Apologize to readers: Zhude County is the 21st Division, Shanren made a mistake, and it was written as the 24th Division in "Wind and Rain Ji Zhong III", I am sorry for everyone, and it is now corrected.

Washizu Songhei was a native of Aichi Prefecture, graduated from the Army Non-commissioned Officer School in November 1905, graduated from the Army University in December 1915, and served as a staff officer of the Tianjin Zhutun Army, a military attache attached to the U.S. Embassy, a member of the General Staff Headquarters, a commander of the 13th Infantry Wing, a major general of the 39th Infantry Brigade, a commander of the Guards Division Headquarters, and the principal of the Army Toyama School, and was just promoted to lieutenant general in November 1937.

It should be said that Lieutenant General Washizsu Songhei is a figure in the military who has seen the great world, and when he was appointed military attaché attached to the US Embassy, he carefully studied and inspected the building of the US military system, military training, weaponry, and tactical tactics. In the view of Lieutenant General Washizu Songhei, the US military is better equipped than the Yue army, but its will to fight is not as good as that of the Yue army, and if the two armies meet, there will be no problem at all in defeating the US army with the tactical quality of the Yue army and the courage and skill of the commander. The only army in the world that can be compared with the Japanese army is the German army, and the other armies are not a problem.

Lieutenant General Washizu Songpei has made a serious study of the tragic experience of His Excellency Seishiro Itagaki in Japan, and has come to the conclusion that although His Excellency Lieutenant General Seishiro Itagaki was defeated by the Chinese army, the Chinese army's skillful use of tactics and reasonable use of firepower in battle really reached a very high level. In particular, after the instructor attacked and occupied Tianjin and destroyed the North China Front Aviation Corps twice, Lieutenant General Washizu Songping, who was the principal of the Toyama School of the Army, was taken aback. Is this still the [***] team I know?

It was with this question in mind that Lieutenant General Washizu Songpei led the 21st Division to China.

In his opinion, the North China Plain was divided by railways and highways, and it was impossible to hide such a powerful force as the instructor. His 21st Division should go to the Shanxi battlefield or go south along the Jinpu Line to find Liu Yimin and a mentor to see what kind of team this branch is. It is a pity that the 21st Division is a three-unit garrison division, and in the minds of General Terauchi Shouichi and Lieutenant General Nishio Shouzo, it can only take on the task of guarding and defending, and sweeping the task, and the things of attacking the city and seizing the pass and making military achievements in the limelight are all given to the permanent division.

Therefore, after accepting the task of focusing on sweeping the east of the Jinpu Road and the northwest of the Yellow River, the indignant Lieutenant General Washitsu Songping judged that there could be no main force of resistance in the area, and used the main force of the 21st Division in the area west of Jinpu Road and south of Deshi Road. In his mind, even if there is no instructor from Liu Yimin in this area, he can still wipe out the resistance forces in the southern Hebei region by sweeping and extinguishing them, and ensure the security of Dexian County and Jinpu Road and Deshi Road. Unexpectedly, as soon as this horse came out, it hit a nail.

This cavalry unit is so strange, it seems to be a sniper unit, always shooting at a distance of more than 500 meters, killing with guns and guns, not even a single wounded, and it will leave with one blow, never dragging mud and water, and even the bullet casings are taken away. In just one day's engagement, his own 21st Division actually lost the strength of a large brigade. This is terrible, you must know how many people the imperial army lost when they occupied the whole of Manchuria!

Lieutenant General Washizu Songpei, who wanted to cry without tears and had gone crazy, wanted to grab this cavalry unit and tear them apart, but unfortunately these guys were as timid as rats, and they didn't dare to stop fighting the imperial army, and always shot in unexpected places for the imperial army, and ran away after the fight. What is hateful is how the people of China could come up with a way to dig the road into a trench, restricting the movement of their tanks, armored vehicles and cars, so that the Chinese cavalry can fight the imperial army without fear. On several occasions, seeing that the troops on both flanks were about to surround them, this cavalry unit rushed out by using the trenches with superb shooting skills. There is no way, no matter how brave the soldiers of the imperial army are, they are human beings, in the sound of the other party's guns and deaths, the spirit of the soldiers is about to collapse, and their eyes have become cringe, and this battle can no longer be fought.

Lieutenant General Washizu Songhei had no choice but to order the troops to stop this game of cat and mouse, no longer pay attention to the attack of this small cavalry unit, turn around and head south, and continue to sweep.

The chief of staff reminded him that it was already getting dark, and General Terauchi Shouichi had a stern order that all troops should camp at dark, build fortifications, and make defensive preparations to prevent a sneak attack by the Shina army.

Lieutenant General Washizu Songhei glanced at the chief of staff, and when he saw a trace of panic flashing in this guy's eyes, he wanted to slap the work. Holding back a breath, he turned his head to look at the brigade commander and wing commander who were following him, and saw that these guys were hanging their heads and did not dare to look at themselves, so he couldn't help but sigh in his heart, and ordered the chief of staff to arrange the deployment and vigilance, and each unit collected the remains of the soldiers and camped on the spot.

Looking at the corpses in the car and the dejected expressions of the soldiers carrying the corpses, Lieutenant General Washizu Songhei felt that this was the saddest day of his life. The strength of nearly a division, equipped with tanks and armored vehicles, actually let a small group of guys who claimed to be the Changbai Mountain Anti-Japanese Sharpshooter Team play tricks for a day, and killed a large group of imperial warriors, and even the other party did not catch a single person, and I don't know how many people will die of laughter when it is passed out.

At night, when Lieutenant General Washizu Songhei lived in a village by the river, and when he was lying down on the bed, Lieutenant General Washizu Songhei carefully recalled the situation of the day's battle, and the more he thought about it, the more interesting he found it to be, a small cavalry unit, when it encountered the main force of the 21st Division, not only did not turn around and flee, but played a game of mouse and cat with the imperial army, which showed that in their hearts they were not afraid of the main force of the imperial army of a division at all. Such courage is not something that bandit beards or Chiang Kai-shek's regular army units possess as a national axe, and if they had such courage, the Manchurian Incident and the North China Incident would not have happened. On second thought, this unit's clever shooting skills are not the concept of ordinary sharpshooters, it is clearly the use of sniper tactics in raid warfare, and such a clever tactic is by no means something that the average [***] team can have. Except for the imperial army in Asia, where else will there be such a tactic?

Thinking about it again, the reason why this unit took away all the bullet casings was that in addition to not wanting to reveal the model of the gun used and concealing its identity, I am afraid that there was also the possibility of reloading ammunition. Thinking about it this way, the identity of this unit is about to be revealed. Because the bandit beard does not have the ability to reload ammunition, the Chinese political axe army does not need to reload ammunition, only the troops of [***] need to reload ammunition and the ability to reload ammunition. And if there is such an elite cavalry small unit in [***] troops, it must be Liu Yimin's mentor.

As soon as he thought of this, Lieutenant General Washizu Songhei woke up suddenly, immediately got dressed and got up, and sat on the edge of the bed thinking.

The first thought was to end the camp and return to Dexian overnight. But when he thought that Liu Yimin's instructor was elusive, and the 21st Brigade and the Chahar Dispatch Corps were all shattered at night, Lieutenant General Washizu Songping immediately dispelled this idea.

The second thought was to immediately report to the commander of the Second Army, Lieutenant General Nishio Toshizo, and ask him to immediately mobilize heavy troops to encircle and suppress the instructor. But on second thought, this is at best a small cavalry unit of the instructor, and only God knows where the main force of the instructor is, how to report it to Lieutenant General Nishio Shouzo? If you don't do it well and can't find the main force of the instructor, it is very likely that people will laugh at yourself and lie about the military situation. It even affects the overall attack plan of the base camp.

Only by finding the main force of the instructor and exposing them to the sun can General Terauchi Shouichi and Lieutenant General Nishio Shouzo mobilize a large army to encircle and suppress.

How can I find the main instructor? Aircraft reconnaissance is obviously not good, this team is cunning and must be accustomed to night operations, and it is unreliable to rely on aircraft for aerial reconnaissance. It is even more difficult to send a search force to search and reconnoitre, and it is very likely that a small unit will never return. It should be impossible to rely on friends who are friendly with the imperial army to gather intelligence, but the strange thing is that since leaving Dexian and entering the western canal area, it seems that he has not met any friends of the imperial army, and all he has encountered is a pair of hateful eyes. After thinking about it, Lieutenant General Washizu Songping felt that the only feasible way was to wave the main force of the 21st Division, carry out a heavy sweep along the canal Xi'an, drive out the main force of the instructor, and force them to engage the 21st Division head-on. As long as the two sides start fighting, they will not be able to escape, and the powerful United Fleet Aviation and the North China Front Aviation Regiment will blow them up!

As for the security of the 21st Division, Lieutenant General Washizu Songping did not fail to consider it, but after careful consideration, he believed that the 21st Brigade, the Chahar Dispatch Army, and the Tianjin Defenders were all successfully attacked by the instructor without the slightest defense, when the troops did not have time to deploy, and when the heavy weapons had not yet been prepared. Under normal circumstances, Lieutenant General Washizu Songhei believes that not to mention other troops, just the 21st Brigade and Regiment, there is no problem in hitting two or three armies of the [***] team. Now, since he has anticipated the enemy's opportunity, he is not afraid of a sneak attack by the instructor. During the day, they marched hand in hand, and there was air cover, and if the instructor dared to attack, it was exactly what he could not ask for. In the evening, camp early, build a position, guard the defensive line, and the soldiers take turns to rest, that is, to teach the instructor to attack, with the combat effectiveness of the soldiers of the imperial army, not to mention that it is no problem to defend for one night, and to defend for ten days and a half months. I'm not afraid of the instructor's attack, I'm afraid that the main force of the tutor is not here, so I'll keep myself busy.

After making up his mind, Lieutenant General Washizu ordered the chief of staff to inspect the positions of the troops, reset the passwords, and the soldiers took turns sleeping, and one-third of the soldiers must be on alert at all times.

After the chief of staff was ordered to go for an examination, Lieutenant General Washizu Songping sat down and wrote a letter to his wife, in which he told her with joy that tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow at the latest, he and his 21st Division might have to perform a miracle to find out Liu Yimin, the god of war in China, who had disgraced the imperial army, and his instructor, and let the powerful aviation force blow them to pieces.

After writing the letter, Lieutenant General Washizu Songhei went to bed again. But the mood was excited, tossing and turning and couldn't sleep, wanting the guards to find a branch of the girl to ravage, only to remember that when they entered the village, the common people had already run out, not to mention the girl, even an old man was difficult to find. In desperation, Lieutenant General Washizu Songhei fantasized about the appearance of Empress Liangzi, and took a handful of silver in his hand, and then fell asleep.

Lieutenant General Washizu Songhei did not expect that this sleep would be his last sleep in the world.

That night, Jizhong was a different scene.

After a day's advance, the devils of the 23rd Division and the 24th Division not only opened up the Cangshi Road, controlled Gaocheng, Jinxian, Shenxian, and Wuqiang, and formed a blockade along the Cangshi Road, but also the 23rd Division also captured Wuji and Shenze, and the 24th Division captured Xianxian.

The Fifth Brigade of the Reading Force Mixed Formation from Tianjin on the northern front and the Reading Brigade of the Garrison Army from Beiping have all arrived at Dabao Road and began to compress to the south with the puppet army.

The lights of the devil's armored vehicles patrolling the highway illuminated the sky, and the bonfires lit by the devil's camp made the village and wilderness look more and more swarthy.

There were gunshots and cries everywhere, and the beautiful Jizhong Plain was struggling in purgatory.

Lu Ben, Lu Zhengying, and Meng Qingshan had already returned to their garrisons one after the meeting to arrange for their troops to break through the encirclement.

The People's Self-Defense Army said that the main force had just returned from Fuping, and the troops were all concentrated in Anping, and the number was not large, with 5,000 people and five regiments.

The problem of the Hebei guerrilla army is even greater, and the troops are scattered in various places, and it is very difficult to concentrate them. Fortunately, after the last time the instructor captured Tianjin, the guerrilla army was supplemented with a radio station, and it was relatively convenient to get in touch.

As a result of this contact, the troops reported on their respective situations. The First Division has been operating with Meng Qingshan, needless to say, Duan Shizeng's Second Division is still in Lixian, and Ma Youmin's Third Division is in Anping. Li Qingsuo's Ninth Route Army, which was in Shenze, was retreating towards Anping, and the troops suffered heavy losses. Gao Shuncheng of the 1st Guerrilla Division, which was operating between Renqiu and Hejian, was negotiating with the Yue Army, and the cadres sent to the unit with radio stations and the troops under his control had left the unit and were rushing towards Suning. Meng Qingshan immediately ordered the three divisions directly under him, as well as Xu Peijian's First Route Army in Raoyang, Wang Ben's Second Route Army in Suning, Chen Muxin's Third Route Army in Anguo, Guomeicun's Sixth Route Army in Lixian, and Ma Yuxiang's Eleventh Route Army, which was operating at the junction of Gaoyang County in Suning, to concentrate in Anping, break through the encirclement, and jump to the outer line to fight. It ordered the 4th Road stationed in Anxin, the 5th Road stationed in Renqiu, the 7th Road stationed in the mid-mountainous area of western Baoding, the 8th Road operating east of Baiyangdian, and the 12th Road operating in the western part of Tianjin, persisting in fighting on the inner line, launching anti-sweeping guerrilla warfare on the spot, and also breaking through to western and eastern Hebei as appropriate.

In view of the fact that Gao Shuncheng had already surrendered to the enemy, and the troops left behind had only been strengthened and had not undergone retraining, the stability of the troops had become a key issue, and Meng Qingshan sent a telegram to the commanders-in-chief, proposing that he would rather die standing than live on his knees, and that it would be glorious to be a hero of the National War of Resistance and a shameful to be a lackey of the Han Dynasty. All units are required to persist in the War of Resistance and wait for the main force to defeat the enemy's encirclement and suppression and return to Jizhong.

After issuing the order, Meng Qingshan convened a meeting of cadres above the company commander level of the First Division to make specific arrangements for the breakthrough operation.

The lanterns flickered on and off, and the faces of the cadres who illuminated them also flickered and dimmed.

Meng Qingshan's words were low and powerful: "This time, the little devil used 50,000 troops to fight Jizhong, there are planes in the sky, tanks and armored vehicles on the ground, it seems to be menacing, but it is not terrible. When I was a student at the Xi'an Anti-Japanese Military and Political University, President Liu Yimin specifically talked about the tactics of breaking through the siege. The first point is to be hidden, and the second is to fight fiercely and ruthlessly, and the devil will be stunned and beaten at once. The 1st Division was the main force of the guerrilla army, and its weapons were also replenished by the main instructors of the first class of our army. In this breakthrough, the 1st Division should be the vanguard and open the way for the whole army. President Liu Yimin repeatedly emphasized that when the brave meet on a narrow road, the brave wins, that is, he will die, and he will die on the road of charging. I can tell you that on the Cangshi Road and Deshi Line, which are heavily blocked by the enemy, the most powerful troops of our Eighth Route Army will receive us at that time, open the blockade line for us, and cover our army's breakthrough. Therefore, everyone must strengthen their confidence, lead the team, resolutely break through the enemy's blockade, and rush through the blockade line is victory! ”

Seeing that the emotions of the cadres had been mobilized, Meng Qingshan remembered the battlefield mobilization method of Professor Kang Da, so he continued: "After we successfully break through the siege, I would like to invite the legendary hero of our army, the president of the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University, the commander of the Shaanxi Military Region, the instructor and division commander, and General Liu Yimin, who captured Taiyuan and Tianjin, and forced Lieutenant General Seishiro Itagaki to commit suicide by disembowelment, inspect our army, give a speech to everyone, and personally guide our training. Do the comrades say it's good? ”

As soon as the cadres heard that they could meet the legendary hero Liu Yimin, they were immediately excited, and shouted in unison: "Okay! ”

Only then did Meng Qingshan wave his hand and ordered the cadres to go back and mobilize immediately, clear all the supplies, except for dry food, weapons and ammunition, and march to Anping overnight. Meng Qingshan told the cadres as follows: "The instructor is the richest unit in our army, and the soldiers have meat every day for dinner. All the materials and baggage are not brought, lest the comrades of the instructor laugh at us for not being mixed up and being poor! ”

At this time, the cadres laughed, the dark clouds on their faces completely dissipated, and they were busy going back to prepare for departure.

Later, after the troops broke through to southern Hebei, when Meng Qingshan reported to Liu Yimin on the situation of the pre-war mobilization meeting, Liu Yimin patted Meng Qingshan on the shoulder and praised him as one of the best graduates of Kang Da.

A few years later, whenever the generals gathered, Meng Qingshan would take Liu Yimin's praise as long as he drank high, and always proudly said that Liu Shuai said that I was the best graduate of Kang University, and deliberately removed the word "one".

On this night, with Suning and Anping as the center, all units of our army in central Hebei quickly assembled and concentrated in Anping, opening the prelude to the great breakthrough in central Hebei.

(To be continued)