After announcing the news of the popular election, Okamura Ninji, accompanied by Nanzo Yunzi Daisa, chief of the Peiping secret service, and Major General Hirata Masa, deputy chief of staff of the North China Front, returned to the VIP room on the second floor of the Great East Asia Hotel to rest, and the news conference was presided over by Lieutenant General Tanabe Moritake, chief of staff of the North China Front.

As he walked, Masa Hirata asked, "Your Excellency, do you really plan to hold an open election in Tianjin?" ”

"Why not?" Okamura asked rhetorically, "Do you think there is a better way to quickly ease tensions in northern China than open elections?" ”

Hirata was silent for a moment and then asked: "Your Excellency Commander, once an open election is held in the entire North China region, then the election results will be completely out of the control of the imperial army, and the elected political axes at all levels may not be willing to cooperate closely with the imperial army. ”

"What to do? Easy to do! Okamura Ninji said, "Treat North China as the empire's homeland!" ”

Hirata said incredulously, "Your Excellency Commander, are you saying that the people of China will be treated as 'subjects of the Empire'?" ”

"At the very least, the people of the security district should be treated equally." Okamura Ninji nodded and said solemnly, "Otherwise, how could it be possible to calm down the hostility of the Shina people in a short period of time, and how could it be possible to ease the tension in North China in a short period of time?" Hirata-kun, you must understand that force cannot solve all problems. ”

"Hello." Hirata Masaki bowed his head abruptly and said, "Your Excellency Commander, I understand. ”

Okamura Ninji said to the south again: "Miss Yunzi, after the election of the political axe of the provinces and citizens in North China, your secret service must give enough respect, once there is a dispute between the soldiers of the imperial army or the imperial expatriates and the people of the security area, it must be dealt with seriously in accordance with the law of the elected political axe, and you must not bend the law for personal gain." ”

"Hello." Nanzao Yunzi also bowed his head abruptly and said, "I understand." ”

Okamura Ninji nodded, and asked Hirata Masashi again: "Hirata-kun, are the security districts going well?" ”

"It's going well." Hirata said, "In the entire North China region, except for the central and southern parts of Shanxi and the areas along the Zhengtai Railway, most of the railways, highways and county towns have been recaptured, and in the mountainous area of Luzhong and the border of Sulu, the Second Army has won several successive battles, and at least five divisions of the Chinese Army have been eliminated!" ”

"Hmm." Okamura Ninji nodded, and said, "What about the southern Hebei region?" ”

"It's the same in southern Hebei." Hirata said, "Except for the Houlu County which is close to Jingcheng Pass and the southwesternmost Shexian County, the remaining dozens of county towns have all been recaptured, and the law and order situation in each county is also okay, but before the arrival of the imperial army, the Chinese army has already retreated in advance, and it is ......."

"And what?" Okamura Ninji frowned, "Say." ”

Hirata said: "And before retreating, the Shina army also sacked all the county seats!" ”

"What did you say!?" Okamura Ningji said in disbelief, "The Chinese army ransacked all the counties in southern Hebei? ”

When Hirata was about to answer, Nanzao Yunzi replied first: "Your Excellency Commander, as far as I know, the Chinese army did not loot the counties in southern Hebei, to be precise, it should be forcibly purchased, and before retreating, the Chinese army bought up all the materials such as grain, cotton, and miscellaneous merchandise at a price lower than half of the market price!" ”

"Yaga, damn Shina!" Okamura Ninji's face immediately became gloomy.

Southern Hebei is the main grain-producing area and the only cotton-producing area in the whole of North China, and now the 39th Group Army and the Eighth Route Army have bought out all the materials in southern Hebei, but they have brought great trouble to Okamura Ningji; once they cannot obtain enough materials from southern Hebei, not only will the military rations of the North China Front be in an emergency, but the cotton clothes of the officers and men of the whole army for the winter will also be nowhere to be found.

To make matters worse, there was also a locust plague in Manchukuo this year, and after the autumn, there was a continuous drought, resulting in a large-scale reduction in grain crops and cotton production, so it was impossible for the Kwantung Army to provide too many supplies to help the North China Front.

Nanzao Yunzi had already seen Okamura Ningji's worries, and said at the moment: "Your Excellency Commander, the intelligence shows that a large part of the materials bought by the Chinese army from the security area have not had time to enter Jingcheng Pass, and they are temporarily hidden in the non-security area in southern Hebei. ”

"Non-vigilante?" Okamura Ninji frowned and said, "No, it is not appropriate for the Imperial Army to attack the non-security zone for the time being. ”

The non-security areas mentioned by Nanzao Yunzi and Okamura Ningji are actually the anti-Japanese base areas established by the Eighth Route Army in various counties in southern Hebei, which were originally connected into pieces, but since the army counterattacked strongly and recaptured the Pingjin Railway, Pinghan Railway, Shiji Highway and other communication lines and major county towns, they have been divided into many small pieces.

Okamura's ultimate goal, of course, was to flatten these base areas and turn the whole of North China into a security zone, but at present, the North China Front Army did not have the strength to attack on a large scale and the base areas of the Eighth Route Army, because the occupation of communication lines and major county towns and the occupation of the vast anti-Japanese base areas were completely different things.

There are only a few communication lines in southern Hebei, and there are only a few dozen county seats, and the garrisons are concentrated, and the safety is guaranteed.

But the territory of the Eighth Route Army's anti-Japanese base area is too vast, don't look at the army assembled in southern Hebei has four field divisions and two reading mixed brigades, but if it is averaged to each township and village, there may not even be a single devil soldier.

Organize troops below the size of the wing to sweep the net, and if they don't do it well, they will be broken by the Chinese!

When organizing troops above the brigade level to pull nets and sweep up, the grid is too large, and it is difficult to guarantee the effect.

The most important thing is that the main force of the North China Front has just been withdrawn from the frontal battlefield and is in urgent need of rest and recuperation, and in addition, the ammunition reserves of the North China Front are not sufficient.

Originally, according to Okamura Ninji's plan, after recapturing all communication lines and major county towns, the North China Front Army would be transferred to rest and recuperate, and at the same time, it would focus on supporting the pro-political axe in the security area, and after two to three months of rest and replenishment, it would mobilize troops to advance step by step with pillbox tactics and gradually encroach on the quasi-security area.

After spending half a year to a year encroaching on the quasi-security zones, we will dig isolation ditches around the non-security zones on a large scale, and operate the non-security zones into cages isolated from the outside world, and then mobilize heavy troops to sweep away the past piece by piece, and in two years at most, all the non-security zones in North China will disappear.

This is Okamura Ninji's plan: to adopt a policy of Huairou for the security area (called the occupied area), a policy of encroachment on the quasi-security area (guerrilla area), and a cage policy for the non-public security area (base area).

But now, the situation has taken a little surprise.

Due to the unexpectedly empty supplies of the [***] team in the southern Hebei security area, Okamura Ningji was a little passive, he couldn't let the soldiers of the Yue army go hungry and wear single clothes to rest, right?

After thinking about it again and again, Okamura Ningji still decided that the plan would remain unchanged, and that it would be too risky to rashly attack [***] and the Eighth Route Army base now, and although the people in the quasi-security zone (guerrilla zone) still had a lot of remaining rations and cotton, they could not be overstimulated in order for the encroachment policy to be implemented smoothly in the future.

Otherwise, these quasi-security districts will soon become non-security zones.

"Then there's only one way." Nanzao Yunzi Road, "Imported from Shanxi at a high price." ”

"Shanxi?" Okamura Ninji frowned and said, "Miss Yunzi, do you think it's possible?" ”

"Of course it's possible." Nanzao Yunzi said, "First of all, Shanxi had a bumper harvest of grain and cotton last year, and has the potential for a large number of exports, and secondly, Yan Xishan, the emperor of Shanxi, has never been a resolute anti-Japanese faction, if the imperial army secretly negotiates with him to ensure that Shanxi is not attacked as a condition, and then promises a high price, I believe he is willing to cooperate with the imperial army." ”

"Yo Si." Okamura Ninji said, "Miss Yunzi, you are in charge of this matter, and it must be done!" ”

"Hello." Nanzao Yunzi bowed his head abruptly and said, "The humble position will never disappoint the expectations of His Excellency the Commander. ”

………… Jingcheng County, Headquarters of the 39th Group Army.

Liu Yi handed a copy of the newspaper to Yue Weihan's case and said, "General seat, this is the newspaper of the day before yesterday!" ”

Yue Weihan picked up the newspaper, and the headline on the front page was eye-catching "Zhongyu Goodwill," and the subtitle was "The Army in China Releases Goodwill to the People of North China." Next to it was a photo that occupied almost a quarter of the page, in which Okamura Ningji was holding a wine glass and talking happily with Cao Mosan, president of the Tianjin Chamber of Commerce.

"Amazing, this old devil Okamura really deserves his reputation." Yue Weihan's expression was awe-inspiring.

"yes, Okamura, this old devil is really hard to deal with." Liu Yi nodded and said, "After the army occupied the communication line and the county seat, it was immediately impossible to retreat, and the thousands of sniper teams we sent to the guerrilla areas were all empty, and a few of them were angry and tried to sneak attack the strongholds along the Pinghan Railway, but not only did they fail to succeed, but they suffered a small loss. ”

"That's nothing." Yue Weihan said coldly, "I want to see, how Okamura survives this winter?" ”

"Yes." Liu Yi nodded and said, "The War of Resistance has been fought for almost two years, the national economy of the little devil has been on the verge of collapse, the four northeastern provinces have suffered a large area of drought, and southern Hebei is the main grain-producing area and the only cotton-producing area in North China, and all the materials have been bought out by us again, see how Okamura Ningji buys military rations and winter clothes for the troops!" ”

(To be continued)