[Anti-Japanese Iron Blood King] Chapter 397: Ma Zheng's Weakness (Ask for subscriptions, ask for monthly passes, ask for everything!) ）

Hearing Aiko Sato say that someone had been sent to pursue Liu Fengchi's family, the expression on General Sugiyama's face finally eased, but thinking of the mess he was facing now, Sugiyama Moto's mood was irritable.

After a long time, Sugiyama Motosai said again: "Sato, have the losses in this battle been counted?" ”

"Report to Your Excellency Commander, it has been counted that the imperial army lost more than 23,000 soldiers on the front line of Zhang (Jiakou) and Da (Tong), including 8,442 in the Imperial Association Army and 14,779 in the Imperial Army. In the area of Shuoxian, the losses of the mixed 2nd Brigade were also extremely heavy, reaching 1,622 people, all of which were caused by the battle with the 120th Division of China. In Chabei, the attack of the Chinese caused heavy losses to Li Sang's Mongol army, and at least 25,000 men were annihilated in this battle. Coupled with the losses on the first line of Rehe and eastern Hebei, the imperial army lost more than 85,000 soldiers this time, of which 45,000 were the real elite of the empire. Aiko Sato replied in a deep voice.

Sugiyama Mototo gasped, although he had already thought that this battle would inevitably be a heavy loss, but he did not expect that it would be as high as 85,000 people. This number is really shocking, you must know that when the Sino-Japanese war broke out in Showa 12, the total strength of the Imperial Japanese Army was only 250,000 people, even if the empire spared no effort to expand its troops in the past two years, and divisions were formed one after another, but the total strength was still less than one million.

So far, the total strength of the Japanese Empire on the battlefield in China is less than 800,000, of which 200,000 are in North China, 300,000 in Central China, 100,000 in South China, and the rest are all in Northeast China and Taiwan. As a former land minister, Sugiyama is very aware of the current economic situation in Japan, and with the current national strength of Japan, the maximum number of troops that can arm one million has already reached the limit, and I am afraid that it will be impossible to have more.

If more armies are forcibly formed, the result will be a rapid deterioration of the domestic economy, a rapid decline in the standard of living of the population, and an increase in poverty. In the long run, the war will inevitably bring down the Great Japanese Empire.

However, it was widely believed in Japan that a million-strong army would be sufficient to deal with the situation in East Asia after the Shina Incident, but after this battle, Sugiyama Motomo believed that the million-strong army alone seemed to be lacking in strength to solve the Shina problem. You must know that taking this public order and rectification battle plan as an example, the Imperial Japanese Army dispatched almost all the troops in North China, but the results achieved were very limited, and they no longer wanted to have the same brilliant results as at the beginning of the war.

Many people can't see this deep thing clearly, thinking that this is a normal phenomenon, but in fact it is not normal at all. This shows that the people of China have adapted to this war, which is by no means good news for the Great Japanese Empire, once a great power has adapted to external pressure, then it will cost a thousand times to conquer it.

Just like now, a small Eighth Route Army Suicha Military Region has made the commander of his front army anxious, and he lost more than 80,000 people in the first war, which no one could have imagined before the war.

Sugiyama didn't speak, but suddenly stood up, turned his gaze to the map of North China on the wall behind him, and then was silent for a few minutes, and then said, "Sato, how many troops are there in Rehe now?" ”

"Report to Your Excellency Commander, there is still a part of the 30th Wing of the Second Division stationed in Chifeng in the north of Rehe, and the cavalry wing of the Second Division is also resting in Ningcheng at this time, plus the troops scattered in other banner counties in Rebei, there are about 8,000 imperial troops and 3,000 imperial troops in Rehe." Aiko Sato replied immediately.

"What about Jidong, how many available troops does the imperial army have in Jidong?" Sugiyama asked again.

"There are not many left, in addition to the two thousand gendarmes stationed in Tangshan, there is only one garrison brigade in Qinhuangdao, and there are less than 8,000 people including the Imperial Army. What's more, these troops are relatively scattered, almost scattered to various counties, and the Imperial Association Army also accounts for a large proportion, and the combat effectiveness is worrying! If the people of China had another great rebellion in eastern Hebei, the imperial army would surely suffer heavy losses. Aiko Sato replied.

General Sugiyama Yuan slowed down, took a few sips of cold tea by the way, and then continued: "Yo Xi, the people of China will not miss such a good opportunity, and we must not sit still. ”

Aiko Sato said: "Your Excellency Commander, the people of China will definitely take advantage of the victory to pursue and expand the results of the battle, but I think that our enemy should not be Ma Zheng's headquarters of the Suicha Military Region of China. ”

"Why, tell me your judgment!" Sugiyama asked immediately.

"The judgment of the humble position is based on the conclusion that Ma Zheng's department is now in the situation, that is, Ma Zheng's department should not attack to the east. First, the combat effectiveness of the Second Division is one of the best in the imperial army, and even if the people of China inflict heavy losses on the Second Division, their own casualties will be extremely heavy. The second is that the main force of the 16th Division withdrew to Zhangjiakou, which posed a threat to the rear road of Ma Zheng's headquarters, so the withdrawal of Ma Zheng's troops was inevitable. ”

Then Aiko Sato continued: "The most important point is that the current defense area of Ma Zheng's department is too big, not long ago they just captured Suixi from the imperial army, and then captured Chabei, and now they have captured the important town of Rehe, Chengde, Ma Zheng will not understand the truth of being greedy and chewing, so the final task for the next time is to digest the occupied area, not an endless attack." ”

"Yo Xi, Sato, your analysis is very reasonable, then who do you think our enemy will be??" Sugiyama asked again.

"Your Excellency Commander, in addition to Ma Zheng's department, the people of China also have a considerable military force in eastern Hebei, that is, the fourth column of the Eighth Route Army that led the great uprising in eastern Hebei last year."

"The Fourth Column of the Eighth Route Army? What scale? ”

"The column is the number of the first level of the Eighth Route Brigade of the Zhinatu, which is equivalent to the detachment in the imperial army, but the strength of this unit is at least 15,000 or more. The commander of this unit is called Song Shilun, a military commander with a strategic vision, and it is because of the sudden appearance of this fourth column that it led to a rebellion of 200,000 people in eastern Hebei last year, which greatly dealt a blow to the prestige of the imperial army in eastern Hebei. Aiko Sato said.

"Yo Xi, the analysis is very reasonable, and immediately ordered the defenders of all counties and cities in eastern Hebei to immediately withdraw to Tangshan and Qinhuangdao. At the same time, he ordered Hattori's special security team to be dispatched, hasn't Hattori always boasted that his special security team can be used as ten, then let him fight with this fourth column of the Eighth Road. In addition, it is now necessary to send troops northward to stabilize the situation in eastern Hebei, which is a passage connecting northern China and northeast China, and there is absolutely no room for failure. Sugiyama said in a deep voice.

"Hay!"

Then Sugiyama Gen continued: "We lost again in this battle, not to mention losing Chabei, but also let the Chinese people open up the passage to Rehe and Jidong, and the battlefield between us and the Chinese people will be transferred to the area between North China and Manchuria for a long time, judging from the current situation, the strength of the imperial army here is not dominant, and we must find a way to change this situation!" ”

Sugiyama Gen is worthy of being a rare tactician in the Japanese Army, and according to the current situation, he quickly analyzed the next stage of combat missions, and from this point of view, Sugiyama Gen is indeed much stronger than Terauchi Shouichi.

Sugiyama Yuan, who had calmed down, looked even more terrifying, and his keen eyes swept around the huge military map, looking for loopholes in the defense of Ma Zheng's headquarters and the entire Eighth Route Army.

After a long time, Sugiyama Moto's face was happy and said, "Yo Xi, I finally found it!" ”

Aiko Sato, who was on the side, asked puzzledly, "Your Excellency Commander, what did you find?" ”

"The weakness of the eight roads of the country, or the weakness of Ma Zheng!" Sugiyama said confidently.

"Weakness?"

"Sato, throughout this operation, the reason why Ma Zheng's troops suddenly attacked the imperial army was just to solve the crisis of the Tuba Road in central and southern Hebei, which shows that the hateful general of China is not without a weakness, and his weakness is precisely the Tubalu scattered in other places. As long as you find their weakness, this thing will be easy to do! ”

Speaking of this, Sugiyama Yuan suddenly said loudly: "Sato, immediately order your special high-tech and gendarmerie to enter the southern Hebei region, and find out the strength and strongholds of the Tuba Road in the southern Hebei region at all costs, we are going to carry out the second southern Hebei sweep, I don't think Ma Zheng will come to the rescue!" (To be continued.) )