Chapter 795 The Winning Hand (3, the Second Update Today)

ps: Here is a pretense chapter, please be gentle...

The car quickly returned to the military headquarters, and the three of them sat and talked in the conference room, setting out the tea sets.

"Do you two understand the opposing views of history?"

Yamamoto and Inoue looked at each other, confused.

"The opposing view of history is a simplified and distorted view of history - when a person is a hero, everything he does is right and good; if he is a villain, everything he does is wrong and bad Yes. You can see that our evaluation of characters is basically incapable of getting rid of this simple facial expression." Horikichi smiled, "Since everyone accepts it, we will follow this system: long and lengthy propaganda in newspapers. I am a hero, a loyal minister and a good general. The greater my merits and the more contributions I make, the deeper and more perfect this impression will be; in turn, the people who oppose me will be worse, more cunning, and more ugly... This kind of opposition Logic meets the needs of explanation and governance, and it is also easy to brainwash the people. In fact, humans are very complex animals. How can there be black and white? Loyal ministers may do bad things, and traitorous ministers may do good things. But can this be explained clearly? "

The two nodded hesitantly.

"The second point of opposing historical views is that the emperor has always been wise. If there is a problem, it is either deceived by the emperor, or there are treacherous ministers below who do not act according to His Majesty's wishes." Horikichi mocked, "Specifically, the national situation in the past 20 years Let’s not talk about the success or failure of the general policy. Is it the minister’s fault that everything is wrong? "

"You!" Hearing his blunt words, the two of them were stunned for a moment, and subconsciously yelled, "Bold!"

"You two finally saved me face and didn't call me a fanatic." Horikichi smiled slightly, "I dare to unite the troops and raise an army to rebel. Do you need to argue if you are so timid? I regard you as one of my own. , I’ll tell you what I’m saying from the bottom of my heart, aren’t you tired of pretending to be a mask? Didn’t Yamamoto-kun repeatedly remind me to pay attention to my posthumous name a few days ago? , But in fact, if Japan wins this war, as the two commanders of the combined fleet, do you and I need to go to great lengths to prove whether we are heroes or bastards?"

——What he said made sense, but the two of them were speechless.

"Based on this logic, as long as I do the right thing, Your Majesty is wrong. But His Majesty is a saint and everyone agrees. If there is a problem, someone will deceive the Holy Spirit. We must find a scapegoat. Now the situation is so big and so many things are happening. , If His Majesty is not allowed to bear all the blame, how can he make the imperial edict to blame himself? This will really shake up the country! So..." Horikichi said in a very firm tone, "I am helping him!"

After his patient explanation, the two finally understood the full logic of "revolting against rebellion":

The first pillar to maintain the emperor's rule was Seimei. Horikichi did not try to destroy it, but easily blocked it by looking for a scapegoat;

The second pillar to maintain the emperor's rule is loyalty, but loyalty is often associated with good generals. It is difficult to prove loyalty, but Horikichi established good generals with his battle results, indirectly proving "loyalty". In turn, the people who oppose him are naturally "****";

The third pillar is the containment of the army and the navy. This has always been the balance of rule, but now he uses the coordination of the land and the sea to withstand this containment, and uses swordsmanship to show his "overhead ability";

The fourth pillar is the force of the Guards Division. The Marine Brigade used firepower to teach the opponent a lesson, and then used condolences and reconciliation to gradually disintegrate the morale of the Guards Division...

"I have set up a complete set of steps for His Majesty. The reason why he is reluctant to come down is because he is thinking about the last pillar - the main force of the combined fleet, but..." Horikichi laughed until tears came out, "I lead the combined fleet The fleet has been fighting for more than a year, sailing across the seven oceans and broadcasting on five continents, and its appeal can be completely changed by a mere edict? It has only been a few days since Oikawa Koshiro took over the fleet, and even the heads were returned. Can he completely replace me? If he had this level, he would not be the same Oikawa he is now."

"Have you ever thought about why I sent more than 270 junior officers and 2-3 times the number of lieutenants to send condolence money to the homes of the war dead during my rest in China?"

"Isn't this... trying to win over the military's morale?" Inoue Narumi asked hesitantly, and then immediately added, "I'm just discussing the matter, without any ill intentions."

"No wonder someone down below scolds you two for being in office for too long and being impersonal..." Horikichi's reply was harsh enough. Yamamoto's face froze, and he suddenly thought of Nakaso Hiro who choked him twice with his words - just a little lieutenant.

"The graduates of the Naval War School are all imperial elites, and it is even rarer to become an adjunct officer in the United Fleet. Most of them are from poor backgrounds, and they have changed their destiny by studying and working hard. Yamamoto-kun and Inoue-kun, if they had If we hadn't graduated from the Naval Academy, how could we be in this situation now? Their status and economic conditions have changed, but I believe their conscience of caring about the country and the people has not changed. I asked them to visit the homes of the war dead. Experience how poor families who have failed to change their destiny live, relive the hardships of their childhood, and touch them from the bottom of their hearts. Any officer who still has a little conscience and a little righteousness in his heart knows this. What is right and what is wrong.”

Horikichi looked at Yamamoto Isoroku with a half-smile: "I talked to these more than 270 adjunct officers one by one after they came back. Many of them cried and told me about the national and social conditions they had seen and heard: they had just returned from Europe. , what kind of life do German citizens live? What kind of life do the people of the Empire live? Isn’t the contrast and impact strong? Mr. Yamamoto, you have been in charge of the Navy Ministry for more than a year. In addition to fighting with the superiors every day, do you recognize all the adjunct officers there? ? Have you ever had a heart-to-heart talk with them? Do you know what else they are thinking about besides getting promoted and getting rich? Ace pilots like Akamatsu Sadaki originally wanted to stay in Germany, but I persuaded them to come back. Now he is the number one ace of Hainan Airlines. , I also fought for his military rank; there was an outstanding pilot named Saburo Sakai who was blind in one eye, and I asked Chief of Staff Kusuka to write a letter in my name to encourage him to get back on his feet. Later he joined the carrier-based aircraft force, and now he Became a flight instructor... Yamamoto-kun, besides writing to me and your confidante, have you ever written to the officers and soldiers? "

These words exploded in Yamamoto Isoroku's mind like a bomb. Now he finally realized what Nakaso Hiro meant when he said "people's hearts are against each other." Since he became the Minister of the Navy, let alone chatting with the junior officers, he can't even recognize all the heads. At most, he can only capture the rank of general. He stood up and staggered a few steps, then sat down again with a depressed expression, speechless for a long time.

However, Inoue Narumi felt deep fear: Horikichi caught the assistant officers, and through them further caught the lieutenants, and firmly controlled the army layer by layer. No wonder so many people signed a petition with him this time to go abroad—— This is simply the tip of the iceberg. Backbone generals like Tsunoda, Nishimura, and Shibasaki Keiji cannot be won over at will with an edict or the promise of a high-ranking official with a generous salary. If Horikiyoshi really manages the combined fleet so deeply, his influence must be completely wiped out. Unless all the officers are replaced from top to bottom - not to mention whether there are so many people who can take over, even if they can, will they still have the original combat effectiveness?

"Wars are fought by men. No matter how good the armament and weapons are, no one can do it." Horikichi laughed, "I don't think it's scary for the main force of the combined fleet that you are worried about, even if Yamato and Musashi come together. The Taiho is even less of a concern! I can tell you the truth, I have received a telegram this afternoon, informing me that the Taiho will be replenished and set sail at 9 o'clock tomorrow morning, and will come to Tokyo together with the main force of the combined fleet. I was even told that Many pilots claimed to be ill and refused to come on leave, so they were all allowed to board the ship only after a forced order..."

"Have you already placed your people there?"

"There is no need to arrange it?" Horikichi shook his head, "The entire warship belongs to me! Whoever is in charge of the engine, who is in charge of the guns, whoever is in charge of navigation, whoever is in charge of telecommunications, whoever is in charge of aviation, whoever is in charge of military supplies, I will take care of. It's clear - I made the arrangements after I returned to China. As for the pilots, everyone in the navy knows that except for my daily clamor to give the pilots officer treatment, no one from the top has responded, and even today there is no intention to change it. If you are a pilot, you Who are you listening to? Even if they have no choice but to attack me, wouldn't they throw away the bomb beforehand or throw it away? These are living, flesh-and-blood people with feelings, not just cold machines. "

"It seems you have a chance to win?"

"Since His Majesty still doesn't give up, I will let him see my strength, so that we will not misjudge the situation and break up, which is not good for everyone. Besides, the Taiho has become an army, and it needs to come to Tokyo to show off and cheer up. It’s a boost to morale, isn’t it?”

Matsuda Chiaki knocked on the door and came in: "Sir, excuse me, 3,500 US military rations have been sent to the Guards Division. The other party has proposed that they want to send the chariot brigade to defend the palace during the day tomorrow. Please let us go."

"Agree! I am also your Majesty's subject, how can I let him get hurt? Go ahead..." Horikichi thought for a while, "Tell Takeda Gong that I will send him 12 more Shermans tomorrow. His No. 3 tank is terrible. Well, we need some new equipment to protect His Majesty.”

"You...you send munitions and tanks to the Guards Division?" Inoue Narumi was surprised.

"Why not send it? There is a lot of inventory on the cargo ship at the port, which is all looted American supplies. It doesn't hurt to give them some, and we are not enemies. I will not only send military supplies and tanks, but I will also show them a movie tomorrow."

"Your Majesty will be in despair if you do this." Yamamoto Isoroku asked out of nowhere, "Or are you planning to open a mansion in the future?"

"Why are you desperate? I don't want his position. As for the opening of the shogunate, that's an old man from some time ago. We have to look forward! I'm 60 years old and my children are average. I can open a shogunate and then raise a group of people. Are you going to crusade against me? I'm not that stupid, I can just live my life peacefully..."

Yamamoto Isoroku shook his head: "It's impossible to be ordinary. I'd better continue to watch you. They are all 32 issues. Although your ranking is better than mine, how can the difference be so big?"

"That's because I lost once!" Horikichi smiled, "Do you still think of a solution after losing?"