As soon as Okamura Neiji spoke, all the officers, staff officers and even orderlies in the combat hall straightened their bodies and stood at attention, all eyes turned to him.
"I know that this failure has dealt a great blow to you all. If you want to comfort you, your commander, Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Sadichi, just said it.
What I want to say is that as the commander of the North China Front, I also gave the order for all fighter planes to take off to fight. Therefore, the responsibility for this failure lies entirely with me, not with you, so you don’t have to have any mentality about this failure.
Burden. I will apologize to Commander Shunroku Hata and the base camp later."
Everyone looked surprised. They didn't expect Neji Okamura to take all the responsibility on himself. Many people had moved looks in their eyes.
"Now, your responsibility is to make a plan quickly to stabilize the battlefield situation as soon as possible, and not to let the situation in Shanxi worsen any further."
Looking at Okamura Neji's solemn expression, everyone nodded. They were not stupid... Of course they knew that with the annihilation of the 21st Flying Team, the entire Shanxi situation was in danger of collapse. Once Shanxi was lost, this
They simply couldn't imagine the consequences.
After appeasing everyone, Neji Okamura and Teichi Yoshimoto came to the office.
As soon as he entered the gate, Neji said straightforwardly: "Yoshimoto-kun, I plan to suspend this year's sweep operation."
"Nani?" Yoshimoto was shocked. The large-scale mopping up plan is the highlight of the North China Front Army this year. The purpose is to completely inflict heavy damage or even completely eliminate the Eighth Route Army in the entire North China region.
Gang Cunning has been preparing for this operation for more than half a year, and now he has to stop it. This is really too hasty.
"Your Excellency, Commander." Yoshimoto Sadatari said anxiously: "Please think twice. Once the big sweep plan is stopped, not only Commander Hata Shunroku will be alarmed, but even the base camp will be alarmed."
"You don't have to worry about this. Commander Shunroku Hata and I will explain it to the base camp. The most important thing for us now is to seize the time to mobilize troops to enter Shanxi. We must not let the Liantai militia continue to fight."
Neji Okamura strode to the huge 500,000-to-1 combat map hanging on the wall and pointed to a place.
"Look, Gao Hongming has already commanded his Liantai Militia and the Eighth Route Army to conquer Pingan County. What will be the consequences if their troops are directed towards Jinzhong?"
Yoshimoto Jung's heart skipped a beat after he glanced at the map. As the gateway to Taiyuan, Jinzhong's geographical location is extremely important.
Once Jinzhong is lost, as long as he is a little bolder, he will definitely attack Taiyuan. If Taiyuan is lost, then his commander will have no other choice but to die in battle other than caesarean section.
"But...does Gao Hongming have that many troops?" Yoshimoto Teiichi asked after hesitating for a moment.
"How do you know he didn't?"
Okamura Neji sneered: "Don't forget, right now, another unit of the Eighth Route Army with a total of 30,000 people is rapidly heading towards Ping'an County. Once this unit joins forces with Gao Hongming and the others, Gao Hongming's strength will
There will be more than 70,000 people.
Think about it, what consequences will this have?"
Yoshimoto Seiichi took a deep breath.
If it is other national army units, whether there are 30,000 or 70,000 troops, there is not much difference for the Japanese army. It is just a matter of considering whether to use a brigade or a division.
But if the Eighth Route Army and the Liantai Militia were replaced, it would be completely different.
The biggest difference between the Eighth Route Army and the National Army is that this unit has a very tenacious fighting will and spirit, and its combat methods are extremely flexible. Originally, their biggest weakness was that their equipment was too poor. On average, a soldier would not have more than 100 bullets in his body.
Five shots, in this way, no matter how tenacious their fighting will is, the Japanese will not take it seriously.
But once they get involved with the Liantai Vigilante Group, it will be completely different.
The chemical reaction produced here is by no means as simple as one plus one equals two, but will increase geometrically.
You only need to look at the current terrible situation in Shanxi to know this.
Suddenly, Yoshimoto Sadashi thought of a question.
According to intelligence, the current total strength of the Eighth Route Army has reached 6.7 million. Once all the Eighth Route Army are equipped with the same weapons as the Liantai Militia...
Yoshimoto Teiichi no longer dared to think about it. The consequences of this would be too serious. By then, not to mention Shanxi, I am afraid that the whole of North China would have changed drastically.
Thinking of this, Yoshimoto Sadashi couldn't help but shudder.
Okamura Neiji looked at him quietly and said softly: "Now you know why I listed Gao Hongming as the top priority to be eliminated. This guy is like a ghost. He suddenly appeared two years ago. His weapon
The source and channels of aid remain a mystery.
In the past two years, too many troops and generals in the empire have been lost to him, and I don’t want to be the next general who returns home in despair after being defeated by him, do you understand?”
"Your Majesty Commander, I understand!"
…………
A B25 bomber with wisps of black smoke on its left wing slowly stopped on the runway. After a while, the ground crew members who rushed up raised their eyebrows at Doolittle and his crew who had just got off the plane.
Thumbs up, not far away a Willys Jeep drove up to the plane and stopped, and Gao Hongming, dressed in military uniform, jumped out of the car.
"Stand at attention and salute!" a duty officer shouted loudly.
With a solemn expression, Doolittle saluted Gao Hongming: "Your Excellency, General, the Liantai Flying Corps has been ordered to bomb various Japanese airports in Shanxi. It has now completed its mission and returned!"
"Relax!" Gao Hongming saluted everyone, and then said: "Colonel Doolittle, you did a great job! I am very satisfied with your action. You have made great contributions to our cause of the Anti-Japanese War.
contribution.
I will send a report to the embassy of your country later, requesting President Roosevelt to commend you, and distribute the promised bonus to all American pilots, including you, within three days.
Not only that, since you have exceeded the task this time, I will give each of you an additional reward of one thousand US dollars!"
"Long live!"
Gao Hongming knew very well that for these Americans, any awards and praises were empty, and only green US dollars were their favorite thing.
Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, there was a burst of cheers and whistles around him.
While Gao Hongming was talking, one after another bombers and fighter jets were landing on other runways. Not far away, medical staff were carrying several people from a B25 that had rushed out of the runway and was still smoking.
The crew was covered in blood, and the bomber had been riddled with bullet holes.