I didn't know that because he captured Zaozhuang, Zhao Tiehu, who forced a Dazuo garrison officer to commit suicide by disembowelment. Knowing that the little devil did not withdraw his troops from the front line, he also continued to order to expand the scope of the attack, sweeping the entire Zaozhuang area.

Since the little devils are stubbornly guarding Weishan, Zhao Tiehu is also happy to lead the main force of the two combat detachments to continue to sweep the surrounding little devils. Zhao Tiehu also took a look at who couldn't hold it in the end.

After all, including the reinforcements from Jining, plus the Japanese garrison stationed in Zaozhuang. Now two-thirds of the Japanese puppet army in Zaozhuang is gathered outside Weishan, and the remaining one-third is distributed in various towns.

For these towns, most of which are insufficient, Zhao Tiehu only needs to concentrate the main force of the troops, and he can adopt the tactics of breaking them one by one, and completely annihilate these little devils who are stationed in the towns and are isolated.

In the face of the Eighth Route Army's huge offensive posture on the line from Zaozhuang to Linyi, Major General Kurokawa, who took over the defense of Zaozhuang, originally planned to transfer a wing to Zaozhuang to stabilize the current chaotic situation.

As a result, a staff officer soon said: "General, a wing is only afraid that it will not be able to solve the current situation!" Judging from the frantic attack of the Eighth Route Army, their strength is not weak. A wing can only hold Zaozhuang City in the past, and is unable to carry out encirclement and suppression.

Once the infantry wing is divided into troops to encircle and suppress, it is very likely to be broken by the Tubalu one by one. Even judging from the current situation, we have every reason to suspect that the main force of the Eighth Route Army that was withdrawn from Lincheng to Weishan was fake. ”

'What do you mean?' Your elaboration! ’

Listening to the staff officer's analysis, Kurokawa asked with a serious expression. It's just that judging from the current situation, the real main force of the Eighth Route Army is afraid that it will still defeat Zaozhuang and those Eighth Route Army that are wreaking havoc in Zaozhuang.

The staff officer who had made the analysis and speculation before also said in a timely manner: "General, from the information we have, there are actually two kinds of Tuba Road in Zaozhuang. One was the Eighth Route Guerrilla Army, which was composed of ordinary people, and the other was the Eighth Route regular army.

Earlier, our special high school saw that the main force of the Eighth Route Army retreating to Weishan was most likely disguised by the guerrillas of the Eighth Route and ordinary people. These people have a certain military literacy, but when they take off their military uniforms, they are no different from ordinary people.

If we don't look closely, I'm afraid it will be difficult for us to tell whether they are soldiers or ordinary people. As long as they take off their uniforms and go to the mountains or villages, it will be very difficult for us to find them.

This is also the reason why we have advanced for dozens of miles, and we only see the main force of the Zhongyan Army, but we have not seen the regular army of the Eighth Road. And the regular army of the Eighth Road jumped out of the encirclement before we formed an encirclement.

Our reconnaissance troops did not find out about this situation, but I am afraid that it is also because these dirt roads are good at camouflage. As long as a small army marches together, it is difficult for us to notice that we can change into the clothes of ordinary people and go on the road in groups of three or five. ”

The more he analyzed, the more he felt that the staff officer who was more likely also felt that he was not far from the truth. Major General Kurokawa, who heard this analysis, also felt that this analysis was very reasonable. The Eighth Route Army's tactics of hiding troops from the people are indeed unguardable.

It's just that there is no real evidence, and it is impossible for the little devil's sweeping troops to kill people when they see them. If this is the case, it is estimated that it will not be long before there will be no living people in the entire Zaozhuang. I'm afraid that the major general Kurokawa can't afford the consequences.

After all, if you really kill all the people of Zaozhuang, who will farm for the little devils, and who will work for the little devils? At this point, Kurokawa still had a more long-term vision than ordinary officers, and knew that massacres alone could not solve the problem.

If you really want to set off an indiscriminate slaughter policy in Zaozhuang, then after the news spreads, I am afraid that it will arouse the anger of more Chinese people. At present, for many Japanese generals, they have already felt the resilience of the Chinese anti-Japanese war forces.

Whether it is the Eighth Route Army behind enemy lines at the moment, or the Zhongyan Army far away in the mountain city, there are still very consistent opinions on some positions. No matter how tempted the Japanese army was, the Zhongyan army also showed that it would never surrender and beg for peace.

This also means that it is impossible to realize the fantasy of the Japanese army not defeating the Zhongyan army, not suppressing all the anti-Japanese troops in China, and the Japanese army completing the fantasy of swallowing the elephant. The longer it drags on, the harder it is to hold on.

The rest of the little devil officers who stayed in the combat command headquarters still felt some truth in the situation analyzed by the staff officer. But now that they have invaded the territory of Weishan, they can't just give up!

Although the current encirclement and suppression, there is still no trace of the main force of the Eighth Route Army. However, the attacking Japanese army has already recovered a lot of lost ground. In the eyes of many officers, this is also a military merit, how can it be easily given up?

Thinking of the current battle situation, Kurokawa finally said: "Leave a brigade to be responsible for the sweep in Weishan." Remember, you don't need to divide your troops to garrison those towns until the sweep is over, and focus on the task of encircling and suppressing the rebels.

The rest of the combat troops immediately went to Zaozhuang to calm down the chaos and ensure that the situation was stabilized as soon as possible. The garrison troops in the vicinity of the city were ordered to shrink their forces and begin to move to full-scale defensive operations, waiting for instructions on the next step. ”

This time, he led his troops to sweep Weishan, and Major General Kurokawa also had five or six thousand troops around him. A part of the troops were reserved to garrison Tengxian and the railway along the line, and he basically brought out the rest of the troops.

And the anti-Japanese forces attacking Weishan at this moment, Major General Kurokawa did not use the elite at all. Only a small group of elite troops and the Imperial Association army were dispatched, and the security regiments stationed in the towns and villages of Weishan were defeated.

This also means that leaving an infantry brigade and the Imperial Cooperative Army to fight together may be able to successfully recover the entire territory of Weishan. The combat effectiveness of the security regiment, after Major General Kurokawa has seen several attacks and defenses, is still very disdainful.

As for the anti-Japanese troops of the Eighth Route Army hiding in the countryside and mountains, most of them were dozens or even a dozen people. If such a guerrilla force wants to be encircled and suppressed, it will be very difficult to capture it in one fell swoop unless they are dispatched with the whole army.

As far as the current situation is concerned, it is undoubtedly unrealistic to want to eliminate these guerrillas of the Eighth Route Army together. For this reason, after some consideration, Major General Kurokawa finally decided to eliminate the large resistance forces in Weishan first.

After it stabilizes the situation in Zaozhuang, it will formulate a corresponding encirclement and suppression plan. After all, the current chaos on the front line from Zaozhuang to Linyi made the division commander Kimura Hyotaro very angry, and there was a little more worry in his heart.

When Zhao Tiehu ordered the troops to advance to the front line of Linyi, the main force of the first column of the Eighth Route Army in Shandong, which was far away in the Yimeng Mountains, also began to advance to Zaozhuang's side. The Linyi garrison, which was attacked on both sides, was also under pressure.

Once the two Eighth Route Army units are successfully combined, it will also face a huge challenge for the 32nd Division. In this case, it is normal for Kimura Hyotaro to give an order to Major General Kurokawa and order him to stabilize the situation in Zaozhuang as soon as possible.

After receiving a telegram from Major General Kurokawa, the Japanese garrison stationed in the city began to withdraw its troops stationed at the main transportation routes. Shrink your forces to the county seat and the railroad, and ignore the remote mountain road crossings.

The main force of the second detachment, which had already built defenses and ambush fortifications in front, was also surprised to hear the news: "What, the little devil has collected his troops?" They're not coming in? ”

'Company commander, our scouts have already seen it before, and all the little devils who were deployed on the road earlier have run away. They walked along the route of the little devil's retreat for a while, and found that the little devils had retreated back into the town and the city. ’

'King B, why did these little devils run away?' Then these fortifications we dug are not all in vain! ’

Looking at the unhappy expression on the face of the company commander, the company instructor said with a smile: "Okay, it's okay if the little devil doesn't come, so that the people in our base area will suffer less disasters." Hold on first and see what the squad leader has to say! ”

The position where they deployed their defenses was basically their base in the rear. There, many people who were allocated fields began to cultivate their fields, looking forward to this year's harvest.

If the little devils really came in, the people could only give up their work in the fields and follow the orders of the troops to withdraw into the mountains. In this way, if it drags on for a long time, it will also affect the harvest in the field.

For this reason, Li Chengwu, who was sitting on Weishan Island, was also a little surprised when he received the news from the front-line troops. When he sent the information to Zhao Tiehu and asked for the next battle plan, Zhao Tiehu also received a telegram from Teng County.

'The little devil has withdrawn? ’

'Yes, detachment leader! The first detachment and the second detachment sent telegrams one after another, and the little devils gathered in Weishan had come to Zaozhuang this time. I guess the little devil is in a hurry and doesn't want us to continue to move forward. ’

'That's it! The little devil recognizes the bear, and we can't ignore it. Ordered the troops, began to retreat in two directions, and returned to their respective positions. By the way, take that devil squadron of Toda Nosuke and bring them back to headquarters. ’

'Yes, Captain! ’

With Zhao Tiehu's order to divide the troops and recuperate, Major General Kurokawa had just arrived in Zaozhuang with the main force, and learned that the main force of the Eighth Route Army advancing towards Linyi had disappeared again. This situation also surprised Major General Kurokawa.

Even more unexpectedly, in addition to the small force engagement in Weishan, the entire Zaozhuang territory also seemed to be quiet all of a sudden. Even the railway line, which the little devils are most worried about, has rarely seen any trace of the Eighth Route Army recently.

Such a rapid and stable situation in Zaozhuang made Major General Kurokawa happy, but he knew that this was the Eighth Route Army's intention to show weakness. If you really feel that the Eighth Route Army has no combat effectiveness, it is estimated that Zaozhuang will soon be in chaos.

At this moment, Major General Kurokawa finally understood why the Japanese army launched a sweep before and gave up halfway. In the face of this kind of sweep, the railway may be interrupted and the territory is chaotic, and maintaining stability is the wisest choice.

Even if such a compromise was passive, but in order to restore the railway supply line as soon as possible, Major General Kurokawa finally strictly ordered that the troops stationed in the city should not go to the countryside to sweep at will. As long as we ensure the safety and stability of the defense zone, everything else will be postponed!