Xiyang County was conquered by the troops of the New Second Brigade, the regimental headquarters of the Fifth Brigade of the Independent Mixed Brigade was defeated, and the commander of the Lieutenant General Brigade, Qin Yashang, was captured alive.

He had just taken over the post of commander of the First Army, and as the saying goes, his ass was not hot, and Umezu Mijiro also vowed to assemble troops to encircle and annihilate the troops of the New Second Brigade, but now, the headquarters of the Fifth Brigade of the Independent Mixed Brigade was defeated, and Qin Yashang, the commander of the Lieutenant General Brigade, became a prisoner of the Chinese troops.

This news was a bolt from the blue for Umezu Mijiro, and the blow it brought to him was too great.

"Is the news confirmed? The troops of the Fifth Brigade of the Independent Mixed Brigade are equivalent to the troops of the New Second Brigade, and even if the units of the New Second Brigade are strong in combat, it is impossible for them to conquer the county seat of Xiyang County in such a short period of time. Shojiro Iida frowned, he looked at the young staff officer and said.

Regarding the news reported by the staff officer of Shaoza, Iida Shojiro said that he was unwilling to admit anything, which was simply bad news for him.

"Your Excellency Chief of Staff, we have sent a telegram to the Fifth Brigade of the Independent Mixed Formation, but so far we have not received a call back from them. The aviation unit encountered the China Air Force in the sky over Xiyang County, and the aviation lost eight bombers. Staff Officer Shaozo immediately replied.

Hearing this, Shojiro Iida sat down in his chair weakly, and his face turned pale.

"Your Excellency Commander, the 1st Mixed Brigade sent a telegram, the 18th Independent Infantry Brigade sent a farewell message to the 1st Mixed Brigade, and the commander of the Kunomura Momoyo Brigade reported that they were no longer able to get in touch with the headquarters of the 5th Independent Mixed Brigade." A staff officer once again reported the telegram that had just been received from Momoyo Kunomura.

Umezu Mijiro and Iida Shojiro are now almost certain that the headquarters of the Independent Mixed Fifth Brigade has been defeated, and Qin Yashang has either been killed in battle or taken prisoner.

The two men looked at each other, neither of them was talking, and for them, the news was unacceptable.

Once the above held them accountable, they could not afford it, and the two of them frowned tightly, and they began to ponder.

"It seems that the independent mixed Fifth Brigade must have been completely wiped out, and Xiyang County will also fall into the hands of the new Second Brigade, at present, the First Brigade of the Mixed Combat has been stationed in Baijing Town, Pingding County, and the 21st Division has also set off from Yangquan County, Your Excellency Commander, we must take Pingding County, otherwise we have no way to explain, let the 21st Division and the First Brigade of the Mixed Battle capture Pingding County, and wait until the Fourth Cavalry Brigade arrives, we will use the 21st Division, the First Brigade of the Mixed Battle, and the Fourth Cavalry Brigade to carry out an encirclement and annihilation operation against the New Second Brigade."

After pondering for a while, Shojiro Iida looked at the map, and he quickly drew up a battle plan.

The 5th Independent Mixed Brigade was obviously completely annihilated, and there was no need for the 21st Division and the 1st Mixed Brigade to go to Xiyang County.

If they didn't even conquer Pingding County, then the Japanese army would not have gained anything from this operation, and once the Japanese high-level officials knew, it would naturally be unacceptable.

Umezu Mijiro looked at the map, and after hearing Shojiro Iida's message, he nodded directly and agreed.

The telegram immediately began to be sent to the 21st Division and the 1st Brigade of the Mixed Brigade, and the First Army changed its previous operational order, and the mission of the 21st Division and the 1st Mixed Brigade was not to go to Xiyang County to rescue the 5th Brigade of the Mixed Brigade, but their combat mission was to conquer Pingding County.

After the message was sent, Umezu Mijiro and Iida Shojiro glanced at each other, and the expressions on their faces were still not very good.

"Inform the intelligence agencies and let them use dark arrows and stingers to find out the new second brigade's combat plan this time, and how they managed to completely annihilate the independent mixed into the fifth brigade in a short period of time." Umezu Mijiro hesitated for a moment, and then he said in a serious tone.

Beiping, the headquarters of the North China Front.

The previous Battle of Xuzhou ended with the capture of Xuzhou, but for Shouichi Terauchi, his mood was not very good.

The North China Front suffered the least in this battle of Xuzhou, and the casualties suffered by the troops were also very large, although the commander of the First Army, who was not dealing with him, was squeezed away, but Terauchi Shouichi still had great dissatisfaction.

The Second Army was assigned to the Central China Dispatch Army from the battle sequence on the North China side, and the troops of one army were swept away, which made Terauchi Shouichi breathe a sigh of relief.

The Battle of Wuhan, which is the largest since the start of the war between China and Japan, was to be carried out by the Central China Dispatch Army alone.

The Battle of Wuhan was fought by both sides of China and Japan, and millions of troops were invested, and the main forces of the army, air force, and navy of both sides were all assembled at the forefront, which was a decisive battle related to the fate of both China and Japan.

As long as the main force of China is surrounded and annihilated by hundreds of thousands, then the Japanese army will have no opponents in China.

In this way, the decisive battle related to the fate of the two countries was sent by Central China to fight, and the feeling in Terauchi Shouichi's heart can be imagined.

"Your Excellency Commander, there is the latest news on the operation in Xiyang County." Chief of Staff Naosaburo Okabe came to Terauchi Shouichi's office and said.

Shouichi Terauchi looked towards Wuhan on the map, and for Shouichi Terauchi, this would be his biggest regret.

"Okabe-kun, because of the existence of Sun Weiguo's new Second Brigade in North China, our North China Front has become a laughing stock in military circles, and some personnel in the base camp even say that the Central China Dispatch Army is a sharp sword, but we are a knife made of clay. Now, even if the First Army completely annihilates the troops of the New Second Brigade, such a record will not impress us from the base camp. ”

Shouichi Terauchi said weakly, and he glanced back at Naosaburo Okabe.

This time, the First Army's actions against the New Second Brigade Terauchi were clear, an infantry division, a mixed brigade, and a mixed brigade, and these troops would definitely gain something against the troops of the New Second Brigade, and even if they could not completely annihilate the troops of the New Second Brigade, they would rebuild the units of the Second Brigade.

But when Terauchi Shouichi looked back at Naosaburo Okabe, his expression became depressed, and he saw that the expression on Naosaburo Okabe's face was not very good.

"Lost again?" Shouichi Terauchi looked at Naosaburo Okabe and said.

"Your Excellency Commander, according to the information we have so far, all the independent mixed Fifth Brigade has been shattered, and it is very likely that Qin Yashang, the commander of the Lieutenant General Brigade, has been captured alive."

Okabe Naosaburo looked at Shouichi Terauchi and said helplessly.