This sudden news really made Okamura and Umezu Yoshijiro a little dumbfounded.
The Eighth Route Army suddenly started a large-scale construction project and overhauled fortifications in eastern Mongolia. It seems that the battle was to build permanent defense fortifications. What did the Eighth Route Army want to do?
In recent years, with the increasing turmoil in the Japanese-occupied areas in North China, the Manchuria region, which has always been the backbone of the Japanese invasion of China, has become increasingly important.
So after receiving the news, Okamura and Umezu Yoshijiro almost unanimously thought of the stability of the Kanto region for the first time.
Even if the Chinese dispatched troops in the Kanto region were defeated, as long as they could retain the huge fruits of victory in Kanto, the Sino-Japanese War would not be considered a complete defeat.
This is almost common knowledge among the top brass of the Japanese military.
Especially in recent years, the situation of the war has reversed. With the Pacific battlefield and the Southeast Asian battlefield, the Japanese army, which was originally on the offensive, gradually turned into a disadvantage.
And the Japanese army was attacked by the Eighth Route Army in the occupied area of North China, and the situation was turbulent.
High-level Japanese officials have long been aware of the precarious nature of the war situation.
On the one hand, they try to reverse the situation through constant attempts, even gambling wars.
For example, not long ago, Okamura launched the No. 1 combat plan.
In an attempt to completely open up the communication lines in mainland China and reverse the war situation.
On the other hand, the Japanese army is also preparing in advance for the final deterioration of the war.
It has even integrated troops domestically and formed the local First General Army and Second General Army to defend the homeland and for subsequent wars that may occur in the homeland.
In addition, the Japanese military focused its political, military, economic and other aspects of attention on the Kanto region.
The top brass of the Japanese army even conspired that if the war situation worsened to an extreme point and it reached a point where nothing could be done, they might consider a strategic plan of "I would rather abandon the homeland than let go of Kantung."
After all, compared to Riji Island, which has a long and narrow terrain, is surrounded by the ocean, and may be swallowed by the ocean at any time, Kanto, which has fertile soil and vast territory, is full of treasures.
Compared to Risidian Island, it is far superior.
... Umezu Yoshijiro even called out: "Is this move of the Eighth Route Army aimed at our Kwantung Army?"
However, during the subsequent discussion and analysis, the two Japanese commanders felt that this might not be the case.
As Umezu Yoshijiro said: "The Eighth Route Army and the 35th Route Army built this Mongolian defense line, seemingly focusing on defense. It seems that they want to use this stable permanent defense line to resist the offensives of our troops stationed in Mongolia and the Kwantung Army, so as to completely stabilize it."
The occupied area of eastern Mongolia.”
However, when the conversation changed, he also had doubts: "The Eighth Route Army has always been good at conspiracy, especially the tactics of attacking in the east and attacking in the west.
In the Chinese art of war, tactics such as crossing the sea, building plank roads in the open, and concealing the enemy's positions are mentioned in the art of war. There are also classic examples in the history of Chinese wars.
We cannot but be on guard against this.
Be careful that the Eighth Route Army will use this move to paralyze the judgment of our army. On the surface, it is to repair the eastern Mongolian defense line, but in fact it is secretly gathering troops to plot against our Guandong region."
What else can Okamura say?
He could only nod his head in agreement.
So Umezu Yoshijiro found an excellent excuse: "In this case, in order to be on guard against the Eighth Route Army's trap, Okamura-kun, I'm afraid I won't be able to immediately mobilize troops south for reinforcements as promised to you!"
The implication is that, Commander, you should first find a way to counterattack in North China! The Kwantung Army does not have the energy to help you at the moment.
Okamura: "..."
"Mejin-kun, what you say makes sense, but judging from the current situation, the Eighth Route Army is building a defense line in eastern Mongolia, and on the other hand, it is making a lot of noise in Licheng, and even revealed to the outside world that it is preparing to launch a large-scale offensive.
, to regain the lost territory in North China.
The plan of the Eighth Route Army is also very likely to defend from the north and attack from the south.
It even uses this line of defense to intimidate Kwantung. If your Kwantung Army stands still because of this, it may be that you have fallen into the trap of the Eighth Route Army."
Umezu Yoshijiro did not comment on this, but insisted on taking a look at the situation first.
When it came to Xiaoli's fundamental interests, Okamura couldn't force it, so he had to bite the bullet and agree.
The two sides agreed that if the Eighth Route Army's intention to build this eastern Mongolian defense line was completely confirmed, it would be to defend the occupied area in eastern Mongolia.
If you assist in the offensive within the pass.
The Kwantung Army should immediately move south to reinforce North China.
…
Unable to receive reinforcements from the Kwantung Army, the Central and South China Front did not dare to mobilize at will, and had to maintain law and order on the originally opened mainland communication lines.
Otherwise, wouldn't it be a futile effort to open up the mainland's transportation lines in the front and completely paralyze the transportation lines in the rear?
For this reason, Okamura had a very sad life these days. He analyzed the battle situation in the headquarters every day, but bad news kept coming one after another.
The disastrous defeat of the Jiaodong battle caused the Chinese dispatched troops to begin to rest and recuperate after successive battles. In particular, the mobile combat troops were completely lost, which completely deprived the Japanese army of rapid and effective reinforcements to the various defense lines in the occupied areas.
Okamura had no choice but to apply to the headquarters to transfer some troops from the domestic base camp and other battlefields to the North China battlefield to prepare to strengthen the riddled communication lines and transport resources to other battlefields.
As for the combat effectiveness of the supplementary troops, the quality of the soldiers varies greatly, and many of them are even child soldiers who are forcibly recruited from the country and do not meet the age requirements.
Okamura couldn't care less.
Even if he drank poison to quench his thirst, that was all he could do at this stage.
During the rest period of the three armies, the Chinese dispatched troops no longer had the extra energy to proactively launch any offensive. Okamura could only continue to collect intelligence and prepare a defensive operation plan for the communication line.
Jiaodong area.
Under the influence of the aftermath of the war, the largest puppet army group in the eastern region surrendered collectively and turned against the enemy, selling out all the Japanese in Rushan, Yantai, Weihai, and Rongcheng.
The Japs were caught off guard, and only a small number of troops evacuated through the port, while the rest were basically surrounded and eliminated.
The Japanese escaped, and all the landlords, bullies and bandit strongholds were wiped out by the Eighth Route Army. The common people finally ushered in the spring, suppressing the bandits and traitors and paraded through the streets of Haiyang County, and even published them in the newspapers.
Okamura, who read the newspaper that day, was very angry, but he was unable to carry out military operations.
The hell-like battle in Jiaodong is so vivid in my mind that the Japanese army did not dare to act rashly. The Japanese did not want to be massacred again in the Jiaodong area.
Okamura could only endure the anger in his heart and continue to prepare for war while waiting for news from the Kwantung Army.
I did some small tricks.
Didn’t the Eighth Route Army grab the summer harvest?
Okamura ordered the occupying forces to send out raiding teams to blow up or burn down warehouses in the Eighth Route Army base areas, and began to drive up prices.
Some aviation units were even dispatched to carry out bombings against Eighth Route Army military bases, warehouses and other targets in the Jiaodong area.
In an attempt to completely disrupt the market in the areas recovered by the Eighth Route Army.
…
On the other side, the Eighth Route Army Licheng headquarters was completely lively.
The main leaders of the Eighth Route Army, New Fourth Army, and 35th Route Army from all major military regions arrived one after another to prepare for an enlarged meeting.
Before the meeting began, the generals watched a special special program channel through the special TV:
Shi Dahu, the head of the strategic camouflage department, appeared on TV. In the show, Shi Dahu got a refrigerator produced by the Eighth Route Army, put sweet potato leaves, coriander, and cabbage in it, and found some generals who had been captured by the Japanese.
The Eighth Route Army also hired several staff officers.
The two sides began to comment on the war situation in the Jiaodong area, betting on whether the preserved vegetables would rot first or who would fail first.
After the results finally came out, Shi Dahu loudly announced in a rather exaggerated manner: "Haha, how is it? In less than a week in this summer, the coriander in the refrigerator produced by our Eighth Route Army has not gone bad. You Japanese army
The Nanlu army was completely defeated.
What does this mean? This means that the quality of the refrigerators produced by our Eighth Route Army is first-class!
What else does it mean?
It also shows that your military commander, General Okamura, is probably not as good as this coriander, so from now on he might as well be called General Coriander!"
The generals couldn't help laughing after watching this program.
The deputy chief of staff even smiled and said: "It is said that after this program ended, reporters from all walks of life rushed to report on it, and later the old boy Okamura was actually given the title of General Coriander.
I don’t know what the old boy Okamura’s expression was when he heard his nickname. It’s very exciting to think about it.
Comrade Shi Dahu is really good at teasing people!"
After everyone heard this, they burst into laughter.
After the meeting officially begins.
The main people in charge of each base area asked one after another, "What are you doing? Of course you have to brag. In the past two years, everyone has won many battles and lived a comfortable life. When they came to the meeting this time, they all dressed up like newlyweds.
Similar.
In addition, the generals also brought many top military cadres to participate in military competitions involving allied countries.
In Li Yunlong's words: "There are many foreigners participating in the competition this time. We, the Eighth Route Army, must perform well and save face for us Chinese people, so that these foreigners know that our Eighth Route Army can not only win the war
, this military competition, in terms of military literacy, it is the best in the world!"
Cough cough cough——
"Besides, it's not that we, Lao Li, are bragging to everyone. Just wait and see, after this military competition begins, the champion will definitely be from our special experimental area!"
"Humph, bragging? This is not called bragging, this is called confidence. This is the confidence we have!"
The game hadn't even started yet, and Lao Li immediately praised Haikou.
Lao Cheng, Lao Xu, and Lao Wang had long formed an alliance to "fight" the Iron Triangle Army. When they heard this, they were immediately unhappy.
Lao Cheng even stood up and shouted: "Li Datou, don't be complacent, you kid, the game hasn't started yet, the results haven't come out yet, it's still unknown who will win the championship!"
Be careful if you brag too early, you won’t be able to show off your shame later!”
"Ah! You, blind man Cheng, have become a sperm. Why are you pretending to be a flying general if you stick a green onion in a pig's nose? With a broken bow, you really think you are a flying general?"
You are the only one who can compete with me, Lao Li, for the championship?
It’s not that I, Li Yunlong, am bragging, but you, blind Cheng, are just three tied together, and I’m afraid you are no match for our old Li!” Li Yunlong laughed, fearing that the world would be in chaos.
Lao Cheng said angrily: "You know how to talk, Li Yunlong, who has the ability, who is higher and who is lower? If you have the ability, we will show it to the troops when the time comes!"
"Hey, are you afraid that you will become a blind man?"
The atmosphere of the whole meeting was instantly pushed to a climax by this pair of lively lovers.
After the meeting, in the preparation stage for the military competition, Kong Jie accompanied the old leaders to fight the landlords.
However, the heads of the major military regions could not sit still. They all wanted to know about the current top military industrial production capacity of the Eighth Route Army, and when they could expand the establishment of independent field troops. Can they build more experimental troops in their base areas?
Equipment and the like.
The deputy commander-in-chief said: "If you want to know more about it, go to the experimental area and see for yourself!"
…
A few days after the military competition officially started, Kong Jie received the news.
The little devils in the Jiaodong area secretly made a lot of moves, sending some raiding teams to destroy the Eighth Route Army's granaries and some military bases, and even attempted to wreak havoc on the summer harvest.
Some vendors in the Jiaodong base area even used the excuse of scarcity of supplies to drive up prices.
The nearby Japanese garrison then released news that they had successfully destroyed several warehouses and farmlands of the Eighth Route Army.
Kong Jie found it funny that the old Japanese Okamura could not launch another military offensive in the Jiaodong area now, so he could only engage in these unseemly little moves.
Wait until you contact Commander Xu in the Jiaodong area.
Only then did Kong Jie learn that it turned out that Commander Xu had already noticed the little Japs’ private moves, and even cooperated with the Japs to build some warehouses and abandoned military facilities and bases, and threw them to the Japs so that they could take them.
To claim credit as the result of the victory.
Okamura was secretly happy after receiving the news, and many rewards and commendations were given out.
As a result, I waited for less than half a month.
The news we got was that the price system of the Eighth Route Army had not collapsed. The people in the city had enough to eat, lived well, and were clothed warmly. Their lives were much better than when the little devil was here!
Okamura suddenly became depressed. What on earth is going on?
Dofeiyuan sent senior spies to investigate, and finally discovered the problem. News came from the local imperial army: the granary was burned, and it was indeed grain, just dry feed for livestock. The military target was a shooting range built by the Eighth Route Army.
and training grounds, including some so-called summer harvests that were destroyed, but in fact only some rice straw and wheat straw were left.
Everyone below is coaxing Okamura, the commander-in-chief, to play!
As for driving up prices and destroying the financial system of the Eighth Route Army in the Jiaodong base area, how could it be that easy?
What do you guess is the standard currency of the Eighth Route Army Border Area Ticket?
--food!
Food that is directly linked to the belly of the common people.
After the Jiaodong battle, in order to completely stabilize the situation and recuperate, in addition to strengthening the follow-up military defense on the one hand.
Under the instructions of the former enemy headquarters of the Eighth Route Army, the prosperous base areas of all parties, mainly Kong Jie's special experimental area, specially airlifted a large amount of grain to the Jiaodong Military Region.
With these grains as a solid backing, how could the Japanese make some small moves in secret and disturb the stable prices in Jiaodong?
Okamura, who can only play some clever tricks, can only be disappointed in the end.