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Chapter 62 part 2 – Send-Off Party

And it doesn’t stop with just these named officers.
All of Onii-sama’s superiors were prominent historical figures.

The one especially taking Onii-sama under his wing was Nagata Tetsuzan.
At this point in time, he was already on the fast track to promotion, serving as the regimental commander of the 3rd Regiment stationed in the capital—holding the rank of colonel. 

He would later be hailed as a genius and extraordinary figure, with people saying, “Before Nagata there was no Nagata, and after Nagata there will be no Nagata.”

And paired with Nagata—like some kind of value set—was Tojo Hideki.

These two… or rather, Tojo’s obsession with Nagata is practically “side dish” material for me.
Honestly, I sometimes wonder if Tojo only fell into darkness because of Nagata’s assassination.

Tojo also happened to be Onii-sama’s military science instructor during his time at the Army War College.

Back when he was a War College instructor, Tojo was known for setting unreasonable entry requirements for officers from regions he disliked.
But Onii-sama, with a mix of brilliance and obliviousness, passed those hurdles effortlessly.

Especially in Onii-sama’s case—being from the Choshu faction that Tojo despised, a member of the peerage, from a zaibatsu family, and holding the top rank in three different areas—it was practically a jackpot of everything Tojo hated.
So the difficulty level Tojo set was sky-high… and yet Onii-sama cleared it with ease.

I heard that one of the questions, based on the idea that “a true officer must always be observant,” asked how many steps there were in the building’s staircase where the exam was held.
Onii-sama had happened to count them beforehand to calm his nerves, so he answered it without trouble. 

A shocked Tojo asked, “How did you know?” and Onii-sama answered honestly—prompting Tojo to realize, “I can’t beat this guy.”

Tojo apparently told Nagata this story, and Onii-sama told it to Father, so the story made its way to my ears.
It seems it’s also fairly well-known within Army Headquarters.

Other than that, Nanjirou—who had been a classmate of my grandfather and is, at this point, the Vice Minister of the Army—sent a formal message on behalf of the Army.
Or at least, that was the official reason. 

In truth, it was a personal favor due to his friendship with my grandfather, Kiichirou, meant to add prestige to Onii-sama’s send-off.

To my father, Nanjirou was one of his few true friends from their class.
I sometimes even saw him visit our estate from time to time.

As for non-military guests, a few members of the Ootori family who live at the main estate, as well as Uncle Ryuuya’s immediate family, showed up in supporting roles.
I was among them, of course.

(Still, what a bunch of buzz-cut heads and glasses-wearing soldiers.)

Watching from a corner of the grand hall being used as the venue, I couldn’t help but think it was kind of dull.

Army men of the Showa era who aren’t wearing caps either have hair cropped extremely short like Onii-sama or just look like their heads were roughly shaved down with clippers.
And maybe because so many of them are academic elites, there’s a high rate of glasses-wearers. 

And not just any glasses—nearly all of them wear round frames, probably due to their austere practicality or just plain efficiency.

If you let your guard down, they all start to look the same.

Still, the topics of conversation are very much what you’d expect from army officers.

The main subject is the Soviet Union starting its First Five-Year Plan.
That’s the hottest topic. 

After all, the Soviet Union—being communist and Russian—is essentially the ultimate enemy of the Japanese Army.

However, the conversation took on a more tense tone.
It seemed that before the Five-Year Plan reached full swing, Japan would have to either solidify its rights in Manchuria or bolster Manchurian military strength.

Next, they brought up a recent agreement between the Japanese government and Zhang Zuolin, stating that “Japan will cooperate with Zhang Zuolin in the unification of China.
After unification, the Republic of China under Zhang Zuolin will acknowledge Japan’s actions north of Shanhaiguan (i.e., in Manchuria).”

With this, Japan’s continental interests were considered secure.
Given Zhang Zuolin’s growing power and the increasing chaos within the Kuomintang, some were now seriously discussing the possibility of China being unified under his rule.

The last topic was the “March 15 Incident”—the recent mass arrest of communist activists.
It had been carried out by the police, but because communism was involved, it naturally drew strong interest from the military.

(Still, couldn’t they talk about something else for once? Onii-sama is going to be away from Japan for three whole years!)

As I watched Onii-sama engaging with everyone in his usual warm and composed manner, I couldn’t help but feel a little resentful.
This group of brainy soldiers seemed to be treating his send-off more like an excuse to gather and exchange intelligence than to actually celebrate him.

Maybe that’s why I was slow to notice it—because I was too caught up in my feelings.

The Four Top-Ranking Army Officers

Only four people in history have graduated top of their class in all four institutions: the regional preparatory school, central preparatory school, the military academy, and the Army Staff College.

However, none of those four individuals who achieved top marks at every level of military schooling left a major mark on history.

As of 1928 (Showa 3), only three such individuals existed.
Since this world contains a fictional character, the total will become five (eventually).

Czech Machine Gun
Brno ZB26 Light Machine Gun
A light machine gun developed in 1926 at the Brno Arms Factory in Czechoslovakia.
In the former Japanese military, it was commonly referred to as the “Czech machine gun.”

A very good machine gun. After being captured from the National Revolutionary Army of China, the Japanese Army began to use it as well.
It later even influenced the development of firearms for Japan’s Self-Defense Forces.

Sweden
Bofors Company
At this time, Germany was conducting weapons development here that it could not do domestically.
By 1928, the second-generation 88mm gun had already been developed.
Since it used iron made from extremely high-quality iron ore mined in Sweden, it was easy to produce high-performance firearms and cannons.
One reason German weapons were so good was the influence of Swedish iron ore.

On the flip side, producing Bofors weapons with Japan’s poor-quality iron (like that from Anshan in Manchuria or scrap iron) was extremely difficult, or at the very least, the performance tended to degrade easily.

Hattori Takushirou

A brilliant staff officer and a master at navigating military bureaucracy.
He was deeply involved in planning operations from the Nomonhan Incident to the Greater East Asia War.

He was so capable that even GHQ rated him highly after the war.
A Japanese staff officer praised by the U.S. military is quite rare.

However, where Hattori goes, Tsuji Masanobu inevitably follows.

Minami Jirou

Army Minister just before and during the Manchurian Incident.
Because of this, he was charged as a Class A war criminal and imprisoned in Sugamo Prison.

It was less that he made poor decisions and more that he was unlucky in the timing of his appointment as Minister.