Cangyan Mountain, headquarters of the 39th Army.

The exercise has ended, and Liu Yi already knows Yue Weihan's intentions.

In the war room, Liu Yi asked Yue Weihan worriedly: "General seat, do you say that the high-level military will be fooled?" ”

"Strictly speaking, this can't be considered foolish, it's just a different strategic choice." Yue Weihan muttered, "If you take Luliang Mountain or Zhongtiao Mountain first to take Shanxi, and then attack Taihang Mountain from the east and west, the casualties that the army will pay will obviously be smaller than the frontal assault on Tumen Fortress. ”

"But it's going to take longer." Liu Yi said.

"That's right." Yue Weihan nodded, for China and the 39th Group Army, the most precious thing now is time.

As long as it can survive until the end of this year, the Navy will almost certainly attack Pearl Harbor, after which US military aid will pour into China like a tidal wave, and the dozens of elite divisions and regiments on the battlefields in Central and North China will also be gradually transferred to Southeast Asia and the Pacific, and the pressure on China will be greatly reduced at that time.

"Now it's up to the top brass of the military to think." Yue Weihan paused, and said, "However, I think the senior soldier of Tojo should choose to take a detour to Luliang Mountain or Zhongtiao Mountain. ”

………… Tokyo, Army Headquarters.

An urgent document has been placed on the desk of War Secretary Hideki Tojo.

This document was provided by the special service of the Army General Headquarters, and the detailed contents of the press conference held by Yue Weihan at Taihang Mountain yesterday morning, as well as the detailed description of the military exercise held yesterday afternoon, are very detailed, which shows that the special agents of the special service of the Army General Headquarters have made great efforts.

Standing opposite Hideki Tojo were two other officers.

The one on the left is called Yoshio Kondo, and the one on the right is called Nobuyo Miura, both of whom are senior staff officers of the Operations Department of the General Staff Headquarters of the Japanese Army, and they have their own opinions on the upcoming Battle of Taihang Mountain, and at the same time they are also resolutely opposed to the battle plan formulated by Okamura Ninji.

"What do you think?" Hideki Tojo raised the document in his hand and asked.

Kondo Daisa on the left said: "Your Excellency, Yue Weihan's move is obviously to boost the confidence and morale of the political axe and the army and the people of China, and the factor of exaggeration and show-off is not far from the middle, but I think it is basically credible, Jingcheng Pass is not as strong as Verdun, and it is not easy for the imperial army to capture it." ”

The Miura Daisa on the right said, "I agree with Kondo-kun. ”

Hideki Tojo said thoughtfully: "Miura-kun, according to your estimate, how much will the North China Front pay if it wants to conquer Jingcheng Pass?" ”

Miura Dazuo said: "The terrain of Taihang Mountain is complex, the mountain is steep, which is not conducive to the mobility of the imperial army's mechanized equipment, and the Tumen fortress is even easier to defend and difficult to attack, if the North China Front chooses to attack head-on, the casualties are at least twice that of the Zhina army, and the Zhina army stationed in Jingcheng Pass has 150,000 people, so it is ......"

Tojo Hideki's eyelids suddenly jumped violently, according to Miura's estimate, doesn't it mean that the North China Front needs to pay more than 300,000 casualties to take the Jingcheng Pass? At present, the total strength of the North China Front is only 450,000, and once the casualties exceed 300,000, how can we maintain public order in North China?

Kondo said: "Your Excellency, this is just the most optimistic estimate. ”

Miura Daisa said: "Compared with the Jingcheng Pass, which was heavily garrisoned by the 39th Group Army, it is easier to make a breakthrough in Luliang Mountain, which is garrisoned by the Jin Sui Army, and Zhongtiao Mountain, which is garrisoned by the Central Army, I think that the battle plan for the Battle of Taihang Mountain must be revised, and the North China Front Army should take a detour to Luliang Mountain or Zhongtiao Mountain to seize Shanxi first, and then besiege Taihang Mountain for a long time, rather than attacking it!" ”

"But in this way, the situation will easily expand, and it is very likely that the political axe of China will continue to increase troops in Shanxi, and it is very likely that it will eventually evolve into a large-scale strategic decisive battle." Hideki Tojo said worriedly, "If this happens, I am afraid that it will be difficult to end the battle within a year, and this will inevitably seriously affect the implementation of the plan to go south." ”

"Your Excellency the General is overly worried." Miura Daisadao, "I dare to assert that the Shina political axe will not increase the number of troops in Shanxi. ”

Kondo Osa also said: "What's more, the Chinese political axe wants to increase the troops, but I am afraid that it does not have the ability, I think that this Taihang Mountain Battle, at best, is a medium-scale local battle, the empire does not even need to use strategic reserves at all, and the North China Front alone can support this battle." ”

Tojo Hideki suddenly had some thoughts, what he was most worried about was that the Battle of Taihang Mountain would affect the plan to go south, if he could win the Battle of Taihang Mountain at the lowest cost without affecting the plan to go south, then why not?

At that moment, Hideki Tojo said to Kondo Daisa: "Kondo-kun, immediately draft a telegram to the North China Front......"

"Hello." Kondo Osa suddenly lowered his head, and immediately opened the folder in his hand, and picked up the pen to prepare to record the message.

………… Shimen, the headquarters of the North China Front.

Okamura Ningji was in the war room to observe the war games of the General Staff, the subject of the deduction was the battle for the mountainous area on the outskirts of the Taihang Mountains, the basic parameters of the [***] team were estimated at the highest value, while the basic parameters of the army were estimated at the minimum value, the first stage of the deduction "offensive operation" has ended, the results are amazing, the battle loss ratio of the two armies is as high as 1:5!

After the results of the first stage of the exercise were obtained, the faces of the operational staff officers were not very good-looking.

Okamura Ninji looked calm and ordered the staff officers to continue the second stage of the "tug-of-war".

While the exercise was in full swing, Major General Hirata Masatsu, the deputy chief of staff of the front army, suddenly walked in with a stern expression, and immediately immediately retracted his feet and said to Okamura Ningji: "Your Excellency, Commander, the base camp has sent an urgent telegram, asking us to revise the battle plan for the Taihang Mountain Campaign, abandon the frontal assault, and open a gap from Luliang Mountain or Zhongtiao Mountain instead. ”

"What!?" Okamura Ninji's face suddenly sank, and what he was most worried about still happened.

The combat staff officers who were conducting the war games also stopped one after another and looked at Okamura Ninji in disbelief.

Okamura Ninji waved his hand, signaled the staff officers to continue the exercise, and then walked out of the war room with Hirata Masatsune.

Coming to a secluded and uninhabited place, Okamura Ninji asked, "Hirata-kun, what do you think about the telegraph from the base camp?" ”

"I think the power order at the base camp is not unreasonable." Hirata Masashi thought for a while, and said seriously, "If you attack Taihang Mountain, the price will definitely not be small, if you take a detour to Luliang Mountain or Zhongtiao Mountain, it will be easy to make a breakthrough, with the combat effectiveness of the Jin Sui Army, it is easy for the imperial army to capture Shanxi, once Shanxi is successfully taken, the Taihang Mountain or a long-term siege, or an east-west flank attack, the difficulty of the battle will be greatly reduced." ”

Okamura Ningji's expression was cold, why didn't he know what Hirata Masashi said?

However, once it chooses to make a detour to Luliang Mountain or Zhongtiao Mountain, the army will need to readjust its deployment, from the assembly of the army to the dispatch of war preparation materials, it will take at least two months to prepare, and then it will take at least three to five months to win the battle of Luliang Mountain or Zhongtiao Mountain, and then it will take another three to five months to seize Shanxi.

At this time, the empire's southward plan was only afraid that it had already begun, once the war broke out in Southeast Asia, it was bound to draw troops from the Chinese battlefield, although the Kwantung Army had as many as 850,000 troops, but it shouldered the heavy responsibility of defending the Soviet Union, and the empire would never dare to draw troops from it, so it could only be drawn from Central China and North China.

If the Southeast Asian and Pacific theaters go smoothly, it will be fine, and the main force of the front army will soon be able to return to North China, but Okamura Ninji cannot but worry that once the Southeast Asian and Pacific theaters fall into a stalemate, not only will the troops drawn from China not be able to be transferred back, but they will continue to transfer troops from North China, and then it will be a big trouble.

Once a large number of elite veterans from North China are transferred to the Southeast Asian and Pacific theaters, the 39th Group Army, which is dormant in the Taihang Mountains, will become a sword of Damocles hanging over the head of the North China Army, which may fall down at any time.

Seeing that Okamura Ninji was silent, Hirata Masa reminded in a low voice: "Your Excellency Commander? ”

Okamura Ninji calmed down, and suddenly said to Hirata Masatsu: "Immediately call back to the base camp and the proposal to revise the battle plan for the Taihang Mountain Campaign will not be adopted, and the front army will still implement the established battle plan." ”

"Hello." Hirata immediately bowed his head, then turned around and walked away.

In the battle sequence of the Japanese army, once the military rank reaches the level of division commander or above, when carrying out combat missions alone, he often has a great deal of free command, and this is also a customary tradition formed by the Japanese army since the Meiji Restoration.

Of course, the base camp of the army also has the power to adjust personnel and transfer Okamura Ningji out.

Okamura Ninji soon returned to the war room, and at this time the operational staff officers were engaged in the second stage of the "tug-of-war" war game deduction, and the process of the deduction was exciting, the army relied on its absolute superiority in strength to stabilize the defense line seized in the first stage, and in the second stage of the tug-of-war, the battle loss ratio of the two armies was basically stable at about 1:2.

Okamura Ninji walked into the war room without saying a word, quietly watching the staff officers continue to deduce.

When the second phase of the wargame was carried out for six months, the [***] team finally reached the "tipping point" of collapse.

An army's sustained combat capability is determined by many factors, the most important of which are troop strength, logistical support, and medical system, in which the North China Front is completely pressed to the 39th Group Army.

Even if the General Staff of the Army has set the basic parameters of the 39 th Group Army to the highest value, they will also have a shortage of medicines in about four months, and in about five months, the supply of ammunition will be urgent, and in about six months, there will be problems in the rotation of troops, and this will be the "critical point" on the verge of collapse.

After this critical point, the combat effectiveness of the 39th Army will be sharply reduced!

Then there is the third and final stage of the whole wargame.

At this time, the 39th Group Army will inevitably be defeated, and because it has lost control of the battlefield, the casualties of the 39th Group Army will increase sharply, and since the army has always held control of the battlefield, the wounded soldiers can be transported back to the rear in time for treatment, and the number of casualties will be kept to a minimum.

In the third stage, the battle loss ratio between the two armies will reach 10:1.

Summing up the three phases, the casualty figures of the two armies were basically the same.

However, because all the wounded of the Yue Army were treated, the final number of casualties was less than 50,000, and because the 39th Army eventually lost control of the battlefield, a large number of wounded died indirectly because they could not be treated, and the final number of casualties had exceeded 100,000, which was almost equal to the total strength of the 39th Group Army.

When the final results of the deduction came out, the war room suddenly thundered with joy.

Although this is only a war game on paper, it at least proves that it is theoretically possible for the Yue army to win an overwhelming victory, and although the Tumen Fortress built by the 39th Group Army is extremely strong, there is no need for the Yue Army to choose to storm the Tumen Fortress at all, and the Yue Army can completely achieve the campaign goal of consuming the sustained combat capability of the 39th Group Army and finally defeating the 39th Group Army through the mountainous battles on the left and right flanks.

Okamura Ninji sighed in his heart.

Six months, it only takes six months to finally defeat the 39th Army, but unfortunately, the Tojo Senior Soldier who is far away in Tokyo will not be able to give him another six months, Okamura Ninji fully imagined that when there were huge casualties in the first phase of the "offensive operation", the Tojo Senior Soldier would definitely be in trouble.

At that moment, Okamura Ninji said to the operational staff officers: "Now let's conduct the wargame deduction of the No. 2 battle plan. ”

The so-called "No. 2 battle plan" is to storm the Tumen Fortress, which is the most inferior plan, but it is also the most direct and may be the most rapid combat plan, but the price is also heavy, of course, once the Tumen Fortress is breached, the heavy equipment of the army can drive straight in, and there is no suspense in occupying the Jingcheng Pass.

"What, Operation Plan No. 2?" The operational staff officers looked at each other.

"That's right, the second battle plan, let's start the deduction." Okamura nodded.

If he had a choice, Okamura Ninji would never have chosen the No. 2 battle plan, but now, Okamura Ninji had no choice, Tojo Hideki, a superior soldier, forced Okamura Ninji to take risks and choose to storm the Tumen fortress, in any case, Jingcheng Pass and the 39th Group Army must be solved before the start of the southward plan.

For Yue Weihan and his 39th Army, Okamura Ningji has always maintained sufficient vigilance.

For the Chinese, Yue Weihan is their national hero, and the 39th Group Army is their spiritual pillar; conversely, for the Great Empire, Yue Weihan and the 39th Group Army are a great problem that must be eradicated, and if this great trouble is not eradicated, Okamura Ningji will not be at ease.

(To be continued)