Bright Sword: I am an undercover agent in the puppet army

"Commander, here's an urgent telegram from the front headquarters!" Toyotomi Jiro quickly walked up to Shinozuka Yoshio and bowed respectfully to report.

Yoshio Shinozuka's pupils shrank suddenly. What he feared was really coming true.

"Read!"

"Hi!" Toyotomi Jiro nodded again and said, "The front army headquarters sent a telegram to ask what happened to the missing flag of the 226th Infantry Regiment of the Locust Army?"

As expected, because of this incident, Yoshio Shinozuka's last bit of hope was shattered.

He then looked at the Chief of Staff Kusunokichi next to him and said, "Kusunoshi, please continue what you just said."

Kusunokichi Kusunokichi: "The fact that the Osaka Division annihilated the 386th Brigade Independent Regiment of the Eighth Route Army should be true. With the strength of the Osaka Division, it would not be difficult to annihilate the Eighth Route Army as long as they found it.

As for the news broadcast by the Communist Party’s Chinese News Agency, I think it is very likely to be nonsense, and its purpose is just to confuse the public and cause internal strife among the locust army. Now it seems that the Communist Party of China has obviously achieved its goal. "

Shinozuka Yoshio said: "Then the 37th Infantry Regiment of the 226th Division has completely lost contact, including the Matsushita Battalion and Kurai Battalion under its command. How do you explain this?"

Kusunokichi pondered for a moment and said, "I think they must have fallen into the trap of the Chinese Eighth Route Army and had an accident."

Shinozuka Yoshio's face darkened instantly, but he heard Kusunokichi change the subject and continue, "However, even if the 226th Infantry Regiment of the Locust Army encounters an accident, or even the entire army is destroyed, the regiment flag cannot be lost and fall into the hands of the Chinese Eighth Route Army.

Because each flag of the Locust Army is closely protected by a special flag guard team. Once the situation is not right, the Locust Army of the flag guard team will hold a burning ceremony at the first opportunity to burn the flag of the Locust Army to prevent it from falling into the hands of the enemy.

The best proof of this is that the 22nd Infantry Regiment and the 3rd Infantry Regiment of the Locust Army were also destroyed one after another, but the regiment flags did not fall into the hands of the enemy.

Therefore, the worst outcome would be the annihilation of the 226th Infantry Regiment of the Locust Army, but not the loss of the regiment flag. "

"As for the emergence of two independent regiments of the Eighth Route Army, this is very easy to explain. Since the Kuomintang and the Communist Party jointly fought against the Japanese in 1937, the Eighth Route Army was reorganized and had only three divisions, six brigades and 3 regiments.

However, as the Eighth Route Army continued to grow and develop, the Nationalist government refused to provide them with new unit numbers. The Eighth Route Army had no choice but to find another way and named these newly formed regiments such as Independent Regiment, Independent First Regiment, and Independent Second Regiment.

Therefore, it is quite normal for the Eighth Route Army to have one or more independent regiments.”

"Soga!" Shinozuka Yoshio nodded in realization, as if listening to your words was better than raising pigs for ten years. He then asked, "But what if the damn Communist Chinese Society insists that they have seized the flag of the Locust Army and refuses to change its words? What should we do?"

Kusunokichi Hideyoshi: "It's very simple. Never admit it, and immediately send a telegram to the three armed forces to inform them of the matter. Let the news media of the empire report that the Chinese Eighth Route Army suffered a defeat, but they never admit it and are throwing dirty water on our Great Japanese Locust Army!"

After a pause, Kusunokichi changed the subject and said sinisterly, "In fact, it doesn't matter whether the locust army's flag is lost or not, as long as the locust army refuses to admit it."

"Soga!" Shinozuka Yoshio nodded again. Kusuyama Hideyoshi's words really woke him up. He was just worried and confused, so he didn't grasp the key point of the matter for a while. Now he suddenly understood.

"Toyotomi-kun!"

"Hi Yi!"

The head of the Communications Section, Toyotomi Jiro, quickly stood at attention and bowed his head.

"Immediately send a telegram to the Front Army Headquarters, saying that the flag of the 226th Locust Army Regiment was not lost and that this was completely slander by the Chinese.

As for why there are two independent regiments of the Eighth Route Army, it is because the newly formed regiments of the Eighth Route Army are all called independent regiments! "

"Hi Yi!"

Toyotomi Hideyoshi bowed his head again and was about to turn around and leave, but was stopped by Shinozuka Yoshio.

"Wait a moment!"

Toyotomi Hideyoshi turned around and looked at Shinozuka Yoshio in confusion: "Commander-in-chief, do you have any other instructions?"

Shinozuka Yoshio: "Send a telegram to Kitano-kun of the Osaka Division and Hirata-kun of the 37th Division, and find out the details of the 226th Infantry Regiment of the Locust Army. And at all costs, annihilate the damned 386th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army!
Not only their newly formed independent regiment, but also their main regiment. In short, all the Eighth Route Army in the Taihang area must be wiped out!"

"Hi Yi!"

Toyotomi Jiro bowed his head again. He waited for a while and made sure that Commander Yoshio Shinozuka had no other instructions before he turned around and left to send a telegram.

……

Beiping.

Japanese North China Front Headquarters.

After receiving the reply from the 1st Army, Chief of Staff Naosaburo Okabe immediately reported to General Okamura Yasuji.

"Commander, this is the situation. It seems that it is just as I expected. All this is a conspiracy of the Communist Party!"

Okamura Neiji nodded expressionlessly: "That would be best! Immediately send a telegram to the three armies, and at the same time give instructions to the Empire's news media, asking them to slam back on this matter and save the face of the Empire's locust army."

After a pause, the old devil continued, "Also, call Shinozuka-kun back and order him to severely damage or even completely wipe out the Eighth Route Army in the Taihang area in the shortest possible time!
Any verbal battle is meaningless. The best proof is to inflict fatal losses on the Tubalu!"

"Hi Yi!"

Okabe Naosaburo bowed his head heavily, then turned around and left to make arrangements personally.

……

Taihang area.

Osaka Division Headquarters.

Lieutenant General Kitano Kenzo, the division commander, also received the news broadcast by the Communist Party’s Chinese News Agency. He was surprised and said, “I never thought that the combat effectiveness of the Eighth Route Army was so terrifying that they wiped out a reorganized infantry regiment of the Locust Army in just a few hours and also captured the Locust Army’s regiment flag.

You know, before this, one infantry regiment of the Locust Army could defeat two reorganized divisions of the China Central Army!"

The Chief of Staff Colonel Matsuo Yoshisuke said: "Not only that, while ambushing the 226th Infantry Regiment of the Locust Army, the Eighth Route Army was able to allocate excess troops to block other Locust Army reinforcements and inflicted heavy damage on them.

Moreover, this is not the full strength of the Eighth Route Army, because according to reports from the 36nd and 222rd Infantry Regiments of the 223th Division, traces of the Eighth Route Army were also found on their side.

However, the Eighth Route Army did not want to fight and fled after a brief encounter.

This is just one brigade of the Eighth Route Army."

Kitano Kenzo: "Fortunately, we chose to cooperate with the Eighth Route Army. Otherwise, even though our Osaka Division is much stronger than the 37th Division, if we engage in a firefight with the Eighth Route Army, we will definitely suffer immeasurable losses."

Matsuo Yoshisuke nodded in agreement, then suddenly realized something, his face changed and he said hurriedly, "Something bad is happening!"

Kitano Kenzo was stunned and asked, "Matsuo-kun, what's the matter?"

Yoshisuke Matsuo: "When we reported the results of the battle to the 1st Army Headquarters, we said that the independent regiment of the 386th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army was wiped out by us. Please read the report of the Communist Party's China News Agency carefully.

It was the independent regiment of the 226th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army that annihilated the 386th Infantry Regiment of the Locust Army. This is really self-defeating and self-contradictory!"

Kitano Kenzo's heart was in his throat, and his face changed drastically. At this moment, a communications staff rushed in from outside, walked up to Kitano Kenzo, bowed respectfully, and reported: "Commander, there is an urgent telegram from the 1st Army Headquarters!"

"It's over, it's over..." Kitano Kenzo's heart suddenly skipped a beat and his face looked as ugly as if he had lost his parents.

It was the Chief of Staff Matsuo Yoshisuke who took the message and exclaimed in delight: "Hahaha! Your Excellency, the division commander, that idiot Shinozuka Yoshio didn't doubt us!"

"What?" Kitano Kenzo was stunned, then he took the telegram from Matsuo Yoshisuke and read it carefully. Then he smiled brightly and said, "Yes, the new regiments of the Eighth Route Army are all called independent regiments. It was actually Shinozuka Yoshio who made it up for us. Why didn't I think of it?"

……

Kenan Slope.

Headquarters of the Second War Zone of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army.

Naturally, Yan Laoxi also received the report from the Communist Party’s China News Agency, and he immediately convened an emergency military meeting on the matter.

At the meeting, Yan Laoxi was shocked by the strength displayed by the Eighth Route Army, but was also angry at their lack of fighting spirit, so he severely reprimanded the senior generals under his command.

"Why can the Eighth Route Army repeatedly achieve remarkable successes, while our Shanxi Suiyuan Army suffers defeat after defeat? What is the difference between our Shanxi Suiyuan Army and the Eighth Route Army? Is our Shanxi Suiyuan Army inferior to their Eighth Route Army?"

All the senior generals hung their heads. They couldn't respond to this.

They all knew that their CEO was angry. Who would dare to be the first to stand out and face the wrath of CEO Yan Laoxi?

The best option is to bury your head in your crotch.

When Yan Laoxi had almost finished scolding, a senior general who was good at flattery spoke up, "Please calm down, General. The reason why the Eighth Route Army was able to achieve some results is entirely because our Shanxi Suiyuan Army has tied down the main force of the Japanese invaders in the front. They roamed around without fighting and conserved their strength, so they occasionally achieved some results and then boasted about it."

Fu Yisheng, deputy commander of the Second War Zone and commander-in-chief of the Seventh Army, immediately retorted: "This is wrong. The Eighth Route Army is not a guerrilla army. They will attack the Japanese invaders whenever they have the chance. Even if other friendly troops are in danger, they will provide assistance at the first opportunity.

Not to mention the Battle of Xinkou in 37, when the Eighth Route Army took the initiative and created the Niangziguan victory.

Just talking about the Hundred Regiments Campaign in the previous two months, did they also just roam around without fighting?
And this time, facing the mopping-up and encirclement of two and a half divisions of the Japanese invaders, they were forced to fight back, but instead achieved the unprecedented feat of annihilating an entire Japanese infantry regiment and seizing the Japanese regiment flag. Could it be that they were also just marching around without fighting?
Two and a half divisions. This was probably the only force the Japanese invaders deployed in the Battle of Xinkou, right?

Let me ask you, if you were facing such a powerful enemy, could you achieve such results?

Or did you attract the main force of the Japanese invaders to the front line this time, and the Eighth Route Army actually faced only one infantry regiment of the Japanese invaders? "

The senior general bowed his head and shut up. There was no way to respond to this.

Even Old Man Yan's expression became extremely unnatural. Why did he feel like Fu Yishen was pointing at him?
Just when the atmosphere became extremely awkward, Yan Laoxi's attendant guard adjutant suddenly rushed in from outside.

Everyone looked over at the same time. They all knew Zhang Riming's identity, and when they saw it was him, they all shut their mouths.

Yan Laoxi asked, "Riming, why are you so anxious?"

Zhang Riming: "Report to the commander-in-chief, there is an urgent telegram from the command headquarters."

"Chang Kaishen? What did he say in the telegram?" Yan Laoxi's expression changed, because it was certain that something bad was going to happen when this guy sent a telegram.

As expected, after listening to Zhang Riming's report, Yan Laoxi's face suddenly darkened: "This Chang Kai-shen really has a good plan. He actually wants to use me to take the Japanese invaders' flag from the Eighth Route Army. Why doesn't he go himself?"

Fu Yisheng said: "The Eighth Route Army is under the jurisdiction of our Second War Zone and is under your jurisdiction, not directly under the command of the headquarters. If the chairman speaks directly, it will be suspected of overstepping his authority.

Therefore, it is indeed most appropriate for you to speak up.

Moreover, this is not a bad thing for us, on the contrary it is a good thing. "

Yan Laoxi asked in confusion: "Oh? Yisheng, what do you mean?"

Fu Yisheng said: "General, you see, after you get the Japanese invaders' regiment flag, you can ask the media reporters to take a few more photos and publicize it. It will not only boost the morale of the soldiers, but also enhance your reputation among the people. It can be said to kill two birds with one stone.

I just said that the Eighth Route Army is under the jurisdiction of our Second War Zone. The military exploits they have made are the military exploits made by you, the General?"

"That makes sense." Yan Laoxi nodded, and a smile reappeared on his face.

Fu Yisheng added: "Besides, once we get the Japanese invaders' flag, you can make a copy and hand it over to the chairman, and we can keep the real one."

"Yisheng, it's you who has to choose. This is a good idea. Let's do as you say!" The smile on Yan Laoxi's face became even brighter.

……

Eighth Route Army Headquarters.

When the head of the headquarters saw the telegram sent by Yan Laoxi, his expression suddenly became extremely interesting, and he could not help but cursed: "This damn Yan Laoxi is really good at calculating. He just said a few nice words and didn't give us a penny, but he wanted to get something for nothing and take away our regiment flag. What the hell is he thinking?"

This matter was of great importance, and the head of the Eighth Route Army headquarters did not make a decision on his own, but immediately reported the matter to Yan'an.

After some discussion, it was considered that if the flag of the regiment was handed over to Yan Laoxi, and Yan Laoxi or even Chiang Kai-shek was responsible for promoting it, the effect would be very significant.

In the end, they accepted Yan Laoxi's request and agreed to hand over the regiment flag to Yan Laoxi, but they required Yan Laoxi to exchange it for the weapons and equipment of a reorganized infantry regiment, five basic quantities of ammunition, and one year's food and wages.

Of course, what was replaced was also a replica!
……

Kenan Slope.

The Second War Zone Commander's Department.

Yan Laoxi looked at the documents in his hand, his face suddenly turned as dark as the bottom of a pot: "Damn it! The weapons and equipment of a reorganized infantry regiment, five basic ammunition, plus a year's food and wages! Why don't they rob them?"

Fu Yisheng next to him said: "General, I believe I don't need to elaborate on the significance of the regiment flag to the Japanese invaders, right?

So, I think this flag is worth the price."

Yan Laoxi: "Of course I know that the Japanese invaders' regiment flag is worth this price, but it was clearly Chiang Kai-shek who asked for it. Why should we pay for it, or support the Eighth Route Army?"

Fu Yisheng: "Boss, you also said that it was the chairman who asked for it, so if that's the case, then naturally the chairman needs to pay for it.

Moreover, you can raise the price a little bit, for example, ask the chairman for the weapons and equipment of a reorganized brigade or even a reorganized division."

Yan Laoxi's eyes suddenly lit up, and he said happily: "This is a good idea, Yisheng, and it's you who came up with it, why didn't I think of it?
I will do as you say and send a telegram to Chiang Kai-shek immediately, asking him to reimburse me. Let's see what he says."

"Yes, sir!"

Fu Yisheng nodded heavily, then turned and left, going to the confidential room to send a telegram in person...

...(End of chapter)