Just when the whole of China was in a state of revelry because of the great victory at Madang, as the losing party, Japan, what happened in its country?
The people of Japan are no better than China. If they want to get information about China's battlefield, they can only go through the government. The Japanese government is used to reporting good news but not bad news. This time, will they reveal the truth and slap themselves?
The first people to receive the news of Madang's defeat were naturally the leaders of Japan. The news of the defeat spread to Nanjing and back to Tokyo. It was like a thunderbolt from the blue to both Shunroku Hata and Emperor Hirohito, splitting the two in an instant. dizzy,
Okamura Neiji was loyal to Hata Shunroku, and the latter naturally had no good impression of the former. However, even so, Hata Shunroku did not doubt the former's ability. He did not think that the former could easily defeat the Xuebing Army. At the same time, he did not think that the former could easily defeat the army. Ouyang Yun can easily defeat the former. He has this judgment. Based on this fact, regardless of other things, the strength of the 11th Army is really immeasurable. The three divisions plus the Botian Detachment have nearly 80,000 soldiers. As for the army, not to mention that Ouyang Yun only has two and a half divisions in Pengze, but even the men and horses of his five and a half divisions are at an absolute disadvantage just in terms of strength comparison.
You must know that at present, the individual combat strength of the Japanese army and the Chinese army is one to three. One Japanese soldier is worth three soldiers of the Chinese army. In this case, Ouyang Yun only has more than 60,000 troops, but How can we fight against 80,000 Japanese troops?
The fact gave Hata Shunroku a loud slap in the face,
Having just received the telegram from Katamura No. 8, Shunroku Hata thought that there was a problem with the communications staff's deciphering. However, after receiving the confirmation, the old Japanese was immediately confused, "It's impossible, how is it possible?"
"Your Excellency, Colonel Katamura Yoshihachi has mentioned that if you don't believe it, you can ask Nishio-dono for confirmation."
Shunroku Hata had intellectually accepted this fact, but he still had some illusions in his heart. He immediately ordered the communications staff to send a message to Nishio Hisou about the matter. Nishio Hisou's call back arrived soon. At this time, the Second Army acted as The only Japanese armed force in the Wuhan area began to accept the defeat of the 11th Army along the way. From the defeat of the 11th Army, Nishio obtained detailed information. The credibility of his call back was completely different, "... ...Private Yamashita Shotaun of a certain brigade of a certain brigade of the 12th Division..."
Nishio listed a few words to gather the soldiers. At this moment, Shunroku Hata was completely desperate. The empire only had a few armies in China, but this one was lost. "Why is this happening? Can anyone tell me why this is happening?" "For three consecutive days, Shunroku Hata was furious in the headquarters of the Japanese Army in Nanjing. He would question every subordinate he caught. The 11th Army was almost wiped out. Regardless of the loss of nearly 50,000 Imperial troops, the Japanese Army in China The total force immediately shrunk by nearly one-eighth. What's worse is that all the Japanese arrangements before the Wuhan Battle were completely disrupted. Now, if the Japanese army wants to launch the Wuhan Battle again, they will have to mobilize troops from other places and even domestically. , However, as far as the current distribution of the Japanese army's forces is concerned: the forces on the Taiwan and South China fronts cannot be moved. Not only that, more troops will be sent to the direction of Taiwan. So, should we mobilize troops from Northeast and North China? It is also unrealistic. In the Northeast and North China, local resistance forces mainly composed of guerrillas frequently harass the Japanese army's rear areas and supply lines, which has seriously threatened the foundation of the Japanese army's rule in these two places. In this case, if we deploy troops outside, That will only make the guerrilla activities more rampant. If something goes wrong, one or two counties or even one or two regions may be abandoned.
That's all. What makes Shunroku Hata most anxious is that although the Battle of Madang was not commanded by him, it was launched by Okamura Neji. However, as the supreme commander of the Japanese troops stationed in China, he must bear considerable responsibilities. Responsibility, whether he can continue to stay in Nanjing depends on the attitude of the base camp.
Inside the Japanese Imperial Palace in Tokyo, the atmosphere was unprecedentedly depressing.
This is not the first time that the Japanese army has suffered heavy casualties in China. The previous 108th Division was completely destroyed in the Battle of Tianjin, and the new division commander Doihara Kenji was captured; in the Second Battle of the Great Wall not long after, the Japanese army again Suffering huge casualties... These once made Hirohito express caution about the prospect of the "China Incident". However, at that time, because this was only a small-scale defeat on the battlefield, it was not important enough to affect the overall situation, so it did not make Hirohito feel a sense of crisis. , he agreed with the Konoe cabinet's handling measures at that time, and deliberately concealed the news of these defeats, and continued to advocate the great victory of the Japanese army in China. Now, in the face of such a huge number of casualties, Hirohito finally felt frightened.
Regarding the rapid resolution of the "China Incident", there are many optimists in the Japanese military base camp. Among them, the most outstanding one is Gen. Sugiyama, the then Minister of War. Sugiyama once arrogantly declared that he would destroy China within three months. But now, everyone I don’t know how many months have passed in the past, but the war in China is still in an anxious state, and the Japanese army’s fierce offensive has now been contained and suffered huge casualties. At this time, not only Hirohito lost confidence, but also the Japanese hawks headed by Sugiyama Gen , also began to speak cautiously, believing that the resolution of the "China Incident" will be a long process.
The change of attitude of hawks such as Sugiyama Gen. on the "China Incident" had a huge impact on Hirohito. When a group of generals in the base camp once again proposed to deal with the "Madang defeat" in a low-key manner, he clearly expressed his opposition, believing that in view of the "China Incident" "There is a danger of losing control. Continuing to hide it from the people will only be counterproductive. The right thing to do now is to truthfully tell the people what is happening ahead. Only in this way can we unify the strength of the whole country in order to win the decisive battle with China.
As the leader of Japan's Showa warlord group, Hirohito said such words, and the generals of the Army Ministry did not dare to disobey him. Therefore, starting from the next day, newspapers across Japan began to report in the form of "mourning Yamamuro Munetake and other heroes." The Battle of Madang. Soon, the news of the imperial army’s defeat in China’s Madang spread throughout Japan.
"What, the imperial army was defeated in China."
"Why is this happening? The generals on the front line, are they all dozing off?"
...This news immediately caused a shock among the Japanese people that was no less than the earthquake in 1932. Perhaps it was because they had heard too much about the victory of the Imperial Army. This accidental defeat did not surprise the Japanese. There were too many negative emotions. The topic they discussed most was not the adverse impact that defeat would have on the empire, but what the empire should do, and what individual Japanese people should do, so that this war could be ended as soon as possible. war to achieve common prosperity in Greater East Asia,
This reaction of the Japanese naturally made Hirohito and other main war factions happy to see it. Therefore, under the instigation of some generals in the base camp, a more rigorous wartime system was formulated. The biggest feature of this system is that it must Concentrate all the efforts of the enthusiastic people to strive for an early breakthrough in China,
On the day when this wartime system was announced, in Nagoya, which had just been bombed by the cadet army, that night, in the ruins, a light group suddenly appeared.