Yue Weihan pondered for a moment and then said: "Leave one regiment to clean the battlefield, and the other regiments will assemble immediately! Let the leaders of each regiment come to the brigade headquarters immediately for a meeting."
Liu Yi immediately took the order, and within half an hour, more than a dozen regiment leaders, including Liu Tiezhu, Niu Dagen, and Liu Fengsheng, all arrived at the brigade headquarters conference room.
Yue Weihan did not say any nonsense and directly ordered: "Liu Tiezhu!"
Liu Tiezhu, the captain of the special operations brigade, stood up quickly and said loudly: "Yes!"
Yue Weihan said: "Lead the special operations brigade and set out for Shijiazhuang overnight. I will only give you one day and two nights. You must sneak into Shijiazhuang before the early morning of the day after tomorrow and be prepared to respond!"
"Yes." Liu Tiezhu agreed without hesitation.
It is four hundred miles from Qinghe County to Shijiazhuang. It would take at least four days to march with light equipment. If there is heavy equipment, it will take five days at the fastest. But for this group of monsters from the special operations brigade, a day, two nights and thirty
Six hours is enough. If the extreme march is carried out, the special operations brigade can even march 500 miles in thirty-six hours!
Yue Weihan nodded and said: "Cao Xinglong!"
Cao Xinglong stood up quickly and said loudly: "Yes!"
Yue Weihan said: "You will take command of the 2nd Independent Regiment after it cleans the battlefield. Your mission is to stay in Qinghe County and create the illusion that the main force of our Baoshan Brigade is still in Qinghe County! In short, we must not let the reconnaissance planes of the Japs discover us in Baoshan.
The brigade has left Qinghe County. If there is insufficient manpower, you can ask the Qinghe County Brigade of the Eighth Route Army for help."
"Yes." Cao Xinglong said without hesitation, "This humble position guarantees the completion of the mission."
Yue Weihan's sharp eyes passed over the faces of the other regiments and battalion commanders, and he shouted solemnly: "The rest of the troops!"
There were more than a dozen remaining group leaders including Niu Dagen. Liu Fengsheng quickly stood up to attention and responded loudly: "Yes!"
Yue Weihan snorted and said: "Bring enough ammunition and three days of dry food, and set off for Shijiazhuang overnight. Remember, all troops must act separately, pay attention to the air at all times, and try not to let the Japanese reconnaissance planes discover your whereabouts. In addition, I only
I’ll give you three days. All troops must arrive in Shijiazhuang before dawn on the fourth day!”
"Yes!" The infantry regiment commanders, Liu Fengsheng and Niu Dagen all agreed with a bang.
If the infantry marches lightly, it is not a big problem to march 400 miles in three days, and it is even easier for the cavalry battalion.
Although the artillery battalion has a lot of heavy equipment, the Baoshan Brigade has now officially formed a baggage regiment, and has a full twenty trucks. Dragging artillery to march will definitely not be a problem. Of course, trucks and artillery must not march openly during the day.
, we can only move at night, but fortunately at the speed of the truck, it shouldn't be a problem to cover 400 miles in three nights.
…………
Peiping, Japanese North China Front Headquarters.
In the dead of night, Shouichi in the temple was writing and splashing ink, when suddenly there was the sound of hurried footsteps outside the door. When he looked up quickly, he saw the Chief of Staff of the Front Army Sasaki Daichi had walked in with a stern expression. He immediately put his feet back and stood at attention and said: "Your Excellency, General, just now
Received a farewell message from Shiro Segawa, commander of the 8th Independent Composite Brigade!"
"What?" Temple Shouichi paused suddenly with the brush in his hand and said in disbelief, "Farewell message?"
"Hai." Sasaki lowered his head suddenly and said solemnly, "The 8th independent mixed brigade was collectively broken into pieces in Qinghe County, southern Hebei Province half an hour ago!"
"The collective jade is broken!?" Shouichi in the temple became more and more frightened!
You know, this is not an infantry brigade, but an entire garrison brigade!
How many elite troops do the Chinese have to assemble if they want to kill the Segawa Brigade within two hours? Although the Chinese local armed forces in southern Hebei are rampant, the only troops with real combat effectiveness are the two remnants of Shi Yousan and Gao Shuxun.
It's just a division, with only three to five thousand men at full strength, how can it possibly defeat the Segawa Brigade?
Until this moment, the old devil Shouyi in the temple did not know that Yue Weihan had arrived in southern Hebei.
Shiro Segawa did not report his suspicion to the front army headquarters. On the one hand, it was because it was just speculation by him and Minetaro Yoshida. There was no definite proof that Yue Weihan had fled to southern Hebei with the remnants of the Baoshan Brigade. On the other hand,
, Segawa Shiro also had some selfish motives. He wanted to crush the Baoshan Brigade first, and then report to the front army headquarters, so that he could take all the credit.
In addition, the commander of the Second Army in Shandong, Nishio Shouzou, constantly reported to Peking that the activities of the remnants of the Baoshan Brigade in southern Shandong were very rampant. This created an illusion to Temple Shouichi and the North China Front Army Headquarters that Yue Weihan and
The remnants of the Baoshan Brigade have been operating in southern Shandong. Although the rebel forces in southern Hebei have been rampant recently, they are all local armed forces.
Sasaki said with a solemn expression: "Your Excellency, General, there is a very bad inference about your humble position."
"Very bad judgment?" Terauchi Shouyi's eyebrows jumped and he said in a deep voice, "Sasaki-kun, please tell me."
"Hai." Sasaki suddenly lowered his head and said in a deep voice, "Your Excellency, General, I suspect that Yue Weihan has led the remnants of the Baoshan Brigade to secretly sneak into southern Hebei Province, and it should be Yue Weihan's remnants of the Baoshan Brigade that caused the collective destruction of the Segawa Brigade.
! Because apart from Yue Weihan and the Baoshan Brigade, I really can’t think of anyone else or any other troops who can kill the Segawa Brigade in less than half a day! This is an entire garrison brigade!
"
"Yes." Terauchi Shou nodded and said, "Sasaki-kun, your analysis makes sense."
Although he received the affirmation of Juichi Terauchi, Sasaki Toichi's face showed no proud expression at all, and he said in a solemn tone: "If Yue Weihan has really led the remnants of the Baoshan Brigade to southern Hebei, then we must improve
Be vigilant, especially on the Pinghan-Hankou Railway, there must be no mistakes!"
"Yeah." Terauchi Shouichi nodded solemnly, "Then, do you have any good suggestions?"
Sasaki said in a deep voice: "The Segawa Brigade was collectively destroyed in less than half a day, which shows that the Baoshan Brigade did not suffer substantial heavy losses. From this, it can be inferred that the independent mixed 11th Brigade stationed in Baoding alone
The regiment is definitely not up to the task of guarding the Ping-Han Railway. I suggest that the 20th Division of the First Army stationed in Shanxi be transferred to Handan!"
"Transfer the 20th Division to Handan?" Temple Shouyi frowned, "But in this way, there will only be three independent brigades in Shanxi, the 3rd, 9th, and 16th. Once the Jinsui of Yanxi Mountain
If the army and Wei Lihuang's Central Army take the opportunity to counterattack, then the entire Shanxi Province is likely to be completely lost, and the empire will lose its huge coal base."
At this time, the Japanese garrison strength in North China was already quite empty.
In addition to the dozen independent mixed brigades that have just been formed, Bunzaburo Kawagishi's 20th Division is already the only field division stationed in the rear! The 20th Division is one of the seventeen permanent divisions of the Japanese army.
With the 20th Division in charge, Shanxi will be fine, but once the 20th Division leaves, it will be hard to say what will happen to Shanxi.
Sasaki Toichi: "The success or failure of the Battle of Wuhan is related to the foundation of the empire. As long as the smooth flow of the Ping-Han Railway can be guaranteed and the Central China Front Army can win the Battle of Wuhan, the empire will achieve a decisive victory in the Sino-Japanese War. At that time, the entire Chinese government will
If you surrender, won’t all the coal in Shanxi belong to the empire?”
"Yo Xi." Temple Shouichi finally made up his mind and said, "Order that the 20th Division immediately move to Handan!"
Sasaki thought for a while and then said: "Your Excellency, General, as a precaution, the reconnaissance aircraft of the Aviation Corps must conduct aerial reconnaissance of the entire southern Hebei region during the day in the past few days. At the same time, the military police stationed in Shijiazhuang, Baoding, Tianjin and other places must
The agents of the Special High School Division should also step up their activities and try their best to grasp the exact whereabouts of the Baoshan Brigade!"
"Yoshi." Terauchi Juichi nodded happily, "Sasaki-kun, I leave this to you."
"Hai." Sasaki suddenly lowered his head and said solemnly, "This humble position will never disappoint His Majesty the General's expectations." After saying that, Sasaki turned around and walked away.
…………
On the Shiji Highway, Yue Weihan was marching forward with the troops directly under the Baoshan Brigade.
The old guard battalion led by Hua Han had been expanded into a regiment, so Yue Weihan transferred some veterans from each regiment and reorganized the guard battalion, with Tang Dashan as the battalion commander. In addition to the newly formed guard battalion, the troops directly under the Baoshan Brigade also
There is a health team, a special service team and a communications team, of which the communications team is under the jurisdiction of the communications section, reconnaissance section and intelligence section.
Liu Yi ran a few steps and came to Yue Weihan's side. He panted violently and said, "Sergeant, you see it's almost dawn, and the brothers are all exhausted. Isn't it time to take a rest?"
Yue Weihan raised his head to look at the sky, and saw that the eastern sky had already revealed a hint of fish belly white, but it was still at least half an hour before it would get bright. He turned back to Tang Dashan and said: "Datang, order the troops to hold on for another half hour. After half an hour,
I guess we can rush to Chuiyang Town and rest until we get there!"
"Yes." Tang Dashan agreed loudly and immediately conveyed the order.
Liu Yi could only smile bitterly in return, and had no choice but to grit his teeth and continue running to follow up.
Half an hour later, the troops entered Chuiyang Town, and Yue Weihan immediately ordered them to enter the town to rest and recuperate.
After less than ten minutes of rest, Gao Jingwu, the new intelligence section chief of the Baoshan Brigade, hurriedly came to Yue Weihan and said solemnly: "Brigade seat, I have just intercepted an important piece of information. The 20th Division of the Japanese Second Army stationed in Shanxi is very dangerous."
It may start from Taiyuan this morning and move to Handan in southern Hebei!"
"Um!?"
"What? The 20th Division?"
Yue Weihan's expression suddenly changed slightly, and Liu Yi's expression changed even more. The 20th Division is one of the seventeen most elite permanent divisions of the Japanese army, and since it set foot on the Chinese battlefield, the 20th Division is one of the few that has not suffered
One of the elite divisions that has been severely damaged, a large number of veterans are still there, and its combat effectiveness cannot be underestimated!
Even at its peak, the Baoshan Brigade could never compete with the 20th Division!
Now, there are only more than 6,000 veterans left in the Baoshan Brigade, and the remaining more than 30,000 people are all untrained rabble with poor equipment. With this little wealth, there is absolutely no chance of winning against the 20th Division.