"For the United States, it is a natural choice to weaken the strength of the imperial navy and army with the help of the power of China." Mayuki Akiyama's gaze gradually became gloomy, "We are in a quagmire. ”

After listening to Akiyama's words, all the people in the room focused their eyes on this strategist.

"The Imperial Axe made a mistake from the very beginning in its policy towards China." Akiyama Shinyuki said, "If you press Shina too hard, it can only have the opposite effect. ”

"At present, the war in Europe is going on, the Western powers do not have the strength to act in the East, and Britain is very dependent on the Empire, and it is the time for the Empire to make great achievements." "Because the Western powers are temporarily powerless to look eastward, it does not mean that they have disappeared from this world. Therefore, in order to get ahead of time, the imperial political axe adopted such a policy towards China,"

"But the problem is that the war that we are now fighting in Tongchina will not end anytime soon." Akiyama Shinyuki shook his head and said.

"Do you doubt the combat capabilities of the Emperor [***]?" Yashiro Rokuro looked at Akiyama Shinyuki in some surprise and asked.

"No, I have always believed that the combat capability of the imperial [***] team is much higher than that of the Chinese army." Akiyama Shinyuki said, "Although this time the Imperial Navy and Army have suffered setbacks of varying degrees, this is only an individual case, and the overall strength of the Imperial [***] team and the Chinese army have not changed much. ”

"Then why do you say that our current war with China will not end soon?" Shimamura asked.

"You may remember the saying that the reason why the Western powers were not able to completely occupy Asia was because the Western powers were too strong, the China was too big, and Siam was too coincidental." Akiyama Shinyuki said, "Although Shina's national strength is weak, it is a huge country after all, and it is impossible to swallow it all in one bite. ”

"Although the strength of the Chinese Army is not as strong as that of the Imperial Army, it is numerous, and their will to resist this time is greater than at any other time in history. The Imperial Army had limited forces on the China mainland, and although the Imperial Navy was much stronger than the China Navy, it was impossible to act at will in the coastal areas of China because of the need to avoid the interference of the great powers, which also meant that it was impossible for the Imperial Army to choose the landing sites in the coastal areas of China at will. ”

Hearing the deep words of Akiyama Shinyuki's voice, the people in the room were silent for a while.

"The 'Twenty-One Articles' proposed by the imperial political axe against China and this war have aroused hatred and fierce resistance among all the people of China, and to some extent have helped the scattered people of China to reunite. In the long run, this is the worst possible outcome for the empire. Akiyama Shinyuki's somewhat hoarse voice echoed in the room, "And now that Shina has the support of the United States, it will not give in to us easily." ”

"What kind of adjustments do you think should be made to the current policy of political axes?"

Although Yashiro Rokuro is Akiyama Shinyuki's boss, he still seems very respectful when he asks Akiyama Shinyuki.

"The Imperial Axe should now consider not how to defeat China completely, but should start defending and consolidating the interests that have already been obtained." "The focus of the empire on the Asian continent was Manchuria and Mongolia. ”

"Shandong should also belong to the empire now." Shimamura said.

"It's not Shandong, it's Qingdao." Akiyama Shinyuki shook his head, his gaze fell back on the steel fragments on the table, "What I'm most worried about now is that the Emperor [***] team can't hold Qingdao. ”

Shimamura looked at this old comrade-in-arms from the past, his eyes were full of shock, and he didn't seem to understand why he thought so.

"No, it won't." "The Imperial Axe has decided to reinforce Qingdao, and the Navy will go all out to support the Army's operations at that time, and will not back down in the slightest because of the previous losses." ”

Listening to Rokuro Yashiro's words, Mayuki Akiyama sighed and didn't speak again.

"I've always wondered when did the Chinese army start to become so strong in combat." Shimamura understood what Mayuki Akiyama was worried about, and turned his gaze to the officials of the intelligence department, "Whether it is the Shina Navy or the Shina Army, their performance on the battlefield gives the impression that it is completely different from before. Even with the support of weapons from the United States, it is impossible for the combat effectiveness to increase so quickly. ”

"There are several relatively good generals in the China Army, such as Cai Yi, Zhang Shaozeng and Zhang Xiaozhun, who once studied in our country, all of whom are commanding the China Army to fight against the Imperial Army." An intelligence officer replied with some embarrassment, "In addition, there are some older generals in the Chinese army, such as Zhang Xun, Cao Kun, Feng Guozhang, etc., who are also relatively capable of fighting. On the battlefield in Shandong, the main threat to us was the army of Zhang Xun and Cao Kun. ”

Hearing the intelligence officer say Zhang Xun's name, many people in the room were stunned.

"Zhang Xun? Is it the one who refuses to cut his braids? Akiyama asked.

"Yes." The intelligence officer replied in the affirmative, "According to the information collected by our people, in the Shandong battlefield, Zhang Xun's Wuwei Front Army was the army with the largest number of participants, and it was supported by a support army in his hometown of Jiangxi, his army had new American-made heavy artillery, and the firepower of the Wuwei Front Army was the strongest among the current Chinese army, which had caused a great threat to the Imperial Army. ”

"Looks like we underestimated this guy with a pig's tail." Shimamura Suo sneered and said.

"Now that this is known, why doesn't the intelligence services carry out operations against surnames?" Suo Shimamura then asked.

At this time, Akiyama Shinyuki frowned and shook his head slightly, he stared at the drawing with the heavy artillery, and fell into deep thought little by little, as if he didn't hear the answers of the intelligence officers.

Shandong, Jiaozhou, Railway Station.

"You're late! Brother Cao! ”

Zhang Xun, who had just returned from the front line and still smelled of gunsmoke, put a crooked large-brimmed military hat on the barrel of the fifty-shot box gun pistol in his hand, and said to Cao Kun, who had just arrived for reinforcements, with some annoyance.

"The railway was blown up by me, and it was finally repaired, and it took a few days to delay the arrival of the locomotive, which is really sorry." Cao Kun said to Zhang Xun a little apologetically, and his eyes couldn't help but be attracted by the large box cannon in Zhang Xun's hand.

"Brother is here to make amends to Brother Zhang."

"Forget it! It's good to come, it's good to come. Zhang Xun patted the ashes on his body and said, "You guys should hurry up and rest for a while!" Maybe it's going to be in the evening. ”

"Where did Brother Yang go?" Cao Kun asked.

"He and Zhang Xiaozhun joined forces to fight Qingdao." Zhang Xun said, "Fu Xiao'an's fifth town has also passed. ”

"They're going to start fighting Qingdao now?" Hearing Zhang Xun's answer, Cao Kun and Wu Peifu, who had not spoken, were all taken aback.

"Of course." Zhang Xun seemed to be very unimpressed by their reaction, "By the way, is the chariot he has been talking about coming?" ”

"Here we are." Wu Peifu pointed to the railway carriage not far behind him, "In order to transport them, it really took a lot of effort." ”

Zhang Xun looked in the direction of Wu Peifu's finger, and saw some shirtless Shandong strong men helping the railway workers remove the baffles of the carriages, and build slopes with thick wooden planks, and the square-headed chariots slowly drove down.

These chariots had a peculiar shape, with a square turret with an angular and rounded body, some with two barrels, some with a barrel and a machine gun, accompanied by the orders of several officers, the tracks of these chariots were rattling and moving, driving the chariots forward and stopping at designated positions.

"What the fuck is this?" Zhang Xun, who saw this kind of chariot for the first time, instantly widened his eyes.

"I thought you knew what it was." Cao Kun, who had already seen the power of these chariots, smiled slightly, "Why, Brother Yang gave you all the credit, didn't he tell you this?" ”

"I haven't heard him say it," Zhang Xun shook his head, still not taking his eyes off the chariots, "I thought it was the kind of car with wheels that the Americans had." ”

"I heard from the people of the Gan army that this kind of chariot was also designed by him Yang Hanzhi himself and ordered in the United States." Wu Peifu said, "Sometimes I really can't figure out how his Yang Hanzhi's head grows. ”

"When I broke through the outer positions of the Jinan army, it was thanks to these tanks." Cao Kun's eyes were fixed on a chariot equipped with two 20-mm guns, "Blinded all the Japanese pirates." ”

"It's a pity that our Chinese factories can't produce it, otherwise, these chariots alone can drive the Japanese into the sea." One of Cao Kun's lieutenants followed.

"Yes! With these things, you can get twice the result with half the effort when you start a war! Zhang Xun remembered what he had seen and heard in these days when he fought side by side with Yang Shuoming, and couldn't help but sigh.

"If the Gan army and the Fifth Town attack Qingdao now, let's send these chariots to him as soon as possible." Wu Peifu looked at the neatly arranged chariots with high barrels and suggested, "Qingdao is a fortress that the Germans have operated for many years, and it is not as easy as fighting these cities. ”

"However, Brother Yang explained when he left, saying that after capturing Jiaozhou, he would drive the convoy to Jimo and stand by." Zhang Xun said.

"To Jimo? What do you mean? Cao Kun and Wu Peifu glanced at each other and asked in unison.

"He didn't say that, and I don't know." Zhang Xun smiled a little awkwardly.

"How did you become the commander-in-chief?" Cao Kun asked half-jokingly.

"! It's not that you don't know that I, the former commander-in-chief of the enemy, is also a bluffing signboard. Zhang Xun laughed, "Haven't I always listened to him until now?" ”

(To be continued)