Comrade, your ingredients are too complicated.

Chapter 547 What should the navy do before going out to sea? Of course, it is to worship Mazu
Late at night on October 1942, 10, Kwantung Army Headquarters.

The minus four-degree cold wind blew through the iron gate, and the red brick and stone walls made a crisp sound like bones cracking.

The street lights cast the shadow of the dead branches on the gravel road. From a distance, the shadow looked like a gallows, right around Umezu Mijiro's neck.

The old Japanese seemed unaware of such a strange and ominous scene.

The fingers holding the cigarette trembled slightly, and he didn't react when the ash fell on the front of his military uniform. He looked like he was worried about something.

"Hey!"

After a sigh that was filled with too many unexpressible feelings, Umezu Mijiro pushed open the heavy iron door and walked into the headquarters.

The distance between the gate and the operations meeting room was not far, but every step he took felt like stepping into a muddy swamp, making it almost impossible to move forward.

If it weren't for the telegram in his pocket, like a red-hot iron, constantly reminding the old devil that he must face the cruel reality, perhaps he could have lingered in the yard a little longer.

"Even the army generals of our brother country should be classified into different grades like the sake of the Nara region."

"He, Okamura Neiji, is simply a disgrace to our country. This insect who can turn a balanced situation into a huge disadvantage should honestly commit seppuku in Quancheng to apologize for his crime."

"The navy sank the Hiryuu, but Yamaguchi Tamon knew to sink with the ship. How could an admiral like him have no sense of shame!"

As soon as he reached the door of the operations meeting room, waves of Chinese curses mixed with dialect came into the ears of Umezu Mijiro.

The mood that I had finally adjusted was torn to pieces in an instant by these rough noises.

Considering that he had to stay calm for the next meeting, the old man waited for a while before pushing open the cold oak door. The moment he opened the door, the choking smoke immediately enveloped his breath.

Looking at the map spread out on the conference table, looking at Laizhou Bay marked with red and blue pencils, Meizu Mijiro said in a hoarse voice:

"Five divisions. Five whole divisions."

"Okamura Yasuji said in a telegram that tens of thousands of our Kwantung Army were being chased and attacked by the Eighth Route Army like sheep, and artillery shells and aerial bombs were falling on the heads of the warriors every minute and every second."

"But what are you doing now? Arguing like a bunch of singing girls?"

"How can you fools be fed with 5 million dan of Manchurian grain? The samurai sword bestowed by His Majesty Tianhuang is not for you to chop the air with!"

After being scolded by their own commander, the Japanese staff in the operations conference room finally calmed down.

Seeing this, Umezu Mijiro threw the telegram in his pocket onto the table, and then announced to all his subordinates present:

"According to the current situation, our army's Operation No. 1 can basically be declared a failure. The liquidation of the campaign commander, General Okamura Neiji, will be a matter for after the war."

"Our current task is to think about how to bring the warriors from Jiaolai Plain back to Manchuria!"

"Kasahara-kun, how much time do we have?"

Upon hearing the question, Lieutenant General Yukio Kasahara, the chief of staff, immediately went to work. He pulled out a thick stack of documents from the briefcase under his arm. The pale pages were densely covered with the names of various ships.

"Three days, five days at most!"

"Whether or not to adopt the internal combustion engine plan, we must come up with a final plan as soon as possible. Every second of delay will cause the troops on Jiaolai Plain to face a greater threat."

"But Umezu-kun, I must remind you of one thing. The Chinese fleet is only one tenth as strong as it is now. It is impossible for them to transport tens of thousands of samurai back on their own."

In preparation for the war against Daiei and Achou, the Japanese Navy began strengthening the combined fleet as early as July last year.

The regular warships originally belonging to the China Fleet, as well as the special warships with decent performance, had long been transferred by Yamamoto Isoroku to various fleets and air squadrons. If a flagship had to be selected for the fleet now, it would most likely be an outdated destroyer.

With such strength, the Thai Navy can give them a kick, and they are basically on the side of the road.

After receiving the information from his chief of staff, what caught Umezu Mijiro's eyes was a list of gunboats, patrol boats and transport ships.

I finally found a few destroyers in the roster, but they turned out to be old ships built more than ten years ago.

After weighing the pros and cons, the old Japanese soldier stabbed the cigarette butt in his hand hard on the map and finally made a difficult decision.

"Let's just use the internal combustion engine. We have no other options at this point. Pass on my order and contact the headquarters immediately. Ask them to send someone to discuss a rescue plan with the Navy General Staff."

"Five divisions! Losing five fully staffed divisions at once would be a huge blow to us."

"In addition, the headquarters must also take action. Requisition all fishing boats and civilian transport ships from coastal cities. Every floating object, even a canoe, must be sent out to sea."

"Damn that Neiji Okamura. It's fine if he can't win the battle, but why is he so useless at naming things! Internal combustion engine? Does he want to see tens of thousands of his brother country's samurai explode in the sea?"

"Hi!"

······
Unlike the solemnity of the Kwantung Army Headquarters, the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army's North Sea Fleet was filled with laughter and joy.

The three naval giants, led by Xiao, Sa and Philip, were sitting in the admiral's mansion chatting and laughing with 103. They sometimes teased each other, sometimes laughed out loud, and the room was filled with a happy atmosphere.

"Why do you care so much about the post-war statistics? It will alienate the efforts of our comrades, do you understand?"

"Take the decisive battle in eastern Shandong as an example. Our Liugong Island was used as bait at sea to attract firepower, and the Air Force took the opportunity to kill the enemy's land and naval forces."

"After the battle, the First Air Division fought the entire game, shot down 197 enemy planes, and won the MVP award. The North Sea Fleet was beaten the whole time, and won without any effort!"

“So, we can’t just look at the final result, we have to look at the specific contributions and the specific process.”

When the comrades present heard Director Xiao's explanation, they all burst into laughter.

After playing around for a while, 103 adjusted his facial expression and took out the latest order of the tiger in the forest from the briefcase beside his legs.

"After more than 20 days of hard fighting, the remnants of the five divisions of the Kwantung Army are about to be forced into Laizhou Bay by the main force of our military region."

"Based on the intelligence provided by secret channels, General Lin deduced that the Japanese had a high probability of taking the soldiers in the encirclement back to the Northeast by sea."

"So for the next battle, your North Sea Fleet will have to go out. If you can run into the enemy navy head-on, then the navy and air force will act together to beat up their little bastard."

"If the inference is wrong, then use the naval guns to bombard the damn Kwantung Army."

As soon as these words came out, Mr. Sa, who was watching the show happily, immediately stood up and ran towards the iron pier. His vigorous steps did not look like an 83-year-old man at all.

The legendary Captain Philip followed closely behind, but he was in a hurry to return to the advisory group's dormitory.

Looking at the two allies who were in a hurry, LYL turned his gaze to Director Xiao with a confused look on his face, as if he was afraid that he would run away too.

"Why are you looking at me? I'm not leaving. Mr. Sa is from Fujian and he worships Mazu before going out to sea. Philip also has faith and he prays with his advisory team before taking action."

"I'm from Changsha, and I get seasick. I won't leave unless I get on the boat."

Here it comes, the 2000-word minor chapter is also updated!
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(End of this chapter)