"Really?" Seishiro Itagaki stared at the map, noncommittal. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

Naosaburo Okabe heard that Seishiro Itagaki didn't agree very much, so he said, "Could it be that Your Excellency the Commander has another opinion?" ”

"I can't talk about it." Seishiro Itagaki waved his hand, and finally looked away from the map, then stared into Naosaburo Okabe's eyes and said, "It's a bit of a fool's opinion, and I want to discuss it with Okabe-senpai." ”

Itagaki Seishiro was finally about to express his opinion, and Takeshi Anda and several staff officers suddenly looked uplifted.

Okabe Naosaburo hurriedly retracted his feet and straightened up, and said with a pause: "I don't dare to be the senior of the commander." ”

Itagaki Seishiro said: "Okabe-san, before Xu Rui's raid on Jiujiang, all divisions and regiments under the Eleventh Army were ready for a general attack, right?" ”

"Hello." Naosaburo Okabe paused heavily.

Itagaki Seishiro said again: "This means that all divisions under the Eleventh Army, including the Third Division and the One Hundred and First Division, have prepared enough military supplies for half a month, am I right?" ”

Okabe Naosaburo replied: "The 22nd Division, the 27th Division, the 106th Division, the 116th Division, and the Hatada Detachment have prepared enough supplies for half a month, but the 3rd Division and the 101st Division have only replenished their needs for seven days due to the long distance of the road and insufficient transportation capacity, and the remaining half is still at Jiujiang Station and has not been transported out in time. ”

This is also the basis for the judgment that the Japanese army came to the conclusion that if Jiujiang was not recaptured in three days, the Japanese army in Hunan would be in a predicament, and if Jiujiang could not be recaptured in ten days, the Japanese army in Hunan would run out of ammunition and food, because if Jiujiang was recaptured in three days, it would take at least seven days for the materials to be transported to Hunan, and it would take half a month for the materials to be transported to Hunan!

Regarding this, Okabe Naosaburo had actually reported to Seishiro Itagaki just now.

Seishiro Itagaki said again: "Yo Sai, this means that except for the 3rd Division and the 101st Division, which can only maintain offensive operations for seven days, the remaining four and a half divisions can maintain operations for at least half a month, am I not mistaken?" ”

Naosaburo Okabe just stared at Itagaki Seishiro in silence, because the question didn't need his answer.

After a pause, Seishiro Itagaki said again: "It's nearly half a month, which should be enough." ”

"Pretty much enough?" Okabe Naosaburo, Takeshi Ada, and several operational staff officers were confused.

After a while, it was Anda Takeshi who reacted first, and said in horror: "Your Excellency, commander, do you think that the imperial army can capture Wuhan before the 3rd and 101st Divisions are surrounded and annihilated?" ”

"Nani?" Naosaburo Okabe and several combat staff officers were furious when they heard this.

"Your Excellency, Commander, this is impossible!" Okabe Naosaburo shouted even more out of frustration, "With all due respect, it is almost impossible for the Imperial Army to capture Wuhan before the Nationalist Army eats the Third Division and the 101st Division, and if Wuhan can be conquered so easily, it will not drag on from July to the present!" ”

Anda Takeshi also said: "Your Excellency, the commander of the division did not listen to the alarm, because the lowly and a group of colleagues in the General Staff Department had also discussed the possibility of this action, and had repeated war games on it, but the final result was all unsuccessful without exception. ”

"Oh, really?" Seishiro Itagaki raised his eyebrows and said, "Can you repeat the deduction for me?" ”

"Hello." Anda Wuhan paused heavily, and when several operational staff officers who were about to accompany him were called, they began a war game deduction in the conference room of the headquarters of the Anqing Military Police.

Half an hour later, the war games ended, and the result was as Takeshi Anda said, the Japanese army suffered a crushing defeat, not only the 3rd Division and the 101st Division were completely annihilated by the Nationalist Army, but the goal of capturing Wuhan was also defeated, and the Nationalist Army even switched from a strategic retreat to a strategic counteroffensive, of course, it was quickly defeated by the Japanese army.

Okabe Naosaburo continued: "Your Excellency, the Nationalist Army has learned the lessons of the Battle of Nanjing and the Battle of Xuzhou, and no longer deployed troops in Wuhan and in order to seek superiority in the narrow battlefield, but scattered its forces in the vast outer battlefields, which led to the dispersion of the Imperial Army's forces, and it was difficult to concentrate enough forces to launch a large-scale war of annihilation, which is the main reason why the Second Army has not been able to destroy the main force of the Nationalist Army and capture Wuhan so far. ”

Okabe Naosaburo actually has a sentence that has not been said, and the implication of his words is that Okamura Ningji is so powerful, he has been fighting hard with Xue Yue on the outskirts of Wuhan for nearly three months, but he has not been able to catch and eliminate the main force of the National Army, you have only been here for a few hours, and you dare to dare to capture Wuhan within half a month?

In the face of Okabe Naosaburo's questioning, Seishiro Itagaki neither defended nor got angry.

Itagaki Seishiro instead mentions another seemingly unrelated battle, the Battle of Xinkou.

Seishiro Itagaki said: "During the Battle of Xinkou, the Fifth Division was stubbornly resisted by the 31st Division of the Shina Army, and the battle situation fell into a stalemate, and there was no hope of breaking the situation in a short period of time. ”

"However, in the end, I did not take Sakurada-san's suggestion, but transferred an infantry brigade from the Xinkou battlefield, which was already very tense, to attack Niangzi Pass, and the final result you have also seen, after the loss of Niangzi Pass, the main division of the thirty-one national army in front of Xinkou collapsed and collapsed."

At this time, it had been nearly a year since the Battle of Xinkou ended, but Seishiro Itagaki felt as if it was just yesterday.

Takeshi Anda and a few young staff officers were also very excited to hear this, because the Battle of Xinkou was definitely a classic battle in which the enemy was outnumbered, and the Fifth Division under the command of Commander Itagaki defeated the 31st division of the Nationalist Army with half a division's strength, creating the most disparity since the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War.

It was precisely because of the great victory in the Battle of Xinkou that the Fifth Division won the reputation of the "Steel Army," and Commander Itagaki also won the reputation of the courage of the Army, and thus ascended to the high position of Minister of War.

Naosaburo Okabe admires Seishiro Itagaki very much, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have his own opinions.

Okabe Naosaburo said in a deep voice: "Your Excellency, the Battle of Xinkou under your command is indeed a classic of the past and present, even if you look at the world, it is also commendable, but I want to remind you that the national army in the Shanxi battlefield is composed of the Central Army, the Jin Sui Army and the Eighth Route Army, and the command is chaotic and distrustful, while the national army in the Wuhan battlefield does not have such a problem. ”

After a pause, Naosaburo Okabe continued: "More importantly, the Nationalist Army in the Shanxi Battlefield is only more than 200,000 and is poorly equipped, while the Nationalist Army in the Wuhan Battlefield has more than 1 million people and has just received a large amount of Soviet equipment, and there is no comparison between the two. ”

Seishiro Itagaki said lightly: "So what? ”

Okabe Naosaburo paused and said, "With all due respect, if Your Excellency the Commander wants to replicate the miracle of the Shanxi battlefield in the Wuhan battlefield, I am afraid that in the end you will only be disappointed. ”

"Really?" Seishiro Itagaki still looked noncommittal.

But in the next moment, Seishiro Itagaki looked terrible, and said in a deep voice: "However, I don't think so!" ”

Okabe Naosaburo frowned, and said in a deep voice, "Please forgive me for being stupid and stupid, and please ask Your Excellency the Commander to solve my doubts." ”

Seishiro Itagaki said: "Okabe-san, what you just said is the truth, but what I want to tell you is that these are not the keys to determining the outcome of a battle, it is this that really determines the outcome of a battle!" He pointed to his head, then to his heart, "And here!" ”

Takeshi Anda said: "Wisdom and guts? ”

"Yes, wisdom and guts!" Seishiro Itagaki said in a deep voice, "Wisdom can help you find the weaknesses of your enemies, and courage can help you make up your mind to do things that others dare not do!" ”

After speaking, Itagaki Seishiro stared at Okabe Naosaburo's eyes again and said: "Before dividing the troops to attack Niangzi Pass, Sakurada-san also listed a bunch of unfavorable factors to me, but I found through my own eyes that the national army in Shanxi has a fatal weakness, that is, they lack the courage to take the initiative, but the lack of courage of the national army to take the initiative does not mean that they will not attack, so it takes great courage to make up your mind to withdraw troops from the Xinkou battlefield!" ”

"However, I did it, and I tried my best to transfer a brigade from Xinkou to attack Niangzi Pass! And in the end, my courage also won a rich reward for the Fifth Division, for the Imperial Army, and for the Empire of Japan. ”

Naosaburo Okabe said in a deep voice: "Your Excellency Commander is saying that the Nationalist Army on the Wuhan battlefield also has a fatal weakness? ”

"Yes." Itagaki Seishiro said in a deep voice, "Okabe-san, you just said that the Nationalist Army has learned the lessons of the Battle of Nanjing and the Battle of Xuzhou, and no longer deployed troops in the suburbs of Wuhan, but scattered its forces in the vast peripheral battlefields, but you don't know that this is not only the strength of the Nationalist Army, but also their most fatal weakness!" ”

"Nani?" Okabe Naosaburo was dumbfounded and said, "Chen Bing's periphery is actually a fatal weakness? ”

Takeshi Anda and several young staff officers next to him also looked at each other, completely unable to keep up with Itagaki's thinking.

Seishiro Itagaki asked again: "Okabe-san, when the Niangzi Pass was lost, the national army on the Xinkou battlefield actually did not suffer a decisive defeat, but they still collapsed overnight, do you know why?" ”

Naosaburo Okabe replied, "Because they have broken down psychologically, they have lost the will to resist. ”

"Yo Si." Seishiro Itagaki said, "You got to the point. (To be continued.) )