In Tokyo's inner city, Nishimaru Hirohito and his Queen Ryoko were walking in the snow and admiring plum blossoms in the garden of the palace. Hirohito was wearing a black shirt with a tie on the side and a thick coat outside. He looked like
It was an old farmer who came to the city from the countryside. This old farmer didn't look too good at the moment.
Empress Liangzi slightly bent her body and followed half a step behind without leaving any trace. Behind them, there were several female officials following with food boxes.
Hirohito walked to a plum blossom in full bloom and suddenly said: "Liangzi, there is an old Chinese saying: The edge of a sword comes from sharpening, and the fragrance of plum blossoms comes from the bitter cold. It means that the sharp edge of a sword comes from constant sharpening.
Yes, the fragrance of plum blossoms comes from the cold winter. Our Japanese Empire has gone through so much suffering, why can't we have a prosperous land of our own? Why have we sacrificed countless soldiers and shed countless blood?
Manchuria, which is easy to conquer, has to be spied on again. Could it be that Amaterasu feels that our efforts are not enough?"
Liangzi bowed slightly before saying: "Your Majesty, I don't know about these military and state affairs, but I know that your Majesty is working hard for the prosperity of the empire and spends almost all his time on it, and outside
Those ministers and brave soldiers are also working hard for the future of the empire."
Hirohito smiled bitterly and said, "Ryouko, you will comfort me. The war situation in Manchuria is now unfavorable. Hideki Tojo has mobilized an army of 500,000 and is launching an attack on Rehe. He claims that he will definitely conquer Rehe and reach Chahar. But I
I don’t know why I feel a little worried about the third son of the Tojo Eikyo family.”
Empress Ryoko looked at her husband who had lost a lot of weight in the past few days because he was worried about the war in Manchuria. She felt distressed and comforted her softly, "Your Majesty, Tojo-kun is the son of an important minister of the empire. His knowledge and quality must be first-rate. You
Why worry?”
Hirohito shook his head, "I still trust Tojo Hideki's loyalty to the empire, but what matters is his ability." At this point, Hirohito stopped talking. After all, it is not the behavior of a wise king to criticize a minister's ability behind his back.
"Manchuria is such a wealthy place. The land there can produce oil if you squeeze it with your hands. Hundreds of millions of people in the empire have worked hard for nearly a hundred years to occupy Manchuria. Now we must not let it be lost in my hands.
Hirohito secretly squeezed his fingers and said with determination.
The sound of treading on the snow came, and a female officer trotted up to Hirohito and knelt down to report, "Your Majesty, General Shun Tada, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of War, would like to see you."
"Call him over." Hirohito stood and let Empress Ryoko arrange his clothes so that he would look more energetic.
After a while, Shun Tada strode in with a female officer. After seeing Hirohito, he bowed at ninety degrees, "Your Majesty, General Yoshijiro Umezu, Commander of the Kwantung Army, and Lieutenant General Kanji Ishihara, the Deputy Chief of Staff.
A joint telegram was sent, claiming that Manchuria has now reached its most dangerous moment. They requested that the lost aircraft of the First Flying Division of Manchuria be replaced as quickly as possible, and another pilot regiment be mobilized from the mainland to station in Manchuria. Otherwise, Manchuria would be in danger.
.”
"Manchuria is in danger." Hirohito murmured: "Manchuria has more than two million expatriates from the Reclamation Regiment and 900,000 soldiers. How can they still be no match for a mere Chahar? Is the warrior of the empire becoming cowardly or Chahar?"
It’s really too strong.”
"Your Majesty," Tada Shun bowed again before saying: "Your Majesty, please forgive me for speaking frankly. Since ancient times, hegemony has never been obtained easily. Which monarch who has achieved immortal hegemony is not a murderous king? Your Majesty's kindness
The heart is indeed worth learning from, but this is not the time to lament this woman's kindness. What the empire needs is your majesty's decisiveness and courage. Only in this way can you lead the people of the empire to a broader world.
"
Tada Shun's words were indeed spoken from the bottom of his heart, but Hirohito remained unmoved. He knew the Army Under-Secretary too well, and he would not nag him so earnestly about something without a clear purpose.
Hirohito waved his hand nonchalantly: "Tell me, what are you doing here this time?"
"Hai." Shun Tada took out another memorial from his body and respectfully took two steps forward and raised it over his head. "Your Majesty, please read it."
A female officer took the memorial from Tada Shun and handed it to Hirohito. After opening it, Hirohito frowned after looking at it for a while, "Is it that Ishihara memorial again?"
"Hai" Tada Shun quickly took two steps forward and explained: "I think Ishihara-kun's words are quite reasonable. Now we mobilize the navy and rush to Vladivostok to show the force of the Japanese Empire and let those Chinese people know that even if they are temporarily in the
They have achieved a small victory on land, but the strength of the Japanese Empire is still far from being matched by them. After our combined fleet arrives near Vladivostok, it can monitor the movements of Vladivostok and act as a deterrent. If Vladivostok is
If there is any abnormal movement, we can use our carrier-based aircraft and fleet to bomb their ports to achieve our purpose of containment, so that the Kwantung Army in Jilin can safely rush to the aid of the Imperial Army who are fighting fiercely in Tongliao."
Hirohito sighed and handed the memorial to the female officer behind him, "But at once, two aircraft carriers and Nagato, two battleships from Mutsu, and even four heavy cruisers and many matching light cruisers and destroyers were dispatched.
Wait. This place is equivalent to one-third of the entire strength of the Imperial Navy. Isn’t he afraid of something going wrong?”
"Your Majesty" since it involves the navy, Shun Tada has no scruples when speaking, "The army is expanding the territory of the empire, shouldn't the navy contribute, not to mention it is just for containment, not to allow them to go ashore and go to China."
The army fought tooth and nail."
Looking at Shun Tada's sneer and disdain when he mentioned the navy, Hirohito sighed secretly. In order to consolidate his dominance, should the navy and the army be so hostile?
He waved his hands helplessly and changed the topic, "Okay, I will consider your memorial carefully. I heard that China's air force is very powerful, and the empire's air force has suffered heavy losses at their hands one after another. Isn't that true?"
"Hai, yes." When the topic of the air force was mentioned, even the always conceited Shun Tada lowered his head in shame, "I have failed to live up to His Majesty's expectations. The current aircraft capabilities of the empire are indeed no match for China's aircraft.
Several aircraft in China are the most advanced aircraft in the world today, and the Empire's aircraft are indeed outdated. But please rest assured, Your Majesty, the Empire's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries was already designing a new type of fighter last year. Thanks to the new 50-wind metal
, this aluminum alloy is said to be harder than steel, so the development speed of this aircraft can be greatly accelerated. His designer, Mr. Horikoshi Jiro, assured that as long as this new type of aircraft is added, the imperial aircraft will continue to dominate China.
Sky." Shun Tada couldn't help but get excited when he thought that the new aircraft was about to enter service.
After hearing Tada Shun's words, Hirohito was not as excited as Tada Shun: "Tada-san, I think the outcome of the war cannot be decided by just one or two planes. You'd better focus more on business.
I'm tired." After saying this, Hirohito turned his head.
Upon seeing this, the female officer next to her ran over and bowed to Jun Tada, extending her hand in a gesture of invitation. Jun Tada sighed, bowed slightly at Hirohito's back and followed the female officer out.
"Woo"
In Japan's Sasebo port, an aircraft carrier is slowly approaching the dock. On the deck are neatly placed two rows of Mitsubishi Type 96 carrier-based fighter jets. The captain of the Akagi aircraft carrier, Matoi Ugaki, is accompanying the combined fleet.
First Fleet Commander Yamamoto Isoroku was on the deck looking at a tall fence surrounded by tall boards on the dock nearby. Inside was a huge, unfinished hull.
"Alas" Yamamoto Isoroku sighed longly as he looked at the countless busy shipbuilders inside, and his melancholy face seemed to grow colder, "The empire spent countless manpower and material resources on this ship, but in the end, only this ship
Can you get a huge target?"
"Yamamoto-kun, please be careful what you say." Ugaki Matoi on the side looked around in fright. When he saw that there was no one there, he quickly whispered: "Yamamoto-kun, this giant ship is the work of your Majesty and countless citizens. If word spreads,
Your Excellency’s troubles will definitely be inevitable.”
Yamamoto Isoroku glared at Ugaki Matoi, "Humph, let alone here, I would still say the same thing even when I go to His Majesty's imperial meeting. But Ugaki-kun, why have you become so cautious? This is not like normal times.
You who fear me."
Ugaki Matoi smiled bitterly, "Yamamoto-kun, you don't know that the Akagi's fighter planes suffered too much in the Songhu Battle last year, which caused the base camp to have a bad impression of me. If it hadn't been for your life support, I might have even lost the Akagi."
I can’t even keep my position as captain. I really don’t want to cause you any more trouble.”
Yamamoto sneered: "You are not the only one who lost troops and generals. Commander Umezu, Deputy Commander Tada, and Commander Matsui, who among them did not lose troops and generals? Who was punished? A few of them were even promoted. How come there was no one at that time?"
He jumped out and said he wanted to punish them."
Ugaki Matoi was silent for a while and then said dullly: "I'm just an unknown boy born in a poor place like Okayama County. How dare I compare with those nobles? It's like they can meet the emperor at any time. Their grace is beyond the reach of us people."