The third part of the bloody and fire war of resistance, the tenth chapter, the third section of the war drums

The low sound of the piano carried a little resentment, wandering in the courtyard of Zhongnanhai that exuded historical agarwood, Okamura Ninji played this cherry blossom song intently, this is not many songs he knows, and Chief of Staff Oshiro knelt respectfully beside him. A week ago, Okamura Ninji suddenly ordered the headquarters to be moved to Zhongnanhai.

This cherry blossom song is very popular in Japan, almost everyone who has learned the song can play it, Oshiro himself will talk, Okamura's fingering is obviously unfamiliar, and he has played it wrong in several places, of course Oshiro will not point it out, he listened silently, this song can very well represent his and Okamura's current mood.

He quietly glanced at the information in his hand, General China held a military meeting in Dexian County, he almost didn't have to guess to know the topic of this meeting, but he didn't think that General China would launch an attack in the near future, various intelligence showed that the logistics of the China Army were very difficult, and it would take at least a month to reach the offensive conditions.

Of course, the difficulties of sending troops to North China are even greater, in addition to the lack of troops, the materials are also difficult, the Chinese Air Force has recently intensified the bombing of the Beining Line and Tianjin Tanggu, the Chinese airdropped leaflets in Tianjin, asking citizens not to go to the port dock to avoid injury, the Chinese coolies working at the dock scattered and fled, seriously affecting military transportation, the Tianjin occupation army was forced to arrest citizens to unload goods at the dock, and the Chinese immediately announced that the Tianjin garrison violated the Geneva Treaty, and China will investigate after the war.

A large number of Tianjin citizens fled from Tianjin City, along the Jinpu Road and the canal south to flee to the China Defense Area, this wind quickly spread outward, some Beiping citizens also joined the southern fleeing team, and even the peasants around the city began to flee, Okamura Ninji had to urgently order Tianjin to stop arresting people, and at the same time issued a proclamation, announcing that the imperial army would maintain social stability, and any forcible arrest of law-abiding residents would be severely punished, for which he did not hesitate to publicly punish soldiers on the streets of Beiping; These measures have temporarily eased the mood of the Chinese people in the Pingjin area.

The Japanese then discovered that when they lived in close proximity to the Chinese population, the Chinese air force bombed significantly less intensely, so the garrisons were relocated to try to get closer to the Chinese, and in order to pacify the Chinese, even the most brutal officers began to restrain their subordinates.

In the three-day bombardment, the Tianjin wharf was seriously damaged, and three ships waiting to be unloaded were blown and sunk, and Okamura Ninji had to order the transport ship to turn to Qinhuangdao, but the Chinese air force seemed to smell the fishy smell and rushed to Qinhuangdao, so Okamura Ninji had to order to give up during the day and use the night to unload the supplies, which seriously affected the speed of material transfer.

The cherry blossoms quickly withered after the splendor, the sound of the piano was mournful and poignant, and the sea of flowers in the upper forest turned into bare branches in an instant, crossing the chūn summer and autumn into the harsh winter, shivering in the howling north wind.

When the sound of the piano disappeared, there was a brief silence in the room, and after a long time, there was a gentle applause in the room, Okamura Ninji shook his head slightly, and sighed: "I haven't played the piano for a long time, and the more I have become sparse." ”

Dacheng smiled slightly: "There is an ancient saying in China, the piano has a heart, playing the piano is related to the state of mind, and the technique is secondary." ”

Okamura Ninji stood up silently, today he did not wear a military uniform, but a wide kimono, Okamura Ninji walked into the courtyard, Oshiro followed, there were a few plum blossoms in the yard, white with pink, exuding bursts of fragrance.

"What's going on?" Okamura Ninji stopped in front of the plum tree, and he had already seen the telegram in Oshiro's hand.

"Three days ago, General China convened a military meeting of the North China Theater in Dexian County, and in addition, information came from Hubei and Henan that the people of China had organized a large number of front teams, which were larger than any previous ones; The Zhina Army in the direction of Suiyuan moved eastward, and the numbers that have been ascertained are, the 35th Army, the New 11th Army of the Eighth Route Army, the 86th Army and the 94th Army of the Central Army, Taiyuan News, Li Zongren and Lin Wei have arrived in Taiyuan, and the Jin Sui Army may also be dispatched to join the northern front operation. ”

It can be said that it is all bad news, such a move on the northern front is equivalent to an increase of 300,000 to 400,000 troops in the Chinese army, and there are about 2 million troops in the whole of North China. And the Chinese army also has air force and tank superiority, and what about the imperial army?

After Tatetakanosuke arrived in Manchuria, several telegrams came, and Umezu Mijiro began to disagree with the transfer of supplies and troops to the Manchurian border, and Soviet Russia added two divisions in the Far East, with a total strength of 460,000 troops, and the pressure on the Kwantung Army was also very great. In the telegram, Ristakanosuke clearly stated that the strength of the Kwantung Army was already very weak, the material reserves were only forty percent of what was needed, and although the strength of the army was 600,000, the Jīng Rui troops had been emptied, and now there was no division of the first division, and even the second division was only six, and the rest were all the third divisions. More than one-third of the front-line guards were manned by the Manchurian Defense Forces, which now numbered as many as 300,000, and about 200,000 rear garrisons.

Okamura Ninji thought for a moment: "General Shina is a cautious person, and if there are not enough supplies, he will not attack, and we should have another month." How long will it take for the 8th Division to arrive? ”

The first force was the Philippine Eighth Division, the second was the 19th Division, the 31st Division, the 88th Division, the 103rd Division, and the 117th Division, totaling more than 70,000 people. Perhaps aware of the dire situation of China's troops, the Navy sent its main fleet to escort the troops, including two aircraft carriers and five battleships, in an effort to deliver reinforcements to North China in the shortest possible time, and then turn around to meet the counteroffensive US Pacific Fleet.

"It is estimated that it will take two more days," Dacheng was a little worried in his heart, the bombing of Qinhuangdao in Tianjin by the Chinese Air Force was very frequent, and once they were discovered when they went ashore, the consequences would be disastrous: "Commander, did you go ashore at Yingkou instead?" ”

Okamura Ningji shook his head: "No, in Qinhuangdao, you can put it at night, order the air force, take off at night, block the Shina air force, and cover the reinforcements ashore." ”

Oshiro agreed, he knew that Okamura was worried that the Beining Line was badly bombed, and the reinforcements landed at Yingkou, so he could only walk from Shanhaiguan to Pingjin on two legs. However, Dacheng breathed a sigh of relief in the end, and all the reinforcements should arrive at the end of the month, so that the North China Dispatch Army could concentrate 430,000 troops, plus the military regiments in the countryside in the Pingjin area, the total strength reached 450,000, and the old people and children among the Japanese overseas Chinese in Zhangjiakou in Tianjin and Tianjin in Beiping had already begun to retreat to Manchuria, and the retreat did not go smoothly due to the bombing of the Chinese air force.

Okamura Ninji suddenly asked again, "Oshiro-kun, what do you think of Ishihara-kun's proposal?" ”

Ishihara came to North China to inspect the work, stayed in North China for three days, and had a secret conversation with Okamura Ninji three times, and his meaning Okamura Ninji understood in the first conversation, but Okamura pretended not to understand, and instead asked a few questions, if the Kwantung Army was fully supported, could it defeat the China Army in North China? After defeating the China Army, would Chiang Kai-shek conclude a peace treaty with Japan? If the North China Dispatch Army could not defeat the China Army in North China, after retreating to the Manchurian border, even if the China Army was defeated? Will Chiang Kai-shek reach an armistice with the Imperial Army?

These questions made it difficult for Ishihara to answer, after the Chinese army recaptured Pingjin, North China fell under the control of the Chinese government, and the Chinese army had two choices, continue to attack Manchuria and attack Jiangnan in the south; Judging from the situation in China, it is likely that the people of China will continue to attack, and the Kwantung Army and the North China Dispatch Army will jointly block the China Army, which is also the purpose of Ishihara Waner.

However, Ishihara ignored the attitude of Soviet Russia, Pingjin fell, and the Chinese army reached the Manchurian border, if it supported the reason for the Chinese to continue the offensive, then this reason also supported the Soviet army to move south, and the Soviet army in the Far East was bound to attack, and would never sit back and wait for the Chinese army to attack Manchuria.

On the contrary, Okamura Ninji suggested that the main force of the Kwantung Army should immediately go out of the pass, fight together with the North China Dispatch Army, and completely defeat the China Army in the North China Plain, only in this way can Chiang Kai-shek have some scruples, it will be possible to accept the conditions of the empire, and there will be hope for this war. Ishihara asked rhetorically, what if Chiang Kai-shek was still unwilling to accept the conditions of the empire under such circumstances? Okamura did not answer. Ishihara then asked if the North China Dispatch Army failed in this decisive battle of the main force, and the empire would never have a chance again, and could Okamura Ninji take this responsibility?

Ishihara went to Manchukuo disappointed, but Ishihara's proposal lingered in Okamura's mind, Oshiro was the only general to attend the final day of talks, and only he knew Ishihara's true intentions.

"It's a dilemma," Oshiro had also considered the views of the two of them in private, and after thinking about it, it was still difficult for him to make a judgment: "Commander, you can't judge your humble position." ”

"Don't worry, this is not a military meeting." Okamura Ninji thought that he didn't approve of him, but he was afraid of his identity and didn't dare to speak out.

Oshiro shook his head with a wry smile: "Commander, no, I really can't judge, the views of the Chief of General Staff and the Commander Ishihara can be said to be very risky, and the responsibility is so big, alas, I am glad that I am only a staff officer." ”

Staff officers do not need to make decisions, but only ensure that decisions are implemented, and report the situation in the process of implementation to the commander-in-chief, and make recommendations, and assume only a small responsibility.

Okamura Ninji didn't nod his head, nor did he look back, and he sighed for a long time: "You're right, Ishihara-kun's plan and Ishihara-kun are both in danger, Ishihara-kun's purpose is to buy time for the outer jiāo solution, and judging from the Tehran declaration, it is impossible for them to conclude a contract with us alone, so we can only strive for victory, complete victory." ”

Okamura Ninji expressed his thoughts in the past few days in just a few sentences, whether it was Ishihara or he used to, he pinned his hopes on the solution of the outer jiāo, but in the past few days he thought about it again and again, from military to political, and then to the outer jiāo, he finally found that it was impossible for Chiang Kai-shek to conclude a separate treaty with Japan, and the Cairo Declaration and the Tehran Declaration had blocked this possibility.

"There is a circumstance that may compel Chiang Kai-shek to make a treaty with us," Ayutthaya suddenly retorted, "that is, the occupation of Manchuria by Soviet Russia, and when such a situation arises, Chiang Kai-shek may be able to conclude a treaty with us." ”

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