Age of Rebirth

Obviously, the reprimand by Lieutenant General Matsuda Kenjiro, chief of staff of the Kwantung Army, had no effect. His confidant, Ushio Inada, the chief of operations at the headquarters, had a strange expression on his face, as if he had removed something unclean. With a bit of squinting eyes and disregarding the demeanor of an imperial soldier, he approached Lieutenant General Matsuda and said hesitantly, "Your Excellency, Chief of the General Staff, Commander-in-Chief Meijin is back!"

"Huh—ah? What?" A series of interjections came out of Lieutenant General Matsuda's mouth, and his eyes stared straight at Colonel Ushio, as if something suddenly popped out of this guy's big mouth. Like a monster?

Colonel Ushio was taken aback by the expression of His Excellency the Chief of Staff, and hurriedly repeated: "Commander Meijin is back!"

"Damn it!" Chief of Staff Matsuda gave a painful "shen yin", his head suddenly swelled up to infinity, and his whole body was stupefied. Umezu Yoshijiro came back at a really bad time. This troublesome guy, if he had come back earlier If you come back later, the telegram to the base camp is not easy to send out on your own. Umezu Yoshijiro is still the commander-in-chief of the Kwantung Army. If you come back later, General Nanjiro will arrive in Mukden and take over the post of commander-in-chief of the Kwantung Army. , when the time comes, two successive commander-in-chiefs will fight in the ring, and there will be nothing wrong with me!

But at this time, General Umezu suddenly appeared. Didn’t he pose a problem for himself? In the telegram from the base camp, it was not clearly stated that General Umezu Yoshijiro was deprived of the position of commander-in-chief of the Kwantung Army. From this point of view, he is still his own. The boss, the order issued, do you listen or not?

Although we haven't worked together for a long time, I still understand General Meijin's temperament.Not to mention self-willed, but also extremely narcissistic and arrogant, he would not listen to anyone's suggestions, maybe before the old chief Nanjiro arrived in Fengtian.What else did you come up with?Wouldn't it add to the chaos of the Manchurian war situation?

Lieutenant General Matsuda was so anxious that he was at the gate of the Kwantung Army Headquarters, wandering around, embarrassed, he found himself in a dilemma again, the last time it was for the base camp.After sending a telegram that truthfully reflected the situation of the Manchurian War, it took several days of embarrassment, and half of his hair turned gray. Now, Umezu Yoshijiro suddenly appeared and presented himself with a huge problem!

The headquarters did not expressly deprive General Umezu Yoshijiro of his post.However, the new commander, General Nanjiro, was sent to Mukden. In what capacity did he face General Umezu, and what happened to General Umezu these days when he disappeared?

These.According to the usual practice, a strict review has to be carried out, but General Meijin, who has not been dismissed from his post, can he review it by himself? Lieutenant General Matsuda was sweating. , but dare not ask, he also knows.Your Excellency the Chief of the General Staff, you are in a difficult situation right now!

Suddenly, Lieutenant General Matsuda stopped wandering around, and asked abruptly, "Ushio-kun, where did you place General Meijin?"

Colonel Ushio replied truthfully: "Originally, I wanted to arrange for Commander-in-Chief Meijin to go to rest first. But he ordered me to immediately summon the heads of the General Staff, Intelligence Headquarters, Artillery Headquarters, Operations Department and other departments to go to the war room to open an emergency call. The military meeting said that it was going to deploy military operations, by the way, Chief of the General Staff, General Meijin asked about you, saying that if you have rushed back to Fengtian headquarters, you should go to the war room immediately!"

"I know you are about to arrive in Fengtian, so I will find an excuse to sneak out and wait for you!" Ushio is a confidant of Chief of Staff Matsuda, and he knows that the old chief general Nanjiro has been appointed by the base camp to take over the position of commander-in-chief of the Kwantung Army, so Only then did I inform Lieutenant General Matsuda in advance!

"Oh!" Lieutenant General Matsuda clutched his head, almost fainted from the pain, as expected, General Meijin really did what he expected, and really wanted to do something wrong, what should I do?

It's impossible to hide and not meet, if General Meizu really gives some order, the commander of the troops below, I don't know what's going on, in case his military deployment is very different from the old chief General Nanjiro's idea In the end, Lieutenant General Matsuda gritted his teeth and sent away all the staff and guards. He braced himself, accompanied by Colonel Ushio, and walked towards the war room as if his footsteps were filled with lead.

Still in the corridor, I heard General Umezu Yoshijiro's high-pitched voice. Lieutenant General Matsuda took a deep breath and pushed open the door of the war room. Sure enough, more than 30 officers in charge of various departments of the headquarters were listening to General Umezu's speech. .

The movement of opening the door attracted the attention of these officers. Naturally, General Meijin also saw Lieutenant General Matsuda coming in, his eyes flashed, and he said calmly, "Very good, Mr. Matsuda, you finally came back from Xinjing. I have drawn up a battle plan, which is enough to change the current situation in Manchuria, after the meeting is over, you will issue it to the commanders of the troops immediately!"

Lieutenant General Matsuda did not speak, but carefully looked at him. This Kwantung Army Commander-in-Chief who appeared suddenly like a ghost after being missing for more than ten days, no, it should be the predecessor. The whole feeling is that he is thin , General Meijin was so thin that he was almost skinny. Obviously, during the past ten days, his life was not easy. I didn't have time to change into the usual general uniform after crawling out.

However, to Lieutenant General Matsuda's surprise, this general who almost lost the whole of Manchuria and almost couldn't come back, doesn't seem to be decadent in spirit, and he doesn't have the depression of a defeated general at all, but is full of anger. General fighting spirit, but Lieutenant General Matsuda still saw some problems. General Meijin's mental state was a little abnormal, as if he was in a state of nervousness, sickness, and confusion of thinking, and his cheeks were almost morbid. flushing.

From this, Chief of Staff Matsuda can conclude that General Meijin is definitely not normal, perhaps he has been stimulated so strongly that he has lost his mind?

Seeing that Lieutenant General Yamada didn't respond to his own words, but looked at a monster, his eyes were full of him without fear, General Meijin was dissatisfied, he was about to lose his temper, and then he came to his senses. The plan, the mediocre chief of the general staff, doesn't know yet!

General Meijin picked up his baton, pointed at the large military map on the wall, and said: "Matsuda-san, my new plan is as follows. In view of the fact that the current Manchurian battlefield is extremely unfavorable to our Kwantung Army, the two heavy-armed groups will be eliminated. Surrounded in western Liaoning and Ximan respectively, they are not connected to each other, and they can easily be defeated by the troops of that nasty Chinese, Tang Qiuli!"

"Therefore, my plan is that the more than [-] Kwantung Army troops in the Ximan area will immediately break through to the west of Liaoning, pass through Kulun and Fuxin, and go straight to the direction of Huludao. Why did I make this decision? Because on the front line of Ximan, the independent division The troops cut off the passage of Siping, which retreated to Xinjing, to pursue the Shuangliao line, and deployed heavy troops on the Tongliao line, but on the left and right flanks, there were no heavy troops to defend, I called it a surprise attack on its weakness!"

"As for the more than [-] Kwantung Army troops in the west of Liaoning, they will naturally have to take countermeasures, concentrate all their forces, capture Huludao, seize the port of Huludao and hold on to it. After that, I will send a telegram to the base camp, requesting the base camp to dispatch at least Two naval fleets, with no less than eight aircraft carriers, rushed to Huludao to provide air fire cover for the Kwantung Army. I also asked the headquarters to send no less than [-] merchant ships to carry the Kwantung Army at the port of Huludao. Army soldiers evacuate!"

"Don't think that the Kwantung Army in Manchuria will withdraw to the mainland with a shameful memory. This is not my purpose. All the soldiers of the Kwantung Army who evacuated from Manchuria will go ashore on the Korean peninsula and join hands with Tanaka-kun's imperial Korean garrison troops. Annihilate the independent divisions on the battlefield of the Korean Peninsula, and the Kwantung Army will use the Korean Peninsula as a base to recuperate. It only takes a year for us to make a comeback. Matsuda-kun, this is my campaign plan, which is enough to turn the situation in Manchuria in one fell swoop! create a miracle!"

General Meijin was beaming with joy and spitting wildly. While talking, he gestured nervously, as if his plan had been realized. The Kwantung Army officers who were close to him were horrified to find that the commander-in-chief Your Excellency's eyes are in a state of unconscious confusion, and your eyes are not focused!

Chief of Staff Matsuda was even more dizzy when he heard it, and swallowed dryly. Now he can be sure that General Meijin is completely insane, not to mention whether his plan of ordering Ximan Kwantung Army troops to break out in the direction of Liaoxi Huludao will be realized. It was he who proposed to ask the navy to dispatch two fleets. This one will not work at all. The main force of the current Imperial Army is in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. It is a deadlock with the US Navy. How can there be a redundant fleet, boss Run as far as Liaodong Bay!

From the Eastern Pacific Ocean to the Liaodong Bay of the Bohai Sea, there is no more than 20-day voyage, and it is impossible to make it. After more than 20 days, how will the situation in Manchuria develop? The encirclement circle of the group has been formed, and it can wait for you for more than 20 days, go to hell!

As for the more than 500 merchant ships, it is even more like a lunatic's idea. If all the things that can float on the sea in the Great Japanese Empire are brought to Liaodong Bay, I am afraid that there will be more than 500 merchant ships.

Putting these aside, a large number of independent divisions will watch the more than 40 Kwantung Army troops in Ximan smoothly break out in the direction of western Liaoning. From Ximan to Huludao in western Liaoning, there is at least a distance of more than 400 kilometers. Most of the terrain is mountainous, and I am afraid that halfway through, there will not be much left, and Huludao will be captured, which is an area heavily defended by the independent division!

I can't listen to this lunatic's nonsense anymore. Finally, when General Meijin stopped talking, Lieutenant General Matsuda thought about it and said solemnly: "General Meijin, I have to inform you of a news from the base camp!"

(To be continued)