Chapter 423: Republic of China: Starting from the First Class of Whampoa Chapter 433: A Grand Gamble

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Protagonist:

Lv Muzhi

Inside the headquarters of the Japanese North China Area Army in Beiping.

The Okabe Commander mentioned by Hirata Kenbu was here at this very moment.

On both sides of the huge long table, all senior Japanese generals in North China were present.

At the end of the long table, the seat originally belonging to General Sugiyama Gen had now been replaced by a lieutenant general.

Lieutenant General Tada Shun, a Japanese general who had once served as commander of the Third Army in the Kwantung Army, now shouldered the burden of the North China Area Army.

Lieutenant General Yamashita Tomonobu of the North China Area Army opened by saying:

"Gentlemen, General Sugiyama Gen has returned home to retire due to incompetent command."

"Imperial General Headquarters has redrawn the Xia Guo battlefield."

"The China Expeditionary Army has now been formally established as our highest military organ in the Xia Guo interior theater, coordinating the interior China theater, with General Nishio Toshizo serving as commander-in-chief."

Nishio Toshizo looked around at the group of general officers below and gave a salute.

To cope with the fierce offensive at this time, Imperial General Headquarters adjusted its institutional setup.

Except for the Kwantung Army stationed in Manchuria outside the Pass.

The China Expeditionary Army commanded all Japanese forces in the interior, with its headquarters set in Jinling.

In short, the Kwantung Army and the China Expeditionary Army were on equal footing, neither subordinate to the other.

The China Expeditionary Army had a total of four forces, namely:

The North China Area Army, stationed in North China;

The 11th Army, serving as a mobile force along the Yangtze River, maintaining Central China;

The 13th Army, stationed in Shanghai, attacking East China;

The 21st Army, stationed in Guangzhou, attacking South China.

These four forces in total were directly subordinate to the China Expeditionary Army.

Newly appointed Commander Nishio Toshizo, upon taking office, went to command Okabe Ningci's 11th Army to launch a counterattack against Tang Enbo and Li Zongren.

As for the situation in North China, it was entirely entrusted to Lieutenant General Tada Toshin.

After Lieutenant General Tada Toshin convened the meeting, the officers below all complained bitterly, making Tada Toshin irritable and vexed.

"Imperial General Headquarters appointed me to succeed as commander of the North China Area Army, not to listen to your complaints about the war going badly."

"I brought three divisions of reinforcements from the Kwantung Army; this is my confidence."

"I will lead you to repel the enemy's winter counteroffensive!"

As the words fell, the generals below had mixed thoughts, especially the commanders stationed on the front lines, whose complexions were none too good.

In the sequence subordinate to the North China Area Army, after adjustment, there were a total of three armies' worth of troops.

Among them, the 1st Army was led by Okabe Naosaburo, death-defending Shanxi, with under his command the 36th, 37th, and 41st Divisions and five independent mixed brigades.

The Shandong and Xuzhou area was the defense zone of the Japanese 12th Army, deploying the 107th, 108th, 27th, and 32nd Divisions, and four mixed brigades.

The Jinbei and Suiyuan border was garrisoned by Okabe Naosaburo leading the Garrison Mongolia Army, holding the 26th Division and Cavalry Group, one tank division, and one mixed brigade.

In addition, the Area Army directly commanded the 20th and 35th Divisions and four mixed brigades, deployed in Henan North and the Jizhong Plain, guarding Beiping.

Looking at it, the forces were formidable; over ten divisions' worth of troops, not counting the puppet army, the strength approached three hundred thousand.

But spread across the land of North China and Suiyuan, taken out individually, any one of them meeting Xia Guo's Youth Army would be a destructive disaster.

What's more, regarding Xia Guo's counteroffensive force against North China, just Lv Muzhi's Youth Army used for the counteroffensive was already nearly three hundred thousand.

To resolve this urgent crisis, the Seventh, Eighth, and Twelfth Divisions that Tada Shun brought from the Kwantung Army this time were sent into the Pass to put out fires.

"Commander Excellency!" 1st Army Commander Okabe Naosaburo stood up.

"The situation in Shanxi has reached the brink of collapse; Lv Muzhi's two armies are simply running amok."

Okabe Naosaburo's eyes were bloodshot; his once-proud 1st Army was now nearly beaten to ruin by the Youth Army.

Seeing Okabe Naosaburo stand up, the commander of the 12th Army stationed in Shandong and Xuzhou also stood up:

"The Xuzhou direction is equally critical! The Youth Army's Third and Fourth Armies simply did not attack my Dangshan Fortress."

"The Youth Army's Zhang Fei and Liao Yaoxiang and others, using the Youth Third Army to guard Dangshan Fortress and Xuzhou, the Fourth Army marched south and unexpectedly captured Bengbu to the south!"

"Now, this enemy force is preparing to link up with Tang Enbo's 31st Group Army that captured Hefei, very likely advancing north along the Tianjin-Pukou Railway to pincer Xuzhou with the Youth Third Army."

For a time, the meeting hall fell into argument; on the land of North China, the two fire zones of Shanxi and Xuzhou both needed rescue.

One Shanxi, one Xuzhou—neither could be lost!

North China Area Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Yamashita Tomonobu turned his head and looked toward Okabe Naosaburo.

"Okabe-kun, I remember Imperial General Headquarters spent countless efforts preparing that Tank 3rd Division under the Garrison Mongolia Army sequence; how is it now?"

After hearing this, Okabe Naosaburo said somewhat proudly:

"After receiving the commission from Imperial General Headquarters, I immediately began the organization of the tank division."

"The Tank 3rd Division has now been organized."

"This force can be said to have concentrated the essence of North China's armored strength!"

"Currently, the tank division is equipped with 86 light tanks, 156 medium tanks, and 61 armored vehicles of various models."

"A full 303 tanks! This is our sharp weapon for dealing with the Soviets and the Youth Army!"

Hearing the number 303, Yamashita Tomonobu couldn't help but murmur a word of praise.

"Excellent! The Tank 3rd Division is indeed the backbone of the North China Locust Army!"

Xiao Zhukazuo said somewhat angrily: "With such a good thing, how can it be hidden away? Send it to the Shanxi Battlefield immediately!"

The Commander of the Twelfth Army was also impatient, requesting that the Armored Force go to support Xuzhou.

Tada Shun pondered for a long time, his eyes moving back and forth between Shanxi and Xuzhou.

Judging from the situation before them, two major battles were inevitably going to erupt on the North China front.

"Since we have this armored trump card in hand, we cannot let Lv Muzhi remain so arrogant in Shanxi any longer."

Tada Shun turned around and made up his mind.

"The Garrison Mongolia Army shall immediately transfer the 26th Division and the Tank 3rd Division southbound to join the Shanxi Battlefield."

"These two forces shall be under the full command of Lieutenant General Xiao Zhukazuo, coordinating with the original strength of the Shanxi First Army in combat."

"I will use over three hundred tanks, plus four Xian Bing Divisions and five Mixed Brigades, to completely bury Lv Muzhi's Youth Army First Army and Second Army, those two old main forces, in Shanxi!"

"Commander Xiao Zhukazuo, I have high expectations of you—take back Yuncheng and Fenglingdu for me!"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Zhukazuo's face lit up with wild joy; with this Tank Division, he had confidence to fight Lv Muzhi head-on.

Afterwards, Tada Shun looked toward the Xuzhou direction on the map.

"Xuzhou is the vital point of our north-south transportation connecting Jinling and Shanghai; it absolutely cannot be lost."

"The Kwantung Army reinforcements I brought—the Seventh, Eighth, and Twelfth Divisions—with the strength of three divisions, shall all be reinforced to the Twelfth Army."

"Chief of Staff Yamashita Tomoyuki, I want you to personally go to Xuzhou and take full command of all battles along the line from Bengbu to Xuzhou."

"With the strength of the Twelfth Army's seven divisions plus five Mixed Brigades, coordinating with Gangcun Ningci's Eleventh Army on the Yangtze River, wipe out all enemies in the Xuzhou-Bengbu area for me!"

All the Japanese lieutenant generals present stood up and bowed to General Nishio Toshizo: "Hai!"

As his order was issued, the entire North China Japanese Army's war machine began to turn madly.

This was another grand gamble by the Japanese Army.

For the Japanese Army, every war was a huge gamble.

If this battle succeeded, the Japanese Army could truly deal a heavy blow to the Youth Army, and pushing back was not impossible.

If it failed, the Japanese Army would lose all of North China!