On April 5, 1942, this was the eighth time that the Inner Mongolia Military Region launched the Eastern Expedition against the Japanese Kwantung Army entrenched in Northeast China and the puppet Manchurian Defense Army under its command. Although the Inner Mongolia Military Region made a breakthrough in the Shuangliao front, the attack of the Eastern Hebei Army Subdivision from the south to the north was frantically blocked by the Japanese army, and the Eastern Hebei Military Subdivision, under the command of Commander Chen Geng, continuously invested 320,000 troops and launched a comprehensive offensive on a front of more than 1,000 kilometers from Shanhaiguan to Lingyuan. Under the assignment of General Yamada Oto, the commander of the Japanese 5th Army, Akira Muto, led 11 infantry divisions, 4 independent mixed brigades and 8 infantry divisions of the puppet Manchurian government defense army, a total of 270,000 troops to block the Jidong Army subdivision along the communication lines of major strongholds.

In a short period of 8 years, the number of casualties reported to Ulanhot by the Eastern Hebei Army Sub-district has exceeded 20,000, of which the war dead account for more than 55% of the total casualties, that is to say, in this short 8-year battle, the Eastern Hebei Army Sub-district has sacrificed at least more than 10,000 casualties, and the loss of the wounded has exceeded one infantry division, and the casualties are not insignificant.

However, they did not make the Japanese feel better, although relatively speaking, as the attacking side, the casualties of the Jidong Army Division were definitely greater than those of the defending side. However, Commander Chen's command level is not covered, Qi Zheng complements each other, and the tactics are used properly, and the old thing Muto Zhang, who only fights, is bitter. If it weren't for General Yamada Otozo who gave a dead order not to retreat and sent a large number of armored troops and aviation reinforcements, the defensive line ordered by Muto Akira would have been broken through long ago.

Despite this, the strategic objective of the Eastern Hebei Army Sub-district has been achieved, and although it is said that the tactical goal set by Commander Chen himself for his troops to destroy the two infantry divisions of the Japanese army has not yet been achieved, the strategic task of containing and attracting the 300,000-strong army of the Japanese puppet army has been successfully accomplished.

At the same time, the news received by the Northeast Army Division was also very exciting, after the Japanese army was occupied by Wang Weizhou's headquarters in Shuangliao City, it immediately transferred three garrison divisions from the rear to the west to reinforce the Shuangliao line, and the Kwantung Army Headquarters transferred one division from the defenders in Changchun and other places, three independent mixed divisions, and four puppet army divisions to reinforce the front line. Moreover, in order to withstand the powerful attack of the Northeast Army Division, the Japanese army transferred five of the eight divisions assembled on the front line of Songyuan and Da'an to Changchun for reinforcement.

At 8 o'clock in the morning of April 5, the Changchun Railway Station was under full martial law, and under the opening of several railway armored patrol cars, a column of troops stopped at the Changchun Railway Station, and then a large number of Japanese infantry walked down from the train, and suddenly the entire railway station was densely packed with Japanese soldiers wearing yellow dog skins.

This situation lasted until about 4 o'clock in the afternoon of the 5th, and soon Han Yunhua, who was on the front line in Ulanhot, received a call from the intelligence officer.

After reading the telegram, Han Yunhua was ecstatic, after 8 years of great battle, the little devil finally couldn't hold on, according to Han Yunhua's estimate, the Japanese infantry division stationed in the northeast should be about 40, and there are about 15 independent mixed brigades, these troops should add up to about 600,000, which is the absolute main force of the Japanese Kwantung Army, and it is the elite. In addition, the Kwantung Army stationed a large number of elite coastal troops in the Lushun fortress and various port industries such as Dalian, plus nearly 100,000 troops such as chariots, artillery, air force, and navy, and the Kwantung Army's field troops that really threatened the Inner Mongolia Military Region directly broke through the 700,000 army. The rest are the directly subordinate units of the Kwantung Army, such as the police, gendarmes, and intelligence recruits, etc., plus various armed forces controlled by logistics and supplies, railways, communications, coastal patrols, and other departments, which eventually constitute the current armed force of about 1 million in the Kwantung Army.

Among the 1 million troops, only 700,000 are really a threat to the Inner Mongolia Military Region, and among these 700,000 elites, the Kwantung Army Command can now use no more than 400,000, because the troops stationed in Lushun and along the Ussuri River must strictly guard against the sneak attack of the Soviet Union, and the total number of these troops should be about 200,000, and 100,000 reserve troops are also prepared, so the Inner Mongolia Military Region actually has to deal with these 400,000 troops this time. …,

According to the information obtained so far, the Japanese army has deployed more than 10 infantry divisions and regiments in the South Manchurian region, and the total strength should be more than 150,000. Similarly, the total strength of the Japanese army on the Shuangliao front is also more than 10, plus this batch of at least 80,000 elite infantry, the elite of the Japanese army on the Changchun front line has reached nearly 200,000, that is to say, from the north of Changchun to the Sino-Soviet border area, all the elite troops that can be mobilized by Japan add up to only more than 50,000. Moreover, the information from the front-line personnel of Songyuan and Da'an is obviously in line with this, and the total number of infantry divisions and regiments is not 50,000.

Originally, the 8 infantry divisions that Yamada Otozo arranged in the Songyuan area were actually a good move, just blocking the route of Lu Zhengcao's eastward advance, if you don't go from this side, you have to change the route to Wudalianchi and Bei'an, and then go south, although this road is safe, but it is not in line with the current Inner Mongolia Military Region, because what Han Yunhua lacks most now is time. Therefore, Han Yunhua formulated the strategic concept of diverting the tiger from the mountain, don't look at the ruthlessness of the Eastern Hebei Army Division and the Northeast Army Division, but in fact, these two armies are fighting soy sauce, and the real killing move is Lu Zhengcao's Northeast People's Liberation Army.

The southward movement of the Japanese army in Songyuan gave Han Yunhua hope, and Han Yunhua immediately ordered the First Cavalry Division of the Northeast People's Liberation Army Headquarters to immediately send troops to Longjiang County, Qiqihar, and the front of the troops was directed at Qiqihar. At the same time, Han Yunhua also ordered the 18th Cavalry Division of the Northeast Army Division, which was stationed in Zhalantun, to immediately send troops to Fufu County, forming a flanking attack on Qiqihar from south to north. In addition, Han Yunhua set off on the evening of the 5th under the protection of the guard regiment and went directly south to Tongliao.

In addition, Han Yunhua ordered Lu Zhengcao to lead the headquarters of the Northeast People's Liberation Army and the First Field Army to immediately attack the areas of Baicheng and Yaonan, but asked Lu Zhengcao's department not to force the little devil too quickly, as for how to hide it, it was up to Lu Zhengcao to consider it himself. However, Han Yunhua's request was to break through the Japanese blockade line within half a month, bring all the armed forces of the Northeast People's Liberation Army to the heart of the enemy, and take root there.

Han Yunhua went south to such a big thing was quickly noticed by the Kwantung Army Headquarters, although they could not detect Han Yunhua's course of action, but they could be sure that Han Yunhua had indeed gone south. In the view of General Yamada Otosan, this further proves that the main offensive and defensive direction of the Inner Mongolia Military Region is Shuangliao, and the target of Han Yunhua's department is Changchun or Shenyang. According to the judgment of Lieutenant General Yamada Otozo and Lieutenant General Yukio Kasahara, the Inner Mongolia Military Region should want to take Shenyang this time, because if the Northeast Army Division attacks Changchun, it will be difficult to stand alone, and the possibility of success is very small. However, if Shenyang is attacked from the north and south directions of the Eastern Hebei Military Division, the probability of success will be much higher.

In addition, according to the results of the overnight sand table deduction of the staff officers of the Kwantung Army Headquarters, General Yamada Otosan was taken aback, and the result was that as long as Han Yunhua's troops could afford the casualties of more than 10 infantry divisions and less than 15 infantry divisions, then the entire South Manchurian would fall into the hands of Han Yunhua's department. According to the intelligence collected by the intelligence department, the army under Han Yunhua's command in China also has at least 60 infantry divisions, and although 15 infantry divisions are enough to break the bones of the Inner Mongolia Military Region, Han Yunhua's department is not unaffordable, and with the fighting spirit that Han Yunhua has shown in the past two years, he may not really dare to exchange 15 infantry divisions for the entire South Manchuria.

Compared with North Manchuria, the importance of the South Barbarians is undoubted, because South Manchuria is connected to North Korea, and if South Manchuria loses something, North Korea will be threatened. Unlike the Northeast region, because the resistance force of the DPRK is far less than that of China, the garrison of the entire DPRK is very small, and the largest number of troops is the DPRK's own puppet army, not to mention how many troops the Inner Mongolia Military Region has sent to the DPRK, just a small force of 2,000 troops is enough to overturn the entire DPRK. If the Inner Mongolia Military Region sent a special combat team, the Japanese army would have to dispatch at least a few divisions to destroy it, and this risk would not have been afforded by Yamada Otozo and the entire Japanese Empire. …,

So in Han Yunhua's surprise, Yamada Otozo transferred two more infantry divisions from the North Manchurian region to the south to supplement the battle in South Manchuria. At the same time, in order to prevent the squadron from occupying Qiqihar, Yamada Otozo ordered the Japanese 3rd Army stationed in Harbin to immediately dispatch an infantry division to Qiqihar for reinforcements, but at this time, the Japanese defenders on the Songyuan line still had 3 infantry divisions, plus the Japanese puppet army on the Baicheng line, the total strength was about 80,000, of which the Japanese army was about 55,000.

To tell the truth, what Yamada Otozo can't figure out the most is the combat effectiveness of Lu Zhengcao's department, he knows very little about the Kwantung Army Headquarters of this army, only that this branch of the army has not appeared for a long time, and it seems to be similar to those earth rats of the Anti-United Nations, but the combat effectiveness is stronger than the troops of the Anti-United Nations, but the strength is also limited. The Kwantung Army is now less troubled by the Anti-Union Army, because the death and wounding of several generals who can really be regarded as military talents of the Anti-Japanese Federation have fallen, coupled with the 11-year encirclement and suppression of the Kwantung Army, there is not much combat effectiveness left, and it is just a matter of surviving.

However, the three major generals of Yamada did not dare to be careless at all, and it should not be a problem to use 80,000 troops to deal with Lu Zhengcao's headquarters, which was reported in the newspaper that there were less than 50,000, and at this time, the three major generals of Yamada would rather be too suspicious than dare to underestimate any army of the Inner Mongolia Military Region, because the result of underestimating the enemy's invasion would be disastrous.

(To be continued)