A transport plane with the flag of the Japanese Army painted on the nose slowly landed at Xuzhou Airport. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

The cabin door opened, and a group of Japanese generals wearing Kwantung Army uniforms walked down the ramp of the plane.

"Okamura-kun, I've finally looked forward to you."

"Muto-kun, hard work!" Okamura Ninji rushed to greet the chief of staff of the Central China Dispatch Army, Muto Akira, bowed slightly.

"Please!"

A black Ford car drove up, and Okamura got into the back seat of the car, and then the officers behind got into the car.

The long convoy drove out of the airport and headed for Xuzhou City.

Daotai Yamen, the former location of the headquarters of the commander of the Fifth Theater, became the supreme headquarters of the Japanese army stationed in Xuzhou after the Japanese army occupied Xuzhou.

Stationed near Xuzhou were the 5th Division of the Japanese Army, the 9th Division of the Central China Dispatch Army, the 16th Division, and the 106th Division.

The commander of the Second Army, Prince Minoru Higashikure, transferred his headquarters to Xuzhou, and the garrison in Xuzhou was still dominated by the Second Army of the North China Front.

"Okamura-kun, welcome to Xuzhou!"

"Your Royal Highness is gracious." Prince Minoru Higashikure was ill and was unable to go to the airport to greet Okamura in person, but in the headquarters, he still had people help him out.

"The base camp sent Okamura-kun to lead the empire in the Wuhan raids, and it really found the real Maxima." Higashikure Minoru said weakly, maybe it was because he was not adaptable to the water and soil, after the headquarters moved to Xuzhou, his body had problems, he was always sweating and weak.

"Okamura, as an imperial soldier, is duty-bound."

"The second army will be handed over to Gangmura-kun!"

"Okamura will do his best."

"I have been unwell in Xuzhou, and tonight's reception banquet was attended by Ando-kun, and I ask Okamura-kun to forgive me." After speaking, with the support of the adjutant, King Minoru Higashikure bowed deeply to Okamura Ninji.

Okamura Ninji hurriedly bent down to return the salute.

Before becoming the commander of the 11th Army, Okamura Ninji served as the division commander of the 2nd Division in the Kwantung Army, and also served as the deputy chief of the general staff of the Kwantung Army, and he was concerned about the battle situation in Xuzhou and Luxi.

The base camp made the decision to capture Wuhan, which was both unexpected and expected for him.

However, he was surprised that the base camp made it necessary for him to form the Eleventh Army and recognize the commander of the army as responsible for the attack on Wuhan.

Although it was an accident, Okamura Ninji considered himself a loyal and qualified soldier, so he quickly handed over to Lieutenant General Yasui Toji, who had succeeded him, and he took up his post with a staff officer.

First went to Beiping to secretly meet with the commander of the North China Front, General Sugiyama Yuan, to exchange views on the war situation, and the second stop was Xuzhou.

Then we have to go to Nanjing.

The formation of the 11th Army is to attack the strategic mobile forces in Wuhan, which divisions and regiments Okamura Ningji will pick, this is the key, Okamura Ningji did not intend to follow the arrangement of the base camp, he wanted to investigate the combat effectiveness of each division and regiment on the spot, and then determine which divisions and regiments will be incorporated into the 11th Army.

Although the base camp made a strategic decision to capture Wuhan, it did not set a specific offensive plan, and there were still differences of opinion on how to take Wuhan, the base camp operations department, and the staff headquarters.

The North China Front suffered a crushing defeat at Taierzhuang, the Tufeiyuan group was in Luxi, and the entire army in eastern Henan was annihilated, and the North China Front was no longer able to organize an offensive.

The main force of the attack on Wuhan was obviously going to be handed over to the Central China Dispatch Army, which was relatively intact in strength.

And the main force of the Eleventh Army should also be mostly composed of troops from the Central China Dispatch Army.

There is no doubt about that.

However, the Japanese army in North China was not willing to accept this situation as a spectator, and since the attack on Wuhan was a strategy formulated by the base camp, whatever they said was also to be mixed in with it.

Okamura Ninji came to Xuzhou, not for the 2nd Army, he actually came to inspect the battlefield in Xuzhou, for the two elite divisions of the Japanese army in North China such a fiasco, he did not believe that a weak Chinese J team could eat two elite imperial divisions.

Moreover, it was a regimental annihilation, a division commander was captured, and a life or death is unknown, although he was not captured, it was already a bad ending.

His Majesty the Emperor even doubted whether the combat effectiveness of the Japanese Army was as written in the war report, or whether it was simply a decision to mislead the Empire.

After entertaining the generals of the Japanese army in the Xuzhou area, Okamura Ninji finally had time to catch his breath.

Before coming to Xuzhou, he had read some battle reports and had some understanding of the process of the defeat of the 10th Division in Taierzhuang, but after he came, he found that the reason for the defeat of the Seya Detachment of the 10th Division was not just the mistake of making impatience and rashness.

This was calculated by the Chinese from the very beginning.

That is to say, the Seya detachment simply fell into the trap designed by the Chinese, and from the very beginning, the Chinese had already laid out in Taierzhuang to eat the main force of the 10th Division.

The Honorary First Division, which was hidden in Weishan Lake, used a strategy to deceive not only their own countrymen, but also the intelligence department of the empire, if it had not been prepared in advance, how could the main force of the Seya Detachment of the 10th Division rush to Taierzhuang?

The mistakes of the imperial commanders, coupled with the deliberate guidance of the Chinese, the defeat of the 10th Division was not unjust, and the combat effectiveness of the Chinese J also shocked Okamura Ningji.

Whether it was the previous Tang Regiment or the new 38th Brigade stationed in Taierzhuang, they were all remarkable, and they played a shocking combat effectiveness.

China J is not as incompetent and timid as the war reports and reports.

Among them, there are still a number of generals and armies who can fight well, at least in terms of the will to fight, not to lose to the imperial army.

"General Okamura, this is a detailed battle report of the North China Dispatch Army in the past three months, and I will sort out the battle reports related to the New 38th Brigade, now numbered the New 38th Division, and the Honorary First Division, which is now numbered the New First Army, according to your request."

"Miyazaki-kun, hard work!"

"It's an honor for Miyazaki to serve General Okamura." Miyazaki, the staff officer of the advance officer, knelt on the mat and bowed and said.

"Miyazaki-kun, have you read all these battle reports?"

"Yes."

"What is your impression of the new 38th Division and the New First Army, as well as that Chinese J general Leng Guoguang, nicknamed: Leng Hades?" Okamura asked.

"Miyazaki had heard of this person before he came, he rose in the Battle of Nanjing, he was elusive, from a small staff officer, he became the head of an army in just half a year, and the growth rate was amazing." Staff Officer Miyazaki thought for a moment.

"It was all built on the bones of the valiant Imperial Army warriors of our Great Japanese Empire."

"Hay!"

"But this person can indeed be called a hero, China is a vast land, outstanding people, if it can be used by me, the Japanese Empire will become the most powerful empire in the world, Miyazaki-kun, right?"

"What General Okamura said is very true."

"But our generals only know how to kill, not Huairou, if they kill. If we can make this nation submit, there will be no such splendid civilization, and we must learn to use a policy of gentleness in dealing with the Chinese, and if we can use it for us, we must give enough courtesy and respect, so that we can completely control this vast continent. ”

"Hay!"

"It's a pity for Nakajima-kun, if you don't die, you may be able to see this day." Okamura sighed.

"General, General Harada has arrived."

"Let him in!"

Miyazaki got up to leave, but Okamura waved him to stay.

Harada was the head of the Chinese Dispatch Army's Special Service and one of the people Okamura Ninji had to meet in Xuzhou, and although he was entrusted with important tasks, he had to understand the war situation in North and Central China in detail before taking office.

Although the base camp was very eager to occupy Wuhan, Okamura Ninji was not an easily swayed person.

"Okamura-kun!"

"Harada-kun, long time no see." Okamura himself stood up and welcomed Harada into the room, and Harada finally took off his shoes and sat down cross-legged.

"Harada-kun, please!"

"Thank you!"

"The telegram sent to me by Harada-kun, I have read it carefully, and I am deeply inspired, I think it is very reasonable for you to say that if you want to capture Wuhan, you must first solve the problem of northern Henan, so this time I came to Xuzhou, I just want to hear your thoughts with my own mouth." Okamura Ninji said seriously, "This is my advance staff officer Miyazaki Shaosa. ”

"Miyazaki-kun." Harada nodded slightly.

"Minister Harada."

"Okamura-kun must have read the intelligence briefing that Miyazaki-kun prepared for you about the New First Army and Leng Kuniguang, right?" Harada said in a low, heavy voice.

Okamura Ninji nodded, I have already read the briefing, and the things on the briefing are also some data things, although I can see things, but there are some things that cannot be reflected in the briefing.

"I didn't personally experience the battle of Taierzhuang, but I went to Qingcheng to meet Seya-kun who escaped death, I listened to some of his descriptions, and I have a clearer understanding of the defeat in that battle, I think that our defeat is not only due to our own reasons, and the enemy is not as weak as we imagined, and a lot of previous intelligence even misled our front-line commanders, so that they made wrong judgments, which is the main reason."

"Underestimating the enemy?"

"Yes, although it is a light enemy, if we follow our judgment and understanding of China J, I don't think that in this battle, Setani-kun was impatient and rash in the early stage, but in the later stage, his judgment was wrong, objectively speaking, Seya-kun is difficult to ride a tiger."

"How?"

"Setani-kun was in command of the elite troops of the 10th Division at that time, as well as heavy artillery and armored support, with his strength, even against the Chinese J group army is no problem, but in Taierzhuang, he was blocked alive for nine days, these nine days his troops' sharpness and energy are almost exhausted, plus logistical difficulties, our army is insufficient, can not maintain such a long front, at this time the honor of the 1st Division hidden on Weishan Lake suddenly attacked, cutting off our supply line in one fell swoop, and the Isoya Division was attacked on both sidesHow can you be undefeated? ”

The battle line is too long, and Okamura Ninji, as a commander with strategic vision, has not yet had a brain fever, so how can he not see that the biggest problem of the Japanese army in China is that the battle line is too long and the number of troops is too small, and the supply problem caused by this is very serious.

If he wanted to launch a plan to occupy Wuhan, Okamura Ninji estimated that at least 300,000 elite field preparations would be needed and at least 2 billion yuan would be spent on military spending.

How long will two billion last, Okamura Ninji can't say clearly, three months or half a year?

Japan's annual tax revenue is only 6 or 7 billion yen, and it is not cost-effective to spend one-third of its revenue in such a war.

But if you count the wealth and territory seized from China, it is too good for the money.

Therefore, the base camp and the officers of those empires are inclined to take China as soon as possible, and then form a puppet government that obeys the orders of the Japanese and Ben, and turn China into a resource rear for the Japanese and the Japanese to dominate the world.

"General Okamura, although now is the best time to attack Wuhan, after several major battles, GMD's troops have suffered great losses, and most of the troops are vulnerable, but this is not the case with our army, the troops have been fighting for several months, and the soldiers urgently need to rest and replenish ......"

Okamura Ninji naturally understands this truth, if wars are all according to the rules, then many classic war examples do not exist.