Hashimoto said with some embarrassment: "General, this will cause great panic, are you thinking about it?" ”

The reason why Hashimoto said this is because there are at least 100,000 Japanese expatriate businessmen in the entire Taiyuan city and the surrounding towns and mining areas outside the city.

It is no exaggeration to say that in Taiyuan, the most prosperous center of Shanxi, the Japanese control more than ninety percent of the assets of all walks of life.

As a matter of fact, if the Japanese army did not capture a place, its own people would enter these occupied areas in the name of immigrants and use all kinds of means to seize all kinds of property.

And most of these Japanese who can immigrate are related to the military, and the two sides are originally a community of interests.

He Hashimoto himself has no less than a dozen properties in Taiyuan City, all of which are puppets of people close to his family to help him take care of his daily operations.

If, at this time, the expatriates and merchants inside and outside the city were suddenly recruited into the army and the garrison of the city was expanded, it would inevitably cause great panic among the Japanese people inside and outside the city, and the slightest carelessness could lead to a complete loss of control.

The main thing is that Hashimoto doesn't want his family to give up their business and take up arms to go to war, so that the assets they have worked so hard to manage may fall into the hands of others.

In the end, I still can't give up my money, and my flesh hurts.

Regarding the situation of the Hashimoto group in Taiyuan City, Xiangyue Qingji still heard about it, but usually the Hashimoto group did not lack his filial piety, so he turned a blind eye.

Now that Hashimoto Qun is not resolutely carrying out his orders, of course Kazuki Seiji knows what little calculations he is making in his heart, and he can't help but be angry, and roars: "Hashimoto-kun, please remember, if our defense line outside Taiyuan is lost, then all the current Qiē in the city will be in vain!"

That includes the lives and property of all our expatriates! The people of China have long hated us, and they will never show mercy to our men! You should understand this! ”

Seeing that Xiangyue Qingji was angry, Hashimoto Group was a little timid, bowed his head and said: "Your Excellency General, what you have taught is that you understand your humble duties!" ”

Xiangyue Qingji snorted coldly and said, "It's good to understand, hurry up and carry out my orders, and tell the people of the empire who rely on the power of the imperial army on weekdays in the city."

As subjects of His Majesty the Emperor and a member of the Empire of Japan, at this critical moment, it is time to show their loyalty, to contribute to the Empire and His Majesty to the Emperor, and to keep what they now have.

It is necessary to defeat the hateful dragon tooth column, otherwise, all the qiē they have will no longer exist! Or even their lives! ”

Hashimoto hurriedly bowed his head and said, "Hai! Humble duty understands. ”

Soon, the Japanese expatriates and businessmen living in and outside Taiyuan City were notified, and naturally there was an uproar, and many devils were terrified, and they couldn't believe that the rear of Taiyuan, which had always been as stable as a rock, why did the Eighth Route Army suddenly come over?

However, under the pressure of the powerful crisis, the adult men came out of the houses and shops they had forcibly occupied, and flocked to the temporary recruitment and expansion sites set up by the Japanese army in Taiyuan.

There, they will receive all sorts of weapons and ammunition.

The only thing that makes the devils fortunate is that the Japanese army has stored a lot of weapons, ammunition and other military supplies in the military warehouse in Taiyuan in the past two years.

It is not enough to let these temporarily conscripted Japanese expatriates, merchants, and retired personnel go to battle with the Dragon's Tooth Column with cold weapons.

The devils have recruited more than 30,000 men inside and outside Taiyuan City, and these devils who have been temporarily conscripted into the army have a large age span, some are just seventeen or eighteen years old, and some are even forty or fifty years old.

Because of Japan's military service system, at least 80 percent of these devils have experience in the army, and they are better than ordinary people who are generally temporarily formed.

But compared to some real recruits who have never touched a gun and have ever fought a gun, it is much stronger, and in four words, it is barely a battle.

…………

The devils are recruiting retired soldiers in Taiyuan, and the expatriates are organizing defense, so such a big movement naturally can't hide the intelligence personnel of all parties lurking in Taiyuan City, including the Dragon Shadow Guard of the Dragon Tooth Column.

The agents of Long Yingwei, who were hidden in Taiyuan City, secretly sent a telegram to the headquarters of Long Yingwei to report after quietly reconnoitring the situation inside and outside Taiyuan.

After receiving the telegram, Wan Hu, who was secretly engaged in intelligence activities in Tianjin and preparing for the Longya Column to go north to recover Pingjin in the future, immediately forwarded the news to Qiao Youhua, who was leading the army on the way to Taiyuan.

At this time, Qiao Youhua with more than 40,000 troops was already less than 60 miles away from Taiyuan, and the cavalry reconnaissance battalion and Zhao Youde's department, which had successfully ambushed the Japanese army in the area of the Fenyang River, had also caught up, and they had gathered less than 10 kilometers with Qiao Youhua.

"Commander, Director Wan called, saying that the little devils in Taiyuan are now all over the city to arrest their own strong men, and at least twenty or thirty thousand devil men and men, regardless of age or young, will be re-recruited into the army! Now the devil's defense in Taiyuan has increased greatly. Li Yansan took the message sent by Wan Hu and reported to Qiao Youhua.

After Qiao Youhua heard this, he couldn't help but smile disdainfully: "It seems that the little devils are also anxious, and they have all begun to catch the strong men, this kind of improvised rabble, if used to resist other anti-Japanese forces, rely on their existing city fortifications in Taiyuan."

Maybe we can hold out for a while, but against our dragon tooth column, it's not Lao Tzu's boast, with our equipment, our firepower, and our combat effectiveness, it will not be a problem to deal with this gang of miscellaneous people. ”

After speaking, Qiao Youhua smiled again and said: "However, what I'm worried about is that the devils in other places, such as the Japanese army in Jinnan and other places, are now in danger in Taiyuan, and they can't sit idly by."

Maybe we are already on the way to the aid of Taiyuan, and if we can't break through the enemy's defense line in Taiyuan before they arrive, then the next battle may be a little more troublesome. ”

Li Yansan said: "Commander, don't we have accurate information on the movements of the Japanese army in Jinnan and other places?" ”

Qiao Youhua shook his head lightly and said, "No, the coverage area of our Long Yingwei's intelligence agents is mainly in Hebei, Shanxi, and northern Shandong.

The sphere of influence has not yet penetrated into Jinnan and other places, so it is impossible to accurately grasp the movements of the Japanese army in the south of Shanxi. ”