my scientific age

Chapter 449 The Lin Family of Houguan!

I earnestly request.

The fact that these words came from the proud Itagaki Seishiro shows just how bad the situation was. In order to conquer Shanxi as soon as possible, Itagaki Seishiro had no choice but to lower his proud head and ask Terauchi Hisaichi for reinforcements.

“Yes!” Takeshi Sakurada nodded immediately.

"In addition, we must focus on collecting relevant information about the Eighth Route Army, strengthen the defense of the logistics supply team, arrange for engineers to rebuild Yangmingbao Airport and Yanmenguan Railway Station, and if there are not enough people, attract young men from the surrounding areas of Daixian County with high rewards and send them there after the work is completed," Itagaki Seishiro said solemnly.

“Yes!” Takeshi Sakurada nodded again.

"Report, Special Higher Police intelligence." At that moment, the division's operations staff officer strode into the operations room and saluted Itagaki Seishiro.

Seishiro Itagaki took the secret telegram from the Special Higher Police, read its contents, and frowned deeply; the information on it was far from simple.

"What's wrong, Division Commander?" Sakurada Takeshi asked upon seeing the situation.

"The Special Higher Police have indicated that the Eighth Route Army's heavy artillery units are equipped with 105mm caliber heavy artillery, with performance comparable to German-made 105mm heavy artillery. The number of these artillery pieces is at least 24 to 36, with 12 to 18 deployed in the Niangziguan direction and an estimated similar number in the Xinkou direction. They possess excellent anti-artillery combat capabilities. Divisional and regimental command posts and artillery units must pay extra attention to avoid exposure," Itagaki Seishiro said in a deep voice.

"What?! There are 105mm heavy artillery pieces in the Xinkou direction too?!" Sakurada Takeshi exclaimed in disbelief. Recalling that he had set foot on the Nanhuaihua position not long ago, he felt a chill of fear. The 12-kilometer range of the German-made 105mm heavy artillery pieces could easily cover the Nanhuaihua position.

"Damn it! The Eighth Route Army can be so treacherous. They didn't fire when Hao Mengling was killed on the 16th and our field artillery was exposed. Their heavy artillery was definitely coming for me. Luckily, I didn't go to the front line." Itagaki Seishiro was also full of lingering fear and a hint of panic. He analyzed the intelligence and finally came to a conclusion.

The position at Nanhuaihua fell, but no shots were fired.

Hao Mengling was killed in action, without firing a shot.

The 5th Division's field artillery units set up their guns for combat, but still did not fire.

With so many important battles and high-value targets, the Eighth Route Army's heavy artillery units, hidden on the front lines of Xinkou, did not make any moves. So, what targets could attract the enemy's attention?

There is only one answer, and that is the Fifth Division Command Headquarters, and Itagaki Seishiro himself.

Insidious and treacherous, if Itagaki Seishiro hadn't been careful enough not to go to the front lines without permission, he might already be dead and facing His Majesty the Emperor.

"Order: The divisional command post must be established strictly in accordance with the operational regulations, and is prohibited from being located within 12 kilometers of the front-line positions." Itagaki Seishiro understood everything and immediately gave the order.

"Yes!" Takeshi Sakurada nodded in agreement; he didn't want to die inexplicably in a shelling.

"That's enough, Sakurada-kun. I'm tired. I'm going to get some sleep. You take care of things." Itagaki Seishiro, who hadn't slept for two days and two nights, was exhausted. After giving all the instructions, he turned and went to rest in the inner cubicle.

Large-scale military operations are extremely demanding, posing a dual test to both physical and mental well-being. As the supreme commander of a large-scale military operation, one must possess both the extraordinary ability to stay up all night and the ability to rest effectively.

Being able to eat and sleep well is a basic quality that a senior commander needs to possess.

After Itagaki Seishiro went to sleep, encrypted telegrams using asymmetric ciphers flew to various places. Upon receiving the news, the North China Area Army Headquarters quickly convened a meeting to discuss the matter and ultimately decided to transfer some troops from the Jinpu Railway and the Pinghan Railway, totaling about 1 men, in addition to mobilizing a heavy artillery regiment of the Kwantung Army to reinforce the Niangziguan direction. The Kwantung Army also transferred 2 troops, including two tank companies, to reinforce the Xinkou direction.

One defeat does not mean anything; the hundreds of thousands of Kwantung Army troops are the source of the North China Area Army's confidence to advance south.

The Japanese army could fail countless times, but the National Revolutionary Army could only fail once.

With the Japanese army reinforcing the Shanxi battlefield, all eyes in the northern battlefield were focused on Niangziguan.

Niangziguan determined the fate of the battlefields in Shanxi and North China, while Dachangzhen determined the fate of the Battle of Shanghai and Nanjing.

……

"Great victory at Yangmingbao Airport! Another great achievement for the Kuomintang and the Communist Party! Another great victory after Pingxingguan and Jiuguan!" On the streets of Changsha, newsboys waved their newspapers and shouted to the crowd around them.

Upon hearing the words "great victory," the surrounding crowd turned their gazes and beckoned the newsboys to take out their money to buy newspapers.

Yu Hua, who had just arrived in Changsha, also bought a newspaper. The newspaper was the Changsha Current Affairs Daily, and the headline was "Great Victory at Yangmingbao: Another Triumph for the Kuomintang and the Communist Party." The article was about how senior Kuomintang generals and the 18th Army Group decided to launch a surprise attack on Yangmingbao Airport to relieve pressure on the Xinkou front. The 769th Regiment of the 386th Brigade of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army was ordered to take on the mission. They crossed mountains and valleys, working day and night, and finally traversed more than 300 miles to successfully attack Yangmingbao Airport and Yanmenguan Railway Station, sabotage the Tongpu Railway in the Japanese-occupied area, destroy 24 Japanese aircraft, annihilate more than 380 Japanese soldiers, and seize countless supplies.

"Interesting, shameless enough." After reading the article about the Yangmingbao victory, Yu Hua smiled, nodded in approval, and handed the newspaper to Lin Wan.

After reading the newspaper, Lin Wan rolled her eyes, feeling quite speechless, but she couldn't say anything, after all, that was the power of the propaganda machine.

"Next, we'll go to the school to register. We can't get too close to each other at school. The Japanese, because of the asymmetric cryptography, consider my master and me as key targets, as does the Military Intelligence Bureau. They might send someone to find me after we register. I can't be too close to you, so as not to affect you. On the surface, we're still classmates from Beiping No. 4 Middle School."

As Yu Hua walked forward, he spoke his thoughts: "If the Military Intelligence Bureau contacts you, just tell them the truth. Jin Yu, what do you think?"

"Okay, don't worry, I'll be careful. You need to protect yourself and be safe." Lin Wan nodded, keeping a distance from Yu Hua. Now that they were in Changsha, she had to be careful not to maintain a close relationship with Yu Hua like before.

There is a distance between male and female students when they interact.

Lin Wan felt that whether she sacrificed herself or not was not important; she only knew that she absolutely could not affect Yu Hua, otherwise, she would be a sinner against the nation.

When necessary, Lin Wan is willing to give up everything, including her life.

I love you, but that doesn't stop me from protecting you.

“Okay, by the way, Jinyu, I haven’t asked you where you’re from yet?” Yu Hua suddenly remembered something, that is, he had never known about Lin Wan’s background. He only knew that Lin Wan was born into a wealthy family, and he hadn’t asked for any other information.

Lin Wan rolled her eyes at Yu Hua. After spending so much time together, he finally knew to inquire about her background: "I come from the Lin family of Houguan."

"The Lin family of Houguan, is that the Lin family of Lin Huiyin?" Yu Hua was taken aback, somewhat surprised.