At a time when the whole of China was in a carnival because of Madang's victory, what happened to Japan, as the losing party?

The Japanese people are no better than China, and if they want to get news of the Chinese battlefield, they can only get information through the government. And the Japanese government is used to reporting good news and not bad news, this time, will they disclose the truth and palm their mouths?

First of all, until the news of Madang's defeat, it was naturally the rulers of the Wa Kingdom. The news of the defeat spread to Nanjing and returned to Tokyo, whether it was Shunroku Hata or Emperor Hirohito, it was like a thunderbolt from the sky, and the two of them were instantly stunned.

Okamura Ninji disobeyed Jun Hata, and the latter naturally didn't have a good impression of the former. But even so, Shunroku Hata never doubted the former's ability. He didn't think that the former could easily defeat the Xuebing Army, and at the same time, he didn't think that Ouyang Yun could easily defeat the former. He had this judgment, based on the fact that the strength of the 11th Army was really incompatible. Three divisions plus the Botian detachment, an army of nearly 80,000 people, not to mention that Ouyang Yun only has two and a half divisions in Pengze, that is, his five and a half divisions are all there, and the comparison of troops alone is also at an absolute disadvantage.

It is important to know that at present, the ratio of individual combat strength between the Japanese army and the national army is one to three. One soldier of the Japanese army is worth three soldiers of the national army, in this case, Ouyang Yun is only more than 60,000 men and horses, but how can he fight with 80,000 Japanese troops?

The truth gave Junroku Hata a resounding slap in the face.

Having just received a telegram from Katamura Shihachi, Shunroku Hata thought that there was a problem with the communication staff to decipher it. However, after being confirmed, the old devil was immediately stunned! "Impossible?! How is that possible? ”

"Your Excellency, Katamura Shihachi Daisa mentioned that if you don't believe it, you can ask His Excellency Nishio for verification."

Shunroku Hata has intellectually accepted this fact, but he still has a trace of illusion in his heart. He immediately ordered the communications staff to send a telegram to Nishio Shouzo to inquire about the matter. Nishio Shouzo's reply soon arrived, and the 2nd Army, as the only Japanese army in the Wuhan area, began to accept the rout of the 11th Army along the way. From the mouth of the 11th Army's rout, Nishio obtained detailed information, and his reply was completely different in credibility - "...... Private of a brigade of the 12th Division, a brigade, a wing, a brigade, a private Yamashita is Taiyun......"

Nishio listed a few words to gather the soldiers, and at this moment, Shunroku Hata was completely desperate. How many armies does the empire have in China? This army is just gone? "Why is this happening? Can anyone tell me what would happen to me? For three days in a row, Shunroku Hata was furious in the headquarters of the Japanese army in China in Nanjing, and every subordinate would be questioned like this. The 11th Army was almost wiped out, and despite the loss of nearly 50,000 imperial troops, the total strength of the Japanese army in China was immediately reduced by nearly one-eighth. What is worse is that the previous arrangements of the Japanese side for the Battle of Wuhan have been completely disrupted, and now, if the Japanese army wants to launch the Battle of Wuhan again, it will have to draw troops from other places and even from China. However, as far as the current distribution of the Japanese army's forces is concerned: the strength of the two front armies in Taiwan and South China cannot be moved, and not only that, but in the direction of Taiwan, additional troops must be dispatched. So, then draw troops from the Northeast and North China? In Northeast China and North China, local resistance forces, mainly guerrillas, frequently harassed the rear and supply lines of the Japanese army, which seriously threatened the foundation of the Japanese army's rule in these two places. In this case, if we draw more troops from abroad, it will only make the guerrilla activities more rampant, and it is possible that one or two counties or even one or two districts will be abandoned.

That's all, what makes Shunroku Hata most anxious is that although the Battle of Madang was not commanded by him, but was launched by Okamura Ninji on his own initiative, however, as the supreme commander of the Japanese army in China, he must bear considerable responsibility - whether he can continue to stay in Nanjing depends on the face of the base camp.

Inside the Imperial Palace of Japan in Tokyo, the atmosphere is unprecedentedly depressing.

This is not the first time that the Japanese army has suffered heavy casualties in China. The previous 108th Division was completely annihilated in the Battle of Tianjin, and the new division commander Kenji Dohihara was captured; Soon after, in the Second Battle of the Great Wall, the Japanese suffered heavy casualties...... All of this had made Hirohito cautious about the prospect of the Shina Incident. However, at that time, because it was only a small-scale defeat on the battlefield, and it was not important enough to affect the overall situation, it did not make Hirohito feel a sense of crisis. At that time, he agreed with the Konoe cabinet's disposition, that is, deliberately concealed the news of these defeats, and continued to advocate the great victory of the Japanese army in China. Now, in the face of such a huge number of casualties, Hirohito finally felt frightened.

Regarding the quick settlement of the "Shina incident", there was no shortage of optimists in the base camp of the Japanese army. Among them, the most outstanding performance was Sugiyama Moto, who was the Minister of War at the time. Sugiyama Moto, who had arrogantly declared that he would destroy China in three months, had now passed for an unknown number of March, and the war in China was still in a state of anxiety, and the Japanese offensive was now contained and suffered heavy casualties. At this moment, not only did Hirohito lose confidence, but the Japanese hawks led by Sugiyama also began to speak cautiously, believing that the resolution of the "Shina Incident" would be a long process.

The change in the attitude of hawks such as Sugiyama Mototo on the "Shina Incident" had a huge impact on Hirohito. When the general of the base camp again proposed to deal with the "Madang defeat" in a low-key manner, he clearly expressed his opposition, believing that in view of the danger that the "Shina Incident" would get out of control, it would only be counterproductive to continue to conceal the people, and that the correct thing to do now is to tell the people the truth about what is happening in front of them, so that only in this way can the strength of the whole country be unified in order to achieve victory in the decisive battle with China.

Hirohito, as the leader of Japan's Showa warlord clique, since he released such words, the generals of the Ministry of War did not dare to disobey him. As a result, the next day, newspapers throughout Japan began to report on the Battle of Madang in a way that "mourned the martyrs of Yamamuro Munetake and other heroes," and soon the news of the Imperial Army's defeat at Madang in China spread throughout Japan.

"What, the imperial army was defeated in China?"

"Why did this happen? Generals at the front, are they all dozing? ”

…… This news immediately caused a shock in the Japanese people, which was no less than the earthquake of 1932. Perhaps they had heard too much news about the victory of the Imperial Army, and this occasional defeat did not cause too many negative emotions among the Japanese people, and the topic they discussed the most was not what adverse impact the defeat would have on the empire, but how the empire should do and how the Japanese people should do how to do it, so that it was possible to end this war as soon as possible and achieve the common prosperity of Greater East Asia.

Naturally, Hirohito and other main war factions were pleased with this reaction, and a more rigorous wartime system was drawn up at the instigation of the generals of the base camp, and the most important feature of this system was that it was necessary to concentrate the efforts of all enthusiastic citizens and strive to achieve a breakthrough in Shina at an early date.

On the day that this wartime system was announced, in Nagoya, which had just been bombed by the School Army, that night, in the midst of the ruins, a ball of light suddenly appeared-