At the East China Expeditionary Force Headquarters, the two commanders are being handed over. General Matsui Iwane, who looked so powerful before, turned gray overnight and returned to an unremarkable old man. Lieutenant General Asaka Palace Hatohiko, who is only fifty years old, He is high-spirited and about to reach the peak of his life;
After taking over the position of commander of the dispatched army, as long as he completes the task of conquering Jinling City, he can not only capture the capital of the Thousand-Year Empire of China on behalf of the royal family, but also be promoted to general with this achievement.
Prince Asaka Miyakohiko is the grandson of Prince Fushimi Miyakuniya, the eighth son of Prince Kuganomiya Asahiko, and Yuto's uncle. He was given the palace title of Asaka Palace by Emperor Meiji. He studied at the Tobaji Army Sergeant School, the Army University, and studied at the military academy in Gaul. After returning to France, he successively served as commander of the 1st Infantry Brigade, commander of the Guards Division, and military counselor. He started serving as a second lieutenant in the army and was the only member of the royal family. A person who holds an important position in the military and understands military affairs.
Yuren has always wanted to exert royal influence in the army, and Lieutenant General Chaoxiang is his best candidate. Yuren is full of confidence in taking over Jinling City. Such a great honor must naturally be accomplished by someone from the royal family, so he will Can't wait to replace Matsui Naone with Lieutenant General Asaka;
Old Japanese Matsui is old enough to understand, but he is a little unwilling to do so. This is obviously peach picking. He thought that the royal family would take their face into consideration and at least wait until they capture Jinling City before replacing him.
Later, he realized that he had thought too much and that the royal family had no face at all.
Lieutenant General Asaka could see that General Matsui was unwilling to give up, but everyone in Jinling City wanted to eat this peach, so everyone could only feel sorry for the old guy in front of him;
The foot pot chicken is very polite. Even though he snatched old Matsui's peach, after the two of them completed the normal handover ceremony, Lieutenant General Asaka still said in a pretentious manner:
"Matsui-kun, Your Majesty is very satisfied with your performance of your duties as the commander of the Shencheng Expeditionary Force. At Your Majesty's suggestion, the base camp has prepared an important position as a cabinet councilor for you. I, the hundreds of millions of people in the world, will also give you the opportunity." Warmest welcome;
On the day you return to China, you will enjoy the cheers of an imperial hero. The streets will be empty, and countless people will be proud to admire your grace. The glory of capturing the first city in the Far East will accompany you throughout your life. This is What an honor!
I really envy you. You should be like this when you are a husband. What more can you ask for? "
Old Japanese Matsui was so disgusted that he almost vomited, but he still forced a smile and pretended to be flattered and said:
"Your majesty, please show me more love. I have done too little for the empire. I dare not enjoy such a high honor. I deserve it. I deserve it!"
Lieutenant General Asaka also knows that Matsui has complaints in his heart, but he is now a dying old man. The royal family is very kind to give him such a high honor. This person does not know how to be grateful. Such a person who does not know how to advance or retreat is not worth wasting with him. There was no time, so I didn’t talk to him any more and just skipped this topic and talked about another topic that I was interested in:
"Matsui-kun, I also know about the 65th Regiment and the 103rd Brigade of the 13th Division in China, but I don't know some of the details. I have always been curious. A field regiment of the Empire is in the Sihang Warehouse. How come they were completely annihilated by a remnant camp of Chinese soldiers? Forget it, they can still capture the entire regiment flag!
In the Battle of Kunshan, the 103rd Brigade fought against 2,000 remnant soldiers. How could someone annihilate an entire brigade? "
After Lieutenant General Asaka said this, Iwane Matsui felt like he was slapped twice by the imperial family. This also hinted to him that he should be grateful to the imperial family for bringing such a great shame to the empire and still being able to escape. To be generous, it would be considered the kindness of the royal family if others were not held accountable, but they still have the nerve to be dissatisfied with the royal family, which is a bit ignorant of praise.
General Matsui originally wanted to maintain the last bit of pride, but as soon as the incident of the Thirteenth Division was revealed, his waist that had been straightened up instantly slumped down. It seems that the royal family still holds a grudge against this matter. In this way, the royal family also It was kind to him.
He bowed carefully to Lieutenant General Chaoxiang, and then said:
"I have an unshirkable responsibility for what happened to the Thirteenth Division. The loss of the 65th Regiment's flag has brought shame to the empire. Please punish me, Your Highness."
Seeing that his goal of suppressing old Matsui was achieved, Asaka quickly lifted him up with both hands, and then said pleasantly:
"Matsui-kun, you are overthinking. Your Majesty sees Matsui-kun's unparalleled success in capturing Shen City and has no intention of pursuing any further matters. When I mentioned it today, I did not mean to settle old scores. I just wanted to understand the reason. The next step is to prepare for the annihilation of Luo Ying's troops. The art of war goes like this: Know yourself and the enemy, and you will not be in danger in a hundred battles."
General Matsui was not a fool. He just pretended to believe his lies, and then calmly told Lieutenant General Asaka the details of the battle between the Thirteenth Division and Luo Ying. The battle report obtained by the imperial family was naturally of great significance. After hearing this, Chaoxiang's expression changed, and she said coldly:
"I don't care how powerful this Luo Ying and his lone army are, he must die!
The Lone Army Brigade must also be eliminated. The empire must not only conquer the land of China, but also conquer their souls. Luo Ying has now become the spiritual representative of their persistence in resistance, so he must die, no matter what the price;
There are 400 million people in China, with tens of millions of square kilometers of land, and an inexhaustible supply of troops. If they cannot completely eliminate their resistance, the empire will fall into endless battles, and the imperial army will How many alliances can be consumed?
The only way to stop killing the Chinese people is to kill them. They must be killed until they tremble when they hear resistance, and their resistance is wiped out both physically and mentally. Only in this way can China be completely conquered.
The familiar peach empire of Jinling City can be harvested over time. The Lone Brigade and Luo Ying, who have become the spiritual pillar of the Chinese people, must be eliminated first. I decided to mobilize the 101st and 102nd Divisions to surround Kuncheng from the southeast. Drive them to the west and north, where there are hundreds of thousands of imperial troops, attacking from the front and back, smashing the lone brigade into pieces with thunderous momentum;
Then take advantage of the situation to break through the main force of the Chinese army blocking the imperial army, and march to the gates of Jinling City. Then it will be easy to pick the ripe peach of Jinling. "
General Matsui nodded very cooperatively and said:
"Yo Xi, you are indeed a formidable person. This fighting method is so wonderful that I admire you;
Your Highness will definitely make unparalleled achievements and let the glory of His Majesty and the Royal Family shine on China and even the world!
The old man is about to say goodbye, and I wish His Highness a successful victory. By the time I rush back to my hometown, the news of Your Highness's capture of Jinling City should have spread throughout the world. The old man will raise a glass to congratulate His Highness under the cherry blossom tree at home. "
I have to say that Matsui Iwane is a good person. No matter how beautiful his words are, they don't cost money. The conquest of China has nothing to do with him anymore. When he left, he had sold enough face to Lieutenant General Asaka.
Lieutenant General Chaoxiang nodded with satisfaction and dismissed the old man in front of him. From now on, the East China Expeditionary Army will be his world. His first goal is to eliminate the Lone Army Brigade and Luo Ying who have brought shame to his cheap nephew;
This is not to mention how much he hates Luo Ying. A small Chinese major general cannot catch his eye. You must know that his current subordinates include seven or eight lieutenant generals alone. He prioritizes the elimination of Luo Ying just to let the world know. It proves that he is much stronger than the old man Matsui Iwane. He is already old and no longer adapts to this era..."
Come on, call Chief of Staff Iinuma. I have something important to announce to him! "
After sending away old man Matsui, Lieutenant General Asaka couldn't wait to exercise his authority as commander.
Two days later, in Kunshan, the Lone Army Brigade had been adjusted according to the new organization. After two days of full meals, the mental state of the newly gathered defeated troops recovered. In order to prevent the Japanese from retaliating, the people of Kunshan City have been evacuated one after another. Some went to visit relatives in other places, some settled in the countryside, and some hid in the mountains and forests;
The current lone brigade has strong soldiers and well-equipped equipment. The three main regiments, the 881st Regiment, are national weapons, the 882nd and 883rd Regiments are captured Japanese weapons, and the supplementary regiments are a mixture of Japanese weapons and national weapons. All supplies that the main force cannot carry are provided by the supplementary regiments. They were carried together in a unified manner. In order to strengthen the firepower of the supplementary regiment, they were also equipped with a machine gun battalion. The configuration was the same as that of the main regiment.
After adjusting his troops, Luo Ying left the 882nd regiment behind, and the main force broke out northward overnight. The personal letter he received instructed him to abandon Kunshan, breakout northward, and then return to Jinling to rest and prepare in advance for the defense of Jinling.
According to the information provided by Lanyi Club, the main force of the Japanese has now reached the front lines of Changzhou, Zhenjiang and Yangzhou, and is about to approach Jinling City. The troops on the periphery are very weak. Many counties are defended by a squadron, and there are almost no soldiers in the vast countryside. What devil;
The main force of the Japanese army was focused on the main force of the Kuomintang army, and their understanding of the lone brigade was that they were counterattacking Shen City, so the defense to the north was useless. This was the lone brigade's opportunity.
The Lone Brigade now controls almost half of Suzhou, while the Japanese defense lines have shrunk to the Wuxi and Jiangyin lines;
Luo Ying's breakout route was to pass through Kunshan, Changshu, and Zhangjiagang into the Taizhou and Nantong areas, which were the outskirts of the Japanese. There was not even a single regiment of troops in total. Yangzhou was still in the hands of the Kuomintang army, and that was where the Tenth In the defense area of the Fifth Army, as long as they arrive in Taizhou, the Fifteenth Army will send a unit to meet them, so that they can smoothly return to the embrace of the Civil Engineering Department.
"Brothers, tonight, we will start to break out. The reconnaissance battalion has already controlled Changshu in advance. The order of the breakout is the 882nd Regiment, the 883rd Regiment, the artillery battalion, the regiment headquarters and the supplementary regiment, and finally the 882nd Regiment... "
After everything was ready, Luo Ying announced the breakout order, and the lone brigade began to break out as planned. This caught the Japanese by surprise. Under Luo Ying's tactical deception, they were still making preparations to defend Shencheng. At the same time, the new commander Zhao Xiang The lieutenant general had not yet entered the state, and was planning with the chief of staff to mobilize the 101st and 102nd divisions to attack the lone brigade from both sides. Luo Ying, who acted decisively, took another advantage.
