The next morning, the sedan carried Umezu Mijiro and Kaichi Asano to the Imperial Palace, because they often came, in front of Niju Bridge, the guards only checked it briefly, and then let them go. However, before the two entered the imperial palace, they were asked by the guards to untie their guns.

It is not allowed to carry weapons when entering the palace, such things have been experienced many times, and people have long been used to it, and Umezu Mijiro untied the matching gun and handed it to the guards, while Asano Kaichi simply did not bring the matching gun.

Walking through the hallway and into the Pine Pavilion, the two took off their shoes and changed into slippers, and the guard bowed and led the two into the inner room. No one spoke, and the whole process seemed very solemn, but also lifeless.

"If His Majesty the Emperor asks about the specific number in a moment, I will signal you, and then you have to hurry to the street, do you know?" Umezu Mijiro explained.

Kaichi Asano hurriedly bowed slightly and whispered, "I know, Your Excellency the Minister." ”

The curtain was lifted, and one of the guards raised his hand to signal the two to enter, and the two entered the room where the emperor was working.

"Your Majesty, I'm here to report to you on the situation in the war in China." Umezu Mijiro bent down and bowed, and Kaichi Asano behind him hurriedly bowed as well.

"Your Excellency Chief of Staff Umezu, please sit down and speak." Emperor Showa said softly.

Emperor Showa wears a pair of glasses and a mustache, and he is 43 years old this year, in the prime of life, but he has a somewhat tired look on his face.

In fact, the authority of Emperor Showa is not as great as imagined, and many wars are decided by the military department and the general staff headquarters themselves, and it is enough to report to the emperor to know, and now the entire Japanese military circles have kidnapped the Japanese government and people, as well as the emperor. Of course, it would be unrealistic to say that the emperor had no power at all, after all, nominally, all military operations, especially major operations, could only be launched with the permission of His Majesty the Emperor, just like this year's No. 1 combat operation, which was reported to the emperor for approval and decision after the military department had formulated it.

As a subordinate, it is also necessary to report the war to the emperor, so Umezu Mijiro came here today to complete this work.

"Your Majesty, the No. 1 battle plan, since the beginning of the campaign in April this year, we have successively captured Henan, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, and most of Guizhou, and just three days ago, after the occupation of Liuzhou, the whole battle basically came to an end. A total of more than 600,000 Kuomintang troops have been wiped out, the road to the south has been opened, and we can already communicate with the troops in Southeast Asia, and our strategic intention has been basically achieved. Umezu Mijiro introduced.

Emperor Showa was a little interested and asked, "Is that enough to alleviate the unfavorable war situation in Southeast Asia, the Americans are pressing too hard, and occasionally bombers fly to the island to bomb, and our losses will be very large." ”

"Oh, we can't ease the war situation in Southeast Asia for the time being, but as long as we make good use of this line, we will definitely be able to support it in Southeast Asia, and as long as we stop the momentum of the Americans' attack, I think we will soon reverse the unfavorable situation." Umezu Mijiro can only answer like this, but this requires the cooperation of the navy, and now the entire army has no confidence in whether the Imperial Navy can fight against the US Navy, otherwise it would not have used great efforts to launch Battle No. 1 and open up the lines of communication on the road.

"What is the casualty figure of the troops?" Emperor Showa asked.

"After the start of Operation Plan No. 1, a total of 30,000 soldiers were killed and more than 100,000 were injured, and many of the wounded will lose their combat effectiveness." Umezu Mijiro replied.

"How's it going in Southeast Asia?"

"For the time being, it is not ideal, after the victory of the US fleet in the Philippine naval battle, the waters of Southeast Asia were occupied by the Americans, and now they rely on the superiority of the navy to frequently launch attacks on our military bases along the coast, and under such circumstances, it is very unfavorable to our army."

Umezu Mijiro is definitely deliberately shirking responsibility, shifting the responsibility for the unfavorable situation of the war to the defeat of the navy, the loss of sea supremacy, the army being isolated on thousands of islands in Southeast Asia, has lost the ability to fight in groups, and now can only grit his teeth and hold on.

Emperor Showa and Umezu Mijiro were chatting about the current battle situation, but neither of them paid attention to Kaichi Asano, who had been kneeling behind Umezu Mijiro.

After Kaichi Asano came in, after seeing Emperor Showa for the first time, he began to struggle, and in his heart, a voice suddenly burst out, "Kill Emperor Showa, kill Emperor Showa." ”

This voice was like a spell, and it kept drawing in Kaichi Asano's heart. Seduces him, makes him feel the urge to rush up immediately. However, the rational thought still existed in his mind, and he kept telling himself that he must be going crazy and that he must not do anything to His Majesty the Emperor.

Kaichi Asano knelt behind Mijiro Umezu, looking down at the straw mat on the tatami mat, his body trembling slightly, and his face kept changing. Fortunately, he knelt behind Umezu Mijiro, and Emperor Showa on the opposite side did not notice the abnormality of Kaichi Asano.

Umezu Mijiro and Emperor Showa chatted for about 20 minutes, and Umezu Mijiro felt that it was almost over, so he said to Kaichi Asano behind him, "Asano, give the information to His Majesty the Emperor." ”

This is a report similar to a summary, which records the basic battle, deployment, personnel transfer, material distribution and so on of the Japanese army in the past month, mainly to let His Majesty the Emperor have a general understanding of the army.

When Kaichi Asano heard Mijiro Umezu's words, his body was smart, and then he quickly stood up and walked towards Emperor Showa with the folder in his hand. The closer he got, the louder the voice in Asano's head became, as if it had magical power, and it kept echoing in his head.

Kaichi Asano walked up to Emperor Showa, placed the folder on the low table in front of Emperor Showa, and bowed. Suddenly, Kaichi Asano's face changed drastically, and he picked up a jade paperweight on the low table in front of Emperor Showa, and smashed it on Emperor Showa's head at once.

This paperweight is about thirty centimeters long and eight or nine centimeters wide, it is a pure black ink jade paperweight, and there is also an ancient Chinese poem engraved on it: "Zhao Keman Hu Ying, Wu Hook Frost Xueming." "It is said that this paperweight was brought back from the imperial palace of the Qing Dynasty in China, and this paperweight is also a treasure from the imperial palace of the Song Dynasty, and it is said that it was once used by Huizong for painting. Later, because of its beautiful shape, it was sent to the emperor for use.

In fact, there are many treasures and cultural relics from other countries, especially China.

Now, this paperweight from the Great Song Dynasty in China is being held in the hands of Kaichi Asano. Kaichi Asano's eyes were red, his teeth were clenched, and his breathing was heavy.

The thick paperweight was lifted high by Kaichi Asano, and it hit the top of Emperor Showa's temple, and in an instant, blood splattered out, and Emperor Showa had been smashed to the ground by him, kicked his legs twice, and then stopped moving.

Umezu Mijiro