"Shoulder-fired artillery?" Muto Nobuyoshi was confused, it was simply unheard of.

"Yes, this is an advanced new artillery, it is light and can be fired by a soldier's shoulder, it can shoot directly, but it is surprisingly powerful, it is really incredible." Toranosuke Hashimoto also said with a shocked face.

"Are there any seized samples?" Muto Nobuyoshi asked.

Toranosuke Hashimoto shook his head and said no, and then asked, "General, I heard that reinforcements will arrive tonight, will we have to hand over command with the new commander Takashi Hishikari tomorrow morning?" ”

"Yes." Muto Nobuyoshi nodded undeniably and said, "General Ryokari Takashi, escorted by the naval transport fleet, has now arrived outside Bohai Bay, and should now be heading towards Lushun at full speed, and he will be able to land and land in the second half of the night at the latest." ”

"Then we're going back to our roots." Hashimoto Toranosuke's eyes showed unwilling loss.

Before Muto Nobuyoshi could answer, a sudden sound of hurried footsteps came from outside.

The two turned their heads to look, only to see Ishihara Wan'er walking in hurriedly.

Without any experience, Ishihara asked when he met: "General, I just heard that reinforcements will arrive tonight, right?" ”

"Yes." Muto Nobuyoshi hesitated and nodded in reply, and then asked, "What, Ishihara-kun, do you have any questions?" ”

"General, we immediately prevent reinforcements from coming ashore, and immediately abandon the evacuation of Dalian with them on the ships of the transport fleet." Ishihara said in an astonishing way.

"Nani? Give up Dalian? Muto Nobuyoshi was a little surprised, and looked at Ishihara Waner uncertainly: "Ishihara-kun, you didn't drink too much, did you?" Didn't you say now that I should gather my troops and hold Dalian with all my might? Now that Jinzhou and Anton have given up, and the imperial army has concentrated no less than 100,000 troops in the Dalian area, you asked me to abandon this place and withdraw my troops? ”

"General, I didn't drink at my humble level, I'm sober." Ishihara was not in a hurry or impatient, and said: "At this time and that time, the performance of the former emperor's army in Yingkou has also strengthened the confidence of the humble people to stick to Dalian.

However, in yesterday's battle, the addition of new artillery of the Chinese army immediately wiped out the confidence of the humble post.

However, individual soldiers can carry shoulder-mounted direct-fire artillery, which is no worse than infantry artillery, and with this weapon, it is impossible for the imperial army to block the attack of the Chinese army with the complex terrain of strong fortifications and cities.

Holding on any further will only increase unnecessary casualties, and there is no point in other than that. ”

Muto Nobuyoshi was a little disapproving, and said: "Ishihara-kun, you are a bit alarmist, we have 100,000 troops, intensively deployed to defend Dalian, a small place, can't we still hold it?" ”

"If the Imperial Army has air supremacy, it can definitely be defended, but the key is that we don't have it, not only do we not have air supremacy, but even the naval fleet is threatened by its own safety and cannot provide us with strong naval artillery fire support.

In this way, it was impossible for the Imperial Army to hold the outer line of defense.

There is no periphery, as for the street fighting, you can see the Battle of Yingkou, and it is not difficult to guess the final outcome of the Battle of Dalian. Ishihara replied unhurriedly.

After listening to Ishihara's analysis, Muto Nobuyoshi fell into hesitation, it can be said that he was already a little exhausted, and he was also anxious by the Northeast New Army, and he was a little shaken.

He hesitated: "However, even if we withdraw now, it is impossible for the 100,000 troops to evacuate overnight, and there are already 40,000 imperial troops on the naval transport fleet, and there are not many extra ships that can carry the officers and soldiers of Dalian." ”

"This is not difficult, so that the reinforcements can immediately disembark and land on Changshan Island, Zhangzi Island and other islands, and then transport the officers and soldiers of the Dalian Imperial Army to retreat.

Zhang Xinghan's Northeast New Army did not have a navy, and as long as we withdrew to an island far from the land, they would have nothing to do with us, at best, they would send an air force to bomb us.

But it is impossible to completely annihilate our Dalian defenders. "Ishihara Wanerdao.

"Changshan Island? Zhangzi Island? Muto Nobuyoshi's eyes lit up when he heard this.

The chief of staff, Toranosuke Hashimoto, also suddenly realized: "Your Excellency, this is really a good way, there are dozens of large and small islands in the Bohai Bay, not to mention 100,000 troops, even 500,000 troops, which can be accommodated." ”

Muto Nobuyoshi pondered for a moment and then said, "The new commander of the Kwantung Army, General Ryokari Takashi, is about to arrive, and I must inform him of this idea and report it to the base camp so that they can decide,"

Ishihara was anxious when he heard this: "But the general, General Ryokarata has just arrived in Manchuria and does not understand the situation, what if he does not agree to give up Dalian?" There is also a base camp, they are thousands of miles away, how can such a decision be left to them to decide, this will bury the lives of hundreds of thousands of imperial warriors. ”

Muto Nobuyoshi shrugged his shoulders a little helplessly: "Ishihara-kun, you must know that even if we don't report to the base camp, we will only have to be General Ryokaraka, he is the new commander of the Kwantung Army, and the 40,000 reinforcements and transport fleet are under his control, how can we retreat without his consent?" ”

Ishihara nodded silently, and had to say, "I hope General Ryokari can calm down and don't make too stupid decisions." ”

"Ishihara-kun, don't be too pessimistic, I will explain in detail the difficulties we are facing now and state the pros and cons in a telegram to General Hishigara, and I think General Hishigari Takashi will agree." Muto Nobuyoshi said with relief.

…………………………………… On the sea about 100 nautical miles from Dalian, there is a huge fleet of dozens of large transport ships, frigates, destroyers, cruisers, and small gunboats sailing at full speed in the direction of Dalian.

On one of the light cruisers, the new commander of the Kwantung Army, Admiral Takashi Hishigari, was in his room at the moment discussing with the new chief of staff Kuniaki Koiso, deputy chief of staff Okamura Ninji, and others about the war on the peninsula, which was already so serious that there was no additional situation.

This Lingyilong general, like Muto Nobuyoshi, was an army general, and both served as commanders of the Kwantung Army.

He was the commander before the 918 incident, and he can be said to be the predecessor of Honjo Shigeru.

Counting this time, this old devil is also serving in the Kwantung Army for the second time.

Compared with Muto Nobuyoshi's calmness, Ryokari Takashi, an old devil, is more serious and resolute, and he has a good understanding of Chinese issues, so he has always been known as the leader of the army within the army.

This reputation is not something that ordinary people can think of.

It can be seen from this that the base camp chose Ryokari Takashi to take over as the commander of the Kwantung Army at this critical juncture in the hope that he would be able to turn the tide and contain the situation on the Liaodong Peninsula, which was constantly eroding and deteriorating.

For the Great Empire to defend the last base in Manchuria.

His chief of staff, Kuniaki Koiso, is not good at stubble, this person is a classmate who graduated from the same period as Sugiyama Moto, Shunroku Hata and Shouzo Nishio.

He has served in the Ministry of War for a long time, and has served as the commander of the Korean Army for a long time in history, and is known as the Tiger of Korea.

As for Deputy Chief of Staff Okamura Ninji, not to mention the great name of this old devil, whose strategic vision and tactical command ability are definitely among the best in the army that invaded China.

It's just that now he is only a major general, and he is a hand for Koiso Kuniaki.

A few old devils were distracted, and suddenly there was a rush of footsteps outside, Okamura Ninji was the first to raise his head and squint, he could clearly hear that the sound was made by cowhide military boots stepping on the iron corridor.

Sure enough, soon there was a knock on the door of the room, and Okamura Ninji walked over and asked, "Who is it?" ”

"An urgent telegram from the Dalian Headquarters of the Kwantung Army!" A somewhat hurried voice came from outside the door.

Okamura Ninji looked back at Kuniaki Koiso and Takashi Hishikari, and then opened the door.

A signal soldier hurriedly saluted, and Okamura Ninji subconsciously replied and let him in sideways.

After walking in, the devil communication soldier respectfully saluted the two old devils, Ryokari Takashi and Koiso Kuniaki: "General, Commander Muto Nobuyoshi is calling!" ”

Koiso Kuniaki took the message with a strange face and respectfully handed it to Ryokara.

Ryokari took the message and read it, and his face suddenly became solemn.

"General, what's wrong?" Kuniaki Koiso asked.

"Commander Muto Nobuyoshi wants us to immediately land on the Changshan Islands and other islands, and free up warships to meet the evacuation of the Dalian Imperial Army." Takashi Hishikari said in a shocking voice.

"What? Evacuate? Koiso Kuniaki and Okamura Ninji both had drastic changes in their faces.

However, the former was obviously more impulsive than Okamura Ningji, and said angrily: "General, Muto Nobuyoshi and they have already lost most of the Northeast, and now they even have to give up Dalian, the only outlet to the sea?" It just doesn't make sense! ”

Ryokari Takashi fell into deep thought, and Okamura Ninji suddenly asked, "General, Commander Muto, are they in trouble?" ”

Ryokara nodded and said, "Well, the Chinese army is equipped with a new type of artillery, which made the 30,000 troops of the imperial army defeated in one day, and Yingkou, the gateway of Dalian, became an enemy!" General Muto Nobuyoshi has lost hope in holding Dalian, so he hopes that we can cooperate with them in evacuating. ”

As he spoke, Ryokari handed the telegram to Okamura Ninji and said, "This has a general introduction to the enemy's advanced artillery, Okamura-kun and Koiso-kun can take a look." ”

After reading it, Okamura Ninji and Koiso Kuniaki frowned and pondered, as if they were thinking about something.

However, Koiso Kuniaki said to Ryokaraka: "Your Excellency, General, I don't think we need to cooperate with their stupid decision at all, now there are still 100,000 imperial troops in Dalian, with sufficient reserves of weapons, ammunition and food, plus the 40,000 reinforcements we have brought.

Can't 140,000 troops hold a mere Dalian city?

Anyway, you are already the newly appointed commander of the Kwantung Army in the base camp, and as long as we land, Muto Nobuyoshi will have to hand over the command of the 100,000 Kwantung Army.

I believe that under the wise command of the general, we will be able to turn defeat into victory and hold Dalian! ”

(To be continued)