Chairman Chiang was furious, but Emperor Hirohito of Japan felt a little sad at this moment.
The second mopping-up operation of the Japanese army sent by the Central China Condemnation Army to the Damei Mountain District has completely failed. Two divisions and one detachment participated in the mopping-up, plus an independent eighth tank regiment. Among them, the Iida detachment was completely wiped out, and the independent The Eighth Tank Regiment was also completely destroyed, the Kumamoto Division was basically wiped out, and the Osaka Division was also defeated!
So far, two thousand defeated troops of the Osaka Division have fled back to Pukou.
According to intelligence, the main force of the Dameishan Independent Regiment has already killed Feixi, so the remaining troops only guarded various intersections and did not send out search troops to continue to encircle and suppress the remnants of the Osaka Division. Therefore, in the next few days, There should still be remnants of the Osaka Division escaping back one after another, and the final total is likely to exceed 10,000.
Such a result is probably something no one would have imagined before the sweep began.
The Iida detachment, which performed well in the Battle of Wuhan, was completely wiped out. The Kumamoto Division, which has always been known for its fierceness, also defeated the Dameishan Independent Regiment. There was only one division headquarters left, and the 8th Independent Tank Regiment was armed to the teeth. The division was also completely wiped out, but the Osaka Division, which was known for its weak combat effectiveness, was only defeated in the end, and more than 10,000 remaining soldiers escaped.
However, the return of more than 10,000 defeated troops was not enough to cover up the cruel fact that the raid failed miserably!
Since it failed, and it was a disastrous defeat, someone must be responsible for it. As the planner and executor of this raid, Shozo Kawabe should be responsible for it. Therefore, when the 8th Independent Tank Regiment was The news of the total annihilation and defeat of the Osaka Division came back from the front, and Kawabe Shozo committed suicide by committing seppuku.
Early yesterday morning, the news that Shozo Kawabe committed seppuku and committed suicide spread back to Tokyo.
After Emperor Hirohito got the news, he immediately locked himself in the imperial study.
A day and night passed, and just when the entire royal family was worried about Hirohito, Hirohito issued an edict, ordering Army Chief of Staff Kanin Miyazahito, Army Chief Juichi Terauchi and Army Deputy Minister Hideki Tojo to go to the Imperial Palace to see him. After receiving Hirohito's order, the old Japanese set off quickly and hurried to the Imperial Palace.
When Kanin Miya Zaihito, Teruchi Juichi and Tojo Hideki filed into the imperial study, they found Hirohito kneeling on the tatami. There was a chessboard on the tatami table, and many chess pieces had fallen on the chessboard. , but what surprised the three of them, Hanyuan Gong Zairen, was that there were only black stones on the entire chessboard, but not a single white stone.
"Your Majesty." Xianyuan Gong Zairen bowed deeply, unable to hide the worry on his face.
Seeing Hirohito locking himself in the imperial study and playing Go, Kanin Palace Zaihito couldn't help but think of his imperial nephew, the previous generation of emperors. The previous generation of Emperor Taisho died of mental illness. Kanin Palace Zai Ren was very worried that this generation of Emperor Hirohito would follow the same path as the previous generation.
Juichi Terauchi and Hideki Tojo stood up after bowing, their faces full of worry. Obviously, these two old devils also have the same worries as Kanin Miyazaihito. If Emperor Hirohito suffers from the same mental illness as Emperor Taisho, That would be a catastrophic blow to the entire Japanese Empire, because Prince Akihito was only six years old.
It is never a good omen for a young master to ascend the throne. Once Emperor Hirohito is forced to abdicate or even die due to mental illness at this time, it will undoubtedly greatly affect Japan's rising momentum, and may even cause Japan to miss this once-in-a-lifetime rise. Good opportunity, if this really happens, everyone will be heartbroken.
Hirohito didn't see the worry on the three people's faces at all, or maybe he had seen it but didn't bother to explain it. He just picked up a sunspot by himself, patted it gently on the corner of the chess board, and then followed the opponent's empty hand with his solemn hand.
The empty futon said: "Teacher Hebian, it's your turn now."
The futon on the opposite side naturally showed no reaction.
"Good chess. Teacher Hebian's chess move is excellent." Hirohito suddenly praised the chessboard, then he examined it for a long time, and finally picked up a sunspot and gently
He patted the lower left corner of the chessboard, then frowned and said, "Although this move is exquisite, it may not be enough to neutralize the teacher's offensive..."
Seeing Hirohito talking to himself alone, Kanin Miyazaihito couldn't bear it anymore.
"Your Majesty!" Xianyuan Gong Zairen bowed deeply again, then straightened up and said, "I'm waiting to see you."
"Your Majesty!" Tojo Hideki also stepped forward and said quickly, "Kawabe-san has died for the empire!"
Hirohito was shocked when he heard this, and finally came back to his senses from the illusion. He glanced at Kanin Gong Zaijin and the other three people standing in front of him, then threw a few black stones in his hand into the chess basket, and sighed.
: "To this day, I still remember the scene when I first met Teacher Hebian in the late emperor's study room. I had just turned six years old that year."
Hirohito gently rubbed the ivory chessboard on the imperial desk and said in memory: "At that time, the late emperor was playing chess with the teacher by the river. The late emperor held me in his arms and said to me, using troops is like chess. If you can play Go well, you will definitely be able to become a leader.
He is a good commander, but the teacher by the river said that the art of Go is more profound than the art of using soldiers. Being able to use soldiers well may not mean you can play chess well, but being able to play chess well means you can use soldiers well. Although I was young at the time,
But I was deeply impressed by what Teacher Hebian said."
"These are just the wild words of Shozo Kawabe." Xianyuan Gong Zairen said calmly, "I have always felt that this person only talks about rhetoric, but actually has no real talent or knowledge. If it is true as he said, next time
Good chess means good soldiers, so how could the second raid on Damei Mountain end in failure?"
Hirohito frowned and said: "Uncle Imperial, you are already here, so you don't need to criticize me behind your back, right?"
Hanyuan Gong Zairen said: "Although Shozo Kawabe is dead, the old minister still has to say that the failure of the second raid on Damei Mountain was the main reason for the failure of Shozo Kawabe's command.
Before the sweep began, the base camp held objections. Hebian Zhengsan insisted on going his own way and insisted..."
"Uncle Imperial, please don't talk about this anymore." Hirohito interrupted Hanyin Gong Zairen again.
It has to be said that the relationship between Hirohito and Kawabe Shozo is excellent. In another time and space, Kawabe Masami was the commander-in-chief of the Japanese army stationed in Burma, but suffered a disastrous defeat in the battle to attack India, but in the end he did not suffer from this.
After being punished, he was promoted to the Commander of the Air Force. However, in this current time and space, the hole that Shozo Kawabe poked was so big that even Hirohito couldn't squeeze it, so Shozo Kawabe made a clean result.
own.
But since Kawabe Shozo had chosen to commit seppuku, Hirohito was no longer willing to criticize him harshly.
At that moment, Hirohito said: "I came to you today not to criticize Teacher Hebian, but to ask you, what policy should you adopt in the future towards Xu Rui's Dameishan Independent Regiment? Is it necessary to use the North China Front Army?
Central China dispatched the Condemnation Army to deploy five to eight divisions to form a regiment specifically for mopping up Damei Mountain?"
Forming an exclusive army to sweep away Damei Mountain? Xianyuan Gong Zairen and the other three suddenly looked at each other.
Hirohito paused for a moment, then said quietly: "I don't believe it, the Dameishan Independent Regiment really can't be defeated."
Xianyuan Gong Zairen knew that he could no longer remain silent, and immediately said: "Your Majesty, I know that you have a deep relationship with Master and Disciple Kawabe Shozo, and I also know that you really want to avenge your teacher, but I must remind you that the treasury is really
We have no money, and the 50 million yen used to purchase military supplies were raised by the Ministry of Finance in every possible way."
Terauchi Shouichi also said: "Yes, Your Majesty, if the empire still has sufficient finances, wouldn't it be better to continue to expand the scale of the war and directly annex the entire China? In this way, Xu Rui's Dameishan Independent Regiment will become invincible.
Sooner or later, the root tree will be wiped out by the imperial army, but the problem is that the empire’s finances can no longer afford a frontal battlefield offensive.”
Hirohito frowned and said: "The finances cannot afford a frontal battlefield offensive. Can't we even afford to maintain an offensive in the Damei Mountain area? I don't want more, as long as five to eight divisions are enough!"
"Your Majesty!" Tojo Hideki also said, "If the imperial finances can still afford the offensive of five to eight divisions, it will be enough to launch the Chongqing Battle, and it will be enough to drive the National Government to Xikang or even Qingning. In this way, the National Government
It will be downgraded to a local government immediately, and China will be equivalent to being destroyed, but the problem is that the imperial finances really cannot afford the Chongqing Battle."
Seeing Kanin Miya Zaijin, Terauchi Juichi and Tojo Hideki objecting in unison, Hirohito's heart sank little by little.
The reason why Hirohito only found people from the military, but not from the cabinet, was that he wanted to set the tone first, and then put pressure on the cabinet through the military, and finally force the cabinet to make concessions. However, Hirohito did not expect that even the military would
Everyone on the other side was firmly opposed to continuing to expand the offensive, but now Hirohito was completely at his wits' end.
After a long while, Hirohito said quietly: "Is this the end of it?"
"Of course we can't just forget it, but it's definitely not possible to mobilize more troops and launch a new round of raids on Damei Mountain. It's also redundant to form a legion specifically to deal with Damei Mountain." Xianyuan Gong Zairen said,
"Actually, before coming here, the veteran has been at the War Department with Terauchi-san and Tojo-san to discuss how to deal with the Daimeishan Independent Regiment."
Hirohito snorted and asked, "Have you discussed the outcome?"
Terauchi Juichi replied: "In view of the reality that the imperial finances are close to depletion, I and others unanimously believe that we should take a defensive position against the Dameishan Independence Regiment. In addition to adhering to the surrounding cities and various transportation arteries, we must also instruct the reform government to recruit civilians to surround the empire.
Build a blockade trench in Meishan District, and supplement it with a large number of gun towers to completely blockade Meishan Mountain!"
Tojo Hideki added: "In short, if we cannot defeat it militarily, then block it economically. In this way, within half a year, the Dameishan Independent Regiment will collapse without a fight."
