Seishiro Itagaki returned to the south exit and immediately organized a meeting to announce Terauchi Shouichi's battle plan.

The brigade commander, Toshishi Miura, said dissatisfiedly: "Commander, what do you mean by this?" Shall we sit on the sidelines? We are the strongest Fifth Division, does the commander think that the battle of Nankou has caused us to lose our combat strength? ”

Seishiro Itagaki looked at everyone and said, "So what do you mean that you can still fight?" ”

All the officers greeted in unison: "Fight!" ”

Itagaki Seishiro smiled and said, "Okay, the battle of Shanxi is the main attack of General Tojo Hideki's Chahar Army, Yan Xishan I know this person, he will definitely protect his strength, and the resistance in the early stage will not be resolute, and then we will find their flaws and slash him fiercely." ”

As he spoke, Seishiro Itagaki remembered a scene from a year ago.

A year ago, Itagaki Seishiro went to Taiyuan as the chief of staff of the Kwantung Army to "visit" Yan Xishan, Shanxi's rivers and mountains, there are many checkpoints, and there are only two roads to attack from the north, one is Datong with a railway, and the other is the Weidai Highway. At that time, Itagaki Seishiro advertised that he was going to Wutai Mountain to worship the Buddha, and he led people step by step for a month, and walked all over the Pingxingguan - Hutuo River Valley - Xinkou line. For a while, Itagaki Seishiro's reputation for worshipping Buddha was loud, but what people didn't know was that Itagaki Seishiro not only walked along the way, but also drew all the way, and remembered all the road checkpoints along the way.

In order to cooperate with the battle, Itagaki Seishiro decided to go to Zhangjiakou in person to discuss the battle with Hideki Tojo.

In the next few days, the north suddenly fell into calm, and only the constant change of hands in Shanghai Luodian told the world that the war was still going on. But everyone understands that what is coming is an even more fierce attack.

The news that Zhou Guansheng did not ask for supplies was reported to the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army, and the angry Mr. Peng wanted to take someone to find Yan Xishan. Mr. Zhu grabbed and said, "Old Peng, don't worry. I see, this Yan Xishan hasn't felt the footsteps of the Japanese invaders yet. ”

Zuo Quan next to him said, "The little devil has already sent tens of thousands of soldiers to Zhangjiakou, and he will attack Shanxi at any time, how can this Yan Xishan still not be in a hurry." ”

Mr. Zhu said with a smile, "Of course he is not in a hurry, we got the news that the Japanese North China Front has concentrated six divisions and more than 300 aircraft, and is marching towards the Baoding-Cangzhou line, I am afraid that he feels that the main direction of the Japanese army's attack is not in Shanxi for the time being, so he thinks about knocking us first." And he's a businessman. We won't do anything that is not beneficial, and it is difficult to ask him to give us food supplies for nothing. ”

Mr. Peng said angrily, "The devils have arrived at the door, what are you worried about, Shanxi can't hold it, and those belongings haven't been given to the Japanese." ”

Mr. Zhu nodded and said, "We must fight a big battle as soon as possible to prove the strength and role of our Eighth Route Army, otherwise it will be difficult for us to take root in Shanxi as a guest army." It is also difficult to carry out mass work. ”

Speaking of fighting, Mr. Peng looked at the map and said, "Then we have to see how the Datong defense line boasted by our Chief Yan is, whether it is really impregnable." ”

At this time, the signal corpsman suddenly came in and said, "Report, the Second Theater Command is in an emergency." ”

Mr. Zhu took it over curiously and took a look. It was Yan Xishan who summoned the two to Taiyuan to hold a military meeting, and sent a plane to Yan'an to pick them up, Mr. Zhu smiled and said, "Let's go, let's go together and see what good plans our Chief Yan has." ”

The airport in Yan'an is on the north bank of the Yanhe River in the east of Yan'an City. It was built in 1935 when the military headquarters of the 67th Army of the Northeast Army was stationed in Yan'an, and the Red Army took over after entering Yan'an, but it suffered from no aircraft. It was only possible to carry out daily maintenance, and it was not until after the Xi'an Incident that some special planes of the Nationalist Government came and went.

After Zhu Peng and the others arranged the affairs of the army, they took the plane sent by Yan Xishan to Taiyuan.

——Shanghai in the time and space of the Republic of China

The headquarters of the Japanese army had a new master, that is, the commander of the Shanghai Dispatch Army, Matsui Ishine, who was writing his own poems at this time, when an officer walked in and said, "Commander, everyone is here." ”

Matsui Shigen took the pen and read, "I have sweated for 40 years, the rejuvenation of the country is like a dream, the great river flows, the gentleman has not been paid, and the people will be old, and the halberd will come to 400 states." Tsukada-kun, we have finally come to China, and this time, we must realize our dreams. ”

Tsukada nodded and said, "I believe that our imperial army will definitely win the final victory." ”

With that, the two of them came to the conference room together, and a group of officers in the conference room were already sitting neatly.

Matsui Ishine sat down and said, "Gentlemen, let's report the situation first." ”

The 3rd Division, Yamamuro Sotake, was the first to stand up and said, "To this day, our army is still in a stalemate with the Shina army in Luodian, and although the 11th Division has helped, there is still no hope of victory. Moreover, our army suffered extremely heavy casualties, and up to now, our Third Division has suffered more than 6,000 casualties. ”

Matsui Ishine nodded and said, "Can you explain why?" ”

Yamamuro Sotake said: "There are three reasons, one is that we have too few people, and the Chinese army uses the tactics of crowds to make it impossible for us to advance, and our army often has to face ten Zhina soldiers alone. The second is that the air force has so far been unable to have air supremacy. In addition, since the destruction of the Third Fleet, our warships have not dared to get too close to the coastline, which has greatly reduced the support of our naval guns. ”

Matsui Ishine nodded and said, "Yo Xi, although the two divisions can already compete with the Chinese army, it is difficult to make a big difference, the next batch of reinforcements will arrive soon, but I still feel that it is not enough, I suggest that we jointly send a telegram to the military headquarters, and request that Taiwan's garrison also be transferred to Shanghai to break the deadlock as soon as possible, as for the naval artillery - the destruction of the Third Fleet has not yet been found out what the specific situation is?" ”

Nanzao Yunzi shook his head and said, "Although the Nanjing side of China made a lot of noise after the bombing of the Third Fleet, the exact method of attack is vague, and our investigation shows that it is a mine, but what type of mine is it. We don't know where the mines came from, and which unit infiltrated with the water ghosts, and the imperial friends in Nanking did not have any useful information, and the only information was that the attacking force did not seem to be the regular army of the Nanking government, otherwise Chiang would have been hyping about that unit a long time ago. ”

Tsukada next to him said, "Is it the local army?" ”

Nanzo Yunzi shook his head and said, "No, although the Shina was suddenly united because of the empire, the essence has not changed. Such military exploits will certainly be advocated externally in order to increase the voice of their own forces in the government of China. ”

Matsui Ishine shook his head and said, "You say, is it really the Shina people who did it?" ”

As soon as everyone heard this, they looked at Matsui, and Matsui continued: "There are many similarities between the explosion of the Third Fleet and the Tianjin Arsenal case, both of which happened at the most critical time of the war. ”

Hasegawa said with palpitations, "The knives I cut myself at that time are ready, and it's really a long shot." ”

Matsui continued, "So I suspect that both incidents were done by the same group. The intelligence department immediately followed this line of thought. In any case, we can't let this happen again. ”

- Tokyo

After receiving Matsui's telegram, the Japanese cabinet immediately convened a cabinet meeting again. After discussion, it was believed that in order to resolve the incident as soon as possible, it was necessary to increase the input of troops in order to achieve a quick solution, and then ordered the 9th, 13th, and 101st divisions and the Taiwan garrison to reinforce Shanghai. In addition, the wartime economic control decree was promulgated, and the temporary military expenditure was increased by 2 billion yen. Japan officially entered the war regime.

- Nanjing

Jiang Intermediary looked at the Sino-Soviet agreement in front of him, nodded with a smile and said, "Liang Chou, you did a good job." The agreement was well settled, so did Stalin say what kind of substantial support he would give us? What happened to our proposal for the Soviet army to attack the Japanese Kwantung Army? ”

Wang Chonghui was the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China at this time, and he was nearly sixty years old at this time. He smiled and said: "The Soviets seem to be very interested in our war with Japan, and I have heard a lot of favorable news in the Soviet Union, but the Soviets only want us to contain the Japanese, and Stalin has no interest in our proposal to send troops to the northeast." ”

Jiang Zhong sighed: "Of course." The USSR was a red party after all, and we were going to ask for help or to Europe and the United States, so what was Stalin willing to give us? ”

"Stalin offered to provide us with arms and technicians. The first batch had 300 planes of various types, 100 tanks, 50 anti-aircraft guns, 20 antiaircraft guns, 100,000 shells of various types, and 4 million rounds of ammunition. ”

Jiang Zhong nodded and said, "Yes, to transport the plane in place as soon as possible, the pressure over Shanghai or North China is too great." What about payment methods? ”

Wang Chonghui replied: "We refer to the arms deal with Germany, three-quarters of the payment is paid by ore, and the other quarter is by tea, I didn't expect the Soviet Union to have such a big demand for our tea." ”

Jiang thought for a while and said, "Not only the Soviet Union, but also with Britain, the United States, France, Germany and other countries, especially in the League of Nations, must promote the intervention of the League of Nations, as long as the League of Nations intervenes, then Japan will definitely withdraw its troops, which has been confirmed in 128." ”

Wang Chonghui nodded and said, "It's just that now countries have great doubts about the war between China and Japan, and I'm afraid it will take some time." ”

Jiang Zhong stared at Wang Chonghui and asked, "How long will it take?" ”

Wang Chonghui thought about it for a while and said, "If we lobby with all our might, I believe that it will not be long before the League of Nations will meet to discuss our affairs." ”

Jiang Zheng looked at the map on the wall and said, "Okay, you do your best, I will send Hu Shi to the United States, Jiang Fangzhen to Germany and Italy, to win the support of all countries, once the League of Nations discusses our affairs, you must fight on the League of Nations!" This is the best way for us to end the war. ”

Wang Chonghui nodded and said, "I will definitely live up to the high expectations of the commission." ”

- Doron

Hideki Tojo looked at the map and thought secretly in his heart that Hideki Tojo was the chief of staff of the Kwantung Army at this time, known as the razor, and he, like most Japanese officers in this period, believed that to deal with China, it was necessary to fight a quick battle. At this time, the Chahar Corps had four brigades and nine cavalry divisions of the puppet Mongolian army, one of which was stationed in Zhangjiakou, and the 15th Brigade of Shinohara Seiichiro's mixed Brigade, the 2nd Mixed Brigade of Honda Masasai, and the 1st Mechanized Brigade of Sakai Hoji's independent mixed army, with a total strength of more than 40,000 people, all of which were the most elite troops of the Kwantung Army with a high degree of mechanization. Together with the Pseudo-Mongolian Cavalry Division, it is extremely mobile.

When he learned that Seishiro Itagaki was coming, he hurriedly greeted him and smiled, "Itagaki-kun, you are here this time." Isn't there a clever idea? ”

Itagaki Seishiro said with a smile, "Tojo-kun, I can't talk about a clever plan, I just have a little idea, come, let's look at the map together, you help me check it, and see if my shallow view makes sense." ”

-- Taiyuan Military Conference

Yan Xishan sat in a high position, next to Mr. Zhu, Mr. Peng, Wei Lihuang, Tang Enbo, Yang Aiyuan and others.

Yan Xishan smiled and said to Mr. Zhu: "Brother Daizhen has worked hard all the way, where is your army moving now?" ”

Mr. Zhu said with a smile: "It's not hard to fly all the way to Yan'an, and I have to thank Chief Yan for taking care of me and sending a plane to pick me up." Our army has all been mobilized. About mid-September, they will all enter Shanxi, regarding the supply of our army. ”

Yan Xishan shook his hand and interrupted, "It should be, it should be, I'll talk about the supply issue later." Let's take a look at the map first. ”

Saying that, Yan Xishan motioned to Yang Aiyuan, Yang Aiyuan pointed to the map and said, "The Japanese army has learned that there are 40,000 Chahar Corps, 20,000 Fifth Division, and 40,000 puppet troops, a total of 100,000. The direction of the Japanese attack should be Tianzhen - Datong Line. Our plan was to fight a battle in Datong and then use the terrain to resist. The specific participating troops were the 61st Army (Jin Sui Army), the 19th Army (Jin Sui Army), the 34th Army (Jin Sui Army), the 35th Army (Wei Lihuang Division), and the 15th Army. (Central Army)"

Mr. Zhu looked at the map and asked, "These troops seem to be in addition to the 61st Army." They haven't reached Datong yet. ”

Yan Xishan shook his hand and said, "The Japanese army is also human, and it has not been a week since they finished fighting Nankou, so they will not attack so quickly, I think." I couldn't fight for more than half a month. ”

Mr. Peng smiled and said, "How can we pin our victory on the devil's non-attack?" ”

Tang Enbo immediately shot back, "Your army did not participate in the bloody battle of Nankou, I dare to say, the devils in Zhangjiakou don't say a week, half a month." Even a month doesn't necessarily slow down. ”

Mr. Peng wanted to have a seizure on the spot, but Mr. Zhu held him down.

Yang Aiyuan continued: "After our army resists steadily, our army can use the terrain. It was surrounded and attacked at Yanmen Pass, Pingxing Pass, and finally surrounded and annihilated at Xinkou. ”

Yan Xishan smiled and said, "Do you still have any questions?" ”

- Doron

Itagaki Seishiro pointed to the map and said, "Tojo-kun, you see, now Shanxi is not only the Jin Sui Army, but also the Central Army, the Red Party Army, the Anhui Army, the Northwest Army, etc., once the time drags on, Shanxi will be made into an extremely difficult bone by the strong forces of the Zhina." You must know that my junior brother has established a lot of military factories in Shanxi, and their weapons and equipment are not bad. ”

Hideki Tojo nodded and said, "That's true, Itagaki-kun, what do you mean?" ”

Seishiro Itagaki hit the map with a punch and said, "The soldiers are very fast, we are going to attack before the Shina army is ready." I suggest that in two days we launch an offensive on all fronts. ”

Hideki Tojo clapped his hands and shouted, "The hero sees the same thing, I think the same way, I will attack from Tenzhen-Datong, and strive to disrupt the deployment of the Shina army as quickly as possible." ”

- Taiyuan

Wei Lihuang looked at the map and suddenly asked, "What about Wei County here?" How's the defense here? You can also enter Shanxi here. ”

Yang Aiyuan said with a smile, "Although the Japanese army has 100,000, the main force is only 50,000 or 60,000, and the fifth division has suffered large losses, so it should not participate in the battle. So don't worry, and we have the 143rd Division stationed there as well. The small forces of the Japanese army could not get through. ”

Hearing that it was Liu Ruming's 143rd Division, Mr. Peng couldn't help but shake his head and smile, this division was afraid of fighting to the death during the Battle of Nankou, and now it is guarding the road alone? Peng Lao is always a hundred worried.

Yan Xishan saw it and asked, "I don't know how the Eighth Route Army is going to cooperate with us in battle?" ”

Mr. Zhu said, "We have poor weapons and equipment, and we can't fight positional warfare, we are ready to give full play to our advantages, continue to fight guerrilla warfare, ambush warfare, and our army will attack the Japanese army on the logistics line of the Japanese army." ”

Hearing about guerrilla warfare, several Nationalist Army generals looked at each other and smiled, and they all disagreed, saying that it was a joke to rely on guerrilla warfare to drive away the Japanese army.

- Doron

Seishiro Itagaki continued, "And I plan to send out the whole army of my Fifth Division to attack Wei County, and fight to Pingxing Pass by road, I believe that Yan Xishan must not have imagined that we would actually attack on both roads." ”

Hideki Tojo couldn't help but worry: "Virtual, real, real? It's a belligerent indeed. But can the 5th Division still fight? And this road is all roads, this supply line? ”

Seishiro Itagaki said proudly, "Don't worry, Tojo-kun, my division has more than 7,000 horses and hundreds of trucks, so there is no need to worry about military mobility and logistics." ”

Hideki Tojo smiled and said, "Okay, Itagaki-kun, let's fight together for the glory of the empire." ”

Seishiro Itagaki also smiled and said, "Okay, then we will attack together in two days." ”

- Taiyuan

After the meeting, Mr. Zhu came to Yan Xishan again and said about the supply problem, Yan Xishan thought about it, the Eighth Route Army still had to use it, so he said: "In this way, I can find a way to find some grain merchants to arrange for military rations, but this ammunition is really powerless, and your army still asks Chairman Jiang for it." After saying that, he left without looking away. Mr. Peng, who was angry, wanted to step forward, but Mr. Zhu said, "Forget it, wait a minute, when the devils come, they will come to us." (To be continued......)