Along with the Nationalist Government, the good news of the 77th Army's annihilation of the 13th Division of the Japanese Army on the Shihe front was made public in the form of a telegram. The people who learned the news also rushed to tell each other and congratulate the front-line anti-Japanese war troops for their new contributions.

As the commander of the 77th Army, Feng Zhi'an was also promoted to a higher rank, becoming the commander of the new general, and even received a medal of the Blue Sky and White Sun. The fallen soldiers who reported it were also given the bereavement benefits promised by the government.

In the face of the Central Army's announcement of this great victory, a black and white photo was even published in the newspaper. In this photo, Yi Xi can see countless Japanese corpses lying on the beach next to a river.

Compared with the previous victories of the Central Army, this time the 77th Army's victories are supported by photos, which will undoubtedly make the people believe that the front line has won victory. It's just that such a victory put the Japanese army under tremendous pressure.

Although the casualties of the 13th Division were not as many as the Central Army said. But the number of casualties this time is also close to more than 10,000. Such a large casualty was enough to greatly damage the vitality of this elite division.

This does not include the death of a lieutenant general, division commander and an infantry brigade commander, which can be described as low morale of the division and regiment. As the commander of the Second Army, Minoru Higashikurenomiya is undoubtedly under tremendous pressure from the military department.

Looking at the inspection report submitted by the 16th Division, Minoru Higashikurenomiya also had a headache and said: "Eight Geya Road, what kind of unit is this unit that attacked us in a sneak attack?" How can there be such a strong combat effectiveness? ”

'General, according to the information we have obtained from the Central Army, this matter seems to have something to do with the Eighth Route Army in the northwest! ’

'Eighth Route Army? Is it the Eighth Route Army operating in North China? How could they be here? ’

As for the situation of the Eighth Route Army in North China, the Japanese army naturally had some understanding. It is only because of the lack of troop support that the North China Front is unable to organize an effective clean-up operation, so it has maintained its current confrontation posture.

But as a senior general of the Japanese army, Minoru Higashikurenomiya naturally has some understanding of the situation of the Eighth Route Army. It's just that in his opinion, the place where they are now is not the place where the Eighth Route Army is active at all!

'General, according to the information we have learned, this time there will be a unit of the Eighth Route Army in the Fifth Theater of Operations, which is responsible for blocking us. Moreover, the commander of this Eighth Route Army is He Zhengdao, who is the focus of the military department.

This young general of the Eighth Route Army was promoted to general by their government by repelling our attack before. In addition, the troops under his command have also been expanded into the 67th Army, which has also been sent here to fight against us. ’

Listening to the information told by the officer in charge of intelligence, Minoru Higashikurenomiya quickly said, "It shouldn't be possible, right?" According to the air force reconnaissance report we received the day before yesterday, they should not have arrived in Xinyang at this moment, right? ”

In the face of Minoru Higashikunomiya's rebuttal, the intelligence officer continued: "General, that force should not be their main force. According to what our intelligence officers sent to their army have learned, their troops have long since arrived in the Shuangping area.

It's just a little strange that when they arrived in Shuangping Town, Xinyang, it happened to be the time when our 13th Division was secretly attacked. If you count it in time, it doesn't seem to have much to do with them.

But the commander of the Fifth Theater who fought against us on the other side was Li Zongren, who fought with us during the Battle of Xuzhou. According to the information we have, he should not be able to send such an elite force in his hands.

Our current enemy, if we talk about combat effectiveness, should be the 71st Army, which was severely damaged by us just a few times ago, and it can be regarded as the strongest combat force among them. Most of the other troops were miscellaneous armies, including the 77th Army guarding Shihe.

If you want to find a suspicious object for this sneak attack, I think this Eighth Route Army rushed to support is the most suspicious. According to the information provided by the North China Front, this He Zhengdao does have a very elite small army in his hands.

When they fought against us on the battlefields in North China and Shanxi, many sneak attacks were initiated by his small army. Based on these circumstances, I think they are the most suspicious, and the 77th Army should not have this combat effectiveness. ”

As an intelligence officer specializing in collecting intelligence for the Japanese army, he naturally had a very clear understanding of the situation of the Central Army. Even if the Japanese army headquarters has already ordered that the 77th Army must be severely damaged or even completely annihilated.

But as far as the intelligence officer is concerned, he always feels that the 77th Army should not be the culprit. Behind this big victory, there should be a more formidable opponent than the 77th Army. And what he has to do is to find out the 'real murderer' behind the scenes!

'Whether it is the Eighth Route Army or not, since they are about to become our new opponents, it is necessary to teach them a profound lesson. The Air Force was ordered to send reconnaissance planes into the Shuangping area for aerial reconnaissance.

Let them find out the garrison of the Eighth Route Army, and then order our bomber formation to bomb them. Reconnaissance planes and bombers can act together and bomb targets as soon as they are discovered.

In addition, additional personnel were sent to keep an eye on the movements of the Eighth Route Army. I want to know every next step of this Eighth Route Army. I also want to see if this force is really as terrible as the North China Front says! ’

If you want the Japanese army invading China to find a general of the anti-Japanese army who wants to kill the most, then He Zhengdao must be at the top of the list. If you can inflict heavy losses on this force, you may be able to save some of the face you just lost.

Now that the special high class has been reconnoitred, the Eighth Route Army, which has secretly rushed to the battlefield, has arrived in the Shuangping area. Then sending reconnaissance planes to conduct aerial reconnaissance will make it easy to find this hidden unit.

Once their location is found, a large-scale air raid is carried out. Even if you can't completely annihilate the Eighth Route Army that rushed to participate in the battle, you can at least dismount with the 67th Army. This is the plan of Minoru Higashikurenomiya!

It's just that what Higashikurenomiya Minoru didn't expect was that after a secret conversation with Li Zongren. He Zhengdao quietly left the Shuangping area with the first division that night. There is only the 2nd Division, which is temporarily remaining in the Shuangping area and waiting for the 3rd Division.

Even according to He Zhengdao's order, the next day will start to evacuate Shuangping in regiments every night. By the time the Third Division arrived, it was believed that almost all the troops of the Second Division had withdrawn.

When leaving, He Zhengdao also gave a special explanation, asking the Second Division to pay attention to air defense alert. The longer they stay here, the more dangerous they undoubtedly feel. Even in the open space not far from the station, he also set up some camouflage camps.

In addition to sending a small number of troops to the camp during the day, the rest of the main force mostly stayed in camouflaged tents. Once you find that the little devil's fighter appears, you can also dodge it in time.

As for those camouflaged camps, if the little devils like to bomb, then let them bomb. After all, sending a small number of troops there was enough for them to take refuge in a bomb shelter before the planes began bombing.

As a result, the reconnaissance plane of the little devil really carried out repeated reconnaissance in the Shuangping area, and soon discovered the camouflaged camp. The reconnaissance planes that discovered this situation immediately returned to contact the bomber formation on standby.

Looking at the little devil bomber that began to bomb the crazy imperial court, Luo Ruiqing, who was hiding in the camouflage fortifications, also sighed and said: "I really let the army commander say it right!" It seems that the little devil really knows the situation here! ”

Xu Renyi, who stayed beside him, also sneered: "Maybe the news that we are resting here is from the Central Army." In today's Central Army, I'm afraid that there are a lot of spies lurking in the little devils! ”

Looking at the camouflage camp that had become a smoke of gunpowder, neither Luo Ruiqing nor Xu Renyi felt any pity. Even with the opportunity of this little devil bombing, the 67th Army can still take advantage of the situation to report losses to Li Zongren!

As for the actual situation, it can be sent in the form of a cipher message. If Li Zongren can't keep secrets for them, then it can only be said that Li Zongren's level of secrecy is really too disappointing for the Eighth Route Army!

Wait until the bombing of the little devils is over, and watch these little devil bombers and fighters leave. Luo Ruiqing thought for a while and said: "Renyi, send some troops over to dress up and clean up the battlefield, and get more stretchers to walk around the camp."

Don't let the little devil's reconnaissance plane see this scene, I'm afraid they will also be suspicious. In the evening, you will begin to retreat here in batches. In addition, he sent a telegram to the political commissar and asked him to strengthen the air defense alert in case of an air raid by the little devils. ”

'Yes, Chief of Staff! ’

By the way, I sent another telegram to Li Zongren, informing me that our unit had suffered heavy casualties in this bombing. At the end of the telegram, the commander added the secret words he had told him before, informing him that the telegram was fake, so that he could reveal some information to the outside world. ’

'Yes! ’

Since it is necessary to implement the tactics of concealing the sky and the sea, it is necessary to deceive the little devils, as well as those who pay attention to the movements of the 67th Army. These people, of course, also include the Central Army, as well as the Japanese spies lurking in the Central Army.

Regarding the battle plan for this covert, except for He Zhengdao and Li Zongren, Li Zongren did not even report this information to Lao Jiang. In He Zhengdao's words, the people there are also not safe.

As a result, just as He Zhengdao thought, when the little devil ended the bombing and sent a reconnaissance plane to reconnoitre, he found that the Eighth Route Army was really cleaning up the mess, and there were even emotional Eighth Route Army soldiers raising their guns to shoot.

Such a move is enough to show that their bombing is very effective. Coupled with the telegram sent by the 67th Army to Li Zongren, the two situations were summed up and confirmed that their bombing had indeed achieved the expected goal.

'Yo! In my opinion, these Eighth Route Army don't seem to be as powerful as I imagined! ’

The effects of the bombing were confirmed, and Minoru Higashikuremiya also seemed very happy. It's just that he doesn't know that all of this can only hide He Zhengdao's true actions. In a sense, He Zhengdao felt very cunning! (To be continued.) )