Jincheng is the railway hub in southern Shanxi and the core of Japanese rule.

In the past few days, the train station has been noisy day and night, and trains have been driving into the station, putting down a large number of soldiers and a large amount of supplies.

3 kilometers south of the railway station is the base camp of the Japanese army in Jincheng.

Here, an important military meeting was held under the gaze of Lieutenant General Fukuda.

Lieutenant General Fukutan is sixty-three, and his head is full of gray hair, but if he only looks at his sharp eyes, he will only feel that he is in his prime.

The dozen senior officers who participated in the meeting were all full of respect for him.

Lieutenant General Fukutan is a living history of the Japanese army. He participated in the Russo-Japanese War, invaded Korea, Ryukyu, Wanwan, and the four eastern provinces, as well as the current war of aggression against China.

Except for the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, he was not old enough to catch up, and basically participated in all the wars that the Japanese Empire rose along the way.

And they all achieved very excellent results.

This time, the commander Okamura Yasuji, who was extremely difficult to deal with the extremely difficult Eighth Route Army of Nakajoyama, repeatedly considered it, sought the opinions of Lieutenant General Fukuda, and appointed him as commander-in-chief, giving him great hope.

"...This is the case with the Eighth Route Army over there. Although I think it would be a shame to say this, I still have to say it. Listen to the miracle of victory they achieved, all paved the way for the failure of the Imperial Army.

If the threat of the Central Army is one and the threat of the ordinary Eighth Route Army is two, then their threat is five. They are definitely the number one enemy of the Imperial Army and must not be underestimated by a single minute."

As a senior commander who had dealt with Li Yunlong and other Eighth Route Army, Yamashita Toshihide, who had dealt the most with the most and was still alive, became the speaker of the description of the enemy situation.

The two wings transferred from the Fourth and Ninth Brigades, representing the two wing captains who attended the meeting, nodded deeply.

To some extent, they were all blessed by the Eighth Route Army. Without Li Yunlong, they might not have been able to be promoted to the former corps captain.

Therefore, I highly agree with the Eighth Route threat theory promoted by Toshihide Yamashita.

But with more people, everyone has different cognition and thoughts.

The brigade commander of the 21st Brigade, Major General Maeda Jiro, looked down on Yamashita Toshihide, who was defeated repeatedly and made a fuss in front of everyone.

Major General Maeda deliberately whispered: "In our Great Japanese Imperial Army, some officers are very incompetent and always defeat the war.

They will be clever and deliberately exaggerate the enemy's strength in order to avoid punishment.

When I came back, I made a big fuss. It was not that our army was not capable enough, but that the enemy was too cunning."

Hum, the officers attending the meeting held back their laughter and endured it very hard, and they all looked at Toshihide at the foot of the mountain where they were standing there. If General Fukuda had not been in charge, everyone would have laughed at him.

Yamashita Toshisu suffered three major defeats, and the two generals he had followed died. They went to find a friend to drink and relax. The friend lost the county town she guarded and even lost her life. Only Yamashita Toshita survived well.

It is rumored in the army that he is a nemesis, specializing in superiors and colleagues.

Everyone avoided him. If Lieutenant General Fukutan hadn't called him, there would have been a lot of strange things in the room.

Others dare not say that Major General Maeda has no concern anyway: "The veteran general, such a defeated general who has been defeated repeatedly, will have bad luck on his body, which will affect our army. Please drive him out."

Yamashita Toshimi's face turned into pig's liver, and he lowered his head and was extremely depressed.

His heart was already full of holes by those rumors. He had committed suicide and apologized more than once, comforting the dead soldiers.

But every time he thought that his enemy was still alive in the world, he had the courage to survive.

Destroying the enemy with his own hands and avenging the dead soldiers is the only reason why he still lives in the world.

Lieutenant General Fukuda, who was sitting in the top position, calmly suppressed the scene: "Maeda, you underestimate the enemy too much. If you can't change your mind, then I'll change someone."

A calm statement with infinite power.

All the officers put away their expressions, looked serious, and did not dare to laugh at them at all.

Major General Jiro Maeda opened his mouth and responded with a solemn look on his face.

He knew that Lieutenant General Fukuda was not a joke. If he was withdrawn before the war started, then Maeda would become a joke.

"Thank you for your love, the mountain will not let down the general's expectations."

Yamashita Toshihide understood that it was General Fukuda who endorsed him. No one would make things difficult for him again with a word from the general.

"General, some of my subordinates have invaded the Eighth Route Army and have important information to provide."

If Shigeo Shigeo, who is the last person, attends such a high-level meeting as Nakasa, he has the lowest official title and it is not his turn to speak.

Noting Lieutenant General Fukuda's attitude, Shigeo Masako decided to take a gamble and maybe he could get a good impression in front of the general.

It is not easy to be able to get people into the Eighth Route Army. Lieutenant General Fukutan was very interested when he heard this and signaled him to say something.

The officers present also raised their ears and listened carefully.

Shigeo Yiko got his approval and stood up excitedly and said, "Some of my people have been involved in the Eighth Route Army by chance.

Based on the information they reported, we learned that the Eighth Route Army was building a large arsenal, producing about 7 million bullets per year and explosives of 10,000 tons.

The Eighth Route Army had no guns or ammunition, and they all became the Imperial Army's great enemy in North China. If they were given sufficient weapons and ammunition, what would it be like?

I'm afraid there are smoke everywhere in North China, and even the Imperial Army cannot leave the county town. This is also the reason why the commander is determined to launch this encirclement and suppression."

All the officers attending the meeting showed surprise expressions. They suddenly received the order to transfer and rushed here with their troops. They did not know that the sudden action was because of the Eighth Route Arsenal.

Even Lieutenant General Fukuda was a little surprised. He learned about this from Kazumura Yanji, but he still did not know where the news came from.

If the Eighth Route Army really built an arsenal and had a steady stream of ammunition, it would be really not a good thing.

He still remembered that the arsenal was one, and there was also an arms dealer named Yuan Lang. This person was an important figure in establishing the arsenal and was the person whom Okamura Yasuji named him to eliminate the arrest.

"Continue to talk." Lieutenant General Fukutan wanted to know what information the unknown Nakasa knew.

Shigeo Yuko gained a surprised look and was recognized by the general. He was humble on his face but was already full of joy in his heart.

"Yes, general, as far as I know, the Eighth Route Army in Zhongtiao Mountain has a total of five regiments, and its combat power and weapons and equipment can be divided into three levels.

The third level is the three newly established infantry regiments, with a number of about 1,500 to 2,000, with a large proportion of new recruits. The weapons and equipment are equivalent to other main regiments of the Eighth Route Army, and their combat effectiveness cannot be compared with the Imperial Army."

Major General Jiro Maeda nodded in agreement: "It makes sense, I just said that the Eighth Route Army cannot have so many main forces."

The other officers attending the meeting also whispered to each other. They all felt that Yamashita Toshihide was too exaggerated, as if the Eighth Route Army was invincible.

More than five times of the troops must be mobilized to defeat the Eighth Route Army.

The Imperial Army mobilized 100,000 people and easily wiped out 170,000 Central Army.

Mobilize 50,000 people to fight the Eighth Route Army?

It sounds like a joke. When it is heard, others think they are all third-rate troops!

Now that 20,000 imperial troops are mobilized and 10,000 imperial alliance troops are mobilized for a large-scale mobilization, it is worthy of the Eighth Route Army.

“Continue.”

Shigeo Yuko was signaled by the general, cleared his throat and continued to preach: "The second class was the new regiment transferred from the 386th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army. This regiment consisted of a thousand veterans and a thousand new soldiers.

It is equipped with a large number of light and heavy machine guns, mortars, and its weapons and equipment are no less than those of the Imperial Army, and its combat effectiveness is comparable to that of the same number of Imperial Army."

The captain of the corps from the 9th Brigade felt that this was a place to interrupt and took the initiative to say: "The new corps of the 386th Brigade once fought with my corps.

After only one hour of fierce fighting, the fierce battle was held. The enemy and us even launched artillery battles and got a draw.

Our army launched eight attacks, but none of them achieved significant results.

After three hours of fierce battle, the New First Regiment voluntarily withdrew from the battle and did not give our army a chance to pursue. Judging from the casualties, we fought a draw."

Judging from the past battles with the Eighth Route Army, a brigade can often easily defeat an Eighth Route Army regiment, and a gang relies on its firepower advantage to fight position wars to compete with three to four Eighth Route Army regiments.

If the new group can play this, it can definitely be called a powerful team.

The officers attending the meeting secretly kept this number in their hearts. If they met on the battlefield in the future, they would have to pay more attention.

Speaking of the last New Second Regiment, Shigeo Yuko's expression became solemn: "I call it first-class in the New Second Regiment, I believe no one will object.

This is a team of heroes, a team of miracles.

Last year, one thousand people used to block the Imperial Army's forces five times the strength, and the attack of eight days and eight nights caused an extremely terrifying casualties.

It directly led to the sacrifice of a major general of the Imperial Army and the loss of almost a united unit."

The officers heard about that failure, which directly led to their original commander, Lieutenant General Yoshizuka Yoshinori, returning to China for retirement in advance.

As an eyewitness, Yamashita Toshihide felt more sincere, with his head down and his face full of shame and regret.

After many midnight dreams, when he heard the general's shouts and the soldiers' screams, he would sit up from his sleep and burst into cold sweat.

After that, he had almost never had a stable sleep at night.

"Last year's new second regiment is very different from this year's new second regiment."

Shigeo Yuko raised his tone, "According to inside information, the New Second Regiment has now become a strengthening regiment with more than 4,000 people.

It has three infantry battalions, each of which is equipped with a Czech light machine gun and a Soviet-made Bobosha submachine gun, with unit firepower better than the Imperial Army.

There is also an artillery battalion, air defense company, reconnaissance company, engineer company, and other special forces. It can deal with various complex combat situations.

Their soldiers fought bravely like the Imperial Army, and their fighting will was extremely tenacious.

What a terrible army this is!

I think they can fight against any ace corps of the Imperial Army. If ordinary Imperial Army encounters it, they will be far from their opponent."

This conclusion directly made the officers attending the meeting silent.

Just by judging the strength on paper, an infantry regiment is definitely not an opponent of the New Second Regiment.
To be continued...