In a blink of an eye, time came to the end of May 1939.

After nearly a month of great battle, the Suizao Battle finally came to an end.

Compared with the performance of the Ninth War Zone in the Battle of Nanchang, the performance of the Fifth War Zone in the Battle of Suizao was much stronger. In the past month, the Japanese army paid the price of nearly 20,000 casualties, but did not make any progress. Tanghe, Zaoyang and other places that were occupied by the National Army were also revived.

It is no exaggeration to say that none of the tactical goals set by Okamura Yasuji about the Suizao Battle was achieved before the war. Not only did it fail to consolidate the direction of Wuhan's sideways, but it made the situation worse.

Moreover, after this battle, the morale of the Fifth War Zone was greatly boosted, and the Japanese army was depressed. At least in a short period of time, the Japanese army would not dare to use troops to the Xianghan direction again.

So Okamura Yasuji turned his attention to the south again.

There is no way to go to Wuhan’s side back, so I can only look south.

As long as Changsha and the entire Huguang Plain were occupied, the Japanese army could obtain Huguang rice, which in turn would make the national government's food supply more tight and weaken China's war potential.

In addition, after occupying the entire Huguang, the Japanese army's strategic maneuver space will be greatly expanded, and it will no longer be like now, the several divisions and brigades stationed around Wuhan may be surrounded by the national army at any time.

Therefore, although the Suzao Battle failed, Okamura Yasuji still stubbornly proposed the tactical concept of the Battle of Changsha to the Japanese base camp.

However, Okamura Yasuji's idea was questioned at the base camp.

In the original historical time and space, Okamura Yasuji's concept came true, but in this historical time and space, the situation changed. After weighing the various dangerous factors on the Chinese battlefield, Wuhan's security was ranked second among all dangerous factors, because Shanghai is more dangerous than Wuhan.

...

Tokyo, Imperial House, Imperial Study Room.

Japanese Emperor Hirohito convened a group of ministers to convene an imperial meeting.

In which direction should the issue of this imperial meeting be used? Changsha or Yinjiang?

What is speaking now is Foreign Minister Hirota Hirota, saying: "After all, it's just one sentence. It's easy to launch the Yinjiang Battle, but it's not easy to end it."

Chief of the Army General Staff Gong Zairen frowned and said, "Why is it not easy to do it?"

Xianyuan Gong Zairen firmly supported the launch of the Yinjiang Battle, believing that the Yinjiang incident had reached a time to resolve.

Faced with the questioning of Xianyuan Jae-in, Hirota Hirota bowed slightly and said: "The reason is very simple. Yinjiang is no longer an ordinary Chinese city, because there are thousands of American factories in the industrial zone of Yinjiang. Once the Imperial Army attacks Yinjiang, it will inevitably threaten these American industrial enterprises."

"It's just a threat, isn't it?" said Xianyuan Jae-in. "After all, the Imperial Army will not directly attack the industrial zone of Yinjiang, but will only occupy the urban area of ​​Yinjiang."

"Even if it is just a threat, it is enough to change the international situation." Hirota Hirota said, "Now, although isolationism is still the mainstream public opinion in the United States, most senior officials, including US President Roosevelt, have begun to tend to interfere in Asian affairs. Therefore, the Imperial Army's attack on Yinjiang may trigger a rebound in public opinion in the United States!"

Xianyuan Gong Zairen said: "Although I don't know much about diplomacy, I also know that it is not easy to determine and change a country's national policy, and it is even more difficult to change public opinion!"

"Yes, Your Highness is very correct, but as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, I must remind Your Majesty of the huge risks in the Battle of Yinjiang!" Hirota Hirota paused, and then turned his attention to the commander of the Navy Combined Fleet who was invited to attend the meeting, Yamamoto Iroji, "I would like to ask Yamamoto, is the Navy ready?"

All the eyes of everyone present, including Hirohito, fell on Yamamoto Izuru.

Hirota Hirota seemed confident because before attending the meeting, he had already made a private understanding with Yamamoto and told him clearly about the interests of going to war with the United States.

Hirota Hirota was sure that Yamamoto Iroku would definitely support his opinion.

Faced with everyone's gaze, Iroru Yamamoto bowed slightly to Hirohito, and then said: "Your Majesty, everyone, here I just want to say on behalf of all the officers and soldiers of the Joint Fleet. Once the empire needs it, once His Majesty the Emperor gives an order, our Joint Fleet can wipe out the Pacific Fleet of the United States in one day!"

"What?" Hirota Hirota was stunned for a moment. How could this happen?

Hirohito, Miyao Miyaki and others were excited after hearing this. As long as the navy has the confidence, it will be easy!

At that moment, Yuhito slapped the case and said, "Yamamoto is heroic! When attacking Yinjiang, first remove the threat from Yinjiang to Shanghai. As for Changsha's threat to Wuhan, you can wait a little longer. After all, the situation in Wuhan is not so urgent. After waiting for a year or two, the problem is not very serious. Do you think?"

"Your Majesty is wise!"

...

When the Japanese army was preparing for the battle of Yinjiang, Zhong Yi was not idle either.

Although Japan has done a very good job in confidentiality, Zhong Yi still smelled a dangerous smell from the air based on clues.

Because in another historical time and space, the Japanese army immediately began preparations for the first Changsha Battle not long after the Suizao Battle.

However, the information sent back from Shanghai by Fang Jianwei showed that ships of arms were indeed transported from Japan to Shanghai, but these arms were not loaded on trains and sent to Nanjing or even Wuhan, but were directly stored in several large arms warehouses located in the suburbs of Shanghai by the 13th Army of the Japanese Army.

If the Japanese army wanted to launch the Battle of Changsha, these arms would definitely be transported to Wuhan as soon as possible.

But now these arms were not transported to Wuhan, but were stocked up on the spot in Shanghai. This only shows that one possibility is that this batch of arms was not prepared for the Battle of Changsha!

This batch of arms was not prepared for the Battle of Changsha, so why?

With this speculation, the answer is about to come out, obviously prepared for Yinjiang!

The Japanese devils are about to launch the Yinjiang Battle, so there is not much time left for themselves!

At that moment, Zhong Yi hurried to Jiangbei. He had just learned that Commod had returned from Shanghai, so he wanted to rush over and ask when will the second batch of 12 American equipment and the 500 DSHK anti-aircraft machine guns purchased by American companies from the Soviet Union be in place?
Chapter completed!