For many people living in Shuozhou, Datong, and even Zhangjiakou, winter is a relatively long and difficult season. But it is also this kind of season that they can stay at home and enjoy the rare winter, hoping for the early arrival of spring.

Looking at the army that passed in front of the village every day, many people thought, don't these soldiers know that it is cold? What a painful thing it is to walk in such thick snow. But why did these soldiers choose this day to come out?

Many people know that with the heavy snow closing the mountains and frozen roads, the little devils who used to come to the countryside to collect grain and scourge are now nested in the city and do not come out. Why are these people so busy since the beginning of the year?

What do the people think, these soldiers of the Eighth Route Army who received orders naturally won't pay too much attention. For them, an order is an order. Even if there are knives in the sky, when you want to set off, then you must go.

was also tossed out by this weather, as well as the entire Shanxi Dispatch Army. Regarding the chaos around Xinzhou and Taiyuan, Banhuan Seishiro seemed very helpless, but he had to ensure the control of these counties.

It's just that Ban Huan was a little surprised, or Jin Suijun actually came out. Even if the offensive was not too fierce, it also restrained many troops of the 116th Division, making it impossible for them to go to Xinzhou and other places for support as they wished.

In response to this situation, Itakami Seishiro finally said: "Send a telegram to the commander to inform him of the current situation in Shanxi." It is hoped that the front army will be able to send additional troops for reinforcements. Otherwise, Shanxi may be recaptured by the Eighth Route Army. ”

After receiving a telegram from Seishiro Itakami, Sugiyama Moto, who had recently had a big headache due to the damage to the North China Railway, said in shock: "What? Shanxi is in turmoil, and their two main divisions can't guarantee the stability of Shanxi? ”

'Yes, Your Excellency, Commander. From the telegram submitted by Banhuan, the current situation in Shanxi is only very dangerous. In retaliation for our previous bombing, the Eighth Route Army launched a sabotage campaign the next day, causing chaos everywhere in Shanxi.

Nowadays, there is still a lot of snow in many places in Shanxi, and it is difficult for their reinforcements to move. The most fatal thing is that the strength of the Eighth Route Army in Shanxi seems to be far beyond our expectations, and they can only take a defensive position at present.

Although the county seat of Shanxi, and the most important Taiyuan, are still under our control. However, if this continues, it is estimated that the garrisons in various places will not be able to hold out for too long, and will fall into a situation of fighting on their own. ’

Listening to the words of the new chief of staff, Yamashita Fufumi, Sugiyama Yuan felt a headache and said: "Eight Ge Yalu, how did Shouichi Terauchi do it?" Why didn't you capture Shaanxi when you captured Shanxi at the beginning? Do we have the troops on hand now? ”

Yes, but it's all in Pingxi. Now that the Zhengtai Railway has been bombed, our reinforcements have to rush over, but I am afraid that it will be very difficult. ’

'Then take the Pingsui Railway, it should be possible, right?' ’

Regarding Sugiyama Moto's inquiry, Yamashita Fengwen said with some embarrassment: "Your Excellency Commander, I just received a telegram from Huailai. The Pingsui Railway was only afraid of a short period of time, and there was no way to open to traffic, and the railway there was seriously blown up. ”

'What about that?' The Pingsui Railway was also bombed? Didn't I strictly order the railway garrisons everywhere to guard the railways well? Why is it that at this time, the Pingsui Railway will also be bombed? What are the garrisons doing? ’

Looking at the violent Sugiyama Moto, Yamashita Fengfumi, who is the chief of staff, actually has a headache. Even he didn't expect that the Eighth Route Army's retaliation for the previous bombing would come so quickly and resolutely.

Sugiyama Moto, who had just enjoyed the celebration banquet, probably never dreamed that he would need to bear such a series of blows after being happy. North China, where the situation was originally calm, now seems to be full of gunsmoke and chaos everywhere.

After getting angry, Sugiyama Yuan looked at the map hanging in the command room, and said in a deep voice: "Troops from Shijiazhuang and Xingtai were dispatched to Shanxi for reinforcements. In addition, the aviation units were ordered to be ready to take to the air for combat whenever the weather permitted.

When the main force we sent to the south comes back, these damn Eighth Route Army will all be dead! It is because of their existence that the empire has lost so much economic loss. Eight Gyalu! ”

Listening to Sugiyama Yuan's words, Yamashita Fengwen quickly said: "Your Excellency, now near Shijiazhuang and Xingtai, the main force of the Eighth Route Army is also found to be active. If the troops from these two places are transferred, I am afraid that there will be some danger! ”

Then adopt the method of changing the defense, and change the troops of Beiping and Tianyuan to the closest place to them. We should adopt this method of advancing and changing defenses step by step to shorten the distance between our reinforcements and Shanxi.

Tell Itakami Seishiro that the situation in Shanxi must be stabilized. If Shanxi loses, not to mention the commander of the Shanxi Dispatch Army, even he, the commander of the division, will not have to do it. Two divisions and regiments can't beat one Tubalu, incompetent! ’

In the face of Sugiyama Yuan's somewhat strange change of guard support, Yamashita Fengwen thought about it and seemed to be really a way to send reinforcements to Shanxi in the shortest possible time. It's just that he still has some sympathy for Itakami Seishiro.

Perhaps no one would have thought that in just a few months, the situation in Shanxi would erode like this. But Yamashita Fengfu also knew that it would lead to this kind of chaos, and it was inseparable from Itakami Seishiro's request for bombing.

If Seishiro Itakawa had not advised Sugiyama to carry out a large-scale winter bombardment, perhaps the situation in Shanxi and North China would be stable today. The southern operational plan drawn up by the Army Headquarters may move forward smoothly.

But now that North China is in chaos, the troops sent from the north seem to have fallen into a situation where logistics are unable to keep up. Even the North China Front Army sent additional land troops for material supply. But compared to the railway, the speed is undoubtedly too slow.

In contrast, the Huaxia troops, who had become accustomed to the road conditions, were able to rush to the area where they were about to fight a decisive battle with the Japanese army at a relatively smooth marching speed. Under such circumstances, it undoubtedly disrupted the operational plan drawn up by the Army Headquarters.

At least at this time, no one thought that they could solve the anti-Japanese forces in China in a short time. Even as the various forces in China resisted, the Japanese army gradually felt the pressure and trained new recruits from the colonies.

However, in this way, compared with Huaxia, which has 40,000 people, when the Japanese army trains a large number of new troops, Huaxia can form more army units. Under the circumstances of this situation, it is normal for the Japanese army to be in a worrying situation.

It's just that now, the Japanese government, which has been controlled by the military department, has plunged the whole country into a feverish atmosphere of war. Even some sensible generals did not dare to make a voice of rebuttal at this time.

This battle, even if they don't want to fight, it seems that they must fight. Perhaps, as the Eighth Route Army said in its telegram, this war can only be quelled if the blood of one side is exhausted.

In the face of the reaction of the North China Front, He Zhengdao, who had already transferred his troops in place at this moment, ordered: "Order the first division to start an attack on the cities of Shuozhou." Ordered the second division to besiege the enemy in Datong and send reinforcements.

Tell Zhang Cheng and Xu Renyi to fight steadily and steadily, and don't use all the main forces at once. It is necessary to use the minimum cost to wipe out the Japanese puppet army in the two places and the garrison troops in the rest of the places, and make preparations to take over the deployment. ”

The campaign to fully recover Shuozhou and Datong was launched with the 2nd Division taking the lead in the attack. The first county town attacked was Zuoyun City, which confronted Youyu and was also very important to the Shanxi Dispatch Army.

During this time, the Japanese troops staying in Zuoyun City already felt the atmosphere of the approaching war. In the face of the guerrilla troops swaying outside the city from time to time, the Japanese puppet army guarding Zuoyun City also felt a little uneasy.

What they didn't expect was that during this time, the guerrillas wandered outside the city from time to time, which brought great shock to the people in the city and the puppet army. In response to such a provocation, the Japanese army still did not dare to go out of the city.

The reason is very simple, except that Zuo Yuncheng is still under their control. The rest of the towns around Zuoyun were all captured by the Eighth Route Army. This also means that they are now alone in the city.

In order to ensure that the puppet army would not be rebelled, the Japanese army in the city finally chose to break their arms to protect themselves, and sent the puppet army in the city to drive away these wandering guerrillas. And try to collect some of the materials needed in the city from outside the city.

It's very helpless that very few of these puppet soldiers who went out of the city can come back in the end. After being besieged for a while, they also asked Datong to send troops to support. As a result, most of the reinforcements were halfway and were forced to retreat to Datong City.

The Japanese puppet army of Zuoyun City, which cannot retreat and is difficult to defend, can be described as spending time like a year recently. Although the food in the city could still ensure that they held out for a while, in this weather, many Japanese soldiers found that there was nothing to keep warm.

In this case, the Japanese garrison officer in the city said directly: "Order our troops to start demolishing the houses built by those Chinese people." Anyway, these people have betrayed us, so these houses will be used as fuel! ”

In the face of such an order, the squire hiding in the city also said with some sympathy: "The little devil demolished the house to keep warm, it seems that we can't survive this winter." I am afraid that this city will be recovered by the Eighth Route Army. ”

'What to do?' We have all done things for the little devils before, if we really want to be caught by the Eighth Route Army, we are afraid that our lives will not be guaranteed! Alas, why do these little devils not use it like this when they encounter the Eighth Route Army! ’

For these ordinary people, who usually have a small net worth, they seem to be afraid of being liquidated by the Eighth Route Army. But right now, the little devils who thought they could provide shelter were scared by the Eighth Route Army and didn't dare to go out of the city, and they were also a little blind.

In such a panicked situation, some squires wondered if they could surrender and atone for their sins. At least they all knew that the Eighth Route Army did not kill innocents as indiscriminately as they imagined. Meritorious service is still applicable in the Eighth Route Army.

But what should be done so that the Eighth Route Army can leave them a way to survive when they carry out the liquidation? This has also become something that many squires have begun to think about! (To be continued.) )