After reading the transcript of the broadcast content of the Eighth Route Army reported by the staff officer, General Terauchi Shouichi sat at his desk and said nothing. After a long time, he called Lieutenant General Naosaburo Okabe and Seiichi Kita, threw the draft of the telegram to them, and asked the two of them to read it carefully.

Lieutenant General Okabe Naosaburo has become a little tired by the anger of General Terauchi Shouichi during this passage, and people who don't know the inside story think that His Excellency Okabe Naosaburo is good at cultivation and looks a little unfazed. After reading the transcript, Okabe Naosaburo did not show the slightest expression on his face, and said in an unusually respectful tone: "It seems that His Excellency the Commander's decision to bomb southern Hebei is very clever, and the Warring States is very brilliant, this Liu Yimin couldn't sit still, and began to speak and threaten." ”

Kita Makoto was reprimanded by General Shouichi Terauchi, and he had less time to face directly with His Excellency the General, and he did not have the mentality of Lieutenant General Okabe Naosaburo who had experienced all the vicissitudes of life, so he did not have as many scruples as Lieutenant General Okabe Naosaburo, and said directly: "Report to Your Excellency Commander, judging from the time, this open letter from the head of Liu Yimin's guard regiment to His Excellency the Commander should have been written at noon, and it is estimated that Liu Yimin made intimidation in order to stop our air force from continuing to bomb after learning that our air force had launched a large-scale air raid in southern Hebei. The rest of the news about the 21st Division and the 4th Brigade of the Reading Force Mixed Brigade, as well as the news about the death of Li Yimo, commander of Liu Yimin's air defense brigade, should have been written urgently after the radio station resumed broadcasting in the evening. Of course, I'm sure that this open letter was definitely written by Liu Yimin, pretending to be the head of the guard. It is estimated that the content of the letter was indecent, and Liu Yimin was afraid of his identity, so he asked his guard head to impersonate him. The style of this letter is consistent with the letter sent by Liu Yimin when he was in Tianjin, and can be used as circumstantial evidence. ”

Speaking of this, Kita Seiichi raised his flat face and looked at the face of General Terauchi Shouichi, and saw that His Excellency the commander was silent, so he had to bite the bullet and say: "Although the results of our army's air raid on southern Hebei this time are great, most of the people killed and injured are civilians, and it does not hurt the foundation of Liu Yimin's main force. However, the killing of Liu Yimin, the commander of the air defense brigade, was a great result of a great battle, which could make Lieutenant General Washizu Songping and Major General Kawamura Dong blind. What worries me is that this may lead to cruel retaliation from Liu Yimin. I have carefully studied the information about Liu Yimin and found that Li Yimo is the highest-ranking officer killed in battle since the establishment of Liu Yimin's department. In Liu Yimin's previous war history, officers were rarely sacrificed, which shows that Liu Yimin paid great attention to protecting the backbone of the troops. The death of this Li Yimo, I am worried that it will make Liu Yimin, a guy who does not play cards according to common sense, go crazy, and how he will retaliate next is worthy of our serious study. ”

Saying this, Terauchi Shouichi's already extremely irritable mood became even more irritable.

Originally, according to the plan of Shouichi Terauchi, the air raid was to carry out the air raid all the time, completely destroy the towns and villages in southern Hebei, and make Liu Yimin's instructor lose the foundation of his existence in southern Hebei. It is best to blow up the people of southern Hebei and Liu Yimin's troops.

The problem now is that the air strikes, while achieving clear results, are far from achieving the desired goals. Judging from the broadcasts of the Eighth Route Army, less than 20,000 civilians were killed and injured, and the number of houses destroyed was quite satisfactory. Shouichi Terauchi felt that after dispatching so many planes, it would not be satisfactory to achieve such a result. Not to mention the fact that the losses of the aviation were huge, with the loss of dozens of aircraft, as well as those pilots who were more valuable than gold. If this continues, dozens of planes will be lost every day, and no matter how strong the national strength of the empire is, it will be dragged down.

In Terauchi's view, the biggest result of this air raid was the death of Liu Yimin's air defense brigade commander Li Yimo. But if you think about it, it's troublesome!

Liu Yimin's information Temple Uchi Shouyi has already memorized the rolling melon, and has also carefully analyzed Liu Yimin's surname Ge Temple Uchi Shouichi, knowing that this person can be called the god of war by the Chinese, which is absolutely worthy of the name. He had already sent a secret telegram to the base camp, preparing to hold the line of communication with heavy troops, trap Liu Yimin in southern Hebei, let him temporarily recuperate in southern Hebei for a period of time, concentrate the main force of the imperial army to continue the strategic operations in Shanxi and Jinpu Road, and wait for the battle goal to be realized before returning to clean up Liu Yimin's instructor. It's good now, the aviation force blew up Liu Yimin's right-hand man, can this Liu Yimin still sit in southern Hebei peacefully? I don't know what earth-shattering moves he will do next! Maybe he'll really come and take his last name!

Thinking that Liu Yimin might come to kill him, Shouichi Terauchi felt a chill on his neck. Because he knew that Liu Yimin was definitely a big master, otherwise, Kazuo Yamaoka and Keiko Yamaoka would not have committed suicide by disembowelment. The two of them are both first-class masters!

Shouichi in the temple was eager to immediately mobilize heavy troops and wipe out Liu Yimin's instructor. But he knew he couldn't do that for the time being. It is clear that the First Army on the Shanxi side is engaged in the Jinzhong Clearance Campaign, and it will not be able to withdraw it for a while. If it is forcibly withdrawn, it will be undone. The main force of the Second Army of Shandong is being cleared in all directions, and the 10th Division and the 5th Division are attacking in the direction of Xuzhou, if the main force of the Second Army is withdrawn, Shandong will immediately be extremely empty. If he is allowed to merge with the Zhina political axe army in the direction of Xuzhou, it may be difficult to occupy Xuzhou again. In that case, the armies of the North China and Central China fronts will not be able to meet forces and support each other, and the consequences will be very serious.

What's even more odious is that Liu Yimin, a shameless villain, actually sent out the open letter in two languages, Chinese and Yue, and this time not only Chinese and foreigners knew the news that the 21st Division and the Fourth Brigade were mixed into the Fourth Brigade, but even the soldiers of the Imperial Army also knew about it. Especially Liu Yimin asked himself to pay for the corpse, which is really vicious. How can there be such a scoundrel-like general in the world!

Terauchi Shouichi couldn't help but stand up, glared at Kita Cheng fiercely, then stood in front of the window, opened the window, breathed two breaths of cold fresh air, and was about to turn around to speak, when he heard Kita Seiichi say again: "It's night now, Liu Yimin's combat operations are generally at night, I'm afraid that there will be another imperial army jade shatter." ”

This time, it was completely irritated by Terauchi Shouichi, he turned around, walked quickly to Kita Seiichi, grabbed Kita Seiichi's clothes collar with his left hand, and fanned it with a crackle in his right hand.

Okabe Naosaburo quickly glanced at the beaten Kita Seiichi, and immediately looked at his nose and nose, and stood there with his eyebrows bowed and his face down, only the slight sound of breathing could let people know that he was not a clay sculpture but a living person, a dignified lieutenant general of the army.

Shouichi Terauchi was tired, so he stopped, moved his wrist, walked back to his desk, and sat down.

Although Kita Seiichi is not very good-looking, he thinks very highly of himself, where would he have thought that someone would dare to slap him? This time he was completely blinded by His Excellency the Commander, staring at a pair of frightened and cloudy eyes, and he was straight worried about Terauchi Shouichi.

Shouichi Terauchi picked up the water cup and took a sip of water, his mood calmed down, and he also felt that his actions just now were too much, this Kita Seiichi can be regarded as a senior general of the army, and it was a bit too shameful to slap him like this. Thinking of this, Shouichi Terauchi got up again, walked up to Kita Seiichi, reached out and touched Kita Seiichi's swollen high face, and then said, "Nishita-kun, please forgive me, I was too angry just now, and I shot too hard." I'm sorry! ”

Kita Seiichi hadn't reacted from the panic just now, and he didn't say a word very uncooperatively, still staring straight at Shouichi Terauchi.

Lieutenant General Okabe Naosaburo knew that it was time to speak by himself, coughed, and said softly: "Nishita-kun, Your Excellency the Commander doesn't want to slap you, but wants to slap the hateful Liu Yimin." In a fit of rage, His Excellency the Commander mistook the target. I beg your forgiveness! ”

Kita Seiichi was a little sober at this time, suppressed the humiliation in his heart, and nodded.

General Terauchi said with a smile, walked back to his desk and sat down, glanced at Lieutenant General Okabe Naosaburo, and said, "Chief of Staff, tell me about the countermeasures that our army should take at present." ”

Okabe Naosaburo saw Terauchi Shouichi asking by name, and then said: "The countermeasures of our army, Your Excellency the Commander, have long been decided, and it is nothing more than two strategies: encirclement and suppression with heavy troops and stabilizing Liu Yimin in southern Hebei. The advantage of heavy encirclement and suppression can establish public order in southern Hebei, but the disadvantage is that it is necessary to interrupt the fighting in Shanxi and the direction of Jinpu Road, which is easy to lose one, and it may not be able to completely eliminate Liu Yimin's main force. The advantage of blocking the lines of communication and stabilizing Liu Yiming's cooking forces in southern Hebei is that it can buy time and ensure strategic operations on the Shanxi and Jinpu lines. The disadvantage is that the troops blocking the line of communication may be attacked by Liu Yimin's retaliatory surname at any time. Both of these methods can be used, it only depends on how His Excellency the Commander chooses. ”

Terauchi Shouichi turned to Kita Seiichi again and said, "Kita-kun, if you want to stabilize Liu Yimin's troops in southern Hebei, how can you prevent Liu Yimin's troops from retaliating against our troops blocking the communication line?" Do you have any opinions? ”

Kita Chengichi talked a lot just now, but he was slapped in the face, and he had palpitations at this time and didn't want to say more. But after looking at the face of Shouichi in the temple, there was a faint hideous face in the warmth, and he had to say cautiously: "The only thing that can confuse Liu Yimin is to negotiate, temporarily stop the bombing, send people to southern Hebei, and carry out comprehensive negotiations with Liu Yimin's ministry." Since he wants the imperial army to pay for the corpse, he will take this as an opportunity to bring money to negotiate with them. The troops stationed on the communication line also temporarily stopped attacking southern Hebei and Luxi, raised their vigilance, guarded the defensive line, and strictly prevented Liu Yimin's troops from retaliating. ”

Terauchi Shouichi's eyes lit up, and after saying yes, he beckoned Lieutenant General Naosaburo Okabe and Major General Seiichi Kita to come to the desk, and the three of them began to plot.

At 9 o'clock in the evening, the radio station controlled by the Beiping Army suddenly broadcast the news that Major General Seiichi Kita Chengyi had been sent by the North China Front of the Imperial Army to the plenipotentiary and had rushed to the southern Hebei region to start comprehensive negotiations with the representatives of General Liu Yimin of the Central [***] team. It is hoped that General Liu Yimin, for the sake of the safety of the people in southern Hebei, will no longer take hostile actions against the imperial army, and that all issues can be resolved through negotiations, so as not to cause casualties among innocent civilians.

This is not counting, the Yue army on Deshi Road, Jinpu Road, and Pinghan Road all sent puppet cavalry signal soldiers, flashlights, holding a horn, and shouting everywhere: "The Imperial Army is willing to negotiate with the Eighth Route Army, talk about the disposal of the remains of the Imperial Army, talk about the defense areas of the two armies, talk about the bombing of the air force, anything can be discussed, and ask the Eighth Route Army to send representatives to participate in the negotiations." ”

Lieutenant General Michitaro Komatsubara, commander of the 23rd Division and commander of the encirclement and suppression of Jizhong, wrote a handwritten letter on the orders of General Shouichi Terauchi, asked the interpreter to translate it into Chinese, and sent a puppet army to accompany the interpreter to the home of a squire in Xinji, asking him to deliver the letter to the cadres of the Eighth Route Army or the guerrillas, preferably to General Liu Yimin overnight.

In order to let the squire understand the important surname of this letter, the devil translator gave the squire a glance at the content of the letter according to the request of Lieutenant General Michitaro Komatsubara: In order to show good faith, the imperial army decided to suspend the bombing of the southern Hebei region from tomorrow.

The letter was quickly transferred to Cai Zhong and Zeng Zhongsheng, who were waiting in hiding south of the Deshi line. When the two opened the letter, they saw that Lieutenant General Michitaro Komatsubara wrote in the letter: "Your Excellency, General Liu Yimin, Instructor and Division Commander of the Eighth Route Army: I am on the order of General Terauchi Shouichi, commander of the North China Front Army, to inform Your Excellency: 1. The news broadcast by your unit on the radio station this evening has been received by the North China Front. 2. The North China Front agreed to negotiate with your unit on the issue of collecting corpses. Major General Kita Seiichi has been sent to southern Hebei with the required golden tickets to negotiate with your army. On behalf of Commander Toshiichi Terauchi, Major General Kita Seiichi can have in-depth exchanges with Major General Kita Seiichi on issues of mutual interest. 3. In order to show the sincerity of the negotiations with your troops, the Imperial Army will not take any military action against the southern Hebei region for the time being, and will unilaterally stop the bombing of southern Hebei from tomorrow onwards, and is willing to give some medicine to treat the wounded of your army who were injured in the air raids. 4. Your army shall temporarily cease its attacks on the Imperial Army, and all disputes between the two sides may be settled through negotiations. If negotiations fail, the war resumes. It is believed that the negotiations can resolve the dispute between the two sides, and at least maintain peace in the southern Hebei region for a period of time. 5. The Great Empire has selected three noble-born, well-educated ladies and three young girls of the Korean nationality to come to southern Hebei with Major General Kita Seichi to take part in the care of the wounded, and to do any other work that your Excellency deems necessary for them. The above article by article, the Great Emperor Army will strictly abide by the implementation, please General restrain your troops, do not wantonly attack the Imperial Army, and all issues will be resolved during negotiations.

Lieutenant General of the Imperial Army, Commander of the 23rd Division, Michitaro Komatsubara"

After reading the letter, Cai Zhong and Zeng Zhongsheng briefly discussed, and then sent the content of the letter by telegram to Liu Yimin, who was near Dexian County.

(To be continued)