Anti-Japanese War: The whole world is a base vehicle

Chapter 55 The birth of the 22nd Army!

"Commander, based on my understanding of Sakurada Takeshi, he would not lie."

Whether for the honor of the Imperial Guards Division or for his own sake, Shojiro Iida had to argue for Takeshi Sakurada.

"That means the German-equipped division has indeed reappeared?" Lieutenant General Ando Toshiyoshi looked at Shojiro Iida with sharp eyes.

"This..." Shojiro Iida didn't dare to guarantee that it was the German-equipped division that reappeared.

"Commander, even if the German-equipped division does not reappear, the 1st Guards Brigade is facing a Chinese army equipped with full German equipment. Its combat effectiveness is no weaker than that of the German-equipped division back then, and may even be stronger." Shojiro Iida said seriously.

"We must pay attention to this and report this to the headquarters. This is definitely not a weapon that can be provided by a simple arms dealer."

"The 105mm howitzer is understandable, but the 150mm heavy howitzer is impossible for ordinary arms dealers to buy."

Upon hearing this, Lieutenant General Ando Toshiyoshi pondered for a while and agreed with Shojiro Iida's opinion.

Large-caliber heavy artillery is indeed not something that ordinary arms dealers can buy.

As for the hidden mountain city?

Totally impossible.

If they still have so many German equipment, could they not use them?
Will you watch Jinling, Yuzhang and Jiangcheng fall?
Moreover, if these weapons had been taken out earlier at Kunlun Pass, the 21st Brigade would probably have been wiped out.

Therefore, this batch of weapons should not have been stockpiled before the war, but must have appeared during this period.

I have to say that Lieutenant General Ando Toshiyoshi's guess was quite accurate.

"So, you also agree with the analysis given by the kid from the Kitashirakawa family?" Lieutenant General Ando Toshiyoshi asked the other party.

"Yes, because only this explanation can fit why there are so many German equipment here." Shojiro Iida nodded in response.

"Well, you are right, but there is nothing wrong with the headquarters' analysis. If the Germans acquiesced, then this batch of equipment should not have appeared in the hands of the ragtag army." Lieutenant General Ando Toshiyoshi asked again.

"This..." Now, even Shojiro Iida didn't know what to say.

"There are many doubts about this matter, but these are the key points. For now, we should report the situation here to the headquarters." Lieutenant General Ando Toshiyoshi shook his head, too lazy to continue guessing, and simply left the matter to the headquarters for handling.

Hearing this, Shojiro Iida panicked. He came here hoping not to report to the headquarters. After all, the death rate of the 40st Guards Brigade was as high as %. If this were to be made known to others, he would be completely embarrassed.

Obviously, Lieutenant General Ando Rikichi guessed what he was thinking.

"The headquarters is planning to form the 22nd Army. The battle in southern Guangxi will be completely handed over to the 21nd Army. The st Army's mission is to continue to encircle and suppress the Chinese Army and strive to open up the Yuehan Line and connect it with the Pinghan Line as soon as possible. In this way, most of China will be ours."

"Maybe this war can be ended sooner, and you and I can go home sooner."

"So I must report this matter to the headquarters. Maybe this time the headquarters will form the 22nd Army in advance."

"Iida-kun, I think you can compete for the position of commander of the 22nd Army."

"Maybe then, you can wash away this shame."

This was really a heartfelt statement. If they hadn't had a good relationship, he wouldn't have said such a top secret. "Hai, I understand." Iida Shojiro hadn't expected that the headquarters would actually have the idea of ​​forming the 22nd Army. It was indeed a little beyond his expectations.

However, it might be difficult to compete for the commander position because after such an incident, there is little hope.

.........

"The 1st Guards Brigade suffered heavy losses? Approaching the 18th Division? The Navy lost twelve fighter planes?"

"A large number of German weapons? And heavy artillery? Anti-aircraft guns, etc." The Chief of the Army General Staff, Prince Kan'in Yasuhito, looked at the telegram sent by Ando Toshiyoshi with a very solemn expression.

This is much more serious than the last telegram.

Although the 21st Brigade lost the Batang position, which made him a little annoyed, but relying on the defense lines of Liutang and Qitang, as well as the officers airlifted there, the 21st Brigade barely held the defense line, and the so-called German equipment was no longer available.

Therefore, he also believed that this batch of equipment should be the arms stockpiled by a certain arms dealer before the war, and now it is taken out in order to make huge profits.

Who knows that now there will be more German equipment, and they are equipped with heavy artillery and so on.

Even shot down 12 fighter jets of the HNA.

This has stirred up a hornet's nest.

If it is not handled properly, it may cause great trouble.

At least the contradiction between land and sea will become increasingly serious.

"Mr. Iimura, this is a telegram from Mr. Ando." Seeing Lieutenant General Iimura Tadashi coming to the office, Prince Kan'in Yasuhito handed over the telegram in his hand.

"Based on the content of the telegram, I'm afraid the previous inference has to be denied. This is definitely not a weapon that ordinary arms dealers can buy. Heavy artillery is embargoed. Even before the war, the Germans sold only 24 heavy artillery to China. Most of them were abandoned in the Songhu battlefield. Now there are only a few left."

"But the heavy artillery that appeared now is obviously not among the previous 24 heavy artillery. Every time China's heavy artillery is used, it needs the signature of Yamashiro."

After hearing what Prince Kan'in Yasuhito said, Lieutenant General Iimura Tadashi also felt that the situation was a bit tricky.

"Is it really the support of the German army? But that shouldn't be the case. They should have directly handed over to Yamashiro. Why did they end up in the hands of a ragtag army? Although the 76th Division was classified as a regular army, it is essentially a ragtag army and is not taken seriously by Yamashiro. Logically speaking, with so many regular army units waiting to be reorganized, it shouldn't be their turn." Lieutenant General Iimura Tadashi still couldn't understand why this happened.

Upon hearing this, Prince Kan'in Yasuhito also felt that the situation was a bit tricky.

"Mr. General, what is the German response?" Lieutenant General Iimura asked curiously.

"What else could it be? They knew nothing about it. They strictly abided by their promise and did not sell any weapons." Prince Kan'in Yasuhito said helplessly.

"Mr. General, do you think it is true or false?" Lieutenant General Iimura asked again.

"It should be true. There is no need for them to lie to me. The situation in Europe is very tense now. The German army is making every effort to expand its military and prepare for war. According to predictions, a war will definitely break out this year at the latest. They should not have the leisure to pay attention to the Far East battlefield." Prince Kan'in Yasuhito expressed his opinion.

"If that's the case, there is only one explanation, these weapons fell from the sky." Lieutenant General Iimura Tsuyoshi spread his hands, looking helpless.

"Don't worry about the weapons. We will be able to find out sooner or later. The problem now is that the Battle of Southern Guangxi will probably continue to drag on. Ando Toshiyoshi has too heavy a burden on his shoulders. I plan to set up the 22nd Army and let the battle in Southern Guangxi be commanded by the 22nd Army. As for the 21st Army, it will focus on opening up the Guangdong-Hankou Line." Prince Kan'in Yasuhito said.

(End of this chapter)