Beiyang reactionaries

"General, the Japanese army attacked Ma Chen."

"Prime Minister, General Jin Cunjun led the 27th and 22th Brigades to encircle and annihilate the [-]th Infantry Brigade stationed in Borneo (Kalimantan Island), defeated the [-]nd Infantry Brigade, and successfully captured Machen Port."

"it is good."

74 is old.

Yoshiichi Tanaka was the longest serving prime minister in Japan after the Meiji Restoration, and he was also the most powerful among the cabinet prime ministers.After Tanaka Yoshiichi became prime minister, he kept centralizing power.After becoming the prime minister, the power of the police was increased, and under the pretext of cleaning up the leftists headed by the Communist Party in Japan, the police were used to suppress other opposition groups and sweep away political opposition factions.These practices of Yoshiichi Tanaka have completely undermined the democratic process in Japan, and gradually turned the Japanese National Assembly into a decoration. They also controlled the Japanese media and prevented dissenting voices from spreading in society.Moreover, Yoshiichi Tanaka's centralization of power also included support for the Japanese chaebol, which made the Japanese economy increasingly reflect the phenomenon of oligarchs.Now half of Japan's economy is under the control of oligarchs.

In the process, the opposition is also growing.The Japanese aristocratic forces, the Japanese veteran forces, and the Japanese constitutional forces are very dissatisfied with Tanaka Yoshiichi, who is becoming more and more powerful.However, Tanaka Yoshiichi is still very strong, not only has the absolute trust of the emperor, but also the domestic opposition is firmly suppressed by him.Without the support of the emperor, Tanaka Yoshiichi would not have been so strong.

Japanese Army Minister Moto Sugiyama reported the situation of the army's war in Kalimantan.

On August 1938, 8, before the time for Japan's ultimatum, it launched an offensive brazenly.Anyway, Japan doesn't care about reputation, but Britain is completely caught off guard.

They thought that after the time for the ultimatum, Britain and Japan would continue to negotiate, and they could delay the time.It's a pity that they don't understand what Japan is like at all.Be it Japan or Germany, they are completely different from those countries before.

Although Britain and France are also very shameless, at least the superficial articles must be done, and decency must be observed.But Germany and Japan don't care about that at all. They don't care about the previous political order and the procedures for handling things between countries.

If you say war, start war.

The British army was completely at a loss as to what to do.There are not many British troops in Kalimantan, and there is an army of Malay troops.And it is said that it is an army, but it is actually two infantry brigades, plus a small number of local troops, and the police to maintain local order.Where is the opponent of the well-prepared and powerful Japanese elite troops.In a few strokes, the Japanese army wiped out the 27th Infantry Brigade of the Malay Army.

The 22nd Infantry Brigade of the Malay Army was directly defeated by the Japanese army.The Japanese army dispatched 140 tanks in this war, opening the way with tanks, and then followed by well-trained elite troops.

The British Far East Army is currently not equipped with even a single tank, and there is nothing it can do to face the Japanese tanks.

"Good job."

Tanaka Yoshiichi was very happy.

This time the Japanese army was off to a good start.However, Yoshiichi Tanaka was not worried, so he said directly: "Where is the British Far East Fleet?"

"There is no response, and we are staying in Singapore. Our troops are currently attacking in three directions and are attacking the city in Borneo, but the British side has not sent reinforcements. The entire Borneo is now completely defenseless. The 22nd Infantry Brigade escaped better than anyone else." All fast. Therefore, except for a small number of local troops, most of them are some local police. Facing the army of the Republic of Indonesia, many places surrendered without a fight.”

"it is good."

Tanaka Yoshihito nodded slightly, thought for a while and asked, "What about France?"

Britain and France are an alliance.

The Japanese attacked Port Maschen, but did not declare war on Britain, nor did Britain declare war on Japan.The two sides are in a very delicate situation.But Yoshiichi Tanaka knew that it was only a matter of time before the two sides declared war on each other.

And as long as Japan and the United Kingdom declare war, France will definitely be involved.

"No response yet."

"Ah."

"Prime Minister, although Britain and France are not responding now, they will inevitably expand their armies and prepare for war. Behind them are India, as well as the support of Britain and France, who can arm hundreds of thousands of troops in a short period of time. Now their Far East army has no tanks, planes The number is also small, but as long as they start to equip the Far East army, then aircraft, tanks, artillery and other weapons will appear quickly. Therefore, I think the cabinet should support the expansion of the army. The number of our army is still too small. There are only 17 divisions. I think the army The army should be rapidly expanded to 30 divisions, and within two years to 50 divisions. And the troops should be equipped with a large number of tanks, trucks, and motorcycles, and the automation of the troops should be improved."

After the Minister of the Army Sugiyama Moto reported the situation on the battlefield, he began to state the army's requirements.

In recent years, because the policy of the Japanese cabinet has begun to change, all strategies are to prepare for going south.As a result, a large amount of military expenditure has flowed into the navy, and the navy's warships have appeared one after another in recent years.However, because the military expenditure of the Japanese army has not increased, the result is that the upgrading of the Japanese army's weapons and equipment cannot keep up with the plan of the Ministry of the Army.

Now it's time to fight.

Sugiyama Moto put forward the opinion of the Ministry of War.The cabinet should pay attention to the army, otherwise it may suffer losses in future wars with Britain and France.In fact, what Sugiyama Moto wants is money.Compared with neighboring China, the Japanese Army's equipment replacement speed has completely lagged behind.

"Prime Minister, I think we should stop here. After taking Borneo, we should not expand the war. Instead, we should sign an armistice agreement with the United Kingdom to digest Kalimantan."

The Minister of the Navy, Mitsumasa Minai, who had been silent all this time, spoke.

Minai Mitsumasa's words immediately attracted everyone's attention.Sugiyama snorted coldly and said: "Master Hai, the war has already begun. The navy should fight for the interests of the empire, not pour cold water here. What is a Borneo? Malacca and Vietnam should be managed by the empire."

"Mr. Lu, what war requires is an accurate judgment of the strength of the enemy and us. The empire should not have allyed with Germany and Italy. Conflicts with Britain, France and the United States are not good for the empire. Our navy has a good chance of winning a war with Germany and Italy, but It will be much more difficult to go to war with Britain, France and the United States."

"All right."

Yoshiichi Tanaka interrupts the argument between Moto Sugiyama and Mitsumasa Yonei.

The debate between the army and the navy is not just about interests, but also about many concepts.Moto Sugiyama is a meritorious figure in the development of the Japanese aviation force. Japan is able to have such aviation strength at present, Moto Sugiyama has contributed a lot.When Japan did not pay much attention to aircraft, Sugiyama Moto had already begun to see the huge development potential of aircraft, so he has always supported the Japanese military in the development of aviation.Sugiyama Moto is a fanatical militarist, so he has always wanted to fight, and he is also the most supportive military leader in alliances with Germany and Italy.

But the Admiralty is different.

Especially the current Minister of the Navy Mitsumasa Minai, he is the most opposed to the alliance with Germany and Italy in the Japanese army.Although Mitsumasa Minai is the representative of the navy, the imaginary enemy of the Japanese navy training these years is the US Navy.However, Minai Guangzheng opposed the conflict with Britain and France, which eventually led to war with the United States.Minai Mitsumasa has always believed that Britain, France and the United States are powerful, far surpassing Germany and Italy.Therefore, when Japan signed the "Triple Alliance Treaty" with Germany and Italy before, Minai Mitsumasa was the most opposed.

This led to huge conflicts between the Japanese army and navy.

Fortunately, Yoshiichi Tanaka is no ordinary prime minister.Although Yoshiichi Tanaka was born in the army, he has been in the cabinet all these years and has a lot of prestige.Although Minai Mitsumasa's ideas are somewhat different from Tanaka Yoshiichi's, and he even opposes Tanaka Yoshiichi's proposition, Tanaka Yoshiichi likes Minai Mitsumasa very much.

More important than Sugiyama Yuan.

Because in Tanaka Yoshiichi's view, although Sugiyama Yuan has made great contributions to the development of the Japanese Army, he is not as good as Minai Mitsumasa in terms of the overall situation.Yoshiichi Tanaka himself is a person who knows the weight and how to balance.Therefore, I prefer Minai Guangzheng, an army general who knows how to advance and retreat.

"Everyone is right. The empire does not want to fight with Britain and France, but Asia belongs to Asians. The ownership of the Nanyang region is related to the future interests of the empire. Therefore, this battle must be fought. Mr. Hai, I I hope that under the current circumstances, the navy can focus on the overall situation."

"Yes."

Mitsumasa Minai nodded.

Although Minai Mitsumasa opposed Tanaka Yoshiichi's alliance with Germany and Italy, he still admired Tanaka Yoshiichi.Because after Tanaka Yoshiichi became the Prime Minister of Japan, Tanaka Yoshiichi decisively improved the relationship with China, which allowed the Japanese economy to survive the most difficult time.And it is getting better and better in diplomacy, and the development in all aspects is very good.So far, Japan has taken places like Java Island, Sulawesi Island, and Irian Island almost without bloodshed.The strength of Japan has been greatly enhanced, and Japan's right to speak has also been greatly increased.

This is the ability of Tanaka Yoshiichi.

It didn't need to fight much to bring so many benefits to Japan.Such Tanaka Yoshiichi, Minai Mitsumasa is of course very supportive.

"However, Prime Minister, if the conflict between us and Britain and France intensifies, especially once our troops control Malacca, then the United States will inevitably be involved in the war. It is impossible for the United States to watch us control Malacca. If there is a conflict with the United States, our naval pressure will Big."

"Does the United States have an army?"

Sugiyama Moto looked down on Minai Mitsumasa's foresight.

The veterans of Japan all gambled on their country's luck and succeeded.Such as the Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War later, those seniors really gambled on the fate of the country.But God has always blessed Japan.In every adventure, Japan has won.So Sugiyama Moto believes that they should also inherit the spirit of their predecessors and move forward bravely.

United States?

Does the US have an army now?

Minai Mitsumasa frowned and said: "The United States is the world's largest industrial country. As long as it is needed, the United States can build a powerful navy in a short period of time. Our current naval strength is still very problematic. I think we should use Great power scares the United States away, rather than actually confronting them."

"Scare America away?"

"Yes. Prime Minister, I always believe that our country should not conflict with the United States, because the industrial strength of the United States is too strong. A conflict with such a country will always delay the war, which is very detrimental to the empire. The best way is , we use our strong military power to scare off the United States and prevent them from going to war with us."

"Then according to the meaning of the sea?"

Tanaka Yoshiichi was very interested.