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Taiyuan.

First Army Command.

Yoshio Iwamatsu summoned almost all the remaining senior officers of the First Army to a meeting in the war room in the inner city of Taiyuan.

Simultaneously.

Yoshio Iwamatsu also invited Lieutenant General Matsui Tahisa, head of the 24th Division stationed in Taiyuan, Lieutenant General Nemotohiro, head of the 28th Division, and Ishiguro Sadazo, head of the [-]th Division, who were stationed in Taiyuan.

The Fifth Division, the 24th Division, and the 28th Division did not belong to the battle order of the Japanese First Army.

Now the First Army only has an elite unit of the 41st Division left, in addition to the Yamada Regiment directly under the First Army, as well as some remnants and thousands of military police.

If there is no Fifth Division, 24th Division and 28th Division to Taiyuan.

The few troops in the First Army had long been eaten up by the Eighth Route Army.

The head of the fifth division, Tajiro Matsui, looked gloomy.

The Fifth Division has just won a big victory in the battles against Malaysia and Singapore in Southeast Asia, and its morale is high.

The Fifth Division, which was preparing to rest, was immediately transferred to Shanxi by the base camp.

Shanxi is very familiar with the Fifth Division.

When the Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1937, the most elite unit of the main force of the Japanese army that attacked Shanxi was the 21st Brigade of the Fifth Division.

Moreover, the Fifth Division fought against the Eighth Route Army at Pingxingguan. Although it suffered a loss, the Fifth Division still did not take the Eighth Route Army seriously.

Even the Anglo-American coalition forces have been defeated, the Fifth Division is still afraid of the Tuba Road hidden in the ravine?

Although the combat effectiveness of the current Fifth Division is no longer that of the Fifth Division, it is not something that the Eighth Route Army can touch.

Shouldn't the Fifth Division deal with Tuba Road with a pinch?

then.

The Fifth Division was bombed by the planes of the Eighth Route Army, losing about two infantry brigades.

The arrogant Fifth Division finally realized that it had encountered a difficult situation, and suddenly realized that the Eighth Route Army's combat effectiveness was much stronger than that of the British and American coalition forces.

When he first arrived in Taiyuan, Tajiro Matsui saw the First Army being beaten like this, and thought that the First Army was too useless.

However, after being bombed by the Eighth Route Army, Matsui Tairo finally realized that he had seriously misjudged the strength of the Eighth Route Army.

After studying the battle records between the North China Front Army and the Eighth Route Army in the past few years, the head of the division, Matsui Tajiro, finally came to a conclusion.

The strength of the Eighth Route Army, unknowingly, has far exceeded that of the North China Front Army.

Even the fifth division might be eaten.

In the conference room, all the officers, including Yoshio Iwamatsu and Tahisa Matsui, looked solemn.

After a long silence, Yoshio Iwamatsu spoke.

"You must have read the plain code telegram sent by Li Yunlong of the Eighth Route Army, right?"

"That's right!"

"The Li Yunlong Department of the Eighth Route Army destroyed 22 generals of the Locust Army in just two years!"

"They are Lieutenant General Shinozuka Yoshio, Lieutenant General Miyano Michiichi, Lieutenant General Muto Akira, Lieutenant General Hirata Kenkichi, Lieutenant General Iseki Ren, Lieutenant General Gushou, Major General Tsuda Mitake, Major General Hattori Naotomi, Major Generals Toranosuke, Major General Hirata Masahani, Major General Miura Saburo, Major General Igena Aio, Major General Omura Toshikaze, Major General Ito Shinpei, Major General Itou Yoshio, Major General Yoshio Sano."

"Lieutenant General Amakasu Jutaro, Lieutenant General Nishihara Issaku, 23rd Lieutenant General Adachi, [-]rd Lieutenant General Sakurai Shoichi, Lieutenant General Yoshimoto Sadichi, and Major General Hironaka Tadao."

Everyone in the war room fell into silence.

The strength of the Xinyi Regiment of the Eighth Route Army is simply terrifying, and it can be called the killer of imperial generals.

Every Japanese general who went to Shanxi, or even to North China, was afraid of being beheaded by the Xinyi Regiment of the Eighth Route Army.

Matsui Taikuro, Nemotohiro and Ishiguro Sadazo were even more afraid for a while.

If they hadn't arrived in Shanxi with the main force of the five divisions and arrived in Taiyuan by plane, I'm afraid they would have been dusted off by the Eighth Route Army now.

After Iwamatsu Yoshio finished speaking, the faces of the Japanese officers became increasingly ugly.

After a pause, Yoshio Iwamatsu continued:

"General Ningji Okamura, the commander of the North China Front Army, is preparing to gather troops next month to attack the bandit areas in Central Hebei."

"I am worried that the Eighth Route Army in Shanxi will take advantage of this opportunity to attack Taiyuan, so I summoned the princes to discuss countermeasures."

"You must have a deep understanding of the strength of the Eighth Route Army, so I won't go into details here."

"In a word, once the Eighth Route Army gathers its main force to attack Taiyuan, we will be at risk of being wiped out."

"As for Taiyuan's defense, if you have any suggestions and opinions, everyone can speak freely."

Everyone looked at me and I looked at you, but no one spoke for a while.

"Matsui-kun, what's your opinion?"

Yoshio Iwamatsu looked at Matsui Tataro, the only commander of the Class A division present.

Matsui Tataro said in a deep voice: "The Eighth Route Army has large-caliber heavy howitzers. The permanent fortifications ordered by Iwamatsu-kun to be built may not be able to stop the Eighth Route Army's large-caliber heavy howitzers."

"What Mr. Matsui said is true." Commander Qing Shui of the 41st Division deeply agreed. "The Eighth Route Army's firepower is so strong that even the permanent reinforced concrete fortifications, not to mention the civil fortifications built by our four divisions, can't stop it." If we can’t stop the Eighth Route Army’s large-caliber heavy artillery, not to mention that the Eighth Route Army has now gained air superiority, we must change our current defense thinking.”

At this moment, Qing Shui Ruji also panicked.

当初第一军兵力巅峰的时候，有第33师团、第36师团、第37师团、近卫第2师团和第41师团，以及数个混成旅团，总兵力近10万。

However, those divisions were all wiped out, and the division commander was killed.

Only the 41st Division and his division commander, Lieutenant General, were left.

Judging from the current situation, he, the lieutenant general of the 41st Division, is also in jeopardy.

Once the Eighth Route Army takes advantage of the North China Front's sweep of the Jizhong area to attack Taiyuan...

"Of course it will change."

The speaker was Hanatani Masaru, Chief of Staff of the First Army, with a harsh tone:

"To deal with the Eighth Route Army, I suggest making use of strengths and avoiding weaknesses. Since field battles are no match for the Eighth Route Army, all troops retreat into Taiyuan City to fight on the streets."

"The locust army has 7 people. If the Eighth Route Army wants to occupy Taiyuan, it will have to pay at least 5 people!"

"no!"

Miyazaki Masao was the first to stand up and object:

"If all the locust troops withdraw into Taiyuan City and the Eighth Route Army surrounds them but does not fight, after three months, all the food of the locust troops will be exhausted."

"After all the locust troops in the city are starved to death, the Eighth Route Army can occupy Taiyuan without firing a single shot."

"Impossible." Hua Guzheng said, "There are still Chinese people in Taiyuan City. The Eighth Route Army claims to be the people's army, and will not let these people starve to death."

"This is just a propaganda slogan for the Eighth Route Army." Masao Miyazaki said, "What if the Eighth Route Army encircles and does not fight? What should we do? Moreover, Taiyuan City can't hold so many locust troops. When the time comes, the Eighth Route Army's planes and Heavy artillery bombarded the city of Taiyuan, what about the locust army?"

"Miyazaki-kun, what do you think we should do?" Hua Guzheng asked with a cold face.

Masao Miyazaki, an old devil, always refuted his point of view, and Hua Guzheng was unhappy.

"I haven't made up my mind yet." Masao Miyazaki said, "But your tactics will definitely not work."

Hua Guzheng: "You..."

Taijiro Matsui, head of the fifth division, frowned and said, "The conventional field civil engineering and reinforced concrete fortifications cannot stop the Eighth Route Army's attack. How about using fortifications like the Tiger Head Fortress?"

"Matsui-kun was joking." Yoshio Iwamatsu's mouth twitched, "The defense capability of Tiger Head Fortress is indeed super powerful, but for such a large-scale military project as Tiger Head Fortress, the locust army cost hundreds of millions of dollars and requisitioned more than [-] laborers. It took only six years to complete, and the Eighth Route Army’s attack is imminent, so it’s definitely too late to build fortifications like the Tiger’s Head Fortress, not to mention that the First Army doesn’t have so much steel and concrete.”

"Steel bars and cement are available in Southeast Asia."

Matsui Taitaro said:

"However, time is running out now. If the locust army can defend Taiyuan in this battle, I hope Iwamatsu-kun will apply to General Neji Okamura for a large amount of steel and cement to build stronger permanent fortifications."

Yoshio Yanmatsu was worried: "That will have to wait for the locust army to hold Taiyuan amidst the fierce attack of the Eighth Route Army."

After a pause, Yoshio Iwamatsu looked at Kazuki Yamamoto: "Mr. Yamamoto, do you have a good plan for the attack of the Eighth Route Army?"

When a group of devil officers spoke before, Kazuki Yamamoto had been frowning and thinking, and his brows were slightly relaxed just now, as if he already had an eye.

"Your Excellency, Commander."

Yamamoto Kazuki has sharp eyes and a serious expression:

"For the defense of Taiyuan, it is absolutely impossible to defend Taiyuan with civil fortifications, city walls and permanent fortifications. I suggest using tunnels and reverse slope tactics."

Yoshio Iwamatsu was slightly taken aback: "Tunnel and reverse slope tactics?"

Matsui Taikuro, Nemotohiro, and Ishiguro Sadazo, the three old devils, looked at each other in blank dismay. They had never heard of this tactic.

Kuribayashi Chumichi strongly recommended this tactic when he was in Taiyuan.

But Kuribayashi Tadao is not a member of the First Army after all, and he is only a major general, so he speaks lightly.

At that time, Yoshio Iwamatsu did order some First Army troops to dig some tunnels in the mountains around Taiyuan, but he didn't pay much attention to it. He put his treasure on these reinforced concrete permanent fortifications.

However, these permanent reinforced concrete fortifications are now difficult to block the Eighth Route Army's attack.

Masao Miyazaki explained.

Matsui Taijiro and several lieutenant generals only knew what tunnel and reverse slope tactics are.

"Since the tunnel and reverse slope tactics are so easy to use." Matsui Taikuro frowned, "Why didn't they use it earlier? The locust army lost so many soldiers in vain."

Iwamatsu Yoshio nodded and glanced at everyone: "For the current plan, the only way is to adopt tunnel and reverse slope tactics. Your divisions are looking for favorable terrain around Taiyuan to quickly build tunnel fortifications."

"The remaining forces of the 14th Brigade, the 18th Brigade, and the Yamada Wing form the 3rd Mixed Brigade. Major General Kazuki Yamamoto serves as the brigade commander and is directly under the command of the headquarters."

"Masters, we will face the cruelest test."

"His Majesty the Emperor onboard!"

"His Majesty is on board!" All the devil officers shouted in unison, and then walked out.