Manchuria is the sphere of influence of the Kwantung Army. He is the commander of the North China Front Army. After all, it is not his jurisdiction. It is beyond his reach anyway. The Kwantung Army has no great interest in launching an attack first. He, the commander of the North China Front Army, cannot It's stretched too long.
Without the cooperation of the Kwantung Army, the North China Front Army would not be able to launch an attack alone. At present, most of the anti-alliance base areas are in Manchuria. There are only two Mongolian flags in the jurisdiction of the Mongolian Army. If they want to pursue cross-border pursuit, they must first Not to mention whether the North China Front Army can defeat it in one go based on its own strength.
Just for a cross-border pursuit, the Kwantung Army was not enthusiastic or even wary, and the North China Front Army was helpless. Okamura Neiji was a very calm person. The Kwantung Army did not want to take the initiative to attack. As the commander of the North China Front Army, he was not so He was so arrogant that he used the strength of the North China Front to face alone an army that had repeatedly defeated the Kwantung Army, the flower of the imperial army.
With the strength of the Kwantung Army, they have been defeated repeatedly. Now that their bodies and bones have become so strong, the North China Front Army only has the strength of a few divisions. It still wants to control the entire North China. Naturally, it is no match for them. For this plan, For the North China Front, the only option was to strike back. However, for Okamura Neiji, he did not have the strength to fight against the Anti-Japanese Alliance alone, but his focus was not just on the Anti-Japanese Alliance.
Neji Okamura, who was very able to keep his composure, looked at the lieutenant generals and major generals attending the meeting, and said in a deep voice: "After all parties return, they must deploy and implement them according to the battle plan of the front army. Before January 1st, the new divisions scheduled to participate in the battle must arrive at the scheduled combat area."
"Each division that has arrived in the combat area must seize the time to build fortifications and reserve ammunition. The front army's supply department must seize the time to transport sufficient supplies, especially artillery shells, to meet the needs of the three battle phases. Before February next year, All field fortifications must be completed."
"Anda Jun must work with the front army's first class to formulate a combat plan. The focus is to formulate tactics to deal with the enemy's concentrated tank group to break through us. After arriving at the designated combat area, each division must conduct targeted training. "The focus is on anti-tank cluster impact training."
"The deputy chief of staff, Major General You Mojing, will work with the front army's second and third classes to seize the time to collect all the intelligence that can be used by me. The focus is not only on the enemy forces, but also on the communist army intelligence in North China. As for North China, The Chongqing Army will be handed over to the Twelfth Army to deal with it. The departments directly under the Front Army will focus on the Communist Army in the future."
"At the same time, various divisions and independent mixed brigades that have not been included in the front army's combat plan must concentrate their forces on the so-called base areas of the Communist Army in North China and continue to launch a continuous sweep. Even if they cannot completely eliminate the activities of the Communist Army in North China, they can still It is necessary to suppress its activity energy to a minimum to ensure the stability of the rear when the front army is fighting against the resistance."
"No matter whether the goal of this so-called anti-alliance alliance is south or west, the Communist Army in North China will be an important part of its combat plan. Even if it cannot completely eliminate the Communist Army in North China, it will still have to defeat them. I don’t want the so-called Hundred Regiments War launched by the Communist Army to reach the mainland of China to happen again when we are fighting against the Anti-Japanese Alliance.”
"Starting from late December, each division and independent mixed brigade will deploy the maximum mobile force and continue to carry out winter sweeps on the basis of the sweeps in the second half of this year, so as not to give the North China Communist Army a chance to breathe. , all Chinese people in the mountainous areas in non-security areas in each combat area were forcibly moved to the plains, and all houses, grain, cotton and other winter supplies were burned down."
"The Kwantung Army adopted the policy of grouping tribes and merging villages and merging households in Manchuria to suppress the so-called resistance alliance. Our North China Front Army also needs to use it. For some areas that are difficult to control, not only must we adopt the policy of grouping tribes and merging villages and merging households, but also Create no-man's land, in a word, cut off the soil for the survival of the Communist army, starve it to death, freeze it to death in the mountainous areas so that it will collapse without a fight, and completely cut off the arm of the Anti-Japanese Alliance to penetrate into the interior of China."
Regarding Okamura Neiji's deployment, Lieutenant General Harem Jun was a little skeptical and said: "Okamura-kun, you are so sure that the Anti-Japanese Federation will concentrate tanks for combat. They were transferred from the Kwantung Army during the battle in the second half of this year. The number of their tanks is not too many, and the total number of them is only a few hundred."
"Furthermore, even if the Kwantung Army failed in the battle and lost Western Manchuria, the Imperial Army was not comparable to the scattered China Army. Although it could not withstand the assault of its tank group during the battle, it also brought significant damage to the armored group that participated in the battle. losses, destroying a large number of their tanks."
"Now the Soviets behind them are already in dire straits under the German attack. The Soviets who have been beaten to the gates of Moscow by the Germans have difficulty providing them with new equipment. They do not have their own modern industry and cannot Possibly build tanks."
"With so many tanks, and excluding the previous battle losses, do they still have the ability to launch tank cluster assault operations? Okamura-kun, to be honest, your requirements are not high, but to meet your requirements, it is necessary to The rapid-fire artillery of each corps directly under the dispatched army has been mobilized. You have to give me a reason to convince the commander of the dispatched army, General Hata Shunroku, as well as the commanders of other corps and division commanders."
In response to Harem Jun's rhetorical question, Okamura Neji only answered him with two words "intuition". Regarding Okamura Neji's answer, Harem Jun, who was quite dissatisfied, no matter how he asked, Okamura Neji said these two words, and In the end, Neji Okamura, who was a little annoyed by Harem Jun's questions, told him directly that he should trust the intuition of a front army commander who had experienced many battlefields.
Although the Soviet Union currently does not have the strength to assist the Anti-Alliance, once the Empire and the United States and Britain are at full war in Southeast Asia, the United States and Britain may not have the strength to assist the Anti-Alliance. The offensive launched by the Anti-Alliance in Manchuria and China will contain more Imperial Army troops, It will be strategically more advantageous for the United States and Britain, which have been unable to withdraw from the North African battlefield and are busy preparing for war.
Although it may not be too much, once the battlefield in Southeast Asia begins, the United States and Britain will definitely provide certain military assistance to the Anti-Japanese Alliance. Both the British and the Americans are modern industrial powers. The ability to provide hundreds of tanks to the Anti-Japanese Alliance is still It's easy, and compared to this piece of equipment, the United States and Britain will value the strategic benefits more.
Although Okamura Neji's reason was perfunctory, it was enough for Harem Jun. After his opinion was refuted, this man obviously seemed a little absent-minded. Since General Okamura had given a certain explanation, he did not Without getting to the bottom of things, as Prime Minister Tojo's benefactor and classmate, Lieutenant General Jun Harem's thoughts were obviously not in China.
After appeasing Lieutenant General Harem Jun, Okamura Neiji stared at the map for a long time and said: "I have a feeling that the target of this anti-alliance operation is not the North China Front Army. If it is used in its offensive, it will definitely concentrate the largest superior force and strength. If the equipment doesn't move, the world will fall apart if it moves."
"It would be an exaggeration to say that the success or failure of the Holy War depends on this one move. However, for the North China Front Army, it is not an exaggeration to say whether we can maintain the stability of North China, the strategic material supply base for the Imperial Holy War, in this battle. If we once If we are defeated, North China will never have peace, so please, gentlemen, please fight for the holy war for the empire."
Although this joint operations meeting was not very pleasant, except for the Kwantung Army, the North China Front Army and the China Expeditionary Force, and even the commander and chief of staff of the North China Front Army, had different opinions on the overall combat policy and even the There is also great controversy in judging the direction of the Anti-Japanese Alliance's next main attack.
However, Okamura Neiji still used his stubborn attitude to resolutely advance the pre-war preparations according to his expectations. Okamura Neiji is a meticulous person and has a very good understanding of Chinese history. The biggest difference from other Japanese generals is that He is willing to accept new tactical thinking, and once he decides something, no one can change it.
In the Battle of Nanchang, others opposed the use of two ad hoc divisions that had repeatedly suffered defeats as the main attack mission. However, Lieutenant General Okamura Neiji, then commander of the 11th Army, stubbornly used these two divisions, especially The 106th Division, which was almost not wiped out in Wanjialing, was responsible for the main combat attack and concentrated all the heavy artillery and tanks under the 11th Army.
Although the battle in Nanchang was not very exciting, the 101st and 106th divisions that participated in the battle also fought stumblingly. The reason why they were able to quickly break through the obstruction of the Chinese army and capture Nanchang was not so much the two divisions. The combat effectiveness of the division was not as good as the Japanese army, which had the upper hand in firepower, relying on artillery shells and poison gas to open attack channels.
Nanchang has an important strategic location. It has been known as Minting of Guangdong and Wutou and Chuwei since ancient times. It is a barrier to the southeast of Wuhan and the intersection of the Zhejiang-Jiangxi line and the Nanxun line. If Nanchang is occupied, it will cut off transportation links in China's rear areas. and intimidated southern Jiangxi. This battle was extremely important and critical for the Japanese army.
In such an important battle, Okamura Neiji was able to defy all opinions and use two ad hoc divisions that had been badly beaten before to take risks, especially the 106th Division, which was almost not defeated in the battle of Wanjialing. The total annihilation also illustrates from another aspect that this person's character is difficult to change once he decides on something. However, in that battle, he relied on his absolute advantage in poison gas and firepower to take the risk successfully.
At the moment, it is the opponent that Yang Zhen also values and it is these actions of General Okamura Neji that have brought great trouble to the Anti-League in the battle. If the Anti-League's intelligence network reaches out The tentacles were long enough. Even if he knew that the Japanese army had held such a meeting, Yang Zhen would still be able to taste the different meanings with his usual sense of smell.
But it is a pity that the tripartite joint operations meeting of the Japanese army was extremely confidential. Not only did all the participants in the meeting come to Peiping by plane instead of taking a train without mobilizing troops, but the venue was also held at the Summer Palace on the outskirts of Peiping. All participants The accommodation for the conference personnel was arranged in the Summer Palace.
The security around the entire Summer Palace is extremely tight. It can be said that not even a bird can fly within the five kilometers surrounding it. All security forces are carefully selected and directly transferred from the Twelfth Army. As for Peking In the city, the method of loosening the light and tightening the dark is adopted.
On the surface, there is no martial law and no security measures are taken, but privately, all Japanese military and police officers stationed in Peiping are dispatched, and all puppet military and political agencies stationed around Peiping, not only telephone lines Everything was cut off, all radio stations were confiscated, and no one was even allowed to leave the barracks, otherwise they would be shot to death.
All the pseudo-security forces and police systems stationed in Peiping are strictly controlled by Japanese military advisers. If any abnormalities are discovered, these Japanese advisers and the military police stationed in the camp can arrest and execute people without asking for instructions. All the pseudo-military, police, and special agents patrolling the streets were transferred from other places, or simply replaced by Japanese soldiers wearing puppet uniforms. Such a loose-on-the-outside, tight-on-the-inside move successfully confused everyone.