A wing commander of the 10th Division suddenly stood up and said: "Your Excellency, General, if the Zhina Army really wants to attack us, we only need to hold the Yellow River, as long as we don't let the Zhina Army cross the river, no matter how many troops there are, it will be useless." ”

Another Dazuo suddenly said with some pessimism: "But, have you ever thought about it, even if we can hold it on the Jinan side, but if the Chinese army attacks Luxi from the Shanxi side, or attacks the southwest of Lu and northern Jiangsu from the Longhai line, the situation in the entire East China will completely collapse at that time!" In the final analysis, East China is still undefensible! ”

Sasaki was furious when he heard this, and scolded: "Bastard, if everyone is as pessimistic as you, then won't our Great Japanese Empire be finished?" As imperial soldiers, we only need to do our part well, southwest Lu and northern Jiangsu, with the Central China Front and the 114th Division in charge, we don't have to worry about it. ”

As soon as Sasaki finished speaking, he paused, and continued in a fierce voice: "Who dares to have any pessimistic war-weariness to affect the morale of the army, don't blame the commander of this division for not taking into account the righteousness of his colleagues, and being ruthless under the sword!" ”

All the devil officers present bowed their heads one after another: "Hai! "I didn't dare to say anything discouraged anymore, but began to come up with almost fanatical ideas and formulate various defensive tactics.

"Your Excellency General, if we want to prevent the Chinese army on the other side from crossing the Yellow River, we have another good method, that is, to blow up the railway and highway bridges on the Yellow River, so that if the Chinese army wants to cross the river, the only way to cross the river is to take a boat, so that the imperial army can concentrate its firepower and take advantage of the enemy's half-crossing to attack and sink them all in the turbulent Yellow River." A Japanese soldier said with a vicious face.

Sasaki thought for a moment and said, "Everyone, have you ever thought about it, if this Yellow River bridge is still there, then the Zhina army will definitely concentrate on attacking the bridgehead we are stationing, and relatively speaking, the narrow bridge is not conducive to the deployment of the opponent's forces."

Even more detrimental to the input of their mechanized troops, we will be able to withstand the enemy's repeated attacks with a small number of troops, which will be advantageous to us. ”

"And if, once the railway bridge is blown up, the Chinese army will inevitably find other suitable places to cross the river and carry out a roundabout smuggling in the face of stubborn resistance and repeated setbacks in the face of our stubborn resistance to cross the river head-on, which will be extremely unfavorable to us.

Because, that means that the imperial army must also divide its troops to protect those riverside areas that may be selected by the Chinese army as the place to cross the river, but the Yellow River stretches for tens of thousands of miles, and it is impossible for us to take care of how long the riverside area is with these forces in our hands, so the imperial army will be extremely passive.

Therefore, we still have to control the combat area as much as possible within the territory of Jinan. ”

After listening to this, all the devil officers nodded in agreement.

At this time, Major General Umemura Takema, chief of staff of the 10th Division, who had not spoken, suddenly said: "Your Excellency, General, and all the gentlemen here, you seem to have neglected a direction. ”

Sasaki and the others all looked at him and asked, "Umemura-kun, what do you mean?" ”

Major General Umemura Takema stood up and walked to the battle map behind Sasaki's body, and everyone's eyes turned to the military battle map hanging on the wall.

Meicun Zhuma pointed to the area from Zichuan to Binzhou on the map, and said to everyone: "Here, if the frontal attack of the Zhina army in Jinan is frustrated, it is very likely that they will cross the Yellow River from the south of the Binzhou area and march to Zichuan.

And once the Chinese army succeeds, then our communication with Weifang and other places will be completely cut off, and if the Chinese army divides its troops to attack Jinan in a roundabout way, the imperial army's defense line in Jinan will be attacked by the enemy, and the result is self-evident.

As for the area west of Jinan, we don't have to worry too much about it, even if the Chinese army crosses the Yellow River from which direction, but in front of them is the majestic Mount Tai, which is an insurmountable natural danger, they will either continue to attack Jinan, or they will have to attack Tai'an, where the 10th Brigade is stationed.

In short, the general battlefield of this campaign is still in Jinan, and what we need to pay attention to most is the defense in the direction of Zichuan, and we must not let the Chinese army succeed in a roundabout way. ”

A Japanese soldier suddenly said: "However, we are now short of troops, and we can't take care of the defense along many railways and highways, and the Imperial Alliance Army is in charge."

The activities of the Tubalu guerrillas in the territory were too rampant. ”

Plum Village Takema met Sasaki's inquiring gaze and said directly: "Then blow up the Yellow River Railway Bridge immediately, so that we can free up our forces and strengthen the defense of Zichuan and other places, and we can also take advantage of the situation to carry out a sweep against the active Tubalu guerrillas around the key places along the line from Jinan to Zichuan, Tai'an, and Weifang, and deal a blow to their arrogance."

Ensure that in the northern Lubei area, the liaison and transportation of the various units of the imperial army are unimpeded. ”

Seeing that Sasaki was still a little hesitant, Umemura Takema said hurriedly: "Your Excellency General, have you thought about it?" If the Chinese army, led by a tank cluster, launches a surprise attack on the south bank along the Yellow River bridge, what will we resist?

And once the chariot troops of China cross the river, then our defense line will be in jeopardy, so the advantages of blowing up the railway bridge outweigh the disadvantages.

At that time, we only need to strengthen the artillery fire of the troops along the river on the front line, and we can block the entire river. ”

Hearing what Plum Village Takema said, Sasaki Toichi finally made up his mind, stood up abruptly and said: "The Chief of Staff of Plum Village is reasonable, then blow up the Yellow River Railway Bridge immediately!" At the same time, the telegram ordered the 6th Independent Mixed Brigade stationed in Weifang to immediately send reinforcements to Zichuan County to strengthen the defense and vigilance forces along this section of the Yellow River, and to intercept them as soon as they found signs of the Zhina Army crossing the river. ”

"At the same time, send out the 5th Independent Mixed Brigade in Jinan City to sweep eastward along the Jiaoji railway line, and all the imperial allied troops along the way must fully cooperate and make every effort to exterminate any anti-Japanese forces that attack and occupy the main railway communication routes of the imperial army!"

"Hay!" A group of Japanese officers, including Major General Takema Umemura, who was standing behind Sasaki and Ichi, hurriedly bowed their heads and responded.

…………

The Japanese army's order was quickly conveyed, and the 5th and 6th independent mixed brigades of the Japanese army in Weifang and Jinan were dispatched in large numbers, along the Jiaoji railway line, east and west, and the target was directly aimed at Zichuan County.

The Japanese front troops and some of the main puppet troops stationed at the Jinpu Railway and the Yellow River Railway Bridge suddenly detonated the high explosives that had been planted long ago.

With a deafening explosion, the railway bridge, which had been decades old, was destroyed and blown off, and the flames and thick smoke filled the sky over the entire railway bridge, and the flames and billowing black smoke that reached into the sky could be seen for more than ten miles on both sides of the strait.