Chapter 563: "The Art of War" and the Footcloth (Ask for subscriptions, ask for monthly passes, ask for everything!) ）

The news from the front line was constantly sent to Handan, and after reading all the battle reports on the front line, Ma Zheng's brows couldn't help frowning, and Umezu Mijiro's reaction was so weird. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

In the face of such a fierce attack on the Chinese side and the disparity in strength between the two sides, Umezu Yoshijiro should not have been so crazy, all they could and had to do now was to hold on and wait for reinforcements from the Japanese puppet army in Henan and Hebei, instead of attacking.

However, at present, the First Army stationed in Shanxi does not have the slightest sense of defense, but on the contrary, it fights to the death on multiple fronts with the Second War Zone and the Eighth Route Army with a force of only tens of thousands of troops, which is completely a deadly way of fighting.

And according to the intelligence department just detected the intelligence, the Japanese army actually sent reinforcements to Ningwu Pass, there were only more than 1,000 defenders there before, according to advance estimates, the 120th Division captured Ningwu Pass for a maximum of one day, but I didn't expect the Japanese army to increase troops at Ningwu Pass so quickly, and it was a reinforcement of several thousand people.

With the topography of Ningwu Pass, the 120th Division may have to pay a great price if it wants to successfully take this pass. What surprised Ma Zheng the most was that the Japanese army seemed to have known their marching route in advance, and even Ma Zheng had a premonition in his subconscious that the Japanese army had even known about his troop deployment.

After thinking about it, Ma Zheng still decided to carry out the secret plan in advance, otherwise he would feel uneasy.

GAO Yi. WANG Tongzhuang. Brigade Headquarters of the 2nd Brigade of the Independent Division.

Ma Zheng's division disappeared after cooperating with the 129th Division and the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region to capture Xingtai, claiming that the troops had returned to Handan, but in fact, the main force bypassed Xingtai and quietly came to Gaoyi County, south of Shimen.

As Ma Zheng said in his telegram to Huang Sicheng, the fight against Taiyuan was just a cover, and his real target was Shimen.

Shimen is the Shijiazhuang of later generations, but at this time Shijiazhuang does not have the style and bull of the first village in the world in later generations, but with the opening of the Zhengtai Railway, Shimen has become the most important transportation hub in central Hebei, and the strategic location is extremely important.

It is no exaggeration to say that as long as the stone gate is taken, then the Japanese devils in the entire Shanxi will become the king of the urn. Not to mention that the weapons and ammunition that diluted the First Army were still transported through the Zhengtai Railway, and once the Zhengtai Railway was cut off, the only thing Umezu Mijiro could do was to break through or surrender.

Ma Zheng originally planned to let Huang Sicheng and others and Yan Laoxi's Jin Sui army attract firepower in front first, and when they had almost exhausted the sharpness of the Japanese army in Shanxi, he would send troops to raid Shimen, so that he would definitely be able to achieve his strategic goal without much effort.

But now Ma Zheng found that Umezu Mijiro was far more difficult than he imagined, don't look at the Japanese army's overstretched strength, but as long as they can move calmly, they can still break through the Second War Zone and the Eighth Route Army.

What's more, with Ma Zheng's understanding of Yan Laoxi, the old man acted cautiously, and once his troops suffered a major blow, he would inevitably withdraw his troops. If there were no more than 100,000 troops in the Second War Zone to contain the Japanese army, the strength of the Eighth Route Army would not be able to conduct a main decisive battle with the North China Front for the time being, and Ma Zheng had to act in advance.

Coincidentally, just when Ma Zheng ordered Xie Wensheng's unit to prepare for a surprise attack on Shimen, an extremely important piece of news came from the intelligence department, a batch of military supplies of the Japanese army in North China was urgently being transported to Shanxi, with a total of 4 trains and 55 wagons. According to information gathered by the intelligence services, the wagons were filled with weapons and ammunition.

In addition, after a few days of escape, the commander of the 108th Division, Shimoto Kumaya, returned to Shimon unharmed, although there were only more than 100 soldiers left, but they did not die on the battlefield like Naito Ichi, Hakata Shigeichi and Sekihara Roku and others.

After receiving the news, Ma Zheng fell silent. This batch of weapons and equipment must be intercepted, once this batch of weapons and equipment arrives at the Shanxi battlefield, the impact on the war will be very great.

Fortunately, because the North China Front Army Headquarters was attacking Zhangjiakou with all its might, a large number of troops were transferred from the entire Pingjin region and the Hebei battlefield, so that the defenders on the front line of Baoding and Shimen were only one-third of the original, and even a strategic hub like Shimen was only the strength of an infantry brigade. In this way, independence can take advantage of this opportunity to take Shimen and intercept this batch of arms.

Ma Zheng immediately sent a telegram to Xie Wensheng's headquarters on the front, ordering them to speed up the march and be sure to attack Shimen before the Japanese army left Shimen. At the same time, Ma Zheng sent an urgent telegram to Tie Niu on the Xinkou front, ordering the special combat team on the Xinkou front line to immediately send a powerful force to Jingcheng Pass and cooperate with the main force of the 129th Division to take Jingcheng Pass and completely cut off the main railway.

Soldiers, treacherous ways.

This is the opening sentence of "The Art of War", although this is more than 2,000 years of military thought, but in the view of Umezu Mijiro still has a very important guiding significance. He is not only a European expert, but also an authentic Chinese expert. Umezu took two missions to Europe and became interested in Chinese culture when he succeeded Kotaro Nakamura as commander of the Chinese garrison in March 1934.

Holding the oldest version of "The Art of War" that had just been plundered from a family of a landlord in China, Umezu Mijiro couldn't put it down, and this military work from more than 2,000 years ago was more instructive than the textbook of the Imperial Lu Dali.

There was a knock on the door outside the office.

"Come in!" Umezu Mijiro said lightly.

The door of the office opened, and it was Aiko Sato, the person in charge of the special high school, who came in, and saw Aiko Sato walking in with a happy face, still holding a few pieces of telegraphic paper in her hand.

"Aiko-san, what's going on?" Umezu Mijiro said in a deep voice.

"Your Excellency Commander, there is news from the Chief of Staff of Iida, they have quietly seized Xiaoloufeng and other important places, and the people of China have reached thirty kilometers on the west bank of the Wenyu River, and they will be able to enter Iida-kun's attack range tomorrow at the latest." Aiko Sato said excitedly.

"Yo Si! Iida-kun was ordered to detach a brigade of troops and enter Gujiao with great fanfare, and his main force continued to ambush on the mountain road on the east bank of the Wenyu River. Lieutenant General Umezu Mijiro said.

"Nani? Your Excellency Commander, if the Chinese army doesn't know that reinforcements have arrived, then they will inevitably march more cautiously, which is very unfavorable to Iida-kun's side! Aiko Sato asked in surprise.

"Hahaha, Miss Aiko, you should read "The Art of War" more, otherwise you won't understand this problem." Umezu Mijiro said with a smile

"The Art of War? Is the commander talking about the book of war written by the same art of war more than 2,000 years ago? Although Aiko Sato has not read "The Art of War", she knows this book of war.

"Well, it's this military book."

"Your Excellency, Commander, I humbly believe that this book of war was written to guide the cold weapon war. For modern warfare, it is outdated, otherwise the people of China who are familiar with this masterpiece would not have been beaten by the Imperial Army, and the Imperial Army would not have captured most of China in such a short period of time. Aiko Sato said disapprerovingly.

"Miss Aiko, you're so wrong. The wisdom of the ancient people of China is beyond our imagination, and although this book of war was written more than 2,000 years ago, many of his ideas can still guide modern warfare. For example, in the chapter on stratagem, the great art of war says: "A soldier is a trickster." Therefore, it can be shown but cannot be used, it is not used to show it, it is near and it is far away, and it is far away and it is shown to be near. Profit and temptation, chaos and take. Be prepared, be strong and avoid, be angry and scratch, be humble and arrogant, work hard, and leave it. Attack it unprepared, take it by surprise. The victory of this soldier cannot be passed on first. ”

"Your Excellency, Commander, what does this mean, does it also mean war?" Aiko Sato asked with a frown.

In Aiko Sato's view, China has fallen behind, whether economically, militarily, or ideologically. Perhaps this military work in the hands of Lieutenant General Umezu was advanced at the time, but after all, it was something more than 2,000 years ago, like the footcloth of an old lady in Shina, smelly and meaningless. (To be continued.) )