October 16, 1940, Taiyuan, Japanese First Army Headquarters
"Honestly, what surprised me the most was the Eighth Route Army. Thirty thousand tons of high-quality rice was sold immediately without any additional conditions. It seems that we must re-evaluate the strength of the Eighth Route Army." Yamamoto Kazuki looked a little gloomy. said,
The rice purchased by Kuroshima Morita from the Eighth Route Army base area is still being shipped out. With the current transportation capacity, 30,000 tons of rice cannot be handled in a day or two. Coupled with the pleasant traffic conditions in the Eighth Route Army base area, the Japanese army The Eighth Route Army was equally miserable.
"Your Excellency is right, but we still can't figure out where they got the rice. It's of extremely high quality, good taste, and low price. The most important thing is that they don't need cash." Hirata Ichiro said with the same expression. Confused, Shanxi Province and even North China are not the main rice-producing areas. If the Eighth Route Army wants to obtain large quantities of rice, it can only transport it from the south. It also needs to go to Shaanxi Province to transport it to Shanxi Province. It is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and the cost is high. It is not cost-effective at all. .
In order to save costs, even the Japanese army purchased sorghum rice from nearby Suiyuan, and sometimes got some bean cakes used as fertilizer from the four northeastern provinces to make up the money, but the Eighth Route Army was eating rice.
"What happened to the results of the expert's test?" Kazuki Yamamoto was also confused. Although a small amount was provided to the Imperial Army for consumption, he still flew the rice to Binzhou and handed it over to the expert for testing.
"There is no big problem, but experts believe that the rice used for processing may be stored for a long time, so the manufacturer adds calcium peroxide and paraffin during processing to whiten and brighten it. However, in addition to increasing the cost, it is The human body is harmless." Ichiro Hirata immediately replied, this is the same as what the experts from the Taiyuan Water Supply Corps said, and it can be confirmed that the test results are no problem.
"Exchange abalone for food, Mr. Hirata, do you think the Eighth Route Army has channels to sell these abalone?" Yamamoto Kazuki gently pressed his temple with one hand. He had a headache and really couldn't figure it out.
"The reply given by the Super High School is that the current market for online abalone is stable and there is no greater demand. It has even shrunk due to the war. Especially for dry abalone, the price has more than doubled compared to before the war. "Ichiro Hirata smiled bitterly. Japanese people eat abalone, but what they eat is fresh abalone. Dried abalone like the one brought by Kuroshima Morita is for export, and the destination is China.
Due to the war, Japan's export of dried abalone has almost stagnated, and many fishermen have gone bankrupt. But who cares about the lives of a small group of fishermen?
"There are many things on the list given to Mr. Hei Dao by the Eighth Route Army, especially things like wood. If there are no export channels, they will definitely not be purchased in large quantities. I need to know who or what force is purchasing these things." Things." Kazuki Yamamoto would not think that the Eighth Route Army purchased these things for its own use. The soldiers of the Eighth Route Army were so hungry that they even ate horse feed. How could they eat imported abalone, or half a giant abalone. 33
"There is some relevant information about this special high school. The Yamashiro government has been purchasing those strange things on a large scale recently. News from the Yamashiro Ministry of Finance shows that the Yamashiro government uses these things in exchange for arms from third countries. It is said that the Ministry of Military and Political Affairs plans to train an army of 1.5 million people at once." Ichiro Hirata replied, although the Ministry of Military and Political Affairs is also keeping secrets, an army reorganization plan involving more than one million people must not be kept secret. Some people in the Ministry of Finance were dissatisfied. This matter had already spread among the intelligence dealers. Naturally, the Special High School also knew about it. They even knew the troop number and weapon configuration.
"One and a half million troops! Baga, how is it possible? How could they have such ability?" Yamamoto Kazuki suddenly stood up, his face full of shock and disbelief. Don't look at the national army's claim to have six million troops. , but according to the estimates of the Japanese military department, the actual number should be only more than 4 million, and most of the others are just vacant positions. To organize an army of 1.5 million at once will definitely break the rhythm of the battlefield balance.
"The Special High School has obtained the details of the two recent arms transactions of the Yamashiro government. It is expected that they will be submitted to the imperial court today. Please take a look." Ichiro Hirata took out two pieces of paper from his portable folder and pushed them in front of Yamamoto Kazuki.
"Damn imperialism, these weapons are enough to arm a country, they want to bleed the Japanese Empire!" Yamato Kazuki picked up the two pieces of paper, glanced at them and exploded them.
So far, Japan has only a total of 49 regular army divisions, but their opponents have to suddenly increase their troops by 1.5 million. In response, the Imperial Army must increase at least 20 divisions, but until now So far, the military plan has only added two divisions, and it will have to wait until 1941.
To maintain a balance on the battlefield, the military must respond, but does the empire really have the strength to arm twenty new divisions? Even if 20 divisions are armed and then deployed on the Chinese battlefield, can the poor logistics capabilities of the Chinese Expeditionary Army guarantee the supply of these troops?
"Although the other party deliberately sold weapons from multiple countries, at present, there are only four countries that have the strength to mobilize such a number of weapons, namely the Alliance, Bald Eagle, Britain, and Hans." Hirata Ichiro smiled bitterly, not only Yamamoto Kazuki Feeling angry, even he was angry too.
"Britain is definitely impossible. It is said that they have even dragged out the cannons of the 19th century for use. They do not have the ability or the energy to do so. As for the alliance, it is just a strong foreign force and a strong internal force. Even open arms sales have been stopped. There is no need to add any more extraneous matters. What they hope most now is to conclude a non-aggression treaty with the empire; Hans is our ally. Besides, they do not have the strength to transport weapons to the hinterland of China. After all, there is actually only one country. ." Yamamoto Kazuki spoke with a somewhat heavy tone.
"This is also the analysis of the special high school. Only the bald eagle has such strength and motivation. After all, it takes more than a day or two for those navy red deer to challenge the bald eagle." Ichiro Hirata also had a look of resentment when he mentioned the navy. , from the Army's perspective, the fundamental reason why the Chinese battlefield has been delayed for so long is that the Navy has occupied too many war resources. If this were not the case, the Army would not be short of troops at all.
"Those damn idiots, the empire is already having a hard time, and they still want to provoke everywhere. In fact, it is not just a provocation. The empire is already making plans to go to war with Bald Eagle and Britain, although the cabinet is still trying its best to avoid it. , but with the support of the Navy, preparations for war are already underway." Kazuki Yamamoto sighed, and then sat down helplessly. With the promotion of his position, he also began to come into contact with many secrets. Naturally, He also knew that the southward faction in the country was gaining the upper hand little by little, but from his point of view, neither going south nor going north was the best choice, but it was obvious that neither the domestic radicals nor the bald eagle wanted to let The Empire really stopped fighting.
"Hirata-kun, I want Kuroshima-kun to continue making such a deal with the Eighth Route Army. Do you think it's okay?" Yamamoto Kazuki said after thinking for a moment.
"Your Excellency, Kuroshima-kun has probably betrayed. Shouldn't we send him to the Mongolian Army as originally planned?" Ichiro Hirata was puzzled. Although Kuroshima Morita's affairs were very secretive, in order to redeem Kuroshima Morita, The Kuroshima family has done a lot of things behind the scenes, and it is inevitable that people will see the clues. The reason why Kuroshima Morita is still doing well is, on the one hand, because of Kuroshima Morita's special status, and on the other hand, Shinozuka Yoshio is worried about the family scandal being publicized. , and the reason why he was transferred to Yamamoto's unit was that he hoped to be able to monitor him nearby.
"What does it matter? As long as he can get such low-priced high-quality food, it will be fine. We don't have any foundation. It is impossible to obtain a large amount of materials in exchange for food by our own strength. If we want to maintain Jin In the situation of the province, food is definitely indispensable. Not to mention that he may just betray, it doesn't matter even if he is a member of the anti-war alliance." Yamamoto Kazuki responded nonchalantly. In fact, through his observation during this period, he had already been able to It is concluded that Kuroshima Morita has betrayed him, but it doesn't matter, as long as he can make good use of the other party.
"Could it be that we are pinning all our hopes on these Eighth Route Army?" Hirata Ichiro suddenly felt that it was ridiculous. The majestic Imperial Army of Japan actually had to rely on its enemies to survive?
"That is definitely impossible. My classmates in Hansi said that they are promoting potato flour there. Next year, I plan to introduce high-yielding varieties of bald eagles to promote potato cultivation in Shanxi Province and at the same time promote potato flour in the army. "Yamamoto Kazuki's classmates actually complained to him about the anti-humanity of potato flour, but in his opinion, the soldiers of the Imperial Army can even eat horse feed, so why can't they eat potato flour? If he were not worried about public outcry, he would have sent people to Suiyuan to plant alfalfa, which is said to be edible.
"Sir, will this work?" Ichiro Hirata was a little unsure. He had trained with Yamamoto's troops for a long time and had eaten all kinds of messy things. For some reason, when he heard about potato starch, he always I will think of some not so good things.
"Mr. Hirata, in addition to promoting potato cultivation, next year I also plan to build infrastructure in the Taiyuan Basin. While developing agriculture and restoring production, I will build the Taiyuan Basin into a super fortress. With the wealth of the Taiyuan Basin, once the potential explodes If you come out, there will be no problem feeding millions of people!" After pondering for a while, Yamamoto Kazuki finally revealed his ultimate goal.
Judging from the current situation of the First Army and the Chinese Army, it is already impossible to defend the entire Jin Province. However, it is still no problem to completely control the Taiyuan Basin. This is why the last major sweep was limited to The reasons are around Taiyuan.
"Your Excellency is wise!" Ichiro Hirata looked up with admiration, but felt a little uncomfortable in his heart. During this period, Qian Bojun led tens of thousands of civilians to build bunkers around the Taiyuan Basin. Obviously, that guy was more powerful than himself. I should have known about Lord Yamamoto’s plan.
Some people died, but not completely...
