On 1 May, the devils entangled more than 50,000 Japanese puppet troops, and with the cooperation of the air force, they touched tanks and hundreds of armored vehicles, which were personally commanded by Okamura Ningji, commander of the North China Front, to launch a sweep of the central Hebei region.

In this sweep, the devil troops adopted the tactics of "dragnet" and "grate" tactics in a multi-channel and dense manner, in an attempt to compress the leading organs and main forces of the Eighth Route Army in the hinterland of the base areas where the four counties of Shenxian, Wuqiang, Raoyang, and Anping converge from all directions.

In order to achieve the victory of the encirclement and suppression in central Hebei, the first army of the devils was transferred a lot of troops, coupled with the battle of Zhejiang and Jiangxi prepared by the front line, so that the remaining strength of the first army was not much.

After ordering the 129th Division to guard the base area and prevent the devils from doing anything to the 129th Division, the bosses of the headquarters personally commanded the battle in the central Hebei region.

Liu Gen, who stayed in the division hospital to recuperate from his injuries, couldn't help but find the division commander after learning that the devils had launched an encirclement and suppression campaign in central Hebei, wanting to know more about the specific situation of the anti-encirclement and suppression in central Hebei. The devil has transferred so many troops, it is enough to see that the devil's plan for this encirclement and suppression is very big, and with the personal command of Okamura Ningji, the commander of the North China Front, I am afraid that there will be a lot of trouble in the central Hebei region this time.

After learning that the central Hebei region was swept by the large-scale troops of the devils, the monk who stayed in the division hospital with Liu Gen could not continue to recuperate from his injuries with peace of mind, even if the monk did not know much about the overall situation, but he was sure that the 129th Division would usher in a lot of battles in the future.

The central Hebei region has been surrounded and suppressed by so many devils, and casualties are inevitable, and we can only hope that the casualties will be minimized. Previously, there was a 120th division in the central Hebei region, and the combat effectiveness of the 120th division was not weak, and it was when the devil found out that the 120th division had left the central Hebei region that he would decisively launch a sweep of the central Hebei region.

Liu Gen did not open his mouth to keep the monk, he knew that the monk's injury had not yet recovered, but at such a tense juncture, the monk would definitely be very reluctant to continue to let the monk stay in the division hospital. Liu Gen could understand the state of the monk, and even he himself could not continue to recuperate safely in the division hospital, let alone the monk.

After learning the news that Liu Gen was leaving the division hospital, the division commander did not choose to stop it, if it was in normal times, then he would definitely order Liu Gen to continue to recuperate in the division hospital. But now, the division commander has no idea of letting Liu Gen continue to recuperate from his injuries, and the battle is coming soon, so it would be too wasteful for Liu Gen to continue to stay in the division hospital to recuperate.

Considering that Liu Gen's injuries had not fully recovered, the division commander also asked Liu Gen to stay in the division headquarters and wait for the next order. On weekdays, Liu Gen can also enter and exit the division headquarters at will, allowing him to get in touch with the latest news of the anti-encirclement and suppression in the central Hebei region.

Because the encirclement and suppression organized by the devils this time was too sudden, the troops of the Eighth Route Army in the central Hebei region did not make preparations in advance, and the main force was afraid that there would be a lot of losses. At the same time, in the counties in the central Hebei region, the district cadres were forced to disperse and retire, and the county brigades and district teams could only be forced to break into pieces and go underground. In order to deal with the sweep and encirclement of the devils, the units of the Eighth Route Army also entangled with the devils through various combat methods.

In the central Hebei region, most of them are plains, and there is no danger to defend, so tunnel warfare, mine warfare, sparrow warfare, etc., have become the main combat methods of the Eighth Route Army.

Under the command of Okamura Ninji, commander of the North China Front, the Devil's encirclement and suppression troops continued to build strongholds and dig blockade ditches, thus dividing the central Hebei region and constantly compressing the living space of the Eighth Route Army. In addition, the devil's communication lines in the central Hebei region are developed, so that the devil's troops give full play to their mobile advantages.

In just a few days, the devils successfully occupied more than half of all the county towns and larger towns in the Jizhong base area, and this time the devils' encirclement and suppression action was extremely fast, so that the troops of the Eighth Route Army in the entire Jizhong base area failed to react. Among them, the devils relied on the temporary advantages they had gained to search for anti-Japanese armed forces and anti-Japanese cadres everywhere, search for anti-Japanese materials, and frantically slaughter the anti-Japanese masses.

The devil troops implemented Okamura Ningji's three-light policy, burning, killing and looting in the Jizhong base area, and everywhere the devil troops passed, they were all scorched earth!

The constant bad news from the Jizhong base area made the bosses of the headquarters feel quite heavy, and the devil troops, under the command of Okamura Ningji, gave full play to their own advantages. If the 129th Division is really allowed to fight the devil, then it will definitely not be the opponent of the devil.

In mid-May, the First Army of the Devils stationed in Shanxi made another move, and after seeing that the sweep in the central Hebei region was progressing smoothly, Iwamatsu Yoshio urgently needed to make some achievements.

To this end, the 18 infantry brigades that Iwamatsu Yoshio had previously drawn from various units of the First Army were assembled, and they were ready to launch a sweep of the base area of the Eighth Route Army north of Taihang Mountain. As far as Iwamatsu knows, it is very likely that the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army is located in this area.

During this period, the advance team formed by the devil twitch elite soldiers mentioned that they set off at night for two days, namely the Okawa advance team and the Mashiko advance team!

The Okawa Advance Team was formed by the 224th Wing of the 36th Division of the Japanese Army, and their goal was to attack the headquarters of the 129th Division in the southern area north of Taihang Mountain, all thanks to the intelligence provided by the spies and traitors in the base area. Under the judgment of the devils, they found out the approximate area where the headquarters of the 129th Division was located.

The Mashiko Advance Team is formed by the 9th Squadron of the 223rd Wing of the 36th Division of the Devil's Division, and its combat effectiveness is not weak, including 4 commanders and 102 soldiers including squadron leader Mashiko Shigekuma, and 18 traitor spy translators.

On May 23, the 18 infantry brigades of the First Army of the Devils, together with the puppet army, launched an encirclement and suppression of the base area of the Eighth Route Army north of Taihang Mountain, pointing directly at the area where the 129th Division was located.

As soon as the devil's army was dispatched, the entire 129th Division moved quickly, and after the headquarters special service group took the lead in protecting the headquarters bosses and retreating deeper into the base area, the headquarters of the 129th Division also began to move. In order to attract the attention of the devils and avoid the headquarters being noticed by the devils, the headquarters of the 129th Division did not choose to evacuate with the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army.

Liu Gen also stayed at the headquarters of the 129th Division, and in the next battle with the devil troops in the encirclement and suppression base area, the headquarters of the 129th Division will be in a more front-line position, staying at the division headquarters, which can also give Liu Gen more room to play. No one knows what will happen in this battle, and with Liu Gen's ability, he can influence the victory of a small battle.

Liu Gen stayed in the division headquarters, and the division commander handed over an artillery battalion to him for command, Liu Gen had a great reputation in the 129th Division, and when he took over the artillery battalion, no one stood up against it. The soldiers of the artillery battalion all knew Liu Gen, and they welcomed Liu Gen to take over the artillery battalion.

In just a few days, Liu Gen couldn't perfectly control the artillery battalion, but he didn't care. In Liu Gen's view, the only thing he needs to do to take over the artillery battalion is to provide accurate artillery coordinates to increase the hit rate of the artillery battalion soldiers.

For artillery, the hit rate is always the most important, and only by truly hitting the enemy can the power of artillery be fully utilized.

In order to avoid a repetition of the tragedy in the central Hebei region in the base area of Taihang Mountain, the counterattack of the units of the 129th Division was very strong. There are not so many troops in the northern area of Taihang Mountain to encircle and suppress devils, and the pressure that the 129th Division needs to bear is not too great.

The only thing that is a little troublesome is that in order to ensure the safety of the division headquarters, the headquarters of the 129th Division is being transferred every day.

Due to the progress of the devils in radio communication and monitoring technology, the headquarters and the 129th division headquarters will choose to be silent most of the time during the transfer process, so as to avoid being monitored by the devils to hear the location of the radio station.

Liu Gen, who stayed in the artillery battalion of the division headquarters, was a little worried, the offensive strength of the devil troops on the front line was very strong, even if the troops of the 129th Division continued to block, they still could not stop the advance of the devil sweeping troops, and the only thing they could do was to delay the speed of the advance of the devil sweeping troops.

If the battle continues like this, the artillery battalion of the division headquarters should not have a chance to fight, and Liu Gen knows very well that in order to avoid more attention from the devils, it is impossible for the 129th Division to organize a large-scale battle. And if it is not possible to organize large-scale battles, artillery battalions will naturally not be used.

After all, the combat effectiveness of the artillery battalion is strong, but the target is also too big, if the artillery battalion is really used, it is good to be able to inflict heavy damage on the devil troops, if it is not done, the artillery battalion will be targeted by the devil troops, and it is easy to suffer certain losses.

Just as the cavalry company is the treasure of the independent regiment, the artillery battalion is also the treasure of the 129th division, unless there is really no way, the artillery battalion cannot have any losses. No way, who made the Eighth Route Army poor? Even the 129th Division, which had strong combat effectiveness, could not afford too many losses in the artillery battalion.

In the transfer, the artillery battalion was undoubtedly the most difficult, and the heavy artillery in the artillery battalion was too cumbersome to transfer. And with the current situation, heavy artillery can't be easily dropped, in case of fighting with devils, then it must not be less heavy artillery!

In order to ensure the safety of the artillery battalion during the transfer and keep up with the pace of the division headquarters, Liu Gen could only find a way to find enough animal power to ensure that the artillery battalion could always follow the division headquarters. Even so, the soldiers of the artillery battalion are very hard every day, you know, they also need to carry the disassembled artillery parts and shells to advance.

Even if the fighters of the artillery battalion have long been familiar with such work, their bodies are still somewhat unbearable to carry these things all the time to transfer.

In the early morning of the 24th, in the temporary station of the artillery battalion, Liu Gen rubbed his shoulders vigorously, even if his physical fitness was good, he still couldn't stand it when he carried 100 catties of materials every day. Liu Gen could see that the skin on his shoulder had been worn away, and after simply sprinkling some medicinal powder, Liu Gen covered his wound.

Liu Gen knew that many soldiers in the artillery battalion must be like him, and even said that they would be more serious than himself. With Liu Gen's physical fitness, then the other fighters will definitely be more serious, but unfortunately, even if Liu Gen knows this, there is no way.

I'm afraid that the only thing Liu Gen can do is to find enough traumatic medicine powder and distribute it to the soldiers of the artillery battalion, in the battle, they are artillerymen, and when they are transferred, they all become baggage soldiers, and they need to be transferred with the artillery and supplies of the artillery battalion.

Probably, everyone else felt that the artillery would be very comfortable, but in reality? The artillery is still very hard.

"Bang"

Not far away, a gunshot suddenly rang out, Liu Gen quickly got up and looked in that direction, he could see that the soldiers in that area suddenly moved. Soon, a dense gunfire rang out, and Liu Gen's face became solemn, could it be that a small army of devils had touched here?

Liu Gen no longer had any hesitation, and decisively shouted all the soldiers of the artillery battalion, in fact, many of the soldiers of the artillery battalion had already gotten up, and they slept in their clothes, and they were all vigilant enough when they were resting.

Under the command of Liu Gen, the fighters quickly found cover and at the same time assembled some mortars, as for the heavy artillery, it should not be needed.

The artillery battalion is very important, and what Liu Gen can do before understanding the specific situation is to ensure the safety of the artillery battalion itself and avoid a small devil unit from touching the location of the artillery battalion. Liu Gen kept looking towards the area of the battle, and he found that the firepower of the devil's small army was not strong, and the soldiers of the division headquarters had successfully suppressed the devil's firepower.

Noticing this, Liu Gen's expression became more and more solemn, if there is a small army of devils who can touch the depths of the base area, then there will definitely be a small army of devils who will go deep into the base area. The small devil army that was killed in April made Liu Gen have such an idea for a long time, and now he is not surprised that there is a small devil army that has touched the depths of the base again.

Liu Gen can only hope that the troops of the Eighth Route Army can be vigilant enough against the small devil army, so as to avoid being found by the small devil army, and then too much damage will occur.

The gunfire in the battle area became sparse, but Liu Gen remained vigilant, and the sparse gunfire meant that the small force of the devils was repulsed, not all annihilated. When the small army of devils realizes that they are not the opponent of the Eighth Route Army, they will inevitably choose to flee.

Now Liu Gen can only hope that the fleeing devil small unit will not flee to the direction where the artillery battalion is located, with the strength of the artillery battalion, if it really wants to encounter the devil small unit, then it will be somewhat troublesome to deal with.

"Be vigilant! There is a high probability that the enemy will come in our direction! Liu Gen ordered loudly.

Some of the relaxed fighters became vigilant again. They clenched their rifles in their hands and were ready to fight the enemy. There are fighters who stay next to the assembled mortars, it is better to be ready to fire at any time, in any case, the artillery battalion must not have problems.

In the darkness of the night, dozens of people rushed in the direction of the artillery battalion, their faces flustered but their actions orderly.

"Who?" Liu Gen sensed that someone was coming, and the two pistols tightened their grips.