Taiyuan, the Second Army Headquarters.

"Mr. Doihara, why are you back?" Major General Iida Shoji was shocked when he saw the dusty Kenji Doihara.

He is also in a state of great concern. The public security operations in the occupied areas have seriously dragged down the Japanese army's progress in Shanxi. The Jinsui Army and the *** teamed up to deal with them, relying on a 20th Division and some public security forces, they can only defend some strategic points, and most areas cannot effectively control them.

"Iida, I had no choice but to come back. I must meet the new commander, Mr. Umetsu." Kenji Doihara solemnly bowed to Yoshiji Iida.

"Your Excellency Meijin has just arrived in Peking and I'm afraid you won't take office within a day or two. If you leave the army without authorization, it would be a remarkable thing if someone discovers this."

"The battle situation is stable at the moment, so it's not a big problem for me to leave."

"Mr. Doihirahara, I really don't know why you didn't execute the orders of the Lord of the Temple?" Yoshiji Iida asked with a wry smile.

"Our opponents are far from what the Tokyo staff members who sit in the office and whisper in their mouths can imagine." Kenji Doihara said with a gloomy face, "The Chinese are a flock of sheep, but when a lion leads a flock of sheep, the flock will have the power to fight against the wolves."

"You mean the cold front of the Honorary First Division?"

"That's right, it's not the first time I've fought with him. Leng Feng is a firm-willed and very cunning and wise Chinese military general. We knew nothing about this person in the past, which made us suffer many losses in the confrontation with him. If it weren't for him obstructing this time, we might have already achieved the strategic goals set by the base."

"He alone has that much energy?"

"He can bring out a group of defeated soldiers trapped in the refugee camp to kill the city of Nanjing where we are heavily stationed, and also build this defeated soldiers into an elite unit. Its combat effectiveness is far beyond any army under the command of Chiang's regime. Such people are not worthy of attention. Don't you think it's scary?" Kenji Doihara stared at Yokoji Iida and asked heavily.

"What you said makes sense, but this is not the reason why you changed the combat order without authorization."

"Iida, I believe in my judgment."

"Okay, I'll contact the Peking side immediately to see when Commander Umetsu will arrive in Taiyuan." Yoshiji Iida sighed. The Chief of Staff had not much power, he was just an assistant.

"Thank you, Iida."

"Mr. Doihirahara, you have a rest first. As soon as Commander Umetsu arrives, I will send someone to notify you immediately." Yoshino Iida said.

Kenji Doihara nodded, and he could only take this bet.

Beiping, North China Front Command.

General Soichi Deanuchi, commander of the North China Front Army, held a simple internal welcome banquet at the headquarters, welcomed Lieutenant General Miji Umezu, who was about to take over as commander of the Second Army.

From the deputy commander of the army to the commander of the second army, this is no different from exile for Umezu Mijiro. He is far from the core of power and is naturally a little disappointed.

Before this, his ex-Law General Kazuki Seki had a brief handover with him, and then the two of them had secretly interrogated for half an hour.

He only learned some actual situations.

Because Kazuki Kiyoshi has always disagrees with Soichi Teraunuchi, it is mainly about the strategy of the war against China. Kozuki Kiyoshi is a "non-expanding" faction, while Soichi Teraunuchi is a radical "expanding school", so the two of them naturally can't pee in the same pot.

When Takaichi Tansui was powered to suppress others, Kazuki Kiyoshi simply died of drunkenness and dreams. During the term of the commander for more than a year, he almost did not do anything decent.

Despite the lack of Japanese troops and logistics, Soichi Teraunuchi ordered the Second Army to attack Shanxi. Although he achieved certain victories, he was also deeply trapped in it. The income was disproportionate to the consumption, which caused the current dilemma of being deeply trapped in the quagmire.

The attacks of Shinui Su were blindly caused huge casualties to the Japanese army, but also gave the domestic wrong judgment, believing that China could be conquered quickly.

But in fact, what the Japanese army can control now is the cities along the railway artery, while the vast rural areas and a large number of county towns are still the world of the Chinese.

The Chinese people's resistance is becoming increasingly fierce. To maintain the public order and interests of the occupied areas, a large number of public security forces are needed. However, the empire's conquest of China does not have a clear strategy. Should we directly occupy and incorporate it into Japan, or do we take a gradual path like in Manchuria and build a puppet regime first?

Umezu Mijiro felt this dissatisfaction from Kazuki Kiyoshi.

He is now a direct subordinate of Soichi Teraenaka, so he must also consider this issue. Should he cooperate with Soichi Teraenaka or have his own opinions?

Looking at the warm-smiling face of Suichi Seuchi, Umezu Mijiro couldn't help but feel a little dazed. Will the ending of Kazuki Kiyoshi today be his future?

"..." the adjutant whispered in his ear.

"I understand. You go back and prepare first. After I see the general in the temple, I will go to Taiyuan immediately." After hearing this, Meijiro Umezu's face changed slightly.

Although he was a little mentally prepared, he still felt that this position change was the most dangerous in his professional military career.

If he is not careful, he may not even have the chance to return to Tokyo to retire.

After seeing Soichi Desouchi, Umezu Mijiro did not return to his residence, but drove directly to the airport.

At the airport, he met a man, the head of the base camp's operations department, Major General Hashimoto.

Hashimoto's group is also going to Taiyuan.

The two were arranged on the same plane. Meizu Mijiro didn't know if Hashimoto's group already knew that Kenji Doihara had returned to Taiyuan. The two chatted casually on the plane.

Teruchi Nakachi got angry in the office. Umezu Mijiro's attitude made him angry. Umezu did not agree to his order on the spot.

For those who disobey him, Soichi Tezuka never had a good impression of him.

At this time, Hata Shunji's telegram came and asked him to hand over the dominance of the Xuzhou Battle. The meaning was very obvious. Hata Shunji wanted to take over the greatest contribution.

This was originally the North China Front Army as the main attacker, but now the North China side suffered consecutive defeats and suffered heavy losses and no longer has the ability to take on the main attacker mission.

At this time, Shinji Hata has to take the lead, which is clearly to come to demonstrate and make him admit defeat.

He would not recognize this "lose" by Shichi Nai. How could he lose to someone with a lower status than him?

Fortunately, Takahashi Hiroshi did not betray Kenji Dohira, otherwise, at this moment, Soichi Teruchi might have known that Kenji Dohira had left his troops.

The planes that Umetsu and Hashimoto were riding did not fly directly to Taiyuan, but landed at Jinan Airport first.

The two went to meet Lieutenant General Tokihiko Hirohiko together.

When Umezu Mijiro came to China to serve as the commander of the First Army of the North China Front Army, he naturally needed to understand the idea of ​​the commander of the First Army of his equal level. If King Minami Higashiraki and Tomizuki were wearing pairs of pants, he would have to learn from the Kanji Kiyoshi and just sleepwalk at home every day.

If King Higashiraki didn't agree with the temple and had the same idea as himself, the two could join forces to compete.

The situation of the 2nd Army was very bad. The 10th Division, which was directly under the elite, was almost wiped out. Although there were still two divisions of 108 and 16, one was just a second-class division and the other was just on the books.

Gone are the 16th Division who was transferred to participate in the Nanjing Battle. It was not until recently that it was rebuilt from the local area and planned to send a force to cooperate with the Marines of the Japanese Navy's Third Fleet to attack Yizhou. There is no hope for the southwestern Shandong side.

The two mixed brigades transferred from the Kwantung Army were originally expected to retake Yanzhou and Jining, occupied by the Honorary Division, but the invincible Kwantung Army was also defeated.

The two brigades combined have more than 10,000 people, but now half of them are left, and the park is full of wounded soldiers.

The local government is still actively mobilizing troops, but this is not something that can be reached in a short while. The 2nd Army is even more pitiful than the 1st Army. There are only a 108th Division and some local security forces, as well as the puppet army, with tens of thousands of people, but the Japanese army dare not use them to fight the Honorary Division.

Because, as we fight, people are gone, not only are people gone, but we even bring our weapons.

This has brought a lot of high-quality soldiers to the Luxi Corps.

After Umezu Mijiro learned about the actual situation of the 2nd Army, he was stunned for a long time before he came to his senses. The strategic plans formulated by the base camp were simply nonsense.

The telegrams that are triumphant every day are actually nothing. They are beaten by others and are huddled into solid fortifications and dare not go out. Is this still the invincible Imperial Japanese Imperial Army?

The situation on other battlefields is unclear, at least this is the actual situation of the 2nd Army.

Through understanding the situation of the 2nd Army, Umezu Mijiro also generally learned about the battle situation in western Shandong. Although the Doihara Division was strong, it was hit by the hands of Leng Feng and Honorary First Division and suffered considerable losses.

This is still openly, and the danger in secret is invisible. Based on the battlefield intelligence analysis, Umezu has to admit that the current situation of the Doihara Division is really not as seen on the surface.

It's extremely dangerous!

He now understands the reason why Kenji Doihara has been reluctant to go south to the Longhai Line in Caozhou. In addition to his own reasons, he has gathered at least 100,000 Chinese troops around Caozhou.

If Kenji Doihara went south to Guide, he would most likely be the second Taierzhuang.

In such a dangerous situation, who dares to joke about the life and death of the main elite field mechanized corps? This is the timid and cowardly in the eyes of General Takaichi Teraunuchi?

Just kidding, it is obvious that the enemy is setting up a formation and waiting for you to go over, but are you going to crash into it and seek death?

"Don't you know about such a dangerous situation?"

"The Commander of Teraunuchi does not believe that the 14th Division is a heavy mechanized corps, and the cooperation of the Second Heavy Artillery Brigade, and more than 100,000 Chinese Army were attacked by the enemy on the back and forth. The commander of the Doihara Division should use the courage to burn the boat to completely defeat the current enemy and complete the strategic concept of the base camp to encircle the Fifth War Zone of Xuzhou!" Hashimoto said with a bitter smile.

"This is impossible!" First Army's combat staff member, Mikumi, roared angrily.

"So what, the temple master only asks about the result, not the process."

"Brutal and arbitrary, how can the Lord of the Temple be so ignoring the lives of soldiers on the front line of the Empire?" Tomomi Miku asked with bloody eyes.

"Ci Bu is in charge of the army. When he reaches the level of the temple's lord, his sacrifice is just a bunch of numbers in his eyes."

"Does the Lord of the Temple still stick to his opinion?"

"Yes, the first thing he asked me to take office was to strictly urge Kenji Doihara to go south to the Longhai Line, cut off the retreat of the Chinese army, and ensure that it is annihilated in the Xuzhou area."

"This is a delusion, a foolish dream!" (~^~)
Chapter completed!