Regarding Okamura Ninji's lion mouth, Lieutenant General Harem Jun just smiled and nodded: "Okamura-kun's appetite is not small, but these requirements are not excessive, and they are reasonable. After all, the enemy army has a large number of tanks, and it is not impossible to strengthen the rapid-fire artillery and heavy artillery units. ”

"Then I can guarantee that the Dispatch Command will do its best to meet your requests. However, the exact amount will have to be discussed with His Excellency the Commander after I return to Nanjing. The 11th Army is planning a new Changsha operation, and all the results will need to wait until it is over before you can give you an answer. ”

Lieutenant General Harem Jun's ambiguous, and even obviously a bit of a slippery answer, General Okamura Ninji didn't care too much. Since Lieutenant General Harem Jun agreed, the Dispatch Army Command will give some assistance to a greater or lesser extent. It's just a matter of how much of the difference is in this amount. If there is more, he is not too much, can he open his mouth again if he is less?

Anyway, from the current point of view, there is still plenty of time. In the war that had just ended between the Anti-Japanese Union and the Kwantung Army, it was true that the Kwantung Army was defeated very badly. But in terms of the combat effectiveness of the Kwantung Army, their casualties will not be too light. If they want to accumulate strength to launch another attack, then they still need a certain amount of time to recuperate. Without this time, they would not be able to regain the strength of the attack.

However, there will be time for bargaining over how much support the sending army will have. But for Okamura Ninji, none of these issues are too critical. For him now, the most critical issue is intelligence. In particular, this North China Front Army has never been in contact with the army, and all the detailed information is the basis for the operation of the North China Front Army.

And in this regard, for the North China Front, it is basically still a blank and needs the support of the Kwantung Army. At present, the total number of troops of this new opponent, the maximum number of reserve troops that can be mobilized, the composition of technical arms, combat technology and characteristics, and the performance of main battle equipment.

There are also the approximate numbers of tank troops, aviation units, and heavy artillery units, which are all the information required by the commander of his front army to assess the situation of the battlefield. The North China Front had never had any contact with this army before, and if it wanted to obtain similar information, it had to rely on the intelligence system of the Kwantung Army.

Although he felt somewhat disgraceful about revealing people's old backgrounds, Okamura Ninji hesitated for a moment, and still turned the topic to Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Sadachi and said: "Yoshimoto-kun, your Kwantung Army has fought against them many times, and you are quite familiar with their tactics. Manchuria has always been the sphere of influence of the Kwantung Army, where it has a tight intelligence agency. ”

"I ask the Kwantung Army to mobilize a group of officers who have fought with them and strengthen them to the North China Front, so as to enhance the North China Front's understanding of the combat style of this army. This is what we urgently need right now. You must know that the North China Front is completely unfamiliar with this new opponent. We don't know anything about all of them, except for the battle briefings from the base camp. ”

"The second is to use your intelligence system to find out how many tanks and planes they currently have, how many tanks and planes they can dispatch at most at one time during the operation, and the current status and quantity of other equipment. In particular, the number of technical equipment, this North China Front is the most urgently needed. ”

In addition, the total strength of their troops, the approximate proportion of the troops that can be dispatched, and the strength and combat effectiveness of their aviation forces are also what the North China Front needs at present. This battle was of great importance, and the North China Front could not allow the battle to start, only to finally discover that our opponent's equipment had changed dramatically. ”

Faced with Okamura Ningji's two requests, Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Sadachi said with a somewhat embarrassed face: "General Okamura, the first point is that there is absolutely no problem. After I returned, I immediately began to make arrangements, and transferred a number of elite troops and strong generals from the various field divisions and regiments that had fought with me on the battlefield, as well as the army-level headquarters, to hand over to the North China Front. ”

"As for the second request, I can only say that the Kwantung Army can only guarantee that it will try its best to meet Your Excellency's request, but how accurate it is can only be judged by the North China Front itself. For in the present situation, I am compelled to remind you that this information is likely to be quite limited. The Kwantung Army's intelligence collection of its so-called base areas, at least for now, has failed. ”

"Their so-called base area is now almost impenetrable like an iron curtain. I'm sorry everyone, but I used this word that sounds frustrating to us. But apart from the word Iron Curtain, I can't think of any other adjective to describe the actual situation in which they are currently controlling themselves and controlling themselves very strictly. ”

"You also know that the Kwantung Army's control in Manchuria far exceeded that of the previous governments of China. Even without these so-called anti-Japanese alliances, the Kwantung Army also had a large number of spy networks in the former North Manchurian region that were used to secretly monitor the anti-Manchurian anti-Japanese activities of the people. However, such a huge intelligence system was destroyed in a short period of time, and its counter-espionage capability is rare for me. ”

"The original intelligence system of the Kwantung Army was destroyed because of the rapid loss of Harbin. The newly established intelligence system has either failed repeatedly, or the information it conveys has no value at all. Although there is some economic intelligence, military intelligence is almost nothing. ”

"Since they re-strengthened and turned out of the mountains and forests, the Kwantung Army's judgment of their intelligence is really not accurate. This includes the total strength of their troops, the equipment system of the entire army, and even the number of troops they can put into each battle, which cannot be accurately judged. ”

"Although there are successful examples of rebellion against officers at all levels, they are basically inconsequential personnel. Those who really have core secrets, more information, and higher positions, but it is difficult for us to even touch their whereabouts. As for rebellion or assassination, there is no possibility at all. ”

"The biggest result of the Kwantung Army's intelligence department since the growth of this anti-Japanese alliance in 39 was to get rid of the fiancée of their military commander. As for the rest, there are few examples of success. On the contrary, it is the spies we have painstakingly cultivated for many years, and almost one has disappeared one by one. A small number of survivors are also in a situation where they are unable to move. ”

"This also includes Miss Nanzao Yunzi, who is known as the flower of the empire because of her repeated miraculous achievements in the war against China, who disguised herself as a so-called college student who pursued progress, and after detouring from Shanghai to Soviet Russia into North Manchuria in the first half of the year, she disappeared without a trace from the world, and never sent back any information."

"To put it mildly, if you are not afraid of the jokes of all of you, before the previous battle, the Kwantung Army did not even be able to figure out that they actually had a large number of Soviet-made tanks in their hands. They had aviation, and it was only after we suffered losses on the battlefield that we learned that our opponents actually had combat aircraft. In other words, the only way for the Kwantung Army to master their possession of new weapons was basically encounters on the battlefield. ”

"But the number and scale of their aviation force has not yet been thoroughly ascertained. A large part of the reason for the Kwantung Army's failure in several battles was the mistake in intelligence gathering, and the director's judgment of its equipment situation and the actual situation was very different. A lot of their equipment was only figured out when they arrived on the battlefield. ”

"Now the Kwantung Army has been reduced to the point where it is impossible to make an accurate judgment on the total number of troops it can put into the battlefield. If each battle is calculated according to the establishment they appear in and the strength of the troops within the establishment, it can basically be said that it is wrong. Every time they arrive on the battlefield, their troops are always fighting more and more, and new troop numbers will constantly appear. ”

"In the most recent case, there were even more than double the number of troops we judged. Up to now, the intelligence staff of the Kwantung Army did not dare to make any estimates about the possible number of troops that the opponent would throw in in each battle. Except for relying on the Kwantung Army's previous data on the total population in its so-called base areas, our intelligence department does not play a big role at all. ”

"Although the strict judgment of its intelligence gathering and judgment was a disgraceful incident for the Kwantung Army. But here today, I have to remind all of you. You are about to face an army that is very different from the government army in China and the communist army in North China. ”

"They were more equipped than the government army in China, and at the same time they had a tighter organizational structure than the communist army in North China. Its secrecy system is so strict that we have never been the one we have ever dealt with. Not only do they keep the confidentiality to the outside world, but they also have an extremely complete internal confidentiality system. ”

"It can even be said that the junior officers of their various branches of the armed forces do not know the exact amount of their equipment. We captured a certain number of their pilots on the battlefield, but these prisoners of war did not know the total number of fighters they were flying. In addition to their own squadrons, it is not even clear to them what the size of their troops really is. ”

"What is particularly noteworthy is that they are not only very strong in counter-espionage capabilities. At the same time, they are also extremely good at using the Imperial spy network that they have uncovered to deceive us, constantly leading us to make mistakes, and making our judgment of their intelligence poor. ”

"The Kwantung Army's spy network in the area under its control has almost been destroyed by embers. And the repair of the spy network is also progressing very slowly. The reassigned spies either disappeared or were under their tight control, making it difficult for them to carry out their activities. At present, the intelligence department of the Kwantung Army can hardly bear the expectations of the North China Front. ”

"Now that the Kwantung Army has been reduced to the total number of troops it can put into the battlefield, it is impossible to make an accurate judgment. If each battle is calculated according to the establishment they appear in and the strength of the troops within the establishment, it can basically be said that it is wrong. Every time they arrive on the battlefield, their troops are always fighting more and more, and new troop numbers will constantly appear. ”

"In the largest case, there were even more than twice as many troops as we had predicted. Up to now, the intelligence staff of the Kwantung Army did not dare to make any calculations at all. Except for relying on the Kwantung Army's previous data on the total population in its so-called base areas, our intelligence department does not play a big role at all. ”

Speaking of this, Yoshimoto Sadachi was a little embarrassed and said something that amazed everyone present: "For this request of Okamura-kun, the Kwantung Army can only guarantee to do its best." As for the accuracy of this information, I'm sorry, but I can't guarantee it at all. ”

"If the next move of the Anti-Japanese Union is really the interior of China, then the Kwantung Army guarantees to launch a synchronized offensive to fight against the North China Front. As for the rest, as chief of staff of the Kwantung Army, I can only wish the North China Front good luck and hope that General Okamura's judgment will be accurate. If I add another sentence, then I can only hope that the North China Front will be able to ask for more blessings. ”