China, Nationalist Party General Staff Headquarters meeting room.
"In the past two days, the Japanese army has been acting strangely. On many battlefields, they have taken a defensive stance, and even on the Guilin front line, after occupying Guilin City, they continued to advance towards Yushan, Fenghuangshan, and Bianyashan. Our troops fought hard, and at one point, our position was lost, and the troops were about to collapse. However, starting from the day before yesterday, the Japanese army mysteriously retreated, withdrawing directly back to Guilin City and abandoning the Yushan, Fenghuangshan, and Bianyashan front lines."
"Yes, it's not just the Guilin battlefield. The Japanese army has shown signs of withdrawal in many battlefields in Central China, South China, and even Northeast China. Are they brewing another big action?"
Inside the Nationalist Party headquarters, many high-ranking generals are holding a military combat meeting, and many people are deeply puzzled by the recent moves of the Japanese army.
However, this news is also good for the Nationalist Party leaders. In the past few months, the Japanese army has been attacking like crazy, and the Nationalist Army has suffered heavy losses, with great pressure on all troops. This time, the Japanese army's voluntary withdrawal gave the troops a chance to breathe, just in time to take advantage of this opportunity to rest and alleviate the fatigue of the past few months.
US forces in Southeast Asia also felt that the Japanese army's combat method was significantly different from before over the past two days. Many places abandoned the first temporary defense line and directly entered the depth defense zone to cope with the large-scale bombing of the US military, and the US military took advantage of this opportunity to seize several positions favorable to itself.
In fact, these were all orders issued by the Japanese General Staff Headquarters. Tachibana Kōzaburō felt pressure from the Imperial Family and had no choice but to use this means to protect himself.
The imperial family held nearly half of the army's rights, and in fact, the General Staff should also be an extension of the imperial family's rights. Suddenly, Shōwa Emperor was killed by a madman named Sugiyama Heiichi, making Matsuoka Yosuke an instant enemy of the imperial family. This made Matsuoka extremely resentful, and he hated that madman Sugiyama with a passion.
The imperial family representative, Prince Takamatsu, has already spoken to Mei Tetsuro, stating that this matter will be pursued, and Mei Tetsuro cannot shirk his responsibility. However, at present, the imperial family is most concerned with the selection of a new emperor and has also informed Mei Tetsuro, requesting him to cooperate with the imperial household's operations to smoothly select a new emperor. At the same time, they are covering up the news that Emperor Showa was assassinated because the emperor is a god, and it would be absolutely damaging to the imperial family's dignity if it were said that he was killed by a low-ranking military officer with a paperweight.
Umezu Yoshijirō sat in his office, silently smoking a cigarette.
The door was knocked and the Minister of Intelligence came in, "Your Excellency, today the Imperial Guard Division was suddenly deployed to Tokyo, do you know about this?"
Maezono Kichirō was shocked, the Konoe Division had actually entered Tokyo's city limits, and such a major event, as Chief of Staff, he hadn't received any prior information, nor had the military informed him, was there something going on here that he didn't know about?
"Thinking of this, Mei Zhen Meizhila quickly stood up and asked, 'At what time did the Konoe Division enter the Tokyo metropolitan area? Who gave the order? Was there any advance notice from the Army Ministry?'"
"It was around 1:00 pm today that they entered the Tokyo metropolitan area. As soon as they entered the city, a full-scale blockade began, and the warning signs should have been set up by now. We haven't received any reports from the Army Ministry, so it's unclear who gave the orders to the Imperial Guard Division," said the Minister of Intelligence.
"What the hell, how does your intelligence department work? Such a big thing and you didn't even get any advance intel. Is the whole intelligence department this lazy?! Now hurry up and investigate, whose orders allowed the Imperial Guard Division to enter Tokyo, what's their purpose, hurry up and find out, I want all useful information."
He has realized that something is wrong, very wrong, and a big deal might happen.
He picked up the phone on the table and said, "Get me the Ministry of Land Army."
Sugiyama picked up the phone on the desk and heard the voice of Maezuru Yoshijiro inside, "Minister Sugiyama, this is Maezuru Yoshijiro. Are you aware that the Imperial Guard Division has been deployed to Tokyo? Is this your order?"
Sugiyama Hajime was also bewildered by the Imperial Guard Division's entry into Tokyo at this time, and the Army Ministry was in a state of confusion. Sugiyama Hajime lost his temper and demanded that the matter be clarified as soon as possible. Moreover, Sugiyama had already ordered the commander of the Imperial Guard Division, Nakamura Masao, to hurry to his office and explain the situation regarding this troop deployment.
"It wasn't me who arranged this, I've already ordered Nakamura Masao to come here and explain the situation," said Sugisaki Gen.
"Minister Rokusaburō, don't you think this is a very ominous sign? How dare Nakamura Masao mobilize troops into Tokyo on his own, and who is backing him from behind the scenes. The Emperor was assassinated, and it was done by an active-duty officer of the Imperial Army directly in the palace, what kind of fool would Asano Kaichi be to do such a thing without someone's instigation? Is there someone masterminding these events from behind the scenes, and what is their purpose?" said Mezawa Kōjirō.
"What exactly do you want to say?" asked Shanshan Yuan.
"I think this is a conspiracy, a conspiracy against our army."
"Is it the Navy Department?"
"It may be, or it may be someone else, or the imperial family, anything is possible. Some people want to regain power and take advantage of the Emperor's assassination to our disadvantage in the Army General Staff and General Headquarters."
"What's in it for them?"
"The imperial family is preparing to set up a new emperor, I think the palace has already informed you. For so many years, the palace has been trying to extend its reach into the military to gain more power. Is it possible that someone was dissatisfied with Emperor Showa's weakness and used Asano Kiyoshi to kill him, then took this opportunity to frame the Army General Staff and the General Staff Office in order to seize even greater power?"
Sugisaki Moto was lost in thought after hearing Matsujiro's words and held onto the receiver for a long time without speaking.
At this time, Muyang was sitting in the reception hall of Prince Yi Ze of Xianyuan Palace. In addition to Muyang, there were several old men in the living room. The heads or representatives of Fushimi-no-miya, Takanawa-no-miya, Komatsu-no-miya, Kaya-no-miya, Kitashirakawa-no-miya and Takamado-no-miya families also sat here.
The atmosphere in the living room was not good, as the Prime Minister, Koizumi was also very responsible for the Emperor's assassination. After all, the cabinet is an institution that serves the Emperor, and now it has allowed the Emperor to be killed by someone, which is a huge responsibility for the Prime Minister of the cabinet.
Just now, these imperial clansmen have launched a verbal attack on Xiaozhi Guo.
Moyou bowed slightly and said, "The Emperor's assassination is the responsibility of the Cabinet, and as Prime Minister, I am accountable. However, I think we have more important things to do now, please listen to what I have to say next."
Several homeowners and representatives quieted down, criticizing that blaming Xiaojia Guozhao was meaningless, it was just to vent their emotions. Let's first listen to what Xiaojia Guozhao came here for today.
