Having said this, Kimura Hyōtaro bowed and said: "Your Excellency, Commander, I think we should accept the opinion of the base camp now. Make every effort to train the troops, strengthen the blockade of their base areas, and reduce their continuous combat potential. Wait and see what happens, and wait.
Changes in the international situation. At the same time, we will strengthen our penetration of its so-called base areas at all costs and collect the intelligence we urgently need."
"Judging from this telegram from the base camp, it will only take a few months for the Germans to attack the Soviet Union. With the German army's current military victory, sophisticated tactics and equipment, even the powerful Britain and France can easily be defeated.
Defeated. And the Soviet army with outdated equipment may be difficult to resist. As long as the Soviet Union is defeated, it will mean that the Anti-Japanese Alliance will be drained of fuel."
"Without the support, they also lost all sources of materials to maintain the war. Even if they have an arsenal, military equipment cannot be solved by a simple arsenal. Without the support of upstream industries and the copper for ammunition production,
Without the steel to make guns and shells, without the smokeless gunpowder to produce propellant, and without the support of oil, what else could they use to maintain the war? What could they use to maintain their determination to continue the war?"
"Manchuria is the most industrially developed region in China, but almost all of the industrial base is concentrated in southern Manchuria. Except for the mining and logging industries, northern Manchuria has almost no modern industries. Your Excellency, Commander, an army can
It can be established in a short time, but the modern industry that maintains an army cannot be established in a short time."
"Your Excellency, Commander, for an army without the support of modern military industry, once all foreign aid channels are cut off, their combat effectiveness will be extremely obvious, and they can even barely maintain the war situation. This point, in China Pass,
It has been proven on the battlefield.”
"In the Guanci Civil War, after the empire cut off all external communications of the so-called Nationalist Government in Chongqing, the combat effectiveness of the China Army showed a clear downward trend. Even the so-called most elite Central Army, the amount of ammunition consumed by each soldier every day has been
It has dropped to thirty rounds. The number of rifles and light and heavy machine guns equipped by each division is less than half of what it was before the war. The reason why the China Army in Chongqing is still resisting is just to occupy the vast territory of China."
"As for the Anti-Japanese Alliance, they do not have the same confidence as the Chongqing government. Although the Chongqing government's own military production cannot meet the needs of the army, its limited military output can still maintain the most basic consumption of its army. Artillery shells are used
The production of steel and propellant is still barely enough."
"As for them, we have not found any signs of the construction of upstream military industries such as steel, non-ferrous metal smelting, chemicals, etc. This proves that they rely on imports for all military raw materials. Once they are in Soviet Russia, they will not be able to protect themselves.
Under this circumstance, we will never continue to provide it with raw materials needed for military industry."
"At that time, if there is no source of military raw materials, their ammunition supply will not be sourced. And what modern warfare is about is steel. Without sufficient ammunition supply, can their combat effectiveness be maintained so strong? I
I’m afraid we won’t have this opportunity anymore.”
"There is another reason why I suggest you obey the orders of the base camp. Commander, although North Manchuria has a vast territory, its population is extremely sparse compared to South Manchuria. The population of Manchuria is mainly concentrated in South Manchuria. Based on the population of North Manchuria,
It cannot support them to build a huge army."
"Contrary to the fact that we can get a steady stream of new recruits from China and even North Korea. Due to the limitation of population, especially the number of men of suitable age, their recruitment of soldiers is extremely difficult. They cannot withstand the huge force of the Chinese Army in Guannei on the battlefield.
The cost of casualties.”
"Furthermore, the terrain in Northern Manchuria is complex, and it is the latest area to be developed in Manchuria. It is not a traditional agricultural area in Manchuria. The production of grain in Northern Manchuria does not occupy a major position in Manchuria. However, the grain production in Northern Manchuria is limited.
The output is difficult to maintain the consumption of an army for a long time."
"As long as they lose material support from Soviet Russia and have no modern industrial base to support their military industry, nor a huge population and sufficient food production to support our consumption, I think even salt will be needed.
How can they fight with us when they import? Even if we slowly consume them, we can still consume them to death."
"So I believe that the most important thing we should do now is to switch from offense to defense. Change the deployment posture of the forward divisions from offensive to both offensive and defensive. In order to prevent them from going south and attacking Jilin and other grain-producing areas. At the same time, they will
The so-called base areas are strictly sealed off and absolutely cannot allow a grain of salt, a tael of cotton, a foot of cloth, a pound of grain, or a drop of kerosene to flow into their so-called base areas."
"Also, all the Manchus within thirty kilometers south of all fronts were forcibly moved south. This is to imitate that someone was bold enough to violate the orders of the Kwantung Army and smuggle their urgently needed supplies to its so-called base area. Secondly, it was also sabotage.
The source of its replenishment of troops. It would be better if there was no grass growing around the battle line, than to allow it to obtain the replenishment of one soldier and one soldier."
"At the same time, before the situation becomes clear, properly concentrate a group of troops on the front line to conduct some small-scale operations with them. One is to consume their material reserves. The most critical thing is to use as much strength as possible under the situation that it is difficult to replenish their troops.
weaken its vitality."
"Your Excellency, Commander, I want to fight this small-scale battle without our imperial army coming forward. It is perfectly fine to let the Manchurians and the recruited Koreans take the lead, and it is perfectly fine for the imperial army to supervise the battle from behind. Every soldier of the empire will
It is precious and should be dedicated to the holy war of Emperor Hachiko Ichiu. It should not be lost in vain in such a small-scale armed friction."
"Since Manchuria was created by the empire, it is appropriate to make some contributions to the imperial jihad. And since the Koreans are part of the empire and enjoy the honor brought to them by the empire's power, they should naturally contribute to the empire and serve the emperor.
Be loyal."
"Using the recruited Koreans and Manchus to fight on the front line instead of the imperial army can not only consume their effective strength, but also avoid the casualties of the imperial army. This will prevent the imperial army from being involved in these small-scale, but extremely frequent small battles.
And it can be said that it kills two birds with one stone."
"Judging from the battle last year, these Manchuria have been carefully reorganized and trained by Mr. Sasaki, but except for a few troops, most of the troops are not very loyal to the imperial army. I think we can take advantage of this opportunity.
Eliminating some unsettled elements and completely replacing the Manchus in Manchuria with Koreans may not be a bad thing for the imperial army."
"As for those Koreans, no matter how many casualties there are, they will not hurt the bones of the imperial army. As long as we can weaken the opponent's strength and ensure the vitality of the Kwantung Army, we will wipe out all the Korean men in the entire Manchukuo and all the men on the Korean Peninsula.
No matter what, I won’t hesitate.”
"In addition, we should concentrate the main force of the aviation force to carry out large-scale bombing of Harbin, Qiqihar, Jiamusi and other large cities in its control area, including various counties, to completely destroy its war potential. As for other aspects, I think we should still use
It is better to wait for the international situation to change."
"As long as they lose the support of Soviet Russia, weapons, ammunition and all necessary supply channels for war. After trapping them half to death, we can safely and boldly fight them decisively and eliminate them north of the Songhua River in one fell swoop. We can even
Move northward in one fell swoop to eliminate the so-called heavy military group of Soviet Russia's Far East Military District."
"But now, Your Excellency Commander, I think that since we have a way to get twice the result with half the effort, we should not rush for success. It is better to follow the orders of the base camp and wait for the changes in the international situation. The Kwantung Army is the total reserve force of the empire. If it is lost
Too much will affect the empire's next strategic deployment."
"Your Excellency, Commander, the Kwantung Army can no longer withstand last year's disastrous defeat. If last year's setback occurs again, I'm afraid it will be difficult for you to explain it in front of the Emperor. Instead of paying a heavy price, fight head-on with him.
, it is better to wait for its strength to be weakened to a certain extent before we take action. Commander, you are familiar with the art of war, and you should understand that many times drawing fuel from the bottom of the cauldron is more deadly than a duel on the battlefield."
Kimura Hyōtaro's words made Umezu Meijiro fall into deep thought for a long time. After a long time, he raised his head and looked at him and said: "I understand what Kimura-kun means. Now that Kimura-kun has said it, let me look at the next plan.
It’s best to implement it according to Kimura-kun’s plan.”
"The recruitment of soldiers in Korea will start with the Koreans in Manchuria. These Koreans will not be incorporated into the imperial army for the time being, and will all be transferred to Manchuria to replace the extremely unreliable Manchus. As for the Koreans in Korea, we
I will study this matter with the North Korean Governor."
Hearing that Umezu Yoshijiro finally agreed to his suggestion, Kimura Hyōtaro, who had always been worried that Commander Umezu in front of him was stubborn and refused to carry out the orders of the base camp, finally felt relieved. He just breathed a slight sigh of relief.
I, the lieutenant general and chief of staff can’t help but secretly say that he is lucky that he finally does not have to face the dilemma between Prime Minister Lu and the general commander of the Kwantung Army.”
As the chief of staff of the Kwantung Army, Kimura Hyōtaro, who suffered both losses and glory as the commander, should naturally be responsible for the commander of the Kwantung Army. But as an officer who was single-handedly promoted by the Prime Minister, Kimura Hyōtaro believed that he was more
You should be loyal to Mr. Prime Minister Lu.
Without the special promotion of the person who now holds the high post of Prime Minister, Kimura Hyoutarou, who was an artillery officer, would not have been able to go directly from a division commander to the chief of staff of the Kwantung Army, a position with unlimited future and financial prospects.
Above. If the commander of the Kwantung Army and the Prime Minister of the Mainland disagree on some opinions, Kimura Hyoutarou, who is caught in the middle, will be in a dilemma.
Especially since this commander, who once served as the Army Under-Secretary, has never been very fond of the Prime Minister. Fortunately, this time the stubborn commander finally stepped forward with his own persuasion and agreed to carry out the base camp.
In fact, it was the order of Prime Minister Lu. This made Hyōtaro Kimura breathe a sigh of relief when his nervous back was soaked with sweat while Umezu Meijiro was deep in thought.