"Chief of Staff, what you said is very right, but our Baoding County has a very important strategic value for our empire, and we can't rush to send troops," Major General Katsuzo Kitamura immediately recovered his reason from the anger just now and said.

"Hi, Your Excellency Commander's analysis is very correct, I just thought only about sending troops, ignoring the strategic value of our Baoding, please forgive Your Excellency Commander for my attitude just now." Listening to the words of Major General Kitamura Katsuzo, the chief of staff couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat, if it was really as the commander said, this was a conspiracy of the Eighth Route Army, if something really happened to Baoding County, then he thought of this in his future military career, and the chief of staff was afraid for a while

"Chief of Staff, don't be discouraged, everyone makes mistakes sometimes. Besides, this mistake didn't cause us any damage. Alright, Chief of Staff, let's discuss this telegram in my hand" Major General Katsuzo Kitamura waved the telegram in his hand and walked over to the huge map of North China hanging on the wall. Mark the locations of Tang County, Shunping County, and Wangdu County.

"Hi, Your Excellency, Commander, according to the statistics of our intelligence services. The first, second, and second of the three military divisions of the Eighth Route Army's Reading Division have developed very rapidly. However, only one turtle in the three divisions of Hebei Province is cowering in the mountainous area. As for the reason why they didn't go out to develop, it was these three counties. The chief of staff said, pointing to the three county towns on the map.

"Well, tell me more specifically" After listening to the words of the chief of staff, Major Major Kitamura Katsuzo became interested.

"Hi, Your Excellency, Commander. That's right, these three county towns are just on the edge of the third division of the Eighth Route Army, blocking the path of the Eighth Route Army's development outside the mountains. In other words, if the Eighth Route Army wants to leave the mountains and develop outside the mountains, it must pull out the three county towns in front of it. The chief of staff briefly introduced.

"Yes, that's true. Chief of Staff, it seems that there is no conspiracy for the Eighth Route Army to attack these three county towns this time, but they continue to have enough strength in the mountainous area to develop beyond the mountains, but we still have to guard against it, and we must store a large amount of military supplies through Baoding, and we can't afford to lose them," the commander replied.

"Hi, Your Excellency Commander, I don't think this is a conspiracy, we can send troops to rescue the three county towns" The chief of staff listened to the commander's words and replied in the affirmative.

"Why?"

"Your Excellency Commander, according to Matsushita-kun's telegram, the troops of the Eighth Route Army surrounding Shunping County have a total of three regiments, while the other two ready-made Eighth Route Army troops are surround a total of two regiments, with a total of five regiments. According to the information of our intelligence department, the Eighth Route Army only has three main regiments in the Third Division, and the remaining two regiments are obviously composed of the so-called local troops of the Eighth Route Army, so I think that this time the Eighth Route Army has taken out all their family resources, and we don't need to have any concerns. The chief of staff analyzed.

"Yo Xi, the chief of staff is very reasonable. However, there is also a possibility, which is the rapid response brigade of the reading force. According to our intelligence, the Reading Force has a special mobile unit called the Rapid Reaction Brigade, and its combat effectiveness is very strong. If they come to help" "Yes, Your Excellency, Commander, but we don't need to worry about that at all. The Rapid Reaction Brigade of the Eighth Route Army also has at least 5,000 troops, and it will take at least several days for him to be transferred from Shanxi to our Hebei. It is simply impossible to move such a large number of troops quietly. However, our intelligence department and the air force units that reconnoiter the base areas of the Eighth Route Army every day did not find any large-scale movements of the Eighth Route Army. In other words, for more than ten days in a row, there were no large-scale troops entering our Hebei, so we didn't have to worry about the Eighth Route Army's rapid reaction brigade, which was thousands of miles away. The chief of staff replied.

"What's more, if we send troops to rescue Shunping County, there will be a very big benefit?" The chief of staff saw that Major General Kitamura Katsuzo was already smiling, and then said.

"Nani, there's still a benefit, Chief of Staff, please speak"

"That's right, Your Excellency Commander, this time the Third Division of the Eighth Route Army can be said to have launched an attack on these three county towns, if we send heavy troops, block the retreat of the Eighth Route Army into the mountains. Then, unite the remaining imperial troops in the three county towns and eliminate these Eighth Route Army troops together, and then we will no longer have the main force of the Eighth Route Army in the whole of Hebei, and as for the guerrillas in the mountainous areas, they are not worth worrying about at all. "The chief of staff uttered a most tempting bait.

"Yo Si. The chief of staff analyzed very thoroughly, and now I have decided to send troops to rescue Shunping County, and strive to annihilate the main force of the Third Division of the Eighth Route Army in Hebei in one fell swoop, and return Hebei to a quiet place" Major General Katsuzo Kitamura slapped the map hanging on the wall and said affirmatively.

"Hi, Your Excellency Commander. I believe that under the command of His Excellency the Commander, the main forces of the Eighth Route Army around Baoding will definitely be wiped out by us. The chief of staff said with a smile and patted his ass.

"Yo Xi, Chief of Staff, immediately order the officers above the captain to come to the headquarters for a meeting, and immediately, the meeting will be held in five minutes. No one is allowed to be late. Major General Kitamura, who had already made the decision to send troops, immediately ordered.

"Hi, Your Excellency Commander," he said and walked out of the commander's office with a military salute.

Five minutes later, when Major General Kitamura Katsuzo walked into the conference room, more than a dozen military officers of all sizes were sitting at the conference table. Wait for your own arrival.

"Stand up, salute" Seeing the commander push the door into the conference room, the chief of staff shouted loudly to the dozen officers in the conference room, and immediately, a dozen people stood up together, and waited until the commander walked to his seat and sat down. Only then did he sit down neatly under the order of the chief of staff.

"I just got the news that all the main forces of the Third Division of the Reading Division of the Eighth Route Army are besieging Shunping County, Tang County, and Wangdu County. Now Shunping County has reached a life-and-death juncture. Therefore, I decided to send troops to rescue Shunping County. At the same time, take this opportunity to wipe out the main force of the Eighth Route Army in one fell swoop on the outskirts of Shunping County and solve our major troubles, what do you think of this plan? Major General Katsuzo Kitamura did not hesitate and directly stated the purpose of the meeting.

"Hi, Your Excellency Commander, Wise"

"Yo Xi, now I have decided to send enough troops to reinforce Shunping County, among all of you here, has anyone volunteered to lead the troops." Looking at the excited officers, Kitamura Katsuzo asked.

"Your Excellency Brigade Commander, I am willing to take my own wing to rescue Shunping County, and at the same time, the main force of the Third Division of the Eighth Route Army will be annihilated, please approve it" Sakata Daisa, Wing Commander of the Sakata Wing, who has always been the main force of the brigade, stood up in the encouraging eyes of Major General Kitamura.

"Yo Xi, the Sakata Wing really deserves to be an excellent officer of the Empire, I agreed. The commander of this reinforcement is Captain Sakata. In addition to the Sakata Wing, in order to strengthen the firepower of the company, I will give you two more mountain artillery squadrons of the artillery brigade with a total of 12 mountain guns. In addition, in order to assist the Imperial Army in having enough troops to encircle and suppress, the 1st Regiment and the 2nd Regiment of the Public Security Army were personally led by the division commander Wang Deli and followed Captain Sakata to the expedition," Major General Kitamura Katsuzo ordered several officers in front of him.

"Hi" The officer who was called stood up and replied almost at the same time, and even Wang Deli, the commander of the puppet army, also stood up and replied in the tone of the army.

"Yo Xi, I hope that this time you will work together to annihilate the main force of the Third Division of the Eighth Route Army. After the meeting was adjourned, the various troops were immediately assembled, and they were out of the city in twenty minutes," the brigade commander ordered.

"Hi" this time was answered by all the officers together. It wasn't until the brigade commander disappeared from everyone's field of vision that everyone walked out of the conference room one by one.

Immediately afterwards, the entire city of Baoding fell into a temporary chaos, and the sound of assembly calls sounded everywhere. Detachments of troops began to assemble, replenish ammunition, and inspect equipment. Soon, after more than ten minutes of confusion, all the troops ready to leave were fully armed and assembled on the roads in the city.

"Report to Your Excellency, the 1st and 2nd Regiments of the Public Security Army have been assembled and are waiting for the order to go" Wang Deli, the commander of the puppet army, took the two regiment commanders, Peng Degui and Li Qian. Came to Sakata Daisa, who was riding on a war horse, and reported.

"Report to Your Excellency, Wing Commander, the Mountain Artillery Squadron of the Artillery Brigade has been assembled, and soon after waiting for departure, Sakata Daisa has received the news that all the troops are ready.

"Yo Xi, order: The 122 regiments of the security army are led by Division Commander Wang Deli, as the vanguard of the whole army, the first brigade follows, the artillery brigade, all the baggage troops are in the center, the second brigade, the third brigade is behind, and the troops will set off immediately" Sakata ordered loudly on his horse.

"Hi" Afterwards, the dozen or so officers standing in front of Sakata returned to their respective units. Similarly, Wang Deli, who was the commander of the puppet army, also returned to his unit in dissatisfaction with Sakata.

"Commander Peng, your regiment is in front, and you will send a company as a spearhead to walk 500 meters in front of the troops to explore the way. The artillery company of the division headquarters, the guard company was in the center, the second regiment followed closely, I followed the artillery company of the guard company, and reported to me at any time if there was anything, now set off" Returning to the position where his troops were, Wang Deli immediately assigned combat tasks to the two regiment commanders under him.

"Yes, division commander, you can rest assured" Commander Peng Degui replied nonchalantly, mounted his war horse, ran to his team and began to arrange. Because, in his eyes, there are more than 4,000 people on this expedition alone, as well as more than 2,000 people in his own puppet army, even if the Eighth Route Army has great courage, he will not dare to break ground on the head of Grandpa Tai Sui

"Alas, the arrogant soldiers will be defeated," looking at the nonchaliant Commander Peng Degui, Wang Deli, the division commander with rich combat experience, shook his head and said to himself.

(Speaking of the puppet army, we have to mention this division commander Wang Deli.) Before the army entered Hebei, Wang Deli was a well-known bandit in Hebei, with more than 1,000 bandits under his command. At that time, [***] encircled and suppressed him many times, not only did not let Wang Deli lose any troops, but also suffered heavy losses...... It can be said that after several years of bandit life, Wang Deli has the ability to lead soldiers, and he is very familiar with some dangerous atmospheres. When he received the order, he had a sense of crisis and constantly hit his brain" "Division commander, this time we have more than 6,000 troops, do those dirt roads still dare to move us?" Are they not afraid of their own destruction? Commander, you have a lot of heart! Li Qian, the second regiment commander next to him, saw the division commander with a worried face, and comforted him with a smile.

"Maybe! I hope I'm worried. In this way, Li Qian, tell the brothers, be careful, if something really happens, give me a clever look, don't be hot-headed, really give me my life, the most important thing is to save my life. Division Commander Wang Deli whispered an order to Li Qian and his henchman.

"Yes, division commander, I know, I'll go and tell the brothers, you can rest assured" After Li Qian finished speaking, he turned around and walked towards his troops, and passed the orders one by one to the ears of each puppet army.

Soon, after the puppet army regiment sent a company of sharp soldiers, the troops began to walk out of Baoding City one after another. Since the entire army exceeded 6,000 men, plus a large number of artillery and baggage troops, the entire army stretched for almost five kilometers, and when the first regiment of guards who served as the vanguard walked out of the city gate for an hour, the rearguard of the devils left their Baoding City. Of course, everything has been clearly investigated by the soldiers of the special operations brigade who have been hiding inside the city and outside the city. Just when the devil was out of the city, the devil's troop deployment and equipment had been quietly sent to Liu Hua's temporary headquarters in Shenxian Mountain through the radio.

"Haha, Chief of Staff, the little devil has finally sent troops, hehe, send a telegram to Commander Wang, let him fight leisurely, don't give me a sudden takedown of the county, but I still have to keep this bait? Liu Hua, who was guarding next to the radio, replied excitedly after receiving the telegram from the special operations brigade, "Yes, commander." Soon, Li Qing, the chief of staff, who had finished delivering the order, came to the temporary headquarters and began to study with Commander Liu Hua the specific strength of the troops he sent and the adjustments he should make.

"Chief of Staff, the strength of the devil is not much different from our estimate, but I didn't expect that the army would touch so many artillery units, a wing has an artillery brigade, plus another 12 mountain guns, there are dozens of large and small," Liu Hua sighed.

Commander, the devil's artillery is not a problem, don't forget, when building fortifications, you specially asked the troops to build two trenches in the front and rear, and there are communication trenches in the connection, I think this is for the artillery of the army," Chief of Staff Li Qing said with a smile.

"Hehe, I can't hide anything from the chief of staff, whether we can win this time depends on whether the first regiment and the second regiment of the third division can quickly eliminate the puppet army troops of the two regiments" Liu Hua asked worriedly.

"Commander, you can rest assured, they have more than 3,000 troops, plus artillery support, there is no problem, my main concern is not them, whether our rapid reaction brigade can successfully hold the position and prevent the little devils from breaking through, especially those commanding heights, when the battle starts, it must be in our hands. Otherwise, we will suffer a big loss after the battle starts. Chief of Staff Li Qing replied.

"Chief of Staff, let's not worry about it here, we have to trust our commanders and fighters. Let's take a look at the columns of the devil's march, if there is anything that needs to be improved in the entire ambush circle," Liu Hua said.

"Yes, the commander is right, we can't underestimate the enemy, we can't worry too much, we have to trust our commanders and fighters. According to the intelligence, about 500 meters in front of the main force of the devils, there is a company of sharp soldiers, and when the time comes, this company will no longer be in our ambush circle, and a force must be sent to prevent them from escaping back to Baoding, and the news of our ambush will be revealed" After listening to the words of the chief of staff, Liu Hua nodded in agreement, and immediately discovered a mistake in his arrangement.

"That's true, our encirclement is only 5,000 meters long, and the main marching column of the Yue army is also about 5,000 meters away. I almost forgot about the enemy's top soldiers, but thanks to the reminder of the chief of staff, otherwise, we would be ashamed of the loss of the chief of staff in this battle, you see this, our command has the strength of two guard companies, send one over, and one guard company will completely annihilate the puppet army and one company, it shouldn't be a problem," Liu Hua suggested.

"Okay, I agree, just send my guard company out" The chief of staff nodded in agreement, and then the two continued to discuss, adding, yes, the whole ambush plan is more perfect......

In this way, in the discussion between the two, the time of two hours passed quickly, and according to the latest request sent by the special operations team, the enemy's forward was less than 5 kilometers away from Liu Hua's ambush circle, about an hour's journey. After receiving the news, Liu Hua immediately stopped discussing with the chief of staff and ordered the troops to start hiding and wait for the arrival of the army.

"Your Excellency, this is the first time that our Wing has gone out of the city to sweep this year, and I believe that under the command of His Excellency the Wing Commander, our entire Wing will definitely be able to achieve fruitful results and wipe out the main force of the Eighth Route Army in one fell swoop," said the first captain who followed Sakata Daisa's side, patting his ass.

"Yo Si. This battle is not just on me, it requires everyone to work together, as long as we fight this battle well, tell the soldiers, there are big beauties, there are big gold, there are big promotions" Sakata Osa is still in the dream of being promoted and making a fortune because of this battle will win. Unbeknownst to him, there was a huge encirclement waiting for his arrival in front of him.

(To be continued)