The Eighth Route Army suddenly proposed an attack in northeastern Anhui and northern Jiangsu, which made the Central China Dispatch Army unable to figure out the position for a while, and did not know what the Eighth Route Army wanted to do. After the news of the loss of strongholds in Lingbi, Wuhe, Sixian, Xuyi, and Suxian was confirmed, the headquarters of the Central China Dispatch Army was in chaos. Nagabe Masazō, adviser to the Japanese Central China Dispatch Army, knew in his heart that the matter of making the North China Front Army lose face fell on the Central China Dispatch Army.

This Kawabe Shozo is the third son of Toyama Kawabe Shunzo, the head of Talord Village, Toyama Prefecture, Japan, and successively the 19th Infantry Section of the Army Non-commissioned Officer School and the 27th Infantry Section of the Army University, which is the saber group. At the time of the Lugou Bridge Incident, Hebe Zhengzo was the commander of the infantry brigade of the Chinese garrison. In July, when the Japanese incident occurred, Kawabe Shozo was inspecting the army in Qinhuangdao, and received an order from Nagahashimoto Group, an adviser to the Chinese Zhutun Army, and Kawabe Shozo rushed back to Fengtai on July 8 to directly command the operation, acting as the vanguard of the invasion of China. It is precisely for this reason that Kawabe Shozo was promoted all the way to become the chief adviser of the Central China Dispatch Army and became a lieutenant general of the army.

At that time, like many madmen who invaded China, he thought that there was nothing, and felt that three months was a bit long to destroy China, and as long as he waved his sword, the squadron would flee until it was wiped out. Now that the war has been going on for two whole years, Kawabe Shozo and his ilk have also woken up a little and know that the Japanese army is completely mired in the quagmire of the war of aggression against China. Judging from the current situation, the Chinese government has become more difficult to supply due to the cutting off of supply lines for maritime trade, and it should not be far from surrendering. However, to the surprise of the Japanese army, the Chinese government not only did not surrender, but became stronger and stronger. In particular, the Eighth Route Army, which was active in North China, seemed to be getting bigger and bigger, its combat effectiveness was getting stronger and stronger, and its tactics were unpredictable. If it continues to grow up like this, I am afraid that the North China Front Army alone will not be able to deal with the Eighth Route Army.

Shozo Kawabe sometimes secretly rejoiced that he felt that he was much better at sending troops in Central China than in North China, "not having to endure the accusations of His Majesty the Emperor and the anger of the people." Therefore, as long as he had the opportunity, he told the base camp that he must ask the North China Front Army to defend the Longhai Road and fix the Eighth Route Army in North China, so that the Eighth Route Army would never be allowed to move south to merge with the New Fourth Army. Once the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army merge, the hinterland of Central China will be in danger.

What are you afraid of, what is Hebian Zhengsan's most worrying thing is that "the Eighth Route Army actually got rid of it in northeast Anhui and northern Jiangsu"? The Ming and Eighth Route armies are coming to seize Central China. After that, the rear of the Central China Dispatch Army could no longer be inferior to Ansheng.

Due to the absence of a commander, the Central China Dispatch Army was actually under the direct command of the base camp. Hebian Zhengsan did not dare to move, and immediately telegraphed to the base camp, saying that the main force of the Eighth Route Army instructor was moving south, and had now been deployed in northeastern Anhui and northern Jiangsu, capturing Sixian, Wuhe, Lingbi, Xuyi, and Siyang counties, and the troops were directly aimed at Huaiyin and Huai'an in the hinterland of northern Jiangsu. It is also possible to cross the Huai River and go south to "join forces with the New Fourth Army operating in eastern Anhui." How to react to the troops in northern and central Jiangsu and continue to provide urgent tactical guidance.

After sending the telegram to the base camp, Hebian Zhengzo sent a telegram to the Kou Division, ordering them to hold the Jinpu Road and the Huaihe River defense area, and strictly prevent the Eighth Route Army from crossing the river and heading south. It ordered the self-reliant mixed 1st Brigade, the 5th Brigade, and the 7th Brigade in northern and central Jiangsu to quickly gather troops and strictly prevent a sneak attack by the Eighth Route Army. At the same time, the commander of the 11th Army, Lieutenant General Okamura Ninji, was ordered to make preparations for sending troops to reinforce northeastern Anhui and northern Jiangsu.

After receiving a telegram from Shozo Riverside, several culprits of the Japanese base camp could no longer sit still. Originally, the Japanese army base camp was paying attention to the Kwantung Army's Battle of Nomenhan, and was considering whether to establish a unified command organization to "command the Battle of Nomenhan" in accordance with the request of the Kwantung Army. Now, as soon as the telegram from Shozo Riverside arrived, Prince Miyazaihito, the chief adviser of the chief officer, Miyajihito, the prime minister of the land, and the military counselor Terauchi Shouichi, all thought of a question: It turns out that the hinterland of Central China is so empty!

In addition to sighing, Prince Zairen of Xianyuan Palace raised a question: "That is, the unified command of the Central China Dispatch Army." At present, there is no commander of the Central China Dispatch Army, and the daily work is presided over by the adviser Shozo Kawabe. Whether it is seniority, prestige, or command ability, "I am afraid that he is not Liu Yimin's opponent, and he must immediately send a general to Nanjing to unify the command of the operation in Central China."

Originally, the most suitable candidate for this position should be Lu Xiangjunliu, and let him return to his original position. But Yan Junliu is now a member of the cabinet, and as soon as he leaves office, the cabinet will collapse immediately. Although the Hiranuma Cabinet will not be able to hold out for long, no one is willing to be the culprit of the collapse of the Cabinet, right?

In this way, the most suitable candidate is about to come out, and that is General Toshiichi Terauchi, the military senator. He had served as the land minister, respected the commander of the North China Front, and had a high prestige and authority in the Japanese army.

To tell the truth, Terauchi Shouichi returned to Tokyo and sat on the cold bench for so long, and he was already impatient in his heart, where can this military senator be compared to being the emperor in North China, that is the commander of the front army who has the power of life and death, and I don't know how many times stronger than this cold and silent military senator! Now the opportunity has come, and it is necessary to equip the commander of the Central China Dispatch Army.

This location is also good, Shanghai has more money than Tianjin, Beiping, and more fashionable women, and when you arrive in Nanjing, you have your own calculations, what you want.

Terauchi Shouyi almost asked Mao to recommend himself, but when he thought of the defeat in North China, Terauchi Shouyi's heart armor trembled, and he really refused to face Liu Yimin's Eighth Route Army instructor, because he couldn't figure out where Liu Yimin, a guy who didn't play cards according to common sense, would get rid of it, so that he couldn't guard against it. Now that Liu Yimin has gone to Central China to dismantle Taiwan again, and he has taken up the post of commander of the Central China Dispatch Army, will he lose his prestige as he did in North China?

When Prince Zaihito asked Terauchi if he would like to be the commander of the Central China Dispatch Army, Terauchi was vague and did not give a clear answer.

When he returned home in the evening, Shouichi Terauchi put his arms around Sister Masako, who had become his concubine, and hesitated about whether to serve as the commander of the Central China Dispatch Army, "I don't know whether it's better to go or not."

Although Sister Masako was raped and annexed by Terauchi Shouichi, she has now become Terauchi Shouichi's concubine, living a life of a caged bird in the Earl's Mansion in Terauchi, Tokyo, and often has to look at the face of the Countess Terauchi, and she is already so upset that she is dying. Hearing that Shouichi Terauchi was still hesitating, he was immediately excited, he should go, go immediately, and it is better to leave now. She didn't want to stay in Tokyo for a day. Her parents thought she was the concubine of Shouichi in the temple, "and they don't have anything to do with her." Those famous ladies also laughed at her for depreciating her identity and not playing with her. Mrs. Terauchi also regarded her as a vixen who seduced her husband, and never gave a good face. If you stay in Tokyo any longer, you will have to suffocate to death.

Sister Masako seemed to feel that she was going to live like that in Beiping again, and her excited words were a little louder, so that Mrs. Rinchi heard it, and she was unwilling, so she sent a maid to knock on the door of Masako's bedroom.

This time it was lively, Masako hugged Terauchi Shouichi and didn't let him leave, and the maid stood outside the door and kept urging, which made Terauchi Shouichi extremely angry, pushed Masako away, put on his clothes, and went out to kick the maid with a kick "Kicked the maid and fainted."

Mrs. Teraechi's meaning of looking for Terauchi Shouichi is very simple, that is, to support him as the commander of the Central China Dispatch Army, so that he can go with peace of mind and not worry about his family. China is so big, and there is a lot of money, "I was a commander in China for one year, and a military staff officer in Japan for 100 years."

Terauchi Shouichi couldn't imagine that his wife was so open-minded, so he would meet the emperor tomorrow and express his willingness to go to Central China.

Seeing her husband's promise, Mrs. Terauchi actually wanted to be gentle with her husband, so she untied her clothes in front of Terauchi Shouichi, and lowered her head shyly, trying her best to pretend to be a pure woman. Unexpectedly, Terauchi Shouichi didn't mean that at all, and the lady was gentle, "Where can you compare to Masako's youth!"

Looking at Shouichi Terauchi, who was leaving, Mrs. Terauchi was ashamed and angry, "I had to keep the empty bed alone with tears."

There are many factions within the Japanese army, Prince Zaihito of the Imperial Palace wants to recommend Terauchi Shouichi to be the commander of the Central China Dispatch Army, and Teran Shouichi himself is willing to go, but others don't think so, there are many generals in the Japanese army who sit on the cold bench, which one doesn't want to go to Central China!

The next day, when Toshiichi Terauchi met with Emperor Hirohito with Prime Minister Keiichiro Hiranuma, Prince Zaihito Miyajihito, Chief of Advisers, and Shunroku Riku, the Emperor approved the Kwantung Army's request to set up a unified command organization to be responsible for directing the battle at Nomenkan, and ordered the establishment of the Sixth Army, with Lieutenant General Tatebu Ogisu, commander of the 13th Division, under the command of the 23rd Division, the Eighth National Border Garrison, and the army directly under the army, and commanded the Second Division and the Seventh Division to undertake the defensive combat mission against the Soviet Union for the purpose of Hailar. He demanded that the Ogisu Libing be ordered to quickly hand over the defense of the 13th Division and quickly go to work.

When the Kwantung Army broke out in the Nomenkan conflict in May, it established the Fifth Army, with Kenji Dohihara as the commander of the army, under the jurisdiction of the "division", a cavalry brigade, two border garrisons, and a self-supporting garrison. Now that the Sixth Army has been formed, together with the Third Army and the Fourth Army, which were established last year, the Kwantung Army already has four army headquarters.

Prince Zairen of Xianyuan Palace proposed that due to Liu Yimin, the instructor of the Eighth Route Army, invaded the Suzhou-Anhui region, many county towns in the Suzhou-Anhui region were captured. In order to unify the command of the Central China Dispatch Army, it was urgent to appoint the commander of the Central China Dispatch Army. In addition, the Shanghai area needs to organize an army to command the Japanese army in the Shanghai area in a unified manner.

At the end of the day, Prince Zaihito presented his plan for the formation of the 13th Army, which was under the jurisdiction of the 15th, 17th, and 116th Divisions, as well as the 1st, 5th, 7th, 11th, and 12th Brigades, and the 22nd Division was transferred from North China to join the 13th Army.

The commander of the Central China Dispatch Army is to be assigned to Shouichi Terauchi, and the commander of the 13th Army is to be assigned to Lieutenant General Kiyoshi Kazuki.

Emperor Hirohito sat on the throne, and no one could see his face clearly, but everyone could hear the empty voice. The emperor's understanding approved the establishment of the B Army and agreed to appoint a new commander of the Central China Dispatch Army. However, the specific selection changed, and the emperor appointed the Army's director of education, Nishio Toshizo, as commander of the Central China Dispatch Force and commander of the 13th Army. asked Nishio Shouzao to come to Jin immediately, and after Jin saw it, he immediately rushed to Nanjing to command the battle.

The emperor's decision left Prince Zaihito of Kanin Palace and Shouichi Terauchi dumbfounded. Prince Zaihito of the palace is okay, Terauchi Shouichi was cool in his heart, staring at Emperor Hirohito on the throne with frightened eyes, not knowing where he was to blame the emperor" caused His Majesty the Emperor to veto his appointment.

Nishio Shouzo was summoned and arrived.

This old devil, when he heard that he was about to take up the post of commander of the Central China Leek Army, he was so excited that the old road was a gust of wind," arsenic civet looked arrogant.

Terauchi Shouichi looked at Nishio Shouzo, the commander of the Second Army who he didn't like in the past, and suddenly understood in his heart that he blamed himself for being careless and neglecting Jingzhou, and last night he knew that he was sleeping with Masako's white and tender body in his arms, and forgot that he should quietly enter the palace and ask to see His Majesty "Let Nishio Shouzo take advantage of the loophole."

Shouichi in the temple suddenly had evil thoughts in his heart, and silently cursed in his heart that Nishio Shouzao could not die well, and it was best to die under Liu Yimin's gun.

What made Terauchi Shouichi even more angry was that Emperor Hirohito should set up a unified command organization to command all Japanese troops in the Kannai, so as to facilitate the coordination and use of the North China Front Army and the Central and South China armies, and asked Nishio Shouzo to study more after arriving in China, and come up with a large battle plan to completely solve the squadron's problems, and consider planning the establishment of a Chinese Dispatch Army Command "once the time is ripe."

Prince Zaihito of the Imperial Palace admired this, believing that His Majesty the Emperor was far-sighted and more thoughtful than him.

This old devil, regardless of the reason why his proposal of Terauchi Shouichi was vetoed by the emperor, immediately said that His Majesty the Emperor was wise and should indeed establish a Chinese dispatch command.

Emperor Hirohito simply ignored the flattery of Prince Zaihito of the Imperial Palace, and instructed Nishio Shouzo not to consider the establishment of a Chinese dispatch army headquarters after arriving in China, and to step up the offensive operations against the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army in the Suzhou-Anhui region, recapture the lost county towns, and eliminate Liu Yimin's troops who had rushed into the Suzhou-Anhui region.

Emperor Hirohito affirmed that the Eighth Route Army in the Suzhou-Anhui region was supposed to be only part of Liu Yimin's army, "and it is necessary to seize the opportunity to instigate a sweep and destroy part of it."

Terauchi Shouichi almost jumped up in anger and rushed to the throne to reason with Emperor Hirohito, what a good position is the commander of the Chinese dispatch army, who can be more suitable for this position than Terauchi Shouichi?

Terauchi Shouichi was a giant of the Japanese army, "I can't be so moved." Holding back the sorrow in his heart, Terauchi Shouichi thought, since His Majesty the Emperor does not reuse himself, "just go home and hug his wife, whether the war in China is smooth or not" is a bird business!

Terauchi Shouichi has been in China for a long time, and he even learned the words of the Chinese and knows the "bird".

Nishio Shouzo is a professional soldier, his words are direct, there are not so many bends, he just swears to Emperor Hirohito to assure him, he will untie the cable after handing over the work, and he will live up to His Majesty's trust, regain the lost territory occupied by the Eighth Route Army, eliminate Liu Yimin's tutor, eliminate all Chinese anti-Japanese forces that dare to resist, and let Chiang Kai-shek surrender to the Japanese Empire.

Terauchi Shouichi sneered in his heart: I can't destroy the Eighth Route Army, can I destroy the Eighth Route Army with Nishio Shouji? The guy who blows the snail skin and doesn't file a tax return, wait for the defeat to be disadvantageous!

Nishio Shouzao left after summoning him, looking at his glorious face, he seemed to be sneering at Terauchi Shouichi: Terauchi General, I Nishio Shouzao is also the commander of the front army, and he is the commander of the Chinese dispatch army. I'm afraid you'll have to listen to my orders in the future! Terauchi Shouichi's face became even more ugly, and he greeted the women of the Nishio Shouzao family in his heart.

Probably seeing Terauchi Shouichi's unhappy face, Emperor Hirohito spoke: "Earl Terauchi, don't be impatient, there is still an important appointment, but there is less time." I don't let me down. ”

As soon as Shou Terauchi heard this, his mouth turned away, what other important appointment can be compared to the position of commander of the Chinese dispatch army? Forget it, let's go home to recuperate, my family was originally rich, and I got so much money in North China, which is enough to enjoy in this life, and I can't talk nonsense with His Majesty the Emperor.

Terauchi Shou raised his head and played: "Your Majesty, the minister is unwell and needs treatment." Please go home and recuperate. ”

The reason why Emperor Hirohito chose Nishio Shouzo was indeed that Nishio Shouzo entered the palace to show his loyalty and gave a heavy gift to Empress Ryoko. In fact, Emperor Hirohito also knew that Nishio Shouzo was a professional soldier, which was more rigid, far inferior to Terauchi Shouichi. It's just that Queen Liangzi's pillow is very windy, it is Terauchi Shouyi and Liu Yimin who fight, fight a battle and lose a battle, and the general of the defeated army is not brave enough to be brave, and the general should be changed. Emperor Hirohito thought about this as well, so he abandoned the temple and chose Nishio.

Hearing that Terauchi Shouichi was going to pick a son again, Emperor Hirohito, who felt guilty in his heart, also owed nothing, but repeatedly persuaded Terauchi Shouichi that the international situation was unpredictable, and Earl Terauchi knew the situation in Germany, and should study more information from Germany in order to assume a more important position in the future.

Terauchi Shou didn't want to listen to a word, thinking that the emperor simply regarded him as a three-year-old child, and he didn't cry when he gave him a jelly bean, so he kowtowed angrily and said goodbye.

Watching Terauchi Shouichi leave depressed, Emperor Hirohito told Keiichiro Hiranuma, Prince Zaihito of the Kanin Palace, and Yan Shunroku that they should seriously study the battle on the Harar River and come up with a sheath execution. The longer it dragged on, the heavier the economic burden of the Great Japanese Empire. Either we should fight hard or withdraw our troops, and we must quickly come up with a decisive opinion.

Hiranuma Takeichiro, Prince Zaihito of the Idle Palace, and Yan Junroku are all full of hai, and they look a bit like a few barking pugs.