"Chief of Staff, what you said is very right, but our Baoding County has very important strategic value for our Empire of Japan, and we cannot send troops hastily..." Major General Kitamura Katsuzo immediately changed from his anger just now.
Zhong regained his senses and said.
"Hi, Commander, your analysis is very correct. I just thought about sending troops and ignored our strategic value in Baoding. Please forgive me for my attitude just now." After hearing what Major General Kitamura Katsuzo said, the Chief of Staff couldn't help but
Cold sweat broke out. If it was true as the commander said, this was a conspiracy of the Eighth Route Army. If something really happened in Baoding County... then his future military career... Thinking of this, the chief of staff was frightened.
...
"Chief of Staff, don't be discouraged. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes. Besides, this mistake did not cause us any losses. Okay, Chief of Staff, let's discuss the telegram in my hand...
"Major General Kitamura Shengsan waved the telegram in his hand and walked to the huge map of North China hanging on the wall. He marked the locations of Tang County, Shunping County, and Wangdu County.
"Hi, Commander, according to the statistics of our intelligence department, one and two military divisions among the three military divisions of the Eighth Route Army Independent Division are developing very rapidly. However, only the third division in our Hebei Province has shrunk.
In mountainous areas. As for the reason why we don’t go out for development, it’s these three counties.” The chief of staff said, pointing to the three counties on the map.
"Um, tell me in detail..." After hearing what the chief of staff said, Major General Katsuzo Kitamura became interested.
"Hi, Commander. It's like this. These three counties are just on the edge of the Eighth Route Army's three divisions, blocking the Eighth Route Army's development path outside the mountains. In other words, if the Eighth Route Army wants to leave the mountainous areas and develop outside the mountains, it must pull out
Let’s look at the three counties in front of us.” The chief of staff briefly introduced.
"Well, that's true. Chief of Staff, it seems that there is no conspiracy behind the Eighth Route Army's attack on these three counties. It's just that they have continued to have enough strength in the mountainous areas and want to develop outside the mountains... However, we still have to
For defense, a large amount of military supplies must be stored in Baoding. We cannot afford to lose it..." the commander replied.
"Hi, Commander, I don't think this is a conspiracy. We can definitely send troops to rescue the three counties..." The chief of staff listened to the commander's words and answered with absolute certainty.
"Why?"
"Your Excellency, Commander, according to Matsushita-kun's telegram, there are three regiments of the Eighth Route Army surrounding Shunping County, and there are two regiments of the Eighth Route Army surrounding the other two ready-made Eighth Route Army troops, with a total of five regiments. And according to the display of our intelligence department,
The Eighth Route Army only has three main regiments in the third division. The remaining two regiments are obviously composed of the so-called local troops of the Eighth Route Army. Therefore, I think the Eighth Route Army has used all their wealth this time. We do not need to have
What worries?" the chief of staff analyzed.
"Yo Xi, the chief of staff's analysis is very reasonable. However, there is another possibility, which is the independent division's quick reaction brigade. According to our intelligence, the independent division has a dedicated mobile unit called the quick reaction brigade, and its combat effectiveness is
Very powerful. If they come to help..."
"Yes, Commander, but we don't need to worry about this problem at all. The Eighth Route Army's Quick Response Brigade has at least 5,000 troops. It will take at least several days for him to transfer from Shanxi to our Hebei. Such a large force
It is simply impossible for the mobilization of the Eighth Route Army to be carried out quietly. However, our intelligence department and the air force units that investigate the Eighth Route Army base areas every day have not discovered any large-scale mobilization of the Eighth Route Army. In other words, for more than ten consecutive days, there has not been any
A large-scale force has entered our Hebei province, so we don’t have to worry about the Eighth Route Army’s rapid reaction brigade thousands of miles away.” the chief of staff replied.
"More importantly, if we send troops to rescue Shunping County, there will be a very big benefit?" the chief of staff saw Major General Kitamura Katsuzo smiling and continued.
"Nani, there are still benefits. Chief of Staff, please tell me..."
"It's like this, Your Excellency Commander, this time the Eighth Route Army's three divisions are fully mobilized to attack these three counties. If we send heavy troops to block the Eighth Route Army's retreat into the mountains, then we can unite with the remaining imperial troops in the three counties to eliminate them together.
With these Eighth Route Army troops, we will no longer have the main force of the Eighth Route Army in Hebei from now on. As for the guerrillas in the mountainous areas, they are not worth mentioning." The chief of staff said the most tempting bait.
"Yo Xi, the chief of staff analyzed it very thoroughly. Now I have decided to send troops to rescue Shunping County, and strive to annihilate the main force of the Third Division of the Eighth Route Army huddled in Hebei in one fell swoop, and restore peace to Hebei..." Major General Kitamura Shengsan fiercely
He took a picture of the map hanging on the wall and said affirmatively.
"Hi, your Excellency, Commander, is wise. I believe that under the command of Your Excellency, Commander, the main force of the Eighth Route Army around Baoding will be completely wiped out by us." The Chief of Staff said with a smile and flattery.
"Yoshi, Chief of Staff, immediately order officers above the captain to come to the headquarters for a meeting. The meeting will be held in five minutes. No one is allowed to be late." Major General Kitamura, who had already made the decision to send troops, immediately ordered.
"Hi, Commander..." After saying that, he saluted a military salute and walked out of the Commander's office.
Five minutes later, when Major General Kitamura Katsuzo walked into the conference room, more than a dozen military officers, large and small, were sitting at the conference table, waiting for his arrival.
"Stand up and salute..." Seeing the commander push open the door and walk into the conference room, the chief of staff shouted loudly to the dozen or so officers in the conference room. Immediately, more than a dozen people stood up together and waited until the commander left.
After sitting down at his own seat, he sat down neatly at the command of the chief of staff.
"I just received news that all the main troops of the Third Division of the Eighth Route Army Independent Division are besieging Shunping County, Tang County, and Wangdu County. Now Shunping County has reached a critical moment of life and death. Therefore, I decided to send troops to rescue Shunping County. At the same time,
Take this opportunity to eliminate the main force of the Eighth Route Army in one fell swoop outside Shunping County and solve our major problem. What do you think of this plan?" Major General Kitamura Shengzo did not hesitate and directly stated the purpose of the meeting.
"Hi, your Excellency, Commander, is wise..."
"Yoshi, now I have decided to send enough troops to reinforce Shunping County. Is there anyone here who volunteers to lead the troops?" Kitamura Shengzo asked, looking at the excited officers.
"Your Excellency, Brigade Commander, I am willing to take my regiment to rescue Shunping County, and at the same time, completely annihilate the main force of the Third Division of the Eighth Route Army, please approve it..." Bantian Lian, who has always been the main force of the brigade,
Captain Sakata stood up under the encouraging eyes of Major General Kitamura.
"Yoshi, the Sakata Regiment is indeed an outstanding officer of the empire. I agree. The commander of the reinforcements this time is Captain Sakata Regiment. In addition to the Sakata Regiment, in order to strengthen the company's firepower, I will give you the artillery brigade.
The two mountain artillery squadrons have a total of 12 mountain artillery. In addition, in order to assist the imperial army in having enough troops to carry out encirclement and suppression, the first and second regiments of the Security Army were personally led by the division commander Wang Deli and followed the captain of the Bantian regiment..." Major General Kitamura Katsuzo pointed out
ordered the several officers in front of him.
"Hi..." The officer who was called stood up and answered almost at the same time. Even the puppet division commander Wang Deli also stood up and answered in the tone of the Japanese army.
"Yo Xi, I hope you all will work together this time to annihilate the main force of the Eighth Route Army's third division. After the meeting, all the expedition troops will assemble immediately and leave the city in twenty minutes..." the brigade leader ordered.
"Hi..." This time all the officers answered together. It wasn't until the brigade leader disappeared from everyone's sight that everyone walked out of the conference room one after another.
Immediately afterwards, the entire Baoding City fell into temporary chaos, and the sound of assembly calls was heard everywhere. Troops began to assemble, replenish ammunition, and check equipment. Soon, after more than ten minutes of chaos, everyone was ready to set off.
All the troops were fully armed and gathered on the highway in the city.
"Your Excellency, Captain, the first and second regiments of the Security Army have been assembled and are waiting for the order to set off..." Puppet Army Division Commander Wang Deli brought the two regiment commanders Peng Degui and Li Qian to Colonel Sakata who was riding on a war horse.
Report to.
"Reporting to your Excellency, the commander of the regiment, the mountain artillery squadron of the artillery brigade has been assembled and is waiting to set off... Soon, Colonel Sakata received the news that all troops were ready.
"Yo Xi, order: The 12th and 2nd regiments of the security army are led by Division Commander Wang Deli. As the vanguard of the entire army, the 1st Brigade will follow closely, the Artillery Brigade, all the baggage troops will be in the middle, the 2nd Brigade, and the 3rd Brigade will be in the rear. The troops will immediately
Let's go..." Sakata ordered loudly on his horse.
"Hi..." Then, the dozen or so officers standing in front of Bantian returned to their respective units. Similarly, Wang Deli, the puppet army division commander, also returned to his unit out of dissatisfaction with Bantian.
"Captain Peng, your 1st regiment is in front. Send a company as the vanguard to walk 500 meters in front of the army to explore the road. The division headquarters artillery company, the guard company in the middle, the second regiment follows closely behind. I follow the guard company and artillery company.
Take action, report anything to me at any time, let's go now..." Returning to the location of his troops, Wang Deli immediately assigned combat tasks to his two regiment commanders.
"Yes, Commander, don't worry..." Commander Peng Degui replied nonchalantly, mounted his horse, ran to his team and started to arrange it. Because, in his eyes, the only people who went on the expedition this time were Japanese.
There are more than 4,000 people, and there are more than 2,000 puppet troops of their own. No matter how courageous the Eighth Route Army is, they dare not make trouble on Grandpa Tai Sui's head...
"Alas... an arrogant soldier must be defeated..." Looking at the indifferent commander Peng Degui, the division commander Wang Deli, who had rich combat experience, shook his head and said to himself.
(When talking about the puppet army, we have to mention the division commander Wang Deli. Before the Japanese army entered Hebei, Wang Deli was a famous bandit in Hebei. He had more than a thousand bandits under his command. The national army at that time carried out many encirclement and suppression campaigns against him.
Not only did Wang Deli not lose any troops, but he also suffered heavy losses... It can be said that several years of life as a bandit gave Wang Deli the ability to lead troops, and he was very familiar with some dangerous atmospheres. When he received the
When giving orders, a sense of crisis constantly hits my brain..."
"Commander, we have more than 6,000 troops this time. Do those Tuba Road dare to touch us? Aren't they afraid of destroying themselves? Commander, you are too worried!" Li Qian, commander of the Second Regiment next to him, saw
The teacher, who looked worried, comforted him with a smile.
"Maybe! I hope my worries are unfounded. In this way, Li Qian, tell the brothers, be careful. If something happens, be smart and don't be too hot-headed. You will really sacrifice your life for the Japanese. The most important thing is
The most important thing is to save your life." Division Commander Wang Deli whispered to Li Qian, his confidant.
"Yes, Commander, I understand. I will tell the brothers right now... Don't worry..." After Li Qian finished speaking, he turned around and walked towards his troops, and conveyed the orders to each puppet one by one.
In the army's ears.
Soon, after the puppet army dispatched a leading company, the troops began to leave Baoding City one after another. Since the entire army exceeded 6,000 people, plus a large number of artillery and baggage troops, the entire army stretched for almost five kilometers.
, when the guard regiment serving as the vanguard walked out of the city gate an hour later, the Japanese rearguard left Baoding City. Of course, everything was investigated by the soldiers of the special operations brigade who had been hiding in the city and outside the city.
It was clear. Just as the Japs were leaving the city, the Japs' troop deployment and equipment had been quietly sent to Liu Hua's temporary headquarters in Shenxian Mountain through the radio.
"Haha, Chief of Staff, the little devil has finally sent out troops. Haha, send a telegram to Commander Wang and ask him to take his time. Don't let me suddenly take down the county seat. But I still want to keep this bait? One
Liu Hua, who was guarding the radio station, responded excitedly after receiving the telegram from the special operations brigade.
"Yes, Commander..."
Soon, after conveying the order, Chief of Staff Li Qing came to the temporary headquarters, and he and Commander Liu Hua began to study the specific strength of the Japanese troops and the adjustments they should make.
"Chief of Staff, the Japanese army's strength is not much different from what we estimated. I just didn't expect that the Japanese army would involve so many artillery units. There is an artillery brigade in a regiment, plus 12 additional mountain cannons. There are many large and small ones.
There are dozens of them..." Liu Hua said with emotion.
Commander, the Japanese artillery is not a problem. Don't forget that when building the fortifications, you specially asked the troops to build two front and rear trenches, and there were also communication trenches connected. I think this was prepared for the Japanese artillery...
Chief of Staff Li Qing said with a smile.
"Haha, I can't hide anything from the Chief of Staff. Whether we can win this time depends on whether the first and second regiments in the third division can quickly eliminate the puppet troops of the two regiments..." Liu Hua asked worriedly
road.
"Commander, don't worry. They have more than 3,000 troops, plus artillery support. There will be no problem. My main concern is not them, but whether our quick reaction brigade can successfully hold the position.
, to prevent the Japs from breaking through, especially those commanding heights, they must be in our hands when the battle begins. Otherwise, we will suffer big losses when the battle begins." Chief of Staff Li Qing replied.
"Chief of Staff, let's not worry here anymore. We must trust our commanders and soldiers. Let's see if there is anything that needs to be improved in the entire ambush circle combined with the enemy's march..." Liu Hua
said.
"Yes, the commander is right. We cannot underestimate the enemy, nor should we worry too much. We must trust our commanders and soldiers. According to intelligence, there is a vanguard company about 500 meters in front of the main Japanese army. By then, this vanguard company will definitely
We no longer have an ambush ring, we must send a troop... to prevent them from escaping back to Baoding and revealing the news of our ambush..." After hearing what the chief of staff said, Liu Hua nodded in agreement, and immediately found out
A mistake made by myself.
"It's true. Our encirclement is only 5,000 meters long, and the main Japanese army's march is almost 5,000 meters away. We almost forgot about the enemy's leading soldiers. Fortunately, the chief of staff reminded us, otherwise, our battle would have been over.
We are all at a loss... Chief of Staff, look at this, our headquarters has two guard companies. It shouldn't be a problem to send one over and one guard company to wipe out one company of puppet troops..." Liu Hua
suggested.
"Okay, I agree, I will send my guard company out..." The chief of staff nodded in agreement, and then the two continued to discuss and added that the entire ambush plan was more perfect...
In this way, during the discussion between the two, two hours passed quickly. According to the latest request from the special operations brigade, the enemy's forward was less than 5 kilometers away from Liu Hua's ambush circle.
, about an hour away. After receiving the news, Liu Hua immediately stopped the discussion with the chief of staff and ordered the troops to start hiding and wait for the arrival of the Japanese army.
"Your Excellency, Captain, this is the first time our regiment has gone out of the city to raid this year. I believe that under the command of Your Excellency, Commander, our entire regiment will definitely achieve fruitful results and eliminate the main force of the Eighth Route Army in one fell swoop...
"The First Battalion Captain who was following Colonel Sakata said flatteringly.
"Yo Xi. This battle does not rely on me alone. It requires everyone's joint efforts. As long as we win this battle, tell the soldiers that there will be many beauties, there will be gold... and there will be promotions.
..." At this time, Colonel Sakata was still dreaming of getting promoted and getting rich because of his will to win this battle. He had no idea that there was a huge encirclement waiting for his arrival.