The clouds were low and the rain was pouring down.

The strong southwesterly wind blew another rain cloud from Korea to the Far East, and the Far Eastern front, which was in the midst of fierce fighting, was suddenly shrouded in a curtain of rain that was even from heaven to earth. This is definitely good news for the entire ranks of the Japanese Far East Army, which is in a nightmare. In the eight days from July 7 to July 5, the more than 100,000 Japanese officers and soldiers in the Far East on both sides of the Ussuri River and on the battlefield of Shuangcheng definitely fought the most tragic defensive battle in the history of East Asia, and it was even more miserable than what the Japanese army suffered in the Battle of Manchuria more than three years ago!

After all, in that battle, the Japanese army was the final winner, and now they are the doomed side! Everyone knows in their hearts that the jade fragmentation of the 10th Division of the Japanese Army is the beginning of the end of the entire Far Eastern Army. After annihilating the Japanese army in Shuangcheng, the main force of the Chinese army did not even take a break, but directly drew the strength of the three armies and went north along the Far Eastern Railway, launching a fierce attack on the 19th and 20th divisions of the Japanese army that went south to reinforce Shuangcheng! At the same time, the Chinese army on the front line of the Tiger Head Fortress, which had been pressed and attacked by the four divisions of the Japanese army, also launched a powerful counterattack after receiving reinforcements. Almost instantly, the Japanese army of six divisions was put in a difficult situation. Moreover, these troops have already gone through the attrition of an offensive campaign with huge losses, the loss of personnel is incalculable, and the consumption of weapons and ammunition is also extremely great. To add insult to injury, their logistical lines have been interrupted since 7 July, and new supply lines for operations through the Amur River have not yet been established.

Beginning on 2 July, the six divisions that had been cut off from the logistics line began to strictly limit the consumption of ammunition. Riflemen in every line. You can only receive a maximum of 20 rounds per day! Each cannon and mortar can only get ten shells! This is the minimum supply, and by July 4th, it will be difficult to maintain!

The consumption of days of hard fighting and the dilemma of running out of ammunition. Naturally, the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army was greatly weakened. The squadrons that had made outstanding achievements in the wars of the Japanese Empire and had made meritorious contributions in all the wars of the Japanese Empire were almost formed into formations and fell into the artillery fire and infantry charges of the Chinese army, turning into piles of broken lifeless corpses! But more squadrons of brigades filled the battlefield and continued to ruin Miè's fate. Under the onslaught of nearly 250,000 troops of the five armies of the Chinese army, the Japanese army did not dare to flee without hesitation.

The new commander of the Far Eastern Army, General Hanzo Yamanashi, worked out a plan for an orderly retreat. The 19th and 20th Divisions, which resisted the main force of the Chinese army on the Xingkaihu battlefield, were abandoned, and except for a few units that were retained as a species, they were able to leave the battlefield and retreat to Xin'antu, most of the troops were ordered to fight to the death! And four divisions on both sides of the Ussuri River. Then they fought and retreated, and retreated to Xin'an land east of the Ussuri River. After meeting the 19th Division and the 1st Division of the 20th Division, which had withdrawn northward, they would retreat to Boli one after another. There they were to wait for four divisions of the Japanese First Army, a cavalry group. In any case, with the strength of eight divisions and a cavalry group, it is always certain to hold the line of Boli and the Amur.

Some of the high-ranking officials of the Japanese Army and the prince in the palace came. As long as it can be held, there will be a day when the situation will be reversed, and more divisions are being mobilized in the country, and efforts to win the Soviet Union into the war are also underway. Moreover, China's industrial base is not as good as Japan's, and now it is able to maintain such a strong firepower entirely by relying on the initial pre-war and the assistance of France and Germany. As long as the war can be stalemate, and at the same time completely block China's foreign transportation lines, Japan will definitely be able to achieve the final victory! At the very least, there can be a truly decent peace.

But for ordinary Japanese front-line soldiers. They had been tormented by exhaustion and fear for many days, and they did not think of these things. They just rejoice. This timely heavy rain finally gave them a chance to evacuate the battlefield, so that they no longer had to face the overwhelming artillery fire of the Chinese army, no longer have to fight to the death with the Chinese infantry who came like a tide, and no longer have to wail without medical treatment after their comrades died or were wounded. They can finally pull down.

……

The rain was torrential, and thunder and lightning rolled in the dark clouds of the sky. There were also a few hanging dragons, falling straight down from the sky.

On the dirt road north of Shin-Azuchi. The Japanese soldiers who were crowded with large groups and Japanese pioneers who fled with their families and families were scattered, and the long procession that could not be seen was rolling in the muddy water and rain. The Japanese pioneers fled from Shin-Asuchi and nearby towns and villages.

In the years after Japan occupied the rich land of Far Eastern Prefecture, about 10 million poor Japanese peasants who had no land and little land were mobilized and resettled, and tens of millions of acres of fertile land were reclaimed on the land on the east bank of the Ussuri River and the south bank of the Amur River, and on the plains around Xingkai Lake, and tens of thousands of colonial villages were established. These pioneers also lived a life of abundant food and clothing that they had never dared to imagine. But now, this qiē was lost overnight! The rhetoric of seizing Manchuria and conquering China was still echoing in the ears, but hundreds of thousands of heavily armed Chinese troops had already rushed into the Xingkaihu Plain. All kinds of rumors about massacres, rapes, and robberies spread to Shin'an Land in the shortest possible time! In fact, such atrocities do exist, and they are very common! However, it was not the officers and soldiers of the Chinese National Defense Forces who did evil, but the slaves of the Japanese - the Koreans! Almost all of the farms run by the Japanese pioneers employed Korean laborers, and the Japanese masters naturally did their best to abuse and oppress these Koreans. And after the squadron destroyed the social order established by the Japanese colonizers, the oppressed Koreans naturally had to rise up to take revenge on their original masters. Moreover, the Chinese National Defense Forces, which were invading foreign territory for the first time, did not know how to maintain order in the occupied territories, and were helpless against the vendetta between the Japanese (they could not understand the difference between Koreans and Japanese). Moreover, the Japanese pioneers who were abused by the Koreans did not dare to ask for help from the Chinese occupation forces.

The Japanese pioneers, who had fallen into the clutches of the Koreans and the Chinese National Defense Forces, had no choice but to resign themselves to fate, but the Japanese civilians there were not willing to be slaved to the country. After knowing that the general situation was not good, they all spontaneously dragged their families and embarked on the road of escape. Belch. It should be said that the road to escape is blocked!

The civilians fell step by step, almost crawling forward, and at this point, they were reluctant to abandon the little possessions they had, and their bodies were covered with large and small packages, and some of them used board carts to drag furniture and farm tools. Such a speed of travel is naturally like that of a snail. The retreating Japanese army wanted to speed up, but the flow of people was blocked. Some of the officers who led the team also wanted to drive away the civilians so that they could speed up the march. But as soon as the words of scolding came out. It attracted tenfold insults and sarcasm, all blaming the imperial army for its incompetence, the loss of its division and land, and the betrayal of the trust and expectations of the people and His Majesty the Emperor. Immediately, the Japanese officers and soldiers who fled from the wolves were ashamed and embarrassed, and they couldn't wait to find a place where no one was there and secretly cut their stomachs.

The rice paddies on both sides of the road are full of discarded things, carts. Supplies, packages, and even light and heavy artillery with a broken barrel! But the most regrettable thing is not these, but the rice that is growing quite well! Now more than half of Japan's grain is supplied by the farmland of the Far East! Once these grains are lost, Japan will inevitably experience a famine the following year! And the blow that this great famine brought to the Japanese Empire was even heavier than the crushing defeat that the Far Eastern Army and the Korean Army were suffering now. But now the Japanese Empire is up and down. But no one thought of that.

At a small railway station, only twenty kilometers north of Shin'an Soil Castle, the order of the retreat was equally chaotic. The platform was full of Japanese officers and soldiers and Japanese pioneers, shouting loudly, crowding each other into the carriages. The dry food prepared by the military station was placed on dozens of large tables. They were all freshly made rice balls, which were originally prepared according to the number of retreating Japanese troops. Who knows about the Japanese army and the Japanese pioneer Minichi

Rush into the carriage! They were all very hungry people, and when they got to the food, they crowded to grab it, and the officers at the station were just dumbfounded, not knowing what to do! They are all reactionary Japanese militarists! How can you turn a gun on a fleeing Japanese civilian? And the reason why these civilians fled was not because they were useless and lost the battle?

General Hanzo Yamanashi sat in the carriage specially prepared for the headquarters of the Far Eastern Army, coldly sighed, lowered the curtains heavily, and said angrily: "How did the gendarmes do it!" Didn't they let them hold the station gate? Why are so many people still cramming in! ”

Major General Ueda Kenkichi, the chief of staff of the army beside him, said with a wry smile: "Your Excellency, the military police have tried their best to block it, but there are too many people, and they are mixed with the troops, so it is impossible to completely block it, unless it ...... Unless the troops are ordered to shoot and expel ......"

Hanzo Yamanashi glared at Ueda. Shoot to expel it! This Ueda Kenkichi still doesn't let himself be a man? The battle was fought like this, and he was originally a sinner of the Great Japanese Empire, and then he ordered the troops to open fire on the fleeing Japanese nationals! Will you still have the face to return to Japan after the war in the future? Besides, now that the morale of the troops has fallen to the extreme, if they kill their own civilians in order to flee for their lives quickly, will the officers and soldiers below still have the will to fight? Defending the people is their responsibility and mission as an imperial army!

He smiled bitterly: "Since you are squeezed in, let's go together, and send a telegram to Bo Li's side, and ask them to prepare more food, clothes, and tents...... Isn't it the responsibility of the Far Eastern Army to protect civilians? Now I can protect a little more. ”

As soon as he said this, Ueda Kenkichi had nothing to say. This commander of the Far Eastern Army refused to take responsibility for killing his own people, what else could he do as the chief of staff? I can only pray to Amaterasu that the Chinese are chasing slower.

……

"Did the Fifth Army break through the Japanese rearguard?"

"Well, not yet. The Japanese 9th and 20th Divisions resisted very stubbornly, and heavy rain was falling on the shores of Lake Xingkai, which was very unfavorable to the offensive of the Fifth Army. However, the Japanese retreat also encountered trouble, according to the reconnaissance, the Japanese pioneers on the east bank of the Ussuri River were also evacuating, crowded with the Japanese regular army, there were always millions of people, blocking the road, it would be good to be able to walk two or three miles every hour. ”

"What is the situation on the north bank of the Yalu River?"

"The Japanese 1st Division and most of the 4th Division have been surrounded. The two divisions formed a long serpentine formation along the South Manchurian railway spur line, which had now been cut into several sections and could soon be annihilated by the Second Army. ”

"What about the First Army of the Japanese Army? How are they doing now? ”

"We've started to retreat, but it's not a good way back. The USSR will not lend them any more. They had to retreat along the Songhua River and the Heilongjiang River, and they had to walk hundreds of miles. ”

Chang Ruiqing tapped on the map with satisfaction. smiled: "It's too late to go to Boli on the south bank of the Heilongjiang River, and when they get to Boli, they will already occupy it for us." Our Japanese First Army will definitely retreat into the territory of the Soviet Union, but this time the Soviet Union will definitely disarm them and wait until the end of the war to repatriate them. As for the six divisions and regiments that retreated north along the Far Eastern Railway, there is nothing to worry about, their logistics line has been broken, and now they are retreating together with their common people, and it is only a matter of time before we catch up...... What we have to consider is a few Japanese divisions that are drifting on the sea. ”

Zhao Zhen is now acting as chief of the general staff, so the task of introducing Chang Ruiqing to the battle situation fell to him, and he heard Chang Ruiqing mention several Japanese divisions and regiments at sea. also frowned and said: "It's them who can't be sure now, the estimate of the General Staff is two, one is to land near Shanghai, which is close to our economic center; The second is to go to North Korea. ”

Chang Ruiqing straightened his military uniform, shook his head and said, "They won't go to North Korea, because that's what we want." What we want the enemy to do in war. The enemy generally does not take ...... Yoshiichi Tanaka's mind was very clear that the situation in the Far Eastern Army and the Korean Army was irretrievable. The only way out for Japan now is to seek peace by war and use naval superiority to threaten our economic center! ”

Zhao Zhen nodded, put down the baton in his hand, and walked towards the outside of the war room with Chang Ruiqing, sighing: "Our navy is still too weak. And the firepower of the coastal batteries was also insufficient, there were no large-caliber cannons of more than 00mm. Brother Yaoru, even if we take down the entire coast of Korea and the Far East, there is no way to stop the actions of the Japanese Navy along the coast. Shouldn't this question of ending the war also be considered? ”

Chang Ruiqing was about to answer, when he saw that Zeng Qi was already standing outside waiting for him. He smiled at Zhao Zhen and said, "Youlin." I already have a full plan for ending the war, and at most the war will end in September. That's right. The General Staff and the War Department could consider developing a demobilization plan. ”

Zhao Zhen smiled and saluted, turned to leave. Since Chang Ruiqing still firmly believes that the war can be ended in September, then he can just wait and see, Chang Ruiqing has not disappointed their followers all these years.

Zeng Qi's brows were furrowed tightly, during this time, Chang Ruiqing devoted himself to the war, and the daily government affairs were taken care of by the two prime ministers Pan Yucheng and Zhang Junmao, and the work of dealing with all political figures was handed over to Zeng Qi. And with the large-scale approach of the Japanese fleet, the politicians who were originally very high-minded and bent on turning Japan into an island country were a little panicked, and the call for an early peace also rose, and Zeng Qi, who dealt with them every day, was naturally affected a little.

"Chairman of the Committee, Vice Chairman Jiang and ** have come to their subordinates again, and they all want to talk to you about ending the war. Mrs. Sun and Chairman Hu also have the same meaning. ”

As he spoke, he took out a pile of documents from his briefcase, handed them to Chang Ruiqing with both hands, and said: "This is a proposal put forward by the China Association for the Promotion of Democracy to start armistice negotiations with Japan, and they also hope to send representatives to participate in the negotiations." ”

Chang Ruiqing took it with a smile. "Okay, I'll ...... carefully Mu Han, is there anything else important? ”

Zeng Qi nodded. "It's not a big deal, it's Chairman Mao ZD of China G, he has personally gone to Tangshan, and he also brought Mifu and Leshinskaya from GC International. He said that he would like to talk to you about easing the tension between China and the Soviet Union, and that he would like to meet them, Chairman? ”

Chang Ruiqing nodded. "Everyone is coming to the door, why don't I meet each other? Muhan, you go and call my house, let me prepare luncheon, and at noon I will invite **, Mifu and Leshinskaya to dinner. ”

As Zeng Qi left, Chang Ruiqing took the book and walked towards his office while flipping through it. The content of this book does not advocate compromise with Japan, but proposes to talk and fight at the same time, and to engage with Japan in many ways. Of course, Chang Ruiqing did the wicked, and Jiang Jshi, Mao Zd, and some leftist industrialists and businessmen in Shanghai came out to be peaceful people, contacted Japanese peaceful people, and tried to make some deals that the official could not propose. A de facto peaceful approach was also proposed, which meant the end of military hostilities without a formal armistice or peace agreement. For this reason, the Wehrmacht should, while inflicting heavy losses on the Japanese army, not completely seize the Far East coast and the Korean Peninsula, and leave a little thought for the Japanese, lest they jump over the wall in a hurry and use the navy to blockade China's coastal areas.

Not to mention, some of the contents of this book are really very desirable. Chang Ruiqing closed the book and gave it to the adjutant beside him. "Ci Xiu, let people hand over this letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ask them to study it."

"yes, okay." The voice that answered was a sweet and greasy female voice, as if it was Zhao Sanmei's voice. Chang Ruiqing turned around, and a black beauty wearing a sleeveless cheongsam didn't know when she had followed behind her.