Chapter 333 Okamura Neji is difficult to deal with
After announcing the democratically elected government, Okamura Neiji, accompanied by the Peking Secret Service Chief Minamizo Yunko and the North China Front Chief of Staff Major General Hirata Masahan, returned to the VIP room on the second floor of the Grand East Asia Hotel to rest and receive press.
The meeting was chaired by Lieutenant General Tanabe Moritake, Chief of Staff of the North China Front.
Judge Hirata asked as he walked: "Your Excellency, Commander, do you really plan to hold open popular elections in Tianjin?"
"Why not?" Neji Okamura asked, "In addition to open popular elections, do you think there is a better way to quickly ease the tension in North China?"
After a moment of silence, Shogun Hirata asked: "Your Excellency, Commander, once open popular elections are held in the entire North China region, the election results will be completely outside the control of the imperial army, and the elected governments at all levels may not be willing to cooperate closely with the imperial army.
, once such an uncontrollable situation occurs, what should the imperial army do?"
"What should we do? It's easy!" Neji Okamura said, "Treat North China as the empire's homeland!"
Masaru Hirata said in disbelief: "Your Excellency, Commander, are you saying that the Chinese people should be treated as 'empire subjects'?"
"At least give equal treatment to the Chinese people in the security area." Okamura Neiji nodded and said solemnly, "Otherwise, how can it be possible to calm down the hostility of the Chinese people in a short time, and how can it be alleviated in a short time
Tensions in North China? Hirata-kun, you must understand that force cannot solve all problems."
"Hai." Shogun Hirata lowered his head suddenly and said, "Your Excellency, Commander, I understand."
Okamura Neiji then turned to the south and said: "Miss Yunzi, after the elected governments of the provinces in North China are formed, your secret service must give you enough respect. Once there is an incident between the imperial army officers or the imperial expatriates and the Chinese people in the security areas,
Disputes must be handled seriously in accordance with the laws of the democratically elected government, and the law must not be bent for personal gain."
"Hai." Nanzao Yunzi also lowered his head suddenly and said, "I understand."
Okamura Neiji nodded and asked Masahiro Hirata: "Mr. Hirata, are the progress in each security district going smoothly?"
"It's pretty smooth." Masahiro Hirata said, "In the entire North China region, except for the central and southern parts of Shanxi and the areas along the Zhengtai Railway, most of the other railways, highways and county towns have been recaptured.
On the Shandong border, the Second Army fought several consecutive victories and destroyed at least five divisions of the China Army!"
"Hmm." Okamura Neiji nodded and asked, "What about the southern Hebei region?"
"It's similar in southern Hebei." Masahiro Hirata said, "Except for Huolu County, which is close to Jingxing Pass, and Shexian County in the southwest, the other dozens of counties have been recaptured. The security situation in each county is not bad, but in
Before the imperial army arrived, the Chinese army had already retreated early, and..."
"And what?" Okamura Neji frowned, "Say."
Masaru Hirata said: "And before retreating, the Chinese army looted all the county towns!"
"What did you say!?" Neji Okamura said in disbelief, "The Chinese army looted all the counties in southern Hebei?"
When Hirata was about to respond, Nanzo Yunzi responded first: "Your Excellency, Commander, as far as I know, the Chinese army did not loot the counties in southern Hebei. To be precise, it should be a forced purchase. Before retreating, the Chinese army
The army bought up all supplies including grain, cotton, and daily groceries at a price lower than half of the market price!"
"Baga, you damn Chinaman!" Neji Okamura's face immediately darkened.
Southern Hebei is the main grain-producing area and the only cotton-producing area in North China. Now the Thirty-ninth Group Army and the Eighth Route Army have bought out all the supplies in Southern Hebei, but it has brought great trouble to Okamura Neji.
If southern Hebei receives enough supplies, not only will the North China Front be short of rations, but all officers and soldiers will also be left without cotton-padded clothes for the winter.
To make matters worse, a locust plague also broke out in Manchukuo this year, and there was a continuous severe drought after the beginning of autumn, resulting in a large-scale reduction in grain crops and cotton production. Therefore, the Kwantung Army could not provide much material to support the North China Front. As for the main island of the empire,
That is even more hopeless. In order to support this war, the people of the empire have not eaten rice or worn new clothes for more than half a year.
Minamizo Yunzi had already seen Okamura Neiji's worries, and said immediately: "Your Excellency, Commander, the intelligence shows that a large part of the materials purchased by the China Army from the security area have not yet had time to be imported into Jingxing Pass, and they have not yet been imported into Jingxing Pass for the time being.
Hidden in the non-security areas of southern Hebei, if we can recapture this batch of supplies, the front army will have half a year's worth of rations and cotton-padded clothes for the winter."
"Non-security areas?" Neji Okamura frowned, "No, it is not appropriate for the Imperial Army to attack non-security areas yet."
The non-security areas mentioned by Minami Yunzi and Okamura Neji are actually the anti-Japanese base areas established by the Communist Party and the Eighth Route Army in counties in southern Hebei. These base areas were originally connected into a large area, but since the Japanese army counterattacked strongly and recaptured Pingjin
After the railway, Ping-Han Railway, Shiji Highway and other transportation lines, as well as major county towns, it was divided into many small pieces.
Of course, Okamura Neiji's ultimate goal is to wipe out these base areas and turn the entire North China into a security area. However, now, the North China Front Army does not have the strength to attack the Japanese and Eighth Route Army base areas on a large scale.
The county seat and the occupation of the vast anti-Japanese base areas are completely different things.
There are only a few transportation lines in southern Hebei, and there are only a few dozen county towns. The garrison is concentrated and safety is guaranteed.
However, the anti-Japanese base areas of the *** and the Eighth Route Army were too vast. Even if the Japanese army assembled in southern Hebei had four field divisions and two mixed Japanese brigades, if averaged to each township, each
There might not even be a Japanese soldier in the village. If the Japanese army really dared to divide their troops and garrison them like this, they would definitely be looking for trouble.
If you organize troops below the size of a regiment to launch a sweep, they may be defeated by the Chinese one by one!
If you organize troops of brigade size or above to conduct a sweep, the grid will be too large and the effect will be difficult to guarantee.
The most important thing is that the main force of the North China Front has just withdrawn from the frontal battlefield and is in urgent need of rest. In addition, the ammunition reserves of the North China Front are not sufficient. It seems that there will be a lot of ammunition reserves for the next battle, but it is really necessary
When fighting begins, it will soon be exhausted.
Originally, according to Okamura Neiji's plan, after retaking various transportation lines and major county towns, the North China Front Army would move to rest and recuperation, and at the same time focus on supporting the pro-Japanese government in the security area. After two to three months of rest and replenishment,
Then mobilize troops to attack step by step using bunker tactics, gradually encroaching on the quasi-security area.
After taking half a year to a year to encroach on all the quasi-security areas, we then dig out isolation ditches around each non-security area, and turn each non-security area into a cage isolated from the outside world. Then we mobilize heavy troops to attack each area one by one.
After the sweep is over, in at most two years, all non-security areas in North China will disappear.
This is Okamura Neiji's plan: adopt a gentle policy towards the security areas (Japanese-occupied areas), adopt a cannibalization policy towards the quasi-security areas (guerrilla areas), and adopt a cage policy towards the non-security areas (base areas). It has to be said,
Okamura Neiji's plan is quite lethal and basically unsolvable.
But now, the situation has a little surprise.
Since the Chinese *** team unexpectedly bought up all the supplies in the security districts in southern Hebei, Okamura Neiji became a little passive. He couldn't let the Japanese soldiers go hungry and rest in single clothes, right?
After much thought, Okamura Neiji decided not to change his plan and rashly attacked the Eighth Route Army base area now. The risk was too great. Although the people in the quasi-security zone (guerrilla zone) still had a lot of remaining rations and cotton.
, but in order for the cannibalization policy to be implemented smoothly in the future, we should not over-stimulate it.
Otherwise, these quasi-security areas will soon become non-security areas.
"Then there is only one way." Nan Zao Yunzi said, "Import it from Shanxi at a high price."
"Shanxi?" Okamura Neji frowned, "Miss Yunzi, do you think it's possible?"
"Of course it's possible." Nan Zao Yunzi said, "First of all, Shanxi had a bumper harvest of grain and cotton last year, which has the potential for a lot of exports. Secondly, Shanxi Tudi Emperor Yan Xishan has never been a resolute anti-Japanese faction. If the imperial army secretly negotiated with him, he would
On the condition of ensuring not to attack Shanxi and offering a high price, I believe he is willing to cooperate with the imperial army."
"Yo Xi." Okamura Neiji said, "Miss Yunzi, you are responsible for this matter, and it must be done!"
"Hai." Nanzao Yunzi suddenly lowered his head and said, "This humble position will never disappoint the commander's expectations."
Jingxing County, Headquarters of the 39th Group Army.
Liu Yi handed a mediocre newspaper to Yue Weihan's case and said: "Chief, this is the newspaper from yesterday!"
Yue Weihan picked up the newspaper. The headline on the front page was the eye-catching "China-Japan Goodwill", and the subtitle was "Japanese troops in China release goodwill to the people of North China". Next to it was a photo that took up almost a quarter of the page.
In the photo, Okamura Neiji holds a wine glass in his hand and is chatting happily with Cao Mosan, chairman of the Tianjin Chamber of Commerce.
"Awesome, this old devil Okamura really deserves his reputation." Yue Weihan looked solemn.
"Yes, the old Japs like Okamura are really difficult to deal with." Liu Yi nodded and said, "After the Japanese army occupied the traffic lines and the county seat, they were immediately unable to retreat. We sent thousands of sniper teams to various guerrilla areas.
They all left empty-handed. A few groups were so angry that they tried to sneak attack the strongholds along the Ping-Han Railway. Not only did they fail, but they suffered a small loss."
"That's nothing." Yue Weihan said coldly, "I want to see how Okacun survives this winter?"
"Yes." Liu Yi nodded and said, "The Anti-Japanese War has been going on for almost two years. The national economy of the little devils has been on the verge of collapse. The four northeastern provinces have suffered from large-scale drought. As the main grain-producing area in North China and
In the only cotton-producing area, we have bought out all the supplies. Let’s see how Okamura Neiji buys military rations and winter clothes for the army!”