At the headquarters of the Japanese First Army in Taiyuan, Yoshio Shinozuka was wondering why the Eighth Route Army suddenly stopped attacking and there was no sound of gunfire on the battlefield.
Just when he was hesitating whether to send someone out to take a look, Chief of Staff Major General Tanaka suddenly rushed over with an excited look on his face.
"Your Majesty Commander, Tubal Road has retreated."
"The reinforcements from southwestern Shanxi have arrived. Two forward cavalry regiments and a mechanized infantry brigade are chasing the retreating Eighth Route Army troops. Now, there is no Eighth Route Army left in Taiyuan City!"
Yoshio Shinozuka's tense nerves immediately relaxed and he breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Yo Xi, Taiyuan City is finally saved!"
"Chief of Staff, organize the troops and occupy the outer city fortifications. Also, make statistics on our losses in this war. The more detailed the better!"
After saying that, the exhausted Shinozuka Yoshio leaned on his seat, squinted his eyes, and prepared to take a good rest.
Taiyuan City is so big, and there are not many Imperial Army and Imperial Alliance Army left in the city. Without one night, the battle damage will definitely not be calculated. Shinozuka Yoshio plans to use this time to have a good rest before he can
A clear enough mind to deal with various post-war issues.
However, Yoshio Shinozuka did not expect that Chief of Staff Tanaka would barge in less than an hour after he left. He was in a very gloomy mood, as if the Eighth Route Army had returned to fight again.
"Your Excellency, Commander, something happened at the Taiyuan Arsenal?"
Although the front army will replenish itself with a large amount of weapons and ammunition when encountering large-scale battles, almost all of the weapons and ammunition consumed by the First Army's own battles and daily training come from the Taiyuan Arsenal.
It can be said that although the Taiyuan Arsenal is not important to the life and death of the First Army, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is the most important department of the First Army.
Therefore, as soon as he heard the words that there was an accident at the arsenal, Shinozuka Yoshio stood up from his seat. It was not obvious that he had not rested for two days and one night and was very tired.
Staring at Major General Tanaka, he asked very anxiously: "Is it damaged by the Eighth Route Army? Is it serious or not? Is it possible to repair it? Immediately bring the imperial experts from the arsenal to assess the extent of the damage to the arsenal, and then repair it and resume production immediately, especially ammunition
production line."
"Fighting the Eighth Route Army for such a long time, the ammunition reserves of the troops stationed in various places must have been over-alert, and they must be replenished immediately!"
"No, Commander, you are mistaken!" Seeing that Yoshio Shinozuka had misunderstood what he meant, Major General Tanaka quickly shook his head in denial.
"The arsenal was not destroyed by the Eighth Route Army, but was evacuated by the Eighth Route Army. Not even a single piece of equipment or a single screw was left!"
"And our warehouses, hospitals, foreign companies, and banks in the outer city... were all looted by the Eighth Route Army. They removed almost all the equipment and materials they could move, leaving nothing for us. They are just like bandits, no, worse than bandits.
It’s even more excessive!”
"Nani? Empty the Taiyuan Arsenal? How is that possible?" Yoshio Shinozuka's first reaction was disbelief!
"There are more than a thousand pieces of equipment in the arsenal. It's impossible to move it with just manpower. And they don't have cars to transport this equipment. It's absolutely impossible!"
Tanaka smiled bitterly and replied: "Your Excellency, Commander, the factories in the arsenal are all empty now, and I will definitely not be mistaken. As for how Tuba Road was achieved, I don't know either!"
Yoshio Shinozuka suddenly slumped in his seat, and then his face slowly turned pale. Big beads of sweat seeped out from his forehead little by little without knowing when, and he didn't say a word.
Five minutes later, Yoshio Shinozuka reacted, but his reaction was beyond everyone's expectations.
In front of everyone, he threw the things on the table in front of him to the ground and smashed them into pieces, then cursed loudly.
"Bageya Road, we were fooled!"
"Tubal Road's attack on Taiyuan City was not to capture Taiyuan City, but to loot our arsenal in Taiyuan City!"
"Now I finally understand why they did not continue to launch a strong attack on the inner city after the outer city was breached by them. Instead, they only used powerful firepower to kill and put pressure on our defenders. It turned out that they were not trying to breach the inner city.
, but to buy them time to evacuate Taiyuan City."
"They know that the price to pay for storming Taiyuan City is too high. And even if they capture it, without air superiority, Taiyuan City will be taken back by us sooner or later."
"Instead of paying huge casualties to capture a Taiyuan city that I can't defend at all, it would be more practical to evacuate the Taiyuan arsenal!"
"The Eighth Route Army is so cunning. From the beginning, we were bluffed by the Eighth Route Army's powerful offensive, and we have been kept in the dark ever since!"
Major General Tanaka also reacted at this time and immediately asked: "Your Excellency, Commander, what should we do next?"
"Order the cavalry regiment chasing Tubal Road to keep an eye on them! Also, mobilize all our garrison and intelligence departments to pay close attention to all intersections and passes leading to the Eighth Route Army base area. We must find the equipment that Tubal Road has moved from our arsenal.
, snatch it back. Even if you can't snatch it back, you will still blow it up. Such a lot of equipment must not fall into the hands of the Eighth Route Army!" Yoshio Shinozuka ordered with a murderous look on his face, and there was no negotiable tone in his words.
"One of the important reasons why our North China Front Army was able to suppress the Eighth Route Army in North China is that Tubal Road has no weapons and ammunition supplies. All weapons and ammunition can only be obtained through seizures on the battlefield!"
"You must know that after fighting against the Eighth Route Army for such a long time, we do not deny that in terms of courage, the Eighth Route Army is no worse than us. The only difference is the equipment and training level. The training level takes time to change, and our Imperial Army can only pass it again and again.
A single sweep will not give Tubalu the time and opportunity to train!"
"The rest is equipment. Once they get these equipment, even if it cannot guarantee the equipment and ammunition needs of all the Eighth Route Army, it can still meet part of the Eighth Route Army."
"At that time, the gap between the Imperial Army and the Tubal Army will become smaller and smaller, and the entire North China will become faster and faster. It will be impossible for the Imperial Army to overwhelm the Eighth Route Army!"
Chief of Staff Major General Tanaka finally realized the seriousness of the problem, and his face became more solemn than ever.
After taking a deep breath, he immediately replied: "I will go and give the order right away. It has been less than twenty hours since Tubal Road occupied the arsenal, and they have not dared to transport these equipment by road for a hundred days. As expected, these equipment are still in the Imperial Army."
Army-occupied area!”
"Wait a minute, send a telegram to the front army headquarters immediately, report everything here to the front army, and ask the front army to send troops to cooperate. At the very least, planes should be dispatched to search for these equipment!"
At the North China Front Army Headquarters in Peiping, Shouichi Terauchi was like an angry lion, taking the telegram just sent by the Chief of Staff and yelling.
"Yoshio Shinozuka is a stupid pig. We didn't know the true purpose of the Eighth Route Army's attack on Taiyuan City until the battle was over. I'm going to send him to a military court, Bagya Road!"
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