binnovel Chapter 323 Deception
Chapter 323 Deception
Lieutenant General Yasuji Okamura, commander of the 11th Army of the Japanese Army, was very dissatisfied with the attack of all troops today. At today's advancement speed, when will they be able to complete the encirclement of the Fifth War Zone troops of the Chinese government?
Now, let alone the encirclement, let’s just talk about the troops launching the attack from Zhongxiang. Their mission is to quickly break through the defense line of the Chinese government’s Fifth War Zone, quickly capture Xinye, and cut off the retreat of the Chinese Fifth War Zone troops in Zaoyang and Suixian areas.
Only then was the encirclement of the Fifth War Zone troops of the Chinese government in Zaoyang and Suixian areas completed.
But now, the attacking troops failed to even occupy Changshoudian, the first defense point of the Chinese government's Fifth War Zone. This is simply unacceptable.
"Can anyone tell me what our three infantry divisions are attacking today? Is this how they attack?" Commander Lieutenant General Neiji Okamura pointed at the sand table and questioned everyone a little irritably.
However, facing the furious commander, no officer would be foolish enough to actually explain anything to him. This was not their duty.
"Your Excellency Commander, according to the feedback from the attacking troops in the front, the troops of the Fifth War Zone of the Chinese government have already built fortifications. They seem to have been waiting for our attack. Therefore, the situation that was previously expected that the troops of the Fifth War Zone of the Chinese government would collapse immediately without any preparation in the face of our sudden attack did not happen. The troops on the front line are already making adjustments. I believe they will soon break through the defense line of the Chinese army and advance to the designated area as planned." Lieutenant General Sadaichi Yoshimoto, Chief of Staff of the 11th Army, rescued everyone.
How could Commander Lieutenant General Okamura Yasuji not know the news? He has read every telegram. He is angry now just to vent his emotions.
Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Sadaichi Yoshimoto was also using another way to calm the commander's emotions. Although he was a little surprised that the Chinese government's Fifth War Zone had pre-judged his offensive actions, he was not too worried. After all, his troops seemed to have the upper hand at the moment.
After hearing the soothing words from the Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Sadaichi, Commander General Okamura Yasuji also controlled his emotions and said, "Order the attacking troops to break through the defense line of the Fifth War Zone of China as soon as possible and complete the combat plan formulated before the war as soon as possible."
Just as Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Sadaichi was about to express his understanding, he saw a major staff officer walking quickly towards him with a telegram.
Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Sadaichi, the chief of staff, took the telegram and read it quickly. However, when he saw the contents of the telegram, he became furious: "Damn it! The intelligence department is committing a crime. Do they think we are playing house with the Chinese government?"
When Commander Lieutenant General Yasuji Okamura saw that his usually gentle Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Sadaichi Yoshimoto was swearing, he immediately realized that the matter was a bit serious. It seemed that the content of the telegram was not a good thing.
After venting his emotions, Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Sadaichi said helplessly to the commander Lieutenant General Okamura Yasuji: "Your Excellency Commander, the intelligence department sent a telegram saying that the Chinese government's new 22nd Army and 31st Army Group have just been assigned to the combat sequence of the Fifth War Zone. We have been deceived by the Chinese government's tricks."
When Commander Lieutenant General Yasuji Okamura heard the news from Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Sadaichi Yoshimoto, he was stunned. How could the Chinese government be so shameless and lie?
This cannot be blamed entirely on the Japanese intelligence department. When the combat plan was being formulated, Commander Li asked Commander He to cooperate with him in putting on a show.
Commander Li asked Commander He of the Military Commission not to issue a formal dispatch order yet. Now there are Japanese spies everywhere, and he needs to keep it secret. When the time comes, he will suddenly give the Japanese army a big surprise and use these two government-run troops to stab the Japanese army at its weakest point.
Commander He also understood the hint, so he announced to the public that the New 22nd Army was a unit directly under the Military Commission and was going to be sent to Shanxi Province to prevent the Japanese army from crossing the Yellow River. The reason for staying in Xiangyang was to supplement the underpowered troops of the Fifth War Zone to strengthen the New 22nd Army.
In order to make the play more realistic, Commander He also asked Commander Chen to cooperate and go to Fancheng, where the Fifth War Zone Headquarters was located, to conduct an on-site inspection of the situation of the incorporated team.
This scared the various miscellaneous troops in the Fifth War Zone so much that in order to avoid being targeted by Commander Chen's Star-Absorbing Magic, the chief officers of the various miscellaneous troops petitioned the Fifth War Zone Command, demanding to be sent to the front line to attack the Japanese army.
Moreover, after these miscellaneous troops were sent to the front line to attack, they really put all their strength into it, for fear that they would be favored by Commander Chen because of their poor combat effectiveness.
As for the 31st Army Group, it was also under the name of a unit directly under the Military Commission and entered the Zaoyang area, under the pretext of assisting in the war, but the Japanese intelligence department was also constantly paying attention to the movements of this unit.
But Commander He told everyone that he was worried about the miscellaneous troops in the Fifth War Zone, so he sent the 31st Army Group to supervise the battle. When the time for attack came, he would withdraw this regular force to guard the house.
Commander Tang of the 31st Army also cooperated. On April 20, he sent telegrams to the theater command and the Military Commission several times a day, demanding to withdraw from the Zaoyang area. He said that the Japanese troops had been driven away and there was no role for the 31st Army, so they might as well return to their original station to defend the mountain city.
On April 25, the Military Commission sent a telegram ordering the 31st Army to return to defend western Hubei. Commander Tang was also making great preparations for the retreat in Zaoyang City, and repeatedly stated in public and private that he wanted to quickly take his troops away from the Fifth War Zone, which was a dangerous place.
Therefore, the Japanese intelligence department reported the final destination of these two Chinese troops that attracted much attention to the military. This also prevented the 11th Army from giving too much consideration to these two Chinese government troops that it was concerned about when finalizing its combat plan.
In fact, it cannot be said that the 11th Army of the Japanese Army did not take these two Chinese government direct troops into consideration when finalizing the combat plan. At least the commander, Lieutenant General Okamura Yasuji, deliberately set the time of the attack on the day when these two Chinese government direct troops left the Fifth War Zone.
But what the Japanese intelligence personnel did not expect was that after several days of blatant preparations, the 31st Army Group had no movement today. The new 22nd Army, which was waiting in Xiangyang to incorporate its troops and continue to move north to participate in the battle in Shanxi Province, also did not move. Even Commander Chen had returned to the mountain city.
Now, all the Japanese intelligence departments felt that something was not right, so they conducted various investigations, hoping to find out when the two troops left.
As a result, it was almost evening when they received a telegram from the Military Commission of the Chinese government, letting them know that they had been deceived.