The base camp repeatedly and repeatedly ignored the Kwantung Army's current situation and continuously transferred troops, heavy equipment, and stockpiles of supplies from the Kwantung Army. General Umezu Yoshijiro became furious. The more he said this rare thing, the more he spoke in a louder voice. He got higher and higher, and finally said with anger: "Under this situation, the base camp will not only disrupt the Kwantung Army's original deployment, but even now is still bleeding the Kwantung Army."
"Just yesterday, the base camp ignored the reality that the Kwantung Army was fighting a fierce battle with anti-Japanese armed forces, and forcibly transferred 10,000 tons of oil reserves, 400 tons of aerial bombs, and thousands of tons of various ammunition to the China Expeditionary Force, and An entire field heavy artillery regiment and 3,000 rounds of 150mm heavy howitzers were transferred to the newly formed Southern Army."
"The Navy did not even say hello, but transferred most of the fighter units assigned to the Kwantung Army. In this case, the Kwantung Army did not bargain with the base camp. Instead, the base camp pointed out the Kwantung Army's combat plan. The Kwantung Army Not wanting to be alone, the base camp has repeatedly weakened the Kwantung Army, and almost none of the support promised before has been implemented."
"The base camp always opens and shuts up saying that Manchuria is the lifeline of the empire, but it ignores the current situation of the Kwantung Army and repeatedly transfers troops from the Kwantung Army to strengthen other areas. It even transfers troops and technical equipment from the Kwantung Army to strengthen forces in other directions. , what kind of mentality does the base camp have to do this?"
"Major General Tanaka, let me ask you one question. Without the industrial and logistics base of Manchuria, can local resources alone support the empire in the next phase of operations, especially without Manchuria's steel, special minerals, and the empire's jihad?" Can it still be carried out?"
"If we rely solely on the empire's limited light industry in the occupied China area, and besides coal and food, there are almost no other resources that can support the empire to continue the war, all the empire's plans will be in vain. Remember that Manchuria is Without the lifeline of the empire, the Manchu Empire would simply not be able to fight a long-term war."
Having said this, General Umezu Yoshijiro looked at Lieutenant General Okabe Naosaburo and Major General Tanaka Shinichi in front of him, and said firmly: "I am here to talk to you for the last time today. Regarding Xinjing, the Kwantung Army will never do anything. It is possible to give up, even temporarily, the Kwantung Army will not allow it."
"I cannot allow the foundation created by my predecessors in Manchuria to be destroyed in my hands, and I cannot allow the grand blueprint created by the Kwantung Army, which has spent countless blood and lives, to be destroyed in the hands of me, the commander of the Kwantung Army. If the base camp agrees to transfer these two If the entire division is transferred back to the Kwantung Army, I can follow the requirements of the base camp and even launch a local counterattack in Western Manchuria tomorrow."
"The entire deployment of the Kwantung Army has been adjusted, and several divisions fighting back on the Western Front have arrived around the theater. However, the Kwantung Army's current counterattack appears to be weak as the battle north of Xinjing cannot reduce the pressure. , to put it bluntly, there are insufficient troops."
"But if the base camp fails to meet the requirements of the Kwantung Army, don't blame the Kwantung Army for taking matters into its own hands. Although the current Kwantung Army is not allowed to implement the practice of defeating superiors, but if the base camp ignores the current predicament of the Kwantung Army, then I'm sorry, Kwantung Army The army can fight in the way that suits it best."
When he saw General Umezu Yoshijiro saying these words, his face turned livid. After all, he was his old subordinate. Knowing that General Umezu Yoshijiro was really angry, he just left these two divisions. Even if Tanaka Shinichi Even the Minister of Operations does not have this right. As long as the Second Division arrived, they had no intention of transferring back to the Kwantung Army after they were reorganized.
This second division has been officially designated as the main force to go south, and will participate in the southward battle together with the 18th Division. They are transferred to Manchuria, firstly, to conduct some training that is not suitable for carrying out at home, and secondly, to relieve the pressure in Nanyang from the United States and Britain. pressure exerted by the parties.
If too many divisions are mobilized at once, it will only stimulate the United States and Britain to prepare in advance. According to current intelligence, the British army has significantly strengthened the defense of Hong Kong and the British colonies in Southeast Asia. Although it cannot mobilize too many divisions due to the tense war in North Africa, elite troops to Southeast Asia.
However, the British army has transferred a considerable amount of reinforcements from Australia, New Zealand and other Commonwealth countries, and established a new group of British-Indian divisions in British India. At the same time, its naval and air force strength deployed in Southeast Asia has increased significantly. Even small places like Hong Kong and Singapore have deployed many new troops.
Although the United States has not mobilized many reinforcements to arrive in the Philippines, it has significantly strengthened its army aviation strength stationed in the Philippines. According to intelligence, the US military has continuously mobilized heavy bombers from the mainland to the Philippines and expanded the Philippine local army. The number of troops has reached more than 100,000.
Although there are not many regular U.S. troops among them, and most of them are Filipinos, there is no doubt that if the number continues to increase, it will be very detrimental to the Japanese army's next operations in Southeast Asia, especially its quick battle plan, which will bring a lot of consequences. It was very troublesome, so after careful consideration, the headquarters decided to keep the Second Division in Manchuria to continue training.
Since this division has been incorporated into the Southern Army, and is the main division that will be used in the most difficult combat directions in the future Nanyang operations, the headquarters has repeatedly requested the staff headquarters that the use of this division must go through It can only be approved jointly by the Prime Minister and the Chief of Staff.
As for the fifth division, it was originally going to be assigned to the Kwantung Army, but the base camp didn't know what went crazy. In this fifth division, after arriving in Fengtian, it didn't even sit down and then joined the third division. The second division was transferred back to Kanto Prefecture to wait, and a lot of time was wasted in going back and forth.
Although these two divisions are currently on standby in the Kwantung State, these two divisions currently belong to the Southern Army organization specially used for Nanyang operations. In other words, no matter how miserable the Kwantung Army here is, These two divisions could only watch from the sidelines, at least without orders, and could not act rashly.
Tanaka Shinichi does not have the right to mobilize these two main divisions to be used in the Nanyang war, but General Umezu's request must be considered. After all, what he said is not wrong. Faced with such a force in front of him, The Kwantung Army is a well-equipped anti-Japanese armed force with a fierce style. The current strength of the Kwantung Army to counterattack across the board is indeed somewhat insufficient.
Once the Kwantung Army's counterattack starts on the Western Front, the resistance alliance between the Northern and Eastern Fronts will definitely not be inactive at all. If the resistance alliance between the Northern and Eastern Fronts takes this opportunity to strengthen their offensive, it will undoubtedly be a threat to the Kwantung Army's counterattack. At this time, the pressure on the rear will be quite large.
General Umezu Yoshijiro was stubborn and refused to give up Xinjing, which undoubtedly increased the tension of the Kwantung Army in the use of troops. Judging from the situation on the battlefield around Xinjing, if the Kwantung Army wanted to counterattack on the western front with all its strength, , if we want to protect Xinjing, we must maintain at least two divisions of troops around Xinjing.
As the Kwantung Army still has to take care of Southern Manchuria, it is currently difficult to mobilize so many troops. As a veteran subordinate for many years, Major General Tanaka Shinichi clearly knows that the General Umezu Yoshijiro in front of him is a docile donkey. On the outside he looks like a scholar, but in fact he is ruthless and extremely stubborn.
Because of his opposition, a senior general was pulled down from the position of land prime minister, who had almost occupied his entire butt, while another current North Korean army commander with seniority below him was competing for the land prime minister position that year. When he was appointed Prime Minister, his firm opposition was unsuccessful. It was not until he was sent to Shanxi as the commander of the First Army that that guy took the coveted position of Prime Minister.
This stubborn army general always sticks to his word. If his temper gets angry, he really doesn't care. During the February 26 Incident, when he was the commander of the Second Division, he did not receive any instructions from the Army Ministry and the General Staff Headquarters. , he dares to dispatch troops to suppress it. If the base camp does not consider his ideas at all, he will really act freely.
He was not too worried about how much trouble General Umezu Yoshijiro's disobedience would bring to the Kwantung Army. Although the Kwantung Army returned with a huge defeat in last year's battle and lost the important town of Harbin in Northern Manchuria, Tanaka Shinichi was still worried about this. He still believed in the ability of the old superior, and he was worried that if General Umezu's disobedience affected the next battle, it would be in trouble.
After thinking for a while, Tanaka Shinichi said: "General Mizu, these two divisions are about to go south, and I have no right to transfer them back to you. In this way, I will transfer the 10th Division back to you from the Korean Army. As long as the Kwantung Army can To ensure the smooth flow of the railway, I guarantee that the 10th Division will be handed over to the Kwantung Army within three days."
"In addition, although the Fourth Division has been incorporated into the Southern Army, according to the entire combat plan, they are only used as a reserve force. They are currently resting and recuperating in Shanghai. Other divisions already have their own combat missions, so it is not very convenient to mobilize them. Under the circumstances, I can make the decision to transfer this fourth division back to the Kwantung Army."
"And I guarantee that this fourth division will be in place within ten days at the latest, but the Kwantung Army must launch a counterattack within three days according to the needs of the base camp. Before these two divisions are in place, the Kwantung Army can completely use Are there two divisions currently in southern Manchuria? Compared with the northern Manchuria and Jilin fronts, southern Manchuria is currently quite stable."
Umezu Mijiro and Yoshimoto Sadichi were quite satisfied with Tanaka Shinichi's statement, but they were both a little dissatisfied with the two divisions he transferred. Of course, there was no problem with the 10th Division. Compared with the second division, it is relatively inferior, but it can be regarded as an elite force. If it can reach the battlefield within two days, it will naturally greatly enhance the combat capabilities of the Kwantung Army.
However, regarding the fourth division proposed by Tanaka Shinichi, whether it was Umezu Yoshijiro or Yoshimoto Teiichi, their expressions that had just softened suddenly became a little unnatural in an instant. The reason why the Kwantung Army did not attack in the first place The ultimate reason for being able to annihilate the Anti-Japanese Alliance lies with the Fourth Division.
In the subsequent battle, the performance of the fourth division could not even be called a success or failure. First, it lost the important town of Jiamusi in the Northeast, and then was defeated in the battle. This fourth division was on the battlefield. His performance was simply an insult to the imperial army.
For a division that had its entire division pretending to be sick before being deployed to the battlefield, and a division that caused an incident where the commander personally took charge of the hospital and drove people out, these two giants of the Kwantung Army really did not have the confidence to send them to the battlefield, especially In their eyes, in this battle that was related to the fate of the Kwantung Army's rule in Manchuria, the Fourth Division feared difficulties on the battlefield, robbed its civilians, and divided its military supplies, but it was no match for them.