At the Hongkou Naval Headquarters, Mitsuhiko Sato was called to the office by Hasegawa Kiyoshi and all his subordinates were distributed.

"Your Excellency General, what is the matter of urgently recruiting subordinates?"

Hasegawa stood up from his position, walked up to Sato with a smile on his face, and asked, "Sato-kun, how have I treated you all along?" In addition to the relationship between superiors and subordinates, I have always been a friend of Sato-kun. ”

Mitsuhiko Sato was confused and asked, "General, why did you suddenly say that?" ”

Hasegawa sighed, then politely stretched out his hand to invite Sato to sit on the sofa together, and said: "Since the landing of the two divisions at the end of August, they have fought hard for 40 days and only advanced a few kilometers. ”

Hasegawa brought Sato a cup of tea, and continued, "I threatened to end the war in Shina in three months, but it seems that it is not possible. Coupled with the reports of reporters from various countries on the war situation, the base camp felt that it was quite faceless, so the military from top to bottom hoped to launch a decisive offensive to inflict heavy damage on the main force of the Chinese army in one fell swoop, break the deadlock in the Shanghai operation, and completely bring China to its knees. ”

"We underestimated the strength of the other side, as well as the determination and will," Sato said. ”

Hasegawa nodded in agreement and said, "Yes, the other party's will to fight is tenacious. , General Matsui Ishine mentioned more than once in a telegram sent back to the Tokyo base camp. ”

Sato could see that Hasegawa was not talking about the war when he came to him, and he had something in his heart but it was difficult to say it, so he said: "There is no one else in the general's room, so you might as well say it directly." ”

Nagakawaya thought for a moment and said, "Has Sato ever heard of the 'November Crisis Theory'?" ”

Sato's face changed and he didn't answer, but just drank the tea on the coffee table.

Hasegawa said, "Although I am the commander of the Third Fleet, I know that there are some things that cannot be asked. But I'm still very curious, who secretly spread this statement? What exactly does the cabinet mean? ”

The "November Crisis Theory" is the so-called November Crisis. At present, Japan's combat investment in China is much higher than expected, so that the war readiness against the Soviet Union can only be maintained at about 20 divisions, which is far lower than the total strength of the 30 divisions and regiments required in the war plan against the Soviet Union.

The timing of this is most likely November. So, call it the November crisis and suggest that the authorities must act in October to deal with the crisis. And this so-called "11 crisis theory" is just a rumor, which is spreading within the Japanese army, but I don't know where it came from, whether it is the intelligence department, or someone with ulterior motives.

"Sato-kun~"

Hasegawa Kiyoshi shouted, and Sato relieved himself and said, "I can only say that the cabinet is very dissatisfied with the war in Shanghai, and I don't know the source of the rumors. ”

"Dissatisfied, why don't the cabinet ministers say it directly?"

"The general is a smart man, do you need me to explain this? Although my father was a cabinet minister, there were some things that ....... Sato wanted to speak and stopped: "General, in fact, everyone knows that it is impossible for the Soviet Union to send troops to Mongolia, but why is there such a rumor?" ”

Hasegawa seemed to understand something, and said, "Pressure." ”

At the time of the July 7 Incident, one of the major reasons why the Japanese army sent troops to North China was that it was impossible for the Soviet army to send troops.

At that time, the Second Department of the General Staff Headquarters of the Japanese Army believed that in June 37, the Chief of the General Staff of the Soviet Army, Tukhachevsky, was secretly executed, and many senior generals were involved, and the Soviet army's morale was shaken, let alone launching an offensive, and it was impossible to even organize military exercises.

However, only three months later, when the Battle of Songhu was expanding, rumors spread from the Japanese General Staff Headquarters that the Soviet Army was going to launch an offensive? This is quite a paradox of professionalism. One thing is certain, however, that this could have prompted the authorities to decide to launch a new offensive against the national army.

If Japan wanted to end the war in Shanghai within a month, the most effective way was to attack Dachang and Zhabei in the south, and at this time, the Nationalist army shifted the focus of defense to the west, which made Matsui Shigen even more determined to go south.

Moving south, the main force of the Japanese army first had to force the crossing of Onzaohama, first engage the defenders of the southern front, and then occupy the main field. In addition, there are two directions of attack, one is the 36th Division attacking Jiangwan, and there is an east-to-west flank attack on Dachang; One is to take Zhabei directly from Hongkou, once Zhabei falls, there is no need to fight the entire battle of Songhu, this is the most direct and effective way.

Matsui Ishone, commander of the Japanese East China Dispatch Army, was redeployed, the main force moved south to Onzaobang, part of Yangshupu attacked Jiangwan, and Hongkou attacked Zhabei with the main force of marines, reaching a third-line attack. He also ordered the 9th Division and the 13th Division to contain Chen Cheng's Left Wing Army and fully cooperate with the main force to attack Zhu Shaoliang's Ninth Army of the Central Army.

There were still 5 hours before Xing Ye Lei moved, and he was specially called to the division headquarters. At this time, the national army did not know that the Japanese army had changed the direction of attack, but Zhu Shaoliang was very sure that the Japanese army would be intense soon.

Ye Lei's operation was very important, and Zhu Shaoliang personally came to the headquarters of the 88th Division and was ready to wait until the end of this operation.

"I expected that the Japanese army would move south, and Ye Lei's action at night was very important and must be completed. I will stay here until I hear the news of your victory. ”

"Yes! We will do whatever it takes to complete this mission. ”

"Good. Are there any difficulties? ”

"Nope! It's just a pity. ”

Sun Yuanliang on the side asked, "What do you mean?"

Ye Lei said: "It's obvious things, why can't the command department figure it out?" Wenyubang, Dachang, and Zhabei had road and gunboat advantages over the Japanese army, and the Japanese troops in Baoshan, Yangshupu, and Hongkou could attack on three fronts. However, why did the chairman shift the focus of defense to the west, which was not exactly in the hands of the Japanese army. ”

Zhu Shaoliang said helplessly: "The chairman of the committee has his considerations. The left flank army was too much to consume, and once the western front was broken, our main forces could be surrounded by the Japanese army. ”

Ye Lei said: "The premise of the encirclement is the strength of the army, and now our strength is three times that of the enemy. Even if you are surrounded? This is our territory, and there are troops on the outside line. ”

Zhu Shaoliang was silent, believing in Chen Cheng and Xue Yue more than his chairman.

Sun Yuanliang said: "Okay, the matter has been decided, what's the use of saying this."

Ye Lei said: "I just feel aggrieved. The wrong tactics are not terrible, what is terrible is the wrong strategy, that is a disaster! ”

Zhu Shaoliang patted Ye Lei and said, "Don't think about it so much. All you have to do now is blow up Izumo for me! ”

"Yes!"

Ye Lei saluted, with confidence in his eyes. His self-confidence comes from the weather, rain at night.

On the way back, the 88th Division had already entered a state of readiness, and a large number of fortifications had been rebuilt on the streets and roofs. Soon, the Japanese army will attack Zhabei with greater intensity than any previous one, provided that the main Japanese forces in the north move south.

Ye Lei sighed that history is history, no matter how he tosses or develops according to the original trajectory, what is he?

There are still 4 hours before the action, and Ye Lei has 3 hours to rest. He returns to his room, puts aside all his worries, and gives "Izumo" a fatal blow when he has enough energy!