Kanin Miya Zaijin had no way to refute, because Tojo Hideki had already said this. If he refutes again, it would be doubting the combat effectiveness of the Guards Division. If this spreads out, the Guards Division's More than 30,000 officers and soldiers still hate him to death? What's more, Hanyin Gong Zairen once served as the division commander of the Guards Division. Tianlai Xiaoshuo
"Okay." Kanin Gong Zaijin said helplessly, "But even if His Majesty the Emperor agrees to the Guards Division going to Shanghai, will two divisions be enough? Will it be too thin?"
Xianyuan Gong Zairen felt that as a battle, at least four divisions should be mobilized.
Tojo Hidekiton replied: "Your Highness, if there is the Guards Division plus the Seventh Division, the strength will be enough! Because the Guards Division has more than 40,000 people, which is more than the two ad hoc divisions. There’s more.”
The size of the Guards Division is indeed the largest among the seventeen permanent divisions, because except for the Guards Division, the First Division and the Second Division, the remaining fourteen permanent divisions usually only have eight regiments. Team, four infantry regiments plus one regiment each of cavalry, engineers, artillery and baggage troops.
But the Guards Division has sixteen regiments under its jurisdiction!
These sixteen regiments include four infantry regiments, four artillery regiments, two cavalry regiments, two railway regiments, and one regiment each for infantry, balloon, communications, and baggage, so the Guards Division The scale is much larger than that of ordinary standing divisions, with more than 35,000 troops.
However, Tojo Hideki's opinion alone was not enough to convince Kanin Gong Zaihito. At that moment, Kanin Gong Zaihito turned his attention to Itagaki Seishiro and asked: "Itagaki-kun, what do you think?"
"Hai." Itagaki Seishiro paused for a moment, and then said, "The view of humble duty is similar to that of Tojo-kun. If the Guards Division and the 7th Division go to Shanghai, the strength will indeed be enough, and even, there is no need for that at all. More troops.”
"You don't need that many troops at all?" Xianyuan Gong Zairen was stunned when he heard this, and said in surprise, "How do you say this?"
Itagaki Seishiro replied: "His Royal Highness the Prince has already read the detailed battle report about the Second Battle of Songhu. If you analyze it carefully, you will find that Xu Rui's Songhu Army Division won this battle with the help of conspiracy and tricks. , if they had an open confrontation, they wouldn’t have much chance.”
"Sodais." Tojo Hideki said with deep understanding, "If Xu Rui hadn't set a fire in Jiangwan and burned three infantry regiments of the 20th Division, the 20th Division would never have Such a fiasco.”
Xianyuan Gong Zairen frowned and said: "Who can be sure that Xu Rui will not come up with another conspiracy to deal with the Guards Division and the Seventh Division? Who can guarantee that the Guards Division and Will the Seventh Division make the same mistake as the Twentieth Division?"
Of course Itagaki Seishiro would not make this guarantee, but he insisted: "Your Highness, the reason why a conspiracy is a conspiracy is because it can only be used once, and it will no longer work after being used once!"
What Seishiro Itagaki said was very confident. At least, if he was allowed to command the third Songhu Battle, he could ensure that he would not make the same mistake as the 20th Division and be defeated by Xu Rui's machinations.
In fact, in Itagaki Seishiro's view, the 20th Division was also very unjustly defeated.
If only this idiot Bunzaburo Kawagishi had been a little more cautious, he would never have suffered such a disastrous defeat!
"Yo Xi." Kanin Gong Zaijin was finally persuaded and asked Tojo Hideki, "Tojo-kun, if His Majesty the Emperor finally approves the Army Headquarters's battle plan for the Third Battle of Songhu, are you ready to recommend it? Who will serve as the commander of the Twelfth Army and be responsible for taking full command of the Third Battle of Songhu?"
"The candidate for the commander of the Twelfth Army is none other than Itagaki-kun." After Tojo Hideki finished speaking, he turned around and bowed deeply to Itagaki Seishiro, and said in a sincere tone, "Itagaki-kun, please do everything!"
Hideki Tojo is also a bachelor, and his posture is low enough.
Itagaki Seishiro looked at Tojo Hideki with a complicated expression on his face.
Itagaki Seishiro did a good job as the commander of the Twelfth Army, but he was arbitrarily dismissed by Hideki Tojo just because he disagreed with the base camp's plan. It is absolutely impossible to say that he has no objections to this. ! However, after the 20th Division was completely annihilated, Tojo's performance was uncharacteristically uncharacteristic.
Hideki Tojo not only summoned him to the Army Headquarters to participate in the summary of the defeat, but also asked him to preside over the meeting! Now, in front of the Chief of General Staff of the Army, Prince Kanin Miya Zaihito, and the Minister of the Army, Juichi Terauchi, he was asked to re-serve as the commander of the Twelfth Army. It can be said that it gave him Seishiro Itagaki's face.
Tojo Hideki has reached this point, and Itagaki Seishiro's resentment has long been dissipated.
However, this does not mean that Itagaki Seishiro is willing to resume his duties as commander of the Twelfth Army.
Therefore, Itagaki Seishiro always kept a straight face and did not express his position immediately. Tojo Hideki was also a bachelor. Seeing that Itagaki Seishiro still refused to express his position, he kept bending down and refused to get up.
In the end, Kanin Gong Zaijin couldn't stand it any longer and frowned and asked, "Itagaki-kun, are you unwilling?"
"Your Highness, it's not that I am unwilling to be humble." Itagaki Seishiro waved his hand and continued, "What I want to say is that if a problem cannot be solved, no matter who is sent to serve as the commander of the Twelfth Army and command the Third I am afraid that the Ci-Shanghai battle will not have a satisfactory result."
"Oh?" Xianyuan Gong Zairen asked, "What's the problem?"
Itagaki Seishiro calmed down and said in a deep voice: "Spike!"
"Spike?!" Tojo Hideki suddenly straightened up after hearing this.
When Xianyuan Palace Zai Ren and Temple Shouyi heard this, their expressions were also stern.
"Yes, Wolf Fang!" Itagaki Seishiro nodded and said, "His Royal Highness, His Excellency the Earl, and Tojo-kun, if you carefully analyze the second Battle of Songhu, the one that Xu Rui placed in Jiangwan The fire is actually just an appearance. A fire, no matter how big it is, cannot burn down three regiments!"
Tojo Hideki said: "Itagaki-kun, what do you mean..."
"It's the command system!" Itagaki Seishiro nodded and said in a deep voice, "The reason why the three infantry regiments of the 20th Division were completely defeated in Jiangwan Town was that the fire set by Xu Rui was just an inducement, the real fatal The factor is actually that the command structures of the 20th Division and the 12th Army were destroyed at the same time!"
"Sodesnai!" Temple Shouichi said with deep understanding, "From a common sense point of view, no matter how big the fire in Jiangwan was, the number of officers and soldiers directly burned to death would only be one or two thousand at most, and the number of soldiers who invaded Jiangwan Town was There were three infantry regiments, nearly ten thousand people, which means that at least seven to eight thousand imperial troops were still fighting at that time!"
After a pause, Terauchi Juichi continued: "If the division headquarters of the 20th Division or the headquarters of the 12th Army are not destroyed, there will be a chance to reorganize the remaining seven or eight thousand Imperial Army. In this way, even if the battle is defeated, the three infantry regiments will not be wiped out, which will affect the subsequent Luodian siege and annihilation battle!"
"Your Majesty the Earl has hit the point." Itagaki Seishiro nodded heavily and added, "So, if the threat of Langya cannot be effectively resolved, no matter who is sent to Shanghai, no matter who is sent as the commander of the Twelfth Army, in the end I’m afraid it’s still inevitable to make the same mistake as Lord Kawagishi, and the third Battle of Songhu will not have a good outcome.”
"Is the wolf fang really so powerful?" Xianyuan Gong Zairen frowned and said, "Can't we strengthen our vigilance?"
Itagaki Seishiro shook his head and said with a wry smile: "Your Highness, you have always been a thief for a thousand days, but you have never been able to guard against thieves for a thousand days. If you are just passively alert, no matter how high your vigilance is, you will inevitably be negligent. Sometimes, however, perhaps just one oversight can lead to irreversible consequences.”
"Then what should we do?" Xianyuan Gong Zairen said, "Is there no other way?"
"There is still a way!" Itagaki Seishiro said, "Xu Rui has the Wolf Fang Force, and our Empire of Japan also has its own special forces!"
"Oluhara Special Operations Brigade!" Hanyuan Gong Zairen said.
"Hai!" Itagaki Seishiro said after a heavy pause, "Your Highness, only Ogahara-kun's special operations brigade can deal with the Wolf Fang Force. If Ogahara-kun's special operations brigade cannot be transferred to the Songhu battlefield, no matter who is chosen as the commander. The commander of the Twelfth Army will be under the threat of Wolf Fang and may die at any time."
Tojo Hideki understood that this was the condition offered by Itagaki Seishiro.
Itagaki Seishiro's condition was to transfer Ogahara Junsi's special operations brigade to the Songhu battlefield.
At that moment, Tojo Hideki said to Kanin Gong Zaijin: "Your Highness, I think Itagaki-kun is right. Only Ogahara-kun's special forces brigade can deal with Xu Rui's wolf fangs! And the current Chita defense battle , it has become a positional battle, and it is unnecessary for Mr. Xiaoluyuan’s special operations brigade to stay there. It is better to transfer it to Songhu."
Kanin Gong Zaijin nodded lightly and said: "Itagaki-kun, if I transfer Okahara-kun's special operations brigade to the Twelfth Army, are you willing to re-serve as the commander of the Twelfth Army and provoke the third Songhu War?" The important task of battle?"
"Hai!" Itagaki Seishiro said after a heavy pause, "As a soldier, you should obey military orders in your humble duty."
Hearing this, Tojo Hideki couldn't help but curled his lips. This is bullshit. I don't know who made the condition just now
However, Tojo Hideki did not reveal it, and it was even more impossible for Kanin Miya Zaihito to reveal it because of his old age. He immediately nodded and said: "Yoshi, I will go to Mount Tenkyu to see His Majesty the Emperor and ask for His Majesty's approval regarding Itagaki-kun. The appointment, as well as the battle plan for the Third Battle of Songhu, but before that, you can make preparations."
"Hai!" Itagaki Seishiro, Tojo Hideki and Terauchi Juichi paused at the same time.