Since the Japanese plane found Li Ziyuan's trace in the northeast of Changzhi. Cooperate with more than 1,000 Japanese troops to Li Ziyuan's puppet army, and bite it to the death. In addition, part of the puppet garrison under his command, together with the main force of the Jinnan Founding Army, also cooperated with more than 2,000 Japanese troops to constantly try to encircle Li Ziyuan's headquarters from both flanks.

This time, the Japanese army swept Li Ziyuan's department, and there were some different changes in the tactical use than in the past. First of all, under Li Ziyuan's repeated sneak attacks on Changzhi, a large part of the Japanese troops transferred back by the 36th Division were used to serve as the defense of Changzhi and several key counties.

This point was insisted on by the regimental headquarters of the 36th Division. The two painful experiences made the 36th Division Headquarters attach great importance to the safety of Changzhi, where the division headquarters is located. The Japanese army that was disabled by Li Ziyuan was left in Hubei to serve as a blockade mission. However, another group of more than 2,000 Japanese troops transferred back drove directly into Changzhi after returning from Ludong.

At the same time, the divisional artillery and baggage wings, as well as the county towns and key areas where military warehouses were stationed, were all garrisoned by Japanese troops. This time, the Japanese army even changed the garrison task of Changzhi to the periphery of Changzhi to be replaced by the Japanese army. As for the puppet army, all of them were sent out to find Li Ziyuan's department.

The other point is what the command of the First Army requested. Considering that the First Army was about to be transferred more than one 36th division, and the number of new divisions that were scheduled to be formed did not reach the part that was being transferred. The strength of the entire First Army in Shanxi will be even more dispersed.

Therefore, in accordance with the requirements of the North China Front Army to contain China with China, the puppet army was gradually replaced by the Japanese army, and the task of blockading the anti-Japanese base areas behind enemy lines was assumed, and at the same time, the puppet army was allowed to fight independently against the Eighth Route Army as much as possible. In order to ensure control over the battlefield behind enemy lines, as well as the so-called security of the areas they occupy.

After Wang's puppet Second Front Army successively arrived in the southeast of Jin, the First Army requested that the sweep of Li Ziyuan's troops should be dominated by the puppet army, and the Japanese army should be used as the backbone force. This was also the first time that as soon as the main force of Wang's puppet Second Front Army entered Shanxi, the First Army mobilized a large number of trucks to transport a division of its original line in Lingchuan and Huguan to Changzhi.

Aren't you puppet soldiers unwilling to participate in the battle against Chongqing? I will transfer you to participate in the battle against Chongqing, and I have to watch you not come to a battlefield to fight against the water. Okay, you go and play the eight roads, you can still do it. If you don't even want to fight the Eighth Road, then the imperial army will not be welcome.

In the eyes of the Japanese army, the expansion of the puppet army, especially in dealing with the Eighth Road, with these former Chongqing troops, can greatly save their own tight forces. This is also why this Wang puppet Second Front Army, after entering Shanxi, was transferred to Changzhi one after another before he could take a breath.

It was because the Japanese army thought that this puppet army had just arrived at the Shanxi battlefield and was still very unfamiliar with the Eighth Route here. There is no possibility of collusion between them, and the combat effectiveness of this puppet army is far superior to that of the local puppet army in Shanxi. What's more, the Japanese army can be regarded as having invested a lot of money. The territory and weapons that should be given have been given, and it is time for these puppet troops to serve the imperial army.

At this time, under the efforts of the Wang puppet regime and the generous performance of the Japanese army, this puppet army was considered to be a key unit because it was considered to have strong combat effectiveness. Even before moving to the defense, in order to show their trust, the Japanese army generously handed over the right to distribute ammunition that had always been in their hands to the headquarters of Wang's puppet Second Front Army.

At the behest of the Japanese army, the Wang puppet regime in Nanjing allocated a batch of weapons transferred by the Japanese army, and prepared old guns such as old sleeves for use in the unit, and replaced them with Manlixia rifles that I did not know where they got them. At the same time, the Japanese army also replenished the department with more than 10 79 heavy machine guns, more than 60 79 light machine guns, and more than 10 mortars made in Fengtian.

The Japanese also gave the department ten vehicles, two Bofors mountain guns and one Soviet-made field gun. As for the Japanese artillery, the Japanese army itself is not enough now, so naturally it will not be so generous. Of course, there will be no more shells, and there will be no more anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft guns. It's just that the original anti-aircraft machine guns and a 20-mm small gun of the ministry were not taken away.

The old foundation of this department was formed by some stragglers of the original 29th Army, as well as some local armed forces in Hebei and Shandong. Except for some of the 29th Army's stragglers who carried better weapons, most of the firearms were collected local miscellaneous guns or civilian guns. The guns are in very poor condition, and the quality is quite inferior, and there are even old guns such as Lao Kuaili and Jiuzi Mauser.

The equipment is poor, and the caliber is quite chaotic. Many of them are old Beiyang period Italian rifles, nine sons of Mauser and other old guns, and there is no place to get bullets. When the department was surrendering to the enemy before, the Japanese army gave some of the Liao 13 rifles to replenish, and the boss gave them to his own teaching group and special service group, so that his henchmen troops.

The situation of the chaotic equipment of the troops below has not been fundamentally changed, and most of them still use the old guys before they surrendered to the enemy. This time, before the Japanese transferred them to Changzhi, they quickly replenished a large number of weapons to the department, and completely eliminated those old guns that were of inferior quality and were no longer usable.

The division that is now following Li Ziyuan is the same division that Li Ziyuan encountered when he broke through the Huguan blockade before. The division's hard work in that battle gave the Japanese some rewards. The Japanese army seized the weapons from the Linxian side and allocated a part of them on the spot.

Originally, some of the Italian-made rifles that the ministry was equipped with, the Japanese army also issued additional ammunition that they didn't know where to get it. He also transferred more than 500 prisoners who had been captured in the battle in Linxian County to the division, thus expanding the division's strength and strength. The Japanese advisers who were actually in control of the division, despite the boss's opposition, incorporated the remnants of the teaching regiment that Li Ziyuan had beaten and crippled into the division.

At present, this division has nearly 4,000 men, and the number of small arms is sufficient. There are more than 2,000 rifles, of which one-third are medium-sized rifles, and most of the rest are Hanyang-made rifles. Although there was still a third of the Italian-made rifles, the Japanese also promised to replace all of them with good guns after exterminating this eight-way force.

There are also more than 60 light machine guns and more than 10 heavy machine guns. There were also four mortars, two Liao 1437 flat-fire guns, two large-caliber machine guns, and more than a dozen grenadiers. Its equipment and establishment are not inferior to the strength of a miscellaneous division in Chongqing. Even to a certain extent, it is no worse than a division of the Central Army over there.

The Japanese army also followed the unit into the southeast of Jinjin, and a baggage battalion composed of more than 100 mules and horses of Wang's puppet Second Front Army was also incorporated into this puppet army division. The whole division was dressed in new uniforms, with officers' leather boots, purses, and a full set of armed belts. Now that the whole army is newly equipped, and this operation has the idea of settling accounts, but it is quite hard.

This puppet military division, who wanted to behave well, chased all the way down as soon as he entered the Changzhi area, and received a report from the Japanese army. When Li Ziyuan was transferred, the Japanese planes were dispatched as soon as dawn, cooperating with the infantry on the ground and a small number of cavalry, looking for Li Ziyuan's headquarters everywhere. When Li Ziyuan was transferred, it was difficult to avoid the eyes of the Japanese army.

Although facing the blockade line of the Japanese army at the beginning, Ma Yongcheng and Zhang Zijian both suggested that they should fight over. But after careful consideration, Li Ziyuan still did not agree to fight hard to break through. Because he knew that he was not facing a blockade. It's two, if not more, blockade lines. This blockade line on the surface will definitely not be the only one for the Japanese army.

With the addition of those two blockade ditches, the troops will consume the vitality that has not yet recovered in the process of breaking through. Even if you pay a heavy price, you may not be able to rush out. Even if you can rush out and enter the mountain with 10,000 steps back, you may not be able to escape the subsequent pursuit of the Japanese army.

It has paid a considerable price, but it has not been able to get out safely. Li Ziyuan is the last thing he wants to see. There was no one else who benefited from the hard fight except the Japanese army. The Japanese troops deployed in the first blockade line were all puppet troops under the command of the Japanese army. After fighting with these puppet soldiers to a certain extent, Li Ziyuan believed that the Japanese army would be happy to come over and pick peaches.

At least the puppet army that is biting itself behind him is also willing to use himself to go to the master to receive a reward. So if you fight hard, you can only make yourself suffer. Li Ziyuan found that he had indeed transferred back the Japanese puppet army in the Ludong area. But the follow-up impact was also quite serious, and the first thing that the Japanese army that reacted quickly was its own eastward retreat route.

After entering the territory of Hubei to recuperate, some of the remaining Japanese troops who were ambushed by themselves built a blockade line on the spot with the cooperation of the pseudo-Hubei garrison. And quickly mobilized more than 600 Japanese troops and a large number of puppet troops from the follow-up troops, and died on the route of Li Ziyuan's eastward retreat.

At the same time, with the return of a large number of Japanese puppet troops, the situation around Changzhi has changed abruptly. The whole situation has made it impossible for Li Ziyuan to hold on and hide for a long time, so he can only move north to find a way to break through. Especially when Li Ziyuan had no way to find the Changzhi Independent Battalion.

In fact, Li Ziyuan really wanted to find the Changzhi Independent Battalion and at least hand over some of the weapons and ammunition in his hands to reduce his burden. But the problem is that since he entered Changzhi, he has not had time to look for the Changzhi Independent Battalion. Although the local organization also sent people to help find it, it is not an independent battalion in the Laoding Mountains at the moment, and it is not something that can be found in a short time.

Moreover, there are more and more Japanese puppet troops around Li Ziyuan, and Li Ziyuan doesn't want to drag the Changzhi Independent Battalion into this muddy water. This unit plays the role of a bridge between the two major base areas in the southeast and southeast of Shanxi, and if it is exhausted, the superiors will have to clean up themselves. Therefore, Li Ziyuan did not deliberately look for it.

Since it was already difficult to return directly to the Ludong area, Li Ziyuan naturally would not insist. After leaving the junction of Changzhi and Hubei, he led his troops all the way north to fight. Behind him and on both flanks, a large number of Japanese puppet troops constantly tried to outflank and encircle his troops. In particular, this division of the puppet Second Front Army behind him has just received a lot of equipment, and it is quite hard.

Facing the Japanese puppet army besieging from all sides, Li Ziyuan did not panic, and calmly commanded the troops to retreat all the way to the north. It's just that Li Ziyuan doesn't care about the Japanese puppet army around him, but the more than 3,000 puppet troops behind him who are biting him are very annoying.

After retreating into the Eight Pine Ridges, the puppet army behind them saw the mountains in front. With some concerns about being ambushed, the speed of the pursuit eased somewhat. However, the pace of this puppet army slowed down slightly, but Li Ziyuan, who had already made up his mind to make a mess of him in Basongling and put on a posture of continuing to advance north, was not ready to let them go.