On the evening of the second day, a family dinner was being held in the dining room of Uehara Junpei's residence. Several men dressed in kimonos were sitting at the table, raising their glasses to each other and chatting animatedly.
The youngest, Fujiwara Tomohito, sat to the right of Uehara Junpei, quietly listening to Kagesa Hiroki's eloquent speech.
“Harada-kun, I think what you’re saying is somewhat wishful thinking. The facts have proven that the Chongqing government has been resolute in its resistance against the Empire for the past three years, and as a result, their troops have suffered heavy losses. It is absolutely impossible to get the Chongqing government to sit at the negotiating table and negotiate according to our plan, unless we gain an absolute advantage on the battlefield, but we cannot do that in the short term. Therefore, the new Nanjing government is our best option.”
The middle-aged man sitting opposite Kagesa Hiroki had a square face, thick, neat eyebrows, and sharp, bright eyes. He was Major General Harada Takeo of the Central China Area Army General Staff.
The Chief of Staff of the Central China Area Army, Itagaki Jiro, had two capable assistants: one was Major General Kagesa Hiroki, who was currently in charge of the Mei operation, and the other was Major General Harada Takeo.
Harada Takeo was exceptionally capable and brilliant, an outstanding strategist who was known as a wise man in the military and was highly regarded by Itagaki Jiro.
Harada Takeo consistently maintained that Japan's focus should not be confined to China, but should extend to the international arena and gain a clearer understanding of the global situation. Therefore, he consistently held differing opinions on the General Headquarters' increasing investment in China. He advocated ending the full-scale war between China and Japan as soon as possible, pulling Japan out of the quagmire of China, and concentrating all its strength to strive for greater interests on a global scale.
Therefore, he placed his hopes on the Chongqing government, believing that only through negotiations with the Chongqing government could this goal be truly achieved. As for the so-called Nanjing government, it was merely a figurehead and not only did not help to truly solve the China problem, but it would also arouse the Chongqing government's fear and make it more resolute in its attitude towards Japan.
Upon hearing Hiroki Kagesa's words, Takeo Harada curled his lip in disapproval. Although he knew that few in the military agreed with his views, he firmly believed that his judgment was correct, so he retorted: "The decision-makers at the General Headquarters are too presumptuous. We promised the Cabinet that we would resolve the China war within three months, which is why the Cabinet agreed to our decision to launch a full-scale war."
But what about now? Three years have passed, and besides spending an incalculable amount of military funds and sacrificing the lives of tens of thousands of young soldiers, what have we actually gained?
On the contrary, we have lost the most precious thing to us: time. The international situation is developing so rapidly that we have no time to prepare.
According to the original plan, the China issue would be resolved in three months, and then three years would be used to prepare for a new round of world war, thereby gaining control of the whole of Asia and becoming one of the world's strongest powers.
However, we were too complacent. The outbreak of the war in Europe occurred several years earlier than we expected. We watched as the Germans swept through the country, occupying nearly half of Europe and growing stronger, while we were stuck in the deep abyss of the China theater, slowly depleting our precious fighting strength. This was a fatal strategic mistake.
The Germans and Britain and France have formally declared war. What we should do now is seize this opportunity to withdraw our forces from China, actively prepare for war, and take advantage of the fact that Britain, France, and Germany are engaged in war and unable to attend to Asian affairs, to advance into Southeast Asia and occupy this resource-rich land, instead of getting entangled with the Chinese here.”
Ning Zhiheng, standing to the side, watched Harada Takeo confidently pontificate and nodded inwardly. This man truly lived up to his reputation as a renowned strategist in the Japanese military; his judgment was extremely accurate. According to the development of the war in Europe, a showdown between Germany and the old European powers was inevitable. With Britain and France drawn into the war, they would inevitably be unable to attend to their Southeast Asian colonies, which would naturally lead to a weakened military presence in the entire Southeast Asian region, leaving it almost without any resistance. This would inevitably make it the best target for the Japanese.
"Southeast Asia is extremely rich in resources, including oil, rubber, steel, and timber. We can use this to address our biggest weakness of scarce resources. The cost is small, but the gains are huge. This is the most correct decision-making approach."
Therefore, I believe that the best course of action would be to negotiate directly with the Chongqing government, even if it means sacrificing some interests. We only need to keep them in check for a period of time, until we have brought South Asia under our control, and then concentrate our efforts on resolving the China issue. However, we have now supported the Nanjing government, which will inevitably provoke resistance from the Chongqing government, making it a completely counterproductive move.
The Japanese generals present exchanged glances at Harada Takeo's words. If these words had been spoken a few years ago, or even a year ago, before the Battle of Changsha broke out, they would have scoffed at them.
In their original vision, China, this vast and ancient empire, was nothing more than a rotten piece of dead wood, easily destroyed. But now they know that this was just wishful thinking on the part of the military.
Especially during this year, the Japanese army suffered fierce resistance and blows from the Chinese army. The successive battles of Changsha and Guinan resulted in heavy losses for the Japanese army. Facts proved that the fighting strength of the Chinese army was far beyond everyone's expectations. The war was no longer as unstoppable as it was at the beginning of the war. As the military losses increased, the Japanese army's war potential was gradually exhausted. They began to pay more and more attention to the opponent in front of them and had to agree with Harada Takeo's point of view. Rather than fighting a war of attrition with the Chinese army, it would be better to pick on the weaker ones and deal with the weaker Southeast Asian countries.
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