Chapter 121 Ishihara Kanji (Part 2)

When they arrived at Ishihara Wanji's house, they found that there were actually military police watching vaguely. Cole was surprised when he saw that the sergeant who had just escorted him had already taken the initiative to communicate with the other party. The two of them murmured and bit each other. After a while, he ran over and said with a smile: "According to regulations, you are not allowed to see guests, but you are an envoy of a friendly country and a special envoy of the head of state. We have decided to meet your request, but we cannot stay overnight in the house, so as not to make it difficult for us..."

"I understand, I understand." Cole took out two more packs of cigarettes. The military police cheered and all went to the side to enjoy their cigarettes. Who cares about a foreigner visiting a retired general?

"Who are you looking for?"

"I'm here to visit Lieutenant General Ishihara, who are you?" He saw a short, skinny old man watering the potted plants in the yard. He thought he was a flower worker at Ishihara Mansion, and his tone and gesture were just ordinary - -In Japan, being too courteous to your servants will frighten them.

"I am."

I had always heard that the other party was very powerful. I thought he was such a wise, far-sighted, and mighty general, but I didn't expect him to be such an ordinary old Japanese man. Cole was surprised and slightly disappointed, but he quickly calmed down. I came down and introduced myself briefly and concisely.

"German? Hahaha." The other party immediately started greeting in fluent German and said with a smile, "Are you a little disappointed to see me like this? It's not in line with your expectations?"

"Don't dare."

"What are you afraid of?" Ishihara Wan'er said disapprovingly, "When I visited your country in 1923, it happened that the head of state of your country had just launched the beer hall coup. At that time, he was also a humble little person. I saw it in the newspaper. It is clear that his light is completely obscured by General Ludendorff next to him, but who can underestimate him now? "

The counterattack came immediately. Cole smiled bitterly and nodded and bowed repeatedly, apologizing while putting away his contemptuous attitude.

"Since you've been in Japan, would you rather drink sake or tea?"

"I can do anything. I will follow your orders. If you want other options, I can also help." Cole took out a bottle of whiskey from his bag and handed it over. "This is for you. I really don't have it for the first time." Please take care of me if you have something special to offer.”

"I see that you have just handed out a circle of cigarettes. If nothing else, you are smarter than most Germans and know how to be flexible. You don't have the arrogance of an aristocratic officer or the general rigidity of Germans. ..." Cole sweated profusely. It turned out that the other party had been observing him for a long time.

He quickly took out another pack of cigarettes and handed it over. Seeing the other person looking at him with a half-smile, he thought about it and poured out all the cigarettes in his bag and put them on the table and pushed them over. Ishihara Wanji skillfully opened a pack and smoked one. When Cole didn't move, he asked strangely: "You don't smoke it yourself?"

"I don't smoke. The head of state doesn't like people around him smoking, so I quit smoking."

"I see, being able to quit smoking is also a matter of great perseverance." Ishihara Wanji asked, "Do you mind if I smoke?"

"Of course not." Cole quickly stood up and lit the other person's cigarette. There was nothing to feel wronged about. He was only a lieutenant colonel, but the other person was a lieutenant general - even if he was retired.

Ishihara Wanji puffed out a big smoke ring and said with satisfaction: "Sure enough, it still tastes familiar. I haven't enjoyed it in many years..."

"If you like it, I will bring more next time."

"Next time you won't meet me in Tokyo. The government arranged for me to teach at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto. I plan to move my family there after this winter. Otherwise, there will always be a group of dogs wandering around my house, and I will always feel... Uncomfortable." Cole knew that the other party was scolding the military police who were watching, so he nodded to express his understanding, and then took advantage of the situation and said, "Perhaps the situation has changed and you don't need to move?"

"Oh?" Ishihara smiled with a meaningful smile.

At this moment, Mrs. Ishihara had brought out the snacks for the guests. Cole took a quick glance and found that there were only some dried fish, peanuts and so on. He was full of surprise. Although the Japanese food was simple enough, they were very dignified. Is this what the Lieutenant General’s family eats?

"Then let's drink whiskey." Ishihara Wanji saw Cole frowning and said casually, "It's good to have these things. Dried fish is extremely expensive now, if not for an old fishing subordinate who came to see it some time ago. Me, you can't even see these. As for the peanuts, I grew them myself. Did you see anything in the yard? I planted some wherever I could."

Cole then remembered that the things that Ishihara Wan'er watered just now didn't look like bonsais. He was horrified and said: "To let a general who has made outstanding contributions and has a big heart be embarrassed to plant peanuts at home, your country has no right to do anything." The use of talent is really unique.”

"Forget it, these flattery words are just for the outside world. If I are really allowed to come to power, I'm afraid you Germans will be the first to be unwilling."

"Why?"

"I oppose the Three Kingdoms Alliance and a war between Japan and the United States."

Cole smiled slyly: "Sir, I am also opposed to a war between Japan and the United States."

"Huh?" Now it was Ishihara Wan'er's turn to be surprised, "Tell me why?"

"Not only are you against it, I am against it, and even the head of state himself is against it. Do you want to hear his true words?"

"Of course." Ishihara Wan'er put on a posture of listening.

"The head of state said, 'If I were the Prime Minister of Japan, I would never approve of war between Japan and the United States, because the power gap is too big, it is equivalent to a fight between a child and an adult. Even if the child takes advantage of the situation when the adult is not paying attention, it will not help. As time goes by, he will be beaten hard, and even beaten harder'."

"That makes sense."

"The problem is that you have to fight some wars even if you don't want to - this is true between Japan and the United States, and this is also true between Germany and the United States. If the United States had not repeatedly favored and supported the United Kingdom, how could we agree to go to war with the United States? If it were not for the United States' If your country implements economic sanctions, oil and scrap steel embargo, will your country reach this point? " Cole said, "If you fight, you are courting death. If you don't fight, you are waiting for death. As a bloody man, is it better to court death or wait for death? Okay?”

"Young man, I have underestimated you. With your level of knowledge, you will be more than enough to be our deputy chief of staff in a few years..."

"Your Excellency is exaggerating." Cole said with a smile on his face, "These statements were all given by the head of state. He asked me to visit you and said that you are one of the few strategists in Japan."

"A lot of people don't want to hear what you said."

"Of course it's not a compliment! Although Japan and Germany are friendly allies, the Führer is not responsible for complimenting anyone in private situations in Germany." Cole said, "He said that you are the only one in Japan who can truly understand Clausewitz's "On War" Strategists, generals should learn from it."

"He asked you to see this?"

"Yes! He gave one copy to every officer above the general level, and another copy was Ludendorff's "Total War". He always criticized the generals for not understanding strategy and war, and asked them to study hard. We naturally learn from him every day.”

"It's interesting, it's interesting."

"What do you think of the current situation between Japan and the United States?" Cole didn't want to talk in circles with Ishihara Wanji anymore, so he asked straight to the point, "The head of state is very concerned about your views, and by the way, there are also General Yamamoto's views—— It’s just that he is directing operations on the front line, so I can’t visit him.”

"Isn't the situation very obvious?" Ishihara Wanji tapped the plate of dried fish with chopsticks and said in a deep voice, "You don't need to read the newspaper or listen to the radio. Just look at this and you will know."

"So you don't believe in government announcements and propaganda?"

"Those things?" Ishihara Wan'er responded with a contemptuous smile, "I don't know how many times I played at the General Staff Headquarters back then. They always picked us to play with the remaining things, without any innovation at all."

Cole briefly talked about Japan's complete defeat in the Battle of Midway and the great disadvantages in the Battle of Guadalcanal.

Ishihara Wanji's face became solemn. He stood up and looked at the map on the wall, then turned around and said to Cole: "The Midway battle was the result of General Yamamoto making the mistake of spreading his forces and being self-righteous. If he fights again, he may not be able to win. This will be the result; but our response strategy in the Guadalcanal battle did not make many mistakes. The root cause of our current disadvantage is that we are inferior to others. If Japan continues like this, it will be a big problem. "

"There is a bigger problem. Your Majesty didn't know anything about this, and the Army didn't know about the failure of Midway either." Cole pointed outside, "I walked along and found a slogan about the victory at Midway. ”

"What?" Ishihara Wan'er was shocked, "His Majesty was also kept in the dark?"

"Yes. I had a talk with His Majesty yesterday. Foreign Minister Gu Zheng said that His Majesty was very surprised and very angry. An emergency imperial meeting was convened today."

"Baga Baga!" Ishihara smiled angrily and cursed a few times, then said dejectedly, "Japan is going to be finished and will fail!"

"Sir." Now it was Cole's turn to be shocked, "You can't say this casually, there are military police in your house."

"They still can't defeat me." Ishihara Wanji said angrily, "Look at the good deeds of this superior soldier Ma Lu."

Cole didn't react at first. It took him a long time to realize that the other party was criticizing Prime Minister Tojo. It turned out that Ishihara Kanji had a very low opinion of Tojo Hideki: he could manage at most 20 machine guns in the warehouse, more than 20 is hard to say;... He can take the trouble to write down everything in his notebook, but how to use these notes is beyond his ability.

"I see." Cole lowered his voice deliberately, "Would you like to hear the president's evaluation of your country's prime minister?"

"you say."

"He said, 'I don't deny Prime Minister Tojo's virtues of being vigorous and resolute. If he is a school-level officer, he should be a good officer based on his strong execution ability. But the question is where is he? He is the Prime Minister of Japan. It is said that he is also the Minister of War, and his position in Japan is the same as mine, but do you think he is also responsible for other things besides taking power?'"

"The head of state is so accurate at seeing people from more than 10,000 kilometers away..." Ishihara Wanji stopped Cole who was about to continue speaking, "I understand your purpose of coming, and I will find a way. You, a foreigner, can do this... That’s enough, it’s not good for you to get involved.”