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At the Tianjin Expedition Force Headquarters, the commander-in-chief of the Japanese Army Tianjin Expedition Force, Shirakawa Yoshinori, was furious in the war room.

"Baga, a regiment of imperial soldiers can't take down a central position defended by a regiment. You are all losers and a disgrace to the empire."

When Shirakawa Yoshinori got angry, he pulled out his saber. He was so frightened that the guard next to him was about to step forward to stop him. However, the commander-in-chief slashed his sword on the sand table in the middle, which happened to block the defense of the Southwest Army. The left wing position was chopped to pieces.

The trembling generals in the conference room were all frightened and lowered their heads even more. No one would have thought that the Commander-in-Chief, who is usually known for his elegance, seemed to be a different person today.[

Even the three division commanders did not dare to raise their heads, especially Hamada Kazuo, the commander of the 4th Division of the regiment responsible for attacking the 3rd Regiment's position, and his subordinate Captain Chiba Koichiro, standing alone. He lowered his head to the lowest position. Chiba Koichiro's face was even more red and swollen. It seemed that he had been cordially greeted by the division commander Hamada Kazuo.

Shirakawa Yoshinori seemed to be out of breath due to the pressure of his anger. He breathed heavily and walked in front of Hamada Kazuo and Chiba Koichiro. "What do you have to say about the shame of you two emperors? "

After reprimanding them severely, as the commander-in-chief, he still needed to give the two people a chance to explain. Of course, any explanation may be useless. The key depends on their attitudes.

"Reporting to Your Excellency, Commander-in-Chief, there is no explanation. We will use the noblest courage of the Imperial people to launch a desperate charge and we will surely win the left-wing position."

The commander of the Sixth Division, Lieutenant General Hamada Kazuo, showed no sign of timidity at this time. He held his head high, stood at attention and saluted, and shouted his answer almost angrily.

The same was true for Koichiro Chiba next to him. The attack failed, and the commanders of the Sixth Division regarded him as a shame. In order to preserve the strength of the troops, he decisively ordered a retreat and looked for opportunities to fight again. As a result, he was attacked by the division as soon as he returned to the division's headquarters. The leader of the regiment, Kazuo Hamada, slapped him twice in public and bluntly stated that he would be dealt with by military law.

At this time, Koichiro Chiba, who was the captain of the regiment, understood that in the eyes of the commander of the Sixth Division and the Tianjin Expeditionary Army, any strategic retreat or opportunistic move were impractical. Just like in the army back then, When I was in the sergeant academy, there were always two opposing factions in the school. One group advocated offensive theory, and the other advocated strategic and tactical theory.

However, as a soldier, he is not afraid of death.

"Your Excellency, Commander-in-Chief, I have no explanation. I will then personally lead the regiment to charge and launch a desperate assault."

Shirakawa Yoshitori nodded without saying anything, then walked back to his seat, picked up a document, sighed inaudibly, then raised his head and read: "Now read the combat order issued by the military headquarters."

"Pah!" Standing at attention with their feet together neatly.

"Order: The 14th Division and the 16th Division must break through the frontal and right-wing positions of the Kuomintang army before the afternoon of May 12th, defeat these two units, and drive them into Peiping.

Order, the 6th Division, which lost the battle, must eliminate the Langfang left wing center team before ten o'clock in the morning on May 12th, and must completely annihilate or capture them..."

After the meeting, Shirakawa Yoshinori left Hamada Kazuo alone.

"For the general offensive in three days, tell me what you think. This is not a conference room, so there is no need to avoid it." Few people know that it seems that Shirakawa Yoshinori scolded Hamada Kazuo bloody at the meeting. In fact,

Hamada Kazuo is his student.

"Please rest assured, Commander-in-Chief, Hamada will definitely capture the left-wing position. I don't have any ideas." Hamada Kazuo paused slightly, but gave the same answer.

Shirakawa Yoshinori shook his head and picked up the combat telegram sent by the Domestic Military Headquarters. Regarding this Tianjin-Beijing battle, he, the commander-in-chief, could decide too little. The Domestic Military Headquarters controlled almost all the rights, and

The staff officers dispatched by the military headquarters at the dispatched army headquarters also influenced the command of the battle.

"Hamada, as a division commander, you should have more independent thinking of your own. Although the entire empire admires Nogi Nogi-kun, at our level, we should not only recognize Nogi-kun's bravery, but also realize that

, blindly relying on brute strength will not win the war, wasn't the same thing true for the Nogi Army back then?"

"This...teacher, what do you mean?" [

Shirakawa took a deep breath and said earnestly to the student he had liked very much back then, "Of course we have to implement the orders of the military department, but we also have to see some problems in it.

Some domestic military officials are very worried about the military presence in southwest China, especially after they announced that they would go north to resist Japan. Many military officials even suggested launching an early attack in southeast China to delay them from moving north. The Prime Minister of the Land, Nanjiro, asked

The emperor submitted that military operations must be limited to the north of North China to prevent excessive stimulation of the Chinese southwestern "government".

This is why the dispatched troops received inconsistent orders. From the initial rapid attack to capture Tianjin, to the subsequent Langfang raid, their performance was also heroic, and they once defeated the two so-called main divisions of the Chinese.

Then, when there was accurate intelligence that Chiang Kai-shek was preparing to mobilize the army for a major battle, the country ordered a delay in the offensive pace. As a result, the Chinese *** team, which could have been easily annihilated, escaped by chance. The military wanted to complete its success in one battle and used

A greater victory will give some people the right to speak in the country. Therefore, the following two divisions were assembled and prepared to board the ship without any effort. The military plan is that the strength of the five divisions will completely

Defeated Chiang Kai-shek's 100,000 motley army.

When the Chinese southwest "government" finally formed the 19th Route Army to go north, the military headquarters ordered a fierce attack on the southwest regiment's garrison to test their strength and eliminate them.

Judging from the news I received from some of my military friends in China, the military wanted to test the combat effectiveness of this southwestern army, which was rumored to be magical, and also wanted to attack Zhang Shusheng by quickly annihilating them.

determination to fight. After all, this area is where Chiang Kai-shek

In Jieshi's territory, in the words of the Chinese, Zhang Shusheng's approach was to endure hardship and be unjust. The military department believed that Zhang Shusheng most likely sent troops for political purposes rather than for determination to resist Japan. Once we completely eliminated this regiment, the subsequent march northward

It’s just a formality.”

"I see. No wonder this battle has become strange since the rapid occupation of Tianjin. I didn't expect there to be such a complicated situation. Thank you for the explanation." Hamada Kazuo is not a stupid person. The battle during the day has proved that this southwest

The regiment is indeed well-equipped. It can be said that it is much better than the Imperial Army. "Teacher, I also found that the Southwest Army is generally equipped with a rapid-fire weapon between a hand-pulled bolt-action rifle and a submachine gun.

This kind of weapon has a reserve of about 10 rounds and can shoot at a very fast speed. Often the imperial soldiers shoot once, but they can shoot two or three times. This is a very scary situation.

gap. In addition, there is a strange artillery on their position that can attack both the sky and the ground. Of course, there is also an artillery that can be operated by a single soldier. Its tail flame is like a fire dragon. This kind of weapon can even attack us.

Never heard of it.

Let’s not talk about weapons. As long as there is enough money, the Chinese Southwest Warlord can also buy them from the West. However, the most surprising thing is that the training level of their soldiers is obviously better than that of Chiang Kai-shek’s Central Government.

The team is much stronger, and there is not much difference compared to the Imperial Team."

Shirakawa Yoshinori nodded. He didn't know these things before. It wasn't until the military headquarters sent him a secret message informing him of the relevant information that he understood what was going on. "Today I will tell you something that is limited to our division."

The military affairs of the apprentices. In fact, the military conducted in-depth exploration of the Chinese southwest very early. The results showed that they not only established a modern industrial system in the past two decades, but also opened military schools and began training around 1916.

A modern army. You also know the principal of their military academy, Cai E, who studied at the Imperial Army Academy.

In addition to modern military schools and modern military training, their modern industries have produced a series of advanced products, which are exported to Western countries, ranging from automobiles to daily necessities. Although these products are rarely exported directly to the mainland of the empire,

, but in fact they have been rebranded and sold into the empire by some Western businessmen. Some plutocrats in the empire commonly use these products with American or German labels at home, but they are actually products produced in southwest China. Maybe you don’t believe it, but I

My wife just bought a washing machine last month, and I found a few Chinese words 'Made in China' on the manual."

"This...teacher, is this a Sakura brand washing machine?" Hamada Kazuo was startled. He suddenly remembered that a washing machine was also purchased at home two months ago. His wife and daughter-in-law still found it very useful and said it was a great relief.

Family workload.

"That's right." Shirakawa Yoshinori said with a wry smile, "Imperial's products have fallen into great difficulties in the Chinese market. Trading companies represented by some cotton mills continue to close down. Imperial's products can neither be sold in southwest China, which is the richest place today, nor can they be sold in southwest China.

Products from Britain, France and other countries were squeezed out under the rule of the Nanjing National Government.

Relying on this strong foreign trade, their strength has become very strong. Nearly two decades of trade have armed them with a powerful army. Their main force has been generally equipped with a type of weapon named 'Chinese-style'

Semi-automatic rifle, this new type of rifle that is between traditional rifles and submachine guns, has not been equipped on a large scale even in Western countries. It has too many advantages.

Moreover, their troops are already undergoing armored reforms, and their air force and navy have also been greatly developed. This can be seen from their ability to drive away the British in Hong Kong. The number is not large, but they are all elite.

"

Hamada Kazuo was surprised and said, "Teacher, if that's the case, why have you never heard of this information? The Chinese art of war says that if you know yourself and the enemy, you will be victorious in any battle. How can we fight once we know our opponent?"

"Some people in the military have withheld the information and restricted it to only a few people. Just imagine, if a so-called China, which has always been portrayed as the sick man of East Asia, is recognized by the authorities as a powerful opponent, it will greatly damage the morale of the military.

.

Some new members of the military are clamoring to occupy the entire so-called China. However, what His Majesty the Emperor means is that the Empire does not need the southwest of China. What the Empire needs is the north of North China. Only by occupying the vast area north of North China can the Empire achieve long-term gains.

Develop, organize and prepare the army, and the military fortune will last forever."

"Thank you, teacher, for informing the students." Only then did Hamada Kazuo realize how fierce the competition among the empire's top forces was. Even the military headquarters, which seemed to be an iron plate, had various voices. Only by invading China to gain benefits would they be the ones

common goals.

"Haha, it doesn't matter if you fail occasionally. I know you very well, Hamada-kun. When you get old, you can't help but teach a lesson to your former students." Shirakawa Yoshinori finally got to the point, "I think you do too.

I have seen the shortcomings of this southwest regiment. They lack artillery and air power. Attack bravely, and I will mobilize more artillery and aircraft for you. Of course, in order to satisfy some people in the military headquarters, in order to shape the soul of Yamato and develop

The spirit of Bushido and Koichiro Chiba’s desperate charge are still needed, and it may be possible to achieve direct victory, but it’s not certain.”

It was only then that Hamada Kazuo understood that it turned out that some people in the military still wanted to see the bushido spirit of Lord Nogi Nogi Nogi. "Teacher, don't worry, I will definitely capture the Chinese left-wing position."

Until Hamada Kazuo left, Shirakawa Yoshinori was still standing by. He felt that maybe he was really old. Just because Hamada was his beloved student, did he tell him these things that he shouldn't know?

Maybe it was for other reasons. After a long time, he sighed, "Some people are destined to die."

Langfang, the headquarters of the Third Regiment of the Southwest Army.[

During the daytime battle, the losses of the Third Regiment were not small. There were dozens of wounded soldiers in the field hospital. However, because the individual medical kits were very effective, the mortality rate of the injured soldiers was very low, unless they were fatal or bleeding on the spot.

There were so many that they basically saved their lives and were sent to the rear just waiting for their condition to improve.

Most of these people were injured during the Japanese artillery bombardment and the attack by the 45th Infantry Regiment of the head of the Japanese 6th Division. Although the battle loss ratio was very gratifying, the entire Third Regiment still felt full of hatred.

When dealing with the large group of Japanese troops in the front, the troops fought smoothly. It was not until the Japanese 45th Regiment launched an attack behind that they felt a lot of pressure. At that time, the Japanese troops gave up their desperate charge and only fought with the soldiers of the third regiment in the distance.

For "shooting", the number of people is used to make up for the gap in individual weapons.

However, overall, a great victory was achieved.

Today, the operational objectives of the Third Regiment, in addition to assisting the two Japanese divisions in holding Langfang, are mainly to wait for the arrival of the main force of the Third Division and to allow the officers and soldiers to accumulate more combat experience against Japan for use in subsequent combat units.

The heavily guarded regiment bunker welcomed an officer dressed in an ordinary southwest military uniform. Judging from his military rank, he was only a second lieutenant.

"Salute to Dai Anlan, commander of the third regiment."

"Special Forces, He An."

In the temporary office that Dai Anlan moved into the bunker, an unusual person came. He was dressed in an ordinary second lieutenant military uniform, but it was hard to imagine that he was a major general of the Southwest Army.

Dai Anlan has also been fascinated by the special forces units in the southwest for a long time. Unfortunately, he considers that his ambition is not in the field of special forces operations. Otherwise, he might have been like some military school classmates who aspired to enter the Longya Special Forces Brigade or the Tiger Special Forces Brigade.

The He An in front of him didn't feel like a battlefield killing at all, nor did he look like a soldier who had been on the battlefield for a long time. Instead, he looked like an ordinary person who had been dealing with flowers and plants for a long time.
To be continued...