Umezu Mijiro, who had been blowing a lot of wind, suddenly turned around. He said to Hattori Takushiro: "Hattori-kun, you are still the chief combat staff officer of the Kwantung Army, and you know the current situation of the Kwantung Army very well, do you think we can transfer that division to the second phase of the campaign?" ”

Hearing Lieutenant General Umezu Mijiro's rhetorical question, Hattori Takushiro pondered for a while and said, "Your Excellency, Commander, the huge losses of the twenty-four and twenty-fifth divisions have caused us to have a considerable gap in strength. Unless we are willing to risk weakening our forces on the Manchu-Soviet border, we will not be able to draw any division other than the Second Division into the war. ”

"Although Soviet Russia's energy is attracted by the war in Europe, its Far Eastern Military District still deploys hundreds of thousands of troops. It did not draw troops from the Far Eastern Military District as a result of the German invasion of Poland. Compared with the behemoth of Soviet Russia, the strength of the Kwantung Army was still very different when the war in China could not be resolved for a long time. ”

"Under the premise that the Far Eastern Military District still maintains its offensive capability, we cannot draw more troops from the Manchu-Soviet border to participate in the war. Although we have signed an agreement with Soviet Russia at present, this agreement is nothing more than a piece of waste paper when necessary. For Soviet Russia, which has no faith, we must maintain a strong military force on the Manchurian-Soviet border to maintain sufficient deterrence. ”

Speaking of this, Hattori Takushiro added: "Of course, if you dare to risk another defeat and send the fourth division to the battle, we can still send two divisions to the battle in the second stage. However, I still advise you not to use this Fourth Division, so as not to make mistakes with these Osaka soldiers. Your Excellency Umezu, General Kenkichi Ueda's experience is not far off, and I hope you will be more cautious. ”

"Your Excellency, Commander, our army has indeed suffered heavy casualties in previous battles. But there is one thing that is beyond doubt, that is, with the combat effectiveness of our imperial army, even if the opponent inflicts heavy casualties on our army, its own casualties will definitely not be light. Judging from the fact that it posed a threat to the 14th Wing, but it was slow to attack, it has at least lost its offensive ability now. ”

"If the Kwantung Army can't take advantage of the fact that its current strength is damaged and it is far from being reorganized. Once it makes up for the casualties, our army's offensive operations will be forced to draw more troops. ”

Regarding the level of strategic analysis of Hattori Takushiro, General Umezu Mijiro still agrees. Otherwise, he would not have insisted on keeping him in the post of chief staff officer of the Kwantung Army after the defeat of the Battle of Normenhan, ignoring the transfer order from the Tokyo base camp. Nakayama Genfu Nakasa, who had just been transferred to replace him, could only hang up an idle errand within the Kwantung Army with nothing to do.

It's just that Umezu Mijiro was a little hesitant about Hattori Takushiro's suggestion to recruit the Second Division to participate in the war. In the First Battle of Normenhan, the 7th Division and the 23rd Division suffered heavy losses, and they have not been able to complete the reorganization. The 24th and 25th Divisions, which had originally belonged to the General Reserve, suffered heavy blows, and the 2nd Division, which had now been transferred to Mudanjiang, had almost become the general reserve of the Kwantung Army. Once the 2nd Division suffered another heavy blow, the Kwantung Army would no longer have mobile forces.

Suddenly found that he had a lot of troops on hand, but in fact there were almost no troops to send, which made General Umezu Mijiro feel very troubled. The 2nd Division was the only remaining mobile force of the Kwantung Army before the 14th Division, which Tokyo had promised to transfer to the Kwantung Army, arrived in Manchuria. It can't be used in any way, Admiral Umezu Mijiro is sure of that.

But if the second division was not mobilized, Umezu Mijiro pulled the division at hand back and forth, only to find that it was light and could not be used. In particular, the shortages of the 7th and 23rd divisions of the main force in Western Manchuria have not yet been replenished, and it will take a long time to restore their vitality, and they will not be able to fight for at least half a year. General Umezu Yoshijiro, who once prided himself on serving as the largest heavy army group in the Japanese army, found himself now strapped for money. Although there are a lot of troops, not many can be mobilized.

Hattori Takushiro Nakasa was right, although the huge polar bear in the north was now attracted by the war in Europe in the west. But I still can't take this polar bear, which is similar to the empire and has never known what the word Xinyi is. Its Far Eastern Military District has hundreds of thousands of troops, and the huge armored cluster has always hung over the head of the Kwantung Army like a sharp sword.

But if we wait for all the 14 th divisions to arrive, it will take at least half a month. As a soldier, Umezu Mijiro, who is also a famous general of the Japanese army, knows that the two armies are fighting, and the most important thing is the fighter plane. Once the fighter plane is lost, it is not so easy to get it back.

Looking at Umezu Mijiro's uncertain face, as the chief combat staff officer of the Kwantung Army, Hattori Takushiro Nakasa, who knew the deployment of the Kwantung Army's troops, naturally knew what this boss was thinking? Hattori Takushiro hesitated for a moment and said, "Your Excellency Commander, do you think this will work?" ”

"A wing of the vanguard of the 14th Division has arrived in Xinjing, and although it will take half a month for the follow-up troops, you can send a telegram to the Tokyo base camp to urge the 14th Division to move. In addition, the vanguard wing of the 14th Division was transferred to Mudanjiang to take over the defense of the 2nd Division. ”

"The 14th Division is an old division of the empire, and its real combat capability is not inferior to that of the 2nd Division. The commander of his division, Lieutenant General Seiichi Kita, was energetic and experienced. Although only one wing can only partially take over the defense area of the 2nd Division, we can temporarily transfer part of the troops of the 12th Division stationed in Dongning to the west to assist the 14th Division in taking over part of the defense area. The second division was completely replaced. After all the 14th Divisions arrived, the troops of the 12th Division returned to their original positions. ”

"I think in half a month, Jiangbei shouldn't have any big moves. Unless Germany completely ends the war in Poland, Jiangbei will not make a move at this juncture. Who knows if Hitler's next step after the occupation of Poland will be to go straight to Moscow? ”

"Your Excellency, Commander, there is a saying in China, which is called the speed of soldiers. If we can't take advantage of the fact that the opponent's supreme commander vomits blood and falls into a coma, loses his supreme command, and makes up our minds. When it recovers, our army is carrying out a purge and is bound to pay more costs. ”

"And if we can't do our best to get rid of this rare group of bandits that the emperor has named to exterminate, not only will the Kwantung Army be involved in most of its energy, but it will also be unable to complete the war plan against the Soviet Union from the north of the base camp, and even His Majesty the Emperor will not agree. This group of people holds the highest secrets of the Great Japanese Empire in their hands, and they have not yet been leaked. But once it leaks out, it will be a great blow to the empire. ”

Speaking of this, Takushiro Hattori bowed deeply to Umezu Mijiro and said, "Your Excellency, the fighter plane is a little inferior. Please make up your mind sooner. ”

Hattori Takushiro Nakasa's words that His Majesty the Emperor would not agree to sounded like an initiation to General Umezu Mijiro. After the 226 Incident, he understood how far the emperor had reached in the army. The emperor's control over the army, especially the army, is now almost the highest among all emperors since the Meiji Restoration.

If the emperor was angry, it would be devastating for every army general. The fate of General Ueda Kenkichi has been clearly explained. Originally, the Ministry of War and the General Staff Headquarters wanted to let Ueda Kenkichi go and let him retire peacefully. However, it was the unrelenting attitude of His Majesty the Emperor that not only deprived Ueda Kenkichi of all his medals, but also demoted his military rank from general to major general.

The lessons of the previous car are not far away, and Umezu Mijiro, who doesn't want to follow the mistakes of his predecessor, finally nodded slightly in the expectant eyes of Hattori Takushiro and said, "Hattori-kun, just do what you want." Let the vanguard wing of the 14th Division take over the defense of the 2nd Division, and order the 2nd Division to immediately carry out general mobilization. In five days, within three days, all of them arrived in Jiamusi. ”

"In addition, the 11th Division was ordered to transfer two brigades as the backbone to form a detachment to cooperate with the 14th Division. The 14th Wing of the 25th Division of Kuwabara Shiro was ordered to hold on to the front line of the Kora River on the spot, and not to take a step back without an order from the Kwantung Army Command. The search wing and the engineer wing of the 25th Division were ordered to immediately cross the river north and join the main force of the division. ”

Speaking of this, Umezu Mijiro hesitated for a moment and said: "Send a telegram to Lieutenant General Shigeru Sawada and order him to immediately transfer two infantry brigades and one cavalry brigade to form a detachment, which will be commanded by him personally." Sue Sawada Shigeru, if the Fourth Division is to fight again this time, I will directly ask His Majesty the Emperor to revoke the establishment of his Fourth Division. ”

Hearing that Umezu Mijiro actually hit the head of the fourth division with the idea of a broken household in the case of a somewhat insufficient force, Hattori Takushiro smiled bitterly: "Your Excellency Commander, I'm afraid you won't be able to order Lieutenant General Sawada Shigeru." You don't know yet, Lieutenant General Shigeru Sawada has been transferred to the post of deputy chief of staff, and his transfer order is approaching in half a day. Lieutenant General Yamashita Fengwen, who succeeded him, was still the chief of staff of the North China Front. ”

In addition, the deputy chief of staff, Major General Otozaburo Yano, will also be transferred, and will be replaced by Major General Endo Saburo attached to the Army Flight School. In addition, there were also great changes in the base camp, and Lieutenant General Nakajima Tetsuzo, deputy chief of staff, and Lieutenant General Hashimoto Gun, chief of operations, were all dismissed. The deputy chief of staff was succeeded by Lieutenant General Shigeru Sawada, and the chief of operations was replaced by Major General Kyoji Tominaga. ”

"And the Tokyo base camp is already extremely impatient with Geno Nakayama not being able to take over my job for a long time. The order for my transfer to the Army Infantry School has been handed down, and the base camp has repeatedly urged me to take up my post immediately. Your Excellency, I'm sorry, but I can't accompany you through this battle. ”

Takushiro Hattori has a good relationship with his predecessor Tsukashiro, Lieutenant General Seishiro Itagaki who is currently the chief of the General Staff of the Chinese Dispatch Force, Lieutenant General Hideki Tojo, who is currently the director of army aviation, and quite a few people in the Ministry of War and the General Staff Headquarters, and has his own extremely sensitive sources at the Tokyo base camp. There are some things that he knows even earlier than General Umezu Mijiro, the commander of the Kwantung Army.

Hearing Hattori Takushiro Nakasa talk about the personnel changes in the Kwantung Army and the Tokyo base camp, General Umezu Mijiro frowned slightly. The reason for Nakajima Tetsuzo's resignation is very clear, and it is not too unjust to say it. However, his replacement, Lieutenant General Shigeru Sawada, had a hard time satisfying General Mijiro Umezu.

In Umezu Mijiro, a large part of the reason why Ueda Kenkichi repeatedly put it in the hands of the anti-Manchurian anti-Japanese forces, and even until it was defeated, was that he used the fourth division wrongly. Umezu Yoshijiro had carefully studied several of Admiral Ueda's purges.

In his opinion, General Ueda Kenkichi's several battle plans were not wrong and were completely in line with the situation at that time. However, he used the straw bale of the Fourth Division as the main force to advance and suppress, and he did not contribute to the work, and even some of them did not save themselves when they saw death, so that they were defeated again and again. As a result, the Kwantung Army missed the opportunity to annihilate it in one fell swoop when it was weak, and led it to strengthen.

Kenkichi Ueda was the most severe punishment of the Japanese army since the Meiji Emperor established the new army. To be honest, it is not wronged, and it is enough to employ people without noticing. What's more, this guy also concealed the loss of Qunce Mountain, the largest secret arms depot of the Kwantung Army.

However, as one of the main culprits of the repeated failures of the attack, Sawada Shigeru was not implicated, but was also promoted. Not to mention that he lost the battle, and he has been implicated in friendly forces several times and suffered heavy losses, such a person can still be the deputy chief of staff? This really made Umezu Mijiro a little puzzled and annoyed.

However, in the end, as a high-ranking person, this situation is far from being comparable to those junior and junior officers. General Umezu Mijiro quickly controlled his feelings, and hid all his dissatisfaction, without showing the slightest hint of it.

As for the transfer of Hattori Takushiro, he knows very well who did it. It's just that to that person, Umezu Mijiro laughed it off. That guy was angry with his opposition to him as an under-lieutenant in the army, and he had to plot against himself before leaving.

However, in the Kwantung Army, one acre and three points of land, after all, it is still up to oneself. When his henchman Geno Nakayama will take over, it is not his turn to speak, who has now stepped down. Since Geno Nakayama is willing to come to the Kwantung Army, let's continue to hang there for the time being.

When you take office, it depends on your mood. At the moment, this Hattori Takushiro can't leave for the time being, at least until this operation is completed.

After suppressing his feelings, Umezu Mijiro said to Hattori Takushiro: "Hattori-kun, don't worry about that Geno Nakayama first, you sue Sù Isomura Takeryo and Okubo Shunjiro, you must do a good job of intelligence support." We must be clear about the movements of Jiangbei. As for you, go to the front line and supervise the battle for me. Tokyo base camp there, I'll go and say. After this battle, your army school will be attached to the school and then go to work. ”

Looking at Umezu Mijiro's uncertain face, Takushiro Hattori didn't dare to say anything. After just nodding slightly, he walked out of Umezu Mijiro's office lightly. I went down to draw up the orders for the 2nd Division and the 14th Division.