The sun was setting in the west, and in the open field on the right side of the Tangqing Highway, thousands of corpses of cavalry were lying on the ground.

This battle, which resembled a one-sided massacre, lasted two and a half hours, and the result was that the 2nd Cavalry Brigade of the Yue Army was completely annihilated, and nearly 6,000 men and horses of the two cavalry wings were killed.

In addition to consuming a lot of ammunition and fuel, only one tank soldier jumped out of the tank at the end of the battle, and was stabbed in the butt with a saber by a wounded soldier.

Dong Kuiying stood on the tank, looking at the battlefield like Shura's hell with an indifferent expression, and a murderous look in his eyes did not dissipate for a long time.

At this time, the infantry who arrived had already begun to clean up the battlefield and collect weapons and equipment, although the little devil's carbine was not good, but the logistics of the Reading Force were cut off, and the ammunition was still useful, better than using "burning sticks", right?

The 2nd Infantry Brigade of the Japanese Army immediately stopped advancing after learning that the cavalry brigade had been completely annihilated.

As a result, the First Brigade successfully intercepted the 1st Brigade of the Half-Hung Infantry Wing, which was already left, and launched a fierce attack!

……………….

Isamu Yokoyama stood on a hillside, anxiously awaiting the battle report ahead.

After a while, an infantry staff officer ran over with a panicked look, strode in front of Yokoyama Yong, and suddenly turned around and said, "General! The 2nd Brigade reported that the 2nd Cavalry Brigade encountered the Shina convoy, and the 2nd Cavalry Brigade was all broken! ”

"What?" Yokoyama's pupils tightened, and he grabbed the staff officer's collar in disbelief and roared, "Yagaya Road!" What do you say? ”

"Hay! General, the 2nd Cavalry Brigade did encounter the tank group of the Chinese Army, and it was all shattered! The infantry staff officer bowed his head suddenly.

"Yaga!" Yokoyama's courage was in a hurry and said: "Immediately order the 2nd Infantry Brigade and the 1st Infantry Brigade to retreat quickly!" ”

"General, the 1st Infantry Brigade has fallen into the siege of the Chinese people, and the connection with the 2nd Brigade has been cut off, and it is impossible to retreat!" The infantry staff officer said with an ugly face.

"Yaga Tooth Road! The 2nd Infantry Brigade was ordered to quickly support the 1st Infantry Brigade, and then quickly withdraw to Tang County. Yokoyama roared.

"Hay!" The infantry staff officer bowed his head abruptly and strode away.

…………………

A regimental headquarters.

Zhang Mingyu and Niu Tiangui were standing in front of the map to discuss the military situation, and soon a herald ran in happily, and said uprightly: "Military seat, regiment commander, the first armored regiment has successfully annihilated the two cavalry wings of the Yue army, and at present, the first and second battalions have surrounded the remnants of the first infantry brigade of the Yue army on an unknown hillside, and hundreds of remnants of the Yue army are making the last struggle!" ”

"Good!" Zhang Mingyu put the pencil in his hand on the map on the table, and said extremely excitedly: "As long as this first infantry brigade is completely annihilated, this dog-called first division has basically lost its combat capability." ”

Indeed, if the 1st Infantry Brigade is completely annihilated again, plus the Reading Armored Brigade and the 2nd Cavalry Brigade, three of the four combat brigades of the 1st Division will be completely annihilated, so to speak, it will be disabled.

Niu Tiangui also said awe-inspiringly: "Junzao, I think we should take advantage of the victory to pursue and annihilate this dog's first division?" ”

"This matter is not in a hurry, it is already the limit to be able to eliminate the three elite brigades of the devil, although the devil only has one brigade left, but our fighters have been fighting continuously for a day, their physical strength has decreased greatly, and the consumption of ammunition is also very serious, and they urgently need to rest and recuperate to cope with the next big battle." Zhang Mingyu waved his hand.

"Military seat, then put this first division like this?" Niu Tiangui was unwilling.

"Lao Niu, there is a saying called poor Kou Mo chase, don't worry, there will be more severe battles waiting for you next, and some battles will be fought for you!" Zhang Mingyu patted Niu Tiangui on the shoulder and said.

…………….

On the unnamed hillside, more than 700 remnants of the 49th Infantry Wing of the 1st Brigade and the headquarters of the 1st Brigade were making a final stubborn resistance relying on the not precipitous slope.

The squadron under the hillside rushed up like a tide, and although the soldiers of the 1st Brigade resisted hard, the 1st Brigade gradually fell apart in the face of the fierce attacks of several times the squadron.

The 2nd Brigade, which was ordered to rush to ask for help, was blocked by the blocking troops of [***], and the already timid army saw that there was no hope for rescue and was forced to order a retreat.

Major General Fengchen, the commander of the First Infantry Brigade (I'm sorry, I really can't find who the commander of the First Brigade is, so I replaced it with the title of Netizen Brother Fengchen, don't blame you!) Seeing that his subordinates were about to be unable to resist, he pulled out the Emperor's Imperial Treasure Knife and looked up to the sky and sighed twice, and the command knife in his hand swooped! stabbed into his own abdomen.

The brigade commander committed suicide by seppuku, and the army's sense of resistance was greatly reduced, and some soldiers with weak willpower dropped their weapons and surrendered one after another, while some soldiers who were loyal to the emperor carried out a suicidal attack.

…………….

Tang County.

Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama had already fled back to Tang County with the troops directly under the division, and Major General Komichi, the commander of the Second Brigade and Regiment, walked into Isamu Yokoyama's office with a stern expression.

Suddenly retracted and stood upright: "General, the lowly rescue is not effective, and all the jade of the Fengchen Brigade from Major General Fengchen to the next is broken!" ”

Yokoyama said angrily: "Bagaya Road, the hateful Zhang Mingyu!" Dead, dead, dead! I'll kill you! One of his divisions was wiped out by three-quarters in one day, and he lost his ability to attack, and Yokoyama felt ashamed when he thought of this.

………………….

Baoding, known as the Army Garrison Headquarters.

The communications staff officer walked in with a heavy face and a telegram in his hand, and when he saw Naosaburo Okabe, he snapped and said, "General, the first division has sent an urgent telegram. ”

"Huh?" Okabe Naosaburo said without raising his head: "Read." ”

"The First Division reported that when the First Division attacked Qingdu, it encountered the main force of the China Army, the First Infantry Brigade, the Second Cavalry Brigade, and the Reading Armored Combat Vehicle Brigade, and the First Division has now returned to Tang County." The communications staff officer of the army read the telegram as he said.

"What? The 1st Division turned out to be a failure? Naosaburo Okabe stood up a little disbelieving.

"Hay! The chariot brigade and cavalry brigade were all shattered by the advanced chariots of the Chinese people, and the 1st Infantry Brigade was also crushed by the charge of the armored group of the Chinese people, and then was surrounded and annihilated by the Chinese people. The communications staff officer bowed his head suddenly.

"Yaga!" Okabe Naosaburo said angrily: "Order the aviation to be dispatched immediately!" I want revenge! Bomb me in Gyeongdu! ”

In this battle, the first regiment achieved a brilliant record of annihilating more than 10,000 people and capturing more than 6,000 people! As soon as Zhang Mingyu returned to Qingdu with a group, he found that nearly 100 planes were engaged in a fierce air battle over Qingdu.

I saw about 40 or so planes of the Yue Army painted with plaster flags engaged in fierce battles with the planes of the Reading Army painted with blue sky and white flags.

The two sides kept shuttling and chasing in the blue sky, and fighter planes kept falling, and since Zhang Mingyu handed over various experiences and methods for dealing with Zero fighters to the Air Force Division, it was impossible for the army to create a 0-2 record like last time.

The destruction rate of the two sides at low altitude is one to one, and at high altitude, the advantages of the J-1 fighter adapted from the BF109 are gradually revealed.

The J-1 fighter has strong firepower and strong armor protection.

At the same time, the shortcomings of the Zero fighter also began to be revealed, and its poor defense capability, light firepower and other lethal points were revealed one by one.

From time to time, fighter planes were damaged and destroyed, and the surviving pilots of both sides were forced to start parachuting, and soon white parachutes like clouds appeared in the sky.

After the pilots of the Reading Army landed, they landed safely and were escorted back to the city of Qingdu by the infantry, but the pilots of the Yue Army were not so lucky, except for some of the pilots of the Yue Army who landed in the distant woods and fell half to death, and the pilots of the Yue Army who landed in the plains around Qingdu were either beaten to death by the angry people or became prisoners of the Yu Li Army!

Zhang Mingyu is still very concerned about the high-tech military of pilots, after all, Xiao Yueben's flight technology was really one of the best in Asia at that time.

Because Okabe Naosaburo insisted on retaliating against the Yoritsu army, several fierce air battles were staged in the sky over the small Keito.

China said that the two sides used more than 500 sorties of various warplanes to engage in fierce confrontations comparable to the air battles of the Battle of Wuhan.

However, the result turned out to be a bit similar to the Battle of Great Britain, except that the Reading Force was more inclined to the British Army, and the pilots could parachute to escape, while the Japanese Army was the same as the German Army, as long as they were hit, it was equivalent to a death sentence.

In just one day, each side lost more than 100 fighters, but the Reading Army only lost 30 pilots who were lucky, while the Yue Army lost all the men and planes.

Of course, not all of the more than 100 military pilots died, at least the ordinary Chinese military pilots were taken prisoner.

Beiping, Army Headquarters.

Lieutenant General Tokugawa Yoshitoshi, commander of the Flying Corps, walked into Okamura Ninji's office with a blue face, and suddenly closed up and said, "General! At present, it is said that more than 200,000 troops of the Imperial Army have surrounded Qingdu, and it should be the responsibility of the infantry to solve the problem of the Reading Army, and such an air battle will not outweigh the losses for the Imperial Army. ”

"Huh? What did Tokugawa-kun say about this? Okamura Ninji was puzzled and said: "Isn't our new fighter able to completely suppress the China Air Force?" How can the gains outweigh the losses? ”

"General! Yesterday alone, the North China Front Flying Corps lost more than 100 fighters and more than 100 outstanding pilots, of which more than 80 were new-type fighters that had just been put into service. Tokugawa Haomin said with a pain in his heart. "What? What's going on, how could we have suffered such heavy losses, didn't Okabe-kun want me to report that the Air Force can completely suppress the Shina people? How could there be such a significant loss? What is the loss of the people of China? Okamura Ninji exclaimed.

"General, the last time I shot down two fighters of the Chinese people, it was purely an accident, it is likely that the Chinese people underestimated the enemy, judging from today's results, our new fighters are not as perfect as imagined, the fighters of the Chinese people can be completely comparable to our new fighters, and the location of the air battle is Qingdu, Qingdu belongs to the control of the Chinese people, their pilots can parachute to escape after being damaged, and our pilots will be captured alive by the Chinese people or broken if they parachute. Therefore, I suggest that this large-scale war of attrition be stopped immediately, knowing that we only have more than 200 new fighters in total. Tokugawa explained with a calm face.

"Hmm!" Okamura Ninji nodded again and again: "Tokugawa-kun, I agree with your suggestion and order the aviation to stop the attrition air battle with the Shina people and switch to providing fire support for the infantry. ”

"Hay! Your Excellency the Commander is wise! Tokugawa stood up and bowed his head, then turned around and strode away.

Okamura Ningji, an old fox, can of course see the powerful relationship, once the remaining more than 100 new fighters are also destroyed, then the North China army will fall into the embarrassing realm of having no air supremacy, and if it loses its air supremacy, it will be really difficult to destroy the Reading Army.

After Tokugawa Yoshitoshi left, Okamura Ninji rang the electric bell and called a front army staff officer in.

This is a staff officer with the rank of Dazuo, and I saw that the person who came was young, no more than 30 years old, and at such a young age he held a staff position in the front army of the army.

It is really rare, this staff officer of the army is named Tengsong Yinzhi, now twenty-five years old, he is a top student of the [***] school of Emperor Ben, and he has a deep personal relationship with Okamura Ningji.

When Okamura Ninji was the commander of the 11th Army, he was a staff officer under him, and Okamura Ninji was promoted to commander of the Northern Group Army, so he naturally had to follow all the way up, from the chief of staff of the junior army to the staff officer of the group army headquarters.

Teng Songyin strode straight to Okamura Ningji's desk, snapped and suddenly retracted and said, "General, what do you command." ”

"Teng Songjun, I called you this time to talk about your views on the current situation in North China! You may be seated! Okamura stood up and walked to the couch next to him and waved.

"Hay!" Teng Songyin was not pretentious, and straightened up as he said.

After Okamura Ningji sat down, he personally picked up the teapot with one hand, and said while sipping tea: "Teng Songjun, you have always been the leader of the younger generation of the Emperor [***], tell me what you think of the current situation of the Imperial Army of the North China Empire?" ”

"Hay! Take the current encirclement and annihilation battle around the small county town of Qingdu, for example, although the 300,000 imperial army surrounded the reading force in the narrow area of Qingdu, which was no more than 100 miles.

However, on the periphery of the imperial army, at least 10 million [***] people have formed a huge encirclement, and instead surrounded 300,000 imperial troops.

These peripheral Chinese [***] people, although their combat effectiveness is not high, but they attack the transportation lines of the imperial army everywhere, disrupt communications, has caused a serious impact on the logistics supply of the 300,000 imperial army, if these problems cannot be improved in time, then it is very likely that the 300,000 imperial warriors will really fall into the heavy encirclement of the Chinese people, the most serious thing is that once the ammunition of the 300,000 imperial [***] team is exhausted, then in the words of the Chinese, they can drown us with a mouthful of foam. ”

Okamura Ningji frowned and said, "Teng Songjun, is the consequence really so serious?" ”

"Hay! General, the Chinese have a saying that those who win the hearts of the people win the world, and what the imperial army did in the past was really despised by the soldiers, and they thought that the implementation of a policy of coercion on the Chinese would force them to submit, but they seemed to have forgotten that China, an ancient nation, once possessed the martial spirit of the Han and Tang dynasties, and the former Chinese were also a nation good at expansion, and in the Han Dynasty, the huge grassland hegemon of the Great Huns, they were once beaten by them almost to destroy the country. They have a blood surname in their bones that makes all enemies tremble, and once this blood surname awakens, it will definitely be a disaster for the Empire. ”

Teng Songyin paused and continued: "In the past, the massacres carried out by the imperial [***] team in China and the so-called three-light policy were actually greatly unfavorable to the imperial army, and this is tantamount to arousing the blood surname of this lion that has been sleeping for a long time, once their blood surname is aroused, the empire will fall into endless battles. ”

"Hmmm! Teng Songjun, I think what you said is very right, I also do not approve of the wanton massacre of the Chinese people, we should follow the example of the Manchu Qing people when they entered the customs, and use China to control China, so that we can truly conquer the Chinese people, and blind killing will only provoke the endless revenge of the Chinese people! In this way, the empire will fall into a state of no return. Okamura nodded.

Okamura Ningji took a sip of the tea in the cup, paused and said, "Teng Songjun, you have analyzed the current situation so thoroughly, compared to how there should be a solution?" Tell me what you think. ”

"Hay!" Teng Songyin bowed his head sharply and said: "I think that at present, a small number of troops should be left to deal with the people of China in Qingdu, and the main force of the 300,000 Imperial Imperial Army should immediately attack the mixed army composed of the soldiers and civilians of China gathered on the periphery, and break up this encirclement that is slowly becoming firm in one fell swoop, and then return to Shiqingdu to eliminate the main force of the Reading Army and Zhang Mingyu." ”

"Teng Songjun, don't forget, the purpose of this campaign is to be able to eliminate Zhang Mingyu and his Reading Army, if the main force of the imperial army is transferred, then he will take the opportunity to break through, even if we can defeat the peripheral Zhina mixed army, then the goal of this campaign has not been achieved, and Zhang Mingyu, the henchman of the empire, has not been eliminated." Okamura Ninji Road.

"General! You can rest assured of this, according to humble observation, Zhang Mingyu attaches great importance to friendship, he will never break through, if he breaks through, he will become a deserter, and he will be pointed out by thousands of people, and he will be infamous for eternity. Most importantly, he knew that once they broke through, the tens of millions of [***] people gathered on the periphery because of him would collapse in an instant, and it was unknown how many Chinese would die in the war at that time. Therefore, Zhang Mingyu, as the spiritual pillar of these Chinese, will never escape. Teng Songyin explained directly.

"I want the West!" Okamura Ninji nodded and said, "Teng Songjun, your analysis is very reasonable, then you just said that you left a small number of troops to confront the Reading Army, how much do you need to stay?" ”

"General, I think that this time the number of troops left cannot be too small, otherwise they will be defeated head-on by the Reading Army, which will cause unnecessary losses to the Empire, so leaving more than 60,000 people in three divisions is enough to confront the Reading Army." Teng Songyin bowed his head and responded.

"To the West! Do as you say! Teng Songjun, you immediately draft a telegram in my name and send it to Okabe-kun, so that he can execute it immediately! Okamura nodded happily.

"Hay!" Teng Songyin got up abruptly and strode away.

…………………….

Qingdu County, Reading the Army Headquarters.

Zhang Mingyu, Liu Cheng and others walked out of the headquarters and walked towards a courtyard in the center of the city.

And Zhang Mingyu and the courtyard they are going to is the excavation point of the tunnel, everyone came to the courtyard, only to see that the yard had been dug up, and the excavation workers were not only ordinary people, but also prisoners of war who had just been captured.

Under the strict supervision of a group of heavily armed soldiers of the Reading Army, those prisoners of war could only work silently, and occasionally one of their hands and feet was slower, and they would be beaten violently.

There are at least a dozen courtyards excavated like this in the city, and Zhang Mingyu should have established a complete underground network of passages in the entire Qingdu county, which extend in all directions and some holes lead directly to the outside of the city, which can be used to break through in an emergency.

Liu Cheng pointed to the tunnel that was being excavated and said: "Junzuo, the villagers are very enthusiastic, and every family is willing to help us repair the trenches and dig tunnels." At this pace, we will be able to complete the underground passage of the entire county in less than ten days. ”

"Hmm!" Zhang Mingyu nodded and said, "Where are all the military pilots arrested today?" ”

"They are all imprisoned in the concentration camp in the east of the city, but now there are dozens of devil pilots left in the concentration camp, and the rest of the devil soldiers have been captured by Captain Niu to dig tunnels." Liu Cheng replied.

"Those dozens of devil pilots don't need to let them dig tunnels, let people take care of them, and keep them useful in the future." Zhang Mingyu said as he turned around and walked out of the courtyard.

Liu Cheng walked out after him, nodded and said, "Okay, there is no shortage of these dozens of people anyway." ”

………………….

Baoding, known as the Army Garrison Headquarters.

After reading the telegram just sent from Beiping, Naosaburo Okabe said to Umezu Mijiro next to him: "Umezu-kun, what do you think of Okamura-kun's decision?" ”

Umezu Mijiro hurriedly read the telegram and said, "I think what Commander Okamura said in the telegram is not unreasonable, if the logistics supply of our 300,000 army is really completely cut off by the Shina people, then I am afraid that the consequences will really be catastrophic." ”

"Hmmm! So you mean agree? Naosaburo Okabe asked.

"Hmmm! I think we should execute it immediately, it will be a great disadvantage to the imperial army if it is late, and no matter how heroic the soldiers of the imperial army are, they can't let them fight with the people of China with their bare hands, right? Umezu Mijiro nodded.

"I want the West!" Okabe Naosaburo nodded happily and said, "Then leave the Eighth Division." The 12th Division, as well as the 1st and 4th Divisions, confronted the Reading Army, and the rest of the main forces immediately attacked the perimeter and crushed the mixed army of China! ”

(To be continued)