Age of Rebirth

Although he was commanding the battle in the Far East, Zai Ren, as the chief of the general staff of the base camp, received the daily battle report of the base camp's combat department verbatim. He knew the situation in Manchuria battlefield in detail.

Only in this way, Prince Zairen is worried. At present, the only ones who can relieve the siege of the Manchurian Kwantung Army are the more than 50 troops in their hands. untie!

However, what made Prince Zairen scratch his head was that Liu Tiehan, the commander of the independent division on the opposite side, adopted an almost rogue style of play. He clearly had the superiority in troops and firepower, but he did not engage in a decisive battle, but adopted a small-scale attack. , Wave-like attack, small battles every day, firmly sticking to his more than 50 troops, but unable to fight big battles, it is the small-scale battles that happen every day, driving him crazy!

Prince Zairen did not have the confidence to initiate a decisive battle across the board. First, the troops were not as strong as the independent divisions. Secondly, in terms of heavy equipment and firepower, the Far East Expeditionary Force was also at a disadvantage. The most important thing was the Joint Air Force of the Far East Expeditionary Army. During the air battle, it was almost exhausted. Now, almost all the fighter planes flying in the sky of the Far East are the fighter planes of the independent division. After losing the air supremacy, Prince Zairen doesn't have the courage and confidence to take the initiative to fight decisively!

It is impossible to take the initiative to attack. If you want to leave the battlefield, you will be held tightly by the Dongzhi troops of the Independent Division. If you want to walk, you will not be able to walk. On the battlefield in the vast area west of the Yashan Mountains, he passively accompanied Liu Tiehan in the war of attrition.Forget about this trouble!

A few months have passed since fighting against the East Pointing Force of the Independent Division on the Far East battlefield.It was the first time that Prince Zairen, who was exhausted and dizzy from dealing with the piano-playing attacks of the independent division troops every day, had time to sit down and read the troop casualty report compiled by the combat department.

I don't know if I don't see it, but I was shocked when I saw it. Prince Zai Ren almost exclaimed. After months of fighting, the Far East dispatched troops suffered casualties.It has reached an astonishing number of more than 7000 people, more than one-tenth of the total force, and there are more than three first-class divisions.In his impression, no large-scale battle broke out in the Far East battlefield at all, at best, it was a battle on the scale of an alliance.It is relatively large.How could there be so many casualties?

Major General Yamaguchi, chief of staff of the Japanese Far East Dispatch Army, saw the truth from the side. Seeing that His Royal Highness's eyebrows were raised, he hurriedly explained: "Your Excellency, since the confrontation with the East Pointing Army of the Independent Division on the Far East battlefield, if It's just the confrontation between the infantry on the ground, the casualties of the imperial army. It will never be so big!"

"Then tell me, what caused it?" Prince Zairen said with a cold face.Said with a questioning tone.

Chief of Staff Yamaguchi sighed, and said with some helplessness: "The disparity in the firepower of heavy equipment, especially the change of hands of air supremacy, is the main reason for the casualties of soldiers of the Imperial Army, such as artillery. In artillery battles, our artillery is not independent at all. The opponent of the divisional artillery, therefore, was unable to suppress its attack. Moreover, the tank force was seriously asymmetrical. The dispatched army had only two tank brigades that had been formed. However, after several months of consumption, Now there are less than one hundred chariots left!"

"And our opponent has at least eight tank brigades and more than a thousand chariots, and the armor thickness and firepower of the chariots are superior to those of the imperial army. We are soldiers, and we still lack the necessary countermeasures. Chariot equipment cannot effectively stop the attack of the independent division's chariots!"

"Therefore, the chariots of the independent division can be said to be rampant on the battlefield, supplemented by fierce artillery fire, causing the greatest casualties to the imperial army troops relying on field fortifications for defense, and more seriously, the threat from the air , the Joint Air Force of the Dispatch Army, after several months of fierce fighting, there are less than [-] fighter planes that can be dispatched now, and the combination of the above factors has caused such heavy casualties for the Dispatch Army!"

Seeing that Prince Zairen's face was turning pale, Chief of Staff Yamaguchi suggested: "Your Excellency, we not only request the base camp to continue sending more infantry, but also increase artillery, especially large-caliber field artillery, to the dispatched army. And no less than [-] chariots and combat aircraft of five aviation wings, otherwise, if the consumption continues like this, the sending army may not be able to bear such a huge casualty!"

Prince Zairen was speechless, his heart was full of fire, but he didn't know who to vent to. What Shankou said was the truth. In fact, before Major General Yamaguchi thought of these serious situations, Prince Zairen sent multiple copies of Telegram requesting reinforcements.

The crux of the problem is that after the telegrams were sent, the answers they got were all "local recruits are undergoing intensive training, and they will not be able to go to the battlefield until three months at the earliest. In addition, the situation in Manchuria is not optimistic. Manchuria is the foundation of the empire, and there is no room for loss. Therefore, the newly formed divisions in the mainland will be given priority and put into the Manchuria battlefield! The headquarters will take into account the actual situation in the Far East battlefield, and appropriately replenish its troops!"

Well, it was this kind of call back that made Prince Zairen very helpless. Although he suspected that this was the old guy Mi Nei Guangyi who took advantage of his absence from the base camp to tear down his own station behind his back, but he also knew that the telegram from the base camp said that This is the real situation, there are no reserve soldiers in the mainland, even if you ask the emperor's elder brother, it's hard for a clever woman to cook without rice, so I just do it boringly!

The large-caliber field artillery, tanks, and other equipment required by the base camp Ordnance Bureau were very happy to agree, but it was still a long time ago. Moreover, the attached artillery and tank crews were embarrassing problems, and they were also affected by the shortage of troops. Trouble, as for increasing the strength of the Far East Expeditionary Army's aviation force, it is basically in the foreseeable future. The location and location of a field airfield has caused Prince Zairen a lot of trouble.

Originally, the Far East Expedition Army was based in Manchuria and the Kwantung Army's field airfields. The flight radius of the combat aircraft could cover the western battlefield of the Brea Mountains. But the current situation is that the field airfields in Manchuria are almost independent. The division's air force was completely destroyed, and even the Kwantung Army's joint air force was wiped out. Therefore, the field airfields of the Far East Expeditionary Army could only be located in Birobidzhan and Chegdomen.

The problem is that the field airports are too concentrated, and they are attacked by the aircraft fleet of the independent division every day. Most of the combat aircraft of the Joint Air Force of the Far East Expeditionary Force are lost in the continuous air raids, which cannot solve the problem of air raids on the airport. The Air Force Department of the Army will not supplement the incomparably precious fighter planes to the Far East Expeditionary Force for nothing. Therefore, what Chief of Staff Yamaguchi said is true, but it is also nonsense!

Prince Zairen became impatient and interrupted Chief of Staff Yamaguchi's next words, "Needless to say, Mr. Yamaguchi, I know the situation better than you. As long as we maintain the current situation, there will definitely be new changes in the Far East battlefield. Besides, is there anything else important?"

In fact, when he said the last sentence, Prince Zairen himself did not have much confidence. He had climbed from a small senior staff officer to Major General Yamaguchi, who was the chief of staff of the Far East Dispatch Army, and among dozens of senior staff officers with the rank of Dazuo in the headquarters. Among them, he stood out and became Prince Zairen's confidant. Naturally, he was a man with a quick mind and good at observing words and expressions.

Therefore, Chief of Staff Yamaguchi obediently changed the subject to: "Commander, I just received the transfer from the headquarters, the minutes of the imperial military meeting held last night, hosted by His Majesty the Emperor himself!"

"Oh!" Prince Zairen was taken aback for a moment, and then asked with concern: "What is the content and decision of the meeting?"

"The content of the meeting mainly discussed the situation in Manchuria. It was decided that General Nanjiro, the former commander-in-chief of the Kwantung Army and the current deputy military affairs officer of the base camp, would replace General Umezu Yoshijiro as the commander-in-chief of the Kwantung Army again. The devil Tang Qiuli is negotiating, and the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Masafumi Ito suggested asking the Germans to come forward to mediate between the warring parties in Manchuria, and reach a ceasefire agreement through negotiations!"

"Negotiating with Tang Qiuli, the devil of China whose hands are stained with the blood of imperial soldiers?" Prince Zairen roared suddenly, "It's ridiculous, are the people in the headquarters in a daze? With the current situation of the Manchurian War, the independent division troops occupy With the upper hand, the Chinese devil Tang Qiuli will negotiate, it is a fantasy! The Germans? Can the Germans be counted on? The Germans, who always look out for their own interests, will intervene in things that are not good for them, risking offending Tang. The risk of Qiuli?"

What Prince Zairen said was the truth. Based on the current situation in the Manchurian War, Tang Qiuli would not negotiate, let alone negotiate. Therefore, he can conclude that the negotiation has no possibility of success. , including my old brother the emperor, are all wishful thinking. As for pinning their hopes on the Germans, it is even more unreliable and unreliable!

"Since there are negotiations, what price will the empire offer?" Although Prince Zairen was angry, he still asked the core question. He didn't say it was a condition, but a price. With the situation in Manchuria so bad, the empire can only offer a price , not conditions, this is reality!

Looking at the ferocious Prince Zairen, Chief of Staff Yamaguchi said cautiously: "The Kwantung Army has all withdrawn from Manchuria, the Empire has announced its renunciation of sovereignty over Manchuria, the independent division has withdrawn from the Korean Peninsula and the Far East, and the two sides have ceased fighting. Half of the land in the Far East will be owned by the Germans!"

"Hmph! ——Hmph!" Prince Zairen was so angry that his nose was like a boiler, and he was breathing heavily, only to sneer again and again. He didn't know what to say, but, relying on instinct Intuitively, Prince Zairen knew that even though the Great Japanese Empire paid such a heavy price, that China devil Tang Qiuli would never give up!

(to be continued) (to be continued...)