. "Hey, Cousin Werner, where did your squadron fly today?"

The young non-commissioned officer in a bloated flight suit and a leather jacket greeted the second lieutenant who happened to pass by. Judging from the title and tone, the relationship between the two was obvious.

The second lieutenant, who was almost in the same outfit, stopped, but the expression on his face was not as brilliant as the former.

"Uh, this is a secret! Also, I said that when outsiders were present, I called me Captain, Lieutenant Warner!"

"Okay, dear Lieutenant Warner! Whether you want to shit on the head of the Japanese Emperor or blow up the Japanese port, I wish you good luck! Also..." The non-commissioned officer approached the other party and lowered his voice: "I said to my cousin, can you say hello to Cousin Rona for me next time I write a letter?"

"Ahem, my sister won't marry a sergeant!" The lieutenant glared at his "bad-minded" cousin, then turned his head to look at his companion who was about to go away, sighed lightly, and whispered: "We are going to bomb Hachiman this time. You know, the air defense firepower is more dense than that of Tokyo! If... if I can't come back, take good care of my sister for me, but you are not allowed to touch her before being promoted to lieutenant!"

"Cousin Werner..." Hearing this, the glory and flattery on the young non-commissioned officer's face were swept away, replaced by a kind of real sadness. As the strategic bombing of Japan deepened, more and more German pilots sprinkled blood in the sky. Watching their companions around them leave one by one, it was a nightmare-like feeling for everyone.

"Ha, it's nothing! The Japanese anti-aircraft guns are not that scary. Our combat losses so far are no more than 10%, hahaha!" The lieutenant's laughter was a little sudden, but it was difficult to hide the melancholy in his heart. You must know that just three days ago, his two best comrades and their Donier iii bombers stayed in Japan forever, located in the Hachiman Ironmaking Station of Kitakyushu.

It is no exaggeration to say that Hachiman, a huge steel base, is one of the core driving forces of the Japanese war machines. Destroying there will destroy more than half of Japan's war potential, and the Japanese are also aware of this. Only Hachiman's air defense level in the entire Japanese archipelago is the same as that in Tokyo.

It was against this background that German bombers continued to take off from two bases in Kuye Island and Qingdao for bombing. In the past six months from November 1928 to April 1929, the German Air Force dispatched more than 10,000 long-range bombings of Donier II and Donier IIi ultra-long-range bombings, and dropped more than 200,000 tons of bombs and incendiary bombs, nearly one-third of which were used to bomb Hachiman. The continuous bombing caused inestimable damage to Japan's industries and cities, and the German army itself also lost more than 700 bombers and thousands of pilots. Especially after the Japanese new high-altitude interceptors and new large-caliber anti-aircraft guns were put into use in spring 1929, the loss rate of German bombers increased significantly.

"Cousin..." Something flashed in the young non-commissioned officer's eyes. Although his squadron was mainly responsible for airlifting supplies from Qingdao, there was no loss. Long-term long-range flight would inevitably lead to some non-manual mechanical losses. Once these bombers crashed in the Japanese waters and German submarines could not arrive in time, the pilots would only die and be captured by the Japanese army, and there was no substantial difference between the two.

The second lieutenant patted the young non-commissioned officer on the shoulder, turned around firmly, and quickly chased his companions.

The premonition is not always correct. But sometimes unfortunate things still happen. On April 1, there were 81 Doniel ii and 72 Doniel iii participating in the bombing of Hachiman Steel Base. The Japanese local aviation troops dispatched 109 Type 89 fighter jets to intercept. Nearly a thousand anti-aircraft guns on the ground also weaved a dense air defense firepower net above the base. The more than 2,000 bombs dropped by the German army at high altitudes once again reduced the production of Hachiman Iron Manufacturing, and he also lost 11 bombers, of which 8 were Doniel ii.

On the list of deaths that day, Eras and Werner's name was suddenly listed.

For more than 50,000 German officers and soldiers stationed at Kuye Island, the continuous departure of their companions was not the most cruel thing. With the arrival of spring, the Japanese army on the opposite side could not help but suppress the anger of winter. They had no intention of hiding their intention to launch a cross-sea battle. A large number of troops were continuously transferred from Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu, and transport ships and sailboats used to carry troops were basically in place. The two newly formed air forces successively transferred to the front-line airport in Hokkaido. All signs indicate that a large-scale cross-sea battle is imminent.

On April 10, a group of Japanese bombers carried out air strikes on strategic targets in the south of Kuye Island under the cover of fighters. This was the first air strike on Kuye Island that the Japanese army carried out since the failure of a large-scale air battle in January. However, although the Japanese army invested as many as 525 fighters and 247 bombers this time, the results of the air strikes were still unsatisfactory. With the joint efforts of German fighters and ground air defense artillery, the Japanese army lost 1/3 of the strike planes. Many bomber pilots just dropped the bombs at will and returned in a hurry. The performance of the fighter pilots did not exceed their predecessors.

On April 15, Emperor Showa personally visited Hokkaido to cheer for the upcoming army. At this time, the Japanese army had gathered a huge force of more than 500,000 troops, including 6,721 divisions and 9 independent brigades. The number of landing fleets, including a large number of civilian ships, reached an astonishing 3,900. In addition to the main force of the Japanese First Fleet stationed at Sasebo and the task force stationed at the Philippines, the Japanese Navy's large and small ships gathered almost in Hokkaido. Looking at the forces of both sides about to fight, Japan invested ten times the army that was ten times that of the German army, and the proportion of naval and air force reached eight times and twice.

The official meeting of the Supreme Command, Berlin, Germany.

"A variety of aviation bombs are 17,000 tons, incendiary bombs are 210,000 tons, aviation fuel is 70 million liters, vehicle fuel is 12 million liters, ship heavy oil is 330,000 tons, and various ammunition is 1.2 million liters!" After reporting these data in a slow and cold tone, the German Army General, Max, the First Military Control Commission of the General Staff, and Hoffmann's eyes swept across the faces of everyone present.

Chen Tian, ​​who was sitting in the first place, had no expression, but had a thoughtful expression. Although all German long-range transport aircraft and a considerable number of bombers in the Far East were used to transport military supplies from Qingdao to Kuye Island, this was far from meeting the needs of Kuye Island. After April 1929, the reserves of strategic materials dropped below the red line for the first time. Due to the continuous bombing of Japan, aviation bombs, incendiary bombs and fuel shortages first occurred. 17,000 tons of aviation bombs and 20,000 tons of incendiary bombs could only maintain the bomber group for two stars.

Although the aviation fuel reserves seem to be very considerable, they can only provide 1,000 Donier iii bombers to be dispatched together twice, not to mention that 50 million liters of them were listed as special fuel for fighter jets and were strictly limited. "Although our strategic bombing caused a double blow to the Japanese in material and spiritual ways, this is not enough to force the Japanese to give up this war! As far as the current situation is concerned, the Battle of Kuye Island is inevitable. How long will this battle last? One week? One month? Or one year?"

Responding to Hoffmann was the continued silence.

"Although we had already reserved as much strategic materials as possible on Kuye Island, Haicucumber and Qingdao before the war, it is inevitable that today's situation will occur when the consumption is far greater than the supply!"

After saying something unhealthy, Hoffmann made his own suggestions as the first military chief, the deputy chief of staff of the German Army: "I suggest that half of the bomber troops deployed on Kuye Island be transferred to Qingdao and reduce the intensity of strategic bombing against Japan! Although the materials stored on Kuye Island can be used for the garrison to conduct high-intensity battles for three months, we must transport more materials there as soon as possible!"

Hoffman's speech ended, without applause, without cheer, without questioning.

Chen Tian raised his head, gave him a recognized look, and then turned his eyes to Oli, the most tactical army commander in the room. The youngest non-linear noble marshal and army minister in the history of the German Army.

"General Hoffman just provided us with local information very important. Although we have opened the China-Myanmar transportation line, the material transportation between Qingdao and Kuye Island still needs to be transported by air! The navy's decision is to first be the periphery and then the inside line, concentrate superior forces before conducting a decisive battle. I am understandable about this, but this also means that we cannot open the maritime transportation line of the Tsushima Strait or the Chiba Islands in the short term!" Oli stood up from his position, and while speaking, he slowly walked towards the front desk with a large combat map.

"From the perspective of the army, the best way to solve the Kuye Island crisis is to establish a land transportation line from Europe to the Far East! If Berlin can be connected with Razalev in the Far East by railway line, all problems will be solved!" Oli pulled the ropes at the front desk, and a large Russian map was presented to everyone. It had been pre-standardized with various colors. The blue arrows from Belarus pointed directly to the Far East are particularly eye-catching. In addition to the gray German-controlled Belarus and Ukraine, Russia's huge territory is currently occupied by three colors - red occupies half of the southwest, southeast and south. That is the sphere of influence of the Soviet revolutionary government, yellow occupies the Far East, which is the territory of the Russian pseudo-democratic government, and the remaining green area is the democratic government left over from Tsarist Russia.

At the end of the blue arrow is a small coastal town called Lazarev, which is the closest place to Kuye Island on the mainland and the narrowest and lightest position in the Tatar Strait. It has a little exaggerated color. As long as the materials from Europe are transported to Lazarev by railway line, the rest can be solved with a small wooden boat!

"There are two ways to establish this long land transportation line. One is politics and the other is military! In the past few months, we had successively negotiated loans with the Russian Revolutionary Government, the Russian Democratic Government and the Russian Far East Government, but as we all know, the negotiations unfortunately failed! We do not deny that with this transportation line, we can easily control the entire Russia, so the Russians' rejection is not surprising! Then, we either choose to use force or give up!"

"First of all, I want to say that the Imperial Army has the strength to open up this Eurasian road!" Au pointed at the big blue arrow across Eurasian with his instructions. "But according to our conservative estimates, at least 150 divisions are required to fight such a battle. Even if it is victorious, at least 60 divisions will be required to maintain this road. That is to say, by then 80% of the Imperial Army's troops will be deployed overseas, namely, America, Southeast Asia and Russia!"

Taking advantage of Oli's pause, some of the generals below began to whisper. Although the cost of garrisoning overseas was high, the empire's abundant finances could still cope with it.

"The above is just a military calculation. As for the political impact, I think everyone may not be clear! So let me tell you that once the Imperial Army enters the heartland of Russia again, the war between the revolutionary government and the democratic government will immediately stop, and the common interests will enable them to fight side by side!"

Seeing everyone's surprised eyes, Oli disagreed, "People may still think that we were allies with the Russian Revolutionary Government not long ago, and our soldiers still fought against the Tsarist Russian army together, but these have become the past! In previous negotiations, the Russians had clearly told us that they had paid the price of Belarus, Ukraine and the Caucasus, so every inch of land left would no longer be allowed to be taken away by anyone in any form!"

"Unite the Russian democratic government to fight with them!" Someone below suggested.

Oli shook his head, "Sokolov is not stupid. Once the revolutionary government is killed by us, his democratic government will lose the best barrier! What's more, they are not willing to take huge risks to rent the railway artery to us for use! To be honest, if we really control this Eurasian railway and when we clean up Japan, we will never fail to make any decisions about Russia!"

Having said this, no one raised objections from the generals. Many people seemed to have begun to consider what role they would play in the next military operations.

"So, we will give up this path!"

It is absolutely unexpected to say this sentence at this time, not to mention that the speaker is Chen Tian, ​​who has not spoken before.

"His Majesty……"

Except for Oli, most generals seemed puzzled. Although the German Navy had already emerged, the main force of the German Army was still at home. As Oli said just now, victory in this battle was not a problem.

"At this time, Russia is like a huge quagmire, we should let them fight!" Chen Tian pointed to the three colors on the map and said, "Only by the intrigue between them can we have the opportunity to take advantage of it!"

"Then Kuye Island..."

"Either give up or have a sea battle in advance!" Chen Tian gave two simple options, and he quickly saw the answer in everyone's eyes. Not everyone is so determined, but at least no one intends to choose the first item in this situation.

After exchanging a tacit look with Oli, Chen Tian announced:
Chapter completed!