The two of them were talking hotly, but Chen Yannian interrupted them and asked Liu Qingshan to order the troops to hide as soon as possible and pay attention to air defense. Then he asked Chang Yuan what instructions the commander had for the next step of the operation. Chang Yuan conveyed Jiang Qiang's instructions, introduced the situation of the enemy on the battlefield, and clearly explained the tasks of the Third Division and the Seventh Brigade.

The Shanghai Independent Division, the predecessor of the Seventh Brigade, was formed by drawing backbone troops from the Naval District Academy, the predecessor of the Third Brigade, and Liu Qingshan turned out to be the first chief of staff of the Third Brigade. These two units can be said to have the same root and origin, and together with this encounter, the cadres and soldiers are immersed in the joy of the reunion of their comrades-in-arms. However, after all, they are all the main forces, and this is on the battlefield again, and they have to beware of the little devil planes making trouble, so after receiving the order to conceal and recuperate, the troops quickly evacuated. In particular, the artillery regiment of the Seventh Brigade, when the Fengtai operation broke through, because the target was too big, it was chased and bombed by the little devil plane, and many pack horses were killed, and many cannons were also damaged, so they had to fortify all the remaining cannons, and the artillery was changed to infantry. Now that there are cannons, although the number is still too small, it is better than nothing, and if you meet a little devil again, you can set up a cannon to bombard his mother. The soldiers of the artillery regiment of the Third Brigade handed over 12 field guns and the infantry guns of the little devils, and they couldn't wait to set up the horse-drawn guns, and they were very busy.

After listening to Chang Yuan's report on the enemy's situation and Jiang Qiang's deployment, Li Yannian thought for a while, took a small branch and compared it on the ground for a long time, then stood up and said to Chang Yuan, Shunzi and others: According to the current battlefield situation, I judge that the Japanese army is likely to take measures immediately. First, the 33rd Division is likely to turn around and flee. But he couldn't run, not to mention that there were the Sixth Division and Wuji surrounded by him behind him, that is, the First Division and the Cavalry Brigade in front of them, so they wouldn't let them run away. How can a garrison division be an opponent of our 1st Division, the Cavalry Brigade and the Heavy Firepower Group directly under the division? Second, it is impossible for the Japanese troops in Jinan, Tai'an, Luxi, and Cangxian to come to reinforce Luzhong.

The little devils are not stupid, they don't have elite divisions in Shandong, so they don't dare to come to reinforcements. Even if there are elite divisions, then two or three divisions must come to reinforce in a group. If you have a division, it will never come. Besides, now it is the headquarters of the 12th Army that is wholeheartedly directing the 1st and 33rd Divisions to rescue Otaka Kamizo in an attempt to rescue him. Once the Japanese high-level calmly analyzes, it will immediately be clear that our army is fishing, and they will not send troops to the rescue. Third, the Japanese army's combat planes in Shandong were basically exhausted, and it was far from enough to rely on Japanese planes taking off from Tianjin, Beiping, and Shijiazhuang to support the operation. The Fourth Fleet and the Combined Fleet went south to Guangzhou to participate in the battle, and the Japanese army did not have a strong fleet around Shandong. In a short period of time, the Japanese army in Shandong lost its naval and air support, while our army had a large air brigade that could attack the devil's airfield, and the fighters could also cooperate with the air defense command to fight the Japanese air group, and the air threat of the little devils became very small, and our army won a short opportunity to let go and launch an attack.

After analyzing these situations, Li Yannian looked around at everyone and said in a short and powerful voice: The commander said that judging the situation and judging the enemy will change and I will change. Immediately send a telegram to the commander, change the deployment, and carry out the third phase of the Jiaoji Road Campaign ahead of schedule. The Fourth Division sent a main regiment to command the Luzhong Group Corps and attached an artillery battalion to quickly march to Zhoucun to monitor the enemy in Zhoucun and Zhangdian. Don't be afraid of being discovered by the Japanese army, let them understand that the main force of our army is in Weixian, and it is too late to advance westward. The main forces of the 3rd Division, the 4th Brigade, and the 7th Brigade immediately mobilized, bypassing Zhoucun and Zhangdian, and marching towards Jinan. The Luxi group used a strong force to block the enemy in Dexian, Cangxian, and Luxi that might reinforce Jinan. He also sent no less than two regiments of troops to assist our siege group in attacking Jinan, and particularly emphasized that it was necessary to seize the iron bridge over the Yellow River and strictly prevent the Japanese army from sabotaging it. In addition, he made it clear in a telegram to Commander Jiang Qiang that he would immediately send troops to the Jinan front line with all the captured Japanese artillery and artillery shells, and instructed Li Cang, chief of staff of the Fourth Brigade, to command the artillery operations of the Third, Fourth, and Seventh Brigades in a unified manner.

After talking about his analysis and decision, he immediately turned around and said to Shunzi: Shunzi, you and Li Deguang, chief of staff of the Seventh Brigade, led the Qinghe Garrison Brigade and the Qixia County Garrison Brigade to mobilize the local armed forces and militia in the Qinghe base area, eliminate the Japanese puppet forces along the Jiaoji Road, recover the county seats, and organize the front. Junzi said: Division Commander Li, do you wait for the commander and approve before giving the order to act?

Li Yannian didn't think about it, and replied directly: No need to wait, this was originally the battle plan formulated by the commander, and the ultimate goal of the Jiaoji Road Battle was to take Jinan and Dezhou to drive the Japanese army out of Shandong. I think that the enemy of Texas can not be considered for the time being, this Jinan is now only one Jinan garrison garrison, it is a ripe persimmon, which can fall into the hands of our army at any time. The highway from Jinan to Yidu is about many kilometers, and our army has made a long-distance attack, using all the means of transport that can be used, and the cavalry can arrive tomorrow morning to clear the enemy on the periphery first. The main force should be able to arrive tomorrow night and capture Jinan before the Japanese army increases its forces. If the Japanese army urgently transferred the 35th Division stationed in Tai'an to the north to hold Jinan, it would be difficult for our army to seize Jinan again. You can rest assured that the commander will approve it as soon as he receives the telegram. The reason why he did not directly order the attack on Jinan was that I considered that one was that he wanted to fish further, and the other was mainly because he was worried that the Seventh Brigade lacked heavy weapons and the troops were too tired. Otherwise, he would have directly ordered the capture of Jinan by telegram.

Jiang Qiang's telegram arrived very quickly, not only agreeing to capture Jinan, but also ordering the Fourth Division to transfer the captured artillery to the Seventh Brigade for use, and at the same time telling Li Yannian that he had boldly commanded and that everything should be based on the principle of capturing Jinan, and that he had ordered the first air brigade of fighters to quickly carry out adaptive training and soon be ready for battle. The air defense brigade will send an anti-aircraft artillery regiment to the Jinan front, accompanied by Japanese field artillery and artillery shells captured in Weicheng, escorted by the infantry regiment of the artillery brigade in large vehicles. After the 33rd Division is eliminated, he will lead the Cavalry Brigade, the 1st Brigade, the Artillery Brigade, and the 6th Brigade to quickly turn around and reinforce the Jinan direction.

However, neither Jiang Qiang nor Chen Yannian expected that they were still one step late. At this time, the telegram of instructions from the Japanese army headquarters on the operations of the 12th Army had already been sent to the hands of Naosaburo Gangbe, chief of staff of the North China Front, Kobayashi Asaburo, chief of staff of the 12th Army, Shigetaro Gansu, commander of the 33rd Division, and Lieutenant General Osamu Maeda, commander of the 35th Division.

Tokyo, Japan, is located on the Great Plains of Kanto, surrounded by mountains and the sea.

The first person to build a house on the site of today's Tokyo was Chiyoda, and he built a thatched house. In the second half of the 15th century, Uesugi Sadamasa, the lord of Kawagoe Castle in the Gozoku Kingdom, sent his retainer Ota Michigan to build Edo Castle in Chiyoda, which was actually a thatched house built on top of the wild swamp. Subsequently, Japan entered the Warring States period.

After his crucial victory in the Battle of Seki-no-Hara, Tokugawa Ieyasu took a fancy to Edo's strategic location and trade routes, and began to build castles on Edo Castle. The project was huge, requiring the draining of the swamp and the excavation of ditches. Tokugawa Ieyasu's generals were also very capable, and they drove labor to build streets, bridges, and ports in the wild swamps, thus beginning the Edo shogunate's rule based on Edo Castle. After a period of development, Edo Castle became the central city of the time, and gradually divided into two characteristic areas: Shitamachi and Yamannote. Shitamachi is a civilian area inhabited by small traders and craftsmen engaged in water transportation on the Sumida River, distribution of goods in Edo Port, and various commercial activities. Yamanoote, an upper-class district that includes the residential areas of the daimyo and the residential areas of Hachimoto, is the political center of Edo Castle with its lush greenery and beautiful surroundings.

In the second half of the century, Japan entered the era of the Meiji Restoration, and the emperor moved the capital from Kyoto to Edo, renamed Tokyo, also known as Tokyo, and turned the official residence of the Tokugawa clan into an imperial palace, also called the Imperial Palace.

During the reign of Emperor Meiji Muhito, the wooden structure of the Tokugawa Shogunate's official residence was set on fire, and a new palace was built on an area of square meters based on the traditional characteristics of Japanese architecture and the European style of imitation post-classicism. It has a green tiled roof, white walls, and brown copper pillars. The main hall is the center of the entire palace, and the main events of the imperial family and diplomatic ceremonies are held in the main hall of the Shono Pavilion. Chowaden is the place where the emperor receives the congratulations of the masses, and there is a large banquet hall in the Toyomei Hall, and the Chang Palace is the emperor's inner palace. In addition, there are Huayin Pavilion, Waterfall Viewing Pavilion, Frost Brocade Pavilion, Tea Room, Imperial Spirit Palace, Treasure Palace, Shrine, Old Imperial Library and so on.

Both the inner gate and the castle have boulder foundations that range from one person to tens of meters above the ground, and there are few standard cubes of stones, but there are no cement-lime between the blocks. The stones were all enshrined by the local daimyo in those years, and some of the stones still have the family crest of the daimyo visible. Early in the morning, Shouichi Terauchi entered the palace to pay homage to His Majesty the Emperor.

Terauchi Shou's trip to Europe was an eye-opener. He did not expect that not long after Hitler came to power, Germany would undergo such great changes, its military strength and economic strength would be significantly enhanced, its people would be unified in thought and full of spirit, and it would completely come out of the shadow of defeat in World War I. This made Terauchi even more convinced that the Japanese Empire could only achieve a lasting victory if it formed a military alliance with Germany and Italy against Britain and France.

Terauchi Kotobuki's activities in Germany were successful, and the Germans, like the Japanese, were eager to form military alliances. However, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Japanese Navy did not buy Terauchi's account, and they blocked Terauchi's alliance under the pretext that the alliance would affect Japan's relations with the United States, Britain, and France.

Terauchi Shou came to meet the emperor with three things: he reported on his trip to Germany, second, he told the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Navy, and third, he wanted to implore Emperor Hirohito for approval to transfer him back to his base camp, and he was unwilling to return to the North China Front.

Emperor Hirohito was very fond of Terauchi and did not summon him at the main hall, but at the palace tea room instead. The main purpose of this was to show the emperor's preferential treatment of famous army generals and imperial heroes, and to dispense with the cumbersome etiquette of summoning the main hall.

Empress Ryoko saw that she summoned Terauchi Shou, asked the female official to dress up herself, put on the appearance of a housewife, and went to the tea room to serve tea in person. Terauchi Shou was so excited that his eyes were moist, and he repeatedly knelt down and kowtowed his hair and swore that he would not hesitate to smear His Majesty's liver and brain.

Emperor Hirohito was very satisfied with Terauchi Shou's attitude, and told Terauchi Aiqing softly that this is a tea room, not a main hall, and the two monarchs and ministers are drinking tea and chatting, not formal playing, and there is no need to kowtow.

I was grateful for the inexplicable Terauchi Shou, and reported what I saw and heard about my trip to Europe while sipping tea. He is eloquent, in a better mood, and tells the European style and the situation in Germany, Emperor Hirohito is still easy to say, with a gloomy temperament, and does not interject easily, but Empress Liangzi listens to it with relish, and from time to time makes a coquettish cry, and from time to time glances at the emperor with his eyes and teases Terauchi Shou.

It stands to reason that the Japanese tea ceremony forbids talking about political affairs while drinking tea, but Emperor Hirohito is the supreme ruler of Japan, and Terauchi Shou is one of his dogs, and these two people sit together and drink tea, and if they are not allowed to talk about military affairs, they must be suffocated to death.

Tea is a cup of food, rice, pot rice, salad, stewed meatballs, grilled fish, pickled radish cubes, pickles, mushrooms, seafood, miso soup, clear soup, desserts are one by one, until Emperor Hirohito's face was rendered a little flushed by sake, and Empress Ryoko's mouth was so tired that Terauchi Shou ended his report.

According to Terauchi's assumption, at this time, the two monarchs and ministers should enjoy the calligraphy and paintings in the tea room, talk about some gossip about the weather, and then see how the emperor's face is, and determine the time to tell the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the navy about the black state and the idea of returning to the base camp, but he has no chance. An uninvited guest spoiled the congenial atmosphere.

The uninvited guest turned out to be Prime Minister Fumima Konoe.

Konoe Bunma was able to enter the palace tea room directly without being announced, obviously the matter was very urgent, otherwise with Konoe Bunma's cultivation, he felt that he would not be so disrespectful.

Sure enough, when Konoe Bunma saw the Empress of Heaven and bowed slightly, he said directly: Your Majesty: The Shina government has announced to the outside world that they have captured the commander of the Twelfth Army, Otaka Kamezo, and will hold a public trial at the appropriate time to investigate his responsibility for the war, and will invite envoys and reporters from various countries to observe at that time.

Emperor Hirohito knew from the moment Fumima Konoe entered the door that nothing good happened. These ministers, when there are good and happy events, they have to report at the imperial meeting or on occasions with a large number of people, and it is definitely not a good thing to run alone in a panic like this to report it. However, his mind was spinning, and he couldn't have imagined that Prime Minister Konoe Fumima came to report such news.

When Emperor Hirohito had tea with Shouichi or two Terauchi, he drank two taels of sake, and there was still a hint of flushing on his face. At this moment, the flush instantly swelled, the whole face became red and lost, and the eyes seemed to be bloodshot.

Empress Liangzi saw that her husband's face was wrong, and hurriedly said: Please cherish your body

After all, Emperor Hirohito has received a strict education, and since he was a child, he has paid great attention to maintaining imperial etiquette and the mystery of the emperor, and as soon as Empress Ryoko reminded him, he immediately woke up to the fact that the emperor of the Japanese Empire, the descendant of Amaterasu, and the god who is different from mortals, is impossible to lose his temper, which will make these guys see that the emperor is also an ordinary man.

Emperor Hirohito stabilized his mind for a moment, and the burning sensation on his face gradually disappeared, and then he asked: When did this happen? Do the Chief of the General Staff and the Land Minister know?

Konoe Fumima originally thought that His Majesty the Emperor must be a thunderous masterpiece, but he didn't expect that His Majesty the Emperor didn't get angry, but just asked these two sentences lightly, and secretly thought in his heart, His Majesty the Emperor is worthy of His Majesty the Emperor, and it is not easy for him to maintain an elegant demeanor and a good mood for such a major and embarrassing matter.

When Konoe was young, he was influenced by his father's Asianist ideas. When he was in college, he also studied Marxism after learning Marxist economics. Later, he became acquainted with the last patriarch of Saionji Gongwang, and was influenced by his Anglo-Americanism. Therefore, Konoe Fumima's thinking is very complicated, but no matter how complicated it is, it is unswerving to vigorously promote the war of aggression against China.

The main reason why Fumima Konoe was able to become prime minister was that he pushed away the pacifism of the British and American standard, and that our country, which was small in size and overpopulated, was expanding outward, and that he was sincere and that the Japanese people should live for themselves in an upright manner and demand a place of development, which was welcomed by the Japanese. In fact, it was his ideas of foreign aggression and expansion that catered to the needs of the Japanese military and people. Because of this premise, when the Saionji Gongwang recommended him as the prime minister, everything was logical. However, Saionji Konozomi did not expect that he would also look away, and Konoe Fumima did not inherit his idea of opposing the emperor's personal government. On the contrary, actively acting according to the will of the emperor, the two of them can be regarded as urinating in the same pot.

After Fumima Konoe became prime minister, he did five major things. One is to launch a general mobilization campaign for the national spirit to instill in the people fascist ideas such as serving the country with loyalty and conquering the world. Second, in the economy, a planning institute was set up to promote the militarization of the national economy, and laws and regulations such as the "Law on the Control of Important Industries" and the "Law on the Mobilization of the Munitions Industry" were enacted to ensure that the entire national economy served the war. The third is to form a base camp to guide the war, including the prime minister, and guide the entire war of aggression against China. Fourth, the law on national mobilization was formulated and promulgated in wartime, and Japan was completely tied to the chariot of the war of aggression against China. Fifth, it issued its first statement on China, declaring that the empire would not regard the Nationalist Government as an opponent in the future, so as to recruit the pro-Japanese faction in the Kuomintang government on the one hand, and urge the country to make every effort to strengthen its armaments, reform the domestic system, and conquer China by force as soon as possible.

Seeing that Emperor Hirohito asked two sentences tepidly, Konoe Fumima hurriedly handed over the transcription of the draft statement of the Nationalist Government and asked His Majesty the Emperor to preview it.

Although Emperor Hirohito pretended to be calm, he actually had the intention of killing people in his heart. Come to think of it, a few days ago, Otaka Kamizo also accepted his summons and vowed to him to completely eliminate the Jiaodong Group Army in Shandong and restore public order in Shandong. Now it is good that the ass of Otaka Kamizo has not yet warmed up the position of commander of the 12th Army, and he has become a prisoner of the Chinese, which makes the Great Japanese Empire have no face in front of the world powers

Emperor Hirohito took the life and death of Otaka Kamizo himself very lightly, and what he never forgot was the face of the Great Japanese Empire. Therefore, one of the things he often says is that the key is not what we do, but what the world powers think of what we do.

After reading the transcript of the telegram, Emperor Hirohito's face had also turned from flush to pale, and he asked lightly: Do the chief of the general staff and the prime minister know about this?

Konoe Fumima hurriedly reported: The Chief of the General Staff and the Minister of Land are waiting outside the Matsuno Pavilion for His Majesty's urgent summons. Emperor Hirohito glanced at Empress Ryoko, thought for a while, and said, "Then summon me at Matsuno Pavilion." After saying that, Emperor Hirohito got up and left, and when he was about to reach the door, he turned to Terauchi Shou and said: Count Terauchi participated in the summons, I almost forgot, your commander of the North China Front is not exempt, this is all your business, how can you not let you participate?

From the moment he heard Prime Minister Konoe Fumima say that Odaka Kamezo was captured, Terauchi Shou knew that he was going to be unlucky again, and he kept cursing that damn Otaka Kamizo in his heart. This time, when he heard His Majesty the Emperor call him to participate in the summons, and his tone was not good, he had to follow Konoe Funma out of the tea room in a gloomy manner.

After arriving at Matsunokaku, Emperor Hirohito summoned the Chief of the General Staff, Prince Zaihito Miyaji, and the Minister of the Land, Sugimoto. Prince Zaihito of Kanin Palace, worthy of being the chief of the General Staff, brought all the telegrams from Lieutenant General Naosaburo Okabe, chief of staff of the North China Front, and Major General Kobayashi Asaburo, chief of staff of the 12th Army, and prepared to present them to His Majesty the Emperor.

Terauchi Shou had already figured it out at this time, after all, he was still the commander of the North China Front, although he didn't want to go back to North China again, and he didn't want to face Jiang Qiang, the killing god, but now that this kind of emergency happened, he couldn't hide if he wanted to. There is no way, who made him so unlucky? If I knew this, it would have been better to delay it in Germany for a few more days, or not to come to Jin this morning, pretend to be sick at home for a few days, and avoid the limelight. It's too late to say anything now, so you have to pick up your spirits and deal with the things in front of you, but don't be careless, provoke His Majesty the Emperor in anger, and bring unwarranted disasters to yourself and your family. Therefore, as soon as Emperor Hirohito finished reading the telegram, Terauchi Shou asked for permission to read it.

This is not a tea room, Empress Ryoko is not there, and Emperor Hirohito's mentality is not as stable as just now, and the anger in his heart is surging up in waves. Hearing that Terauchi Shou wanted to read the telegram, Emperor Hirohito directly threw the telegram in his face, and the words in his tone were filled with endless mockery and resentment: Earl Terauchi, General Terauchi, look, look, look at how capable your North China Front is, and the commanders of the army have all been captured. hum

Terauchi Shou didn't care to look at the emperor's face, nor did he care to taste the hatred in the emperor's words, so he picked up the telegram and read it carefully one by one without saying a word.

It may be that seeing Terauchi Shouichi's good attitude, or it may be that he thought of Terauchi Shou's recent visit to Europe, and the establishment of the Twelfth Army and the appointment of Otaka Kamezo as the commander of the army did not ask for his opinion, this matter really did not blame him, Emperor Hirohito stopped paying attention to Terauchi Shouichi, who was concentrating on reading the telegram, and began to ask Konoe Fumima, Prince Kanin Miyazahito, and Sugi Sugimoto how to deal with the capture of Otaka Kamizo.

Konoe Fumima's attitude is very resolute, he must be rescued and returned to Odaka Kamizo, a dignified imperial lieutenant general and army commander, how can he accept the trial of the Chinese government? That would be too great a blow to the morale of the people and the military of the empire, and the great Japanese empire would lose face in the international community, and in the future, all countries in the world might think that the Japanese army was a second- or third-rate army, and there was nothing to be afraid of. It may also cause a chain reaction that will fuel the ambitions of the Soviets and threaten the security of Manchuria.

Konoe Fumima is a Bunchen and Prime Minister, and he thinks about political influence. Prince Zairen of Xianyuan Palace and Shanshan Yuan considered to determine the true intentions of the road army and ensure the safety of Jiaoji Road. Therefore, after listening to Konoe Fumima's words, Prince Zaihito of the Kanin Palace played: Your Majesty, Your Excellency the Prime Minister's opinion is very correct, and Odaka Kamizo must be rescued. However, the most urgent task at the moment was to immediately determine the direction of the 1st and 33rd Division's operations, whether to concentrate in Weixian or withdraw to Jinan or Qingdao. The stakes are big, and it involves the question of whether Jiaoji Road is lost. The ministers did not dare to be self-indulgent, and implored His Majesty to make a holy judgment.