At the same time that Tang Shengzhi was talking to Yang Longfei, Matsui Ishine, commander of the Japanese Central China Dispatch Army, was also negotiating with Yoshisumi Ryosuke, commander-in-chief of the Ninth Division, but this time it was not through telephone communication, but face-to-face, and there was an all-night long conversation without a third person disturbing him. Obviously, on the eve of the upcoming decisive battle, the officers and men of the grass-roots units on both sides, from the commander-in-chief to the officers and men of the grass-roots units, maintained the highest vigilance, and everyone did not feel sleepy.

Coincidentally, Matsui Ishine was removed from the commander-in-chief's seat three days ago because he was unwell and needed recuperation, and was given full command of the operation by Lieutenant General Hatohiko Asakanomiya, commander of the Shanghai Dispatch Army.

Matsui Ishine specially instructed his subordinates to brew two cups of tea from different regions for himself and the head of the Yoshizumi Division, and pointed to Yoshizumi Ryosuke's teacup and asked in an examination tone: "Yoshizumi-kun, the tea leaves in this tea are called Biluochun, which belongs to the green tea family, and has been famous since the Sui and Tang dynasties in China, but I don't know if you know where this tea comes from?" ”

"I'm sorry, Commander. Yoshizumi didn't study much about tea, and he didn't know anything about this tea named Biluochun, so he asked the commander to show it. Yoshizumi Ryosuke took a sip of tea lightly and said indifferently.

Matsui Ishine smiled and shook his head: "Contemptible people have heard of it for a long time, and Yoshizumi-kun's understanding of Chinese culture can be called a well-known experience, and it is not an exaggeration to call it a 'China expert'. But today, it seems that the contemptible people still got some things that Yoshizumi-kun didn't know. This kind of tea called Biluochun is produced in the area of Dongting Mountain in Suzhou, which is only more than 200 kilometers away from Nanjing. Of course, I am referring to this viewing not only to the topography of the tea garden and the growth process of the tea trees, but also to the picking skills of the tea pickers and the production process of the roasted tea people. I once went to the shore of Dongting Lake as a business traveler to appreciate the production process of the roasted tea people, and their techniques are very special, using three methods of shaking, stir-frying, and kneading alternately. Until now, I still remember an old man who once lived there, and in my ear stated the production process of this kind of tea in words: the so-called hand does not leave the tea, the tea does not leave the pot, kneading with stir-frying, kneading in the stir-fry, stir-frying and kneading combined, continuous operation, and the pot is ready. The whole procedure can be said to be completed in one go, without any drag. I have to admit that Japan is far inferior to China in the process of making tea alone. ”

"Your Excellency, Commander, if you change the tea-making process you just mentioned to a combat style, it will be very similar to an opponent I met in Guanghuamen. To be honest, this man's fighting style is all about punching and rushing, and he never looks ahead or back when facing his opponent. On the contrary, he often led his men to play the style of medieval knights, using decisive battles to settle battles, which I admired. Ryosuke Yoshizumi said heartily.

After hearing this, Matsui Ishone took off his glasses and gently wiped a pair of lenses with a cloth, revealing his characteristic smile: "Contemptible people know that no matter what field of topic is used as the text of communication between you and me, Yoshizumi-kun will always inadvertently bring the topic to military affairs again, and I think it is not an exaggeration to call Your Excellency a 'martial idiot' for this alone." It's just that I'm curious, among the opponents this time, there will be a Chinese officer admired by Ling Ji Zhujun? There aren't many opponents who can make Yoshizumi-kun look at him. Well, don't tell me who he is, let me guess......" Matsui put his glasses back on, took out a thick dossier from the drawer, and cursorily flipped through the materials until he reached the page about the "Battle of Gwanghwamon".

"Well, according to the information provided by our intelligence department, since December 7, there have been a total of three defending units that have fought with the 9th Division at Guanghuamen, namely the 25th Regiment of the Central Teaching Corps under the command of the enemy garrison headquarters, the 89th Regiment of the 88th Division, and the last one is a brigade-level formation, which belongs to the 87th Division of the National Army, and this brigade commander has been killed in battle?"

"Yes, Your Excellency Commander, the name of this fallen officer is Yi Anhua, if I am not mistaken, his identity should be the Major General and Brigade Commander of the 259th Brigade of the 87th Division of the Ninth Army of the National Revolutionary Army. It is a pity that this Chinese general was killed after being attacked by our soldiers during a white-knuckle battle with our first attack echelon, and my body has been collected and returned to the Chinese defenders. Yoshizumi Ryosuke's face suddenly darkened.

Matsui nodded in understanding: "Maybe I already have the answer in my heart, there is an ancient Chinese saying called 'heroes cherish each other', although we and China are hostile countries, but as a traditional Oriental nation, we all have tacit reverence for heroes, especially the heroes who have created history." For example, Zhu Zhiyu, a scholar in China in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, traveled alone to Tokyo and Nagasaki to promote the Confucianism founded by their ancestors as early as the Edo period in Japan, which can be said to be one of the few precedents. I thought, if I expected it to be right, this Yi Anhua should be the Chinese officer with a unique combat style in your mouth, right? ”

"Your Excellency, Commander, I'm afraid you're going to disappoint you. You are right, in terms of courage, this officer does have a certain blood, and he is worthy of the title of a soldier before and after his death. But unfortunately, my main enemy is not him, and even the impression of fighting him is vague. Therefore, I only have respect for him, and I do not have too much admiration and attention. ”

Hearing Yoshizumi Ryosuke's words, Matsui Ishine said again without thinking: "That must be the commander of the national army named Tie Haichuan...... Well, this guy has a rich resume, graduated from Wuhan Huangpu Branch, and studied at the German Senior Military Academy during his schooling? Well, this school has a lot of origins, and it is said that the famous military theorist Clausewitz graduated from it in his early years, and very few of our Japanese officers have been able to enter this military school...... After graduating from the German Military Academy and returning to China, he was assigned to the combat sequence of the Kuomintang Central Army and assumed the position of regiment commander, and was promoted to colonel? ”

Looking at Commander Matsui Ishine's skeptical face, Ryosuke Yoshizumi nodded to show the accuracy of the information: "That's right, Your Excellency Commander. In fact, I had already consulted the dossier three days earlier, and there was no doubt that there was a great correlation between this man's promotion and his experience, but this did not prove anything in the eyes of the contemptible people. What I think is that whether a person's growth experience is wonderful or not is not directly related to whether he can become an excellent soldier or not. It is not difficult to see from the use of tactics and command and dispatch that this Tie Haichuan has a certain German combat style, that is, in the whole course of the battle, he does not seek to inflict a large number of casualties on the enemy, but takes the fastest speed to achieve a certain military goal, and the military purpose I am referring to here is actually a simple strategic defense. From this point of view alone, this Tie Haichuan has been completed quite qualified. But then it also exposed the Achilles' heel in his bones, that is, he had no offensive thinking, offensive purpose, or even offensive mind, and would only blindly arrange defensive lines, build fortifications, and then defend, defend, and defend. Hannibal Baka, known as the 'father of Western strategy', once said: The best defense is offense. Obviously, Tie Haichuan, who had studied in Germany, did not deeply understand this. ”

After Matsui Ishine pondered for a long time, he made a black humorous joke to Yoshizumi Ryosuke: "According to Yoshizumi-kun, the soldiers who know how to take the offensive as the main strategy should come from the Soviet army?" This is a fighting people with a lot of Fauvist style. As their famous commander-in-chief Zhukov once said: If I knew that there was a minefield on the way forward, I would have let the troops drive straight through. Simply a madman! ”

"Your Excellency, this is not called a madman. On the contrary, I admired the style of this Soviet general, who was also a military strategist with a lot of personality and excellent command skills. The same figures are Rokossovsky and Konev...... Oh, and I'd like to include my opponent if I could, and to be fair, he's also a charismatic officer. Ryosuke Yoshizumi explained with a wry smile.

Matsui Ishine scoffed at Yoshizumi Ryosuke's words, and after he roughly scanned Yang Longfei's personal file with his disdainful eyes, he muttered in his heart: How do you need to describe this guy named Yang Longfei? Well, the fifth phase of the Whampoa Military Academy, graduated in 1927, has no study experience, has participated in many factional melee battles within China, and belongs to the troops of the Jiang family...... Yoshizumi-kun, this person's experience is very ordinary, just from the introduction, he is just an ordinary professional soldier without any characteristics. Compared to the two officers in front of him, this kind of person is all too common. Neither in a high position, nor with any study abroad experience, he is too ordinary. If you have patience, you can find a hundred officers like him in a day. Could it be that this person is the one you call a unique opponent? ”

"Yes, Your Excellency, Commander."

Matsui Ishone shook his head with a sarcastic tone and sneered: "No, Yoshizumi-kun, according to your qualifications, you should not limit yourself to a small circle, let alone attach too much importance to a colonel who has no characteristics to speak of, your vision should be on the same level as your own identity, or even higher." You must know that the quality of Chinese officers is generally low, except for those generals with heavy troops or foreign officers with rich experience in studying abroad, others are not worthy of our attention at all, I hope you can understand this truth. ”

Yoshizumi Ryosuke smiled bitterly: "Your Excellency, Commander, one of my classmates when I was a student at the Imperial Army Non-commissioned Officer School once said such a sentence, which Yoshizumi regarded as a classic. He said: In this era of constantly creating heroes, the ability of small people cannot be ignored. You must know that the little-known Serbian youth at that time caused the First World War because he killed the Austro-Hungarian crown prince and his wife in Sarajevo once. It can be seen that the ability of small people cannot be ignored, and they can also create history, and even rewrite history. ”

Well, this statement is very novel, and it does not lose his truth. Yoshizumi-kun, this classmate of yours also graduated from the 17th class of the Non-commissioned Officer School? What is his name and what rank is he now? Matsui Ishone asked with interest.

"Yes, his name is Jitake Kimura, and like me, he is a graduate of the 17th class of the non-commissioned officer school, but we haven't been in touch for nearly five years. Five years ago, his military rank was Army Major Commander, and according to normal promotion, he should now be the rank of Central Commander or Grand Commander. ”

Matsui Ishine couldn't help but laugh after hearing this: "Is it just a big sa? Yoshizumi-kun, maybe you shouldn't take your classmate's words as classics, he seems to me to be just a mediocre person. Isn't it enough that you graduated at the same time, but there is such a big gap? ”

"I need to explain to you that the reason why this classmate of mine has been slow to be promoted is not because of his ability, but because he is inclined to a different military field than ours. Like most of the cadets, I studied the theory of large-depth combat at the non-commissioned officer school, but Kimura Jitake was not interested in it at all, and he preferred individual combat, which until now was unpopular, but the school did not have this course at the time. Therefore, he had to go to Munich Military Academy in Germany at his own expense, and received a special warfare education initiated by the Nazi general General Guderian, and later, after completing his studies in Germany, he returned to serve in China, improving on the basis of the original special warfare, and renaming it "special operations", the purpose of which was to use a small number of people to give the enemy the greatest lethal effect through assassination, sneak attack, disguise, infiltration, and other means. To be honest, Kimura's strategic vision is indeed ahead of its time. ”

"Do you have any examples to learn from?" Matsui asked.

"Not yet, but he's been waiting for his chance and he's eager to make a name for himself."

A Japanese second lieutenant strode into the room, and a "snap" one of them reported: "Report, Your Excellency Commander, the 3rd, 6th, and 9th Divisions have successively captured Yangfang Mountain, Jubao Mountain, Chaoyang Mountain and other military fortresses. ”

"Tell Lieutenant General Chaoxiang Palace on my behalf that he is now the supreme commander of the Nanjing siege force, and while I am sick and recuperating, he has the right to formulate a battle plan and issue an attack order on my behalf!" Matsui Ishone looked at the second lieutenant who came to report and said solemnly.

Not long after the second lieutenant left, Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Ryosuke also stood up from his seat, and after he straightened out the folds on his military uniform, he also saluted Matsui Ishine and said: "It seems that I also need to go to the front line to command the battle, Your Excellency Commander, you should rest early, I think that tomorrow at the latest, you can follow us into Nanjing." It is said that there is a presidential palace in the Xuanwu district of Nanjing, where Chiang Kai-shek, the supreme leader of the Kuomintang, worked there before the war, and when we encircle the Chinese defenders in the city, we will raise our national flag in the highest building of the presidential palace to welcome you into the city. ”

Matsui Ishine bowed his head with great satisfaction and said, "Thank you Yoshizumi-kun for your kindness, and I wish you a victorious start and live up to His Majesty the Emperor's wishes!" ”