"Your Excellency, Commander, the battle report of the Army Air Force... All the fighter planes of the 21st Flying Group were completely destroyed. Colonel Mukayama and Saburo also served His Majesty the Emperor in this operation!"
First Army Headquarters
A staff officer was reading the telegram he had just received word for word with a choked voice.
There was silence in the combat hall. Okamura Neiji sat on a chair with his eyes closed and resting. Even after the staff officer read the telegram, he did not open his eyes, but everyone could see that his face had changed.
livid.
Standing aside, the new commander of the First Army, Yoshimoto Teiichi, also had a pale face.
The 21st Flying Squadron was completely wiped out. Everyone knows what this battle report means. It means that the Japanese army has no more combat aircraft in Shanxi, and the entire Shanxi sky has fallen to China.
Human hands.
Maybe some people are not clear about the seriousness of this consequence.
Let's put it this way, to give the simplest example, if Okamura Neiji wants to return to Peiping now, he can only take a train or a car, and it will take ten days and a half to return to Peiping by land.
The reason is very simple. The current First Army can no longer deploy even one fighter plane to escort Okamura Neji.
If Neji Okamura insists on taking a flight back to Peiping, the danger will be no less dangerous than running around in the Eighth Route Army base with only two guards.
A pessimistic atmosphere enveloped the combat hall, and even the orderlies knew what it would mean once the support of the aircraft was lost.
Just when everyone was in sorrow, a roar sounded in the hall.
"What are you all doing? Are you holding a "Solemnity Day" event?"
I saw Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Sadichi, who had only been in office for two days, glaring at everyone.
"Look at you, you have just lost a battle, and you are all downcast. Do you still have the spirit of a samurai of the Imperial Japanese Empire? Your mental state is not even comparable to that of a superior soldier of the Kwantung Army!"
"Nani!"
All the staff officers and officers couldn't help it when they heard this. This is simply because the uncle can't tolerate it and the aunt can't tolerate it. We know that you were transferred from the position of chief of staff of the Kwantung Army, but there is no need to belittle the third officer in this way.
An army?
A staff officer couldn't help but retorted: "Your Excellency, Commander, we admit that the Kwantung Army is very strong, but in this situation, even if the Kwantung Army comes, there may not be any good solution, right?"
Yoshimoto Teiichi gave the staff officer a cold look: "If it were the Kwantung Army, they might be very sad when encountering this situation, but they would never hide in the headquarters and tremble like you.
Instead, we immediately formulated a counterattack plan based on the existing situation, and we will never back down even if we are the last soldier standing! This is the difference between the Kwantung Army and you!"
Just such a sentence made all the staff choked and speechless.
I wanted to refute, but sadly found that what the other party said was actually the truth.
Seeing that all the staff members were bowing their heads and saying nothing, Yoshimoto Teiichi, who knew how to control his subordinates, knew that enough was enough. If he continued to attack, it would be counterproductive.
He glanced at everyone and sneered: "Why, no one is talking anymore? It seems that you are not hopeless, at least you know what shame is."
Yoshimoto Seiichi's words were like daggers piercing everyone's hearts. Even Okamura Neji, who was holding the command knife and closing the ceremony without saying a word, couldn't help but open his eyes and cast a surprised look. Kojima's staff member beside him
Chang Geng was worried about his new boss.
It is not a good thing for a new commander, who has been in office for less than three days, to convince all his staff that they will not come down in the operations hall. Once the rebellious psychology of the staff is aroused, it will be difficult to carry out future work.
Don't think that in the most hierarchical military, your superiors can do whatever you want.
The basis for doing whatever you want is to gain the support of the majority of people, but once your subordinates no longer support you, or even obey your orders, the originally majestic commander will become a joke.
However, despite some worries, Okamura Neji still had confidence in Yoshimoto Teiichi. After all, a straw bag cannot be the chief of staff of the Kwantung Army.
"I don't care what you are thinking now, but I want to tell you. Frustration, sadness and even crying will not solve any problem. Although our air force has suffered a temporary defeat, it does not mean the failure of the Japanese Empire in China.
You have to remember that the national power of the Empire of Japan is dozens of times that of China. The empire can produce more than 10,000 aircraft every year. Can you not stand the loss of just over 100 aircraft?
If the plane is gone, we can rebuild it, and if the pilot is gone, we can retrain it, but if your courage is gone, you are really hopeless, do you understand?"
The only voice left in the entire combat hall was the almost roaring voice of Yoshimoto Seiichi, but the staff members were also mentally brought back by him.
Yes, it's just a defeat, so nothing.
Japan's comprehensive national strength is dozens of times that of China, and its naval strength is a hundred times that of China. Now it is just a small setback. They should not be so depressed and pessimistic.
They can lose ten times or twenty times, but the Japanese Empire can afford to lose. The lost manpower and aircraft can be transferred from the mainland. But what about Gao Hongming?
He only had to lose once and he would be doomed. When he thought of this, many people's eyes began to light up.
Seeing that the officers in the combat hall had regained their morale like a shot of chicken blood, Neji Okamura nodded secretly. It seemed that his decision to recruit Yoshimoto Sadashi from the Kwantung Army was correct.
Perhaps after seeing this situation, young people in later generations may say with disdain, "Isn't it just painting a big cake and filling it with chicken soup?" I stopped doing this when I was in high school.
But what many people don’t know is that being able to draw the pie well is also a skill, and in the military, people usually call this skill a morale booster.
This is just like when bandits and rebels attack a city, the bandit leader will usually tell his subordinates that as long as the city is captured, you can burn, kill, and loot as much as you like, and you will not be sealed for three days.
Before the officers and soldiers sent by the imperial court to suppress the bandits launched an attack, the generals would tell the officers and soldiers that it was time to repay the emperor's favor. As long as they could defeat the rebels on the opposite side, they would be granted a title, a promotion and a fortune.
Looking at modern times, many bosses tell company employees that as long as they do a good job, they will get promotions, salary increases and share shares, and when the company goes public, everyone will become a millionaire and achieve financial freedom.
The essence of these three is actually the same. The difference lies in whether the pie you painted can be realized.
Seeing that Yoshimoto Seiichi had calmed everyone down, Okamura Neji knew that he should come forward.
He stood up, looked around at everyone and began to speak.