Bright Sword: Construction starts from southeastern Shanxi

This time, the Japanese army in North China suffered a major setback and the losses were too great.

After reading the statistics of the losses of the locust army in North China compiled by Yamashita Tomoyuki, Sugiyama Gen had only one thought in his mind.

“It’s over…”

Even when the locust army fought against Russia in Northeast China decades ago, it did not suffer such heavy losses.

In the Battle of Wuhan, although the Central China Expeditionary Force also suffered heavy losses, the losses were not as severe as those of the troops in North China. Most of the losses of the Central China Locust Army were injuries. But when they arrived in North China, they went straight to see Amaterasu.

Moreover, the loss of senior generals made Sugiyama Gen's eyelids twitch.

第26师团长后宫淳、108师团长谷口元治郎、109师团长山岡重厚、110师团长桑木崇明，整整四个中将，以及几个独立混成旅团的旅团长、各师团下旅团长一共12个少将、剩下的则是三十多个大佐以及大量的低级军官。

Seeing the statistical results, Sugiyama Gen's scalp tingled. This was only the loss of senior officers, and the locust army's combat losses had not been counted. At the same time, the logistical supplies of the North China Locust Army were also intercepted by the Eighth Route Army. You know, most of the supplies for the North China Locust Army next year were stored there.

Now that they have been intercepted by the Eighth Route Army, the locust army has no choice but to gather supplies from the Northeast and the country again, otherwise the entire North China locust army will be cut off from logistical supplies in a short time.

Sugiyama Gen looked at the telegram and for a moment didn't know how to report everything that happened in North China to the headquarters.

Should he tell the masters in the headquarters that the senior generals of the locust army in North China have been almost killed and the supplies are almost gone, and they need to be allocated quickly? I'm afraid he doesn't need to wait until he is brought to the military court, he can just commit suicide by disembowelment.

But now I have to report it immediately.

Now the news has spread throughout China. The locust army in North China suffered a heavy loss at the hands of the Eighth Route Army. All the middle and senior generals of the two divisions were wiped out by the Eighth Route Army.

Fortunately, the Eighth Route Army did not send any other messages, which undoubtedly gave Sugiyama Gen a lot of room to maneuver.

Although the headquarters sent a telegram of reprimand for the destruction of the 26th Division and the 109th Division headquarters, they reluctantly accepted the result in view of the losses in central China.

Now the only issue left is the losses suffered by the locust army in North China.

But how to report to the base camp has become a tricky problem. If you report too much loss, you might suffer. If you report too little, it will be difficult to fill such a big hole.

After thinking for a long time, Sugiyama Gen called his chief of staff, Yamashita Tomoyuki, and asked him if he had a good solution.

After listening to Sugiyama Gen's words, Yamashita Tomoyuki fell into deep thought.

To be honest, Yamashita Tomoyuki did not want to lie about the losses, but he had already seen the losses of the locust army in North China. After all, he was the one who did the statistics. If this result was reported, the commander would be held accountable, and he, the chief of staff, would probably not be able to escape either.

However, covering up the losses is not a trivial matter. To hide it from the country, it requires the close cooperation of the entire North China Front Army, but whether the generals below will be willing to do so is a problem.

After thinking for a long time, Yamashita Tomoyuki finally came up with a solution. Although it was not very good, it could at least guarantee the safety of the commander and himself. At worst, he would have to return to the country and join the reserve force. After some arrangements, he could eventually return to the combat unit.

Thinking of this, Yamashita Tomoyuki said to Sugiyama Gen.

"Your Excellency, Commander, I have thought of a way, but I may have to inconvenience you."

The troubled Sugiyama Gen suddenly became energetic when he heard what Yamashita Tomoyuki said.

"Oh? Yamashita-kun, tell me quickly, what method is it?"

When Yamashita Tomoyuki heard what Sugiyama Gen said, he uttered three words.

"Shun Tada!"

When Sugiyama Gen heard the chief of staff's words, his brows furrowed.

If it was anyone else, it would be fine, but it was this guy. You know, as the Minister of the Army, he had a big fight with this guy before.

This guy always wanted to negotiate with China, but the Locust Army was fully capable of resolving the war in China quickly. However, Tada Shun gathered a group of guys and set their sights on the north, believing that the north was the threat.

Until last month, during the Wuhan War, he was sent from China to serve as commander of the Northeast Third Army.

Asking myself to negotiate with Tada Shun now would only bring trouble to myself.

However, Yamashita Tomoyuki's words later woke him up.

"Commander-in-Chief, First Army, Fourth Division, Fifth Division!"

After hearing what Yamashita Tomoyuki said, Sugiyama Gen suddenly reacted.

If we conceal the war losses from the country this time, and if these divisions are not appeased, they might stab us in the back.

On the other hand, the reason why the locust army suffered such heavy losses later was that Itagaki and Doihara Kenji were probably unable to escape.

Thinking of this, Sugiyama Gen immediately knew what to do.

So he asked Yamashita Tomoyuki to immediately telegraph the commander of the 4th Division, Kenji Doihara, who was resting in Handan, to take a detour and come to Beijing immediately.

After receiving the telegram from Sugiyama Hajime, Kenji Doihara immediately returned to Peiping.

No one knows how the two negotiated. All we know is that the day after Kenji Doihara arrived in Peiping, a telegram about the losses in North China was sent to the headquarters.

In the telegram, Sugiyama Gen focused on describing the new weapons equipped by the Eighth Route Army in North China, which caused heavy losses to the Locust Army in North China. However, under the heroic counterattack of the Locust Army, the Eighth Route Army also suffered heavy casualties.

In the battle of the Eighth Route Army to recapture Shijiazhuang, the locust army in North China lost more than 50,000 people, and more than 50,000 were seriously injured. Some of the wounded returned to their troops and some returned to their country.

At the same time, due to the huge consumption on the front line, the supplementary ammunition that had been sent to reinforce the locust army in North China had all been destroyed before the Eighth Route Army seized Shijiazhuang, and needed to be replenished.

As expected, this telegram caused a huge shock in the Japanese army. Various headquarters sent calls to North China, insulting Sugiyama Gen and saying that he had brought shame to the locust army.

Afterwards, strange things happened. Ishihara Kanji and others, who had always been at odds with Sugiyama Gen, actually said that the failure of the battle at this time was due to the support of the Eighth Route Army from the north, which led to the destruction of the air force of the Locust Army in North China. At the same time, the secret weapons supported by the north suppressed the firepower of the Locust Army, resulting in such a situation.

In less than two days, the Japanese military headquarters reported the latest news.

The commander of the Third Army, Tada Shun, took over as the commander of the North China Front Army. The chief of staff, Kasahara Yukio, Sugiyama Motobu, the commander of the First Army, Okabe Naosaburo, and the former chief of staff of the North China Front Army, Yamashita Tomoyuki, immediately returned to China and transferred to the reserve.

Naozaburo Okabe, who was serving as the temporary commander of the First Army in Taiyuan, received the order from the headquarters. Without waiting for the new commander Yoshio Shinozuka to take office, he immediately took his belongings and quickly went to the northeast via the Tongpu Railway and returned to his country.