Chapter 342: They're stabbing in the back!

Tianjin North China Front Army Command (formerly North China Zhutun Army Headquarters)

The room full of senior Japanese generals gathered in the conference room, and they greeted each other with red faces.

After the Lugou Bridge Incident, Tada Jun was ordered to be transferred back to China, and General Terauchi Shouichi succeeded him as commander of the North China Garrison Army, and the Japanese base camp also renamed the North China Garrison Army the North China Front Army. The main task is: "to occupy the Pingjin area and its nearby important places, and to ensure the stability of the area." Dampen the enemy's will to war, gain the situation to end the war, and quickly annihilate the enemy in central Hebei Province. ”

It may be that the name change will really bring good luck, in the past few months, the North China Zhutun Army has achieved great results in the expansion of Hebei, Shanxi, Henan, Shandong and other places, which also makes the strength of the North China Garrison Army swell up like a balloon, as of January of the 27th year of the Republic of China (1938), the North China Garrison Army also has jurisdiction over the First Army and the Second Army, directly under the jurisdiction of the Fifth Division (Sakagaki Seishiro), the 109th Division, the 11th Brigade of the Huaxia Garrison (Suzuki Shigeyasu), and the Provisional Aviation Corps. and other eight divisions, one brigade and other more than 200,000 troops.

The frequent victories on the battlefield in recent months have also made the North China Front Army come out of the shadow of the defeat in the last Battle of Beiping, and everyone has regained their previous fighting spirit, and they all seem to be so high-spirited.

Okamura Ninji sat silently with his command knife on his hand, and coldly watched his colleagues around him happily boasting about his achievements.

At this time, the voice of the officer on duty rang out: "Your Excellency Commander, here!" ”

"Whoa!"

The generals in the conference room stood up one after another, and then the figure of Terauchi Shouichi appeared in front of everyone, and Terauchi Shouichi slowly walked to the hand seat and sat down slowly.

The generals watched Terauchi Shouichi sit down before he sat down with a bang, and looked at the star-studded conference room, and Terauchi Shouichi nodded with satisfaction. Under his leadership, the North China Front achieved brilliant results, and in Shanxi, he defeated Yan Xishan into a ravine, and also made great progress in Hebei, Henan, and Shandong, which was in stark contrast to the defeat of the Kwantung Army led by Umezu Mijiro, Matsui Ishine, and the Shanghai Dispatch Army led by Prince Asakanomiya Hatohiko.

"Ladies and gentlemen, for the sake of the holy war of the Japanese Empire and the great cause of His Majesty the Emperor, you have worked tirelessly to come to China and endure hardships, this kind of jīng god is really admirable, and this commander is here to thank you." After saying that, Shouichi Terauchi also stood up and bowed to the gentlemen.

"Don't dare to be, Your Excellency Commander has worked hard!" Seeing the commander bow to everyone, the generals quickly stood up and returned a ninety-degree salute.

"Soga, please be seated!" Terauchi Shou waved his hand and waited for everyone to sit down in turn, and then said: "Gentlemen, now the main battle of our North China Front Army is to open up the passage of Jinpu Road, and then occupy Anhui Zhibī Wuhan, the base camp has ordered us to complete this task by May this year, do you have this confidence?" ”

"Your Excellency, Commander!" At this time, a division commander who looked like a winter melon and had a mouth of Danrenhu stood up and said: "If we want to successfully complete this mission, the assistance of the flight division is indispensable, so we must recall the fifth flight division, now we have less than a hundred planes in the flight corps, it is really difficult to provide support to the ground troops, your Excellency, it is time to recall the fifth division." ”

"Yes!" Terauchi Shou's eyes froze, and he looked at the lieutenant general and said slowly: "Banheng-kun, don't you know that the fiftieth regiment is now supporting Commander Matsui and His Excellency Prince Hatohiko of Asaka Palace, right?" How can you recall them now? ”

This division commander was none other than Ita Heng Seishiro, the division commander of the Fifth Division, known for his perseverance and bravery, known as the 'Steel Army'. I saw him say slowly: "Your Excellency Commander, please forgive me for saying that the Fifth Division has done nothing when it arrives in Nanjing, and it is just passively avoiding the battle every day, it is better to recall him and let them restore their former glory under the leadership of the commander!" ”

The generals were all happy when they heard it, who said that this Banheng Seishiro is a fool, you look at what he said, he slapped the sycophants so quietly, and by the way, he also belittled the commander of Matsui in Nanjing and His Excellency Prince Hatohiko of the Asaka Palace. What's worse about this guy is that he doesn't mention these two people in his words at all, but every sentence points to these two people.

Why did the Fifth Flying Division passively avoid the battle in Nanjing, and when it returned to the North China Front, it could regain its former bravery, which clearly meant that the two people outside Nanjing were incompetent? However, everyone did look down on Matsui Shigen and Prince Hatohiko of Asaka Palace outside Nanjing in their hearts, and they had superior forces, but they were blocked by a group of remnants of less than half of their own troops.

After listening to Banheng Seishiro's words, Shouichi Terauchi immediately straightened his face and reprimanded Ban Heng a few words, saying that he didn't care about the overall situation and didn't know what to say, but the smile in the corner of his eyes couldn't be hidden.

Just when everyone and the Terauchi Shouyi gang were complacent, Okamura Ningji secretly shook his head on the side, these guys who have forgotten their scars and pain, have they forgotten the lessons in Beiping City so quickly? Now Commander Matsui's opponent is Su Tong of Chahar, not a Nanjing political force, although the Fifth Flying Division is passively avoiding the war in Nanjing, but their existence really restrains the planes of the people in Nanjing, so that they are not too arrogant, and the strategy of the Fifth Flying Division is also right, and it will never fight with Su Tong, a madman, to consume fighters, otherwise it will definitely be themselves who will suffer.

However, if the 5th Division Chōu were to be reinstated, it would be difficult for Commander Matsui, who had lost air support, to hold on. And Ban Heng, a fool, thought that he had a good idea, but in fact, he was going to push the Central China Front Army (that is, the Shanghai Dispatch Army) into the grave of failure. Okamura Ninji, who was sad in his heart, lowered his head and remained silent, he was now just a division commander, and he couldn't control the development of the war, and now he could only push himself into the opposite side of his colleagues when he spoke out.

Lieutenant General Kazuki Kiyoji, commander of the First Army, also stood up and agreed, saying, "Your Excellency Commander, Ita Hengjun's words are very reasonable, but it is very unfair for our own troops to pay for the defeat of others. ”

"Yes, we should have called back the Fifth Flying Division a long time ago!"

"Our own troops should fight for our own honor! And not to add glory to someone else's military medals! ”

"Without the Fifth Flying Division, we can't take the next step!"

The more Okamura Ninji listened to the evil fire in his heart, he could no longer suppress it, and he slapped his hand to the side and was about to stand up and shout at these rat-eyed guys, but he found that his arm was firmly grasped by a palm behind him, and he couldn't move down a single bit.

When I returned home, it turned out to be Major General Taro Hashimoto, the chief of staff, who was sitting behind him, and between Hashimoto Ryutaro whispered in Okamura's ear: "Okamura-kun, in the words of the Shina people, 'xiǎo can't bear to be a great plan'!" ”

Taro Hashimoto, the chief of staff, knows his top boss too well, and he has an outstanding talent, but he has not been reused by the old men in the military department who only value qualifications and background. Although he was appointed as the division commander of the 2nd Division, in the opinion of Chief of Staff Taro Hashimoto, it was more than enough for Okamura's talent to make him the chief of the general staff in the base camp.

Okamura Ningji, who was held by his chief of staff, suddenly came to his senses, listening to the words of the people next to him and fantasizing about the beautiful situation of entering Wuhan after opening up the Jinpu Road, but Okamura Ningji closed his eyes in pain, he seemed to have seen the scene of the defeat of more than 200,000 troops led by Matsui Ishine and Prince Hatohiko of Asaka Palace, but the saddest thing was that he could only watch all this happen in front of him, but he couldn't do anything

When the meeting ended, Ryutaro Hashimoto caught up with Okamura Ninji, who was walking out of the Mén mouth quickly, "Your Excellency the division commander, I was really sorry just now, if you have a fire in your heart, scold me a few words!" ”

Looking at Ryutaro Hashimoto with his head down, Okamura couldn't help but smile bitterly and patted Ryutaro Hashimoto on the shoulder, "Hashimoto-kun, you did the right thing, if I spoke out against it impulsively just now, I would put myself on the opposite side of my colleagues, and at that time, not only would it not help the war, but I would also put myself in it, thank you for what happened just now!" ”

"Your Excellency the division commander, don't worry, no one can stop your talent, the base camp will inevitably pay the price for their mistakes, and you will inevitably rise to such a day, I am convinced of this!" Ryutaro Hashimoto has been the chief of staff of Okamura Ninji for two years, and he knows Okamura's talent very well, and knows that this is a lord who will inevitably soar to the sky in the future.

Okamura smiled, patted Hashimoto's shoulder again, and said kindly, "Hashimoto-kun, go back with me for a few drinks, and we'll talk a few more games!" ”

"Hey!"

Ryutaro Hashimoto immediately lowered his head, being able to play Go with this arrogant Okamura means that he has regarded you as his own, not to mention that he can compensate him for drinking under Sī, which means that he is close to you.

As soon as the meeting of the North China Front Army ended, the results of the meeting were sent to the base camp, and an order was issued to the Fifth Flying Division to recall it.

"They're stabbing us in the back!" An angry roar roared from the Chunhua command post outside Nanjing