Zhengtai Railway, the locomotive walking on the tracks rattles.

The people sitting in the carriage were so silent that such a noisy environment was indeed not a suitable place for conversation.

As the supreme commander of the accompanying soldiers this time, Ishikawa Shaoza's eyes were fixed on the person sitting across from him. The other party is not tall, only about one and a half meters, but the clothes on his body are very neatly cared for, making him not so short. With a meticulous serious expression on his thin face, and a pair of wire glasses stuck on the bridge of his nose, he was writing something in his small notebook at the moment.

Ishikawa knew that this person was the most important person he had protected on this trip, and even his comfort in this carriage was due to the light he had borrowed.

Goro Maeda graduated from Kyoto Imperial University with a major in mineral exploration in geology. When he came to Shanxi this time, he was entrusted by Seishiro Itagaki to explore Shanxi's mineral resources.

"Ishikawa Shaosa, are you watching me take notes?"

After writing for a while, Maeda closed the notebook, glanced up at Ishikawa, and said with a smile.

"No, no, no, I don't have the idea of snooping into your secrets, and I don't know much about geological science."

Ishikawa's reaction was strong, and he hurriedly waved his hand and said. He was a dedicated soldier who knew what he had to do. In his opinion, these scholars have a more or less strange personality, and he generally stays away from them.

"Take it easy, Ishikawa Shaosa, what I've written is just some ordinary information. And I'm just a researcher, not as mysterious as you think. ”

Maeda seemed to be very talkative, so he took off his eyes, carefully folded them, and put them in the glasses case. After taking a sip of the tea on the table, he said with a smile.

"We all work for the Empire, and as a researcher, I actually admire you soldiers. This time we came to Shanxi, we were actually working together to complete a task. So don't be so restrained. ”

Maeda's words made Ishikawa's heart suddenly relax, the other party was the person that Seishiro Itagaki valued, and if it was possible, he still wanted to make friends.

"I see, Mr. Maeda is really a personable person. No wonder the commander of the Itagaki Division specially transferred you from the northeast. ”

Ishikawa is true that Maeda had been working in Tohoku before coming to Shanxi. In fact, coming to Shanxi is a bit of a last resort for him, many of his work in the Northeast is only halfway through, in his opinion, the development of Shanxi's coal mines is a well-known thing, on the contrary, there are many secrets in the Northeast that have yet to be solved.

"Thank you for your compliment, I am optimistic about the work in Shanxi in the next period of time, and I believe that I will have a pleasant holiday here."

Maeda's words made Ishikawa stunned at the time.

"What? Are you here to Shanxi for a vacation? ”

"No, it's just a metaphor, maybe my metaphor isn't quite right."

Maeda straightened the collar of his suit and said with an elegant smile. But what he didn't expect was that Ishikawa's face immediately became serious.

"Mr. Maeda, please don't say anything like this again when you arrive in Taiyuan. Although the Chinese troops were no match for the Imperial Army, the battle in Shanxi was by no means a casual military walk for the Imperial Army. Even the current Shanxi is by no means as calm as imagined, and there are enemies in the empire who are still lurking in the shadows. ”

When Ishikawa said this, Maeda couldn't help but sit up straight, he knew a little about the situation in Shanxi, but he was a person who didn't understand military affairs, so he didn't comment much on it.

"Okay, since Shaozuo you said so, then I won't talk about this."

Maeda didn't care about this, and took a sip of green tea elegantly. It didn't matter to him how the Chinese were in Shanxi, he was just a scientist. Thinking of this, Maeda spoke.

"By the way, my students followed me to Shanxi to study together this time, and they also have a very deep level of academics. I think they should be able to make a good contribution to the division commander. ”

Ishikawa just listened quietly to what the other party said, and didn't dare to say anything. He can see it now, Maeda doesn't seem to have much expectation for this trip to Shanxi. This is true, Maeda's entry from the northeast this time is really a hindrance to the face of the military department, after all, every year he has to get a large amount of money from the military department to conduct his own research.

But fortunately, this time he brought a lot of students with him, and some things that he was not interested in can be done for them. Anyway, even if the student unexpectedly gains something, the name will definitely fall on him in the end. Thinking of this, Maeda felt a little better in his mood, and he was also amused in his heart, why should these complaints be explained to a junior officer?

Thinking of this, Maeda changed the subject and said.

"However, the climate here in Shanxi is still warmer than in the Northeast after all, as long as the winter in the Northeast, a lot of work is forced to be put on hold, in such a cold, not to mention people, even some machines can not hold on."

"Mr. Maeda, we are actually still in Hebei now, and we need to go west for a while before we can enter Shanxi."

Ishikawa kindly reminded that Maeda was stunned at the time, and then said it again.

"Is that so? The train hasn't passed through Jingcheng yet? Why is that? ”

"Yan Xishan of Shanxi used narrow gauge when laying Shanxi's railway. Trains entering from outside Shanxi need to be coordinated in all aspects before entering the country, so it is quite inconvenient. ”

Maeda just nodded lightly and didn't say anything more.

The conversation in the carriage came to an end until the locomotive drove into Niangziguan Station.

……

Yangquan, the headquarters of the Japanese occupation forces.

The commander stationed in Yangquan in the past few days has been somewhat uneasy, and Itagaki Seishiro has specially instructed that in the next few days, a group of experts from the northeast will pass by him, and he needs to do a good job of vigilance. And this is the crux of the commander's nervousness.

After occupying a place, the first thing to do is to investigate and familiarize yourself with the local situation, which includes not only politics and economics, but also the local geology, and it is precisely because of this that Seishiro Itagaki will specially invite a group of geological experts to come.

However, the history of important people is bound to attract the attention of the enemy. In the past few days, the commander of the Yangquan Devil has been receiving reports from below: In their jurisdiction, there have been signs of the activities of a small group of Eighth Route Army for several days in a row.

The report said that the number of these Eighth Route Corps was not large, and often there were only thirty or forty people, about a platoon. If it is placed on a frontal battlefield, the strength of a platoon is merely a platoon, and the commander of the devil will not pay attention to it at all. But the worst thing is that this group of Eighth Route Army did not take the initiative to contact them at all. Instead, they did some cold guns and railroad ...... This kind of thing that doesn't hurt.

Often, the attacks organized by these Eighth Route Army may not even hurt a single Japanese soldier at a time. However, even this kind of weak attack of the Japanese army must also respond, every time the Eighth Route Army is discovered, the Japanese army has to deal with at least a small team, such frequent mobilization is too damaging to the enthusiasm of the soldiers.

For this reason, the commander of Yangquan and the garrisons of several surrounding towns have greeted each other, asking all departments to work together to squeeze the living space of the Eighth Route Army, so that they will not make too big waves, and the geological experts will be able to pass smoothly.

"The captain, geological expert and entourage of Ishikawa Shaosa has now arrived at Niangziguan and is changing locomotives at Niangziguan Railway Station. Expect another hour to pass us. ”

After hearing the report of his subordinates, the commander nodded reassuringly, and then said.

"We must do a good job of vigilance to prevent Chinese troops from disrupting the trip."

"Hello!"

After watching his lieutenant go down, the commander did not stay in his office any longer. Instead, he personally led the team to Yangquan Railway Station and was ready to pick up the train. However, what he didn't expect was that just as he was standing on the platform and looking into the distance, a Mosin Nagant crosshair had been quietly aimed at him!

……