During this time, although both sides were engaged in a war of words, they did not relax at all.

On the side of the army, the northern front group under the command of Lieutenant General Tsukihiko of the East Gyur Palace received emergency supplies from the local area and maintained the offensive operation. The Central Line Group commanded by Lieutenant General Naosaburo Okabe and the Southern Line Group commanded by Tada Jun went all out to kill Luzhong, and the Third Route Army made rapid progress, rolling up bursts of wolf smoke between Luzhong and Ludong. The 27th and 39th Divisions and the 38th Division of the Southwest Lu Army under the command of Lieutenant General Masaharu Honma in eastern Henan, relying on the support of the 106th Division and the 116th Division and the 114th Division stationed in Yanzhou on the Longhai Line, adopted a defensive operation in the face of the [***] offensive, but they also fought with a clear eye. In the face of the joint attack of the Eighth Route Army, the Jin Sui Army, and Wei Lihuang's troops, the Shanxi Army learned a lesson, took the initiative to shrink the defensive line, and stabilized the situation with the cooperation of the Jinpu Road Army. The army along the Yangtze River also adopted a defensive position, so it was difficult for [***] to expand the results of the battle. Because once the Yue army is determined to hold on to the city, if it wants to recapture a certain city in the hands of the Yue army, it is impossible to blindly attack and fight hard without adopting special tactics.

After the Ludong group, the instructor of the Eighth Route Army, withdrew from the front line of Zhoucun, it continued to adopt the tactics of resisting and harassing from multiple routes, camouflaging the main force and fighting with the enemy, delaying the attack speed of the northern line group of the Japanese army, and attracting the Naosaburo group and the Tadajun group of the army to go north on the other hand. It was not until the Zhizaburo group of the military gang department captured Fangzi and Weixian, and the Tatianjun group made a detour to Gaomi and Jiaoxian, that Zeng Zhongsheng commanded the Seventh Brigade, the Qinghe Garrison Brigade, and the Jiaodong Garrison Brigade to suddenly break away from contact with the enemy, retreat to the Jiaodong Peninsula in great strides, and let the army occupy the Jiaoji Road and the Jiqing Highway.

On 30 June, the army and navy met in Qingdao.

General Terauchi Shouichi, commander of the North China Front, held another press conference in Beiping and proudly announced that after the comprehensive recovery of the central Hebei, southern Hebei, Hebei-Lubian, Luxi, southwestern Shandong, and Taixi regions, the Imperial Army had recovered Luzhong and Ludong, and the main force of the Eighth Route Army's instructors fled to Jiaodong in embarrassment. The current task of the main force of the imperial army is to march to Jiaodong and completely annihilate the main force of Liu Yiminjiao; the second is to pay close attention to the repair of the Jiaoji Railway and restore the normal public security and production order in the hinterland of Shandong; Third, after eliminating the main force of Liu Yimin's instructor in Jiaodong, he quickly leveled the remnants of the Eighth Route Army in the Taiyi Mountains and Lunan area after returning to the division, and then marched eastward into eastern Henan to gather and annihilate the troops of Chiang Kai-shek's First and Fifth Theaters who were making trouble with the imperial army in eastern Henan.

It may be that he was overly happy after opening up the Jiaoji Road, and at the press conference, Terauchi Shouichi completely forgot how the 21st Brigade, the Chahar Dispatch Corps, the 21st Division, the 8th Division, the 10th Division, the 3rd Brigade of Reading Force, the 4th Brigade of Reading Force, the 6th Brigade of Reading Force, and the 10th Brigade of Reading Power Mixed Together, he actually imagined it, saying that after Liu Yimin was captured alive, he would personally escort him to Tokyo, and let Liu Yimin kneel and apologize at the Foreign Minister of the Tokyo Imperial Palace. He would consider imploring the emperor to be extra gracious, spare Liu Yimin from death, let Liu Yimin serve as a minor official in the palace province, let Liu Yimin's wife serve as a female official in the palace, Liu Yimin cleaned the imperial study for His Majesty the emperor every day, and Mrs. Liu Yimin served Empress Liangzi every day to comb her hair and makeup. During the festival celebration, Liu Yimin and his wife can also dance for His Majesty the Emperor, and it is best to dance the Huxuan dance that was popular in the Tang Dynasty.

Those reporters accompanying the army and the reporters of the Han Dynasty who attended the press conference also forgot how Taiyuan, Tianjin, and Qingdao were lost, and how Ma Liang and his ilk died, and they vied with each other to flatter, as if the army could immediately eliminate the Eighth Route Army and capture Liu Yimin. For example, the reporter of "Chao Yue News" asked whether Liu Yimin's wife is beautiful and whether being a palace maid for Empress Liangzi will affect the image of Empress Liangzi, and the reporter of "Shibao" of Han Jianguan Yixian's office proposed that if Liu Yiming boiled and surrendered, would the imperial army cooperate with him and let him take over as the mayor of Tianjin or Qingdao or the governor of Shandong, etc., so that Terauchi Shouyi became more and more interested, saying that Liu Yimin's wife is said to be very beautiful, because one of his wives is Song Meiling's cousin, and that appearance and knowledge are absolutely first-class. As long as Liu Yiming boils and surrenders, the imperial army does not rule out the possibility of cooperating with him, not to mention being the governor of Shandong Province and the mayor of Tianjin, it is not impossible to become the commander-in-chief of the North China Security Army. Of course, if Liu Yimin didn't know each other, then he would be sorry, so he could only ask him to take his two wives to Tokyo to serve His Majesty the Emperor.

Not only is Terauchi Shouyi so crazy, but many people in the country have also fallen into a state of madness, because since the start of the war, Liu Yimin's Eighth Route Army instructor has dealt too much blow to the army, and the big one has made him unable to raise his head in the international arena, and the media in many Western countries have evaluated the army as a second-rate army, and even a Eighth Route Army without reliable logistics support cannot defeat it, which has greatly hit the self-confidence of the short but ambitious Yue himself. In addition, the army suffered one defeat after another, and the loss of planes, tanks, armored vehicles, and automobiles alone made Yue himself feel distressed, and the equipment produced by the workers working overtime turned out to be the trophies of the Eighth Route Army, and the rice and white flour produced by the peasants were all loaded into the stomachs of the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army.

Now it's okay, the main force of Liu Yimin's tutor was forced to retreat to Jiaodong by the imperial army, and people with a little military knowledge and geographical knowledge know that Jiaodong has a narrow area, and hundreds of thousands of imperial troops pounced on it, even if they are besieged layer by layer, they can also trap the main force of Liu Yimin's tutor to death.

As a result, a frenzy was once again set off in the country, and the political axe called on the people to tighten their belts and use funds and materials for military production to ensure the needs of the army and navy. Every day, the newspapers clamor about the great victories at the front and mobilized young people to sign up for the army. Even the citizens on the streets and alleys discussed the topic of how big Jiaodong is and how long it will take for the imperial army to destroy Tubalu.

Under these circumstances, the base camp of the Yue Army decided to expand the army again, not only quickly replenishing the battle losses of the divisions and regiments, but also forming six new garrison units and heading to North China to take up the garrison tasks of Qingdao, Jinan, Tianjin, Beiping, Taiyuan, and Shijiazhuang, freeing up the main force for field battles. These garrisons were all composed of six infantry brigades, with cavalry search teams, artillery teams, engineering teams, baggage teams, health teams, and communication teams, with a total strength of about 8,600 people. At the same time, in view of the weakness of the railway garrison and the annihilation of the Jiaoji Road Railway Wing, the army upgraded the Pinghan Road Railway Wing and the Jinpu Road Railway Wing to the railway garrison, and newly established the Jiaoji Road, Tongpu Road, and Zhengtai Road garrisons, which were organized in the same way as the Qingdao garrison, and urgently headed for North China.

Unlike his performance at the press conference, Terauchi began to get depressed as soon as he returned to the headquarters after the press conference. The base camp secretly ordered him to let the 1st, 2nd, and 7th divisions return to the establishment at once no matter what, because the Soviets suddenly sent troops to capture Zhanggufeng on the border between the Soviet Union, Manchuria, and North Korea, and the specific movements are unknown, the Kwantung Army is currently so empty, and once something happens, the consequences are unimaginable, and Manchuria is where the fundamental interests of the empire lie, and there is no room for failure.

Prince Miyajae-in, chief of the General Staff, told Terauchi Shouichi in a secret telegram that the military headquarters had planned to launch a small-scale attack to test the Soviet Union's attitude, and that the Jang Gufeng incident was a godsend, and that the 19th Division of the Korean Army had been prepared for a counterattack. However, the emperor was still hesitating whether to attack the Soviet Union or not, and those who supported the non-expansion of the war in the country were also clamoring, so the emperor instructed Foreign Minister Shigemitsu Aoi to be in charge of negotiating with the Soviet Union, which was absolutely not in the interests of the empire.

After Terauchi Shouichi received the secret telegram, although he was 10,000 reluctant, he was the culprit of the invasion of China, and he considered the overall situation, so he had to order the 1st, 2nd, and 7th divisions to immediately withdraw from the battle and return to the northeast by boat in Qingdao. Then the 33rd Division was ordered to garrison Luzhong, and the commander of the division, Lieutenant General Gan Ji Shigetaro, was appointed as the commander of the Luzhong garrison, and the headquarters was stationed in Weixian. Lieutenant General Naosaburo Okabe was ordered to hand over the command of the remaining 6th and 16th Divisions of the Central Line Group to the commander of the Second Army, Lieutenant General Tsukihiko Higashijuernomiya, and quickly return to the headquarters of the North China Front Army to perform the duties of chief of staff. At the same time, he ordered Lieutenant General Tsugahiko Wang and Lieutenant General Tada Jun of Dongjuer Palace to command the army to march in unison to the Jiaodong area and eliminate the main force of the Eighth Route Army in one fell swoop.

The reason why Terauchi Shouichi was in a hurry to let Lieutenant General Okabe Naosaburo return was because he was in a hurry to get out of North China so that he could negotiate with Germany. In his view, only by forming a three-way alliance with Germany and Italy against the old Western forces, including Britain and France, could he maintain a lasting victory. Since the signing of a letter of intent between the three countries in November last year and the formation of an axis of fascist aggression, Germany and Germany have separately asked each other to establish a military alliance, but the idiots in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, fearing the deterioration of relations with Britain, the United States, and France, have resolutely opposed it, and the agreement has not been signed for a long time. Now that the Soviet Union has captured Zhanggufeng, Terauchi Shouichi feels that it is necessary to sign a military alliance agreement with Germany, and no matter how indecisive he is, it will affect the overall strategy of the empire.

Terauchi Shouichi sent a secret telegram to the Emperor, Prime Minister Konoe, and Prince Zaihito of Kanin Palace, strongly stating that the strengthening of the signing of the military alliance between Japan and Germany was important for the Empire to deal with the Soviet Union and to participate in the distribution of the world pattern in the next step and obtain greater benefits. He demanded that the Emperor hold the Ministry of Foreign Affairs accountable and volunteered to go to Germany as a special envoy of the Imperial Empire to negotiate and secure the signing of a military alliance agreement between Germany and Germany.

In the secret telegram, Terauchi Shouichi also analyzed the situation of the battle in North China, believing that the main force of Liu Yimin's tutor had been severely damaged under the heavy blows of the imperial army, and now he was trapped in Jiaodong, and his demise was only in the middle of the day. Even though Liu Yimin was small and big and was able to escape, the Eighth Route Army, which had lost its base area, had no place in Shandong. If we take 10,000 steps back, Liu Yimin will have a resurgence and will not have the momentum he had before, and as long as the high-pressure situation of the main force is maintained, the public security situation in Shandong will fundamentally improve. Once the Jiaodong War ended, the main force of the imperial army could turn around and move southward and westward to capture Wuhan and realize the established combat strategy.

After sending the telegram, Terauchi Shouichi thought about it calmly, and felt that at this time the battle had been fought, the Eighth Route Army had been forced to Jiaodong, and the time for a decisive battle was ripe. This is the time to pick peaches, and as the commander-in-chief, there is no reason for me to leave. However, since the battle with the Eighth Route Army, he has never had the upper hand, and this time he mobilized such a large number of troops to regain the initiative. Will this time be successful?

Shouichi Terauchi still had an ulterior thought in his heart, that is, he was really scared by Liu Yimin, and there was a trace of shameful cowardice in his heart. He knew in his heart that at this time of the battle, the base area of the Eighth Route Army had indeed shrunk greatly and suffered great losses, but as of now, not to mention that the main force of Liu Yimin's instructor was not badly damaged, even the main forces of the 115th Division, 119th Division, 120th Division, and Reading Division of the Eighth Route Bureau in Shanxi were not much damaged, and according to the report of the First Army, these troops were stubbornly attacking when they seized the main force of the Imperial Army to fight in Shandong, and the base area was gradually recovering.

Since Liu Yimin's main force did not suffer many casualties, would he be willing to be annihilated in Jiaodong? Where will he strike next? Will he bite an elite division of the Imperial Army with one mouth? If he is really allowed to defeat a permanent division of the Imperial Army, then the army will create a historical chapter with the greatest losses in his own hands. Even if the order is the final order to eliminate the main force of Liu Yimin's tutor, but there are still so many troops in the Eighth Route Army, this battle will become more and more difficult.

Shouichi Terauchi, who was cowardly, is still arrogant on the outside, but in fact he can't wait to slip away.

Where would Emperor Hirohito have thought that behind the righteousness and strictness of Terauchi Shouichi was the thirty-six plans! He also believes that Terauchi Shouichi is worthy of being a veteran general in the army and a pillar of the country, and he is wholeheartedly planning for the Great Empire. Thinking about the war in North China at this time, it is indeed a victory in hand, whether or not Terauchi Shouichi is in charge does not have much impact, with the ability of King Twist and Tada Jun of the East Gyur Palace, Liu Yimin is fierce, after all, he is only a part of the [***] team, and he is a miscellaneous army that is at odds with Chiang Kai-shek's political axe army, where will it be the opponent of the elite of hundreds of thousands of imperial troops! Can he still turn the sky upside down? On the German side, however, there is an urgent need for a capable general to preside over the negotiations, and this person is none other than Terauchi Shouichi, because he has a deep relationship with the German leadership, which is unparalleled in China.

As a result, while the whole country was jubilantly celebrating the achievements of the Imperial Army in Shandong, Emperor Hirohito summoned Prime Minister Konoe and Prince Zaihito of Kanin to discuss whether it was better to send competent personnel to speed up negotiations with Germany.

Prince Zaihito of the Idle Yuan Palace didn't want Terauchi Shouichi to leave North China at this time, but he knew Terauchi Shouichi's thoughts, and the two of them were wearing a pair of pants. In his opinion, this time, the main force of Liu Yimin's tutor will not be able to escape no matter what, and it will be a matter of time before he is captured. But Liu Yimin will inevitably fight to the death before he dies, and it is likely that the imperial army will suffer heavy losses at that time, and maybe it will be a permanent division and the whole jade will be shattered. Thinking about the arrogance of Shouichi Terauchi, if he lost another permanent division from him, it would be too much of a blow to his prestige. If he is allowed to leave North China, he will wipe out the main force of the Eighth Route Army in the future, and the Imperial Army will suffer heavy losses, and it can also be used as an excuse for the temporary absence of the supreme commander of the North China Front Army to gag the mouths of the people at home. Besides, strategically speaking, the signing of the Yu-German military alliance is a national strategy, and the elimination of Liu Yiminjiao's instructor is just a campaign action under the national strategy.

Konoe Fumima did not make a clear statement about the signing of the agreement on the military alliance between Germany and Germany, but he is the prime minister of the cabinet, and without his support and acquiescence, the relations between Germany and Italy would not have been able to go where they are today. Now the Soviet Union suddenly captured Zhanggufeng, which made Konoe Funma frightened, and he couldn't tell what the Soviets were going to do. Of course, although he did not know the details of the plan conspired by Prince Zaihito and his ilk to attack the Soviet Union in the north, he still knew about the controversy within the military about the major policies. In his opinion, the Imperial Army did not take much advantage in North China, but instead made the political axe's finances tight and carried a heavy burden. Therefore, he resolutely opposed the use of troops against the Soviet Union and advocated the handling of the Zhang Gufeng incident through negotiations. But what if negotiations don't solve the problem? Will the Soviets be seduced by Liu Yimin's telegram and attack the Kwantung Army? Thinking about these annoying problems, Konoe Fumima felt that it would be better to let Terauchi Shouichi go to Germany as soon as possible, at least to give the Soviets the impression that Germany was very likely to form a situation of east-west attack, so as to facilitate the handling of the Zhang Gufeng incident.

Although the three of them had different thoughts, they had the same idea of making Terauchi Shouichi visit Germany on behalf of the Daishomoto Empire.

After receiving the order from the base camp to appoint himself as the special envoy of the Daisamoto Empire, Terauchi Shouichi quickly explained his work to Naosaburo Okabe, and sent instructions and telegrams to Lieutenant General Umezu Mijiro, commander of the First Army, Lieutenant General Tsukihiko Wang of the Second Army, Lieutenant General Tada Jun, commander of the Southern Front Group, and Lieutenant General Masaharu Honma of the 27th Division of Eastern Henan, as well as to the garrison areas, demanding that they strictly implement the battle plan, strictly guard to the death along the Shanxi, Henandong, and Longhai roads, and fight steadily in Jiaodong, and that all garrison areas should step up preparations for the establishment of local political power and security teams.

After explaining the work in terms of operations, Terauchi Shouyi recruited Wang Kemin and Qi Kuiyuan again, made arrangements for the work of the puppet political axe, and specifically asked Wang Kemin to raise more money and food to ensure military supplies, and asked Qi Kuiyuan to concentrate on Ding Ding to expand the security army.

Wang Kemin's backstage is Terauchi Shouichi and Kita Seiichi, as soon as he heard that Terauchi Shouichi was leaving, he felt that the sky was about to fall, his face was gloomy, and he was a little absent-minded about what Terauchi Shouichi confessed.

Qi Kuiyuan also relied on Shouyi Temple, but he had Xiao Jiujiu in his heart, if Shouyi Terauchi left, and another general came, maybe he would take a fancy to the strength in his hand, kick Wang Kemin away, and let himself replace him. If the knot is good, maybe in the future, when the army occupies the whole of China, he will make himself a big president, in that case, it is really the grave of the old Qi family that is smoking. Therefore, Qi Kuiyuan always had a smile on his face, and his tone became more and more humble, and he kept saying that he wished His Excellency the Commander a happy journey, and repeatedly promised that he would never disappoint His Excellency the Commander's expectations, and that he would definitely speed up the pace of expansion of the Public Security Army and serve the Great Empire.

Terauchi Shouyi has been taught by his father Terauchi Masashi since he was a child, and he has a deep understanding of the people's hearts in the officialdom, and he is old and sophisticated, although there are difficulties in language communication, but from the faces of Wang Kemin and Qi Kuiyuan, you can see the thoughts in the hearts of the two.

Therefore, as soon as Shouyi walked over to Qi Kuiyuan, he suddenly exerted his strength, and pulled Qi Kuiyuan to the ground, and kicked Qi Kuiyuan's ass a few times when he raised his foot, and then let Qi Kuiyuan stand up, and said to Qi Kuiyuan with a black face: "Qi Jun, you are much more careful." I just went to Germany for a visit and will be back soon. We must pay close attention to the construction of the public security army, and if things are delayed, I will not follow. If you dare to disobey orders, military law is engaged! It's as easy for me to trample you as it is to kill an ant, you know? ”

Where would Qi Kuiyuan think that Terauchi Shouyi could see through his mind at a glance, he was so frightened that he was incontinent, and the smell of urine was all over the house, and he shivered and saluted Terauchi Shouyi, and repeatedly promised to absolutely obey the orders of the imperial army and listen to the command. Shouichi Terauchi waved him away.

After Qi Kuiyuan went back, the more he thought about it, the more frightened he became, so he asked someone to write a very humble guarantee, and took twenty small yellow croakers and gave them to Shouichi in the temple together. Shouichi Terauchi went to Qi Kuiyuan's house for a meal, and took a lunch break at his house by the way. Of course, Qi Kuiyuan lost a little woman again.

After explaining all this, on July 2, Terauchi Shouichi participated in a small-scale farewell banquet held by Lieutenant General Naosaburo Gangbu and Wang Kemin, and at the banquet he ate and drank with those generals and Han soldiers, and blew a European style, which caused those Han soldiers to cry bitterly and repeatedly retained General Terauchi Shouichi, saying that the situation in North China is inseparable from His Excellency the General, and please be sure to cherish it for the people of North China, and return to North China as soon as possible. Hearing Shouichi Terauchi laughing, he forgot even the timidity in his heart.

All arrangements came to an end, and Terauchi Shouichi returned to Samoto with the gold and silver treasures, cultural relics, calligraphy and paintings, and Miss Masako looted from China, and prepared to leave for Germany from Samoto.

Shouichi Terauchi didn't want to take Masako with him, because he was worried that he would not look good when he returned to Samoto to see Masako's father. First, he couldn't help Masako's entanglement, and second, he was afraid that if he didn't bring Masako, Masako would probably become Lieutenant General Naosaburo Okabe or someone else's plaything. As soon as he thought that Masako would climb on other men, Shouichi Terauchi was not happy in his heart, so he took it with him.

Terauchi Shouichi didn't know that at this time, the Eighth Route Army was about to launch a counteroffensive on the southern front, and a big surprise was waiting for him!

(To be continued)