My client Li Yunlong

"General."

Northern Review.

The 27th Division, in the camp.

A Japanese staff officer ran in and handed a document to Shun Tada who was resting in the camp.

"Thank you!"

After receiving the information, Jun Tada thanked him in a calm tone.

"Hi!"

The staff officer was flattered.

He was just a captain staff officer.

If you are stationed in a local county or stronghold garrison, this military rank can serve as the staff officer of a brigade. The power is only under the brigade captain and above the entire brigade.

But in Beiping, where the Locust Army's North China Front headquarters is located, he is just a captain and staff officer.

Absolutely at the bottom.

Moreover, the staff officer of the Locust Army has always had a difficult life. Being slapped is a daily routine and he is a punching bag for superior officers.

At this time, Tada Shundo's attitude flattered the Japanese staff.

Although Shun Tada resigned as commander of the North China Front, lost his real power, and will return to China soon, he is still a lieutenant general, and it is said that he has been awarded the rank of general in the country.

"Go down."

Tada Shun waved his hand and signaled his men to leave.

···
"Leaving tomorrow?"

"Returning to the country on a merchant ship? The Navy will send a Nagato-class and a cruiser to escort?"

The information Shun Tada received was an order and an intelligence information.

The order came from base camp.

Let Qichen return home tomorrow.

and his security plans.

Returning to the country on an old merchant ship, considering safety, the Locust and the base camp have special orders, the Navy will dispatch the Nagato class and a light cruiser to escort.

"Ok?"

Jun Tada instinctively felt something was wrong with the order in his hand.

From the analysis of the domestic situation, there is no problem with the orders from the base camp.

He belongs to the Army, and even though he is retired, his qualifications are here and he was once considered a senior officer of the Army. Due to the issue of interest distribution in China, the conflict between the navy and the army has reached an almost irreconcilable point.

In order to avoid intensification of conflicts, he was allowed to return home on a merchant ship and escorted by navy warships.

Instead of taking a naval warship directly.

normal.

The Eighth Route Army openly attacked and killed him. In order to avoid damaging the face of the entire empire, the base camp sent two warships to escort him, one of which was even a Nagato-class battleship, a heavy weapon of the empire.

No problem.

just,

The Nagato battleship, with its nine 410 mm main guns, was the strongest battleship in the Empire before the Yamato-class battleships under construction entered service, and was the anchor of the Empire's combined fleet.

But the cost of dispatching is very high. Each dispatch involves thousands of tons of precious oil. For a retired lieutenant general like him, sending a Nagato-level person is too high a regard.

Let alone him, even Shunroku Hata is not worthy of a Nagato-level escort.

But the base camp just sent them.

Even the navy is honestly preparing to send the Nagato to escort.

And weirder places.

Except for the Nagato class, the other two ships,

A merchant ship.

Grandpa's cargo, which has been in service since the 1990s, is a coal-fired steam piston power unit with a maximum speed of only 12 knots and a full load displacement of only 5,000 tons.

It’s understandable here too.

As business dealings with the United States intensify and the empire's financial situation eases, the empire is currently purchasing a large amount of various machinery, equipment and supplies from the United States.

Transportation capacity is tight.

It would also be normal to give him an old transport ship.

But what made Tada Shun feel that something was wrong was that the one escorting him along with the Nagato was a Tianlong-class light cruiser.

Tianlong class light cruiser,
During the last European War, the first-class light cruisers built by the empire were enlarged from the Windstrike destroyers due to lack of experience and insufficient design and manufacturing capabilities.

Displacement of 3,200 tons.

Facts have proved that the displacement of 3,200 tons is too light for a light cruiser. This weight cannot meet the combat requirements of the light cruiser at all, and it is already on the verge of semi-decommissioning.

The displacement of the Empire's second-generation light cruiser was increased to 5,000 tons.

Send one of the Empire's most elite and most powerful active battleships, an ancient transport ship, and a light cruiser that the Empire is about to retire to transport and escort him.

From the perspective of ordinary people, of course there is no problem.

But he is Shun Tada.

The former commander of the North China Front Army could be said to have been one of the top brass of the Imperial Japanese Army. He was very familiar with the military and its top brass.

This series of arrangements made Tada Shun feel,
just like··

It's like looking forward to his death.

He could even guess the specific process in his mind.

It was too expensive to dispatch the Nagato, so it just made a show and returned to the ship. The main escort force was handed over to the Tianlong class. Facing the attack of the Eighth Route Army, the Tianlong class, which had basically no anti-aircraft firepower, basically showed no resistance and was sunk.

The situation has developed to this day.

Not to mention him, even the important officials in the base camp must understand the power of the high-tech weapons in the hands of the Eighth Route Army. Otherwise, hundreds of millions of yen would not have been suddenly allocated for the development of advanced weapons and equipment.

"What good will my death do?"

Jun Tada narrowed his eyes: "In other words, if I was killed by the Eighth Route Army near the mainland, or even on the mainland, what good would it do to the empire?"

Thinking of this, Jun Tada couldn't help but look in the direction of his homeland.

He looked across the Sea of ​​Japan, across the mainland islands, along the Pacific Ocean, across nearly 10,000 kilometers of sea, looking all the way to the most powerful country in the world.

It can even be said that there is no one.

The Empire doesn't need Shun Tada.

It doesn't matter to the empire whether Tada Shun dies or not, but being killed on the spot by Tubalu will damage the empire's face.

But the empire needs materials, resources, and machinery and equipment.

Currently, thanks to its interests in China, profits from silver trading, profits from plundering in China, and its own foreign exchange earnings, the empire has an additional purchase fund of up to 120 million US dollars every month.

But in the current world,
Important resources, machinery and equipment cannot be bought if you have money.

Especially those involving military resources.

Even if the United States continues to implement the U.S.-Japan Trade Treaty, the United States will never relax its vigilance against the empire. Restricting types and increasing prices are one of the restrictions on the empire.

And the higher-ups know it.

Compared with the face of the empire and the reputation of the empire, the materials and machinery needed for industry and military are obviously more important to the empire.

Much more important.

Strength is more important than face.

Moreover, after three years of failure to resolve the Republic of China, as three consecutive chiefs of staff were killed, and three consecutive regimental flags were captured, the Imperial Locust Army's international reputation was no longer what it once was.

Even if Tada Shun was killed in his homeland, or even the warship he was escorting was sunk, the impact on the empire's reputation would be nothing more than this.

There will be no local impact.

No one will know!

The people will still be immersed in the huge victory.

As for abroad.

So what if you know?

And if he was killed by the Eighth Route Army near the mainland, or even in the mainland, the old warships escorting him would also be sunk. Then, the Nagato class would be "injured" and have to enter the dock for closed repairs.

In this way, the empire can naturally obtain...
"I see."

Tada Shun sighed.

He is a chess piece,

To be more precise, an abandoned child.

"What will the Eighth Route Army do?"

He looked in the direction of Taiyue.

The empire's move was to abandon Tada Shun as a way to show weakness and obtain more supplies.

So Tada Shun became curious.

Could the Eighth Route Army kill Tada Shun near the mainland, or even on the mainland?

Shun Tada had no doubt in his mind whether he would be attacked.

What he was curious about was, what kind of super weapons and equipment would the group of mysterious forces behind Tubal Road come up with to attack him across 1,500 kilometers in nearby local waters or even on the mainland?
as well as,

"What else will the Empire do?"

A thick haze flashed through Tada Shun's heart.

Even if Tada Shun died in his hometown, even if he was buried with an old-fashioned warship and an old-fashioned transport ship, the waves he caused would still be very small.

The impact is difficult to reach across the vast Pacific Ocean.

Unless Nagato level also ends.

But it is obviously impossible for the empire's top officials to be willing to spend such a huge price.

Therefore, if he guessed correctly, the top management would definitely make further moves - and there would be other abandonments.

No need to think too much.

Shun Tada knows where the next abandonment will be.

"Why··"

He looked at the station of the 27th Division and sighed again.

It is the North China Front Army.

It's North China.

If the empire concentrates hundreds of thousands of troops to attack in North China and suffers a disastrous defeat, if the advanced weapons of that group of mysterious people can be profoundly demonstrated, the empire that is in direct conflict with them will definitely be relieved in the international situation.

It is even possible that the situation in the north will be alleviated to some extent.

Even Germany and the United States cannot see those super-advanced equipment anymore.
As for losses.

Although the Empire invested almost most of its military power in the battlefield of the Republic of China, the Republic of China was indeed only a part of the entire Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Plan, and even with the formulation of the southward plan, it was not the most important part.

As far as the empire is concerned,

The battlefield of the Republic of China, which cannot be won in a short time, is actually not important anymore.

"Why·"

Tada Shun finally sighed silently.

The tone is lonely.

It seemed like nothing mattered to him anymore.

Not to mention that he has no actual power now,
Even if he is, he is still the commander of the North China Front, so what?
This is a confrontation between the Empire and the Eighth Route Army and the mysterious forces behind it. He cannot control it alone, and the Empire seems to be planning to sell him out! (End of chapter)