I'm killing enemies with my sword and exploding equipment

Shimen City.

In Okamura Jining's temporary command post.

After he rejected Tanabe Seigo's offer to help him take care of his family, he immediately felt the atmosphere was a little awkward, so he quickly changed the subject and talked about business:
"Tanabe-kun, since you are here, please tell me who you think is more suitable to succeed the commander of the Jibei Front Army!

Tonight, I will send a message to the Expeditionary Army Headquarters and the headquarters to deliver the military affairs of the Hebei-Northern Front Army."

Tanabe Seigo hurried here, on the one hand to see if he could persuade Okamura Ji Ning to change his mind, and on the other hand, of course, to exert his influence in recommending the next commander of the Hebei-Northern Front Army!
So at this moment, when he heard Okamura Ji Ning talking about the main topic, he immediately mentioned the candidate he had already thought of:

"Commander, I think Matsui-kun is very suitable!
Today, the Eighth Route Army in northwestern Shanxi is very powerful, and the situation of the Hebei-Northern Front Army cannot be stabilized without brutal suppression.

And Mr. Matsui once made the Chinese terrified in Shanghai and Nanjing!

Clearly the best candidate!"

The "Mr. Matsui" he called was the former commander of the Central China Front Army, Matsui Jugen!

This guy did such a heartless thing in Nanjing. The Japanese headquarters was forced to transfer him back to China under pressure from public opinion. He is now living in seclusion in the country.

Obviously, Okamura Jining did not expect that Tanabe Seigo would propose Matsui Juune as a candidate.

Suddenly he frowned.

Originally, the candidate he considered was Itagaki Seijiro!
After all, it was this guy who led the Fifth Division to march straight into Jin and capture the territory!

If we were to ask who among the Locust Army generals knows Jin better than this person, it would probably be no other!
As for the fact that this guy lacks strategic vision, Okamura Ji Ning feels that it is not important.

At least at this stage, the only mission for the Jibei Front Army is to strangle the Eighth Route Army in Jibei!

As for strategy, it was not the turn of the commander of the Hebei-North Front Army to make decisions.

After all, there are the expeditionary force commander Hata Shunroku and Army Minister Tojo above him!

However, since Tanabe Seigo mentioned Matsui Jugen's name, he couldn't help but consider it.

But after a little thought, he still felt that he didn't like this old guy.

So he opened his mouth to refuse:

“Tanabe-kun, Matsui-kun’s record and qualifications are certainly sufficient.

But he is old now, and I am afraid it is difficult for him to undertake such heavy work! "

Tanabe Morigo thought to himself: I just like him because he is old, otherwise why would I recommend this old guy!

This guy is over 60 years old now. If he dies in office, won’t I have a chance then?
But he couldn't be too obvious, so he asked back:
"Then, Commander, who do you think is more suitable?"

"I want Tojo-kun to transfer Itagaki-kun to Jibei.

He has fought here before, is familiar with the situation, and his tactical command level is also quite high!

Once in place, it should be able to quickly stabilize the situation in Jin and will not affect the overall strategic situation of our army in Southeast Asia."

Okamura Jining spoke his mind.

……

However, when Tanabe Seigo heard this, he was extremely unhappy.

This guy Itagaki Seijiro is seven years younger than Matsui Jugen!

Moreover, the other party is now the commander-in-chief of the Peninsula, and he has a large number of elite soldiers and generals under his command. Once the other party takes control of the Hebei-North Front Army, he, as the chief of staff of Okamura Ji Ning, will definitely have to make room for the other party's people!

So he quickly shook his head and said:

"Commander, Itagaki-kun is certainly a suitable candidate, but he is busy with military affairs on the peninsula and may not be able to take up the post quickly.

Given the current situation of our Jibei Front Army, I’m afraid we may not be able to wait patiently for the other side to take up their posts!
On the contrary, it is Mr. Matsui who can take up his post quickly.

Moreover, with Matsui's prestige, connections and qualifications in the headquarters, he can play a huge role in obtaining military supplies.

After all, no matter how good Itagaki is at battlefield command, he can't lead a force with insufficient ammunition and food to wipe out the Tubalu, right? "

After he said that, Okamura Ji Ning had no choice but to nod.

Today, the competition for supplies among the various military units of the Locust Army has become extremely serious.

If the Jibei Front Army was assigned a commander with poor connections, the hundreds of thousands of troops under his command would have trouble even getting food, let alone achieving anything!
Thinking of this, he immediately pondered and said:
"Yoshi! Tanabe-kun, what you said makes sense.

Let me recommend both of these candidates to Tojo-kun."

Tanabe Seigo also knew that such a big matter was obviously not something that could be decided by just him and Okamura Jining.

It is quite good to be able to include Matsui Juune in Okamura Jining's recommendation list.

He did not add any more fuel to the fire and continue to promote the other party, but instead changed the subject and started talking to Okamura Ji Ning about Shimen City.

……

Huangping Town battlefield.

After ordering Masao Yano to reorganize the remnants of the 1st Division, the commander of the Japanese 8th Division, Masazai Honda, felt that the artillery fire of the Special Service Regiment was too fierce, so he sent people to urge the commander of the 8th Field Artillery Regiment, Ryoki Kitagawa.

Order the enemy to speed up the counterattack and make sure to suppress the arrogance of the special forces regiment's artillery.

When Beichuan Linghui received his order, he cursed in his heart: Baka! You bastard, do you think it is easy to deal with dozens of heavy artillerymen from the other side?

But on the surface, he didn't dare to say a word of "no".

The pressure can only be passed downwards.

Now, the Japanese gunners had to ignore their own safety and operate the artillery with all their strength, braving the shells constantly falling from the sky.

With this life-and-death fighting style, their casualties naturally increased rapidly.

……

Division commander Honda Masazai stood at the door of his temporary command department, looking at the artillery shells whizzing through the sky outside, and felt as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

He had never thought that he would encounter such a situation when he entered the pass from Liaodong to fight in northwestern Shanxi. It was completely beyond his imagination!
At this time, the divisional staff officer, Keihito Nagakubo, came to report to him with a telegram:
"Your Excellency, the Commander-in-Chief is calling!"

"Oh, what's the content?"

Honda Masazai didn't seem too surprised on the surface, but he was somewhat expectant in his heart.

He had just sent a telegram to Okamura Ji-ning to report the situation of the 1st Division, which was certainly not without purpose.

"Commander, I order you to take unified command of the 1st and 8th Divisions.

Turn slightly eastward to reorganize the army, and do not attack rashly."

Kubo Keijin answered.

"Yoshi!"

Honda Masazai was very satisfied to see that he had finally obtained the command he wanted.

However, he still disagreed with Okamura Ji Ning's order to retreat, and quickly asked Kubo Keijin:
"Kubo-kun, do you think we should turn in?"

Upon hearing this, Kubo Keihito couldn't help but roll his eyes and thought to himself: Do you think I'm stupid?
I don't see that you want to continue fighting, so as to achieve the feat of defeating the Tubalu, and to form a sharp contrast with that damned Nakazawa Saburo? He quickly replied:
"Your Excellency, our four regiments have already rushed to the front and are probably exchanging fire with the Eighth Route Army.

It would be a pity if we turned backwards!

Moreover, the Eighth Route Army will definitely pursue us closely, causing us to suffer heavy losses!
Therefore, I feel that we must not retreat at this moment, but should make a concerted effort to defeat them!"

Honda Masazai was very satisfied to see that this guy spoke honestly and touched his heart.

Nodding repeatedly:

"Yoshi! Kubo-kun, what you said makes sense.

Then we will not reply to the Commander's telegram for the time being.

Hurry up, speed up the army and be ready to attack at any time!

When we have some results, I will call back the Commander and report the good news!"

"Hi!"

……

The battle on the Huangping Town battlefield was a mess, which of course alarmed Li Yunlong, Ding Wei, Xing Zhiguo and others who were sleeping in hiding with their troops after a night of fierce fighting more than ten miles away on both sides of Zhengtai Road.

They received reports from scouts that the road was in chaos.

He immediately cheered up and took a small number of guards back to the hills not far from both sides of Zhengtai Road, observing the situation on the road with binoculars.

Everyone was shocked when they saw the special forces regiment's artillery blasting the Japanese to the point where they couldn't breathe.

Regardless of friend or foe, if we were to ask who knows the Special Forces best, these people would definitely be the ones to take the blame.

But at this moment, when they saw the special forces regiment fighting like this, they still felt a little doubtful about their lives.

Everyone was thinking: With only more than 10,000 people, the Special Forces Regiment is able to defeat two divisions of the Japanese?
Isn't that too exaggerated?

They have only been established for a year at most, right?

If Yang Yuanshan is given three to five years, wouldn't he be able to hold down eight or ten divisions of the Japanese devils and beat them to a pulp?

By then, wouldn't this guy be able to wipe out the entire Jin area with just one regiment?
hiss……

It's so scary!
Li Yunlong even couldn't help but mutter:
"Damn it, it's really exciting to hear dozens of heavy artillery fire at the same time!
It seems that even if I ask this bastard for 24 mountain cannons, it’s still not enough!
After this battle, I'm going to rob him!
How can a regiment leader live a more comfortable life than me, the leader? "

……

Under the watchful eyes of countless people, the fierce artillery battle between the two artillery battalions of the Special Service Regiment and the Japanese artillery units lasted for more than two hours, and the Japanese could no longer hold on.

The 9st Field Artillery Regiment of the st Division, which originally had only artillery pieces left, was completely wiped out.

From the regiment commander Colonel Masahiko Imai to the gunners and ammunition handlers, almost all of them died in battle.

There are not many people who even left an intact body.

As for the 8th Field Artillery Regiment of the 8th Division, it had almost used up all its artillery shells and lost 32 heavy artillery pieces.

The regiment commander, Colonel Kitagawa Ryoki, had no choice but to brave the artillery fire and rush to the division commander Honda Masazai, crying:
"Your Excellency, our artillery shells are about to run out!!!

I beg you to allow us to turn back immediately!"

Honda Masazai's eyes widened when he heard this, and he roared:
"idiot!
You bastard, are you firing randomly and wasting shells?
The Tubalu's artillery shells hadn't been used up yet, why did you use up yours?

Could it be that the Tubalu have more ammunition than our locust army?"

Beichuan Linghui felt very aggrieved when he heard this.

I was complaining in my mind: It was you, the bastard, who sent people to pass on the order, telling us to speed up and destroy the enemy's artillery!
Now you're denying it and saying we wasted artillery shells. Are you still human?

He quickly defended himself:

"Your Excellency, Division Commander, it's not that we are wasting artillery shells, it's just that the Eighth Route Army has too many artillery shells!

We fired one artillery shell at them, and they fired two or three back at us, it was as if the shells were free!
It's totally incomprehensible!
Under this density of artillery fire, our warriors have to speed up the pace of their bombardment!
Otherwise the loss will be even greater!"

"Bageyalu! Damn it!"

Honda Masazai also knew that at this point, scolding Kitagawa Ryoki would not produce any results, and he could only curse him angrily.

Then he shouted loudly:
"How many guns do you have now?"

"There are only 16 guns left, including 150 2mm howitzers."

Beichuan Linghui answered in a stammering voice, and sweat broke out on his forehead.

In two hours, 32 heavy artillery pieces were lost. This is too tragic.

If we tell this to others, we will be laughed at by the artillerymen from other units!
He didn't know yet that the First Division had lost 9 more guns!

With this calculation, their actual loss was 41 heavy artillery pieces!!!
The opportunity is a fully-staffed artillery regiment!
……

Upon hearing that his field artillery regiment of 48 guns had lost two-thirds of its guns, Honda Masazai suddenly felt a black screen in front of his eyes. He wished he could draw the sword at his waist and chop the useless guy in front of him to death.

It would be fine if we couldn't destroy our opponent.

His own losses were so huge. How could he fight the next battle?
Without the cover of heavy artillery, what use would the Type 92 infantry guns in other troops be?
Moreover, if the shells are used up, they can be transported from the rear, but if the heavy artillery is lost, it is not so easy to replenish!

What's more, for them, every barreled artillery piece is registered.

If we lose a target, we have to report the situation to our superiors in writing after the war.

Then it was dealt with harshly.

But now, they have lost 32 heavy artillery pieces. He couldn't even imagine what kind of punishment he would face after the war!
If there is no reasonable explanation, he will probably be ordered to transfer to the reserve immediately!
After all, the empire's resources are so scarce!
Heavy artillery above 75mm is not the common Type infantry gun!
……

But no matter how angry or scared he was, Honda Masazai had to find a way to solve the current dilemma immediately.

Otherwise the results may be even worse!
As the enemy's shells continued to fall, our own artillery counterattack became increasingly weak.

Honda Masaharu rolled his eyes a few times, then he could only grit his teeth and roared:
"Beichuan Linghui, hurry up, take your people and turn back immediately!
Save what artillery we have left!
If there is one less cannon, you will be loyal to His Majesty Tianhuang!
My Eighth Division does not want a useless artillery commander like you!!!"

He was not yet blinded by anger and knew that losing 32 guns was better than being completely wiped out!

Although he was scolded badly, Beichuan Linghui was not angry.

Instead, he let out a long sigh and his whole body relaxed.

After all, the other party allowed them to retreat, so what else did they want?

He was afraid that Honda Masazai would insist on fighting his opponent to the death!
The enemies in front of us are so terrifying!

The feeling of never being able to use up all the shells or bombs is simply despairing!
So he bowed and took the order:
"Hi!"

Then he turned around and walked away in a flash.

...(End of chapter)