Rebirth of the National Marshal

"Commander, I don't think we need to hold a top meeting for a local security group. The main enemy we should deal with now is the 29th Army in North China." said General Ogasawara, commander of the th Division who had just returned from the country.

"Yes, Commander, after all, they are just a local security group. They do not have the strength to compete with our North China Garrison Army. The last time they defeated us was because they relied on their large numbers and powerful artillery." The chief of staff of the garrison army also thought so.

The intelligence chief, Colonel Kono, shook his head helplessly. The high-ranking officials of the garrison actually had such thoughts. It had happened twice. The first time, a squadron was wiped out and it might not cause anything, but the second time, a whole battalion of more than 2000 people failed to attract the attention of the high-ranking officials of the garrison. But he was just a small colonel. Compared with the generals in the room, he had no say here. He could only speak when the generals asked him.

"The highest operational guidance from the headquarters has been issued, requiring us to occupy the whole of China within one to two years, and eliminate the elite of the Chinese Central Army within three months, and crush their resistance morale. A strategy of gradual advancement from north to south has also been formulated. Our North China garrison will be the first batch of troops to be involved in the battle. Our mission is to achieve autonomy for North China." Hearing Umezu Mijiro explaining the headquarters' plan, everyone became serious. Otherwise, they would be charged with the crime of disrespecting their superiors, which they would not be able to bear.

"What Mr. Ogasawara said just now is right. Currently, the main enemy of our North China Garrison Army is still the 29th Army. We have studied the 29th Army very thoroughly. We are capable of defeating their 10 troops. However, a huge variable has emerged recently, that is, the security corps in the city of Beijing. The number of people has rapidly expanded to 4, and the density of firepower is relatively high. I believe that the incident of the Fourth Battalion is not an accident." Colonel Kono breathed a sigh of relief. At least the commander saw the danger of the security corps.

"Commander, your Excellency, we have already formulated a surprise attack plan against the 29th Army. Do we need to change it? If so, it will take some time to formulate a new plan, which will not be in line with the plan of the headquarters. Does the entire empire have to change its plan because of a security corps?" If someone else dared to talk to the commander like this, he would have been slapped in the face, but the person who spoke was Ogasawara. The reason why Ogasawara was able to come to the th Division as the division commander was entirely because he once served as the captain of the Emperor's guard.

All the Japanese divisions ranked before 20th are permanent divisions, that is, elite troops with relatively strong combat effectiveness. They are completely different from the newly formed divisions in the late period of World War II. Every soldier here has been trained for more than two years.

"Of course the plan cannot be changed, but we must make certain adjustments. If we follow the original plan and the entire army goes forward to fight a decisive battle with the 29th Army, and the Security Corps suddenly appears on our flank or rear, do we have the troops to resist them?" Umezu Mijiro was very angry at this guy's unreasonableness, but the problem was that he had a strong backing.

"Colonel Kono, as our intelligence officer, you should know the most about the security corps. In your opinion, how many troops do we need to guard against them?" Everyone's eyes were focused on the intelligence officer.

"Your Excellency the Commander, Your Excellencies the Generals, this is the analysis of the Security Corps by our intelligence department in the past month. Their total combat strength is more than 4 people, and their weapons and equipment are very advanced and sufficient. However, according to our speculation, their training is not in place. A short period of training cannot make a civilian a qualified soldier. I think one division is enough to suppress them." Colonel Kono's words still shocked everyone present. It was just a security corps. Even if there were 4 people, would it be necessary to mobilize an imperial permanent division to suppress them?

"Damn it, Kono-kun, do you think our Imperial Army has become so idle? A mere security corps actually requires us to mobilize an entire division." Ogasawara relied on his strong background and did not give any face to anyone present.

"General Ogasawara, I'm not exaggerating, but the combat effectiveness of the security corps is really strong. If it were an ordinary Chinese security corps, one battalion of ours could drive away tens of thousands of them. However, the training of this security corps does not care about the loss of ammunition at all. Their combat effectiveness is almost comparable to that of the China Central Army. Therefore, if we want to deal with them, we must mobilize the strength of a division." Colonel Kono said.

Although the other division commanders present were dissatisfied with Ogasawara's attitude, they also felt that what Colonel Kono said was a bit too much.

"Okay, stop arguing. Colonel Kono is an intelligence officer and it is his responsibility to give advice. It is our responsibility to decide how to implement it." Umezu Mijiro was trying to protect his old subordinate.

"Commander, I think what Kono Daisaku said makes sense. The combat effectiveness of the 6000th Guard Battalion is obvious to all. They only have people and they eliminated the entire th Infantry Battalion, and their casualties were minimal. If we follow this ratio, I think the strength of a division is not enough." Some Japanese here still think that the troops are not enough.

"Reporting to the commander, I think we need to create some friction to observe the combat effectiveness of the security corps." Most of the generals present were skeptical about the combat effectiveness of the security corps, and Colonel Kono didn't say much, so he prepared to direct a friction himself to see how it goes.

Everyone else agreed with Colonel Kono's suggestion. The troops stationed in the villages in North China were now strong and powerful, and they needed a small-scale war to boost morale.

"Very good. Then order the 109st and 29nd Infantry Regiments directly under the headquarters to advance into the former th Battalion camp and demand that the Security Regiment be returned to us. The th Division and the th Division will advance towards the th Army's position. Once they find a way to expand the results of the battle, they will completely occupy North China." No one expected that the commander was so ambitious. It was just a simple test. Could it develop into a full-scale offensive?

In fact, the current domestic situation in Japan is really not very good. The global financial crisis that broke out in 1929 has not yet passed. Japan does not have any resources, and it will be more difficult to recover compared to other countries. The domestic top leaders also need a breakthrough to divert the conflicts among the domestic people. This breakthrough was arranged in China. At present, North China is the first stop to occupy China.

Michijiro Umezu had already received important instructions from the country, which was to create an incident in North China in the near future to formally incorporate North China into the territory of the empire.

And now it is still six months away from the Lion Bridge Incident.

This street can be said to be a confrontation line between the Chinese and Japanese armies. To the north is the 29th Division of the 38th Army, and to the south is the Japanese st Garrison Battalion.

Normally, they would keep to themselves, but today the Japanese devils on the opposite side seemed a little different. In the past, a patrol team consisted of only 30 people and they would not carry any heavy weapons. Today, the size of this patrol team has increased to 200 people, and the few people in the front were carrying Type light machine guns.

"Captain, something is wrong today. The Japs used to turn around at this time, but why are they continuing to move forward?" A soldier from the 38rd Company of the 121st Regiment of the th Division said to the commander.

"Damn it, these little Japs are going to cause trouble again. Brothers, grab your weapons and get ready for battle." The company commander took a look, and his sixth sense on the battlefield made him feel that these people were up to no good.

To the north, the 38th Division's position was guarded by a company of about 300 men.

The Japanese stopped 38 meters away from the 200th Division's position.

All the Japanese soldiers in the first row stood in line. They were not trying to show off their military posture to the National Army, but to provide cover for the people in the back row. Some of the Japanese soldiers in the back had already set up their grenade launchers.

"Captain, the Japanese are acting strange today. Look what they are doing standing there. Why are my eyelids twitching? Nothing good is going to happen today."

"I'm wondering too. These Japs have no good intentions. Just load the bullets and shoot them to death if something goes wrong." The company commander touched his brand new Mauser pistol, which he had received a few days ago. It was said that he had done business with a security chief in Beijing.

"Everyone, get out of the way. We are going in to search." Ten minutes later, a squadron leader of the Japanese came over.

"We haven't received any orders from above, so you can't search." The company commander directly retorted.

"Company commander, be careful." The Japanese were indeed insidious. The Type 99 light machine gun in the back had already started firing. The company commander and his guard both fell in a pool of blood. Suddenly, there was no commander at the front line.

"Give them a sudden death." The Japanese captain at the back saw that the company commander on the opposite side had died, and immediately gave the order to attack. The Type 99 light machine gun fired hard at the positions of the Chinese soldiers, and seven or eight grenade launchers poured shells violently.

There were still civilians on the Huaxia position, but the Japanese devils didn't care about them and continued to shoot with machine guns. More than a dozen civilians who were buying vegetables fell to the ground.

"These damn Japs are so inhumane. Brothers, let's fight to avenge our company commander." The 29th Army also recovered from the initial panic. Originally, they had run out of bullets, and now, taking advantage of the favorable terrain, they immediately fought back against the Japanese devils. The guys who killed the company commander were named.

However, the 29th Army's marksmanship was far inferior to that of the Japanese devils. On average, they had to fire four or five shots to kill a Japanese devil, while the Japanese veterans on the opposite side could almost hit the target every time.

Although the 29th Army put up a tenacious resistance, due to its lack of prior preparation and heavy weapons, hundreds of Japanese reinforcements soon arrived at the scene. The battle situation took a turn for the worse and this company of the 29th Army could no longer hold on.

In fact, the order issued by the top leaders of the North China Garrison Army was to create friction with the security corps, but the Japanese army has always had a tradition of using the subordinates to defeat the superiors, that is, the subordinates did things that the superiors did not order, forcing the superiors to cooperate with their decisions. This was also how the Northeast Incident came about.

This is what the brigade stationed in Tianjin thought. Whether it was the Security Corps or the 29th Army, they were all trying to stop the Japanese army from occupying North China. So why were they flirting and causing friction in any way?

A company of the 29th Army could not even hold out for half an hour before it was wiped out by the enemy. It was not their fault. They were usually not well fed, clothed, and had poor training. The gap between them and the elite Japanese soldiers was simply too huge.

The defense line of Tianjin Laobei Street collapsed completely, more than 38 people from two companies of the 800th Division were wiped out, and more than Japanese soldiers were killed.