Taiyuan, the headquarters of the First Army.

Kazuo Okamoto (the commander of the North China Front has changed his name, for reasons you know) has a gloomy face, and he is standing in front of the window of Yoshio Shinozuka's office.

Through the open window, you can see the Xihua Gate, which has been bombed into ruins.

The Xihua Gate is seriously damaged, and it will take at least a few months to repair it, and the dry West Gate in the outer city is also seriously damaged! There are also Taiyuan Arsenal, Taiyuan Iron and Steel Plant, Industrial Bank Building......

Such a list can go on and on, all badly damaged.

In addition to the damage to buildings, the loss of materials was even more severe, with the Taiyuan Arsenal and Taiyuan Iron and Steel Plant losing more than 1,000 pieces of machinery and equipment, the First Army's combat readiness warehouse losing more than 80,000 tons of military supplies, and Xincheng Airport losing 17 Type 96 attack planes plus 16 fighters.

There are also weapons from the stock of the Taiyuan Arsenal!

The loss of supplies can also pull out a long list!

Even the most conservative estimates, the loss this time is at least 100 million yuan!

And that's just the loss of materiel, in addition to materiel, there is also the loss of combat personnel!

And compared to the losses of combat personnel, the losses of buildings and materiel are nothing.

Manpower is the most precious, and for the current Great Japanese Empire, manpower is even more precious!

Because the empire's manpower resources are far from being comparable to China's, the war has been going on so far, and the empire's military resources have begun to be stretched!

Thinking of this, Kazuo Okamoto's face became more and more gloomy.

The North China Front was already understaffed, and now it is even worse.

He could already foresee the grim situation that the Japanese army in Shanxi would face.

Hurried footsteps suddenly sounded outside the door, and Miyano Michichi strode in.

In the past three days, Miyano Michiichi has been counting the losses of the Battle of Taiyuan, including personnel and materials.

"Your Excellency, Commander!" Miyano Michichi slammed his head and said, "The losses of the Battle of Taiyuan have all been counted, let's talk about the losses of buildings and materials first......"

"Not necessarily." Kazuo Okamoto waved his hand and said, "You don't need to tell me about the damage to the construction and materials, this kind of thing should be handled by the First Army itself." ”

"You just have to tell me about the loss of personnel."

"Hello." Miyano Michichi paused again and again and said, "The 37th Division, the 41st Division, the 26th Division, the 110th Division, and the 3rd, 9th, and 8th Brigades of Independent Mixed Brigades participated in the Battle of Taiyuan. ”

"The casualties of the rest of the divisions were minimal, and only the 3rd and 9th brigades suffered heavy losses!"

"Among them, the 9th Brigade has been collectively shattered, the 3rd Brigade Brigade Brigade has also been destroyed, and 2 of the 5 independent infantry brigades under it have suffered heavy losses."

"The losses of the 3rd Brigade are more than 3,000 people!"

"Yaga!" Kazuo Okamoto gritted his teeth and said, "An independent mixed brigade of more than 6,000 people actually lost more than 4,000 imperial soldiers, what combat effectiveness is there?" ”

"Hello." Miyano said, "The 3rd Brigade is indeed unable to shoulder the heavy responsibility of public security in the northwest of Shanxi, especially now that the 386th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army has also flowed to the area of Jingxian, the public security situation in the northwest of Shanxi will be more severe in the future, so Your Excellency the commander may have to appoint another elite troops to garrison the northwest of Shanxi." ”

Kazuo Okamoto pondered for a moment, and then said, "Miyano-kun, what is your opinion?" ”

Miyano said: "The army stationed in Mongolia is responsible for the security of Suiyuan, and the pressure is not small, not to mention the first army, the strength is already stretched, and the divisions and brigades directly under the jurisdiction of the front army are not only the strategic reserves of the entire North China, but also the public security and order of Hebei, and the pressure is also very great. ”

Speaking of this, Miyano Michiichi said again: "Therefore, I am afraid that it is impossible to increase the number of troops for the First Army, and even the 41st Division, which originally belonged to the First Army, must be withdrawn, so if you want to maintain and strengthen the security in the northwest of Shanxi, I am afraid that you can only find a way under the existing strength of the First Army." ”

"My opinion is to transfer the 3rd Brigade to Fenyang and take over the 16th Brigade Defense Area."

"Fenyang is between Yuncheng and Lu'an, Yuncheng has the 37th Division, and Lu'an has the 36th Division, so the pressure on public security is not so great, and the 3rd Brigade has time to recover slowly."

"Shuffle." Kazuo Okamoto nodded, and said, "However, with a single 16th Brigade, I am afraid that it will still not be able to shoulder the heavy responsibility of law and order in the northwest of Shanxi, especially now that the main force of the 386th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army has also flowed to the northwest of Shanxi." ”

Miyano Michiichi said again: "So, I propose to use the 16th Brigade as the backbone and expand the 69th Division!" ”

"The expanded 69th Division has the 59th and 60th Infantry Brigades under its jurisdiction, and in addition to the five infantry brigades and directly subordinate units of the original 16th Brigade, the three newly formed independent infantry brigades of the 118th, 119th, and 120th Infantry Brigades can also be incorporated into the 69th Division, and each infantry brigade has four infantry brigades."

"In addition, a cavalry wing will be transferred from the cavalry group of the Mongolian army to strengthen the 69th Division, and the headquarters will additionally reinforce a mountain artillery wing and a chariot brigade to the 69th Division."

"In this way, the 69th Division has a considerable degree of field capability."

"Its field combat capability is even stronger than that of the 36th and 37th divisions."

"In this way, the 69th Division can also take charge of security in the northwest of Shanxi."

"Yo Si." Kazuo Okamoto nodded happily and said, "That's it!" ”

After a pause, Kazuo Okamoto said again: "Then, there is only one question left now. ”

Miyano said: "Is Your Excellency the Commander embarrassed about the replacement of the commander of the First Army?" ”

"Yes." Kazuo Okamoto nodded, and said, "According to the practice of the War Department, not to mention the commander of an army, even if there is a division commander, a brigade commander or even a wing commander, it must be selected and appointed by the War Department. ”

"However, the situation of the First Army stationed in Shanxi is special, and I am worried that the War Department will make some unrealistic moves when it sends a new person to Shanxi, because he is not familiar with the actual situation in Shanxi."

"In this case, it will cause substantial harm to Shanxi."

"After this battle, the First Army stationed in Shanxi can no longer afford a big defeat!"

"Therefore, the candidate for the commander of the First Army is best selected from within the First Army, and I think Nosuke-kun is competent enough."

Miyano said: "Since Your Excellency the Commander thinks that Nosuke-kun is suitable, then just make a suggestion to the War Department, Your Excellency Commander, although you do not have the power to appoint the commander of the First Army, you have the right to make suggestions!" As long as you make a suggestion, I think the War Department will still seriously consider it. ”

Okamura Ninji said, "Miyano-kun, can you make this suggestion?" ”

Miyano Michichi was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then reacted that Kazuo Okamoto and the current Minister of War did not have a good relationship, and if he proposed the result, I am afraid it would be counterproductive.