As the Eighth Route Army began to carry out the North China Campaign, the North China Front, which seemed to have seen a better situation recently, also quickly felt this pressure. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 The two infantry divisions that it had replenished earlier were also all in a state of readiness.

As the commander of the North China Front, Okamura Ninji knew very well that this time the Eighth Route Army should not be a joke. Once the war starts, then the two sides will inevitably be divided into winners and losers, and the losing side will also be greatly damaged.

Although during this time, Okamura Ninji had already ordered his troops to take defensive measures in a number of key areas in North China. But he also knew that the North China Front had a fatal weakness, that is, the number of troops was too small.

Although Okamura Ninji called the War Department many times, he hoped that the War Department would replenish some more troops for the North China Front. It is a pity that the Japanese army, which is now engaged in the battle in Changsha, is also unable to send too many troops to help in the battle.

The most important point is that with the rapid rise and growth of the various departments of the Eighth Route Army. In order to ensure the security of central China and southern China, the Central China Front had to send more troops to garrison it.

The increase in these garrison units has undoubtedly weakened the combat effectiveness of the Central China Front to a certain extent. If troops were to be transferred from the south to support the North China Front, it would inevitably lead to the complete collapse of Japanese rule in the south.

At present, the Xiao Jinguang Department of the New 67th Army is deployed in Hubei and Anhui, the front part of Xu Xiang in Shandong, the Liu Zhidan Department in Henan, and the New Fourth Army in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi.

The strength of these units has also increased rapidly this year. Even the influence of the Eighth Route Army in the southern region now must not be worse than the Nationalist Army fighting with the Japanese army in Changsha at this moment.

The expansion and stability of the newly liberated areas have also brought tremendous benefits to the troops. In addition to having sufficient troop resources, the troops' logistical support has also been greatly improved. Under such circumstances, how could the Japanese army in the south dare to relax their vigilance.

It can be said that the Japanese army's battle line is stretched because it is too greedy, and it is constantly strangling their own living forces. And the existence of these Eighth Route Army units has also reduced the pressure on the Nationalist Army in the Changsha battlefield to a certain extent.

Originally, the Eighth Route Army proposed that troops could be sent into Hunan and Hubei provinces to support the national * army in the war of resistance. But in the end, Lao Jiang still felt that it was not safe, for fear that it would be easy to invite God and difficult to send God, so he finally refused the support of the Eighth Route Army.

In order to take into account the overall situation of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the combat units of the Eighth Route Army in the south continued to expand the construction of guerrilla areas and base areas behind enemy lines. On the other hand, a large attack and harassment battle was also organized, so that the Japanese troops facing it did not dare to leave easily.

Therefore, at present, the war in North China is about to break out, and the Japanese army still has no way to increase its troops in North China. Even in response to Okamura's request that some naval vessels and naval aviation units be sent over to help in the war, the War Department is urgently negotiating with the Admiralty.

And what Okamura Ninji, who had not received a reply from the military headquarters for a long time, could do was to order the front-line troops to hold the current occupied area. Once the war on the front line collapses, North China, which has been so hard to occupy, will no longer exist.

Looking at the information recently collected by the special high class, Okamura Ningji said in a deep tone: "It seems that the Eighth Route Army is ready to do it in the near future!" And this time, the attack of the Eighth Route Army must be extremely ferocious, and we must prepare for the worst.

Judging from the current troop movements of the Eighth Road, they should have planned to attack from the direction of Shijiazhuang. It's just that what I'm most worried about now is the Eighth Road, which is located in our rear, have you received any recent troop movements? ”

In the face of Okamura Ningji's inquiry, the new intelligence officer of the North China Special High School shook his head and said, "General, I haven't received any information about their troop movements for the time being. Nowadays, most of the eight roads in this direction are deployed in the northeast.

It's just that, according to the information we received earlier, the offensive launched by the 2nd Division of the Kwantung Army in Jinzhou ended in failure. Moreover, the current situation in the northeast is also not optimistic, and the attacks and sabotage of the Eighth Route are very frequent.

Even under the sneak attack of the elite troops of the Eighth Route, the headquarters of the Kwantung Army and the imperial palace of Manchukuo were shelled. Fortunately, the emperor of Commander Mei Xian was not too damaged in the shelling, but his morale was still a big setback! ”

Regarding the information told by the intelligence officer, Okamura Ninji also said sadly: "Yes! Who would have thought that these dirt roads, which we ignored earlier, have grown to their current scale in less than three years.

The Kwantung Army has always felt that they are the strongest army in our empire. But the previous battle with the Soviet Far Eastern Army had already made them pay the price for pride. Now I have only realized the strength of the Eight Roads, and I am afraid that it is a little late.

If they could pay attention to the attack of the eight roads in advance, maybe our current situation would not be so embarrassing. Judging from the current situation, we want to get their support, but I am afraid that it is unlikely! ”

According to the War Department's proposal, it was hoped that the North China side would make every effort to move closer to the Kwantung Army if it was unavoidable. However, judging from the current situation, the He Zhengdao Department deployed in North China still has not relaxed its vigilance.

If the North China Front Army launches an attack on He Zhengdao's department. In such a short period of time, it may be able to create a lot of pressure on He Zhengdao. But judging from the current situation, they are afraid that it is too late.

Once they are unable to defeat the Northeast Field Army responsible for blocking them in a short period of time, then the units of the Eighth Route Army, which have already been assembled, will also drive straight into the North China Front Army from the front. As a result, the North China Front will face the tragedy of total annihilation.

In view of the current unfavorable situation, Okamura Ninji even thought about abandoning North China and preserving the troops currently in North China. With these troops, perhaps the Japanese army will be able to gain more benefits in other Southeast Asian countries.

But Okamura knew in his heart that his suggestion could not be said at all. If he made such a suggestion, it would be regarded as a disgrace to the ministers of the War Department. After all, there has never been such a precedent for the Japanese army to be defeated without a fight!

Thinking of this, Okamura Ninji could only take a deep breath and said, "Send some troops back from the Tangshan side to strengthen the defense and vigilance of the Tianjin side, no matter how difficult the situation is, you must ensure the safety of the Tianjin area."

At the same time, a notice will be issued to expatriates currently in North China to leave North China as soon as possible in the near future. I had already greeted the people from the navy, and as soon as the expatriates arrived at the port of Tenen, they would be able to leave here by boat.

Perhaps my plans will not be recognized, but it is better than the insurance that comes with these expatriates. This time, we want to hold North China, but we are afraid that there is little hope. We have to prepare for the worst, you know? ”

'General, we currently have more than 100,000 troops stationed in North China, can't we hold these places now?' ’

Some generals felt that Okamura was too pessimistic, and it seemed that they were obviously dissatisfied with this 'worst-case scenario'. But Okamura Ninji, who heard this, said very directly: "Then do you know how many enemies we need to face next?" ”

The seemingly simple inquiry has made these generals hesitate. In fact, before they came to the meeting, they all knew that the Eighth Route Army was about to attack. But how many troops there were, they really don't know!

At the suggestion of Okamura Ningji, the intelligence officer of the special high division also said in a timely manner: "According to the information we have detected so far, the Eighth Route Army is currently in front of us and has deployed the main forces of the four armies.

These four main forces are all elite units of the Eighth Route Army. In addition to the three units that fought a decisive battle with us in the Shijiazhuang area earlier, there is also the enemy's 35th Army, which is currently stationed in the Baoding area.

Earlier, these four units were expanded to a certain extent. Each corps has three infantry divisions and directly subordinate troops, and the total strength is only about 70,000 to 80,000. Its weaponry has also been improved to a certain extent in the near future.

Among them, the most important is that these main forces of the Eighth Route Army are equipped with a certain number of heavy artillery units. Although there is no direct evidence to prove it, it is basically confirmed that the Eighth Route already has the ability to produce heavy artillery.

Together with the local troops of the Eighth Route, the Eighth Route Army has been deployed in eastern Hebei and Chengde. The number of troops we have to deal with next may reach 400,000 or more. In terms of troops, we are in an absolute weakness! ”

The ratio of almost four to one really surprised these Japanese generals. You must know that during the Battle of Shijiazhuang, they fought with the three ace divisions of the Eighth Route Army, and the Eighth Route Army only dispatched more than 100,000 troops at that time.

Now it has nearly doubled in size all at once, and there is even an additional thirty-fifth army, which really makes these generals feel the pressure. Perhaps in the past, some Japanese generals felt that no matter how many soldiers of the Eighth Route were, they would be vulnerable.

But with the increase in the number of battles with the Eighth Route Army, they have realized the strength of the Eighth Route Army. In the case of military strength, unless they have absolute superiority in weapons, they will not be able to bargain too much.

Even on the defensive side, they have a great geographical advantage. But the problem is that if the war starts now, their so-called rear may not be safe. After all, the people living in the rear are all Chinese, and they may not support them.

Once the Eighth Route Army does something in the rear, then their material supply alone may be greatly affected. In this case, it is indeed not easy to hold North China!

Looking at the generals under his command who were silent and worried, Okamura Ninji also said in a timely manner: "All of you are excellent generals of the empire, I believe you all realize how big the crisis is facing this time.

But we are soldiers of the Empire, and it is our duty to defend the dignity and honor of the Empire. We may not be able to undo our defeat, but I hope that in the next battle, you will defend the honor of the Empire. ”

The seemingly simple sentence still made these generals feel the resoluteness in Okamura Ningji's heart. This also means that this time the North China Front is also ready for a bloody battle. But how long it can last, maybe only after the fight knows!