Age of Conquest Reborn

Chapter 474: Sharpening the Knife

Although Liu Tiehan's press conference stabilized the overall situation, ordinary people gradually calmed down when they saw the top commander of the Central Army stationed in Shandong come out to speak. However, Jinan City Manager Han Fuju made such a fuss, but it was like a frozen river, showing calm.

There is a turbulent undercurrent underneath.

There is a road ahead and a road behind. All the officials of the Shandong Provincial Government, large and small, are like this when they see Your Excellency the Chairman. Those who do not have their own small calculations are busy transferring their property and arranging a way out. In addition, wealthy businessmen and shopkeepers are also panicking.

For a time, the number of people fleeing Jinan increased greatly.

Liu Tiehan was furious. According to his previous temper, he would have arrested Han Fuju a long time ago, but he could not do so now. Unfortunately, he finally found Han Fuju in a hidden villa in the countryside, hoping that he could appear in public.

, publicly declare their determination to resist Japan, in order to encourage and stabilize the hearts of the Qilu elders.

Unexpectedly, Chairman Han Fuju Han shook his head and claimed that he had established a headquarters in a hidden place to coordinate and command all the units of the 11th Group Army. It was not appropriate to appear in public to avoid attracting the attention of Japanese agents and exposing his strategic intentions.

, and he plausibly said that he destroyed his family and faced national calamity, but no, all his properties and factories were sold out.

Liu Tiehan was speechless for a while. He really didn't know what to say to Chairman Han. He had seen thick-skinned people before, but never such a shameless one. He was clearly arranging a way out for himself, but he said it openly and openly.

He knew that Han Fuju could not count on him, so he secretly ordered a group of elite troops to quietly guard the flanks and rear of Han Fuju's 11th Group Army in case of any eventuality. At the same time, he also stationed a battalion of troops near the Jinan Airport to prepare for necessary situations.

At that time, it was better to accept Han Fuju's Shandong Air Force in its entirety than to fall into the hands of the Japanese.

Liu Tiehan truthfully reported the situation in Shandong to Tang Qiuli. Tang Qiuli only said that the Communist Party would independently complete all the defense of Shandong. If necessary, he could take over the command of the 11th Group Army. The letter of appointment was then issued. Tang Qiuli

Li made the worst plan, that is, in Shandong, only Liu Tiehan's troops under East Command would face a Japanese army that was more than twice his strength.

Tang Enbo, commander of the Eighth Army Corps who set up a headquarters in Luoyang, Henan and commanded 230,000 troops, received a telegram from Tang Qiuli, commander-in-chief of the Yellow River Basin Theater Command, and threw the telegram on the table with no expression on his face.

He muttered something, and the staff officers next to him vaguely heard "Huangkou kid!"

He was in an emergency. There was a large cocktail party held by the Luoyang General Chamber of Commerce. He, the top officer of the Central Military Forces in Henan, would not attend. The reception must not start. As he hurried out, the adjutant beside him reminded him how he should repay the war zone commander.

Headquarters? Tang Enbo said impatiently: "Let the chief of staff handle such small matters. From now on, leave all telegrams to me. We will prioritize them. Do you understand?"

Tang Qiuli was building up his troops in North China, preparing to face more than 900,000 Japanese troops. Tang Qiusheng, who was in Hangzhou Bay, was not idle either. Taking advantage of the short period of calm, the army's defenses were fully completed and all preparations were completed.

Ready, but the Eighth Army troops in front made him increasingly worried.

The wind that wants to disband the Eighth Army has also reached here. These motley crews and security forces have no intention of enduring here. Discipline has become more and more lax, they are stealing and harassing the neighbors. From time to time, there are gray-haired old people crying.

I shouted to find here, either my daughter and daughter-in-law were raped, or the only valuable thing in the house was robbed openly or covertly.

No official came out to speak. Later, he got fed up and simply shot to scare the people. Zhang Fakui also lost his mind and even more let go. He ran to Hangzhou City to hide, leaving nearly 100,000 scattered troops here.

Let the duck go.

The powerful local factions of the Chinese Communist Party and some generals, each with their own personal agenda and without the slightest awareness of the coming crisis, were scheming among themselves, fighting for power and profit, and causing a lot of trouble.

Only Zhang Zhizhong, who was guarding Shanghai, did not relax at all. Tang Qiuli's words always echoed in his ears. Others clamored to reduce the number of troops stationed in Songhu area, but he went to Chairman Chiang and talked about his powerful connections and used soft words and hard words.

He asked Chairman Chiang to add two more divisions to his force, so that the number of troops guarding the Shanghai area reached more than 90,000.

After the disastrous defeat in the First Battle of Songhu, Japan set off a wave of review of military failures. The land and sea forces were reorganized and focused on the synthesis and coordination drills of air, sea, tank, artillery, infantry and other arms.

Emperor Hirohito and others have re-evaluated China's military strength, put away their previous contempt, and regarded the Chinese Army as a powerful opponent and took it seriously.

In particular, the army of the Chinese devil Tang Qiuli, who presided over the military affairs of northern China, was listed as the number one opponent by the Japanese military. This was also the main reason why the Japanese army always maintained a huge military strength in North China. Those young officers were responsible for defeating Tang Qiuli.

The North China Army Division, as its ultimate goal, mobilized everyone in Japan with murderous intent.

While the Sino-Japanese armistice negotiations in Nanjing were still going on, on October 20th, Emperor Hirohito issued an order to the Japanese base camp to form a new combat force against China. At this time, the army and navy within the Japanese military circles were still arguing over the strategic direction.

Incessantly, the army insisted on launching an offensive from North China in accordance with the pre-war plan. After pacifying North China, the army went south to attack China's important commercial and industrial bases, the Suzhou and Hangzhou areas.

However, the navy still insists on attacking the Songhu area first and opening Shanghai, the gateway to the mainland of China along the river. The naval fleet can go up the Shuo River and capture Nanjing, the capital of China, and Wuhan, an important industrial base and transportation hub in East China, strategically dividing China into north and south.

After that, the army can eat the isolated China army in pieces.

The two opinions were at odds with each other, and they were quarreling fiercely. When their own interests were involved, giving in meant admitting defeat. Emperor Hirohito looked on calmly, and the senior generals of the army and navy, who were blushing and thick-necked in the quarrel, all

The real fire was triggered, and Hirohito felt sad. It was a good thing that the land and sea armies were fighting on their own, which reflected the courage and spirit of the Japanese Empire.

However, which one of you can understand my true heart and understand my long-term strategy? They are all for their own interests and lack the overall concept. This war is not fought. If it is fought, China must be conquered. In which direction?

Even if you start attacking, you won't be able to achieve the fatal effect with one hit.

Hirohito shouted coldly: "That's enough!" There was a sudden silence in the palace. His Majesty the Emperor was very angry, and the consequences were very serious. The senior military and naval generals who had been fighting like bulls just now all closed their mouths and stared at the unconvinced bulls.

He returned to his seat, looked at Emperor Hirohito's face, and speculated on the inner world of this moody Majesty.

Hirohito signaled to the chief of the general staff, Prince Kanin Giya Zai, who rushed back from North China to attend the military meeting. Zaihi bowed deeply to his elder brother, the emperor, and then announced the emperor's strategic intentions to the generals. In a nutshell,

, Yu

Ren's strategic intention was to launch large-scale attacks simultaneously in the North China and Songhu areas of China, first to seize Shanghai, and then, the northern and eastern armies would meet in Nanjing, the capital of China, to surround Wuhan, an important town in East China, and realize the strategic intention of dismembering China.

When the senior generals of the Japanese army and navy heard this, they all took a breath of air. His Majesty the Emperor's appetite was too great. However, this was the most effective way to completely solve the China problem, and the army and navy no longer had to have fierce disputes.

After reacting, he banged his brains out, applauded desperately, and all kinds of words of praise surrounded Emperor Hirohito like flying in the sky.

After the Emperor's Imperial Conference, the Japanese base camp began intensive preparations to organize various invading troops. The remnants of the former Shanghai Expeditionary Army were reorganized to strengthen one division and one brigade, and were assigned four heavy artillery regiments, with a total strength of

There are 100,000 people, with Masao Ishihara, the deputy chief of staff of the base camp, as the commander.

The main task of this department is to carry out landing at the original landing site. The purpose is to attract the Chinese troops around Songhuhang to come for emergency assistance, and to firmly attract the Chinese Shanghai garrison to the periphery of Shanghai. The requirement is to use the smallest possible force to

The price attracted the most Chinese troops to lead the Songhu area.

From Korea, Taiwan and Japan, the 6th, 18th, 21st, 114th Divisions, Kunisaki Detachment, Mountain Field Detachment, ** Mountain Artillery Second Regiment, 6th Field Heavy Artillery Brigade, and

1. The Second Reserve Infantry Regiment and other units, totaling about 170,000 people, formed the Tenth Army, with Lieutenant General Yanagawa Heisuke as the commander, preparing to launch landing operations to open up the situation.

The Tenth Army's operational essentials are as follows: 1. It is scheduled to land in the area near Jinshanwei in Hangzhou Bay at the end of October or early November, and quickly annihilate the weakly defended enemy forces in the landing area. The main force will advance towards the Huangpu River line in a rapid advance.

Capture Songjiang, cut off the Shanghai-Hangzhou Railway, and divide

The first part of the army attacked and advanced towards Wusong, Chuanshahekou, and Shizilin area to coordinate with the Shanghai dispatched troops; the second part, after crossing the Huangpu River, attacked and advanced toward the west and south of Shanghai, and cooperated with the Shanghai dispatched troops to eliminate the Chinese troops around Shanghai.

* team, quickly ending the Battle of Shanghai.

The 16th Division under the command of Nakajima Konsogo landed in Taicang, Jiangsu Province to coordinate the landing operations of the 10th Army and cut off the retreat route of the Chinese Army in the Songhu area.

It can be seen from Emperor Hirohito's strategic deployment that the Japanese Tenth Army was the main force in the Songhu Operation. The other two forces were auxiliary directions, especially the Shanghai Expedition Army, which was performing a difficult task. After the first

During the Battle of Songhu, the Chinese defenders had built a large number of reinforced fortifications outside Shanghai. As soon as the Shanghai dispatched troops landed, they would be forced to attack the fortifications one after another. The casualties could be imagined.

On the North China side, because the main opponent we face is the Yellow River Basin Theater Force commanded by the Chinese demon Tang Qiuli, it is a fierce and powerful opponent. North China will face huge difficulties. An effective solution is to use Pingjin as the base and Baoding as the base.

Launch an all-out attack on the central axis from multiple points and directions, scattering Tang Qiuli's troops in all directions, using our local superior forces to attack his local inferior forces.

(To be continued)