Chapter 345: The Guandong Army that split the land and became king? Coming for me?
"Mr. Umezu, I'm sure you've heard about what happened in Yangcheng." Kimura Heitaro was a man of action. After hanging up the phone with Tsukada Isao, he immediately asked someone to connect to the Kwantung Army Headquarters. He didn't care whether General Umezu Mijiro had rested or not, and spoke directly.

"Well, Mr. Deputy Minister, I just received a telegram from the headquarters. I didn't expect that the 104th Division also rebelled. These Osaka businessmen deserve to die." General Umezu Mijiro followed.

He also didn't expect that after the 104th Division, the th Division would also rebel.

Although the reason for the rebellion is unclear, it is definitely related to the 4th Division.

After all, the connection between the two divisions is still very close.

This is also the disadvantage of a division composed mainly of regions.

"Mr. Umezu, I have ordered a comprehensive investigation of all military officers in the Osaka area and ordered them to the reserve." Heitaro Kimura stated his plan.

Hearing this, General Umezu Mijiro frowned slightly.

I don't think this is a good plan.

If those people cause trouble in the local area, it will probably be very troublesome.

Of course, these are not things he can decide.

At the same time, he also knew that there must be other reasons why Kimura Heitaro called him so late.

"Mr. Deputy Minister, do you have any instructions?" General Umezu Mijiro decided not to beat around the bush and asked directly.

"Mr. Umezu, I don't need to say much about the situation in Yangcheng. Now, according to the instructions of the headquarters, the remnants of the 23rd Army have been placed under the command of the Southern Army, but the elite of the Southern Army have been transferred to Tianzhu." Kimura Heitaro explained.

"The rest are some second-line troops, but Borneo is facing an attack from the Sichuan Army."

"Yamashita Tomoyuki can only barely hold the line with the divisions he has."

"I don't need to say much about the importance of the Strait of Malacca. We must defend the Lion City and the Strait of Malacca."

"So the Southern Army intends to draw some reinforcements from the base camp, but the local army now has some newly formed divisions, and their combat effectiveness is not strong."

"The elite troops on the Chinese battlefield have basically been withdrawn, and the remaining troops can only barely maintain the defense line."

"The only army that can currently possess a large number of elite troops is the Kanto Army."

Kimura Heitaro's series of explanations made General Umezu Mijiro frown slightly.

In fact, from the moment he received the call, he had already guessed what the other party meant.

But when the other party said it, he felt somewhat dissatisfied.

Are they going to draw on the elite troops of their Kwantung Army again?

They are under a lot of pressure, okay?

There are hundreds of thousands of Soviet troops in the north.

The last Battle of Nomonhan cast a shadow on the Japanese army.

Now facing the Soviet army, the Kwantung Army naturally did not dare to take it lightly.

So I have always been cautious and alert.

I feel somewhat dissatisfied when I think about the elite troops being drawn from them.

If problems arise in the four eastern provinces, who will bear the responsibility?

him?

Or is it Kimura Heitaro?
"Your Excellency, Deputy Minister, I'm afraid the Kwantung Army is unable to mobilize more troops. We are now under great pressure. The Soviet army in the north is ready to move, and there are often small-scale conflicts in the border areas." General Umezu Mijiro spoke without hesitation, completely bullying Kimura Heitaro for not knowing the specific situation in the four eastern provinces.

"Mr. Umezu, I know the pressure from the Kwantung Army, but this is the decision of the headquarters." Heitaro Kimura naturally understood the meaning of the other party's words.

To put it bluntly, they don't want to send reinforcements.

"Mr. Deputy Minister, we will naturally follow the decision of the headquarters, but the Kwantung Army needs to guard against hundreds of thousands of Soviet troops, as well as internal guerrillas, etc. We also have to enter the pass from time to time to support the North China Front Army. We don't have many troops." General Umezu Mijiro complained.

Upon hearing this, Kimura Heitaro remained silent, because the other party was telling the truth.

But there is no need to say much about the importance of Guangzhou.

Now it may not only be Guangzhou, but also Hong Kong.

According to Rensuke Isogai's report, the Fourth War Zone added more troops.

Because of the capture of Yangcheng, Zhang Fakui's prestige increased dramatically. Those troops that had originally been reluctant to obey orders also began to recover the lost territories in Guangdong Province under his orders.

It is expected that it will not be long before troops are deployed in Hong Kong.

As for whether they will send troops to capture Hong Kong, no one knows.

Because there is also an unpredictable Sichuan Army.

A combination of various reasons made Kimura Heitaro very anxious.

"Mr. Umezu, the headquarters has also taken into consideration the difficulties of the Kwantung Army, so it has decided to upgrade the Kwantung Army Headquarters to the Kwantung Army General Headquarters, which will be under the jurisdiction of two front army headquarters and the armored army, the Kwantung Defense Army Headquarters and the 2nd Air Force Headquarters." Kimura Heitaro took a deep breath and stated the biggest concession he could make.

Although there is an additional word "total", the value of it is completely different.

In the past, the Kwantung Army had to report to the headquarters frequently.

From now on, the Kwantung Army has the right to decide all matters in the four eastern provinces without having to ask for instructions on everything.

The troops under their command can make their own decisions.

Including conscription and so on.

As the commander of the Kwantung Army Headquarters, General Umezu Michijiro will have the highest authority among all overseas army units.

To put it bluntly, he is the uncrowned king of Manchukuo.

This power is enormous.

In fact, two months later, the situation became increasingly deteriorating, and the Japanese military headquarters upgraded the Kwantung Army Headquarters to the Kwantung Army General Headquarters in October 1942, in exchange for the Kwantung Army's march south.

"At the same time, all Japanese troops in Goryeo will be under the command of the Kwantung Army Headquarters." Heitaro Kimura added another chip while listening to the breathing sound on the other end of the phone.

"Hai, thank you for your understanding. The Kwantung Army Headquarters will always obey the command of the Army Headquarters." General Umezu Mijiro also knew that he had reached the bottom line, so he quickly responded.

"Mr. Vice Minister, I will dispatch five divisions to the south within a month to help the Southern Army retake Yangcheng, but I hope to have the support of the navy."

Hearing this, Kimura Heitaro seemed a little embarrassed.

Naval support?

The navy itself is now in a state of panic.

Although the sneak attack was successful, many US warships were sunk.

But they were surprised to find that the US aircraft carrier that was severely damaged in the Battle of Midway appeared again.

This made the Japanese Navy break out in a cold sweat.

After an investigation that cost a huge amount of money, it was discovered that the aircraft carrier, which the Japanese Navy believed would take half a year to repair, was repaired in less than a month and returned to the battlefield.

In other words, the actual repair time does not exceed twenty days.

Such terrifying industrial capacity made Isoroku Yamamoto break out in a cold sweat.

Now they are frantically assembling all the navy and searching everywhere for US warships, with the aim of killing him while he is ill.

If we don't give the American navy a severe blow now, we will probably be in trouble later.

So forget about the plan of a naval escort.

The navy is now eager to transfer all the warships guarding the homeland to the Pacific battlefield. Thinking of this, Kimura Heitaro explained.

"Mr. Umezu, I'm afraid the navy won't be able to allocate warships for escort for a while."

Upon hearing this, General Umezu Mijiro was stunned. If there was no escort, that would not be good.

"Mr. Deputy Minister, without naval escort, I'm afraid we will need to go south along the railway. I hope the North China Front Army can guarantee the safety of the railway."

According to the plan, he would definitely let these five divisions take the train directly south to Changsha, and then try to take the field in one go and open up the Guangdong-Hankou Railway.

"No problem, I can guarantee that." Kimura Heitaro nodded in response.

"But I hope that the Kwantung Army's troops heading south are elite divisions. The Chinese Army is not as weak as we thought. They have a large number of American weapons and equipment, and their combat effectiveness is far beyond our imagination, especially the Sichuan Army. Mr. Meijin, you must pay attention to it."

Hearing this, General Umezu Mijiro responded.

"Mr. Vice Minister, please rest assured that the divisions heading south this time are the 71th Division, the th Division, the th Division, the th Division, and the st Division."

To be honest, General Umezu Mijiro did not give any perfunctory treatment to Kimura Heitaro this time.

After all, the other party offered such generous conditions, he must show sincerity to be worthy of these conditions which were almost like splitting the land and becoming king.

There is no need to mention the first two divisions, they are permanent Type A divisions.

The next two divisions are also Type A divisions.

Only the 71st Division is a newly formed Type B division, but its combat effectiveness is not weak.

Now Kimura Heitaro felt much more relaxed.

At present, the Kwantung Army has the most elite divisions.

Now the other party is willing to provide four Type A divisions, two of which are permanent Type A divisions, which shows that they are sincere.

"Hey, Umezu-kun, when we recapture Yangcheng, I will tell the Prime Minister to ask the Emperor to commend you for your achievement and strive to have you appointed marshal and given a title of nobility." Kimura Heitaro made the promise without hesitation.

The Japanese army also had noble titles. Apart from the royal family who could be granted the title of prince, the highest rank for others was duke.

For example, Heihachiro Togo was conferred the title of marquis.

So in addition to marshal, the title of nobility is also one of the crazy pursuits of these people.

As expected, after hearing this, General Umezu Mijiro could no longer suppress the smile on his face.

Marshal, title.

What was once out of reach now seems within reach.

After hanging up the phone, General Umezu Mijiro began to laugh wildly.

.........

General Okamura Yasuji of the North China Front Army frowned deeply as he looked at the telegram just sent from the headquarters.

In the past, he always looked calm and composed, and this kind of frown was the first time he had seen one.

As a result, everyone in the entire headquarters was so cautious that they didn't even dare to breathe too loudly.

Afraid of offending General Okamura Yasuji.

"Hmph, Umezu-kun is such a bastard." After reading the telegram, General Okamura Neiji said in a jealous tone.

"Commander, why are you angry? Is it because the headquarters is reprimanding us for our poor performance?" Lieutenant General Anda Nijusan asked curiously.

He thought that the previous failure in suppressing the guerrillas had caused the headquarters to be angry.

"No, the headquarters doesn't care about these things. To them, North China is just a piece of chicken ribs. As long as we defend the railways, they don't care if other areas are lost." General Okamura Neiji said casually.

We have to admit that General Okamura Yasuji did have some vision. The only requirement the headquarters now has for the North China Front Army is to defend the railway.

Just keep the supplies flowing.

I really don't ask for anything else.

To the extent that the headquarters was too lazy to even look at some small combat plans and casualty reports.

Every day one or two divisions suffer heavy losses. Who cares about the loss of a squadron or two teams?
"Then why are you angry?" Lieutenant General Anda 23 looked puzzled.

"Hmph, the Army Headquarters promoted the Kwantung Army Command to the Kwantung Army General Headquarters, which is under the jurisdiction of the Kwantung Army General Headquarters, two front army headquarters and the armored army, the Kwantung Defense Army Command and the 2nd Air Force Command, and is also in charge of the Japanese army in Goryeo." As he said this, General Okamura Yasuji handed over the telegram in his hand, and it was obvious that he was not hiding anything.

"More importantly, we are required to ensure the safety of the railway, and the Kwantung Army must send five divisions south to support us."

Lieutenant General Ando Nijusan realized that the reason the other party was angry was because they were asked to escort the Kwantung Army.

Doesn’t this mean that the North China Front Army is a subordinate of the Kwantung Army?

Everyone was on an equal footing before, but now you have suddenly been promoted to a higher level, and it is the level that is equivalent to splitting the land and becoming a king.

How can it be satisfying to start looking at them from a condescending angle?

After reading the telegram, Lieutenant General Ando Nijusan was also a little surprised.

The move made by the Army Headquarters this time was really huge.

Such a large territory was equivalent to being given directly to the Kwantung Army.

If these guys do the same thing as the 4th Division, then they are doomed, right?
"Commander, I'm afraid we still have to follow the orders of the headquarters." After General Okamura Neiji calmed down, Ando Twenty-three began to persuade.

"I know." General Okamura Neiji replied in a cold tone.

He is just angry. Originally, we were all equal, and my contribution is no less than yours.

How come he is one grade higher than me?

Don’t worry about scarcity but inequality.

Naturally, the attitude will not be very good.

"Orders: All troops to withdraw their defense lines and guard the railway. No villages, civilians, or livestock are allowed within 100 meters along the railway. Anyone approaching the railway will be killed." Although General Okamura Neiji was angry, he was still a very reliable person.

"Hay."

Before long, the changes in North China naturally attracted the attention of those who were interested, and intelligence also came into Cun Yunsheng's hands layer by layer.

This was mainly due to Zhang Ruzhi, deputy station chief of the Military Control Commission’s Kunming Station.

According to Cun Yunsheng's request, a copy of important intelligence must be sent to the Sichuan Army Corps.

"The North China Front Army suddenly imposed martial law? Civilians are not allowed to approach the railway within one hundred meters?" Cun Yunsheng looked at the information and was confused for a moment.

Even he couldn't figure out what the Japanese were up to for a while.

"Could it be that the Japanese are going to retreat?" Lin Yi said casually.

"Retreat? Just give up such a large territory? The Japanese are so stingy, can they be willing to do so?" Cun Yunsheng sneered.

"Why is the railway under martial law for no reason? It can't be related to us, right? It's at least several thousand kilometers away, right?" Lin Yi said hesitantly.

"I'm afraid it might really be related to us." Cun Yunsheng murmured as he looked at the information.

"Send a telegram to Zhang Ruzhi, asking them to make sure they find out what the Japs are up to."

The more Cun Yunsheng thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong, so he decided to let the Military Control Commission figure out the situation first.

(End of this chapter)