Terauchi Shou was stunned, but Gu Shoufu was not stunned. Gu Shoufu adhered to the active and resolute offensive combat concept of the successive division commanders of the Sixth Division, and he was never the only one to invade and beat others, and he had no idea of being beaten passively in his mind. When he heard Kobayashi Asaburo report that the infantry brigade, railway garrison troops, and puppet garrison of the 25th Brigade of the 1st and 8th Divisions had been left in Zhoucun and Zhangdian to withdraw to Jinan, Gu Shoufu was furious and denounced Kobayashi Asaburo for not understanding the strategy and for failing Major General Nakano Naozo in vain.

Originally, Gu Shoufu wanted to directly incite Kobayashi Asaburo to slap, but considering that General Terauchi Shouichi was by his side, he resisted the impulse and did not slap Kobayashi Asaburo.

If Kobayashi Asaburo knew that Tani Shoufu didn't slap him because of Terauchi Shou's face, he would have to resign. You must know that in history, the official Kobayashi Asaburo to the chief of the general staff of the Japanese army invading China was much more beautiful than the long-term idle Gu Shoufu.

Kobayashi Asaburo also graduated from the Army University, but a little later than Toshio Tani. In addition, Odaka Kamizo relied on him very much, and it was indeed him who was the main beam of the Twelfth Army in the past two days, and he had no merit and hard work. Seeing that Gu Shoufu got out of the car and didn't ask about it, he was scolded for not asking, and Kobayashi Asaburo immediately came to the conclusion that this Gu Shoufu is not easy to work with, so if you have the chance, you have to stay away from him.

I thought so in my heart, but I still had to follow the rules of the Japanese army on my face. I saw Kobayashi Asaburo put his feet together, bent his waist at ninety degrees, and kept "Hai". Hai Wan, think about the commander of the North China Front, General Terauchi Shouichi, watching from the side, he is a person who can decide his own fate, but he can't let him look down on himself. Otherwise, his military career may come to an end.

So, Kobayashi Asaburo straightened up and defended: "Your Excellency, the Jiangqiang Division of the Jiaodong Group Army was able to force the 108th Division and the 33rd Division to pieces in one battle, which shows that its strength and firepower are extremely strong. I know that the commander meant that the left-behind brigades of the 25th Brigade should be allowed to hold on to Zhoucun and Zhangdian, attract Jiang Qiang's troops, and buy time for the garrison operations in Jinan and Dezhou. However, please consider that the defensive force of Jinan City is extremely empty, and although the Jinan garrison has six infantry brigades, its firepower allocation is weak and its combat effectiveness is weak. Even the 34th Division is only a garrison division, which has not fought any major battles, and its combat effectiveness cannot be overestimated. Rather than let the infantry brigade of the 25th Brigade, which had been tested by the war, fall into the siege of the Jiaodong Army in Zhoucun and Zhangdian and shatter it, it was better to draw them back and take up the defensive task of a certain aspect of Jinan City. I think this treatment is in line with the current needs of Jinan's defense. ”

Kobayashi Asaburo's words did make sense, and Terauchi Shouichi nodded secretly when he heard it. Compared with Odaka Kamezo, Gu Shoufu is also an offensive general, but the difference is that Odaka Kamezo is a little reckless, and Gu Shouo is much more ruthless.

In Gu Shoufu's mind, if his original Sixth Division was to hold on to the city, the Chinese army would not be able to capture even three divisions, let alone one division. At this time, Gu Shoufu had forgotten where the Sixth Division was wiped out in Shanghai, no wonder this was a common problem of the Japanese, otherwise the 7 and 7 incidents would not have happened.

Gu Shoufu sat on a cold bench in Tokyo during this time, and he had nothing to do, and he also paid great attention to studying the combat achievements and combat styles of various units of the Chinese and Japanese armies, and in addition, Terauchi Shouichi said to him on the plane, and he also knew in his heart that Jiang Qiang's Jiaodong Army was different from the ordinary Chinese army, and the strength of the army was definitely not a group army with a regular establishment, and the firepower was super strong, and the combat effectiveness was naturally super strong. At the beginning, he was also ordered to lead the Sixth Division to reinforce Tianjin, intending to encircle and annihilate Qin Siyu's army in Yunwu Mountain, but the result was a failure.

After listening to Kobayashi Asaburo's explanation, Gu Shoufu thought about it and felt that this was also a wise way. After all, all the units in Shandong are now garrison divisions and garrisons, and even the permanent divisions are only the 114th Division of Xuzhou, and their combat effectiveness is not even worthy of washing the feet of the Sixth Division. Of course, if he would never do that here, how could he easily abandon the outpost? If it happens again now, not only will it not help, but it will also make the face of the chief of staff, Kobayashi Asaburo, unbearable.

Gu Shoufu stopped roaring, and he became polite, and began to say to Kobayashi Asaburo that Kobayashi-kun had worked hard, please take care of it.

Terauchi Shou witnessed the performances of Toshio Tani and Asaburo Kobayashi, and he was relieved. He also told Gu Shoufu to deploy as soon as possible in accordance with the established operational principles, and also told Kobayashi Asaburo to closely cooperate with Lieutenant General Gu Shoufu's work, resolutely hold Jinan and Dezhou, and smash Jiang Qiang's attempt. Then he led the fighter formation to fly to Beiping.

Seeing Admiral Terauchi's plane disappear into the sky, Tani Toshio asked Kobayashi Asaburo to accompany him to inspect the airfield defense, regardless of the fatigue of the long-distance flight. At this time, the defense of Jinan Airport was already very tight.

As the Jiaodong Army repeatedly attacked the Japanese airfields in North China, the North China Front Aviation Group strengthened the garrison of the airfields. Because Jinan Airport is an important airport, there are anti-aircraft artillery and anti-aircraft machine gun units, and the ground guard unit of the airport is served by the Jinan garrison.

Along the way, Gu Shoufu saw that the ammunition depot, oil depot, and hangar were all built in a standardized manner, and he was very satisfied. The only thing that made him regret was that there were too few planes at the airport, only a few reconnaissance planes, which looked a little lonely. Needless to say, the planes at the Jinan airfield were wiped out by the Jiaodong Army in the battle to rescue Otaka Kamizo and reinforce the 33rd Division.

After Gu Shoufu finished inspecting, he ordered Kobayashi Asaburo to draw up a secret battle plan, using Jinan Airport as a bait to attract the Jiaodong Army Aviation Brigade to attack, and then let the air force's fighter group seize the Jiaodong Army Air Force and annihilate it in one fell swoop.

Kobayashi Asaburo didn't want to lure and annihilate the Jiaodong Army Aviation Brigade, the problem is that this Jiaodong Army Air Force is also the same as their guerrillas, fighting guerrilla warfare in the air, sneak attack and run, who knows when they will come and when they will not come? However, setting a trap to lure the Jiaodong Army Air Force is indeed a good method, and it is worth trying.

Seeing that Kobayashi Asaburo agreed with the tactics he had discussed with Terauchi Shou, Gu Shoufu was overjoyed, and immediately instructed Kobayashi Asaburo to immediately transfer the infantry brigade withdrawn from the 25th Brigade of the 108th Division to the airport and command the airport guard unit of the Jinan garrison to jointly assume the task of defending the airport. Gu Shoufu said: "The airport is very important, and it is outside the city of Jinan, once the Jiaodong Army attacks Jinan, this is their must-attack place, and there should be troops with strong combat effectiveness stationed there." ”

After inspecting the airport and returning to the headquarters of the 12th Army in Jinan by car, he washed up briefly and had dinner, and then asked Kobayashi Asaburo to accompany him to inspect the positions of various troops.

Although Jinan City at this time was much smaller than Jinan City in later generations, it was the provincial capital of Shandong after all, and it was a big city in North China. Tani Shoufu and Kobayashi Asaburo walked down in a circle, and it took a lot of time, and when they returned to the headquarters, the city was already full of lights.

Regarding the city defense of Jinan, Gu Shoufu did not put forward a better opinion. The main reason is that the headquarters of the Second Army led by Nishio Shouzao was stationed in Jinan City for a long time, and the city fortifications and defense strategies of Jinan were further improved by Nishio Shouzao on the basis of Han Fuqu's city fortifications. Who is Nishio Shouzo, that is a typical professional soldier, and he is also the commander of the later Chinese dispatch army, Gu Shoufu's ability is far worse than him!

The only drawback is that the combat effectiveness of the troops defending the city is not good, not to mention the Jinan garrison, it is originally a garbage army. After this period of training, the 34th Division has rapidly improved its combat effectiveness, but after being bombed intensively by the Eighth Route Army Air Force today, it suffered heavy losses, the battalion was full of wounded soldiers, and its morale was a little sluggish.

Gu Shoufu knew that his fate had been tied to this Jinan City. If you hold Jinan, you will have outstanding achievements, and if you do it well, you may soon become a general. If you can't hold Jinan, there is only one end, and that is death!

The first commander of the Twelfth Army, Otaka Kamezo, had been captured by Jiang Qiang, and it was said that the Chinese government was going to put him on public trial, which was to disgrace the Japanese Empire in front of the whole world. It is not surprising that once the Chinese published the photos of Ogaka's trial in the newspapers, the Odaka Kamizo family would commit suicide in shame. Gu Shoufu didn't want his family to end up like the Otaka Kamizo family, who committed suicide and apologized.

Major General Kobayashi Asaburo was still efficient, and after receiving the order of Tani Shoo as the commander of the Twelfth Army, he had already re-prepared the office and bedroom for Tani Shofu. He knew that although Otaka Kamezo was captured for the benefit of the Great Japanese Empire when he went to Weixian to supervise the war, he was captured after all, and he was considered a short-lived and unlucky army commander, and Gu Shouo would not use his office.

Sitting at his desk, Gu Shoufu issued his first formal order after taking office in the 12th Army: appoint Lieutenant General Guan Guizhi, commander of the 34th Division, as commander of Jinan's urban defense, to command the 34th Division, the Jinan garrison, and all Japanese troops and garrisons in Jinan to carry out Jinan defense operations. In order to strengthen the defense force of Jinan, Gu Shoufu ordered Guan Guizhi to transfer four infantry brigades from the Jinan garrison to urgently replenish the losses of the 34th Division. The supplementary troops were scattered and incorporated into the 34th Division, and the run-in training was carried out tonight, and the 34th Division was used to improve the combat effectiveness of the Jinan garrison. As for the shortage of soldiers in the Jinan garrison, Gu Shoufu ordered Guan Guizhi to immediately arm the overseas Chinese in Jinan, select soldiers in the township from them, and fill them in the Jinan garrison.

The second order issued by Gu Shoufu was to ask all divisions and regiments in Shandong to conduct a comprehensive reconnaissance of the Jiaodong Army and find out the number, strength, firepower, and name of the commander of the enemy in front of him. In particular, the 34 th Division, which is responsible for Jinan's urban defense, must dispatch capable search and reconnaissance units, and the Shandong Garrison will dispatch personnel familiar with the terrain to set off tonight to carry out secret reconnaissance of the Jiaodong Army in Zhangqiu, Zhoucun, and Zhangdian, and to find out the movements and assembly areas of the main force of Jiangqiang's troops, so as to guide the bombing targets for the air force. At the same time, he instructed the head of the secret agency, Kumao Ohashi, to use all his forces to find the secret airfield of the Eighth Route Army Air Force and let the Great Japanese Air Force completely destroy it.

The third order issued by Tani Shofu was to order Lieutenant General Shigeharu Suematsu, commander of the 114th Division, to immediately stop the stupid tactics of multi-pronged offensive, contain the Eighth Route Army with a small force, concentrate the main force, attack one point, and make sure to reach the hinterland of the Eighth Route Army's base area in southeastern Shandong and destroy the rear organs of the Eighth Route Army. The commander of the 35th Division, Maeda Osamu was ordered to immediately stop the attack on the Lunan Mountains, concentrate his forces to advance to Tai'an, and flank the Jiangqiang Jiaodong Army, which was independently mixed into the 13th Brigade, and destroy it in one fell swoop.

In order to ensure that the 35th Division could achieve the effect of surprise attack, Gu Shoufu ordered Maeda to contact the 13th Brigade of the Independent Mixed Brigade, disguise the national army, move overnight, and be sure to suddenly appear on the flank of the Jiaodong Army tomorrow and defeat the Jiaodong Army in one fell swoop.

The fourth order given by Gu Shoufu was given to the Qingdao garrison. In fact, it is a repetition of the order of General Shouichi Terauchi. However, Gu Shoufu was even more ruthless, he ordered the Qingdao garrison to immediately gather all the troops, stick to Qingdao, arm the expatriates, select soldiers in the township, and assist in defending the city. Arrest all suspicious people in Qingdao City to prevent Tubalu from using these people to infiltrate the city and affect the city's defense operations.

Originally, Gu Shoufu was going to implement the human shield plan in Jinan and Qingdao, that is, to put the Chinese people on the city fortifications to block the guns of the Jiaodong Army, but considering that after supplementing and rectifying, the combat effectiveness of the 34th Division was restored, and the city defense of Jinan was very strong, and Dezhou was a city operated by the Japanese army for many years, and rash implementation would affect the rule of the imperial army over Dezhou, so he put it aside for the time being, and was ready to implement this trick at the last moment.

After giving the order, Gu Shoufu didn't care whether Terauchi Shouichi would rest after returning to Beiping, and immediately sent a report to Terauchi Shouichi to report his deployment, asking His Excellency the Commander to quickly order the 14th Division to quickly retreat, advance to the Tai'an area, serve as the main force of the reinforcement group on the southern front, and command the 35th Division and the 13th Brigade of the Independent Mixed Brigade, ready to flank the main force of Jiangqiang's troops that might attack Jinan. At the same time, he asked Terauchi Shouichi to urge the first and second divisions of the Kwantung Army to quickly enter the pass and participate in the battle, and command the troops drawn from Luxi, southern Hebei, central Hebei, and Cangxian to form a reinforcement group on the northern front of Jinan to defend the battle, and prepare to go south to flank Jiangqiang's troops.

Not to mention, this Gu Shoufu is really positive and decisive. Look at the order he gave it, it was really bold and decisive. For example, he ordered the 114th Division to concentrate its forces, attack one point, and reach the heart of the southeastern base area of the Eighth Route Army, which was very vicious. Xiang ordered the 35th Division to cancel the battle plan of the 114th Division and return to the division to attack and besiege the 6th Division of the Jiaodong Group Army, which was independently mixed into the 13th Brigade.

The reason why Gu Shoufu dared to give such an order was because he saw that the main force of the instructor would destroy the two divisions of the Japanese army in a battle, and the main force would definitely be concentrated in Luzhong. The battle between Lunan, Ludongnan, and Taixi and the Imperial Army must have been the containment troops deployed by Jiang Qiang's troops to carry out the operation of destroying the 108th Division and the 33rd Division, and their troops, firepower, and combat effectiveness were all limited.

Gu Shoufu knew that the 114th Division was a four-unit ad hoc division, with slightly lower strength and equipment than the permanent divisions, equivalent to two garrison divisions, and the assistance of the 25,000-strong Manchurian Defense Force, which was trained by the imperial army to serve as commanders of various grass-roots units more than you. Kobayashi Asaburo had already told him that the combat effectiveness of the Manchurian Defense Force was considerable, and it was not comparable to that of the Shandong Garrison and the North China Security Army. If it is used well, this is a powerful assault force, and there should be no problem in breaking through the defense line of Lunan and southeast Lu of the Eighth Route Army.

The reason why the 35th Division was ordered to cancel the original battle plan and instead raid and besiege the Eighth Route Army, which was independently mixed into the 13th Brigade, was a trick that Gu Shoufu came up with after reading the battle report and listening to Kobayashi Asaburo's report. Because the report of the 13th Brigade of the Independent Mixed Brigade is very clear, the Jiaodong Army mainly adopts the tactics of blocking and blocking, and the main force is placed on encircling and destroying the rearguard troops, and it is not found that the Jiaodong Army has formed mountain artillery and field artillery units, and the fire support is mainly infantry artillery, heavy machine guns, and grenadiers. This shows that this part of the Eighth Route Army is not capable of eating the 13th Brigade of the Independent Mixed Brigade in one bite, so it can only adopt the method of cutting meat with a blunt knife and slowly eat the 13th Brigade of the Independent Mixed Brigade one bite at a time. Tani Toshio was the commander of the 12th Army appointed by His Majesty the Emperor, and he couldn't just take office and let the Tsubachi Road destroy a brigade of Imperial Army, which he couldn't explain to His Majesty the Emperor.

That's it, Gu Shoufu was still based on his distrust of the combat effectiveness of the 35th Division, and only ordered them to defeat the Jiaodong Army. Because he knew that the 35th Division had a very disgraceful experience, it was defeated by the Eighth Route Army on the Jilu border, and the soldiers ran so much that they even took off their uniforms. If it were his original unit, the Sixth Division, would have been here, it would not have been ordered to be defeated, but it would have to be completely annihilated.

After giving the order, Gu Shoufu smiled when he thought about it, Jiang Qiang dared to launch a large-scale attack at this time, didn't he just see that the Shandong Imperial Army was a garrison division and a special division? If the 6th Division, the 9th Division, the 14th Division, and the 17th Division were here, Jiang Qiang, a little policeman, would not be so arrogant, I am afraid that he would hide it tightly.

In Gu Shoufu's view, the next combat target of the main force of the Jiaodong Army is either Jinan or Dezhou.

Comparatively speaking, the Jiaodong Army was more likely to attack Jinan than Dezhou. Because Terauchi Shouichi said very clearly, Qingdao has now been occupied by Jiang Qiang, although it has recovered now, at this time Japan has no way to take Qingdao, first, Jiang Qiang's coastal defense artillery is too powerful, and the planes of the Jiaodong Group Army are also much more powerful than the imperial army, and after several battles, the imperial army suffered. Even the Four Heavenly Kings were shattered in the hands of the Jiaodong Army. In fact, Qingdao and Tianjin had become a burden and a burden to the Japanese Empire, and in order to restore Tianjin's production, Japan had to think of ways to mobilize food and raw materials from other places, which was a waste of precious war resources. In Gu Shoufu's mind, Tianjin must be defended to the death, because it is related to the international view.

Such a vicious plan, if he is allowed to realize it, the losses of the Jiaodong Army will be great. The commander of the 12th Army of the Japanese Army, Gu Shoufu, gave orders in Jinan, and the commander of the North China Front, Terauchi Shou, was not idle in Beiping. As soon as Terauchi Shou got off the plane, he returned directly to the headquarters with Naosaburo Gangbe, chief of staff of the North China Front, Seiichi Kita, chief of the secret service, and Kinoshita Toshita, commander of the aviation group.

Okabe Naosaburo received a telegram from Terauchi Shou to return to Beiping, and he felt a little regretful in his heart. The days of this carefree Emperor Taishang are over, and the real Emperor Taishang of North China is coming back, and he has to return to power. Fortunately, Naosaburo Gangbu has a self-aware name, and he was quickly relieved. His prestige, qualifications, and knowledge can't reach the point of controlling the situation in North China, and when he encounters a guy like Liu Yimin who doesn't play cards according to common sense, he is at a loss, and he has to come back to the temple.

Naosaburo Okabe, who figured it out, was overwhelmed by one bad news after another, but he still asked the guards to clean the office and living room of His Excellency the commander spotlessly. Including the furniture in Miss Masako's apartment, Naosaburo Okabe sent someone to wipe it clean, and also purchased new women's clothes with new styles, waiting for His Excellency the Commander to return to the headquarters to work.

After returning to the headquarters, Terauchi Shou washed up briefly, let Okabe Naosaburo, Kita Seiichi, and Kinoshita Toshita accompany him, and after a simple meal, he came to the headquarters war room. After reading the situation map of North China marked on the map, Naosaburo Terauchi Oka gave a brief report on the progress of the war in North China.

Gangbu Naosaburo was already ready, and when he heard this, he briefly reported the battle situation in Shanxi, Hebei, Henan, Suiyuan, Chahar and other places, and then began to report on the battle situation in Shandong.

According to the situation grasped by Naosaburo Gangbu, in the previous stage, Shandong's Jiaodong Army mainly engaged in small-scale ambush warfare and raid warfare, and battles took place every day. The small units of the imperial army attacked without exception with heavy casualties, and it was difficult to find the traces of the Jiaodong Army when the large troops attacked. In particular, in Luxi and Jilubian, tunnels were dug on the Eighth Road and minefields were set up to fight against the imperial army, and many villages and towns became fortresses that could not be attacked. In addition, in order to support the front-line operations in Zhengzhou, the garrison divisions and regiments of Luxi, southern Hebei, central Hebei, and Hebei and Lubian all transferred units of the size of a wing to the south to participate in the battle, and their troops were relatively weak, and they lost the ability to attack and fight, and could only stick to key points and communication lines, thus creating a situation in which they were passively beaten everywhere. The reason why Odaka Kamizo wanted to organize and launch the Jiaoji Road sweeping operation was to reverse the passive situation. As a result, before the Jiaoji Road sweeping operation was launched, it encountered a surprise attack by Jiang Qiang's division of the Jiaodong Group Army, causing the tragedy of the 108th Division and the 33rd Division.

Gangbu Naosaburo was about to say more, but Terauchi Shou interrupted him and asked when the 14th Division would return to Xuzhou? When will the 1st and 2nd Divisions of the Kwantung Army complete their assembly?

Naosaburo Okabe reported that he had received a report from the 14th Division, and that after receiving the order, the unit was handing over the defense and planned to return east tomorrow. The Kwantung Army did not seem to be very active in sending the 1st and 2nd Divisions into the pass, and called back that it would take two days for the two divisions to complete the assembly. However, the Second Flying Regiment from which they were dispatched had already been transferred to the customs station today and was put on combat duty in the afternoon.

Terauchi Shou knew that the commander of the Kwantung Army was afraid that the First Division and the Second Division would suffer heavy losses in the battle, after all, there was a tragedy of the Eighth Division ahead, and it was normal for Ueda Kenkichi to be a little worried. However, now that the war situation in Shandong is erosive, there is an urgent need for backbone divisions and regiments to stabilize the war situation, and if the first and second divisions do not enter the customs to support, in case Jiang Qiang's troops really attack Jinan, with the current third- and fourth-rate troops of the North China Front, whether it is unable to stop the attack of the arrogant Jiang Qiang's Jiaodong Group Army. Terauchi Shou had a heartfelt fear of Jiang Qiang and Qin Siyu, because there were too many lieutenant generals who died in Jiang Qiang's hands.