Pingding County, which had been unknown before, was particularly lively during this period.

Not only did the brigade commander Major General Honda come, but the reinforcements sent by the military headquarters also arrived here one after another.

Every day, dozens of cars enter and exit the county town and transport countless ammunition supplies.

The command center of the pacification garrison also transformed into the Japanese front-line command center.

In the small conference room, dozens of majors, Nakazuka and colonel gathered next to the table, waiting for Major General Honda to give orders.

At his signal, the chief of staff stood up first: "General, colleagues, after nearly ten days of aerial and ground reconnaissance, we have basically figured out the deployment of the National Rescue Army."

"The National Salvation Army we are going to attack this time has four main battalions, one artillery battalion, one cavalry company, one spy company, one guard company, one reconnaissance company, one baggage company, one engineer company, and one chariot platoon. The total strength is more than 4,000."

"In addition, they also have a new camp with more than 1,000 people, a militia unit with more than 1,000 people, and an arsenal with a size of more than 300 people. The overall strength is no less than that of a brigade of other Chinese troops!"

"The most threatening of these troops to us is the artillery battalion. It is not only equipped with two large-caliber mortars, but also equipped with a large number of mountain artillery and mortars. The overall combat effectiveness is stronger than that of our artillery brigade."

"Because of this, the National Salvation Army has done a very good job in keeping the artillery battalion confidentiality. Our intelligence personnel and scouts searched the entire National Salvation Army defense zone but found no specific traces of them. They only knew that they were in the Xiyang Mountain area, hidden during the day and only came out to move at night."

"The strength of other troops' garrisons is clear. The Second and Fourth Battalions are in Pingding territory. The total strength of the two battalions is more than 1,500 people, and they are defending against attacks from Pingding County."

"The first and third battalions are in Xiyang, with a total force of more than 1,500 people, the spy company, the cavalry company, and the guard company are operating mobile operations in the entire defense area."

"The combat plan formulated by the military headquarters for us is to not distinguish between main attack and assist. The entire army will press forward together, divide the troops into four groups, and launch attacks on the four main battalions of the National Salvation Army, so as not to give them the opportunity to concentrate their superior forces to defeat us one by one!"

Major General Honda suddenly stood up and reminded: "Everyone has heard the introduction and orders of the Chief of Staff just now. I will stop talking nonsense after I have said it. In order to enhance everyone's offensive firepower, the military department's field artillery brigade and mountain artillery brigade supported by us were all launched. In addition to the mortars and infantry artillery they equipped with, each attacking force strengthened three field artillery and four mountain artillery."

"The medium-sized mortar squadrons are concentrated and used manually, and they will go wherever the artillery battalion of the National Salvation Army appears!"

"The chariot squadrons are also used separately, and each attacking force strengthens one tank and two armored vehicles."

"I'll give you two more days to prepare and replenish ammunition, and start the attack in two days."

"All participating troops must go to the defense zone of the National Rescue Army and advance step by step. No troops are allowed to advance alone and advance fifteen kilometers a day to ensure that all the National Rescue Army in our occupied areas are killed."

Speaking of this, Major General Honda suddenly stood up and pointed to a point on the map that was marked by the combat staff, and continued to order with a murderous look on his face.

"I just asked you to remember clearly. The National Salvation Army must be stronger than everyone imagined. Moreover, this battle is related to the reputation of our Shanxi garrison. There must be no mistakes."

"After the attack begins, no one or any unit should underestimate the enemy and advance rashly. We must strictly implement the combat plan of the military headquarters."

"If there is any violation, you will be punished even if you win."

"At most five days, we can take down more than 80% of the occupied areas of the National Salvation Army, compress them into this forest with a radius of less than five kilometers, and finally gather and annihilate them!"

Although the Japanese army has not yet launched a real attack in Xiyang County's National Salvation Army, everyone has already felt the oppression and tension brought to everyone by the war.

Everyone entering and leaving the war room was in a hurry and looked very anxious.

There was a very simple combat sand table in the center of the war room. The regiment commander Zhou Cheng, deputy regiment commander Tang Yufeng, chief of staff Chen Zhengyu, deputy regiment commander Zheng Yunshan, and deputy chief of staff Li Honghui, all surrounded by the sand table with heavy expressions.

"Comrades, the Chief of Staff has just introduced the enemy situation." Zhou Cheng took the baton and analyzed it seriously.

"In addition to the six infantry brigades they had just transferred from the front line, a mountain artillery brigade, a field artillery brigade, a cavalry brigade, a chariot squadron, and the Honda corps left more than a thousand men to cooperate with the attack, with a total force of more than nine thousand, and except for the guide, they were all Japanese devils!"

"This is the biggest crisis we have faced since the establishment of the National Salvation Army. To be honest, I am under great pressure, and I believe you should be under great pressure."

"But I believe that our National Salvation Army will definitely win this anti-sweeping campaign, because we have three killer weapons that the Japanese don't know."

"Everyone knows that the two independent battalions have set off last night, crossed the Japanese and puppet troops' blockade line, and lurked between Pingding and Yangquan and standby!"

"The second killer is the five hundred shotguns and two thousand rounds of matching ammunition sent by the arsenal yesterday."

"You have seen its power yesterday. It is definitely a weapon for us to severely damage them before fighting with the Japanese. If you use it well, you will definitely achieve amazing results on the battlefield."

"In addition to the 100 shotguns taken away by the two independent battalions, Chief of Staff, you will immediately divide the remaining 400 shotguns. Each infantry squad will temporarily be equipped with two, specifically for bayonets with the Japanese!"

"The third killer weapon is mines. Since all the attackers are Japanese, we have no worries when using mines."

"First allocate ten bounce mines and thirty individual mines to each infantry company, so that the Japanese will be unable to move forward after entering our defense zone."

"But if you want to do this, it will definitely not work by relying solely on the main force. The people in the defense zone must cooperate with us unconditionally and make enough room for strategic maneuver for us."

"You are responsible for this task, Deputy Commander Tang, mobilize all militias and all local cadres in the two counties, mobilize the people in the defense zone to implement a solid wall and clear the fields, and then move to the deep mountains to hide."

"Tell the villagers that as short as five days, as long as ten days, we can defeat the Japanese and let everyone go home."

"During the battle, our National Salvation Army helped all the houses damaged by the war and compensated them at the price, so as to ensure that they would not cause trouble to everyone!"

"Old Zheng, you are responsible for collecting intelligence, contacting the Eighth Route Army troops and two guerrilla squadrons around us, and cooperating with the main force of the regiment to fight."

"I will stay in the defense zone and fight the Japanese for a few days first. Through layers of blocking and guerrilla warfare, I will destroy their strength and morale a lot. After the battle is almost the same, I will find two independent battalions to fight two great victories behind the Japanese army and force the Japanese army to retreat."

The Fourth Battalion’s defense zone is closest to Pingding, and it is also the latest main battalion established by the National Salvation Army. Almost all the soldiers below are adapted from guerrillas and rarely fight hard battles. Zhou Cheng left the regiment headquarters and headed straight here.

When they arrived at the battlefield, the Japanese army happened to gather in front of the defense line.

The two infantry brigades cooperated with artillery and cavalry, a total of more than 2,400 people.

The captain of the team led the team to keep in mind Major General Honda's instructions and set up all mountain artillery, infantry artillery, and mortars before the attack, and was ready to provide artillery cover to the offensive troops at any time.

At 10 a.m., the attack began.

A squadron of Japanese troops appeared in front of the defense line, lined up with stragglers, held rifles, and followed several heavy machine gun teams, slowly approaching the defense line of the fourth battalion position.

When there were more than 200 meters left, several heavy machine gun teams quickly left the team, mounted the heavy machine guns on the spot, and were ready to fire at any time.

Seeing the fourth battalion commander Chen Zhong looking at him with inquiring eyes, Zhou Cheng waved his hand directly: "Don't worry about me, fight at your rhythm first!

Chen Zhong immediately took the order and turned his head to the communications soldiers beside him: "Let the 10th Company fight a little and retreat along the traffic trench, put the Japanese on the first line of defense and then clean up them."

Seeing that Zhou Cheng didn't say anything after listening, Chen Zhong let out a long sigh, but decided to report his thoughts to the team leader.

He rarely fought such a large-scale positional war before and had little experience.

The regiment commander has a lot of experience in positional wars and major battles. If there are any loopholes, the regiment commander can help him correct it.

"Captain, our frontier position is only a trench, not even an anti-aircraft hole. The Japanese army has prepared so many artillery and is ready to go. If the troops rely on the frontier position to resist the Japanese, they will definitely be bombed, resulting in heavy casualties in the army."

"So I asked the ten consecutive shots to retreat after firing a few shots, so that I can not only preserve my strength, but also show weakness to the Japanese."

"When the Japanese crossed the front line and reached the first line of defense, the heavy machine gun and seven light machine guns I prepared there would definitely catch them off guard and repel them."

Zhou Cheng nodded repeatedly when he heard this: "I will follow your ideas for the time being. If there are any questions, I will remind you."

"Don't fight with confidence and boldness, don't be afraid. Position warfare is no more difficult than guerrilla warfare. The Japanese are not as powerful as they imagined when fighting a position war. As long as we seize their weaknesses and kill one blow, we can still severely damage them and defeat them!"

"Baoba..." The chaotic rifle shooting sounded quickly on the battlefield.

Zhou Cheng's eyes were quickly attracted. About a platoon of rifles were shooting at the Japanese. After one shot, they immediately moved in seclusion and then made a second shot, causing the gunfire on the frontier positions to be intermittent and the results were very pitiful.

After almost a minute of fighting, the Japanese army only fell three or four soldiers.

"Dongdongdongdong..."

The heavy machine guns behind the Japanese army did not underestimate the enemy because the frontier positions were all riflesmen. The three heavy machine guns quickly joined the battle, making the frontier positions dusty, which was particularly scary.

As soon as they fired, sporadic gunfires on the frontier positions stopped...
Chapter completed!