In the Japanese military headquarters, the atmosphere was solemn.

All the Japanese generals knew that this battle could not be compared with the previous battles of Songhu, Nanjing, and Xuzhou in terms of scale and number of troops invested, but its importance was not much lower than that of these battles!

On the surface, this battle was fought because Commander Huang had nearly 100,000 troops stationed at Pingtongguan, which was like a fish in their throats, and as long as they took the Pingtongguan fortress in this battle, they could break the passage between the northwest and Wuhan in one fell swoop, thus connecting the occupied areas.

But in reality, this was indeed the purpose of the Japanese army.

But now, the greater purpose of the Japanese army in this battle is by no means so!

Their main purpose is to break this area, Chongqing and Yan'an faintly show a situation of defending each other, relying on each other, attacking and defending the alliance!

If such a situation lasts too long, starting a war against the empire in advance and dividing and encircling the two sides, the strategies of each defeat will be extremely damaging!

Therefore, even if the timing of this battle still does not seem to be too ripe, Terauchi Shouichi, under the strong advice of Lieutenant General Okamura Ninji and Yoshikawa Sadasa, had to immediately launch an offensive against Heitongguan!

Thinking that the secret service's continuous infiltration of Pingtongguan has been completely eradicated by Pingtongguan, and because it has been countered by Cai Shuncheng, Jiang attaches unprecedented importance to Pingtongguan, and all kinds of materials are preferred to supply Pingtongguan......

Now, the troops and materials of Pingtongguan are at an unprecedented peak......

The Imperial Army's attack on Pingtongguan this time can only rely on hard power to fight the defenders of Pingtongguan, and I don't know how many Imperial warriors will be buried in China and will never be able to return to their hometown......

Shouichi Terauchi had a burst of liver pain, and the back tooth socket that the guy named Zhang Ran hated itched!

Because everything here has become what it is today, whether it is the elimination of the spy forces that infiltrated Pingtongguan, Cai Shuncheng was killed, and then Jiang captured him as a typical model and then wantonly resupplied Pingtongguan, as well as the establishment of a mutually dependent offensive and defensive alliance between Commander Huang of Pingtongguan and the Eighth Road......

Almost everything is directly related to this guy named Zhang Ran!

If you add to that the big and small battles that the Imperial team had suffered heavy losses on the Lingjiang front line before......

"Damn it, the crimes he has committed against the Empire are too numerous to mention!"

Thinking of this, Terauchi Shouichi simply gritted his steel teeth, and said in his heart that he couldn't understand how a small guerrilla detachment leader, who could mobilize no more than one or two thousand people, could rely on his own strength to deteriorate the situation here to such an extent that it was difficult for the empire to ride a tiger, and let himself know that once this battle started, it would be a situation where 1,000 enemies would be killed and 800 would be lost......

But I had to fight!

The feeling of knowing that there is still poison in the, but still having to eat it hard, almost made Terauchi Shouichi want to go crazy......

However, compared to Shouichi Terauchi, Okamura Ninji is extremely excited about this battle!

A few years ago, he formulated the policy of simultaneous promotion of the three-light policy, the cage policy and the Huairou policy for the occupied areas by the General Staff Department greatly praised and adopted, and has accumulated a very high prestige for him in the army, and in the Battle of Nanchang last month, he did not hesitate to disobey the order of Prince Zairen of the General Staff, the commander of the army, and ordered him to suffer defeat in the battlefield of China, known as the shame of the imperial army, the 1062 divisions as the main force to attack Nanchang, and captured Nanchang in one fell swoop, which made him highly praised. It is even rumored that the emperor himself praised him as the new generation of military gods of the empire who are both civil and military......

Originally, Okamura Ninji was going to formulate and participate in the command of the general's battle plan against Jiang's ninth and fifth war zones, but he was urgently mobilized by General Terauchi from there to participate in the preparation and command of the battle plan against Ping Tongguan......

Gangcun Ningji knows that this not only fully expresses the importance that the general in the temple attaches to himself, expresses the importance that the military department attaches to himself, but also a kind of investigation of himself!

At this stage, because the expectation of war is far from the original assumption, the high-ranking generals of the Imperial Army are under pressure, and many important army ministers have been demoted and demoted, and middle-level generals are urgently needed to take over these positions!

As for himself, whether it is seniority, popularity, and the military literacy and war strategy he has shown in the recent period of time......

Okamura Ninji believes that as long as he can successfully help General Terauchi Shouichi win the Heitongguan in this battle, then the time when he will become one of the few army generals in the empire will not be far away!

Thinking of this, Okamura Ninji couldn't help but clench his fists, and at the same time recalled his youthful years, recalling so many years of his horse career!

For decades, he has been forbearing, thoughtful, and courteous......

All of this is for this moment!

And now, this battle determines whether he can finally reach the pinnacle that an Imperial soldier can step on!

Okamura Ninji silently swore in his heart that this time, he must fight this battle beautifully, so that the emperor, the whole army, and all the people of the empire know that I, Okamura Ninji, have become the general of the empire, and I deserve it!

Shouichi Terauchi completed the pre-war mobilization, and only then began to issue combat orders!

The 5th Division of Itagaki was mixed into the 281st Regiment of the 19th Brigade, the Ti Detachment, the Peninsula Detachment, as well as a part of the 109th Division and the 1st Brigade of the Independent Mixed Brigade with more than 30,000 fully mechanized infantry companies along the railway line and went straight to Pingtongguan!

At the same time, the Yoshino Brigade of the Okada Independent Brigade, the Harada Brigade and the Dragon 1st Squadron of the fully mechanized squadron deployed along the Lingjiang River besieged Dingzhou City!

Within three days, take Dingzhou City, and then advance and control the Yuanguang area to prevent the Eighth Route from rushing to the aid of Pingtongguan!

At the same time, the Japanese troops in Luxian, Songxian, Qingping, Yangquan, Gaolin and other places cooperated with the Imperial Allied Army and began to sweep and clear the surrounding guerrilla areas, and did everything possible to contain the actions of the Eighth Route and the guerrillas, so as to ensure that the offensive of Pingtongguan was foolproof......

"Hey!"

All the generals should respond in unison, and then execute it immediately!

"Take Dingzhou in three days, take it in one week, control the entire territory of Yuanguang, and coerce the two counties of Cangshui Dongjiang of the Jindong detachment, this is not only the order of the senior general of the temple and the lieutenant general Gangmura to you, but also the expectations of me Okada and Major General Yoshikawa for you - are you sure that you will complete the order?"

Okada stared at Yoshino and Harada and asked.

"The two of us, two brigades, one fully mechanized squadron, and two thousand imperial allies are coordinated, with more than 5,000 troops, how can we not take Dingzhou City and control the Yuanguang District and one county?"

Harada Yoshino swore that he even felt that Major General Okada was a little underestimating the two of them!

After all, the defenders of Dingzhou City are only the strength of Yuan Zhenfeng's regiment, even if there are Jindong detachments and Eighth Roads behind them may help, but so what?

Although they suffered a lot of losses in the hands of the Jindong detachment before, the two would never really think that they were afraid of his Jindong detachment!

suffered a loss before, that was because the group of Tubalu of the Jindong detachment was always hiding, rushing out to take advantage of the opportunity, and then running away after taking advantage of it, and they had no chance to seek revenge on the other party!

But now it's different!

The surrounding watchtowers have been spread, and the two of them are even more soldiers attacking, even if the other party wants to fight guerrillas, there is no chance!

Frontal combat, Imperial Army, who were you afraid of?

"If his Jindong detachment is smart enough, then it's better for him not to come out to make trouble this time, otherwise, as long as his Jindong detachment dares to come out, we will just wait for the new hatred and old hatred together, and settle the account with his surname Zhang!" Yoshino Harada gritted his teeth!

"Not bad!"

Long Yi also remembered that when he rushed to the aid of Wudu, his fully mechanized troops were shelled by a small group of Jindong Detachment across the river, losing dozens of motorcycles and nearly 100 casualties, and gritted his teeth with hatred: "If the Jindong Detachment dares to come, I will definitely want them to taste the true power of the fully mechanized troops of our Imperial Army......"

"Good!"

Seeing everyone's confident looks, Okada laughed with great relief: "In that case, then please leave it to you - for the rest, my garrisons around the country will clear the way for you, you don't need to worry!" ”

When he said this, Okada glanced at Yoshikawa Sadasa, who had been silent and the old god was there!

Yoshikawa Sadasa, who didn't want to speak, had to say two words when he saw this: "Although my secret service has a plan, the time is not yet ripe - when this battle is over, after completely taking Pingtong Pass and Dingzhou City, and completely isolating these activity areas of the Eight Roads, then it will be time for me to make a move!" ”

"When the time comes, that damn Zhang Ran, as well as his Jindong detachment, will be a fish in a net, a turtle in an urn, and it will be difficult to fly with wings!"

Yoshikawa Sadazo smiled and said: "When the time comes, not only will all the Tubalu of the Jindong detachment die, even if it is him Zhang Ran, I will definitely capture him alive - a thousand cuts!" ”

"If you really capture this Zhang Ran alive, I hope Major General Yoshikawa will inform me!"

Long Yi smiled and said: "Last time, my fully mechanized troops suffered heavy casualties, but unfortunately I didn't have a chance to take revenge - when the time comes, I, Long Yi, am willing to personally cut off the flesh on this bastard's body and feed it to the dogs!" ”

"Such a good thing, how can you be allowed to be beautiful alone?"

Yoshino-Harada and the others also laughed and said: "I also hope that Major General Yoshikawa can inform the two of us, and we will start sharpening our knives now-just wait for your good news from Major General Yoshikawa!" ”

"Don't worry, if you want to use this fang, why not just the three of you? The elite of my secret service will die at the hands of this fang, how many fewer will die than you! ”

Yoshikawa Sadazo laughed and said: "At that time, Major General Ben must be the first to sword, otherwise, it will be difficult to eliminate the hatred in my heart......"

"And me!"

Okada also gritted his teeth on the side.

"Since the two major generals are interested, of course you will come first, but when the time comes, I hope that the two major generals will show mercy and save this bastard a breath......"

Yoshinoharada Ryuichi and the others laughed and said, "If you kill him too quickly, it will be too cheap for him!" ”