Nanjing, the headquarters of the Central China Front of the Japanese Army.

Completely different from the warm and festive atmosphere in the headquarters of the newly formed Sixth Army, the entire Japanese army headquarters was completely gloomy, and many Japanese officers had a straight face, as if their father and mother had died.

Not long ago, Okamura Ninji received a telegram that his convoy of transports from Shanghai, loaded with ammunition, weapons and equipment, clothing and medicines, had been sunk in the Yangtze River section of Zhangjiagang.

Such bad news made Okamura Ningji almost vomit blood in anger, and the rest of the devil officers were also hit hard.

"Your Excellency Commander-in-Chief, I didn't expect that the new 6th Army would build a Jiangfang fortress in the Zhangjiagang section, and our transportation and supplies would become more and more troublesome." The chief of staff of the devil said worriedly.

Okamura Ningji frowned, and he was also thinking about this matter in his heart, if the Yangtze River water transportation was lost, the supplies of the Central China Front could only be transported through North China or South China, in this way, if he didn't talk about it, he would definitely be ridiculed by the North China Front and the South China Front, and Okamura Ningji felt that he couldn't afford to lose this person.

"Baga, this abominable new 6th Army." Okamura Ninji thought fiercely in his heart.

"Your Excellency Commander-in-Chief, we must open our transportation routes, and I propose to destroy this Jiangfang fortress of the new 6th Army immediately."

"Destroy, how to destroy it?" Okamura Ninji looked at the chief of staff of the devil.

Seeing Okamura Ninji looking at him, the chief of staff of the devil groaned and said, "Your Excellency the commander-in-chief, we can ask the navy to come forward and send the main warships of the Chinese fleet. Use the huge cannons on the warship to destroy this river defense fortress of the new 6th Army. ”

Hearing this, Okamura Ninji thought about it, and then shook his head and vetoed it.

The Chinese fleet of small Japan was repeatedly attacked by the newly formed 6th Army. Completely defeated by the new 6th Army, Okamura Ninji was worried that if he sent warships into the Yangtze River waterway again, what would happen if he was bombed by the new 6th Army.

Seeing Okamura Ninji's veto, the chief of staff of the devil had another plan, and suggested again: "Your Excellency the commander-in-chief, or we will send a bomber group." Blow up this river defense fortress. ”

Hearing this, Okamura Ninji shook his head again, although he didn't know the scale of this Jiangfang fortress. However, the general fortress had strong bunkers, and even bomber groups were generally difficult to blow up, in addition. Little Japan did not have many bombers in East China. Difficult to cope with bombing missions.

Seeing Okamura Ninji shaking his head again, the chief of staff of the devil couldn't help but be discouraged, his head hung down, and there was no better way to do it.

Okamura Ninji ignored the chief of staff of the devil, frowned, thought alone, walked around in front of the chief of staff of the devil, and even walked to the map to look at it for a long time.

sighed. Okamura Ninji said slowly: "It seems that we can only take the initiative to attack and concentrate superior forces." Open up our access to Shanghai. ”

Hearing this, the chief of staff of the devil was shocked and said in disbelief: "Your Excellency the commander-in-chief, do we really want to take the initiative to attack?" ”

Okamura Ninji calmed his face, nodded, and then said slowly: "Formulate an operational plan, take the initiative to attack the new 6th Army, capture Wuxi and Suzhou, and open up our transportation arteries to Shanghai." ”

"Hey!"

The chief of staff of the devil replied loudly, and suddenly he seemed very excited. Little Japan had long wanted to take the initiative to attack the new 6th Army, and had been preparing for two or three months, concentrating a large number of troops, and even more troops had gathered in Shanghai, Changzhou, and other cities that were relatively close to the new 6th Army.

****

Hangzhou, the headquarters of the new 6th Army.

Ye Feng was discussing the development of the troops in Xuzhou with Chief of Staff Guo Weiquan and others when a correspondent walked in briskly, holding a telegram in his hand.

"Military seat, Nanjing Secret Telegram!"

Ye Feng took the telegram and looked at it, his face showed a smile, and he said to Guo Weiquan and Chu Tianyuan next to him: "Okamura Ningji, this old devil, finally can't hold it anymore, and is ready to take the initiative to attack us on a large scale. ”

Hearing this, Chief of Staff Guo Weiquan smiled and said, "Military seat, we are now stuck in Okamura Ningji's neck, it seems that this old devil is in a hurry." ”

Deputy Army Commander Chu Tianyuan also smiled and said, "This is also normal, Okamura Ningji's supply channel was cut off by us, he must be anxious." ”

Ye Feng looked at everyone with a relaxed face, and then Ye Feng also smiled and said: "Since Okamura Ningji wants to take the initiative to attack us, we will turn the passive into the active this time, and we will attack first before Okamura Ningji makes a move." ”

Seeing that Ye Feng was preparing to take the initiative to attack, Chief of Staff Guo Weiquan became interested, "Junzao, how are you going to fight this battle, you give the order, we will definitely fight beautifully." ”

"Commander, give the order!"

Everyone looked at Ye Feng with a fiery face, the new 6th Army had been silent for several months, and it needed another vigorous battle.

Since the liberation of Suzhou, Wuxi, and Zhangjiagang, the newly formed Sixth Army has developed a large number of its own industries, carried out large-scale construction, built industrial parks, built a large number of factories, built railways, highways, and so on, and the development of the entire area under its jurisdiction has changed day by day.

If Okamura Ningji is not in a hurry to take the initiative to attack him, Ye Feng is ready to develop well for a few more months, and then establish a batch of factories, and even some military factories Ye Feng is also ready to expand again.

This time, since Okamura Ninji is ready to take the initiative to attack himself, that battle is inevitable, and it is better to take the initiative to attack than to passively respond.

Seeing that everyone was looking at him hotly, Ye Feng immediately turned straight and gave an order, starting tomorrow to take the initiative to attack Shanghai and start a large-scale bombardment of the Japanese army in Shanghai.

Shanghai has been falling for too long, and it also needs to be recovered, with the growing strength of the new 6th Army, Ye Feng has been sure to recover Shanghai, and in addition, with the development of the navy, Ye Feng needs a harbor city again.

If Shanghai is recovered, the new 6th Army will be able to establish a military port in Shanghai, build a shipyard, and develop its own navy.

Since you want to fight, then recover Shanghai in one fell swoop and give Okamura Ningji a ruthless blow. After giving the order, Ye Feng's face was resolute

Early the next morning, the two major airports of Ningbo and Hangzhou, and even the navy's Zhoushan airfield, began to frequently launch and land bombers to carry out air strikes on the Japanese troops in the Shanghai area.

This was a large-scale battle, and there was nothing to hide from the intentions of the two sides, and at the beginning of the large-scale bombing of Shanghai by the new 6th Army, Okamura Ninji naturally vaguely guessed that the new 6th Army was ready to attack Shanghai, and the focus of both sides was suddenly focused on Shanghai.

In Shanghai, the Japanese army gathered heavy troops, the 16th Division of the A Division, the 31st Division of the newly formed B Division, the 45th Division, in addition to the 3rd Brigade of the Independent Mixed Brigade, the Small Japanese Army Air Force, the Shanghai Garrison of Little Japan, and tens of thousands of puppet troops, and the number of Japanese puppet troops in the entire Shanghai area was nearly 200,000.

With so many heavy troops, Okamura Ninji saw that the new 6th Army was preparing to attack Shanghai, and at the same time ordered the Japanese puppet army in the west to assemble in Changzhou, Zhenjiang and other places not far from Wuxi and Suzhou, and prepared to flank the new 6th Army with the Japanese puppet army in Shanghai in the east.

This is a big battle, and the strength of the two sides will soon be laid out on the surface, and there will be a hard-to-head contest in the future

Today is the third day that the new Sixth Army has begun its large-scale bombardment of the Japanese puppet army in Shanghai, and during these three days of bombing, a large number of ground troops of the new Sixth Army have also begun to assemble, and they have put on a posture of large-scale offensive in the western suburbs of Shanghai.

The Central China Front of the Japanese Army also regarded the western suburbs of Shanghai as a key battlefield, gathered a large number of troops, and deployed a large number of air defense weapons; at the same time, the Japanese puppet army in Changzhou and Zhenjiang was also gathered, and there was a great tendency to attack Wuxi and Suzhou on a large scale.

In the East China Sea, the main force of the small Japanese Chinese fleet, under the leadership of Vice Admiral Shigetaro, commander of the fleet, and more than 20 warships, large and small, were heading in the direction of Luhai.

Soon after Shigetaro Shimada took office, he was in high spirits and actually personally led a team over, apparently to support the upcoming large-scale battle of Shanghai, leading 1 heavy cruiser, 1 light cruiser, 3 destroyers, 2 coastal defense ships, 13 gunboats, and some auxiliary ships, and came towards the Shanghai area.

Although there were no aircraft carriers and no battleships, Shigetaro Shimada still seemed content. Probably considering that sooner or later there would be a war with the United States, coupled with the outbreak of war in Southeast Asia, the Chinese fleet of the small Japanese Navy was no longer integrated into aircraft carriers and battleships.

A large number of large warships of the small Japanese Navy, especially aircraft carriers, battleships, light and heavy cruisers, etc., were incorporated into the Southern Fleet, or the rest of the major fleets operating in the Pacific.

On the vast sea, the fleet of small Japan was sailing, and in the sky, a reconnaissance plane circled and then gradually left.

"Yaga! Reconnaissance aircraft of the Chinese army. A devil Shaozo put down his binoculars and shouted angrily.

On the heavy cruiser "Kako," Shigetaro Shimada had also been reported that there was a Chinese reconnaissance plane that had reconnoiter over his head and then calmly left, and Shigetaro Shirataro was also full of displeasure in his heart.

"Yaga, order to strengthen air defense."

Many of these warships of small Japan have been refitted and greatly strengthened their anti-aircraft firepower, probably in consideration of the powerful bomber group of the new 6th Army, many of these warships are equipped with a large number of anti-aircraft machine guns of various types and a large number of anti-aircraft machine guns.

This reconnaissance plane was far away, and little Japan did not know the way, and it was only a few dozen nautical miles away from itself, and a large fleet was always heading towards it.

This is an aircraft carrier formation composed of one aircraft carrier, six destroyers, three frigates, three small gunboats, etc., on the huge aircraft carrier, one plane after another is neatly arranged, this fleet is sailing over with the wind and waves.

****

Today's three watches, the second one will be sent. (To be continued......)