Zhang Xueliang and said, "Okay, it's almost time." The military situation is urgent, let's not say more, I am here to wait for the good news of your victory! ”

"We will not fail in our mission!" Zhang Xueliang stood up and leaned on his heels and saluted.

After sending Zhang Xueliang away, the War Department and the General Staff Headquarters of the Ministry of National Defense began to work on the counteroffensive operation plan for the Northeast Theater.

Huang Ke has to work for another thing, yes! It's a matter of cargo merchant ships.

He knew that according to the current number of merchant ships in the country and the situation mentioned by the Minister of Communications, if only a few dozen tons of materials could be transported every month, it would be a drop in the bucket, especially for the current situation of the Anti-Japanese War.

Just because there are no merchant ships should not stop us from winning the US aid that we have won over with great difficulty. Regardless of 3721, let's sign it with the Americans first.

But who can borrow a merchant ship? After thinking about it, Huang Ke felt that the only way to do this was to gather Fu Wangshan and his brother-in-law Zhao Tinghui and his gang to see if they had any ships available.

Later, Huang Ke conveyed this meaning to Chen Liewen, and asked him to inform some business tycoons along the coast that Huang Ke would invite them to a meal.

Chen Liewen wrote it down and asked, "Is it arranged in Nanjing?" ”

Huang Ke felt that it might be a little inappropriate to arrange it in Nanjing now, after all, Nanjing was already under siege, but after thinking about it, he felt that arranging it in Nanjing had some deep meaning.

"Let's arrange it in Nanjing. By the way, you go to Song Ziwen, and ask the shipping and taxation authorities to check how many ships are under the hands of these invitees and report them to me, and then listen to my instructions to invite them after reporting to me. ”

After Huang Ke finished speaking, he motioned for Chen Liewen to go out. When Chen Liewen walked to the door and closed the door, he clearly heard a soft sigh coming from the house.

……

The high-level leaders of the Tokyo base camp couldn't help but be a little excited to see their partner Germany fighting in Europe, thinking about themselves, they had been planning operations since 1931, but they still hadn't captured China, which not only greatly exceeded their advance estimates, but also affected the plans to be carried out later.

While the battle for Nanking was raging, the military headquarters in Tokyo began to hold another important military meeting. Almost all senior generals from the Ministry of the Army, the Ministry of the Navy, the General Staff Headquarters of the Supreme Command of the Army, and the Military Command Department of the Supreme Command of the Navy attended the meeting.

For them, this meeting was extraordinary, because the outcome of this meeting would determine the future strategic direction of the Japanese army, whether it would "go south" or "go north".

The final decision in this discussion is in the hands of the emperor, but the opinions they form will be an important reference for the emperor's decision-making.

The hour hand pointed to nine o'clock, and the senior generals of various departments had already arrived at the venue. The venue was bustling, with army generals in yellow uniforms and navy generals in white uniforms sitting on both sides of the long conference table.

"Awesome! Germany is amazing! A senior general of the Ministry of War said to the others from the bottom of his heart.

"They were going to cross the Strait and land in England, and then occupy the Soviet Union." Another army general said.

"Yes, the world is changing dramatically. Now we cannot sit idly by and watch and confine ourselves to Asia, but we should work out the next strategic intention and formulate a new world order as soon as possible. ”

"If we go south, then the resources of Britain, France, the Netherlands and other countries in Southeast Asia, the resources of rice, oil, rubber, etc., will be ours."

Several army generals chattered non-stop.

War Minister Hideki Tojo stroked his glasses and said seriously: "At present, there are still many pro-British and American factions in the country. Similarly, Siberia is rich in oil, metals and other resources. If it were to attack north, it would be a great opportunity to unite with Germany......"

"The attack to the north is too limited, not to mention that the Chinese army is still stationed too many troops in Mongolia. If we attack to the north, it will inevitably bring Moscow and Nanking together. "One of the generals of the General Staff Headquarters categorically rejected the proposal to attack north.

"That's right, if you want to get oil and rubber resources, you have to go south. Going south is the most fundamental strategic significance of the Japanese army. At that time, Germany occupied Europe and Japan occupied Asia. A senior admiral of the Navy also spoke excitedly.

In their opinion, it was time for war against Britain and the United States. What's more, if they attack to the north, according to the strength of the Soviet Far East Navy, they only need to send a formation of destroyers to assist the army.

Since the beginning of the war, it has always been the Army that has been stealing the limelight, and now the Navy can no longer allow such a situation in any case.

After hearing this, a flat-headed admiral said: "Now that the United States has imposed an economic blockade on our country, the most important thing is oil. All the oil we consume is storage. In the long run, not only will I not be able to go south or north, but even the army in China will be difficult to maintain. Therefore, we must break the blockade between the United States and Britain by force. ”

"Yes, as long as the navy moves south, it will be able to occupy the oil fields of Dutch Indonesia in a few days, and it will be able to break through the US blockade."

"At this point, we can't survive without making a decision."

A cadre of the Admiralty also chattered about it. Unlike the divisions of the army, they both favored a strategy of attacking southward.

After listening to the discussion between the two sides, Sugiyama Moto, the chief of the General Staff Headquarters, felt that it was time to make a decision, and after thinking for a moment, he said, "Everyone, no matter what choice we make, we need to make a decision as soon as possible. ”

As he spoke, he set his eyes on Admiral Fifty-six Yamamoto, who had not spoken.

Yamamoto Fifty-six frowned: "Going south will inevitably start hostility with the United States, and it will take some time for the troops to prepare now, plus the United States has a huge industrial system, if we rush to war, it will be bad for Japan." I don't think it will be possible to negotiate with the United States through government diplomacy during this time period. If the sanctions against our country can be lifted, we can change our course. ”

"So what if there is no progress in the negotiations and the United States does not change its attitude towards Japan?" A younger admiral asked angrily.

Yamamoto Fifty-six did not answer his words directly, he just said to Sugiyama Motomo and Hideki Tojo next to him: "The United States advocates freedom and neutrality, we can try to negotiate, if the negotiation is successful, it will be the best choice." ”

After saying that, he said categorically: "But if the negotiations are not successful, we must implement emergency measures!" ”

"What are emergency measures?" The Admiralty generals really didn't like Yamamoto Isoroku because he was always a little afraid of the American feeling.

"It's going south and declaring war on the United States." Yamamoto Fifty-six said helplessly.

Sugiyama Moto nodded, and turned his gaze to the army's Hideki Tojo: "What about the army's opinion?" ”

Hideki Tojo glanced at Yamamoto Fifty-six and said, "If the strategic policy of going south is implemented, the main task of the operation will naturally fall on the shoulders of the navy. I wonder if the Navy is sure? ”

Yamamoto Fifty-six said, "If there is a war with the United States." The Navy can be sure that in the first two years of the war it deserves victory. ”

"Well, I agree with the southbound strategy." Hideki Tojo.

"Okay, let's report to the emperor at the Imperial Council and ask the emperor to make a holy decision." Sugiyama Motomichi.