August has already entered the hot weather. As a city with four distinct seasons, Taiyuan is no exception.
A black car was driving slowly on the streets of Taiyuan, with a truck in front and behind it, and the trucks were filled with heavily armed Japanese soldiers.
Lieutenant General Tada Shun, commander of the North China Front, who was sitting in the back seat of the car, unbuttoned his collar. He looked at the bustling crowd outside the window and couldn't help but sigh: "The population of China is really too large."
Yoshio Shinozuka, who was sitting next to him, replied: "That's true. Not only does China have a vast territory, but it also has a very large population. The empire cannot compare to this."
"So what if there are too many?"
Jun Tada said proudly: "Now this vast land has become the territory of the empire, and many people have become obedient subjects of the empire. I have said long ago that if you want to conquer China, the bayonet is the best means, Shinozuka
Jun, you are still too kind, this is not a good habit."
Yoshio Shinozuka shook his head: "In the process of conquest, killing is inevitable, but killing alone cannot completely conquer a nation."
"Really?" Tada Shun sneered: "Then let me ask Shinozuka-kun, it has been three years since we entered a full-scale war with the China people in the 12th year of Showa. During these three years, we have occupied
What inch of territory is not gained through killing?"
Shinozuka Yoshio fell silent, he was really speechless for this sentence.
Seeing that Shinozuka Yoshio had nothing to say, Tada Shun continued: "Since the Meiji Restoration, relying on the sacrifices of countless warriors, the empire has gradually annexed China, the oldest country, into its mouth, instead of those
False kindness."
Ignoring Shinozuka Yoshio's increasingly ugly face, Tada Shun continued: "Shinozuka-kun, why do I insist on launching a large-scale raid on Shanxi and northwestern Shanxi this time?
It's just to consolidate the empire's rule over this land, look outside..."
Tada Shun pointed at the pedestrians outside the lathe, most of whom were in ragged clothes, "You may not think these Chinese people are so docile now, but I believe they will show their fierce fangs whenever they have the opportunity."
It has been almost three years since the imperial army occupied Shanxi, but this occupation was limited to cities. Those vast villages and mountainous areas were dominated by the Shanxi-Sui Army, bandits, the Eighth Route Army and various local armed forces.
Last month, Commander Nishio (Commander of the China Expeditionary Force Nishio Hiszo) called me to question me about the situation in North China and Shanxi. I was speechless. Do you know how I felt at that time?
In the huge Shanxi, the empire has deployed nearly 100,000 troops here, but they can only huddle in the city and do nothing. This is the shame of the empire! This is why I decided to conduct a large-scale raid in Shanxi and northern Shanxi.
Your First Army must make its due contribution in this operation, do you understand?"
"Hi!"
Faced with almost accusations from his boss, Yoshio Shinozuka could only nod in agreement.
"Squeak!"
At this moment, the car stopped and the door was quickly opened. An officer stood outside the door and said respectfully: "Commander Tada and Commander Shinozuka have arrived at the headquarters. Please get out of the car."
"
Tada Shun and Shinozuka Yoshio got out of the car and saw the standing straight officer wearing the rank of colonel standing outside. Tada Shun smiled and pointed at him with his finger, "I know you, you are Lu Da No. 28
Yes, it’s the same issue as Itagaki-kun, am I right?”
The person who opened the door was Yamamoto Kazuki who had just returned from the battlefield. He said respectfully: "Commander Tada has a good memory. You are worthy of being a senior in the 25th period. He actually remembers a little person like me."
Tada Shun smiled and was about to say something, but when he glanced over and saw the military rank on Yamamoto Kazuki's shoulder, he frowned slightly and said, "Yamamoto-kun, if I remember correctly, your graduation grades from Mainland China are
It's very good.
Even Seishiro Itagaki is a lieutenant general, why are you still just a colonel? This shouldn't be the case?"
To be honest, Tada Shun's words were very rude, but he was a lieutenant general and the commander of the front army, so it was not awkward to ask him. Yamamoto Kazuki didn't know how to answer such an embarrassing question for a while.
.
Fortunately, Yoshio Shinozuka couldn't bear the embarrassment of his confidant, and smoothed things over: "Commander Tada, this is not a good place to talk, and don't you think the weather is too hot? Let's go in and talk."
Tada Shun glanced around and saw that the surroundings were surrounded by many guards who looked like they were facing a formidable enemy. Then he realized and laughed: "Haha... I'm rude to say it... Okay, let's go in!"
Hearing Tada Shun say this, Yamamoto Kazuki walked to the side and made an invitation gesture, "Your Excellency, two commanders, please come in."
Shun Tada walked in first, Yoshio Shinozuka was half in the wrong position, and Kazuki Yamamoto could only follow the two of them to the combat hall. The chief of staff, Major General Naosaburo Okabe, came to greet him.
.
Looking at the busy staff in the hall, Shun Tada was noncommittal and turned to look at Yoshio Shinozuka: "Shinozuka-kun, I heard that you have some fine tea hidden in your office. I wonder if I can be lucky enough to hide it.
"
"It is a great honor. Please allow Okabe-kun and I to accompany you. Please come in." Yoshio Shinozuka waved his right hand to the side.
Just like that, the group entered the office and sat down.
Yamamoto Kazuki personally made tea for the three of them.
Tada Shun picked up the tea cup and took a sip, showing a satisfied look, "Yo Xi...it's slightly bitter in the mouth, but then it turns into a mellow aroma. It's indeed a good tea."
He glanced around and saw Kazuki Yamamoto standing behind Yoshio Shinozuka, and rolled his eyes, "Yamamoto-kun... Although your promotion over the years has not been satisfactory, your reputation is not small.
Even I have heard people mention you several times. It is said that you did not join the army after graduating from mainland China, but went to Germany to continue your studies, specializing in a type of tactics called special operations. Is that true?"
"Yes, Your Excellency, Commander."
"Is that special operations really that powerful?" Shun Tada frowned and said, "With all due respect, you, an outstanding graduate of the saber group, are now commanding a team of less than a hundred people. How can you?
How effective is it on the battlefield? Is it worth spending so many years studying?"
When he heard the name Saber Team, the muscles on Yamamoto Kazuki's face couldn't help but twitch. In fact, Tada Shun's doubts were also the doubts others had about him over the years.
The Saber Team was a title given to the top six graduates of each Army University class in Japan before World War II. They were named because these six people could receive sabers from the Emperor, so they were also called the Saber Team.
Usually these outstanding graduates will have a smoother future. In addition, they often also enjoy a privilege: they can be given priority to study abroad under the government, and they can also choose the country where they want to go.
Take the Saber class classmates who graduated from the same class as Yamamoto Kazuki. Among them, Yamashita Tomofumi, who is known as the Malayan Tiger, Imamura Jun, the commander of the 5th Division, and Itagaki Seishiro, the current Japanese Army Minister. None of these people have outstanding military exploits.
He was extremely famous, but Kazuki Yamamoto was only a colonel. It can be said that Kazuki Yamamoto's military rank was the lowest among their graduates.
However, in the face of Tada Shun's questioning, Yamamoto Kazuki did not become angry or angry, but bowed and said: "Your Excellency, Commander, we in the Empire of Japan have many people who study large-scale combat operations, and I am not missing one.
So I chose a topic that interests me, which is not a bad thing.
And your view is also biased. In my opinion, special operations is an emerging topic, and it will definitely become a new mode of war in the future."
"Oh, is it so?"
Tada Shun didn't believe this at all and just responded lightly.
Seeing this, Yoshio Shinozuka on the side was worried that Yamamoto Kazuki might offend Shun Tada, the commander of the North China Front, so he quickly added: "Commander Tada, maybe you don't know yet? Colonel Yamamoto has just returned from the battlefield.
, he made a great contribution this time.
Just a few days ago, he led his special agent team to blow up a bridge in southwestern Shanxi that was heavily defended by the Shanxi-Sui Army, cutting off Gao Hongming's retreat. It can be said that the reason why the 41st Division was able to defeat Gao Hongming this time was
The capture of Gao Hongming at Qixia Pass relied entirely on Colonel Yamamoto and his special agent team."
"Yoshi...not bad..." After hearing Yoshio Shinozuka's words, Jun Tada showed a look of surprise on his face, and then he laughed, "Speaking of which, Yamamoto-kun has made a great contribution."
Kazuki Yamamoto bowed: "I don't deserve the great credit. I just did what I should do."
"It's quite rare for you to have such humility."
Jun Tada pondered for a moment and suddenly said: "Yamamoto-kun, after this raid, are you interested in serving in the Kwantung Army? If you are willing, I will recommend you to the base camp as the division commander of the 106th Division. What do you think?
?"
From being the captain of a special force with less than a hundred people to being a general commanding an army of ten to twenty thousand people, for ordinary people, this is like a rocket-like rise.
People with weak strength might be so happy that they faint.
But Kazuki Yamamoto refused without even thinking, "Commander Tada, please forgive me, if I want to command a large corps in combat, I would be at least a lieutenant general and division commander now, but I still say the same thing.
talk.
There are too many generals in the empire who can command large armies in combat, and I am not missing one, so I can only thank the commander for his kindness, and you should let me study the special operations I like."
"you..."
Kazuki Yamamoto's answer surprised Tada Shun, and for a moment he didn't know what to say.
"Commander Tada, everything Colonel Yamamoto is doing now is the path he chose. As his seniors and colleagues, we can only respect his choice, what do you think?" Chief of Staff Nao Okabe said nothing.
Sanlang saw that the atmosphere was a little stiff, so he smoothed things over.
"All right!"
Tada Shun shook his head regretfully. If someone doesn't want to be promoted, he can't force them to do it, right?
After talking about Yamamoto Kazuki, he turned his attention to business.
"Shinozuka-kun, Okabe-kun, you two are the top officers of the First Army. Now tell me, have you made preparations for the upcoming sweep?"
Yoshio Shinozuka and Naosaburo Okabe looked at each other, and the former replied: "Your Excellency, Commander, about 70% of our preparations have been completed, and the remaining preparation time is about one month."
.
But now there is a recurrence, that is, Gao Hongming's unit is still in Qixia Pass. According to the report just now, the commander of the 21st Special Operations Flying Group Fujino Shigeharu, they went to Qixia Pass this morning according to the scheduled time to carry out bombing.
When bombing the opponent's artillery positions, they were blocked by the opponent's anti-aircraft fire. Although the bombing formation achieved some results, the losses of the flying team were not small. A total of six Type 97 heavy explosive aircraft and four Nakajima Type 1 fighters were shot down.
, Colonel Fujino requests a postponement of tomorrow's attack."
"no!"
Jun Tada refused without hesitation, "The bombing of Qixia Pass must be continued. Qixia is one of the most important passes in the southwest. If Qixia Pass is not occupied, our large-scale sweep plan will not proceed smoothly."
It is precisely because of seeing this that the North China Front Army Headquarters turned a blind eye to some of your actions. Otherwise, you just insisted on mobilizing the 41st Division to deal with a mere militia group a few days ago.
It has already caused criticism."
"Hi...Thank you for your understanding, Commander."
Yoshio Shinozuka quickly expressed his gratitude, and then he said: "Your Excellency, the biggest problem now is the insufficient number of aircraft. If we want to maintain high-intensity bombing of Qixia Pass, the current 21st Flying Team alone is not enough."
, we must strengthen the number of our aviation forces. I plan to ask you if the 25th Flying Group from Jinan can be transferred to assist in the operation."
"Well..."
Tada Shun thought for a while, Jinan belongs to the territory of the Twelfth Army, but the war situation there is still stable for the time being, and there should be no big problem even if the 25th Flying Squadron is temporarily transferred here.
After thinking about it for a while, he nodded slowly: "Okay...but you have to urge the 41st Division to capture Qixia Pass as soon as possible and eliminate that Gao Hongming, otherwise once word spreads, the Empire of Japan will send
A division went to deal with a local militia in China, but they fought for so long and still failed to win. If word spreads, the reputation of the Imperial Japanese Army will be discredited."
"Hi!"
Yoshio Shinozuka bowed slightly, "Commander, please rest assured, I will definitely urge the commander of Yukio Koizumi's division to step up the attack and capture Qixia Pass within three days."
"Yoshi... I hope you can keep your word." Jun Tada stood up with a slight snort, walked to the bed and looked at the scenery outside the window, silently.
In fact, the reason why Shun Tada came to Taiyuan in person to command a large-scale sweep this time was also selfish. Since he served as the commander of the Northern Expedition Army last year, he has done nothing. As a rear area in Shanxi, not only can he not make any contribution to the front line,
Contribution, but a large number of troops are spent every year to maintain order in the occupied areas.
This has already made the base camp a little dissatisfied with him. There are rumors that if the security situation in North China does not improve, the base camp will transfer him back to the mainland next year and even put him in the reserve force. This is something he cannot accept in any case.
of.
This is the reason why he personally came to direct the sweep this time.