On 4 March, in Jinan, the headquarters of the Chinese Dispatch Force of the Island Army, Senior General Okamura Ninji, the Supreme Commander of the Chinese Battlefield of the Island Army, and a number of staff officers and generals gathered together for a tense military meeting. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Five days earlier, Okamura had moved his headquarters from Beijing to Jinan in order to directly command this life-and-death battle.

Strictly speaking, the historical Okamura Ninji was actually not the supreme commander of the invading island army, because the Chinese dispatch army at that time could not control all the invading island armies at all, and even the North China and South China fronts under their jurisdiction were only nominally subordinate to the Chinese ~ dispatch army, and were not really completely under its unified command.

Historically, the island army during the Anti-Japanese War was divided into four major parts, the Kwantung Army, the North China Front, the Central China Front, and the Chinese Fleet of the Navy.

These four major parts are independent of each other and do not constitute subordinate relations with each other, and they are also full of contradictions and grievances with each other, except for the naval fleet with fewer troops, the other three major parts are mostly fighting on their own, and supporting the puppet regimes under their control in their own territories.

But now, the island army is retreating one after another, the momentum of the national army is like a rainbow, and the base camp of the island army profoundly understands that if the Chinese battlefield is scattered and there is no cohesion, it is entirely possible to be encroached upon by the national army step by step, so although the current island army is still composed of the Kwantung Army, the North China Front, the Central China Front, and the Chinese fleet of the Navy, there is no separate commander of the front army, and the power falls on Okamura Ningji, that is to say, the current Okamura Ningji is a veritable supreme commander of the Chinese battlefield. Including the Kwantung Army, which was attacking the Soviet Union in the north, was under his command.

Moreover, the current Central China and North China Front armies are much more powerful than they were in history, and the North China Front Army has 35 divisions and regiments under its jurisdiction, with a total strength of more than 600,000 troops.

The Central China Front has 10 divisions, 13 armies, and 21 armies under its jurisdiction, with a total strength of more than 400,000 troops.

However, there are very few divisions and regiments of the island army that have a four-unit system at present, except for the permanent divisions and special divisions and regiments, which have basically maintained their original status, and the strength of each division and regiment has remained more than 30,000, and the subsequent divisions and regiments are basically C divisions or even D divisions, with a strength ranging from 13,400 to 18,000.

Beginning last year, the island army began to abolish the establishment of independent brigades and regiments, and unified them into a three-three system of C or D divisions, with divisions ranging from 200 to 300 all belonging to this category, so most of the divisions and regiments of the North China Front were of this kind, and it is conceivable that its combat effectiveness certainly cannot be the same as that of the early days of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.

But in any case, Okamura Ninji has more than one million troops available for deployment, not counting the puppet army mobilized from all over the country, the strength of the puppet army also reaches more than 300,000, and there is also a puppet army that has just arrived in Xuzhou from North China.

With absolute power and strong soldiers, although the national army is menacing this time, Okamura Ningji is still full of ambition and confidence, holding a command pole with a calm face, and directing the staff officers to move the wargames on the sand table and arrange the troops.

To his left is the chief of staff of the 11th Army of the Harajima Army, Isamu Kinoshita, who escaped from the Battle of Wuhan by luck, because of Okamura Ninji's protection, Isamu Kinoshita actually escaped without any punishment, and became the deputy chief of staff of the dispatch army.

On the right hand side of Okamura Ninji, there stood a lieutenant general officer in his fifties, medium build, and somewhat elegant appearance.

After Okamura Ninji took office, he pushed against public opinion and transferred Ishihara Waner, the former deputy chief of staff of the Kwantung Army, who had talent and wisdom but was not ambitious, to his side as chief of general staff, and his military rank was also raised to lieutenant general.

On the huge operational sand table, it is the mountain-shaped landform of the northern Anhui front, and the small red and blue flags representing the two armies of the central and island armies are planted all over the mountains, rivers, valleys, and plains, and the situation of confrontation between the two armies has been laid out.

The island army has obviously also collected a lot of information, and the arrangement of the main attack and assist units of the national army can be seen at a glance.

The chief of the general staff, Ishihara Waner, clasped his hands in front of his chest, frowned and looked at the combat sand table in deep thought, Okamura Ninji seemed to have discovered his initiative, and said strangely: "What, Ishihara-kun thinks there is something wrong?" ”

Ishihara seemed to be startled, looked at Okamura Ningji and shook his head, then nodded, hesitated for a few seconds before saying: "Okamura-kun, I always feel that something is not right, either Jiang Haoran has some earth-shattering conspiracy, or the commander of this battle is not Jiang Haoran at all?" ”

As soon as this remark came out, it was like a shock, everyone was surprised, the former is easy to understand, Jiang Haoran used soldiers and ghosts to be unpredictable, they have not seen it and have already heard of it, but the latter, almost everyone thinks it is incredible, at the moment Chongqing government except Jiang Haoran, who else can command such a big battle? Even if there is, is there anything higher than Jiang Haoran's tactical level?

Okamura Ninjiki said: "What do you mean by this? ”

Ishihara said: "Because this is not like Jiang Haoran's tactics, at least Jiang Haoran will not be so low-level." ”

"It's not like Jiang Haoran's tactics?" Okamura Ningji repeated, his eyes moved from Ishihara's face to the combat sand table, and he said suspiciously: "It's impossible, the two wings contain the frontal heavy troops and press the border to smash the Yellow Dragon, the tactics are spicy and fierce, this is in line with Jiang Haoran's consistent style, there is nothing wrong?" ”

"Yes, it is true on the surface, but the substance is ......"

Ishihara Wan'er said and took a command pole from a staff officer beside him, nodded on the sand table on behalf of Hefei and Zhengzhou, and continued: "The two wings, the troop configuration of the national army, the right flank, Wei Lihuang's second theater troops. On the left flank, Janssen's 27th Army, the Eighth Army, and the New Fourth Army. Wei Lihuang had just jumped out of behind enemy lines, and his troops suffered heavy casualties, and many of his troops were not fully organized, although they had been supplemented to a certain extent, they were not enough to take on the heavy task of attacking Zhengzhou. Yang Sen Department and Yan'an troops, not to mention the difference in equipment, although Yang Sen Department has received Jiang Haoran's assistance, but after all, the foundation is too thin, and Hefei Linjiang is close to the lake and the mountains and rivers, and the terrain is complicated, is it possible to expect these troops to be able to take Hefei? ”

Ishihara paused and continued: "Now the problem comes, the middle army of the national army breaks through with heavy troops, once as they think, the locust army is invincible, they march all the way to Bozhou and Suzhou The second line of defense, but at this time, Hefei and Zhengzhou are still in the hands of the locust army, let's see what situation will become......"