After being silent for a long time, Hagiwara Akira walked back to the back of the wide table and sat down, looked at the chief of staff who had been waiting for an answer, and said slowly:

"As I said just now, Lieutenant General Sena was equally pessimistic about the prospects of the battle in Taierzhuang on the phone, and that was not a casual speculation by the general; He must have received some information about the Seya detachment from Commander Kazuki (author's note: referring to the commander of the First Army of the North China Front, Kazuki Kiyoji). ”

The Seya Detachment mentioned by Major General Hagiwara at this moment is another temporary assault detachment formed by the Isoya Division of the Second Army on the Xuzhou battlefield, and the detachment leader is the brigade commander of the Division's Seya Brigade: Major General Kei Seya. This detachment was a little smaller than the Sakamoto detachment of the Itagaki Division in terms of infantry formation, but it was equipped with much more firepower, not only strengthening the 1st Field Heavy Artillery Brigade of the North China Front, but also two separate light tank squadrons to help.

Ten days ago, when Hagiwara Akira summoned his main commanders to conduct a military discussion on the distant Xuzhou battle situation, Wing Commander Kosuke Otsuka and others had raised objections to the tactics of the Seya detachment to attack Taierzhuang, including ridiculing that it had great firepower but could not take a small town.

Of course, the officers of the Hagiwara Brigade stationed in Tunshanxi and watching the fire on the other side of the river also knew very well that the Chinese army guarding Taierzhuang at this moment was Chiang Kai-shek's strong army, and the famous general Sun Lianzhong, who had fought with the Sena Division at Niangzi Pass in the past, and several ace divisions of the 2nd Group Army under his command were wedged inside and outside Taierzhuang like nails; The Seya detachment is currently engaged in a tug-of-war with them. Moreover, the intelligence showed that the 20th Army Corps under the command of another famous general Tang Enbo had always flashed on the side of the Seya detachment like a ghost, and could jump out at any time to launch a fatal blow.

Although at the level of a brigade-level commander like Hagiwara Akira, it is not possible to obtain a more accurate true battle report on the Xuzhou front, the vague disclosure of the division commander, Lieutenant General Sena, should indicate that the prospects for the Battle of Taierzhuang are quite bleak.

The chief of staff, Kawabe Osa, also became indignant, and while he put the few pages of telegrams he had picked up from the ground back on the table of the brigade commander, Major General, he supported the edge of the table with both hands, bowed down to Akira Hagiwara and said:

"Such a poor performance of the two great regiments of the Second Army is really worthy of the trust of His Majesty the Emperor. If the battles of Yizhou (author's note: the Japanese Army's name for Linyi) and Taierzhuang are all lost, the position of Lieutenant General Nishio, the commander of the army, should be relinquished! ”

Major General Hagiwara had always disliked his subordinates slandering the top, but at this moment he not only did not stop the chief of staff, but added contemptuously:

"The warriors of Lieutenant General Nishio's Second Army, I'm afraid they are putting more of their minds on playing with comfort women! Watching them come to us from the front line over and over again to ask for comfort women, I really thought that this battle was so exciting! The face of the Imperial Army was simply lost by them! ”

Hearing that the brigade commander and Major General suddenly talked about comfort women, Hebian Dazuo's thinking also changed direction, so he tentatively asked: Since the war situation in Xuzhou is already so unbearable, is it necessary for Shanxi to step up the delivery of comfort women to him?

Hagiwara Akira was stunned by this question, and after thinking for a moment, he shook his head and replied: "I'm afraid this is not something we have the final say, the 'wind plan' to secretly solicit comfort women is aimed at the entire imperial army, and the gains and losses of a battlefield in the battle of Xuzhou should not affect the overall advancement of the plan!" ”

However, the brigade commander and Major General who said these words couldn't help but have a thought in his mind: If the defeat in the direction of Xuzhou really leads to the death of the "Wind Plan", it will definitely be a blessing in disguise for him, the executor! However, the brigade commander quickly denied himself this wishful thinking, just as he had just said to the chief of staff, the secret forced recruitment of that woman as a comfort woman was a plan that the local base camp would promote to the entire army in the future, and unless there was a problem with the plan itself, there was absolutely no possibility of giving up halfway.

"Chief of Staff, I am in a hurry to find you today, so that you can hurry up the deployment and implementation of the rebuilding of the Saijo Wing," Major General Hagiwara changed his words: "At present, the situation of the Second Army on the battlefield in Xuzhou is tight, and Lieutenant General Sena and I have a bad premonition, that is, what you were worried about just now, the Front Army Command may transfer troops from the First Army to reinforce Shandong. ”

Kawabe Daisa's body tensed up suddenly—he had hoped that the Saijo Wing of the brigade would be rebuilt as soon as possible, so as to strengthen the security and security in the area of Kanmon Mountain and Mt. Great Elm. However, once the Front Command transferred the troops of the First Army to reinforce Shandong, the Sena Division would be able to provide the mobile forces that the Front Army Command would be able to deploy, and there would be no doubt that it would be this Saijo Wing!

Unexpectedly, his concern was rejected by the brigade commander, Major General. Hagiwara Akira was very certain that if the Front Army Command wanted to transfer troops from the First Army, it would only select from a few divisions and regiments stationed in Hebei and Henan, which were adjacent to Shandong, and would never transfer divisions and regiments in Shanxi, which were far away and already overstretched.

"However, the fire at the city gate will affect the pond fish, don't think that under the crisis, the garrison of Shanxi will be alone!" The brigade commander, Major General, got up and walked to the map hanging on the wall: "The Shangang Division is currently forced to divide its troops into three fronts, attacking Fu Zuoyi's 35th Army and the He Division of the Eighth Route Army to the west and north of Jin, and attacking the main force of the Jin Army of Yan Xishan and the Chen Brigade of the Eighth Route Army Forest Division to the southwest of Jin; Just now, he attacked the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army and the Xu Division in the Taihang Mountains in the south-central Jin Dynasty. In addition to guarding the key points of the Handan-Changzhi-Linfen road, the detachment of the Xia Yuan Division also needed to divide its troops and attack the Zhina Army in the Taihang Mountains from south to north. Our division was in the best situation, the Kato brigade was attacking the Central Army of China in the Zhongtiao Mountains in the south of Jinnan, and our brigade was guarding the rear of Wencheng and the Nantongpu railway line. ”

"There are also Little Elm Mountain and Fengdian County." Kawabe Osa pointed to these two places on the map and added.

"That's because it is necessary to carry out the 'Wind Plan' and defend the comfort women camp, otherwise it is impossible to waste the deployment of an entire infantry wing in these two strategic places far from the railway line;" Hagiwara Akira responded coldly: "The Otsuka Wing of our brigade has been dragged by the 'Wind Project', and now, I am forced to withdraw the Saijo Wing from the front line and devote myself to this direction - I hope that Amaterasu can bless the commander of the Motokawa Brigade who has been fighting alone since then!" ”

Hearing this, Kawabe Osa's expression was somewhat embarrassed, he had been actively advocating for the Saijo Wing to return to his side, but the result of this was undoubtedly to break up the mixed brigade under the command of the third major general of the friendly army, so that the major general of Motokawa only led one wing to fight in the harsh mountains and mountains in the southwest of Shanxi.

Of course, the Hagiwara Brigade Commander's sympathy for the commander of the Motokawa Brigade of the Yamaoka Division was only lip service, and after expressing limited sympathy, he still urged his chief of staff to direct the implementation of the Saijo Wing as soon as possible.

The chief of staff of the riverside secretly screamed in shame, and immediately pointed out on the map the route on which the Saijo Wing was assembling in his current grasp: after receiving the order, Saijo Osa had gathered about one and a half brigades of troops, and as the advance force, along the road from Puxian to Tumen, turned to Linfen; The rest of the troops are still being gathered.

"Is Captain Saijo in trouble?" Hagiwara asked, staring intently at the map.

"The main thing is the attack and harassment operation of the Chinese army on the way to retreat - Yan Xishan's Jin army and the Eighth Route Army Forest Division Chen Brigade, discovered the intention and action of the Saijo Wing to gather the troops, and constantly rushed from all directions to encircle and chase and intercept, Saijo Shigeo had to retreat while organizing a counterattack, and the itinerary was seriously hindered."

The brigade commander, Major General, couldn't help but feel a wave of grief and indignation in his heart: The hateful Chinese army just took advantage of the fire to loot at this time! However, in the final analysis, it was because the First Army had too few troops left in Shanxi that this phenomenon of overstretched troops appeared.

"Send a report to Shigeo Saijo, ordering him to appropriately abandon the baggage equipment that affects the rapid action, and make every effort to move closer to the Tongpu railway line, as long as the troops get on the train, the lost equipment will be resupplied to him!" Hagiwara hesitated, but finally gritted his teeth and gave the order.

At the moment, the most important thing is to quickly mobilize the forces of the Saijo Wing, and Lieutenant General Sena emphasized this point in a phone call just now. The division commander believed that in view of the deterioration of the situation on the battlefield in Xuzhou, Shandong, in the future, the headquarters of the Front Army might mobilize the main force of the First Army at all costs to rescue the troubled Second Army, and the indirect consequence of this would be that the rear areas (such as Shanxi), which were already empty of garrisons, would become more and more empty. Therefore, the whole division and regiment must make preparations in advance for "living a tight life" and focus on shrinking the existing troops to the towns and cities along the Nantongpu railway line, so as to facilitate the mobile deployment of limited troops on the railway line, including the highways along the line, to deal with the attacks and counterattacks of the Chinese army in Shanxi.

"Obey the order," the chief of staff of the river side also began to realize the seriousness of the situation from this order of the brigade commander, Major General: "I will immediately send a telegram to Saijo and strictly carry out the general's order." ”

"In addition, I will consider calling Lieutenant General Sena again, and if conditions permit, ask him to send an appropriate amount of troops from the main force of the division and regiment nearby, and dispatch to the southwest of Jin, close to the withdrawal of the Saijo Wing!"

Kawabe Osa couldn't help but be overjoyed when he heard this—if he could get the support of the main force of the division on the Jinnan front, the retreat of the Saijo Wing would be much smoother!

Seeing the joy on the face of the chief of staff, Hagiwara immediately warned: This is only his personal will, and whether it can be realized in the end depends on the attitude of Lieutenant General Sena. After all, the operational pressure on the Jinnan front was also quite great, and the commander of the First Army, Lieutenant General Kazuki, had urged the commander of the Sena Division on several occasions to launch a general attack on the remnants of the Central Army of the Nakajo Yamachina Army as soon as possible.

"It's not easy for every family!" The commander of the Hagiwara Brigade, who was dressed in military uniform, issued an exclamation that only ordinary people would use.