Headquarters of the IJA 1st China Expeditionary Army
Tsingtao, Kwantung Territory, Empire of Japan
October 16th, 1941
9:29 AM
GENERAL Count Hisaichi Terauchi, commanding officer of the 1st China Expeditionary Army, was dreading the impending meeting with his counterpart, General Hideki Tojo, commanding officer of the Kwantung Army, to the north. Tojo had been especially cagey since the handover of Beijing to the nascent Union of China. He regarded it as his great personal victory undone, and that to have him present at the ceremony to be formally relieved of command by Wu Peifu was a personal insult.
Count Terauchi, by contrast, enjoyed a surprisingly cordial relationship with his British and American counterparts, Generals Claude Auchinleck and Douglas MacArthur. Getting along with Auchinleck was all but a given, but MacArthur, contrary to the stereotypes of Americans long feared, did not condescend to him, and turned out to be very well spoken and knowledgeable, despite his brash image. At their first meeting, Terauchi presented MacArthur with a wakizashi sword dating from the Meiji period, which MacArthur was quite taken with. Terauchi's geniality and jocularity were much appreciated by his counterparts, even if many of his quips required translation. MacArthur's gift to Terauchi was a tetsukabuto (Samurai helmet) purchased or taken from Japan during Commodore Perry's expedition. The helmet received pride of place on Terauchi's desk.
Count Terauchi checked his watch. One minute. Tojo was never late.
Tojo was something of a complicated figure. Of almost shockingly average intelligence, he overcame obstacles with sheer force of will and hard work. Obsessed with etiquette, but fiercely combative and utterly humourless. He would one day slap a junior officer in the face for disappointing him in the smallest way, and the next day, offer to pay off one of the officer's debts without demanding interest. On a larger scale, Tojo was also a moderate radical- he strongly believed in the idea of a totalitarian, insular "national defence State", but such an outcome was an impossibility in today's Japan.
The Navy wielded incredible power, and depended on international trade and resources, not only to sustain itself, but so Japan could afford the Fleet in the first place. The revived alliance with Britain secured the Navy its oil, and they would do anything to prevent themselves from being cut off. By pursuing more moderate policies in Manchukuo, the fledgling state became a cash cow for Japan, producing much of the ore and coal needed for not only ships, but for goods made for export, and the Maru-suffixed ships that carried them, which became the lifeline for the island nation. The millions of Japanese lifted from poverty, and the hundreds of thousands of newly-wealthy taxpayers which swelled the nation's treasury served to further galvanize the national policy as it was.
As Tojo, Sugiyama, and others like them represented the "Control" faction of their movement, which focused on working within the existing political system, they were able to hide far better than those that encouraged an overthrow of the government- such radicals were purged between 1932 and 1934, and the Kempeitai were always on guard for the remnants. That Tojo and Sugiyama were highly competent protected them further.
Tojo himself hated the changes he saw. He regarded the British as shameless opportunists and the Americans as weak, decadent, money-obsessed, and even more shamelessly opportunistic. He saw Japanese society infiltrated by the same love of money that he saw on his trip to America in 1922. He saw the Army becoming, in his view, weaker and more appearance-obsessed- a new breed of officers with hair worn long under their expensive, privately-purchased forage caps. The practice of slapping subordinates was banned, but the Army list of behavioural infractions grew by the year.
Now Tojo, humiliated by having to hand Beijing back to the Chinese, on top of the humiliation of being unable to reach a deal with Emperor Puyi regarding the deployment of Manchukuo Imperial Army troops, was hungry for a victory that could not be undermined.
Tojo's health had recovered somewhat in the last few months; he put on weight and shed his cough, but appeared at the meeting in ankle boots and loose trousers, as painful swelling in his legs made putting on the knee-high boots and tight breeches prescribed for Type 1 Service Dress impossible. He limped slightly, but still carried about him a certain presence.
Tojo requested a private meeting with Count Terauchi, with whom he had an increasingly tense relationship, ostensibly to discuss battle plans, but with Tojo's temperment worse than ever, it was all but assured the discussion would deviate.
At precisely nine-thirty, the meeting commenced. Tojo walked in, Count Terauchi arose from his desk and the two saluted each other.
"Good morning, General Tojo" said Terauchi, smiling.
Tojo, with his typical dour expression on his face, said nothing for a moment, and then pointed at the helmet on Terauchi's desk. "A present from your new American friend, I presume?" he said curtly.
"You don't recognize it?" asked Terauchi, with his usual jocularity "It's Prince Morimasa Nashimoto's sun hat! I've been looking for it for weeks!"
Tojo said nothing and looked even more annoyed than usual, if such a thing was even possible.
"Ah, right" said Terauchi. "I forgot, no sense of humour. Anyway, what is it you wanted to come here to discuss? You were no doubt made aware of the progress that has been made in besieging Nanking"
"What progress?" snapped Tojo. "For two months, the weak-willed British and Americans have sat outside Nanking. Aerial bombardments have thus been ineffectual. We shame ourselves further with inaction. We cannot cede the initiative to Chiang. Action must be taken"
Terauchi's smile faded completely. "And what sort of 'action' are you proposing? Storming the city will do no good, it is full of troops and tanks, and if threatened at all, Chiang will flee, most likely to Chongqing"
"Exactly" said Tojo, matter-of-factly. "Chiang will flee to Chongqing, so we must start down the road toward his redoubt. I propose an assault on Huchow before Chiang can reinforce the city"
Terauchi's concern grew. "And how, exactly, do you propose to do that?"
"We do not all have the luxury of connections as powerful as yours" said Tojo, with barely disguised contempt "But I will utilize the resources of the Kwantung Army to their utmost effectiveness, and anything that can be spared while the American leadership persists in this nonsen-"
Terauchi, now visibly angry, cut Tojo off. "Are you finished with these bizarre political rants? Why are you asking me this? You, of all people, understand that there is a chain of command! Ask the general staff for more aircraft and guns. Before you do, you should know that reconnaissance has discovered more troop concentrations in Kunming, so you won't get them. I fail to see the point of this; I'm sure Hsinking isn't so dull that you have to come down here to find out what you already know"
"I...I abhor politics!" sputtered an enraged Tojo.
"Oh, please!" said an incredulous Terauchi, his smile returning. "You, of all people! You live for politics! Even if I was as stupid as you seem to think I am, I still wouldn't believe that! Tojo, there isn't one person in the Army that isn't aware of your opinions and ambitions- and don't even get me started on that Sugiyama!"
Tojo, his face red with fury, and fists beginning to clench, said "Clearly, I am wasting my time and yours here. I have no more time to waste. Good day, General Count Terauchi"
He saluted, turned on his heels, and left while Count Terauchi looked on, dumbfounded. There was nothing he could do but watch, for the time being, and hoped that Tojo's legendary instinct for self-preservation would trump his equally legendary aggression
