Chapter 20 19. "The commander is in charge, let's do it!"

At this time, the headquarters of the Kwantung Army had been moved from Lushun to Shenyang. At 00:20 that day, Shigeru Honjo received a second telegram from Seishiro Itagaki, which stated that "Torashidai Squadron occupied a corner of Beidaying after eleven o'clock".After he came to the office, Chief of Staff Miyake Miyake, Ishihara Kanji, Arai Yasushi, Takeda Hisashi, Nakano Ryoji, Katakura Zhong, Takeshita Yoshiharu and other staff and staff members had already gathered and waited for him. At 11 o'clock that night, at the headquarters of the Kwantung Army, Captain Konishi Sadaharu, an officer on duty, received a call from Fengtian and learned that the operation had begun, so he hurriedly called other staff officers and staff.For a time, the Kwantung Army Command moved quickly.All the staff and aides rushed to the official residence of Chief of Staff Miyake Miyake.At that moment, Fan Zhuang was still in the bath.

Katakura noticed that all the staff officers and aides who hurriedly looked excited were wearing kimonos, only Ishihara Wanji was in full military uniform and was meticulous. "The war has already begun, but you gentlemen are so calm!" At that moment, Ishihara smiled calmly. While waiting for Benzhuang Fan, the staff officers have already started discussing the big event that just happened in Fengtian. A decisive step has finally been taken. From the point of view of the staff, they have been holding back for three years for this step.In the third year of the Showa era (1928), the dispatch of troops was abandoned halfway, leaving them unfulfilled. Daisaku Kawamoto, the planner of the Huanggutun incident, was also punished.This time, we must not repeat the same mistakes, and we must not allow Itagaki and Ishihara, who planned this incident, to become second in Kawamoto's masterpiece.Therefore, this time, if we want to do it, we have to make it bigger, and there is no retreat.

Therefore, when Shigeru Honjo came to his headquarters, all the staff and staff unanimously advocated an all-out attack.Ishihara and Itagaki have already planned the basic operational outline of the Kwantung Army after the start of the war: In the event of a conflict, the Kwantung Army should go all out, gather near Fengtian, surprise the center of the Fengtian Army, and kill it, and solve the problem in the shortest possible time.At this moment, the war has finally started, and we should immediately attack Fengtian according to the battle plan that has been drawn up, and let the commander of the second division of the Kwantung Army's main force deploy operations, resolutely disarm Yingkou and Phoenix City, and monitor the direction of Changchun. Just in case.

The staff members and staff members who were full of excitement were looking forward to the order from Shigeru Honzhuang.But what they didn't expect was that Ben Zhuangfan did not agree to a full-scale attack, but only agreed that the troops stationed in Fengtian would gather in Fengtian. Ishihara Wanji, who is well versed in Clausewitz's strategic theory, strongly advocated that the enemy's center should be resolutely killed. This is the only hope for the Kwantung Army, which is at an absolute disadvantage in terms of strength, to win.Only by taking pre-emptive strikes, taking decisive action, and solving China's Northeast Army in one fell swoop, can the Manchurian issue be resolved and the Great Japanese Empire remain invincible; The central army department and the weak cabinet accepted their actions and realized the fundamental national policy to reverse the country's destiny.The glorious future of the Great Japanese Empire depends on their action, and the smooth implementation of this action depends on Shigeru Honjo's decision at that moment.

At that moment, Benzhuang Fan fell into deep thought. The Kwantung Army Headquarters fell into a deadly silence.In that deadly silence, all the staff officers and aides were all looking at their commander.They knew that the cabinet could not stop their running wildly, and the military might not be able to stop them, but their commanders could.If their commander is cautious, what happened in Liutiaogou will just repeat what happened in Huanggutun three years ago.They will lose another good opportunity to solve the Manchurian and Mongolian problems in one fell swoop. What did Benzhuang Fan think of at that moment?

A month ago, on the eve of taking office as the commander of the Kwantung Army, the General Staff Headquarters asked him to intensively read and comprehend the "Outline of Strategies for Solving the Manchurian and Mongolian Issues." In the case of disputes arising from Japan's actions, if a dispute arises, it will only be dealt with locally, and efforts will not be made to expand its scope."Through a year of forbearance and prudence, "seek internal and external understanding", especially "make all countries understand Japan's determination, and not take improper actions of opposition and oppression", wait for the opportunity, take action, and resolve the issue of Manchuria and Mongolia by force; while in the Kanto The word "waiting" does not exist in the vocabulary of the army's staff officers. They strongly advocate "creating opportunities with strategies."When the relationship between Japan and China became increasingly tense due to the Wanbaoshan incident and the Nakamura incident, and the public opinion in the government and the public were talking about how to solve the Manchurian and Mongolian issue, I assumed the position of the commander of the Kwantung Army who was at the center of resolving the Manchurian and Mongolian issue. It is not important.

In any case, his name will be associated with this event.In the course of the rise of the Great Japanese Empire, Japan has repeatedly gambled on its national destiny—during the Nissin War and the Russo-Japanese War—and took decisive action. Every previous gamble has won, and all of them have won. So brilliant.What about this time?If he wins the bet, Shigeru Honjo's name will become another dazzling name in the symbol of the Great Japanese Empire, like Aritomo Yamagata, Dashanyan, Itototo, Togo Heihachiro and others.But what if the bet is lost?His original military honor will fall into the abyss forever, along with the military fortune and future of the empire.

Did, at that moment, personal success or failure, honor or disgrace, the national policy to solve the Manchurian-Mongolian issue, and the fate of the Great Japanese Empire flooded into Honjo Shigeru's mind?Whether, from that moment on, there was an idea that was deeply held in his heart along with the fate of the Great Japanese Empire, and this idea was finally uttered in the suicide note left by Shige Honjo before Japan was defeated 14 years later: After five minutes of dead silence, the anxiously awaiting staff and aides finally heard their commander slowly utter a few words: "This commander is in charge, let's do it!"

The order for an all-out attack was finally given.All staff members of the Kwantung Army Headquarters immediately turned into tense and excited actions.In order to facilitate the command of the overall command operations, the headquarters of the Kwantung Army will be transferred to Fengtian. At 3:30 a.m. that day, Shigeru Honjo set off with his staff and the 30th Infantry Regiment. This will be a journey of no return.