Returning to the meeting at the War Department, Nagata¡¯s attitude as Minister of War was very clear and he maintained the original plan. However, the opponent Hideki Tojo did not think so. He advocated at the meeting that we should take advantage of the navy's failure to obtain more resources. To compete for resources, we must increase investment in the war as a condition.
"Among the twenty divisions currently in the country, except for the Guards Division and the Fourth Division, all other troops have insufficient equipment, especially anti-tank weapons. What are these troops being transferred to North Korea for? Are you going to die? Even the troops in the Far East and North Korea have a serious shortage of anti-tank guns. We should solve this problem first and then talk about war." The opposition is naturally Ishihara Kanji, Chief of Staff of the Far East Garrison, who is consistent Looking down on Tojo, the purpose of returning home this time is to rush for equipment.
"Baga, the samurai of the empire will not be afraid of mountains of corpses and seas of blood!" Tojo Hideki is a representative figure of the so-called spiritual victory method. He believes that using corpses to win is the end of the imperial samurai. In the parallel history, it seems that these idiots failed to commit suicide and had to die again after being rescued. It seems that Ishihara Kanji's assessment that he can only manage a few machine guns may not be unreasonable.
"Stupid! The empire can no longer afford to lose. The navy has actually lost. If the army loses again, North Korea and the Far East will all be lost. I suggest canceling the North Korean army's offensive plan and shifting the entire army to defense, making full use of the powerful forces in northern North Korea. Depending on the terrain, a small number of troops are constantly defending to contain possible attacks by the Chinese army. Concentrate superior forces on the southern front, and once the Chinese army launches a landing operation, immediately launch a powerful counterattack. Only in this way can we have the possibility of victory. Anyone who sings the high tone of the offensive Their actions are all irresponsible for the future of the empire." Ishihara Wanji couldn't help but jump out and roar. There were really not many people here who agreed with his point of view. Apart from Nagata, there is only Lieutenant General Kawada Ai who is qualified to sit here for the meeting and can identify with him.
"Ishihara-kun's words are correct, but the current situation does not allow us to do so. The empire needs an attack and a victory to reverse the negative impact caused by air strikes and the navy's unfavorable deployment. We believe that it is possible to achieve complete victory in the Northeast It's not big, but it is possible to achieve a partial victory. Therefore, the combat plan can be slightly adjusted and the war resources can be tilted towards the army." Kawada Ai spoke, but he was guiding in another direction. Everyone felt that Ai Kawada was on their side and was speaking for themselves.
To be honest, the words spoken by Kanji Ishihara and Ai Kawada sounded different to everyone. One is like a hedgehog. There are few people who are not pricked, but one is gentle, tactful, reasonable and beneficial.
"Kawada-kun, please tell me what you think." Nagata also didn't like to see Ishihara and Tojo quarreling. Arguing would not solve any problems. Kawada was afraid of a compromise, so he was naturally happy to see the results.
"The original plan of the General Staff was to hit Shenyang to destroy China's heavy industry. In my opinion, this plan is too difficult to realize. So we might as well modify it, with conquering the Yalu River defense line as the basic campaign goal, and the focus of the attack should be on Manchuria Po, instead of the original direction of Sinuiju. In this way, as long as it crosses the Yalu River, it will be a victory for the army. If a bridgehead can be established on the other side, then let nature take its course. If not, then retreat across the Yalu River and continue to defend. ." Kawada Ai spoke as if he was considering the future of the Japanese Army. In fact, he knew very well that only Ishihara Kanji would support this plan.
"The Imperial Army is really lucky to have a genius like Kawada-kun in the Army. Unfortunately, this plan will not be approved by the Emperor." Well, the Japanese Army in this time and space did not have the 226 Mutiny. It rarely happens that the military does something first and then the government takes the blame.
"According to the "Wartime Headquarters Doctrine", the Chief of Staff "is responsible for commanding the Army Staff of the Headquarters and all Army agencies, performing the duties of the Supreme Command, and participating in the preparation and presentation of Army combat plans. The Emperor's approval is communicated to the independent commanders of the Army. For joint operations of the Army and Navy, the plan will be prepared after consultation with the Chief of Naval Command. Operation plans related only to the Army will be notified to the Chief of Naval Command after approval by the Emperor to facilitate the coordination of the Army and Navy. "Chief of General Staff Hideki Tojo stood up and coldly said this, which means that this is war time, and everyone must listen to me and the emperor.
"Sir Tojo, can you command the navy?" In this time and space, there is no September 18th or February 26th, Nagata was not assassinated, and the status of people like Ishihara Wanji is not low. There is no pressure at all to criticize Tojo. No.
"Stop arguing and carry out the original plan. Mr. Kawada, you should make some demands to the base camp in the name of the North Korean garrison." Nagata Tieshan is also helpless. The army will definitely not be able to do it without fighting. We are all prepared. So long. Now in northern Korea, Japan's only two tank divisions, five heavy artillery brigades, more than a thousand aircraft, and a small amount of the army have been concentrated.The bottom line is almost all in North Korea, and we will definitely not be able to explain it without a fight.
"Okay, since that's what your Excellency means, let's try to get another two months of preparation time. I need enough anti-tank guns, otherwise once I cross the Yalu River, I won't have enough anti-tank weapons to deal with China on the Liaodong Plain. tanks." As chief of staff, Ai Kawada has great power and can even be the home of half of the North Korean garrison. In the eyes of the big guys in the Japanese military, no one is more suitable to stay in this position than Ai Kawada.
"One month, at most one month of preparation time." Tojo Hideki even said this, which shows how popular Kawada Ai is. According to Tojo's wishes, he should fight now.
"Okay, let's adjust the tactics. We will first exert a certain amount of pressure from the direction of Manpo, and then launch a general offensive from the direction of Sinuiju. I hope the Chinese military has misjudged our army's combat intentions." This is actually not said, Kawada Wei is very clear that China has enough troops to cope with attacks from both directions.
"That's it, thank you for your hard work, Kawada-kun!" Nagata Tieshan closed his eyes in pain. War between China and Japan was the outcome he least wanted to see. There is really not much he can do at this time. Japan's military is severely limited by resources.
"One more thing. The base camp should contact the Soviet Union as soon as possible. If he fails to launch a campaign before the end of April, the pressure on the empire will be weakened a lot." Ai Kawada said again. These words are very targeted, and they sound within the scope of normal military logic.
"Yo Xi! Kawada-kun is so thoughtful!" Tojo, an anti-communist general in parallel history, has changed in this time and space due to the balance of power between China and Japan, and he does not say anything about being anti-communist. The anti-communist alliance of Germany, Japan, and Italy is now busy waging war against the free world. It is a very urgent matter for the Soviet Union and the Communist Party to fight against anything. Otherwise, with the strength of the Japanese army, it really cannot cover it.
Compared with Japan, the situation in the Soviet Union was much better after one winter. Although they were defeated in the battlefields of Central Asia and Siberia, they suffered heavy losses. But the Soviet Union has no resources and short legs, so it has everything it wants. On the Western Front, Germany is now fighting against Britain and the United States again. For the oil in Africa, the mustache really has no intention of fighting with the big beard.
Now Germany has undergone new changes. The navy, which was not taken seriously before, has actually raised its head. After sweeping across Europe, Germany saw a serious shortage of naval power. Coupled with the participation of the Americans in the war, African oil was crucial to Germany. Therefore, Hitler no longer focused on submarines when it came to dealing with the navy. The Bismarck rushed into the Atlantic and turned things upside down, but this was not enough to win the war. Germany must have corresponding naval strength.
After exchanging technology and equipment for a large amount of resources from the Soviet Union, Hitler proposed a plan for a powerful navy. Germany built two aircraft carriers at once. Two battleships. In contrast, the organization of the Army's mechanized troops originally scheduled to arrive has not changed much. This change was mainly due to African oil. Germany, which had no oil, was forced to switch from coal to oil. You can imagine how miserable it was. Now there is a large oil field that is ready to be controlled. The reserves are enough for Hitler to fight a lifetime of world war. Do you think he pays attention to it? The navy must become stronger as soon as possible, and it must control the sea routes from the Mediterranean to Africa no matter what.
With the new weapons and equipment from Germany, the bearded man gradually recovered. The new medium tank T-34 also began to be produced and gradually equipped with troops. The failure rate of the original heavy tank KV-2 was too high. During the war, 70% of the failures were due to self-failure or no fuel loss. Therefore, a new heavy tank needs to be developed.
The Soviet front-line troops equipped with T-34 tanks reported that the modified tanks are equivalent to the Chinese Great Wall-4 tanks. The difference is that the tank samples provided by Germany are much finer in workmanship, and they don¡¯t need to be so meticulous. The increase in production volume is what matters. Zhukov, who is still trusted by the bearded man, proposed that the Soviet army needs a tank that can restrain China's new Great Wall-5 tank. Otherwise, according to the current replacement speed of the Chinese, the Soviet army's tanks will still be at a disadvantage in the next battle.
This problem is very troublesome. The technology imported from Germany has not been fully digested. Where can we get better tanks? Big Beard's answer was to develop it as soon as possible, and even if there were no tanks, a counterattack would be launched in the spring. Zhukov rarely refuted, but believed that it was indeed necessary to launch a counterattack to consolidate the existing front.
Just as the Soviet army was preparing to launch counterattacks in Siberia and Central Asia, Japan sent a special envoy to request a flanking attack on China. In the past, the bearded man would have dismissed this request. Now it's completely different. I've been beaten before and I know it hurts.
The bearded man asked Molotov to have a good talk with the Japanese envoy Ishihara Kanji. As the chief of staff of the Far East Army, Ishihara Kanji certainly knew that the current situation of the Japanese army was not good, so after Kawada Ai proposed to unite with the Soviet Union, he took the initiative to ask for help. Take a trip.
But having said thatCome on, the bearded man really doesn¡¯t think much of Japan, and he looks down on these short legs from the bottom of his heart. Molotov was informed before the negotiations that none of the allies, led by Britain and the United States, had declared war on the Soviet Union. Their intentions were obvious. Therefore, when negotiating with Japan, we must have one principle, that is, we must not talk about the Soviet-Japanese alliance. This topic must not be touched.
The bearded purchasing group has been to the United States and knows how terrible the productivity of the American empire is. Since the US imperialists hold on to the illusion that the Soviet Union will join the Allied camp to attack Germany, it is better to simply sway between the two sides and make a fortune. Even if the benefits of Britain and the United States cannot be reaped, there are still the benefits of Germany and Japan that can be reaped.
The secret meeting between the Soviet Union and Japan lasted for a week, and the result disappointed Ishihara Wanji. This rare smart man in Japan has a deep understanding of the current situation and intentions of the Soviet Union. Because China declared war on Germany, Germany was much more generous to the Soviet Union, hoping that the Soviet Union could hold China back for a day. Mustache really didn't expect the Soviet Union to be able to surpass China, which has a population of nearly 600 million and a very powerful military.
Even those awesome marshals in Germany dare not say that the German army is the best in the world, because many of Germany's current tactics were learned from the Chinese. The Chinese can do what the Germans know, and the Chinese, with the support of the wealthy United States, have also resorted to such crazy tactics as strategic bombing. Didn¡¯t you see that their pig teammate Japan was already bombed to death? The BF-109 fighters provided by Germany to Japan all flew in a large circle from the Soviet Union.
The German army was very optimistic about the Japanese navy at the beginning, but once the war started, they found that the US navy was not easy to use, and they became even more optimistic. But this optimism soon went awry. The Chinese used a trick of throwing torpedoes from planes to sink two Japanese aircraft carriers, which instantly reversed the direction of the war. This makes Germany very depressed, especially because Mustache has complained many times that if he wants to fight India, isn't this forcing China and Japan to risk their lives? Originally, Japan occupied Nanyang, which already cut off China's sea routes. You still go to the Indian Ocean to toss. Doesn't the sun, China's last absolutely safe outlet to the sea, face the Indian Ocean?
The mustache mentality is very common among the German army, who believe that it was Japan's excessive provocation that led China to join the Allies. After all, all fools know that fighting on two fronts is unwise.
Now, Mustache still supports the idea of ??the Soviet Union joining the Allied Powers. Especially after China declared war on Germany, Japan and Italy, this idea became more realistic. Once the Soviet Union joins the Allied Powers, it can send troops to the Middle East and attack Africa. After driving Britain and the United States out of Africa, the entire world strategy will undergo fundamental changes.
The problem is that Big Beard has never thought about this idea at all. Even if he leased the Black Sea Fleet to Germany, he has not yet thought about the possibility of Germany, Italy and Japan, the three most active anti-communist countries, becoming allies. It is most realistic to get some benefits.
The results of the Soviet-Japanese negotiations were not ideal, and a secret agreement was finally reached. The two countries would launch an attack on China at the same time at the end of April. While Japan was launching attacks in the Far East, the Soviet Union was also launching attacks in Central Asia and Siberia. This result is acceptable to both parties.