After the old Japanese Okamura put pressure on high-level military officers at all levels in North China, the operations of various Japanese troops accelerated.
Finally, it’s time for a life-and-death contest between the two sides.
For a long time, among the Japanese troops stationed in China, except for the Kwantung Army, among all front armies, the North China Front Army has always been the strongest.
As the commander-in-chief of North China this time, Okamura is determined to inflict heavy losses on the Eighth Route Army troops in Shandong and Shanxi, completely destroy the Eighth Route Army's Jizhong Military Region, destroy the Eighth Route Army's granaries, and completely stabilize the rear area through military warfare, so as to consolidate the empire.
The energy gradually shifted to the Pacific battlefield.
To this end, the Japanese army spent a considerable amount of manpower and material resources, preparing for months in advance for the conspiracy that eventually targeted the Eighth Route Army's Jizhong Military Region, and finally launched an unprecedented May Day raid.
In this major sweep, the Japanese North China Front invested an unprecedented amount of troops.
Preliminary estimates include the Twelfth Army originally stationed in Shandong, the First Army stationed in Shanxi, plus the specially strengthened Ushijima Division of the Kwantung Army from China's dispatched troops, as well as the Sixth, Thirteenth and Third Field Divisions
Group.
Plus some various local security forces and Imperial Army troops.
The strength of the Japanese and puppet troops has exceeded 300,000.
This is also quite rare in the history of large-scale operations launched by the Japanese army against China.
You know, even after the Sino-Japanese war broke out, the first battle between Song and Shanghai was fought between the two sides.
The number of troops invested by the Japanese army was only about 300,000.
In the subsequent series of battles with the Central Army on the frontal battlefield, the Japanese army basically did not invest more than 300,000 troops.
For example, in the current Zhejiang-Jiangxi battle that broke out at the same time as the May Day raids, the Japanese army invested only about 100,000 troops.
In other words, the scale of troops deployed by the Japanese North China Front in the May Day raids behind enemy lines was nearly three times the scale of troops deployed in the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Campaign.
It is enough to show the determination of the old Japanese Okamura to completely eliminate the Eighth Route Army!
Japanese First Army Headquarters in Shanxi.
This time, the Shanxi First Army and the Twelfth Army stationed in Shandong carried out large-scale defense zone swaps under the arrangement of Oka Cun to better deal with the Eighth Route Army troops in the occupied areas.
After attending the military meeting held in Okamura from Peiping, the commander of the First Army, Yoshio Iwamatsu, returned to the headquarters and held the same military meeting.
At the meeting that Peiping participated in, Yoshio Iwamatsu was also scolded.
Okamura was completely furious and refused to give face to anyone.
This is something that has almost never happened since Yoshio Iwamatsu took up a high position.
For this reason, the senior officer felt very humiliated.
As usual, he scolded the previous commander of the First Army, Yoshio Shinozuka.
On the other hand, Yoshio Iwamatsu made up his mind. After returning to the First Army, he held a special military meeting and put pressure on officers at all levels at the meeting.
Request to speed up the process of combat.
We must follow the requirements of the Commander-in-Chief and complete the strategic goals of this May Day raid as quickly as possible. We must inflict heavy losses on the Eighth Route Army base areas in Shandong and Shanxi, eliminate the Eighth Route Army's effective combat forces, and at the same time completely destroy the Eighth Route Army's logistics granaries and military depots.
Jizhong Military Region.
"Everyone, at this point in the battle, shame has already been attached to each of you. No one can escape, not even me.
Right now, what the Commander-in-Chief wants to see is the final result, and what I want to see is also the final result.
In recent years, our First Army has frequently fought ineffectively at the hands of the Eighth Route Army, and has almost lost its military prestige. This is the responsibility of the soldiers, but it is also the responsibility of you commanders.
In this May Day raid, if our First Army cannot achieve a special result and completely demonstrate the military might of the Japanese Empire, how can you meet His Majesty the Emperor after the Holy War ends and you return home?"
After the meeting began, Yoshio Iwamatsu first scolded a group of Japanese military officers, and then gave them a bloody injection to boost their morale.
Finally sets the tone.
The units of the First Army have especially strengthened their combat processes and intensified their mopping up efforts against the Eighth Route Army base areas in Shandong. They must complete the sweep of the Eighth Route Army base areas in the shortest possible time.
Then he quickly turned around and encircled Jizhong from the west of Shandong in accordance with the plan of the Commander-in-Chief.
Almost at the same time.
At the headquarters of the Japanese Sixth Field Division, there are also the headquarters of the Ushijima Division of the Kanto Army, the headquarters of the Thirteenth Field Division, and the headquarters of the Third Division.
The Japanese commanders are encouraging generals at all levels to start a final decisive battle with the Eighth Route Army.
At the Supreme Military Conference held in Peiping, the old Japanese Okamura also analyzed the reasons for accelerating the military process:
On the one hand, it is because as the front line extends and the sweep time prolongs, after all, there is a mighty 300,000-strong army, and eating, drinking, and peeing are troublesome.
As the Japanese army gradually moves away from the stable occupied areas, it will definitely increase the burden on logistics.
Once the logistics line is stretched too long, it is easy to be attacked by the Eighth Route Army.
Once the logistics are destroyed, it will be a fatal blow to the Japanese army's huge mopping up force.
It may even lead to the ultimate failure.
On the other hand, the Japanese intelligence department is not a vegetarian. As time goes by, the rainy season will soon enter after May and June.
After the rainy season has completely entered, whether in Shandong, Shanxi or Jizhong, there will be much more rainfall than before.
The area where the two sides fought was in some suburbs and mountainous areas close to the Eighth Route Army base area. There were no convenient cement roads at all. Most of them were dirt roads and mountain roads.
Once heavy rain comes, these dirt roads can easily become muddy.
The muddy road not only makes it difficult for soldiers to march, but also poses a fatal threat to the Japanese army, which has more obvious advantages in mechanization.
Once that happens, the Japanese army's large number of mechanized combat vehicles, including the transportation of baggage troops and artillery troops, will be seriously affected by the muddy roads.
So Okamura has been worried about this problem.
Before that, the reason why Okamura hesitated was because during the operations against the Eighth Route Army base areas in Shandong, Shanxi, and central Hebei, the imperial troops were stubbornly blocked by the Eighth Route Army.
In recent years, the equipment level of the Eighth Route Army has been continuously improved, and its combat effectiveness has become significantly stronger, and it has also caused a lot of casualties to the imperial troops.
Okamura also felt distressed about this. He was still unable to make up his mind and could not give orders to all the troops to launch an attack at all costs.
This is exactly what the former enemy general headquarters boss and deputy chief of staff said in the Eighth Route Army.
——"The Japs are now like a cunning big fish that wants to take the bait but never dares to take the bait. After all, it lacks some special stimulation, a fuse that can stimulate them to bite hard!" Until a series of events that frightened the Japanese army finally emerged.
Even the supreme commander Okamura couldn't sit still.
Not to mention the lower-level Japanese commanders at all levels.
The May Day raids have been going on for more than half a month since they were launched. The Japanese army suffered heavy casualties, but they still have the strength to fight a decisive battle.
Okamura is also a bit stuck now. If he had known that this May Day raid would be so difficult, he would not have thought about premeditating this battle plan.
However, it's too late to say anything now. We can't just withdraw the troops in such a dejected manner without even achieving the final strategic goal, right?
until the fuse appears.
Okamura finally burst out in anger.
The Eighth Route Army Huangyadong Arsenal with amazing output.
The Eighth Route Army's armored units appeared in the western Inner Mongolia region with powerful combat capabilities.
Wuchagou Airport was completely looted, and it was even suspected that a large number of fighter jets were captured by the Eighth Route Army.
Jizhong Military Region, the logistics granary of the Eighth Route Army with astonishing output.
Large oil fields in the EEDS basin...
……
Each one of these piles stimulated the big fish Okamura to bite the hook fiercely.
News came from the intelligence department that the main armored force of the Eighth Route Army seemed to have been transferred to the rear areas of Yan'an.
In Yan'an, the Eighth Route Army even held a review ceremony for its armored units. In addition, the commanders of the Eighth Route Army's mobile units, Kong Jie and Li Yunlong, also made an appearance in Yan'an.
This made Okamura secretly happy, maybe his chance had come.
Then, the high-ranking commander-in-chief of the Japanese army in North China felt very humiliated.
As the majestic commander-in-chief, when he considered the overall situation of the war, he actually wanted to be afraid of a small mobile force of the Eighth Route Army, and even wanted to be afraid of the two mere bumpkin generals of the Eighth Route Army.
This is simply unreasonable!
But when I thought about it, the armored troops of the Eighth Route Army led by Kong Jie and Li Yunlong defeated two imperial tank troops in the western Inner Mongolia area.
Thinking again of the heavy losses that a detachment of the Eighth Route Army and the various units of the Iron Triangle had caused to the North China Front Army over the past few years.
Datong was attacked by surprise.
The area in central Shandong and western Shandong was directly penetrated.
Even the headquarters in Peiping was almost threatened by a surprise attack by the Eighth Route Army's mobile troops.
Okamura finally breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.
The next decisive battle would have been much smoother without the participation of the Eighth Route Army mobile troops and the two bastards Kong Jie and Li Yunlong!
Especially this damn Kong Jie, he is simply the nemesis of the Japanese Empire!
With this in mind, Okamura decided to give it a go. At this time, his gambler's interest was once again revealed. He would rather suffer certain casualties of the imperial troops, but also completely severely damage the Eighth Route Army troops in Shandong and Shanxi, and at the same time destroy the Eighth Route Army's Hebei Army.
Central Military District.
In addition, the large-scale oil mine developed by the Eighth Route Army in the EEDS Basin was seized.
Orders were issued quickly.
Feeling the great determination of the Commander-in-Chief, commanders at all levels of the Japanese North China Front also gritted their teeth and commanded to the death.
Headquarters of the Japanese Sixth Field Division.
Kazuo Sekimura, commander of the Japanese Division, led his troops to launch an offensive in the Yangquan area.
The troops led by this old devil did not originally belong to the order of battle of the North China Front.
Regarding the North China Front Army, especially in recent years, there have been frequent reports that the North China Front Army has been troubled by the Eighth Route Army with backward equipment and scarce ammunition in the occupied areas.
I don’t look down on Kazuo Sekimura.
In his opinion, the mere Tubal troops, who were struggling to survive in the cracks of the occupied areas, were able to torment the North China Front Army in such a miserable manner that they almost lost the face of the Japanese Empire.
This old devil in Guancun is very arrogant. He led the Sixth Division back then and even achieved a pretty good record in the Battle of Songhu.
In his view, even in the Battle of Songhu, the first large-scale battle between China and Japan, China invested its most elite German weapon divisions, and the combat effectiveness was nothing more than this.
Since then, he has not paid any attention to other armed forces in China.
I learned that the most noisy area in the area occupied by the North China Front Army was the Eighth Route Army troops in the Taihang area, and the most troublesome among the Eighth Route Army units in the Taihang area was the defense area of the Northern Shanxi Iron Triangle.
The arrogant Guancun did not hesitate to choose this so-called Iron Triangle of the Eighth Route Army as his opponent.
"Please rest assured, Commander-in-Chief, within a week, our army will be able to completely wipe out the Eighth Route Army's Shanxi-Northern Iron Triangle Base Area, and once again create the so-called new regiment of the Eighth Route Army. The independent regiment also has a main force, completely eliminating the serious worries for Your Excellency, Commander!" These were the words that the old devil Guancun solemnly swore when he accepted the order.
As for the reminders from some old comrades in the North China Front and the special instructions from Commander-in-Chief Okamura, he had long forgotten them.
Finally, the battle between the Japanese Sixth Field Division and the Iron Triangle Force of the Eighth Route Army officially began in the Yangquan area.
At the same time, Kong Jie and Li Yunlong were leading the mobile troops directly under Taihang and an armored regiment fighting in the western Inner Mongolia region!
The Iron Triangle's unified counter-mopping operations are commanded by generals such as Ding Wei, Xu Guoan, and Li Wenjie.
The three parties cooperated, relying on the solid defenses specially built in the Iron Triangle area over the years, and taking advantage of the outstanding stability of the Iron Triangle defense system to launch a blockade.
Only then did the old devil Guancun finally realize that his opponent was indeed a tough nut to crack.
A week passed quickly. According to Guancun's plan, he was to completely penetrate the iron triangle defense area in northern Shanxi and severely damage the main force of the Eighth Route Army in the iron triangle.
As a result, the reality was very harsh. The vanguard of his Sixth Division could not even break through 1/3 of the iron triangle defense zone.
However, this old devil can be considered lucky.
At this time, Ding Wei, who was in command, was executing weekly tactics in accordance with the orders of his superiors.
Before the Japanese army's offensive energy was completely exhausted and they entered a state of exhaustion, although there was a certain degree of blocking operations, they generally showed the enemy's weakness, constantly luring the enemy deeper, and using the terrain along the way to launch the attack.
Lay after layer of attacks, boiling frogs in warm water, slowly consumed the Japanese army's manpower and material resources.
This also gave Guancun the old man an illusion. Although the Eighth Route Army, especially the main force of the so-called Iron Triangle Eighth Route Army, was a hard nut to crack, it could still be cracked slowly after all.
Although his Sixth Division advanced slowly, the casualties were still within control.
It can be seen from this that the so-called Iron Triangle of the Eighth Route Army is nothing more than that.
How would he know what Ding Wei at the Iron Triangle Joint Command said.
——"If we want to completely annihilate this group of little Japs, we must first let them taste some sweetness. We must make them think that we are easy to bully, and then we will go deeper step by step.
When the decisive battle finally begins and we fully demonstrate our strength, do you want to run away? Hehe, it’s already too late!”
The decisive battle between the two sides has not yet broken out. The daring Ding Wei is already thinking about how to completely annihilate the Japanese Sixth Field Division...