Ishida Takeo was somewhat annoyed at Muyang's rudeness, and Muyang didn't even stand up to salute him, instead nodding casually in his direction.

  Prior to this, I saw Muyang wearing a suit and thought he was a businessman, so I didn't think much of it. It wasn't until Jiang Tingdao introduced him that I realized he was a lieutenant colonel on the staff of the Army General Staff. Even if you're a staff officer in the Army General Staff, you can't be so rude! Just as he was about to scold Muyang a few words, Jiang Tingdao whispered a few words in his ear, and Ishida Takeo was immediately stunned on the spot, then quickly stood up, slightly bowed to Muyang and said: "Lieutenant General Kurita, I am Ishida Takeo, formerly of the 25th Army Group's 18th Division."

  "General Ishida, please sit down. I know that your brave unit, in 1941, under the leadership of General Terauchi Hisaichi, with the 5th, 18th and Imperial Guard Divisions of the 25th Army, captured the Malay Peninsula in one fell swoop, then marched into the Philippines, inflicting heavy losses on the British and Americans."

  Ishida Takeo was also praised by the Emperor, which is a very honorable thing. However, Ishida's face soon fell again. He thought of the recent battles and the Japanese army's precarious situation in Southeast Asia, and he couldn't get excited about it.

  1944 was a turning point in the Pacific battlefield. Before that, Japan had advanced southward with great fanfare, occupying Singapore, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Papua New Guinea and Laos, almost all Southeast Asian countries were once occupied by the Japanese army.

  Even the once invincible British Empire also surrendered under the guns of the Japanese.

  In June this year, the United States sent a strong army to counter Japan, and a "Battle of the Philippine Sea" was fought. Japan lost 3 aircraft carriers, multiple heavy cruisers and more than 600 warplanes, ultimately ending in defeat, also losing control of Southeast Asia's seas.

  On land, in the three-month landing campaign on the Mariana Islands, the US military successively captured Saipan, Guam and Tinian, and basically annihilated the garrison troops of about 70,000 people on the three islands. This led to a serious deterioration of the Japanese strategic defensive situation in the Pacific, and the "Absolute National Defense Zone" prescribed by the General Headquarters faced collapse due to the loss of the core area. The Japanese mainland would be directly bombed by US B-29 bombers taking off from the Mariana Islands, and the US military gained a forward base for further advancement in the central Pacific.

  The fall of the Mariana Islands shocked Japan, intensified internal contradictions in Japan's domestic politics, and increased distrust and anti-war sentiment towards the Tōjō Cabinet, which was forced to resign under immense pressure at home.

  Now in China, it is indeed a very difficult year. In order to reverse the crisis in Southeast Asia, Japan formulated the "Operation Number One" plan, intending to open up the transportation line from China to Southeast Asia. The "Operation Number One" can be said to be the largest-scale battle of the Japanese army since its invasion, lasting 8 months, tens of thousands of Chinese soldiers and civilians sacrificed in this battle, more than a dozen cities in three provinces were destroyed, with countless losses.

  It was under such circumstances that Japan accelerated its plundering of valuable materials from Southeast Asia and China, and this time, Ishida Takeo was dispatched as the escort officer in charge of transporting these materials.

  Three people sat down and ate while chatting. Then they heard Yamada Takeo ask: "Kurita, what brings you to China this time?"

  Moyang wiped his mouth with a napkin and said, "There's nothing in particular, it's just that the Empire has occupied China for so long, I've never been here before, feeling quite regretful. So this time, taking advantage of the holiday, I came to China to take a look and get a feel for what China is really like."

  "How are you?"

  "The place is big and there are many people, it's very chaotic." Murong Yang replied indifferently.

  At this time, Jiang Tingdao said: "Yes, the empire is still in a state of war and management is somewhat lax. However, I believe that as long as we fully occupy China and make some adjustments, China will become the best place for the empire. Now, the Pinghan, Yuehan, and Xianggui railways have been taken over by the imperial army, and the road to unifying China under the empire is not far off. By the way, Ishida-senpai, what's the situation in Southeast Asia now?"

  "Ishida Takeshi shook his head and said, 'It's very bad. The US military is pressing in step by step, and they often use large warplanes to bomb our military bases, causing significant losses for the Imperial Army.'"

  "It's really infuriating, but it doesn't matter. Once the 'First Battle' is over and the transportation line from China to Vietnam and Myanmar is opened up, the war situation will become favorable for our side. But I have to say, the Americans' bombing is really hateful. Many cities of the Empire have also been bombed one after another, and my family has already been forced to move to the countryside."

  On June 16, 1944, US B-29 bombers took off from China to bomb Japan's Kyushu, and the flames of war directly burned to mainland Japan, and this strategic bombing continued until the end of the war.

  But it was not until 1945 that the United States unleashed its full fury, with over 10 million sorties flown against Japan's 97 cities. All major Japanese cities, except Kyoto and Nara, were destroyed. A total of 8.5 million people fled from urban to rural areas in Japan.

  As for dropping the atomic bomb in the end, it was just to speed up Japan's surrender. In fact, if the atomic bomb hadn't been dropped, Japan would have probably held on for no more than two months.

  Muyang thought to himself, fortunately it's still 1944 now. If it were 1945, he really wouldn't dare go to Japan. He estimated that even if the Japanese didn't kill him, the American air raids would.

  For these things, Muyang is not very concerned, what he cares about most is still that batch of antiques. From Shanghai to Tokyo, the sea voyage takes about three days and three nights, this ship will not stop midway, so it should not be later than this time, and Muyang's action, it's best to complete during the sea voyage, if arrived in mainland Japan, it is estimated that there will be more trouble.

  Moyou thought for a moment and said, "I've seen the Army Ministry's Lily Plan before, but I'm more interested in your actions. Can you tell me how much stuff you actually transported back to Japan?" Moyou looked very curious.

  Ishida Takeo and Kōtōjima looked at Muyang, and finally Ishida Takeo spoke up: "This is my second time transporting goods to Tokyo, I don't know much about the others, but this time's stuff can be told to Kurita-sama."

  Originally, this information was supposed to be strictly confidential, but now that they were on their way back to Japan and already on the ship, what else could happen? As for Kunitada Tsunetaka, a member of the imperial family, Ishida Takeo didn't want to offend him, so he decided to reveal part of the situation.

  "Ishida Takeo said, 'Kurita-san, if you've finished eating, please come to my quarters for a moment.' It was clear that there were too many people around and Ishida didn't want to talk here."