Tokyo, Prime Minister's Official Residence.

Because he worked late into the night for several nights in a row, Hideki Tojo got up late today, and didn't get up until after 7 o'clock in the morning to brush his teeth and wash his face.

Before brushing his teeth, Hideki Tojo turned on the radio.

Immediately, a pleasant Chinese female voice came out of the radio, soft and glutinous, and Hideki Tojo felt that it sounded much better than the announcer of the NHK news agency.

However, Hideki Tojo used these fragments of time to listen to the Central News Agency, just out of the habit of a politician, he always wanted to listen to as much information as possible about hostile countries.

Hideki Tojo used to be a military police commander in the Kwantung Army, so he could understand simple Chinese.

Therefore, when he heard the announcer of the Central News Agency say that the 386th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army had recovered Taiyuan, Hideki Tojo could be said to be extremely shocked, because the North China Front Army did not report to him at all.

At that moment, Tojo Hideki didn't have the heart to brush his teeth anymore, so he hurriedly rinsed his mouth with water, wiped his face indiscriminately, and put on his shirt and came to the office of the official residence.

The female secretary is already preparing for today's trip.

Seeing Hideki Tojo coming in, the female secretary said, "Your Excellency Prime Minister, at eight o'clock this morning, you are going to meet with General Yamaguchi Tabun of the Navy's Combined Fleet......

"Postponed until tomorrow afternoon." Hideki Tojo said with a dark face.

"Huh?" The female secretary was stunned for a moment when she heard this, and then responded, "Okay." ”

Hideki Tojo continued: "Immediately send a telegram to the headquarters of the Northern Branch Front, asking Okamura-kun to explain what happened to the news published by the Central Army News Agency in Shina this morning?" The Chinese army has recaptured Taiyuan, and even the China News Agency has published a press release, and I, the prime minister of the Imperial Cabinet, have no idea about it, which is ridiculous, simply ridiculous, simply ridiculous! I have to give an explanation for this! ”

"Hello." The female secretary replied respectfully.

"I'll arrange for the report."

……

Okamura Ninji didn't deliberately conceal the report.

Okamura Ninji didn't rush to report it because many of the circumstances had not yet been conclusively verified, and of course, an undeniable reason was that he also wanted to do some remedial measures before reporting.

For example, destroy the weapons and ammunition that have been hoarded in Taiyuan.

What's more, as has traditionally been, it's not a big deal to just delay the report for a few hours.

Okamura Ninji just didn't expect that the Central News Agency of the Nationalist Government would react so quickly this time, and the Taiyuan Battle had not even really ended, and the press release was published.

At this time, Okamura Ninji had also heard the broadcast.

"It's broken, it's broken!" After hearing the broadcast, Okamura Ninji's first reaction was that it was bad, and now His Excellency the Prime Minister must be mad, and he must think that they are deliberately concealing the report.

Okamura Ninji immediately called the deputy chief of staff, Seizo Arisue.

"Yes, did you listen to the radio of the Central News Agency?" Okamura asked.

"I just heard a little bit." Yusue Jingsan said abruptly, "The Shina government is really shameless enough to take lies as facts and hype them up, that is, the Shina government and Chang Kaishen."

"That's not the point." Okamura Ninji said, "You know that His Excellency the Prime Minister often listens to the Shina Radio. ”

Yusue Seizo was stunned for two seconds when he heard this, and after he reacted, he said: "Oops, Your Excellency the Prime Minister will definitely think that we are deliberately concealing the report, and this is a big trouble." ”

"That's the problem." Okamura Ninji said.

"We'll have to discuss how to explain it to Your Excellency the Prime Minister."

As soon as the words fell, a communications staff officer hurriedly walked in.

"Your Excellency General, this is a secret telegram just sent by the Special High School." Communications Staff Officer.

After reading the telegram, his face instantly fell: "Damn, it's even more troublesome now." ”

Speaking of this, Seizo Arisue said to Okamura Ningji again: "Your Excellency, before dawn, before the arrival of the attack planes and fighters of the Third Flying Regiment, the Eighth Route Army had already transferred the backup weapons and ammunition stored in the Taiyuan Arsenal to the shops in the outer city in advance, that is to say, the bombing of the Third Flying Regiment would be useless. ”

"What?" Okamura Ninji was dumbfounded, "The Eighth Route Army's reaction is so fast? ”

"Your Excellency, do you want to order the Third Flying Regiment to carry out a second round of bombardment of the outer city of Taiyuan, and strive to destroy this batch of war materials as much as possible?" ”

"Forget it." Okamura Ninji waved his hand.

"This is inconsistent with our three-nos policy, and it won't have much effect."

"When the combat materials of that division and regiment are put together, there is still a chance to destroy them in a centralized manner, but now that they have been transferred to the outer city of Taiyuan by the Eighth Route Army, they must have been dispersed and resettled, and they can no longer be destroyed in a centralized manner, and if the entire outer city is bombed on a large scale, how many aerial bombs will have to be consumed?"

There is a sigh of the end of the essence, it is true, the cost and effectiveness of the large-scale bombing of the outer city of Taiyuan is too low.

After a long time, Yusue Jingsan said again: "Your Excellency, General, if the combat materials of this division and regiment are completely in the hands of the Eighth Route Army, we will be even more unable to explain to the Prime Minister. ”

Okamura Ninji was silent, this matter has indeed become very tricky.

No, he, the commander of the North China Front, has also come to an end.

Thinking of this, Okamura Ninji hated the fool Iwamatsu even more.

"Yaga!" Okamura Ninji said hatefully, "It's all to blame for this idiot Iwamatsu Yoshio."

Arisue Seizo also said: "The hateful thing is that Iwamatsu Yoshio no longer needs to bear any responsibility for this!" ”

While the two were talking, another communications staff officer walked in quickly and said, "Your Excellency, Your Excellency General Iwamatsu Yoshio, commander of the First Army, has just sent an urgent telegram from Shouyang County, requesting urgent tactical guidance. ”

"What? Yoshio Iwamatsu is still alive? And he has fled to Shouyang County? ”

Okamura Ninji and Yusue Seizo were stunned at first when they heard this, and then they were overjoyed.

As long as Yoshio Iwamatsu is alive, then all these crimes will be borne by him.

At that moment, Okamura Ninji said to Arisue Seizan: "There is a sue gentleman, call back to Tokyo immediately, just say that our North China Front Command does not know much about the situation in Taiyuan, and is currently verifying, if Your Excellency the Prime Minister is anxious to know the truth of the facts, you can directly call the First Army Headquarters to inquire." ”

"Hello!" There are three heads of the last essence.

……

Shouyang County, Gendarmerie Headquarters.

Not long after Iwamatsu Yoshio fled to Shouyang County under the protection of Takuya Mizuhara, officers such as Chief of Staff Hanaya Masa, Intelligence Division Chief Sakuma Jiro, Communications Division Chief Inoue Yasushi and Operations Division Chief Masao Inamori also fled to Shouyang County one after another, and the remnants of the Noda Brigade and Matsumoto Brigade also arrived one after another.

It's just that the remnants of less than three hundred people are left in the two infantry brigades.

The rest of the soldiers were either killed by the Eighth Route Army in the process of breaking through, or they ran away on the road, and the soldiers who ran away are not expected to have a good result, because there are guerrilla activities of the Eighth Route Army everywhere.

When the lone Japanese soldiers encountered the Eighth Route Army, they could only die.

So at this time, there were only more than 500 remnants gathered around Iwamatsu Yoshio.

It must be wishful thinking to counterattack Taiyuan with just more than 500 remnants.

That's why Iwamatsu Yoshio thought of urgently asking for help from the North China Front Headquarters, hoping that Okamura Ninji would immediately dispatch the 110th Division and rush along the Zhengtai Road to help.

Iwamatsu Yoshio knew that Okamura Ninji was planning to encircle the Eighth Route Army's Jizhong Military Region.

And the 110th Division has also completed the assembly, and at this time it is assembled in Zhengding and is on standby, so as long as Okamura Ningji gives an order, the 20,000 elites of the 110th Division can quickly advance westward along Zhengtai Road, and it only takes less than ten hours to reach Shouyang County, and they can launch a counteroffensive against Taiyuan before this evening.

In fact, he had already issued an order to the 36th, 37th, and 69th divisions that were carrying out the sweeping mission in the Taihang Military Region to urgently retreat, ordering the three divisions to return to Taiyuan as quickly as possible.

But no matter how fast these three divisions are, it will take two days to return.

This is at least a day slower than the 110th Division of Zhengding.

That's right, until now there is still a trace of luck in Iwamatsu Yoshio's heart.

He believes that as long as he can recapture Taiyuan in a short time, he can atone for his crimes, at most he will be dismissed and retired, and at least he can save his old life, honor and treatment.

After the telegram to the North China Front Command was sent,

Yoshio Iwamatsu began to look at the wall clock non-stop.

Seeing that eight o'clock had passed, but the North China Front Headquarters still did not reply, Iwamatsu Yoshio began to lose his breath, and said to Inoue, the head of the communications section: "Inoue-kun, you go to the communications team to have a look." ”

Inoue Yasushi frowned and said, "Your Excellency Commander, I just asked five minutes ago. ”

"Hasn't it been five minutes?" Yoshio Iwamatsu said angrily, "Let's take a look." ”

"Hello." Inoue Yasushi had no choice but to walk into the communication team next door again, and Takuya Mizuhara and other officers threw a sympathetic glance at Yoshio Iwamatsu, like looking at a drowning man who was struggling desperately in the water.

Except for Yoshio Iwamatsu himself, everyone else has actually seen his results.

Or, Yoshio Iwamatsu has already seen his results, but he just doesn't want to accept his fate.

A moment later, Inoue Yasushi walked out of the communications team, and he actually had a telegram in his hand.

Iwamatsu Yoshio immediately grabbed the telegram like a drowning man grasping at straw, and said urgently: "Is this a reply from the front army headquarters?" Has Your Excellency General agreed to transfer the 110th Division for emergency reinforcements? ”

Yasushi Inoue was silent, but just looked at Yoshio Iwamatsu with pity.

Iwamatsu Yoshio quickly read the contents of the telegram, and it was not a reply from the Front Command, but a telegram of inquiry from the Prime Minister and Minister of War in Tokyo, asking him to immediately explain the ins and outs of the Taiyuan incident.

Seeing this, Yoshio Iwamatsu immediately deflated like a deflated ball, and it was all over!

After a long time, Iwamatsu Yoshio said to his adjutant Kuroda, "Kuroda-kun, where is my sword?" ”

"Hello." Kuroda Goro stepped forward and handed over the official knife of Yoshio Iwamatsu with both hands.

Iwamatsu Yoshio took the sword, walked into the tea ceremony room next door with a miserable expression, knelt down on the tatami mat, and then took out a sweat towel and began to carefully wipe the knife.

……

After eight o'clock, the Japanese air force's wanton and indiscriminate bombing of the inner city of Taiyuan finally ended.

When the last Type 96 long-range land attack plane disappeared into the clouds in the distance, the Eighth Route Army, guerrillas, and people came out one after another hidden in the houses, shops, and buildings outside the city of Taiyuan.

Li Yunlong, Ding Wei, Kong Jie, Wang Ye and others also returned to the former enemy headquarters of Shejitan one after another.

"Damn, the little devil's aviation is too hateful." Kong Jie scolded, "When we have our own aviation, we have to give the little devil's aviation a little bit of power." ”

"Look at your beauty, return it to the aviation." Li Yunlong scolded disdainfully, "You kid will form an armored army first." ”

Hearing this, Kong Jie's face fell, and he scolded angrily: "Li Yunlong, Lao Tzu knows that your kid has an armored company, but you don't have to talk about it all day long." ”

After a pause, he said, "Isn't it just an armored company?" Lao Tzu will get one sooner or later. ”

"Just you? Dream. Li Yunlong said abruptly, "You can get a few motorcycles first." ”

Li Yunlong and Kong Jie were arguing there, but Ding Wei had already copied the phone in the headquarters.

"Hello, please pick me up from the Yuci 772nd Regiment." Ding Wei said to the switchboard operator, and after the operator took the signal, he said, "Hey, old Cheng?" I'm Ding Wei. ”

However, on the opposite side, there was only a blind beep, and the line was blocked.

"Damn, communicator?" Ding Wei hung up the phone and scolded, "Notify the telephone team to check the line." ”

Asked the communicator to inform the telephone team to check the telephone line in the direction of Yuci County, Ding Wei asked to call the phone in Yaotou Village again, and this time it was finally connected.

Ding Wei said: "Da Zhuang? What's going on over there? ”

The voice of a battalion commander Ge Dazhuang immediately came from the opposite side: "Regiment commander, everything is normal here in Yaotou Village, but a few groups of devils fled to the vicinity before dawn, and I don't know if they escaped from Taiyuan." ”

Ding Wei immediately became alert: "How many devils are there?" Did you stop this gang of devils? ”

"There are about one or two hundred." Ge Dazhuang said, "At that time, because it was dark, and the devils came out to break through again, only some of them were intercepted, and a few devils escaped while it was dark." ”

Ding Wei snorted and said, "Da Zhuang, now your task is to continue to strengthen the fortifications, and be ready to block the devil reinforcements from the direction of Yangquan County at any time." ”

"Yes." Ge Dazhuang said with a bang.

"Please rest assured, as long as our battalion is here, the devil doesn't want to cross Yaotou Village even one step!"

"Okay, good work." After Ding Wei hung up the phone, he said to Kong Jie, "Lao Kong, I'm still a little uneasy, otherwise you will take two more battalions to Yuci County to support Lao Cheng?" ”

Although Taiyuan has been taken, the war materials have also been saved.

However, it will take time to transfer war materials, factory equipment, and even liquidate Japanese pseudo-assets in Taiyuan City, and the most conservative estimate will take at least three to five days, and it is best to fight for half a month.

Therefore, the current combat mission has changed from capturing Taiyuan to ensuring the security of Taiyuan.

Of course, whether it was Ding Wei and Li Yunlong, or the brigade commander and the head of the headquarters, they never thought of holding Taiyuan all the time.

The Eighth Route Army only wanted to hold Taiyuan for three or five days, and it was best to hold it for half a month, until all the materials in the city were transferred to the northwest of Shanxi or the Taiyue base area.

This is not a high requirement, but it can be achieved.

There was no strong enemy in the Anhua direction and Yangquan direction, and the first battalion of the independent regiment and the first battalion of the new regiment were stationed in Niuwang Village and Yaotou Village respectively, which was enough.

But Yuci County is a hidden danger.

Although the 772nd Regiment stationed in Yuci County was the veteran main force of the Eighth Route Army, and Cheng Shifa was also an old Red Army in the same period as Li Yunlong, Ding Wei, and Kong Jie, and it could be said that he had experienced a hundred battles, but the problem was that Yuci County was facing the main force of the Japanese First Army from the direction of Yushe County.

If the three main divisions of the First Army desperately counterattacked Taiyuan,

Cheng Shifa's 772nd Regiment alone is obviously impossible to stop.

Kong Jie was also very clear about Ding Wei's worries, and said immediately: "Okay, I'll take the second and third battalions to Yuci County to meet Lao Cheng." ”

As soon as Kong Jie took the second and third battalions of the new 2nd Regiment on the front foot, the brigade commander's telegram arrived on the back foot.

"Lao Ding, whose telegram?" Li Yunlong said nervously, "Could it be the brigade commander's telegram?" ”

"What do you say?" Ding Wei rolled his eyes and said angrily, "Whose telegram could it be at this time?" ”

"It's going to be bad." Li Yunlong's face instantly fell, and he said hurriedly, "Won't it be congratulations to us for making a fortune again?" ”

"That's right, congratulations on our fortune." Ding Wei said and handed the telegram to Li Yunlong, "You can read it yourself." ”

Li Yunlong took the telegram and read it, his face turned green, and he said with a white face: "I knew, I knew that the brigade commander would definitely come to this one, alas, this is really unguardable." ”

Ding Wei said: "Then what do you mean, do you want to give it or not?" ”

"Is it okay not to give?" Li Yunlong lamented, "The official level crushes people to death. ”

"Okay, since you agreed, then I won't ask Lao Kong's opinion, even if he opposes it, it will be one vote to two, and the opposition is invalid." Ding Wei nodded, and said, "Then some materials don't need to be transported to the northwest of Shanxi first, and then it is so troublesome to transfer them to the Taiyue Military Region, so they can be sent directly to the Taiyue Military Region." ”

"Ugh." Li Yunlong lamented again, "But then again, the brigade commander left dozens of mountain artillery infantry guns this time, and the three of us can finally make an artillery battalion." ”

Ding Wei smiled and said, "It's not a free trip." ”

Hearing this, Wang Ambition said that I ran away, and I didn't catch any hair.

It stands to reason that the headquarters of the First Army should also have at least two generals, in addition to Iwamatsu Yoshio, the lieutenant general commander, there should also be a major general chief of staff, but he was stunned and didn't catch any of them.

Wang Yezheng was secretly annoyed, and a dinging sound suddenly sounded in his ears.

"Ding! The commander of the First Army stationed in Shanxi, Yoshio Iwamatsu, committed suicide by cutting his abdomen and was rewarded with a golden treasure chest! ”

"Huh!" Wang Ye couldn't help but sigh lightly, this is a bit unexpected, or did he drop a treasure chest?