Quartermasters can also fight the devils

Chapter 237: The Japanese Army's New Attack Direction

The atmosphere in the conference room was suffocatingly quiet. After waiting for ten minutes, Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Sadaichi shook his head in his heart. He knew that he could only call on these people to speak directly, otherwise the purpose of his visit would not be achieved.

"Mr. Nishiyama, your 101st Division has fought very hard these times. I think you should take the lead in giving a summary." Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Sadaichi Yoshimoto directly let Major General Fukutaro Nishiyama appear first.

When Major General Nishiyama Fukutaro heard that he was called by the Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Sadaichi, his heart trembled. He knew that he could not escape, so he stood up and said after considering his words: "Yes, Your Excellency Chief of Staff, the 101st Division's combat mission this time is to occupy Hongcheng, the capital of China's Gan Province. According to the requirements of the 101th Army Headquarters, our troops attacked Hongcheng on time and launched an attack on Hongcheng, but we did not expect that the Chinese army had buried a large amount of explosives under the gate of Hongcheng. Due to insufficient preparation, the troops suffered heavy losses in the explosion caused by the Chinese army, and were defeated. "After killing a regiment commander and two battalion commanders, the Chinese army used various despicable traps to trap our troops in the city. In the rush to capture Hongcheng and complete the task assigned by the headquarters, the division commander transferred a large number of guards from the division headquarters to the city for combat, which left the defense of the division headquarters empty. After being ambushed by the Chinese army, the division commander was killed unexpectedly, which led to low morale among the officers and soldiers of the entire division. The troops had to be replaced by the th Division. In general, it was our st Division that was too eager to capture Hongcheng, which led to a lot of negligence. "

There was nothing wrong with what Major General Fukutaro Nishiyama said. He also put all the responsibilities on the division commander, Lieutenant General Masayoshi Ito. At the same time, he pointed out openly and secretly that there was a problem with the headquarters' combat plan. They were not given detailed information about the new 22nd Army guarding Hongcheng, so they did not understand the tactics of the Chinese government's new 22nd Army. As a result, they suffered many accidents, and the headquarters also set too tight a time limit. This was the main reason why the division commander, Lieutenant General Masayoshi Ito, kept withdrawing the division's defense forces to the urban area.

After listening to the speech of Major General Fukutaro Nishiyama, Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Sadaichi understood in his heart that today's meeting would not be easy to hold, because the 11th Army Command had encountered major problems in terms of commands, intelligence and judgment of the situation. This is why Commander Okamura Yasuji came here himself to see if there was anyone who could take the blame.

But all the people who could take the blame were killed by the New 101nd Army of the Chinese government. If you ask Major General Fukutaro Nishiyama, a chief of staff, to take the blame, it will definitely not convince the public. Although all this started with the defeat of the st Division in Hongcheng, it was commanded by Lieutenant General Masayoshi Ito and had nothing to do with Major General Fukutaro Nishiyama.

After Major General Fukutaro Nishiyama finished speaking, several other division commanders also spoke one after another. Lieutenant General Junrokuro Matsuura, commander of the 106th Division, and Lieutenant General Masaharu Homma, commander of the th Division, both directly stated that their troops were acting in accordance with the combat plan formulated by the theater command, and that their troops had done their best.

Lieutenant General Junrokuro Matsuura even directly blamed the failure of his troops on the headquarters of the 106th Army. He was indeed very angry. If it weren't for the staff officers in the headquarters of the th Army who gave blind orders without even knowing that there was a mining area in Wanjialing, how could his th Division become so miserable now? There are only people in the entire division now. Although there are still scattered small troops fleeing back from the mountainous area of ​​Wanjialing every day, Lieutenant General Junrokuro Matsuura is almost in tears when he sees the miserable state of these small troops who have finally escaped.

As Lieutenant General Junrokuro Matsuura fired at the 11th Army Headquarters, the chief officers of several divisions also directed their attacks at the headquarters one after another. They knew that Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Sadaichi Yoshimoto was looking for someone to take the blame this time, but how could they take the blame for someone else? Moreover, these troops had all fought bloody battles on the Nanxun Line and were deeply implicated with each other. No one could be immune to it, so the battle line was unified at once.

When the Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Sadaichi, saw that the wind was blowing in the wrong direction, he was looking for a suitable unit to take the blame. How did this turn into a unified condemnation of the 11th Army Headquarters? So he immediately changed the subject and asked everyone: "Gentlemen, you are all senior commanders of the Imperial Japanese Army. Don't you understand that the situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly? The issues you mentioned will be determined by the Expeditionary Force and the headquarters after the Battle of the Three Towns. You should focus on the subsequent battles. What do you think about the subsequent operations?"

When everyone in the meeting heard that the Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Sadaichi, had changed the subject, they all expressed their opinions on the future combat methods and ideas. As long as the headquarters did not find someone to blame among them, everything would be fine. As for the future combat ideas, they were very simple: they needed people, artillery, and all the supplies that could be given. And this time everyone unanimously agreed that in the future operations on the Nanxun Line, several divisions should stick together and should no longer be dispersed.

Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Sadaichi Yoshimoto listened carefully to everyone's suggestions. He knew very well that the troops on the Nanxun Line had lost the determination to advance bravely. It seemed that the final outcome of this battle for the Empire of Japan on the Nanxun Line would be the occupation of Hongcheng. As for the strategic idea of ​​attacking westwards to cut off the China-Guangdong-Hankou Railway, don't count on it.

Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Sadaichi Yoshimoto stayed in De'an for a day. After the meeting, he went to various troops to visit and comfort the officers and soldiers. After all, his official mission this time was to visit and comfort the officers and soldiers, and he had to do what he should do. After finishing the visit and comforting the officers and soldiers, Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Sadaichi Yoshimoto flew back to the 11th Army Headquarters the next day.

"Mr. Yoshimoto, it seems that we need to revise the combat mission on the Nanxun Line. Thank you for your hard work this time." Lieutenant General Okamura Yasuji said slowly after listening to the report from Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Sadaichi.

"Commander, what do you mean?" Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Sadaichi Yoshimoto probably knew what Lieutenant General Yasuji Okamura was thinking, but he still needed to play the role of flatterer and asked as if he didn't quite understand.

Lieutenant General Okamura Neiji looked at the map on the wall and said without turning his head: "Mr. Yoshimoto, the best result on the Nanxun Line this time is to occupy Hongcheng. The goal set before the war to cut off the Huaxia Yuehan Railway cannot be achieved by the demoralized troops on the Nanxun Line now. I plan to report the revised combat mission to the Expeditionary Force and the headquarters, and let them worry about this matter. We just need to concentrate on occupying the three towns. As for the failure on the Nanxun Line this time, I have submitted the summary report to the higher-ups."

After Lieutenant General Okamura Yasuji finished speaking, he pointed to a document on his desk and asked Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Sadaichi to take a look at it.

After reading the contents of the document, Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Sadaichi Yoshimoto also exclaimed that the commander was very smart. Lieutenant General Yasuji Okamura blamed all the failures on the Nanxun Line on the intelligence department. He accused the intelligence department of not providing accurate and effective intelligence, which led to the 101st Division having no understanding of the tactics of the New 106nd Army of the Chinese government guarding Hongcheng. At the same time, it also caused the th Division's operation, which should have been smooth, to fail because it did not know the particularity of the Wanjialing Mountain area. In short, this was all the fault of the intelligence department.

Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Sadaichi was also sighing in his heart. As long as you look for the reasons carefully, you will always find the right reasons and departments to pay for the failure. If you don’t find them, it means you haven’t looked for them carefully. As the Chinese say: A living person can be killed by holding his urine.

After receiving the telegram from Lieutenant General Okamura Yasuji, the Japanese Expeditionary Force and the Imperial Headquarters were arguing with the intelligence department on the one hand, and on the other hand, they quickly formulated a new combat plan to cut off China's Yuehan Railway and destroy the Chinese government's current channel for obtaining external supplies through the Yuehan Railway.

The headquarters and the expeditionary force also quickly worked out a new outline of the battle. The Japanese army planned to concentrate the 104th Division, th Division and th Division of the st Army in Qingdao, Shanghai and Dalian respectively, and then escorted by the navy to land in Guangdong Province unexpectedly, catching the Chinese government off guard, quickly occupying Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, and cutting off the Chinese government's important seaport for obtaining external supplies.

After leaving Hongcheng, the troops of the New 22nd Army quickly arrived at Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province. As a unit that had made outstanding achievements on the Nanxun Line, the government organized a grand entry ceremony for the New 22nd Army in Changsha in order to better publicize and boost morale and public opinion.

After the officers and soldiers of the new 22nd Army changed into new uniforms that were specially delivered outside the city, they cleaned all their weapons in accordance with the orders of the war zone, and then lined up to enter the city one by one to receive the inspection and welcome of superiors at all levels and hundreds of thousands of civilians.

The government also organized hundreds of reporters to take photos and publicize the welcoming ceremony into the city, allowing the officers and soldiers of the new 22nd Army to experience the feeling of being heroes.

After the grand entry ceremony, the division-level commanders of the new 22nd Army also attended a reception dinner hosted by the Hunan Provincial Government, which was also a press conference. Commander Huang and Chief of Staff Zhao Dong also accepted the bombardment of hundreds of reporters on behalf of the new 22nd Army. Zhang Wenwu, as the commander of the unit with the most outstanding performance in this combat, was also surrounded by a large group of reporters, which made Zhang Wenwu a little overwhelmed.

It's not that he was afraid of the interview. Zhang Wenwu was really hungry. It must be so painful to see so many delicious foods but not be able to enjoy them.