The death of a corps commander on the battlefield was almost unthinkable before. For the Imperial Army, it was tantamount to a great disgrace. What's more, whether this commander was killed or captured, no one knows now. It's better to die in battle, but it's also a little humiliating at best. But if this corps commander is captured, then for the Reich it will be simply a disgrace.

The two divisions and regiments that are currently engaged in the Linxi battlefield are also obviously in a delicate situation. If they are not careful, these two divisions are also very likely to become the belly of the Anti-United Nations. In this case, the Kwantung Army actually wants to continue fighting. Do they really not know what the most important strategy of the empire is right now?

At the current rate of battle losses, how many divisions and regiments does the Kwantung Army have to fill in to achieve the Kwantung Army's goal? The empire still has to mobilize a few divisions and regiments for the Kwantung Army to fill the current shortage of troops in the Kwantung Army? The empire is not a battlefield of the Kwantung Army, and it is impossible to stuff army divisions into them indefinitely.

In this battle, the Kwantung Army formulated a number of plans, which can even be described as crazy. But how many of these plans have been successfully realized? For the Kwantung Army, they could spend the precious resources of the empire on the desolate mountains, meadows, and deserts of Northern and Western Manchuria. But for the base camp, this is absolutely impossible to accept.

After Yoshimoto Sadaichi expressed his opinion, Okabe Naosaburo not only believed that Yoshimoto Sadaichi's opinion was in line with the current situation that the strategic center of gravity of the empire was shifting southward, but also more in line with the current situation faced by the Kwantung Army. But at the moment, General Umezu Mijiro has been slow to express his opinion on Sadachi Yoshimoto, what is he thinking?

Did he really think that the base camp would have no fear that he would not be removed from his post as commander of the Kwantung Army because of the emperor's previous kindness to him? Don't forget that the emperor is indeed very kind to him. However, His Royal Highness Prince Zaihito Miyaji, who had been chief of staff for nine years, the emperor's uncle and grandfather, and the current Minister of War, and who had a great influence among the imperial family and the army, was still alive.

Although he has retired from the top level, he still actually controls the army, and he can easily let a senior general retire from active duty. Without his support, it would have been impossible for anyone to sit firmly in the post of chief of staff and land minister. A seal can force the Minister of War to resign, and it is easy to bring down the former chief of staff of the Imperial Family in a cabinet, and the Field Marshal is not interested in him.

Not to mention whether His Majesty the Emperor can tolerate the defeat of the Kwantung Army again and again, and whether he can tolerate the huge losses of the Kwantung Army last year and today. Even His Majesty the Emperor will not be any less important to your brother because of these fiascos. But the Emperor listened to the words of the former Chief of Staff.

If the actual staunchest supporter of the southward expansion faction is the most important person behind the US-British plan to start a war, he thinks that you are hindering the national policy of the empire's southward expansion, and will be dissatisfied with your brother Yan zhòng. As the commander of the Kwantung Army, whether you can sit down or not is a matter of two words.

Now that old guy is getting older and older, the city government is getting deeper and deeper, and the old guy who plays the whole army on applause is not a vegetarian. Senior General Okamura, who is currently the commander of the North China Front, has made outstanding achievements in the civil war as commander of the 11th Army, and can be called the best commander of the 11th Army since its formation.

But just because a performance annoyed the marshal, who had already retreated to the second line, he was brought back to China by the largest heavy army group sent from China and kicked to the cold bench of the Military Senate for a whole year. Only this year was released as the commander of the North China Front.

Now, the veteran marshal, who has retired on the surface but is still actually in control of the army, has called three times to express his dissatisfaction with the current actions of the Kwantung Army. and that the move of General Umezu Mijiro in front of him to detain two divisions in Manchuria has seriously affected the formation of the troops scheduled to fight south.

Okabe Naosaburo didn't want his old friend to single-handedly purge the Japanese army, especially the Kwantung Army, of the bad habit of being inferior to the top. It was a general in the current army who was considered suitable to be the commander of the Kwantung Army, but he was dismissed because he annoyed the marshal.

The base camp has decided that the main strategy for the future is to go south and seize the oil- and rubber-rich regions of Southeast Asia. At this time, if the Kwantung Army, which has always had a penchant for unbridled and often acted on its own, caused some trouble on the Manchu-Soviet border, it would have a considerable strategic impact on the empire.

Although this Umezu Mijiro General has been defeated in two battles since taking office, he still firmly controls the Kwantung Army and is still the most suitable commander of the Kwantung Army at present. This general, known for his iron fist, was the best choice for the commander of the Kwantung Army, at least until the completion of the empire's southward expansion strategy.

At a time when the southward operation was about to begin, the post of commander of the Kwantung Army was not a good choice. Therefore, General Okabe Naosaburo still hopes that this old man can be sober, and don't be unlucky because he offends the marshal who is now bent on going south, God blocks and kills God, and Buddha blocks and kills Buddha.

Lieutenant General Okabe Naosaburo, who had a blue face, looked at General Umezu Mijiro, who was speechless, and said in a rather unkind tone: "Your Excellency, General, you are the commander of the Kwantung Army, you should make the next decision." For every minute we hesitate here, the more the Imperial soldiers at the front will pay, and our losses will probably be even greater. ”

"I wonder now what your Excellency thinks. When will this damn battle that has already affected the fortunes of the empire be ended, and unfold without affecting the future strategy of the empire. The current Linxi battlefield has become a black hole that swallows up the strength of the Kwantung Army, how many more troops do you need in the Kwantung Army to fill this black hole that will never be filled? ”

Regarding Okabe Naosaburo's unkind tone, Umezu Mijiro, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke: "Okabe-kun, is it possible that the battle situation has developed to the point where it is now, why did you miss the most favorable fighter to save the tide of the war and even change the situation of the entire battlefield, and you will not know the reason?" ”

"If it weren't for Your Excellency's insistence on not allowing the Kwantung Army to use the Fifth Division and the Tenth Division to participate in the war, so that the Kwantung Army missed the last fighter to win on the Tongliao battlefield, would the current battle situation be so erosive? It was your strict control over the actions of these two divisions that caused us to lose our last chance. ”

"After the 5th Division arrived at the front line of Xifuxin and Zhangwu, it immediately reinforced the 14th Division to the north to carry out a counterattack on the anti-union forces on the front line of Tongliao. After the 10th Division arrived in Mukden, it immediately went north to take over the 24th Division, so how miserable is the current battle situation? ”

"The Kwantung Army missed the best fighter because of the lack of troops, and the result of this battle completely deviated from the original plan of the Kwantung Army. The Kanto Bureau has some responsibility, but the base camp does not have any responsibility? It's not appropriate to hit this board all on the Kwantung Army. ”

"Of course, it is not yet a question of the attribution of responsibility, and the most important thing to solve at present is what exactly the Kwantung Army should do next. At the request of Lieutenant General Yoshimoto, he immediately reduced his forces and switched to defensive operations on all fronts. Or continue to invest troops and carry out a full-scale counterattack to recover Tongliao and Linxi? ”

Speaking of this, General Umezu Mijiro looked at Takei Seitaro, who had been silent on the side, and said: "Takei-kun, you are the chief operational staff officer of the Kwantung Army, and you are responsible for formulating the battle plan according to the actual situation on the battlefield. In this battle, all the battle plans are basically drawn up under your construction. Now I'd like to hear what you think about the current situation. ”

When General Umezu Mijiro called out his name, Takei Kiyotaro was not surprised. He was the chief operational staff officer of the Kwantung Army and was responsible for formulating the entire operational plan of the Kwantung Army. Except for a small part of the battle that was personally formulated by Major General Tachibana, deputy chief of staff, most of the plans were drawn up by him.

In this operational meeting, he had more say than Hayahiko Saburo, deputy chief of staff in charge of intelligence and policy formulation, and Yoshitomi Tamura, chief of the first section in charge of operations. He raised his head and looked at the group of senior officers with different faces after hearing his name be called, plus Rear Admiral Takijiro Onishi, who did not hide the gloating look in his eyes.

and the one who didn't dare to stare at General Umezu Mijiro and Lieutenant General Saichi Yoshimoto, because the status of these two was too different from him. But he looked at himself who insisted on using paratroopers on the Tongliao battlefield with murderous eyes, and he couldn't wait to peel off his skin and bones.

Takei Kiyojiro hesitated for a moment and said: "The best opportunity, since we have missed it, I don't think we should think about making up for it, and there is no hope for the plan to stubbornly implement it." Forcibly making up for it is not a favorable thing for the Kwantung Army as a whole. ”

"I think Lieutenant General Yoshimoto's construction is still correct, and it is also the most in line with the actual situation of the Kwantung Army at the moment. Instead of sticking to the head-on, holding on to an already unrealistic idea, and paying a huge price to make up for it. It is better to think about the long term and end this battle now. ”

"Withdraw the two divisions of the frontal battlefield of Linxi to the front line of Jianping and Chifeng as quickly as possible. Lieutenant General Okabe is right, the current Linxi battlefield has become a black hole for the Kwantung Army that cannot be filled with any number of troops. Unless we draw a large number of troops in the short term, the Linxi battlefield has become a meat grinder for the Kwantung Army. ”

"At the same time, we should immediately order the 18th Division to quickly get rid of the enemy in front of us and withdraw quickly. In order to avoid the 18th Division, which was alone in the army, from repeating the mistakes of the 7th Division. Because once there was an accident in the 18th Division, it would not only be a big loss to the Kwantung Army, but also a considerable impact on the overall defense of the Xinjing front line in the future. ”

"If we stop counterattacking on the entire front according to the current front, under the situation that it is no longer possible to open up the Xinjing-Tao'an railway line, and it is impossible to restore the pre-war situation of the Fù Jiutai, Dehui, and Nong'an fronts, the entire Xinjing front line will become a salient department. The forces there, especially those in the rear of the flanks of Xinjing, had to be strengthened. ”

"Otherwise, this salient may be broken through from both flanks at any time and formed an encirclement posture by the Anti-Alliance. The terrain around Xinjing was not conducive to the defensive operations of the Kwantung Army against its tank clusters. If the Kwantung Army wanted to secure the Shinkyo front, it had to strengthen the defense of the two flanks of the medium-long railway behind it. ”

"At the same time, I believe that after the end of the war, except for the Ninth Division, the remaining two divisions around Xinjing must be withdrawn and reorganized. Xinjing's defensive strength will be greatly weakened. Under the circumstance that the Kwantung Army was no longer able to transfer other divisions and regiments to the north to replace them, it was more appropriate to withdraw this 18th Division directly to the direction of Xinjing. ”

"Your Excellency, I think that Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Sadachi's judgment on the future development of the war is quite in line with the reality of the Manchurian battlefield. Now for us, even if the enemy forces go on the defensive, our counterattack will have to pay a heavy price. And this price is not suitable for us at the moment. So, I think it's time for us to come to an end. ”