Anti-Japanese War: I have unlimited assistance

Chapter 150: The raid can be lost, but Li Yunlong must die.

"General."

Lieutenant Colonel Ichiro Ichiro, the communications staff officer, walked in quickly and reported to Itagaki with a happy face:
"Just now, General Terauchi, the commander of the front army, sent a telegram stating that the locust army completely captured Nanjing, the capital of the Republic of China, yesterday."

Itagaki Seishirō suddenly turned his head, the joy on his face evident.

Toshiji Miura and Toshio Nishimura also showed surprise on their faces, not to mention the Japanese staff officers in the Operations Department, all of them had ecstasy on their faces.

"Yoshi!"

"Yoshi!"

Itagaki Seishirō took the telegram and looked at it, his eyes almost narrowed into slits.

Why did the Japanese army invade China?

In addition to plundering resources, there are also reasons within Japan itself, because Japan is an island country with a small land area and is located on a plate fault zone, so natural disasters such as volcanoes and earthquakes occur frequently.

After invading China, Japan not only had fertile land, but also abundant coal mines and metals, which were resources needed for the various industrial revolutions. Japan was able to plunder resources, seize population and food, and quickly develop Japan into the most powerful country in the world.

"Onboard!"

A combat staff officer led the shouting.

"Onboard!"

"Onboard!"

"..."

A group of Japanese officers, including Itagaki Seishirō, raised their hands above their heads with fanatical eyes and shouted every time.

Itagaki Seishirō ordered, "Isai-kun, immediately inform all the locust troops in Jin Province of this victory and allow them to celebrate."

"Hi."

Ichiro Desai suddenly lowered his head, turned around with a happy expression and quickly notified all Japanese troops.

Major General Miura Toshiji said, "Your Excellency, the fact that the locust army captured Nanjing, the capital of the Republic of China, in just over ten days shows that the people of this country have no sense of home and country. The soldiers are afraid to fight to the death to resist foreign invasion, and the people will succumb to imperial rule. Such a country and nation are easy to conquer, just like the Sino-Japanese War of 10-. The Chinese army was defeated in one blow, and the locust army will quickly complete the holy war."

The Japanese army's capture of Nanjing, the capital of the Republic of China, gave a shot in the arm to Toshiji Miura and a group of Japanese combat staff.

The Japanese were full of confidence, believing that it was only a matter of time before the locust army completely conquered China, and that this time would not be long.

Itagaki Seishirō shook his head. "The Chinese are a nation with a cultural history spanning over 5,000 years. Once faced with national crisis, their people's patriotic consciousness will awaken to an unprecedented degree. Once this consciousness is aroused, it can unleash astonishing power."

Although Itagaki was arrogant, he had been active in China for more than 20 years and was well versed in Chinese culture and history.

Like General Okamura Yasuji and Kenji Doima, Itagaki has been engaged in espionage activities in China for a long time and is a China expert.

Itagaki originally thought that the locust army would be able to take over North China as easily as they had invaded Northeast China, but he underestimated the resistance of the Chinese army.

Although the Japanese army successfully captured most of North China, it also paid a considerable price.

Miura Toshiji was stunned: "Your Excellency, Division Commander, do you have no confidence in the locust army's conquest of China?"

"No!"

Itagaki Seishirō sneered, "I have more confidence in the holy war than anyone else. Although the Chinese have initially shown signs of unity, the Empire is already an industrial nation, while China is nothing more than a semi-colonial, semi-feudal agricultural country. The Empire will surely win this war, and the locust army will surely triumph."

"However, the process is destined not to be as smooth as the locust army's conquest of Manchuria."

Toshiji Miura nodded, fully agreeing with Lieutenant General Itagaki's idea.

Japan's annual iron output is more than 300 million tons, while China's is less than 10 tons; Japan's annual steel output is 640 million tons, while China's is less than tons.

China is unable to produce aircraft and tanks at all, and can only produce some light weapons, such as rifles and light machine guns.

Japan can already build aircraft carriers, not to mention airplanes and tanks.

At present, the total strength of the Japanese army is more than 400 million, and the Japanese army is well-trained and well-equipped. The Chinese army is not at the same level as them.

Yamashita Tomoyuki, the acting commander of the 20th Division, walked in quickly. "Lieutenant General Itagaki, has the Empire captured Nanjing, the capital of the Republic of China?"

"That's right. I just received a telegram from General Terauchi as well."

Itagaki Seishirō was in a good mood and handed the telegram in his hand to Yamashita Tomoyuki.

Yamashita Tomoyuki couldn't help but feel ecstatic after reading the telegram.

Captured the capital of the Republic of China.

Are we still far from conquering the whole of China?
Itagaki Seishirō read the second telegram, his brows raised slightly:
"The locust army is preparing to attack the strategic city of Xuzhou. General Terauchi Juichi has ordered me to lead the 21st Brigade to the Xuzhou battlefield."

Everyone looked at the map on the wall and cast their eyes on Xuzhou on the map.

"Yoshi."

Yamashita Tomoyuki pointed to the map and analyzed, "Our North China Front Army has occupied major cities such as Beijing, Tianjin, Taiyuan, and Zhangjiakou, and has pushed the Chinese army to the south bank of the Yellow River."

"The locust army in the south has already captured the Yangtze River Delta in Shanghai, Nanjing, and Hangzhou, and has concentrated its heavy troops in the southern section of the Jinpu Railway."

"After capturing Xuzhou, we can open up the Jinpu Line, allowing the northern and southern locust armies to join forces and seize the Central Plains."

"There's an old Chinese saying: 'Whoever controls the Central Plains controls the world.'" "The Central Plains boasts flat and fertile land, abundant resources, a dense population, and abundant labor."

"The invasion of Huaxia and the conquest of China are just around the corner."

Yamashita Tomoyuki did have some knowledge, and his analysis made the Japanese staff officers very excited.

Itagaki Seishirō was also full of confidence. He turned his gaze towards southeastern Shanxi Province, his eyes narrowed with murderous intent. "This time, the Locust Army will attack southeastern Shanxi and win. Even if the attack fails, Li Yunlong and his troops must be eliminated."

Itagaki’s meaning was very simple: the mopping-up operation could be lost, but Li Yunlong must die.

After defeating the Japanese army, they still sent a telegram to mock Itagaki, saying that he was the transport team leader of the Eighth Route Army, which made Itagaki very angry.

If the 5th Division was not needed on the Xuzhou battlefield, Itagaki would even want to lead his troops to attack southeastern Shanxi personally.

"According to intelligence, Division Commander Kawagishi was killed by this man."

"Please rest assured, Lieutenant General Itagaki. I will do my best to capture this man alive and let him experience the bittersweet torture. Then, I will chop off his head and make a specimen of it as a tribute to Division Commander Kawagishi and the Locust Army soldiers who died in battle."

When talking about the Eighth Route Army's Li Yunlong, Yamashita Fengwen was so angry that he gritted his teeth.

Even the division commander's head was chopped off by Li Yunlong. It was a shame for the entire 20th Division. It would not be enough to wash away the shame if Li Yunlong was not eliminated.

"To eliminate the Eighth Route Army in southeastern Shanxi, we must pay attention to two issues."

"The first thing is to find out the location of Li Yunlong and his troops as soon as possible."

"The second is to prevent the Eighth Route Army from attacking the Locust Army's supply lines."

"Before the 5th Division leaves, I will have Nishimura-kun prepare a plan to attack the Eighth Route Army in southeastern Shanxi."

Itagaki is about to lead his troops from Shanxi Province to the Xuzhou battlefield, and the Shanxi Province battlefield will be mainly under the responsibility of Yamashita Tomoyuki.

"Hi." Yamashita Tomoyuki said, "Thank you very much, Lieutenant General Itagaki!"

"There's no need to say thank you. Today is a day worth celebrating, Yamashita-kun. Let's drink together to celebrate later."

"Lieutenant General Itagaki, before we celebrate, I will draft a clear-text telegram."

……

at the same time.

Southeastern Shanxi.

Shangzhuang Village.

The new regiment headquarters.

"Jinling has fallen."

This was a telegram just sent from the headquarters. Li Yunlong immediately summoned the company and platoon leaders of each battalion of the New 1st Regiment and announced the news.

"too fast."

"In just five months, Jinling fell."

Chen Ziyuan looked at the telegram in his hand and frowned.

Although the Battle of Shanghai shattered the Japanese army's dream of destroying China in three months, it was only five months before the July 7 Incident and the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan.

The atmosphere in the regiment headquarters was somewhat solemn.

Even though the Eighth Route Army won some victories in North China, it was still not enough compared to the fall of the capital.

This was undoubtedly a heavy blow to the national army and civilians in the war of resistance, but it was an encouragement and inspiration to the Japanese invaders.

As one side gains strength while the other loses strength, the situation becomes very bad.

Zhao Gang said, "The main reason is that the Battle of Shanghai was fought poorly. If the Battle of Shanghai had been fought better, Nanjing would not have fallen so quickly. In the early stages of the Battle of Shanghai, the National Army had several opportunities to counterattack and drive the Japanese into the sea. However, every time at the critical moment of the counterattack, Chiang Kai-shek intervened and ordered the troops to stop the attack, hoping for international mediation. This led to a stalemate with the Japanese in Shanghai, missing the opportunity to counterattack. Once the Japanese naval reinforcements arrived, the National Army could only fall into a passive defense. In addition, the National Army neglected the defense of the rear, allowing the Japanese to land at Jinshanwei and cut off their retreat. In addition, the retreat was not timely, and there was no pre-formulated retreat plan and emergency plan. The hundreds of thousands of troops retreated in a swarm, resulting in a large number of stampedes and casualties. The Battle of Shanghai was truly fought poorly."

During this period, the headquarters would send people to deliver or send telegrams to inform each brigade and regiment of the situation on the southern battlefield.

Boss Lin would also send intelligence information on Songhu and Nanjing, which basically matched the information conveyed by the headquarters, but with many more details.

Li Yunlong nodded. "That's what they call an incompetent general exhausting the entire army. The officers and soldiers of the Nationalist Army who died in Shanghai and Nanjing were all good men. It's a shame they had to have Chiang Kai-shek as their commander. I really feel so sorry for them."

The battalion commanders and company and platoon leaders expressed their opinions one after another.

Political Commissar Zhong also did ideological work. Although Nanjing fell, it did not shake the determination of the commander of the New 1st Regiment to persist in the war of resistance.

"Report."

At this moment, the radio operator Zhang Zhilian walked in quickly with a telegram in his hand:
"Commander, Political Commissar, this is a clear-text telegram just sent from the Japanese headquarters in Taiyuan. It's targeting our commander."

"Oh? What did that old devil Itagaki say?" Li Yunlong showed curiosity on his face.

"This telegram was sent by the devil Yamashita Fengwen. The devil said that the Chinese capital Nanjing has been occupied by the Japanese army and China is dead in name only. He asked you, the commander, to lay down your arms and surrender immediately. The Japanese army will spare your life, otherwise you will be beheaded." Zhang Zhilian replied.

Political Commissar Zhong laughed and said, "Wow! This little Jap is also using clear text telegraph!"

Li Yunlong snorted coldly, "Did I grow up scared? It seems that old devil Yamashita Fengwen is also itching for trouble."

(End of this chapter)