"Tsukada-kun, remember the name!" Matsui Ishine said quietly, "Sooner or later, one day, Zhong Yi will become a confidant of the Great Japanese Empire!" ”

After a pause, Matsui Ishine said again: "Oh, no, I was wrong, not sooner or later, but now it has become a henchman of the Great Japanese Empire!" ”

Tsukada attacked: "Your Excellency General, if you say that, you may be a little too exalted to him, right?" ”

After a pause, Tsukada continued: "Yes, I have to admit that this Zhong Yi does have extremely superb tactical command ability, and he also has the ability to capture fighters far beyond ordinary people, but no matter what, he is just a regiment commander, not even a general, how can he be worthy of being a confidant of the Great Japanese Empire?" ”

In Tsukada's view, someone worthy of the title of the confidant of the Great Japanese Empire must be the commander-in-chief of a group army!

"Tsukada-kun, you're wrong." Matsui Shigen said faintly, "Although Zhong Yi is only a regiment commander, but now the troops he commands have exceeded 100,000 people, he is only a regiment commander in name, but in fact he is already the commander-in-chief of a group army, and even the commander-in-chief of the group army of the Zhina Army does not have as many troops as him!" ”

The commander-in-chief of the group army of the national army has a maximum of 350,000 troops.

But now, the total strength of Zhong Yi's subordinates has exceeded 100,000!

Tsukada attacked: "Your Excellency, you mean that it is possible for Zhong Yi to reorganize the hundreds of thousands of defeated troops in Nanjing City?" Re-establishing the chain of command? I'm afraid that's unlikely, right? ”

After a pause, Tsukada attacked and said: "It's not difficult to collect the defeated troops, it's okay to give them food, but if you want to complete the reorganization of these defeated troops and re-establish an effective command, it is extremely difficult, even if Zhong Yi has the ability to reach the sky, I'm afraid it will be impossible to do it in a short time, right?" ”

Matsui Shigen said faintly: "If it is replaced by another senior general, even if it is Jiang Baili, it may not be able to reorganize the 100,000 defeated troops and re-establish the command system in a short time, but if it is Zhong Yi, then the result is unpredictable, this person really can't be measured by common sense!" ”

Tsukada attacked: "If this is the case, then Zhong Yi must really be taken seriously!" ”

After a pause, Tsukada continued: "And the first thing to do is to let the secret service seize the time to find out Zhong Yi's origin and his personality and hobbies!" ”

Waving his hand, Matsui Ishine said again: "Tsukada-kun, this is your business. ”

From Matsui Ishone's tone, Tsukada heard a sense of discouragement.

Obviously, Matsui Ishine thought that this time the base camp would definitely remove him!

Tsukada wanted to comfort Matsui Ishine a few words, but he couldn't find the right words, because he also felt that the removal of Matsui Ishine from the base camp was almost certain, and if Matsui Ishine was not replaced, would His Highness Hatohiko be replaced? Replace His Royal Highness Hatohiko, where will the face of the royal family go? Where will His Majesty the Emperor's face go?

After a long time, Tsukada attacked Yuyu and said: "Your Excellency, the situation may not be so bad, at least, Kumamoto United and Kagoshima United are still holding on......"

However, before the words fell, there was the sound of hurried footsteps behind the two.

Looking back in a hurry, he saw the commander of the Shanghai Dispatch Army, Mamoru Iinuma hurrying over.

Walking up to Matsui Ishone, Mamoru Iinuma said: "Your Excellency, you have just received a report from the Tenth Army, and less than five minutes ago, the Kumamoto Wing, Kagoshima Wing, and the 6th Field Artillery Wing were also severely damaged near the Zeng Gong Temple in Nanjing City, and only less than half of the remnants of the brigade escaped from the Zhonghua Gate!" ”

Tsukada's face did not change, and he was completely numb to it.

Matsui Shigen's face was even more expressionless, and he bowed his head and said, "Got it." ”

Mamoru Iinuma tugged at his gloves and tried to persuade him, but in the end, he just closed his mouth twice and didn't say anything.

……

Tokyo, War Department Building.

Shimomura was busy for most of the night, and it wasn't until more than two o'clock in the morning that he finally fell asleep in the lounge.

However, as soon as he fell asleep, he was awakened by a rapid knock on the door, and when he got up and moved the door open, he found that it was his hardcore confidant, Toroshiro Kawabe, the head of the War Guidance Division.

"Riverside-kun!" Shimomura yawned and asked with a dark face, "What are you doing in the middle of the night?" ”

"Your Excellency, something has happened!" "There was a big defeat on the Nanjing side, one guy lost four infantry wings plus two artillery wings, oh, and an independent heavy artillery brigade!" ”

"What should I do, isn't it that the Nanjing side suffered a defeat and lost four infantry wings."

Until this time, Shimomura's consciousness was still in his sleep and did not wake up, so he didn't take Kawasaki Hushiro's words seriously, but after a few seconds, Shimomura's consciousness finally woke up from his sleep, and then, his face showed a shocked look, and the pair of eyes hiding behind the lenses also widened instantly.

"Riverside-kun!" Shimomura asked, "What did you just say?" ”

Hebe Torushiro took a deep breath and said, "Your Excellency, Nanjing's side suffered a big defeat, not to mention the loss of four infantry wings, but also the loss of two artillery wings plus an independent heavy artillery brigade!" ”

"Four infantry wings, two artillery wings plus an independent heavy artillery brigade!" Shimomura folded his fingers, calculated for a moment, and then said incredulously, "Isn't it just the troops entering the city?" Doesn't it mean that the troops that entered the city before this have been completely annihilated by the Chinese army? Annihilation?! ”

"Hello!" Kawabe Torushiro said, "It is said that less than half of the remnants of the brigade escaped!" ”

"Yaga! Less than half a brigade? Shimomura said angrily, "What's the difference between this and being wiped out?" ”

"Your Excellency, there is no point in talking about this now!" "The top priority is to think about how to deal with pressure from all sides!" The Nanjing battlefield suffered such a heavy defeat, not only the Central China Front Army needs someone to take responsibility for this, but the base camp is afraid that it will be difficult to escape the involvement! ”

Shimomura said awe-inspiringly: "Riverside-kun, did you hear any rumors?" ”

"Hello!" Kawabe Torushiro paused and said, "I heard that His Excellency the Deputy Minister has left for the Imperial Palace, and he is asking to see His Majesty the Emperor at night!" If you are not mistaken, Your Excellency the Deputy Minister should have made this trip to shirk responsibility! ”

"Yaga, Tada!" Shimomura Dingichi gritted his teeth and said, "Riverside-kun, quickly prepare a car for me!" ”

"Hello!" Towashiro by the river paused heavily, and then hurried downstairs to order a car for Shimomura.

After a while, Shimomura's car sped out of the War Department building and headed straight for the Imperial Palace.

(End of chapter)