The most important thing is that the Kwantung Army currently needs not a few thousand additional troops, but a huge number. So far in this battle, even if it stops immediately, the Kwantung Army's current loss of troops is better than last year, but the total number is still lower. More than nearly 100,000, and all of them were permanent losses.
Not counting other divisions that lost more than half of their battles, only four divisions were completely wiped out, and the number of troops lost was more than 60,000. With such a huge loss figure, and under the current situation, I am afraid that we will not wait until Even after the battle south is completed, it cannot be replenished.
Not only is the loss of soldiers huge, but what is even more dangerous is that the losses of lower-level officers are also quite huge, and the losses of these lower-level officers are permanent. They rely solely on the small amount of Army Non-commissioned Officer School allocated from the local area every year. Graduates, as well as reserve officers and the Army's tightly controlled selection of officers from veterans in the military, simply cannot fill the gap.
Now that these two representatives from the base camp are here, Umezu Yoshijiro hopes to use them to obtain approval from the base camp to recruit some young adults from Manchurian soldiers and expatriates to supplement the Kwantung Army. At the same time, he can use the weapons and equipment produced by Fengtian Arsenal to The production capacity is being doubled to ensure that the Kwantung Army can complete the battle damage replenishment in the shortest possible time.
At the same time, the Kwantung Army was approved to expand the Gongzhuling Army School and the Manchurian Imperial Army Officer School, which has now been moved to Fushun, to expand enrollment and select some special agents Cao Chang, Cao Chang and sergeants, as well as veterans at the rank of soldier commander and corps commander, to enter the military school. After short-term training, he is promoted to an officer, so that the officers who were damaged in battle can be replaced in the shortest possible time and their combat effectiveness can be restored as quickly as possible.
In Umezu Yoshijiro's view, the most critical issue at present is how to restore the combat effectiveness of the Kwantung Army in the shortest possible time and replenish all the troops and officers who were damaged in the battle. This is the commander who is about to leave his post. Officials are the only thing that can be left to the Kwantung Army. As for other matters, there is no need to continue arguing now.
What is the current strategic focus of the base camp? Although most people except for a few people with a keen sense of smell do not know what Naosaburo Okabe said about the empire's next strategy, but he and Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Sadichi, I am still well aware of this matter.
At this time, the base camp will not let up any slack, so instead of having a big fight with the base camp on the issue of increasing the establishment, it is better to focus on how to solve the Kwantung Army as quickly as possible. At present, regarding the issue of replenishing battle damage, this is what I should do most for the Kwantung Army at the moment.
But before General Umezu Yoshijiro, who was about to have a serious argument with the two representatives of the base camp on this matter, made this request, Adjutant Umezu, who was originally waiting outside the conference room, hurriedly ignored even basic courtesy. Shang rushed into the conference room and handed something to Umezu Yoshijiro.
And Umezu Yoshijiro, who was about to severely reprimand the adjutant for violating the order that no one should enter the conference room for anything against him, and for his extremely rude behavior, saw this thing, and his face instantly changed. livid.
After being silent for a long time, I looked at the situation on the battlefield and thought that some bad changes would occur, which would make the commander's already ugly face even more ugly. He might be silent, or look curious, or It was everyone present who looked at me with melancholy expressions.
The general, who had always been calm and unfazed, threw the report in his hand on the conference table and said with uncontrollable anger in his tone: "The whereabouts of Lieutenant General Hisao Tani are known. He and the Chief of Staff of the Sixth Army are here." Major General Numata Takazo was captured during the enemy's surprise attack on the Ongnute Left Banner, along with most of the senior officers of the Sixth Army Headquarters."
"Our opponents have just announced on their radio station the personal confession of our Imperial Army Lieutenant General and Commander of the Imperial Army about what he and his Sixth Division did during the Battle of Nanjing, and This broadcast is for the whole of China, not just Manchuria, or even the empire itself."
"Although they only passed by when they were broadcasting, our monitoring personnel could determine that when the army commander was captured alive, he was raping the concubine of a local Mongolian prince. He was raped by our current opponent. The commando team took her out of the bed with her buttocks naked."
"The current war is intensifying and the Kwantung Army's war situation is becoming increasingly unfavorable. One of his dignified army commanders, Lieutenant General of the Imperial Army, is still looking for women and men. Now he is being raped naked by the enemy while having fun. Caught under the covers."
"Lieutenant General Hisao Tatani was simply a disgrace to the empire, a disgrace to the Army, and even more to the Kwantung Army. Not only did he set a record for the first army commander to be captured since Emperor Meiji established the new army, but what was even more shameful was that he was Being captured in this situation is simply a public smear on the face of the Emperor and the entire Imperial Japanese Army."
"There is also that Major General with lots of crops in the marsh. What does he do as the chief of staff of the army? The enemy troops were attacked in front of him, but he had no idea that a military headquarters was easily cut off, and he also created a military commander. Records of the Imperial Army where the Chief of Staff and all senior officers were captured."
"There are only three major generals among them, not counting the dozens of officers above the rank of major. A military headquarters was so inexplicably taken over by others, and there were so many surrounding troops that there was no reaction at all. When did the Kwantung Army fall to this level?"
"Why didn't these officers commit suicide when they were defeated and the headquarters was surrounded and unable to break out? Instead, they did something that was humiliating to the country and violated the spirit of bushido by being captured collectively. They are not worthy of being samurai, but A bunch of cowards who are greedy for life and afraid of death."
"And our intelligence department is not worthy of being an intelligence officer at all now. They are all a bunch of idiots and losers. The list of captured officers was announced on the radio station. The empire has painstakingly cultivated them. The intelligence personnel who spent a large amount of intelligence funds have not yet found out what happened at the Sixth Army Headquarters, as well as the whereabouts of those missing persons. Could it be that the Kwantung Army’s intelligence department has become a bunch of bastards who can only eat dry food? .”
"I think the intelligence department of the Kwantung Army must be reorganized. At the beginning of this battle, the enemy had a large number of tanks. For a long time, you actually knew nothing about the enemy launching this battle. , such a large-scale troop mobilization, but you didn't even find out a single thing."
"Can any of you tell me why the enemy's troops on the battlefield are nearly twice as large as what you reported? Where did such a large number of tanks come from? What are their new models? Where are the weapons manufactured, and what level does their military industry capability currently reach?"
"It has been two days since the Sixth Army Headquarters was attacked. The whereabouts of all the missing personnel can only be found out through the enemy's radio station. What I need is exact information, not some general information. Maybe, it should be something like this It’s a vague guess, and you don’t even know how accurate it is.”
"The Kwantung Army allocates millions of yen to you every year, and you have produced such a result. If this situation continues, do you think it is still necessary for the Kwantung Army's intelligence department to exist? The empire spends every year A lot of money is just to raise a bunch of trash."
Looking at the livid face of General Umezu Yoshijiro, Yoshimoto Seiichi next to him was hesitant, but considering the impact, he still defended Hisao Tani who was a prisoner: "Your Excellency, Commander, the enemy's broadcast may not be true. Propaganda warfare is also a commonly used method in conducting wars. The Imperial Army's tenacity and tenacious spirit have always been the best in the world."
"It is normal for the enemy army to fabricate some lies in order to undermine the morale of the Imperial Army and its subjects. In the broadcasts of the Chinese government, don't they often announce how many Imperial troops have been annihilated? If according to their annihilation figures, the Imperial Army I’m afraid we have already withdrawn from China.”
"But now the empire and the army still firmly occupy half of the richest country in China. The Chinese government has millions of troops. It is not that the empire still has no means. The propaganda war is just a way for both the enemy and us to boost their own morale. , it’s just a common tactic to demoralize opponents, it shouldn’t be taken seriously.”
"Even if Lieutenant General Hisao Tani behaves like this, he is still a dignified Lieutenant General of the Imperial Army. He is deeply influenced by the spirit of Bushido and will not do anything that insults the spirit of Bushido. Now, is Lieutenant General Hisao Tani captured or killed in battle? , which cannot be confirmed based on their broadcasts alone."
"Even if you take a step back, even if Lieutenant General Hisao Tani is really captured, he will not be caught naked from under the bed as they said on the radio. No matter what Lieutenant General Hisao Tani says, They are all senior officers of the empire, and at the beginning of the China Incident, they performed extremely well and made many military exploits for the empire."
"Such an experienced senior officer can understand when to relax and when to devote his energy to combat. I think that what our opponent promoted on the radio is just a matter of priority. It is just discrediting the empire and the Kwantung Army, which is not credible."
"As for the raid on the headquarters of the Sixth Army, which led to the capture of most of the senior officers, I am actually not surprised by this result. Our opponents have an extremely mysterious force in their hands. This force is different from other Compared with other troops, the number has never been made public, and everything is kept extremely confidential."
"There are almost no survivors among the imperial troops who have fought against this army. Even if they occasionally fall into a tight siege, they will use grenades to completely destroy them and the equipment they carry. This extreme method of the enemy has made our The intelligence community knows even less about this force."
"We know nothing about this unit's main combat missions, organization, personnel composition, various tactics used, and weapons and equipment. We don't even know what kind of training they have received or where they are stationed. The only thing we can do at the moment is What we can judge is that they have a force with extremely strong combat effectiveness, extremely special training, and special strategies and tactics."
"What kind of combat missions do they engage in? At present, we can only guess through the encounters of some imperial troops who have fought with them. They are mainly used to attack and destroy our army's high command. Before the war, I used to specialize in
I talked with Lieutenant General Hisao Tani about this mysterious force of the Anti-Japanese Alliance and told him to pay more attention to the safety of the headquarters."
"He was very disapproving at the time. It was obvious that he did not take my warnings to heart, and his deep-seated contempt for the Chinese people was destined to not listen to my words. If his military
The headquarters has not specially strengthened its security, and the enemy has invested precisely this mysterious force, so it is probably not surprising that the headquarters of the Sixth Army encountered what happened."