Draw the sword and cure the fear of insufficient firepower

The First Japanese Army Headquarters in Taiyuan.

The newly appointed First Army Commander, Lieutenant General Saburo Hisahara, has been in office for three days.

Feeling the pleasure of full-time power for the first time, Shouzai Saburo's whole spirit was completely different.

He lives in the headquarters and looks down on people all day long. These people are his subordinates. When they see him, they have to bow respectfully and say hello, "Commander."

Even the once high-ranking Yoshio Shinozuka had to do this.

It is said that Okamura Neiji removed Yoshio Shinozuka from his position as commander and asked him to remain in the First Army Headquarters to assist Hisashi Saburo.

However, Okamura Yasuji did not explain clearly Yoshio Shinozuka's new position.

This gave Shouzaiburo room to perform.

"Koizumi-kun, go get Shinozuka-kun... oh no, the major operational documents from when the former commander was in office."

"This commander needs to check it out, and then formulate a new strategy for the Eighth Route Army in Shanxi Province."

Saburo Sushiro turned his back to Junichiro Koizumi and looked up at the huge map on the wall of his office.

"Hai! Commander-in-Chief!!"

Koizumi was not familiar with the new commander and was unsure of his temper, so he immediately leaned his feet together, his leather boots colliding together, saluted respectfully, and hurried to do his job.

Although he was not familiar with Juarai Saburo, in Koizumi's opinion, these generals in high positions all had bad tempers.

The boss can do whatever he wants to his subordinates. This is a custom within the Locust Army.

Ever since the locust army came into being, this inhumane rule has existed.

In addition, Hisashi Saburo was a new official, and Junichiro Koizumi was a major intelligence staff officer in the headquarters, but in fact, he was the commander's assistant and secretary.

He was always hanging around the commander's eyes every day. If he hadn't noticed, he would have been beaten to death long ago.

During this period, he was better off being diligent, attentive and trying to please the new commander, and his life would be much better from then on.

Koizumi could only pray secretly, hoping that Commander Shouai was a gentle man, unlike Yoshio Shinozuka, who would take it out on himself if he was dissatisfied or the situation on the front line was unfavorable.

Thinking about the last battle and his miserable condition, he was worried all day long, fearing that he would not fight well on the front line and would be chopped to death by Yoshio Shinozuka.

Two and a half hours later, after meeting with some key generals sent by the First Army, Saburo Suze was sitting in his office drinking tea.

In the past few days, Shouqi Saburo has met with the main generals of the First Army in the headquarters and Taiyuan City. As the new commander of the First Army, he naturally needs to get familiar with his capable subordinates first.

These people tried their best to curry favor with Shouqi Saburo, fearing that they would anger the new commander and cause trouble for them in the future.

Especially those who were close to Shinozuka Yoshio in the past were under great pressure this time. They also had their own connections in the General Headquarters, so they naturally knew that Suwabe Saburo and Shinozuka Yoshio did not get along.

Therefore, as Yoshio Shinozuka's confidant, he was inevitably excluded by Shouqi Saburo.

So everyone expressed their loyalty and swore that Yoshio Shinozuka was a rubbish commander and that he led them to retreat step by step and be annihilated repeatedly.

This time, more than 50,000 heads were given to the Eighth Route Army in one go.

Then he turned around and licked Shouqi Saburo.

What the hell, if Okamura Yasuji had sent Commander Shouqi to the First Army earlier, they would have already penetrated Shanxi Province and might even have joined forces with the locust army in the south in Chongqing.

This flattery made Shouzaiburo so happy that he lost himself in it and enjoyed it very much.

No longer doubting the loyalty of these generals, Shouzai Saburo stated that as long as they were loyal to himself and the locust army, they would have a bright future.

And Shouqi Saburo also selected a few of his own confidants from among them.

Although Shouzai Saburo was mediocre after all, he knew that being a leader was not easy, especially when he had just arrived in a new place and did not have the right people, it would be inconvenient to do things.

Moreover, Yoshio Shinozuka led the First Army well in the early stage and achieved good results, otherwise Neiji Okamura would not have regarded Yoshio Shinozuka's First Army as his own confidant.

Therefore, before coming here, Shouzai Saburo was still quite worried. What if after he took office, the generals of the First Army pretended to obey him but actually disobeyed him, united and sidelined him? That would be a disaster for him.

You know, it is a tradition for big nuclear nations to defeat their superiors.

Moreover, although Yoshio Shinozuka was dismissed from his post, as long as he is in the First Army, those generals will still have secret dealings with him.

The fear is that Yoshio Shinozuka is not the commander in name, but he is the commander in reality.

In the end, he, the legitimate commander, became a mere figurehead. The only outcome was that he felt ashamed and asked the headquarters to transfer him back in shame.

How would he be able to hold his head up in front of his colleagues in that case?

Wouldn’t that become a joke for the North China Front Army?

Fortunately, this time, Lin Tian from the Eighth Route Army destroyed the reputation that Yoshio Shinozuka had accumulated within the Locust Army in just one battle.

Now, when the Locust Army talks about the First Army, they say all kinds of unpleasant words, which are extremely sarcastic.

The entire First Army is now unable to hold its head up, which is very unbearable for the imperial soldiers who regard honor as more important than anything else.

Since the September 18th Incident, the Locust Army has never suffered such a humiliating defeat on the Chinese battlefield.

In two and a half months, the Eighth Route Army wiped out 50,000 locust soldiers and a prince.

This was a great humiliation. When the news reached back home, the whole country was in an uproar, and even their families wrote to question them.

Their father, in particular, used harsh words, saying that he was ashamed of them. When the villagers heard that his son was serving in that stupid unit of the First Army, they tore down the wall of his house at night.

What's more, some people said that even if there were 50,000 pigs, the Eighth Route Army could not catch them all in two and a half months.

This made the Japanese devils very uncomfortable, because they had used this sentence to mock the Central Army before, but they didn't expect that it would fall on their heads in the end.

Therefore, they also hated Yoshio Shinozuka, and believed that the battle turned out so badly because of Yoshio Shinozuka's incomplete battle plan and improper command.

They also hoped that the newly appointed commander of the First Army, Saburo Shouzai, would be able to lead them to wipe out all anti-Japanese armed forces in Shanxi Province, lead them to stand up straight again, move towards glory, and make their families proud of them again.

"Hurry, hurry, move in, everyone move in!"

"Be careful, don't make a mess!"

Just as Shouzai Saburo was secretly rejoicing, there was a noise outside the door.

"What's going on outside?! Bakayarro! Can't you see that the commander is taking a rest?!"

Shouzaiburo slammed the table and scolded.

"Report to the Commander! Staff Officer Junichiro Koizumi has brought here all the operational data from the previous Commander's tenure!"

"Please give me your instructions, Commander!"

Koizumi's heart sank, thinking to himself that this was not good, it seemed that this commander also had a bad temper...