The four hundred and fifty fifth chapter Hengyang trip (four)
--Outside Hengyang City
"What? The imperial army lost?" Toushan shouted in disbelief.
The old farmer nodded and said, "Hey, I went to the Shiniufeng position today to help dig out fortifications. I saw the battle at Shiniufeng with my own eyes. Although the imperial army attacked bravely, the National Army's defenses were well built and their firepower was very powerful.
According to my estimate, our army's losses today exceeded 2,000 people."
"Two thousand people?" He sat down slowly and asked, "Where is the National Army?"
The old farmer shook his head and said, "I don't know the specific situation, but in the trench where I was, a company of the National Army only suffered more than a dozen casualties, and only five were actually killed. The casualties are very low."
A female agent next to him comforted Toushan and said, "The losses in the offensive battle will be relatively large. Don't worry, Toushan."
Toushan threw his hands away and said, "I'm not worried about the war. That's a matter for each general. I thought that after the imperial army attacked, the losses of the national army would definitely be big. By then they would be in chaos, and we would have a chance to sneak in."
Hengyang, but now it seems that they are completely organized. If we can't find the opportunity to enter Hengyang, how can we find the target?"
When several Japanese agents heard this, they couldn't help but fell into deep thought.
"Actually... there is a way." The female agent said.
Toushan raised his eyebrows, looked at the female agent and asked, "Tianzi, what do you have in mind?"
The female agent said, "Captain, according to my observation outside today, I found that their hospital is divided into two parts. The one behind Shiniu Peak is the field hospital, but the real seriously injured people are transported back to Hengyang City. Those seriously injured people are transported back to Hengyang City."
They are all bloody and bloody, and many of them are unconscious. It is not clear who is who, and most of the people transporting the wounded are ordinary people, and these ordinary people can enter the city."
Tou Shan's eyes lit up and he nodded and said, "That's a good idea. Then immediately find a lone Nationalist soldier, tie him up and blow him up, then say he was injured by a plane. Ordinary soldiers will see it anyway."
Not coming out."
The other people nodded and immediately went out to find the target.
While the Battle of Hengyang was beginning, a new aircraft was slowly taking shape in Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries factory.
Hirohito was visiting the arsenal, accompanied by Ishihara and Mitsubishi Foundation Chairman Koyata Iwasaki.
Iwasaki Koyata pointed to the aircraft on the production line and proudly said to Hirohito, "Your Majesty, this is our latest designed fighter. We combined the Type 96 carrier-based fighter with the aviation technology provided to us by Germany, as well as feedback from the Imperial Army on the battlefield in China.
We can be proud to say that this cutting-edge fighter aircraft has reached the highest level of aircraft in the world today."
Hirohito touched his beard and said, "Oh? Is this the first prototype?"
Iwasaki Koyata shook his head and said, "This is already the fifth prototype, and it is completely different from the first prototype."
Hirohito smiled and asked, "So, does this fighter win with its turning and fighting performance, or with its speed?"
Ishihara said in surprise, "Your Majesty is really knowledgeable, but our fighter is all-powerful. Its turning radius has reached the smallest we know now, and its speed has reached more than 550 kilometers, and it has increased with every adjustment."
, can be said to be the strongest fighter."
Hirohito looked at Ishihara in surprise. He knew that Ishihara had always argued that the Japanese military's armaments lagged behind Europe and the United States, so when he heard Ishihara say this, he believed that this fighter plane was indeed extremely excellent.
Hirohito asked, "What's the name of this plane?"
Iwasaki Koyata bowed and said, "Sorry, Your Majesty, I haven't given a name yet."
Hirohito thought for a while and said, "This year is the year 2600 of the Imperial Age, and the last two numbers happen to be "00", so let's call it a zero war."
"Hi!"
Coming out of the arsenal, Hirohito said to Ishihara, "Ishihara, besides aircraft, are there any new products in armaments during this time?"
Ishihara nodded and said, "Germany's military technology is indeed very strong, and the German government is also very sincere, but it will still take some time to absorb it. Although the products we are developing now have taken shape, I think we still need to absorb the new German technology and use the best
Weapons arm the soldiers of the Empire.”
Hirohito narrowed his eyes and asked, "How long will it take?"
Ishihara replied, "By the end of this year, new rifles, machine guns, armored vehicles, light and heavy tanks, howitzers, and anti-tank artillery will be designed and put into production. The real large-scale replacement will not be until 2041. It is expected that half of the replacement will be done in 2043."
.The keels of the navy's warships have been laid, and they can only be modified, not demolished and started over."
Hirohito asked, "Is it Yamato?"
Ishihara nodded and said, "Yes, Yamato is the highest achievement of our country's battleship design. However, Naval Squadron Yamato also has doubts. I once talked with Yamamoto Isoroku. He believes that we should develop aircraft carriers now instead of battleships. You need to know that a Yamato
The cost is expected to exceed 100 million US dollars, which is too expensive and is enough to replace six aircraft carriers."
Hirohito nodded and said, "Japan is an island country. The navy is the foundation of our survival. The development direction of the navy will determine our life or death. What do you think about this?"
Ishihara shook his head and said, "Weichen studied the Army and doesn't know much about the Navy. Nowadays, navies around the world are debating whether the future will be the battleship era or the aircraft carrier era. For example, Germany, it is said that they have not decided to build an aircraft carrier."
Although Ishihara has a strategic vision, he was born in the army. When he talked about future weapons, he still unconsciously looked towards Germany. Hirohito objected and said, "Germany's army is indeed first-rate, but the navy still has to look to Britain...
However, Yamato is accumulated bit by bit with the hard work of all the citizens of the empire, so we cannot give up easily... Let’s get in the car first.”
Seeing the car approaching, Ishihara quickly stepped forward and opened the front door for Hirohito. Hirohito pointed to the back door and said, "I'll sit in the back. You come in with me."
Ishihara was a little flattered and sat in after Hirohito entered. After the car started, Hirohito said, "Some people have come to see me recently and discussed some things with me."
Ishihara knew that Hirohito would not take the target lightly, so he quickly lowered his head to show that he was listening.
Hirohito continued, "Shanxi, Mongolia, and Suiyuan are all lost... Do you have any ideas?"
Ishihara felt a trickle of sweat break out on his back, and he slowly said, "The China Red Party received a lot of assistance from overseas forces, which indeed increased its strength very quickly. The first main reason for the defeat of Shanxi, Suiyuan and other places was
Our army underestimates the enemy too much. Secondly, the main strength of our army is in Central China and Manchuria. Moreover, the growth of the China Red Party can put certain pressure on Chongqing, so I think this matter has advantages and disadvantages for the imperial strategy."
Hirohito hummed and asked, "The American ambassador came to negotiate a few days ago, hoping that we will stop the war in China, and said that there will be problems with the supply of our orders some time ago. What do you think?"
Ishihara had already thought about this issue and immediately said, "I think the Americans saw that we were getting closer to Germany and were afraid that after we formally formed an alliance with Germany, we would launch a war with the British and American colonies in Southeast Asia, especially after they saw that we captured Changsha.
, the United States is even more afraid that our victory in the China battlefield will eventually affect U.S. interests in the Pacific. Some signs of this can be seen in the fact that the United States has promised to provide Chiang intermediary economic assistance some time ago."
Hirohito took a breath and said, "I recently read a book, written by an American, called "Pacific Maritime Hegemony". Have you read it?"
Ishihara was stunned for a moment and said, "Yes, Wei Chen has read this novel..."
Hirohito nodded and said, "After I watched it, it felt very real, as real as if it was about to happen..."
Ishihara immediately heard what Hirohito meant. Hirohito was already mentally prepared to fight the United States. He hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, the empire is not ready to fight the final war because of the drag on the China battlefield."
The final war has always been Ishihara's theory, which means concentrating the power of the yellow race and the white race to launch a racial decisive battle.
Hirohito smiled, "I didn't say I wanted to fight... isn't the empire's power enough?"
Ishihara analyzed for Hirohito, "Excluding the navy and aviation, the empire currently has a total of 48 divisions and 23 mixed brigades, including 2 divisions garrisoned in North Korea, 10 remaining in the country and being organized and trained, and 15 divisions in Manchukuo.
regiment and seven mixed brigades, two divisions of the Taiwan garrison, four divisions plus three mixed brigades in the South China battlefield, nine divisions plus six mixed brigades in the Central China battlefield, eight divisions plus seven in the North China battlefield
The total strength of the mixed brigade has reached 1.84 million, of which the Kwantung Army in North Korea has nearly 700,000 stationed in Manchuria, about 100,000 in Taiwan, 300,000 in North China, 150,000 in South China, 400,000 in Central China, and 200,000 in China.
Most of the troops were contained on the battlefield in China."
Hirohito sighed and said, "Back then you said it would be over in three months, but now you have been fighting for three years..."
"The humble minister is incompetent!" Ishihara quickly apologized.
Hirohito was silent for a while and asked, "I heard that someone in the Army proposed a new round of military expansion?"
Ishihara hummed, "Expanding the army requires funds and weapons. The empire's economy is already overwhelmed. Those people are just warriors. It is said that the empire has 10 million people suitable for being soldiers. Naturally, it can form 10 million troops, but in that case
Our troops don’t have much combat effectiveness, they can only scare people.”
Hirohito waved his hand and said, "Since you have thought of everything, you should have a new plan, right?"
Ishihara nodded and said, "I have analyzed our troops. Among them, the Kwantung Army has to deal with the Soviet Union. As long as the Soviet Union and Germany do not start a war, they cannot move here, and they even need to be strengthened... We have 700,000 people in North China and Central China, and these two
The places are connected, but we can only mobilize less than 150,000 people in the Changsha-Hengyang battle that is currently going on, and we can only use 100,000 people in the Hengyang battle that is still going on."
Hirohito asked in confusion, "Why is this?"
Ishihara sighed, "China is really too big. Most of our troops are scattered in various cities we occupy. For example, Shandong has hundreds of counties and thousands of towns. Just guarding these places requires us to
There are 60,000 to 70,000 people, but the guerrillas here are said to exceed 100,000..."
Hirohito asked, "What do you think?"
Ishihara was silent for a while and said, "The battle between Germany and Britain and France is about to begin. Intelligence from Germany shows that Germany's preparations are nearing completion. Once Britain and France go to war with Germany, their forces in Asia will be withdrawn, and the empire will expand.
The opportunity has come. My idea is to have a truce with China and recuperate. If the battle between Germany and Britain and France is not in stalemate for one or two years, there will be no distinction between superior and inferior. Our army can use this one or two years to recover its strength and achieve success in one fell swoop.
Capture Southeast Asia. Southeast Asia, with the exception of Thailand, is a European colony. There is no concept of nation-states there. The Europeans can colonize them, and we can liberate them. As long as we enter Southeast Asia as liberators, we will definitely gain
With the support of local people, our army can even cut off the last blood supply of the Chongqing government and force Chongqing to surrender completely."
Hirohito felt something was wrong and asked, "Didn't you say a truce at the beginning?"
Ishihara nodded and said, "As Wei Chen said just now, the power of the China Red Party is increasing rapidly. Our army should change from attacking Chongqing from the front on the China battlefield to clearing out the Red Party armed forces in the rear. At the same time, we can give Chongqing some support in non-strategic areas."
The sweet spot is that we can use war to promote talks with Chongqing and retreat to promote peace. Today we will give them a county and tomorrow we will give them a town. And behind enemy lines, Wei Chen has already read the plan of General Okamura Neiji. Wei Chen thinks
Very good, you can give it a try, Wei Chen believes that a county with good public security is more important to the empire than a province with chaotic public security."
Hirohito sighed and said, "We are all brothers within the four seas, so why is the world so troubled by wind and rain..."
Ishihara immediately said clearly, "Hi!"
——Outside Hengyang City
The Hengyang defense battle has been going on for four days and four nights. Hu Lian and Fang Xianjue supported each other and cooperated with each other. With the support of Jiang Cheng, the logistics captain, there was no need to worry about food and ammunition. Every time the Japanese attacked, they were defeated under a hail of bullets.
They were forced to evacuate, and the hundreds of meters from the mine array to Fang Xianjue's trench were filled with the corpses of Japanese planes. These corpses stinked and rotted under the early autumn weather.
Because the Japanese army was attacking, it was difficult to evacuate the wounded, but most of the wounded defenders at Shiniufeng could receive good treatment. Two or three villagers were carrying a stretcher to Hengyang City. In order to encourage these brave soldiers
At Jiang Cheng's suggestion, Li Yutang gave the people fifty kilograms of rice or the equivalent of silver dollars for every wounded person he rescued in Hengyang City. This also resulted in most of the wounded being carried and rescued by the people.
A lot of military power was saved for defense.
"Stop!" Seeing this group of people carrying stretchers, the National Army guarding the city gate hurriedly came over, took a flashlight and asked, "Why are you here now? Didn't you say that they are not allowed to be delivered at night?"
The leader of the old farmer quickly pointed to the wounded on the stretcher and said, "We are from Qian Village. We were going back to the village in the evening, but a Japanese plane bombed. This boss and two other bosses were bombed to cover us, and the other two were bombed."
The boss didn’t survive, and he’s the only one who’s still alive. If he doesn’t get sent to Dabai’s house, it will be too late!”
The guard looked at the wounded soldier with a flashlight and found that the wounded soldier had indeed been injured by the explosion. His body was covered in blood and flesh, but his slightly heaving chest indicated that he was still breathing. The National Army captain quickly waved and said, "You, take them to the field hospital immediately."
, Fellow fellow, our people will lead the way for you, you go quickly, come out immediately after collecting the reward, and you are not allowed to stay in the city at night."