On October 19, 1939, the armored unit of the squadron suddenly appeared in the Andong area on the north bank of the Yalu River! The Japanese army had spent a lot of effort in the previous two days, suffering nearly 20,000 casualties before it had managed to defeat several beachheads, and within one day, they were counterattacked by a large number of Chinese assault guns and elite infantry at the same time! Nearly 5,000 infantry of the two Japanese wings stationed on the north bank of the Yalu River ended up in a very short period of time! If it weren't for the clever captains of these two wings who left the wing flags in the North Korean barracks, they might have been captured by the Chinese.

The sudden punch of the squadron immediately suppressed all the big and small devils in the Japanese Kwantung Army Headquarters. The commander of the Kwantung Army, Shouichi Terauchi, almost fainted on the spot, and the chief of staff, Hyotaro Kimura, was stunned for 10 minutes after hearing the news, and then sat on the chair and scolded the intelligence department for being a bastard, and he didn't even notice the movement of Chinese armored forces, and he should have been seppuku or something

However, those Japanese intelligence officers did not commit suicide, but quickly sent a large amount of information to the Kwantung Army command about the discovery of armored forces! For example, the Japanese spies lurking in Changchun reported that they saw more than a dozen military trains full of tanks coming from the direction of Harbin at the Changchun Railway Station, and there were seven or eight hundred of them! At the same time, Japanese spies in Harbin reported that at least 120 No. 4 tanks were pulled on two trains from Qiqihar! In addition, Chinese tanks also appeared in the city of Shenyang, and more than 100 No. 2 and No. 3 assault guns swaggered through the center of Shenyang that day, attracting the cheers of the onlookers and the frightened Japanese spies who were lurking almost did not turn their backs. In addition to the discovery of a large number of Chinese tanks in Changchun, Shenyang, and Harbin, almost at the same time, secret telegrams from Chinese armored forces were found in Vladivostok, Siping, Jilin, Yingkou, Jinzhou, and Lushun sent to Pyongyang. If these Japanese intelligence officers hadn't looked away. Then the Chinese deployed at least more than 10 armored divisions in the northeast! Two more than the total number of Chinese armored divisions previously mastered by Japan.

It took a long time for Shouichi Terauchi and Hyotaro Kimura to recover from their shock. Scrambled to begin adjusting deployments. An offensive plan for a surprise attack on Linjiang, which had been pinned on by the military department, was urgently canceled. In fact, this plan can still be tried, although it is impossible to drive the main force of the Fifth Army from Andong, but it is still possible to break through the weak defense line of the first team from the middle reaches of the Yalu River and burn the flames of war to the territory of Jilin Province in China.

But Terauchi and the others were now completely overwhelmed by the sudden appearance of Chinese armored forces. That's a whole 10 armored divisions! Even if you make a discount, there are 5 armored divisions, according to the establishment of Chinese armored divisions provided by the German side. There are at least 2,500 tanks and assault artillery in 5 armored divisions, of which 300 are the terrible No. 4 tanks! So many tanks are now pouring towards the Sino-Japanese border, which means that they will cross the Yalu River with great dignity, and then the whole of North Korea will not be able to protect it! So now the most important task of the Kwantung Army is to hold the Yalu River. We must keep Korea as a springboard for attacking the Japanese mainland. Taking the initiative to attack or something, now it seems to be a ridiculous dream

As the Kwantung Army's emergency telegram reached Tokyo, there was also a gloomy and bleak atmosphere in the Japanese Army General Staff. It turned out that the high-spirited elite staff officers all sat there as if they had been beaten up, staring at them and not believing the reports sent by the Kwantung Army and the intelligence department. Less than 72 hours have passed since the start of the war, and the "Special No. 1 Operation Plan", which took nearly two months to carefully prepare, has it proved to be a joke? What makes these Japanese army elites shudder even more is that the Chinese actually concentrated about 10 armored divisions in the northeast! Although the number is incredible. However, the chief of the General Staff Headquarters, Okamura Ninji, and the head of the First Department, Ishihara Wanji, were inclined to believe it. And military common sense told them that it would never be possible for such a large armored force to be concentrated in Manchuria from all over China in just 72 hours. Their appearance in Manchuria so quickly only shows that these armored units have already been deployed there a long time ago! It is clear that the Chinese are not only planning an invasion of Japan, but the main direction of the invasion is the Korean Peninsula!

"Your Excellency! Wuhan intelligence, Marshal Luo Yaoguo, chief of the General Staff of the Chinese National Defense Forces, took a train north this morning, and it is said that he is going to Manchuria to supervise the war! And among the entourage are the North Korean rebels Kim Zuo-jin and Lee Beom-seok! ”

Major General Sueseizo, attached to the Second Division of the General Staff Headquarters, ran into the office of Chief of Staff Ninji Okamura out of breath and loudly reported to him the news he had just received.

"Tufei-kun, what do you think?" Okamura took the telegram from Arisue's hand, glanced at it, and handed it to Lieutenant General Kenji Dohihara, the head of the second department opposite. Tu Fei read it carefully, and then smoothly gave the telegram to Ishihara Wan'er, who was sitting next to him, and then slowly spoke: "The Chinese are going to attack Korea, and Luo Yaoguo personally went north to supervise the battle, which shows that he has absolutely succeeded in the certainty, and the lower official is very worried about the situation of the Kwantung Army and the Korean garrison army." ”

"Ishihara-kun, what do you think?" Okamura turned his head to look at Ishihara again. As the formulator of the special No. 1 battle plan, Ishihara's face was as dead as ashes, and there was no blood. Hearing Okamura's question, he nodded slightly: "Xiaguan agrees with Tufeijun's analysis, the Chinese are about to attack North Korea, and their actions should have been planned for a long time, otherwise it is impossible to mobilize so many armored troops to Manchuria in a short time." But fortunately, the Chinese were preparing for the attack a beat slower than us. ”

Speaking of this, a wry smile appeared on his face: "At least we still have time to adjust our deployment and fully transfer the Kwantung Army and the Korean garrison army to the defense." He sighed softly, "Your Excellency, it seems that what can really be used is the special No. 1 battle plan." In addition, the Kwantung Army and the North Korean Army will also be merged, and there is no need for a command unit at the level of two fronts in one Korea. ”

Okamura Ninji shook his head slightly, he also used to serve as a senior staff officer in the Kwantung Army, he personally watched this elite army, which pinned all the hopes of the empire, being driven out of Manchuria by the Chinese, and now he has once again witnessed the cancellation of the Kwantung Army formation!

"North Korea can still hold on," Ishihara continued, "The terrain of the Korean Peninsula is not very open, and the northern part of Korea bordering China is full of mountains. Not suitable for the entry and exit of mechanized units of the Chinese Army. If we simply consider the strength of the ground forces, the Kwantung Army and the North Korean Army have nearly one million troops to ensure that North Korea does not lose. But North Korea is a peninsula after all"

"Ishihara-kun. Are you worried that the Navy will not be able to defend the west coast of North Korea? Okamura Ninji frowned slightly, if the navy does not have the ability to defend the west coast of Korea, then what ability can they have to ensure the safety of the Japanese archipelago? In this way, it is not a North Korea that will be defended to the death!

Ishihara was silent, he was very skeptical of the "great victory in the South China Sea" achieved by the Japanese Navy. In fact, the Navy simply could not come up with any evidence of sinking a Chinese aircraft carrier! Not even a single photo, because of the planes that participated in the attack on the port of Zhanjiang. Neither kamikaze nor Zero aircraft returned to base. I don't know how they came to the judgment of sinking four large Chinese aircraft carriers? Could it be that those kamikaze attackers who died in battle returned from Kudanzaka with a letter to Eisuke Yamamoto?

Just when Ishihara was questioning the navy's false report of war exploits in his heart, Hirohito in the palace had already seen the photos of the sinking of the Chinese aircraft carrier. The Japanese spy organization lurking in Shanghai took a risk. Several newspapers with photographs of the damage, fire and sinking of the Chinese aircraft carrier were secretly handed over to Japanese submarines close to the Chinese coast by fishing boats. It was then sent to Okinawa by submarine and brought back to Japan by naval transport aircraft. After getting the photo, Eisuke Yamamoto, the Minister of the Navy, and King Hiroko, the Chief of the Naval Command, immediately entered the palace to report the good news to Emperor Hirohito.

"In this way, it seems that the warriors of our naval kamikaze team have not died in vain." Emperor Hirohito put down the newspaper in his hand, nodded with satisfaction, looked up at the two admirals standing solemnly under the throne, and asked, "There is an alarm from North Korea." It is said that the Chinese have gathered heavy troops in Manchuria and are about to invade, what do the two Aiqing think? Can the Navy control the sea supremacy in the West Sea of Korea? ”

The two admirals quietly glanced at each other. But they refused to speak, of course, they had already seen from the Chinese newspapers that the two sunken aircraft carriers were nothing more than "light aircraft carriers" remodeled with cheap "republican ships", which had little value at all, as long as the Chinese were willing to build another ten or eight ships soon. If, as the Chinese newspapers say, the Chinese Navy only lost these two motherships, then the Japanese Navy's "great victory in the South China Sea" is not a little bit of water! And the Combined Fleet, which has lost nearly 1,000 fighters and has been greatly damaged, is still capable of maintaining sea supremacy on the west coast of Korea and even in the northwest waters of Kyushu? It seems that the problems encountered during the September 18 war eight years ago have once again been confronted by the Japanese Navy. Only this time, the Chinese are really going to land!

The Minister of the Interior, Koichi Kido, snorted lightly and reminded the two stunned admirals, and King Fushimi Miyahiro Gong had to step forward and bow down: "Your Majesty, the west coast of Korea has a long coastline, and it is close to China's Liaoning Province and Shandong Province, and the Chinese Air Force is very powerful, so it is very disadvantageous to send the navy to fight on the west coast of Korea. ”

King Fushimi Miyahiro Gong's answer made Emperor Hirohito's eyebrows tighten tightly, the navy is unwilling to undertake the defense of the west coast of Korea under the pretext that the Chinese air force is strong, so if the squadron seizes the Korean Peninsula, most of the Japanese sky will not be under the control of Chinese aircraft? When the time comes, won't the navy even defend the homeland?

As soon as Fushiminomiya's words came out, Eisuke Yamamoto immediately felt that something was wrong, and hurriedly explained: "Your Majesty, the navy's large surface ships should not fight too close to the coastline of China, but the navy's kamikaze attack team can still defend the west coast of Korea!" Moreover, the coastal defense fortresses that the army has already built on key points on the west coast of North Korea should be able to ensure that they are safe. ”

Hirohito nodded, revealing a faint smile: "Well, with the warriors of the kamikaze to defend the coastline of the empire, I will be much more relieved." The two Aiqing, the victory or defeat of the Korean defense war is directly related to the life and death of the empire, and I hope that the navy can fight bravely and not disappoint me, as well as the expectations of 70 million people. After saying this, Hirohito raised his right hand slightly, signaling that the two admirals could retreat.

When King Fushimi Hiroko and Eisuke Yamamoto walked out of the palace gate, they saw Prime Minister Fumiko Konoe, Minister of War Nagata Tetsuyama, and Foreign Minister Matsuoka Yosuke, who had just returned from Tehran, waiting to receive them. Subsequently. In the main hall, there was a proclamation for the audience of the Prime Minister, the Minister of War, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Konoe, Nagata, and Matsuoka hurriedly walked into the main hall and saw Emperor Hirohito with a gloomy face on the throne. The three of them didn't dare to come out. Hurriedly bowed. Hirohito waved his hand impatiently and said coldly, "What are your best plans for the current situation facing the Empire?" ”

Konoe was stunned when he heard this, he heard the worry in Hirohito's tone, and it seemed that he had also wavered about the future of the war.

"Your Majesty. The battle plan in the Special No. 1 battle plan is used to solve the current situation facing the empire. War Minister Nagata Tetsuyama saw that Konoe was in a daze, so he replied for him.

Hirohito ignored Nagata, and of course he knew what the special No. 1 battle plan meant. Even if Japan can escape the fate of being a country, it will lose all its overseas territories and become a third-rate country forever! He turned his head to look at Matsuoka Yosuke and said in a deep voice: "China's national strength is 10 times that of the empire after all. In addition to making plans to fight the country. Diplomacy should also be prepared, and if peace can be achieved, it will be worth paying a certain price. ”

Matsuoka frowned, Japan has just deceived China diplomatically, and now if it proposes diplomatic negotiations, is it still possible for the other party to accept it? However, this request was made by the emperor. He, the foreign secretary, didn't dare say no. He pondered for a moment and replied, "Your Majesty." As long as the empire can hold out until Germany and Italy defeat the United States, the minister can be sure that he can find a way out for the empire through diplomatic mediation. But before that, the Imperial Army can finally play a beautiful victory, otherwise...... There is no diplomacy for a weak country! ”

As soon as the words "a weak country has no diplomacy" came out, there was a dead silence in the main hall, and the dignified Japanese Empire has now become a weak country without diplomacy!

"Konoe Qing, Nagata Qing, can the empire fight a real victory?" Emperor Hirohito said the word "true", and apparently he also knew that the navy's "great victory in the South China Sea" was injected with a lot of water.

Konoe Fumitsu and Nagata Tetsuyama glanced at each other, Nagata bowed and replied loudly: "Your Majesty, it is a fact that the enemy is strong and we are weak at present, but the military department is still sure that relying on the favorable terrain of Korea to adopt active defense tactics and inflict heavy losses on the invading Chinese invaders!" ”

Listening to Nagata's words, Hirohito sighed in his heart, his only ideal since he was a child was to lead Japan to invade China, but he didn't expect to worry about resisting China's aggression in the end, it seems that there is still a lot of distance between the ideal and the reality.

Thinking of this, Hirohito cheered up a little more, and asked in a deep voice: "If the navy cannot guarantee the sea dominance of the West Sea of Korea, can the army still deal heavy damage to the invading enemy?" ”

"Your Majesty, the general of the temple will definitely lead the soldiers to fight bravely and inflict heavy losses on the invading enemy." When he said this, Nagata secretly cursed the navy in his heart, because because they had abandoned the defense of the west coast of Korea, and the army would send at least hundreds of thousands more troops.

But where did so many armies come from? The 6 million army and 8 million reservists have not yet been implemented, and the total strength of the Japanese army is only more than 2 million, of which 1 million have already reached Korea, and the remaining troops are distributed in Okinawa, the Philippines, Indonesia, Eastern Australia, the Pacific Islands (including Hawaii), and the Central American Republic. Moreover, the Philippines and Eastern Australia are facing the threat of invasion by squadrons, while the Japanese troops stationed in the Central American Republic are fighting hard against the invading American troops, and have now lost Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and other countries, and retreated to Costa Rica. The commander of the Central American Front, Yamashita Fumi, successively complained to the military headquarters about the urgency, but the military department now has no troops to send, so it can only wait for the completion of the 6 million army expansion plan.

Hirohito only showed a little relief at this time, and after instructing Nagata a few more words, he sent him and Matsuoka Yosuke to retreat, but Kone Fumiji stayed. After Nagata and Matsuoka had left, Hirohito stood up from his throne, stamped his steps in the main hall with his hands behind his back, and after a while turned back and asked Konoe, "In the event of the defeat of the army in Korea, will the government be able to clean up the situation?" ”

Konoe Fumiro gasped when he heard this, what did Hirohito mean? Do you want to sue for peace with China after the defeat in the Korean War? If that time comes, what awaits Japan will be an extremely harsh peace condition! I am afraid that not only will it be impossible to preserve all of its overseas territories and colonies, but it will also be difficult to preserve even the "inherent territory of Japan" such as Okinawa, Sakhalin, and the Kuril Islands! Even a huge amount of indemnity will have to be paid, and the mainland may be garrisoned by China, so that Japan will become a vassal of China forever!

"Your Majesty, I wonder how the government should grasp the bottom line of peace?" The guard whispered tentatively.

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