Just when Qiao Anbang was drastic in road construction and military training in northern Anhui, he also made a big move.

Due to the heavy casualties of the North China Front Army and the South China Front Army in the Battle of Xuzhou, the base camp of Yueben carried out the first general mobilization of the war in the territory of Xuzhou, (in history, it was also the end of the Battle of Xuzhou, in order to win the Battle of Wuhan, the national political axe was defeated in one fell swoop, and it was forced to surrender.) The progress of the war has now far exceeded the estimates of the top brassips.

In order to be able to end the war in China as soon as possible, it can be said that this time it can be said that it intends to expand the size of the army in China on a large scale with the strength of the whole country, and it is said that the top level of the army will increase the war expenditure by 3.52 billion yuan, and it is planned to expand the army by 250,000 within two months, of which 100,000 will be supplemented to the North China Front, so that the scale of its strength will be restored to before the Battle of Xuzhou, and two main divisions will be transferred from the Kwantung Army to help the North China Front occupy the rear, so that the North China Front can draw troops to prepare for the next offensive.

Another 150,000 men were replenished to the Central China Front, which had suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Huainan, and in addition to the rebuilding of the ninth, 13th, and 114th divisions, which had been completely wiped out, two ad hoc divisions were reorganized.

At the same time, the army also removed Yanagawa Heisuke, the current commander-in-chief of the Central China Front, and Tanabe Moritake, chief of staff, from their posts, and replaced the posts of commander-in-chief and chief of staff of the Central China Front with the current generals Shunroku Hata and Shozo Kawabe, respectively.

…………………… Nanjing, known as the General Headquarters of the Central China Front Army.

Yanagawa Heisuke and Tanabe Moritake have been removed from their posts and transferred back to their home countries, and Shunroku Hahata and Shozo Kawabe have officially replaced their predecessors as commanders and chiefs of staff of the Central China Front.

In the headquarters, Shunroku Hatata, who had just arrived in Nanjing, was familiar with the environment accompanied by Chief of Staff Shozo Kawabe, and while looking at the layout of the headquarters, Shunroku Hata said indifferently: "Kawabe-kun, what do you think about the current battle situation?" ”

"General, in the Battle of Xuzhou, the two major strategic front armies of the Imperial Army suffered heavy losses, and before they had time to rest, the base camp intended to launch a strategic offensive again, which is unrealistic and unwise." Kawabe Shozo hurriedly bowed his head and said his opinion.

After hearing this, Shunroku Hata nodded very approvingly and said: "Hebian-kun, what you said is very right, I also think that the war against China has reached the point where it can be reaped when it is good, and now that China's North China, South China and rich Manchuria have fallen into the hands of the empire, the imperial army can completely stop the strategic offensive, and while digesting the vast land that has been captured, it can carry out political inducement of China's political axe, or use military strikes as a supplement to force the people of China to recognize the autonomy of North China and Central China." In this way, the imperial army could not only recuperate, but also strengthen the empire's war potential with the vast lands and huge populations of Central and North China and Manchuria.

However, if the offensive continues, the imperial army is likely to fall into the quagmire of a protracted war, which is extremely unfavorable to the Great Imperial Empire, China's vast territory and great strategic depth, the Imperial Army is only conducive to a quick victory, to eliminate the living force of the Chinese army, once it falls into a protracted war, it will be an eternal nightmare for the empire. ”

Saying this, Shunroku Hata said with some annoyance: "But the main war faction in China disregards the national conditions of the empire and vainly tries to continue to expand the scale of the war, which is extremely stupid!" ”

"What the general said is extreme, but the base camp has already given us an operational goal, requiring us to cooperate with the North China Front Army to carry out a strategic offensive against the north and south again, open up the Jinpu line and the Longhai line, capture Xuzhou, and connect the north and south battlefields." The river is reminded without a trace.

Shunroku Hata sighed, waved his hand and said, "Forget it, let's not talk about this, as emperors, we can only obey the will of His Majesty the Emperor and obey the orders of the base camp." ”

After the two of them walked to a lounge and sat down, Shunroku Hata took the lead and said, "Riverside-kun, how have you gathered information and information about the Ministry of Qiao Anbang in Shina?" "This time, the order of the base camp was not only to capture Xuzhou, but also to get rid of Qiao Anbang and eliminate the Tiger Army.

After all, Qiao Anbang and the Tiger Ben Army had caused too heavy losses to the Yue Army, and the top brass of the Yue Army had already promoted Qiao Anbang to the same strategic goal as Chairman Chiang.

"Returning to the general, the intelligence of Qiao Anbang's department has been collected." Kawabe Shozo hurriedly replied.

"Huh? Let's talk about it. Shunroku Hata raised an eyebrow and said.

"Hay." Hebe Zhengsan suddenly responded, and then said: "This person was born in the northern Anhui Pheasant and Ji, the family conditions are rich, before the war against China began, has always been a bad business, belongs to the son of a gentleman, but then he participated in the Pheasant and Ji security group, and became the military commander of this army, until the Battle of Nanjing, the army he led was born out of thin air, and successively hit the Imperial Army Guoqi Detachment and the 18th Division, and then the general you should know." ”

"Hmm." Shunroku Hata nodded, and then said with some doubts: "Hebian-kun, there is a very important question in this, this Qiao Anbang can severely damage the well-equipped Kunisaki detachment with just one security regiment, why is this?" Could it be that the combat effectiveness of one of their regiments is stronger than that of a detachment of the imperial army? ”

"General Hui, in these cases, my predecessor Tanabe-kun said in the information, Qiao Anbang's equipment is all the latest American-style equipment, so the combat effectiveness is strong." Shozo Kawabe continued to answer.

"American-style equipment? As far as I know, the Americans do not provide military assistance to China, is the source of their equipment investigated clearly? Shunroku Hata said suspiciously.

Kawabe Shozo shook his head and sighed: "No, until now, the intelligence department of the Imperial Army has not been able to find out the source of the weapons of the Chinese Army, and the Imperial Navy has blocked the entire coast of China, even if their equipment is purchased from the United States, it cannot be transported in." Unless you go to the European continent, but this is obviously unlikely. ”

"That's really strange, did the Imperial Army send agents to investigate inside the Tiger Army?" Toshi-rikuchi Hata.

"Yes, the former commander, General Yanagawa Heisuke, sent the best spies of the Imperial Army, Nanzo Yunko and Yoshiko Kawashima, to the Tiger Army to scout the intelligence and wait for an opportunity to get rid of the Tiger Army Commander Qiao Anbang, but now we have lost contact with them, and we suspect that they may have had an accident." The river is three roads.

"What, Nanzo Yunko and Kawashima Yoshiko lost contact at the same time?" Shunroku Hata said in surprise when he heard this. For the daimyo of the two spy flowers, Shunroku Hata has heard of it.

"Yes, and lost contact at the same time!" Kawabe Shozo bowed his head and said: "Obviously, they failed to assassinate Qiao Anbang, if they succeeded, then the Xuzhou Battle Imperial Army would not have failed." ”

"Hmm." Hata Junroku nodded knowingly, and then said: "It will take at least two months before the imperial army is fully prepared for battle, Hebian-kun, during this time, we should do everything possible to get rid of Qiao Anbang, a dangerous enemy, as long as we get rid of him, the Tiger Ben Army will naturally fall apart, and without the Tiger Ben Army, this strategic offensive of the Imperial Army will definitely win." ”

"Yes, General, according to your intentions, the Sichuan-Guangzhou Special Operations Brigade has been ordered to arrive, and it is expected to arrive in Nanjing in three days." Riverside Shozo suddenly bowed his head and said.

"Yo Xi, Sichuan Guangzuo has been training this special operations force for a long time, it's time to let the people of Rang China taste their awesomeness." Hata Junroku nodded happily, and then said: "Hebian-kun, send a telegram to Chuan Guangjun, and after arriving in Nanjing, immediately come to the headquarters to report!" ”

"Hai, please rest assured, the general will do it immediately." Kawabe Masan suddenly bowed his head in response, and then got up and strode away.

………………………… Wuhan, the leader of the line.

As the leader of the People's Republic of China, Chairman Chiang held several press conferences and met with ambassadors of various countries to China, on the one hand, he trumpeted his heroic performance, and on the other hand, he wanted to take this opportunity to apply for military assistance from the Western world.

Because of the heroic performance of the Chinese [***] team, all the Western countries were impressed, and the ambassadors of various countries to China held talks with Chairman Chiang one after another, but the content of the talks was some nonsense that had no substantive effect, and in the final analysis, Britain, the United States, France, and other Western powers were still unwilling to provide military assistance to China.

Even if China wins the Battle of Xuzhou, to put it bluntly, they only hope that China can fight to the death with Yueben, and both will lose.

Among them, the Americans are the most hateful, and on the one hand, they are showing solidarity with China, and on the other hand, they are still selling a large number of strategic materials to the capital, making a lot of war profits.

On the contrary, the Soviet Union and Germany gave a lot of assistance to the national government, among which the Soviets not only provided a number of planes to [***], but also provided a group of volunteer pilots to [***] in the form of volunteers to enhance [***] air power.

In a conference hall in the middle of the line, Chairman Chiang had just sent Wang Shihe, the chief of the guard, to see off the French ambassador, and when Wang Shihe sent the French ambassador away and turned back, he heard Chairman Chiang scolding his mother in the conference hall: "Niang Xipi, these shameless French are even more hateful than the British. ”

Wang Shihe couldn't help but sigh softly, everyone knows that a weak country has no diplomacy, and now China is a weak country, and the Western powers are all eager to carve up China, and who will really help China to resist it?

Just as Wang Shihe sighed, a burst of footsteps suddenly sounded behind him, Wang Shihe looked back, and saw Dai Li, director of the Military Command Bureau, striding over.

"Mr. Wang, are you here?" Dai Li asked very respectfully.

"Yes, the commission seat is inside, does Director Dai want me to report it?" Wang Shihe nodded and replied.

"No need, I'll go in and find the commission myself." After Dai Li finished speaking, he walked straight in.

(To be continued)