Shuangliao County, the headquarters of the 10th Division of the Army.

In order to facilitate the command of the troops, the current division commander of the 10th Division, Hikase Shousuke, moved his headquarters from Changchun to Shuangliao.

Inside the headquarters, Hirose Shousuke was listening to the communications staff officer on the progress of the battle that had been reported back by the front-line troops.

"The 8th Brigade advanced along the Dou Ha Valley, met with stubborn resistance from the Chinese and is currently working hard to attack in order to forge ahead.

The 33rd Brigade was also blocked in the mountainous area at the northern foot of the Turki Mountains......" After the communication staff officer finished his report, he put away the telegram and stepped forward: "The above is the progress of all units of our division and regiment, please give instructions to Your Excellency the division commander." ”

"Order, the 8th Brigade strengthens the attack, but pay attention to air defense, this time we are only a supporting role, the 2nd and 8th Divisions are the main attacking forces of the attack, our task is to attract the scattered troops who only defend Tongliao, and complete the mission." Hirose Shousuke is a light and breezy way.

"Hay!" The communications staff officer hurriedly bowed his head and answered.

……………… Compared with the passive attitude of the 10th Division, the 2nd and 6th Divisions, which were eager to lose their shame, and the 8th Division, which participated in the battle for the first time, were attacking much more rapidly.

Since they also have the assistance of the air force, although they are inferior to the Chinese air force in Tongliao, they can give a certain amount of air firepower reinforcement.

Therefore, the intensity of the attack of the 2nd Division was unprecedented.

The 2nd Mobu Division was the first batch of troops to pull up the Qinglong Mountain defense line, and more than 9,000 soldiers took turns to go into battle, braving the rain of bullets to launch a blockade.

Most of the recruits were led by veterans, and the cats held their guns in the fortifications and kept shooting.

The bullets whizzed overhead, and the sound of loud explosions sounded from time to time on the position, all of which frightened the recruits' hands and feet and their lips trembled.

But invisibly, they are imperceptibly adapting to such a battlefield, and they are also receiving the baptism of real war far above training.

Liang Tingguang, now 20 years old, is one of the recruits, he is a native of Baoding, attended high school, and came to Tongliao spontaneously with his classmates three months ago to sign up for the Northeast New Army.

Because Liang Tingguang was a cultural person, he was transferred to the first regiment of the Second Mobu Division to be a clerk for the regiment commander Du Ting.

This will be patrolling the trenches with Du Ting in the rain of bullets and artillery fire, since nearly half of the troops are new recruits, just in case.

Du Ting, with some guards and Liang Tingguang and others, walked out of the regiment headquarters at the beginning of the battle, inspecting and inspiring those frightened recruits.

"Boom... Bang...... Da ...... "In the deafening explosions and dense gunfire, Liang Tingguang followed behind Du Ting, and he could clearly feel the vibration transmitted from the ground, and each explosion would make his heart twitch suddenly.

Extremely nervous, he clenched the strap of the briefcase he was carrying.

Just as he was following Du Ting to inspect the room, suddenly a division headquarters who was lying on the edge of the trench and shooting, suddenly fell backwards.

Liang Tingguang was horrified to see that the soldier had a wound the size of a jujube on his forehead, and blood was gushing out of the wound......

The soldier's eyes were wide open, as if he were dead.

Seeing this scene, Liang Tingguang's heart suddenly beat faster, and it seemed that there was a thousand catties under his feet, and it was difficult to move even a little, so he was stunned in place.

Du Ting was also attracted by this soldier, turned his head to look, as if he was blind to the dead soldiers, and said directly to Liang Tingguang, who was stunned: "Who is that, what is Liang, don't fucking the pestle there, where are you waiting to die, follow me back to the regiment headquarters." ”

After saying that, he walked forward without looking back.

It wasn't until Du Ting walked a long way with the guards that Liang Tingguang came back to his senses, hurriedly crossed the body of the fallen soldier, and quickly chased after him with a briefcase.

………………………… Jinzhou, the headquarters of the Kwantung Army of the Invasion of China.

Toranosuke Hashimoto is reporting the battle reports of various divisions to Muto Nobuyoshi: "General, the 4th Division has lost more than one-third of its losses, and it is currently resting in the area of Qinglong County. ”

"What about the direction of Tongliao?" Muto Nobuyoshi asked.

"The four divisions of the Imperial Army in the Tongliao direction launched an attack from the east and south at the same time, but the resistance of the Tongliao Army was very stubborn, and the fierce battle continued." Hashimoto Toranosuke.

"Rehedi, it must be captured, so that the imperial army can attack Tongliao from the northwest direction of Tongliao, and the Qinglong Mountain defense line of the Zhina people and the terrain advantage of the eastern mountains will be gone." Muto Nobuyoshi pondered for a while, and said: "The terrain of Qinglong Mountain is steep, and it is urgent to go south, so let's order the 2nd, 6th, and 8th divisions to stop the frontal attack, and use the 6th and 2nd divisions to guard and contain the Chinese army in Tongliao."

The 8th Division was transferred to advance along the rear banner of the left flank of Horqin to the Naiman Banner, crossed the Jiaolai River, attacked and advanced in the direction of Chifeng, and attacked Chengde from the north and south with the 4th and 7th Divisions. ”

"General Yingming, I say that the First Fleet of the Imperial Navy has exchanged fire with the people of China in Shanghai, and domestic reinforcements are urgently heading to Shanghai, and the main force of the Central Army of China has no possibility of going north, so this is the best time for the Imperial Army to capture Rehe Province." Toranosuke Hashimoto took the opportunity to praise.

"Hurry up and convey the order, now that the imperial army has occupied most of the three northeastern provinces, as long as it captures Rehe again, the next goal is to pass through the Liao Zhang Xinghan Division, and to open up territory for the empire is also considered to have fulfilled my lifelong wish." Muto Nobuyoshi waved his hand with a little emotion.

"Hay." Hashimoto Toranosuke suddenly bowed his head in response, and immediately turned around and took the order.

……………… April 8, Shanghai.

The 156th Brigade of the 78th Division, which was stationed in downtown Shanghai, with the cooperation of the 16th Regiment of the Military Police that came to take over the defense, repelled the Yue army attacking from Hengbang Road, Qiujiang Road, and Baoshan Road.

And began to launch a counteroffensive against the Tiantongan Station and Shanghai North Railway Station occupied by the Yue army, and after a night of fierce fighting, the Yue army suffered heavy casualties and retreated from the concession.

He said that he had reached a ceasefire agreement through the mediation of Britain and the United States and other countries, but in fact he was waiting for reinforcements to arrive.

At the same time, he issued a statement threatening China's political axe, falsely accusing the Shanghai incident of being caused by China's anti-Japanese movement, and creating a pretext for its large-scale troop increase.

Knowing that the army was massively increasing troops, Jiang Guangnai hurriedly transferred to Nanjing, and the 60th and 61st divisions in the Suzhou area rushed to Shanghai, and issued a statement of resolute resistance.

People from all walks of life in Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou, Hangzhou, and young students have organized ambulance teams and volunteers to assist the 19th Route Army in the Anti-Japanese War, and the Songhu Anti-Japanese War has entered the most advanced period.

…………………… At the same time, the battlefield of Tongliao.

On 8 April, the army stopped its frontal offensive and secretly transferred the 8th Division west to Rehe.

After Zhang Xinghan learned of the movements of the Yue army through air force reconnaissance, he immediately discussed countermeasures with Jiang Baili, chief of staff, and others.

"The situation has been clarified, in addition to the two divisions that are attacking head-on, the other division has advanced southward, and the intention is obvious, that is, to attack Rehe." Zhang Xinghan pointed to the map and said, "Let's all tell us what you think." ”

"The commander must not be in a hurry, and wait for the army to attack Rehe before making plans." Jiang Baili said meaningfully.

"Hmm." Zhang Xinghan nodded thoughtfully.

"Commander, Chief of Staff, didn't you say earlier that Rehe could not afford to lose? Why are you now sitting back and watching the army enter Rehe? Zhao Zhenfan said puzzledly.

Zhang Xinghan and Jiang Baili looked at each other and smiled, and said to Zhao Zhenfan: "Guoping, you will soon know why, the army stopped attacking, and it just gave us an opportunity to absorb and reorganize the eight thousand veterans I recruited from Rehe." ”

"What do you mean, Commander?" Huang Xiansheng asked.

"All these 8,000 veterans will be disorganized and incorporated into the nine main regiments of our new army, and with their joining, the combat effectiveness of our three divisions will make a qualitative leap." Zhang Xinghan said.

"Another thing to note is that among the 8,000 officers and soldiers of the Tang Division, all officers above the company level must be replaced, and they must be detained together with their brigade commanders before they are spoke." Jiang Baili added.

"The chief of staff is right, remove all their company, battalion and regimental officers, so as to ensure our absolute control over the eight thousand recruits." Zhang Xinghan agreed.

…………………… On 9 April, the soldiers of the 8th, 4th, and 7th Divisions of the Yue Army began to attack and advance towards Chengde and Chifeng in three directions.

At this time, Sun Dianying's department, which was stationed in Chifeng, soon launched a fierce battle with the 8th Division, and Sun Dianying, who had already learned the news of the imminent arrival of the army, set up an ambush in the area of Yuanbaoshan with the main force of his department.

After the 8th Division of the Chinese Army crossed the Laoha River, it suddenly attacked, and even attacked near the headquarters of the 8th Division.

However, in the end, due to the desperate resistance of the Yue army, and the lack of armored tank vehicles and other assault forces, when the reinforcements of the Yue army arrived, they were forced to withdraw from the battle.

Although in the battle of Yuanbaoshan, Sun Dianying's troops caused some casualties to the army, but with the main force of the 8th Division of the army, they arrived one after another.

Sun Dianying's troops lost their positions in Chifeng one after another, and by April 10, the army had already approached the city of Chifeng.

In order to preserve his strength, Sun Dianying ordered his troops to retreat, and the army occupied Chifeng.

At the same time, in Shanghai, the first batch of reinforcements, more than 7,000 marines, arrived in Shanghai.

After receiving reinforcements, the army and the 10th broke the armistice agreement and attacked Zhabei and other places again, and after fierce fighting, they were defeated again by the heroic 19th Route Army.

The battle situation in Shanghai has temporarily fallen into a state of confrontation.

Three days later, the 9th Division and the newly formed 3rd Fleet arrived, and the commander of the 3rd Fleet, Nomura Kichizaburo, was appointed commander-in-chief.

After Nomura took over the command, he immediately commanded the 9th Division and the Marines to launch another attack on Wusong and Jiangwan.

Cai Tingkai commanded the 19th Route Army to resist desperately, and the two sides fought fiercely for several days, and the Yue Army was defeated by the 19th Army again.

The progress of the battle situation in Shanghai greatly exceeded the expectations of the high-level leaders of the base camp, and while they urgently sent reinforcements, they urged the Kwantung Army to end the war in the north as soon as possible, that is, to complete the occupation of Rehe.

At the urging of the base camp, the 4th Division and the 7th Division entered the periphery of Chengde on April 14, and engaged in fierce battles with the 106th Brigade of Tongbe and the 29th Army, which had rushed to reinforce them.

At the same time, the 8th Division continued to attack Sun Dianying's headquarters with one division, and the main force was rapidly south from Chifeng

(To be continued)