Wuhan, April 3, 1941

The wharf was full of bustling people, busier than the busiest time, the artillery fire on the opposite bank had not stopped, and there would be fighters from both sides in the sky from time to time, but this did not affect the pace of retreat of Japanese expatriates and businessmen, as the political and economic center of central China, the Japanese investment in the city was absolutely huge, and it was impossible to withdraw quickly.

As for retreating by land? Don't be kidding, Anan Wei has been wiped out, Yichang has been recovered, Nanchang has been recovered, and the Ninth War Zone has entered Wuhan, after a series of news spread, the puppet army in those fallen areas has long been unable to sit still, coupled with the extreme emptiness of the Japanese army, in a short period of time, there have been fifteen county towns in northern Hubei that have been occupied by the puppet army anyway, and more than a dozen county towns are being repeatedly contested.

In addition, Li Yunlong's new army did not move, but the Nationalist troops entrenched in the Dabie Mountains could no longer bear it; according to the information of the special high school, at least 10 divisions appeared on the battlefield, with more than 50,000 troops, but the Japanese army stood in front of them only a disorganized wing, more than 1,200 people, and only four 92 infantry guns with heavy weapons, which could not stop the enemy's offensive at all.

"Where is our ammunition?" Standing on the roof of the building of the Provisional Headquarters of the Eleventh Army, looking at the city that was already in chaos, Lieutenant General Ishihara said angrily.

Ishihara's 16th Division, which was originally resting in the country, fully manned and fully equipped, was secretly sent to China shortly after Anami's victory in the eastern part of the country, and at that time the Japanese base camp should not have let the Kwantung Army go south to support, but while the 16th Division was still on the ship, the situation of the 11th Army took a sharp turn for the worse.

In order to prevent the situation in eastern Sichuan from collapsing, the transport ships of the 16th Division threw off the slow transport ships and took the 16th Division to Wuhan first.

However, when the 16th Division arrived in Wuhan, it was found that they had no supplies at all, let alone heavy weapons, and even the ammunition for the light weapons they carried could not be replenished, and even the rice balls prepared for them by the headquarters of the 11th Army were all rancid.

"Your Excellency, Commander, all the ammunition depots of the Eleventh Army have been destroyed by the rioting Imperial Allied Army, and the current little emergency ammunition is still 'contributed' by the Marine Corps." Major General Shiro Asada, chief of staff of the 16 th Division, said helplessly: The command system of the 11 th Army has been completely disorganized, and in the early hours of this morning, a commando team of the military command also attacked the building under their feet, causing all the 20 or so senior officers who stayed in Wuhan to be shattered.

"Yaga, Tojo is this scum, he wants me to carry this black cauldron!" At this time, Ishihara Wan'er didn't understand that he was calculated by the land minister, the current situation, not to mention that he didn't even have an infantry cannon in his hand, even the 16th Division was fully equipped and couldn't save the situation.

Defending, not only will he die in another country, but the 16th Division may also be wiped out. Don't keep it? His reputation, his own future, and even his own saints are all gone, and whether he defends Wuhan or not, the responsibility for the fall of Wuhan will probably fall on his head, and even the responsibility for the defeat of the Eleventh Army in eastern Sichuan will have to bear part of it, after all, his 16th Division is to reinforce the Eleventh Army.

"Your Excellency, be cautious, there are quite a few people in the Eleventh Army who agree with Lu Xiang's proposition." Major General Shiro Asada reminded in a low voice, and he also complained in his heart, you said that you and Ishihara Wan'er would fight, after all, you have been fighting for so many years, but what are you doing with the 16th Division, the 6th and 13th Divisions of the empire have been wiped out, do you want to add a 16th Division? Is it possible that Lord Lu Xiang will not have to take responsibility?

"No, we can't sit still, help me contact General Tu Feiyuan, I want to contact the mountain city." Under the turn of his mind, Ishihara Waner quickly made up his mind that the base camp needed to adjust the strategic deployment, half of the planned 200,000 Kwantung Army reinforcements were still gathered, and the other half was still waiting for the transport ship, it was impossible to arrive in a short time, and he could not arrive in Wuhan within a week, and he was very clear about the army's transportation capacity.

Especially now, the prospect of war is very unoptimistic, and the Kwantung Army will definitely resist supporting Central China, even if Tojo does not hint at anything, it will not arrive as soon as possible, so the way for himself and the 16th Division to survive is definitely not on the Japanese side.

In this case, if he wants to ask for a glimmer of life, he can only find the mountain city, don't look at the defeat of the eleventh army, but in fact, there are still a lot of hole cards, as long as you make full use of it, you may not be able to talk about it, he has studied the high-level government of the mountain city for many years.

"Your Excellency, isn't this, okay?" Asada Shiro hesitated a little and said, collaborating with the enemy! The first word that came to his mind was this, but he was immediately denied by himself, Ishihara's predecessor was one of the masterminds of "9-18", and he was the mainstay of the Imperial Army like Lu Xiang, if even he collaborated with the enemy, the empire would really have no hope.

"Asada-kun, don't worry, what the empire wants is nothing more than face and benefits, as long as we can maintain the face of the empire as much as possible and reduce the losses of the empire, Tokyo will not have an opinion, as for Tojo, I will let Admiral Dohihara tell the other party that I will take the initiative to retire from active service after this incident." Ishihara Waner's face showed a somewhat helpless smile, although he preserved the last dignity, but in the fight with Tojo, he still completely admitted defeat.

"Your Excellency, you don't have to do this, maybe we can inform the Cabinet of the actual situation in Wuhan, and the Prime Minister will definitely make the wisest decision." Shiro Asada said very movingly.

"Asada, do you think the Prime Minister doesn't know what's going on here? The Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Imperial Household Affairs all have offices in Wuhan, and they also have a wealth of at least hundreds of millions of silver dollars, compared to which the 16th Division is just a number. Ishihara smiled wryly.

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