Iron Cross

Yamamoto Isoroku asked calmly: "Your Highness, who are you scolding?"

"Who else is there, Horikichi! He has ulterior motives! He is so audacious! He has no boss! I will remove him from his post!"

"Oh...I'll go first then."

"Where to go?"

"Enter the palace and ask for your resignation."

"you!"

Yamamoto Isoroku raised his head and glanced at the other party: "It's weird, I recommended this person, but you want to remove him, and I don't even have the right to resign? Your Highness, is this too much of a lie?"

"You, bastard!"

"Who are you scolding this time?" Yamamoto Isoroku walked up to Prince Fushimi Miyahiro and stared at him with sharp eyes like an eagle.

"You, you...you..." Prince Fushimi Miyahiro Kyo was so angry that he couldn't speak, but he didn't dare to look directly at Yamamoto Isoroku, let alone directly admit to scolding him. Although the other person was not tall, he could He was afraid that he wouldn't be able to stop it if it started to surge forward.

Yamamoto Isoroku ignored him, turned around and asked Ishihara Wanji: "What does the Army think of this matter?"

"The telegram was so well written." Ishihara said with a smile, "...the planes, tanks, artillery, and supplies are all ready, but what is missing is loyal, brave and courageous army officers and soldiers, and what is missing is the army generals who have insight into the overall situation and command with determination. Oops, We can’t live up to the praise. In the eyes of the Navy, aren’t the Army all red deer..."

"Of course it won't be a red deer if we follow this strategy."

"What if we don't follow this strategy?"

"Does it still need me to tell you whether it's a red deer?"

Everyone was stunned for a moment, and then burst into laughter. Their eyes were fixed on Prince Fushimi Miyahiro. Several junior staff officers beside him couldn't help but burst out laughing: "General Yamamoto took a bite of a red deer. It sounded like he was talking about the army, but in fact it was all about the army." He scolded the commander-in-chief of the military command department.

Fushimi Palace was so angry that he slapped the table and shouted: "Yamamoto, who are you scolding?"

"You're scolding the Army..." Yamamoto responded casually without turning his head. Except for Fushimi Miya, who had his back turned, everyone saw the wink he gave Ishihara, and everyone snickered again. stand up.

Prince Fushimi Gong Hiro Gong wanted to have a fit but couldn't, so he could only sit down again in frustration.

"I'm just curious, why can he capture Ceylon?" War Minister Shun Tada asked puzzledly, "The combined fleet is powerful, but no matter how powerful it is, can it reach the island of Ceylon?"

"With four German marine brigades and our own marines."

"Four German Marine Brigades?" Ishihara was stunned, "Where did they come from?"

"You don't know?" Yamamoto Isoroku also felt strange, "Didn't you get angry with the base camp some time ago?"

"The Military Command didn't tell us!" Shun Tada angrily yelled at Prince Fushimi Miyahiro, "Why didn't you inform us of such important news?"

Prince Fushimi Miyahiro was too mute to tell the story of his suffering. He originally wanted to use these four brigades to gain territory in India after the official offensive campaign began, so he deliberately refused to tell the army. Who knew that Horikichi was so bold that he wanted to attack directly? Using these four brigades to start the war not only messed up his wishful thinking, but also made him look embarrassed in front of the army.

Yamamoto ignored his embarrassment and explained: "Horikoshi borrowed troops from the German head of state. The combined fleet caused a huge stir in North America, paralyzed the Panama Canal, and bombed New York along the way. The results were extremely brilliant. The Germans were very happy. Not only did they They gave us an extra batch of aircraft, tanks and artillery, and also promised to send 4 additional brigades and more than 20,000 people to assist us in launching the Indian offensive. More than 20,000 people are quite a lot. They were the ones who took down Madagascar and have very rich combat experience."

Several big bosses of the army looked at each other and immediately formed a unified opinion: "This can be done. If we can ensure the capture of Ceylon Island, the navy will take control and build a base first. The next step will be to deal with the Indian mainland. We can calmly Ceylon is used as a transit point for troop and material dispatch.”

Army Undersecretary Shimomura Sada said sheepishly: "Well, since we have received an extra batch of equipment, um... can the aircraft be divided among the Army a little more?"

Yamamoto Isoroku glanced at Prince Fushimi Miyahiro Kyo: "If Your Highness insists on not sending other naval units to reinforce, then the army will always be used first, and then you can pay us back after using up..."

The army staff officers at the back laughed so hard that their stomachs hurt: They got it into the army's mouth and they want to get it out again? There are no doors! Admiral Yamamoto also had a sense of humor, and he gave gifts in such a tactful way, which made people think that the navy commander was quite cute.

"Yoxi, yoxi." Shun Tada rubbed his hands excitedly, "Tomorrow, no! We will mobilize our troops now! Most of the troops are already in the Philippines, and Yamashita Nobumi himself is also in the Philippines. If we move quickly, we will be ready in 7-10 days Arrive, um, the pilot group can go over to receive the plane first.”

"Do you have your own boat?"

"Yes, yes."

"Just bring some light weapons and supplies. All the heavy equipment will be replaced with new ones..."

Shimomura Sada smiled like a flower and nodded: "I understand, I understand!"

Prince Fushimi Miyahiro knew that Yamamoto Isoroku was now putting him on the fire: the Indian strategy had been discussed long ago and would be launched as soon as the combined fleet returned. The original idea was to return to the homeland to unload supplies and transfer the army. The troops moved south to attack again. With the help of four more German brigades, it becomes extremely feasible to modify the overall plan. Attacking Ceylon first to obtain the forward base will immediately have more value. From a military perspective, Horikichi's strategy was faster, faster, and more unexpected.

The reason why he was so angry was that after the wars in North America and Panama, he felt that the military headquarters had completely lost control of the combined fleet. He secretly reported to Hirohito several times and prepared to adjust Horikichi's position by means of overt promotion and covert demotion. For this reason, he was allowed to enter the Marshal's Mansion and serve as a military counselor. In name, he was a "Marshal Admiral" with a high status, but in fact he no longer served as the commander-in-chief of the combined fleet. He had already thought about his successor and asked Koga Mineichi, the deputy director of the Military Order Department, to take over.

In his eyes, attacking India is not a particularly difficult task. He does not want to leave this kind of credit for opening up territories to Horikichi. Taking down Horikichi is equivalent to breaking Yamamoto's arm, and then he can clean Yamamoto naturally. Unexpectedly, Horikichi's sudden attack put him in a dilemma.

It is obviously impossible to call a halt now. Horikichi sent a telegram two days in advance to inform the change of plan, which shows that he has carefully considered the matter - whether it is feasible or not, it must be feasible!

Only then did he come to his senses: the four German marine brigades were not from the white faction, but were entirely the result of Horikichi's "self-respect". Judging from Yamamoto's performance, it was said that the two had no secret communication with each other. It was a tacit understanding, and he wouldn't believe it even to his death.

Big beads of sweat broke out on his head, and now the military headquarters was in a difficult position: the Army had agreed to the adjustment requirements of the Combined Fleet and was about to implement it, which he could not stop; all the supplies and equipment brought from Germany were completely destroyed. In the hands of Horikichi, if the navy fails to grab the majority in the future, the following generals will not blame Horikichi, but will only point the finger at themselves.

Under this situation, whether he wanted to or not, he had no choice but to agree to the adjustment.

For the commander-in-chief of the Military Command, who had always been resentful of the uncontrollable combined fleet, this was an extremely loud slap in the face, and it was slapped in public. Koga Mineichi, who had been silent all the time, watched his face turn from red to purple, then from purple to pale, and finally stood up unsteadily. He only had time to say: "I don't feel well. You guys can take care of the matter..." He collapsed and was immediately taken to the hospital.

After Fushimi Gongshichi was carried away, Ishihara smiled and said slowly to Yamamoto Isoroku: "You are treating him like this without any mercy. I'm afraid he will take revenge in the future."

Yamamoto sighed: "I envy you. If he were willing to relax a little, who would dare not to sell his face? The bad thing is that he doesn't understand anything but still interferes..."

Just when Ishihara was about to answer something, the phone rang, and the voice that answered was the voice of Chief of Staff Higashino Higashihiko: "I heard that Horikichi proposed a new strategy. Have you discussed it at the base camp?"

"We have discussed it and believe that this idea is more feasible and will produce faster results. We are currently adjusting the combat plan and troop dispatch around this strategy. Do we need to have a detailed report with His Highness?"

"No, just make the decision, I believe you!" After thinking for a while, he added, "We need to communicate with the navy!"

Narumi Inoue, who was following Yamamoto, also sighed, expressing his envy of the Army: King Higashino Miyazaki has given Ishihara all the daily work of the General Staff Headquarters, and except for attending important occasions, he basically cannot see other people the rest of the time. At most, I only come to the base camp occasionally. Whenever someone asked him for his opinion on a major issue, he would say: "Ask Ishihara, his opinion is my opinion."

Even so, no one thought that he did not understand military affairs. They only thought that he was broad-minded, knew people well, and fully delegated power. Moreover, this royal chief of staff was good at one thing. When it was time to fight for the interests of the army, he would run up and down, use all his strength, and would not hesitate to use his status and qualifications as the emperor's uncle to convince others. Many people are lamenting that when they were young, Prince Higashikaru Miyaminuhiko was a famous playboy, and Prince Fushimi Miyahiro Kyo was a diligent and hard-working scholar. I thought that Prince Higashomiya Minuhiko, who served as the chief of staff, would make a fool of himself, but he didn't expect that when the war started, it was the chief of the military command department who made a fool of himself one after another. It was really shocking.

"Your Highness has agreed, then you can go ahead and do it. This..." Ishihara Wan'er pointed at the position where Prince Fushimi Miyahiro was sitting just now, "It doesn't matter, the navy is facing a powerful enemy, and the navy cannot mess up its position."

"He has been trying to get rid of us for more than a day or two. He always wants to make big news every time, but he is still too naive." Yamamoto Isoroku smiled, "With me here, it will not be so easy for him to succeed, and the entire fleet is not blind. , and besides, there are the Germans, how would they be so generous without Horikichi fighting at the front?”

"To be honest, such an adjustment is still a bit hasty." Ishihara smiled and said, "No matter how good the German aircraft and heavy equipment are, they still need time to adapt..."

"There are already German troops, right? Besides, the naval aviation will also be dispatched, so you won't be left to fight alone." Yamamoto Isoroku said confidently, "When India is captured, the strategic situation and room for maneuver will be greatly improved."

"Then I wish the navy a happy victory!"