Chapter 481: Slap in the Face (Part 1)

ps: I have been very busy with work recently, so I can only update irregularly, sorry...

Although it is only the weather in late April, the Japanese Imperial Navy General Staff, Admiral Fushimi Hiroyoshi, only felt abnormally irritable, angry all over, and had an indescribable discomfort.

He has been sick in recent days - not just an ordinary illness, but a mental illness! Wherever he goes, he feels as if someone is pointing fingers at him and laughing at him for being a fool! Whether it is the discussion in the army or the intentional or unintentional ridicule of some senior officials, he feels particularly harsh and unbearable. Later, when someone even mentioned this word in front of him, his face immediately sank.

At the last joint military meeting, because of Hori Teikichi's bypassing the Military General Staff and directly attacking the east coast of the United States, he had an open quarrel with Yamamoto Isoroku and went to Hirohito to complain, as if he wanted to show his status. In the end, he was met with a soft nail in front of the emperor, and the high-ranking officers of the army saw the joke of the discord between the Navy General Staff and the Navy Ministry.

Not only that, within two days, he heard rumors from the outside world that he was "short-sighted" and "blind", and the news spread throughout the General Staff and the Military General Staff. In the period of "national unity", this was almost equivalent to spreading throughout the power center. He wanted to angrily pull out the mastermind behind the scenes, but he was told that the source came from Yamamoto Isoroku and Inoue Narumi, saying that he did not understand the profound connotation of attacking the east coast of the United States. What's more infuriating is that Yamamoto and Inoue said so, and even Ishiwara Kanji actually agreed with this view.

Just when he was so angry that he was about to go to Yamamoto to explain things, he received a shocking news - Hori Teikichi led the main force of the navy to make a feint, and did not attack the east coast at all, but turned to attack Panama.

From the army to the navy, from admirals to second lieutenants, as long as the officers who have received formal military education and learned basic staff courses can immediately react that this is Hori Teikichi's method of avoiding the real and attacking the fake. Although everyone was unclear about the intention of the Combined Fleet to attack the east coast at the beginning, and there were very few people who could understand the reason, it did not prevent them from laughing at the Minister of the Military Affairs Department who could not understand it - human nature is like this, there is nothing to say.

Fushimi Hiroyoshi only felt that his face was burning, as if he had been slapped hard, so how could he still think of looking for Yamamoto and Inoue to get angry?

He did not dare to promote the view that attacking Panama was useless - that was self-deception. Everyone knew that more than 80% of the US industrial strength was concentrated on the East Coast. Once the Panama Canal was destroyed, it would not only mean that the US transportation time to the South Pacific would increase by 30-45 days, but also that they would have to invest more warships, merchant ships and personnel to maintain the same level as before. In the long run, it would be of great benefit to Japan, which means that the pressure from the United States faced by Japan in the short term would be greatly reduced.

He did not dare to say that the strategy of attacking Panama was wrong, but just said sourly that it might not be easy to fight. This move was too risky and too radical. It should be proactive and prudent. At least it should be implemented after in-depth discussion by the military, rather than a mere decision made by the commander-in-chief of the combined fleet.

In fact, if he could hold back and not say anything, the incident would have passed quietly. As a result, he had to sneer and pour cold water on it, and then the consequence of being constantly beaten up was that in less than 5 days, the situation on the front line was completely clear, because Japan had a large number of immigrants in Brazil and a developed intelligence network, and the actual situation of the battle was quickly reported back - the Combined Fleet and the German Marine Brigade not only successfully repelled the Panamanian defenders, but also completely blew up the Panama Canal locks and paralyzed the canal system.

This result stunned everyone. After reacting, everyone burst into laughter again. Now everyone understands that the Panama Campaign was not commanded and coordinated by the Military Command, but an action independently completed by Hori Teikichi and the Combined Fleet, and even a risky "arbitrary" behavior, so the rumor spread and the spreader went astray.

"Have you heard? That idiot in the General Staff said that it was impossible to attack Panama, but now the Combined Fleet has not only successfully completed the mission, but also greatly increased the prestige of the Imperial Army."

"It's a good thing that General Hori Teikichi didn't report the entire plan to the idiot, otherwise he would have been scared out of his wits. However, short-sighted people only have the courage of mice, can they still count on the courage of bears?"

"Hahaha! I heard that it was this idiot who sent people to conceal the failure of the front line from His Majesty, and he thought everyone else was a fool."

What Fushimi Hiroyoshi didn't expect was that not only did this incident put him on the opposite side of most people, but even the situation that Shimada whitewashed the failure and covered up the truth of the Battle of Midway was once again brought up by others, and it was vaguely mentioned that he was the one who instructed it, which made him furious and furious.

What made him even more uneasy was that Hori Teikichi not only mobilized the German Navy to go together, but also could use the German Marine Corps. He was full of surprise - everyone knew that Prince Fushimi Hiroyoshi was the one who advocated the alliance between Japan and Germany and declared war on the United States, while Yamamoto, Hori Teikichi, and Yonai Mitsumasa were all against going to war with the United States. Now, those who opposed the alliance with Germany were actually fighting fiercely with Germany. How could he not feel heartbroken?

Finally, the battle report sent back by the Combined Fleet gave him a sore spot - the two battleships Mutsu and Hiei were decisively taken by Hori Teikichi to sink the ships. He was furious in the military headquarters, thinking that this move was completely nonsense, "If we lose these warships, how can we compete with the Americans in the future?" He had made up his mind to make a big fuss about this matter when he returned.

Who knew that just two days after this sentence was said, the Battle of Panama started again. The Axis Navy was weak against the strong, and sank five of the enemy's aircraft carriers at the cost of sinking a medium-sized aircraft carrier, replaying the Battle of Midway in reverse.

After the news was confirmed, the whole country of Japan celebrated and held a victory parade overnight, with a momentum several times greater than before. Prince Fushimi Hiroyoshi, who received the exact battle report, broke out in cold sweat on the spot. He couldn't believe it. He wanted to point out that this battle report was "forged" and "false", but later even the United States itself admitted it. What reason did he have to refuse to admit it? Now not only the high-level army and navy officials look at him strangely, but even his trusted subordinates have tactfully hinted that he should not express his opinions on this topic recently, so as not to become the target of public criticism again.

Furious and anxious, Prince Fushimi Hiroyoshi, who was nearly 70 years old, finally fell ill. He had a headache whenever he heard the names of the Combined Fleet and Hori Teikichi, and the whole thing became a mental problem. Hirohito quickly sent out imperial doctors to ask about his health, but mental illness and internal heat were really difficult to deal with.

So, as the good news from Panama kept coming, Prince Fushimi Hiroyoshi's condition worsened...