When the Japanese army thought of using the temptation of transporting supplies to ambush the Eighth Route Army that came to sneak attack. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 The 1st Infantry Division and the 1st Cavalry Division were also paying close attention to the marching movements of the 11th Division, and forwarded the news to He Zhengdao from time to time.

In He Zhengdao's view, the 11th Division of the Kwantung Army that set off from the Xing'an League, they must have come to Xilinhot. But in the decisive battle with them, He Zhengdao didn't want to put it on Xilinhot's side to fight.

Compared with the number of herders living near Xilinhot, there are relatively few herders in the grassland areas through which the Japanese army passes today. Before the Japanese army entered, the 1st Cavalry Division, which arrived there, had basically moved the herdsmen to the rear.

In fact, even some herders don't want to leave. But seeing that the other herders around them are leaving this grassland in groups, how dare they stay here alone? After all, not having a neighbor is a headache.

With the early relocation of these herdsmen, the vanguard of the Japanese army who entered the Xilin Gol grassland really saw the vastness and desolation of the grassland. Even the occasional prairie animals seem to have gone into hiding because of their arrival.

The daily march seemed calm and safe. But under this silence, the cavalry wing and infantry wing of the joint march felt a little panicked. Every night, the little devils on duty are very nervous.

After three days of continuous marching, they still did not encounter the blocking and ambush of the Eighth Route Army. In such a situation, not to mention that the co-commanders of the two wings felt strange, the commander of the Japanese division who followed up, Naito Shoichi, also felt strange.

From time to time, he asked the chief of staff beside him: "How is the reconnaissance situation on the air force?" ”

In the face of such an inquiry, the chief of staff could only repeat: "According to our aerial reconnaissance, it seems that the troops of the Eighth Route Army operating in the Xilin Gol grassland have only a large number of cavalry units.

As for their infantry units, they had already set out from Xilinhot two days ago, and their exact whereabouts were unknown. We also asked the friendly and neighboring troops in Chifeng, and they also had some difficulty in intelligence reconnaissance of the Eighth Route Army.

What we know so far is that the Eighth Route Army has amassed heavy forces near Chifeng and Duolun. According to the analysis of the headquarters, it is very likely that they want to attack Chengde or other places, but at the moment all this is just speculation! ”

Although the air force has conducted frequent reconnaissance in the past two days, the Xilin Gol grassland seems very quiet during the day. Even the Japanese reconnaissance planes could see some Eighth Route Army operating on the ground from time to time.

But the number of these Eighth Route Armies is not large, and they cannot be called the main force at all. Of course, the Kwantung Army also analyzed that the Eighth Route Army spread its forces as much as possible in order to guard against the bombing of aircraft groups that they sent out from time to time.

After all, the grassland is a vast place, and if you really want to march together. In the event of a sudden group of bombers, the troops on the ground are likely to be severely damaged, and it is unlikely that they will even find a place to hide.

'Then in front of our march, didn't we find the blocking troops of the Eighth Route Army?' ’

The air force replied no, but I think the Eighth Route Army should be near Xilinhot and start a counterattack on us. The terrain there is relatively easy to defend. In the field, they have no chance of winning! ’

The Japanese army, which had an integrated division and regiment, seemed to have great confidence in the victory of the Eighth Route Army in an offensive and defensive battle with them in the field. After all, in terms of weapons and equipment, the Japanese army always felt that they had an advantage over the Eighth Route Army.

'Yo! It seems that we need to speed up the march, order the cavalry wing, and send our scout cavalry out as much as possible. Let them go as far as possible to see where the Eighth Route Army is hiding. ’

With the passage of time, the 11th Division all entered the Xilin Gol grassland. The main force of the division is only two or three hours away from the forward troops, which means that it is not easy to sneak up on the forward troops.

However, for the 1st Cavalry Division, which had always paid attention to the movements of the Japanese army, seeing that the 11th Division had all entered the Xilin Gol grassland, they quickly informed He Zhengdao of the news and the 1st Infantry Division that cooperated with them in the battle.

As the Japanese had guessed, the 1st Infantry Division from Xilinhot had already deployed its defenses in some hilly areas into Xilinhot. And this news was soon detected by the Japanese reconnaissance plane.

Seeing that the Eighth Route Army began to build fortifications, Naito Shoichi also said happily: "It seems that our guess is right, the Eighth Route really wants to start a decisive battle with us on the periphery of Xilinhot." In that case, let's get there as soon as possible! ”

In Naito's view, he was not afraid of the Eighth Route Army building fortifications, but he was afraid that the Eighth Route Army would avoid fighting without fighting. If they can't find the main force of the Eighth Route Army, it will be meaningless for them to send troops this time.

After asking the Air Force to pay close attention to the enemy situation around the Eighth Route Army's fortifications, Naito Shoichi also ordered the vanguard to increase reconnaissance efforts. If possible, send the scout posts to the fortifications of the Eighth Route Army as much as possible.

It was only as the cavalry wing increased the reconnaissance area that the cavalry unit of the Eighth Route Army, which had avoided fighting earlier, suddenly appeared again. The Japanese cavalry who reconnoitred these reconnoiters launched a frantic encirclement and interception.

Looking at his subordinates who were embarrassed every time they came back, Yi Tianzhen, the captain of the cavalry wing, also said depressedly: "Baga, these damn Eighth Route Cavalry, you know that they have insulted the honor of the cavalry!" ”

Although he was depressed, in the face of the dwindling cavalry of the wing, what Yida could really do was to narrow down the reconnaissance range. After all, as soon as the reconnaissance range was expanded, when something happened to these reconnaissance teams, they would not have time to rescue them at all.

After the scouts on both sides fought in advance. Shoichi Naito was even more convinced that he was not far from the main force of the Eighth Route Army. Therefore, the troops were also ordered to slow down their march, as long as they safely advanced to the periphery of Xilinhot.

At the same time, another unit appeared from the Hung Yen League area. This unit consisted of a part of the Japanese army, and most of the rest of the troops were puppet army units of the puppet Manchukuo, but the number of transport vehicles of this force was quite large.

The reconnaissance cavalry of the Eighth Route Army, which detected this situation, quickly reported this information to the division headquarters. And the commander of the 1st Cavalry Division also felt a little surprised and said: "At this time, did the little devil start to send supplies to the front line?" ”

According to the information fed back by the scouts, this escort force, which numbered nearly a wing, seemed to have escorted a lot of supplies. In addition, there are also quite a few cavalry patrols in this unit.

Although the scout cavalry of the Eighth Route Army had thought of arriving to reconnoitre. However, the Japanese army was very well guarded, and there was not much actual understanding about the situation of this escort team. But judging from the ruts, the importance of the escorted materials does not seem to be light.

He Zhengdao, who received this telegram, looked at the map hanging in the combat command room, and said with some confusion: "At this time, the little devil does not choose a short way to transport supplies, but chooses this long way, which is obviously unreasonable!" ”

In He Zhengdao's view, the 11th Division of the Japanese Army, which is not far from Xilinhot, can go through Liao if it wants to deliver supplies and supplies to the division, and there is no need to go so far to the wrong road!

Thinking of this, He Zhengdao pondered for a while and said: "Send a telegram to the 1st Cavalry Division and pay close attention to the movements of this escort force." If possible, try to avoid large-scale encirclement and suppression tactics.

Before finding out what kind of materials this team escorted the supplies. As far as possible, the Japanese supply force entering from the Hung Yen League was stopped by laying mines and constructing an explosion zone. ”

This time, the 1st Cavalry Division was not only responsible for the task of clearing out the Japanese reconnaissance cavalry, but also shouldered the task of blocking the follow-up reinforcements of the Kwantung Army. In order to make the 1st Cavalry Division have stronger combat effectiveness, He Zhengdao also let them carry a lot of mines and explosives.

When the commander of the 1st Cavalry Division received this telegram from He Zhengdao, he also realized that He Zhengdao might suspect that this was a trap. As for whether it is or not, it may be necessary to carry out further reconnaissance to find out!

After thinking for a while, he said: "Order a regiment and a battalion, carry a batch of mines, and lay mines in areas where the Japanese supply convoy may pass." In addition, take the explosives we brought and draw a platoon of sappers to arrange them.

No matter what these little devils are here for, we must stop them and not let them pass easily. Even if the buried mines do not work for the time being, I believe that they can also play a role in blocking the retreat of the Japanese army and supporting it. ”

After this order was issued, the 1st Cavalry Division also launched a mine-laying operation on the steppe. Just for the sake of safety, when the Eighth Route Army laid mines, it also marked these places that were about to become minefields.

If in the future, these mines do not work, they will have to send sappers to dismantle or blast them. Fortunately, there are no herders in this grassland at all, and there is no need to worry about accidentally injuring herders.

In this way, the supply troops, who were marching behind the Japanese division, did not move fast as usual, and seemed to continue to advance cautiously. It didn't work out, and they soon felt the power of the mines.

Seeing that the first car was blown off by a mine, the Japanese troops escorting the convoy quickly launched a defense. It's just that what makes them depressed is that when they are on the defensive, they can't see the incoming Eighth Route Army around.

After waiting for a while, I found that there were really no cavalry units of the Eighth Route Army around. The Japanese puppet troops who were escorted had no choice but to move on, but from time to time they were frightened by landmines.

There are many puppet soldiers in Manchukuo, and they also said with regret: "Damn, the Eighth Route is really bold in order to stop us from transporting supplies!" Mines are planted everywhere, and in the future, this grassland will become a forbidden area. ”

The dangers and lethality of landmines are more or less known to these puppet soldiers. But in the eyes of these puppet troops, the Eighth Route Army is not doing an authentic job of burying mines everywhere. Such an approach is likely to lead to the complete abandonment of this grassland.

After all, no herder wants to graze in a pasture that has been mined. Then this move of the Eighth Route Army is undoubtedly a bit of a killing of 1,000 enemies and self-loss of 800. But in the end, it is the herdsmen who used to graze here! (To be continued.) )