When recovering Shanxi earlier, He Zhengdao suggested that the headquarters transfer the main force to capture the Jingjing coal mine currently occupied by the North China Front. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 It was only because of the urgency of the time and the tight defense of the Japanese army that the mission was finally aborted.

Now, with He Zhengdao leading the troops to capture the Xilin Gol League, and let the 35th Army stationed in Datong attack and harass the Zhangjiakou area. In order to ensure the safety there, Okamura Ninji also mobilized a lot of troops near Zhangjiakou after taking office.

It's just that the North China Front Army has fought with the Eighth Route Army many times, and the losses of the troops are undoubtedly the largest among the several front armies. In order to ensure the security of the Zhangjiakou area, he could only draw troops from other places for defense.

On the other hand, in the eyes of the Japanese army, the Jingjing Coal Mine, which had already built permanent fortifications, was not an easy task to take the Jingjing Coal Mine with the offensive capability of the Eighth Route Army. What's more, the Japanese army deployed reinforcements around the perimeter.

In the event of a battle in the mine mine, the garrisons deployed around the mine area can also rush to reinforcements urgently. Perhaps it was out of this self-confidence that Okamura Ninji eventually reduced the main force of the large forces deployed in the area.

Now that there is chaos in eastern Hebei, some of the main forces that serve as reserves have also been urgently recalled by Okamura Ningji and sent to eastern Hebei to quell the turmoil, hoping to restore the stability of the situation in eastern Hebei in the shortest possible time.

But he would never have imagined that the 115th Division, which had received orders since last year, had been planning to attack the Jingjing Coal Mine at any time. For today's Eighth Route Army, the recovery of the Jingjing Coal Mine can also play a great role.

In addition, the Shanxi Railway, which was damaged by the Eighth Route Army earlier, was also repaired by personnel after the Eighth Route Army recovered Shanxi. At present, the railway lines of Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces are also in the process of docking.

At least in the view of the Eighth Route Army Headquarters, if the Jingjing Coal Mine can be taken, the high-quality coal produced there can also alleviate the shortage of coal supply at the Eighth Route Army Iron and Steel Plant to a large extent.

It was for this consideration that the Japanese army secretly transferred the elite troops of a brigade from the territory of Shijiazhuang and replaced them with a newly replenished infantry brigade. The headquarters of the Eighth Route Army finally issued an order to storm the Jingjing Coal Mine.

After a period of preparation, the 115th Division also launched a sudden offensive against the Jingjing Coal Mine in the middle of the night. After the battle began, the artillery units of the 115th Division also made the Japanese troops stationed in the coal mine miserable.

The biggest headache for the Japanese troops stationed in the coal mine was the battlefield uprising of the captured miners in the mine. Even the Japanese army did not expect that after the battle began, those prisoners of war miners, who were usually beaten and scolded, would burst out with amazing combat effectiveness.

What surprised the Japanese troops in the mine was undoubtedly that these rebellious miners had weapons when the battle began. With the elimination of the puppet army guarding the prisoners, the Japanese troops stationed in the coal mines will also face a two-front battle.

The captain of the Japanese army stationed in the coal mine watched the rebel troops that were raging in the mining area, as well as the powerful offensive of the main force of the 115th Division. Even if he has been stationed in the defensive position, he still feels that the coal mine will not last long.

The wing commander who stayed in an underground fortification quickly ordered: "Send a telegram to Your Excellency the commander immediately, we are under the onslaught of the main force of the Eighth Route Army, and the mine is in urgent need of reinforcements, I hope to send troops to reinforce our department as soon as possible!" ”

In fact, at the moment when the Jingjing Coal Mine was attacked, the Japanese puppet troops stationed near the mine had already learned about the situation in the mining area through the earth-shattering artillery fire. But when reinforcements were sent, most of them were blocked.

In order to fight this battle well, the 115th Division also prepared for a long time and arranged a lot of main forces to block the attack. As a result, the reinforcements of the Japanese army, often not long after leaving the camp, were intercepted by the main force of the Eighth Route Army.

Okamura Ningji, who also knew how important the Jingjing Coal Mine was to the Japanese army, was angry that the Eighth Route Army was lighting fires everywhere, and said sternly: "Send a report to the garrison in Shijiazhuang, and tell them to rush to the mining area before dawn." ”

In response to such a strict order, the Japanese garrison officer in Shijiazhuang, who received a telegram from Okamura Ningji, also said with a bitter face: "Until dawn until the mining area, if there is no obstruction, we may still be able to do it." How is that possible now! ”

Faced with the helplessness of the garrison officer, the staff officers around him could only say: "General, from the telegram sent by the garrison in the mining area, it can basically be judged that the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army, which attacked them this time, is afraid that the whole division has been dispatched."

The few units we had deployed around the mine were fiercely blocked by them not long after they left the camp. At present, the losses of the defenders are not small, and if they continue to attack forcibly, I am afraid that the consequences will be unimaginable! ”

'How can I not know your worries?' But you have all seen the telegram from the previous commander. If I can't get to the mine before dawn, I'm afraid I'll be court-martialed! ’

It is clear that Okamura Ninji actually gave a death order, no matter what the cost, I am afraid that he will implement reinforcements to the mining area. At present, the most important thing is undoubtedly to open up the passage of troops in the direction of the mining area.

As long as they can rush into the mining area, then the reinforcements that will come from all over the country will also come one after another. At that time, the number of Japanese troops gathered in Shijiazhuang should be more than expected.

But in this way, the battle around Shijiazhuang is afraid that it will continue to expand. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing for the Japanese army, which only needs stability in North China at present, no one can say!

Perhaps he also saw this, and soon the garrison officer said: "Gentlemen, the Eighth Route Army doesn't want to maintain a confrontation with us, so let's let it go this time." I believe that they do not want to fight a protracted war with us either.

At present, in the vicinity of Jidong and Rehe, the Eighth Route Army is fighting against us. As far as I know, the Eighth Route Army also paid a lot of price to recover Shanxi and Henan last year, and in such a short period of time, they will not have too many supplies in reserve.

So this time, we can't guarantee the safety of the mine, and we must also show the courage to fight them to the end. Only by beating them up and being afraid will they not dare to provoke us easily in the future! ”

Such murderous words undoubtedly made the commanders of all the departments under his command feel their blood boiling. In fact, for them, the elite of the North China Front, they all feel very aggrieved that they are being suppressed by the Eighth Route Army at the moment.

Compared with the Central China Front Army and the Kwantung Army outside the Guanwai Army, most of them were the objects of praise in the War Department, on the other hand, their North China Front Army was the object of criticism every time. This is undoubtedly a shame for many Japanese commanders who advocate honor.

Since there is no guarantee of the current situation of confrontation, the North China Front also hopes to open up and fight. At least in their opinion, the number of troops they deployed near Shijiazhuang would also not be less than that of the Eighth Route Army.

In view of this situation, the Japanese garrison officer stationed in Shijiazhuang finally decided to arrange only one Japanese infantry wing in the city to defend the city. The rest of the Japanese puppet troops stationed in Shijiazhuang all went out of the city to fight a decisive battle with the Eighth Route Army.

Even in order to show his determination to seek benevolence, the garrison officer also sent a report to Okamura Ninji, expressing his determination not to recover the coal mine and not return to the city. But he also hopes that other surrounding troops can also be released to fight with the Eighth Route Army.

After receiving a telegram from the Shijiazhuang garrison, Okamura Ningji also felt that this garrison general was quite bloody. As early as last year, when he learned that he would be the commander of the North China Front, Okamura Ninji was actually very reluctant.

In the final analysis, it seems that being the commander of the front army is a very face-saving thing. But when you come to North China to be this commander, most of them will not end well. The fact that the previous ones were eventually brought back for trial is a prime example of this.

But Okamura Ninji couldn't refuse the order of the War Department. What's more, after taking office, he also had to be promoted to the rank of lieutenant general. The promotion from lieutenant general to general is also a rare opportunity in his military career.

It is precisely because he is aware of the weakness of the North China Front Army that Okamura Ningji, after taking office, also adopted a deceptive strategy of showing weakness to the Eighth Route Army. I just hope that he can be given a little more time to accumulate more strength of the North China Front.

But this idea eventually failed as He Zhengdao's troops entered the Xilin Gol grassland. Coupled with the fight in eastern Hebei, the whole of North China seems to have become a mess again, and the Japanese puppet troops stationed in various places are also busy fighting fires everywhere.

Now the garrison of Shijiazhuang, making such a decision, the determination to be unkind if it does not succeed, also made Okamura Ningji understand that compromise is afraid that it will not be able to exchange forgiveness from the Eighth Route Army. As long as they are in North China for a day, the Eighth Route Army will not let them go.

Thinking of this, Okamura Ningji finally took a long breath and said: "Order the garrisons of Baoding, Hengshui, Xingtai, and Handan, retain a small number of elite troops to guard outside the defense area, and the rest of the troops will all go to Shijiazhuang to fight."

This time, even if some unnecessary county towns are abandoned, more of the Eighth Route Army must be eliminated. I'm here to see how long the Eighth Route Army can hold out now that it is fighting on three sides!

At the same time, a telegram was sent to the War Department, hoping that they would transfer a new division from the Ryukyus side to us in the shortest possible time. If I can, I hope to draw some elite troops from the Central China Front to supplement the strength of North China.

If we don't add some reinforcements, I'm afraid that it won't be long before the main force of the Eighth Route Army will be able to hit Beiping and Tianyuan. At this time, we must have the courage to fight the Eighth Route Army to the end. ”

As the commander of the North China Front, Okamura Ninji was very dissatisfied with the current War Department's practice of hoping that he would be able to hold North China and curb the development of the Eighth Route Army, but not sending reinforcements.

It can be said that many units of the North China Front, which was originally powerful, were transferred to the Central China Front by the War Department. As a result, the Central China Front reported frequent successes, while the North China Front suffered one defeat after another.

The ultimate reason, although the North China Front also has certain reasons of its own. But in the final analysis, there were too few Japanese troops stationed in North China, so that when confronting the Eighth Route Army, I always felt powerless! (To be continued.) )