As the former chief of staff of the Kwantung Army, Itakami Seishiro is undoubtedly an authentic Huaxia Tong. It established the "Banyuan" organ in Tianjin, which was responsible for the "strategy" work in Beiping and Tianjin, and cooperated with the Kwantung Army in the Great Wall operation.

Engaging in spy intelligence and the like is also one of Seisishiro's strengths. In the case of serving as the head of the Shanxi Dispatch Army, Ban Huan knew very well that he had the military and political intelligence of the Eighth Route Army, which was very important for their Shanxi Dispatch Army.

The Battle of New Taiyuan, which ended earlier, seems to be a battle launched by the Eighth Route Army in order to rob two military columns. But Banhuan knows better that the strength of the Eighth Route Army in Shanxi has surpassed that of the Jin Sui Army in Linfen and other places.

Compared with the Jin Sui Army, which is currently more on the defensive, the Eighth Route Army, as a close neighbor, has always looked at Shanxi. Although there are no major military operations at present, Banhuan is also clear that the Eighth Route Army is more planning and then acting.

Once the Eighth Route Army launches an offensive, with the strength of the current Shanxi Dispatch Army, I am afraid that it will not last long. It was precisely because of this concern that Banhuan felt the need to create some troubles and difficulties for the development of the Eighth Route Army.

As soon as he summed up with the Japanese army's special high class, Banhuan remembered to pretend to be a guerrilla or a small detachment of the Eighth Route Army and infiltrate the control area of the Eighth Route Army to carry out sabotage and decapitation battles. At the same time, they also asked the North China Air Force to assist them in this infiltration plan.

It's not that they didn't think about bombing before, but the previous Yan'an point really made the Japanese army a little weak-hearted. But in Shanxi, Itakami Seishiro knew very well that the air defense strength of these Eighth Route Army was pitiful.

It's just that if you want to find the command organs of these Eighth Route Army, the difficulty is not ordinary. If there is a large base area, these command organs will move every three to five days, and it will be impossible for people to smoothly grasp the location of their command organs.

As for the command organs at the division level, even if the Japanese army can grasp its position. It was very difficult to carry out the bombing. In Shanxi, there has never been a shortage of dangerous places capable of air defense, and air raids do not seem to be of much use.

This time, many soldiers who were familiar with the situation in China were selected from the Kwantung Army to organize the Itagaki Advance Team in order to search for the location of the regimental organs of each division. At the same time, the deployment of the Eighth Route Army in the base area was collected.

In Itakami Seishiro's view, next year will be a more critical year for them. As far as the current situation is concerned, the attention of the North China and Central China fronts should still be concentrated on the line between Xuzhou and the Central Plains.

This means that if he wants to crack down on the development of the Eighth Route Army next year, he must find an effective method. At least judging from the current situation, the Eighth Route Army's military expansion behind enemy lines in Shanxi was too fast.

Even, Itakami Seishiro was very helpless to find that with only the troops in Shanxi, it was difficult for him to organize an effective encirclement and suppression. Even if in addition to his Fifth Division, there was another division in Shanxi to cooperate in the operation.

But as long as he makes a move, the main divisions of the Eighth Route Army in Shanxi will respond accordingly. This means that if he looks to the east, he may forget the west. After a long time, Ban Huan thought of the way the squad could infiltrate.

The only way to do this is to sabotage the Eighth Route Army's base organization behind enemy lines and to destroy the regimental organs that control the guerrillas, so that these places can be completely chaotic. Even if they deployed garrison troops in various parts of Shanxi, they would be able to grasp a certain degree of combat initiative.

With He Zhengdao's inspection, he accidentally ran into this advance team responsible for infiltration in Wuzhai. And the interrogation revealed that there was more than one such team, and the advance teams sent by Banhuan to various base areas were completely unlucky.

When Banhuan received the information sent urgently, he quickly sent a telegram to the surviving advance team, ordering these entering advance teams to immediately remove their disguise and come out of the base area behind the enemy of the Eighth Route Army to prevent them from being investigated and dealt with by the Eighth Route Army.

In the end, only one advance team disguised itself as civilians and abandoned their guns to escape, and the rest of the advance team was surrounded and annihilated by the Eighth Route Army. When the news came, Seishiro Itakami also felt a little distressed.

After all, the formation of these advance teams was all the confidants and spies he trained when he was the head of the secret service agency. As a result, it was lost like this, how could he not feel distressed!

Thinking of such a large-scale clean-up and investigation of the Eighth Route Army, Itakami Seishiro said worriedly: "If the front army does not mobilize troops to strengthen the security control of Shanxi, the Eighth Route Army will definitely make a comeback this year and pose a greater threat to us!" ”

Facing Itakami Seishiro's words, the chief of staff of the division also smiled bitterly: "Judging from the current military deployment of the empire, I am afraid that the core interests of the empire are still in the Central Plains and the battle in the south. Here, we have to figure it out on our own! ”

'Yes! Many people in the empire now only want to see our army occupy more territory in China. But they had no idea how difficult it was to defend and manage such a large occupied area.

Although the south is richer than the north, if we do not solve the problem of law and order in the occupied areas and continue to fight the Chinese troops like this, we will only suffer more losses in the end. It's a pity that my opinion is not taken seriously! ’

Perhaps it was the arrival of He Zhengdao that made the division commander, who was originally marginalized by the Japanese army in the later stage of the Anti-Japanese War, now dissatisfied by some military generals and domestic cabinet ministers, who felt that Ban Huan's assessment of the situation was too pessimistic.

It's just that in Itagaki Seishiro's view, the current Japanese army underestimates the strength of the Eighth Route Army too much. Most importantly, compared with the previous rule of the Central Army in the north, the rule of the Eighth Route Army in the north is now more popular.

Feeling the reaction speed of the Eighth Route Army, Itakami Seishiro was a little beyond imagination, but he didn't expect that this move would arouse He Zhengdao's anger again. After all, He Zhengdao knew very well how dangerous the advance team was.

In the previous life, it was these advance teams who pretended to be the guerrillas behind enemy lines of the Eighth Route Army, and did too many unconscionable things. In fact, these advance teams often played the role of Japanese special forces in battle.

The inspection itinerary was not changed by the incident of the advance team, and He Zhengdao left Wuzhai and continued to go north. However, the previous secret inspections have become front-line inspections with an open nature.

At the same time, the Fourth Special Operations Detachment, which was drawn from Yulin, began to infiltrate the area controlled by the Japanese army in Shanxi. Not long after, Banhuan, who had just been distressed by the loss of the advancing team, faced a very headache situation again.

'Your Excellency the division commander, Ning Wu called and the garrison officer Zhongshan Dazuo was shot dead by unknown persons. The murderer is unknown, and the garrison is currently in the process of arresting the murderer. Your Excellency the Division Commander, please appoint a new garrison officer. ’

Not long after this telegram was received, another communications officer walked into the headquarters and said, "Your Excellency, division commander, there is a call from Shenchi. Their garrison headquarters was raided by three mortars, and the garrison commander Shiraishi was shattered. ”

It didn't take long for telegrams like this to come in one after another. Most of the dead were Shanxi dispatch troops, commanders stationed in various cities. The killing of these people made the Japanese puppet soldiers stationed there also very angry and afraid.

It was naturally the Japanese troops stationed in these counties who were angry. Those who are afraid are naturally the puppet army who are in the same stream as the little devils. Originally, he wanted to make the people panic in the area controlled by the Eighth Route Army, but it was the turn of the Shanxi Dispatch Army to make accidents one after another.

Looking at the telegrams he kept receiving, Itakami Seishiro was also very angry and said, "Eight Grid Tooth Road! This is the revenge of the Eighth Route Army! ”

Seishiro Itagaki who scolded this, even if he wanted to provoke a winter offensive. But he also knew that if he really wanted to fight, they would be the ones who would suffer. With the current strength of the Shanxi Dispatch Army, it is difficult to balance defense and offense!

The chief of staff of the division and regiment, who was standing on the side, also said in a timely manner: "Your Excellency the division commander, in the current situation, it is still necessary to strengthen the security protection of the garrison officers in various places. Judging from the information available, the person who carried out this assassination should be the elite of the Eighth Route Army.

According to what we have learned, in the independent column of the Eighth Route Army, there is a reconnaissance unit that is very good at infiltration and assassination. If nothing else, this incident is inseparable from the person surnamed He. ”

'He Zhengdao! Baga, this person is a big trouble for the empire! ’

The more information about He Zhengdao was known, the more wary Ban Huan became of He Zhengdao. Most importantly, according to the information they have gathered so far, many things seem to be related to He Zhengdao.

Thinking of this, Itakami Seishiro quickly said: "Send a report to the commander of the front army, requesting that aviation troops be sent to bomb Yulin." I want him to know that the cost of provoking our empire is just as severe.

They want to have a stable New Year, so I just don't let them spend this year. I'm having a hard time as a garrison, and they don't want to have a good time. Judging from the current situation, Yulin is very important to the Eighth Route Army.

In addition, I asked Your Excellency the Commander to send a bomber force to bomb Xi'an in Shaanxi Province as well. They must not be given a chance to develop steadily, and a more stringent bombing regime must be implemented to deter them with aerial bombs. ”

As the division commander of the Japanese army, and Iwaki Seishiro, who has been in China for many years, knows very well that the air defense strength of the Eighth Route Army is not strong at present. Although the former commander of the front army, Terauchi Shouichi, planted a big heel, it does not mean that there will be a second time.

The most important thing is Sugiyama Moto, who has just succeeded Terauchi Shouichi as commander of the North China Front, and is known as the first person in the Japanese army aviation. He admired the importance of the air force and liked to use it to fight the enemy.

Hearing Itakami Seishiro's words, the chief of staff of the division was stunned and said: "Your Excellency the division commander, if you really want to do this, I am afraid that the Eighth Route Army will soon launch a large-scale retaliatory action." Then we will be in danger here! ”

Isn't our situation dangerous? I need to let those people in the empire know through this that they must pay attention to the rise of the Eighth Route Army. Without control, the future of the north is bound to be dangerous! ’

This kind of plan that is a bit of a life-for-life, in the opinion of Itakami Seishiro, is better than being 'boiled frogs' by the Eighth Route Army. Only in this way can we raise the attention of the base camp to the situation in North China! (To be continued.) )