The chief of staff frowned and asked: "Your Excellency, Commander, think twice..."
"Thirteen thousand elite imperial troops sounds like a lot, but there are too many places to defend in the Ping-Tianjin area. Whether it is Peiping, where the headquarters is located, or the Tianjin dock where a large amount of weapons, ammunition and supplies are stored, heavy troops are needed for defense."
"Under the condition of ensuring their safety, we can dispatch at most 3,000 people to reinforce Baoding."
"This number of troops is obviously not enough. Maybe they were completely consumed by the Eighth Route Army's reinforcements before they even reached the battlefield."
"Since they can't save Yi Zhong's defeat, they might as well not save them, save the thousands of elite imperial troops, and ensure the safety of the Pingjin area."
Okamura Neiji said firmly: "No, Yi Zhong must be saved."
"Xiongxian and Baoding are our two nails stuck in the Yizhong Eighth Route Army. As long as these two nails exist, they cannot quickly expand to the surrounding area."
"Once these two nails are pulled out by the Yizhong Eighth Route Army, no troops in the entire Yizhong region can stop the Yizhong Eighth Route Army's expansion."
"With the speed at which they recruit troops, they can more than double their troops in half a year at most."
"You need to be clearer."
"The Yizhong Eighth Route Army is different from other Eighth Route armies. They often fight with us and have seized a large number of weapons and ammunition. The troops have no shortage of weapons."
"As long as there are bases and soldiers, and if we give them time, they can immediately expand the independent brigade and the unique brigade into independent divisions and the unique division..."
"We are a little helpless against the Independent Brigade and the Sole Brigade. If their total strength is more than doubled, the overall combat effectiveness will definitely be doubled, and then there will be no chance of defeating them."
"Look at the map again."
"With the removal of Baoding and Xiongxian, the Yizhong Eighth Route Army can develop either eastward or northeastward."
"Based on my understanding of their appetite, the Yizhong Eighth Route Army will definitely develop in both directions."
"The northeastern direction of Yizhong is the Pingjin area where the headquarters is located. At that time, their sphere of influence is directly bordering Pingjin and they can send troops to Pingjin at any time to threaten the security of Pingjin."
"Instead of waiting until then when the Eighth Route Army directly threatens the security of Pingjin and uses guerrilla warfare and mobile warfare to gradually consume the troops stationed in the Pingjin area, it is better to take advantage of the Eighth Route Army in the wing to fight against Baoding and Xiongxian before they can completely block them in Baoding and Xiongxian.
The county cannot continue to expand its sphere of influence."
"As far as the imperial army is concerned, if Baoding, Peiping and Tianjin are safe, they can really only send 3,000 people south to reinforce the battlefield.
"But you ignored the Imperial Alliance Army stationed in Peiping and Tianjin."
"The Imperial Army here is different from the Imperial Army elsewhere. All officers above the platoon leader level are personally trained by the Imperial Army. Not only do they have strong combat effectiveness and command capabilities, they are also very loyal to the Imperial Army."
"Although their overall combat effectiveness is not as good as that of the imperial army, it is definitely no problem to rely on city fortifications to defend the city, or to participate in some small-scale battles under the supervision of the imperial army."
"In addition, in addition to a few important strongholds and county towns in the Pingjin area, general small county towns and ordinary strongholds that should be given up can also be given up."
"A regiment of the Eighth Route Army is active in the mountains north of Fangshan. As long as they are willing, those ordinary small and medium-sized strongholds and ordinary county towns will definitely not be able to stop their troops."
"Since those strongholds and county seats will be lost sooner or later, we might as well give up on our own initiative."
Concentrate limited forces into Peiping and Tianjin.
"In this way, we will definitely be able to gather a lot more troops and go south together..."
Seeing that Okamura Neiji had made up his mind and had no intention of compromising no matter how much he tried to persuade him, the chief of staff could only follow his words and analyze: "Including the Imperial Alliance Army and giving up some ordinary county towns and small and medium-sized strongholds, we can still deploy more
Four thousand imperial troops and three regiments of the Imperial Association Army went south to reinforce the battlefield."
"Tianjin Wharf can also mobilize a tank brigade and an artillery brigade to go south at the same time."
"This is the tank troops and artillery that the country has just replenished for us."
"The training is being carried out directly at the Tianjin dock, and combat effectiveness has been initially formed. It will definitely be no problem to provide some fire support to the reinforcements heading south."
This is a very important reason why Okamura Neiji has always trusted the Chief of Staff.
When two people discuss a problem, the chief of staff can put forward his own opinions based on his own ideas, or even directly oppose himself.
Everyone makes mistakes, and Neji Okamura is no exception.
No one knows that all of their decisions are correct. If there are any omissions, the chief of staff needs to check for them at any time and fill in the gaps.
But once he makes a decision, the chief of staff, as his deputy, must immediately adjust his mentality, suppress all previous objections in his heart, help him speculate in real estate, and improve his final decision.
The chief of staff in front of him obviously does this.
Without waiting for him to speak, he calculated the number of troops that might be mobilized from the Pingjin area to go south.
He said with great satisfaction: "Six thousand imperial troops are six fully-equipped infantry brigades. The three regiments of the imperial alliance army have almost 5,000 people. The total is more than 11,000 infantry."
"In addition, a heavy artillery brigade and a chariot brigade are enough..."
"The chief of staff will immediately formulate a troop deployment plan. All reinforcements must be assembled within two days and move south to reinforce the battlefield."
At this time, the chief of staff asked another question: "Your Excellency, Commander..."
"We have completed the assembly in two days, and it will take nearly two days to go south. If we are intercepted by the Eighth Route Army blocking troops, we may not be able to reach Baoding and Xiongxian in three days... I am worried that the troops stationed in Baoding and Xiongxian will not be able to hold on for that long.
"
Okamura Neiji's face suddenly flashed with murderous intent, and he gritted his teeth and replied: "If you can't defend it, you can't defend it."
"The reinforcements heading south must not be put into danger just to rush on their way. Safety is the first priority in everything."
"As long as they successfully reach Baoding and Xiong County, even if the Yizhong Eighth Route Army successfully captures the two counties, they will take the initiative to retreat and return the two places to us."
"The reinforcements only need to wait for the Eighth Route Army to withdraw and take over the two counties."
"How is this possible?" The chief of staff's first reaction was that Okamura Neji was joking with him, and he asked directly with an expression of disbelief.
Neji Okamura answered confidently: "Nothing is impossible."
After finishing speaking, before the chief of staff could speak again, he asked with a serious face: "Compared with the garrison in the two places and the garrison in Shijiazhuang, who is stronger?"
The chief of staff replied bluntly: "The troops stationed in Xiongxian County and Baoding are more capable in combat."
"The garrison in Shijiazhuang is basically composed of local garrison troops. The artillery force is very weak and is basically not equipped with heavy artillery."
"The troops stationed in Baoding and Xiongxian are all soldiers who survived the last counter-mopping up. They are basically night fighting troops. There are also many Kwantung Army troops, and they are all equipped with a lot of heavy artillery. Their overall combat effectiveness far exceeds that of the Shijiazhuang garrison."
