mixed in the war

End of March 1939.

Wuhan, formerly the administrative building of Wuhan University, now the No.11 Army Command of the Japanese Army.

Sugiyama Moto looked at the playground outside with his hands behind his back, without saying a word.Behind him, Chief of Staff of the North China Front Army Yamashita Fufumi, Commander of the No. 11th Army Neiji Okamura, Commander of the Field Heavy Artillery Brigade of the [-]th Army, Sumita Laishiro, and others also stood quietly.

After a while, Sugiyama Moto turned around, and after glancing at everyone, he fixed his eyes on an officer in a white military uniform with a mustache on his lips:

"Is everything ready?" [

"Report to Your Excellency General, everything is ready, just waiting for your order." Mustache took a step forward and replied tensely.

"You must know the importance of this operation." Sugiyama Moto said again: "Once it succeeds, the Chinese counterattack that is brewing will be hit head-on, and if it fails..."

"We will not fail." The mustache said solemnly: "If we fail, you will not see the living Okuda Kikuji!"

"Very good, you are worthy of being an attendant of His Majesty the Emperor. I hope you can continue to write the legend of 'King of Bombing' and don't let me down." Moto Sugiyama smiled and nodded appreciatively.

"But I'm still opposed to retaliating against the Chinese in such a hasty manner." Neiji Okamura, who kept his head down, said suddenly.

"Baga!" Yamashita Fufumi stepped in front of him, "Neiji Okamura, do you know what you are talking about?"

"Of course I know." The thin Okamura Ningji looked very imposing in front of the big-armed chief of staff of the North China Front Army, but he still stared at Yamashita Fufumi, "Under such incomplete information, rashly Launching an attack on the enemy is purely a joke with the lives of our pilots. Once the operation fails, our already unstable air supremacy in central China will be completely lost. And most importantly. At that time, the base camp will have no way to give We're bringing in more planes."

"coward!"

Fengwen Yamashita snorted coldly.

"Yamashita Fufumi, you'd better pass your own head before you say this." Neiji Okamura confronted, "The first army to break into Wuhan was the 11th Army led by me!"

"Enough." Sugiyama Moto angrily stopped the quarrel between the two generals, "Can't you be quiet? Especially you, Okamura-kun! I know you are good at fighting, but it doesn't mean that you fight every time. All are correct. And this time the bombing operation has been approved by the dispatched army headquarters in Shanghai. Stop at this time. What do you ask us to do with the more than 300 planes that we have pulled from all over the place? Are they rusty? "

"Your Excellency," Neiji Okamura's tone softened a bit, "I just think we should be more careful. Don't you also feel strange about the important targets that suddenly appeared on the Chinese side?"

"What's so strange about this?" Yamashita Fengwen snorted coldly, "The Chinese already felt the crisis when we entered Shanghai in the 'Battle of Songhu'. Therefore, they tried every means to strengthen themselves. But Chiang Kai-shek We were afraid that it would be cheaper for us to leave those things in the east, so we had to build them in Chongqing..."

"But at that time, Chongqing was still in the hands of Liu Xiang. How dare Chiang Kai-shek?" Neji Okamura asked rhetorically.

"Liu Xiang still has to obey the orders of the chairman of the committee, Chiang Kai-shek. What's more, he is dead now." Yamashita Fengwen said.

"What about Chengdu? How does Chengdu explain it? Don't you think it's too strange that a whole armored force suddenly appeared like the steel factory in Chongqing?" Neiji Okamura said again.

"It's not that the Chinese don't have mechanized troops, it's just that there are too few." Yamashita Fengwen replied.

"There are very few, but now the Chinese are planning a large-scale counterattack. Such an armored force should be charging at the forefront, but why is it hiding in Chengdu, which is far away from the front line?" Okamura Neiji asked again.

"Of course there are their reasons." Yamashita Fengwen couldn't answer, and was a little anxious, "Perhaps. It may not be that Chiang Kai-shek is trying to deter those Sichuan warlords." [

"What a funny joke." Okamura Ning sneered again, "Most of Sichuan's troops have already been taken out by Liu Xiang, and most of them died on the battlefield. Even Liu Xiang himself died of illness in Wuhan. Sichuan is now The only one left is Liu Wenhui, which is considered complete, but it is difficult for him to protect himself now. What kind of force is there to counterattack Chiang Kai-shek, and Chiang Kai-shek needs to leave an entire armored force to deter him? Especially this force is still in Chengdu, Not near Xikang, where Liu Wenhui belongs. My Chief of Staff, do you think that Chiang Kai-shek wants this armored force to start from Chengdu, and then go straight to Xikang Province, which is very difficult and densely covered with mountains?"

"Neiji Okamura—"

"Enough!" Moto Sugiyama took a deep breath and looked at Ningji Okamura with a bad face: "Let me explain this question to you... That team has a total of twenty of the latest French b1-bs heavy tanks and Seventeen Renault R-35 light tanks and an armored force of 52 chariots were in Chengdu because Chiang Kai-shek became ambitious after receiving the benefits of Libyan oil and no longer wanted to limit the counterattack to the In the areas of Hunan and Hubei, he also wanted to extend his power to Shanxi. And this armored force was led by his student Qiu Qingquan, and its destination was Xi'an. Before that, he also dispatched troops in Shanxi to defend the Lihuang is preparing to go out at Zhongtiao Mountain, and Yan Xishan's Jinsui Army has also started preparations. These signs have already shown his purpose."

"It's impossible." Neiji Okamura shook his head again and again, "Even if it's going to Shaanxi, how can such a large-scale armored force cross the Qinling Mountains?"

"So, they need to be disassembled!" Yuan Sugiyama snorted coldly: "In Chengdu, they are only undergoing assembly training. Because the French are unwilling to go to Shaanxi and then assemble them for them. Chiang Kai-shek has no choice. Can these armored warfare It is the best result he can achieve after negotiating with the French to carry out the assembly practice after the car is transported to Chengdu."

"No wonder our embassy in France didn't get any news at all." Yamashita Fufumi exclaimed: "They actually disassembled these weapons and shipped them back to China?"

"That's right, this is the cleverness of the Chinese. It's a pity that although they managed to hide it from us, they failed to hide it from the British." Moto Sugiyama sneered.

"But why did the British help us?" Neiji Okamura was still puzzled.

"It's not that the British government wants to help us, it's just that the Chinese are unlucky." Sugiyama Moto said with a smile: "Mr. Okamura, you should still remember the news about the Indonesian oil fields from Chongqing?"

"Yes." Ningji Okamura nodded his head a few times, "The oil field was bought by Kong Xiangxi's son. I heard that they are already preparing to set up an exploration team."

"Then do you know who the Kong family is cooperating with?" Sugiyama Moto asked again.

"I heard that he is an Englishman, or a 'so-called' aristocrat." Before the arrival of Sugiyama Yuan, Neiji Okamura, as the supreme commander of the Japanese army stationed in Wuhan, naturally paid great attention to the information in Chongqing.And the oil field is the top priority.It can be said that he has been paying attention to all the progress of the Indonesian oil field.

"Not one British person, but two. One of them is the British Consul General in Chongqing!" Sugiyama Moto said.

"The consul in Chongqing?" Neiji Okamura was taken aback, "I'm not sure about that."

"But the Mei Agency in Shanghai is very clear. Although they suffered a big loss in the last confrontation with the Chinese, Doihara is in Shanghai, and he will always think of ways to retaliate against the Chinese." Moto Sugiyama proudly He said with a smile: "The British consul originally wanted to get a share of it, but unfortunately, he was kicked out of the cooperation in the end. He even offended the Royal Shell Oil Company and the British ambassador because of this. He couldn’t go on anymore. So, out of anger, he decided to take revenge on the Chinese..."

"The British consul got all these news?" Neiji Okamura said.

"Chinese people buy things in Europe, of course they can't hide it from the British. It's a pity that the British have always been unwilling to intervene in the situation in the Far East, so they have never opened their mouths. But since Chiang Kai-shek moved his capital to Chongqing, the British embassy has basically moved there. The British The consul naturally knew a lot of things that he couldn't touch... He was annoyed by Kong Xiangxi's crossing the river and demolishing the bridge, and he planned to take revenge on all the Chinese, so he revealed to us the news that Chiang Kai-shek started building a steel plant in Chongqing. As for that It’s been less than three days since we got the news. For this, Doihara spent a lot of money.” Sugiyama Moto said.

"If this is the case, the information is somewhat credible. But I still feel a little strange. Chiang Kai-shek has such a hole card, why didn't he reveal it a long time ago? Moreover, based on my research on him, he should not be the kind of willing A person who takes out money for industrial construction. If he has extra money in his hands, he will definitely be more willing to buy weapons from those European and American powers." Neiji Okamura said.

"According to Okamura-kun, just because of your suspicion, we are going to waste all the hard work and sweat of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Shanghai General Doihara during this period?" Yamashita Fufumi said sarcastically.

"I didn't mean that." Neiji Okamura shook his head and denied, "I just think that we shouldn't concentrate the bombing operations together. If it were me, I would bomb Chengdu first and see how the Chinese respond to this operation. ...if they don't react, or just rush into it, then they're not prepared..."

"Then we can bomb the iron and steel factories in Chongqing?" Sumita Raoshiro asked suddenly.

"No." Okamura shook his head, "Chongqing's iron and steel plant should be left to be bombed when it is about to be completed, so as to achieve the greatest results and cause the greatest trauma to the Chinese, especially Chiang Kai-shek." [

"The idea is good, but we don't have time." Moto Sugiyama sighed, "The empire is about to face a big war. After this retaliatory action, most of our air force will be transferred... So, if you want to take revenge, Just one chance. Just this one time."

(To be continued)