"Chen Jun, the reason why I was successfully promoted to colonel this time is inseparable from your support. Let me toast you first!" Lieutenant Colonel Ono, no, now it is Colonel Ono who raised his glass.
For being able to purchase 4,000 pieces of cotton cloth for the Japanese Navy at one time, which solved the major problem of military logistics support, the Military Command Department was very satisfied with the work of Lieutenant Colonel Ono, the intelligence director, and he was successfully promoted to the rank of colonel of the Japanese Navy.
This was of course a happy event for Colonel Ono. On the night he received the promotion order, he hosted a private banquet for Chen Mingxiang. In addition to Colonel Nakajima and Lieutenant Colonel Shimada, there were also Kodama, Shifu and a member of the Fleet Headquarters.
Senior military officer.
"Chen Jun, let me introduce to you. This is Colonel Matsushima Keizo, the senior staff officer of the Fleet Headquarters. You may not be familiar with it yet." Colonel Nakajima said with a smile.
"We have indeed met a few times, but we have never had an in-depth conversation. During holidays, I often receive red envelopes and gifts from Chen Jun." Colonel Matsushima Keizan said with a smile.
On the other hand, the Fleet Headquarters is the highest command organization of the Japanese Navy in China. Chen Mingxiang would give gifts and red envelopes to the senior officials of the headquarters during every New Year and holidays. He would also give cigarettes and tea on ordinary days. The naval generals had a good impression of him.
"Did Matsushima-kun just come back from Jinling?" Kodama and Shifu asked.
"I just came back yesterday afternoon. In fact, the meeting chaired by General Matsui was a Chiefs of Staff meeting led by the Army. I was just invited to attend as a non-voting participant. I went there with my ears open. I didn't have anything to do with the Navy." Matsui said.
Shima Keizo said.
The Chief of Staff of the Expeditionary Forces, Matsui Tataro, returned to Jinling from Tokyo on January 29. On February 3rd and 4th, he convened a meeting of chiefs of staff of the various armies of the Expeditionary Forces to convey the operational orders of the Army Staff Headquarters.
Participating in this meeting were Lieutenant General Oshiro Sanji, Chief of Staff of the North China Front, Major General Tadao Teragaki, Chief of Staff of the Twelfth Army, Colonel Seitaro Takei, Senior Staff Officer of the Eleventh Army, Major General Sasanosuke, Chief of Staff of the Thirteenth Army,
The Chief of Staff of the 23rd Army, Major General Adachi Osuke, and the Chief of Staff of the 3rd Flying Regiment, Chief of Staff Takara Yoshii, while Colonel Matsushima Keizo of the Front Fleet Headquarters were only present.
"The Chiefs of Staff meeting is where combat plans are formulated. According to you, the dispatched troops have entered the preparation stage before the attack?" Colonel Ono asked.
"The specific attack time has not been determined. It will be between April and May. This strategic offensive will first start from the North China battlefield. The North China Front Army will dispatch the Twelfth Army to take charge of this task. The Kwantung Army will mobilize
The 27th Division came to strengthen, and the 3rd Flying Division served as air power."
"At the same time, the Eleventh Army and the Thirteenth Army are both assisting the Twelfth Army. I got news that the commander of the Thirteenth Army, Lieutenant General Shimomura Sada, will soon return to China to serve as the Western Army.
Commander, and his replacement is Lieutenant General Nagatsu Sahishige." Matsushima Keizo said.
"Although the temperature in the north is relatively low, we can start fighting by the end of March. Why do we have to postpone it to April and May?" Colonel Nakajima asked.
"It's not that the North China Front is slow to move, it's that the ammunition and materials needed for this war have not yet reached the standard. For this battle, the base camp has also devoted its resources to support. Each division has quadrupled its share of ground ammunition, and the aviation force's ammunition for half a year
and oil, and material transportation takes time." Matsushima Keizo said.
The navy has always been hostile to the army and made no reservations during the dialogue. From this, Chen Mingxiang obtained a large amount of information and could make targeted arrangements. The most critical points are two, one is to roughly determine the launch time, and the other is to first
The offensive lineup is completely determined.
Even if Chen Mingxiang has not been trained in a formal military academy, he can still know that the focus of the North China Front's offensive is Henan Province, which is the first theater of the Shancheng Government.
Among them are Commander Tang's heavy army group, which directly commands the 15th, 19th, 28th and 314th group armies, plus the 78th army, 25 infantry divisions and three temporary units.
Infantry brigade. There are also four armies and one corps in the first theater, totaling 17 infantry divisions. Their combined strength exceeds 400,000.
The so-called Twelfth Army of the Japanese Army commanded the 32nd, 35th and 59th Divisions, which were independently combined into the 5th Brigade, the 7th Brigade and the 4th Cavalry Brigade.
The divisions of the Japanese army are not fixed, but they will not exceed the current number. Including the 27th Division, it is roughly four to five divisions plus three brigades, and the divisions of the North China Front
, most of them are C-type divisions, with only more than 14,000 people.
"I heard that the government troops in the mountain city opposite are said to be four to five hundred thousand. The total number of imperial troops in the Twelfth Army does not exceed one hundred thousand. This battle will be a bit difficult." Chen Mingxiang said.
"This time the dispatched army headquarters has also estimated the situation you mentioned. The North China Front Army has transferred a tank brigade, mechanized infantry unit, mobile artillery unit and search team from the 3rd Tank Division to the 12th Army.
, to strengthen the offensive strength, just half of the empire's elite mecha divisions can at least withstand the 100,000-strong army of the Yamashiro government." Matsushima Keizo said.
Chen Mingxiang had also roughly heard of the Japanese Army's Third Tank Division, which was one of the few mechanized units. It was originally a cavalry division and has been stationed in the Inner Mongolia region in the north.
Each tank brigade has two tank regiments, and each regiment has more than 1,000 personnel, 73 tanks and 27 cars. The number of personnel in the motorized infantry regiment is more than 3,000
He has twenty-two chariots and eighty-nine automobiles.
The mobile artillery wing has more than 1,500 personnel, 12 75mm field guns, 24 105mm howitzers, and the search team has three combat squadrons.
Matsushima Keizo said that the 100,000-strong Yamashiro government army could not defeat half of Japan's tank divisions. This was bragging. However, with the current weapon configuration of the Yamashiro government army, even a group army could defeat half a tank division.
The car division team is really not an easy task.
Even though the armor of the Japanese tanks is very weak, it can still win against any opponent. If it is against the US military who are already equipped with bazooka anti-tank rocket launchers, it will of course only be abused.
However, the backward mountain city government does not even have anti-armor weapons. It usually only has some rifles, light and heavy machine guns, and at most a few mortars. How can it fight against armored troops in this case?
"The Army is still on the offensive, but the situation facing our Imperial Navy is not optimistic. According to the latest report from the Military Command, the U.S. Navy is attacking the Kwajalein Atoll and Eniwetok Atoll in the northern part of the Marshall Islands. This is to
Prepare for the attack on the Mariana Islands," Lieutenant Commander Shimada said.
