The Republic of Heroes

Facing the stalemate battle situation, Neiji Okamura fell into deep self-examination. Although the current overall situation is still within the controllable range, for the strategic vision of a quick landing and surprise attack on Jinan, the suddenness of this battle has failed.

Now he will face a difficult choice, one is to withdraw troops and abandon all plans.The second is to persevere, take down Ye County and clear the road to Jinan with an upright army. General China will inevitably mobilize troops to deal with him, and the troops of China are limited. If you are restrained by yourself. The army defending the south will be correspondingly reduced.In this way, the strategic plan of the general in the temple will not be regarded as a failure, and his sending troops this time will not lose its meaning.

Of course, in this way, Okamura Neiji's role in normal battles will undergo a fundamental change, from a protagonist who pierces the enemy's heart with a sharp knife to a supporting role that completely cooperates with the protagonist.But as a soldier of the imperial army, he still has the consciousness to sacrifice himself for the imperial kingdom and the emperor at any time.

Furthermore, he was crippled, and it was the general in the temple who gave him the opportunity to lead the army again and fight General Zhina. How dare he fight to the death?

"Immediately send electricity to the Beijing headquarters..."

Okamura Ningji shouted loudly, and the staff officers around him were startled by his sudden gaffe.

……

At the North China Dispatch Army Headquarters in Beijing, Terauchi Shouyi pinched the telegram sent from Shandong, frowned and fell into deep thought. There was an accident in the occupation of Shandong, and Lieutenant General Gang Village did not advance as fast as he promised, and made a surprise attack In Jinan, the initial strategic assumption of attacking the enemy's center with lightning speed almost failed.He didn't mean to blame Neiji Okamura. If General Shina was defeated so easily, then he would not be General Shina. It's ridiculous to beat.

Terauchi Shouichi had no intention of blaming Okamura Neiji. He had only one thing in mind, which was to immediately increase troops to Shandong. He had made up his mind on this point from the moment he received the telegram. What he hesitated was who to send.

The cabinet has now made up its mind to completely conquer China, and a large number of reserve soldiers have been turned into active duty. Every day, ships carrying tens of thousands of imperial soldiers depart from the mainland and come to China.At the same time, he has learned that the General Staff Headquarters has decided to separate the imperial army command system south of the Yangtze River from the Northern China Expeditionary Army Command and establish the Southern Expeditionary Army Command, with the newly promoted Army General Shigeru Honjo as the commander.

Shigeru Honjo is a strong competitor for Touichi Terauchi, this is a general who grew up from a commoner, although there are countless civilian generals in the imperial army, very few have been promoted to general.At this time, the superiority of family background changed from the psychological advantage of Terauchi Shouichi to his burden.Because of this, he couldn't stand failure, and even compared with his fellow general Shigeru Honjo in military operations, it was an unbearable failure for half a beat.

The frontal defense line of General China in Shandong is almost impeccable. If the attack is forced and the loss and outcome are unpredictable, although the chance of winning is very high, even if the battle is won, it must be extremely ugly.That's why he agreed to Okamura Ningji's proposal to take a slanted sword in the first place. At this time, he was already on the verge of going forward and there was no way out.It is necessary to increase troops in Shandong by land and sea, and there is no room for retreat.

In the end, Terauchi Shouichi determined the candidate to reinforce Ye County, Shandong Province, and he was Matsui Iwane, head of the newly reorganized No.11 Division of the Army.This person is far superior to Okamura Neiji in terms of work experience and seniority in the army. More importantly, this person's character is rare in the Imperial Army without being arrogant and domineering. He will definitely fight with Okamura Neiji with all his strength.Of course, Toshiichi Terauchi did not want to change his position as the commander of the Okamura Neiji Task Force. It is a taboo for military strategists to change generals before a battle, not to mention that he is still very optimistic about this junior, so Matsui Iwane, who has always been steady, should cooperate with him. The most suitable candidate.

After deciding on the candidate for sending troops, Terauchi Shouyi still has a headache to solve, that is how to persuade the people in the navy to send him a fleet escort again. He has learned from many sporadic information that some combat ships from Suidong in the north From time to time, they are harassing the imperial kingdom's maritime supply lines.But these are all clowns. In front of the powerful fleet of the Imperial Kingdom, these overreaching guys will be blasted to pieces by super-large-caliber naval guns in an instant.

Coordinating the navy is almost an impossible task in front of many army generals, but it is not the case in Terauchi Shouichi. Due to his father's political resources, he has a good personal relationship with the generals in the Navy Staff Headquarters, so coordinating is not a task Mission impossible.

After several telegram negotiations, the Naval Staff Headquarters readily agreed to dispatch the naval fleet to escort the North China Expeditionary Force. However, Terauchi Shouichi was a little surprised that the battleship members in the naval fleet this time except for the two Kongo-class high-speed battlecruisers " In addition to "Haruna" and "Kirishima", there is actually the No. 2 ship "Mutsu", one of the Nagato-class battleships known as the "manly man" of the Imperial Navy.

Unlike the old-fashioned battleships used as escorts last time, this time almost the elite came in and out.The Kongo-class battlecruiser is a product of the "[-]th Fleet" proposed during World War I. Its first ship, the Kongo-class, was transformed from the British "Lion"-class battlecruiser, and its subsequent three sister ships "Hiei" The No. [-], "Haruna" and "Kirishima" were built in Japan based on the "Kong Kong".These four battleships were brilliant in the history of Wu Xiaoliang's original time and space. The twelve battleships of the Japanese Navy fought in the South and North in World War II. They often survived desperate situations and made great achievements. It is not the "world's strongest "" Yamato and Musashi, but the four Kongo-class ships that were already old at that time.

The Nagato-class battleship is the ultimate product of the "Eighty-eighth Fleet" that was finally expanded on the basis of the "Eighty-Fourth Fleet" in 9 AD in the 1920th year of Taisho.In Showa 4, the Nagato-class battleship represented almost all of the most advanced technology in the Imperial Navy industry.The huge hull has a full-load displacement of nearly 45 tons, and there are four 406mm caliber double-mounted turrets on the deck. In other words, it was the largest caliber of naval warships in the world at that time, none of them.

Of course, there is one thing that Terauchi Shouichi may not be very clear about. Although Japan has a strong military industry, its technology has not reached the world's advanced level. Compared with the above, it is insufficient, so the caliber is increased.Therefore, the direct consequence of increasing the caliber is that if the 380mm naval guns of the battleship fire at the same time, the strong recoil will tear its deck.

Of course, this was a highly classified military secret at the time.

Only one day later, the fleet, which had set out from the Yokosuka Naval Port before the escort order was issued, arrived in China.