As soon as Prince Zaihito spoke, Ishihara Waner was silent for a moment, Prince Zaihito said so, he knew that this matter was definitely not something he could change, and almost no one in the entire cabinet agreed with his idea, how could I not understand this truth with Ishihara's cleverness?

Seeing that Ishihara was not speaking, Konoe Furuma looked at him very proudly, and finally got up suddenly, and said in a deep voice: "Since all the monarchs have no opinions, then this matter is so decided, I will immediately issue combat orders to the Central China and North China Fronts in the name of the base camp, and at the same time, the empire should replenish the fighters for the Central China Front as soon as possible, as long as Xuzhou is captured, the two strategic front armies can flank the China Tiger Army in the north and south, and completely get rid of this [***] team that has repeatedly damaged the reputation of the empire!" ”

………………………………………………

Nanjing, the headquarters of the Central China Front.

Shunroku Hata was reviewing the documents on his desk, and there was a rush of footsteps outside, and when he looked up, he saw his chief of staff, Kawabe Shozo, walking in hurriedly and quickly, and when he came to the front, Kawabe Shozo suddenly closed his feet and saluted: "General, call from the base camp!" ”

"Huh?" Hata Shunroku was suddenly startled when he heard this, and immediately got up and said, "What does the telegram say?" ”

"The base camp has decided that our Central China Front Army and the North China Front Army will attack the China Army at the same time, annihilate the main forces gathered around Xuzhou, and capture Xuzhou City!" Kawabe Shozo replied awe-inspiringly.

"What? Offensive? Hata Junroku was shocked when he heard this, and immediately said: "Doesn't the base camp know that the air force fighters of our Central China Front have almost been lost?" Without the cover of the Air Force, wouldn't our attacking troops be endlessly bombed and harassed by the Air Force of China? "Shunroku Hata knows the combat effectiveness of the Tiger Army, and now that the Tiger Army also has an air force, wouldn't it be even more powerful? Although the number of troops on hand has increased compared to before, according to intelligence, why hasn't the Tiger Army increased its military strength? In the end, Shunroku Hata is still very wise, without the air force, he knows that he is not sure to defeat Qiao Anbang's Tiger Army.

Kawabe Shozo shook his head and said: "This lowly position is not clear, I have already reported to the base camp about the serious battle damage of my Third Flying Corps, so the lowly position does not know why the base camp suddenly ordered us to attack." ”

After saying this, Kawabe Shozo said again: "However, the base camp said in the telegram that our front army only needs to contain Qiao Anbang's Tiger Ben army and Li Pinxian and other Huainan China troops, so that they have no time to look north, and win time for the North China Front to defeat Li Zongren's troops and capture Xuzhou." ”

"Is that so?" Hata's face changed, and after pondering for a long time, Fang said: "Hebian-kun, immediately send a telegram to the 3rd, 9th, 13th, 17th, 18th, 22nd, and 114th Divisions, ordering them to immediately cross the river and go north, join the 6th Division in Hefei, and attack north along the Jinpu Railway and Canal Soldiers in two ways!" Make every effort to contain the Zhina Qiao Anbang Tiger Benjun and Li Pinxian's department! (Note that the 9th, 13th, 114th divisions were rebuilt.) ）

"Hay!" Hebe Zhengsan bowed his head sharply in response, and then asked, "General, do they still want to sneak into Pheasant and Ji?" ”

"Of course, the Imperial Army's large-scale attack can just attract the attention of the Chinese army, and their chances of success will be greater! Tell Chuan Guang that you must destroy the airfield of the Tiger Army! As long as their airfield is destroyed, our army can attack with all its strength, defeating the Tiger Ben Army and joining the North China Front Army in Xuzhou in one fell swoop. Shunroku Hata said coldly.

"Hay!" Kawabe Shozo bowed his head again suddenly, then turned around and walked away quickly.

……………………………………

Beiping, the headquarters of the North China Front Army.

The chief of staff, Okabe Naosaburo, walked into the headquarters with a telegram in his hand, and said to Terauchi Shou: "General, good news!" The base camp called us back. ”

"Oh? What does Base Camp say? Did they agree to my suggestion? Shouichi Terauchi looked up with some excitement and asked.

"Yes, agreed, the base camp also sent a telegram to the Central China Front, I believe they should have received it by now." Okabe Naosaburo nodded happily.

"Yo Xi, it's good!" Okabe Naosaburo was overjoyed when he heard this, and nodded happily: "Immediately send a telegram to the 10th, 5th, 14th, 20th, 21st, 108th, 109th, 110th and other divisions, and order them to immediately launch an attack on the whole line of the Chinese army. ”

"Hay!" Okabe Naosaburo hurriedly stepped forward to respond, and then quickly turned around and walked into the confidential room next to the headquarters.

…………………………………………

Xuzhou, Fifth Theater Command.

Since the end of the last Battle of Xuzhou, the Fifth Theater has expanded its military strength while resting, and the original heavy losses Sun Lianzhong, Pang Bingxun and Zhang Zizhong and other units have been replenished in the past few months, and the scale of troops has recovered as before, but the combat effectiveness can no longer be compared with the original.

In the headquarters, Bai Chongxi and Xu Zuyi were discussing the military situation around the map, and a communications staff officer suddenly ran in with a hurried look, and reported to Bai Chongxi and Xu Zuyi before he could stand up: "Sir Bai, take a seat, the 60th Army and the 20th Army have reported that the army has suddenly launched an attack on our army in front of them, and the army is attacking fiercely, and at present, all departments of our front line are desperately resisting!" ”

"Huh? Did the army do it so quickly? Bai Chongxi was shocked when he heard this, some time ago, Bai Chongxi and Li Zongren knew the news of the large-scale mobilization of the army in North China, but so far the army has not launched an attack before. Li Zongren was ordered to fly to Wuhan a few days ago to report on his work, and now only Bai Chongxi and Xu Zuyi are sitting in Xuzhou.

However, the shock was shock, Bai Chongxi, who was known as Xiao Zhuge well, quickly recovered his shock, and immediately ordered: "Immediately order Tang Enbo and Sun Lianzhong to quickly mobilize second-line troops to reinforce the first-line positions, and at the same time send a telegram to Zhang Zizhong and Pang Bingxun, and order them to rush to the aid of Xuzhou!" In addition, the battle situation will be reported to Wuhan immediately! ”

"Yes!" The communications staff officer hurriedly stood up and responded, and then went.

"Brother Jiansheng, this time the army is menacing, should we send a telegram to Qiao Anbang asking for help? Let him lead the Tiger Ben Army to Xuzhou immediately to support my Fifth War Zone operation! After seeing the communications staff officer leave, Chief of Staff Xu Zuyi asked.

Bai Chongxi said in a worried voice: "I'm afraid it's not that simple, now we don't know the movement of the Central China Army, but I think that since the North China Army has begun to act, the Central China Army will not be indifferent no matter what, if the Central China Army also takes advantage of the situation to cross the river and attack north, then Qiao Anbang will be powerless even if he wants to lead his troops north." ”

"You mean, the Central China army will also attack northern Anhui on a large scale?" Xu Zuyi asked.

"This is inevitable, both the enemy and I know that the Tiger Ben Army is strong, and the last time the Xuzhou Battle was held, the army suffered the loss of the Tiger Ben Army, so this time, they will definitely do their best to contain the Tiger Ben Army, so that it has no time to look north!" Bai Chongxi said thoughtfully.

"So what are we going to do? At present, most of the Second Group Army are new recruits, and their training is insufficient, and their combat effectiveness is simply vulnerable, and Zhang Zizhong and Pang Bingxun are still far away in Yongcheng and Tangshan, and I am afraid that it will be difficult to arrive in a short time, and most of them are recruits, even if they can arrive in time, I am afraid that it will not help the overall situation! Xu Zuyi said with an anxious face.

"The worst case is not this, I'm afraid that Tang Enbo, as the main force, will flee in fear, so Xuzhou will no longer be able to keep it." Bai Chongxi frowned.

"What? Townsburgh dares to flee in fear? Xu Zuyi was taken aback and said.

Bai Chongxi slowly turned his head and said to Xu Zuyi: "Brother Zuyi, do you know how many troops the North China Army has dispatched this time?" ”

"I'm afraid there must be more than 100,000 people, right?" Xu Zuyi replied.

"One hundred and fifty thousand, and that's not counting some of its readable combat units, such as heavy artillery units and the Air Force! The elite of the 150,000 Yue army is attacking in a big way, and if Tang Enberken resists with all his might, I think it should be able to resist for some time, so that we will have time to transfer the 21st Group Army in Huaibei and the 11th Group Army in Huainan to Xuzhou in the north, and with their joining, we can have the ability to block the attack of the North China Army! Bai Chongxi said.

"One hundred and fifty thousand?" Xu Zuyi first gasped, and then asked, "Brother Jiansheng, will the 11th Group Army and the 21st Group Army be transferred north?" Then who will stop the attack of the Central China Army? ”

"Tiger Army, anyway, the strategic goal of the Central China Army is Qiao Anbang's Tiger Army, once the 11th and 21st Group Armies go north, the Tiger Army will immediately take over their defense!" Bai Chongxi said eloquently.

For the combat effectiveness of the Tiger Army, Bai Chongxi has full confidence, in the last battle of Huainan, the Tiger Army was able to completely annihilate the three divisions of the army with the strength of three divisions, not to mention that now, the news of the continuous expansion of the Tiger Army, Bai Chongxi knows it clearly, in fact, Qiao Anbang has no intention of concealing it, because in addition to his Tiger Army, [***] who has just participated in the Battle of Xuzhou are desperately supplementing.

"Oh!" Xu Zuyi nodded knowingly, and then asked, "Brother Jiansheng, will Tang Enbo run away without a fight?" ”

"It's up to Chairman Jiang to do this." Bai Chongxi sighed and said, "I don't know if our Chairman Jiang will let Tang Enbo preserve his strength this time, if that's the case, Xuzhou won't have to defend it." ”

"This..."Xu Zuyi naturally understood the meaning of Bai Chongxi's words, but in terms of identity, Bai Chongxi dared to comment on Chairman Jiang like this, but he couldn't.

(To be continued)