Chapter Five

  But Takeuchi Hiro thought it wasn't right, now we have hundreds of tanks, how can this be? If so, they would still fear the 318th Army, and they could really sacrifice themselves for the empire! So Takeuchi Hiro decided to rush to Matsuyama Yozo's side to discuss, this was a great opportunity to strike at the 318th Army's arrogance, if this opportunity was wasted, what other opportunities would there be? This Takeuchi Hiro really couldn't guarantee.

  "Reporting to the Commander-in-Chief, Lieutenant Colonel Takeuchi has arrived!" The orderly soldier reported loudly.

  "Oh, oh, oh, Matsuyama-kun! It's been a long time since we last met!" Takenouchi Hiroshi greeted as he entered, addressing the dazed Matsuyama Yuzo who was staring at the map.

  "Takeuchi, I'm worried sick! What's there to be nostalgic about? I've got a bad feeling about this!" Matsuyama Yosuke said with difficulty. "Oh? Is it because of the attack on Rangoon? I don't think there's anything to worry about in that regard! We'll definitely complete the mission entrusted by the Commander-in-Chief!"

  Takeuchi Hiroshi replied nonchalantly, "I'm not worried about the people in Rangoon, but the 318th Army behind them! The information on the 318th Army, others may not know, but we shouldn't be unaware of it, right? This time, I heard that the 318th Army has strengthened its forces again. I'm afraid we'll be no match for them when the time comes!"

  Matsuyama Yosuke shrugged helplessly and said, "To be honest with you, Takeuchi, I've been worried about this issue all along. At that time, the 318th Army defeated our army of 100,000 with just 60,000 men, including several of our old guard divisions. They were beaten to a pulp, with countless casualties! Now, many of our division commanders are intimidated by the 318th Army! Our expedition to Burma won't be easy!"

  Takeuchi Hiroshi finally revealed his true feelings, and it was clear that he too had no strategy for dealing with the 318th Army.

  "Mr. Takeuchi, this is not the time for us to complain. Occupying Rangoon is equivalent to occupying Burma. If it's really impossible, we can surround and not attack, trapping the 318 Group Army in the Mandalay area! We have increased our armored vehicle troops a lot now, I think we have this ability!" Matsuyama Yozo pointed strongly towards the Mandalay area, you know that their biggest trump card is the so-called tank corps, if it weren't for the Empire providing them with so many tanks, they probably wouldn't have any confidence to compete with the 318 Group Army, tanks are their true ace in ground combat.

  "I wonder if Headquarters has a better plan for this? Our troops in Burma are only around 100,000. If it's really the 318 Group Army, I'm afraid the Empire's strategic intentions will be difficult to achieve! If we can't disrupt the enemy's transportation and supply lines, our plan is doomed to fail. It seems that this battle is unavoidable! If not for the large number of tanks as support, I'm afraid I wouldn't even have the confidence to fight on.

  Takeru Tsubaki shook his head helplessly, just like Matsuyama Yuzo said, if the Empire didn't have a strong firepower configuration, what could they use to compete with the 318 Group Army? What could they use to stake their lives? Their only advantage was the tanks."

  In terms of the quality of the troops, the Japanese army, which was originally full of confidence, also felt a little ashamed when they saw the 318th Army. It's precisely because of this that they wanted to use force to suppress the 318th Army, but in previous battles, they basically didn't get any advantage over the 318th Army. This time, they want to pull out the tiger's teeth, which seems a bit unrealistic. This makes others very depressed, because they have many things to do now, but the suppression of the 318th Army leaves them speechless.

  If Takeuchi Hiroshi knew that the 318th Army had a large number of tank troops, he would probably have lost all his courage. Their thin-skinned tanks, how could they dare to confront the advanced German tanks? If the imperial finances could support them with more resources, perhaps they would still have the courage.

  But what's the problem now? The empire's finances have more than half invested in the navy, although the army's combat effectiveness is very strong. But the navy is the one that really burns money. Take aircraft carriers for example, if tank manufacturing could have that kind of steel plate standard, it's possible that Tanei Kōji would be laughing now.

  The problem is that the Japanese army now needs to prepare for the Pacific War, and they must give the navy extremely strong support in order to inflict significant casualties on the United States. However, the current problem is that since they are fighting a two-front war, the Japanese army must also be prepared for the possibility of defeat on both fronts. Takeuchi Hiroshi believes that it would be best to quickly capture China first.

  But the people in the headquarters really don't know what they're thinking, and they actually have such a rotten idea. Now they are basically just eating and watching. What else is there to consider? Being able to take it down is good, but if you can't take it down, you can't give up China because of this, right? If the Great Japanese Empire can take down China, then its comprehensive national strength will definitely surpass that of the United States and become one of the strongest countries in the world. However, the current problem has already made the Japanese people anxious, and they are facing more and more problems, while the possibility of China defeating them is becoming greater and greater. Many division commanders are worried, but the General Headquarters still made such a crazy decision.

  No way, since we are soldiers, then we should act in a military manner. If everyone acts according to their own ideas and cannot unite, then it's better to go home and wash up early. What's the point of being a soldier? They have ambition, but not that kind of stupid ambition. At this time, Takeuchi Hiroshi saw that the Empire had not given up on them and had allocated so many tanks to them, and in his heart, he also wanted to compete with the 318th Regiment.

  In fact, neither of them wanted to meet the 318th Army Group. There were many reasons for this, but the main reason was that the strength of the 318th Army Group had already made them fearful. If it weren't for the 318th Army Group, the Japanese army would have been very confident in taking down Burma and winning the entire Burmese battlefield. But now everything might be about to change.

  The Japanese side is now also studying and implementing its own tactics based on the appearance of the 318 Group Army. They still hope that their troops can achieve the overall intention of the operation, control the entire Burma, cut off the Yunnan-Burma Highway, completely encircle China within its own territory, cut off all external assistance, and let them collapse without a fight. However, although the Chinese are not strong, they have the advantage of being on their home ground, which is too vast for these people to follow the Chinese in exhaustion, making themselves very tired.

  But when they themselves were exhausted, the Chinese did not continue to develop and expand, but instead surpassed themselves and launched a new round of counterattacks, which made the Japanese very depressed. Now they feel that if they want to defeat these people in a short period of time, they must strangle their hope, and the 318th Army is the greatest hope for all of China.

  However, it is now difficult for them to achieve their combat intentions. The appearance of the 318th Army Group has disrupted their original plan. Lieutenant General Inada Shigetaro of the Japanese Fifteenth Army is currently communicating with the Imperial Headquarters about the next move.

  If they didn't take the 318th Army seriously before, now they can't help but do so. The Battle of Wuhan has completely destroyed the last bit of honor the Japanese army had, and now when facing the 318th Army, all they have in their hearts is fear and unease. Because they don't know how much energy the 318th Army can unleash.

  The Japanese military's intelligence system has infiltrated the National Government, but in reality, they have no ability to penetrate the 318 Corps. Perhaps one or two intelligence personnel can sneak in, but the 318 Corps is too large and many of its confidentiality measures are very strict. Even for Japanese spies, it is almost impossible to bring communication tools inside.

  Moreover, the 318 Army Group regularly organizes audits, and even people from the Military Bureau of Investigation and Statistics find it difficult to infiltrate. However, unlike Japanese spies, the Military Bureau's personnel are still present within the 318 Army Group.

  The flying division, tank division, and field artillery division of the 318th Army were all selected from the old 318th Army. The confidentiality measures for outsiders are still quite strict, so even if intelligence personnel discovered them, they could only know roughly. The current Japanese army is like this, they can only know roughly.

  In the intelligence output by Japanese spies, they used some possible and probable words. For example, it is possible that the 318th Army now has more than one million people, possibly the 318th Army has formed its own flying troops, with specific numbers unknown, etc. This intelligence may have seemed very useful at first glance. But looking back now, these are almost as useless as nonsense. The unknown is always frightening, and the Japanese army is about to go to war with the unknown 318th Army, how can they not have some thoughts in their minds?

  Matsuyama Yuzo and Takeuchi Hiroshi had no doubts about taking down Yangguang, and now they are considering future development. Matsuyama pointed out the same old places of Tonggu and Ren'anqiao.