Moreover, such a big thing as borrowing troops could not be hidden even if he wanted to.
He answered readily: "Only the Kwantung Army around us can dispatch heavy troops to support us in a short period of time, help us recapture Peking Airport and Tianjin Pier, and at the same time send aviation troops to help us regain air supremacy over North China."
The deputy chief of staff immediately thought of the last time Okamura Neiji asked the Kwantung Army about borrowing troops.
At that time, the Kwantung Army agreed very readily.
There was no war in the three eastern provinces. Although the Kwantung Army's main task was to defend against the Soviet army, the Soviet army had no intention of advancing eastward.
As a result, the hundreds of thousands of Kwantung Army troops stationed in the three eastern provinces had nothing to do, and even if they wanted to fight, they had nothing to fight.
Anyone who is a soldier wants to fight, and the Kwantung Army is no exception.
Because only by fighting can you have the opportunity to gain military merit and get promotion.
The last time Okamura Neiji asked the Kwantung Army to borrow troops, the Liaoning garrison felt that they were lucky and had an opportunity to enter the Kwantung Army and join the war.
I readily dispatched 50,000 elite troops south to support the North China Front.
I thought this was a sure-win support operation.
After all, the Kwantung Army's powerful combat effectiveness was there. Even the arrogant Soviet army was capable of fighting, let alone the Eighth Route Army with backward equipment.
But the result surprised everyone.
The 50,000-strong Kwantung Army that marched south not only lost, but suffered a disastrous defeat. Only a little over 10,000 troops were lucky enough to retreat to Liaoning.
Since then, the Kwantung Army has had considerable dissatisfaction with the North China Front Army.
I feel that the reason why the 50,000 Kwantung Army marching south was defeated by the Eighth Route Army on the battlefield must be because the North China Front Army Headquarters did not command it well.
Under such circumstances, Okamura Neiji wanted to ask the Kwantung Army to borrow troops, and he also wanted to borrow some aviation troops to go south to help the North China Front seize air supremacy. The difficulty can be imagined.
Quickly remind: "Your Excellency, Commander..."
"I feel that the Kwantung Army still has a lot of objections to our North China Front. This time we want to borrow not only infantry, but also aviation, artillery, and tank troops... I am worried that they will not agree."
"After all, they have their own tasks."
"If you don't want to lend us troops, you can find any excuse to excuse it, and we won't be able to refute it even if we want to."
Okamura Neiji did not deny the reminder from his subordinates. He frowned and replied: "If I ask the Kwantung Army to borrow troops, they are very likely to refuse."
"But if we ask the military headquarters to send a telegram to the Kwantung Army headquarters and ask them to mobilize heavy troops and go south to support us, the Kwantung Army headquarters will not dare to disobey the military headquarters' orders no matter how dissatisfied it is with us."
"I will send a telegram to China now..."
"Ask them to mobilize the Kwantung Army south to support us, help us recapture Tianjin Pier and Peking Airport, and regain air supremacy on the battlefield."
"Otherwise, the North China Front's losses will rise in a straight line."
"The Eighth Route Army operating in North China will continue to grow and develop, eventually threatening the security of the North China Front, compressing the North China Front's living space, and eventually seizing the entire North China region."
When Okamura Neji was about to continue speaking, the communications staff suddenly rushed in with a worried expression.
"Your Excellency Commander..."
"The naval fleet supporting Tianjin Wharf has reached the sea off Tianjin and is approaching the dock. It can bombard the dock warehouse at any time."
"The fleet sent a telegram to confirm to us..."
"Whether they fired..."
"The navy's main gun is extremely powerful. Once fired, the dock and warehouse will cease to exist in a short time. The headquarters will have no choice but to regret it at that time."
Okamura Neji was also very unwilling.
The front army had too many supplies, weapons and ammunition hoarded in the dock warehouse, especially the heavy weapons, which they had finally obtained from China. As a result, they were captured by the Eighth Route Army before they could equip the troops.
If all those heavy equipment and related ammunition fall into the hands of the Eighth Route Army, equipping the Eighth Route Army will not only greatly enhance the Eighth Route Army's combat effectiveness, but also give them strong attack capabilities.
This is definitely an outcome Neji Okamura doesn't want to see.
Rather Stick to your guns.
Those heavy weapons are so powerful that even if they explode, they will never fall into the hands of the Eighth Route Army.
He slammed his clenched fist on the table in front of him and commanded through gritted teeth: "Fire..."
"Let the naval fleet destroy the dock warehouse immediately, the faster the better..."
"By the way, remind them..."
"When you fire the cannon, you must aim it...it can only destroy the dock warehouse, not the dock."
"The North China Front's subsequent ammunition supply and personnel replenishment are inseparable from the Tianjin Wharf."
"Once the dock suffers a devastating blow, the negative impact on the North China Front will be much greater than losing the Tianjin dock."
…………
Changchun Kwantung Army Headquarters.
The commander, General Yoshijiro Umezu, was awakened from his sleep by the chief of staff.
"Your Excellency Commander..."
"Domestic emergency call..."
"The North China Front Army commanded by Mr. Okamura suffered a defeat on the battlefield. Not only did they lose the Tianjin Pier, they also lost the Peiping Airport and battlefield air superiority."
"The Eighth Route Army that occupied Peiping Airport is flying their captured aircraft to cooperate with ground troops to aggressively attack the North China Front..."
"Yesterday alone during the day, the North China Front lost more than 10,000 people and lost a large number of county towns and strongholds."
"The Eighth Route Army operating in North China has seized a large number of weapons and ammunition through these major counterattacks, and its overall strength has been greatly increased."
"The telegram also said..."
"A large number of weapons, equipment and ammunition hoarded by the North China Front Army at the Tianjin Pier were all seized by the Eighth Route Army.
"Although they have contacted the navy to dispatch ships to attack the Tianjin Pier from the sea and destroy the warehouses on the Tianjin Pier, the Eighth Route Army has occupied the Tianjin Pier for a day and a night and must have transferred a large amount of weapons and ammunition."
"In order to regain air superiority on the battlefield, recapture Peking Airport and Tianjin Pier, curb the development momentum of the Eighth Route Army, and ensure the North China Front's absolute superiority in strength and firepower on the North China battlefield."
"The country requires us to immediately mobilize our main forces and aviation forces to go south to support the North China Front..."
"The telegram asked us to dispatch at least three main divisions and an aviation wing to go south to Peiping..."
After hearing this, Umezu Meijiro became angry and said angrily: "Okamura-kun is really thick-skinned..."
"The last time we borrowed troops, we defeated 40,000 elite Kwantung Army troops. They actually dared to come to us to borrow troops..."
"No……"
"Okamura is not only thick-skinned, but also very cunning."
"Knowing that we might refuse if he asks to borrow troops... He specifically went to the country and asked the military to help him borrow troops. In this case, we don't even want to agree..."
"Call back to Heguo immediately..."
"The Kwantung Army can mobilize its main force to support the North China Front Army, but all southward support troops must be commanded by the Kwantung Army commander himself, and the North China Front Army Headquarters can only cooperate."
"I don't want the Kwantung Army to inexplicably lose 40,000 elite troops after it moves south to North China."
