Headquarters of the Japanese North China Front in Peiping.
Although Neji Okamura was very tired, he still insisted on staying in the war room and waiting for news.
The battle tonight is really too important.
If the naval fleet can successfully destroy the dock warehouse, the gains of the Yizhong Eighth Route Army at Pingjin dock will be greatly reduced.
In the event that the naval fleet had an accident at the Tianjin dock and failed to destroy the warehouse, allowing the Yizhong Eighth Route Army time to empty the dock warehouse, the Eighth Route Army would definitely have a greater combat effectiveness due to the seizure of those supplies, weapons and ammunition.
This is a result that Okamura Ningji never wants to see.
So from the moment it got dark, Neji Okamura's heart was in his throat.
Frowning, he paced back and forth in the war room, glancing at the telecommunications room from time to time, asking them if they had received the latest news from the naval fleet, for fear that he would miss something after falling asleep.
"Your Excellency, Commander..." An exclamation suddenly broke the oppressive atmosphere in the war room. Okamura Neji looked up and saw the communications staff rushing in with a solemn expression.
As soon as Okamura Neji saw his expression, he knew that the telegram he brought was not good news. He was afraid that something might happen to the naval fleet at the Tianjin dock, so he immediately asked with a guilty expression.
"The telegram was probably not sent by the naval fleet supporting the Tianjin dock, right?"
The communications staff officer was stunned for a moment.
Because the telegram in his hand was sent by the naval fleet, and it was bad news.
Seeing Okamura Neji staring at him with worry on his face, the communications staff wanted to nod and tell Okamura Neji that the telegram in his hand was indeed not from the naval fleet.
But given ten courages, he would not dare to lie about the military situation.
Shaking his head, Okamura Ning looked at him with disappointment and replied: "The telegram was indeed sent by the naval fleet..."
"The Eighth Route Army set up a large number of heavy artillery at Tianjin Pier..."
"In order to avoid accidental damage to other facilities at the dock, the three ships dispatched by the navy plan to shell the dock warehouse at close range."
"As a result, the Eighth Route Artillery Unit launched a preemptive strike and was caught off guard..."
"Two ships were sunk on the spot, and one ship was severely damaged and had to evacuate the Tianjin Pier..."
The disappointed expression on Okamura Neji's face was instantly covered by despair.
On the one hand, it was because his operation to destroy the dock warehouse failed.
In the absence of other support, 80% of the supplies, weapons and ammunition hoarded by the North China Front at the Tianjin pier will fall into the hands of the Eighth Route Army, enhancing the Eighth Route Army's military strength.
On the other hand, it was because the naval fleet actually lost two ships during the bombardment of the dock warehouse.
In this case, the navy will definitely not let him go easily.
The North China Front will also owe the Navy a favor.
"Your Excellency, Commander..." Before Okamura Neiji could react to the shock of the bad news, another communications staff member hurried towards him.
Seeing Okamura Neji slumped in his chair with a look of despair on his face, the communications staff member was stunned on the spot, wondering whether he should continue to report.
In his impression, since Okamura Neiji took office as the commander of the North China Front, no matter how many major defeats he experienced before, he had never been as decadent as he is now.
Seeing the deputy chief of staff on the side nodding towards him, he mustered up the courage to report.
"Urgent call from the domestic military department..."
"The Kwantung Army promised to send three main divisions, a heavy artillery regiment, a tank regiment, and an aviation regiment... to march urgently to reinforce us..."
"But after the reinforcements move south to Pingjin, battlefield command must be handed over to the commander of the Ishii Division... The North China Front Army Headquarters must provide them with all intelligence support and cooperate with them to retake Tianjin Wharf and Peking Airport..."
"The newspaper also said..."
"And he said..."
Okamura Neiji was furious. When he saw the communications staff standing in front of him, hesitating and unable to say a complete sentence for a long time, he got angry on the spot and cursed unceremoniously: "What else are you talking about? You just said it..."
"As the communications staff officer of the headquarters, you can't even speak a complete sentence. What else can you do? Sooner or later you will get out..."
The communications staff officer was trembling with fright, fearing that his next answer would dissatisfy his superiors and lead to him getting angry.
He poured out all the contents of the telegram as if he were pouring beans out of a bamboo tube.
"The bulletin also said that the military department already knew that the naval fleet was severely damaged at the Tianjin dock."
"In order to avoid further losses to the naval fleet, they decided to carry out the mission of destroying the dock warehouse after dawn."
Hearing this, Okamura Neiji seemed to have grasped a life-saving straw in despair, and quickly asked: "Did the bulletin say when the Kwantung Army's southward reinforcements will set off..."
"When can we arrive in Pingjin to join the war?"
""If it were too late, the Eighth Route Army that occupied Peiping Airport and Tianjin Pier would have withdrawn without them attacking.
The communications staff officer shook his head like a rattle and quickly replied: "The telegram didn't say that."
The deputy chief of staff on the side immediately answered: "Your Excellency, Commander..."
"Do you want to humble yourself and send a telegram to the Kwantung Army headquarters and ask them directly for the specific news about the reinforcement troops going south?"
Okamura Neiji stood up from the chair with his hands on his hands, took a deep breath, as if he had made a great determination, and answered firmly: "No..."
"I personally called General Umezu Umejiro..."
"Although it is inevitable to be ridiculed by him, as long as it can relieve the North China Front Army, even if it is scolded by him..."
"As for the command of the Kwantung Army's southward reinforcements, Umezu Umejiro can give it to them if they want."
"Taking a step back, even if I were in his position, I would not easily hand over the command of the reinforcements to the North China Front Army."
"After all, the last time I asked the Kwantung Army to borrow troops, the 40,000 elite troops they lost were indeed lost in our hands."
"No matter how we explain it, we can't argue with it."
"As long as they can severely damage the Eighth Route Army in Yinzhong, help us regain air supremacy on the battlefield, recapture the Tianjin Pier, and destroy as much as possible the materials, weapons and ammunition that the Eighth Route Army stole from the Tianjin Pier, the commander of the Ishii Division will not even ask me, the commander, to serve as his deputy.
question."
…………
The former enemy headquarters and deputy commander-in-chief of the Eighth Route Army did not sleep either.
His current thinking is completely opposite to that of Okamura Neji.
As long as Li Yunlong and Huang Yu can clear the Tianjin dock, the entire Eighth Route Army will benefit from this, and the overall combat effectiveness will also increase.
Such a big thing cannot be ignored by him.
Even if a camp bed was placed in front of him now, he would not be able to sleep.
It takes two or three hours to stand at the map hanging on the wall!
The map has been filled with various marks with a pencil. Some are county towns and strongholds that the troops captured during the day yesterday, and some are county towns and strongholds that the troops are attacking overnight...
Even the table in front of the map is filled with various statistical reports.
