Half an hour later, in Nanjing.

The commander of the Central China Front, Shunroku Hatata, got up early in the morning and made an appointment with the commander of the 11th Army, Okamura Ninji, who had returned to Nanjing to report on his work, to walk along the Yangtze River.

More than seven months have passed, and Nanjing has gradually returned to its old order.

But there are some things that can never go back to the way they were!

For example, at this time, it was no longer the Chinese police who were in charge of order in Nanjing, but the Japanese military police!

Shunroku Hatatake walked in front with his hands behind his back, and said as he walked: "Okamura-kun, have you read the battle report that the Second Army just sent from Wuhan this morning?" ”

"Hello!" Okamura Ninji paused, "I've seen it. ”

Shunroku Hata nodded, and then asked, "How do you feel about this?" ”

Okamura Ninji pondered for a moment and said, "Your Excellency, to be honest, the hardship of the battle to capture Wuhan is somewhat beyond the expectations of the humble position!" ”

"yes." "After destroying the Hankou Railway Station and the fortresses on Turtle Mountain and Snake Mountain, I originally thought that the next battle to capture Wuhan would be overwhelming, but I didn't expect that it would end up like this!" Not only did it fail to realize its intention to occupy Wuhan in a short period of time, but it paid a heavy price! ”

After a pause, Shunroku Hata said again: "And from the current point of view, the battle of Wuhan is likely to end up in a stalemate!" ”

Okamura Ninji was silent for a moment and said, "Your Excellency, for the Empire, China is too big!" ”

"Yes, China is too big!" Shunroku Hata shook his head and said, "If the empire wants to swallow China in one bite, it is really more difficult than ascending to the sky!" Those young people in the military department are too impatient! ”

"Hello!" Okamura Ninji paused and said, "Those young staff officers of the military department lack a basic understanding of China, so they rashly formulated a plan to destroy China in three months, which is simply child's play. ”

"But it's come to this point, and we can only continue to fight hard!" Shunroku Hata sighed, and then asked, "Okamura-kun, do you think it will be a few days before the Second Army takes Hankow?" ”

Okamura Ninji shook his head and said, "Your Excellency, I'm afraid you're too optimistic. ”

"Overly optimistic?" Shunroku Hata said awe-inspiringly, "Okamura-kun, what do you mean?" ”

Okamura Ningji said: "Your Excellency, I don't know if you have noticed that in the counterattack battle in the early hours of this morning, the casualty ratio of the Chinese army and the imperial army turned out to be two to one, which is unprecedented!" ”

Shunroku Hata frowned and said, "It's just a battle, what kind of problem can you say?" ”

Okamura replied: "This is a signal that after a long period of high-intensity marching and fighting, the officers and men of the Second Army are exhausted, and their combat effectiveness has dropped significantly!" On the contrary, the Chinese army has made great progress through many battles with the imperial army during this year! ”

After a slight pause, Okamura Ninji said again: "So, Your Excellency, I suggest that you immediately order the Second Army to suspend the attack on Hankou and retreat to Xiaogan to rest!" When the weather cools down at the end of September and the beginning of October, it is not too late to launch an attack on Wuhan at the same time with our 11th Army. ”

Shunroku Hata said awe-inspiringly: "Okamura-kun, are you worried that the Second Army will be broken by the Shina Army?" ”

After a pause, Shunroku Hata said again: "The Second Army has six main divisions, of which there are four divisions assembled outside Hankou City alone, Okamura-kun's words are a bit alarmist, right?" ”

"Hello!" Okamura Ninji paused, "I hope so." ”

Shunroku Hata fell into a long silence.

……

The main hall of the Five Prisons Palace, the headquarters of Hankou.

Li Lianggang pointed to the sand table with a command rod in his hand, and explained to Zhong Yi, Zhu Liangcheng, and Stilwell: "Half an hour ago, all 60,000 rounds of artillery shells had been transported to the railway station, Wudang Palace, and the front line of the racecourse. ”

After a pause, Li Lianggang said again: "But if you want to perfectly realize the intention of participating in the seat, I am afraid that you will have to cooperate with the 367 Brigade, the Guard Brigade and the Special Service Brigade!" ”

Zhong Yi said: "How do you need to cooperate?" ”

"The first is time." Li Lianggang said without thinking, "First change the shells into mines, and then camouflage and lay pipelines, all of which will take time!" ”

Zhu Liangcheng said: "How long does it take?" ”

Li Lianggang said: "At least four hours!" ”

"No problem!" Zhu Liangcheng said in a deep voice, "Before ten o'clock, no one came to disturb the engineering regiment!" At least in the direction of the railway station, which our 367 brigade is responsible for! ”

Zhong Yi said to Zhang Shiliang: "Staff Officer Zhang, inform the guard brigade and the special service brigade, let them hold the existing defense line at all costs, and before ten o'clock in the morning, they must not let the devil enter the core urban area!" ”

"Yes!" Zhang Shiliang turned around and went to convey orders to the guard brigade and the special service brigade.

Li Lianggang continued: "60,000 rounds of artillery shells sounds like a lot, but if they are scattered throughout the battlefield, there are actually not many, so in order to cause as much greater lethal effect as possible, the mines modified by these 60,000 shells must be buried in a narrow area, specifically along the line of Taiping Lane, Tiren Lane and Xiongjia Lane!" ”

"Taiping Lane, Tiren Lane, and Xiongjia Lane?" Zhu Liang said, "This is yesterday's termination line!" ”

"Yes!" Li Lianggang nodded and said, "This requires the full cooperation of the 367 Brigade, the Guard Brigade and the Special Service Brigade to hold on to Taiping Lane, Tiren Lane and Xiongjia Lane for at least half an hour, so as to attract the Japanese army over, and then detonate the mine to cause the greatest killing effect!" ”

Zhu Liangcheng said: "If this is the case, the first line of Taiping Lane, Tiren Lane and Xiongjia Lane will almost be razed to the ground!" ”

Zhong Yi said: "If you can get the whole army of at least three infantry wings of the devil to be wiped out, what does it matter if thousands of houses on the line of Taiping Lane, Tiren Lane and Xiongjia Lane are razed to the ground? ”

After a pause, Zhong Yi once again told Li Lianggang: "Staff Officer Li, let me remind you once again that the modified mines must be camouflaged and buried deep in the ruins to avoid being discovered by devils!" ”

"Don't worry!" Li Lianggang said in a deep voice, "We will definitely do our best to disguise ourselves!" ”

"Okay, then you go get busy!" Zhong Yi said, "The 367 Brigade, the Guard Brigade and the Special Service Brigade will fully cooperate!" ”

"Yes!" Li Lianggang stood upright, saluted Zhong Yi, and then turned around and walked out of the hall.

Seeing Li Lianggang's figure disappear, Stilwell retracted his gaze and said to Zhong Yi: "Zhong, I can't wait to see the result of this morning's battle!" I believe that Higashikurenomiya Twisthiko will definitely be kicked by you this time! ”

Zhong Yi didn't speak, just turned his head and looked to the northwest.

(End of chapter)