Two more 10,000-ton freighters were lost!

It was as if everyone's hearts were bleeding, and their hearts were bleeding! In the past 24 hours, Japan has lost four large merchant ships, five small and medium-sized merchant ships, and one destroyer! If you count the dozens of Japanese merchant ships detained in the port by the Chinese government, Japan lost at least 200,000 tons of merchant ships on the first day of the war, accounting for about 9% of the total tonnage of merchant ships owned by Japan!

Yoshiichi Tanaka closed his eyes, because he had already received information that most of the ships of the Chinese Navy had already left the port to attack! Their targets were supposed to be Japanese merchant ships, and it was believed that it would not be long before a large number of damage reports were sent to his desk as the prime minister of wartime. What worries him even more is that the squadron is now showing a strong willingness to attack!

The brief silence in the room was quickly broken, and several blood-red army and navy generals shouted in a frenzy.

"We must severely punish the tyrannical spending!"

"Send naval warships to shell Tianjin! Shelling Shanghai! Shelling Guangzhou! Sweep the coast of China! ”

"Launch the Battle of Tiger Head Xin'an Land! Wipe out all the Chinese armies in Manchuria! Merge the Manchurian Far Eastern States into one! ”

"The Navy and Army cooperated to land in Shanghai! Burn the flames of war to the foot of Nanjing, capture Chang Ruiqing to Tokyo, and raze the capital of China to the ground! ”

Hearing someone shouting out for the Shanghai landing, Tanaka Yoshiichi's eyebrows raised slightly. This seems to be a good idea, Shanghai and its surrounding southern Jiangsu Plain are the economic center and important industrial base of China at the moment, and if the flames of war can be burned there, China will probably have to surrender on its knees, right?

But it's not easy to make this vision a reality. Of the 20 divisions of the Japanese Army, one was deployed in Far Eastern Prefecture and seven in Korea, and only five could be used for operations in Shanghai. According to intelligence. There are as many as one army in the squadron in southern Jiangsu! There are also a large number of independent forces and local security forces directly under the Military Commission, with a total strength of more than 200,000 troops, and they are well-equipped and well-trained. I'm afraid that the 5 Japanese divisions are not their opponents, right? Unless it is possible to attract these forces to Manchuria......

Thinking of this, Yoshiichi Tanaka coughed dryly, and the room suddenly fell silent. "Yamashita-kun," Yoshiichi Tanaka set his eyes on Gentaro Yamashita, the head of the Navy's military command.

"Now the navy has three tasks: first, to protect the empire's merchant ships from the attacks of the warships of China...... For the time being, Europe's trade routes can only be abandoned, and whether it can be re-exported through Guò Australia; But the routes to the Americas, as well as to the Sea of Japan, had to be secured, and the resources needed to sustain the war had to be imported through guò as soon as possible.

The second is to blockade the coastal areas of China. Cut off China's foreign trade routes.

The third is to prepare for a large-scale landing operation! The target was near Shanghai. ”

As his voice fell, the sound of discussion in the room began again.

"Is there really going to be a Shanghai operation? Great, it's the most prosperous city in East Asia! Take Shanghai and loot at least 000 million yen! ”

"But the defense of the Chinese army in Shanghai is also quite tight! According to intelligence, the Chinese army built a large number of shore defense batteries at the mouth of the Yangtze River, equipped with dozens of 7-inch cannons. It is also expected that mines and torpedo boats will be deployed. ”

"Then don't go to the Yangtze River, the empire has the right to control the sea. It is possible to land in any area along the coast of China! The coastline of China is so long. It is impossible to be tightly guarded everywhere. ”

"But the only rich coastal cities in China are Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xiamen, Hangzhou, Qingdao and Kanto Prefecture, and there is no oil or water in other places, so you can't get anything by landing!"

"Don't just think about grabbing things! We are the Imperial Japanese Army, not bandits and bandits...... The correct tactic should be to attract the main forces of the Shina Army to engage in an area close to the coastline and wipe them out with the firepower of the Imperial Navy. ”

Yoshiichi Tanaka snorted softly again, and the scene fell silent again. Gentaro Tanaka and Gentaro Yamashita. He smiled lightly and said, "Yamashita-kun, can the navy complete these three tasks?" ”

Gentaro Yamashita's eyebrows were tightly wrung all the time, as if he was thinking hard. "It is not a big problem to protect merchant ships and shipping routes, and it is possible to follow the example of Britain in Europe and organize merchant ships into fleets. Then it was escorted by destroyers sent by the Navy. There is no problem in organizing a landing battle in Shanghai, and the Yangtze River estuary can be changed to a landing in Hangzhou Bay...... However, the blockade of the coastline of China is a bit tricky. ”

Tanaka was stunned. "What's wrong? Any questions? ”

"Hong Kong, which is still a British territory, is theoretically free for ships from neutral countries to come and go. Your Excellency Prime Minister, could you make representations with the UK? ”

Tanaka nodded, but did not answer Gentaro Yamashita's question. Instead, he turned his head and talked to Tian Zhongzhong, chief of staff of the army.

"Tanaka-kun, you used to fight side by side with the National Defense Force, so you should know something about their true combat power, right?"

Tian Zhongzhong nodded slightly. Tanaka Yoshiichi said: "Then please ask Tanaka-kun to answer me a question, I hope you" "Can you make the most objective judgment from the perspective of an excellent professional soldier: Does the current Imperial Army have the strength to seize Manchuria?" ”

"Nope!" Tian Zhongzhong's answer was very simple, although he was also coaxing with several other army and navy generals in the room just now. He took a deep breath, frowned, and said: "At present, the number and firepower of the Chinese army far exceed that of the imperial army, and the training level may be slightly inferior to that of the imperial army, and there is a big gap between the fighting will of the officers and men and the imperial army. But on the whole, the strength of the Chinese Army is still stronger than that of the Imperial Army. Moreover, on the Manchurian battlefield in the Far East, the China Army also had the advantage of fighting on the inside front. The five divisions of the Imperial Army were scattered in Korea and the Far East, which was difficult to echo, and the front of the Far Eastern Army was at risk of being cut off by the Chinese Army at any time because of the existence of the Tiger Head Fortress. Therefore, on the Manchurian battlefield in the Far East, the imperial army was in a clearly disadvantageous position, and Xia Guan believed that this disadvantage must be reversed with a powerful offensive. Because a mere defense would put the Imperial Army in an even more disadvantageous and passive position on the Manchurian battlefield in the Far East. ”

Yoshiichi Tanaka listened silently, nodding from time to time. He also agreed with Tanakashige's judgment that the Japanese Army, which consisted of five divisions, was divided into two disconnected clusters on land and held a front two or three thousand kilometers long. Their opponents are not only twice as strong as them, but they also have the advantage of fighting on the inside front, and can concentrate their main forces on attacking the Korean army or the Far Eastern army at any time.

"Defense alone won't work. And the defense line of the Far Eastern Army was too shaky. Tian Zhongzhong then began to introduce the defense of the Far Eastern State. Since the supposed enemy of the Far Eastern Army had always been the Soviet Union, their lines of defense were also deployed along the south bank of the Amur River. There is simply not a decent defense system on the long Sino-Japanese border. The Chinese Tiger Head Fortress pressed a steel knife against the waist of the hastily deployed Far Eastern Army defensive line, ready to cut this fragile defense line in two.

"Now is there any sign of an offensive by the Chinese Army to the defense line of the Far Eastern Army?" Yoshiichi Tanaka asked.

"Not yet." Tian Zhongzhong's heavy eyebrows were not untied. "The military department believes that the reason why the Chinese army did not start the operation may be because Chang Ruiqing has not returned to China for the time being...... The British hoped that China would negotiate peace with the Empire, so they put pressure on Chang Ruiqing to prevent him from returning to China. ”

Yoshiichi Tanaka and Kazuki Kita. Bei Yihui nodded and said, "This is indeed the case." However, the British may soon change their stance and allow India and Myanmar to return home. ”

"How so?" Tanaka frowned, his diplomatic efforts were about to come to naught.

"Because of the Soviet uprising in the Far East." Kita Kazuki said. "The British ambassador told the British ambassador on the phone that the Chinese side had admitted to supporting the insurrection in the Far East, and that it was possible to involve the Provisional Government of White Russia in the insurrection against the Soviet government."

The original "Iron-blooded Republic of China's 404th voice north strikes south" came like this. Yoshiichi Tanaka shook a little helplessly

Shake one’s head. The insurrection in the Soviet Far East came at an inopportune time, on the one hand, it restrained the Soviet forces; On the one hand, it gives China a trump card that can curry favor with the West! For the United Kingdom, the United States and France. Dealing with the Soviet Union is a top priority. He sighed and said to Kita Kazuki: "Go and give instructions to the ambassador to Moscow, Katayama, to try to win the war against the Soviet Union." In addition, the British and French were informed of the attack on the Imperial Peaceful merchant ships by the Chinese navy, and they were required to adopt more forceful means of mediation. ”

"Hey!" Kita Yihui nodded heavily. Tanaka Yoshiichi again said to Chief of Staff Tian Zhongguoshi: "Since the military department also believes that there is no force to seize Manchuria. Then the goal of this war is to weaken the national strength of China to the greatest extent. To this end, the army needed to take active action in the Manchuria theater in the Far East and strive to attract the main force of the Chinese army to Manchuria. At the same time, it is also necessary to prepare for the Shanghai operation in coordination with the navy. The destruction of the economic centres of China was used to force it to sue for peace. The operation in Shanghai required at least ...... 5 full divisions are needed! The Army Navy must be ready in two months! The future of the Imperial State. That's it! ”

……

"Welcome, Your Excellency. The encounter near the Straits of Malacca has frightened you...... You know, the British Empire is the master of that sea, and we are also very shocked and sorry for such a thing. However, we still hope that Mr. Chairman can solve the problem in a more rational way. The amount of compensation can also be reasonable, and the actions of the squadron can be a little milder. ”

It was a British gentleman in his 50s who was up and greased. He had a little gray beard, and although he said some comforting words, there was no emotion in his eyes. The scene of their conversation was in the British Governor's Palace in Calcutta. After learning that the Chinese-backed Soviet Far East insurgency had been completely controlled by Chita, the capital of the Far Eastern Republic. The British Empire immediately shifted from its original position of favoring Japan to favoring China. Chang Ruiqing, who was adrift at sea, was soon invited by the Governor of British India, Earl Rufus Isaacs, and became a guest of honor in the Governor's Palace of Calcutta.

Chang Ruiqing was now sitting on a rattan circle chair, wearing a thin silk shirt, his face was covered with beads of sweat, and he was fanning vigorously with a folding fan in his hand. And Lu Yixuan sat beside him in a military uniform, and sweat was pouring out of his forehead, but this one didn't even wipe it, as if he wasn't afraid of heat at all.

"Mr. Earl, the weather in India is really surprisingly hot, and there is always 7 degrees Celsius today." Chang Ruiqing first complained about the weather, and then turned to the topic. "This is not a good time to visit, and my country is still at war with Japan...... I, the chairman of the Military Commission, must do my best to go back and preside over the overall situation. ”

"Well, the "Iron and Blood Great Republic", a 6-seater passenger plane produced by Curtis, is ready. The Earl of Isaacs said with a hypocritical smile in the English style. Mr. Chairman, is there no room for turning the corner in this war between China and Japan? At present, there is probably no other country in the world except the Soviet Union that wants a tragic war between China and Japan. ”

Lu Yixuan took a sip of the black tea on a small Western-style round table in front of him, and said with a light smile: "Mr. Earl." Any war is a tragedy, but the rise of any great power in the world is a history of war. Originally, I thought that China could achieve national reconstruction with peaceful coexistence with Japan, but now this view is completely wrong. It is the fate of our two countries that we must distinguish between us and Japan, and perhaps after this war, China and Japan will become true friends, just like Britain and France are doing now. ”

"Oh. That's a shame. The Count smiled slightly, noncommittal.

"There are no regrets, only regrets are when we lose, so it will definitely be Japan that will regret in the future!" Chang Ruiqing shook his head, and said to the earl: "But we in China and you in Britain may also have a little regret. ”

"A little regret?"

"In the Far Eastern republics of the USSR. What a great opportunity. We planned this riot for several years and spent tens of millions of pounds. ...... that could have dealt a heavy blow to the Bolsheviks But now. But because of Japan's stupidity. The insurrection against the Bolsheviks was in danger of soon failing. ”

"Will it fail quickly?" Count Isaacs finally showed a solemn expression.

"Of course." Chang Ruiqing shook his head and said with a sad face. "The USSR was a powerful country, and it was impossible for a small group of brave people in the Far East to shake her. Unless they receive timely assistance from the international community, a lot of assistance, both military and economic, is needed. ”

"There will be assistance." Count Isaacs said with certainty. "Whitehall has made a decision to provide £5 million worth of military and financial aid to the insurgents in the Far East."

£5,000,000! The U.S. dollar in this era is 20 million. If it is changed to Huayuan, it is 0 million! The British Empire is really not small, and the economy that came to Europe has begun to revive because of the "Dawes Plan".

"Oh," Chang Ruiqing said with a melancholy expression, "5 million pounds is indeed a lot, but how can these materials and the aid provided by other countries in the world to the Far East be transported to the Far East?" ”

Count Isaacs was slightly stunned. He seemed to have found something wrong with Chang Ruiqing's words. However, he still smiled and said to Chang Ruiqing: "Mr. Chairman, you don't have to worry about this issue. Whitehall had already considered this aspect, and international aid to the Far East, including military aid, would be transported to Hong Kong by the Royal Navy of the Empire. ”

"Hong Kong? Will the Japanese agree? ”

Count Isaacs glanced at Chang Ruiqing and said lightly: "The empire has the right to send any materials to Hong Kong, and there is no need to get anyone's approval at all. ”

……

"Good news! Good news! Chinese friends are ready to provide us with aid worth 50 million Chinese yuan! ”

This news seemed to be a gust of spring breeze, and it swept away the gloomy atmosphere of the rebel headquarters that shrouded Chita City. All the counter-revolutionaries cheered, and the leaders of the four rebels, Zhang Guotao, Tang Jiu, and Deng Dukkula, as well as Ye Fu Lianke, the former commander of the 5th Division of the Red Army, all sighed at the same time.

Tang Jiutang's counter-revolutionary face was even more smiling, and he said to Yevlenko with a smile: "Comrade Sergei Nikolayevich, we didn't lie to you, right? China will not ignore us, and with this back road, we will always have a place to go. ”

On June 7, Yevlenko did not make up his mind to die for the party, but became a prisoner of the counter-revolution. That night, Tang Jiu sent the wife of the division commander to the cell to persuade him to surrender, and asked the wife of the division commander to tell him: This counter-revolutionary riot is supported by Chinese revisionism! You can rest assured to follow, and if it's a big deal, you will go to China to be a White Russian. So Yevlenko, who couldn't resist the temptation, betrayed the revolution early in the morning of June and became the fourth leader of the rebels in the Far East.

At this time, the four leaders of the rebels were studying military affairs around the sand table map. They were well acquainted with the military and civilian situation in the Far East, and were also very clear about the strength of the Soviet Red Army and the means it might take. So the upcoming aid of 50 million Huayuan did not make them happy for long, and the four faces were gloomy again.

Zhang Guotao knocked on the table and sighed deeply: "We have all fought in the Red Army and know how the Red Army fights. The Red Army has never been merciless in suppressing internal rebellions, nor will it hesitate to postpone it. I guess that after getting the news of the Chita incident, the Red Army from all over the Far Eastern Republic will come to us. In three days, the troops stationed in Zabaikalsk will arrive, and in a week at most, the vanguard of an army group stationed in Irkutsk will also strike! We will soon face the test of life and death! If you can't get through this hurdle, no aid will be in vain. (To be continued.) )