In addition to giving an explanation to the Japanese, this pseudo-division commander also made an excuse for himself to shirk his responsibilities at that time: "It's not that I don't continue to attack, it's that I have lost a lot of strength." Before reinforcements arrived, I had lost the ability to attack. I've asked the commander for reinforcements, but the commander hasn't sent me reinforcements, and there's nothing I can do. ”

In short, I've done my best. The current defeat or the retreat is definitely not my fault. This guy who has completely calmed down has been boiling out of the ragtag army for many years, and he has a good calculation. Of course, if his superiors did send reinforcements, he wouldn't mind going on the offensive either.

But he still knows the thoughts of his top boss, the so-called lieutenant general of the Second Front Army, and even the thoughts of the commander-in-chief of the Front Army. After graduating from the Baoding Military Academy, his army commander has been in the miscellaneous army for half his life, and he is always the chief of staff.

In the miscellaneous army he served, mainly the Northwest Army, the chief of staff was just a staff leader who completely relied on the existence of the chief officer, and he did not have any strength in his hands at all. A junior officer can call you a senzai if it's a little nice, and it's okay to call you by your name if it's not good.

This time, he relied on surrendering to the enemy to grasp the military power, and there are some troops in his hands, where he will easily take out all the capital. This time, he wanted to take advantage of participating in this sweep to gain more territory in order to prepare for the expansion of his strength. and asked for more benefits from the Japanese army and Nanjing.

I am afraid that stealing chickens will not make a loss of rice, and I will lose too much in this sweep, which will endanger the capital in my hands, which is not too sufficient. Otherwise, they would not have been dispatched to participate in the sweep in accordance with the requirements of the Japanese army. But in actual action, except for the boss Sun who was eager to retaliate, the two military commanders who actually held the military power did not buy it very much, or simply said that they were not very enthusiastic.

Although these two were in the Northwest Army in their early years, one was his old subordinate, and the other was the chief of staff who had followed him for many years. But why should the army in your hands that people have painstakingly managed work for you? In addition, people don't have enough benefits, and they don't want to offend the eight roads, so they have nothing to do to make an enemy for themselves to play?

Defecting to the Japanese has already attracted enough infamy. But if you have nothing to do and set up a few more enemies for yourself, you are looking for death. Especially the Eighth Road is not one of those messy things, one hundred and ten people, thirty or forty guns, dare to call themselves the commander-in-chief, the commander of the miscellaneous cards, this combat effectiveness is not ordinarily strong.

So the two army commanders were not ordinary reluctant. If it weren't for the concern of the Japanese, I don't think these two would openly oppose it. After some bargaining, to be precise, the Japanese also gave enough benefits and exerted enough pressure, only two corps and one division each were sent to participate in the operation.

The rest of the troops, except for the 37th Division directly under the control of Mr. Sun, plus the pistol regiment of the headquarters, the special service regiment, and the reorganized teaching regiment to defend their hometown Gaoping. The remaining two divisions of the two armies advanced to the territory of Huguan and Lingchuan counties. On the one hand, it is guaranteed that the rear of the two divisions that go forward, and on the other hand, it is also watching the battle situation.

In this way, even if it suffers an eight-way attack, neither of the two armies will be fundamentally attacked. In other words, the cost of this operation is shared equally, and the opportunity is equal. Of course, if you get the benefits, everyone will share them equally. Even if the two divisions that entered the Ludong area suffered losses, everyone would not lose all their money.

This result is a simple and muddy decision for such a puppet army, which is also full of their own small groups. And Mr. Sun, who was eager to take revenge on Li Ziyuan, although in order to grab the land and take revenge, desperately urged the two divisions to speed up the progress. But a division brought by his own henchmen was placed in a left-behind position.

What are you kidding, the combat effectiveness of the Eighth Route Army was taught by me when I was in Shandong. He turned out to be an empty commander, and even if the two guys below were his old subordinates, the world changed and people's hearts changed. These two guys have their own little abacus in their hearts, and they are still clear.

The basic troops under his current are just such a division and a few regiments directly under him, if he confesses again, won't he become a bare-bones commander again? Anyway, as the main force of the Second Front Army, no matter how much benefit the Japanese give, it will be your two armies that will take the lion's share. With this little bit of family background, it's better not to toss.

It was precisely such a situation that made the division commander feel that his chances of getting reinforcements were not great. Because the division behind him is the last capital in the hands of his commander. Will he risk sending it to himself, regardless of Huguan, which is also the base of the Eighth Road, and throw it to the surrounding Eighth Road, which may also be lurking in the dark, waiting for an opportunity?

So this old man, in the current situation that his intestines are about to regret it, simply took a choice that seemed to him best. But for fear that he only has half of his strength left at the moment, he will become fat in the eyes of Balu, even if he chooses to stop moving forward and stick to the spot, he still seems extremely cautious.

In order to deal with Li Ziyuan's night attack, on the one hand, he stepped up the construction of fortifications, on the other hand, he used the only remaining mortar in his hand as artillery fire on duty, and organized a mobile combat unit to strengthen the battalion. It's just that after he did all this, he found that there was a strange calm around him.

The eight roads, which had been constantly attacking him before, seemed to have disappeared out of thin air, almost without a trace. Not to mention that he didn't interfere with the construction of the fortifications. Even the troops he sent out to grab food did not encounter any attacks. It's just a few shots and harassment with those militias and so-called district squads.

Of course, under Li Ziyuan's rectification, the weapons and equipment of these district squads and militias have been replaced with shotguns. The original miscellaneous and messy firearms have long been replaced by a batch of standard firearms. In terms of ammunition, it also reached 40 rounds per person. Coupled with the familiarity with the terrain and people's feelings, the life of these Japanese puppet soldiers is not easy.

As long as the troops sent are less than the formation of a platoon, they basically go out and never come back. But compared to the time when fighting with the old Eighth Road before, the pressure on these Japanese puppet troops is undoubtedly much less. At least these militias and the local armed forces of the Eighth Route are not as bad as the old Eighth Route in front.

The sudden calm and happiness made his heart that had been hanging slightly relaxed, and he could even be said to be a little ecstatic. Of course, if it weren't for the surrounding villages, the walls would have been empty at this time. If the troops he sent out were very limited, he would be more at ease.

The old man refused to take a step forward, and changed his tactics during the period, and was not attacked by Li Ziyuan. It's not that Li Ziyuan really plans to give up on him, but that there is a problem on Zhang Zijian and Qian Peng's side. The puppet army division, which was originally advancing from east to west, began to slow down after entering the Ludong area.

In terms of the efficiency of their operations, they were far less active than the friendly forces they advanced from south to north. Not only did the operational efficiency of this puppet army division slow down all of a sudden, but even the actions of the Japanese army, which coordinated with the division, were not very active. This made Zhang Zijian, who only had two companies of troops sluggish in the Japanese puppet army, and the pressure in the first two days was not very great.

But maybe it was the old man who was beaten by Li Ziyuan, and the constant telegrams for help worked. Perhaps it was the Japanese superiors who fought with them who were unhappy with their slow movements. Just as Li Ziyuan decided to come to the big first afternoon, the Japanese puppet army suddenly went westward with all its might.

Zhang Zijian and Qian Peng, although according to Li Ziyuan's deployment, adopted the method of using cold guns and cold guns plus * formations to fight along the mountain road. However, the Japanese puppet army of the unit adopted the tactics of dividing the troops into two ways and attacking together, so that two people with limited strength could fight extremely hard in the battle.

Although the Japanese puppet army on this road also adopted the method of dividing the troops into two roads, the Japanese puppet army on both roads was not weak along the way. Not to mention that there are only two infantry companies in the hands of two people, plus the strength of a county brigade. Even if Li Ziyuan's entire regiment is here, it will be difficult to replicate the previous battle.

Although the two Japanese puppet armies were divided, one way was a complete Japanese infantry brigade with a reinforced mountain artillery squadron, an infantry artillery squadron, plus a heavy machine gun squadron, plus a regiment of the puppet army as the backbone and a Lingchuan garrison. On the other hand, all the two regiments of the puppet army, plus the team directly under the puppet army division of the department, are the backbone.

No matter what kind of terrain the two Japanese puppet armies operate in, the distance between them will never exceed fifteen miles. Zhang Zijian and Qian Peng, no matter which way of blocking the Japanese puppet army, will face another Japanese puppet army, and they will be quickly outflanked in a short period of time.

Moreover, after the Japanese puppet army suddenly accelerated its action, it did not have the idea of supporting its own friendly forces in the south at all, but directly advanced all the way to the Jiuding Mountains in Ludong, the core area of the base area. Even the Japanese puppet army of the department did not stop advancing rapidly, even at night.

As long as there is resistance, the road will be forcibly opened by artillery fire. The Japanese puppet army also carried sappers, and on the way to intersperse the advance, the platoon that could clear the mines, and the ones that could not clear the minefields with artillery fire. This tactic of the Japanese puppet army made Zhang Zijian and Qian Peng almost extremely hard, not to mention, and could only barely reduce their advance speed in a short period of time.

As of early this morning, the Japanese puppet army in the unit had advanced to Jiuding Mountain, the core area of the Ludong base area, which was less than 30 miles away. The speed of its advancement far exceeded Li Ziyuan's expectations. And the battlefield where Li Ziyuan's main force is currently located is only less than forty miles away from the Jiuding Mountains.

That is to say, once the Japanese puppet army enters the Jiuding Mountains, it will not only be threatened by the large number of people from the fortified Qingye to the Jiuding Mountains, as well as a considerable amount of materials, but also a very serious threat to Li Ziyuan's back. At present, Li Ziyuan's main force in Hubei is in danger of being attacked by the enemy.

At the same time, not only the Japanese puppet army, but also the intensity of the action suddenly increased. Moreover, the Japanese puppet army in other directions has also significantly increased the speed and intensity of its advance. The Japanese puppet army that set out from Changzhi and Hubei counties also ignored the other troops of the division and the reinforced three divisions and the first blockade, and took Wang Tieshi's department as the vanguard and successively seized most of the strategic points in Hubei.

Thousands of puppet troops from the north and south, under the supervision of the Japanese army and the cover of artillery fire, also adopted the tactics of battalion step by step. Ignoring the layers of resistance from the first section of the military region and the local armed forces, they advanced from the north to a zone more than 50 kilometers away from the Jiuding Mountains, and the entire Jiuding Mountains faced a situation of encirclement by the Japanese puppet army on three sides.