Iron Cross

"I personally do not agree to attack the Soviet Union because the combined fleet cannot go ashore." Yamamoto Isoroku said, "The Army and the Soviet Union have fought twice. Which time was it not disgraced? The most important thing in fighting the Soviet Union is the number of tanks and artillery. , You also listened to the introduction by the German envoy two days ago. In terms of tank production, the empire’s annual output is almost the same as the United States’ monthly production. This gap is wider than the navy, and the artillery obviously cannot compete with the Soviet Union.”

"So the Army has an opinion that it should suspend naval shipbuilding and concentrate resources on mecha strength." Shun Tada said with a half-smile, "One capital ship is enough to build 1,000 tanks."

"Don't be kidding, you also know this is impossible." Yamamoto Isoroku also laughed, "Even if I agree with the Navy, I will not agree. Taking a step back, even if the Navy grits its teeth and agrees, what does it matter? What's the point? Attacking the Soviet Union will not hit the United States at all. You have a good time going north to fight, but the Americans can still attack us. "

Everyone here is smart. Of course, they understand that attacking the Soviet Union from both sides will have limited benefits for Japan. Doing so may not necessarily lead to joining forces with Germany to destroy the Soviet Union. Even if Germany destroys the Soviet Union, so what if the United States and Germany cease war by then? Still being crushed. The relationship between countries is based on interests, and illusory guarantees, promises, and agreements are meant to be torn apart. Only fanatics among middle- and lower-level officers who have never seen the world will believe in the guarantees of politicians.

"The Army thinks that 250,000 Indian troops are enough to attack India?" Narumi Inoue asked strangely, "Although the Indians are weak in character, have no modern government, their industrial capabilities are in shambles, and colonial rule is everywhere, they are still 400 million people after all. In a country with a large population, 250,000 troops are just like a drop of water falling into a pond. China also has a population of 400 million. How many years has it been fighting? Isn’t the army afraid of making the same mistake again? "

"Of course 250,000 is not enough. It will never be enough if we don't withdraw troops from China and Southeast Asia, but at least we have to start a fight first." Shun Tada smiled slyly, "If everyone thinks that India is a fatter piece of meat than China, I think No one wants to chew bones in China without pinching the soft persimmon of India, right? The 250,000 are just the initial troops. As long as we open up the situation in India and reap the benefits, those red deer who are clamoring all over the world not to withdraw from China will soon die down. Besides, given the navy’s transportation capabilities, I doubt whether it can transport 250,000 in the short term.”

"An attack on India, a peninsula surrounded by sea on three sides, can bring out the value of the navy, but we must wait for the combined fleet to open up the connection between the Middle East and the Indian Ocean before proceeding. At least we must kill the British fleet staying in India, otherwise it will pose too great a threat to us. As for the army The proposal to partially withdraw troops from the Nanyang Islands..." Yamamoto Isoroku thought for a while and nodded, "That's okay, but where does the Army want to withdraw? In what order will the withdrawn Army troops be used? Woolen cloth?"

"The navy agrees with the Indian Ocean strategy?" Shimomura Sada seized the opportunity and asked.

"It's too early to talk about consent, but it will definitely come before heading north to attack the Soviet Union."

Shun Tada was not anxious about not being able to get a clear answer from Yamamoto Isoroku, let alone withdrawing troops from those islands in the Southeast Asia. Instead, he asked another question: "Mr. Marine, there is one thing that I find strange. You said it yourself a few days ago." I said that before you left Truk, you had deployed the evacuation mission from Guadalcanal and stated that you would cooperate with the army's actions. You also specifically instructed Chief of Staff Ugaki to execute it. However, the information I received is that the Commander of the Second Fleet Lieutenant General Kondo Nobutake and Chief of Staff Ugaki Matoi were still encouraging the Army to launch a counterattack, and promised to provide fire support if the Army attacked. Originally, Hyakutake Haruyoshi's 17th Army was defeated due to the successive failures of the Ichiki Detachment and Kawaguchi Detachment. I'm still holding my heart in my heart. After being encouraged by the navy, I held my breath and wanted revenge. Now I can't restrain myself at all. Deputy Commander Ishihara and I have complained twice. If we can't stop, the entire Second Division will be involved. Go in..."

Inoue Narumi was unhappy and retorted: "At the end of last month, General Hyakutake asked the Navy for help. The General Staff Headquarters sent Colonel Tsuji Masanobu to Truk as a lobbyist. He satirized Chief Yamamoto for staying at the Yamato Hotel and said that the Army on Guadalcanal was special. It was the Kawaguchi detachment that was a hell on earth, and it didn't stop until the commander agreed to support it. The cabinet collapsed early this month and asked the navy to cooperate with the army in retreating. However, Commander Yamamoto made arrangements according to Tokyo's request. Who knew that the army would jump up and call the navy a coward, Hyakutake Haruyoshi. The lieutenant general even mocked us for not counting what we said. Not to mention how unpleasant the words were. In fact, it was the Army that wanted to fight in the first place and not us who encouraged the Army to fight. Since the Army wanted to fight so much, the Navy had no choice but to accompany it. On the 14th and 15th, the combined fleet came out in full force. , a powerful force of 4 battleships, 5 aircraft carriers, 10 cruisers and 29 destroyers commanded by Vice Admiral Kondo blocked all entrances to the Solomon Islands. The formation, with 4 heavy cruisers including Chokai, Kinugasa, Myoko and Maya as the main force, blocked the entrance to the Solomon Islands. The night bombardment of Guadalcanal was a success and the enemy airfield was plunged into a sea of ​​flames, but the army's general attack failed shamefully..."

"Shang-chan Ino's statement is inaccurate. The Army's general attack was just postponed. How can it be called a failure?" Shimomura Sada said dissatisfied, "The general attack plan formulated by General Hyakutake Haruyoshi stipulates that Lieutenant General Maruyama will lead the 2nd The main force of the division was responsible for the main attack, with about two brigades of troops commanded by Major General Sumakichi assisting from the flanks. The main force of the 2nd Division was unable to reach the designated location on the 22nd because the road taken by the main force of the 2nd Division passed through dense jungles and was difficult to travel. , we had to postpone the attack to the 24th..."

"What about the flank attacking troops?" Inoue Narumi looked at Shimomura Sadada with a smile, "Did they postpone it? In addition, it is already evening on the 25th, did the general attack succeed?"

Shimomura Sadada was speechless: due to the interruption of communication, the other route commanded by Major General Sumoyoshi did not receive the order to postpone the attack and launched the attack on time. As a result, they were defeated by the US military, and more than half of the two battalions were lost, losing the ability to attack. He was fully aware of this situation today. The result of the main attack of the 2nd Division has not yet been received. Only the 17th Army sent a vague telegram saying "our army is fighting bravely" - according to the normal combat logic of the army, any battle report that was not sent back in the first time would most likely not be very ideal.

Shimomura Sadada's guess made sense: at dawn today, Maruyama was forced to give up the attack and sent a telegram to Hyakutake Haruyoshi that it was still difficult to occupy the airport. Hyakutake did not report this information to Tokyo, but instead asked him to continue the attack again. Originally, this kind of deceiving superiors and concealing the truth from subordinates could succeed in history. Even if the navy knew the news, it would not leak it to the army center. However, the situation has changed now. The bigwigs of the army and navy are sitting together drinking, so the little things below can no longer be concealed.

Sure enough, Inoue Narumi took out a battle report from his briefcase: "This is the battle report on the Guadalcanal front that I received from the Military General Staff this afternoon: ... At dawn today, the enemy's superior land-based aviation team and aircraft carrier-based aircraft attacked our Kawaguchi fleet. The Yura cruiser sank in battle, and the Akizuki and Mayuyu destroyers were damaged. In view of the failure of the general attack of the Army's Second Division and the fact that the airport is still in the hands of the US military, our fleet was forced to return..."

After these two sentences, Tada Shun and Shimomura Sada looked very ugly - the fact that there was no good news from Momotake Harukichi for a long time showed that the navy's battle report was mostly credible.

"How is it? Will the army still fight?" Yamamoto Isoroku said with a half-smile, "If they want to fight, the navy can come again."

"It's impossible to fight. The Americans have already sent reinforcements twice. Whether it's planes or tanks, they have more than us... But how can we stop these idiots on the front line?" Tada Shun stood up irritably, grabbing the few hairs on his head in distress, "It should be the work of the General Staff, not my turn to worry about it, but I always feel that it will be bad if it goes on like this."

"Now you know my pain, right? It's true that I arranged the retreat before I left, but some people won't give up? As the Minister of the Navy, I can't directly interfere with military orders, and the Combined Fleet is leaderless..." Yamamoto Isoroku pointed his finger upwards, implying that there were others who resisted his orders and encouraged the army to continue the attack. The biggest suspect was the Chief of the Military General Staff, Prince Fushimi Hiroyoshi, and the Deputy Minister Toyoda Soetake. Of course, it was logical for Kondo Nobutake to command the Combined Fleet. As the most senior fleet commander, he was the first-ranked deputy when the Combined Fleet commander was vacant, and Ugaki Matome was far behind him, not to mention that Ugaki Matome was not convinced by Yamamoto's orders.

Tada Shun was upset and thought: Is it really like Ishiwara Kanji said, if Momotake Haruyoshi doesn't change his mind, he will be replaced? Replacing people is the right of the Army Ministry, but replacing a lieutenant general on the battlefield is completely unconventional. He still needs to think carefully, at least he can't make such a big decision alone.

Thinking of this, he forced a smile and changed the subject, asking: "I heard that your chief of staff is called the Golden Mask, and he doesn't treat anyone with contempt. Now the prime minister is named Ugaki. Your old classmate who has been a businessman for 8 years will not be bullied by him if he takes up the post?"

Ugaki Matome is the 9th graduate of the 40th class of the Marine Academy (144 people in the same period). He is also a relative of Army General Ugaki Kazunari (current prime minister) and Navy Vice Admiral Ugaki Kanji. He is arrogant and always looks down on people with low abilities, so he has the nickname of the Golden Mask.

It was just a joke, but I didn't expect Yamamoto Isoroku to sigh: "My old classmate is more determined than me."

"What?" Seeing that the other party's eyes were wrong, Tada Shun became puzzled. What else happened?

Yamamoto Isoroku said something, and the other three people all changed color.