Time goes back half a month ago!

It is still in the quiet but heavily guarded alley in Pingbei City.

Shinsan Yuan, wearing Japanese kimono and wooden clogs, sat under the big tree in the courtyard, and was leisurely cooking tea soup.

The rapid footsteps did not make the Japanese commander in North China lift his eyelids, and he still carefully lifted the exquisite small teapot and poured tea water into the two tea bowls as big as wine cups in front of him.

"Commander, are you looking for me?" Okabe Saburo, dressed in neat military uniform, walked respectfully to the front of Shinsanyuan and asked with his head down.

"Sit!" A faint smile appeared on Shanshanyuan's face, and he pointed at the small tea bowl he had just poured.

“Try it!”

"Hi!" A hint of doubt flashed in Okabe Saburo's eyes, but he obediently quickly lowered his head, took off his sword and gun in his waist, sat cross-legged across from Shinsanyuan, picked up the teacup with one hand, and sipped it all without caring about the light green tea soup.

This is not to say that he, the chief of staff of the front army, is so afraid of the general commander, but this is a way to drink tea. It is wrong to cook tea with boiling water. Different teas require water of different temperatures to lock in the aroma of tea.

It is this inconspicuous detail that shows his trust in the tea ceremony level of the General Commander.

"Good tea!" Close your eyes and let the tea fragrance linger on the tip of your tongue. Saburo Okabe exclaimed: "This tea has a refreshing aroma and a sweetness. I boldly guess that this tea comes from the local area."

"Haha, I am worthy of being Okabe Jun!" Shanshanyuan smiled brightly. "The tea is Shirakawa tea from Hida Mountain in Qibu Prefecture. The water for making tea comes from the pure snow on the top of Mount Fuji."

"Such a precious tea, then you must have another cup!" Seeing that this person was in such a rare mood, Saburo Okabe immediately flattered.

"You and I can slowly taste the way of tea. Today I call you Okabe Jun, but there is a small matter." Shanshan Yuan smiled slightly and looked at the envelope placed on the side of the small table. "Okabe Jun, why not take a look, and then give me a little advice as much as possible?"

"Hi!" Okabe Saburo picked up the seemingly ordinary envelope from his small table.

‘Top secret!’ Two conspicuous Japanese words on the envelope made the chief of staff of the North China Front Army, who was about to be promoted to the commander of the Kanto Army Division, trembled violently.

These two words mean that the intelligence level is extremely high. Perhaps no one in North China except the one in front of him knows the contents of this envelope.

Before the envelope was opened, this person's head had already started to run rapidly.

Since last time he endured humiliation and exchanged for the unlucky child of Fujiwara Jaetsu, the unlucky child, calmed the Fujiwara family's anger, even the front army paid an unimaginable price. Shanshanyuan's attitude towards him was much closer, and many things were directly handed over to the General Staff, including this time, at the request of the headquarters, two major divisions were sent south to reinforce the Central China dispatched troops. All plans were planned by him, the chief of staff.

This made Okabe Saburo still a little grateful. As long as the two masters made certain achievements in the Jiangxia Battle, he, the behind-the-scenes planner, had military achievements, which could offset the negative impact of the failure of the indirect command of the southeastern Jin campaign.

If you are good to me, I will naturally give you more rewards. Okabe Saburo is even more respectful to Sanshanyuan. These two or three months have been the honeymoon period for the commander of the North China Front Army and the Chief of Staff.

But now, he, the chief of staff, was asked to watch the top-secret information that only the commander could see, and asked himself to give advice. What was the intention? This forced Saburo Okabe's little head, which could be called a thief, to run rapidly.

"China's Second War Zone will command a counterattack against our North China Front Army to achieve the goal of restraining our North China Front Army!..." Saburo Okabe finished reading the top secret information content softly, frowned slightly at Shinsanmoto.

"This is the intelligence transmitted by the Imperial Army Intelligence Service's code-named 'Dark Moon' spies. During the 10 years of lurking in China, only 5 pieces of intelligence were reported in total. Each piece is true. This is its sixth piece of intelligence." Shanshanyuan replied calmly.

Having worked together for 4 months, Sanshanmoto still has some understanding of Saburo Okabe. He knows that he is cautious and meticulous. If he does not trust him, it will be difficult for him to tell the truth. So he told him directly the source of the letter of confidential information he asked him to read.

The Imperial Army Intelligence Department sent countless spies to China for twenty years, but not many had their own codenames.

"Commander, this matter is serious, let me consider it!" Okabe Saburo said sincerely.

"It's okay, Okabe Jun has figured it out and then give me some advice, no hurry!" Shanshanyuan smiled slightly.

This is the biggest advantage of Okabe Saburo. He has always been mature and targeted. He is much better than Yamashita, who is strong in personality and good at using merit instead of guarding but lacks some tolerance.

If it weren't for the fact that he was a necessary person in the Kanto Army, Shanshanyuan even hoped that this person would stay for another year or two in his office.

When I think of the fact that Yamashita is promising, it has now become a spoil for Chinese people to exhibit everywhere, Shanshan Yuan feels confused.

The North China Front Army is known as a powerful general. Shiro Itagaki of the Fifth Division, Shiro of the 14th Division, Rika Isotani of the 10th Division... Anyone chooses one, and they are all powerful people who are invincible and annihilated countless enemies on the battlefield in North China.

But for Shanshanyuan, the advantages and disadvantages of these arrogant soldiers were too obvious, and none of them were suitable to be their chief of staff.

For example, Shiro Itagaki, who is known as the most powerful general in the empire, has a high eye. In addition to being quite polite to himself, the commander of the general, he is also ignoring others, including his boss, the commander of the second army, Nishio Hayoo. There are so many people who don’t like him that they are like crucian carp crossing the river.

For example, the earth is fat and the division commander from the intelligence department is gloomy and looks like he is not close to the stranger. Not to mention that his colleagues stay away from him when they see him, even the commander of the general can’t help but want to kick him away. To use the Chinese saying: Forget it if it’s not likable, the key is to try to hit him when you look at him!

This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! The candidate for Chief of Staff whom I finally liked has even received approval from the base camp, and it turned out to be a spoil for the Chinese. As the recommender, the internal injuries suffered by Shan Shanyuan are obvious.

That almost became a joke among the empire's powerful people, saying that he, the former deputy chief of the army, would not end up being particularly good.

Speaking of which, Saburo Okabe, who is both obedient and capable, is good.

Perhaps, Shanshanyuan, who was rumbling in his heart, did not notice a layer of sweat that was involuntarily oozing out of the forehead of a certain chief of staff.

Please let it go! Your Excellency General!

The Chief of Staff is really hard to be a thief. He has to give advice to the boss, but also resist the poisonous milk from the boss.

If you let Okabe Saburo and Kirimura Kyuzo sit at the same table and chat for a few more words, you will definitely find a lot of common language.

Their two bosses have poisonous mouths and the other is very poisonous.

"Your Excellency Commander, can you speak freely?" Just as Jun Shan Yuan was full of poisoning his chief of staff, Okabe Saburo should have considered it and asked with a serious face.

"It's just you and me here. This is not a formal military meeting. There will be no record. Okabe Jun said it's okay!" Shanshan Yuan picked up the teacup and smiled and signaled slightly to Okabe Saburo.

"Although our front army suffered a small setback two months ago, it still has an absolute advantage in the northern battlefield. The so-called counterattack of the Chinese people was mostly under the pressure of the Jiangxia Battle. It was nothing more than hoping to use a certain amount of troops to destroy the traffic lines controlled by our front army and delay our front army from going south to reinforce the Central China dispatched troops." Saburo Okabe said bluntly.

"But if this move is just a move, at most it will be delayed and cannot form a restraint. Therefore, China's Second War Zone will definitely send more than tens of thousands of troops to conduct large-scale attacks, disrupt operations, and even at the cost of threatening our front army's transportation hub, forcing our front army to withdraw enough mobile troops to fight against them, so as to achieve the goal that our front army cannot withdraw enough troops to go south to reinforce."

"Oh? Please continue, then what should our front army do? The matter of going south to reinforce the Central China dispatched troops, but you are fully responsible for it."

"If you still give me full authority to command, then I will still order the 18th Division to go south as planned, and the newly formed 21st Division is on standby in Baoding, but I will draw the 5th Division back to the original city to renovate the Sakamoto Brigade to form the Sakamoto Detachment secretly stationed in Yangquan." Okabe Saburo's eyes shone brightly.

"Your judgment is that the focus of the Chinese counterattack is Jindong?" Shanshanyuan remained silent.

"Yes, now most of the Jin Province has entered the hands of our front army. There are 100,000 troops on the western front of the Jin Dynasty. Whether it is heading west or north, the Chinese may be surrounded and suppressed by our front army. The Chinese will not be so stupid.

Moreover, if we want to destroy the Pinghan Railway, the most important transportation line connecting the north and the south, we can only choose from Jindong, which borders Hebei Province. We can even take the opportunity to threaten Shimen, where the 20th Division's division headquarters is located, forcing our front army to draw a large number of mobile troops to stop it. And it also has the Taihang Mountains as a support. Unless it is completely surrounded, it will abandon the baggage and still have a way to escape." Saburo Okabe analyzed confidently.

"Yes! The reason why the Chinese can still resist on the edge of Jin Province is that they rely on the difficult and dangerous roads of the mountains. It is difficult for our front army to deliver heavy firepower, otherwise they would have broken their defense line long ago. Then it was their turn to play the art of war with us." Shan Shanyuan sighed.

"The mountains are fair. They can become their barrier on the territory they have been operating for a long time, but when they dare to leave, they will also become their constraints. Their marching speed will slow down a lot. We can take the opportunity to trap them in that mountains and completely wipe them out." Saburo Okabe stretched out a hand and grabbed it hard.

"What you mean is that the 18th Division went south just a feint. After the Chinese counterattacked and moved away from their base, they immediately ordered them to return, gathered the 18th Division, the newly formed 21st Division, the 20th Division, and the Sakamoto Detachment, which was sent from Yangquan, to work together to strangle them to East Jin?" Shanshanyuan narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Hi, this is exactly what I mean by my job!"

"Have you ever thought that this goes against the intention of the base camp. The Battle of Jiangxia is the top priority of the battle situation in Central China. It is extremely important for His Majesty the Emperor to implement the strategy of conquering the entire Chinese territory. If the front army ignores it and only cares about itself, how much pressure will you and I encounter?" Shanshanyuan asked calmly.

"The Chinese also intend to win back a city and gather nearly one million troops. Even if the Central China dispatched troops want to win, it will not be completed in two or three months. According to my estimate, at least four months, or even five months or even half a year.

If our front army causes major damage to the enemy, it can even break through its last line of defense, leaving the Guanzhong Plain without any barriers. The imperial army can approach its southwest area in the near future, and the morale of its central China will fluctuate. I personally think that this battle is more effective than drawing out two divisions to directly support the battle situation in Central China." Okabe Saburo obviously had expected that the Shanshan Yuan would ask this question, and answered with a look of holding the Zhizhu.

"What a pity! This is just what you think of Okabe Jun, but in the eyes of the old guys who only know how to talk about war on paper in the Empire Base Camp, it is just an excuse." Shanshanyuan took a sip of tea and sighed slightly.

"Commander, are you..." When Sanamoto said this, Okabe Saburo not only tightened his face.

Although he has decided his whereabouts and has not been implicated in the defeat of the southeastern Jin battle, no matter what, the impact of the failure of the southeastern Jin will not disappear. He is not implicated in the promotion of a lieutenant general. He can be promoted to a general or even at a higher level, and it is inevitable that people will not criticize him.

The best way to make people forget their failure is not to cover up, but to use victory and glorious victory. This may be the last chance for him to clear his name when he remained as Chief of Staff of the North China Front Army. He was unwilling to give up anyway.

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content later! Just as the words of the man who was about to persuade Sanshan Yuan were halfway through, Okabe Saburo took the initiative to shut up.

The reason is very simple. Who is the person who wants to clear the humiliation of failure at this time? There is no one except the commander in front of him.

Moreover, did the Army general specifically call him here to come here just to drink tea and chat? In less than four months, General Shanshan Yuan, who had already looked old and seemed to be nearly two years old, would never be so idle.

That means that in fact, he has made a decision. He may just be a unified opinion.

"Okabe, no wonder the Kanto Army Command appreciates you so much. You are very good." Sanshan Yuan was obviously satisfied with Saburo Okabe's smart mind and nodded with a smile.

"I have approved your combat plan! This time, you will be the first commander of the upcoming Jindong Battle, responsible for commanding the 18th Division, the 20th Division, the newly formed 21st Division, and the Sakamoto Detachment to fight against the enemy.

In addition, you can also command the 108 and 109th Divisions located in the southeast of Shanxi. I personally suggest that if the troops sent by the Chinese are soldiers from the southeast of Shanxi, the gathering place will inevitably be empty. The two divisions can join forces and fight in. Any supporter will kill them!"

"Hi! Commander, wise!" Okabe Saburo was very excited.

"But, the 108 and 109th Divisions have been reduced several times, and although they have been supplemented, their combat power is slightly weak..."

Saburo Okabe said this not to give eye drops to the two second-line divisions. In fact, he was already very polite. If he told the truth, it would probably be that these two second-line divisions were still useless to defend the city and the road. If you expect them to go to the mountains to fight, then don’t think about it.

"It's okay, I will personally send power to Xiong Yuan and Yamaoka Shige. I can live without any blame for the last failure, but if I am passive and lazy this time, I will be a waste of time, as the former deputy chief of the army?" Shanshanyuan's face was gloomy and gave the Chief of Staff who was more and more important.

The title of former deputy chief of the army means that even if they cannot kill the heads of two lieutenant generals, they can still be allowed to return to their hometowns to retire and have no position.

There are quite a few generals in the Army Department who belonged to the Shanshanyuan group. Otherwise, if the battle in Southeast Jin was defeated in the southeastern Jin, the army base was still calm, unlike the unlucky guy who was indoor shrouded in Shijiazhuang. After a crushing defeat in Shijiazhuang, the government and the people were scolded as a dog!

The general and the general seem to have the same military rank, but their influence is not of the same level at all.

"Also, if the Chinese attack direction is really in the east of Jin, it is best to put them in the plains so that the imperial chariots can exert their maximum power. The Chinese are not equipped, but their will to resist is not weak, so as to minimize the losses of the imperial division." Shanshanmoto continued to teach Okabe Saburo the opportunity in person.

"The defenders in Niangzi Pass and Jingxing..." Okabe Saburo was slightly shocked.

"The plan for this battle is top secret. Except for you and I and Shiro Itagaki, no one can know it anymore, including the 18th Division, the newly formed 21st Division and the 20th Division that are about to go south." A cold light flashed in Shanshanyuan's eyes and said quietly.

"This is like the old Chinese saying: I can't bear to leave my children and can't trap a wolf! If a hunter is reluctant to leave even the bait, how can he catch a ferocious prey?"

Okabe Saburo's vest was slightly cold. The commander in front of him was even more ruthless than he thought. In order to annihilate the enemy that could attack, he even used thousands of imperial officers and soldiers as bait.

He believed that if a large number of elite Chinese troops were raided without any preparation, more than 2,000 imperial officers and soldiers would definitely die on the battlefield. And Shanshanyuan hoped to fight the Chinese army in the plains, which would mean giving up the garrisons from Niangziguan and Jingxing, allowing them to become the result of the Chinese.

But all this is definitely worth it. Three divisions and a 10,000-man detachment have a total force of more than 80,000. Moreover, the Sakamoto Detachment is the Sakamoto Brigade under the Fifth Division. It is the top elite of the North China Front Army. As long as the Chinese take the bait, it will never be possible to escape this siege that has been laid for them, even if they gather more than 100,000 troops.

It is even possible that this is the first time that the Imperial Army has used its superior forces to encircle and annihilate the elite Chinese army.

Chinese people cannot have any vitality!

The plan of the two scheming Japanese generals was successful. Under absolute confidentiality, the huge intelligence network deployed by China in North China did not realize the "big plan" of the Japanese North China Front Army.

It was not until the Chinese raid troops gathered towards the gateway of East Jin from four directions and were about to point the sword at the Shimen that the Japanese North China Front Command issued a secret order to the three divisions.
To be continued...