flstandardbreds Chapter 444 The Down-on-His-Luck Yanagida
Chapter 444 The Down-on-His-Luck Yanagida
Seeing that everyone's eyes were on him, Bai Luo pondered for a while before slowly speaking.
"Although the matter is not yet finalized, we must certainly consider the worst-case scenario."
"Please keep an eye on news from the Bear Kingdom, Bellena, and let me know as soon as you have any concrete information."
"Okay. I'll go to the telegraph room now and send a telegram to my friend, asking him to help me find out."
Bellena nodded quickly in agreement and then hurriedly left the cave.
Bai Luo then turned her gaze to Zhang Qing.
"Uncle Zhang, send someone to keep a close eye on the movements around the fortress in the northern province."
Also, inform Jiang Qing and the others to hurry up and train the new recruits. If Xiong Guo decides to stop attacking the Japanese, then we really won't have much time left.
"Okay, I'll go right away."
After listening to Bai Luo's instructions, Zhang Qing immediately left the cave and returned to Er City.
After Zhang Qing left, Bai Luo turned her gaze to her eldest aunt.
"Aunt, could you please keep an eye on the internal news of the Northern Province Fortress? Our mutual aid society doesn't have any intelligence agents infiltrated yet."
We might need your help with this intelligence. Also, it seems you won't be able to take down Aunt Chunshi for the time being.
Bai Xiumei sighed softly upon hearing this, but quickly perked up.
He reached out and ruffled Bai Luo's hair.
"I will pass on the intelligence from inside the North Province fortress."
It's alright if we can't win the Spring Market; isn't that just how plans change? But our trip wasn't in vain, even though we couldn't win the Spring Market.
But it would be good if we could hold onto Er City.
Upon hearing this, Bai Luo was slightly shocked and immediately understood Bai Xiumei's meaning. Just as he was about to say something, Bai Xiumei saw through his thoughts.
Bai Xiumei interrupted Bai Luo before she could say anything.
"Little Radish, don't worry, the leaders will definitely agree. You have no idea how much impact your taking over Ershi will have on the national war effort."
Besides, your previous help to our Red Party was considerable; now it's time for us to repay you.
As Bai Xiumei finished speaking, she gently patted Bai Luo's not-so-broad shoulders.
"Alright, let's get back to preparations. I also need to report this news to headquarters."
After saying this, Bai Xiumei led Wang Qiang out of the cave and headed towards the guerrilla base of Wang Yu.
After Bai Xiumei left, Bellena contacted her friends and then contacted the Xiong Kingdom's arsenal to pack up all the supplies Bai Luo could use and send them on a plane.
Then all of them would be transported to Ershi. She didn't think that after the Xiong Kingdom made peace with the Japanese, it would still provide Bai Luo with ammunition and weapons.
Therefore, Bellena planned to take advantage of the fact that she still had the power to mobilize the arsenal's resources and gather all of Bai Luo's available supplies.
After returning to Er City, Zhang Qing went directly to the intelligence department and dispatched capable members of the mutual aid association to gather information near the fortress in the northern province.
At the same time, a meeting at the regimental level and above was held to inform everyone of the news.
Just days after Er City was basking in the joy of victory in the great battle, it was once again plunged into the vortex of war.
Moreover, it was a battle for survival. Zhang Qing's meeting lasted less than 20 minutes before it ended, and then the entire city began active preparations for war.
8:30 PM
Inside the fortress of the northern province.
Commander's Office.
Mitsui Yanagita had lost his usual radiance and looked somewhat dejected.
He was abandoned by his rear base, and as soon as the empire and the Xiong Kingdom finalized their peace talks, he would be forced to resign and return home.
They shall bear full responsibility for this invasion of the eastern territory of the Xiong Kingdom.
At this moment, Mitsui Yanagita is standing by the office window, holding a pot of sake in his hand.
His eyes were vacant as he stared at the night sky outside the window, where dark clouds covered the sky and not a ray of light could be seen.
Just like his heart at this moment.
He never imagined that the whole situation would change like this in just three or four days.
Four days ago, the airport at the North Province fortress was attacked.
Mitsui Yanagida immediately realized that the Kuma Kingdom would definitely make a big move on the battlefield tomorrow.
Sure enough, at daybreak the next day, the Xiong Kingdom dispatched more than 500 bombers and 200 fighter jets to bombard his rear heavy artillery positions for an hour.
Because the Xiong Kingdom acted so quickly, Mitsui Yanagida had no time to mobilize fighter jets from elsewhere to fight back.
The remaining 100-odd fighter jets in the North Province fortress were no match for the Xiong Kingdom.
For a time, the sky became the domain of the Xiong Kingdom, and his Northern Province Expeditionary Army was bombed to the point that it could not form an effective defense.
Thus, the Xiong Kingdom's chariot division seized this opportunity and launched a full-scale attack.
With a full-scale counter-offensive launched on all fronts, how could the Northern Expeditionary Army, having lost its aircraft and artillery, possibly stop the charge of the Xiong Kingdom's tank division?
After only one morning of fighting, the Japanese troops suffered a complete rout on all fronts in the eastern region.
The losses were devastating, with casualties exceeding 3 and more than 1 captured.
When Mitsui Yanagida received this news in the fortress, he was also taken aback.
However, he had anticipated this when the Xiong Kingdom launched a surprise attack on their northern province's fortress airfield last night.
Despite the heavy losses, he remained calm and prepared to bring in fighter jets from elsewhere for support.
He received news that the Xiong Kingdom was suffering repeated defeats on the battlefield against Germany, and that Germany was even close to reaching the Xiong Kingdom's capital.
This led Mitsui Yanagida to conclude that as long as he stabilized the situation and prevented the Xiong Kingdom from attacking the northern fortress in one fell swoop, he could succeed.
The Xiong Kingdom will definitely be unable to withstand the troop withdrawal from the eastern region to support its western front.
Moreover, the Xiong Kingdom's series of actions must have this reason: they want to resolve the issues in the eastern region as soon as possible so that they can focus all their efforts on dealing with the German Empire.
Therefore, Mitsui Yanagida estimated that within about 10 days, the Xiong Kingdom would transfer troops from here to defend their capital.
If he can hold onto the remaining land and preserve his strength within these 10 days, he can force the Bear Kingdom to abandon these lands and turn back to support the capital.
In this short period of time, the Xiong Kingdom should not launch another attack against them.
The empire can also take this opportunity to tap into the rich underground resources of the eastern region and give them back to the country.
However, to counter the relentless attacks of the Bear Kingdom's tank divisions, they would definitely need powerful weapons.
Aircraft are relatively easy to arrange; they can be directly mobilized from the inland areas.
However, the cannons would need to be transported overland, but Mitsui Yanagida wasn't worried.
Because he had already dispatched two divisions of the Imperial Northern Province Expeditionary Army to remove the thorns in his side.
Having figured all this out, Mitsui Yanagida felt relieved.
But not long after, another shocking piece of bad news reached Mitsui Yanagida's ears.
That is, his two divisions were wiped out by the enemy in Ershi.
Upon hearing this news, Mitsui Yanagida was so angry that he fainted.
He remained unconscious for a full day.
When he woke up again, he received a telegram from headquarters.
Moreover, the overall war situation in the eastern region has undergone tremendous changes.
The Northern Province Expeditionary Army has been driven by Xiong Guo to within 150 kilometers of the border.
It wouldn't even take 10 days; without the support of heavy weapons, they wouldn't even need three.
The Xiong Kingdom's war chariots could drive right up to the gates of their northern province fortress.
The rear headquarters also noticed the change in the situation.
He was severely reprimanded in the telegram and was required to take full responsibility for all the consequences of the failed attack on the eastern region.
Meanwhile, the rear headquarters also accepted the navy's advice and abandoned the attack on the eastern region.
They then set their sights on the United States.
Upon seeing the contents of the telegram, Mitsui Yanagida, who had just regained consciousness, fainted again from anger.