At this time, in Nanjing.

Central China Front Command.

With his hands behind his back, Shunroku Hata stood in the courtyard looking up at the eastern sky.

In the eastern sky, a red sun is piercing through the thin clouds, and the sky is already bright.

The sound of muffled footsteps came from behind him, and without looking back, Shunroku Hata knew that it was the commander of the Eleventh Army, Okamura Ninji, and the chief of staff of the front army, Shozo Kawabe, coming over.

"Your Excellency, General!" The two walked up to Shunroku Hata and greeted each other at the same time.

Shunroku Hata neither looked back nor paid attention to the two, but said quietly: "It's the fourth day!" ”

"Hello!" Tanabe Masasan paused and said, "Today is the fourth day that the Second Army has launched a general attack on Hankou and Hanyang!" ”

"However, both Hankow and Hanyang are still under the control of the Chinese army!" Shunroku Hata turned his head back, and his sharp gaze swept over the faces of Shozo Riverside and Ninji Okamura.

"Hello!" "Moreover, the Second Army has lost twelve elite infantry wings for this, as well as a large amount of technical equipment!" ”

Okamura Ninji continued: "Now, the strength of the Second Army has been weakened to a very dangerous situation! ”

"Yes." Kawabe Shozo continued, "In the general attack of the past three days, all the eight infantry wings of the 10th Division and the 13th Division of the Second Army have been disabled, and the 16th Division and the 116th Division have only three complete infantry wings left. ”

Okamura Ninji said again: "By that time, the four main divisions of the Second Army will only have a large number of wounded left, as well as engineers, artillery, baggage and other technical arms!" As long as the main forces of the Fifth and Ninth Theaters of China arrive at the Wuhan battlefield, the Second Army will fall into a desperate situation from which it will never recover! ”

After a pause, Okamura Ningji continued: "The total annihilation of the Second Army will become a high probability event!" ”

Hata Shunroku was awe-inspiring when he heard this, since the full-scale outbreak of the Japanese-Chinese War until today, the Japanese army has not been defeated, and even there has been a tragedy of the entire division being completely annihilated, but the total annihilation of an entire army is still an unprecedented major event, once the second army is really completely annihilated by the Chinese army, it is likely to affect the trend of the entire Japanese-Chinese war!

Hebe Zhengsan said urgently: "Your Excellency, General, quickly order the Second Army to stop the attack and withdraw to Xiaogan!" ”

However, Okamura Ninji waved his hand and said: "At this time, it is too late to order the Second Army to stop the attack, and it is absolutely impossible for His Highness to listen to it, now we must prepare for the fate of the Second Army and prepare for it in advance!" ”

"Plan ahead and prepare early?" Shunroku Hata said awe-inspiringly, "Okamura-kun, what do you mean by that?" ”

Okamura Ningji said: "Your Excellency, General, please forgive me for saying it bluntly, the battle of Wuhan has been going on so far, and the defeat of the Second Army is inevitable, but fortunately, the Second Army still has tens of thousands of troops, and it can hold out for at least a period of time after retreating to Xiaogan, so as long as the reinforcements can arrive in Xiaogan in time, the Second Army can still avoid the end of the collective jade shattering!" ”

Shunroku Hata said: "You mean, let the 15th Division go south along the Pinghan Line and rush to the aid of Xiaogan?" ”

"No, one 15th Division alone can't save the Second Army at all!" Okamura Ninji shook his head and said, "Even if our Eleventh Army pours out, it won't be able to save His Highness Tsukihiko's Second Army, and the only thing that can save them now is to urgently mobilize and send reinforcements from the mainland!" ”

After a pause, Okamura Ninji continued: "Moreover, the mobilized troops cannot be less than ten divisions!" ”

"Nani, ten divisions?!" "Okamura-kun, what is the current situation of the empire's finances, you don't know, do you think it is possible for the base camp to agree to this request?" ”

Okamura Ninji said: "Your Excellency, General, if the base camp does not agree, then wait for His Royal Highness Tsugahiko's Second Army to be completely annihilated, then wait for the reversal of the situation in the Japanese-Chinese war, and wait for the counterattack of the Shina Army!" ”

"Counterattack?" Kawabe Shozo, "Okamura-kun, do you think the Shina Army has the ability to launch a counterattack?" ”

"This is by no means my alarmism!" Okamura Ninji said, "Kawabe-kun, you might as well imagine how much the morale of the Chinese army will be boosted after their victory in the defense of Wuhan? And then there is the Soviet government, which will continue to increase its assistance to the government of China! ”

After a pause, he said: "At that time, the weapons and equipment aided by the Soviet Union will continue to enter China, and even the air force will be able to enter China in a continuous stream, and after receiving these weapons and equipment, the combat effectiveness of the China Army will be greatly increased, and their morale and fighting spirit will be boosted again, and it is not impossible for the situation of the Japanese-Chinese war to be completely reversed!" ”

After another pause, Okamura Ninji said: "In order to avoid such an unfavorable situation, the empire must make a painful decision, mobilize at least ten divisions and more heavy army groups, rush to the aid of the Wuhan battlefield, rescue the second army, and at the same time extinguish the unrealistic idea of the Chinese army!" Tell them with facts that confronting the empire and the imperial army is a dead end! ”

Kawabe Shozo shook his head and said, "Okamura-kun, I still think that you are a little alarmist." ”

Shunroku Hata also said: "The Second Army may not be able to take Wuhan, but it should be okay to protect itself!" ”

After a slight pause, Hata Junroku said again: "However, for the sake of insurance, I still ordered the 15th Division stationed in Zhengzhou to gather immediately and prepare to go south to Xiaogan along the Pinghan Railway, and at the same time ordered the 17th Division stationed in Xuzhou to march west along the Longhai Line to take over the 15th Division stationed in Zhengzhou, and the defense of Xuzhou will be handed over to the First Army for the time being!" ”

"Hello!" The river was slamming his head three times, and then turned around and walked away.

Okamura Ninji sighed lightly and said no more.

……

Almost at the same time, in the Chongqing Command.

Due to regional differences, the sky in Nanjing has already brightened, but the sky in Chongqing has just brightened.

Looking at the morning light exposed in the clouds in the east, Principal Chang said to the senior generals beside him: "It's dawn, and the general attack of the Japanese army on Wuhan has entered the fourth day!" ”

"Yes!" Liu Sheng nodded and said in a deep voice, "It's the fourth day!" ”

He Yingpei said in a deep voice: "I really didn't expect that the troops of the Wuhan Garrison would be able to hold out to this day!" ”

"yes!" Chen Shi also said with deep understanding, "I originally thought that under the day and night onslaught of the Japanese army, at most, Hankou and Hanyang would be lost, but I never thought that until today, Hankou and Hanyang are still firmly in the hands of my troops in the Wuhan Garrison!" ”

Although Chen Shi and He Yingpei don't like Zhong Yi very much, at this moment, they must also admit that this kid is really capable of fighting!