The 3rd Army of the National Army is affiliated to the 5th Group Army of the First Theater Zone.

At the headquarters of the 3rd Army.

Commander Tang Huaiyuan was staring at the map with his brows furrowed and his expression solemn.

Although the Japanese troops were repelled at night and the positions occupied by the Japanese troops of the 7th Division were recaptured.

However, during the day, the Japanese ground troops, with the cooperation of paratroopers, captured Yuanqu County, cutting off the connection between the northern front troops and the south bank of the Yellow River.

To make matters worse, the Japanese army dispatched bombers and bombed the ships at the shore ferry during the day.

The defensive position of the 3rd Army is very important at the moment.

If this position is lost, not only the 5th Army and the 17th Army will be divided into two halves by the Japanese army, and they will not be able to care about each other.

Moreover, the supply lines and retreat routes for the defenders at Zhongtiao Mountain and along the Yellow River were all cut off.

Although the Japanese attack was repelled, the Japanese army would soon come back with a force, and the enemy force was an entire division.

Since retreating to Zhongtiao Mountain, the military discipline of various departments of the Central Army has rapidly deteriorated.

Each unit of the 5th Army has become a trading market, not only openly reselling food, but also engaging in the business of buying and selling weapons and ammunition, and even secretly selling opium.

The Japanese intelligence officers only needed to pretend to be traders to enter and leave the Central Army's defense areas at will.

There are even many troops who are living on empty pay, and some officers have been bribed by the Japanese army.

In short, the Central Army in Zhongtiao Mountain had broken military discipline from top to bottom and was infiltrated by the Japanese army into a sieve.

Although the situation of the 3rd Army is better, it is not much better.

General Tang wanted to improve military discipline, but he was powerless. No matter how he tried to improve military discipline, the general environment within the national army was like this.

Suddenly, General Tang Huaiyuan smelled a dangerous smell in the air and raised his head.

"Da da da…"

"Boom boom boom..."

The next moment, intensive gunshots and explosions suddenly rang out all around.

After a while, the guard battalion commander hurried in with a pistol, his expression full of panic: "Report to the military seat, the headquarters has been attacked, please move the military seat immediately!"

"Why are you panicking?"

"How many Japs were there who attacked the headquarters?"

Tang Huaiyuan frowned and asked in a solemn voice.

"This is unclear at the moment." The guard battalion commander hesitated, "However, judging from the sound of gunfire, the enemy's firepower is very strong."

"We are surrounded by our troops. It is only a small group of Japanese troops who have penetrated in to carry out the attack."

Tang Huaiyuan said: "We only need to hold on for 10 minutes and there will be reinforcements!"

The guard battalion commander burst into tears: "It's better to retreat, military seat. Your safety is the most important. The 3rd Army cannot live without you!"

Seeing the state of the Guards Battalion Commander, Tang Huaiyuan cursed a piece of trash, took the flower trap from the guard next to him, and walked out with the submachine gun in hand.

"Protect the military seat!"

The guard battalion commander quickly shouted and followed behind.

Tang Huaiyuan came outside with a submachine gun and soon exchanged fire with the Japanese army.

When the soldiers in the guard camp saw the arrival of the commander, their morale was boosted, and they bravely charged towards the Japanese with bayonets in hand while shouting to kill.

But soon, there was a burst of gunfire at night, the soldiers fell down one after another, and the guard battalion commander was also killed, with a bullet passing through his heart.

An atmosphere of terror enveloped the attacking troops, and the soldiers retreated like a tide.

Many more soldiers fell during the retreat.

Commander Tang hurriedly hid behind the millstone and wiped away the cold sweat. After fighting for so many years, he had never seen such a powerful Japanese army.

Through the firelight caused by the explosion of grenades or artillery shells, Commander Tang saw that this group of Japanese soldiers had a strange posture. One hand was holding a submachine gun pointing straight ahead, and the other hand was holding a shell gun. Fireworks were puffing out from the muzzle. Their bodies were full of magazines and their belts were full of ammunition.

There was a sheathed dagger hanging on it, and the steel helmet on his head didn't even reflect at all in the moonlight.

Damn it, it's strange, after fighting the Japanese army for so many years, I have never seen a Japanese who didn't use 38 caps.

Before he could think about it, a soldier hurried over and reported: "Commander, the Japanese are coming up from the cliff behind!"

As expected, intensive gunfire rang out from behind, and the Japanese cut off their retreat.

"Boom!"

The enemy's grenade fired, and two grenades landed on the grinding plate with a strange scream.

"Commander, be careful!"

The guard quickly pressed his body against Commander Tang's body.

"Boom!" The explosion caused rubble to fall, and the guard had already fallen into a pool of blood.

Commander Tang was secretly shocked. The little Japs were really accurate. The first two rounds of grenades hit the same spot.

The soldiers around him fell one after another. Commander Tang asked another guard to carry the injured guard on his back, and then shouted: "Retreat!"

However, where can we retreat to?

The front and rear routes were completely blocked, and the Japanese army had occupied the surrounding commanding heights and conducted a fire blockade.

After Yamamoto's special agent team rushed the Japanese soldiers to the headquarters, in order to shorten the fighting time, they frantically fired poison gas bombs with grenade launchers.

The soldiers of the national army were poisoned and fell down one after another. The Japanese soldiers wore gas masks and easily broke into the headquarters to start harvesting.

General Tang's last thought was that I, a great lieutenant general of the Chinese Army, must not die at the hands of a little Japanese.

At the last moment, Commander Tang took off his gas mask, raised his gun and committed suicide, tragically martyring his country.

Then, the Japanese 41st Division attacked across the board.

After a fierce battle in the middle of the night, the defense line of the National Army's 3rd Army, which had lost its command system, quickly collapsed.

Not only were the 5th Army and the 14th Army separated, but most of the retreat routes and supply lines of the Chinese army were cut off by the Japanese.

When the news reached Shuangqing City, senior officials of the National Government were in an uproar.

Principal Chang has always had the illusion that he has an advantage over me, and I felt regretful when I heard this news.

When the news reached Taiyuan, the headquarters of the Japanese First Army cheered.

…

Western Shanxi, Luliang Mountain Kenanpo, Second Theater Headquarters.

Yan Baichuan got up early. In fact, he fell asleep very late last night. The Japanese army's raid on Zhongtiao Mountain scared him badly.

My dearest mother, the Japanese army openly wanted to attack the Eighth Route Army in southeastern Shanxi, but secretly they built a plank road in Chencang to attack the Central Army in Zhongtiao Mountain.

If the Japanese army's target was the Jinsui Army in Luliang Mountain, without preparation, the Jinsui Army would not be able to stop the Japanese attack.

There is only one result. Although the theater headquarters can cross the Yellow River to the west and retreat, the Jinsui Army's tens of thousands of troops cannot withdraw.

The Japanese are too insidious.

In the past few years, the Japanese army launched many battles to attack Zhongtiao Mountain, but they failed to win.

This time the Central Army in Zhongtiao Mountain was in dire straits.

Just after washing up, Adjutant Yang Xingru hurried in with the telegram in hand and gave a military salute:

"Report to Commander, Chongqing National Government urgent message!"

Yan Baichuan said: "Let me guess, did Principal Chang order me to send troops to relieve the siege of the Central Army?"

"Commander, you are really good at predicting things."

Yang Xingru flattered him and said: "Last night, the 3rd Army of the Central Army's 5th Group Army was wiped out by the Japanese 41st Division. The commander of the 3rd Army, Lieutenant General Tang Huaiyuan, died for his country. Principal Chang is really worried."

Yan Baichuan said in a disdainful tone: "Huh, let me tell you, Principal Chang is doing this on his own. Who asked him to put Wei Lihuang under house arrest? As a result, the Central Army has no unified command. Now if I am asked to rescue him, what should I do to rescue him?"

Let’s put aside the question of whether we can save them or not. If we pissed off the Japanese army, after the Japanese army has dealt with the Central Army, why don’t we backhand and attack the Shanxi-Sui Army?

The Japanese army will only look for soft persimmons to pinch. If they hit a hard wall on the Eighth Route, they will cause trouble for the Central Army. Perhaps the next one will be the Shanxi-Sui Army.

Yang Xingru said casually: "Commander, maybe there is no need to go to so much trouble. The Japanese spies contacted the intelligence department this morning and informed us to take over the counties in southeastern Shanxi. This is the list of counties."

After speaking, Yang Xingru handed a list of county towns to Yan Baichuan's hand.

Yan Baichuan took it and took a look, narrowing his eyes slightly. There were actually more than a dozen county towns above, and some of them were even in the hinterland of the Eighth Route Army.

Yan Baichuan asked: "Xingru, what do you think?"

"This is because the Japanese army is afraid that the Eighth Route Army will take the opportunity to capture these county towns. Although the strength of the Eighth Route Army is greatly reduced, the main force of the Japanese army is not there. The Eighth Route Army is equipped with a lot of mountain and field artillery. It should not be difficult to capture these county towns."

Yang Xingru analyzed: "The Japanese army's move was firstly to prevent these counties from falling into the hands of the Eighth Route Army, and secondly to create a wedge between the Jinsui Army and the Eighth Route Army."

This sentence was said by Yan Baichuan: "The third is that when the Japanese army finishes cleaning up the Central Army and turns back, it will be easier to recapture these counties from our hands."

Yang Xingru asked: "Commander, do you mean not to accept these counties?"

"No, we have to take them over. After taking over these counties, on the one hand, we can report to Principal Chang." Yan Baichuan said, "On the other hand, you can arrange a press conference, invite more reporters, and bring the Shanxi-Sui Army to Shanxi."
To be continued...