Comrade, your ingredients are too complicated.

Almost at the same time, the Kwantung Army Headquarters.

In the northeast in early November, the temperature had fallen below zero.

Although the full-power heating system can withstand the wind and snow outside the window, it cannot dispel the biting chill in the combat conference room.

It was the chill of defeat, which moved along the spines of the Japanese staff officers like a poisonous snake, forming icicles at every nerve ending, and finally blooming into clusters of pale frost flowers on their faces.

"Internal combustion engine, this battle plan is just like the person who named it, a completely ridiculous page in the world's military history!"

"One incompetent general can tire out the entire army!"

In the combat conference room, Commander Mijiro Umezu sat upright at the end of the long table. His face was as iron as his fingertips hit the table, and his dissatisfaction with Okamura Yasuji had reached its peak.

After cursing for a while, the old Japanese threw the telegrams and news newspapers at his hand on the face of his chief of staff.

This information, announcing the complete destruction of the North China Front Army and its reinforcements, was like a broken blade, chopping off the entire war in two.

From then on, the situation of attack and defense became easy.

"Kun Kasahara, why have you all become mute? The Eighth Route Army has successfully taken back Shandong Province. Do you know what this means?"

Silence. The operations conference room fell into dead silence again.

The staff officers straightened their shoulders, swallowed their saliva, and even their breathing turned to ice.

These elite officers from the Army University knew better than anyone the fatality of the fall of Lu Province. But at this moment, they only dared to stare at the battle map, as if the winding contour lines on it could help them avoid the commander's sharp eyes.

"Baga! You cowards!"

The subordinates' collective act of pretending to be dead was like a bucket of gasoline poured on Meizu Mijiro's anger. The old Japanese suddenly slapped the table with his palm, causing the war reports on the table to fly up like startled birds.

After a moment, he grabbed a red pencil and stabbed the map with such force that it almost cut through the paper.

It seemed that it was not a battle picture, but the faces of these cowards.

"Open your eyes and see clearly. The fall of Shandong Province means that Hebei Province will soon become a battlefield. The Eighth Route Army can attack from Shandong, Shanxi, Suiyuan and the sea, and thus take over all of North China in one fell swoop."

"If North China is gone, how long can Chahar and Rehe hold out? If the three provinces beyond the Great Wall are gone, how long can Manchuria hold out?"

"You just keep pretending to be dead, and put the Eighth Route Army cannons, tanks, armored vehicles and planes to hit the door, and put the empire to become a defeated country because of your cowardice!"

Umezu Mijiro's roar struck like a death knell in the hearts of every staff officer.

But at this moment, the old devil suddenly forced a gentle smile. His fingertips gently stroked the frosted window surface, and then plunged into the ice like a hawk swooping down on its prey.

"My lords, the Empire does not have the resources to support idlers. The Manchurian winter never leaves a defeated general alive."

"If your subsequent battle plan is as fragile as this ice layer, then your fate will definitely be to be shattered before the Kwantung Army."

After saying this, Umezu Mijiro slowly opened his palms and let a few pieces of ice slip through his fingers.

The Japanese soldiers' eyes all fell on the fragments on the ground that reflected the cold light. Each piece of the broken ice reflected their pale faces.

Now that things have come to this, if you continue to be a coward you will surely die.

After thinking about it for a while, Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Yuki Kasahara took a step forward and told his combat plan in a casual manner.

"Commander, I think we should give up the North China Front Army in the next step. That residual army is a decay on the body of the empire, and they will only become a burden to drag down our army."

"If possible, I implore you to ask His Majesty the Emperor to issue a strict order to grant Okamura Yasuji a short sword with the imperial emblem."

"As long as the North China Front Army can hold the enemy in Hebei Province for a period of time, we can build a steel defense line on the main battlefield in the future."

"Otherwise, when the Eighth Route Army tanks cross the Hiro River, the entire Manchuria will become the burial objects of Okamura Yasuji!"

Chief of Staff Yukio Kasahara's battle plan was simple and clear. To put it bluntly, it was to use the defeated friendly forces as strategic pawns in order to gain a golden period for building the Manchurian defense circle.

As if realizing that his previous description was not three-dimensional enough, the old Japanese soldier picked up a blue pencil from the long table and drew a 300-kilometer defense line between Shanhaiguan and Chifeng.

Especially in the direction of Rehe, he also marked out several cities.

"Mr. Umezu, if you want to carry out my plan, you will have to urgently mobilize all the overseas Chinese in Manchuria and the troops in Manchuria, and even forcibly summon the laborers on the peninsula to build fortifications."

"With our current industrial base, we can definitely semi-fortify this line of defense and make the Eighth Route Army pay a heavy price for every offensive step."

"Although the enemy is strong, they have only been rising for a short time and lack the foundation. They can't possibly keep all their troops in Manchuria. After all, Guo Su is not someone who is willing to wait for death."

When the last syllable of Yukio Kasahara faded into the air, the entire operations conference room fell into an eerie stillness.

Everyone could see that the blue vein hidden under the military cap in his commander's temple was pulsing slightly with the frequency of thinking.

It's nothing else, just because giving up Okamura Yasuji is not a trivial matter.

To regard him as an abandoned son is equivalent to giving up North China, and to destroy the Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Circle, which the empire has been running for a long time.

Considering the importance of Manchuria, Umezu Mijiro finally made a difficult choice. He slowly stood up, and the scabbard made a sharp sound on the edge of the table.

"Pass on my order. The entire army will immediately enter the first level of combat readiness. All roads and railways will give priority to transporting field troops. All divisions must assemble in western Liaoning as quickly as possible."

"If necessary, I allow you to blow up all the passages connecting the interior of the country to slow down the advance of the motorized and mechanized forces of the Eighth Route Army."

"The Three Alls Policy can also be resumed. The enemy's battle line will be very long this time, and we must increase the difficulty of supplying the Republic of China people."

After signing a series of combat orders, a figure suddenly flashed through Mijiro Umezu's mind. That was Private First Class Tojo who was far away in his homeland.

Although the Pacific battlefield has been successful throughout this year, the empire has not achieved any substantial strategic results.

Now that North China is lost, Manchuria is going to face the enemy's threat, and the trust of all forces in the military will surely decline again and again.

Private's political career seems to have entered the countdown.

According to Mejiro Umezu's understanding of this junior, the other party is likely to make a desperate bet on multiple fields such as military and diplomacy, and find a way out for his team.

With this in mind, the old Japanese waved his hand, called the Chief of Staff Yukio Kasahara to his side and whispered, "After a while, you should contact Tojo in your personal capacity and try to get the corporal to transfer a group of reserve troops from the mainland."

"By the way, the secret negotiations with the Russians can also be handed over to him. We must stabilize their Far East Military Region and not let them support the Eighth Route Army at all."

"Didn't we catch a group of traitors a while ago? Let's use them as bargaining chips and make the most of the waste!"

"Hi!"

······
Chouguo Eastern Time, early morning on November 11st. Peanuts, the Grand Commander's Mansion.

"In just over a month, our new allies have killed more than 100,000 Japanese soldiers in the coastal areas. This combat effectiveness is far beyond our expectations."

"Wow, this style, how come there was also a MacKaiser in the Republic of China."

"No, right, soldiers should use their achievements to judge the level. In this way, it should be why there is Li Yunlong in Brisbane. Haha, I'm not wrong with the name of this major general."

There is a 13-hour time difference between East District and West District .

When the news of the great victory in Shandong Province reached Huashengtun across the ocean, the sleepy Master Luo had just been urgently awakened by his staff, and the silk sheets in the bedroom of the White House still showed traces of his suddenly interrupted sleep.

However, the commander who was interrupted by his sleep was not angry. Instead, he was amused by the number of more than 100,000 enemies and even regarded the commander of the Southwest Pacific War Zone as the target of teasing.

It is obvious that Mai Paopao’s popularity among the senior management is really not that good.

Hearing the complaints of his own commander-in-chief, Navy Minister Ernest nodded. He looked at Lao Li's classic three-piece suit and added fuel to the fire without hesitation:
"You are right. If it was Major General Li, we might have taken the Solomon Islands and Rabaul. I even doubt that he could hold on to the Philippines."

"It looks like the custom military cap, aviator sunglasses and corncob pipe look will soon be replaced by a new owner."

As soon as these words came out, Master Luo immediately laughed. After a while, the commander-in-chief sat up straight with the handle of the wheelchair and began to talk about business with Ernest.

"Have you read the intelligence sent by our allies? I..."

Halfway through his words, he suddenly realized that there were other people in the office.

The secretary was also very sensible. He turned around and left, closing the door before leaving.

"According to the intelligence provided by TG, the Japanese army has already mastered mature synthetic oil technology. The battle on Guadalcanal is currently at a stalemate, which is not good news for us."

"Yes, it is bad news indeed." Ernest spread his hands helplessly, looking very annoyed. "Thanks to our allies for reminding us. Now we can pre-order double the shrouds for the Pacific battlefield in advance."

Today, in the vast Pacific battlefield, the U.S. Navy has only one aircraft carrier, the Enterprise, struggling to survive.

A battered Big E had to face the IJN's three elite regular aircraft carriers, Shokaku, Zuikaku and Hiryu, as well as three light aircraft carriers, Hayabusa, Hiyo and Zuiho.

In terms of surface ships, USN could only barely fight with the Joint Fleet for 50% and now the enemy has become a super enhanced version with a full state of oil.

Given this desperate war situation, it is no wonder that Ernest directly proposed that the Navy Clothing Factory prepare double the number of shrouds.

The slightly self-deprecating words of his own Navy Minister made Lao Luo sigh.

However, he also knew how bad the situation was, so he continued mysteriously:

"There is an old saying among the people of the Republic of China: good fortune never comes alone, and misfortune never comes alone. In addition to synthetic oil, the Japanese also developed biological and chemical weapons specifically for the Pacific battlefield."

"It seems that the enemy is really anxious. They should be planning to fight quickly. First, they will fight us on the negotiating table, and then fight to the death with the Eighth Route Army."

Hearing this, Ernest put down his pen, clasped his fingers together, and looked at his commander-in-chief intently.

With his nose and intelligence, he could tell that Luo's words were meant to be a pretext for praise. Just like using a wounded destroyer as bait, there must be a killer move to break the situation.

"Stop selling the lawsuit and tell us what price our allies have offered."

Seeing Ernest regain his spirits, Lao Luo took out a document from his desk. While the other party was checking the quotation, he said in a relaxed tone:
"The conditions of the allies this time are still very restrained. They only demanded five Shark-class submarines and their supporting crews before agreeing to cooperate in the operation."

"However, they limited the air strikes to coastal industrial areas on the grounds of the combat damage rate of heavy bombers. I am considering whether to actively add some ships to show our sincerity."

The offer of five catsharks was obviously just at Ernest's bottom line. But even if TG asked for a high price, Ah Chou and the others had to agree to it.

There is no other way, the situation forces us to do so. After all, TG's air force is the only one in the world that can directly attack the Japanese homeland.

After thinking for a while, the Navy Minister first drew a circle on the combat map, and then hesitated on Liugong Island for a long time.

"It's fair to exchange five submarines for the flames of the coastal factory. This quote is obvious from the Yellow River. Sometimes I really suspect that he is actually a capitalist."

"As for raising the price to show your sincerity, I think it's fine. There's nothing shameful in fighting a war."

"TG is flirting with the French just to get the Béarn aircraft carrier. So why don't we just be generous and send two Borg-class aircraft carriers over there."

Ernest waved his hand, and he looked like a man who had no regrets about selling his father's land, but in fact he was very smart.

Borg class, that's an escort carrier.

With their country's industrial strength, they can easily reduce the manufacturing cost to around 600 million US dollars.

This little money is the budget of an armed regiment of the Army. To the Navy, Nimitz might just beat you out.

The total expenditure is about 2000 million, and if it is replaced by a strong ally, the business will be completely good.

After discussing the business, Ernest was obviously relieved. He picked up the telegram sent by TG and added while reading it:

"Leave it to me to communicate with Chester. I'm sure he will be very happy if someone takes the initiative to attract the Japanese firepower and hatred."

"Hey, the dried fruit asks us to stop helping TG? Could that bald man be confused and can't figure out the big and big king?"

When talking about the Wolf of the Huangpu River, a clear anger flashed across the commander's face. His right hand hit the armrest of the wheelchair hard, and cursed without hesitation:

"It's really the opposite of Tiangang."

"Without our assistance, I'm afraid CKS will never be able to deal with TG alone in this lifetime. He really thinks he is a famous general who successfully fought in the Northern Expedition."

"I will call Hu over in a while and let them recognize their identity!" (End of this chapter)