There is a first quarter moon in the sky, the moonlight is cold, and the Gusu Hanshan Temple is white.

The chill was thick, and there was silence between heaven and earth.

Gusu, which had been ravaged by the Japanese army, had gradually returned to calm, and the Japanese did not want to get an empty Gusu city, and the killing seemed to have stopped.

In a villa not far from Hanshan Temple, the lights are bright, but the curtains are tightly drawn, and there is no light outside.

There are Japanese soldiers wearing "military police" emblems on duty at the front and back doors and courtyards, and the atmosphere is very solemn.

One after another, black cars entered through the gate, and all of them were generals wearing gold stars.

At least they are all major generals, and the adjutants accompanying them are all junior and above, and there are basically no officers at the rank of lieutenant.

Today's meeting was of a very high standard, and Prince Hatohiko Asakanomiya, commander of the Shanghai Dispatch Army, and Lieutenant General Yanagawa Heisuke, commander of the Tenth Army, both rushed back from the front.

One of these two is a prince of the royal family, and the other is a cadre of the imperial faction.

Matsui Shigen, the commander of the Central China Front, wants to control these two people, but it is really difficult for him.

"Your Excellency, this is the latest battle report."

"Isn't it good news to put it there?" Matsui Ishine is a China expert, he knows China very well, and he already has a plan for tonight's meeting.

"Yes, a brigade of the Nakajima Force Empire was completely annihilated by the Shina Army at the foot of the Purple Mountain." Chief of Staff Tsukada attacked.

"All annihilated, the Chinese army counterattacked? How many troops were dispatched and who commanded them? ”

"No, it is said that the Chinese army planted a large amount of explosives under their positions, and when our soldiers rushed up and they retreated, they then detonated the explosives and blew up the entire mountain!"

"Who is the position commander?"

"I don't know, but it shouldn't be any of the senior commanders of the China Army that we have." Tsukada attacked.

"Let the agents who infiltrated the city of Nanjing, as well as our inner line in the Chinese army, investigate, this person may become our worst enemy." Matsui Ishone said slowly.

"Hay!" Although Tsukada feels that it is a big fuss, it doesn't hurt to investigate.

Matsui Ishine took a breath of cold air, although he did not go to the front line in person, such a scene must be very shocking.

The Chinese's will to resist was beyond his expectations.

He ignores something, he only interacts with the Chinese elite, successful people, but forgets that China is made up of millions of ordinary people.

These people can truly represent China, they are not Jiang and Wang Zhi, they are very hard-boned.

Only now, these people control China.

"Are you all here?"

"Except for Muto Shodasa, who hasn't arrived yet, everyone else has arrived." The adjutant replied.

"I'm tired of Muto-kun and ran away in vain, this Tang Mengxiao is really rude!" Tsukada said angrily.

"Okay, don't wait for him, push me to the conference room." Matsui Shigen raised his hand slightly and commanded.

The door to the conference room was pushed open.

"Your Excellency Commander Matsui has arrived!"

A room full of generals stood up.

"Okay, okay, let's sit down, I'm unfortunate, I have pneumonia, in order not to affect you, so I put on a mask, I hope you can understand." Matsui explained by pointing to the mask on his mouth.

"Your Excellency, Commander, pay more attention to your body." Hatohiko stood up and greeted with false concern.

"Thank you, Your Highness." Asaka Palace is an imperial family and the emperor's uncle, and even if Matsui's military rank is one level higher than his, he has to tolerate him for three points.

Yanagawa Heisuke pursed his lips, although he was affiliated with Matsui, the Tenth Army was relatively independent, so he didn't have to look at his face.

What's more, they belong to different factions in the army, so naturally their relationship is not much better.

"Birth, old age, sickness and death are the natural way back, as a veteran, fighting for the emperor, dying for the emperor, there will be a thousand years after his death, but His Majesty the Emperor learned that I was overworked in the war in Shanghai, and I am not suitable for commanding the battle, I called today, His Royal Highness the Prince of Chaoxiang Palace will take over my work and command the troops to attack Nanjing!"

Before Matsui finished speaking, Hatohiko Asakanomiya stood up: "Everyone, it's not to take over, it's to assist His Excellency General Matsui in commanding." ”

Chaoxiang Palace is also a slippery head, the Nanjing battle situation has been frustrated, if there is no progress, he will be held accountable, and he can not want to take responsibility alone.

For such a timid and cowardly behavior of the Asaka Palace, many Japanese generals attending the meeting couldn't help but show a trace of disdain.

Especially Yanagawa Heisuke, the mockery at the corner of his mouth was even more unscrupulous.

"This is not assistance, this is an order from His Majesty the Emperor!" Matsui Ishine waved his hand, and the adjutant took out a telegram from the document bag and said, "Prince Chaoxiang Palace will serve as the supreme commander of the Nanjing operation from today onwards. ”

There was applause, accompanied by all kinds of discussions.

Some of the old things of Hatohiko Asakanomiya were ruthlessly picked up and spread among the officers attending the meeting.

Matsui Shigen coughed lightly, stopped the discussion, and raised his voice slightly: "His Royal Highness Prince Chaoxiang Palace has just arrived in China, and he is not very familiar with the situation in Nanjing, so I will preside over today's combat meeting." ”

After speaking, he glanced at the officers and continued: "The topic of today's extraordinary meeting is to study the situation of the troops and determine the time for the invasion of Nanjing, and you can speak freely. ”

Yoshizumi Ryosuke, the commander of the Ninth Division, stood up first and said loudly: "Your Excellency Commander, our division encountered many unexpected difficulties in this Nanjing operation, the Chinese army is not the cowardly and cowardly battle we imagined, on the contrary, they are very brave, I have seen their soldiers have broken their legs, and they are still holding our imperial soldiers, pulling grenades, and they are all dying, they are not the sick men of East Asia we know, second, they are very flexible in the use of tactics, but they are far inferior to our army in terms of weaponry and quality, The empire had to pay a heavy price for every step forward, and our division suffered many casualties in the outer battles of Shanghai and Nanjing, and the soldiers were tired, so I asked His Excellency the Commander to consider the strategy of resting while besieging the siege, otherwise this battle would not have been won. ”

Yoshizumi's words represent the psychological and real thoughts of some division commanders.

"Yoshizumi-kun is too worried, our army has casualties, the casualties of the Shina army are even greater, our army has no time to rest, the Shina army has no time to rest, the god of fate sometimes favors one side, even if the opportunity is equal, isn't your command ability as good as those who have just come out of the mud legs?"

"The elite of the Chinese army is almost exhausted in Shanghai, and they are now at the end of the strong crossbow, at this time, they should take advantage of the victory to pursue, and use the posture of Mount Tai to crush the will to resist the Chinese army!" Yanagawa Heisuke stood up and slammed his fist on the conference table, the teacups on the table buzzed.

"I think what Yoshizumi-kun said is right, our division suffered a lot of losses in the Battle of Shanghai, and lost more than 3,000 people in the Battle of Nanjing, so we can rest for at least one to two months before we can fight again!" Masaki Ito said.

"I agree with Yoshizumi and Ito, rest and fight!" The 3rd Division's development of Fujita Shin was short-lived.

Almost all of those who were in favor of rest and recuperation were on the side of the Shanghai Dispatch Army, and they all suffered heavy losses in the outer battles of Shanghai and Nanjing, and if they continued to fight, the entire division would be crippled.

This is something they desperately don't want to see.

And the Tenth Army was a new force, adopting a roundabout strategy in the Battle of Shanghai, showing off in the limelight, and fighting all the way to the city of Nanjing, arrogant and arrogant, Yanagawa Heisuke certainly did not want to rest at this time.

Yanagawa Heisuke said angrily: "The situation of our Tenth Army is similar to yours, I won't say more, His Excellency Commander Matsui is not a recruit, nor is he a junior officer, he suggested that Nanjing be occupied immediately, there must be his reasons, let's listen to it first, how about it?" ”

"Yanagawa-kun is right, we might as well listen to the specific thoughts and reasons of His Excellency Commander Matsui, I think if the reasons for an immediate attack on Nanjing are very good, you will vote in favor." Chaoxiang Palace Road

Matsui, Asakanomiya, and Yanagawa, the three giants of the Central China Front, were at odds with each other, but they seemed to agree on the immediate capture of Nanjing.

Matsui breathed a sigh of relief, Hatohiko Asakanomiya and Yanagawa Heisuke clearly supported him in their words, which was related to their interests and positions, if the positions of the three commanders were not consistent, it would be difficult to achieve anything in today's meeting.

"You may know some of my situation, but I think you still don't know much about me, in addition to my war in China, I have also done intelligence work, served as a military attache in China, I have lived in Nanjing for four years, I am very familiar with the capital of China, I have been in contact with dozens of high-ranking officials in the government of China, and I have also had many contacts with their chairman Jiang, we have talked all night, and I know him even more than his wife, you may not believe it?"

Everyone was curious, and Matsui was indeed a little surprised when he said it.

Yoshizumi Ryosuke didn't give Matsui Ishine face, and directly interjected: "What you said is really rare, really mysterious, Jiang Zhongzheng, the leader of a country, will talk to you all night?" ”

Matsui Shigen seemed to know that there would be people with such questions, and said quietly: "Do you know, Jiang is a person with the idea of a feudal emperor, he is full of pretending to be how to deal with GD, he wants to know the attitude of the empire towards China, what big moves will there be in the future, in his mind, the most dangerous thing is not the empire, but GD, his policy is called to be outside must first be ...... inside"

The more Matsui Shigen spoke, the more excited he became, despite the fact that he still had a fever, he took a sip of water, and continued: "I know the contradictions in China very well, and I know Jiang Zhongzheng very well, there is an old Chinese saying, no diamond diamond, no porcelain work, I dare to take over the appointment of His Majesty the Emperor, without this confidence is not good, I dare to say that the immediate attack on Nanjing, not without hole cards!" ”

It is only now that he has officially entered the main topic: "My hole card is the understanding of Chiang, he adopted a 'waiting' strategy for this war, the purpose of his fight in Shanghai is to show the world, hoping that Britain and the United States will come out to jump, and ask the League of Nations to intervene in order to seek peace, which is for the League of Nations and the whole time to see, and peace is his goal, as a result, after a long time, at the League of Nations Congress, the British opposed the sanctions against us, and the Americans did not express their position...... The Triple Alliance of Germany, Italy and Japan is a good friend, so how could the German ambassador offend a Japanese friend for him? Todman is just luring him to surrender on behalf of our Japanese government! ”

"Jiang hopes to jointly defend against the Communists, but if Nanjing doesn't fight, he can't explain to the army and the people, so he left the Central Army and the miscellaneous army and handed them over to Tang Mengxiao to command, the commanders of these troops are all grass kings, and no one buys anyone's account, Tang was a warlord in his early years, and he didn't lead troops for many years, so he could command these people?"

"Chiang has withdrawn the planes, the air supremacy is in me, adopt a strategy of encirclement on all sides, the north of Nanjing is the Yangtze River, our navy is going up the Yangtze River, cut off their retreat, they will have no way to escape!"

Matsui mentioned the landing of Kanayama Guard!

Yanagawa Heisuke said excitedly: "At that time, we tens of thousands of people acted as a million army, and Jiang was scared of the fart, and the army was withdrawn overnight, and now, His Excellency Matsui has dropped a letter of persuasion to surrender, and it is also said that the million army is attacking Nanjing, which is to scare Jiang's troops and shake their confidence in defending the city. ”

"That's right, that's right!"

"According to the information sent back by the agents lurking in Nanjing, the Jiang couple left Nanjing by plane on December 7 and flew to Wuhan!"

"The coach left Beijing, which means that they are going to give up Nanjing, and if they don't attack at this time, when will they stay?" Chao Xiang Gong was excited to try.

He was reactivated because he wanted to make a contribution on the battlefield and show those people in the Command faction that he was also capable.

"I agree with His Excellency Commander Matsui's opinion, please return to the army as soon as you get home, mobilize the troops, and attack Nanjing, Nanjing belongs to our great Japan, it belongs to His Majesty the Emperor, there are countless beautiful high-end residences in Nanjing, countless flower girls, Confucius Temple, Qinhuai River, everyone act quickly, go to Nanjing City and enjoy it!"

Chaoxiang Palace's agitation, the eyes of the division commanders present lit up one by one, power, wealth, women, this can stimulate the most primitive instincts of men!

What's more, these people are not unwilling to attack Nanjing, but the attack has been frustrated, the casualties are too great, and they are just worried about the immediate attack.

Only Matsui Shigen and others knew in their hearts that only by quickly occupying Nanjing and forcing Lao Chiang to surrender could the benefits be maximized.

Once the war drags on, the first thing to do is Japan itself.

The mobilization meeting quickly unified the thinking and set the time for the general attack on December 12, before which the peripheral fighting at Nanking must be ended.

That is to say, all troops must advance to the city wall of Nanjing before December 12, and if the task cannot be completed, the military law will deal with it!

(This chapter draws on a lot of information, Mr. Hu Zhaocai's "Jiang Zhongzheng and the Battle of Nanjing", mainly the plot foreshadowing later, don't spray if you don't like it.) ）