The chief of staff of the Japanese Army's North China Front Headquarters had just received a call from the aviation unit and looked puzzled.
There was nothing strange about Yixian County, and there was no sign of any battle. It was still under the control of the imperial army.
This is strange.
If Yixian was not attacked, then why didn't they answer calls from the headquarters and didn't even respond to telegrams.
The chief of staff couldn't figure it out, so he went to the commander with doubts to see if he had a reason to explain the problem.
"Something must have happened in Yi County!"
After listening to the report, the commander relied on his military intuition and said with certainty.
The chief of staff was frightened by these words. He didn't understand why the commander was so sure. Did the aviation pilots get it wrong?
The commander doesn't care what his subordinates think.
After talking about the results of your judgment, start to talk about the reasons for your judgment.
"Lieutenant Miki didn't have the courage to teach him several times and didn't reply to the telegram from the headquarters. This is one of them."
"The chances of the telephone and telegraph machine breaking down at the same time are too low, and the garrison also has a reserve radio station. Although the power is very small and it cannot receive telegrams from the headquarters, telegrams from neighboring counties can definitely be received."
"But the telegrams sent by these counties to Yi County and the hopes from the headquarters all came to nothing without any response. This is the second reason!"
"The third reason: Even if all the radio stations and telephones are broken, Yixian County will take the initiative to send people out to contact the headquarters instead of waiting for the headquarters to send people to contact them."
"I believe Miki still has this bit of military knowledge, otherwise he wouldn't have become the captain of the Lieutenant Colonel!"
After listening to the commander's analysis, the chief of staff also began to have doubts, but when he thought of the aviation report, this suspicion was immediately dispelled.
Comparing analysis and judgment, he believed in the pilot's eyes more, they would not lie.
Frowning, he asked, "Your Excellency, Commander, if something really happened in Yi County, what was the situation reported to us by the aviation force?"
"The plane they sent over was a reconnaissance plane. The pilot flew around Yixian County at low altitude several times. If something really happened in Yixian County, what would they definitely see?"
"But it turned out that everything was normal. Not only were the imperial troops patrolling the city walls, but the imperial army's flags were also hung on the city walls. There was no sign of any fighting in the city. Could it be that the pilot was wrong."
The commander shook his head and replied: "It is impossible to see wrongly, but it is possible that what they saw is an illusion."
After taking a look at the time, he continued: "The messengers we sent to Yixian County should have news soon. When these messengers come back, all the mysteries will be revealed."
"You should contact the county closest to Yi County now and ask them to report it as soon as they have any news."
In the next two hours, the chief of staff called these counties every ten minutes, and the result was without exception: the messengers had not returned yet.
At this time, the chief of staff also began to agree with the commander's judgment: something happened in Yixian County.
The messengers sent to Yixian County all rode war horses. Under normal circumstances, they could have returned an hour ago and traveled back and forth between Yixian County.
If there's an emergency, just drive as fast as you can and you'll be back in two hours.
It is now an hour later than the normal march. None of these people have gone back. There is only one possibility: something happened to them in Yixian County.
Thinking of this, the chief of staff put down the phone decisively and rushed into the commander's office in a hurry.
"Your Excellency, Commander, something must have happened in Yixian County. All the messengers we sent to Yixian County have not been heard from, and no one has returned."
"That's a big problem!" the commander replied with a frown.
"There are more than 3,000 troops stationed in Yixian County. If they can wipe out so many troops in one night, without even a single person running out to report for help, then the enemies attacking Yixian County must be very terrifying, very powerful, and they are also very well hidden.
."
"If I'm not wrong: the images seen by the reconnaissance plane in Yixian were all illusions deliberately created by the enemy to confuse us, delay time, and make us unclear about what happened in Yixian."
"Immediately give an order to all the strongholds and counties around Yixian County: dispatch all scouts and intelligence personnel to conduct investigations deep into Yixian County. I want to find out who is so capable."
The chief of staff analyzed: "Except for the Eighth Route Army, there are no other large-scale anti-Japanese armed forces around Yixian County."
"If Yixian is really occupied by them, the imperial army must send troops as soon as possible to recapture Yixian."
"Yixian County is stuck between Peiping and Baoding. Many supplies going south from Beiping have to pass through Yixian County and must not fall into the hands of the Eighth Route Army."
"My humble suggestion: mobilize troops from nearby counties and strongholds now, march quickly towards Yixian, and take advantage of the enemy's unstable foothold to recapture Yixian."
The commander thought for a moment and objected: "No, we must first understand the situation before we can send troops."
"If the enemy attacks Yixian, it is false, but it is true to send reinforcements."
"If the troops rush over recklessly, they will definitely fall into the enemy's trap, and our losses will be too great."
The chief of staff was shocked, and said with admiration and compliment: "Your Majesty, Commander, you are very wise. You are very considerate. It is too imprudent to hold such a low position."
"Surrounding a point for reinforcements has always been a common tactic used by the Eighth Route Army. We cannot rule out that they will repeat their old tactics."
"I'll give you the order right now."
In a mountainous area nearly 40 kilometers away from Yi County, an independent regiment of the Eighth Route Army has been operating here for almost two years.
Because it was too close to Peiping, the heart of the Japanese North China Front, the development of the army has been very slow.
Although the number of troops has increased from more than 300 at the beginning to 1,300 now, which is a full four times, due to the lack of weapons and ammunition, the independent regiment's combat effectiveness has always been very poor, and it can only fight guerrillas in the mountains.
,
The regiment leader was an old Red Army soldier, and he had been thinking about how to break out of the mountains and extend his base to more fertile areas outside the mountains.
However, the weapons in the regiment were seriously insufficient: two men could only carry one gun, and there were only less than twenty rounds of ammunition. There were only six light machine guns and not one heavy machine gun. With weapons and ammunition, they would definitely not be able to defeat the Japanese and puppet troops outside the mountains.
The leader can only find another way to train his troops diligently and make up for his equipment disadvantages through strong combat effectiveness.
Moreover, there is another benefit to training the troops well. After the troops break out of the mountains in the future, the soldiers will be able to form combat effectiveness with the captured weapons without having to retrain.
"Report to the regiment leader, superior order!" A soldier found the regiment leader who was training the troops and reported with a heavy breath.
After tearing open the envelope and reading the order for less than two minutes, a smile appeared on his face.
After putting away the order, he ordered the guard behind him: "Notify the political commissar, chief of staff, and all battalion and company commanders immediately, and rush to the regiment headquarters for a meeting before dark."
"Also, order the guard company to assemble immediately for combat missions."
"I'll ask the political commissar to send them two boxes of bullets later."
There are still fifteen kilometers away from the station on the mountain road, and a transport team is marching hard into the mountains.
In order to avoid exposing the target, they chose unmarked paths and mountain roads as much as possible.
After dozens of kilometers, each soldier's uniform was torn open by bushes, and two mules and horses fell to death while passing through a ravine.
Fortunately, the weapons and ammunition on the mules and horses were fine, so each soldier carried a little on his back and continued to move forward.
"Company Commander, there is someone in front! Fortunately, it is the independent group we are looking for!" The guard squad leader who opened the way ran back and reported.
These are two platoons of the second battalion's supply company, ordered to escort a batch of weapons and ammunition to support the independent regiment.
The company commander was very cautious, thought for a moment and ordered: "The troops are hiding and getting ready for battle. The security squad will come up to meet them and we will come out after confirming their identities."
As soon as the words were spoken, the baggage company, which had been trained according to the standards of the main force, began to move.
After the mules and horses were handed over to a few soldiers, the others quickly picked up their rifles, dispersed, and hid in the surrounding bushes.
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