Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 117 The Arrogant Terauchi Hisaichi
Although he secretly wished he could send Isogai Ren back to his homeland to fend for himself, Terauchi Hisaichi could not actually do that.

The 10th Division was one of the seventeen standing divisions of the Japanese Army. If it were to be completely annihilated by the Chinese army, the commander of the North China Area Army would be in deep trouble.

As you may recall, during the Battle of Nanjing, the 6th Division was nearly annihilated. Once the news broke, not only was the division commander, Hisao Tani, transferred back to Japan to enter the reserve, but even Prince Asaka Yasuhiko, a member of the imperial family and the newly appointed commander of the Shanghai Expeditionary Army, was also implicated. He was transferred back to Japan before he could even settle into his post.

Thinking of this, Terauchi Hisaichi suddenly gasped.

He silently calculated that although Su Yaoyang had only been around for less than half a year, three or four generals had already fallen because of him, and tens of thousands of warriors of the Japanese Empire had died at his hands.

Could it be that this Su Yaoyang is truly the nemesis of the empire?

The April breeze blew in through the window, and Terauchi Hisaichi suddenly felt a chill. He called out loudly, "Hashimoto-kun... Hashimoto-kun..."

"Here he comes...here he comes..." A short, stocky colonel in his thirties pushed open the office door and bowed to Terauchi Hisaichi. "Commander, what are your orders?"

"Hashimoto-kun, do you remember Su Yaoyang, the commander of the Nanjing Security Regiment who released poison gas during the Battle of Nanjing?"

“Of course I remember.” Hashimoto Yuta nodded. “This Su Yaoyang is the kind of person who almost wiped out the entire Shanghai Expeditionary Army and almost changed the Imperial Army’s combat methods. How could our Special Higher Police not have a record of such a person?”

"Bring me his information right now... Remember... all of it."

"Hai!"

More than ten minutes later, Terauchi Hisaichi looked at the document in his hand, which only had two pages, and stared at Hashimoto Yuta with disbelief. "Your Special Higher Police spent several months working on this and this is all you came up with?"

Why don't you take a look at what you've written? Apart from Su Yaoyang's name, background, parents' names, and why he came to Nanjing to escape, there's nothing else. Is this how you, the Special Higher Police Chief, do things?
What are his hobbies? What are his weaknesses and combat characteristics?

Hashimoto Yuta blushed and bowed deeply to Terauchi Hisaichi: "I'm so sorry... due to the limited time, we could only collect this much information."

Please believe that this is the result of our best efforts.

Please give us some more time, we will definitely do better!

"Never mind!" Terauchi Hisaichi rubbed his nose helplessly. "I know you've done your best, so you don't need to blame yourself."

Terauchi Hisaichi did not get angry, not because he was magnanimous or good-tempered, but on the contrary, he was known for being petty and narrow-minded, despite his noble birth.

His decision not to reprimand or even punish Hashimoto Yuta was out of necessity.

Don't be fooled by the boasts of later generations about how meticulous and detailed the Japanese intelligence work was. Before the war, they sent tens of thousands of agents into China to gather intelligence and draw maps. They even recorded in detail which village had how many paths and wells.

That's certainly true, but there are some things that even the Japanese, who are known for their meticulous attention to detail, can only shake their heads in frustration at.

For example, the Japanese like to collect intelligence, so intelligence on the Chinese army is naturally of paramount importance.

According to regulations, Japanese intelligence agencies require the creation of a personal file for all Chinese military officers of the rank of major general or above, recording details such as their birth date, personal hobbies and preferences, and even their spouse.

So here's the question: China has just emerged from the era of warlordism, with generals flying everywhere, from the central army to local miscellaneous forces, and troop numbers changing frequently.

Conservative estimates suggest there are at least three thousand generals of major general rank or higher in China. Just creating personal files for these three thousand generals, and keeping them constantly updated, would have already exhausted the Japanese intelligence agencies. If they were to create a file for even a self-appointed, ragtag colonel like Su Yaoyang, they couldn't manage it even if all their intelligence personnel worked themselves to death. The fact that the intelligence agencies have been able to gather this much information about Su Yaoyang in such a short time is already quite remarkable.

However, Terauchi Hisaichi still specifically instructed Hashimoto Yuta, "Hashimoto-kun... from now on, you must prioritize information about Su Yaoyang. Report any information to me immediately... understand?"

"Hai!" Yuta Hashimoto bowed deeply.

"Go... and while you're at it, call Chief of Staff Okabe over."

Soon, a lieutenant general in his fifties arrived at Terauchi Hisaichi's office.

"Commander, you called me?" Naosaburo Okabe, Chief of Staff of the North China Area Army, bowed slightly to him.

"Do it!" Terauchi Hisaichi pointed to the sofa next to him, and only handed over the telegram he had just received after Okabe Naosaburo sat down.

"Okabe-kun, take a look at this telegram first."

Naosaburo Okabe skimmed through the telegram, a flash of anger crossing his eyes: "That Rensuke Isogai is a complete waste. He's greedy for credit and reckless, but when faced with a strong enemy, he's terrified. How can someone like that be a division commander? I really don't know what the General Headquarters is thinking."

"Humph……"

Terauchi Hisaichi snorted cold air. "You'll have to ask Prince Kan'in Kotohito and that Sugiyama Gen. He claimed he could destroy China in three months, but almost a year has passed and China hasn't surrendered. On the contrary, the resistance is getting fiercer."

Terauchi Hisaichi spoke with increasing gusto, while Okabe Naosaburo turned pale with fright and quickly said, "Commander... watch your words!"

"Okay, no more talking."

Terauchi Hisaichi snorted lightly: "Okabe-kun, as a soldier, you still need to practice your courage more."

Okabe Naosaburo gave a wry smile. "You, Terauchi Hisaichi, come from a noble family. Your father, Terauchi Masatake, was the prime minister during the Meiji era. You have a lot of students and former subordinates. Of course, you are not afraid of Sugiyama Gen. But he doesn't have that kind of influence, so of course he doesn't dare to offend people recklessly."

"Alright, I won't make things difficult for you anymore. Let's talk about business first."

Seeing that Okabe Naosaburo was usually quite conscientious and responsible, Terauchi Hisaichi finally steered the conversation back on track.

He said, "Isogaya Rensuke suffered a setback at Taierzhuang, which has seriously affected the Xuzhou campaign plan."

Although I utterly despise this self-proclaimed China expert who only knows how to talk big, I still have to clean up his messes, which is truly annoying. Therefore, I plan to send the 16th Division to reinforce him, along with a field heavy artillery battalion and thirty fighter planes. What do you think?

After thinking for a moment, Naosaburo Okabe slowly nodded: "Commander, you have considered this very thoroughly. I have no objections."

"Then let's decide on this. You will convey my operational orders to the 16th Division and other units later."

"Hai!"

(End of this chapter)