On the evening of 7 November, Lieutenant General Kuma Shimoto, commander of the 10th and 8th Divisions of the Chinese Army, had dinner early, hid in the division headquarters, and worked with Chief of Staff Toshiyuki Suzuki to study the upcoming sweeping operation.

According to the order of the commander of the Second Army, Ogaka Kamizo, the 10th and 8th Divisions should concentrate the main force and, with the cooperation of the 33rd Division, strike a thunderous blow at the Eighth Route Army entrenched in the Xiaoqing River Valley, and after succeeding, leave a part of the troops to form a political power, garrison, and police station in the local area, and then return to the division to the south to completely wipe out the local armed forces of the Eighth Route Army operating in the south of Jiaoji Road, control the passage south to the mountainous areas of central and southern Shandong and southeast Shandong, and wait for the Second Army to mobilize a large army to cooperate with the troops stationed in Yanzhou, Linyi, and Xuzhou. Thoroughly wipe out the mountainous areas of central and southern Shandong and the southeast of Shandong, and restore public order in Shandong in one fell swoop.

After returning from a meeting in Jinan, Lieutenant General Kuma Shimoto instructed the chief of staff, Toshiyuki Suzuki, to draw up a battle plan. This Suzuki Toshiyuki graduated from the University of the Army, and his mind was full of dreams of entering the base camp to take charge of the Imperial Army. This cannot be blamed for being unrealistic, in fact the staff officers who graduated from the Army University are freaks, and everyone has such dreams. It is precisely because of this dream that this group of staff officers will be crazy to surprise later generations of military research scholars, and they can't figure out why there is such a group in the army.

Suzuki Toshiyuki Daisa, like his senior brothers and brothers, all advocate bushido, advocating offensive strategy, small staff officers, between words and deeds, they all say that it is extremely easy to attack the Soviet Union in the north and attack Britain and the United States in the south, it seems that God is the first, and the Imperial Army is the second, as long as His Majesty the Emperor is willing, with an order, the elite Imperial Army will take the Far East of the Soviet Union or Southeast Asia as if it were a bag, and it can even go to the plains of Western Europe to run horses. You must know that the war horses of the cavalry of the Imperial Army are a hybrid breed of world-famous horses, and the horses are extraordinary, and if they gallop across the plains of Western Europe, they will definitely make those blonde Rhine beauties, Milanese beauties, Parisian beauties, and English beauties look up to them.

No, the sweeping battle plan formulated by Toshiyuki Suzuki is full of the spirit of bold, wild and offensive operations.

According to Suzuki Toshiyuki's battle plan, two divisions, the 108th Division and the 33rd Division, plus the Jiaoji Road garrison, will be mobilized in this battle, with a total concentration of nearly 50,000 troops. The purpose of the campaign was to completely eliminate the resistance forces of the Eighth Route Army in Jiaolai, Qinghe, and Luzhong, thoroughly restore public order along the Jiaoji Road, and provide sufficient raw materials and power coal for the industries of Qingdao and Jinan with the rich products of Luzhong, Jiaolai, and Qinghe. Among them, the 108th Division handed over all the strongholds along the Jiaoji Road to the garrison of Jiaoji Road and the garrisons of various counties, concentrated two brigades and directly subordinate troops, and divided the troops into two routes, the west road started from Jinan in the east, and pushed to the northwest along the Yellow River, and the middle route was directly commanded by the division and regiment headquarters, and advanced north from Weixian and Yidu, as for the east road, it was handed over to the 33rd Division transferred back from Jiaodong, and they swept from Jiaolai from east to west. The end is ashes.

Toshiyuki Suzuki's battle plan was in line with the mind of the commander of the Second Army, Otaka Kamezo, and after it was reported to the Second Army Headquarters, it was immediately approved. Lieutenant General Otaka Kamezo also called, saying that he was going to rush to the headquarters of the 108th Division to express his condolences to the inspection troops and personally direct all units to enter and suppress the operation.

In fact, Shimoto Xiongya did not approve of this battle plan in his heart, because the enemy situation was unknown. Now it is generally known that the Eighth Route Army that fled from Jiaodong has arrived in the Jiaolai and Qinghe areas, and some time ago they were fighting cold guns, ambushes, and setting up mine formations, encouraging the people to dig tunnels to fight against the imperial army, but what the name of this Eighth Route Army is, how many troops there are, and who the commander is, are unknown. Although Xia Yuan Xiong Mi had instructed the garrisons and police stations of the 10th Eighth Division and counties to send people to spy on the intelligence of the Eighth Route Army, and also arrested some local cadres of the Eighth Route Army, the strange thing is that this Liu Yimin's instructor's unit is different from other squadrons, with a strong secret surname and strong anti-reconnaissance ability. Xia Yuan Xiong Mi didn't know if this sweeping operation could have a result.

Another reason is the lack of troops. Xia Yuan Xiong Mi and his 108th Division can be regarded as the first batch of troops to invade China, and they have fought a lot with the [***] team, but after the instructor of the Eighth Route Army participated in the war, the 108th Division stayed in Jinan for a long time and has never fought with the instructor. Even so, Shimoto Kuami knew that the Imperial Army had never won the battle with the Instructor, leaving behind a series of humiliating records of the 21st Brigade, the Chahar Dispatch Corps, the 21st Division, the 8th Division, the 10th Division, and several Reading Mixed Brigades. Fighting with such a force, Shimoto Xiongya felt that it was still necessary to follow the deployment of General Shouichi Terauchi, that is, it was necessary to concentrate the heavy army group and advance at the same time, so as not to leave the Eighth Route Army instructor the slightest chance to sneak attack. Otherwise, no one knows for sure what will happen.

Although Xia Yuan Xiong Ya agreed with Suzuki Toshiyuki's battle plan and deployment in his heart, he still agreed for three reasons: First, he had a fluke mentality, and from all kinds of information obtained by the imperial army, the main force of Liu Yimin's instructor had arrived on the battlefield in Wuhan, and the Eighth Route Army left in Shandong was his remnants and local forces. Although the Eighth Route Army transferred from Jiaodong was also very elite, and once disguised Liu Yiming to deceive the imperial army, but after a series of battles in Zhoucun and Jiaodong, this army must have suffered heavy casualties, and the supply of ammunition and medicine must be difficult. Fighting against such a disabled army, Xia Yuan Xiongmi felt that the risk was not great. The second is that Shimoto Kumaya does not want to offend the commander of the Second Army, Lieutenant General Otaka Kamizo, that guy is a well-known brave general, a man with insufficient intelligence and more than enough recklessness, if he offends him, then it is not only to offend him alone, but also to offend his group of classmates, which is the most powerful group in the whole army. The Shina incident is due to the audacity of this small clique, and no one can provoke them! Since Odaka Kamezo advocates an active offensive and wants to launch a sweeping operation on the Jiaoji Road, let's fight, who will make the family the commander of the Second Army? These three are even more selfish in Xia Yuan Xiong Mi. Because according to the original order of the base camp of the army, the 10th and 8th Division should have returned to China a long time ago, and it was only because the Shandong Eighth Route Army was too rampant that the emperor ordered all troops in China to suspend their return to China for rest and recuperation, but this order could not be carried out for too long, and returning to China for rest and recuperation was a system, and sooner or later it would be restored. However, other divisions and regiments can return to the battlefield soon after returning to China to recuperate, but this 08th Division will not work. Because the 10th and 8th Divisions are ad hoc divisions, the soldiers are all reservists of the 8th Division, most of them are about 30 years old, and most of them have already married and had children. This return to China will be accompanied by a complete demobilization. When the soldiers are demobilized and the formation is abolished, then the division commander is likely to be transferred to the reserve. This is also confirmed by the gossip that Kuma Shimoto obtained. Xia Yuan Xiong Mi, like all the generals of the invasion of China, is not afraid of heaven and earth, and is afraid of being transferred to the reserve. Think about it, when he was in normal service, he not only had status but also a decent salary, but once he was transferred to the reserves, he was basically forgotten, and he and his wife could still attend important social gatherings? Can you still make irresponsible remarks about major policies? What's even more terrifying is that since entering the war in China, Xia Yuan Xiong Mi has looted a lot of property and spoiled many women, and the family's living standards have been highly improved, and the family status has also been improved. If this is transferred to the reserves, where will it go to loot? I'm afraid I can't rob women anymore, so I can only go to a geisha that everyone can play, which is too sad. Therefore, Shimoto Kumiya was determined to fight a battle, so that the emperor and those in the military department could see Shimoto Kumi's talent and exploits, so that he would not be transferred to the reserve and could lead troops to China to participate in the war again.

It was for these reasons that the old and serious Shimoto Kumiya supported Suzuki Toshiyuki's battle plan, and the two of them arched together and seriously discussed every detail of the battle plan.

Toshiyuki Suzuki deserves to have graduated from the Army University, and the battle plan he drew up took every detail into account, including the daily attack speed of the various brigades of the army, the camping sites and drinking water in the camps, and the fires and cooking meals. Suzuki Toshiyuki even calculated the amount of ammunition and rice regiments of each soldier, and Shimoto Kuami was also amazed after seeing it, and had to admire the rigor of the teaching of the Army University and the seriousness of Suzuki Toshiyuki.

Shimoto Kumaya couldn't give more opinions on the battle plan, but after all, he was much older than Suzuki Toshiyuki, and he was more thoughtful, and in his opinion, now in general, everything was ready, and only the east wind was owed. And this east wind is the arrival of the commander of the Second Army, Lieutenant General Otaka Kamezo, and once he arrives, the Jiaoji Road sweeping operation will begin immediately. The only drawback is that the 33rd Division has not yet reached the designated position, which is not good, and the commander of the 33rd Division, Lieutenant General Tataro Kasuma, has to be urged, this guy is the principal of the Toyama Infantry School, and he has his own unique views on strategy and tactics, and his reputation in the army is not small at all compared to that of Lieutenant General Maeda, the commander of the 35th Division.

Xia Yuan Xiong Mi pondered for a while, pressed the bell on the table, and called the guards in: "Bring the Longjing tea sent by Lieutenant General Gu Shoufu last time, and invite Miss Chiba Tong to come and offer tea." ”

The guards responded and went next door to tell Miss Chiba Tong that His Excellency the division commander asked her to go and offer tea.

This Miss Chiba Tong is a young lady from a declining aristocratic family in Hirozen, and after graduating from high school, she signed up for the army with a loyal love for the emperor. As a result, just like Miss Masako met General Terauchi Shouichi, the innocent and naïve Miss Chiba Tong met Lieutenant General Kuma Shimoto, who looked old but had a bad stomach, after arriving at the 1st 08th Division. Sheep meet wolves, although the ways of being fooled vary widely, but the result is the same. Miss Chiba Tong has also become the forbidden body of Lieutenant General Shimoto Kumaya, responsible for the diet and daily life of His Excellency Lieutenant General, and of course, the most important thing is to solve the physiological needs of His Excellency Lieutenant General.

It is said that this woman is so good, she is unwilling to hide it in her heart, and there is always a smile on her face in front of her. Miss Chiba Tong is like this, then Xia Yuan Xiong Mi is older than his father, and he crawls on her delicate ** every night to toss, how can she be willing to be a seventeen or eight-year-old girl who is charming and charming? But after hearing the order conveyed by the guards that Shimoto Kumami wanted her to go and offer tea, Chiba Tong obediently changed into a kimono, put on makeup, trimmed her nails, scooped a scoop of water, washed her hands first, then rinsed her mouth, and then took a clean handkerchief, and took a small folding fan, inserted it on the belt behind her, and after calming down a little, she asked the guards to help, and took the Longjing tea leaves before the rain given to Shimoto Kuma by the former commander of the Sixth Division, Gu Shoufu, and brought Qi Feng stove, tea kettle, water injection, white charcoal and other utensils into Shimoto Kumami's office.

Xia Yuan Xiong Mi is very fond of the tea ceremony, and he is very deep in the tea ceremony, and he understands the spirit of the tea ceremony that tea is Zen and "harmony, respect, purity, and silence". However, now is the period when the two armies are at war, Rong Ma is in a hurry, everything is simple, and no matter how particular Xiong Mi is, he has to reduce the tea drinking procedure. What's more, he just wants to get closer to the chief of staff through drinking tea, and it doesn't matter whether the tea ceremony procedure is right or not, whether it is reduced or not.

If it was in Yumoto, Shimoto Kuami invited Toshiyuki Suzuki to drink tea, it would have to be done in a special tea room. The tea room is divided into special areas such as bed room, guest, point front, and stove step. The interior is equipped with alcoves, hearths and various wooden windows, and a "water house" is laid on the right side for boiling water, tea making, tea tasting utensils and cleaning utensils. Celebrity calligraphy and paintings are hung between the beds, and bamboo vases are hung next to them, and the flower arrangements in the vase, the varieties of flower arrangements and the ornaments next to them vary depending on the four seasons, but they must match the season. After greeting each other, the guests and the host enter the tea room, the host goes to fetch the tea ceremony utensils, is busy lighting a fire to boil water, and the guests can enjoy the furnishings and decorations in the tea room, calligraphy, paintings, flowers and other decorations. After the water boiled, the guests of honor sat down opposite each other in order and began to taste tea. The host serves dessert before the tea, and then the host toasts tea to the guest of honor, and after the guest of honor tastes tea, the other guests can taste the tea in order. Not only is the tea ceremony relatively long, but it also can't talk about worldly topics such as money, politics, and business, but only some natural topics.

After Miss Chiba Tong boiled the water and poured the tea, Shimoto Kuma pulled the chief of staff, Toshiyuki Suzuki, to the coffee table, and after the two of them bowed to each other, they knelt opposite each other on both sides of the coffee table.

Chiba Tong served tea, and Kuma Shimoto said, "Suzuki-kun, please!" The two of them began to drink tea.

However, Xia Yuan Xiongmi, who is proficient in the tea ceremony, is no longer obsessed with the spirit of the tea ceremony at this time, and after tasting it, he said: "Suzuki-kun, this Longjing before the rain really lives up to its reputation, and after putting it for so long, it is still beautiful in color and umami, and it is really a holy product in tea!" ”

Suzuki Toshiyuki Daisa is now full of heart to start the Jiaoji Road clearance operation, where is there any mind to pay attention to the tea ceremony? Seeing that the Qianye Tong who served tea was like Fu powder, delicate and abnormal, he swallowed a mouthful of saliva, secretly scolded the old man who should have died a long time ago, and echoed: "Your Excellency the division commander is right, China is rich in land and resources, and it is indeed full of splendor. However, the division commander does not need to sigh that the 21st Army will soon capture Guangzhou, and Chiang Kai-shek's political axe will now inevitably be disheartened and panicked, and the Central China Dispatch Army will end the Wuhan Raid in a blink of an eye, and everything in this branch will become the empire. At that time, we will set up a Longjing Tea Co., Ltd., which will not only monopolize the planting, management, picking, and sales of Longjing tea, but also transplant Longjing tea to the Great Empire. When the time comes, His Excellency the division commander wants to taste the dragon well before the rain, and directly taste the dragon well before the rain of the Great Empire. ”

Where would Xia Yuan Xiong Mi know that Suzuki Toshiyuki was scolding him in his heart, and when he saw that Suzuki Toshiyuki had a pleasant face, and listened to it, he laughed: "Suzuki-kun, your idea is too good." Young people must have the courage to open up new territories, and have the talent and courage to plan for the long term. Good work, I'm optimistic about you! ”

Xia Yuan Xiongmi's words were very sincere, and they were his heart's words. Because all officials in ancient and modern China and abroad know that cultivating successors is the most important, that is, Zeng Guofan said that finding a replacement is the first priority to do great things. Xia Yuan Xiong Mi is already old, no matter how much he tosses, it is impossible to toss anywhere, maybe he will soon be transferred to the reserve. This Suzuki Toshiyuki Daisa is in his prime, as long as he has military exploits, it is only a matter of time before the major general and lieutenant general are in his prime, maybe he will have to rely on him for something in the future. It is also for this reason that Kuami Shimoto, who is a lieutenant general, will invite Toshiyuki Suzuki, the big sa, to drink tea.

Seeing the sincerity of what Lieutenant General Shimoto Kumaya said, Suzuki Toshiyuki blushed a little, hurriedly stood up and bowed to the division commander, and said "Thank you, Your Excellency the division commander" before kneeling there again.

Xia Yuan Xiong Ya saw Suzuki Toshiyuki Daisa's decent, and was happy in his heart, and said slowly with a mustache: "Suzuki-kun, this Jiaoji Road sweeping operation is of great significance, and if you complete the campaign goal, you can wipe out the [***] resistance forces in Luzhong, Qinghe, Jiaolai, and Jiaodong in one fell swoop, and completely consolidate the occupied area." As far as the future of you and me is concerned, it will also be of great benefit, and His Majesty the Emperor will not fail to see our military exploits. ”

Speaking of this, Xia Yuan Xiong Mi looked at Suzuki Toshiyuki, and saw that the latter couldn't stop nodding his head like a chicken, Xia Yuan Xiong Mi had an unfathomable smile on his face, and continued: "If we want to complete the Jiaoji Road sweeping operation, it is not enough to rely on our 10th Eighth Division alone, because we are facing the troops of Liu Yimin, the instructor of the Eighth Route Army. General Terauchi Shouichi has long said that Liu Yimin's instructor is different from other squadrons, well-equipped, powerful, well-trained, and tactically flexible, and is really a fierce opponent of the imperial army. It is a pity that General Terauchi did not return from a visit to Germany, otherwise he would not have agreed to our battle plan. I think he will at least assign us another permanent division to form an absolute superiority in troops. Of course, there is no point in talking about these now, and our 108th Division is not weak, although we are an ad hoc division, and our strength and equipment are not as good as those of the permanent division, but we are also the first batch of troops to come to China to participate in the war, and the soldiers' combat skills are not worse than those of the permanent division, and the only thing to worry about is that the soldiers lack the will to die. ”

Suzuki Toshiyuki saw that Shimoto Kumaya said it so bluntly, and regretted it in his heart, feeling that he always felt that the division commander was already a martyr in his twilight years, old and weak, and timid as a mouse, and he looked down on him a little, and always wanted to be transferred to other troops to make meritorious contributions. Now I know that His Excellency the division commander has seen the shortcomings of the division so accurately, and he is really a scheming and calculating commander of the army. General Terauchi Shouichi has repeatedly asked the 108th Division to guard Jinan, and most people think that the 108th Division is used as a third-rate and fourth-rate army.

Thinking of this, Suzuki Toshiyuki got up angrily and said loudly: "Please rest assured, Your Excellency the division commander, the Eighth Route Army, which flowed to the Qinghe area, is just a partial division of Liu Yimin's tutor who stayed in Jiaodong to contain the imperial army, and after the imperial army's heavy army group cleared up, the losses will inevitably be heavy." This Qinghe area is a plain area, which is convenient for our army to maneuver, and the air force and navy can also provide support at any time. Our army has two divisions and one garrison, with a total strength of nearly 50,000 troops, and the absolute victory is in our hands. As long as this dirt road does not take the opportunity to slip away, it will definitely be caught by us, surrounded by us, and completely destroyed. ”

Suzuki Toshiyuki's impassioned words also infected Shimoto Kuami, who stood up and patted Suzuki Toshiyuki on the shoulder and said, "Suzuki-kun said well, our army will win this battle!" In this way, you go and send a telegram in my name to Lieutenant General Gan Ji Shigetaro, the commander of the 33rd Division, and be thoughtful in his courtesies and sincere in his words, so that he must understand that as long as the 33rd Division is deployed in place and attacks on time, the Eighth Route Army in Qinghe will be a fish on our chopping block and will be slaughtered by us. I remember to tell him that the commander of the Second Army, Lieutenant General Otaka Kamezo, will come to our unit to guide the operation, and asked him to supervise and lead the troops to complete the deployment as soon as possible, and never dare to delay the fighters. ”

Toshiyuki Suzuki agreed, got up and went to send a telegram. Here, Xia Yuan Xiong Mi saw Miss Chiba Tong kneeling there concentrating on serving tea, her neck was white and slender, like spring bamboo shoots, and she couldn't help but feel a big silver heart, and pulled Chiba Tong over, and held her hands in her arms. Who knows that the more I touch it, the more I feel that Chiba Tong's skin is slippery, and the more I touch it, the more I feel hot and dry. In the end, he simply picked up Chiba Tong and went to the bedroom.

At one o'clock in the night, Kuami Shimoto was awakened by Toshiyuki Suzuki's panicked screams, so he had to get dressed and get up, open the door and ask what was going on.

Under the light, Toshiyuki Suzuki's face had turned sallow, and his face was full of incredulity. Seeing that Shimoto Xiong Ya opened the door to ask, Suzuki Toshiyuki hurriedly reported: "Your Excellency, Commander, Gaomi is lost!" ”

Shimoto Xiong Mi was shocked when he heard this, and he couldn't care about the Chiba Tong on the bed in the house anymore, so he took three steps and made two steps, and entered the war room.

(To be continued)