Anti-Japanese War: The whole world is a base vehicle

Chapter 43 This was definitely not done by the Germans!

At the Army General Staff, Chief of Staff Prince Kan'in Yasuhito frowned as he read the telegram from Lieutenant General Ando Rikichi, commander of the 21st Army.

German-equipped division?
Impossible.

This unit has long disappeared.

How could he appear on the battlefield in southern Guangxi?
But considering that Ando Rikichi is not the kind of person who deceives his superiors and subordinates.

So the telegram is genuine.

This is worth considering.

Why did German equipment appear at this time?
Is there any conspiracy?

Or is Germany getting impatient?
After thinking for a while, Prince Kan'in Yasuhito still couldn't figure out the problem, so he decided to call Lieutenant General Iimura Tadashi, who had just been transferred back to the headquarters to serve as the deputy chief of the General Staff.

This person was very famous when he was in the Army Academy. He was known as the Three Crows of the 21st class of the Army Academy, along with Ishiwara Kanji and Yokoyama Isamu, also known as the Three Heroes.

Unlike other Army University officers, he entered the Army University after graduating from a foreign language school, so he had a broader vision.

According to him, that is the elite route.

He jumped back and forth between the General Staff and the troops, and served as the head of the European and American Intelligence Section, the commander of the 61st Regiment in Wakayama, and the president of the Army University. He particularly admired Genghis Khan, saying that "the appearance of Genghis Khan awakened the sleeping world."

After the Kwantung Army was defeated in the Battle of Nomonhan, he succeeded Rensuke Isogai as the Chief of Staff of the Kwantung Army and partnered with Michijiro Umezu.

Some time ago, he was transferred back to the headquarters and served as an assistant to the General Staff Headquarters. His main responsibility was to assist the work of the General Staff Headquarters and undertake various tasks and functions. To put it bluntly, he was a senior staff officer.

When there is something going on, I will call you to give advice. When there is nothing going on, just stay where you want.

In addition, this person's judgment and direction of the war are very accurate.

In particular, when simulating a war with the United States, the conclusion was drawn that Japan would inevitably lose.

The reason was that he believed that the United States and the Soviet Union would definitely carry out military cooperation, and even that American aviation would use the Soviet air bases in the Far East to bomb the Japanese mainland.

Moreover, in naval battles, their warship losses will far exceed their production, and the war will become very difficult.

Of course, this report completely angered the then Konoe Cabinet and the Army Minister Hideki Tojo.

It is called "empty talk on the table".

As it turned out, all his inferences came true.

"German-equipped division?" Lieutenant General Iimura Tsuyoshi was a little confused when he looked at the telegram handed over, and said something subconsciously.

"Didn't it disappear a long time ago? After the Battle of Jiangcheng, the German-equipped division was completely cancelled, and the remaining remnants were incorporated into various units, such as the 200th Division of the Fifth Army of the Central Army, most of which were mainly composed of the 89th Division." (Here I would like to say that the 89th Division is a regular reorganization division, and its weapons are mainly the Zhongzheng rifle. It is a division-level unit that was adjusted in the second phase.)
"Logically speaking, if there are still German-equipped units, Shancheng shouldn't incorporate these remnants into other units. The combat effectiveness of the German-equipped divisions is still very strong, especially the training corps. Except for the artillery, which is not as good as the German infantry division, other aspects are very close."

Upon hearing this, Prince Kan'in Palace Zairen frowned slightly. He was not one to listen to these things.

They are all old-fashioned stuff, how could he not know that?
He wanted to know why there were German equipment.

"Could it be an arrangement by the Germans?" asked Prince Kan'in Yasuhito.

"Absolutely impossible. They have been begging us to form an alliance, hoping that we can take action against Britain and France. They are unlikely to do such a thing." Lieutenant General Iimura Tsuyoshi retorted directly.

In fact, the Japanese army was also evaluating whether to go to war with Britain and France immediately.

But now they are stuck in the Chinese battlefield and cannot get away. Unless the war is completely ended, otherwise, if they go to war with Britain and France again, they will probably be exhausted.

And he didn’t hold out much hope for war with Britain and France.

He believed that the war with China should be ended as soon as possible, as it was impossible to completely annex China.

Unfortunately, his views were not recognized by the General Staff, and some of them were demoted to the reserve.

"Could it be that they are forcing us to make a choice? Deliberately sending some weapons to the mountain city? Making us face up to reality and ending the war with China as soon as possible? Otherwise, they might support China again?" As the Chief of the Army General Staff, Prince Kan'in Yasuhito has to consider many issues.

"Not long ago, the Germans sent us a secret message, which basically said that if we don't make a choice, they might ally with the Soviets."

As soon as these words were spoken, Lieutenant General Iimura Tsuyoshi shook his head in denial.

"Impossible. Even if the Germans agree, the Soviets will never agree."

"Why?" Prince Kan'in Yasuhito asked curiously.

"Your Excellency the Chief, based on my understanding, the Soviet army has no interest in the Far East at all. Their real ambition has always been Europe, which is the center of world civilization. So I think there will be a war between the two sides." Lieutenant General Iimura Tsuyoshi said confidently.

"Let's go back to the issue of weapons and equipment. Even if the Soviets agreed to let the Germans transport weapons through the route, why were these weapons not in the hands of the Central Army but in the hands of those miscellaneous troops?"

"Yoshi, what you said is exactly the questions that puzzled me." Prince Kan'in Yasuhito admired this guy's analytical ability. No wonder he became one of the Three Crows. He was very curious about what conclusion he would come to.

"I'm sorry, Mr. General, I'm also confused, but one thing is certain, that is, these weapons are definitely not the work of the Germans. Maybe someone bought them before the war and is now selling them to make a profit. The quantity should not be large." Lieutenant General Iimura Tsuyoshi gave his opinion.

This kind of stockpiling before the war and then selling at high prices during the war is very common and not surprising.

Because only this can explain why this batch of weapons appeared in the hands of the miscellaneous troops rather than the central army.

If it was really the Germans' work, they would have talked directly to Yamashiro. With the Empire's intelligence capabilities, they would have received the news long ago.

But there is no intelligence indicating that Shancheng has had contact with the Germans.

This means that this is definitely not the work of the Germans.

After hearing what Lieutenant General Iimura Tadashi said, Prince Kan'in Yasuhito showed a look of sudden enlightenment on his face.

"Yoshi, you are right. If they were Germans, they must have had direct contact with the mountain city. However, our intelligence department did not send back any news about the Germans entering the mountain city. Your judgment is correct." Prince Kan'in Yasuhito nodded.

"If it is just the behavior of some arms dealers, then the problem is not that big. Without sufficient ammunition supply, these weapons will soon become firewood sticks."

In this regard, Lieutenant General Iimura Tadashi did not refute. He said that the decline of the German-equipped division was due to the loss of its elite troops and the depletion of its ammunition supplies, especially the 150mm howitzers, which had completely run out of shells and had become decorations.

"Send a telegram to Ando-kun, telling him not to worry about these German equipment. There won't be many of them."

"Let him recapture Kunlun Pass as soon as possible and ensure the safety of Nanning. We must completely cut off the Chinese army's external channels." Prince Kan'in Palace Zairen ordered.

"Hay."

"However, we must once again protest to the Germans and ask them to ban all arms shipments to China."

"Hay."

(End of this chapter)