As an important military city in Zaozhuang and an important transportation and supply station on the Tianjin-Pudong Railway, the importance of Lincheng to the Japanese army is self-evident. But such an important county town was captured by the Eighth Route Army in one fell swoop.

What shocked the Japanese army in Shandong even more was that in the course of last night's battle, the Japanese puppet army suffered more than 3,000 casualties. This also means that the troops stationed in Lincheng were almost completely wiped out by the Eighth Route Army almost overnight.

What kind of formidable combat effectiveness is this, and how large of troops has the Eighth Route Army gathered in Lincheng last night?

The news reached the 32nd Division of the Japanese Army in Jining, and the division commander Hyotaro Kimura jumped over the wall with the same anger. Compared with other Japanese troops in Shandong, although there were also attacks and harassment by anti-Japanese forces, most of the scale of the battles was in the stage of small fights.

And this time in Zaozhuang, the county seat was captured and the garrison was completely annihilated. As the general of the Japanese army in charge of the area, Kimura Hyotaro was also reprimanded by the Shandong Military Headquarters and the Front Army.

After receiving the death message from Sataro Eguchi, Kimura Hyotaro, who wanted to order him to apologize for his crimes, finally felt that he would be given a chance to make amends. As long as the Eighth Route Army can be encircled and suppressed, then this matter can still be saved.

Compared with the shock of the Japanese army in Shandong, the anti-Japanese war forces in Shandong also felt an incredible shock at the recent battle in Zaozhuang. In their opinion, when did the Eighth Route Army have such a strong strength.

There is another point that the rest of the anti-war forces can't figure out, that is, when did the little devil become so incompetent?

The result is very natural, in order to save some face, and at the same time prove that they are the main force of the anti-Japanese war, the Zhongyan army also issued an order to the subordinate anti-war troops in Zaozhuang to fight for the party-state, and fight a battle to boost the morale of the army.

And this task naturally fell to the Weishan Security Corps. Seeing the secret message sent from above, Cui Laifu, the head of the security regiment, also felt a little toothy. Fight to the death with the little devils, how can they win with their strength?

But why, can the Eighth Route Army win again? This really makes Cui Laifu puzzled!

At present, the Japanese army is gathering heavy troops in Weishan, and is preparing to advance in Weishan as an anti-Japanese army stationed in Weishan. Of course, the Foreign Security Corps has always had nothing to do with the little devil. So this time, is it to fight or retreat?

If there was no secret telegram sent from above, Cui Laifu would definitely choose to retreat and not die with the little devil. With these family funds that he has finally saved, Cui Laifu is really afraid that he will be wiped out in a battle, then he will have nothing.

But now, if he doesn't fight, I believe that the above will not spare him easily. Unless he is really willing to lead the troops to take refuge in the little devils. But in that case, didn't he become a traitor and a lackey in the eyes of others?

Faced with the situation where the little devils gathered in Weishan, Cui Laifu was also very worried: "Do you know where the Eighth Route Army is hiding?" Why don't you run to our territory? Isn't that asking us for trouble? ”

Cui Laifu, who complained that the Eighth Route Army had provoked so many little devils, did not feel that during this time, they had embezzled the fruits of the Eighth Route Army's victory. With the expansion of the territory, the scale of the security corps has also expanded a lot.

In Cui Laifu's view, Weishan is now their territory. If it weren't for the Eighth Route Army's withdrawal into Weishan, his security regiment would have been able to continue to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight. Find your chance, and maybe pick up some more bargains.

But now?

After the Eighth Route Army captured Lincheng, it scattered and retreated to the territory of Weishan to lurk. And the movements of the little devil are also not slow, and the elite troops gathered in Zaozhuang tightly sealed the various passages outside Weishan.

Even in order to ensure that the Eighth Route Army was not allowed to escape, the Japanese army slowed down its advance and adopted a dragnet-style method of oppression and clearance, trying to annihilate the Eighth Route Army that entered the territory of Weishan in one fell swoop. This means that the security corps can't run either.

'Tuanza, I have already sent someone to inquire about the news, but I have not gained anything. However, according to our spy reports, it is very likely that the Eighth Road is hiding in the area of Weishan Island. It's a place where our people can't get by. ’

'Why can't you get by?' ’

Strangers who come near that place will be arrested and interrogated. Many of the spies we sent out earlier are still alive and dead! The lowly felt that there must be something wrong with that place. ’

'Weishan Island, that's a good place. Surrounded by mountains and rivers, if you see that the opportunity is wrong, you can escape to Weishan Lake. Damn, these eight-way are very smart! Now the little devils in Weishan Lake can't get in, they can indeed escape to the lake! ’

In addition to Weishan Island, there are indeed several small islands in Weishan Lake. Although there is not even a figure on it, fishermen who used to fish in Weishan Lake occasionally go to those small islands to rest.

If the little devils are in a hurry, it is really possible for the Eighth Route Army to escape to those islands by boat. At worst, they could even escape by boat to the territory of Sioux Province across the lake. Thinking of this possibility, Cui Laifu also felt a headache.

'Tuanza, Balu wants to escape into Weishan Lake, but I'm afraid it's not easy, right? It is said that there are two or three thousand people on the eight roads that enter Weishan! So many people want to escape, how many boats do they need! What's more, there are also little devils stationed on the other side of the lake! ’

As for the judgment of this regimental seat, the adjutant who reported the situation felt that it was somewhat unlikely. But at present, the little devils are under heavy troops, which does bring huge pressure to the security team, and I want to find a helper to share the pressure.

The problem is that the Eighth Route Army sent people to contact the security regiment earlier, and Cui Laifu didn't want to have too much interaction with the Eighth Route Army, so he didn't even see each other, and directly sent someone to send out the liaison officer of the Eighth Route Army. If you want to unite now, how can the Eighth Route Army agree?

Speaking of which, there are currently more than 2,000 members of the Security Corps, and more than 2,000 members of the Eighth Route Army retreating into the country. The two troops combined, the size of the troops is also more than 4,000, which does not seem to be much compared with the little devils who encircled and suppressed.

But compared with the unity of the little devils, it is also difficult for the Eighth Route Army and the Security Corps to be united. Although there was no conflict between the two armies, they were also privately wary of each other. It's impossible to think about such a joint operation between the two forces!

When Cui Laifu was thinking about finding out the Eighth Route Army and letting the little devils go to the Eighth Route Army for trouble, they still picked up the cheap. Zhao Tiehu's plan is the same, blocking the attack step by step, and slowly introducing the little devil into Weishan.

Compared with today, the Eighth Route Army in Weishan has a base camp built on Weishan Island. Most of the rest of the combat units in Weishan chose to be stationed in the hinterland of relatively remote mountain villages.

The little devil wants a pot end, and the difficulty can be imagined. Even if the little devils block the Weishan group, I believe that those troops hiding in the mountains will have no problem at all if they hide for ten days and half a month. But what about the security corps at the moment?

The security regiments that have now taken over many towns and villages in Weishan have deployed a company or a battalion of guards in these towns. Once the little devils attack in a big way, these towns and villages with troops will bear the brunt.

Even if the security team chooses to give up in the end, it is estimated that the little devils will not let them escape easily. Most importantly, once the defenders of these security regiments escape, the local people who have high hopes for them will never trust them again.

After all, when escaping, the security corps will definitely not care about the safety of the local people. In this regard, the Eighth Route Army did a very good job in the guerrilla areas, and before the troops withdrew, the first people to move into the mountains must have been the people in the guerrilla areas.

It can be said that the materials currently stored in the stronghold in the mountains are more prepared for the resettlement of the people. With sufficient supplies, the people did not have to worry about starvation, even if they hid in the mountains for a while.

On the other hand, if you look at the little devil, you will have to pay a lot of money to search in the mountains, and the longer the time drags on, the more likely it is to have problems. After all, Zhao Tiehu is now leading the main force of the two combat detachments, and he won't be watching the show from the sidelines!

One is prepared, one is unprepared, one does what he can, and one sees the benefits. Now when it's time for the little devil to take revenge, who will be dealt a fatal blow, in fact, think about it.

Fortunately, Zhao Tiehu knew in his heart that this was the period of joint operations, and peace would benefit both sides, and division would cause two harms. Therefore, when Li Chengwu led his troops back to Weishan, Zhao Tiehu also told Li Chengwu that he would also help the security group when appropriate.

Even if the two armies want to fight together, they must let the security regiment take the initiative to ask for help. If you don't get rid of the arrogance of the security team, it is estimated that these guys will make demon moths again. It is still necessary to make the security team suffer.

With the sweeping army coming from Teng County, it began to advance into the territory of Weishan. The Japanese sweeping troops also felt that the security regiment blocking their front seemed to be a little vulnerable, but the flank troops were not small in resistance.

Soon, the Japanese troops who had been taken by Xigang Town, which had been garrisoned by a main battalion of the security regiment, fought with the security battalion for less than an hour, and the security battalion broke and fled to the rear.

Major General Kurokawa, the commander-in-chief of the sweep who received the news, was also very satisfied: "Yo, this is the strength of our Great Day Bowl Imperial Army!" Facing us head-on, the Chinese army is no opponent at all! ”

However, the other troops who swept the vicinity suffered many casualties after returning. Upon learning of this situation, Major General Kurokawa was also surprised and said, "Yaga! It seems that the dirt road here is indeed worthy of our attention! ”

Attacking a town defended by a security battalion, they lost only a few dozen troops in total. But the troops responsible for clearing and sweeping the surrounding area paid the price of hundreds of elite soldiers. This difference really surprised Kurokawa a little bit by the combat effectiveness of the Eighth Route Army.

According to the information they obtained, there are now two anti-Japanese forces in Weishan, one is a security regiment under the command of the Zhong Yan Army. There is also a Eighth Route Army, which is naturally very hidden, mostly hiding in remote mountain villages.

Judging from the current situation, their sweeping operation is being carried out smoothly. But the results obtained are somewhat insignificant. And this time is just the beginning, if the next big Weishan, can their sweeping operation really be a complete success?