"General."

Northern Review.

27th Division, inside the camp.

A devil staff officer ran in and handed a document to Tada, who was resting in the camp.

"Thank you!"

After receiving the information, Tada Jun thanked him in a calm tone.

"Hey!"

The staff officer was flattered.

He was just a captain staff officer.

If you are in a local county town or stronghold garrison, this rank can serve as a staff officer of a brigade, and the power is only under the captain of the brigade and above the whole brigade.

and his security plan.

Tada received information, an order, an intelligence information.

Normal.

And weirder places.

Moreover, the staff officers of the locusts army have always had a hard time, and being slapped is a daily routine, and it is a punching bag and a gas bag for superior officers.

It's just that

Don't say it's him, even if it's Shunroku Hata, it's not worth the Nagato-level escort.

The Eighth Route Army was openly attacking and killing him, and in order to avoid damaging the face of the entire empire, the base camp sent two warships to escort him, one of which was even an imperial heavyweight, a Nagato-class battleship.

"Huh?"

It's also normal to give him an old-fashioned transport ship.

No problem.

Let tomorrow Qichen return to China.

It turned out that the displacement of 3,200 tons was too light for the light patrol, and this weight, which simply could not meet the operational requirements of the light patrol, was already on the verge of semi-retirement.

The battleship Nagato, with nine 410mm guns, was the strongest battleship in the Empire and the anchor of the Imperial Combined Fleet until the Yamato-class battleships under construction were put into service.

At this time, Tada Jun's attitude flattered the devil staff officer.

With the intensification of commercial relations with the United States and the easing of the Empire's financial situation, the Empire is currently purchasing a large number of machinery and materials from the United States.

Returning home on an old merchant ship, the Navy will send the Nagato-class and a light cruiser to escort the ship in consideration of safety, Locusts and the special order of the base camp.

Even the navy was honestly ready to send the Nagato to escort it.

But what made Tada Jun feel that something was wrong was that the escort with the Nagato was a dragon-level light patrol.

···

"Leaving tomorrow?"

Tada waved his hand and motioned for his men to leave.

It is also understandable here.

He belongs to the army, and even if he retires, his qualifications are here, and he used to be regarded as a high-level member of the army, because of the distribution of interests in China, the contradictions between the navy and the army have reached an almost irreconcilable point.

Displacement of 3,200 tons.

And not directly on a naval warship.

"Let's go down."

The order came from the base camp.

Definitely at the bottom.

For the order in his hand, Tada Jun instinctively felt that something was wrong.

The grandfather cargo, which was put into service in the nineties of the last century, is a coal-fired steam piston power unit, with a maximum speed of only 12 knots and a full load displacement of only 5,000 tons.

But in the Northern Commentary, where the headquarters of the North China Front of the Locust Army is located, he is just a captain and staff officer,

From the analysis of the domestic situation, there are no problems with the command of the base camp.

But the cost of the dispatch is very high, every time it is dispatched, it is thousands of tons of precious oil, and for him to be a retired lieutenant general, it is too much to send the Nagato level to look up to him.

In addition to the Nagato class, the remaining two,

"Returning home on a merchant ship? Will the Navy send the Nagato-class, plus a cruiser to escort it? ”

Celestial Dragon-class Light Patrol,

During the last European war, the first class of light cruisers built by the Empire, due to lack of experience and insufficient design and manufacturing capabilities, this class of light cruisers was enlarged on the basis of the Storm Destroyer.

But the base camp is just sent.

Although Tada Jun stepped down as commander of the North China Front, lost his real power, and will return to China soon, he is still a lieutenant general, and it is said that he has been awarded the rank of general in China.

Capacity is tight.

In order to avoid the intensification of the conflict, he was allowed to return home on a merchant ship and escorted by a naval warship.

A merchant ship.

The second generation of the empire was light patrol, and the displacement was increased to 5,000 tons.

Send an active capital ship of the Empire's most elite and mighty, an ancient transport, and a light cruiser that the Empire is about to retire, to transport and escort him.

Ordinary people look at it, of course, no problem.

But he's Tada.

The former commander of the North China Front can be said to have been one of the top officials of the Imperial Japanese Army, and he is very familiar with the military and the high-level approach.

This series of arrangements makes Tada Jun feel,

It's like...

I was looking forward to his death.

He could even guess the process in his mind.

The Nagato dispatched into a high spirit, so just to make a show, it returned, and the main escort force was handed over to the Tianlong class, and in the face of the attack of the Eighth Route Army, even the Tianlong class, which basically had no anti-aircraft firepower, basically had no resistance and was sunk.

The situation has developed to this point.

Not to mention him, even the important ministers of the base camp must be able to understand the power of the high-tech weapons in the hands of the Eighth Route Army.

Otherwise, hundreds of millions of yen would not have been suddenly allocated for the development of advanced weapons and equipment.

"What's the good of me dying?"

Tada Jun narrowed his eyes: "Or, I was killed by the Eighth Route Army, near the mainland, or even on the mainland, killed by the Eighth Route Army, what good is it for the empire?" ”

Thinking of this, Tada Jun couldn't help but look in the direction of his homeland.

He looked across the Sea of Japan, across the mainland islands, along the Pacific Ocean, across nearly 10,000 kilometers of water, all the way to the strongest country in the world.

It can even be said that there is no one.

The empire doesn't need Tada.

Whether Tada Jun dies or not, for the empire, it doesn't matter, but being killed on the spot by Tsuchibachi will damage the face of the empire.

But the empire needed supplies, resources, machinery and equipment.

At present, thanks to the benefits in China, the profits from silver trading, the profits from looting in China, and its own foreign exchange earnings, the empire has increased its procurement funds to 120 million US dollars per month.

But in the current world,

Important resources, machinery and equipment, are not something you can buy with money,

Especially when it comes to military resources.

Even if the United States continues to implement the U.S.-Japan Trade Treaty, the United States will never let its guard down on the Empire, and restricting types and price increases is one of the restrictions on the Empire.

And the top is clear.

Compared with the face of the empire, compared to the reputation of the empire, the materials needed by industry and military and the machinery and equipment needed are obviously more important to the empire.

Much more important.

Strength is more important than face.

And with the failure to settle the Republic of China for three years, and with the killing of three successive chiefs of staff and the capture of three consecutive United Flags, the international reputation of the Imperial Locust Army has become much worse than before.

Even if he was killed on his home turf, or even the warship he was escorting was sunk, it would not be more than that in terms of the reputation of the empire.

There will be no impact on the homeland.

No one will know!

The nation will still be basking in a resounding victory.

As for abroad.

So what?

And if he was killed by the Eighth Route Army near the mainland, or even the mainland, even the old warship with the escort was sunk, and then, the Nagato-class were all 'injured' and had to enter the dock for closed repairs.

In this way, the empire can naturally obtain...

"I see."

Tada sighed.

He's a pawn,

More precisely, outcasts.

"The Eighth Route Army, what will it do?"

He looked in the direction of Taiyue.

The empire's hand is to abandon him Tada Jun as a means to show weakness, so as to get more supplies.

So, Tada began to be curious.

In the end, can the Eighth Route Army kill him Tada Jun near the mainland, or even the mainland.

As for whether he would be attacked, Tada Jun had no doubts in his heart.

What he was curious about was what kind of super weapons and equipment would the mysterious forces behind the Dirt Eight Road come up with to cross 1,500 kilometers and attack him in the nearby mainland waters and even the mainland?

and

"What else will the Empire do?"

A thick haze flashed in Tada's heart.

Even if a Tada Jun dies on his own soil, even if he has an old-fashioned warship and an old-fashioned transport ship to be buried with him, the waves set off are still very small.

It is difficult for the impact to cross the vast Pacific Ocean.

Unless the Nagato class also goes down.

But it is clear that the upper echelons of the empire could not be willing to pay such a huge price.

So, if he guessed correctly, there must be further moves from the top - and other outcasts.

Don't think about it.

Tada Jun knows where the next outcast is.

"Hey..."

He looked at the 27th Division and sighed again.

It was the North China Front.

It is North China.

If the empire concentrates more than 100,000 troops to attack in North China and suffers a crushing defeat, if it can profoundly demonstrate the advanced weapons of that group of mysterious people, the empire that is in direct conflict with it will inevitably be alleviated in the international situation.

Even, probably, the situation in the north will ease to a certain extent.

Even Germany and the United States are unlikely to see those super-advanced equipment.

As for the losses.

Although the empire invested almost most of its military strength in the battlefield of the Republic of China, in the entire Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Plan, the Republic of China is indeed only a part, and even with the formulation of the southward plan, it is not the most important part.

For the Empire,

At present, the battlefield of the Republic of China, which cannot be won in a short period of time, is actually not important.

"Hey..."

Tada finally sighed silently.

The tone is lonely.

It seems that everything is not important to him anymore.

Not to mention that he has no real power now,

Even if he is, he is still the commander of the North China Front, so what?

This is a confrontation between the Empire and the Eighth Route Army and the mysterious forces behind it, and it is not something that he can control alone, and the Empire seems to be planning to sell him! (End of chapter)