Liang Jian: Lao Li, I'm really not a military expert

Chapter 565: It is so difficult to get Li Yunlong’s money that you might end up working hard but end

Colonel Kuroki's shocking remarks indeed caused quite a stir. The others only saw the immediate benefits but did not pay attention to the risks behind them. Colonel Kuroki's rebuke made Hirata Kojiro and others swallow back the words they wanted to refute, and they fell into deep thought.

"Everyone likes money, but we must ensure that we can get the money safely, otherwise it will be useless even if we are given more money. Li Yunlong is now using the final payment as a carrot, and we are the donkey being hung. Every time we want to stop, Li Yunlong hangs a carrot in front of us, forcing us to do as he asks!"

"I don't have much objection to selling out some unimportant interests. After all, we are not the only ones who sell out the interests of the empire. But we cannot sell out the ropes that bind us. I will never do such a stupid thing. Our lives are already in danger. We must not choose money over life!"

"We must immediately inform the Taiyuan Command of Li Yunlong's plot. I believe General Jun'ichi Aoki has also seen the danger, but it is very difficult to make him retreat. He may still be dreaming of conquering the center. We can't just sit there and wait for death. We must find a way to make General Jun'ichi Aoki retreat and ensure that the core strength of the Aoki Division does not suffer major losses."

"Otherwise, Ping'an County will be a piece of fat meat in Li Yunlong's mouth. He can eat it whenever he wants, and we will not even have the ability to resist. We will then become Li Yunlong's puppets, and can only survive by doing what Li Yunlong asks. I absolutely cannot tolerate such a depressing life!" Colonel Kuroki once again expressed his determination.

Kurofuji Ichiro, who had always been very steady, was getting a little restless. He had felt that his previous actions were a bit risky, but after being blinded by money, he had lost his mind. But after listening to Colonel Kuroki's detailed analysis, his forehead was covered with cold sweat, and he said in a stuttering tone: "Everyone, Kurofuji's analysis is very reasonable... Our... situation... is now very dangerous..."

After straightening his tongue, Kurofuji Ichiro spoke more fluently: "Everyone, we really need to think carefully about our future. Li Yunlong is a man who cannot be trusted. We are originally enemies. Moreover, Hirata-kun and that college student have a grudge against each other for killing their brother. We will never see eye to eye!"

"My previous idea was to incite the 358th Regiment to defect and then deal a heavy blow to Li Yunlong's independent regiment. Unfortunately, Chu Yunfei had no intention of cooperating with us. Our plan to recruit Chu Yunfei completely failed before it was implemented."

"As for recruiting Qian Bojun, the progress is not smooth at the moment. Qian Bojun is a money-grubber and his appetite is getting bigger and bigger. If we want to satisfy his appetite, we must pay a huge price. Moreover, Qian Bojun only has a battalion of troops. Although this battalion is a large battalion with 1100 people, equivalent to half a regiment of the Chinese army, its strength is still too weak. We can't do anything big with him."

"We can only use Qian Bojun as a nail. It is too difficult to expect him to overthrow Chu Yunfei's 358th Regiment. In addition, there is no such opportunity now. We can only put this idea aside for the time being and wait for the right opportunity to come!"

"Finally, I want to focus on the Aoki Division. Compared to us who often deal with Li Yunlong, General Aoki has no idea how terrifying Li Yunlong is, nor does he know how terrifying the war potential of the Zhaojiayu base is. Li Yunlong has already passed the most dangerous period and has become a major concern for us."

"Originally, this spring sweep was aimed at Li Yunlong, but plans cannot keep up with changes. The development of the situation has far exceeded our expectations. In addition, the discovery of the Shuiquan Oilfield has made the situation in the entire Shanxi Province even more tense. According to what Mitsui said, based on the geological conditions of the Shuiquan Oilfield, there should be five or six oilfields of varying sizes in Shanxi Province. Once these oilfields can really be found, the headquarters' attitude towards China will undergo a huge change. I'm afraid that the headquarters will once again send more troops to China, and a super-large-scale offensive war will inevitably occur again."

"In order to completely occupy China, the imperial army is very likely to launch another attack on the mountain city. As long as the oil problem is solved, the empire's military strength will develop by leaps and bounds, and we will truly have the opportunity to compete for world hegemony."

Mitsui Taro did not remain silent. He said with a serious face, "According to the information I got from my family, the Empire has formed 200 exploration teams of various sizes and has begun a large-scale exploration of oil in the Empire's occupied areas. There is no good news yet, but two small oil wells have been discovered. However, the reserves are too small and are not worth mining at all."

"This information may fool laymen, but for an expert like me, I think it was done on purpose, because they don't want to overly provoke Shancheng. The counterattack by the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army this time shows that China is indeed anxious. They know very well that as long as we have enough oil, the empire's war machine can start up again. With the strength of Shancheng, they can't defend the last part of the southwest region at all."

"Even if it's a war of attrition, the Empire can win. Because of this, the most important mission of the entire 12th Army has become defending the oil fields. It is expected that the Shuiquan Oil Field will begin drilling tomorrow, and crude oil will be produced in five or six days at most. We really don't have much time to react."

Mitsui Taro's words hit everyone's heart like a heavy hammer. They really didn't expect that the dispute over the oil field would rise to a dispute over the fate of the country. They understood more clearly that if they didn't take this opportunity to lock Li Yunlong in the base and let him develop, his strength would develop by leaps and bounds again, which would only bring more terrible consequences.

"I agree with Colonel Kurofuji's proposal. We must immediately persuade General Aoki to withdraw from the Komatsu Ridge position. Tonight is the only chance for the Aoki Division. Once tomorrow comes, the Aoki Division may not be able to withdraw even if it wants to." Kojiro Hirata, who was no longer silent, was the first to express his opinion.

Soon after, Ichiro Nakamura also stood up and expressed his position, deciding that Li Yunlong's encirclement and annihilation plan must be curbed. They began to mobilize all the connections they could and began to lobby all parties to agree to the withdrawal of the Aoki Division.

Taiyuan City, the headquarters of the Japanese 12th Army.

"Your Excellency the Commander, these are the details of today's air battle. It's not that the airmen of our 17th and 18th Flying Divisions are not brave, but the enemies we faced were a group of fearless lunatics. They fought for their lives on the battlefield from the very beginning. Our pilots had excellent driving skills but were unable to make full use of them." Fujiwara Ichiro said with a face full of grief and indignation.

Sato Ichiro remained silent. He also felt extremely aggrieved and had no face to argue. Losing was losing. No matter how many reasons he gave, it was useless. He was too disdainful to argue for himself. In addition, the army and navy did not see eye to eye. He would rather commit seppuku to apologize than do such a shameful thing.

Chief of Staff Ippei Mitsui tried to smooth things over at this time and said, "Commander, our air force did not show any fear in this air battle. In general, this air battle was a tragic victory, not because we ran out of ammunition. Our air force will definitely not withdraw."

"We can put the aviation issue aside for now. We have added more than 30 new fighter planes today. Our strength has been restored once again. After tomorrow, we will definitely be able to regain the lost ground."

"What really worries me is the Aoki Division on the front line. Judging from the battlefield situation, the enemy and us are in a state of tension, like a sandwich. General Aoki's central attack strategy is indeed very bold, but I think such an action is too risky. I hope that the commander can give General Aoki an order as soon as possible to withdraw from the Xiaosongling position, otherwise the Aoki Division will be in danger of being surrounded and annihilated!"

Yoshio Shinozuka is very troubled by the current dilemma. His biggest problem now is the lack of troops. A large number of troops have to deal with the attack of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army. It must be said that the time chosen by Li Yunlong to break out is really good. Just last night, the vanguard of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army has set off, and it is expected to have a direct confrontation with the 12th Army at noon tomorrow. This means that Yoshio Shinozuka cannot withdraw any extra troops to reinforce the Aoki Division.

But if the Aoki Division was allowed to retreat directly, it would mean missing the final chance to encircle and annihilate the armored regiment under Li Yunlong's command. It would be too difficult to find such an opportunity again next time, and opportunities for battle do not come every day. This made Yoshio Shinozuka unable to make up his mind.

"Commander, I think we can agree to General Aoki's request. We can withdraw all the garrisons near Ping'an County and attack the enemy's No. 2 and No. 3 fortresses respectively. At the same time, my special forces can also carry out infiltration operations to disrupt the internal stability of the Zhaojiayu base, destroy their ongoing summer harvest, and force Kong Jie and Ding Wei to reduce the number of troops dispatched. In this way, the pressure on General Aoki will be much less. This is also the most feasible way at present. Please consider it carefully, Commander!" Yamamoto Ikki suggested with a serious face.