After receiving news of the Eighth Route Army's attack on Taiyuan at the headquarters of the Japanese North China Front in Peiping, Neji Okamura stayed up all night, guarding the sand table and waiting for news.
Whether he can succeed in the sweep of northwest Shanxi depends on whether he can avenge his past humiliation, defeat the Eighth Route Army and restore his reputation.
The safety of Taiyuan is related to whether he can secure his position as commander of the North China Front.
In the past half year, the front army headquarters launched several major raids, all of which ended in disastrous defeats.
Even the 50,000 elite troops of the Kwantung Army who reinforced the North China Front were lost.
The successive defeats made him lose face, and also caused domestic doubts about his command ability.
If it weren't for the fact that he had won many battles before, had deep qualifications and a strong background.
The defeat of the Kwantung Army alone, which cost 50,000, was enough for him to lose his position as commander of the North China Front.
If Taiyuan was also lost during his tenure and occupied by the Eighth Route Army, moving it would definitely be a certainty.
By then, even if he wanted to seek revenge from the Yizhong Eighth Route Army, he would not be qualified.
Faced with this situation, Okamura Neji's first thought was how to...
The North China Front must not have any more major problems in a short period of time.
After stabilizing the war situation, he will find a way to break through, wash away the shame, and let the people in the country see that he is still the best candidate to be the commander of the North China Front Army.
Seeing the chief of staff walking towards him in a hurry, Okamura Neji immediately raised his heart in his throat, fearing that he would hear some bad news.
He quickly asked: "Is Taiyuan City still in our hands..."
The chief of staff quickly reported: "Commander, please rest assured..."
"Commander Yoshio Iwamatsu held Taiyuan."
"The Eighth Route Army siege troops have withdrawn from the battlefield..."
"But the Taiyuan garrison suffered heavy losses... They also believed that the Yizhong Eighth Route Army sent far more troops to Taiyuan than just one regiment."
"The Taiyuan garrison made the mistake of underestimating the enemy again."
"If the Yizhong Eighth Route Army continues to attack Taiyuan tonight, the mobile troops in the hands of Commander Yoshio Iwamatsu will be exhausted, and Taiyuan City will be in danger because there is no reserve..."
"They want to..."
Seeing that the chief of staff suddenly became hesitant, Neji Okamura frowned and asked, "Do they want to end the sweep of northwest Shanxi and protect Taiyuan?"
"Ha Yi..." the chief of staff replied with his head lowered.
He knew how much hope Okamura Ningji had placed on the sweep of northwest Shanxi.
Iwamatsu Yoshio's suggestion undoubtedly ended the commander's dream of taking the opportunity to wash away his shame.
Afraid that Okamura Neji would get angry because of this, his voice was much lower than before.
Neji frowned and said nothing while watching the village. The chief of staff quickly comforted him: "Your Excellency, Commander..."
"There is a saying in China: You can't have your cake and eat it too..."
"Bizong believes that the negative impact of losing Taiyuan is far greater than the impact of winning a battle in northwest Shanxi."
"We have achieved many victories in northwestern Shanxi..."
"Now that the sweep is over, victory still belongs to us."
"Securing Taiyuan and repelling or destroying all the Eighth Route Army sent by Yi Zhong to Shanxi will also be a great victory."
"We suffered several heavy losses at the hands of the Yi Zhong Eighth Route Army..."
"Now that their troops have left the Yi Zhong base and moved deep into our occupied area, it is an excellent opportunity to eliminate them. We must not miss it..."
"Bang..." Neji Okamura punched the table hard, then stared at the sand table and ordered.
"Call Yoshio Iwamatsu back..."
"Taiyuan City must not make any mistakes... let him decide what to do specifically, and the front army headquarters will not interfere..."
The chief of staff did not expect Okamura Neiji to compromise so easily, and quickly flattered him: "Your Excellency, Commander, is wise..."
"Secure Taiyuan and eliminate the Eighth Route Army's baggage troops operating around Taiyuan. This victory is no less than our victory in the sweep of northwest Shanxi."
"I'll call the Shanxi garrison back now..."
"Let them mobilize troops from northwestern Shanxi earlier for reinforcements... take the opportunity to catch the Eighth Route Army off guard and try to eliminate them."
…………
At the former enemy headquarters of the Eighth Route Army, when the chief of staff returned to the deputy commander-in-chief again, the worry on his face completely disappeared, and his whole face was covered with a smile.
He raised the telegram in his hand and was happy to report: "Boss..."
"Kongjie telegram!"
"The second batch of eleven aircraft departing from Taiyuan has successfully landed at the Yi Zhong temporary airport... The transfer operation proposed by Huang Yu has been completed. Our Eighth Route Army can finally form its own air force..."
"Kong Jie proposed to us..."
"Establish a flying regiment, a garrison regiment, and a regiment-level ground support force directly in Chenjiazhuang..."
"Dedicated to serving our newly formed Air Force..."
The deputy commander smiled and asked, "What did Xiao Huang say?"
"He was the first to come up with the idea of forming an air force, and he also captured the aircraft."
"Without him our Air Force would be nothing."
"His opinion must be considered."
"There is a telegram from Xiao Huang..." The chief of staff quickly took out another telegram and introduced it.
"He believed that our first air force was mainly focused on training pilots and supplemented by attacking Japanese and puppet troops."
"Even if we really join the war, we must avoid a head-on confrontation with the Japanese Air Force."
"It is best to attack the Japanese and puppet troops at night under the guidance of the bonfire on the ground like tonight..."
"He has an even bolder idea..."
"To put it bluntly, I can bear it..." the deputy commander asked expectantly.
He wished that Huang Yu would be more courageous, the better.
He was asked to command the battle to reinforce northwest Shanxi. Although the task had not yet been completed, the first air force unit was brought back to the Eighth Route Army.
If we were more courageous, we might just get an air force division for the Eighth Route Army.
The chief of staff's face immediately became extremely serious. He looked at the deputy commander and said seriously: "He hopes that the newly established air force of the Eighth Route Army can train a hundred pilots within half a year."
"Why does he need so many pilots?" The deputy commander immediately asked a question in his mind.
But he was the deputy commander-in-chief after all, and he had an idea after just a little thought.
He stared at the chief of staff expectantly and asked: "Wait..."
"Isn't it possible that Xiao Huang has set his sights on the enemy at Beiping Airport?"
Seeing the chief of staff nod, the deputy commander slapped his thigh fiercely, and then said: "Their next goal is to raid the Tianjin dock..."
"Beiping Airport is right next to Tianjin, and the troops can take it easily..."
At this point, the deputy commander also became expectant, his eyes lit up and he said: "Beiping Airport is different from Taiyuan Airport..."
"The aviation headquarters of the North China Front is right there."
"There are at least a hundred aircraft of all kinds in total."
"If we can really take down Peiping Airport... it will be no problem to harvest seventy or eighty aircraft of various types..."
"There's something going on..."
"Chief of Staff...the training of pilots must be implemented as soon as possible..."
"We need to build more secret airports..."
"Otherwise we won't have anywhere to park the plane after we capture it!"
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(End of chapter)
