General Terauchi Shouichi could never have imagined that Liu Yimin, who vowed to fight a decisive battle with the main force of the Yue army around Tianjin, would use the golden cicada to get out of the shell, pretending that the army would get out of the siege at night.

At 8 o'clock in the evening, Lieutenant General Isogu Liansuke received a report from the cavalry wing that it had arrived at the outskirts of Tianjin, and from the reconnaissance situation, there were no defenders in Tianjin. What should I do?

Lieutenant General Isogu Liansuke, who had seen the battle of Cangxian, was worried that his instructor would repeat his old tricks in Tianjin and eat his cavalry wing again, so he strictly ordered the cavalry wing to build fortifications on the spot, monitor Tianjin City, and wait for the main force of the division to arrive.

At half past eight o'clock in the evening, the vanguard of the 1st Division of the Kwantung Army's southward corps also arrived outside Tianjin. Lieutenant General Kyosuke Kawamura, who had suffered so much in Langfang, also ordered the troops not to enter the city and wait for the arrival of the main force.

When the main forces of the 10th and 1st Divisions arrived, it was already 10 o'clock in the evening. The two forces made contact, and their courage grew. As soon as the two lieutenant generals Ryosuke Isoko and Kyosuke Kawamura discussed, they built a tight defensive line outside the city and sent search troops with sappers into the city to search.

At half past eleven o'clock in the evening, the situation finally became clear, and there was not a single Chinese soldier in the city of Tianjin! The search team also brought back some expatriates and friends of the imperial army who welcomed the imperial army to regain Tianjin under a white flag, and according to them, the instructor had been in the city and did not know when he had quietly slipped away. As for where the instructor's troops went, none of these people could say clearly.

Ryosuke Isoko and Kyosuke Kawamura were not polite at this time, and immediately ordered the troops to enter the city by separate routes and control the Tianjin Railway Station, the airport, Haiguang Temple and other key points.

When the army entered the city in a big way, Tianjin was immediately filled with the roar of tanks, armored vehicles, and automobile motors, gunfire, and the neighing of men and horses, and the little devils finally occupied Tianjin again.

After Lieutenant General Ryosuke Isoko and Lieutenant General Kyosuke Kawamura entered the city, they went directly to the Haikoji Barracks. On the wall of the headquarters, I saw a cartoon on the screen, in which Liu Yimin, who was wearing the uniform of the Eighth Route Army, puffed on a cigarette and looked at Ryosuke Isoko and Kyosuke Kawamura with a smile, and there was a line of words on it: "Little devil, it's too late again!" ”

Ryosuke Isoko and Kyosuke Kawamura looked at each other and smiled bitterly, sighed, found a chair and sat down, and then ordered to report the good news of the recovery of Tianjin to General Terauchi Shouichi.

General Terauchi Shouichi was shocked when he received the report, he couldn't have imagined that he had worked hard to mobilize hundreds of thousands of troops, and he was bent on encircling and annihilating the instructor under the city of Tianjin, but he actually let the instructor escape.

Terauchi Shouichi was so angry that he tore off the buttons on his military uniform and ran to the outside of the headquarters war room, letting the cold wind blow hard.

After calming down for a while, General Terauchi Shouichi returned to the war room and said coldly to Lieutenant General Okabe Naosaburo: "I didn't expect this Liu Yimin to say everything, it turned out that he was also a guy without guts, and when he saw the army besieging the city, he abandoned the city without firing a shot." The top priority is to find out where Liu Yimin and his mentor have gone. In the evening, Liu Yimin was still in Tianjin, and even if he ran, he couldn't run far. The 10th and 1st Divisions were immediately ordered to go out of the city to carry out a multi-channel search, and the 108th, 8th, and 25th Divisions were deployed on the spot to establish a blockade line in the west, south, and northwest of Tianjin, and the 21st, 22nd, 23rd, and 24th Divisions to establish a blockade line in the east and northeast of Tianjin. The 6th and 16th Divisions and the Guoqi Detachment were ordered to act quickly to establish a second blockade line in western Tianjin from Cangxian to Langfang, and all units in Beipingtong County and the Kwantung Army defending Shanhaiguan to establish a second blockade line in northern Tianjin. Even if you cast a net to catch fish, you have to catch Liu Yimin and his mentor for me. ”

After Okabe Naosaburo gave the order, he turned to General Terauchi Shouichi and said: "Your Excellency Commander, this night is the best cover for Liu Yimin and the instructor, if they want to run, it will be difficult for us to find out whether they are ordering the Combined Fleet and the Kwantung Army Aviation to prepare and dispatch on a large scale as soon as dawn to conduct reconnaissance throughout the North China Plain to see if we can find out the traces of this army." ”

Shouichi Terauchi looked at Naosaburo Okabe, feeling that such a smart chief of staff had such a brain in the water today, Liu Yimin is not an immortal, how far can he run? So, General Terauchi Shouichi said: "Okabe-kun, it's right to let the plane go out at dawn, but the focus of the investigation should still be between eastern Hebei and Pingjin, and I judge that Liu Yimin and his instructor must be hiding somewhere here." ”

Lieutenant General Okabe Naosaburo was a little unconvinced, so he said: "Your Excellency Commander, could it be that Liu Yimin has wanted to run away a long time ago, maybe his main force has already left, but he himself stayed in Tianjin to attract our attention, so that we can transfer troops and send generals, and we are tired of running for our lives." Maybe he'll set us another fire somewhere tomorrow! ”

Terauchi Shouichi was startled, hurriedly climbed to the map and looked at it carefully, and hurriedly asked Okabe Naosaburo to send a telegram to the defenders in various places to inquire about the enemy's situation.

As soon as Okabe Naosaburo sent a telegram, there was no major change in the enemy situation in Taiyuan, Shandong, Shijiazhuang, and Baoding. Even the commander of the Kwantung Army, Kenkichi Ueda, contacted him and said that no major enemy situation had been found.

At this time, General Terauchi Shouichi strengthened his confidence and quietly urged all troops to quickly establish a blockade line and prepare to pull the net after dawn. Then he reported to the base camp that Tianjin had been recovered, the defenders of China abandoned the city and fled, and the imperial army was diverging to intercept and pursue.

After sending the telegram, General Terauchi Shouichi touched his eight characters and said to Lieutenant General Okabe Naosaburo with a smile: "Now that the net of the imperial army has been opened, Liu Yimin and his instructor are the fish that have entered the net, this is the North China Plain, there is no unfavorable terrain barrier, and the imperial army can be quickly deployed." This time, Liu Yimin and his instructor couldn't escape no matter what. The harder he struggled, the tighter the net became, and soon he would be fished out of the water. Okabe-kun, you stay in Beiping, and I will go to Tianjin, where I will hold a press conference to announce to the world the good news that the North China Front has recovered Tianjin. ”

Lieutenant General Okabe Naosaburo felt that Admiral Terauchi's mood had changed too quickly, and when he first heard that Tianjin was an empty city, he was so angry that he wanted to kill someone, and as soon as the blockade line was deployed, he became extremely excited again. The emotional contrast between the front and back is huge, just like a child. Lieutenant General Naosaburo Okabe couldn't help but slander in his heart, and the famous generals are nothing more than this, happy for a while and crying for a while, there is not too much mystery. However, Lieutenant General Okabe Naosaburo was still happy in his heart, and General Terauchi Shouichi left Beiping for a few days, and he could be free for a few days, and he would also be addicted to saying the same.

After Liu Yimin led the guard regiment to leave Tianjin, because the southward corps of the Kwantung Army and the 10th Division and the 10th and 8th Divisions under the command of Nishio Shouzao had suffered losses in Langfang and Cangxian, they were afraid of another blow, so they acted relatively cautiously and did not pull up the blockade in time, so Liu Yimin and the others galloped all the way, successfully crossed the Duliu Alkali River, and arrived at Duliu Town.

In Duliu Town, Liu Yimin ordered the troops to rest for a while, let the soldiers eat dry food, and the war horses rested a little, and then galloped along the northwest of Cangxian County and inserted it into Baxian.

By the time the Sixth Division and the Sixteenth Division marched north from Cangxian County to establish a blockade line between Cangxian and Langfang, Liu Yimin and his instructor had already gone out of the net to join Hu Laohu's cavalry brigade.

At dawn, the planes of the Yue army began to sort, searching and reconnoitring between eastern Hebei and Pingjin, trying to find the main force of the instructor.

At this time, the large army was already in place and began to sweep and sweep in a vast area from Pingjin to eastern Hebei.

At 12 noon, General Terauchi Shouichi arrived in Tianjin by car.

After arriving in Tianjin, General Terauchi Shouichi did not rest, and directly held a press conference. General Terauchi Shouichi solemnly announced that the imperial army had recovered Tianjin, and asked the people of Tianjin to cooperate with the imperial army to quickly restore law and order in Tianjin.

In response to a reporter's question about whether the main force of the Eighth Route Army Instructor had been eliminated, General Terauchi Shouichi swore that although the despicable and timid Liu Yimin led his troops to flee Tianjin temporarily, the main force of the Imperial Army had opened up a net and was waiting for it, and it was believed that this force could be eliminated soon.

After the press conference, General Terauchi inspected the units. This inspection surprised General Terauchi Shouichi, who suffered heavy losses in the 8th Brigade of the 10th Division, almost completely wiped out the 1st Cavalry Wing of the 1st Division, and even the 6th and 16th Divisions.

After inquiring in detail about the reasons for the huge losses of each unit, General Terauchi was speechless. Unexpectedly, the 6th Division and the 16th Division also lost troops on the battlefield of Nanjing, capturing a completely empty city. In particular, the losses of the 10th Division and the 1st Division in Cangxian and Langfang made General Terauchi completely put away his original arrogant mentality. As soon as he thought that a small cavalry could use mines and explosives to surprise the vanguard of the imperial army by destruction, General Terauchi Shouichi thought that if Liu Yimin led his instructor to hold on in Cangxian or Langfang, it would be difficult to predict what would happen. Maybe even if the instructor is eliminated, the imperial army will probably have to pay an unimaginable price. Fortunately, the Sixth Division and the Sixteenth Division came up quickly, and the local reinforcements and combined fleet arrived quickly, so Liu Yimin did not dare to calmly arrange the battlefield here anymore, and devoted all his strength to fighting fiercely with the imperial army. Otherwise, this battle will probably turn into a big war.

After inspecting the troops, in the next few days, Terauchi Shouichi went on to inspect the industry and commerce in Tianjin, Tanggu, and Tangshan. Along the way, General Terauchi Shouichi's heart sank until he couldn't bear it anymore.

Before the base camp of the army had recovered from the joy of recovering Tianjin, it received an urgent telegram from General Shouichi Terauchi. This time, General Terauchi did not ask for reinforcements, but asked the imperial political axe to urgently provide material assistance to North China.

General Terauchi Shouichi said in a telegram: "After several days of inspection, it has been determined that the purpose of the current capture of Tianjin by the instructors of the Shina Sect is not to occupy Tianjin, but to destroy Tianjin's economic foundation. All the banks, factories, and shops of the empire in Tianjin were looted, and all the expatriates of the empire were called Huazi, and they had nothing but the clothes they were wearing. The assets of all Chinese who had befriended the empire and served in various levels of self-government and maintenance were also looted, and their families became refugees. Most of the other Chinese-run enterprises in Tianjin, Tanggu and Tangshan have also been demolished and relocated. Heavy equipment that can't be dismantled, and key components are also destroyed. In the whole city of Tianjin, except for the British, French, and Italian concessions, which were not affected, and all the records institutes were intact and could operate normally, there was no longer a single enterprise that could produce normally. There is also a serious loss of skilled workers, and a considerable number of them have fled. At present, Tianjin has become a pure consumption city, and it is no longer the concept of North China's industrial base in the past. ”

After giving a clear introduction to the situation, Terauchi Shou changed his head and said: "Now every day, reporters come to the headquarters to ask for interviews, and there is only one topic to ask, that is, when will the imperial army restore the normal order of production and life in Tianjin, and ask the Great Emperor to send machinery, equipment and materials to Tianjin, even including grain, coal, medicine, vegetables, cloth, and clothing. The consuls of Britain, France, and Italy also frequently asked for a meeting, calling on the Great Empire to take measures to maintain the prosperity of Tianjin. However, all the materials stored by the North China Front in Tianjin and Tanggu fell into the hands of the enemy, and hundreds of thousands of troops would soon face the embarrassing situation of lack of food and ammunition. If the base camp does not take decisive measures, not to mention that Tianjin will be cut off from food and electricity, it will not be long before the hundreds of thousands of elites of the North China Front Army will become called Huazi troops. ”

After reading Terauchi Shouichi's telegram, Prince Zaihito of the Idle Courtyard and Sugi Sugimoto had no good solution, so they had to invite Prime Minister Konoe to discuss countermeasures.

Prime Minister Konoe took a tough stance, proposing that the empire's resources were all imported, and due to the poor performance of the army in the Shina battlefield, the attitude of various countries towards the empire has also changed, and the prices of many important industrial raw materials are likely to rise, and the empire's economy has shown signs of weakening. The Army should contribute to easing the pressure on the domestic economy, not drag down the imperial economy.

Hearing Prime Minister Konoe say this, Prince Zaihito of the Imperial Palace was a little annoyed, and told Prime Minister Konoe bluntly that the Imperial Army had just captured Nanjing and Hangzhou, and recovered Tianjin and Taiyuan.

Prime Minister Konoe immediately retorted: "The army did occupy Nanjing, but it was an empty Nanjing." The army did recover Taiyuan, but it is said that the city of Taiyuan was so clean that not even a single screw could be found. The army also recovered Tianjin, and looking at the telegram from Count Terauchi Shouichi, it is clear that the Chinese army not only retreated ahead of schedule, but also took away all the supplies of the North China Front. Why does our army do this kind of thing, fight a battle, kill some people, occupy an empty city, and then have to supply and supplies, otherwise they will go hungry. On the surface, it was a victory, but in fact, not a penny was made, and the imperial treasury had to pay for the war dead! ”

Prince Zaihito of the Idle Courtyard Palace was so choked that he couldn't speak, staring at Konoe Bunma fiercely with a pair of dim eyes, how fierce and fierce he looked like that.

Shanshan Moto was happy when he saw Konoe Furuma and Prince Zairen of the Idle Yuan Palace, but he still had to get by on face, so he began to make peace with the mud: "Your Excellency the Prime Minister and Your Excellency the Prince are not arguing, in fact, everyone is for the interests of the empire, and the purpose is the same." It is impossible to ignore the request of this general Shouichi of the temple, the great empire needs an industrial base like Tianjin to support the war, and the North China Front also needs domestic material supplies to maintain combat effectiveness. In my opinion, first, it is necessary to supply another batch of materials to the North China Front Army from China, and it is also necessary to send some industrial equipment and materials to Tianjin. Second, it ordered the North China Front Army to raise grain on the spot in the future, strengthen its control over the localities, and achieve the goal of feeding the war with war. ”

Shanshanyuan said this in order to reconcile the contradictions between the two sides and let everyone step down. Unexpectedly, the arrogant old bastard Prince Zairen of the Imperial Palace did not appreciate it, and directly said that the occupation of China was the basic national policy of the Great Empire, and now that the war had just begun, His Excellency the Prime Minister had such an attitude, insufficient support for the imperial army, and insulted the imperial army. He wanted to appeal to His Majesty the Emperor for impeaching the Konoe Prime Minister for his poor support for the Great East Asian Holy War.

Konoe Bunma thinks very highly of himself, where would he be afraid of the intimidation of Prince Zaihito of the Idle Palace? He ignored Prince Zairen and Shanshan Yuan of the Xianyuan Palace, and walked away.

Prince Zaihito of the Idle Palace couldn't, so he went directly into the palace to meet the emperor and complain.

After Emperor Hirohito received the good news of the reconquest of Tianjin, he was in a state of excitement for several days, and asked Empress Yoshiko to inspect hospitals, schools, and enterprises in Tokyo on his behalf, and encouraged the people to support the Imperial Army's operations on the front line with practical actions.

After listening to the report of Prince Zaihito of the Idle Yuan Palace and reading the telegram of General Terauchi Shouichi, Emperor Hirohito realized that after mobilizing so many troops and spending so much effort, he still let Liu Yimin's instructor escape. Not only escaped, but also made a mess of Tianjin's economic destruction, and dumped Tianjin, which was in urgent need of all kinds of materials, as a burden to the imperial army. This is good, all countries in the world must know that the Great Empire mobilized hundreds of thousands of troops to besiege Tianjin, but as a result, they did not even see the shadow of the Eighth Route Army.

Shame on you, this time it's a big loss! Shouichi Terauchi, an old and useless thing, has suffered losses under the Eighth Route Army again and again, making the Great Empire unable to raise its head in front of all countries in the world, it seems that it needs to be replaced!

As soon as he looked up at Prince Zaihito of the Idle Courtyard Palace, Emperor Hirohito felt that this was also an old and useless thing, and it was better to say than to sing, but it turned out to be the same as Terauchi Shouichi, who was rubbed around in the palm of his hand by Liu Yimin, and he was afraid that he would not be able to complete his dream by relying on them!

The more I thought about it, the more I hated, the more I thought about it, the more annoyed I felt, and the more I thought about it, the more I felt ashamed, and I really wanted to beat Prince Zaihito of the Idle Yuan Palace directly. However, after looking at the gray beard of Prince Zairen of the Idle Courtyard Palace, he finally resisted the impulse. sighed in his heart, and told himself that it was better to let the old thing Shouichi Terauchi work for a little more time, even the Prince Zaihito of the Xianyuan Palace in front of him had to let him continue to do it, no way, after all, they were his loyal henchmen, if they didn't let them do it, then who would do it?

Prince Zaihito of the Imperial Palace, who did not know what Emperor Hirohito was thinking, repeatedly begged the Emperor to inquire about the affairs of Tianjin, and instructed the cabinet to quickly raise the materials urgently needed by the North China Front.

Emperor Hirohito soon convened a council of the Imperial Front, in which he admonished Prime Minister Fumima Konoe and asked him to meet the operational needs of the front-line troops no matter what. As for the funds and equipment needed by Tianjin, Emperor Hirohito made it very clear that Wang Kemin's provisional political axe of the Republic of China would collect more taxes and use the money to buy it for the Empire.

It is not that Fumima Konoe does not support aggression against China, on the contrary, he is one of the main formulators of the aggressive policy and is the notorious culprit of aggression against China. It's just that as the prime minister, he is more eager for the army to plunder a lot of wealth and resources from China, and wants to do business. Hearing the emperor's ruling, Konoe Fumima had nothing to say, but only reminded the emperor that the country's material reserves had been depleted too quickly in the near future.

Emperor Hirohito's gloomy eyes swept over Konoe Fumima, and said coldly, "The war has just begun, and all the people should support the Imperial Army in the fight." Eating less than one meal a day is nothing, and the problem of occupying one less city and one market town in China is serious. Your Excellency the Prime Minister should send people to Tianjin to give concrete guidance on Tianjin's economic recovery work, instead of making a big deal out of it here. If this is said to reach the ears of the front-line soldiers, it will affect the morale of the soldiers. ”

Konoe Furuma saw that the emperor was furious, where did he dare to say more? He immediately knelt on the ground, kowtowed with a bang, and hurriedly promised to immediately allocate supplies to ensure the needs of the military department.

Seeing that Konoe Fumima was still knowledgeable, Emperor Hirohito's eyes were a little more angry, and he turned to blame Prince Zaihito and Sugi Moto, saying that they were ineffective in command and had failed to live up to the trust of the subjects of the Empire. Hundreds of thousands of troops besieged Tianjin, and Liu Yimin and his instructor disappeared without a trace. The base camp must immediately ask Count Terauchi Shouichi how he commanded and why he had not found the whereabouts of that force after a few days of purging.

Prince Zaihito of the Kanin Palace and Sugimoto of the Land Minister, who were secretly proud of the reprimand of Konoe Fumima, listened to His Majesty the Emperor's accusations against the military department, and hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed, and repeatedly reviewed it, saying that the military department had failed His Majesty's grace. After returning home, he must instruct General Terauchi Shouichi to come up with a feasible battle plan, and he must find Liu Yimin and his instructor to completely eliminate him.

Emperor Hirohito sighed faintly and said to several ministers: "I'm afraid that time does not allow it, Matsui Ishine has also begun to send a report for reinforcements, and Chiang Kai-shek's political axe army has become active again." If this continues, the will of the Shina people will become stronger and stronger. You should go down and make a detailed plan, and consider the overall situation politically and militarily, not only to open up the links between Central China and North China as soon as possible, so that the armies of the two fronts can support each other and find opportunities to encircle and annihilate the main force of the Central [***] Force, but also to think of ways to achieve the goal of nourishing the war with war and reduce the pressure on the domestic economy. ”

Prince Zaihito of the Kanin Palace, Prime Minister Fumima Konoe and other ministers all knelt on the ground, and even said that if His Majesty the Emperor bothered, they would make serious plans and never let down the Emperor's love.

Emperor Hirohito waved his hand to get the ministers up, and ordered the Imperial Household Ministry to take out his own collection of famous sake and reward it to several ministers, ending the Imperial Council.

(To be continued)