Let's say that the Japanese army mobilized tens of thousands of people into the mountains to besiege Bai Fei, but in the end, he still let him run away, and also robbed several Japanese ships with great fanfare, and then crossed the river to the south.

After the news spread, the commander of the Central China Dispatch Army, Shunroku Hatata, was very angry, called Okamura Ningji over, and scolded him sharply.

Okamura Ninji has also fallen into blood mold recently, since he sent troops to attack Anqing, he has felt that everything is not going well, the Botian detachment has been destroyed, the Yangtze River waterway has been blocked, the heavy artillery brigade has been heavily damaged, and now the encirclement and suppression mission has failed... This pile of piles made him anxious one by one. Every day is either scolded by this boss or scolded by that boss, coupled with the ubiquitous gossip, Okamura Ninji feels that his mental capacity is about to reach the limit, and he has no shame to stay in the position of commander of the 11th Army anymore.

So he said to Shunroku Hata simply: "Your Excellency, Commander, I know that because of my promotion beyond the ranks, many people are dissatisfied, including Your Excellency, and now the 11th Army's attack on Anqing has been repeatedly frustrated, all of this started from me as the commander of the 11th Army, and it seems that I am indeed not suitable for this position anymore." Later I will personally submit my resignation to the base camp and take responsibility for the defeat of the war. ”

Toshiroku Hata was stunned, he didn't expect Okamura Ninji to be such a bachelor, and he resigned when he said he would resign, but he was a little caught off guard for a while. If it was left in peacetime, Shunroku Hata would be very happy to hear him say this, but now it is a critical period, if he is allowed to resign, wouldn't the mess of the 11th Army be even more difficult to clean up?

Thinking of this, Shunroku Hata coughed, his painting style changed, and the sharp expression on his face became pleasant. He touched the mustache on his lips, and slowly said to Okamura Ningji: "Okamura-kun, although I am against being promoted by skipping the ranks, but to be honest, I still appreciate your work ability, and I also know that all the unfavorable events that happened in Anqing are caused by the opponent's too cunning and the people below us are too incompetent, and it has nothing to do with your command, you must not take the responsibility caused by the incompetence of the people below on yourself, resign, don't say it in the future..."

This has already been said obviously, and it is almost clear: If someone needs to come out to take responsibility for this matter, it is not you or me, you can find someone to take the blame for the dead ghost below, so that you are good, I am good, everyone is good.

Okamura Ninji was not a stupid person either, and said casually: "What Your Excellency Commander said is very true, in this Anqing Campaign, the division commander of the 106th Division, Junrokuro Matsuura, was indeed a great disappointment, not only caused heavy losses to the troops, but most importantly, led to the destruction of the heavy artillery brigade, which is really unforgivable. If he is to be held responsible, he should bear the primary responsibility. However, as the commander of the 11th Army, I also have secondary responsibility in this matter..."

Shunroku Hata secretly scolded Okamura Ninji in his heart for being cunning. I said in my heart, you know that Junrokuro Matsuura has a lot to do with me, and you still want to use this to generalize my army, which is really a special kick on the nose and face. Although he secretly hated it in his heart, he said: "What Okamura-kun said is true, but as far as I know, the destruction of the 5th Heavy Artillery Brigade was caused by someone sneaking into the barracks and destroying it, and the defense of a brigade in the hall was so lax, this responsibility should be attributed to the brigade commander of the heavy artillery brigade, but he has already died in the explosion, I think this matter will end here." ”

Okamura Ninji was secretly happy in his heart, so he said: "But the base camp is over there..."

Hata Junroku said: "I'll explain at the base camp, so don't worry about it." In fact, the most important thing now is to revive the morale of the 11th Army and continue to attack Wuhan according to the original plan. Tell you the truth, because we are making slow progress, and now the base camp has a lot of complaints about us, and if we delay any longer, once the cabinet puts forward a bill against the attack, you and I will have to resign and apologize! ”

Okamura Ninji didn't dare to hold it at this time, stood up and said, "Please rest assured, Your Excellency the commander, I will immediately organize the team to continue to attack to the west according to the original plan." ”

Shunroku Hata smiled, "Yo Xi! Okamura-kun, I'm relieved to have your words. I will tell you the good news, the reserve corps from China has arrived in Shanghai, and it will not take a few days to send it to the front line, and later you will immediately report the battle damage of the units belonging to the 11th Army, and I will order someone to replenish them for you one by one. ”

"Hay!"

A few days later, Okamura Ninji's 11th Army was replenished and restored to its heyday, and he redeployed his troops and then invaded westward, attacking Qianshan, Wangjiang, Taihu and other places with all his might.

At this time, the people of Qianshan have almost been transferred. The Japanese army was menacing, and even sent the 6th Division to operate together with the 101st Division. Although the defenders were numerous, including two divisions of Yang Sen, a reinforcement division of the 31st Army, two detachments of the New Fourth Army, three battalions of the regiment directly under them, and an artillery battalion, adding up to tens of thousands of people, they were divided into different camps, and the people's hearts were scattered like a plate of scattered sand. In addition, the Japanese army was well-armed and sharply equipped, and after the defenders fought two battles with them, the ammunition supply of the artillery battalion of the regiment directly under it was almost exhausted.

After Bai Fei, who was far away in the south of the Yangtze River, learned of the situation, he decisively issued an order for the directly subordinate regiment and the 27th Army to evacuate the hidden mountain. The reinforcement division of the 31st Army took the opportunity to retreat to Taihu Lake, and the New Fourth Army also withdrew to Taihang Mountain.

Unexpectedly, after the Japanese army occupied Qianshan, it was like beating chicken blood, all the way like a bamboo, in just a few days, they successively captured Taihu Lake and Susong, and smuggled across the river from the Wangjiang area, and attacked Madang Fortress at night, resulting in the loss of this Jiangfang fortress that was pinned on high hopes.

When Chiang Kai-shek learned about it, he called Chen Cheng, the commander of the Ninth Theater, overnight and scolded him, ordering him to immediately recapture the fortress. Chen Cheng had no choice but to order the 16th Army and the 49th Army to counterattack Madang. Unexpectedly, the Japanese army relied on Madang's strong first-class national defense fortifications to resist stubbornly, so that the national army's offensive was repeatedly frustrated and suffered heavy casualties, and Chen Cheng had to order to stop the offensive and retreat to Pengze.

Chiang Kai-shek was so dissatisfied with this result that he scolded: "Niang Xipi, Bai Zhenyu can hold Anqing City for several days with only a few hundred people, and such a strong fortress as Madang will be lost, Chen Cheng, you go and ask them, what face does it have to live in the world?" ”

As a result, Li Yunheng, the commander of the 16th Army stationed near Madang, was removed from his post and investigated, and Xue Weiying, the commander of the 167th Division stationed in Pengze, was shot on charges of ineffective rescue.

After the loss of Madang, Chiang Kai-shek was angry and did not sleep well for several days. On this day, he called Chen Cheng and asked, "Is there any news of Bai Zhenyu, and where is he now?" ”

Chen Cheng said: "A few days ago, there was news that his traces were found in the area of the claim, it is said that he attacked the Japanese army defending the city in Xuancheng, and after occupying the city, he ordered his subordinates to behead the traitors in the city one by one, and then looted the warehouses of the Japanese army, and went out of the city before the arrival of Japanese reinforcements. After that, there was no news. ”

"Nonsense!" Chiang Kai-shek was angry and wanted to laugh when he heard it: "Why did he go to Xuancheng, send him a telegram and ask him to return to Wuhan as soon as possible." ”

Chen Cheng said: "I sent it, I have sent it many times before, and he said that since he boasted about Haikou, he must fulfill his promise, so he refused to return immediately." ”

"What Haikou promise?" Chiang Kai-shek was confused.

Chen Cheng said: "On the public telegram he sent last time, he said that he was going to Hefei to arrest Minoru Higashi. ”

"What?" Chiang Kai-shek was taken aback: "Is he really going to Hefei?" This Bai Zhenyu simply doesn't know the height of the sky, and he forgot the lesson of being trapped in the mountains last time so quickly? What a bastard! Cixiu, you send him a telegram in my name, and ask him to return to Wuhan as soon as possible, otherwise he will be severely punished! ”

"Yes, take a seat!" 10