"Dear General Toshiro Hata, everyone, the base camp sent me to serve as the commander of the 11th Army. I am very nervous and feel very stressed. However, Okamura is a soldier, and the soldiers are obeying orders as their duty. Since the empire has given Okamura such a heavy burden, Okamura can only carry it on his shoulders. As for whether he can bear it, he still needs your help. Please!"

At the secret military meeting held by Shinroku Hata, Okamura Yasuji first put his posture low.

He knew that Shinroku Hata and some generals were very dissatisfied with the appointment of him as the commander of the 11th Army.

Especially the division commanders who were working, they all came to him with hostility, and this was a person who was competing for military achievements with them.

Once Okamura comes, once he captures Wuhan, the credit will not belong to these people who are doing it, but to this little dwarf who looks a bit like a serious tuberculosis.

Okamura Yanji is indeed very thin, and looks similar to the original Central China Expeditionary Force Commander Matsui Ishione.

And they are indeed all the same.

Matsui Ishione was almost pushed out as a scapegoat to calm public anger, and the decision made by the Imperial Conference was not to admit its mistakes, but to endure it.

The price to pay for admitting mistakes is too high. At least the generals on the stage will never admit that they have issued the order to "massacre".

Although they have been massacring civilians and prisoners of war under various excuses.

If we pursue it seriously, there is probably no Japanese commander who does not have the blood of the Chinese civilians.

I am afraid no one can do it if they can reflect on their mistakes and pay the future or even the price of their lives.

Besides, they didn't think they did anything wrong.

"You are polite to Okamura. Since the base camp asked you to host the plan to guide the Wuhan battle, we will definitely cooperate with you to complete this great strategic plan." Although Hata Shunroku was unhappy, Okamura was appointed by the base camp and the emperor was the recognized candidate.

Even if it is opposed, it has become a fact. Moreover, in the major strategic direction of occupying China, everyone's goals are the same.

But Shinji Hata did not agree with launching an attack on Wuhan now, believing that the Chinese Japanese troops needed rest and could fight again after urgently rest.

Moreover, there are too many factors that need to be considered when attacking the heartland of the Central Plains, not only the front line, but also the complex terrain, material transportation, weather and international responses, etc.

Especially the reserve of strategic materials, how many troops, how much ammunition, oil, aircraft, etc. are needed to capture Wuhan.

According to the current style of play, if a Jinpu route is opened up, it will cost 100,000 Japanese elite troops. Wouldn't there be more casualties and losses to attack Wuhan?

This is after people like Hata Shunji and others counted the actual situation after the war. They felt that if they fought continuously, they might be able to survive the economy of Japan and China.

In fact, not only Shinji Hata thinks so, but also senior officials, politicians and economists in the government are also speculating that although Japan and Ben is a powerful industrial country, it is also a small country with small resources. The current world economy is in a bad state. Once the import of raw materials is cut off, Japan and Ben's economy will easily collapse.

Even if he now occupys many areas of China, it will take time to obtain resources from the occupied areas. Various mineral deposits must be used through various methods to eventually become available materials for war.

Especially grain and cotton have growth cycles, and strength cannot be transformed without a certain amount of time.

Therefore, Shinroku Hata was not very enthusiastic about attacking Wuhan immediately.

However, the strategy formulated by the headquarters is to conquer China at the fastest speed, and the fastest way to conquer China is to capture Wuhan, the military command center that commands the Chinese civilian war of resistance, defeat the Chiang regime, or force the Wuhan government to surrender by force.

The Great Japanese Empire has even bigger enemies waiting for him. We cannot invest too much time and energy in a weak country like China.

Conquering China is just the first step for the Great Japanese Empire to dominate the world.

"Thanks!"

"You guys, the original plan of the base camp was to conquer Xinyang, Henan from Lu'an, Anhui, and to Wusheng Pass, and from the mall to Huangchuan, Macheng, and Huang'an. This route needed to confront Cheng Songyun's troops in the first battle zone of Zhongzhai, and there were troops retreating to Li Delin's fifth war zone in northern Anhui. We would be attacked from both sides. Moreover, this area is quite strong in combat, so we would consume a lot of troops. This route cannot be used as the main offensive route, but it can be used as a restraint. "Masara Kawabian, chief of staff of the Central China Expeditionary Army, stood up, walked to the huge map, picked up a wooden stick and pointed at it on it and explained.

Hata Shunruo frowned slightly. He was 59 years old this year. He had almost never joined the two broom eyebrows together. The heaven seemed a little empty, with drooping tear sacs and vaguely counted hair, as well as his surprisingly large ears, and his appearance looked a bit strange.

He didn't speak, and Okamura Yanji listened too much.

"The General Staff Headquarters has re-formed a plan, where the main attacking troops attack along the northern foot of the Dabie Mountains, while the auxiliary troops attack along the Yangtze River. This plan has the same disadvantages as the difficulty of logistics supply. During the Battle of Xuzhou, our supply line was cut off many times, which has a great impact on front-line operations. It can be said that logistics problems seriously restricted the combat effectiveness of our troops."

In fact, everyone knows that this plan is not advisable either.

"We believe that if we want to capture Wuhan, we can only attack along the two banks of the Yangtze River, divide it into three routes, the first route attacks along the north bank, first capture Anqing, the capital of Anhui, and then use it as a forward base, then occupy Madang Fortress to take Hankou. The second route will make a large detour along the south bank, land from Jiujiang, and occupy Nanchang through the Nanxun Railway, cut off the Guangdong-Han Railway, and encircle the Central ** team in Wuhan..."

"I plan to use T's Hatan Brigade as the main force to capture Anqing with the 11th fleet of the Navy's 3rd ship. After capturing Anqing, I waited for an opportunity to launch an attack on the fortress and finally captured Hankou." Hata Shunruo said slowly, "I have reported this plan to the Tokyo Base Camp, and the Base Camp has agreed."

"The intelligence department of the base camp has received intelligence sent back from the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union is not ready to start a war with the empire, at least not this summer."

"That is, if we do not take any action now, if we miss the time, it is very likely that the Soviet Union will launch an attack on us in Manchuria?"

"It's possible." Colonel Takeo Imai, who was in charge of intelligence, nodded.

"Okamura, your 11th Army is the main force responsible for this attack on Wuhan. What do you think about this?" Hata Shunrok asked.

"Dear Commander, lords." Okamura Yiji stood up and bowed to Hata Shunruo first, and then to everyone else. Then he said that the strategy of attacking Wuhan was discussed here. Can the defensive strategies that the Chinese army might adopt should be taken into account?"

"What Okamura-kun means is the information of the Chinese Army?"

"Information is just one aspect, I mean the opponent!" Okamura Yasuji said solemnly.

"Adversary, Gangmura, we don't know what you mean." Kawabian Masasaburo glanced at the Masasabu in the room and asked in a little bit.

"As far as I know, the troops stationed in the Nanxun Railway and northern Jiangxi are the first corps newly established by Zhong**. The commander was Xue Boling, who defeated my elite 14th Division and the 6th Division Niudao Brigade in Guide. He is known as the "Xue Tiger". "Okamura Yasuji said, "This person is different from ordinary generals. He is calm, resolute, and courageous. He is a rare opponent. If you want to capture Wuhan, you must first solve this obstacle."

“What Mr. Gangcun said makes sense.”

"Xue Boling defeated our army in the Battle of Guide. Therefore, Jiang's trust in Wuhan was deeply trusted. This time, Jiang ordered him to station in northern Jiangxi, which was enough to show that they made careful arrangements and predictions for our possible offensive routes. This was a tough battle."

"What Okamura-kun means is that he has different opinions on the offensive plan formulated by the General Staff Headquarters?"

"No, the offensive route and plan are correct, but what I want to say is that before launching this plan, we must be well prepared. Also, we must consider an uncertain factor, which may be the key to our launching a strategy to make the success or failure of Wuhan." Okamura Yasuji said heavily.

"Okamura, please speak!"

"The new army of Leng Guoguang, northern Henan."

"Although the New First Army is known as the elite Chinese J, it is not worth worrying about except for the good performance in several battles in the raids of Yanzhou and Jining!" Lieutenant General Yoshio Iwamatsu, the commander of the 15th Division, said with a contempt.

"Yan Songjun was wrong. Which unit has the biggest harm to my Isogu Division in the Battle of Taierzhuang?"

"It seems to be a unit called the New 38th Brigade?"

"This new 38th Brigade and the Honorary First Division, the predecessor of the New First Army, belong to the same unit. Before coming to Nanjing, I read all the battle reports and telegrams about the Battle of Taierzhuang and found a surprising fact, that is, our failure was expected long ago."

"Gangcunjun, are you exaggerating?"

"Yes, you are making others more ambitious and destroying your own might!"

"Okamura, this is your so-called opponent, it's just a joke!"

...

Some Japanese generals suddenly became excited and mocked Okamura Nagaji, and even ridiculed Okamura Nagaji as timid as a mouse. How could the base camp send such a timid person to serve as the commander of the 11th Army?

Okamura's face turned red. He didn't expect that he would be boycotted by so many people. Obviously, the base camp sent him to him, so how many people were dissatisfied with him.

"Sujing, listen to Okamura-kun finish his words."

The noisy venue calmed down.

"Okamura, please continue." Chief of Staff Masasaburo Kawabai said.

"Thanks."

"Have you ever thought about it? If the New Army goes south along the Pinghan Line, it can reach Hankou directly. Even if our army occupy Hankou, it will inevitably consume a lot of combat power. If some enemies go down at this time, how can we resist?"

"With the support of the navy, I can't defeat a Chinese j?"

"In Nanjing, we have no naval support. If the Honorary First Division had not been withdrawn, would we be able to easily occupy the Jiangbei position?"

The commander of the 6th Division, Lieutenant General Inaba Shishi, was speechless when asked.

"I think that to capture Wuhan, the biggest problem must be solved first is that the New First Army and the Eighth Army, these two elite Chinese J are now stationed in northern Henan and the other is in eastern Henan. If these two troops cannot be eliminated, at least they must be restrained from going south. So, before that, I did some things." Okamura Yasuji said...

a
Chapter completed!