Baoding, ten miles southeast, the fourth division station.

Since the 3rd Division was ordered to move to Cangzhou, the 4th Division, after being reinforced by two cavalry regiments of Ma Liqun, adopted a military posture of only encircling but not attacking Baoding.

Of course, this was instructed by Zhang Mingyu, after all, the strength of the fourth division alone is not enough to shake the 20,000 troops in Baoding, plus the cavalry regiment is okay to besiege the city, if you want to attack, you will have more than enough heart and insufficient strength.

Of course, the Fourth Division did not really besiege Baoding, and the troops were not enough, and if the army wanted to abandon the city and flee north, the Fourth Division would not be able to stop it.

The ultimate goal of the Fourth Division is to contain the Baoding Army, as long as they don't take the opportunity to sneak attack Shimen and other places.

At the headquarters of the Fourth Division, Wang Tiehan, commander of the Fourth Division, was discussing the military situation with Ma Liqun, the commander of the cavalry brigade, when Wei Hao, chief of staff of the Fourth Division, walked in quickly with a quick expression.

He said to Wang Tiehan and said: "Master, the news from the front scouts is that the devil has abandoned the city and fled north!" ”

"What? The devil abandoned the city and fled north? Wang Tiehan's expression was awe-inspiring, and he suddenly stood up and said.

"Yes!" Wei Hao nodded silently and said: "The devil should have retreated at night, and the retreat of the devil's retreat this time was very tightly organized, and the personnel of Baoding Station of our security department did not find it at all, and they didn't find it until the second half of the night, but it was too late." ”

"Chief of Staff, you immediately telegraph the situation in Baoding to the General Seat, and ask the General Seat for instructions, what should we do next!" Wang Tiehan said to Wei Hao.

"Yes!" Wei Hao snapped upright, and then turned around and left.

"Lao Wang, I suggest that we should attack immediately and accept Baoding quickly, otherwise it will change later!" Ma Liqun stood up and patted Wang Tiehan on the shoulder.

"Hmmm! I believe that the head office will call back soon, and I will immediately call the first brigade and ask them to dispatch immediately to receive Baoding City! Wang Tiehan nodded when he heard this.

In fact, Wang Ma and Wang Ma are both two people with more seniority in the 42nd Group Army, and they are also veterans around Zhang Mingyu.

Therefore, at this time, although the two lacked military command ability, they still held important positions.

For example, Wang Tiehan, whose tactical command ability is much more outstanding than him in the entire 42nd Group Army. Of course, Wang Tiehan also has his advantages, that is, he is loyal, pragmatic, and not vain.

This is also an important reason why Zhang Mingyu appointed him as the commander of the Fourth Division, compared to the commander of the Fourth Division as the garrison task, the defenders of the city must have a steady surname and avoid impetuousness.

Obviously, Wang Tiehan has this advantage, so he is the commander of the fourth division.

And Ma Liqun, in addition to his outstanding marksmanship, his talent for commanding cavalry is also amazing. However, due to the advent of a large number of high-end modern weapons and equipment such as machine guns, tanks and aircraft, the important position of cavalry on the battlefield is gradually being replaced.

As for commanding armored vehicles and tanks to fight in groups, Ma Liqun seems to be a little unable to keep up with the pace, in his own words, he can't drive a tank given him, how can he lead the tank crew to fight?

Therefore, when the armored tank division was formed, Zhang Mingyu did not elect him to be the commander of the tank regiment, because Ma Liqun did not have time to participate in the crash course of the military academy because of the continuous battles, so he became one of the few illiterate among the senior generals of the 42nd Group Army.

Although, since the possession of tanks and armored vehicles, the cavalry brigade has fewer and fewer opportunities to show its face on the frontal battlefield, but Zhang Mingyu did not despise Ma Liqun because of this. He was the only major general brigade commander in the entire 42nd Army.

Even an old qualification like Niu Tiangui is only a colonel, which shows his outstanding military exploits and senior experience.

At present, most of the officers at all levels of the grass-roots units have been promoted step by step by the Taiyuan Military Academy or veterans with education, military exploits, and experience drawn from various units.

After Wang Tiehan called the commander of the first brigade, the two walked out of the division headquarters one after another, rode on military horses and ran in the direction of Baoding City.

……… Cangzhou, headquarters of the 42nd Army.

Zhang Mingyu just went to the toilet, a feeling of sending out toxins spread throughout the body, Zhang Mingyu just wanted to sit, Chief of Staff Liu Cheng ran in quickly with a telegram in his hand, and said with great joy: "Boss, good news, good news!" The Fourth Division is calling! Baoding said that the army quietly abandoned Baoding City yesterday night, and withdrew to Beiping in a hurry, and the Fourth Division took the opportunity to recover Baoding! ”

"What? Did the devil really give up on Baoding? Zhang Mingyu suddenly said with some surprise: "I thought that the old devil of Okabe Naosaburo would definitely be reluctant to give up such an important town as Baoding, but I didn't expect this old devil to take the initiative to give up, which was really much beyond my expectations." ”

"Yes! It seems that Okamura Ninji has put a lot of pressure on his old boss! Liu Cheng nodded.

"Nope! The only one who can put pressure on Okabe Naosaburo should be the base camp of the Yue Army, and he can completely disobey Okamura Ninji's order, and Okamura Ninji can't help him! Zhang Mingyu said.

Originally, Zhang Mingyu was still thinking about how to take Baoding, but now it's good, the army took the initiative to give up Baoding, and Zhang Mingyu was happy to accept this "favor".

But at the same time, Zhang Mingyu also knew that in the following Beiping Campaign, he and his 42nd Group Army would be greeted with an extremely cruel test.

At this time, the strength of the Yue Army entrenched in the Pingjin area had reached nearly 150,000, which was almost the same as that of the 42nd Group Army.

If Qi Xieyuan's puppet North China Appeasement Army is added, the strength is several times more than that of the 42nd Group Army.

"Chief of Staff, call Wang Tiehan back and tell him and Ma Liqun that the Fourth Division is temporarily resting in Baoding, and let them wait for my order!" Zhang Mingyu said to Liu Cheng.

"Yes!" Liu Cheng snapped upright, and then happily took the order and left.

………… Northwest of Cangzhou, 80 kilometers away, Wen'an County.

Qi Xieyuan and his puppet North China Pacification Army of more than 100,000 people are resting here, and in an office in the puppet county government axe office building in the county seat, Qi Xieyuan is playing with an antique treasure confiscated from his subordinates.

At this time, his attendant adjutant Xue Ming strode in with a nervous expression, and said with a snap: "Commander, the battle of Cangzhou has come to an end!" ”

"Oh?" Qi Xieyuan was so shocked that he suddenly got up and hurriedly asked, "Is it my victory, or [***] victory?" ”

"There was no victory for either side!"

"What?" Qi Xieyuan was puzzled and said, "Why is there no victory?" What is the result? ”

"That's the case, the commander of the army, Okamura Ningji, because the casualties of the troops were too great, took the initiative to order the army to retreat, [***] took the opportunity to capture Cangzhou, and according to the news from Baoding, it seems that Baoding was also given up by himself, and now Baoding has fallen into the hands of [***]!" Xue Ming returned to the road.

"Oh! In this way, it is really difficult to say who won and who lost. Qi Xieyuan muttered to himself.

"Commander, are we going to peek at [***], or do we continue to follow him?" Xue Ming took the opportunity to ask.

"This is not in a hurry, let me think about it, before [***] and I have not divided the winner or loser, we can't make a decision easily, which is likely to cause a misstep and a thousand years of hatred!" Qi Xieyuan waved his hand.

"Yes! Humble duty understood! Xue Ming bowed his head suddenly, and then said, "Commander, if there is nothing else, then I will go down first?" ”

"Go, go!" Qi Xieyuan waved his hand and nodded.

"Yes!" Xue Ming snapped upright, and then turned around and left respectfully.

……… Yucheng, the leader's official residence.

Chairman Jiang was taking a walk in the back garden to relieve his high pressure and tension, when Wang Shihe, the chief of the guard not far away, suddenly walked briskly towards Chairman Jiang after talking with a member of the Military Commission, and walked up to Chairman Jiang, and said with a respectful expression: "Commission, the Cangzhou Station and Baoding Station of the Military Command Bureau sent an urgent telegram at the same time, claiming that the army had abandoned Baoding and Cangzhou and withdrew to Beiping overnight. General Zhang Mingyu commanded the 42nd Group Army to take advantage of the situation to recover Cangzhou and Baoding and other vast areas. ”

"What? Said that I actually took the initiative to give up Cangzhou and Baoding? Chairman Chiang obviously couldn't believe it, and he decided that it was either a mistake by the Military Command Bureau or that he was engaged in some kind of conspiracy.

"Yes, yes, the people of the Military Command Bureau said that what is stationed in Baoding now is the Fourth Infantry Division and two cavalry regiments under the jurisdiction of the 42nd Group Army of the National Revolutionary Army. And Cangzhou was stationed the main three infantry divisions of the 42nd Group Army. Wang Shihe, the chief of the guard, bowed his head slightly.

"In this way, okay, I know, let the people of the Military Command Bureau pay close attention to the situation in North China and report to me at any time! I'm tired and want to take a break. After speaking, Chairman Jiang walked back to his bedroom with a cane.

After all, such a big country, and now that the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression is in full swing, there are too many things that need him to work hard every day.

Seeing Chairman Jiang gradually moving away, Wang Shihe, the chief of the guard, turned around and left this time.

…………… Cangzhou City, the second batch of weapons and equipment transported from the Taiyuan Arsenal has all arrived safely.

Looking at the boxes and bundles of brand-new light and heavy machine guns and various mortar grenadiers on the truck, the officers, including Ling Tianbao, the commander of the Second Division, all laughed from ear to ear.

The most pleasing thing was a group of young officers of the armored division, because the equipment brought from the arsenal this time included more than 200 brand-new tanks and armored vehicles.

Xu Hu, the commander of the armored division, slapped a brand-new tiger tank and laughed: "It's really fucking enjoyable, this time our armored division is fucking wide, and now we are also worthy of the name of the landlord!" Ha ha! ”

(To be continued)