Beiping, the headquarters of the Northern Group Army.

Lieutenant General Okabe Naosaburo, chief of staff, walked into Okamura Ninji's office with a heavy face, and although Toshiichi Terauchi, the former North China Front, was demoted and returned to China, Okabe Naosaburo, as chief of staff, was promoted instead of being lowered, and became the chief of staff of the Northern Heavy Forces Group from the chief of staff of the front army.

Compared with the original top boss Terauchi Shouichi, the scenery is infinite, I saw Okabe Naosaburo striding up to Okamura Ningji, snapping his feet and standing upright, and said with a heavy face: "Your Excellency Commander, I just received the news that the stone gate is lost!" ”

"What?" Okamura Ninji originally thought that with the troops in the hands of Shozo Kawabe, he would be able to resist the Yoriki army for at least a week, but he did not expect that within a day of the battle, the stone gate would be lost.

"Where's Riverside-kun?" Okamura asked with an indifferent expression.

"Hebian-kun, his whereabouts are unknown, but the special high school has listened to the radio station of the people of China, and has not found any news about Hebian-kun's capture, so it is inferred that Hebian-kun is either broken for His Majesty the Emperor, or he is leading his troops to break out of the siege, and his current whereabouts are unknown." Naosaburo Okabe calmly analyzed.

"Hmph, I really hope that he is for His Majesty the Emperor, with 10,000 imperial warriors in his hands, in less than a week, the entire army will be annihilated, it is really a shame for the emperor [***]! The face of the empire was lost to him. Okamura Ninji said coldly with an unkind face.

"Your Excellency Commander, don't be angry, in five days at most, the forward troops of the Kwantung Army will arrive in Beiping, with this batch of fresh troops, the Zhina Reading Force is like a grasshopper after the autumn, and it won't be able to stumble for a few days." Okabe Naosaburo hurriedly persuaded.

"Okabe-kun, where do you think we should fight the Reading Army? How can it be annihilated in one fell swoop? Okamura asked two questions in a row.

Okabe Naosaburo turned around and walked to the wall, opened the map hanging on the wall, he picked up the command pole next to him and said eloquently: "The humble position thinks that although the Lian Lai Reading Army has attacked the city and seized the land one after another, it seems that the morale is high, but it is not, first of all, after the people of China capture the stone gate, they need to rest for at least two to three days, and the next target of the people of China must be Baoding, and from the stone gate to Baoding is more than two hundred and fifty miles, and it will take at least three to four days to count the marching ability of the people of China as infantry, Of course, if you take the train along the railway line, you can reach Baoding in two days at most.

However, before the imperial army retreated, all the trains at Shimen Zhengding Station had been withdrawn, and they did not have a train how to take the train, so it would take at least five days for the people of China to reach Baoding. And in the past five days, the elite of our Kwantung Army has arrived at Beiping Station. ”

"Okabe-kun, you must know that it is also more than 130 kilometers from Beiping to Baoding, and even if the imperial army takes the train, it will take more than two days to reach Baoding." Okamura asked.

"So, General, we must hold Baoding for more than three days! In this way, when I enter the Imperial Army, I can have plenty of physical strength and energy to meet the Reading Army. Therefore, it is suggested that the troops of the strongholds of the counties around Baoding be gathered in Qingdu County, Qingdu West Pillow Taihang, and Baoding in the north, which is the only way for the people of China to go north to Baoding, and it is the best choice to deploy heavy troops here to resist the people of China! Naosaburo Okabe pointed at the map with his command stick.

Okamura Ninji got up from his chair, walked to the map, and saw a gray sign blocking the road on the railway from Shimen to Baoding, which was strategically located, and couldn't help but nod and said: "Okabe-kun, just do as you say!" Now you talk about how to encircle and annihilate the main force of the Reading Army, and talk about your thoughts. As he spoke, Okamura Ninji motioned for Naosaburo Okabe to sit down.

After the two of them sat down, Okabe Naosaburo straightened up and said: "General, there are four infantry divisions and an infantry brigade in the Zhina Reading Army, an armored combat vehicle division, and an aviation division, and the total strength should be about 150,000 people, but most of the strength of the Zhina Reading Army is deployed in Suiyuan, Shanxi and other places, and it is only its most elite infantry first division and armored division that attack Hebei this time, so it is difficult for us to wipe out the Reading Army!" ”

When Okamura Ninji heard this, he frowned slightly and said, "If you can't completely annihilate the Reading Force and uproot this henchman in one fell swoop, I'm afraid it will cause unimaginable disasters to the empire in the future." ”

"General Beyou, although we can't annihilate it in one fell swoop, as long as we can kill Zhang Mingyu, the head of the Reading Army, then the rest of the Reading Force is not to worry about. He believes that this time, Zhang Mingyu must have personally led the troops in the north, so we only need to annihilate its first infantry division and capture or kill its commander Zhang Mingyu alive, and then the reading force will be self-defeating. Naosaburo Okabe confidently analyzed.

"I want the West!" Okamura Ninji nodded and said, "Okabe-kun, then you will lead the staff to draw up a detailed battle plan and hand it over to me in five days!" This time, I must capture Zhang Mingyu alive and completely annihilate his ace first division. ”

"Hay!" Okabe Naosaburo stood up suddenly, bowed his head suddenly, and immediately gladly took the order.

…………………… Shimen, Zhang Mingyu, Liu Cheng and others rode high-headed horses into Shimen, an ancient city of vicissitudes, on both sides of the street, in addition to the soldiers who were responsible for maintaining law and order, there were many Shimen people who spontaneously came to welcome the Reading Army into the city.

Zhang Mingyu took the lead in the front, Liu Cheng, Zhang Biao and others followed side by side, behind them was the armored division, and then there were the soldiers of the troops directly under the direct jurisdiction of the first division of the Reading Army.

Everywhere Zhang Mingyu advanced, the soldiers of the Reading Army standing on both sides of the street all straightened up and saluted Zhang Mingyu fiercely.

Zhang Mingyu returned the salute one by one, feeling the joy of victory, Zhang Biao and others who followed behind Zhang Mingyu were all smiling, and at this time, the people on both sides of the street didn't know who shouted, "Long live China!" Long live the Chinese nation! ”

Soon, the soldiers and civilians in Shimen City shouted in unison: "Long live China!" Long live the Chinese nation! "This is the cry of victory, this is the cry of the people from the heart after the invaders have been driven out.

When they were there, they could not even say that they were Chinese, but now they love their motherland, they have the most heroic and fearless soldiers, and they burst into tears and proudly shout the exciting slogan: "Long live China!" Long live the Chinese nation! ”

As the exciting slogan resounded over Shimen, Zhang Mingyu secretly said in his heart: "We must enter Beiping and recover Beiping City, where are there more patriots and more Chinese compatriots waiting for him to rescue!" "Long live the Chinese nation! This slogan, which has excited and excited countless Chinese sons and daughters, has reverberated in Zhang Mingyu's heart for a long time.

(To be continued)