Chapter 311: Increase the stakes!
Qin Yangming said he didn't know much about the rotation of senior Japanese officers.
But he knew that even if he killed Yoshio Iwamatsu, the Japanese would definitely re-employ Yoshio Shinozuka as the commander of the First Army as soon as possible in order to stabilize the army. Then, after the army was stabilized, they would select a new commander of the First Army to take over.
For Saburo Murakuchi and others, the period from the death of Yoshio Iwamatsu to the arrival of Yoshio Shinozuka to take over was enough for Saburo Murakuchi to implement his plan.
Even if Yoshio Shinozuka took a direct flight here, it would take at least three or four days.
Three or four days, plus the time needed to stabilize the situation, was enough for Murakuchi Saburo and others to gather troops, forcibly form the Osaka Brigade, and then take control of Taiyuan City.
By then, as long as the Osaka Brigade is successfully formed and takes control of Taiyuan City, Yoshio Shinozuka will have no choice but to accept the matter.
After all, Yoshio Shinozuka's role was only to temporarily stabilize the troops and prevent them from getting into chaos.
Once the new commander of the First Army is selected, Yoshio Shinozuka will leave again.
It is impossible for Yoshio Shinozuka to think about doing something after retirement. For Yoshio Shinozuka, stability is more important than anything else in that situation. As long as there is no major chaos in the First Army under his leadership, there will be no problem.
As for what happened later, he was no longer the commander of the First Army, so what did it have to do with him?
Moreover, the Japanese headquarters would never allow one person to serve as the commander of a front for too long, so under normal circumstances, Yoshio Shinozuka would never be re-elected.
By then, Saburo Murakuchi and others will have enough time to deal with the aftermath, and if things go wrong, Yoshio Shinozuka will take the initiative to help them deal with the aftermath.
Many of Yoshio Iwamatsu's middle and lower-level officers had died, and when he arrived at the First Army, he would have to promote a new group of trusted men.
According to what Murakuchi Saburo said.
Qin Yangming deduced that the major general who backed Murakuchi Saburo must be someone who had a lot of say next to Iwamatsu Yoshio.
At that time, Murakuchi Saburo and others will be able to take this opportunity to place their own people into the army in advance.
Once Iwamatsu Yoshio and other senior military officers died, Shinozuka Yoshio came to take over. It would be absolutely impossible for him to bring along Shinozuka's trusted officers. It would be considered good enough if he could bring along a staff group.
It would take more than two or three days to redeploy so many officers to the First Army.
At that time, if Yoshio Shinozuka wants to quickly stabilize the First Army and then get rid of this mess of the First Army, Yoshio Shinozuka will either have to acquiesce in the actions of Murakuchi Saburo and others.
Or he could help Murakuchi Saburo and others to deal with the aftermath, speed up the stabilization of the troops, and then get rid of the mess of the First Army.
If Yoshio Shinozuka dared to oppose or resist, then Yoshio Shinozuka would have to stay in the First Army and clean up the mess.
Although this is indeed a good opportunity for Saburo Murakuchi and others.
But for Qin Yangming, this benefit is not that great in comparison.
If we could kill both Commanders Yoshio Shinozuka and Yoshio Iwamatsu at the same time.
Not to mention how many points his system would gain by killing two commanders.
If only two commanders were killed, the Japanese North China Front Army Command and even the main base would definitely not be able to re-establish a First Army Command in a short period of time.
The only remaining major general officer in the First Army is Murakuchi Saburo's backer. He will only think of using this opportunity to expand his power and safeguard the interests of himself and others. He will not care too much about anything else.
By then, the Eighth Route Army will take advantage of this opportunity to launch a major war, and the Japanese in the entire Shanxi area will once again fall into a state of disarray.
There is no unified command, no unified deployment, and there are people fighting for power internally. Most of the officers in the troops will be replaced, and the officers do not yet fully understand their own troops.
By then, the combat effectiveness of the Japanese in Shanxi will be reduced by at least 30%!
At this time, the Eighth Route Army launched another war. What could the Japanese use to stop them?
"If there is a way to get Iwamatsu Yoshio to come here before the war starts, that would be great... then we can kill the two Japanese First Army commanders before the war.
Two senior generals were killed before the battle even began.
By then, the Japanese in Wing Province will be tied down by the troops of Wing Province.
When the war broke out, how much attention would the Japanese North China Front Army Command pay to the First Army?
Unfortunately... Yoshio Shinozuka will not leave until the war is over... Is there any way to make Yoshio Shinozuka leave early, and then let Yoshio Iwamatsu come early, and finally launch a decapitation operation to defeat both of them?"
According to what Murakuchi Saburo said, if Murakuchi Saburo wanted Qin Yangming to help kill Iwamatsu Yoshio, he would definitely have to wait until after the war when Iwamatsu Yoshio took over as the commander of the First Army before letting Qin Yangming take action.
Otherwise, if Iwamatsu Yoshio was in the North China Front Army Headquarters, Qin Yangming had the ability to kill Iwamatsu Yoshio. Why didn't he make more efforts and directly kill Tada Shun, the Japanese commander of the North China Front Army?
However, Qin Yangming's original plan, as well as the plan he discussed with his boss, was to sneak into Taiyuan City before the war began, find an opportunity to kill Shinozuka Yoshio, disrupt the command of the First Army, and then use the Eighth Route Army's troops in Yi Province to delay the Japanese in Yi Province.
The Eighth Route Army in Shanxi took advantage of this opportunity to speed up the attack and maximize the results of the battle.
It would be best if we could continue to capture a big city.
But now Murakuchi Saburo wants Qin Yangming to wait until after the war before taking action, which directly causes changes in Qin Yangming's plan.
Admittedly, if the plan was carried out according to Murakuchi Saburo, with the help of Murakuchi Saburo as an insider, the possibility of Qin Yangming successfully carrying out the decapitation operation would increase greatly.
At least after the decapitation operation was successful, it would be much easier for Qin Yangming to take his men away.
Although if we follow Murakuchi Saburo's plan to carry out a decapitation operation against Iwamatsu Yoshio.
According to Murakuchi Saburo, they could give all the supplies in Taiyuan City to the Eighth Route Army, and they would give as much as the Eighth Route Army could take.
There are indeed a lot of supplies in Taiyuan City, and they are very tempting, like a big fat pig.
Moreover, Qin Yangming was able to defeat a senior Japanese officer at the level of lieutenant general commander.
But in this case, apart from being able to gain some benefits in Taiyuan, the Eighth Route Army probably won't be able to gain much benefit in other places.
According to the boss's idea and the relevant information recorded in the history books in Qin Yangming's mind, Qin Yangming compared it with the current situation and knew that this war would last at least two or three months.
Straight from fall to fall.
Then when winter comes and the temperature drops, the fighting will stop and the troops will rest.
After such a long battle, even though the Eighth Route Army troops had captured a lot of spoils, their losses would not be small.
At that time, even if Qin Yangming was able to kill Iwamatsu Yoshio, the other troops would not have the strength to seize this opportunity to expand the results of the battle.
But if Yoshio Shinozuka was killed before the war started.
It can not only interfere with the Japanese troop movements, but also unify command.
We can also take this opportunity to greatly improve the morale of the Eighth Route Army and weaken the morale of the Japanese. By then, the Japanese morale is low and there is no unified command, while the Eighth Route Army, on the other hand, has a high morale and its combat effectiveness is at its peak.
Under such circumstances, the Eighth Route Army was able to suppress the Japanese troops before they could attack.
Moreover, under that situation, the Eighth Route Army was not incapable of attacking Taiyuan City.
Compared with Murakuchi Saburo's plan, it is obvious that Qin Yangming's plan is more in line with the interests of the Eighth Route Army.
Although Murakuchi Saburo's plan makes it easier for Qin Yangming and others to leave after successfully completing the mission, it can ensure the safety of Qin Yangming and others to a large extent.
As for Qin Yangming's plan, once the time comes and he succeeds, he will carry out the decapitation operation.
Then the Japanese will definitely seal off the city of Taiyuan. Although Qin Yangming has a way to rush out, it is just a way.
Qin Yangming didn't dare to guarantee whether he could lead the special forces team to break out from the crazy Japanese devils.
After all, there are no spies among the Japanese troops.
In fact, because the puppet army had caused so many incidents, some important areas and city gates in Taiyuan were not garrisoned by puppet troops. They were all guarded by the Japanese themselves.
To put it simply, Qin Yangming's plan is much more dangerous than Murakuchi Saburo's plan.
If things go wrong, Qin Yangming might even lose his own life.
After all, according to Murakuchi Saburo's plan, Murakuchi Saburo will help Qin Yangming to take action when the time comes.
There is no need for Saburo Murakuchi to open the city gate directly or anything like that. He just needs to do something stupid at the critical moment and then lead the search and pursuit troops away.
Therefore, if we act according to Murakuchi Saburo's plan, the safety of Qin Yangming and others can be solved.
But the Eighth Route Army gained less benefits...
This kind of opportunity can be said to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. After using it once, the Japanese will definitely strengthen their defenses, making it difficult to carry out a second decapitation operation.
Qin Yangming thought about it and finally decided to follow his own plan.
His plan was certainly dangerous and might even lead to his death.
But how can there be no deaths in war?
If other soldiers can sacrifice on the battlefield, so can Qin Yangming.
This is what being a soldier is like. As long as you give an order, you have to charge forward even if there are mountains of swords and seas of fire ahead!
You can't say you won't do it because you're afraid of death.
Thinking of this, Qin Yangming's eyes became firm.
"Muraguchi-kun, Iwamatsu Yoshio is a lieutenant general, the commander of the First Army, and the commander of the 20th Division.
You must be aware of how much protection a person like this has around him, right? "
Qin Yangming looked at Sanlang at the entrance of the village and spoke slowly.
Murakuchi Saburo listened to Qin Yangming mentioning this matter again, although Qin Yangming's attitude still seemed to be one of rejection.
But if Qin Yangming really wanted to refuse, then why did he have to say so much? Wouldn't it be enough to just say that he didn't agree?
And now Qin Yangming said so much and said it twice.
That means Qin Yangming can agree to this matter, provided that he offers enough benefits.
"Mr. Qin, let's be frank. What can you do to help me kill Yansong Yixiong?"
Murakuchi Saburo looked at Qin Yangming affirmatively, knowing that Qin Yangming must have some ideas in his mind, but because the benefits he offered were not enough, Qin Yangming did not agree directly.
Instead, he asked for more benefits for himself.
After understanding this, Murakuchi Saburo stopped making any offers and directly threw the question to Qin Yangming, asking Qin Yangming to make his own offer and then bargain with him.
“It costs more money!
Your price is not enough for us to take such a great risk to kill Iwamatsu Yoshio.
I am the leader of the vanguard regiment. I believe that Mr. Murakuchi should also know about my vanguard regiment. In time, I can become a division commander, or even an army commander, or a general.
Mr. Cunkou, I am different from you. There are people blocking your way in front of you, but I have a smooth road ahead!
If you want me to take the risk of leading the special forces to execute the decapitation operation on Iwamatsu Yoshio, then you have to increase the stakes!"
After listening to Qin Yangming's words, Cunkou Sanlang also sat up straight.
It’s good to have requirements, I’m just worried that you don’t have any requirements.
"Mr. Qin, name your price. What do you want in exchange for killing Yansong Yixiong?!
As long as I can afford it, as long as it's not too outrageous, I'll give it all to you!"
Murakuchi Saburo looked at Qin Yangming and made up his mind. Since he had already sold Iwamatsu Yoshio, it wouldn't matter if he sold a few more.
"I want Shinozuka Yoshio!"
“Muraguchi-kun, I will kill both Shinozuka Yoshio and Iwamatsu Yoshio if I have the chance.
If you want me to kill Iwamatsu Yoshio, then you must help me kill Shinozuka Yoshio.
And it has to be before the war starts!
As long as Murakuchi-kun helps me kill Shinozuka Yoshio, I promise that after killing Iwamatsu Yoshio, I can mobilize troops to cooperate with you to form the Osaka Brigade!"
Qin Yangming looked at Sanlang at the entrance of the village and put forward his own conditions.
As long as Saburo Murakuchi could help him kill Yoshio Shinozuka, then it would be no big deal for him to help Saburo Murakuchi kill Yoshio Iwamatsu.
Murakuchi Saburo didn't expect that Qin Yangming would actually put forward such a condition.
He had already prepared for Qin Yangming's requests for territory, food, population, etc.
But I never expected that Qin Yangming actually wanted me to help him kill Yoshio Shinozuka!
"Mr. Qin, you, you, you!"
At this moment, Murakuchi Saburo also reacted. He was afraid that Qin Yangming had already planned to kill Shinozuka Yoshio, and now he took this opportunity to say it out.
"Mr. Qin, no, no, let's change the conditions. I can't help you kill Shinozuka Yoshio. Even if I can kill Shinozuka Yoshio, then Iwamatsu Yoshio will definitely strengthen the guards around him. If I can't kill Iwamatsu Yoshio, then my plan will fail!"
(End of this chapter)
