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Chapter 1237 Death in Patience

The atmosphere was extremely tense in the headquarters of the Tianjin Garrison Army, and more than 20 generals and senior officials, including Senior General Ueda Kenkichi, commander of the Kwantung Army, who was appointed commander of the garrison army, Lieutenant General Hideki Tojo, chief of staff, Major General Hashimoto Qun, chief of staff of the garrison army, and Shigeru Kawagoe, ambassador who had just arrived in Tianjin from Nanjing, sat down neatly and listened to the military intelligence report of Matsui Taikuro, director of the Peiping secret service. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Hideki Tojo, who once fell into the ranks of the Army Non-commissioned Officer School, was recommended by his childhood friend Harem Jun, who was the director of the Personnel Bureau of the Ministry of the Army, to be the commander of the military police of the Kwantung Army and awarded the rank of major general in September 35. After the "226" mutiny last year, as the backbone of the "control faction" in the Kwantung Army, Hideki Tojo, with his "achievements" in the anti-Japanese armed forces in Manchuria and the restoration of "public order in Manchuria", as well as his loyal performance in supporting the emperor and bloodily purging the "imperial faction" in the "226" incident, won him the support and appreciation of the Central Committee of the Military Department, and was promoted from major general to lieutenant general.

Fifty-five-year-old Lieutenant General Seiji Kazuki, with a cold expression, closed lips, a pair of eyes without any sense of color looking directly at the void in front of him, a bulging nose, towering cheekbones, and a pair of wide provocative ears, coupled with a shaved bald head and a handful of human mustache on the upper lip, the whole image looks grim and resolute, not angry but mighty.

Kazuki Kiyoji did not listen carefully to the stiff voice of the reporter Matsui Taikuro, and Matsui introduced the battle of Lugou Bridge and Wanping Castle and the intermittent exchange of fire between the two sides for several days, and Kazuki Kiyoji was already familiar with it. At this moment, what Kiyoji Kazuki thought about the most was the former commander who was sent back to the Japanese military hospital in Tianjin for rescue, Lieutenant General Wanichiro Tashiro. Wanichiro Tashiro, who was only five days older than Kiyoji Kazuki, was already dying, and with a serious heart attack and suddenly contracted anthrax that was difficult to treat, Wanichiro Tashiro, who was admitted to Tianjin Hospital, was already confused and dying. This is the same class of the Army University as the prominent generals of the Japanese army, Okamura Ninji, Tada Jun and others, who once served as the chief of staff of the Chinese Dispatch Army in the Shanghai War in 32 years, and then made many meritorious achievements in North China and deliberately provoked the Lugou Bridge Incident.

It is a pity that Tashiro Wanichiro has been stationed in China as the commander of the military police of the Kwantung Army and the head of the China Section of the Japanese General Staff Headquarters during the period from the Shanghai War in 32 to the commander of the garrison army. The only general who knows the armies of North China very well, especially the Anjia Army. I have to say that the fall of Tashiro Wanichiro has become the biggest loss for the garrison army and even the big *** empire.

After Matsui Taikuro finished speaking, he bowed and sat down, and Kiyoji Kazuki nodded slightly to everyone, but did not mean to express any opinions. Seeing this, Chief of Staff Hashimoto Group immediately stood up, politely said a few opening remarks, and then presided over the meeting to discuss the next topic, Tianjin, Beiping, Tongzhou and other places of the secret service and operational staff generals, began a tense statement and debate, while Kazuki Kiyoji seemed to listen quietly, but his mind was thinking about the various relationships that had nothing to do with the topic of the meeting, as well as the various possibilities that were about to occur under the current situation in North China, until the intense and serious discussion at the meeting reached the result, and the final statement on the original battle plan was completed, Kiyoji Kazuki gave the order to dismiss the meeting in a reserved manner, and did not give Shigeru Kawagoe, the ambassador to China, who had actively rushed to advocate the continuation of peace talks with the Chinese side, a chance to speak.

The group of civil and military officers left quickly, and only the commander of the Eastern Army, Kenkichi Ueda, the chief of staff, Hideki Tojo, and the chief of staff of Kiyoshi Kazuki, Hashimoto Group, remained.

Hideki Tojo and Hashimoto glanced at each other, came to the side of Kiyoji Kazuki, who was sitting motionless on a chair, and respectfully reported: "General, the 20th Division led by Kawagishi-kun has landed in Dagu Port, and the 77th Wing of the vanguard force is heading to Beishuangmiao, a strategic town thirteen kilometers northwest of Wuqing County, to squeeze out a brigade of the provisional 3rd Division deployed there by Song Zheyuan's department, occupy its defense area and barracks, and strictly guard against the 17th Division of the 17th Army of the Chinese Army, which has seized Langfang and is constantly building fortifications; Gu Shoujun's Sixth Division had already arrived at Bohai Haikou by boat, and it would arrive within three days, and Gu Jijun's 10th Division had also boarded the ship in China. In addition, the Fifth Division and the newly formed 109th Division, which originally belonged to our Kwantung Army, are still stationed in the area from Shanhaiguan to Qinhuangdao to closely monitor all units of Song Zheyuan's 29th Army. From today, these units will be transferred to the command of the General. ”

"Thank you, Tojo-kun!"

Kiyoji Kazuki stood up, bowed politely, and moved half a step sideways, facing Kenkichi Ueda with a smile:

"Ueda-kun, you've worked so hard! Thank you very much for the strong support given to me by the heroic Kwantung Army! May I ask the general, what is the addition to the battle plan adopted at the meeting just now? ”

Ueda Kenkichi pressed his hands weakly and motioned for everyone to sit down: "Xiangyue-kun is welcome, everything we are doing now is for the emperor and for the bright future of our great *** empire!" As for the supplement mentioned by Xiang Yuejun, I think the plan is already very perfect, and the only thing that needs to be suggested is that judging from the current distribution of forces between the enemy and us in North China, it is the safest choice to wait for the other two divisions to arrive and enter the battlefield.

"According to the repeated deductions of the headquarters of our Kwantung Army, with the current strength in the Pingjin region, it is difficult to launch a full-scale attack on the Chinese army, and this is also the reason why our military and political circles stationed in North China continue to negotiate to gain time, and the most important scruple is that the 17th Army, the main force of the Central Hebei and Southern Hebei regions, has been stationed in the central and southern Hebei regions for a long time, and the number of officers and men is as high as 72,000 people, and this number does not include the 15 new regiments that are still training in Baoding and Shijiazhuang. The specific situation must have been seen by Xiang Yuejun from the intelligence compilation report. ”

"Well, I have a basic understanding of this situation, and since the military and political circles have made arrangements, I will definitely respect this decision."

Kiyoji Kazuki said politely, and his attitude towards it was not clear in his eyes.

Ueda Kenkichi was a little unimpressed by Kazuki Kiyoji's reserve, but he still nodded very politely, and still reminded Kazuki Kiyoji very patiently and tactfully:

"Xiangyuejun, you have been stationed in China for a long time before, it is estimated that you don't know much about the 17th Army of the Chinese Army, this opponent is advanced and well-trained, in the Songhu War and the North China War a few years ago, you have fought with our army many times, and the combat power is on a par with our army, which is very tricky, plus the two divisions of the original Northeast Army Wan Fulin Division and the three divisions of the former Northwest Army Pang Bingxun Division, the enemy's existing total strength has reached 130,000 people, which should not be underestimated! Therefore, we were not sure that the First World War would be settled in North China until our support forces arrived and were assembled.

"In addition, because the Chinese government in Nanking has signed a currency agreement with the United States, it has received strong support from Britain and the United States, and they have secretly negotiated a non-aggression pact with Russia, and more than 200,000 Russian Far East troops have been stationed on the border between Manchuria and Russia for a long time, and recently there have been frequent conflicts with our Kwantung Army on the issue of border demarcation and the ownership of islands. This makes it impossible for our Kwantung Army to give further support to the North China battlefield, and I ask for your forgiveness for this.

"However, I can guarantee that the two divisions of the Kwantung Army stationed in western Manchuria will quickly attack the Chinese army stationed on the line from Suidong to northern Jin when the decisive battle in the North China Battlefield begins, and at the same time lead the Manchurian and Mongol coalition forces to storm westward to support the North China Battlefield as much as possible."

Kazuki Kiyoji raised his eyebrows, stood up with gratitude, and bowed ninety degrees: "Thank you Ueda-kun for your strong care, our garrison army will definitely seize the opportunity to destroy the enemy as quickly as possible, and strive to complete the glorious mission of occupying North China in the shortest possible time according to the original battle plan!" ”

"Xiangyuejun does not need to be polite, it is estimated that after this battle, Xiangyuejun will have full jurisdiction over North China and pose an effective threat to Shandong, Henan and Shanxi, and our Kwantung Army will also step up efforts on the battlefield on the northern front, and strive to complete the second phase of the plan to capture Shanxi as soon as possible. Domestic and Manchurian industries are now in great need of Shanxi's high-quality coking coal, as long as North China and Shanxi are occupied, the holy war of our great *** empire will be half successful. After Ueda Kenkichi finished speaking, he also stood up and bowed in return.

Hideki Tojo wanted to say something, but seeing that the two bosses and Hashimoto were in a happy mood and looked full of confidence, it was not good to put forward a disappointing suggestion at this time, but when saying goodbye to each other, Tojo Hideki still took Hashimoto's hand and reminded in a low voice:

"Hashimoto-kun, the twentieth division was formed in Yongsan, North Korea, for a long time, it has been smooth sailing, has not encountered any trouble, arrogant habits, plus during the period of stationing in North Korea, there have been many collective *** Korean things, although the impact is very bad, but it was forcibly suppressed by the military department on the grounds of maintaining the honor of the imperial army, and developed an arrogant and reckless style, I am worried that they will have the idea of underestimating the enemy up and down, so please Hashimoto-kun to restrain more.

"At present, the enemy and our troops on the front line of Pingjin are intertwined, especially the 29th Army Song Zheyuan's headquarters, and many of their defense areas and barracks are far away from our army, so in the process of passing through and stationing Song Zheyuan's troops and the defense areas of various local troops in North China, we should try not to cause too big incidents, so as to prevent Song Zheyuan's troops, who are looking ahead and looking backward and negotiating with us, from making a reckless move, and then triggering a war in advance. As long as the three divisions that were approaching arrived, there would be no more concerns. ”

"Tojo-kun, please rest assured, I will call General Kawagishi again later to reiterate the orders of my headquarters, and I believe that the officers and men of the 20th Division will strictly abide by them." Hashimoto bowed deeply in thanks.

Hideki Tojo's mouth moved, but in the end he didn't say anything more, waved goodbye slightly, quickly got into the car, and rushed to the airport with Kenkichi Ueda to return to the Mukden headquarters.

Now Hideki Tojo already has a certain prestige in the military and political circles, so the Hashimoto group adopted Tojo's suggestion without the slightest resistance, and soon sent a telegram to Kawagishi Fumizaburo, the commander of the 20th Division who had just landed in Dagu, to reiterate the order of the garrison army headquarters.

However, this exhortatory order did not attract the attention that Kawagishi Bunzaburo, who was calm on the outside but rough on the inside, and the officers and men of the 20th Division, like Kawagishi Bunzaburo, were filled with surging passion for making meritorious contributions and establishing prestige.

At 6:30 p.m. on the evening of 16 July, the 1st Wing of the Garrison Army suddenly approached the Nanyuan Airport in Beiping, and the officers and men of the 111th Brigade of the 37th Division of the Chinese defenders, who were highly vigilant, immediately put on an offensive posture at the expense of a battle, forcing the Japanese army, which failed to make a sneak attack, to return again in vain.

Almost at the same moment, more than 1,400 officers and men of the 77th Wing, the vanguard unit of the 20th Division of the Japanese Army, drove proudly to Beishuangmiao Town, 13 kilometers northwest of Wuqing County, and suddenly set up machine guns and artillery aimed at more than 4,000 officers and men of the 1st Brigade of the 3rd Division of the 29th Army stationed in the town, and completed the encirclement of the garrison barracks and brigade headquarters in the town as quickly as possible.

The officers and men of the 1st Brigade of the 3rd Division were taken aback, unable to believe that the Japanese army would suddenly attack them at the moment when negotiations were being held and the Japanese army had promised an armistice.

On the one hand, the officer on duty urgently ordered the soldiers under his command to run into the brigade headquarters to report, and on the other hand, he fearlessly met the large number of Japanese troops who poured into the barracks, strode up to a Japanese soldier, and warned the Japanese troops to leave immediately.

However, the answer to the star officer was the hideous smile and lightning knife of the Japanese soldier Shaozuo, and the young star officer almost had time to dodge, his head and shoulders were cut off by the sharp long knife, and the flying blood flew straight into the sky in a loud exclamation.

"Kill and give—"

The Japanese soldier Shaozuo, who was holding a knife in both hands and his face covered with blood, shouted wildly, and the prepared Japanese army immediately launched a *** like a beast.

The Third Provisional Division was originally dominated by recruits who had not received much training, and under the merciless slaughter of the wolf-like Japanese invaders, their souls were scattered, and the whole camp suddenly burst into blood, wailing and shaking the sky, gunshots, screams, and roars one after another, shaking the four fields, and countless Chinese defenders threw down their weapons and ran wildly like headless flies, and the cruel laughter of exhaustion was extremely terrifying in the desperate wail......