Chapter 37
There was an unwritten rule in the Japanese army, which was that only those who had served as 17 regular major generals could be trained by the military. They would also become big shots in the military in the future.
Thus, behind every regular major general, there would be a big shot supporting and guiding them.
This also resulted in the creation of seventeen permanent major generals. They had great influence in the army and had high statuses.
Perhaps it was not obvious before the war broke out, but after the war broke out, the Japanese continuously formed new divisions, and this difference was completely revealed.
As long as a regular major general made a contribution, his promotion would be extremely fast. Sometimes, it was fine to make a small mistake. He might be temporarily put on hold, but he would be used again soon.
However, if they were not regular major generals, including special major generals, they would be promoted strictly after making contributions. The speed of promotion would be much slower than regular major generals. If they made a mistake, those who were slightly better would be transferred to the reserves.
If they were unlucky, they would be directly sent to the military court. If you are extremely unlucky, you will commit suicide to apologize to His Majesty.
As such, the major generals had joined forces and ordered the elimination of the Yu-1 Regiment regardless of Prince Asaka's life. As long as the Yu-1 Regiment was eliminated, Prince Asaka would be dead.
They would not have too much of a problem because they could say that they were doing it for the honor of the Empire's soldiers. This way, the royal family would not be able to say much because the big shots would defend themselves.
However, a non-permanent major general couldn't afford to offend the imperial family. They didn't dare to bear this responsibility. Once they did, their career would be over.
Therefore, Yoshizumi wanted to hand over the 18th and 114th divisions. His intention was obvious. He didn't want Prince Asaka to die!
That was why Inoue Naoto looked at Yoshizumi in disbelief.
Yoshizumi Ryo was also suffering. He was about to turn 54.
A fifty-four-year-old lieutenant general was considered very old among the seventeen regular major generals.
In his original plan, he would retire and enjoy his old age at home after this war. If Prince Asaka were to die because of him, it would be very difficult for him to retire. Moreover, don't forget about the regiment flag.
In the Japanese army, it was that era. The retirement age of an officer was 65. Even for a general, the retirement age was 65. Unless you can be promoted to a marshal, you will have to retire. Usually, those who didn't have any hope of becoming generals would retire early and enjoy their old age. This kind of thing was more common at that time, unless you were a general in your fifties. At that time, you had a chance of being promoted to a marshal. As long as one had military merits, like Marshal Muto, it was a miracle. Unfortunately, he died not long after he became a marshal. At this point, the Japanese had no more civilian marshals. From the beginning of the war until the end of the war, the Japanese had no more civilian marshals.
...............
The sky was starting to brighten. Zhang Wenbin was already approaching the city wall with Prince Asaka and Yamada Tsuji, the two captives. They would be leaving the city in a while. At this time, he had already gathered all six of his infantry battalions.
Six infantry battalions, plus the other troops, left about 5,000 soldiers.
Previously, the entire army had a total of 5,600 men, which was a typical reinforced regiment configuration. This was because they had lost a lot of soldiers in the battle last night.
As they approached the city wall, the Japanese on the wall saw that Prince Asaka and Yamada Tsuji were in their hands. They did not dare to make a sound. It was as if they had already received the news and immediately let them go.
After leaving the city, Zhang Wenbin did not leave in a hurry. Instead, he came to the previous Qixia Mountain camp and settled down there.
"Guild Leader, why don't we continue to leave? Now that we have the Japanese Prince and Major General in our hands, it would be better if we just leave!”
Wang Yiqiu looked at Zhang Wenbin, who was sitting on the ground smoking, and walked over to ask curiously.
"Leave directly? Haha! Do you think we can leave just like that? Can't you see that there are tens of thousands of Japanese behind us?”
Zhang Wenbin looked at the Japanese following behind him and sneered.
How could the Japanese let them go so easily?
Even if they had hostages!
"Send a clear message to them and tell them to hand over all the captives in Xiaguan to us. At the same time, the city was opened wide and the citizens were released. They even want to let us go. When we cross the river and reach Chuzhou, they will let their prince and major general go and return the flag to them.
Otherwise, we'll send a message to the entire country and announce this matter. We'll also kill their prince and burn their flag!”
Zhang Wenbin took a deep breath and said.
Wang Yiqiu nodded and left, but Wu Deshui walked over and whispered in front of Zhang Wenbin,"Guild Leader, you want those captured brothers?"
Although Wu Deshui was a sly old fox, he was a shrewd person who understood many things very well.
Zhang Wenbin did not answer him. He only glanced at him indifferently. He quickly lowered his head and stopped talking.
"I'm sorry! Every man for himself! I want to live too!"
Zhang Wenbin thought slowly in his heart.
................
At this moment, the major generals had already gathered in the city.
6th division commander Lieutenant General Tanishou, 9th division commander Lieutenant General Yoshizumi, 16th division commander Lieutenant General Nakajima, 18th division commander Lieutenant General Nishijima, 114th division commander Suematsu, and 10th division commander Lieutenant General Yanagawa.
The six of them gathered together.
Lieutenant General Liu Chuan was the commander of the 10th division, and he was nominally in charge of the 6th, 18th, and 114th divisions. However, he could only manage the 18th and 114th divisions. He could not manage the 6th division.
Their military ranks were the same, and their qualifications were not much higher than Lieutenant General Gu Shou. They were almost the same.
"Gentlemen, now that His Highness the Prince is in the hands of the China Army, what should we do?”
Lieutenant General Ji Zhu was the first to speak. He looked at everyone and spoke slowly. His tone was very calm and did not have much fluctuation.
He had thought that the 6th and 16th divisions would jump out to fight, but who knew that Lieutenant General Tanishou and Lieutenant General Nakajima would remain silent. This was completely out of his expectations.
The 18th Regiment Commander, Lieutenant General Niu Dao, said softly,""We must ensure the prince's safety. Nothing can go wrong.”
He had expressed his stance and was inclined to save Prince Chaoxiang.
The 114th Regiment Commander, Lieutenant General Mo Song, also spoke up.
"Although this Chinese army has brought great humiliation to the Empire's army, a mere five thousand Chinese soldiers are not enough to pay for the life of Your Highness. Moreover, there would still be a chance to eliminate them in the future, but if something happened to the prince, everything would be irreparable.”
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