From the perspective of General Umezu Yoshijiro and Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Sadakachi, as long as the base camp agrees to transfer these two divisions back to the Kwantung Army, everything else is easy to say. As for the reply Naosaburo Okabe needs, Yoshimoto Sadashi has not even thought about it. Said: "As long as the Fifth Division arrives at Fengtian and takes over the defense of the 24th Division, the Kwantung Army's counterattack can then begin."
Regarding Yoshimoto Teiichi's decisive answer, he immediately agreed to temporarily assign the Fifth Division to the Kwantung Army for combat. At this time, he was regretting in his heart that he didn't know how to explain to the base camp when he returned. Okabe Naosaburo nodded and said: "Very good, as long as The Kwantung Army can ensure that the railway line from Kwantung Prefecture to Fengtian remains open."
"I promise the Kwantung Army that no matter what state the Fifth Division is currently in, their main force will arrive at Fengtian within twenty-four hours. As for the Tenth Division, as long as the railway line from Pyongyang to Manchuria is open, A regiment will be arriving within twenty-four hours."
"All the remaining troops and accompanying equipment will arrive in Manchuria within seventy-two hours at the latest, and try their best to reach the Kwantung Army's designated combat area. In addition, please kindly ask the Kwantung Army to prepare an aircraft for me. I will arrive in four Fly directly to Lushun within an hour and sit there personally to supervise the actions of the Fifth Division."
"General Umezu, Chief of Staff Yoshimoto, I did what I was supposed to do, and I agreed to what I shouldn't have agreed to. I will personally bear the consequences of all this, but there is a prerequisite for what I agreed to. I hope you two will also agree. As much as possible, the Kwantung Army should try not to cripple the Fifth Division during the major counterattack."
"The Second Division and the Fifth Division are one of the few old divisions scheduled to be incorporated into the Southern Army. In addition to the 16th Division that has been transferred to Vietnam, these two divisions will be in In the future battles going south, they will be used as the main force. As for the Guards Division, I know that no one dares to let them go to the front line. Incorporating them into the Southern Army is just superficial."
"The Fifth Division, together with the 2nd and 16th Divisions, are the main force used by the base camp to fight southward. Especially the Fifth Division is the main force planned to fight in Malaya. If it really I think Mr. Umezu doesn’t want to see it if he is disabled and affects the empire’s next strategy.”
Umezu Meijiro was also very pleased with Okabe Naosaburo's reply. After Okabe Naosaburo's statement, Umezu Meijiro also said: "Since Lieutenant General Okabe can guarantee that all the fifth division will arrive in Fengtian within 24 hours, , then there is no need for the Kwantung Army to worry about it anymore, I guarantee that the Kwantung Army’s counterattack against Western Manchuria will begin in twenty hours.”
"As for the 24th Division, after the 10th Division arrives, it will then be transported to Xinjing to strengthen the defenses from Xinjing to Jilin. The 9th Division will all be devoted to the battlefield north of Xinjing Yes, but I hope Okabe-kun will never break his promise, because this battle is not only a matter of the Kwantung Army’s face.”
"As for the use of the Fifth Division, Chief of Staff Yoshimoto and I will carefully consider Okabe-kun's request. However, I cannot guarantee which direction the Fifth Division will be deployed in the end, but I can guarantee Okabe-kun that , after this fifth division arrives in Manchuria, it will be temporarily used as a reserve force."
"Unless it is absolutely necessary, I will try my best not to use them to fight on the front line. Okabe-kun, this guarantee is the maximum I can promise. I think Okabe-kun should know that what we are currently engaged in is a war, and Changes in the war situation cannot be decided by our discussion here."
"Since the Fifth Division has been transferred to the Kwantung Army at this time, I cannot guarantee you that they will not be used on the battlefield at all. The Kwantung Army cannot sit back and watch other divisions fight bloody battles in front, but will do so. A well-equipped division is put behind for vacation."
"Okabe-kun, this battle is more related to the future destiny of Manchuria, and even whether Manchuria can become a stable rear base for the empire's ongoing Greater East Asia Holy War. Regardless of whether the base camp attaches great importance to it, but this battle, The Kwantung Army can only win, but cannot fail."
Umezu Yoshijiro's first words made Okabe Naosaburo feel very satisfied. As for the latter words, Lieutenant General Okabe Naosaburo didn't care much. In his opinion, Umezu Yoshijiro's words were somewhat alarmist. If the battle was defeated, the Kwantung Army's rule in Manchuria would be endangered. This was something Naosaburo Okabe believed.
Northern Manchuria has been lost. If Jilin and Western Manchuria are lost in the middle line, the power of the Kwantung Army will be compressed from all of Manchuria to a corner of southern Manchuria. For the Kwantung Army, the entire strategic initiative will undoubtedly be handed over. We can go out, but if we say that it will endanger the security of the entire Manchuria, it will not go far enough.
Even if this battle fails, even if Xinjing is lost, as long as the South Manchu industrial base where the essence of Manchuria is concentrated is defended, Manchuria will still belong to the Kwantung Army. Modern war is not only about who is better at fighting, but also about whose national strength is stronger. , the continuous combat capability is longer.
At this point, not to mention the Anti-Japanese Alliance that was trapped in Northern Manchuria, even their so-called National Government was incomparable to the Empire of Japan. Since the Meiji Restoration, after decades of development, Japan has established its own complete industrial system. , although the source of raw materials is subject to innate environmental restrictions, most of them still rely on imports.
But all the equipment of the army, whether it is aircraft, heavy artillery, tanks or large warships, can be produced by itself. Except for Britain, Germany and the United States, there is no country in the world that can compare with Japan. Even in this regard, Japan After the Anti-Japanese War, Soviet Russia could not compare with Japan.
In Manchuria, the essence is in Southern Manchuria rather than Northern Manchuria. Almost all of Manchuria's industries are in Southern Manchuria. The largest coal mines and iron mines are also in Southern Manchuria. As long as Southern Manchuria is firmly defended, the Kwantung Army will be in Manchuria. Its status remains unshakable. At least for a short period of time, Manchuria will still belong to the empire.
Without the coal in northern Manchuria, the coal in Fuxin and Fushun is enough for the Kwantung Army. Without the little industry in Harbin, the industry in Fengtian in southern Manchuria is enough to meet a considerable part of the empire's needs. Without the timber in Xing'an Mountains and Wanda Mountains, , the wood in the Changbai Mountains of Eastern Manchuria is also sufficient.
The food and military industries in Fengtian, the oil shale in Fushun, the steel in Anshan and Benxi Lake, the molybdenum in Yangjiazhangzi, and the mines in Haicheng are the essence of Manchuria. As for the desolate Northern Manchuria, even if it is temporarily given over to those How much influence can the anti-Manchu and anti-Japanese elements have on the situation in Manchuria?
Without the population concentrated in southern Manchuria and without the grain production in Jilin and Fengtian, they could only be trapped in northern Manchuria. As for the industries they were building, Naosaburo Okabe believed that the threat to the Kwantung Army was not as effective as an infantry division. , All fools know that building a modern industrial system cannot be completed in a year and a half.
In the absence of sufficient modern scientific talents, this speed will slow down further. By the time their so-called industrial construction is completed, I am afraid that the day lily will be cold long ago. There is no need to wait for the empire to complete its southward war plan and fight back with all its strength. At that time, their industrial construction was probably still in its infancy.
As long as the empire really faces them after solving Nanyang and mobilizes its elite divisions to go all out to deal with them, Naosaburo Okabe believes that these people are nothing to worry about. The previous disastrous defeats are The Kwantung Army underestimated the enemy too much. As long as the Kwantung Army and the base camp have a correct mentality, there shouldn't be any big problem in annihilating them.
Once the Empire has settled Nanyang first, what will happen to these anti-Manchu anti-Japanese armed forces, no matter how powerful they are? It is true that comparing the Empire to China is like a child comparing to an adult, but compared to the Empire, these anti-Manchu anti-Japanese elements are nothing. It's not the same thing.
An army that does not have the support of modern industry and can only rely on external blood transfusions can never be a modern army. Compared with China, the empire is indeed small in territory, but in terms of modern industry, the empire that has worked hard to govern since the Meiji Restoration, But China had already been thrown away thousands of miles away.
So what if the United States and the Soviet Union are behind them? Their biggest backer, the Soviets, are now unable to protect themselves. As for the wealthy Americans, it is more realistic. It is impossible to ask them to pay without considerable benefits. They All assistance is only based on what is beneficial to them.
Once the empire gains the upper hand in fighting in Nanyang and forces the Americans to sign an alliance under the city walls, will the Americans continue to give them blood transfusions if they don't have time to worry about themselves? Without external assistance, their results may not be as good as their so-called National Government. The Kwantung Army, which has concentrated the elite of the Imperial Army, will crush them even if they are squeezed.
Although the base camp has repeatedly transferred troops from the Kwantung Army to other directions, even though the opponent the Kwantung Army is facing now has a strong body and strong combat effectiveness, with the current strength of the Kwantung Army and its existing Judging from the support strength, at least there is no problem in maintaining the status quo.
As for General Umezu Yoshijiro's linking the situation in Manchuria with the empire's next strategy, he just wanted to get more benefits from the base camp, or to obtain more troops. The reason why they did this was just that they did not want to experience another failure. The Kwantung Army and their own face were lost.
Naturally, Umezu Yoshijiro and Yoshimoto Teiichi do not know what Lieutenant General Okabe Naosaburo is thinking about at this moment. For them, the most important thing at this moment is to deploy troops and generals in order to follow the promise they just made to Okabe. Lieutenant General, within twenty hours, launch a comprehensive counterattack on the Western Front.
In fact, for the Kwantung Army, they have long been prepared for a full-scale counterattack. However, according to the Kwantung Army's plan, the counterattack in the direction of Western Manchuria is to complete the destruction of the Songhua River embankment, making the north of Xinjing After the Anti-Japanese Alliance was unable to provide any response to the war in Western Manchuria, it was launched across the board.
Because for the Kwantung Army, the two battlefields in Western Manchuria and Xinjingbei are actually a coordinated whole. There is a very close connection between the two. If the plan in Xinjingbei succeeds, then the Kwantung Army This way we can concentrate the maximum strength and fully respond to the battlefield in Western Manchuria.
And for a long time, there is no need to devote too much energy to the battlefield in the north of Xinjing. Just yesterday, Umezu Yoshijiro ordered the Japanese army in the Jilin area to open the Fengman Reservoir to create a man-made flood in Jilin first. Block the Resistance Alliance's offensive in the Jilin area.
But now that the New Beijing North Plan can only be postponed due to changes in weather conditions, the base camp requires the Kwantung Army to launch a counterattack on the Western Manchuria battlefield first. This makes the Kwantung Army also have to take into account the New Beijing North Battlefield. It feels like It seems that the military strength is somewhat insufficient, or at least the certainty of a final decision is lacking.