Hasegawa Kiyoshi and Yoshida Kotaro waited for more than three hours. It was not until dawn at around six o'clock in the morning that Maeda Ritsu finally returned to the headquarters.
"Your Excellency General?!" Ritsu Maeda paused.
"Maeda-kun, come here, let me introduce you."
Hasegawa Kiyoshi pointed at Kotaro Yoshida and said, "This is Kotaro Yoshida, the commander of the Songhu Special Marine Corps just appointed by the Ministry of Navy."
Ritsu Maeda immediately stepped forward and saluted Kotaro Yoshida.
After the ceremony, Yoshida Kotaro immediately stepped into the role: "Maeda-kun, is the Songhu Independent Regiment launching a counterattack again?"
Maeda Ritsu said: "Yes, but fortunately it is only an outpost of a small force."
"Outpost battle? It seems that the general's judgment is correct." Yoshida Kotaro turned to Hasegawa Kiyomata and said, "Although the Songhu Independent Regiment won the counterattack last night, it also suffered heavy casualties, so We are unable to launch another large-scale offensive."
"But this is only temporary." Kiyoshi Hasegawa waved his hands, "When they regain their strength, they will definitely launch a large-scale offensive again."
"I think so too." Maeda Ritsu said with deep understanding, "So we must not allow them to gather strength again. We must use the outpost warfare they launched to kill and injure their effective forces as much as possible."
"Oh?" Kiyoshi Hasegawa's expression changed when he heard this, and he said, "It seems that Maeda-kun already has a plan in mind?"
Maeda Ritsu subconsciously wanted to speak out his thoughts, but he swallowed his words again because his method was very stupid. It was a stupid method that Hasegawa Kiyoshi and Yoshida Kotaro who had just taken office might not approve, so they Be more cautious.
At that moment, Maeda Ritsu said to Yoshida Kotaro: "Your Excellency, Commander, the Songhu Independent Regiment is undoubtedly an extremely difficult opponent. It is better to take advantage of Hasegawa-dono's presence to convene a combat meeting with the section chiefs and staff officers to discuss it together. ?”
"Okay! Let's hold a combat meeting."
Kotaro Yoshida certainly has no problem with this.
I just took this opportunity to meet with my subordinates.
To prevent him from talking to his subordinates one by one.
…
The section chiefs and staff officers of the headquarters quickly gathered in the small conference room.
As usual, the meeting was chaired by Chief of Staff Ritsu Maeda. He first introduced Kotaro Yoshida to everyone, and then asked Kiyoshi Hasegawa to lecture everyone.
"Gentlemen, this time our Songhu Special Marine Corps has indeed humiliated the Imperial Navy. Even His Highness Prince Fushimiguchi has been humiliated by the Army Malu."
"Fortunately, His Royal Highness Prince Fushimi has shouldered all the pressure for our Marine Corps."
"So, we still have a chance to solve the Songhu Independent Group, and we still have a chance to personally wash away the shame imposed on us by our opponents."
"There is a proverb in the empire, where you fall, you must get up! I have only one request for your Songhu Special Marine Corps, and that is to eliminate the Songhu Independent Regiment at all costs, but not too much. Too bad!"
"Being too cautious against a dangerous and cunning opponent can lead to big mistakes."
"Hai!" Kotaro Yoshida, Ritsu Maeda, and all the section chiefs and staff stood up in unison and nodded to Hasegawa Qing.
Immediately afterwards, Ritsu Maeda spoke again.
"Now, please speak freely."
"If you have any ideas, please tell me."
"There is a proverb in Zina that three cobblers can rival Zhuge Liang. As long as you use your brains, you will definitely be able to come up with countermeasures."
As soon as Maeda Ritsu finished speaking, Operations Section Chief Shigeo Otake stood up and said: "Chief of Staff, we have discussed the same issue many times, what else is worth discussing? If the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can be tougher and force the public concession to drain the gas plant The two gas storage tanks and Sihang Warehouse have been smashed long ago."
"That's right." Intelligence Section Chief Naoto Ono agreed, "If the Ministry of Foreign Affairs hadn't held us back, hundreds of people from the Songhu Independent Regiment would have been wiped out by us long ago."
After getting started, other section chiefs and staff officers also spoke out and complained.
Without exception, they all targeted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Yoshimasa Okamoto.
"Bang!" Hasegawa Kiyoshi couldn't help but punched the conference table hard.
The section chiefs and staff officers present at the meeting immediately shut up, and Kiyoshi Hasegawa stood up and said: "As senior officers of the Imperial Navy and outstanding students of the Etajima Naval War School, do you just learn to shirk responsibility? Om? "
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, just blame the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."
"Without the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, you wouldn't have fought the war?"
"Are you unweaned babies? Do you still need the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to breastfeed you?"
"Isn't it because of those two gas tanks that you can't use heavy artillery and heavy aerial bombs? But without heavy artillery and heavy aerial bombs, you wouldn't be able to fight a war?"
The section chiefs and staff present involuntarily lowered their heads.
Although Hasegawa Kiyoshi's words are harsh, they are not unreasonable.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Jisheng Okamoto are certainly responsible for the bad debts of the Songhu Independent Regiment, but it is an indisputable fact that their Songhu Special Marine Corps did not fight well.
And comparing the two, their own responsibilities seem to be greater.
It's shameless to blame others if you don't play well yourself.
Hasegawa Kiyoshi's tone softened a little, and then said: "If you still have a little sense of shame, you don't need heavy artillery and heavy aerial bombs. Even if you stab the Sihang Warehouse with a bayonet, you will smash it with your teeth. The Songhu Independent Group was torn to pieces!"
In fact, it is not that Hasegawa has never tried to use heavy artillery or heavy aerial bombs.
Unfortunately, the base camp did not allow it. The main reason was that the base camp was not ready to completely break with the country of Mi and the United Kingdom, and did not dare to cause too much trouble.
Kiyoshi Hasegawa's anger is still useful.
At least the section commander and staff present began to consider this battle under the preset conditions of not using heavy artillery and heavy aerial bombs.
"Only the army's gasoline Molotov cocktails are very troublesome."
"And intelligence shows that only the army purchased 2 tons of gasoline from the public concession!"
"In the future, it cannot be ruled out that the military will purchase more gasoline from the concession."
"So a frontal force attack is definitely not feasible. Last night could be said to be the time when the defense of Sihang Warehouse was at its most empty. However, the four-way attack by our Songhu Special Marine Corps still ended in a disastrous defeat. This is enough to prove that the force attack method will not work. .”
"If you can't attack from the front, you can only blast."
"One or more tunnels can be dug for blasting."
“It used to be possible to dig tunnels and blast, but I’m afraid that’s not possible now.”
"After occupying the Bank of Communications warehouse, the army must have discovered the two tunnels inside and guessed our intentions, so they will definitely be prepared for the next step. If they want to dig tunnels to blast, I'm afraid it won't work. "
"That's right, the army only needs to dig trenches around the four-row warehouse to crack it."
"Then dig deeper and dig tunnels from three or even five meters deep!"
"It's easier said than done. Do you know how much it costs and how long it takes to dig a tunnel like this?"
"No matter how much it costs or how long it takes, the problem will eventually be solved."
"If this time is several months, do you still want to insist on digging tunnels?"
Listening to the arguments among several section chiefs and staff, Hasegawa Kiyoshi became a little impatient. They all had unoriginal opinions and nothing else?
Hasegawa Kiyoshi turned his attention to Maeda Ritsu again.
"Maeda-kun, don't you tell me what you think?"
