You were tasked with guarding the Sihang Warehouse, and you brought out a Tiger tank?

Beiping.

Inside the North China Area Army Headquarters, General Terauchi Hisaichi was sitting at his luxurious mahogany dining table, enjoying lunch prepared by a Gallic chef he had specially arranged from the embassy district.

As a count born into the imperial nobility, Terauchi Hisaichi always had high standards for his quality of life.

But today, he frowned as he looked at the food in front of him.

"Ugh, my stomach is really upset today."

Terauchi Hisaichi put down his knife and fork, wiped his mouth with a clean white napkin, and complained to the waiter beside him:

"I had no appetite at all. At noon, I only ate two thick-cut steaks, a roast chicken, two pears and an apple."

This is far less than usual.

The attendant next to him twitched his lips slightly, thinking to himself, "Your appetite is enough to feed three ordinary soldiers for a day. You call this not having an appetite?"

But the servant still bowed respectfully and quickly removed the empty plate.

Terauchi Hisaichi stood up, patted his round belly, and sighed.

This is so worrying.

He's been having a really tough time lately.

Originally, he was busy stabilizing the situation in the Beijing-Tianjin area and collecting spineless traitors from all over the country, trying to establish a stable rule in North China.

In Shanxi Province, the Yan faction of warlords was defeated by the Imperial Army, and the major city of Jincheng also fell into their hands.

He was preparing to send someone to make contact and try to persuade the Yan faction warlords to surrender directly, so as to take over the entire Shanxi province without bloodshed.

But who knew, trouble was brewing in the backyard.

In the Taihang Mountains area, those peasant Eighth Route Army soldiers were like unkillable fleas.

They launched attacks in all directions, tearing down railways, blowing up bridges, and destroying pillboxes.

The ruling order that the Imperial Army had worked so hard to establish was utterly destroyed by them.

The grain and coal collected from various places could not be transported out at all; they were all intercepted by the Eighth Route Army.

Ordinary puppet troops would be no match for them.

If the main force of the Imperial Army were to be dispatched, they could defeat them, but they would not be able to capture the main force of the Eighth Route Army.

This forced Terauchi Hisaichi to withdraw more regular Imperial Army troops from the front lines, dispersing them into company-sized units to maintain order in the rear.

This has left him with very limited troops.

As a result, in the past two days, I first received a telegram from Seishiro Itagaki requesting assistance, and then I received a barrage of reprimands and pressure from headquarters.

Terauchi Hisaichi felt that his blood pressure, which was already high due to his obesity, was about to spike to 250.

"Your Excellency Commander."

Lieutenant General Naosaburo Okabe, Chief of Staff of the Army Group, strode into the dining hall with a stack of documents in his hand.

"Go to the operations room and tell them."

Terauchi Hisaichi waved his hand and walked into the spacious operations room with his hands behind his back.

In front of the huge sand table, Naosaburo Okabe picked up his baton and began to explain the reinforcements that the North China Area Army could currently deploy.

"Your Excellency, as per your instructions, we have reviewed the current troop deployment."

Naosaburo Okabe pointed in the direction of Shanxi Province:

"First, let's talk about Shanxi Province."

The planned large-scale suppression of the Eighth Route Army had to be temporarily suspended.

We can first detach two infantry regiments, transport them back to Beijing and Tianjin by rail, and then head south.

However, this process requires relaying orders to reunite the scattered soldiers and arranging trains; it's estimated that it will take at least five days to reach the Beijing-Tianjin area.

Terauchi Hisaichi frowned. "Too slow. It's too late; a distant solution won't quench an immediate thirst. Anything else?"

"Secondly, there was the 106th Division, which was prepared to be deployed to the Jinpu Railway operation from the rear."

Naosaburo Okabe shifted the baton towards the Bohai Bay:

"We can have them change their original route and immediately go to Tianjin to take a boat, which will take them directly to Qingcheng Port by sea."

This requires coordination with the Navy to arrange for naval escort.

Sea transport is fast; if all goes well, the advance force can land at Qingcheng Port in four to five days.

"That's fine, get it done right away." Terauchi Hisashi nodded.

"The fastest is the 114th Division currently stationed in Qingcheng Port."

Naosaburo Okabe pointed emphatically at the location of Qingcheng Port:

"Their 102nd Infantry Regiment can immediately leave the city to provide reinforcements."

With coordinated efforts from both inside and outside, they opened up the supply line from Qingcheng Port to the 5th Division.

If we're lucky, we can directly support the 5th Division and retreat to Qingcheng Port to defend the city.

"There's one last way."

Naosaburo Okabe pointed his baton along the Jinpu Railway line:

"The 15th Independent Mixed Brigade, operating in coordination with the 10th Division along the Jinpu Railway."

They were equipped with a large number of tanks and trucks, giving them extremely high mobility.

This would allow them to immediately break away from the Tengxian battlefield, move rapidly eastward, and strike directly at the flank of Lin Feng's troops.

After listening to the chief of staff's report, Terauchi Hisaichi stared at the sand table and fell into deep thought.

retreat?

How could the mighty 5th Division be driven back to the port like a coward by the Great Xia army?

If this gets out, where will he put his face as the commander of the North China Area Army?

Terauchi Hisaichi was not on the front lines in southern Shandong, so he had no idea of ​​the terrifying artillery barrage that Itagaki Seishiro had encountered.

In his view, Itagaki Seishiro was simply stunned and terrified by Lin Feng's initial fierce attack.

"Hmph, Itagaki, that coward."

Terauchi Hisaichi snorted coldly, a hint of disdain flashing in his eyes:

"When faced with a little setback, they casually send a message to headquarters complaining about their misfortunes, which is a disgrace to the samurai."

No matter how powerful Lin Feng is, how many artillery shells can he possibly have?

"Don't we know what a mess the industrial base of Great Xia is?"

Terauchi Hisaichi made a fatal misjudgment with complete confidence:

"Fighting a war is like running a marathon."

Lin Feng came out so fiercely, throwing out all the shells, which looked terrifying.

But he'll definitely falter later on.

Without artillery shells, what will his infantry use to fight our Imperial Army? Bayonet combat?

"What does Your Excellency mean, Commander?" Naosaburo Okabe asked tentatively.

Terauchi Hisaichi did not answer immediately, but instead walked slowly around the huge sand table with his hands behind his back.

His mind was racing, calculating the exaggerated figures mentioned in Itagaki Seishiro's telegram.

"Okabe-kun, think about it carefully."

Terauchi Hisaichi stopped and pointed to the Linyi region on the sand table:

"Itagaki lamented in the telegram that the Chinese army surrounding him numbered seven to ten divisions."

But Lin Feng's 33rd Army Corps, at most, consisted of two corps, four divisions, and one brigade.

Naosaburo Okabe frowned and thought for a moment: "You mean, Lieutenant General Itagaki deliberately exaggerated the number of enemy troops to cover up his incompetence?"

"He might exaggerate the enemy's firepower, but he would never lie about the size of the encirclement; the battle lines cannot be faked."

Terauchi Hisaichi sneered, displaying an air of shrewd wisdom as if he had already seen through everything:

"To be able to completely surround an Imperial Class A division, the Chinese must have deployed an extremely large force."

Besides Lin Feng's 33rd Army Corps, there must be other major forces.

Have you forgotten about the unit that intelligence has been monitoring?

Naosaburo Okabe suddenly realized what was happening and gasped.

"You mean... Tang's 20th Army Corps of the Central Army?!"