Canteen System Assistance Notes

The actual situation is that the number of "battle deaths" publicly announced by the Japanese army each year is discussed and agreed upon by the Japanese army headquarters at the beginning of each year. Japanese soldiers who died on the battlefield will be listed one by one in the "actual reported number" table reported by each unit, and then lined up on a first-come, first-served basis to be listed on the "public number" table with a predetermined total amount (just like some countries today, senior officers can jump the queue because of pensions and pension benefits). Finally, their names can be published in the newspapers to confirm that they have sacrificed their lives for the empire and become military gods.

This allowed the Japanese Army not only to confirm and publicize the results of the battle in advance, but also to conveniently plan the budget for so-called "post-war compensation" and the distribution of ashes—after all, the death toll and ranks had already been determined, and the ashes could be prepared in advance—but this time, the sheer number of over 30 killed/captured was too great, and the entire North China Army's defeat was too shocking, directly overloading the "actual reporting" system of queuing casualties to the point of collapse...

With so many people, how long will it take to get in line? I'm too busy to even put the urns in the stone urns! Yeah, what should I do this time?

The housewives in the rear only had to worry about organizing the memorial ceremony, but the commanders at the Imperial Headquarters had much more to consider. This defeat was truly horrific, and the two most likely to bear the brunt of the loss, General Okamura Yasuji and Lieutenant General Iimura Mamoru, were killed in action. Even Lieutenant General Kita Makoto, who had taken the lead and was therefore the natural scapegoat, sent a telegram at the last moment to express his loyalty and, after "performing his remote worship," committed suicide by seppuku.

We can't just put the blame on Yamashita Tomoyuki of the Kwantung Army, or Hata Shunroku of the Central China Army, right?

The leaders at headquarters discussed the matter for a long time, but came to no conclusion. Since all the individuals responsible for the execution of the campaign and the resulting defeat were deceased, the process of apportioning blame could be suspended. However, the matter was so significant that without the current cabinet leader taking the blame, it would be difficult to convince the public.

In the original history, Japan's wartime cabinet was mainly led by Hideki Tojo, the scapegoat for starting the war. He resigned in July 1944 due to the defeat in Saipan and was replaced by Kuniaki Koiso. Kuniaki Koiso also resigned in April 1945 due to the worsening war situation and the Soviet Union's failure to maintain a "peaceful" diplomacy with Japan. He was replaced by a cabinet led by Kantaro Suzuki until Japan's surrender.

In this time and space of significant change, Hideki Tojo's cabinet, blamed for the tragedy, collapsed after the "Geiyo Islands/Kure Line Incident" in August 1942. The subsequent cabinet of Kuniaki Koiso barely even warmed its seat before suffering a crushing defeat in the "North China" campaign.

Who is to blame for this can be left undiscussed for now, but among the powerful political figures who are full of high-ranking officials, it is impossible to let them off so easily - just like last time, the Koiso Kuniaki cabinet must "take responsibility"!

The Emperor's wrath seemed to be imminent, and several generals in the Army Ministry had no choice but to send their suggestions and requests to the Imperial Household Ministry: In view of the current war situation on the mainland, Prime Minister Koiso Kuniaki should no longer serve as Minister of the Army and Chief of the General Staff; and if a counterattack was to be launched in the future to prevent the communist crisis in Manchuria and Central China, a cabinet with high power and high prestige would be needed to form a cabinet, so that they could play the role of a mainstay, stabilize the military morale, and coordinate the relationship between the navy and the army.

At the end of their proposal, they wrote: "...after much deliberation, we all agree that it is imperative that His Excellency Prince Higashikuni Toshihiko personally serve as Prime Minister and lead the cabinet reorganization."

Then, Emperor Hirohito got angry again.

But the emperor lost his temper and scolded these soldiers for being tactless, saying that rejecting the plan would be a disgrace to the royal family.

Thus, under the "mouthpiece" and arrangement of Home Minister Kido Yukichi, a meeting of senior officials from the Taisho and Showa eras rejected the Army Ministry's "Imperial Cabinet" plan. Afterwards, after heated discussions among former Prime Ministers such as Wakata Reijiro and Okada Keisuke, a cabinet plan that satisfied the Emperor was sent to the Army in the form of an "Imperial Recommendation":

First, the original proposal was rejected, but the Koiso Cabinet was required to resign immediately as a token of apology. Thus, the gloomy Prime Minister and War Minister, Koiso Kuniaki, resigned immediately and retired from active service again (he had previously re-entered the military under Japan's "temporary" policy to lead the war when the cabinet was formed). He also left with Foreign Minister Shigemitsu Mamoru, Navy Minister Shigetaro Shimada, Finance Minister Tsuchitaro Ishiwatari, and Planning Minister Ginjiro Fujiwara.

Afterwards, the meeting of senior officials indirectly stated that "the current priority is to form a cabinet as soon as possible to shoulder the heavy responsibility" - in simple terms, it means to select a prime minister who can take the blame as soon as possible.

After conferring with several Vice Ministers of the Army Ministry, Hirohito, who was hiding in the Imperial Palace and a bomb shelter, secretly summoned General Maeda Toshinori, who had survived the plane crash and was still serving as Commander of the Eastern Army, to give him personal instructions. Maeda, in turn, was accompanied by Minister of the Interior Koichi Kido to visit the long-unemployed "coordinator" Kijuro Shidehara.

Your Excellency, the Emperor has already decided that you will be the next Prime Minister. Don't refuse! And don't recite haiku!

His Majesty is mindful of your diplomatic prowess and intends to appoint you as Foreign Minister. Prepare now!

So, regardless of whether people at the time were willing or not, after a few days of vacuum in the highest authority in the legal sense, the new Japanese cabinet was formed in April 1943.

This cabinet was headed by the "brilliant talent" of Mr. Kijuro Shidehara, who served as Prime Minister and Foreign Minister; the Minister of the Army and Chief of the General Staff was the newly promoted General Maeda Toshihiro, and the Minister of the Navy and Chief of the Naval General Staff was Mitsumasa Yonai - this was to implement the military orders of the army and navy in wartime - so that the entire empire would have a unified mind and fight with all its strength.

Furthermore, the Finance Minister was Shibusawa Keizo, the Munitions Minister was Toyoda Teijiro, and the Home Minister was Abe Genki. Emperor Hirohito had found all the people who could "appease" Hirohito and thus whitewash this cabinet, which was ostensibly a civilian government but was actually a distorted political system run entirely by the military.

However, because he was a scapegoat and lacked military status, Prime Minister Kijuro Shidehara would not be able to participate in the command of the Imperial Headquarters like his predecessors, Tojo and Koiso. He could only stay at the Prime Minister's Office and listen to reports, a completely marginalized figure, forced to continue to operate the so-called diplomatic system.

As soon as the new cabinet came to power, it showed a very different atmosphere from the past. As soon as the gloriously appointed Prime Minister Fudehara came to power, he shouted "Show goodwill to Britain and Japan, hold peace talks as soon as possible, and end the protracted war", completely disregarding the fact that such remarks would be called "enemies of North Korea, traitors to the country, and non-nationals".

And the Japanese citizens who had just celebrated the "victory of the war" and cheered for further "winning victory and spreading military power to all directions" had to raise their hands and change their chants to "peace aboard, the Emperor aboard" at the next National Spiritual Awakening Week, making a big turn of events whose meaning was unknown.

Of course, the list of names of fallen soldiers published in the newspapers has not been restored; and it is probably unlikely that real peace talks will be possible.

The young admirals in the navy continued to plan to "find an opportunity to give the Americans a big blow in the current stalemate, and then find a way to use the victory to seek peace", while the old hands in the army began to return to reality from the changes in power and the joy of having the blame taken away. While planning to continue the war of aggression in Southeast Asia, they began to think seriously, nervously and fearfully about a problem.

Next, will the Communist army continue to move north, or will it prepare to move south?

Chapter 826: Black Tea's Operation Reaction

(Update)

The Battle of North China, or to call it in a more playful way - Operation Huabei.

The battle that was able to wipe out about 30 Axis regular troops and annihilate a large number of fascist vassal troops in one go can be regarded as a top-notch major victory even in the Soviet-German battlefield, the largest and most intense land warfare meat grinder in World War II.

Therefore, even England, which is trying its best to maintain the so-called British Empire, or America, which firmly adheres to the policy of "Europe first, Asia later", has to turn its attention to the Far East, the "corner of the world", and the communists who are thriving in that land, whether they like it or not.

However, apart from the confusion at the first sight, the shock after understanding the situation, and the mixed emotions of recognition, praise and vigilance that followed, the reaction of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, a "traditional Western power" that once always saw the sun on its territory, to this "North China Operation" was also quite surprising.

Compared with the Americans who had signed a framework agreement with the Eighth Route Army and sent a lot of supplies through the Lend-Lease Act, the British, who were far away in the appendix of the European continent, also believed that they had made great contributions and played a big role in the construction of the liberated areas and the fighting of the Eighth Route Army.

You see, not only did we give you four-engine large bombers and a continuous supply of spare parts (even though Comrade Liu Helian obtained these in exchange for German oil field coordinates), we also provided you with a number of fighter jets and patrol aircraft (even though we paid for them), and donated a batch of twin-engine training aircraft (even though they were used for show bombing and can't be returned). We even provided supplies and new ships to your overseas fleet!

(Of course, this was also earned through spending money, or perhaps due to the Indian Ocean Fleet's mission.) So, in mid-March, as the war situation gradually became clearer, British imperial officials began drafting a congratulatory telegram to the Eighth Route Army for their victory, as well as a communication message to further deepen cooperation. Meanwhile, the cabinet staff responsible for keeping the British Empire alive took time out from their busy schedules of European and North African affairs to briefly discuss topics such as the impact on the British Far East if this Far Eastern communist regime became the official ruling party of China; and the impact on subsequent bilateral relations of whether to contain, give it the cold shoulder, treat it as an equal, provide strong assistance, or grant it quasi-ally treatment during the subsequent war.

But in the end, these issues did not take up too much time and energy of the imperial office workers.

There have been too many things happening in Europe, North Africa, and even India recently. Compared with the ancient country in the Far East with a pitifully small foreign trade volume, these things obviously have a greater impact on the precarious empire. At present, the empire must properly handle the relationship with its own wild son. It cannot become hostile, nor can it rely on him completely.

However, at this moment, "that gentleman" in the Prime Minister's Office issued an instruction: No! That's not right! How can we just send congratulatory telegrams? We must let "the communists who are celebrating their victory at this moment learn to stand aside with their hands held high and respectfully learn the rules of the game from the world's number one predecessors."

Huh? What's going on?

The British office workers who had been working overtime for more than 14 hours a day wailed with bitter faces, making the sharp roar unique to overworked dogs: Now the empire has to maintain a huge front in North Africa, prepare to land on the European continent, fight wits and courage with the German wolf pack, suppress India which is in turmoil due to famine, and even have to deal with the problem of insufficient domestic butter supply. They really have no energy to spend more time on places like the Far East and China.

What are you doing? The Prime Minister should just send a congratulatory message and sell some accessories. Do you really want Lord James Somerville to lead the fleet to break through the Japanese blockade in Singapore, enter the South China Sea, and then have a debate with the Red elements in the Far East?

Fortunately, Sir Robert Anthony Eden, in charge of wartime diplomacy, immediately brought Hastings Ismay, the Prime Minister's military advisor, to Downing Street for a detailed discussion with the news-making Prime Minister. After a friendly exchange, Eden and Ismay finally understood Churchill's true intentions.

"First of all, I don't like communists. Although they have done a good job this time and congratulatory messages are acceptable, the British Empire is glorious and needs to do something now to make these Asian, communist, yellow people realize that they cannot try to bypass the Empire and decide Asian issues on their own.

“Although the Empire’s strength is not as strong as before, and intervention in the Far East is difficult, and it is necessary to maintain normal relations and exchanges with the Communists in northern China, we must recognize that maintaining the Empire’s majesty in the Far East is an important matter, an indisputable matter… In short, it is a very important matter.

"The Imperial Army must play an important role on all fronts of the World War... and this important role must be known and admired by the Allied participants all over the world!"

This kind of British Tai Chi, full of twists and turns, might have left outsiders bewildered, or perhaps they might have thought Britain was truly planning to take action against the increasingly powerful Chinese Communist Party. However, Eden and Ismay quickly translated Churchill's lengthy speech into a simple demand:

"Eighth Route Army, you can't steal my headlines. For war contribution and a say, Britain needs to do something!"

"... In short, the Prime Minister requires us to achieve sufficiently impressive results in North Africa, Europe, and the Far East at the same time. Hmm... This sounds like a very difficult task."

"Yes, just as you think."

Walking out of the Prime Minister's office, Baron Hastings Lionel Ismay nodded to the thoughtful Sir Robert Anthony Eden. He obviously had an idea in his mind:

"In North Africa, we can, on behalf of the Prime Minister, urge the Allied forces on the front line to launch an offensive as soon as possible, especially asking our good English-speaking comrades to transport their armored forces to the position as soon as possible, preferably within a month;

"On the European continent, we can continue to plan a powerful bombing campaign targeting the Germans' vital North German oil fields - this will severely damage Germany's oil supply;

"In East Asia, in addition to sending congratulatory messages, we could order the British Indian Army to launch an offensive and land on a Japanese-controlled island, perhaps a peninsula. Let me think - there might be an important target on the coast of Rakhine State in Burma."

"I'm sorry, Hastings, I have to interrupt you."

Aiden asked, stroking his chin.

"The Axis forces in North Africa are already at their last gasp, and preparations for the Tunisian campaign are steadily progressing. A few days ago, I heard reports that our English-speaking allies were planning to deploy the 2nd and 3rd Armored Divisions to the battlefield all at once, stockpiling supplies and launching a decisive offensive in July of this year. Our urging has been ineffective.

"The bombing of the 'North German Oil Fields' has been going on for a long time, and the German defense network is very tenacious. I've read the technical team's report. The Germans have not only filled the Heligoland Bight with barges and warships equipped with anti-aircraft guns, but they have also built numerous facilities on each 'sub-sub' platform to render our torpedo and ricochet attacks ineffective. Those poor pilots say the Germans have the same radar system as ours, and if our bombers approach the oil fields, they will attract attacks from anti-aircraft guns and night fighter squadrons. The light from the searchlights and exploding shells can almost illuminate the night sky... Although I believe in the courage and determination of the young men, I am afraid the effectiveness of this bombing will not be very good.

"As for Rakhine State in Myanmar in East Asia... I'm sorry, I don't know where it is, but that should mean it's not important. Using Indians to attack here, regardless of the damage, can it play a critical, significant role?"

After hearing this, Baron Hastings Lionel Ismay stopped and smiled at Aiden.

"Reverend Robert, I think, perhaps it's not easy to see, but in my opinion, the most valuable part of that location is that it is a key place; and the most valuable part of these actions is that they must be the most critical events."