"It's just a suggestion, no formal decision has been made. Perhaps it was due to the fact that the progress of the North China Front in the north was not going well, but no matter how well it went, this war must be fought until it was completely defeated and the people of China had no ability to resist. Terauchi Shouichi said coldly, at this time, even if it is the base camp, it can't control the intentions of the North China Front, and now he, as the supreme commander here, can't watch those mediocre guys make such a decision and not correct it, as long as the war here continues, even if the base camp doesn't agree, he has to still make every effort to organize manpower and material resources to supplement the North China Front.

"What is the attitude of the East China Dispatch Army? Your Excellency Commander has communicated with them? In addition, the Battle of Shijiazhuang, the strategic intention of the empire has not yet been completely achieved. Okabe Naosaburo exclaimed.

"Now the key is to see whether the Kawamoto detachment can achieve the set operational objectives, but according to intelligence, the second mechanized brigade of the Zhina Army, which had previously been in Langfang, has appeared in the torture platform, and has successively marched to Julu County. The tenacity of the Northwest Army of China is too strong, and the command is not as chaotic as the Army of Nanjing. There is an old saying among the Chinese that it is better to cut off one finger than to hurt ten fingers. Fighting on two fronts with it, constantly annihilating the enemy as much as possible, I have already contacted the East China Dispatch Army, and now the Central Army of China is retreating in the direction of Wuhan. And a large number of defenses were deployed in the Xuzhou area, trying to buy time for its layout and retreat in Wuhan. After the occupation of Hebei, I intend to launch another major battle in Xuzhou to annihilate the main force of the Central Army of China. Let it lose the strength to continue to defend Wuhan. After the East China Army was sent to occupy Wuhan. Then go north along Pinghan Road. and the North China Front to flank the Northwest Army of China in Henan. Strive to annihilate the main force of the Northwest Army of China in Henan, then China will be considered to have pacified more than half of it. ”

"The key to this battle is whether the Battle of Xuzhou can successfully annihilate the main force of the Central Army in Nanjing. If they succeed in evacuating, we will be in big trouble later. ”

Okabe Naosaburo said with a solemn face. It is not surprising that Terauchi Shouichi withstood the pressure from the base camp and still decided to cooperate with the East China Dispatch Army to launch the Battle of Xuzhou after capturing Hebei.

Although the history of the Republic of China has changed too much at this time, the basic context is still continuing, and the historical Terauchi Shouichi is also under the pressure of the base camp. I want to take the opportunity of the Battle of Xuzhou to annihilate the main force of the national * army in one fell swoop.

"Yes, I have always felt that although the land is vast and rich, but the Chinese army is unbearable, the empire has accumulated for decades, and now the large army sent out before and after has nearly 900,000 people, which is much higher than expected, and the previous weak Chinese army has shown amazing tenacity, even after the fall of Nanjing, it is still continuing to fight. And China is so vast. So it's not about taking one place right now. Rather, it is to find the best time to annihilate its main forces. ”

What Naosaburo Okabe can see, Shouichi Terauchi can naturally see. "According to the Empire's intelligence in Southeast Asia, the Chinese have long prepared a foreign aid channel after the war with the Empire. Construction of the highway from Yunnan to Burma began as early as last year, and the progress was very rapid, and it is rumored that the road was jointly built by the northwest of China and Nanjing. At their current pace, the road will be open to traffic in two months at most. Before that, the northwest of China had already built a road connecting with the Soviet Union, and the machinery from Vladivostok to the northwest was transported, and there were countless strategic materials. Now in the south, communication with the Great Powers has also been opened. The British and American ghosts have always been jealous of the empire's monopoly on the whole of East Asia, and with their funding, if the main force of the Chinese army cannot be annihilated as soon as possible, then the empire will face a never-ending war of attrition! ”

"The Yunnan-Burma Highway of the people of China is about to open to traffic?" Okabe Naosaburo was shocked.

"Yes, the connection between the northwest and the Soviet Union is only one of them, but the Yunnan-Qing Highway was jointly built by the northwest and Nanjing, which shows that they have long reached a consensus on the confrontation against the empire, although there are occasional battles, but they are still on the same front in terms of major rights and wrongs. For the time being, at least in the first stage, although the empire successfully captured Nanking and the southeast coast, the Chinese army was not devastated, on the contrary, the size of the northwest army was growing at an unprecedented rate in the war. Consumes considerable vital forces of the Empire. At this time, the base camp still had the luxury of hoping for temporary peace talks with China, and wanted to use a temporary peaceful way to allow the China army to continue to recuperate, this idea is really naïve! Shouichi Terauchi said angrily.

"Since those people have been corrupted, then we soldiers should use our actions to kidnap the policy of the base camp on our chariots!" There was a look of determination in Okabe's eyes.

"Well, let's talk about it after the war in Hebei is over, now the key depends on how the Sichuan herb fights, if you can take advantage of this battle to annihilate the two group armies in Hebei in the northwest of China, then the battle of Xuzhou will be much less disturbed. Otherwise, I'm afraid there will be changes at that time. Shouichi Terauchi sighed and looked at the night that was still heavy in the distance.

"This time, a small part of the armored force of the front army has been strengthened to the Kawamoto detachment, and Kawamoto has also been in battle for a long time, and he is a very good commander, I believe that he will definitely establish immortal feats for the empire." Naosaburo Okabe said.

"I'm afraid it didn't go so well, at the beginning in Langfang, Chiba Pingchuan's tank wing was devastated, Sun Liren who appeared in Langfang at that time, it was also the enemy general who blocked Kawamoto this time, judging from the battle of Langfang, Sun Liren's tactical attainments were not at all under the imperial new Yamashita Fengwen and Kawamoto. In addition, the Northwest Army of China has put into service a very powerful tank this time, which may be an exaggeration, but it cannot be denied that the tanks of the Northwest Army have indeed been strengthened, so I don't have much bottom this time. It's just that reality doesn't allow us to avoid war. If one day, the soldiers of the empire do not dare to fight in the face of the interception of the Chinese army, it will be an even greater disaster for us. Shouichi Terauchi said with undisguised worry on his face.

"Your Excellency Commander, be relieved, no matter how bad the outcome on Kawamoto's side is, it can't change the fact that the Battle of Shijiazhuang failed." Okabe Naosaburo said this, which can be regarded as acknowledging Terauchi Shouichi's worries, but what he said is also the trend of the times, since the Japanese army captured Shandong, Shijiazhuang has been surrounded by enemies on several sides, and no matter how tenacious the Northwest Army is, it is impossible to hold Shijiazhuang for a long time. (To be continued.) )