Spy Wars: Return of the Red Luan

Chapter 193 Debate with the Army (Part 1)
In early April of 1932 (Showa 4), the Army General Staff held its April routine meeting.

Chen Jiehua, who never attended headquarters meetings before, received advance intelligence this time and arrived at the conference room early, sitting in the staff officer's seat, waiting for the meeting to begin.

After the staff officers entered one after another, the penultimate group to enter consisted of three ministers: Ishihara, Nagata, and Obata.

Ishihara was transferred back to the General Staff from the Kwantung Army with a mission: to persuade the General Staff to continue supporting him. In short, the Kwantung Army was no longer satisfied.

Obata entered the room and saw Aoki Takashi sitting in the front row of the staff ranks. His heart skipped a beat; the Kwantung Army was in trouble today.

The last to enter were Army Vice Minister Kuniaki Koiso, General Jinzaburo Masaki, and Army Minister Sadao Araki. Chief of the General Staff Prince Kotohito Kanin, due to his advanced age, generally did not attend such routine meetings.

When Chen Jiehua saw Masaki Jinzaburo enter, he stood up and bowed as a greeting.

When Masaki Jinzaburo saw Aoki Takashi arrive for the meeting, he was initially taken aback.

Neither of them were fools. When Araki Sadao and Masaki Jinzaburo saw Aoki Takashi, they exchanged glances. They knew he was most likely here to cause trouble.

But there's no reason to kick him out. He's the teacher Uehara's favorite. Last time, he was reprimanded by the teacher for mentioning a negative aspect of Aoki Kyo. If they kick him out, he'll probably get his head smashed next time.

In addition, Aoki Takashi also held the rank of Army officer and the honorary position of Staff Officer of the General Staff Headquarters, making him fully qualified to participate in regular meetings.

When it comes to verbal sparring, we're too old to beat him. Let others have their own headaches. Both of the Army's "brains" are present this time, perfect! Aoki Joe, the "Navy brain," versus the Army brain—one against two, let's see who's stronger.

The first topic of the meeting was the "Fundamental Policy for the Control of Manchuria's Economy" proposed by the Kwantung Army, brought by Kanji Ishihara.

One of the main directions of this plan was for the Kwantung Army to organize armed immigration, with retired veterans leading idle farmers to "develop Manchuria and Mongolia" in the puppet state of Manchukuo.

Its second main direction was to promote the construction plan of the North Manchurian Railway Network, which had been opposed by Zhang Zuolin.

"Reverse!"

"I'm not done yet!"

"I also object after you've finished speaking! Let's save our time. Organizing armed migration for veterans is utterly foolish!"

"The empire has just occupied Manchuria, and the people of Manchuria have not yet adapted to the empire's rule. You are already sending veterans to lead immigrants to seize land, which will further intensify the conflict! This will provoke resistance throughout Manchuria!"

"Suppress those who resist, and kill all the ringleaders."

"All you Kwantung Army knows is killing! Manchuria is now under the rule of the Empire, and those people are the people of the Empire. Is it appropriate for you to kill them? Does killing people boost the economy?"

"There's a second point I also oppose! Doing so would provoke hostility from Red Russia. I think you've already received intelligence that Red Russia has reinforced its troops by four regiments in the border region and has already completed its second round of cross-border warfare exercises!"

"Is the Kwantung Army ready to simultaneously meet the declarations of war from both the Republic of China and Red Russia?"

Ishihara Kanji only said one sentence, but Chen Jiehua hit the nail on the head with every single one of his sentences. Every sentence was for the sake of the "empire," not for the sake of the Republic of China.

Araki Sadao and Masaki Jinzaburo exchanged a glance. Although Aoki Takashi's words seemed like he was causing trouble, they were all reasonable, and the Kwantung Army's plan required a large amount of military expenditure.

The Army Ministry is currently struggling with its military budget, and the Navy is practically begging the Prime Minister for money every day, demanding that the Army's budget be transferred to the Navy. "Ishihara, let's put the Kwantung Army plan on hold for now. Obata-kun, next topic."

Prime Minister Araki Sadao made the final decision, not denying it, but simply setting it aside. Ishihara Kanji, who had originally planned to use a long list of reasons to fool the Prime Minister and the Vice Minister, swallowed his pride.

"The issues raised by the Third Department of the General Staff happen to be related to the issues of your Kwantung Army. Please listen carefully, Mr. Ishihara."

"This topic concerns the inevitable war with Red Russia. Twenty-five years have passed since the last large-scale war between the two countries. Red Russia's national strength and military power are growing rapidly. There is an intractable feud between the Empire and Red Russia, and a war between the two sides is inevitable."

"This crisis will arrive around Showa 11, and we will have to launch a preemptive strike against the Red Russia before it gains an overwhelming military advantage."

Obata Toshishiro's ideas and arguments were somewhat unexpected, but everyone knew that Obata Toshishiro was an expert on Red Russia, and it was obvious that the Minister of the Army supported him.

"Isn't it too early to start a war with Red Russia now? The war between the Empire and the Republic of China is not over yet," Ishihara Kanji was the first to raise his opinion.

"Ishihara-kun, I don't know where you got the title of the second brain of the army. Is General Obata ordering your Kwantung Army to start a war against the Red Russia right now?"

"His meaning is very clear: a preemptive strike should be launched around 1942 (Showa 11). We still have four years to prepare! Foolish!"

"You!~~"

"Okay, stop arguing."

"Obata-kun, please explain in detail."

With both bigwigs speaking at the same time, Ishihara Kanji had to swallow his words again.

"Even if the entire empire is at its best, going to war with Red Russia will only exhaust the empire. Red Russia's land area and industrial base are many times larger than the empire's."

"Therefore, Obata believed that the Empire should not be an enemy of the Republic of China. The Empire's military campaign against China could only achieve short-term results, but the problem of the Empire's infiltration into the Republic of China was a long-term issue that could not be resolved overnight."

"I strongly agree with General Obata's view that antagonizing the Republic of China would only waste the resources that should have been used to fight against Red Russia, and make the Empire an aggressor condemned by world opinion."

Obata Toshishiro was quite pleased with Aoki Takashi's agreement. Although you stole my line, it seems to have a better effect coming from your mouth than from mine! I am the "Red Russia expert," and you are the "China expert," yoshi.

“What Aoki-kun said is absolutely right. I’d like to add one more point: if the Kwantung Army had launched its invasion of the Republic of China ahead of schedule, it could very well have plunged the Empire into a full-scale war against an alliance of enemy nations.”

"Just look at this local war the Empire fought in Shanghai. The navy suffered heavy losses, the army lost two and a half divisions, and in the end, it gained almost nothing."

"I have a different opinion."

All eyes turned to the speaker, Nagata Tetsuzan.

"I support Obata-kun's plan against Red Russia, but the Kwantung Army's early launch against the Republic of China is also necessary. Without the Republic of China's resources, the Empire would have no chance of defeating Red Russia."

It seems the "Three Crows" are starting to split up, which is great news.

(End of this chapter)