In Hangzhou, Zhejiang, in the South China Front Army Headquarters, Matsui Iwane was standing upright and listening to the reprimand of Shunroku Hata, the commander of the Chinese Expeditionary Force.
In Ouyang Yun's original time and space, the Japanese China Expedition Force Command was established in September 1939, and the commander was Nishio Hiszo. In this time and space, because of the so-called peaceful settlement of the "China Incident" by the Japanese government and the Nationalist Government, Due to the policy changes brought about by the negotiations, the command entered the historical stage in advance, and the candidate for the commander became Shunroku Hata. At that time and space, Shunroku Hata was the commander of the Central China Front because Matsui Iwane was the commander of the Central China Front. The Nanjing Massacre gave him the opportunity to replace him. In this time and space, he was able to become the commander of the Central China Front Army and further become the commander of the China Expeditionary Force. This was related to two reasons. Unlike those blindly radical Japanese officers, Shunroku Hata has a more rational understanding of the war situation in China. He supports the cabinet's proposal to peacefully resolve the "China incident" and advocates not to change the situation on the Chinese battlefield through war under the current circumstances. This is precisely because he is consistent with the base camp's current China policy argument. , and because the Central China Front supported by Matsui Iwane suffered a major defeat in the Battle of Nanjing, he first replaced Matsui Iwane and was immediately appointed as the commander of the China Expeditionary Force. What Shunroku Hata is currently doing his best is to take advantage of The achievements of the North China Front Army in the northwest deterred Mongolia in the hope of establishing a puppet regime similar to that of Puppet Manchuria in the northwest region. His idea was that once the northwest was stabilized, the North China Front Army could borrow power from the Kwantung Army and then direct troops to Wuhan, thus Form a north-south confrontation with the Chinese army and promote the peace talks to take effect. After the peace talks take effect, we should concentrate on operating the occupied areas and make them a supporting force for the empire. After that, it is the time to deal with the Xuebing Army.
As one of the top generals in the Japanese army, Shunroku Hata is qualified to know all the truth about the war of aggression against China. Therefore, he is very clear about the failures of the Japanese army in China. The Japanese army was defeated one after another by the warlord nature of the Xuebing Army. In the hands of the troops, Shunroku Hata could not help but look at this new army with admiration. He spent a lot of time and energy studying the Second Battle of the Great Wall and the Battle of Nanjing.
As an artillerist, Shunroku Hata highly respected artillery. Therefore, when he summarized the reasons for the defeat of the Japanese army in these two battles, he paid special attention to the role of artillery on both sides. He believed that it was precisely because of the unparalleled superiority of the self-propelled artillery of the Gakuin Army. This caused the defeat of the Japanese army. He immediately concluded that it was not impossible for the empire to deal with the Xuebing Army as soon as possible, but it would cost too much. Therefore, it was extremely unwise to launch the Minyue Qiong Attack before artillery technology was improved. of,
Shunroku Hata's attitude towards the student army was obviously different from that of the base camp. This made Matsui Iwane, who was caught in the process, a different person. The order given to Matsui Iwane by the Japanese base camp was to actively prepare for war and be ready to attack Fujian at any time. Shunroku Hata gave him The instructions were to defend steadily, and try to avoid provoking provocations to the student army while digesting the occupied area. They could even shrink the defense line to a certain extent when the student army advanced, so as to paralyze the minds of their senior leaders.
In their habitual thinking, the Japanese believed that they must be the attacker, and the Chinese army could only passively defend. Therefore, when the news that Xiaoshan, Quzhou, and Ningbo airports were attacked at the same time reached Hata Shunroku's ears, he subconsciously thought that this It was because Matsui Iwane disobeyed his orders and took the initiative to provoke and attack Fujian, which led to the revenge of the Xuebing Army.
"What do those people in the cabinet know? What other abilities do they have besides talking on paper and talking to each other? It is extremely unwise to start a war with the cadet army before the occupied area has been fully digested and absorbed. Why did the Xuzhou Battle fail in the early stage? The China Army Although tenacious resistance is the main reason, there are two other points that those in the Army Ministry do not understand. The Chinese artillery is sharp, especially the self-propelled artillery unit of the Xuebing Army. Its high flexibility ensures its own survivability. At the same time, it dealt a heavy blow to our army; also, those Chinese people, the threat from them joining together is huge. What is the most terrifying thing about China is its population, 400 billion people. If so many people join together, , with the current strength of the empire, there is no way to carry the war to the end..."
Shunroku Hata was drooling wantonly on the other end of the phone. The more he talked, the clearer his thoughts became. The more he talked, the angrier he became. It seemed that the three airports were bombed because of Matsui Iwane's incompetence.
Speaking of which, Matsui Iwane is actually the predecessor of Shunroku Hata. The background of Shunroku Hata is different from that of other senior Japanese generals. He did not attend the Army School since he was a child. Before he became the commander of the China Expeditionary Forces, he was a self-proclaimed What Matsui, who came from an orthodox background, looked down upon was that everyone has a temper. Hearing his tone becoming more and more severe, Iwane Matsui, who had been taken away from his position as commander of the dispatch army by Hata Shunroku's love, felt an unknown anger in his heart. , suddenly put down the phone, put down Shunroku Hata's call, Iwane Matsui was still furious, and cursed angrily: "Hagagaru, this bastard Shunroku Hata, how great he thinks he is, his current status , is it won by the battle record? Is the Eight-Gate, Xuebing Army invincible? This bastard Ouyang Yun has succeeded many times before, but it's just good luck. This time in Ningbo, he didn't lose his troops and generals. Who's coming? Takeda Zang sent me the captured Chinese pilot to Nanjing, and I will use the facts to severely slap Hata Shunroku, a guy who can only tell lies."
Takeda Zang was the commander of Ningbo Airport. Because of his "effective command", he smashed the Chinese air raid and severely damaged it. Now he has become a flag in the hands of Matsui Iwane.
Matsui Iwane's personal adjutant Takakura Kenhi picked up the phone and called Ningbo Airport. Another phone rang. Matsui Iwane took a big breath, adjusted his mood and picked up the phone: "Hello, this is Huanan. Front Army Commander Matsui,..." Before he finished speaking, he was stunned, his mouth just opened, but the muscles on his face were spasming involuntarily.
After Takakura Kenhi finished conveying the order to Takedazo, he put down the phone and looked at the commander. He was startled when he saw him like this and quickly asked: "Sir, what's wrong with you?"
"Pfft." Matsui Iwane sat down on the chair first, and then suddenly jumped up as if a spring was pressed on his butt. He put the microphone to his mouth and shouted: "Hold on, hold on, I will mobilize immediately Reinforcements." After hanging up the phone, he was trying to collect his thoughts when the phone rang again. He could only pick up the phone again and listened. He said "hmm" first, and then his face that had become rosy due to the explosion just now immediately His face turned the color of pig liver, and he shouted angrily: "Ba Ge, how can you allow this to happen? Are you a pig? Why do you put all the heavy artillery together? We are fighting on the land of China. Any one The Chinese people may be our enemies, and they will report everything they know to their own troops..." Matsui Iwane's curse lasted for more than five minutes.
When he hung up the phone and was breathing heavily, Takakura Kenhui quickly found out the antihypertensive medicine from the drawer and handed him two pills. He also held a tea cup for him and asked anxiously: "Sir, what happened?" What happened?"
"The Chinese launched a ground attack, and the two regiments of the 8th Independent Brigade were surrounded in Yingtan and Guangrao. The Chinese marched mechanized, so fast that Suwon Yoshigege didn't even react. The Qingshi Town artillery in Quzhou requisitioned land. Encountered an air attack, the 13th Artillery Regiment suffered heavy losses. If what I expected is true, the Chinese will attack Quzhou next.
"Ah." Takakura Kenhun was dumbfounded, and then he asked something silly: "Are the Chinese going to launch a counterattack?"
Matsui Iwane took the antihypertensive medicine with a sullen face and said: "They should have learned about the negotiations we are negotiating with the Chinese government. They are taking advantage of the fact that our army has not yet completed its assembly to strike preemptively. Gao Cang, we will definitely fight in this battle." We can't lose. If the 8th Independent Brigade is destroyed, do you know how serious the consequences will be." He did not wait for Gao Cang's answer and continued: "In that case, once the peace talks are exposed, the China government will be further affected. In the end, great pressure will only lead to the breakdown of the peace talks."
"Sir, what should we do now? The 8th Independent Brigade is in danger, we..."
"What we need to do most now is to contact all the troops on the front line and let them obtain detailed information at all costs. We must first find out whether this is a separate action by the Xuebing Army against the independent 8th Brigade, or a larger-scale operation Attack, let's go, let's go to the communications agency. I want to report to the base camp immediately and seek support from the naval aviation. Without air superiority, we will fall into a completely passive situation..."
Matsui Iwane reported to the base camp skipping levels not only to seek the support of naval aviation to seize battlefield air supremacy, but also thought of a way to rescue the 8th Independent Brigade. However, this method was too vicious and seriously violated the " Treaty of Geneva, he did not dare to bear its responsibilities alone, so he kicked this hot potato to Seishiro Itagaki at the base camp.
In Japanese military circles, Itagaki Seishiro has always been famous for his boldness. The so-called Ishihara's position, Itagaki's courage is recognized by the Japanese army. Matsui Iwane's hand can be said to have just caught Itagaki's itch. As he wished, Itagaki didn't even have it. After discussing with others, the matter was decided directly. In a telegram sent to Matsui Iwane, he said: At this time when the peace talks are about to be reached, it is of great significance to maintain the pressure of the South China Front Army on the Xuebing Army, and any method is worth trying. ,
Matsui Iwane was overjoyed when he received this telegram. He immediately asked the communication agency to send a message to Mizuhara Yishige and gave him the clever plan he had come up with. Then, he called Suzuki and ordered him to go to the field and let him personally lead the 58th and 104th Regiments. Guangrao, we must open the transportation line from Quzhou to Guangrao.