The Japanese attack came and withdrew quickly, and no matter how you look at it, it is a bit anticlimactic, but if you look at the current situation from the perspective of the 26th Division, the withdrawal of troops is their only wise choice.

Although a few towns have been lost now, Harem Chun knows that the strength of Ma Zheng's troops is not enough to fight them face to face, so as long as their large forces withdraw from the front line of the attack, Ma Zheng's troops will retreat from the occupied county seats.

But if they don't withdraw their troops, they won't only lose the three county towns of Jining, Shangdu, and Chayouqianqi, but Zhuozi County, Chayouzhongqi, Chayouhouqi, and other places not far from Jining may become the targets of Ma Zheng's attack. At present, the troops in these places themselves are very empty, and once they are targeted by Ma Zheng's subordinates, it will be difficult to escape.

At present, these towns under the jurisdiction of the 26th Division have been attacked by Ma Zheng's headquarters, and if they continue to fight like this, even if they can pull out the two strongholds of the Tuba Road, the Japanese Imperial Army will lose face, and the gains will outweigh the losses.

What the Japanese army thought Ma Zheng didn't care at all, and after learning the news that the little devil had withdrawn his troops from the front line, Ma Zheng also ordered all troops to immediately evacuate the captured county town.

The two main regiments of the 120th Division were ready to go to the junction of Chanan and Jinbei to meet Ma Zheng's headquarters to break through, but this plan was vetoed by Ma Zheng, and he wanted to use the strength of his own detachment to resist the 26th Division of the Japanese Army.

Although the combat plan submitted by Ma Zheng has a certain degree of feasibility, Division Commander He is still very worried. It has been more than half a year since the Sino-Japanese war began, and the Eighth Route Army has not fought with the Japanese army once or twice, and now the top level of the Eighth Route Army also has a clear understanding of the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army, and with the weapons and equipment of the Eighth Route Army and the quality of the soldiers, it is simply impossible for the opponent of the Japanese army to be the same number, not to mention that Ma Zheng's troops are still at an absolute disadvantage in terms of troops.

But Master He knows Ma Zheng and knows that he is not the kind of stunned young man who doesn't know the severity. Although this guy has not received a formal military education, he has a lot of experience in leading troops to fight, and he will not touch eggs and stones, so this time Division Commander He did not veto the combat plan of the Chanan anti-Japanese guerrilla detachment.

There is no objection to it, but it does not mean that Master He is relieved. Knowing that last night was the key, Division Commander He didn't close his eyes all night, and worked all night with Deputy Division Commander Xiao, Director Guan and others in the division headquarters operations command room to deduce the battle process.

At the same time, the 715th Regiment of the 358th Brigade and the 717th Regiment of the 359th Brigade have moved to the periphery of Datong, while the teaching regiment and the 716th Regiment directly under the division headquarters have arrived 30 kilometers away from the county seat of Shuoxian.

However, after a night, there was still no news from Ma Zheng's headquarters, and at the same time, there was no news from the underground intelligence network of the Eighth Route Army, which made Division Commander He and others extremely anxious.

At this moment, the telegraph operator sitting on one side got up and said: "Report, the anti-Japanese guerrilla detachment in Chanan is in an emergency!" ”

Master He stared at his bloodshot eyes and said loudly, "Read! ”

The operator hurriedly read aloud: "The head of the division, after a night of fighting, our department successfully broke through the important town of Jining, Chanan, and recovered the two county towns of Chaharan Front Banner and Shangdu, and our department wiped out a total of 564 Japanese puppet troops and seized countless materials, which have not yet been counted due to time constraints. At present, the main force of the Japanese army has withdrawn its troops from the front line of Yama Mountain and Daqingshan, and in order to preserve its strength, our troops have withdrawn from the occupied towns. ”

After listening to the battle report sent by Ma Zheng's headquarters, all the people in the 120th Division were stunned, Master He took two puffs of dry tobacco, and then laughed and said, "Hahaha, what a horse madman, what a good anti-Japanese guerrilla detachment in Chanan, went down to three cities in one night, and played the prestige of my Eighth Route Army!" ”

"Lao He, we should send a report to the headquarters immediately, and let Mr. Peng and them be happy!" Deputy Division Commander Xiao said with a smile.

"Yes, yes, Lao Peng is about to let the little devil's eight-way siege die during this time, just let him dissipate his anger!"

After speaking, Commander He turned to the newspaper operator and said: "Send a report to the headquarters immediately, well, just forward this telegram sent by the madman directly, and don't change a word!" ”

"Yes!"

At the same time, the senior generals of the Eighth Route Army Headquarters also did not sleep all night, and they were not worried about Ma Zheng's subordinates, but worried about the predicament faced by the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region.

The Jin-Cha-Ji Base Area was only established in October last year, and at that time, in order to cooperate with the overall situation, the headquarters ordered the 115th Division to be divided into two shortly after the great victory at Pingxingguan. The division commander led Chen Guanglu south to return to Niangzi Pass. Political Commissar Nie Rongzhen retained more than 3,000 people from Yang Chengwu's independent regiment, cavalry battalion, teaching team, and special service regiment of the Eighth Route Army Headquarters to create the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei base area.

After the establishment of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Base Area, it quickly organized work groups and sent them to various localities in northeastern Shanxi, southern Chashan, and western Hebei to establish semi-political organizations such as the Field Mobilization Committee and the Anti-Japanese Salvation Association, extensively mobilize the masses, arm the masses, launch guerrilla warfare, and recover many county towns. The masses of the people enthusiastically participated in the war, and the troops expanded rapidly.

On November 7, 1937, according to the decision of the Central Committee, the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region centered on Fuping and Wutai was established, with Nie Rongzhen as the commander and political commissar, and four military subdivisions under its jurisdiction.

Only half a month after the establishment of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region, the Japanese army mobilized more than 20,000 troops to besiege the base area from the Pingsui, Tongpu, Pinghan, and Zhengtai railways in an attempt to strangle it in the cradle.

In the nearly one-month operation, although the Japanese army occupied seven county towns, the Eighth Route Army adopted the operational policy of extensive guerrilla warfare and concentrating the main force to annihilate the enemy, and after many ambushes and raids, a total of more than 1,000 Japanese and puppet troops were killed and wounded, striking at and depleting the enemy's vital forces, and forcing the main force of the Japanese army to return to the railway line.

Not long ago, however, the Japanese army strengthened its unified strategic guidance for the war of aggression against China, and the headquarters of the Supreme Command approved the combat mission against China formulated by the General Staff Headquarters, and decided to first carry out a "sweep" of the Eighth Route Army in North China against the "remnants" of the occupied areas, in an effort to stabilize these areas, and to prepare to transfer troops to seize the entire territory of Shandong and expand the results of the Battle of Shusong-Shanghai.

Accordingly, General Terauchi Toshiichi, commander of the Japanese North China Front, decided to use the main force of the First Army to coordinate with the First Division of the Mongolian Army to carry out a large-scale encirclement and suppression of the Eighth Route Army, which was operating in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei border region, northwest Shanxi, and southeastern Shanxi, which seriously threatened the safety of its rear communication lines, in an attempt to eliminate or expel the Eighth Route Army on the spot, so as to ensure the safety of its rear, especially the main railway communication lines such as Pinghan, Tongpu, Pingsui, and Zhengtai.

The main target of the Japanese army's siege and attack this time was Nie Rongzhen's division, the Japanese 109th Division and the Mongolian army, with a total of more than 20,000 people, equipped with cavalry, artillery, tanks and aircraft, dispatched from the Pinghan, Tongpu, Pingsui, and Zhengtai railways to besiege the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei border area in eight ways, in an attempt to eliminate or expel the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region entrenched in the area on the spot.

Compared with the heavy troops of the Japanese army, Nie Rongzhen's old base only has more than 3,000 people in the independent regiment of the original 115th Division, the cavalry battalion, the teaching team, and the special service regiment of the Eighth Route Army Headquarters, and there is also a great shortage of weapons and ammunition. In addition, the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region had just repelled the first siege of the Japanese army, and the headquarters had rested for less than two months. Therefore, both are not opponents on the same level, both in terms of strength and firepower. Therefore, Terauchi Shouyi's move can be regarded as hitting Mr. Peng's waist.