It didn't take long for the operational staff officer to come to the two of them with a heavy face.

"Sir, the losses of the defending troops in all four directions are more than two hundred, and the casualties are still increasing! At this rate of loss, the defending troops will be able to hold out for a maximum of five hours! ”

"It's fine!" The chief of staff replied with a sigh of relief.

"Your Excellency, it will be dawn in an hour, and our plane will surely come over. When the time comes, there will be aircraft support, and the Eighth Route Army outside the city will definitely not dare to continue to storm Taiyuan City, unless they want to be blown up by planes, and when the time comes, we will have an extra day! ”

Yoshio Shinozuka's face is still as ugly as ever.

The Eighth Route Army outside the city is too abnormal, and there must be demons when abnormal.

If the Eighth Route Army really wants to take Taiyuan City, even if they can have an extra day of preparation time in Taiyuan City, it doesn't make much sense.

Because there are too few defenders in Taiyuan City, and the troops outside the city can't come back, one more day still can't change the situation of being beaten passively.

"Tanaka-kun, the key now is reinforcements! It's okay to make it until dawn, but what about after dark? If the reinforcements we sent out have not returned, I am sure that as soon as it gets dark and our planes leave, the Eighth Route Army will launch a new attack, break through the outer city, and directly attack the inner city! ”

"Reinforcements, Your Excellency Commander: Speaking of problems, our reinforcements still don't give you, and there is no way to reinforce Taiyuan City in time!"

"You're right, without reinforcements, we won't be able to hold out for too long on our own. Therefore, we must find new reinforcements, break through the interception of the Eighth Route Army, and quickly reinforce Taiyuan City! ”

"Jin Southwest!" Yoshio Shinozuka suddenly picked up the sand table baton and pointed to the two divisions of the imperial army in the southwest of Jin and the Jin Sui army.

"The Jin Sui army in the southwest of Jin is too weak, if it were not for the favorable terrain, the imperial army would have broken through their defense line long ago and occupied the entire southwest of Jin. But even so, in the southwest of Jin, the imperial army is also in an absolutely dominant position! ”

"Immediately send a telegram to our troops in the southwest of Shanxi, immediately transfer the strength of an army brigade and regiment, and quickly return to Taiyuan City, the sooner the better!"

"Also, forward the order to the North China Front Headquarters, the commanders of the two divisions in the southwest of Shanxi are both veteran generals, if there is a command to supervise, they will be much faster to come back to help!"

The headquarters of the North China Front Army in Beiping City, Terauchi Shouichi also didn't sleep all night.

From the beginning of the attack on Taiyuan City, he was in the war room.

One by one, senior staff officers lined up to report to him about the battle that suddenly began with Taiyuan as the center.

At the same time, several lower-level combat staff officers continued to sort out and copy the things reported by the senior staff officers on the sand table, so that Terauchi Shouichi could see the battle situation around Taiyuan City more clearly.

"Bageya Road, what the hell are you going to do on Tubalu!" After listening to the report, Shouichi Terauchi also expressed the same doubts as Yoshio Shinozuka.

Then he stared at the chief of staff with an expression of disbelief and asked: "Chief of staff, are you sure that the Eighth Route Army that participated in this battle around Taiyuan City has exceeded 50,000 people!" ”

"Hey!" The chief of staff affirmed: "This is only the main force of the Tubalu, plus their so-called local troops and guerrillas, more than 60,000 people!" ”

"Bageyalu, where did they get so many troops...... The total strength of our imperial army in this area is less than 30,000, who can tell me how so many Eighth Route Armies came to be! Terauchi Shouichi was shocked, and asked sharply at the chief of staff, very dissatisfied.

The chief of staff didn't know either, so he could only answer stubbornly: "The intelligence department has used all its strength to investigate this matter, and I believe that there will be results soon!" ”

"However, Your Excellency Commander, the General Staff Department just discussed that the Imperial Army's strength in the Taiyuan area is too small. If there are no external reinforcements, if the war continues like this, Taiyuan City will most likely be lost tomorrow night, or at least the outer city! ”

"You must know that there are not many defenders in Taiyuan City, and before the Eighth Route Army attacked, half of them were directly transferred out by Commander Yoshio Shinozuka!"

"You're doing a good job!" Looking at the deployment of enemy and enemy forces on the sand table, Terauchi Shouichi's brows furrowed even more deeply, and he admitted helplessly.

"The Eighth Route Army is too abnormal, and it is completely desperate. These garrisons around Taiyuan City were completely dragged down by the Eighth Route Army. Not to mention the reinforcement of Taiyuan City, even self-protection is a problem. It is necessary to send troops from farther away to reinforce Taiyuan City! ”

As soon as he finished speaking, a communications staff officer rushed in.

"Your Excellency Commander, the First Army is in an emergency!"

"Commander Yoshio Shinozuka asked the headquarters to urge our garrison in the southwest of Shanxi to transfer a brigade and march back to Taiyuan City!"

"It seems that Yoshio Shinozuka also sees the problem!" Terauchi Shouichi's face looked a lot better, and he stared at the sand table and said.

Then he began to give orders: "Send a telegram to the garrison in the southwest of Jin, transfer two cavalry wings, and an infantry brigade for automobile transportation, and march to reinforce Taiyuan City...... Two more infantry wings were dispatched to reinforce Taiyuan City on foot! ”

"Isn't the Eighth Route Army going to take Taiyuan City, with Taiyuan City as the center and fighting with us? Then we will fight them in the Taiyuan area and eat them in one bite! ”

In Chongqing, Lao Jiang did not rest.

The Eighth Route Army attacked Taiyuan City, with Taiyuan City as the center, and more than a dozen surrounding counties were overturned. More importantly, the Eighth Route Army had more than 50,000 troops participating in the battle. It is impossible to hide such a big matter from the intelligence officers of the national government.

At this time, the Minister of Military Affairs, the confidant general, and the intelligence leader Dai Li, all stood in front of Lao Jiang, bowing their heads and saying nothing!

"Niang Xipi, can anyone tell me where the Eighth Route Army got so many troops! It's only been a year, and they've expanded so many troops, why hasn't anyone reported it to me! "After receiving the news, Lao Jiang was angry not that the Eighth Route Army attacked Taiyuan City, but that the Eighth Route Army suddenly appeared with 50,000 or 60,000 people!

Dai Li, who knew the most about the situation, could only stand up: "The principal is angry, these Eighth Route Army troops are not established by the government. It is a local unit organized by the Eighth Route Army, and it does not receive military salaries from the government, and the government has not allocated a single gun to them! ”

"The scale of growth has really exceeded our expectations. However, after this battle, this Eighth Route Army unit will suffer heavy losses if it is not completely destroyed. They are too self-defeating, and they dare to send troops to attack Taiyuan City, it is like pulling teeth out of the tiger's mouth! ”

The Minister of Military Affairs immediately agreed: "I agree with Director Dai's opinion that the Eighth Route Army overestimates its own strength and underestimates the combat effectiveness of the Japanese. To confront the Japanese head-on is to bring about your own destruction! ”

As an old opponent, the result that Lao Chiang wanted to see most was that the Eighth Route Army was consumed in the battle against the Japanese army.

Therefore, listening to such an analysis by his subordinates, Lao Jiang's solemn face suddenly looked a lot better!

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