Spy Wars: Return of the Red Luan

On May 6, Chen Jiehua left the house of Duke Fujiwara (Duke Fujiwara and his family are currently living in Yilan, the house is empty, and Aoki Seigen lives there) and drove to the Army General Staff Headquarters.

The gears of fate turned once again, and Chen Jiehua saw the handsome but somewhat sleazy Ramsey from behind, watching him enter the gates of the German Embassy in Tokyo from afar.

"The weather is nice today."

Chen Jiehua greeted the guards at the General Staff Headquarters, leaving them flustered with excitement.

Today seems like an ordinary day, but seeing an old friend before entering the General Staff Headquarters is, in Chen Jiehua's mind, a metaphysical auspicious sign.

Last night, Ozaki personally delivered the news that the joint summit between the heads of the Ministry of the Army and the Army General Staff would begin in mid-April, and the Imperial Way Faction and the Control Faction had been arguing for two weeks.

The main topic of their argument was Japan's strategy toward Red Russia.

Both sides did everything that needed to be done except for the use of weapons; even the "April 429 Kagoshima bombing" did not affect them.

One night, three crows, and two organizations failed to preserve the friendship between Obata Toshishiro and Nagata Tetsuzan.

Of course, another crow was still causing trouble for the volunteer army and guerrillas in Northeast China. It's also possible that Okamura Yasuji thought it was wrong to side with either side, so he simply let them argue amongst themselves and avoided the situation.

Therefore, Chen Jiehua decided to participate in today's debate to give Obata Toshiro a push.

Because of the time wasted following Brother Zuo Liu, when Chen Jiehua entered the venue, it was already almost full of people. When Aoki Seigen entered, there was a commotion.

The sharp-tongued Aoki Seigen attended today's joint summit of the mainland provinces, fueled by his anger over the "April 429 Kagoshima bombing incident." His purpose is self-evident.

Aoki Seigen is very clear about his grudges and favors. Although he is a clear-cut member of the fleet faction in the navy, he does not belong to any faction in the army. He is completely loyal to his personal preferences. He will definitely stand against whichever faction Kenji Doihara belongs to, and he will attack whoever supports Doihara.

So everyone knows that as long as he doesn't become fat and chubby, he's still gentle. Even if you scold him to his face, he'll just smile.

But this time it's different. Good news doesn't travel far, but bad news travels fast. There are rumors that the explosion was orchestrated by the Fengtian Agency, controlled by Doiyu Masato, in collusion with the U.S. Navy's intelligence department.

But it seems like Aoki Seigen is in a really good mood today? What's going on? He's actually smiling and nodding to all the big shots in the front row, regardless of their factions!
Once the debate began, everyone was so engrossed in arguing that no one paid any attention to Aoki Seigen.

Chen Jiehua sat in the corner, listening to the debate between the two sides. He almost fell asleep because he had stayed up too late analyzing intelligence the night before.

First, there was the Imperial Way Faction. Under the vigorous efforts of Army Minister Araki Sadao and Deputy Chief of Staff Masaki Jinzaburo, they gathered together figures such as Yamaoka Shigeaki, Director of the Military Affairs Bureau; Yamashita Tomoyuki, Chief of the Military Affairs Section; Suzuki Shigemichi, Chief of the Operations Section; as well as Mutaguchi Ren, Tsuchibashi Yuichi, and Karakawa Yasuo. Of course, Obata Toshishiro was also a staunch member of the Imperial Way Faction.

From the perspective of the Imperial Way faction, Japan's political strategy towards Northeast China was undermining Russia's Far East policy. In particular, Japan's management of northern Manchuria posed a great threat to Russia and aroused great resentment.

The reason why Red Russia did not attack Japan was that its overall domestic strength did not allow it to do so. In addition, due to its arrogance, Red Russia's relations with European countries were also quite strained.

However, once Red Russia has the opportunity to restore its national strength and for Britain and the United States to deteriorate their relations with Japan, it will inevitably seize the opportunity to launch a thunderous attack on Japan.

Under these circumstances, Obata Toshishiro believed that in order to deal with the passive situation in the next few years, it was necessary to launch an attack on Red Russia before it completed its war preparations and eliminate Red Russia's army in the Far East.

Simply put, it's about striking first. Moreover, he planned to go to war with Red Russia around 1936, meaning he wanted to strike the Red Russian army in the Far East before Red Russia completed its second Five-Year Plan and strengthened its national power.

For this reason, the Imperial Way Faction of the Army forced the Saito Cabinet to reject the Soviet Union's proposal to sign the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact in December 1932.

The control faction, led by Nagata Tetsuzan, gathered together key figures and young talents such as Tojo Hideki, Muto Akira, Tominaga Kyoji, Ikeda Junhisa, Kagesa Yoshiaki, Shikata Ryoji, Katakura Shigeaki, Miyazaki Shuichi, Sanada Joichiro, Nishiura Susumu, Horiba Kazuo, Hattori Takushiro, Nagai Yatsuji, and Tsuji Masanobu.

In this story, Shuichi Miyazaki and Joichiro Sanada were classmates of Seigen Aoki at Rikudai University. However, Shuichi Miyazaki and Seigen Aoki had a very good relationship, while Joichiro Sanada had been Doi-maru's assistant.

The control faction, led by Nagata Tetsuzan, believed that Red Russia would not be fully prepared for war within a few years of the completion of the Second Five-Year Plan (which had just begun in 1933), and therefore it was not appropriate to pre-set the time for war against Red Russia to be around 1936.

In other words, based on an analysis of the situation in Red Russia, its industrial development, and other factors, it should not be assumed that Red Russia would immediately possess the capability to wage war upon completing its second five-year plan.

In addition, the control faction believes that, firstly, because Japan has just withdrawn from the League of Nations, the international situation is very unfavorable to Japan, and for Japan, the urgent task is to quickly build a "puppet state of Manchukuo".

Secondly, regarding the domestic situation, there are many problems in politics, economy, and society. On the surface, the whole country is united, but in reality, it is not advisable to launch a "major war that gambles the fate of the nation."

Therefore, even if the decision is made to launch a war against Red Russia, it should only be implemented after progress has been made in the management of "Manchukuo," the domestic situation has improved, and international relations have been coordinated.

Simply put, it means planning before acting.

"Sigh, there are still capable people among the Japanese Army's control faction," Chen Jiehua thought to himself in a corner.

Chen Jiehua now has a God's-eye view. If we look at it from Japan's perspective and judge it based on historical trajectory, the control faction's view is correct.

However, I cannot help you; I must stand on the other side.

What's the reason? Because Sanada Joichiro is that fat, chubby bug's assistant, so I disagree with Nagata-senpai's opinion.

"We have sufficient fighting power, so why don't we eliminate the biggest threat first?"

"Qingxuan once said that, at present, the resistance of the Kuomintang against the Empire is not strong. However, if we continue to press forward, it will lead to increasingly stronger resistance from the other side, and the Empire will be bogged down in a quagmire of war with the Republic of China."

"At that time, if Red Russia delivers another heavy blow to the Empire from behind, can the Kwantung Army withstand it? Suppose Red Russia bypasses Manchuria and attacks the Empire's homeland directly, what will you use to resist? Women and children? Or the schemes and betrayals of those fat, round, and stinking bugs?"

“Aoki-kun, please watch your words.”

“Alright, I support Obata-kun’s opinion. We must start the war against Red Russia before 1936. In Chinese terms, this is called striking first to gain the upper hand.”

……

The meeting concluded, and the army high command adopted Obata's suggestion, deciding on the policy for preparing for war against Red Russia. (End of Chapter)