Zhuo Fei didn't think about annihilating the 18th Division in advance, it wasn't that he didn't have such an idea, but Zhuo Fei thought that the Independent Army didn't have the ability to completely annihilate the 18th Division. The reason why Zhuo Fei has been making the move of letting the 18th Division go south to break through is because of this, although the Independent Army is outnumbered, it may not take advantage of the 18th Division if it really fights face-to-face.

But facts have proved that Zhuo Fei underestimated the combat effectiveness of the Independent Army, and the Independent Army, which has sophisticated equipment, super mobility and command system, already has the ability to strengthen the army. In other words, the 18th Division under the command of Mutaguchi Ryoya did not lose badly, and since they landed in Malaysia, they have been in a situation of being calculated by the independent army. If Mutaguchi had not recklessly mobilized all his forces to take Singapore directly, perhaps they would still have the possibility of relieving the defenders of Singapore, although the division of troops could confuse the opponent, but at the same time, it also put the 18th Division in danger of being broken by the opponent.

Finally solved the eighteenth division, but Zhuo Fei's heart was not as happy as others, in order to meet the strong eighteenth division, Zhuo Fei mobilized almost all the family funds accumulated by the umbrella company, if it weren't for this, this battle would definitely not be won so easily, but even so, the independent army and the servant army troops also suffered a large number of casualties. The ammunition accumulated in the reserve depot has almost been exhausted, and the oil produced by the supporting refineries in the Ren'anqiang oil field has also been consumed.

All in all, the battle between the Independent Army and the 18th Division this time can indeed be regarded as a hard work. Fortunately, after this battle, the statistics of the seizures were not small, in addition to the trophy rewards given to the servant army, the independent army also captured more than 50 cars, 12 combat vehicles, and more than 100 cannons of various calibers from the 18th Division. In addition, there are a number of Japanese grenadiers, although they are all small-caliber individual grenadiers, but they are better than nothing, and there are countless guns of all kinds, and there are also some other materials.

"Send a telegram to Chongqing, the independent army won a great victory, the 18th division of the Japanese army was completely annihilated, and the division commander Mu Taguchi Lian also committed suicide by caesarean section." Xie Zhuoxin whispered an order to one of his subordinates. Although Zhuo Feiming had parted ways with the Nationalist Government on the surface, the Independence Army had repeatedly defeated the Japanese Fifth and Eighteenth Divisions, and such achievements had to be known to the high-level people in Chongqing, especially the chairman of the National Committee.

Xie Zhuoxin's action of sending a telegram to Chongqing did not hide from Zhuo Fei, and Zhuo Fei, who got the matter, did not stop Xie Zhuoxin's action, and he also wanted to know whether the peace talks between the Chongqing government and the Japanese would take a turn because of the achievements of the Independence Army. The 18th Division was defeated on the Malay Peninsula, and the Japanese cabinet members immediately became a mess, especially the representatives of the navy and army, who were almost engaged in hand-to-hand combat.

"General, the Japanese sent an envoy, or the same Kazuo Suzuki from last time." He had just sent off Xie Zhuoxin, who was in a hurry to return to Chongqing, and Zhuo Fei had not yet calmed down to concentrate on dealing with the remnants of the Japanese army in Singapore, but the Japanese cabinet sent a special envoy to the Malay Peninsula again, and the person who came was Zhuo Fei's old acquaintance - Kazuo Suzuki. Kazuo Suzuki's arrival made Zhuo Fei feel very lucky, and he was glad that this product did not arrive a day earlier, otherwise he would have collided with Xie Zhuoxin.

"General Zhuo, let's meet again." Seeing Zhuo Fei again, Kazuo Suzuki behaved like an old friend, but Zhuo Fei saw something strange in Kazuo Suzuki's eyes. Diplomats tend to be ambiguous in their statements, whether in formal diplomatic situations or in private meetings, because only then will they leave room for manoeuvre. But Kazuo Suzuki is obviously not like this, and after just a few words of greeting with Zhuo Fei, Kazuo Suzuki went straight to the point.

"General Zhuo, I came this time with the entrustment of the Imperial Cabinet, and I hope to have a good talk with General Zhuo." After getting Zhuo Fei's consent, Kazuo Suzuki leaned over and took out a wooden box from the black briefcase placed next to his lap and handed it to Zhuo Fei. The book-sized wooden box was in hand, Zhuo Fei felt the weight of this object, reached out to open the wooden box, Zhuo Fei couldn't help but be dazzled by the objects in the wooden box, and the wooden box contained two gold bricks with cherry blossom emblems.

"General Zhuo, this is just a sample, as long as the independent army under your command is no longer an enemy of the army of the Great Japanese Empire, a total of more than 600 kilograms of such gold bricks will be sent to Malaysia later, and at that time, they will become your private collection of General Zhuo." Kazuo Suzuki picked up the coffee cup in front of him, but his eyes kept on Zhuo Fei's face. The heavy gold bricks in his hand once made Zhuo Fei's eyes look confused, but soon, Zhuo Fei's eyes returned to their former calm.

600 kilograms of gold bricks, even in Europe, can be worth a lot of money, but for Japan, which has been plundering Asia for many years, this bit of gold is really nothing, Zhuo Fei just doesn't understand why the Japanese bother with themselves and the independence army. Taking a deep look at the gold bricks in the wooden box, Zhuo Fei handed the wooden box back to Kazuo Suzuki, and replied with a smile, "Mr. Suzuki, this gift is a bit big, Zhuo loves money but takes it in a good way, if it's not mine, you can't reach out casually." ”

"General Zhuo's integrity is admirable, but as I have just said, this is only a gift from the Great Japanese Cabinet and His Majesty the Emperor. It's just a gift, I think General Zhuo, don't you even want to smile at the gift given to you by the empire? Kazuo Suzuki smiled and took out a gold brick from the wooden box and played with it casually, "I remember General Zhuo, you once said that the Umbrella Company is just a mercenary company, and it is because of the employment of the Americans that it will clash with the imperial army. ”

"The empire knows that General Zhuo is a trustworthy person, so he doesn't want to see General Zhuo embarrassed, so he sent me to escort this batch of gold bricks to Malaysia. In any case, the value of this batch of gold bricks is enough to compensate for the loss of the umbrella company, so please General Zhuo, please do not refuse the gifts and goodwill of the empire. Kazuo Suzuki explained like this, Zhuo Fei understood the meaning of this person, and dared to love the Japanese This is preparing to use 600 kilograms of gold bricks to buy the umbrella company to tear up the employment contract with the US government.

Seeing that Zhuo Fei was just silent, Kazuo Suzuki immediately smiled and once again broke out a powerful news that Zhuo Fei definitely didn't expect, "General Zhuo, before I left the Japanese mainland, the German envoy had already left the empire. According to the alliance agreement signed between the Reich and Germany, while the Reich successively transferred the Kwantung Army from Manchuria to the American continent, the German army would launch an attack on the evil Soviet Union in the near future to relieve the pressure on the Kwantung Army in Manchuria. ”

"Germany is going to fight the Soviet Union?" The new news that Kazuo Suzuki inadvertently showed off made Zhuo Feimao stunned, no wonder the Japanese would rush to give him gold, and he dared to love because the Germans were going to attack the Soviet Union. Like the nouveau riche, Stalin was a virtue, and the Japanese people's desire for territory was also extremely eager, and at present, the Japanese army had dispatched no less than 10 divisions to fight on the American continent, and to a certain extent, the Japanese army shared a large part of the pressure on the German army.

While pacifying France and many small European countries, and planning a landing operation on the British Isles, it was not unusual for the Germans to attack the Soviet Union. At a time when the Americans had no time to provide substantial help to the European theater, the Germans looked at the world and it seemed that only the Soviets could become opponents. Once the German army launched an attack on the Soviet Union, the Kwantung Army, which had been idle in Manchuria, might take advantage of the situation to attack the Soviet troops in the Far East.

Perhaps it was precisely because of this that the Japanese would take the initiative to propose an armistice and peace talks with the Chongqing government, and the Japanese did not want the Kwantung Army in Manchuria to actively move north, as if it would be attacked from behind. It seems that it will not be difficult for the Japanese to get rid of the Chongqing government, but for the independence army, which has been a headache for them, it is clear that diplomacy alone will not be effective. That's why Kazuo Suzuki came to visit Zhuo Fei with a large amount of gold this time, hoping to use the gold to temporarily persuade the Independence Army to abandon its military operations in Southeast Asia, so as to reduce the risk for the Japanese army to cooperate with the German army's war plan against the Soviet Union.

Thinking of this, Zhuo Fei's attitude gradually became weird, and in the face of Suzuki Kazuo's various temptations, Zhuo Fei never expressed his attitude. "General Zhuo, although the Independence Army has defeated the Fifth Division and the Eighteenth Division, you must know that the Great Japanese Empire still has elite divisions that are stronger than them. Once the Great Japanese Empire takes back the goodwill it has unleashed, whether it is the Umbrella Company or the Independent Army, they will have to face the endless anger and blows of the Empire, General Zhuo, do you want to see the company and army you have built up become history? ”

Faced with Kazuo Suzuki's almost threatening words, Zhuo Fei had only one answer, "Mr. Suzuki, I didn't say that I wouldn't accept the gold?" Why do you think that? It is not impossible for the Independence Army to stop its current military operations in Southeast Asia, but the Independence Army refuses to publish this information in the newspapers, and the territory currently occupied by the Independence Army does not want the presence of Japanese troops. ”

Kazuo Suzuki, who was full of pride, left the gold and took people to Singapore, according to the gentleman's agreement between him and Zhuo Fei, within a rare point of Zhuo Fei's gold, the Independence Army would never launch any military action against the new best defenders. In return, Kazuo Suzuki was tasked with persuading the Japanese troops in Singapore and the remnants of the Fifth Division floating on the open sea to return to the Japanese mainland, and that Japan would no longer send troops to the Independence Army-controlled areas, otherwise it would be seen as a provocation to the Independence Army.

"What if not? Although we won the battle of the 18th Division, our casualties were not small, especially the reserves of ammunition and fuel were no longer enough to support the continuation of high-intensity fighting. Since the Japanese have sent us gold, then we will take the opportunity to rest our troops, and when the ammunition and new equipment are delivered, we will find another opportunity to fight the Japanese. In the face of the incomprehension of Huffman and others, Zhuo Fei's explanation was simple to the extreme, but it was profound.