Traveling through the sword to engage in military industry

#274 - The messy little devils and the new situation

"What? The enemy used an unprecedented weapon that turned Nagasaki into a sea of fire! Casualties: 108,731?" The Japanese Emperor was somewhat beside himself, exclaiming to a group of officers at Imperial General Headquarters.

After nearly two days of rescue and investigation, the Japanese General Headquarters basically understood the extent of the damage and the situation during the attack, and then reported it to the Emperor.

"Yes, Your Majesty. We have reason to believe that this is a newly developed weapon by the Eighth Route Army. It uses the same rocket technology as their attack on our airport. Judging from the distance, the range of this weapon is almost 1,000 kilometers. It is a serious threat to our Imperial Army. Now is the time to decide on a decisive battle against the Eighth Route Army in Jin Province. Otherwise, our imperial homeland will be endlessly subjected to attacks," the highest commander of the Japanese military replied stiffly.

"This is the latest plan from our General Headquarters. We suggest expanding the scale of Operation Zero, concentrating all the strength that the Kwantung Army can mobilize, as well as the air power of the homeland. We must form an overwhelming advantage to conduct a decisive battle with the Eighth Route Army in Jin Province!

This concerns the fate of the Empire. We cannot delay any longer."

"But, what about the North? What if the Great Bear goes south?" The Emperor had not expected the situation to change so drastically in such a short period. His fingers involuntarily tapped the armrest of the throne. He appeared calm, but his fingertips were trembling slightly.

He already understood a lot about the strength of the Eighth Route Army in Jin Province. Operation Zero had concentrated such a strong operational group, but it was wiped out before it even entered their territory!

He didn't yet know that Shijiazhuang and Jizhou were actually under the control of the Eighth Route Army, and that even the entire central Hebei Plain was about to change hands. Otherwise, he would have found it even more difficult to maintain his position.

"Your Majesty, the Great Bear's Operation Bagration is bogging down its main forces in Warsaw and the Balkans, and it will inevitably be held back for at least half a year. In our Far East, the Great Bear is deploying new troops, especially lacking tanks and heavy artillery. They are now engaged in a decisive battle on the Eastern Front. According to the fortified defense lines we have built, the probability of the Great Bear breaking through in the Far East is very low, and it cannot be done in the short term. Our border defenses can hold for more than half a year even without support. With so much time, even the Kwantung Army can return in time," said the head of the Japanese military.

"What we are worried about now is that such a large-scale operation will consume a large amount of weapons, ammunition, and supplies, which may greatly reduce our inventory, thereby affecting support for the South Seas operations. Now that we are fighting on two large-scale fronts, the capacity of our military industry is no longer sufficient to support two large-scale battlefields. Therefore, for the decisive battle in Jin Province, we must be decisive and use all our strength to solve them in one fell swoop. Otherwise, the situation in North China will completely get out of control, leading to a huge change in our entire situation in Northeast Asia."

"North China is also crucial to us now. The Eighth Route Army's mysterious rockets have already posed a serious threat to the Empire, even more destructive than the Allied bombing. Their new weapons are devastating to our cities. We still don't know the maximum range of these rockets or whether they pose a threat to Tokyo, but we can't gamble."

"According to their development speed, their progress is too fast. From the initial attack on our North China airport with a range of only two or three hundred kilometers, they have now developed to over a thousand kilometers. We have reason to believe that they will have new progress in the next step. Our rocket technology research experts tell me that the end of rocket technology is to break through the gravity of Blue Star and fly into outer space!"

The head of the Japanese military had apparently done a lot of homework and had a deep understanding of these cutting-edge technologies.

After hearing this, the old Japanese Emperor's face became even paler. Even his own life was not guaranteed, according to what he had heard. How could this be allowed?

"This matter is intolerable. You ministers may handle it yourselves. Be sure to keep this threat beyond the Empire's absolute security defense line. Otherwise, how can the people be at ease?" The Emperor made a final decision, settling the matter.

As for how to proceed next, the military would come up with a plan, which would be submitted to the Imperial Headquarters for deliberation and then to the Emperor for final approval.

"How could they have developed such a powerful weapon again? Impossible, right?" When General Shi saw the photos, his first reaction was disbelief. The lethality of this weapon was too strong. For General Shi now, this fuel-air explosive bomb was a complete dimensionality reduction strike.

Compared to TNT, it was on a completely different level.

"General, these are on-site photos taken by the front lines. I don't think anyone can fake them," said the intelligence staff officer next to General Shi. "In fact, I felt something was wrong when the Eighth Route Army asked us to send reconnaissance planes for forward reconnaissance. Perhaps this is a very subtle way of showing their strength."

"General, the war has entered the second half. Whether in Europe or the Asia-Pacific, the Allies have begun to counterattack continuously. Our victory is obvious, but how to deal with ourselves after the war? Presumably, various local forces are fighting for their own interests. I think this is the Border Region and the Eighth Route Army subtly explaining their value. Just like they have done in the past, they are showing themselves to win our attention. They are almost succeeding. If it weren't for the powerful lobbying group in the KMT helping to speak, I believe our cooperation target would have chosen the Border Region long ago."

"After all, only they have been fighting the Japanese on the front lines, constantly annihilating one Japanese division and brigade after another. In fact, since last year, the Japanese troops eliminated by the Border Region and the Eighth Route Army have far exceeded the KMT's regular army. This is their victory and strength, and it is the strongest reason for us to choose them."

The intelligence staff officer apparently had some unbearable feelings towards the KMT and spoke a lot of good words about the Border Region.

"The higher-ups have their own considerations. We should just do our best in these matters. In fact, I am more inclined to cooperate with the Border Region. They are the ones who are truly fighting," General Shi said after a moment of silence.

"But this is a large country in the East with 400 million people. Napoleon said that it is a sleeping lion. If there is a choice, it is best not to wake it up. Obviously, the KMT is in control of this place, making it easier for this sleeping lion to continue to hibernate. If the Border Region continues to operate in this way, perhaps this sleeping lion will wake up in a few years."

These were the politicians' plans. General Shi was a relatively pure soldier and actually disagreed very much. Now that thousands of Americans were charging into battle and fighting bloody battles, it was too early to consider these dirty backroom deals.

"General, do we need to report this information?" the intelligence staff officer said after a moment of silence.

"Report it, but don't add our opinions. Just report it to the domestic military intelligence department as it is. I can't control so much anymore. If the country wants to exchange this technology, I don't think there are many bargaining chips that can be exchanged. Let those guys in the country worry about such headaches." General Shi shook his head. If he hadn't witnessed so many injustices, he would definitely have actively reported this matter. But now, he didn't care anymore. His suggestions were still ignored by the higher-ups.

If he had cooperated with the Border Region earlier based on his suggestions, the current situation would be more ideal. Perhaps North China, and even most of the Jiangnan area, would be in the hands of the Allies. The Japanese would not have been able to transfer so much power to the South Seas and the Western Pacific.

However, his suggestions were useless. Although the technology exchange with the Border Region played a positive role in helping the Allies gain an advantage in Europe earlier, General Shi successfully earned another general's star for himself and gained greater say in the Joint Chiefs of Staff, but that was all.

"Old Ren, isn't this power a bit too strong?" Staff Officer Ye took the photos taken by the American Eagle and couldn't help but gasp.

"It's okay. It barely reached the target. Next, we will take down the Shandong Peninsula. Then we need to consider completely opening up the passage between the Border Region and the Shandong base area. I think this thing has a greater psychological impact on the Japanese than the actual damage. After all, we don't have the ability to threaten Tokyo now, so the effect is unsatisfactory," Ren Zhong glanced at it, not too surprised. After all, he knew very well what the power of this thing was.

"It's still useless. According to our current capabilities, we can basically completely destroy the western side of the Japanese mainland," Staff Officer Ye said in confusion.

Ren Zhong shook his head. It was still useless. The Japanese's ability to endure was really amazing. Not to mention these marginal areas, even such a large operation as the Tokyo firebombing, the Japanese endured it.

Only after Little Boy and Fat Man were dropped did the Japanese Emperor finally feel completely insecure. This kind of indiscriminate attack that destroyed a city with one bomb was something that no one could prevent.

Although the Empire could still sacrifice its people, the Emperor was unwilling to be one of them.

"Do we need to exchange this technology with the Allied forces?" Staff Officer Ye asked after a moment of silence. After frequently exploiting the American Eagle, Staff Officer Ye was somewhat habitually thinking about getting something back.

"Not this time. This is our current trump card. To be honest, this time it was specifically for General Shi and the others to see, hoping they wouldn't repeat the same mistakes," Ren Zhong said with some divergent thinking, seeing things in another time and space through the fog of history.

If possible, Ren Zhong certainly hoped to be able to play both sides and reap enough benefits in the two worlds, seizing the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for post-war development. He didn't need the American Eagle to tilt technologically and financially towards his country. He had the technology, and he could now accumulate funds. As long as the market was normally open, he could completely take off.

"What's repeating the same mistakes?" Staff Officer Ye asked with a face full of question marks. Obviously, he had a cloudy feeling about Ren Zhong's words.

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