Iron Cross

After the imperial meeting, Tojo Hideki, who returned to the Prime Minister's residence, became more and more angry about what happened today. He did not understand or control all the situations. Although His Majesty did not blame himself too much, he still obeyed his words. Inside and outside, I heard dissatisfaction with myself. In particular, the Minister of Internal Affairs looked at me very unkindly.

The Navy should bear the consequences of lying to its superiors, but the problem is that everyone knows that the Navy Minister has a close relationship with him. It is not so much that Shimada concealed the true situation from himself, but that the Navy also concealed the true situation from Shimada. He suddenly remembered a detail: when it came to the sinking of four aircraft carriers, he and other cabinet ministers were shocked. Only Nagano Shushen, the commander-in-chief of the Military Command Department, seemed to be mentally prepared, and his emotional gaffe was minimal.

After thinking about this, he let out a heavy breath from his nose and cursed: "Sooner or later, these bastards in the Navy will make them look good." After a few curses, he felt that it was not enough, and he suddenly remembered that Foreign Minister Gu Zhengzhi today As he was jumping up and down, a surge of anger arose in his heart: I thought this would be a cautious old bureaucrat, so I gave up the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs to him, but I didn't expect that he would turn out to be an unfamiliar white-eyed wolf. If the German special envoy had let himself know these situations in advance instead of directly revealing them like now, the situation of the imperial meeting today would never be so passive. In turn, there might be an opportunity to fire on political opponents and the navy.

He was about to pick up the phone and teach Gu Zhengzhi a lesson, but he didn't expect the phone to ring suddenly. After he picked up the phone, the tone on the receiver was very anxious: "Your Excellency, Prime Minister, I just received the latest news that Mr. Haixiang committed seppuku and committed suicide... Military order General Nagano Shusheng, the director-general of the department, submitted his resignation..."

"What?" Tojo Hideki felt a cold wind blowing towards his face.

"Minister, what should be done if there is a cabinet reshuffle?"

"I'm afraid it will be very difficult..." Kido Koichi raised his eyes and secretly looked at Hirohito's face, and said after considering, "The Prime Minister and the Chief of the Military Command must be replaced, otherwise no one will bear the responsibility for this failure, and Prime Minister Dazo will be implicated. Not big, I think he can stay in office; as for the Foreign Minister, he has a relatively close relationship with Germany and is not as fanatical as Matsuoka-kun (Matsuoka Yoyo). If His Majesty is determined to strengthen the Three Kingdoms Alliance, he may as well continue to use his abilities."

Hirohito nodded: "Anyway, the foreign minister has made a contribution this time. If he hadn't made the decisive decision to directly introduce the special envoy and tell me the truth, I don't know how long I would have been kept in the dark by these rebellious officials and traitors." ...Maybe when the American army comes, they will drag me out as a scapegoat."

Kido Koichi's face was full of sincerity and fear: "Your Majesty, be careful, the situation will not be like this..."

"It is a soldier's nature to overstate battle reports and exaggerate military achievements. I can forgive it, but such naked deception is really intolerable." Hirohito was still angry and said bitterly, "We should have realized something after the defeat at Midway Island. Guadalcanal They turned a deaf ear to my personal orders during the battle and did not report them afterward. It is really unreasonable! The navy deceived the superiors at Midway, and the army and the navy deceived the superiors at Guadalcanal. If these two agencies are not completely reorganized, the empire will be destroyed. There will never be peace.”

Kido Koichi's brows moved slightly and he listened quietly.

"Let the Foreign Minister stay in office, and we must strengthen communication with Germany in the future. The Germans are very sincere this time - although they have their own small calculations, overall they are for a common goal. It is rare to have a good relationship with Germany and He is not a stupid and pro-German minister." Hirohito finally mentioned Tojo Hideki, "As for the Prime Minister..."

He couldn't help but ponder, his brows knitted together, as if he was thinking and weighing something, and he didn't make a sound for a long time. Kido Koichi knew that His Majesty had not yet made up his mind, and he did not dare to express his opinions at will. If he guessed wrong, he would not only violate his superiors' wishes but also offend the Prime Minister.

"How do you feel about him next?"

"The Prime Minister's vigorous and resolute work is commendable, but when it comes to hiring people, it seems..." He glanced at Hirohito secretly, who waved his hand impatiently, "There are just two people here, what can't be said?"

"Both the government and the public have said that the prime minister has too much power and looks down on other cabinet ministers. Especially since he has been serving as land minister for a long time and is inconsistent with the system, many people have criticized him." Kido Takashi thought of Hirohito's statement just now that he would completely reorganize the army and navy staff, and he The topic leads to this place.

"You mean to change the prime minister?"

"The replacement of the prime minister is the supreme power of the king. How can I allow ministers to comment?" Kido Koichi slyly kicked the ball back. "It is difficult to find a suitable prime minister now. A candidate who is smart, flexible, popular with the public, and can effectively control the overall situation. Not many: Prime Ministers who are born as generals can effectively control the army, but they tend to go to extremes and only focus on the part without knowing the whole; Prime Ministers who are born as civilians are too wavering, often act in both directions, and are afraid of taking responsibility. Only those who can effectively control the army are Less, so…”

Hirohito nodded in agreement: "Now that the empire is in a disadvantageous situation, it must have someone with super mental strength and perseverance. But if we want to surrender, we can just pick anyone at random."

"Your Majesty, don't be discouraged. Or should you wait for your Majesty to contact the important ministers?" Kido Koichi mentioned this suggestion. Although Hirohito did not express his position, he knew from the other party's expression that the living god actually agreed.

Gu Zhengzhi was equally excited. He rushed to Akasaka Palace where Cole was staying, wanting to share the good news from today's meeting with him and discuss the next strategy. Who knew that the secretary said that he had left the hotel to visit a man? people.

"Visiting someone?" Gu Zhengzhi frowned: I've never heard of Cole talking about this. Is there another shocking secret that needs to be revealed? After thinking for a while, he asked, "Do you know where he went?"

"I'm going to visit a retired lieutenant general from your country. He seems to be called, seems to be called..." The secretary thought for a long time, and finally slapped his forehead and managed to say a few syllables, "Ishihara..." His Japanese level is not as good as Cole's. It sounded a little weird, but Gu Zhengzhi still understood it - "Ishihara Wan'er?" He repeated it in a slow and clear tone.

"Yes, that's the name."

"It turns out it's him." A strange smile appeared on Gu Zhengzhi's face, "Kole-kun, I still underestimate you. You have a lot of ideas..."

Cole walked slowly towards Ishihara Wan'er's apartment. He could have enjoyed the diplomatic car service, but he refused. He just wanted to have an on-the-spot inspection of Japan's people's livelihood. Although Akasaka Rikyu is still very happy and dissipated, he does not believe that this is a true portrayal of Japan. Sure enough, as he crossed the next street corner, he saw the real situation: crowds of people walking in a hurry and looking for something to eat, and a pitiful supply of supplies in the store - asking what was not available, and if it was available, the prices were frighteningly high. In fact, as long as you pay a little attention, you can feel the chill and silence on the streets of Japan. The dance halls, karaoke bars, and game rooms that you could see everywhere in the past have long disappeared. The European and American billboards that used to symbolize high-end and luxury have also disappeared. Instead, they have disappeared. With some dry and empty slogans. He also saw slogans celebrating the victory at Midway, and he couldn't help but smile - the Japanese Navy's shocking scam not only deceived the people, but also the Emperor and the Army. Unexpectedly, the Navy these days How much anger will be endured up and down.

Although there were no post-air raid scenes on the streets of Tokyo, he could see the desolation and numbness in the eyes of passers-by as he walked along today. Their enthusiasm for war may not have subsided, but the shortage of supplies can make people directly feel the embarrassment of life. What’s even more surprising is that bicycles similar to BMW R71 motorcycles (commonly known as three-wheelers in China, author’s note) are often ridden on the streets, and there are usually people in the sidecars - except that the sidecars of BMW motorcycles are on the right side, and This strangely modified Japanese three-wheeled sidecar is on the left. After asking people later, he realized that these vehicles had nothing to do with BMW motorcycles. They were all human-powered taxis modified from the Rikuo motorcycles used by the Japanese army (also three-wheeled, copied from the American Harley-Davidson) - because The supply of domestic fuel in Japan has been completely stopped, and rickshaws are an eyesore, so the rental industry has come up with this rather creative thing. He couldn't help but shook his head. Japan's problems were huge, much more serious than those in Germany. It was also the capital, so he didn't know the supply of vehicle fuel in Berlin. Civilian use was probably restricted, but taxi fuel was still guaranteed. As for Paris, he knew the situation very well: that official document was processed when he was at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs— - A total of 7,000 driving licenses were given (including all government, military, civilian and taxi vehicles).

After the outbreak of the Pacific War, Japan had replaced the names of Britain and the United States with the ghosts Yingmi, and the relevant expatriates had long since disappeared on the streets of Tokyo. Now suddenly there is a white man with blond hair and blue eyes, and everyone feels strange. It's not that there were no police or military police who wanted to show their presence, but Cole taught them a hard lesson with the swastika medal hanging on his chest and his fluent Japanese.

"Hai hai." I heard that he was the special envoy of the independent country and the adjutant of the head of state. A small team of military police also volunteered to serve as escorts to escort him all the way. Someone even took the briefcase for him diligently. Cole didn't refuse their flattery. He only took out 2 packs of cigarettes and solved the problem perfectly. The sergeant who led the team got a pack, and everyone else only got a few. Although the quantity was small, everyone couldn't help but give a thumbs up in their hearts: Damn, imported cigarettes... The adjutant of the head of state gave them to them. Of... If you change it to Japan, it would be equivalent to the royal family using cigarettes. Everyone's face was beaming and energetic, and they walked with their chests and bellies sticking out.

Now Cole admires Rank even more. He learned the trick of handing out cigarettes from him. It is said that the effect on the front line is extraordinary and it is a great weapon to bring intimacy - there is no distance that a pack of cigarettes cannot close. If Yes, then two packs! At present, this trick seems to be very effective in Japan. I will try more next time.