Chapter 311

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Protagonist:

Lv Muzhi

Dai Chunfeng stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the old Japanese devil Di Zhou Libing before him, thinking about how to discipline this Japanese lieutenant general in the future.

Lv Muzhi walked over at this time.

"Aiya, Commander Lv!" Dai Chunfeng went up to him in a few steps, saying very gratefully: "This is another lieutenant general! And still fresh and hot! Alive!

Plus that Marine Corps major general stuffed to me earlier in Songhu, Okawa Shichiden, you are simply adding bricks and tiles to my merit register!"

Lv Muzhi dusted off his uniform cuffs where there was no dust at all, glanced at him: "Yu Nong, don't be polite, I've sent you over forty big and small officers one after another, how about it, isn't this much faster than your Military Statistics Bureau catching them yourself?"

Dai Chunfeng gave an embarrassed smile: "How could it just be fast, how could my agents have such an opportunity....... Thanks to you, bringing so much business to the Military Statistics Bureau, if you have any orders, junior brother will definitely carry them out!"

Lv Muzhi nodded and said: "Nothing much, I understand the methods of your Military Statistics Bureau, surely you can make these devils feel like honored guests?

Squeeze out everything that should be said and shouldn't be said, use the harshest methods, especially for those who have been to Jinling City."

Dai Chunfeng straightened his back, looked back and glared at Di Zhou Libing: "Rest assured, once they're with me, rules and procedures won't be lacking, and if anything important military intelligence is dug out, I'll definitely notify you immediately!"

North China Area Army Headquarters, the devils held an emergency meeting.

Area Army Commander Japanese lieutenant general Terauchi Hisaichi had already seen the photo published in the Central Daily News.

The newspaper front page headline was huge boldface type: "Japanese lieutenant general Dizhou captured, northern and southern bandits surrender their heads!" Below was a dazzlingly large photo.

In the photo, Di Zhou Libing stood in the middle with his head down and dejected, eyes vacant, body stiff, with smiling Lv Muzhi standing beside him.

Beside Lv Muzhi were Tang Enbo, Song Xilian and a group of Central Army generals, each standing straight, each face beaming with triumph.

To Di Zhou Libing's right was Li Zongren, also smiling, surrounded by a group of Guangxi clique senior officers.

A group photo of dozens of people simply turned a dignified Imperial lieutenant general into a rare animal in a circus for people to gawk at!

What made Terauchi Hisaichi feel even more disgraced was that the adjacent page also carried a photo of Isogai Rensuke lying on a stretcher with Liao Yaoxiang standing beside him grinning.

Isogai Rensuke on the stretcher had a short dagger stuck in his belly, clearly still alive, obviously captured after disemboweling himself halfway!

The staff officers had marked every Xia Guo officer's name and position densely on the photo with red pens.

"Baka yarou!" Terauchi Hisaichi slapped the newspaper on the operations table: "Disgrace! This is an unprecedented great humiliation for the entire Imperial Army!"

More unacceptable than losing the regimental flag! Isogai Rensuke is incompetent! Di Zhou Libing is even more useless! It's hard to even make them commit seppuku!"

After venting his anger, Terauchi Hisaichi looked up at the staff officer in charge of intelligence: "Where is Tsuchiya Yuan's Fourteenth Division now?! When can they cut off the enemy's retreat?!"

The staff officer immediately broke into a sweat on his forehead and answered at attention: "Report to General! Division Commander Tsuchiya Yuan reports that the main force of the Fourteenth Division is fully inserting toward the Longhai Railway Line, but has encountered harassment by Xia Guo forces, and it is estimated to take two more days to completely cut off the Xuzhou west withdrawal passage!

Unbelievably, Xia Guo forces have already shown signs of withdrawing from the Xuzhou battlefield!"

"Two days?!" Terauchi Hisaichi couldn't accept it, after planning for so long and losing two divisions, in the end it would be all for nothing?!

"All useless! Tell Tsuchiya Yuan, twenty-four hours! I only give him twenty-four hours! I've reinforced his division with so many tanks, he must at all costs cut off the Longhai Railway!

Not one of the several hundred thousand Xia Guo troops on the Xuzhou battlefield can be allowed to escape!"

A staff officer reminded: "There is currently one biggest flaw, the Central China Expeditionary Army in the south hasn't gotten into position yet, they still have half their forces that haven't crossed the Huai River, the gap in the encirclement is very large!"

Terauchi Hisaichi glanced at the empty seat beside it, reserved for Central China Expeditionary Army Commander Hata Shunroku.

Unexpectedly he didn't come to the meeting, the Central China Expeditionary Army now completely doesn't contact the North China Area Army, everyone is busy with their own affairs.

This way, Terauchi Hisaichi's encirclement directly became a big colander, leaking everywhere.

Actually Central China Expeditionary Army Commander Hata Shunroku had figured it out, the Japanese army couldn't annihilate the main force of Xia Guo troops on the Xuzhou battlefield, no matter how hard he tried, in the end he'd still be making wedding clothes for Terauchi Hisaichi's North China Area Army.

Hata Shunroku had already begun deploying the Central China battlefield, preparing to create a myth belonging to himself.

At this moment, Xuzhou.

On the Longhai Railway Line, train after train belched thick smoke, whistles long sounding, fully loaded with troops, baggage, wounded, and important weaponry, like a steel dragon rumbling westward.

On the platform, soldiers under officers' command boarded the trains nervously and in order.

More troops marched on roads on both sides of the railway line, infantry, pack horses, mule and horse teams carrying disassembled mountain guns, forming an endless rolling flood.

This flood, some toward Henan in the west, some toward the Yu-Wan Border Region in the southwest direction.

In the sky, several reconnaissance aircraft painted with blue-white emblems circled vigilantly, monitoring Japanese air movements.

This was an organized strategic transfer, units alternating to cover each other.

The Youth Army's armored units and elite infantry stayed at the rear, bearing the rearguard mission.

At a temporary assembly area west of Xuzhou city, Sichuan Army Twenty-Second Group Army acting commander-in-chief Sun Zhen found Lv Muzhi who was coordinating the final evacuation work.

After a series of bitter battles, the Sichuan Army troops appeared weary and scattered, many bearing wounds, but morale remained.

Many carried captured Type 38 rifles on their backs, shouldered boxes of Japanese ammunition, and some soldiers even laboriously pushed a captured Type 92 infantry gun.

Sun Zhen said to Lv Muzhi: "The troops have mostly been gathered, preparing to transfer westward according to plan."

Lv Muzhi's gaze swept over the Sichuan Army soldiers carrying war trophies: "Commander-in-chief Sun, the Sichuan Army brothers fought this battle very well! Fought hard!

Losses...... aren't small either?"

Sun Zhen grinned and smiled bitterly: "My comrades-in-arms, lost several thousand.

But, it's worth it after all! We've also nailed several coffins for the Tenth Division, and grabbed quite a few little devil's things!"

Lv Muzhi patted Sun Zhen's shoulder heavily, tone solemn: "Commander-in-chief Sun, take the brothers and withdraw to Kaifeng first, rest and refit properly."

As for equipment, don't worry, no need to use little devils' things, once at the rear safe area, I'll personally request men and guns from the Military Commission to refit the Sichuan Army! If that really doesn't work, I'll make it up to you!"

Sun Zhen didn't salute either, directly cupped his hands: "Then I'll thank you on behalf of the brothers first!"