Although Hideki Tojo did not accept Ito's suggestion of a "peace offensive", he listened to one of the sentences, that is, to overwhelm the staff headquarters. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

So Hideki Tojo quickly found Sugiyama Moto, who was the chief of staff at the time.

"Sugiyama-kun!" Hideki Tojo said straight to Sugiyama: "The Marshall Islands have been occupied by the Americans, and in this 'serious situation', I think it is best for me to be the prime minister and chief of staff at the same time!" ”

Sugiyama Yuan couldn't help but be stunned when he heard this, and it took him a while before he reacted, and replied with some panic: "Your Excellency, Prime Minister, but the loss of the Marshall Islands...... It's not the fault of the General Staff Headquarters! ”

"I know!" Hideki Tojo replied: "I don't think it's the fault of the General Staff Headquarters either, no one thinks so!" ”

"So this is ......"

"Sugiyama-kun!" Hideki Tojo explained, "As you know, the army and navy of the empire have been at odds for a long time, and I think this is the reason why the army and navy are under the command of different units. If the same person is in command, the tasks of the army and navy can be better and more rationally distributed, and there will be no neglect of one or the other, because they are all important military forces of the Japanese Empire, so that we can unite and defeat the enemy! ”

It should be said that Hideki Tojo's idea is a bit too idealistic, because it is the navy that plays the decisive factor in the Pacific, and when the navy is defeated and loses sea and air supremacy, the role that the army can play is actually to prolong the time of defeat.

However, it is not surprising that Hideki Tojo said this, one is because Hideki Tojo is a fanatical believer in the "spirit of bushido", he believes that unity and spirit can overcome everything, and the other is as Hideki Tojo said, now is the moment of "serious situation", he must make full use of every bit of resources at his disposal, or it can also be said to unite all forces that can be united to defeat the American army.

So some people say that the Japanese are good tacticians, but they are failed strategists, and this is not true at all.

They can do small things and small problems to the extreme, and one of Tojo's hobbies, as a Japanese prime minister, is to look through or ask the gendarmes to look through other people's garbage...... This is not to look for food, but to see if anyone eats big fish and meat, and Hideki Tojo believes that extravagance and waste are never tolerated when the country is in trouble.

But strategically, they always get the wrong direction and the wrong focus, for example, Hideki Tojo's decision not to listen to Ken Sato's advice is one of the obvious mistakes.

The Chinese have a saying that "those who achieve big things are not informal", but the Japanese are just too rigid about small things, so they can't become big things.

"Your Excellency the Prime Minister!" Sugiyama protested, "But...... This is against the long-standing traditions of our country! There is no precedent for this! ”

The Japanese General Staff Headquarters made military decisions, and Sugiyama did not agree that a person made both political and military decisions.

"If you say...... If one person commands both the army and the navy, they can unite and win! Sugiyama said: "Then Germany should have won at Stalingrad!" (Note: The Battle of Stalingrad took place from 1942 to 1943)

Sugiyama's words are very refutable, because Hitler was a combination of military and political power.

"But they finally hit Stalingrad, didn't they?" Hideki Tojo retorted, "If we can come together, does that mean we can turn defeat into victory and fight Washington?" That way, even if you fail, it's not a big deal! ”

Sugiyama couldn't help but be speechless for a while.

"And ......," Hideki Tojo continued, "Hitler's Führer was a soldier, and I was a general. Sugiyama-kun rest assured, I will pay equal attention to military affairs and government affairs, so you don't have to worry about this! ”

"Your Excellency the Prime Minister!" Sugiyama was still unwilling: "However, if one person is responsible for two tasks and there is a conflict, then which one should you pay attention to?" ”

"Sugiyama-kun!" Hideki Tojo replied with some displeasure: "This is an unprecedented war, and it can be said that this war may threaten the survival of Japan and even our entire Yamato nation. At this time, we must put military affairs first, and as long as we achieve complete victory on the battlefield, all problems will be solved! Therefore, I hope that Sugiyama-kun can put the country and the nation first, and not care about personal gains and losses! ”

When Hideki Tojo said this, Sugiyama had nothing to say, because if he said anything more, it would be for the sake of personal interests and disregarding the survival of the country and the nation.

After concurrently serving as chief of staff, Hideki Tojo immediately appointed his friend Taro Shimada to replace the Minister of the Navy Nagano Shusei as chief of staff, so Hideki Tojo took on several positions and combined military and political power.

Although Hideki Tojo did this with the intention of bringing into play a stronger combat effectiveness by uniting the command of the navy and the army, in fact, the deeper reason was that Hideki Tojo had lost confidence in himself and in Japan...... Just as he had lost faith in the Japanese army and feared that the Japanese army would collapse as a result of negotiations, Hideki Tojo feared that he would be ousted from power because of a series of defeats in the Pacific theater, so he had to hold on to military power so that no one could shake his position as prime minister.

Of course, the latter cannot be said to the outside world.

After knowing that Sugiyama Moto's resignation and the chief of staff of Tojo Hideki was concurrently in charge, Sato Kenki was mistaken, thinking that Tojo Hideki had accepted his suggestion and wanted to overwhelm the staff headquarters that were "disobedient" and preparing to fight to the death with the US military in the Pacific, so he rushed into Tojo Hideki's office excitedly at the first time.

"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, you have done a great job!" Kenri Sato said: "In this way, there will be no obstacle to our intention to garrison the Philippines, and I can report to you at any time on plans to strengthen the defense of the Philippines as long as you want!" ”

Ken Sato had already drawn up a plan for a decisive battle in the Philippines, but because Hideki Tojo was not interested, he never had the opportunity to report.

Hideki Tojo replied coldly: "I will resolutely defend the Mariana Islands and the Caroline Islands!" ”

Sato Ken stood there in surprise, unable to say a word.

Kenki Sato is smart enough militarily, for example, the plan he proposed to garrison the Philippines is very far-sighted and wise, but his political wisdom is too far from military wisdom...... Hideki Tojo had just become chief of staff, and he was also serving as prime minister, and he needed to appease the staff headquarters and even the army, so it was impossible for him to oppose the opinion of the staff headquarters and abandon the Maria and Caroline Islands without fighting, which would only become a pretext for others to overturn him. (To be continued.) )