On the eve of the fall of Liaodong, he led his troops in a remonstrance against the young marshal.

Tokyo, Japan, General Staff Headquarters.

Army Minister Jiro Minami stood at the front of the conference room, with a huge map of East Asia hanging behind him. He had circled Manchuria in three concentric circles with a red pen.

The long table was filled with people on both sides. Lieutenant General Yamasugi Genji, the Deputy Chief of Staff, had his arms crossed over his chest and stared intently at the documents on the table.

Representatives from the General Staff, section chiefs from various departments of the Ministry of the Army, and liaison officers from the Kwantung Army stationed in Tokyo—about a dozen people lined up in two rows, their shoulder boards and medals reflecting a cold light under the dim lamplight.

This is a windowless, sealed room.

The walls are half a meter thick, and the door is made of double-layered steel plates with lead cores sandwiched between them, to prevent eavesdropping, explosions, and assassinations.

This building was where the start date of the Sino-Japanese War, the timing of the declaration of war in the Russo-Japanese War, and the size of the troops to be sent to Siberia were decided.

Today, we must decide the fate of the empire.

Gentlemen.

Nanjiro slowly opened his mouth:

"The Manchurian and Mongolian issues have reached a point where they must be resolved completely. After Zhang Xueliang's Northeast Flag Change, our operations in Manchuria have become extremely difficult."

"We must find a way to separate Manchuria from the map of China and bring it into the sphere of influence of the empire."

"This is the first step in the Empire's continental strategy, and also the most crucial one."

He turned around, picked up a thin pointer, and pointed to the location of Manchuria.

The tip of the indicator rod moved slowly between Fengtian, Changchun, and Harbin.

"If the empire wants to dominate the world, it must occupy China; if it wants to occupy China, it must seize Manchuria and Mongolia."

"Manchuria's coal, Manchuria's iron, Manchuria's grain, Manchuria's railways—with these, the empire had the material foundation to conquer the East Asian continent."

"Without Manchuria, the Empire would forever remain a resource-poor island nation, relying on British and American oil and steel for survival, and could be strangled at any time."

He slammed the pointer on the table, his voice rising a half-octave:

"This has been the empire's national policy for the past hundred years, and it has never changed from Emperor Meiji to the current emperor."

"We have spent decades of our efforts in Manchuria building railways, mining, stationing troops, and supporting pro-Japanese forces, gradually peeling Manchuria away from the body of China."

"But right now, we need to speed things up."

Deputy Chief of Staff Yamasugi Gen looked up, his fingers unconsciously tapping the table.

"Minister Lu, the Northeast Army and the Nanjing government have now joined forces. If we act rashly, will we suffer a backlash?"

"But, Yamasugi Army,"

Nanjiro's tone turned serious. "If we don't take the initiative, Manchuria will slip away from us."

"China has achieved formal unification. Zhang Xueliang has defected to the Nanjing government, and the Chairman's influence is infiltrating northward."

"If we let the Nanjing government gain a foothold, it will be too late for us to take action."

After he finished speaking, a brief silence fell over the conference room.

In the midst of this silence, a young staff officer, holding a telegram and looking flustered, pushed open the door.

He strode up to Nanjiro, snapped to attention, saluted, and presented the telegram with both hands:

"Your Excellency! Urgent telegram from Colonel Itagaki of the Kwantung Army! Expedited and encrypted!"

Nanjiro took the telegram.

He glanced down at it, then froze on the spot.

No one spoke in the meeting room.

"Baka!"

Nanjiro slammed his hand on the table.

The veins on his forehead bulged out, like earthworms wriggling under his skin.

"Itagaki Seishiro! That bastard! Who gave him the right to start a war without authorization?! Who gave him the guts?!"

He slammed the telegram onto the table.

The paper tumbled twice in the air before landing in front of Yamasugi Gen.

Yamasugi Gen reached out and pressed down on the still-shaking paper, then looked down at it.

"What happened?" he asked.

Nanjiro braced his hands on the table, his shoulders heaving as he gasped for breath.

His lips moved several times before he finally managed to squeeze out a few words through his teeth:

"See for yourself."

Yamasugi Gen's gaze slowly moved across the telegram.

The temperature in the conference room seemed to drop several degrees, and everyone could feel the chill emanating from Yamasugi Gen.

"Itagaki has gone mad."

Nanjiro turned around, facing the map, with his hands behind his back, his fingers clenched tightly together, making a slight cracking sound from his knuckles.

"Yes, he's gone mad!"

"He actually dared to issue a full-scale combat order without authorization while Commander Honjo Shigeru was away from Lushun."

"The 4th and 29th Regiments besieged Fengtian, and were completely wiped out, with more than 7,000 casualties."

"More than 1,100 Imperial citizens in the city were collectively executed by the Northeast Army. Fengtian is still in the hands of the Northeast Army, and the Kwantung Army's siege force has lost its combat capability."

"This is the most devastating defeat suffered by the Imperial Army since the Russo-Japanese War."

The meeting room erupted in chaos.

The people from the Ministry of the Army looked at each other in bewilderment, while the liaison officer of the Kwantung Army was pale and his lips were trembling violently.

The voices were all mixed together, making it impossible to tell who was saying what.

"Quiet."

Chief of the General Staff General Kim Gon-sam shouted.

His uniform was adorned with the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun, First Class, and three gold stars on his shoulders, each reflecting a cold, eerie light under the lamplight.

He was one of the most powerful men in the Imperial Army and a staunch advocate of the continental strategy.

What he said in this room was sometimes more effective than what Prime Minister Lu said.

Kanaya Hanzo stood up, placed his hands on the table, and slowly scanned everyone present with his gaze.

"There's no point in holding Itagaki Seishiro accountable now; the important thing is what to do next."

"Fengtian cannot be lost, Manchuria cannot be lost."

"The Kwantung Army's current troop strength in Manchuria is insufficient to cope with a full-scale war."

"If we cannot immediately reinforce the Kwantung Army, once the various units of the Northeast Army have completed their assembly in Fengtian, they will set off from Fengtian, advance south along the South Manchurian Railway, and take back Lushun and Dalian as well."

"By then, the empire's thirty years of efforts in Manchuria will have been completely destroyed."

He paused, then lowered his voice:

"My opinion is very clear: immediately order the troops stationed in Korea to cross the river and move north, advancing towards Fengtian at the fastest speed, and to launch a new offensive together with the main force of the 2nd Division."

"At the same time, all units on the mainland were ordered to enter a state of combat readiness, ready to cross the sea to provide reinforcements at any time."

"This battle cannot be delayed."

All eyes turned to Nanjiro.

Nanjiro stood in front of the map, his back to everyone.

His shadow stretched long in the dim light, casting it onto the huge map of East Asia, placing it in the location of Manchuria.

He was silent for a long time.

No one in the conference room urged him; everyone knew this was no ordinary battle, but a gamble on the Empire's continental strategy.

If they win, Manchuria will be the empire's possession; if they lose, the empire will be plunged into an endless war, crippling its finances, military strength, and national destiny.

He is the Minister of the Army, the highest-ranking military official in the country.

All the responsibilities will eventually fall on his shoulders.

"Nanjirou-kun."

Kanaya Hanzo's voice came from behind, "What are you hesitating about?"

Nanjiro did not turn around.

His gaze was fixed on the location of Manchuria on the map, and his voice was very soft, as if he were talking to himself:

"I'm thinking about Zhang Xueliang."

"Zhang Xueliang?"

Kanaya Hanzō frowned. "What's there to think about for a spoiled brat who's been pampered by his father?"

You don't understand him.

Nanjiro slowly turned around, a barely perceptible hint of apprehension flashing in his eyes. "Zhang Xueliang is Zhang Zuolin's son."

"Zhang Zuolin was no ordinary person; he rose from banditry to conquer the entire Northeast from scratch."

"Although Zhang Xueliang was young, he had 300,000 Northeast Army soldiers, the largest arsenal in China, an air force, a navy, and artillery."

"If he really fights us to the death, even if we win in the end, we will be severely injured."

"And he also has the Nanjing government behind him."

"If the Nanjing government also sends troops to intervene, Manchuria will become a meat grinder."

"The empire's army will be pinned down there, worn down inch by inch, inch by inch, until the empire is drained of its lifeblood."

Kanaya Hanzo sneered, his voice filled with contempt.

"Minami Jiro, you're overthinking it. Zhang Xueliang wouldn't dare fight us to the death."

Nanjiro looked up at Kanaya Hanzo.

Kanaya Hanzo walked to the front of the map and drew a circle around the location of Manchuria.

Do you remember the Wanbaoshan incident?

Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes lit up.