The spy career of a surgeon

Chapter 330 Palace Discussion
In the next few days, Zhou Qinghe attended banquets frequently and appeared frequently in major newspapers.

The advantage of keeping the enemy in check is that if you want the enemy to come, they will come; if you don’t want the enemy to come, they won’t come.

Zhou Qinghe can recruit and repel the invaders, but Yingzuo cannot do it. For Zhou Qinghe, the only restriction is the Military Control Commission itself. Without this point to consider, even if Yingzuo transferred all the elites from the Nanjing training class, he would not be able to gain any benefit in Shanghai.

The gendarmerie was dispatched to set up roadblocks throughout Shanghai and strictly control the chaos in Shanghai.

The Rose Company teamed up with major merchants to open warehouses and release grain to stabilize prices.

Zhou Qinghe went to find Huang Jinrong, opened a factory and established a pharmaceutical production line.

Shanghai quickly became peaceful and visibly peaceful.

As long as they have food to eat, the residents have no complaints. Although life has not yet returned to its most comfortable state, after experiencing the lows, everyone will start to sing praises if they are given a little sweetness.

For businessmen, business started to pick up again, all thanks to Kazukiyo Fujita.

Consulates of various countries were also generous in their praise. Firstly, the environment had indeed improved, and secondly, Fujita Kazukiyo was a very valuable person, so they had to establish good relationships with him and make him a familiar face for future sources of medicines.

The entire Shanghai has been vaccinated, and citizens have food to eat again. The lights on the Bund are still flashing, the dances in the Paramount are still going on, and the horses at the racecourse are still running.

On this day, the factory building was built, the drug production line was set up, and the researchers from Japan were in place. Zhou Qinghe just walked away.

The real decisive battle for the punishment of Kagesawa and the final conclusion of the matter will still take place in the Army Ministry.

They have all taken action. How can Zhou Qinghe not retaliate?
Mitsui Mitsubishi thought he was launching an attack on Fujita Kazukiyo, but he didn't know that Konoe Fumimaro had been out of power for some time and could no longer suppress his desire to return to power.

Always stay with me.

royal palace.

After Zhou Qinghe arrived in Japan, he first went to the Imperial Palace to meet Emperor Hirohito. After all, it was a task assigned by Hirohito, so this was called handing over the task.

When Hirohito learned that the matter was resolved, he once again admired his own vision. The person chosen by the military was not good, but the person he chose was good. This satisfied Hirohito's desire to suppress the military.

I feel very happy and I am not stingy with my compliments.

Zhou Qinghe handed over the newspaper he brought from Shanghai.

"Your Majesty, time is tight and I was in a hurry to go back and forth. I didn't have time to buy anything in Shanghai, so I can only borrow flowers to offer gifts. I hope you don't mind."

"What is this?" Hirohito took it and looked at it with interest: "A newspaper from Shanghai?"

"Yes, when I first arrived in Shanghai, I told the public that Your Majesty was very concerned about Shanghai. Upon learning of Shanghai's predicament, he specially ordered me to come to Shanghai to resolve the matter. These newspapers recorded the whole story of the Shanghai incident, as well as the Shanghai media interviewing the people after the matter was resolved, and the people's gratitude to you."

"Really?" Hirohito became interested when he heard it, and quickly shook the newspaper to look at the headline.

"Oh? Shanghai Daily?" Hirohito glanced at Zhou Qinghe. This was a major newspaper in Shanghai, and he immediately smiled.

"Yes."

Zhou Qinghe smiled slightly and waited at the side without disturbing him.

Since ancient times, the royal family has liked this kind of thank-you letters, such as the Ten Thousand People Umbrella. It is not easy for Zhou Qinghe to be a flatterer. He kept this matter in mind despite his busy schedule and spent a full 500 oceans to ask several reporters to write this thing from beginning to end. Otherwise, which reporter would have the time to interview the people about their attitude towards Hirohito.

Even Japanese journalists can't do such a thing.

Anyway, the interview was true, the newspaper was published, and the incident in Shanghai was indeed resolved, so this matter is true.

Zhou Qinghe is very magnanimous.

Hirohito read the newspaper for a while, and was obviously very happy. However, he had to be reserved at this time, so he put the newspaper aside without saying much: "I will read it later, Fujita, you came at the right time. I want to hear your opinion on something."

"Your Majesty, please speak."

"Did you know about the French surrender?"

"Already know."

Hirohito sighed and frowned, "Well, the world situation has changed drastically. Germany is now in a crushing position in the European battlefield, which is enviable. On the other hand, our Army Ministry has not been able to come up with a solution for the Chinese battlefield.

Konoe Fumimaro came to me earlier to talk about this matter.

He said that our current situation is caused by the incompetence of the army.

If we are still stuck in the Chinese battlefield, as long as it drags on for another year, even if we take China, our own economy will be dragged down by the Chinese battlefield. By then, if the Soviet Union attacks us in the name of aiding China, we will be powerless to resist.

The worse case scenario is that if we fail to take over the Chinese battlefield within a year, supplies will be scarce, fuel will be exhausted, and our warships will become useless scrap metal. By then, even if we want to fight for the Pacific, we will be powerless.

The situation is deteriorating, and I am deeply worried when I hear this.

I have asked the cabinet about this matter at the Imperial Court meeting, asking what strategy should be adopted and when China could be conquered, but the cabinet could not give a clear answer.

From the perspective of the Army, the Minister of Army will of course continue to advance on the Chinese battlefield, but when it comes to a specific time, I don’t know how much I can believe when he says before the end of the year.

As for the Prime Minister, I originally thought that since he came from the navy, he would have different ideas, but in fact, his actions made me a little confused.

The Army had earlier been contacting Germany and Italy in preparation for forming a triple alliance.

The Prime Minister came from the navy, and his target should have been Britain and the United States.

But he said that action should not be taken against Britain and the United States.

That would be tantamount to approving the Army's proposal that we should continue to advance towards China. When I asked him this, he said that advancing was not a good idea, and even if we did, we could not form a military alliance with Germany and Italy.

I feel very strange. I feel that he seems to have become less clear about his goal and is hesitant. Apart from quarreling with the army in the cabinet every day, he can't come up with a plan to resolve the current situation.

Even after the meeting, he openly declared to reporters, "The Japanese navy was not established to go to war with the United States, but it is more suitable to deal with the German and Italian navies."

Listen, these words actually came from the mouth of a prime minister, which almost blocked the road.

I heard that the German and Italian consulates have gone to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to seek an explanation.

Well, I chose him at that time because he was from the navy. It didn't mean that we must go to war with Britain and the United States, but when the army was overheated, he, who came from the navy, could provide the cabinet with some different ideas, and the collision of ideas with the army could also produce some pleasing sparks and bring new hope to the army.

But now, I don’t know if it’s because he has been with the army for too long and has been infected with the over-heated mentality.

Dare to say anything?
I feel it is very dangerous for the country to be in the hands of such people."

Hirohito paused and said, "Actually, what he thinks is secondary. What's important is that the country is at a turning point. Konoe means that we must change our strategy, and immediately. There is no time to lose.

Be it the economy, people's hearts, or materials, none of them are enough for us to continue consuming indefinitely.

But the military felt that it was better to continue and that they had to conquer China first. If we turned the ship around now and the British and American sides were also tied down, we would face a fierce counterattack from the Chongqing government and would not be able to keep the fruits of victory on the Chinese battlefield.

In fact, both sides have their reasons, which makes it difficult to make up your mind.

I handed over the military to them in the hope that they could make reasonable judgments with their professional opinions, but
Fujita, I want to hear your opinion, what do you think our direction should be?"

Zhou Qinghe said politely, "Your Majesty, this matter still needs your judgment. I am just a military doctor and I don't usually attend the military meetings. I am not qualified to discuss this. If I say too much, I am afraid it will affect your judgment. You should make the judgment."

"Just say it, let's just chat in private, sit down and have some tea." Hirohito also picked up the teacup.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. I will just talk casually then."

Zhou Qinghe sat down first, thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, I believe you are also aware of the conflict between the navy and the army. The Prime Minister said this. I think that first, he has a conflict with the army. He opposes everything that the army agrees with. He doesn't want to form an alliance with Germany and Italy."

"How can he, a prime minister, behave in such a joking manner?"

"Your Majesty, that's what I said, but what he said actually makes sense.

Think about it, if we changed direction and formed an alliance with Germany and Italy, Germany is now sweeping across Europe and the British and French forces have been defeated. If we form an alliance with Germany, we will definitely offend Britain.

As far as I know, a large part of the United States' overseas investment is in Europe, and it is allied with the United Kingdom. Now that Europe is occupied by Germany and the Anglo-French coalition has been defeated, Germany will certainly not return the fat meat it has obtained to the United States. If we form an alliance with Germany, it will be equivalent to establishing hostility with the United States.

So it seems that this alliance agreement between the army is just to divide the battlefield among us, the German army will fight in Europe, and we will fight in China.

But in fact, the army's alliance is a de facto declaration of war against Britain and the United States!"

Zhou Qinghe paused after speaking, giving Hirohito some space to think, and then continued: "

This also led to the Prime Minister not daring to agree to the army's alliance with Germany and Italy.

Because once we form an alliance, we will have no way out. Our relationship with the United States has always been bad, and if we form an alliance with Germany, it will be a complete break. Once Britain and the United States cut off our oil supply, all our naval ships will be anchored on the beach, waiting to rust in the sun.

Your Majesty, he came up as a naval commander.

If we form an alliance and defeat China later, others will think that the army is excellent because it was their suggestion. Then the army's momentum will increase greatly and the direction of the military will be firmly in the hands of the army.

But he is a marine.

And if they continue to be stuck in the quagmire, even if the army accepts its fate and admits defeat.

The resources were used up, our navy ran out of fuel, it was useless, what could he do as the prime minister at this time? He was powerless to save the situation. Yes, the army should bear the responsibility, but he, the prime minister, was also guilty, and almost all the responsibility had to be borne by him, because he was the prime minister.

I guess, at this point, not only outsiders, but even the navy where he started out would have some complaints about him.

From this perspective, I can somewhat understand the complex thoughts in the Prime Minister’s mind.

I speculate that he should agree to fight Britain and the United States and attack the Pacific, which is the dream of the navy.

He said no, but it was only because he followed the army's advice to join the German-Italian Allied Forces that we would still be fighting China.

It is impossible for the Army to agree with his true thoughts and immediately turn around to attack the United States just because he agreed to let Japan join the German-Italian Allied Forces. Wouldn't it continue to advance on the Chinese battlefield?
So, I think that the Prime Minister actually wants to join the German-Italian Allied Forces, but his target is the United States.

The idea of ​​forming an alliance was first proposed by the Army, which blocked the way in advance. They joined the German-Italian Allied Forces with the goal of China.

Then the Prime Minister would not agree.

If things go well, it's the army's credit; if things go worst, he takes the responsibility.

If we don't join, at least the oil supply will continue, and we can always wait and see how the situation develops. The United States may even give us more oil export quotas in order to persuade us not to take sides.

From the Prime Minister's perspective, there really was no benefit in joining the Allies.

This is just my opinion, you can just listen to it."

Hirohito was enlightened and exhaled: "With your explanation, I understand his thoughts a little bit."

Hirohito thought about it, but still not very happy: "But this is still a manifestation of not daring to take responsibility. In the face of the situation, he dare not stand on the side. Others can do it, but he can't.

As the prime minister, he must make a choice. Otherwise, no country is stupid and the consequence is that no team will be able to get on board!

Taking a step back, even if we don't take sides, what is the next step for Japan? Is it any use for a prime minister who is busy arguing in the cabinet and not making a decision? "

That requires the Army to listen to him. "You make sense."

Zhou Qinghe nodded: "In fact, he has chosen a side, but I guess he said this in front of the reporters because he was forced by the army and said what was in his heart. He didn't have to say it. He might want to destroy the army. But it is indeed a bit inappropriate. After all, the German army is powerful now."

"Overheated, stupid, keep talking."

"Yes, if I had to choose, I think we should form an alliance with Germany and Italy."

“China or the United States?”

"USA."

"What's the reason?"

“My reason is different from theirs, mine is persistence.

Your Majesty, we have been stuck in the Chinese battlefield for too long. To be honest, if we could have taken it down immediately, we would have done it long ago. But we haven't done it yet, so the possibility of defeating China in a short time is not great.

Chongqing has the Yangtze River as a natural barrier, and the Hankou army has been attacking for so long but still failed to take it. Even if it was taken, the Chiang Kai-shek government fled from Nanjing to Chongqing, so couldn't they flee from Chongqing to Kunming? If they took Kunming, couldn't they flee from Kunming to Burma?

Burma is British territory, should we continue?

The next step is to go to war with Britain and the United States.

If we don't continue and they counterattack, what can we do?
I think the biggest reason why the Chinese battlefield dragged on for so long is that China's territory is too large and its depth is too deep.

From Shanghai to Nanjing, we can capture all the major cities along the way. If we go deeper, we won’t even be able to send out people to defend the cities.

We took it down, then gave up. As soon as the Chinese army saw we were leaving, they immediately counterattacked. We took it down again, then had to give up again. Back and forth, apart from spending money, we really couldn't get a single drop of profit out of these poor guys.

Under such circumstances, our own economy is already stretched to the limit. If we spend another one, two, or three years in China, we will really end up dying on the Chinese battlefield.

I'm afraid we don't need to wait until the Chiang government goes to Kunming. If they can capture Chongqing, we will have already exhausted all our resources.

Think about losing before you win.

If the army's strategy fails, we will have no room for maneuver.

The only way for us to be invincible in this war is to replenish resources quickly, that is, to fight to support the war!
This involves the question of whether to be pro-American or pro-German.

The world is so big. In East Asia, there are Hong Kong, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, etc. Except for Thailand, all other places in East Asia are colonies of Britain and the United States. If we choose to be pro-American, where can we get resources?

Soviet Russia? The Kwantung Army had already tried it and failed miserably.

Further to Europe? Helping Britain and the United States to fight against the German army? I'm afraid Britain and the United States will wake up from their beds in the middle of the night and call us stupid.

So instead of being a younger brother of Britain and the United States and helping them deal with the German army, they did not join forces with the German army and instead occupied Britain and the United States’ colonies in East Asia.

Your Majesty, now is a good time.

Germany is sweeping across Europe and has pinned down Britain and the United States. If we take action against their colonies in East Asia at this time, they will have no time to respond. Even if they fight back, how much strength can they spare?

If they draw too much, Germany will advance strongly over there, forcing them to retreat and defend. If they draw too little, it means they will have to send ammunition supplies to us.

The rest of the East Asian countries are completely different from China.

There is no depth. The land area of ​​each country is only one-tenth of that of China. Let alone the army, even if the navy ships fired a salvo, I am afraid that the buildings on them would have been completely destroyed.

The defenders were powerless to fight back.

But they have a lot more resources and minerals.

In the past, with Britain and the United States watching, no one dared to move. But now that the German tiger is out of the cage, the timing is perfect. We don’t need to face the main forces of Britain and the United States, and we can get all their inheritance. This is a very cost-effective deal.

Although I do not agree with the persistence of some people in the Army on the Chinese battlefield, I think there is no strategic problem with the alliance with Germany and Italy.

After the unification, the army's strategy must be changed. Our target should never be China. Instead, we should concentrate limited resources to prepare for war directly with the United States.

If we defeat China, China will have no oil and we will be exhausted.

What about preparing for war with the United States? Germany will go first. If they win, we will dismember the United States together. All difficulties will be solved. One United States is enough for our entire country to eat for 100 years!
Even if we don't win the war completely, we can take this opportunity to retake East Asia. The resources of this land are enough for us to get out of trouble. There are so many oil and minerals in East Asia. If someone helps us attract firepower, why shouldn't we take it?"

Hirohito nodded frequently as he listened. After hearing so many reasons from the army why they had to continue fighting China, he suddenly heard the idea of ​​abandoning China and focusing on East Asia. It was like a sudden enlightenment for him.

The thoughts that had been blinded for a long time were suddenly opened up, and the blueprint for East Asia was engraved in my mind.

He slapped the table excitedly, "Excellent! Fujita, putting you in the position of the Military Medical Bureau is really a waste of talent. You should show your literary talent on a broader stage. You are much more insightful than those idiots in the Army Ministry!"

"Your Majesty, thank you for your compliment. I was just saying this casually." Zhou Qinghe bowed modestly.

Hirohito stood up and waved his hand domineeringly: "I am not praising you casually, you definitely have the ability. Those rigid-minded people in the army can't say such words!"

It's not that I can't explain it. They have fought against China for so many years, how could they shoot themselves in the foot? Wouldn't that mean admitting defeat or giving power to the navy?

Zhou Qinghe began to understand why emperors had always been solitary since ancient times. It was impossible for the army to give this option to Hirohito, and it had to do its utmost to downplay the feasibility of this plan.

"No, you can't waste your talent in the Military Medical Bureau. This is a blasphemy to your talent. I will find a stage suitable for you to lead Japan to a bright future." Hirohito's blood was boiling with excitement.

My whole body is boiling!

He seemed to see a military genius, a hero who had always emerged in troubled times.

"Your Majesty, this..." Zhou Qinghe stood up.

Hirohito thought about it and soon came up with an idea: "How about this, you go to be Yan Junliu's assistant first. This position involves a lot of things, so you should get familiar with it first. I believe you will be able to play a greater role in this position. I will find an opportunity to arrange it for you later."

Army Minister Yan Junliu's assistant is not an assistant who serves tea and water, but a core person who has access to all confidential documents of the Army Ministry. The standard job title is Army Minister's Secretary.

For example, if Yan Junliu was the emperor, the assistant's job would be equivalent to the cabinet minister's preliminary review and interception of all submitted documents. Only after passing the assistant's review could the submitted documents reach Yan Junliu.

Including all current military options against China.

Very nice post.

Zhou Qinghe was about to say something.

However, Hirohito had already made up his mind and didn't say anything more about this matter. Instead, he said with concern: "This position may be busy. You also have a position in the Military Medical Bureau. Fujita, you have to work harder. Just do both positions at the same time. If you don't have enough time, you can hire an assistant to help you share the burden."

Assistant's assistant.
What else can Zhou Qinghe say? At the critical moment, he must step up, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness. I will do my best!"

"Very good, Fujita, I look forward to your future performance. You have never let me down." Hirohito looked at Zhou Qinghe with light in his eyes: "You have no medical skills, and you have no political skills. I hope you can also maintain victory in the military!"

Zhou Qinghe bowed his head to express his stance.

"Mine is not suitable to be the prime minister. What do you think if we need to replace him?" Hirohito suddenly asked.

Zhou Qinghe replied: "Your Majesty, under the current situation, the Navy and the Army are not suitable to be the Prime Minister. Their conflicts are too great and they all have their own interests to consider. If Your Majesty wants to change people, you still need to find someone who can communicate with both sides. This is a good choice for Japan."

(End of this chapter)