At more than eight o'clock in the evening, Ningbo, the General Headquarters of the South China Front, Matsui Shigen was sitting on a tatami mat, looking at the latest battle report from the front.

The Battle of Hankou was more difficult to fight than expected, and I originally thought that with 300,000 imperial troops, I would definitely be able to go down in one go. However, so far, not only has the war made no progress, but what is worrying is that the 17th Division, an elite division of the Imperial Army, has been completely annihilated. And if it weren't for the desperate efforts of a group of young staff officers at the division and regiment headquarters to rescue the division commander, then this would be the first time in the history of the Japanese military that a division or regiment has been completely wiped out.

The Battle of Hankou would have been fought to the point where it is now, and the Imperial Army would not even be able to defeat the third-rate troops (in the ranking of the Chinese army recognized by the Japanese, the Xuebing Army was the most difficult enemy to deal with, followed by the cunning and cunning Tubalu, and as for the so-called Lao Chiang's Central Army, it belonged to the third-rate troops). Thinking about the first Great Wall War of Resistance, tens of thousands of imperial troops defeated the Shina army ten times their size, and Matsui Ishine was deeply humiliated. Why is this happening? Why did the brave and warlike imperial army suddenly become incapable of fighting? Matsui Ishine thought about it, and finally believed that the most fundamental reason was that he did not solve the problem of the student army. The student army entrenched in the three southern provinces of China was so hateful that it tied up the four most elite divisions of the imperial army in Zhejiang. The 2nd, 6th, 9th, and 13th divisions may not be the best equipped and the most combat-effective, but because they have been active on the Chinese battlefield for a long time, they are the most experienced in actual combat. Experience is an extremely important factor in war. This time, most of the troops transferred from the Kwantung Army, the North China Front Army, and the domestic army lacked experience in actual combat with the Chinese army, which gave the third-rate troops the opportunity to completely annihilate a main division.

Matsui Shigen also didn't want to think about it, if he performed well enough, if the so-called South China Front could win the battle in Fujian, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi at the end of last year and the beginning of this year, then did they still need to make a serious defensive posture? The loss of Shangrao and Yingtan was nothing at first glance, but when the Battle of Hankou began, the Japanese immediately rushed to retreat. Without it, the Shangrao and Yingtan lines not only directly made it impossible for the South China Front to connect with the front-line battlefield, but also, in order to cope with a possible surprise attack by the Scholar Army from the region, the Japanese army had to deploy more troops in the area from Panyang Lake to Shangjiang. This limited the Japanese army's performance at the beginning of the campaign, but at the same time gave the 74th Army of the Nationalist Army a chance to give it a go.

The 2nd, 6th, 9th, and 13th Divisions were given important tasks by some bigwigs in the Japanese base camp, hoping that they would be able to firmly hold Zhejiang when the empire used troops in the Hankou area, so as to ensure the safety of the rear of the Japanese army in Jiangsu and Shanghai. Matsui Shi should have been glad that he was able to get out of the Hankou Campaign, after all, now fighting with the Chinese army is no longer like before, and one will be ruined if he is not careful. However, considering that this has given the student army enough time and space for development, the old devil can't be happy.

The Cadet Corps has grown from a small cadet corps to a behemoth in just four years, and Matsui believes that the Army's secret services should be held responsible. If at the beginning of the budding of the student army, the empire concentrated its elite strength to annihilate it, then why did today's embarrassing situation come about? He was also very dissatisfied with the Imperial Army's plan for this campaign - the Japanese Military Department had given too much significance to the Hankow Campaign, and some people who liked to talk on paper believed that once the Imperial Army could form a breakthrough in a short time, it would play an immeasurable role in the Empire's planning in the south. At that time, the empire will be able to make persistent efforts to take Hunan. After Hunan, Guangxi is just around the corner. After taking Guangxi, the Xuebing Army was sealed in the three southern provinces, and at that time, the imperial navy and army could give priority to capturing Hainan. And once Hainan is taken, the next thing will be easy to do, even if you use time grinding, you can also consume the student army to death. Matsui Ishine knew the plan of the military department, but he felt that this was putting the cart before the horse and would be counterproductive.

In the minds of the Japanese, the Cadet Army has become the biggest obstacle to their East Asian strategy. The reason why the student army is hateful is that its terrible combat power is only one aspect, and what makes the Japanese unbearable is its ambition. Unlike other Chinese warlords, it is enough to be content to sit in a corner and be its own emperor. At the beginning of its establishment, the Cadet Army was under the guise of hatred of Japan, but now that its strength allows, it actually dares to take the initiative to attack the land already occupied by the Japanese army, and even the Japanese mainland (Taiwan) dares to get involved. The Cadet Army led by Ouyang Yun was so bold and reckless that it had seriously violated the bottom line of Japan's East Asia policy. Originally, under such circumstances, Japan should have given priority to solving the problem of recruiting soldiers. However, I don't know what those old devils in the Tokyo base camp of Ludao think, they actually want to use time and space to weaken the student army, and then solve it at a very small cost. In Matsui Ishone's view, this is equivalent to sending a big favor to the student soldiers. He believes that even if the empire does not have enough strength to annihilate the student army at present, it should continue to launch a campaign, and fight the loss and population with the strength of a country and the student army. Matsui Ishine is a China expert who has an understanding of the political situation in China. Xuebingjun may have high prestige among the Chinese people, but like an upstart, it is not popular in Chinese political circles, and has even been characterized as a troublemaker. In this case, the imperial army gave priority to the military soldiers, which would only get the tacit approval of some big figures in China......

In any case, Matsui Ishone's understanding of the current situation in the Cadet Army and even China is better than that of those old devils who sit stupidly in Tokyo and talk about the war, but because of his previous despicable performance, he no longer has the corresponding right to speak. So, even if his advice was correct, it would be no different to the ears of those in Tokyo.

"I hate it!" Matsui Ishine put down the military newspaper and was lamenting, when suddenly the phone rang.

The call was made by the commander of Ningbo Airport, Akita Shaosa, and the reason why the switchboard outside asked the commander-in-chief to answer the phone in person was because the matter was important and the commander-in-chief needed to make up his mind personally.

"Your Excellency, there are fighter planes flying towards our airport, please instruct whether to send a plane to intercept it."

Matsui looked at the watch in his hand and found that it was already past eight o'clock in the evening, and then he looked out the window again. Except for the places where the lights shine, the rest of the place is dark. He asked, "How many are there?" ”

"Within five."

"Are you sure it's the fighter of the China?"

"Yes, because we were not informed today by our airfields and naval aviation."

"That's right. Pass my orders, implement the lights, and see how it goes! ”

"Hay!"

Soon, not only Ningbo Airport, but the entire city began to go out after the terrible sirens sounded, and all the lights, including those in Matsui Ishone's room, began to go out.

In the sky, at an altitude of more than 12,000 meters, Xue Changkong saw the city below that was still full of stars just now, and suddenly it became pitch black, and he couldn't help laughing: "The devils in Ningbo are very vigilant, and they react quickly enough." ”

The co-pilot next to him said, "But they're going to be disappointed, because we're not here to patronize them." ”

"Do you think the little devil will report it to the country?"

"Probably not, it takes a very abstract imagination."

Xue Changkong chose to fly over Ningbo, but there was no way to do it. The range was so long that they couldn't even guarantee that the fuel would be enough for the mission. Therefore, even if there is a danger of early exposure, they can only choose a straight line as much as possible, and only in this way can they maximize the guarantee of a successful return after the mission.

On the ground, Matsui stood in the courtyard. In the silent night, the sound of the special engine of the Flying Fortress was particularly loud, listening to the huge sound that represented the progress of human civilization, Matsui Shigen did not expect that these fighters were going directly to Tokyo, and thought that this was another deterrent action carried out by Ouyang Yun. He quietly listened to the voice and went to the east, and there was a little emotion in his heart: once upon a time, China was equated with backwardness, but now, they began to have more advanced weapons than the Empire. I don't understand what kind of magic Ouyang Yun, a Chinese colleague, has, and he has so many new technologies in a short period of time. Suddenly, he had an idea: Didn't Ouyang Yun come back from the United States? Maybe all of this has something to do with the Americans, right?! The Americans, that's right, definitely them. It turns out that the so-called neutrality of the United States is just a pretense, and they are secretly supporting a Chinese warlord. Once this concept was born, it immediately penetrated into the depths of Matsui Ishone's heart, and it could never be left behind.

The Cadet Army is developing too fast, not to mention anything else, how much money it takes to invest. At present, China is notoriously poor, and he really can't believe that the student army will rely on its own strength to get the money needed for development. The United States developed after World War I, and since then it has become synonymous with advanced and other civilizational progress. The fact that the United States has a strong economy and a high level of science and technology is recognized by the whole world, and it also hopes to cultivate spokesmen in various countries in the world.

Many devils in Ningbo City, or many people, have doubts about the voyage of the Xuebing Army fighters: Where are the people of China going? However, due to their rank, they were unable to submit their guesses, and as a result, they directly lost the best chance to intercept these three air fortresses full of plagues.