After Okamura Neji read the translated message in his hand, even with his determination, his face could not help but distort.

Then the old devil slapped the message on the desk in front of him, gritted his teeth and said: "Baga! This Shinozuka Yoshio, he not only lost control of the entire Shota Railway, but also lost tens of thousands of the elite of the Imperial Army.

Even Wusu Airport was attacked.

You must know that the hundreds of tons of aviation fuel and dozens of Type 96 attack aircraft stored at Wusu Airport do not belong to his First Army, nor even to our North China Front Army alone, but to the entire China Expeditionary Force.

It was used by the imperial army to bomb Xi'an, Chongqing, Chengdu and other large cities to force the Chinese army to surrender.

The destruction of this batch of fuel and the Type 96 attack aircraft will directly affect the strategic deployment of the entire imperial army, delay the conquest of China, and even change the entire situation.

For this reason, the empire will crush at least tens of thousands more imperial troops!"

"Yoshio Shinozuka is a sinner of the empire. He actually has the nerve to ask the front army headquarters to send an additional division of reinforcements!"

Chief of Staff Naosaburo Okabe hurriedly tried to dissuade him: "Commander, please calm down. This is not because Shinozuka-kun is incompetent, but because the strength displayed by the Eighth Route Army is too terrifying.

Surprisingly, in just two or three years, it has grown from tens of thousands to two to three hundred thousand troops."

Okamura Neiji: "Even if the Eighth Route Army's strength is beyond imagination, this is not an excuse for the First Army's disastrous defeat! You know, although the First Army has an empty number of troops, it still has tens of thousands of people!"

Naosaburo Okabe: "If it were the early stage of the war two years ago, tens of thousands of imperial troops could have defeated or even wiped out hundreds of thousands of Eighth Route Army and even the Central Army!"

After a pause, Naosaburo Okabe changed the topic and continued: "But after several years of fighting, although the imperial army occupied a large area of ​​China's territory, many of the elite veterans were also shattered.

The combat effectiveness of the reservists now being added is much lower than the combat effectiveness and fighting will of the veterans of the Imperial Army.

On the contrary, after these few years of fighting, the China Army's combat experience and combat effectiveness have improved a lot.

If we put aside the gap in weapons and equipment, the combat effectiveness of the Imperial Army and the Chinese Army is actually far less than we thought."

Okamura Neji was silent, obviously agreeing with Okabe Naosaburo's analysis.

Because as the war of aggression against China continued and the front lines lengthened, although the Japanese army could still suppress the Chinese troops, their suppression power was far less than when the all-out war of resistance first broke out in 1937.

Moreover, the Japanese army's logistical supplies were gradually unable to keep up.

At that time, the Japanese army was extremely destructive and easily occupied large tracts of Chinese land.

But now, although the Japanese army can still win the battle, it is much more difficult than before.

Not only Naosaburo Okabe could see this, but Neji Okamura could also see this, and even the Japanese army base camp also discovered this.

That's why they made a plan to bomb Chongqing, the capital of the country, in order to force the Chiang government to surrender.

Naosaburo Okabe continued: "Moreover, the Eighth Route Army chose the time of this attack at night, so that the Imperial Army's fighter planes could not take off for combat, which once again weakened the Imperial Army's combat effectiveness.

In addition, they cooperated well and deployed a thorough combat plan in advance.

The defeat of the 1st Army is understandable."

After a pause, Naosaburo Okabe changed the subject and continued: "Of course, I am not saying that Shinozuka-kun should fail, but under the circumstances at that time, no matter who the commander is, he is doomed to fail!"

"Although the Imperial Army lost tens of thousands of people during the entire battle, the Eighth Route Army suffered greater casualties than the Imperial Army, at least over 100,000 people were lost!"

"So, strictly speaking, the Imperial Army is not a failure!"

The news that the Eighth Route Army sacrificed more than 100,000 yuan was completely fabricated by Miyano Shun in order to reduce the punishment of Yoshio Shinozuka.

After hearing this, Okamura Neji's expression softened a lot.

And Naosaburo Okabe continued: "Furthermore, Shinozuka-kun is loyal to His Majesty the Emperor and the Empire.

, and the contributions we have made are obvious to all!

If both the front army and the 1st Army had not mobilized a large number of troops to go south this time, the 1st Army would never have failed!

Moreover, the ambition and strength of the Eighth Route Army were exposed to us in advance, which may not be entirely a bad thing for the Imperial Army!"

"Also, as Shinozuka-kun reported, the Eighth Route Army's threat to the Imperial Army now exceeds that of the Jinsui Army and even the Central Army.

We need to pay attention to it and we must not allow it to continue to develop barbarically!

And if we talk about the understanding of the Eighth Route Army, I am afraid that no one in the entire Imperial Army can surpass Shinozuka-kun."

"Therefore, I believe that instead of punishing Mr. Shinozuka, it is better to let him continue to deal with the Eighth Route Army!"

Okamura Neiji's mind is extremely broad, and their strategic vision is also extremely outstanding.

Although Okabe Naosaburo's remarks are suspected of helping Yoshio Shinozuka to open up crimes, it has to be said that what he analyzed is indeed true.

Okamura Neji's expression has completely softened: "If we want to deal with the Eighth Route Army, we can only wait until the war in the south is completely over."

Naosaburo Okabe: "At present, as the 41st Army of the Imperial Army arrives in Taiyuan, the Eighth Route Army has not expanded its combat effectiveness.

Taking advantage of this time, the Imperial Army's 1st Army can also take a good rest."

Okamura Neji nodded, obviously agreeing with Okabe Naosaburo's proposal.

After Naosaburo Okabe bowed to Neji Okamura, he immediately left the other party's office and replied to Yoshio Shinozuka with this "exciting" news.

…

In Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, at the headquarters of the Japanese 1st Army, Yoshio Shinozuka was ready to be punished or even dismissed from his post.

After receiving a reply from Naosaburo Okabe from Peiping, I couldn't help but be a little surprised.

However, he soon calmed down and immediately formulated a battle plan overnight to recapture the Zhengtai Railway...

The screen zooms to Shouyang County.

Since it was too early for the 386 Brigade to capture Shouyang County, they cleaned up the battlefield before dawn, completed the campaign against local tyrants, and then disappeared into the endless night...

As the Battle of Shouyang came to an end, all Japanese strongholds in the southeastern Shanxi region had been eradicated.

The entire 129th Division had a rare day off.

Early the next morning, the Japanese 41st Division, 77th Infantry Regiment, 96th Infantry Regiment and other units arrived at Taiyuan City one after another.

After they rested in Taiyuan City for a day, early on the third day they were sent to the southeastern Shanxi region by Yoshio Shinozuka.

The 129th Division did not launch further attacks on the strongholds recaptured by the Japanese.

Although the casualties of the 129th Division and the Eighth Route Army were not as high as reported by Jun Miyano, there were still many casualties among soldiers.

After this battle, the 129th Division was no longer able to launch a large-scale counterattack against the Japanese army, so the division commander directly announced the end of the first phase of the Hundred Regiment War in southeastern Shanxi.
Chapter completed!