After Cherev and Stilwell returned to their respective apartments, they immediately drafted a report to the country, reporting the news of the annihilation of the Japanese Tenth Division to the country as soon as possible, and attached their suggestions at the end of the report , Cherev and Stilwell agreed that aid to China should be increased, but the aid target should be changed to the Chinese government.
At the same time, it was not only Cherev and Stilwell who delivered news to the country, but also the ambassadors or military attaches of Britain, France, Germany and Italy to China. The ambassadors or military attaches of these countries did not make suggestions to the country, thinking that it should provided military assistance to the Chinese Communist Party, but they also judged from the fact that the 10th Division was wiped out and believed that the Japanese army was not strong enough to threaten the West. This led to the "British Empire" becoming even more proud and underestimating the enemy, and also This laid the groundwork for future unprecedented defeats on the battlefield in Southeast Asia.
In short, the annihilation of the 10th Division caused great repercussions internationally.
Soon, the impact of this incident began to show. The Soviet and American governments suddenly expressed their dissatisfaction with the Japanese government on multiple occasions. Although they did not explicitly propose that Japan withdraw its troops, anyone with a discerning eye could see that the Soviet Union would Increase military assistance to China, and the United States will also participate.
What worries the Japanese government the most is that the attitudes of Germany and Italy towards Japan suddenly became cold. Obviously, the fact that the 10th Division was wiped out caused Hitler and Mussolini to despise the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army. , believed that the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army was mediocre and was not worthy of becoming a core country of the Axis Alliance.
Germany and Italy established the Berlin-Rome Axis Alliance two years ago.
Recently, Japan is also seeking to join this Axis Alliance and form a new Eurasian Axis Alliance. However, Hitler and Mussolini have doubts about Japan's joining, not only because Japan is an Asian country and is too far away from Europe to seem able to Provide de facto military assistance to Germany and Italy, especially because the combat effectiveness of the Japanese Army is weak.
The annihilation of the 10th Division further aggravated the doubts of Germany and Italy.
So Hitler directly shelved negotiations for Japan to join the Axis Alliance.
The sudden change in the international situation immediately put great pressure on the Japanese government and royal family, especially Emperor Hirohito. Because he was deeply aware of the seriousness of the situation, he had not slept well for two consecutive days. In the end, Hirohito's grandmother had no choice but to Please ask Hanyuan Gong Zaihito, who is the chief of staff of the Army, to come forward to persuade Hirohito.
Kanin Gong Zaihito was actually very reluctant to meet Hirohito at this time, but in the end he had to accept the order.
When Hanin Gong Zaijin walked slowly into the imperial study, he saw Hirohito writing at the desk with a brush in hand. Hirohito was so focused on what he was doing that he didn't even notice the arrival of Hanin Gong Zairen, the imperial uncle, until he finished writing. When he looked up, he saw Hanyuan Gong Zairen standing in front of the desk.
"Uncle Emperor." Hirohito put down his brush and asked, "What do you think of my handwriting?"
It had been two days and two nights without a wink of sleep. Hirohito's eyes were bloodshot, but he was still in good spirits.
Kanin Miya Zaihito walked up behind Hirohito and looked closely, only to see that what Hirohito just wrote was actually the word "forbearance". To be honest, Hirohito's calligraphy is indeed something that people dare not compliment, but this "forbearance" The strokes of the character are still very powerful. It is obvious that Hirohito was filled with resentment when he wrote this character.
Seeing that Zai Ren was silent, Hirohito asked again: "Uncle Emperor, how do I write this?"
Xianyuan Gongzai Ren saw that he couldn't escape, so he said: "Your Majesty's writing is naturally very good, but..."
"But what?" Hirohito stared into Hanyuan Gongren's eyes and asked in a deep voice, "Uncle Emperor, if you have any questions, just say so."
Xianyuan Gong Zairen said bravely: "But I really can't understand why Your Majesty wrote such a word."
"Is the emperor really not understanding, or is he pretending to be confused?" Hirohito gently placed the brush on the pen holder, walked to the sink next to him, washed his hands, and then said, "The word "forbearance" is a knife in the heart, and the Chinese character is really Broad and profound, the word "forbearance" can be said to fully demonstrate the essence of "forbearance."
After a pause, Hirohito said again: "Uncle Emperor, do you know that my heart is bleeding?!"
When he said this, Hirohito's tone was relatively calm, but the words behind it made Kanin Gong Zaijin feel his heart tremble. Based on his understanding of his nephew, the emperor, he would never be extremely angry. He won't pretend to be calm like now. More often, Hirohito will vent the anger in his chest.
Xianyuan Gong Zairen lowered his head and said: "Your Majesty, if you have any anger in your heart, just vent it out to the old minister. Don't hold it back inside. If you hold it back and break your body, it will be a great loss to the empire."
"Is there fire in my heart?" Hirohito waved his hand and said, "No, Uncle Emperor, you are wrong. There is no fire in my heart."
Without Isaiah Miyazaihito's retort, Hirohito continued: "Germany and Italy have shelved the Empire's application to join the Axis Alliance because they have no vision. I firmly believe that Germany and Italy will accept the Empire one day, so for the Empire I really have no worries about joining the alliance, and you don’t have to worry either, Imperial Uncle."
"Hai." Xianyuan Gong Zairen whispered, "Old minister, I listen to your majesty and don't worry."
Hirohito snorted and continued: "The Soviet Union is secretly causing trouble and providing military assistance to the National Government. The United States is putting pressure on the Empire from the government level. I can tolerate it. The Empire and China are close neighbors. The so-called first to get the moon is the one who is closest to the water. In China's affairs, the empire has a natural advantage, and the interference of the Soviet Union and the United States is not a concern."
"Hai." Xianyuan Gong Zairen paused again and whispered in agreement, "There is nothing to worry about either the United States or the Soviet Union."
"Britain and France mocked the empire in the League of Nations and despised the Imperial Japanese Army. I can also tolerate it." Hirohito said, picking up the calligraphy just now from the desk and said, "Britain and France are already in decline, and they have no idea that the imperial army is coming. Keep up the good work, I firmly believe that one day, the imperial army will teach them a profound lesson, so I can endure it too!"
"Hai." Xianyuan Gong Zairen paused for the third time and said, "England and France have nothing to worry about."
However, just as Hanin Gong Zaijin finished speaking, he suddenly saw Hirohito tear the calligraphy in his hand into pieces twice. After tearing it into pieces, Hirohito threw the pieces to the ground with all his strength, then stepped on it with both feet, and then crushed it hard. It was as if what was being crushed under his feet was not scraps of paper, but a group of ants. He tried to crush the group of ants.
While crushing the scraps of paper with his feet, Hirohito finally roared: "But what the hell is the Dameishan Independent Regiment? A mere regiment, and a regiment from China, could actually annihilate the most elite permanent divisions of the empire. Tuan, you actually dare to put a knife in my heart, how can you expect me to endure it? How can you expect me to endure it?!"
"Hai." Xianyuan Gong paused heavily and said, "This matter cannot be tolerated!"
Just now when Hirohito was tensed and there was no fire, Kanin Palace Zaihi felt frightened. Now that Hirohito finally brought out the fire, Kanin Palace was not too worried. As long as Hirohito brought out the fire, everything would be fine. The worst is the Battle of Wuhan. Pause and first mobilize one or two divisions to destroy Xu Rui's Dameishan Independent Regiment.
Anyway, for the empire, it is nothing more than prolonging the war for one to two months, and nothing more than issuing more national debt. As long as it can calm the emperor's anger, it is worth the effort.
Hirohito then roared: "What is even more intolerable to me is Shunroku Hata's negative attitude. Before he went on the expedition, I told him repeatedly that Xu Rui was a mortal enemy of the empire and should be eliminated first. But as soon as he arrived in China The battlefield immediately threw my words behind him. If he had only paid a little attention to Xu Rui, how could he have been defeated today? If Shunroku Hata had sent another division to Dameishan, how would the 10th Division have fallen? The whole army was destroyed?!"
Kanin Miya Zaihito was already extremely disappointed with Hata Shunroku. Ever since Xi Saber arrived on the battlefield in China, his performance had fallen far short of the standard, which made him, the recommender, very embarrassed. He immediately said to Hirohito: "Your Majesty, Otherwise, we have to replace Shunroku Hata, and just let Neji Okamura take over as commander this time."
However, Hirohito shook his head and said coldly: "Uncle Emperor, you shouldn't have thought about it. The Tenth Division has been shattered, and the Battle of Wuhan has also entered a critical moment. The best opportunity to eliminate the Dameishan Independent Regiment has been lost. At this time Removing Shunroku Hata will not only not help the situation, but will further fuel Xu Rui's arrogance and make Western countries despise the imperial army even more. When the time comes, they will mock us and say that the Imperial Army of Japan was forced to change four times by a mere regiment. How handsome!”
"Hai." Xianyuan Gong Zairenton said, "Your Majesty is wise, but the old minister failed to consider it."
Hirohito breathed a long sigh of relief and said: "In the past two days, I have thought about it repeatedly. Xu Rui is arrogant, and he can be arrogant for a while. Since the opportunity to wipe out the Dameishan Independent Regiment has been lost, we might as well follow the instructions Come on, Hata Shunroku’s plan is to finish the Wuhan battle first, and then go back and deal with Xu Rui.”
Xianyuan Gong Zairen quickly agreed: "Your Majesty is wise."
Hirohito waved his hand and said: "In order to end the Wuhan Battle as soon as possible, we might as well incorporate the 21st Army into the battle order of the Condemnation Army in Central China. By then, the 4th and 104th Divisions of the 21st Army will Whether the regiment will be thrown directly into the battlefield along the Yangtze River from the waterway, or whether it will attack and advance from Yunguan and Binzhou to Hengyang via the 6th Route, it can be decided by the Central China dispatched troops."
At this point, Hirohito has also figured out that no matter how angry he is with Shunroku Hata, it will not help. The wisest thing to do now is to provide Shunroku Hata with the greatest help to help Central China send conscript troops to end the Wuhan battle as soon as possible. Only then can we mobilize our troops to deal with Xu Rui. (To be continued.)