Chapter 50: Soul Sacrifice Battle Plan (Part 1)

  The old man left, but this meeting still has to be held. After listening to the reports of Li Tai, who was in charge of the daily necessities warehouse, and Old Zhang, Chen Feng stood up and summarized: "Everyone, our troops have just been formed, and we've also clashed with the Japanese army's most elite Kwantung Army, so there are indeed many difficulties. But there are always more ways than difficulties, and no matter how difficult it is, it's not a reason for us to retreat. In the Tianzhen battle, our security regiment spoke with strength, fought out its own prestige, annihilated nearly 6,000 Japanese devils, and also annihilated two puppet army cavalry divisions. All of this couldn't have been done without everyone present here, so I hope that in the following days we can still unite to fight against the Japanese bandits."

  "United we stand against our common enemy, together we resist the Japanese pirates!" The crowd exclaimed in unison.

  After the meeting, Chen Feng inspected all the factories and warehouses on the mountain. Although he was not on the mountain for some time, Lao Die and Xu Hu did a good job, and the order on the mountain was well-organized, but the defense on the mountain was still not strict enough. Thinking that the little devils also had their own special forces, although they were not very professional yet, rock climbing surprise attacks were still no problem, so Chen Feng instructed Xu Hu not to just stare at the road up the mountain, and the cliff edges as well as other directions could not be neglected. In any case, the safety of these factories must be guaranteed, and when steel production increased, Chen Feng also hoped that this base would make money for him.

  In the afternoon, after inspecting the arsenal, Chen Feng took out the construction of the Type 75 anti-aircraft machine gun and used it in a pre-prepared cave. In just half an hour, a high-speed anti-aircraft machine gun production line was transformed from virtual to real, and finally formed.

  Everyone was amazed at Chen Feng's ability to create something out of nothing, but everyone tactfully avoided asking about it, and neither Old Man Chen nor Xu Hu kept the matter buried in their hearts.

  At night, Chen Feng used the mining construction order again. What delighted Chen Feng was that the mine actually used a crawler conveyor system. All the ore mined out was transported out of the mine by the crawler belt. The workers only needed to transport these mined ores to a steel mill one kilometer away.

  Chen Feng is recruiting and expanding his capacity, busy as can be. However, the Japanese Chahar Expeditionary Army is in a state of gloom and desolation. The Tianzhen battle was a nightmare for the Chahar Expeditionary Army. After the battle, statistics showed that the army lost 7,681 soldiers, including one lieutenant general, one major general, four colonels, and nine lieutenant colonels. In addition, there were over 4,000 lightly and severely wounded soldiers, with nearly 12,000 casualties, accounting for more than a third of the Chahar Expeditionary Army's total strength. This does not include the losses suffered by the Mongolian puppet army that fought alongside the Japanese, which saw two complete cavalry divisions annihilated and two others severely damaged, with over 8,000 soldiers lost.

  What made the whole Chahar army even more unbearable was that such a huge casualty was caused by a local security team in China.

  Tōjō was already not highly regarded by the Army Ministry, and this time he received a strongly worded telegram of rebuke from War Minister Hata Shunroku and Prince Kan'in Kotohito, who actually controlled the Imperial General Headquarters.

  As a lieutenant general in the Japanese Army and chief of staff of the Kwantung Army, Japan's largest military group, Tojo Hideki's days were not as smooth as outsiders might have imagined. Despite his senior, Nagata Tetsuzan, having great trust in him, calling him "the man who will shoulder the Japanese army in the future." At that time, in the Japanese army, Nagata Tetsuzan was known for his wisdom and strong political ability, and was recognized as the leader of the Tosei-ha faction, a well-known "heavyweight figure carrying the future of the Japanese army", and he gave such high praise to Tojo Hideki, an ordinary person who took three attempts to pass the entrance exam of the Army Academy.

  However, Nagata Tetsuzan did not become a decisive figure in the rise of Tojo Hideki. As for Tojo himself, opinions within the Japanese Army were mixed. A group represented by Nagata valued his ability to take action, but at the same time many questioned his thinking ability, with Ishiwara Kanji, known as Japan's first military strategist, being a notable example.

  In Ishiwara's eyes, Tōjō was not only incompetent and unvirtuous but also unbearable in appearance. Behind his back, Ishiwara would often speak ill of Tōjō, saying that he could barely manage ten machine guns and was powerless beyond that. Ishiwara once called Tōjō, who had already been promoted to Army Lieutenant General, "Tōjō the Superior Private", causing everyone who heard this to burst out laughing.

  It is said that after receiving the telegram of the Chahar Expeditionary Force's withdrawal from Huai, Prince Takamatsu no Miya scolded loudly at the high-level meeting in the General Headquarters, saying "Tōjō's superior soldiers", which made many control faction officers lose face.

  Tōjō Hideki, who had just been rescued, ignored the excruciating pain in his chest and convened a division-level military conference at the temporary command center on the morning of September 14.

  The senior military officers in the conference room found that when they saw Tojo Hideki, the previously stern Commander-in-Chief seemed to have aged ten years at once.

  "Gentlemen, the Tianjin campaign was a defeat for our great Imperial Japanese Army. As the commander of this expeditionary force, I bear an inescapable responsibility and have already reported to headquarters requesting punishment. Today, we must discuss how to annihilate that despicable Chinese army, whose existence is a shame that cannot be washed away by my Kwantung Army or the entire Imperial Japanese Army."

  Before that, let me introduce someone to you all, come on in, Heijun! said Tōjō Hideki.

  At this time, the door of the conference room was pushed open and a major general wearing khaki military uniform walked in. He first bowed to the high-ranking military officers present, then found a seat at the end of the round conference table and sat down.

  "Heiya, come here!" Toujou said, pointing to a spot below him.

  The major known as Heian no Kuni was also straightforward, walking briskly to the side of Tōjō Hideki and sitting down next to Lieutenant General Abe Kiyoshi, commander of the 2nd Independent Mixed Brigade.

  "Gentlemen, this is Heiwa Kuni, the person in charge of the North China Special High Command. They have been paying attention to that branch of the army for a long time, so let him tell us about it." said Tōjō Hideki.

  After hearing Tōjō's words, all the officers present were relieved. It turned out that he was a person from Tokko, no wonder a small army major needed to be treated with such courtesy by Commander Tōjō.

  "Gentlemen, senior officials, I am Heiwa Kōji, the person in charge of the North China region of the High Command. We have been paying attention to that Chinese troop that suddenly appeared on the front line of Tianzhen for a long time and have grasped some very valuable intelligence. The great Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu once said, 'Know yourself, know your enemy, and you will win a hundred battles.' This time, our Imperial Army suffered a disastrous defeat under the city of Tianzhen, it was because we didn't understand the enemy.

  After pausing for a moment, Heiwa Kōji continued: "The Xinghe County Security Regiment is a local force under the jurisdiction of the Suiyuan Province Security Office. This regiment was established in March 1937 and its commander is Chen Feng, the only son of Chen Binggong, the largest grain merchant in northern China. Before the war broke out, this regiment had purchased large quantities of weapons and equipment as well as medicine from German arms dealers twice, according to investigations after the fact, the quantity of these two batches of weapons and equipment was quite large, it is estimated that they can equip a complete infantry brigade."

  "Our special high department had sent an elite mobile squad to intercept this batch of weapons and equipment, but they failed. The entire 123 members of the mobile squad were killed in action. Originally, we thought that Chen Feng should be a trade representative sent by Yan Xishan from Shanxi, so the final destination of those weapons and equipment should be Shanxi. Therefore, we reported this intelligence to the headquarters, asking them to pay special attention to the possible appearance of German-equipped troops in Yan Xishan's Jin-Sui army. However, now it seems that Chen Feng is actually the buyer, and those weapons and equipment must have been equipped to that security regiment. Otherwise, a newly formed Japanese troop wouldn't have such strong combat power."

  As soon as Hirayama's voice fell, Tōjō Hideki loudly said: "The Tianzhen battle had a great impact on our Great Japanese Empire. Once the news was reported, China was overjoyed. The leader of China, Chiang Kai-shek, has officially ordered the promotion of the Xinghe County Security Regiment to the 222nd Independent Division of the Chinese National Revolutionary Army, with Chen Feng as the Major General and division commander. This unit is also being promoted as an invincible heroic unit. To put it bluntly, this Chinese security regiment has become a banner for Chinese resisters, so we must destroy it as soon as possible, otherwise more Chinese troops will become determined resisters and become the second or third Security Regiment. Moreover, the adverse impact of this battle on our Great Japanese Empire is not limited to these. The combat effectiveness of the Imperial Army has decreased significantly due to this battle, and the northern Red Soviet Union even publicly shouted that as long as their brave Soviet Red Army goes to war, they can annihilate the tens of thousands of Kwantung Army stationed in Manchukuo within a month.

  "Commander, this unit must be annihilated, otherwise my Kwantung Army will completely lose face and we present here will have no face to show Commander Umezu." Abe Kikuji said loudly.

  "Yo, Abetsu Rikisho will not be ashamed of being the flower of the Imperial Army's generals. Our Chahar detachment is from the Kwantung Army, and our shame will affect the honor of the Kwantung Army, so it is imperative to annihilate the Zhina Security Regiment!" said Tojo Hideki.

  "Lord Heian, how many troops does that division have now, who is the chief military officer, and does your Tokko department have any records on this?" asked Lieutenant General Anoakajō, the new commander of the 1st Independent Mixed Brigade.