Umezu Mitsurou adjusted his grand marshal uniform and sat in his office chair, waiting for the final moment to arrive.

  With a loud "peng" sound, the office door was kicked open and several armed soldiers rushed in under the leadership of a sergeant.

  "Get out, you fools! Do you know where this is? This is the General Staff Headquarters, my office. Bring your superior here to see me!"

  The military officer was taken aback for a moment, then his expression turned serious and he said: "General, I have been ordered to arrest you. Please do not resist."

  "Bastard, didn't you understand what I said?" Mei Tsuruichi had never been disregarded by a low-ranking soldier like this before.

  "Sir, I'm acting under orders. Please cooperate. If you have anything to say, you can see our superior now. Sorry about this." Then he said to the soldier beside him: "Tie up General and take him away."

  Several soldiers rushed forward like wolves, pulled out a rope and tied up Meizumi Yoshirō tightly. Meizumi Yoshirō cursed loudly, but these people didn't care, directly lifting him down the stairs like carrying a piglet.

  Maezuru Yoshirō was brought before Tadokoro Tomoichi. Although Maezuru did not know Tadokoro, he could tell by his rank that Tadokoro was the commander of this unit. Maezuru shouted at Tadokoro: "Do you know what you are doing? You are attacking the Imperial General Headquarters, raiding the most important military department of the Empire, and capturing an Imperial Marshal! Who gave you the right and courage to do such a thing?"

  "His Majesty the late Emperor Hirohito of Showa."

  Umezu Mitsurō was momentarily stunned, then shouted loudly: "Who wants to harm me? The death of the Emperor and I have nothing to do with each other. This is absolutely a frame-up, someone wants to trap me."

  "Don't tell me such things, someone will ask you." Then Tianlu Chao said to the soldiers, "Shut General Meizumi's mouth and take him back for strict custody. No one is allowed to contact him."

  Umezawa Toshiro was still being carried away, feeling extremely humiliated, but there was nothing he could do.

  As soon as Taro walked into the headquarters of the General Staff, he saw many corpses piled up at the gate. There were those from the First Regiment and also those from the Guard Unit. Regardless of which side they belonged to, these people were all soldiers of the Empire.

  "Have someone collect the soldiers' bodies and give them a proper burial. All of the soldiers here should be laid to rest." Tianlu Chao ordered.

  "Yes, Squadron Leader." a staff officer hastily replied.

  Tian Lu Chao Yi stood in the courtyard, watching as soldiers continuously dragged out and took away the staff members of the headquarters, a satisfied smile spreading across his face. The division commander had requested that the task be completed within three hours, but he himself had only used a little over an hour; it seemed that the efficiency was still quite good.

  Not far from the General Staff Headquarters, similar things were happening in the Army Ministry. The difference was that the defense of the Army Ministry was even weaker than that of the General Staff Headquarters. Sugiyama Hajime had already been arrested, and the Army Ministry was leaderless. When Nagami Tsuneo led his 4th Regiment to surround the Army Ministry, the entire ministry was in chaos, but none of the vice ministers took charge.

  The guards only symbolically blocked the way, and when they saw that the Imperial Guard was really opening fire and attacking, the guards chose to give up their resistance, allowing the Imperial Guard to directly send people rushing into the Army Ministry, capturing all the personnel inside. Tanaka Kōtarō was still congratulating himself on quickly taking over the General Staff Headquarters, but he didn't know that Mokoya Kōjun's 4th Regiment was moving even faster than him.

  The third and fourth brigades' attack on the Army Headquarters and General Staff Headquarters was not the main event today, Nakamura Masao left behind Shimizu Yoshimi but had other plans.

  "Kiyomizu, here is a list. You are to personally lead the capture of these people. This is a direct order from the Prime Minister himself. Any questions?" Nakamura Masao said, staring intently at Kiyomizu Yoshitomi.

  Kiyomi Shimizu took the list and felt half of her body turn cold, "Commander, are you sure? These people are..." She couldn't continue.

  "Kiyomizu, the outcome is decided by this one move. Our future is in our own hands. Don't you want to become a great general of the Empire? We can only rely on the trust of the new Emperor to take that step. Kiyomizu, are you willing to strive with me?"

  Kiyomi Shimizu thought for a moment and then suddenly made up her mind, saying "I understand, Commander. I will complete this task successfully."

  Nakamura Masao then whispered two sentences in the ear of Shimizu Kiyomi, who nodded heavily and left the command center with his men.

  In the residence of Tōjō Hideki, at this time Tōjō Hideki was having tea and chatting with Shima Tsutomu and Minami Jirō, and the content of the conversation was about the assassination of His Majesty the Emperor and the future direction of Japanese politics.

  These three people are old friends, when Tōjō Hideki was the Prime Minister, Shimada Shigetarō served as the Navy Minister and is considered one of Tōjō's loyal followers. Minami Jirō used to be the commander of the Kwantung Army and is now a Privy Councilor.

  "Tōjō-san, don't you think this matter is quite suspicious? Who exactly wants to kill the Shōwa Emperor and what's their purpose?" said Nanjiro after taking a sip of tea.

  "Kojima Koku Sho, although he has the name of the Far Eastern Tiger, is usually very measured in his actions. But this time, why did he suddenly turn away from the Army Ministry and bring the Imperial Guard Division to Tokyo? What does he want to do? Is there some unknown plot behind this?" said Shimada Shigetaro.

  The two of them finished speaking and looked towards Tōjō Hideki who had been deep in thought all along.

  Tōjō Hideki stroked his own bald head, "Now that we are no longer in the cabinet, our grasp on the imperial government's politics is not as strong as before. However, the Imperial Army's strength is not something that just anyone can shake. The Meiji Emperor was such a wise person, and after so many years of effort by the Japanese royal family, what was the result? In the end, it was still the Ministry of War that held the initiative, they are unbeatable."

  "What should we do next? Can't we take this opportunity to go on stage again?" asked Shoutarou Shimada.

  "As the Prime Minister, Emperor Kotoku's assassination is an unshirkable responsibility for Koiso. This is also our chance to overthrow him and return to power if we make the right moves," said Nanjirō.

  Tōjō Hideki nodded, just about to say something, when Tōjō Hifumi, his second son, walked in hastily with a tense look on his face.

  "What's the hurry." Tōjō Hideki rebuked in a low voice.

  "Father, something big has happened. Just now the Imperial Guard Division began to mobilize troops. The 3rd Brigade is heading towards the General Staff Office and another route of the 4th Brigade went to the Army Ministry. Do you think something is going to happen?" Tōjō Hidetada said with some panic.

  Tōjō Hideki narrowed his eyes, feeling a sense of unease. He looked at the two old colleagues and stood up, saying: "Something big might be happening, we need to prepare. You two go back first, tomorrow gather everyone and we'll head to the National Diet together to launch an inquiry into Koiso Kuniaki."