The Anti-Japanese War Begins with the Northeast Army

On the second day after Guo Xipeng's reinforcements arrived, a letter impeaching Tanaka Yoshiichi was submitted directly to the Japanese central cabinet through the Chief Executive of the General Staff Kenji Shioda.

At this time, Emperor Taisho was in a very poor mental state, and almost all of Japan's government affairs were handed over to their Crown Prince Hirohito.

This heir, who had studied in the West and was extremely yearning for European countries such as Britain and France, became extremely angry after reading what Yantian wrote.

After experiencing the rapid development of Japan's economy, industry, and military, the young crown prince was extremely inflated:

In his mind, there is not a single opponent worth considering among the Asian countries, especially the country next to him with a vast territory, which is no different from a weak chicken in his eyes.

But he never expected that this "weakling" would cause such a big trouble for him. The defeat of the Northern Expeditionary Army in the Vladivostok area might affect the entire Siberian war.

Throwing the report on the desk angrily, Hirohito angrily asked his members for details.

According to Shiota's report, it was Tanaka Giichi who violated the contract with the United States and broke the bill to send troops. He also suffered defeat in the later operations, and the military expenditure continued to increase, which was a harm to their Great Japan.

These people in the cabinet had no idea of ​​the specific situation, especially those who were present today. Almost all of them were afraid that Tanaka Yoshiichi would soon join the cabinet, and they began to direct the criticism in a sarcastic way towards his commander-in-chief of the Northern Expeditionary Army.

Of course Hirohito was very unhappy, and he immediately contacted Tanaka Yoshiichi who was in the Vladivostok area, using such harsh words that he was frightened.

Tanaka certainly understood: since the march into Siberia, although the record was outstanding, a lot of territory was taken, and all the way to Baikal and other places -

However, these areas were sparsely populated, without even a few decent large towns; in addition, due to the lack of cooperation from the navy, the land transportation in the Northeast was not strong, and there were a lot of old Russians who kept causing trouble for them;

Military expenditures were staggering, and the losses of soldiers and troops were serious, but they did not make much profit from this barren and cold land.

Especially this time, Jiang Cheng used the excuse of transporting food to carry out a "siege", making it difficult for the soldiers in the military port to even guarantee basic rations.

Under such circumstances, of course Tanaka Giichi had to lead his troops to counterattack Jiang Dengxuan... Since he couldn't defeat him, he resorted to a dirty trick: throwing poison gas bombs.

"From the current situation, our attack was very successful. The siege on our base has been lifted, and the hateful Chinese have retreated to the edge of the area."

Tanaka Yoshiichi put aside the instructions from their high-level officials in Japan, and then sat at the end of the long table to continue the high-level meeting. "We should seize this critical period and continue to expand the war!"

If we can gain more benefits from Siberia, such as mineral resources, etc., the domestic opposition forces will naturally shut up...

Moreover, if he wanted to join the cabinet, he could not allow any failure to occur here.

"Commander Tanaka, with the forces we currently have in Siberia, we simply cannot expand the war—"

After one of the staff members finished speaking, another one took over and said, "Indeed, those bastards in the navy are not willing to help us continue the attack... In addition, Jiang Cheng will definitely interfere in this conflict with the Jilin army! It will definitely be more difficult for us to obtain supplies and troops next time!"

This is true, but faced with such a situation with wolves in front and tigers behind, how could Yoshiichi Tanaka listen to any objections?
Especially when it comes to his personal future, this rather dictatorial commander-in-chief did not even notify his colleague Fukushima Yasumasa to attend the meeting today... So, it is understandable that he would be furious and reject all opinions.

But what these worried officers did not expect was that when they "drove away" the Jilin army and rushed out of Vladivostok with the attitude of a trapped mad dog, the Jilin army in the entire Siberia region disappeared without a trace overnight.

Of course, whether it was the poison gas warfare or the subsequent sneak attack, although there were considerable casualties... the strategic goal was still achieved.

Although Tanaka Yoshiichi more or less understood the vengeful temperament of Jiang, in his eagerness to gain the benefits of the war, he still chose to take the risk and continued to advance northward, carrying out a bloody and violent suppression of civilians in the occupied areas in an extremely brutal manner.

Of course, this brutal form of plunder soon brought benefits to this territory -

Money, food, and some minerals and resources... Because of this, the domestic opposition to him became much weaker, and Crown Prince Hirohito even approved his opinion on the "pioneer group" and quickly started preparations in the country.

The pioneering group had to come here by boat, and at the same time they could send reinforcements and supplies to the troops.

Some people have guns and cannons, and with the help of the pioneering group, they will gain more benefits, which will in turn bring more support from the country, forming a "virtuous circle"...

Just when Tanaka Giichi was secretly rejoicing about the good outcome of the war because of his great decision, the White Russian Regiment sent by Jiang Cheng attacked one of his colonies!

Because the Japanese soldiers had extremely poor discipline during the occupation and committed all kinds of atrocities including rape and looting against the local people, many oppressed civilians spontaneously joined the local guerrillas to resist.

The White Russian regiment sent by Jiang Cheng was undoubtedly a spark that could set the prairie on fire.

Because even though Jiang Cheng sent only a few people, they carried a lot of weapons and equipment... plus, they were compatriots and spoke the same language, which made it easier to promote cooperation between them.

Between July and August 1919, the regular army, guerrilla militia organizations and other organizations of the Russians who went south had conflicts in Siberia and other places several times... causing heavy casualties among the troops sent north, and military expenditures once again rose sharply.

In early September, the Japanese consulate in the port of Nikolayevsk was attacked fiercely, killing and injuring more than 9 Japanese personnel.

The events during these three months were quickly instigated and fermented by Kenji Shiota of the General Staff, setting off a huge wave of public opinion in the cabinet and even the entire Japanese political arena.

The General Staff and the consulate also took advantage of this incident to launch a massive attack on the troop dispatch policy of Tanaka and others, and firmly determined that the army was primarily responsible for this series of events.

The previous withdrawal of US troops led to a series of changes in the international situation. Coupled with the pressure of domestic public opinion, Tanaka Giichi, who had been actively preparing to send additional troops to Siberia, was caught in a dilemma.

If it were just these, Tanaka Giichi might be able to handle it -

As the conflict between him and the Chief of the General Staff, Uehara Yusaku, continued to escalate, Fukushima Yasumasa made a bold move and suggested to the ministers of the Hara Takashi cabinet that the General Staff headquarters that were constantly causing trouble in the country be abolished. (End of this chapter)