The next day, early in the morning.
The Japanese cabinet held an emergency meeting.
"Gentlemen, the situation is critical!"
In the conference room, Prime Minister Tojo Umetoku solemnly said, "Last night, Commander Ozawa of the Southern Expeditionary Fleet reported that they were attacked by a large number of submarines from the Democratic League and suffered heavy losses."
"At present, Ozawa-kun has transferred all four fleets under the Southern Expedition to Port Moresby and laid a large number of mines in the vicinity to prevent them from being completely annihilated..."
After hearing the Prime Minister's words, everyone fell silent.
A moment later, Minister of State Sakon Sasōzō stood up: "Prime Minister, I have just received intelligence from the National Alliance. They are currently preparing for war, and it seems they intend to fight our Empire to the death!"
"Oh? When did you learn of this intelligence?" the Prime Minister asked in surprise.
“Last night, our spy planted in the National League for Democracy made contact with me via radio!”
"It seems that the Democratic League has finally decided to fight us to the death!"
Tojo Umeichi's eyes flashed with a fierce light as she gritted her teeth and said, "Back then, we were traitors who failed, mistakenly believing they were agents of the US, only to later discover that they weren't at all."
"By the time we realized what was happening, and with the intelligence we received from Mas Schulz, we learned that our Empire had completely lost its advantage in the air and sea, not even a tenth of the National League's!"
Tojo Umetoku was furious: "Damn bastards! If it weren't for their schemes and tricks, how could we have ended up in this state!"
The ministers all bowed their heads in deep thought.
Initially, they had planned two options. One was to occupy western Guangdong Province of China by land and then march directly south into Indochina, but they were repelled by China.
The other option was a landing operation, but considering that the National League for Democracy's naval and air forces were several times larger than theirs, this plan had to be abandoned.
Army Minister Korechika Anami suddenly raised his head: "Prime Minister, since the National League for Democracy is determined to fight us to the death, there is no way to avoid it. We should prepare for the worst and meet the enemy head-on!"
Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement.
"That's right, our empire is one of the world's leading powers. Are we afraid of a mere Democratic League?"
"That's right, since the Democratic League wants to play along, we'll play along!"
"That's right, I want to see what they're capable of that dares to provoke us!"
After listening to his subordinates' discussion, Tojo Umeto calmly analyzed: "You are right. There is only one path before us, and that is—to meet the enemy!"
Ōsumi Mineo reminded him, "Prime Minister, Yamamoto-kun analyzed the National League last night. Their goal is definitely to land on our main island."
“The National League’s army is smaller than ours, not even half as big, but its navy and air force are several times larger. If he were the commander of the National League, he would first cut off our southern resource supply, and then concentrate his forces to seize the islands step by step and nibble away at us.”
"Um."
Tojo Umetoku nodded approvingly: "Go on."
"Yamamoto-kun has four suggestions. First, transfer two-thirds of China's army aviation to coastal airfields, focusing on the defense of Hainan Island, Taiwan Island, and Okinawa."
"Hainan Island is the first island chain, Taiwan Island is the second island chain, and Okinawa is the third island chain."
"Secondly, the Kwantung Army and the China Expeditionary Army will allocate half of their forces to build mountain fortresses centered on the mountains in the three island chains. At the same time, they will deploy heavy troops in Korea. As long as the enemy dares to land on the main island, we will not be afraid even if it is a protracted war."
"Third, all existing naval forces will be incorporated into the Combined Fleet to patrol the line from southeastern Kyushu to eastern Taiwan, preventing the enemy from directly landing in the open ocean."
"Fourth, the Southern Army abandoned the major cities in Southeast Asia and moved to the islands to build strong mountain fortresses. Even if the National League for Democracy Army takes them, it will take them a year or two to take them all. This gives us enough time to deploy our defenses on the three island chains."
"Of course, Yamamoto has another purpose: once the National League Army fails to remove these obstacles, it will inevitably send a large force. At that time, our army will concentrate its superior forces to attack western Guangdong, and then move south to bring the decisive battle to Indochina!"
"Yes, Yamamoto-kun's plan is excellent."
With a smile, Tojo Umetoku asked, "Everyone, what do you think of this plan?"
Everyone looked at each other and agreed that the plan was indeed very good, so they all praised it.
"Yamamoto-kun is truly farsighted; he actually came up with such a method!"
"As expected of our Empire's renowned naval commander, Yamamoto-kun, he even came up with such a plan!"
Tojo Umedo nodded in satisfaction: "Good, since everyone agrees with this plan, then the General Staff will immediately draft the operational plan and execute it as soon as possible!"
"Hi, Yi."
……………………
That evening, at the headquarters of the China Democratic League in Laizhou.
Lin Feng sat at the table smoking, his eyes fixed on the map of Japan, lost in thought.
Just then, there was a soft knock on the door behind him.
"Please come in!" he said without turning his head.
The office door was pushed open, and Zhang Jianping, the press representative of the China Democratic League, strode in.
"Chairman, your guess was right. The Japanese have indeed planted many spies in our Democratic League. As soon as the combat orders were issued to the company and platoon levels, these spies started to move!"
Zhang Jianping handed several intelligence reports to Lin Feng and continued, "Moreover, judging from the intelligence we gathered this morning, the Japanese seem to have a countermeasure to our Democratic League's four-step plan and have taken targeted actions."
Lin Feng stubbed out his cigarette, which had already burned out, and threw it into the trash can. He then took the intelligence report and began to carefully read through it.
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