Chapter 141 Disputes within the two Japanese armies
At this time, neither Yang Zhen nor Chen Hanzhang knew that at the same time that they were discussing the entire westward strategy, in the headquarters of the Japanese North China Front thousands of miles away in Peiping, almost all the giants of the Japanese North China Front were gathered together. Convening a joint combat meeting.
The operational meeting held by the Japanese army was quite high-level. It included not only the commander of the North China Front, General Okamura Neiji, the chief of staff, Lieutenant General Adachi 23, the commander of the First Army in Shanxi, Lieutenant General Iwamatsu Yoshio, the Mongolian Commander of the Xinjiang Garrison Army, Lieutenant General Amakasu Shigetaro, Chief of Staff Major General Toyojiro Inamura, as well as all responsible persons from the operations, intelligence, communications and other departments of the North China Front participated.
Out of consideration for whether to attach importance to this meeting, the Nanjing China Expeditionary Force also sent Lieutenant General Harumiya Jun, Chief of Staff, and General Hata Junroku, Commander-in-Chief of China Expeditionary Force, to attend the meeting. At the same time, the Kwantung Army also sent Chief of Staff Yoshimoto Sadao. A Lieutenant General came forward to participate in the so-called Manchuria-Mongolia Northern Branch Joint Defense Conference.
The central idea of this so-called joint meeting is one topic. In view of the current situation that the Anti-Japanese Alliance has attacked from North Manchuria all the way to the nose of the North China Front Army, it is necessary to determine the possible next offensive direction of the Anti-Japanese Army. It is also to focus on the Kwantung Army and the North China Front Army. The two major strategic groups faced coordination problems in the operation to completely annihilate the Anti-Japanese Alliance, which had obviously become a serious nuisance to the Japanese invaders.
The base camp's battle south has entered the final countdown. These senior Japanese military officials are naturally very clear. The base camp believes that the rule of Manchuria and North China is stable or not, the food and mineral resources of North China and Manchuria, and China's rich human resources, especially the industry of South Manchuria. Resources are crucial in supporting the Japanese army's southward strategy.
Due to the need to stabilize the so-called rear area, on the one hand, this joint operations meeting was severely reprimanded by the base camp, and the Kwantung Army and the Chinese dispatched troops had to sit together. On the other hand, despite their own ulterior motives, under the influence of the overall situation The Kwantung Army and the North China Front Army, which also had to join forces to deal with the crisis, held this joint operations meeting.
After all, the North China Front Army does not want another strong anti-Japanese armed force to appear in its jurisdiction. This will undoubtedly have a negative impact on the communist army in North China after the Zhongtiao Mountain battle last year and the subsequent destructive sweeps of various bases in North China. After the devastating blow, the current relatively stable war situation in North China has brought extremely unstable effects.
In particular, the North China Front Army is unwilling to face a powerful resistance alliance at this time alone, which has repeatedly defeated the Kwantung Army, the most powerful strategic group among the entire Japanese army, because for the North China Front Army, they know very well that the current situation is The calm situation across North China is only temporary.
Once the communist armed forces that have retreated to various mountainous areas have regained their strength, the situation in North China may still not be optimistic. To maintain the attack on the communist armed forces that have infiltrated the entire North China region, the current strength of the North China Front Army has been used to the extreme. If another powerful anti-Japanese force comes at this time, it will be difficult for the North China Front Army to cope with the situation.
The current North China Front Army General Okamura Neiji has a clear understanding of the consequences of this anti-Japanese force outside the border, which is far superior to the North China Communist Army in terms of equipment and soldier quality. Once it enters the border, he has a clear understanding of the consequences. After the loss of Hebei and the Anti-Japanese Alliance's seizure of the Abaga Banner line in Chadong, they once proposed that the North China Front Army would dispatch two or three divisions to move north after completing a sweep of the entire North China.
Therefore, although the superiors of the North China Front Army, the Chinese Dispatch Force, were very reluctant to deal with the Kwantung Army, under the requirements of the situation, the severe reprimands from the base camp, and the repeated requests of the commander of the North China Front Army, General Okamura Neiji, they still convened
this joint meeting.
The Japanese say that the Chinese are a piece of loose sand. In fact, the Japanese themselves are not united internally. Not to mention the conflicts between the army and the navy, there are also deep interest disputes between the major strategic groups of the army. Of course, externally,
These guys can still advance and retreat together.
After all, everyone's strategic goals are still the same. Just like back then, the disputes between the Huangdao Faction and the Control Faction for control of the army were quite fierce, and even mutinies occurred. However,
Everyone still has the same idea of invading China, but the current disputes between the two strategic groups of the Japanese invaders are different from those back then. The disputes at this time are for the sake of interests, to be sure.
I mean, just to share the money.
The Kwantung Army and the North China Front Army actually did not get along very happily ever since the North China Front Army was originally called the Chinese Garrison Army. At that time, the Chinese Garrison Army was in North China and was connected to the jurisdiction of the Kwantung Army. Everyone wanted to join the Kwantung Army.
The Chinese have made a fortune and gained certain political capital and economic benefits, but there are only so many benefits, and the two major groups can only share enough.
In order to plunder wealth from China, the Japanese not only carried out the so-called war to support war during the war, but also systematically established a set of drug sales methods in the Chinese garrison after the Sino-Japanese War of 1898-1898, trying to use drugs to
While destroying the will of the Chinese people, it also plundered the huge wealth of the Chinese people.
At that time, whether it was the Kwantung Army stationed in Northeast China, the Chinese garrison in North China, or the Marine Special Marines and Fleet in Shanghai, they all relied on their respective intelligence systems to establish a sales channel for drugs and arms in order to support war with war and plunder.
The strategic intentions of China’s wealth.
In addition to a considerable part of the huge wealth obtained in exchange for countless Chinese bones flowing into the Japanese royal family and to make up for insufficient military expenditures and espionage funds, a considerable part also flowed into the pockets of commanders at all levels.
The competition caused constant disputes within the Japanese army.
When it was an opium production area, the two sides fought extremely fiercely. In the end, it was not until the September 18th Incident that the Kwantung Army occupied Rehe. After the July 7th Incident, the North China Front also relied on the support of the base camp and abruptly transferred from the Kwantung Army to Chahar.
After the opium production areas of Chanan, Chaxi and Suidong were dug out by the Xinjiang Army Corps, the disputes between the two sides became less severe.
However, the competition for the market has become a tangle of peaceful coexistence between the two parties. The North China Front Army, which has actually monopolized the entire Japanese-occupied area of China's customs and supplies most of the drug market, does not want the products produced in Rehe, a area controlled by the Kwantung Army.
Tobacco enters the North China market.
Because it is tightly controlled by the Kwantung Army, there is almost no resistance in Rehe. Not only is the production cost of tobacco very low, but the quality is also better than that produced in Chanan, which is not a traditional opium producing area. As a traditional opium producing area, Suiyuan only has
The Suidong area was controlled by the Japanese army, and the quality and output of opium controlled by the North China Front could not be compared with that of the Kwantung Army.
If the North China Front allows the tobacco from Rehe to enter the market, then the North China Front will have to compete for the market with Yuntu, Sichuan soil, and the tobacco produced in Henan, and even the tobacco produced in Ningxia and Gansu.
There will be great losses, the market share will be taken away, and the profits will naturally be much less.
But the Kwantung Army has always believed that the whole of China is a traditional market for Rehe smoke and soil. You can't just sell it to me. There are only so many markets in the Northeast. If I don't sell to outsiders, where can I make money? How many years of profits can I make?
Due to the disputes, the two strategic groups of the Japanese army did not get along very happily. The accounts were divided unevenly and it was normal for them to look down upon each other.
If it were not forced by the situation, so many senior officers from these two areas would never sit together. The thoughts of the generals and front army commanders are completely different from those of the division commander below. The position of the division commander is not
It can be done for a long time, and each division will not be stationed in one place for a long time.
However, the position of commander of the front army, as long as no major mistakes are made during his term of office, will not be moved easily. If you don't reach out when you are in office, then when will you reach out? Do you really wait until you are transferred to the reserve and go home?
After that, living on the pitiful retirement salary of the Imperial Army, this meat has been eaten into the mouth, and it is difficult to spit it out.
It's just that even though they don't like each other too much, the situation is pressing, and although there is a certain degree of coordination in strategic direction, after all, the Japanese remember the allusion of lips dying and teeth falling apart much more clearly than the Chinese, but in fact, everyone
They all have the mentality of waiting to see each other’s jokes.
But in the face of the current situation, if we don't come up with countermeasures, everyone's life will not be too easy, so even though we don't like each other, it would be better for everyone to sit down and talk. Of course, these are either classmates or fellow senior officers.
, I still have no grudges within myself.
They don't like each other, mainly due to disputes over interests. After all, which song is sung on which hilltop, and the position under the butt still has to determine the thinking of the head. Apart from the disputes over their respective interests, everyone has nothing to do with each other.
We are all officers of the imperial army. If we really lose the battle, it will be uncomfortable for everyone.
In fact, after the loss of Western Manchuria, both the Kwantung Army and the North China Front Army have already determined the general intention of the Anti-Japanese Alliance's next move. However, regarding the next action that the Anti-Japanese Alliance may take, whether it will attack Southern Manchuria or directly attack South Manchuria.
Inserting into the Pingjin area, the Kwantung Army and the North China Front Army had their own disputes.
The Kwantung Army believes that the next move of the Anti-Japanese Alliance is likely to be to cross the Yanshan Mountains and enter the North China Plain to obtain abundant manpower and material resources in North China. Regarding this judgment, the Kwantung Army, which has occupied Northeast China for a full decade, is very confident.
theoretically based.
However, the North China Front Army believes that the next move of the Anti-Japanese Alliance against Beijing and Tianjin in North China is likely to be just a tentative attack. Their real target is South Manchuria, the industrial and agricultural center of the entire Northeast. Regarding this judgment, the North China Front Army also agrees.
It has its own theoretical basis.
They seized Jehol and Western Manchuria just to outflank the main force of the Kwantung Army in Southern Manchuria. Compared with the North China Plain, Southern Manchuria, which has a huge industrial base, will be the main target of this armed force, and if they don't first
To deal with the Kwantung Army in southern Manchuria and instead choose to go south into the Pass, it would be even more inconsistent with their interests militarily.
Because from the perspective of the North China Front Army, if this anti-Japanese armed force wants to go deep into the North China Plain to obtain supplements of the abundant manpower, food and other resources there, then in the face of the entire North China Front Army, or even the entire China Dispatch Force, it will at least More than 300,000 troops must be concentrated, and under such circumstances, they simply do not have the strength to defend against the Kwantung Army's counterattack.
As long as you are a normal person, you will never ignore the fact that there is still a heavy troop group in the rear and flanks, and risk the possibility that your troops will go south and be intercepted by powerful opponents coming out from the flanks. The whole thing will be cut off at Yanshan. Due to the risk in the narrow area between the Dama Mountains and the Qilaotu Mountains, we concentrated our main forces to attack the Pingjin area southward and into the Hebei Plain.