Yoshio Shinozuka has been in a bad mood these past few days. For this reason, many people in the headquarters have been reprimanded by him. One of them was even sent to a remote county to be a garrison captain.
Yamamoto Kazuki walked to the office door with standard military steps and knocked on it a few times.
"Come in!" Yoshio Shinozuka's voice came from inside.
Yamamoto Kazuki pushed the door open and walked in. The first thing he saw was Yoshio Shinozuka sitting at the coffee table next to the door, drinking tea.
Hearing the footsteps, he said without raising his head: "Yamamoto-kun, come and have a cup of tea with me."
"Hi!"
Yamamoto Kazuki walked over and sat down opposite him.
Yoshio Shinozuka placed a teacup in front of Yamamoto Kazuki, picked up the teapot and poured him a cup of tea, "Try it, this is Manchuria's famous Acanthopanax tea. Drinking it regularly can nourish qi, strengthen the spleen, nourish the kidneys and calm the mind.
.”
"Thank you, Commander. I didn't expect that Commander could get tea from Manchuria?"
Yamamoto Kazuki thanked him with a smile, picked up the tea cup and drank it all in one gulp.
But then he frowned and blinked: "Isn't this tea too bitter?"
Yoshio Shinozuka laughed and said, "Yamamoto-kun, this kind of tea has to be bitter to taste good. If it is not bitter, it will have no taste."
Kazuki Yamamoto said curiously: "Your Excellency, Commander, I see that the tea is quite fresh. Who gave it to you?"
"The commander of the 16th Division, Ishihara Wanji, sent someone to send it to me."
"Yoshi, it's Mr. Ishihara. I didn't expect you to have such a good relationship with him."
As soon as I heard Ishihara Wanji's name, Yamamoto Kazuki's eyes lit up. In the words of later generations, he was regarded as Ishihara Wanji's fanboy.
"Why...are you so happy to hear Ishihara-kun's name?" Seeing Yamamoto Kazuki's appearance, Shinozuka Yoshio couldn't help but smile a little.
"Yes!" Yamamoto Kazuki said seriously: "In recent years, I have read several masterpieces by Mr. Ishihara, such as "Japan's National Defense Now and in the Future", "The Fundamental National Policy to Reversing the National Destiny--Resolution of the Manchuria-Mongolia Problem",
Books such as "The Kwantung Army's Plan to Capture Manchuria and Mongolia" have greatly benefited me.
It’s just that I still don’t understand some things, so what I want to do most now is to ask Mr. Ishihara for advice in person and listen to his teachings.”
"I'm afraid it will be difficult to fulfill your wish."
Yoshio Shinozuka shook his head, "Ishihara-kun is currently serving as the division commander of the Sixteenth Division, and he is also stationed in Manchuria. We are too far away from Manchuria. It is not easy for you to see him, and..."
Speaking of this, a trace of worry flashed in his eyes, "Furthermore, Ishihara-kun has a very bad relationship with the current chief of staff of the Kwantung Army, His Excellency Hideki Tojo. He has even publicly stated many times that Hideki Tojo should be shot. I guess he
I won’t be in Manchuria for long.”
Yamamoto Kazuki curled his lips and said: "Your Majesty Ishihara, this is your true temperament. Tojo Hideki can only be a superior soldier at best. The base camp is probably blind to let him serve as the chief of staff of the Kwantung Army."
"Yamamoto-kun...be careful what you say!"
Even Yoshio Shinozuka couldn't help but be frightened and his face changed.
The joke about Private Tojo comes from Ishihara Kanji. The reason is that Kanji Ishihara believes that with Tojo’s talent, he can only be a private at best and manage no more than ten machine guns, because if there are more, he will count them.
But come.
Two years ago, when Hideki Tojo was transferred to the Kwantung Army as chief of staff, fellow countryman Shumei Okawa came to visit him and happened to bump into Kanji Ishihara, so he asked him where the office of Chief of Staff Tojo was? I had to ask him.
Okay, Ishihara smiled and replied disdainfully, "Oh, that Private Tojo is right over there."
Since then, the legend of Private Tojo has spread.
Let me ask, if Ishihara Kanji insulted Tojo Hideki like this, how could he possibly bear it with his temperament? Therefore, Yoshio Shinozuka concluded that Ishihara Kanji would definitely have a hard time in the future.
In the end, the helpless Yoshio Shinozuka could only forcefully change the topic: "Okay Yamamoto-kun, I think you have been poisoned by Ishihara-kun. Let's talk about other topics."
"Hi!"
Yamamoto Kazuki also knew that Yoshio Shinozuka was doing it for his own good, so he bowed slightly and respectfully.
Yoshio Shinozuka took a sip of tea and said, "Yamamoto-kun, why did you come to see me today?"
"Yes."
Yamamoto Kazuki said: "According to my recent research, the intelligence agency specifically analyzed Gao Hongming's character and concluded that this person not only harbors hatred for the Japanese Empire, but is also a person who is determined to take revenge.
During this period, the imperial army first set up an ambush at Qixiaguan, and two days ago sent planes to conduct an air raid on the station of its armored forces. With his character, he will definitely not be able to swallow this breath. I am worried that he will launch a large-scale retaliation against us. We must not
You shouldn't have made preparations earlier."
Yoshio Shinozuka frowned: "Yamamoto-kun, is there any evidence for what you say?"
"No."
Yamamoto Kazuki smiled bitterly and shook his head: "I just made a judgment based on Gao Hongming's character. Where can I find any evidence."
"Then what's your purpose for saying this..." Although he didn't agree with Yamamoto Kazuki's words, Shinozuka Yoshio still asked patiently again.
"I hope that your Excellency, the Commander, can order the troops stationed in Ping'an County to strengthen their vigilance, and to deploy one or two additional regiments to be stationed around Ping'an County to prepare for Gao Hongming's sudden attack."
"Nonsense!"
No matter how much Yoshio Shinozuka valued Yamamoto Kazuki, he couldn't help but get a little angry, "Do you know how heavy the mission of the First Army is?
There are more than 100 counties in Shanxi, and now we have occupied nearly 90% of them. Even if a squadron is stationed in each county, tens of thousands of people will be needed. There are also railways and important strongholds along the way. This has occupied almost all of our territory.
Most of the troops.
Now you ask me to allocate one or two more regiments to move into Ping'an County, where do you want me to allocate troops from?"
"Military strength is like a sponge, there will always be something there if you squeeze it."
Yamamoto Kazuki still insisted on his opinion, "Gao Hongming and his Liantai militia are too dangerous. We must nip it in the bud. Otherwise, it will be too late once Gao Hongming leads his militia to retaliate against the imperial army."
"You..." Seeing Yamamoto Kazuki still insisting on his opinion, Shinozuka Yoshio was so angry that he was speechless. Just when he was about to have an attack, the door was suddenly pushed open in the air, and the Chief of Staff
Major General Naosaburo Okabe broke in.
As soon as he entered the door, he shouted: "Your Excellency, Commander, it's not good... Gao Hongming led the Liantai County militia to launch a sudden attack on Ping'an County. Colonel Hata Nakako, captain of the garrison team responsible for guarding Ping'an County, sent a telegram asking for help.
The Liantai militia's offensive was very fierce, and they also deployed heavy artillery. In less than half an hour, all the outer positions of Ping'an County were lost. Now Hatanaka Koichi is leading the remaining troops to defend the county, and he hopes that we will send reinforcements immediately for rescue!"