Chapter 1 Early Spring (One)

In the spring of 1939, Xinjing (Changchun), the capital of the puppet Manchukuo, in the first lesson of the General Staff of the Kanto Army Command, Yano Osamaro slapped the telegram that had just been sent to his hand on the table with hatred, then raised his foot and kicked the file cabinet next to the table three feet away. All kinds of documents that had not had time to archive and seal were immediately shocked and fell all over the ground, (Note 1)

The staff members of the first class did not dare to come forward to persuade them. They squatted on the ground tremblingly, restraining the scattered documents. Seeing the subordinates' submissive appearance, Yano Yinsaburo, the deputy chief of staff of the Kanto Army, became even more angry. He raised his feet in leather boots, aimed at everyone's butts and kicked them randomly, "Get out, get out of here, a group of useless wastes, a plan for a crusade has been done for three days, and he hasn't made any mistakes yet. What's the use of keeping you guys who are eating rice in class?"

The kicked staff members leaned against the wall, looked at each other in a row, and refused to leave and stayed in the office. They would undoubtedly find the boss's anger. However, when they were wandering around during work, they would probably be even more miserable if they were met by the commander-in-chief Kenji Ueda, who had only one foot left, they would probably end up miserably. The former would only be covered in wounds, and they could recover after finding a beating doctor to recuperate. The latter would directly send back their country without hard work and send it to the reserve force. That would mean that this person's military career was completely over, and all his efforts in his life would be wasted. (Note 2)

"Yano, why did someone accidentally knock over the bookshelf when he walked?" Just as the staff were in a dilemma, a gentle baritone sounded at the door. The Chief of Staff of Kanto Army Risuke Isotani pushed open the door and walked in with a smile, (Note 3)

Yano Yinsaburo is just a major general. He is incomparable to the Chief of Staff of the General Staff of Isotani Ryosuke. He heard the concern in the other party's words, and quickly stepped forward and saluted the other party respectfully, and responded loudly, "Report to the Chief of Staff, Otanaka Sato accidentally walked, knocked down the file cabinet just now, and his subordinates were scolding him, but he didn't expect to alarm his colleagues. He knew that his subordinates were wrong. Please forgive him."

"Yo Xi." Isotani Ryosuke smiled and returned the greeting, and then responded slowly, "Since Oda-kun was careless in doing things, it is also worth emphasizing office discipline, but remember to change the time and place next time, don't delay the main work in class, and don't disturb other colleagues' offices, you understand."

"I understand." Yano Yinzaburo quickly stepped down and promised loudly, "I must keep in mind the teachings of the Chief of Staff and no longer act impulsively. Oda-kun, why don't you come over and apologize to the Chief of Staff quickly."

"Hii." Oda, the combat staff member who was innocently pulled out as a scapegoat, dared not expose the lies of his boss, and agreed loudly, stepped forward to cooperate with the acting, "I accidentally disturbed the work of the Chief of Staff, and my subordinates were extremely frightened. Please punish him."

"No need, you're also unintentional." Isotani Ryosuke didn't believe what Yano Okinawa and Staff Officer Oda said, but he didn't want to be too serious. He smiled and waved his hand gently, "Check out all the files on the ground quickly. The Kanto Army Staff Department's lesson is as chaotic as a vegetable market. If it's seen by outsiders, how would we discuss us?"

"Hiyi." The staff members looked at the Chief of General Staff with gratitude, squatted down, and cleaned up the documents on the ground with all their might.

Taking advantage of the opportunity that everyone had no time to distract themselves, Kanto Army Chief of Staff Ryosuke Isotani walked to the table and seemed to be carelessly asked Yano Yinsaburo, "Yano, is there any more important news recently? I just came back from a business trip in North China and I haven't had time to read many telegrams."

"Yes." Knowing that the boss was creating an opportunity for explanation for himself, Yano Yinsaburo walked to the table very cooperatively, picked up the telegram that made him lose his composure just now, and held it to Kanto Army Chief of Staff Ryosuke Isotani, with both hands. "But some news may disappoint you very much. The call from the Xigurashi Security Command of the Xing'an Province, the Mitsui Kikura Nakasa, who was admitted there last month, died of multiple internal organs. The ones who declared dead on the same day were Lieutenant Okura, Captain Yuanda and six second-class privates, all of whom were too cold, causing the failure of their lungs and other respiratory organs to die."

"Oh, it's so sad news." Chief of General Staff Ryosuke Isotani sighed and answered, reaching out to take the telegram, "Didn't inform their division commander about this matter? What did the Lieutenant General of the Sonata say?"

"Not yet, the Lieutenant General of the Sonoku Department has been busy arbitrating defense in Qiqihar recently. His subordinates have not decided whether the Kanto Army Headquarters will deal with the matter directly or hand it over to the Lieutenant General of the Sonoku Department, and he will arrange for the newcomers to provide tactical guidance to the Manchuria and Monumental Task Force." Yano Ossaburo shook his head, and his answering voice brought a bit of frustration.

The commander of the 7th Division, Azuma and Ichiro Ichiro, are nobles. They have always been famous for their arrogant and strange temper. More than two months ago, Yinsaburo Yano had just taken office and was eager to show his performance. He did not communicate with him. He directly suggested to the headquarters and transferred a squadron under his jurisdiction to "strike" the resisters in the Chahar area, which made him very dissatisfied. Now the squadron leader in commanding the operations of this squadron died of illness, and the entire squadron ended up with more than half of the casualties. It was tantamount to the already very tense relationship between the two, not counting the responsibility of "inadvertent response" Just considering how to explain to the Sonobu and Ichiro is enough to drink a pot of Yano Yinsabu. Even when the telegram is forwarded, the Lieutenant General of the Sonobu is in a good mood and cannot escape sarcasm. If he is unhappy when receiving the telegram, he is afraid that Yano Yinsabu will have to pay a huge price for his recklessness. If he is not good at the Sonobu and Ichiro will spread the matter to the country, and then through the family behind him, the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Kanto Army Command will have to change his position. No wonder Yano Yinsabu was as anxious as a rabbit with red eyes just now.

But to be fair, Yano Yinsaburo's red-eyed rabbit was really a little aggrieved. He sent a squadron of Kanto Army and a battalion of Manchukuo Army to "strike" a group of horse thieves who had just been adapted by the Jinsui Army and a Communist guerrilla team of 100 people. In any case, the response plan proposed by the General Staff had been considered very seriously. Even many of the famous Anti-Japanese United Army teams could not meet this "holiday specification". But who would have expected that after two months of war, the targets of the attacked were still alive. More than 40 people died in a squadron of Kanto Army, more than 60 frostbite, and the entire squadron turned completely disabled. The entire battalion of Manchukuo Army had more than 200 deserters alone, which was nearly one-half of the total scale.

"Then don't forward the telegram to the lieutenant general of the zodiac headquarters. I will call him and explain it in person at night." He pressed Yano Yinsaburo's shoulder with sympathy, and the Chief of Staff of the Kanto Army Risuke Isotani smiled and ordered.

Deputy Chief of Staff Yano Oshisaburo immediately felt warm in his heart, nodded, and responded with red eyes, "Then I will cause trouble for you, a humble position, a humble position."

"Okay, okay, it's no big deal. Sometimes you think too carefully." Isotani Ryosuke waved his hand and interrupted with a smile again. Yano Yinsaburo must not face the anger of the noble young masters Aobu and Ichiro, because of his relatively humble background, but Isotani Ryosuke did not have similar concerns. After all, there was the Isotani family behind him, and the influence of his wife's Aoki family in the army and the cabinet cannot be underestimated.

"Of course, it's not a big deal for you, but the entire Kanto Army can count how many you can compare with your old ones." Yano Yinzaburo murmured quietly in his stomach, and the expression on his face became more and more respectful. "Yes, you have taught you the right lesson. When I think about the problem in the future, I will definitely remember your old teachings and put it in mind."

"Okay." Isotani Ryosuke interrupted his subordinates for the third time, with a faint displeasure on his face. "Some flattering words should not appear in the mouths of soldiers." Seeing that Yano Okinawa Saburo wanted to bow and admit his mistake, he slowed down his tone a little and continued: "We don't have time to talk about these things now. Report to me carefully, how could the Mitsui Detachment suffer such a big setback? That is the elite recruited from the A Division. According to common sense, there should be no problem in fighting a battalion of the Chinese army."

"It's mainly the weather, the special geographical conditions in the grasslands and desert areas are at the forefront. In terms of combat effectiveness, the Chinese Jinsui Army and the Communist guerrillas are far from being the opponents of the Kwantung Army of the Imperial Japanese Empire. Therefore, when the General Staff was planning this crusade, he only sent a squadron to go there. His subordinates did not think much about it during the review, but "When hearing this, Yano Yinsaburo quickly put away the messy thoughts in his heart and carefully summarized the experience and lessons. Although it was a bit too aggrieved for him to summarize the lessons of a squadron's defeat as a deputy chief of staff.

If this battle had not involved the Nishitao plan of Manchukuo and the factional dispute within the Kanto Army, Isotani Ryosuke would not have had to waste his precious time for a squadron-level battle. However, after listening to the reports of his subordinates for a while, the expression on his face became more and more serious. "You mean, most of the losses of the Manchuria and Mongolian detachment were caused by chasing the Communist guerrillas. How many people were there in the guerrillas at that time, how many people were Mitsui Nakasa, and what were the Manchu army doing at that time?"

Note 1: Yano Yinsaburo, deputy chief of staff of the Kanto Army, with the rank of major general, was in office from 1938 to 1939, and was dismissed after the Battle of Nomenkan.

Note 2: Kenyoshi Ueda, commander of the Kanto Army, and rank of general. He was assassinated by a North Korean righteous man at the celebration meeting of the "January 28 Incident" and lost one leg. Therefore, he was despised as a cripple and never married for life. He was said to be homosexual and psychologically perverted. He launched the Battle of Nomenkan despite the huge gap in strength between the two sides. After being defeated, he was dismissed by the Japanese military headquarters.

Note 3: Isotani Ryosuke, Chief of Staff of the Kwantung Army, Lieutenant General of the Army, the son of the former Japanese bureaucrat, his father-in-law was also a lieutenant general, China-wide, and a few of the Kwantung Army did not recommend expanding the war against China. He hoped that Japan would take over the Northeast and would end as soon as possible. Later, he was dismissed due to disagreement with others.
Chapter completed!