Just as the battle at the north gate of Huaining was coming to an end, the eastern battlefield also changed.

The 106th Division, under the personal supervision of Junrokuro Matsuura, invested more than 6,000 soldiers to launch a fierce attack on the east gate of Huaining. However, in order to get the few tanks that fell into the trench, the 133rd Division planned to drive the Japanese away and take the tanks for themselves. Therefore, they also tried their best to defend.

The two sides fought fiercely on the position, and at the critical moment, Junrokuro Matsuura suddenly received the news of the defeat of the friendly forces in the north, and he shouted in shock: "How is this possible, we have already dragged all the defenders of Huaining here, even if there are people defending in the north, they should not be defeated so quickly?" ”

Chief of Staff Yoshitaka Akiyama said: "It is reported that the people who defended the north gate were people from the regiment directly under the Shina Military Police..."

"Yaga!" Junroku Matsuura angrily drew his command knife and chopped off the corner of his desk in the temporary command room at the front of the position.

The Japanese staff in the command tent were frightened one by one, and Akiyama Yoshitaka said: "Your Excellency Matsuura, we can only withdraw our troops at the moment, otherwise once the defenders of China in the north free up their hands and outflank our rear road, then..."

Of course, Junrokuro Matsuura knows the consequences of this possibility, but at the moment he is also difficult to ride. This time, he disobeyed Okamura Ningji's order and contributed to the attack on Huaining, but now not only did he lose his troops, but the progress was very small. Although he has Shunroku Hata as the backstage, it is expected that Okamura Ninji will not do anything to him, but the war is a failure after all, and in his military career, this will definitely become a stain.

Thinking of this, Junrokuro Matsuura hesitated: "Our warriors have now broken through the three lines of defense of the Shina defenders, if we withdraw now, all the previous efforts will be in vain, not to mention that all the previous efforts will be in vain, and the hasty withdrawal of the army will also bring us great casualties, and although the resistance of the Shina defenders in the east is very fierce, but after such a long time, it is now the end of the strong crossbow, it is a pity to give up the attack." I think... It's better like this..."

When Junrokuro Matsuura said this, he hit the idea on Sakai Tokutaro again, and said to him: "Sakai-kun, it is better for you to lead your subordinates to continue to march towards Huaining from the north, as long as the defenders of China in the north are delayed, I will add some troops here, and I will definitely be able to take Huaining in one fell swoop!" ”

"This..."Tokutaro Sakai listened to Junrokuro Matsuura's words, and instinctively wanted to refuse, he really didn't want to fight a battle that he was not sure of, otherwise he wouldn't have thrown the pot to the Hata detachment to carry before. But I have to say that what Junrokuro Matsuura said is quite reasonable, if he really does this, maybe he can really capture Huaining in one fell swoop.

However, just as Tokutaro Sakai was hesitating, a Japanese signal soldier suddenly ran into the command room and said to Junrokuro Matsuura: "Your Excellency the commander of the division, the Tsukamoto Brigade in Wanxingwei in the south is in an emergency. The news said that a force of 1,000 people coming from the direction of Anqing was attacking them, and the opponent's firepower was very fierce, and the Tsukamoto detachment could not support it, so he asked for urgent support. ”

"Nani?" Junrokuro Matsuura was shocked. Long before the attack on Huaining, Matsuura Junrokuro had sent a brigade of troops to garrison Wanxingwei and Baizichong in the southeast of Huaining, in order to prevent reinforcements from the defenders of Anqing.

Sakai Tokutaro hurriedly said: "It must be the main force of the regiment directly under the Shina Military Police stationed in Anqing who came to reinforce Huaining." Your Excellency Matsuura, without further delay, it will be a situation of being attacked on three sides. ”

"Alas!" Seeing this, Matsuura Junrokuro fell short, so he had to wave his hand and say, "In this case, order a retreat as soon as possible." ”

With the order to withdraw the troops, the plan organized by Junrokuro Matsuura to attack Huaining ended in a crushing failure with the loss of a total of seven or eight thousand troops.

After the news reached Okamura Ninji's office, Okamura Ninji slapped the table angrily, and the documents on the table flew wildly. He yelled, "Bastard! Junrokuro Matsuura is such a bastard! He didn't listen to orders and acted privately, which led to such a fiasco! I must report this matter to the base camp, remove him from his post, and hold him accountable. ”

Yoshimoto Sadachi persuaded on the side: "Your Excellency Okamura, although this defeat was caused by Junrokuro Matsuura's disobedience to orders, if you report to the base camp to ask for punishment for him, I am afraid it will be inappropriate..."

When Okamura Ninji heard this, he calmed down a little and said: "You are right, I have a shallow foundation, and I was promoted to the commander of the 11th Army, and I don't know how many people are jealous and opposed, and now is a critical time for me. Yoshimoto-kun, you're right, I almost let anger sway my sanity. ”

Yoshimoto Sadachi: "Your Excellency can figure it out, and nature is the best. ”

Okamura Ninji nodded and asked, "Where has the 5th Heavy Artillery Brigade gone now?" ”

Yoshimoto Sadachi: "According to the news, the heavy artillery brigade will be able to reach Pukou tomorrow morning, and then change to a steamer and go west directly along the Yangtze River waterway." It's just that the river near Tongling was attacked by the fleet a few days ago, and the warships sank into the river to block the channel, and it is still being cleaned up and cannot be passed, so the steamers can only go to the Tongling area, and then they must land and then walk to Anqing from the land, and I am afraid it will take some time during this period. ”

Okamura Ningji sighed and said, "Bai Fei and his regiment directly under the gendarmerie really gave us a lot of trouble, so it's no wonder that the General Staff Headquarters will give him a killing order." I originally planned to use aircraft bombing to cooperate with the army to capture Anqing, but knowing that it was the regiment directly under the military police of China that was defending Anqing, I put out this idea. It is said that they are equipped with anti-aircraft weapons, and the planes cannot deal with them at all, and it is also a helpless move to change to heavy artillery, hoping that the arrival of this heavy artillery brigade can eliminate the henchmen of this empire. ”

Yoshimoto Sadachi: "I guess this wish will succeed." Although the regiment directly under the gendarmerie is powerful, it is sparse in number after all. As long as we send troops to surround the city and bombard it with artillery fire, we will definitely destroy it. ”

"Yo Xi!" Okamura Ninji said, "That's exactly what I thought. In fact, to deal with them, there is no need to engage in hand-to-hand combat at all, as long as you trap them, you will be half the battle. It's a pity that Junrokuro Matsuura, a fool, didn't listen to orders, causing us to lose our troops. Yoshimoto-kun, inform the 101st Division for me that the plan has changed, let them find a way to cross the Yangtze River, and find an opportunity to capture Qianshan and other places. ”

Yoshimoto Sadachi: "Do you want the 101st Division to cut off the retreat of the Anqing defenders?" ”

Okamura Ninji nodded and said, "Tell Ito Masaki to let him act secretly, otherwise once it is exposed, I am afraid that it will cause the early withdrawal of the Anqing defenders, so that our plan will really be wasted." ”

"Hey!"