Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 327 Dispute
Hundreds of kilometers away, in Datong, the temporary headquarters of the Japanese First Army.

This ancient coal city is shrouded in a depressing silence.

On the street, Lieutenant General Yoshio Iwamatsu, the newly appointed commander of the Japanese First Army stationed in Shanxi, was wearing a crisp woolen military uniform and shiny riding boots, walking along the dusty street surrounded by dozens of guards.

Behind him followed a pale-faced major general with a gloomy expression. He was Major General Hanaya, who had also just taken office as chief of staff.

Yoshio Iwamatsu's gaze swept indifferently over the Chinese people huddled under the eaves on both sides of the street.

They were ragged, their faces withered, their eyes numb like those of walking corpses, showing not even a trace of hatred or fear towards the invaders who had occupied their homes.

Looking at this group of beings who were like ants in his eyes, Yoshio Iwamatsu's eyes flashed with an undisguised chill and disgust.

"Hanagani-kun."

He didn't turn around, his voice icy as he said, "Is this the land and people that the imperial warriors shed their blood for and conquered? It's... a disgusting sight."

"Hai." Hanaya, standing behind him, bowed slightly, his voice devoid of emotion. "Commander, the Chinese have always been like this, ignorant and apathetic. But it is precisely because of this that they need the 'civilization' of our Great Japanese Empire."

It was very rare in the Japanese Army for the commander and chief of staff, who were the highest-ranking officers and staff officers of a corps, to take office at almost the same time.

After all, with the top two commanders changing at the same time, the new successors may be unfamiliar with the military situation and personnel relationships, leading to unnecessary chaos in the command system for a period of time.

However, there is no way around this.

Just a month ago, their predecessor, along with almost all the senior officers of the First Army, were wiped out by heavy aerial bombs from Shanxi militia bombers.

That day became an indelible shame for the North China Area Army, and indeed for the entire Imperial Japanese Army.

And they were the ones sent to clean up this mess and wash away this shame.

On the cold street, Yoshio Iwamatsu suddenly stopped and turned around. His hawk-like eyes, filled with an undeniable solemnity, were fixed on Hanaya Tadashi behind him.

"Hanagani-kun."

Yoshio Iwamatsu's voice was particularly deep: "The reason why the General Headquarters transferred you back to this quagmire of Shanxi from the comfortable place of the Kwantung Army is because you have worked here before and are quite familiar with the geography and people of Shanxi."

Therefore, I hope you can temporarily forget those unpleasant things from the past, and use all your abilities to help me quickly sort out the internal affairs of the First Army and re-establish effective command. Do you understand what I mean?

In Yoshio Iwamatsu's words, he deliberately emphasized the words "forget the past".

Upon hearing this, Hanaya Masashi's originally gloomy face couldn't help but change slightly.

His eyelids twitched, as if something sore had been touched, but he quickly regained his lifeless expression. He lowered his head slightly, the shadow of his hat brim obscuring the emotions in his eyes.

"Hay, Commander, please rest assured, I will do my best."

His answer sounded submissive, but then he raised his head and stared at Yoshio Iwamatsu with an emotionless gaze.

"However, there are some unpleasant things I must say beforehand."

You must have been well aware of the current situation in Shanxi before you came here.

As Su Yaoyang's power snowballed, the Chinese army's will to resist in Shanxi grew stronger.

Although I served in the First Army, it wasn't for very long, and..."

He paused deliberately. "Times have changed, and many things have changed. I don't think it would be wise for Your Excellency to place all your hopes on me alone."

He took a step forward, almost face to face with Yoshio Iwamatsu, and lowered his voice even further.

"So what I'm saying is that I will do my best. But I can't guarantee any outcome."

Looking at his subordinate, who was practically shirking his responsibilities and had a gloomy expression, a cold glint flashed in Yoshio Iwamatsu's eyes, and the veins on his hand gripping his military knife bulged.

He could barely suppress the urge to execute this bastard on the spot. But in the end, he forcibly suppressed that murderous intent.

He needs this madman who knows Shanxi well, at least for now.

He could only manage to squeeze out a helpless sentence through gritted teeth: "...Just do your best."

If an unrelated person were to witness this scene, they would likely be completely bewildered, utterly unable to comprehend the strange exchange between the newly appointed commander of the army and his important subordinate.

But those who know the inside story are well aware of the reasons behind it.

This is because Hanaya Tadashi had previously served as the chief of staff of the First Army, but his term lasted only two months.

The reason is simple: he and the former commander, Yoshio Shinotsuka, who had just been blown up by Su Yaoyang's plane along with the tanks they were trying to escape, were notorious rivals. The two were completely at odds on military philosophies.

More importantly, Hanaya Masashi was aggressive and belligerent, and also extremely lecherous, leading a dissolute private life that resulted in him unfortunately contracting a sexually transmitted disease and earning him the nickname "Syphilis General".

This disease, which was potentially fatal at the time, severely affected his mental state, making him more volatile, paranoid, and irritable, and thus he was often ostracized by his colleagues in the army.

Ultimately, he was treated like trash and sent to the Kwantung Army headquarters, where he was relegated to a neglected and ignored position.

This time, however, all the high-ranking officers of the First Army, including Commander Yoshio Shinotsuka and former Chief of Staff Ryukichi Tanaka, were wiped out by Su Yaoyang in one fell swoop.

In a state of extreme anger and panic, the Tokyo General Headquarters could not find a senior officer who was both familiar with the situation in Shanxi and of sufficient rank to assist the newly appointed Yoshio Iwamatsu. That's when they remembered Hanaya Masaru, who was practically rotting away in the Kwantung Army Headquarters, and had no choice but to reinstate him.

Sometimes, things in this world are just so absurd and wonderful.

Looking at Hanaya Masashi's arrogant and defiant back, as if the whole world owed him money, Yoshio Iwamatsu could only turn his anger into a helpless sigh.

A guy who was originally sent to the Kwantung Army to sit on the sidelines because his mental state was extremely unstable due to syphilis has now returned to Shanxi and become the Chief of Staff of the First Army, who decides the fate of tens of thousands of Imperial Army soldiers.

Behind this, while the direct reason was that the previous headquarters was wiped out by Su Yaoyang, the deeper reason was a cruel reality that kept the high-ranking generals in Tokyo General Headquarters awake at night, yet they were helpless—the Great Japanese Empire was bleeding profusely.

Its most precious blood—the mid- to high-ranking officers who support the war machine—is being consumed at an alarming rate.

Don't think this is just alarmist talk.

Anyone with basic military knowledge knows how scarce a commander who can skillfully lead a regimental force of several thousand people is.

They are the backbone of the army and the executors of tactics.

To cultivate such a figure would require at least ten years, and even then, the individual would have to be a genius selected from among hundreds. Not to mention commanders at the army or field army level. As the war progressed, the number of Japanese casualties in China continued to rise. Behind those cold, hard numbers lay not only ordinary soldiers, but also numerous generals and field officers.

According to incomplete statistics, during the entire War of Aggression against China, as many as 92 Japanese generals of major rank or above died on the Chinese battlefield; and more than 1,500 elite officers of major rank or above and colonel rank or below were killed.

These people were not the logistics clerks drinking tea and reading newspapers in the rear office; they were the most outstanding graduates from the Army Sergeant School and the Army University, the elite of the empire who had fought countless battles and crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

Each of their deaths meant that a key gear in the Imperial war machine was permanently shattered.

Now, as the number of these elite officers continues to dwindle, the generals at Tokyo headquarters are alarmed to find, as they peruse the roster of officers available for deployment, fewer and fewer familiar names are appearing, while the number of vacant positions is increasing.

It is precisely this predicament of a generational gap that has led to the absurd scene we see today.

Left with no other choice, they had to retrieve Hanaya Masashi, a man with serious mental and physical problems, from the garbage heap, clean him up, and place him in the important position of Chief of Staff of the First Army.

Because they had no better options; they couldn't very well bring back former commanders like Yoshijiro Umezu or Kiyoshi Kazuki and demote them.

After his unpleasant "heart-to-heart" talk with Hanaya Tadashi, Iwamatsu Yoshio temporarily suppressed all his personal emotions and plunged headlong into the mountain of official duties of the First Army.

He needs to quickly familiarize himself with the organization, personnel, equipment, and supplies of the troops in order to restart this war machine that has been paralyzed after being beheaded.

Time flies by in the midst of a hectic schedule.

At 5:45 p.m. that day, there was a knock on the office door, and Hanaya walked in.

His expression was more serious than during the day, even showing a hint of anxiety.

He strode to Yoshio Iwamatsu's desk and handed him a telegram document that he had just received.

"Your Excellency, Commander."

His voice was somewhat hurried, "We have just received an urgent report from the aerial reconnaissance team and the Yangquan garrison."

Starting this afternoon, Chinese reconnaissance planes have been appearing over Yangquan with unusually high frequency, far exceeding previous activity levels. I estimate they have completely confirmed that Yangquan is an important transit point for our supplies.

"That's perfectly natural."

Yoshio Iwamatsu took the document, his large fingers holding the thin piece of paper, and quickly scanned it.

There was no surprise on his face. He casually placed the folder on the table, his tone full of indifference.

"If Su Yaoyang doesn't even know where our most important supply transit point is, then he doesn't deserve to be a match for our Imperial Japanese Army."

He stood up from his chair, walked to the window, and looked at the setting sun gradually sinking in the distance. The afterglow of the sunset cast a long shadow of him.

"It's like how we know perfectly well that Su Yaoyang's command post and his stronghold are in Wutai County, but so what? We still can't muster enough forces to eliminate him in a short time. It's the same principle as the old Chinese saying, 'Knowing is easy, doing is hard.'"

He turned around, looked at Hanaya Masashi, and even had a hint of contempt on his lips.

"It's one thing that they know where our supply depot is; it's another thing that they don't have the capability to blow it up. So, Hanaya-kun, you don't need to worry too much."

Seeing Yoshio Iwamatsu's nonchalant expression, a clear hint of displeasure flashed in Hanaya's eyes. He suppressed the urge to argue and emphasized his tone.

"Commander, I must remind you once again!"

His voice rose a few decibels, “Although we have deployed a battalion-sized anti-aircraft artillery unit around Yangquan, it does not mean that we can rest easy.”

Based on previous combat reports, Su Yaoyang's bombers are highly capable. They can utilize altitudes that our existing anti-aircraft guns cannot effectively reach to conduct horizontal bombing raids against us. Accuracy might decrease, but for stationary targets like Yangquan Station, they don't need very high precision.

"If Yangquan is bombed by Chinese aircraft, causing a shortage of ammunition and food supplies for the front-line troops, it will have a disastrous impact on our upcoming 'recapture of Taiyuan' campaign, and may even lead to the complete failure of the entire plan. At that time..."

Hanaya Masashi's voice grew increasingly urgent as he tried to present the worst possible outcome, in a bloody and stark manner, to Iwamatsu Yoshio.

"enough!"

A loud shout, like a thunderclap, exploded in the oppressive office.

Yoshio Iwamatsu suddenly turned around, and a ferocious look appeared on his face, which was thin from long-term mental strain.

He slammed his hand hard on the thick wooden tabletop, making a dull, loud "bang" that made the pen holder on the table jump.

"Hanagani-kun!"

His voice was hoarse with anger, "I don't need you to tell me the importance of supplies! I know better than you what will happen if the front lines are cut off from supplies!"

He pointed at Hanaya Masashi with his finger, his fingertips trembling slightly with excitement.

"The biggest problem now is, even if we know that the Chinese have discovered the stockpiling point in Yangquan, what can we do? We can't just move all the hundreds of thousands of tons of supplies immediately just because they sent a few reconnaissance planes, can we?"
Even setting aside the question of whether we could find a second, easily accessible stockpiling point like Yangquan in this urgent situation, what good would it do even if we did?

His questions came like a machine gun.

"Can you guarantee that the Chinese won't discover our new supply depot?"

Can you?
Remember this: I need a chief of staff who can solve my problems, not one who just presents me with problems and troubles without offering any solutions, someone who only nitpicks. Do you understand?

The last sentence was almost shouted out.

Hanaya Masaru fell silent instantly.

He stood there for a long time, and the air in the office seemed to freeze.

Finally, he slowly and stiffly bowed slightly to Yoshio Iwamatsu, his movements textbook perfect, yet utterly cold.

"Commander, I apologize for disturbing you."

His voice was so flat it betrayed no emotion. After speaking, he didn't even glance at Yoshio Iwamatsu again, turned around, picked up the document he had brought from the table, and silently, step by step, walked out of the office. He gently closed the door without making a sound.

Watching Hanaya Masashi's aloof and stubborn figure disappear behind the door, Iwamatsu Yoshio's chest heaved violently, his lips twitched as if he wanted to say something several times, but the words that reached his lips were ultimately swallowed back down.

He slumped back into his chair, burying himself deep in the shadows, leaving only his heavy, suppressed breathing in the office.

(End of this chapter)