The winter offensive launched by the Eighth Route Army caused heavy losses to the Japanese troops stationed in Shanxi. Not to mention Shuozhou, Datong and most of Xinzhou, most of the troops stationed in those places were completely annihilated by the Eighth Route Army.

With the end of the winter offensive, reinforcements from North China finally advanced into Shanxi to obey Itagaki's dispatch. At the same time, in view of the fact that Suiyuan and Datong were recovered by the Eighth Route Army, a main division of the Kwantung Army immediately moved south.

According to the operational deployment of the North China Front, the main division of the Kwantung Army moving south will cooperate with the Japanese puppet troops stationed in the Zhangjiakou area to launch an attack on Datong and Suiyuan. The direction of the main attack of the Kwantung Army Division was the Suiyuan area, which was the responsibility of the independent column.

In view of the all-out encirclement and suppression war that the Japanese army was about to launch, He Zhengdao temporarily handed over the affairs of the steel plant to other people. Soon received instructions from the Central Committee and the Eighth Route Army Headquarters to prepare for the next Suiyuan Defense Battle.

The first two times were to attack Suiyuan, and now it is to defend Suiyuan. For such a role change, He Zhengdao is still mentally prepared. The artillery brigade of the separate column, as well as the cavalry units, were also being assembled.

Considering the current grim situation in Central China, in order to prevent the Tufeiyuan Division from converging with the Shanxi Dispatch Army, the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army finally agreed to He Zhengdao's proposal and dispatched a reconnaissance regiment to infiltrate the Changzhi area to conduct raids and disturbances.

Focus on attacking and destroying the Japanese army's logistics supply lines, and strive to mess up the Changzhi area, so that the Jin Sui army can get an opportunity. At the same time, the former part of the 117th Division, Xu Xiang, which entered the Shanxi-Shandong-Hebei region, will also cooperate with the reconnaissance group's actions behind enemy lines.

At the same time, after some consideration, in order to ensure that the situation between Xinzhou and Luliang did not get out of control, the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army sent a telegram to the 129th Division. Ordered its main force to advance into the Xingtai area and fight behind enemy lines to support operations in Jin, Lu, Hebei and other places.

When the Eighth Route Army made this strategic deployment, in the face of the menacing Japanese army, the Jin Sui Army, whose troops were squeezed in Linfen and other places, was also helpless to ask the Nationalist Government for help.

It's a pity that now the attention of the Central Army is focused on the Battle of Xuzhou. As for Yan Xishan's request for help, the first war zone closest to him could not send troops to support him at all.

What even made Yan Xishan a little chilled was that Cheng Qian, the commander of the First War Zone, also saw the little devil's plan to attack Zhengzhou on both sides. He also sent a telegram to Lao Jiang, hoping that the Jin Sui army could block the Shanxi dispatch army that was heading south.

Faced with such a situation, Yan Xishan, who had always been wary of the Eighth Route Army, finally said: "Send a telegram to Commander-in-Chief Zhu of the Eighth Route Army, hoping that for the sake of friendly forces, they can help contain the little devils."

If our Jin Sui army is exhausted, the pressure they need to face in the future will only be greater than now. Since the Central Army has no time to care about our life or death, then we can only find our own way to live, and we can't sit idly by! ”

Receiving a telegram from Yan Xishan asking for help, Mr. Zhu also smiled and said: "It seems that Yan Laoxi really can't hold on!" Sending such a telegram, it seems that Yan Xishan is at Lao Jiang's place, and it is estimated that he has not attracted reinforcements, so he can only let us help. ”

Listening to Mr. Zhu's words, Mr. Peng also smiled and said: "Today's Central Army is difficult to protect itself!" The first war zone closest to them, they are probably already panicking at this time. Self-protection is still worried, so what about having troops to support Yan Laoxi?

Forget it, although Yan Laoxi is a bit of a wall, we belong to the same war zone, and we can't do anything if we don't save ourselves. When the troops of the reconnaissance regiment arrived, we ordered the troops on the front line to launch some tentative attacks to cover the reconnaissance regiment operations.

Anyway, now the little devil wants to clean up the Jin Sui army first, and then work together to deal with us. If we can let the little devil entangle with Jin Suijun for a while longer, it will be very powerful for us. This is a favor, helping others is also helping yourself! ”

'Yes! Perhaps only at this time will Yan Laoxi really feel that we are his allies. It is estimated that it is impossible to count on the Central Army to solve problems for it. Hopefully, after this time, he'll really see us as allies. ’

After some discussion, Mr. Zhu also quickly replied to Yan Xishan's telegram asking for help. The troops who promised to garrison Luliang and Xinzhou would launch corresponding attacks to contain the main force of the Japanese army in Shanxi.

After receiving the telegram from Mr. Zhu, Yan Xishan felt a little embarrassed about agreeing without any additional conditions. It seems that he wants to keep the current area, and he should really get closer to the Eighth Route Army in the future.

On the Jin Sui Army's side, the Nationalist Government, which also sent a lot of intelligence personnel, also quickly learned the news. Lao Jiang, who received this information, also felt a little unhappy with his expression, but he looked a little helpless.

The current situation is not optimistic. The performance of the two descendant troops on the battlefield of Lanfeng also made him feel ashamed. Even under the pretext that the radio station was bombed and could not contact the First War Zone, Huang Jie, who gave up Shangqiu, was removed from his post and investigated.

Originally, according to Li Zongren's intention, this kind of general who led his troops to flee without firing a single shot should be dealt with by military law. How can a dismissal and investigation deter other generals who are greedy for life and afraid of death?

It's a pity that Lao Jiang has always been more favored by his descendants. Huang Jie's actions are somewhat hateful. But if he really wanted to engage in military law, Lao Jiang was also worried that it would chill the other generals.

It has just entered May, and there are beacons everywhere in North China, Northwest China, and Central China. For the war in these two places, many people also realized that the war in North China and Northwest China would be the responsibility of the Eighth Route Army.

As for the war in Central China, the Central Army will also be fully responsible. This change in the situation has made many people who are waiting and watching come to a conclusion. That is the Eighth Route Army, which seems to be growing in strength after the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War.

It can even be said that the number of Japanese troops currently eliminated by the Eighth Route Army has exceeded that of the Central Army in the frontal resistance. For such a result, many people think it is incredible, but they know that this is an ironclad fact.

Capable and capable troops will naturally be more loved and worshipped. Knowing that the Eighth Route Army was living a hard life in Shaanxi, the donations raised from overseas began to be transferred to the Eighth Route Army one after another.

Hearing about such a situation, Lao Jiang naturally felt very dissatisfied. But he also knew that compared with the performance of the Eighth Route Army on the battlefield of resistance against Japan in the past, the Central Army, which he relied on and trusted, had repeatedly disappointed him.

In this case, Lao Jiang could only warn Li Zongren that he must fight a turnaround battle on the frontal battlefield to correct the name of the Central Army. Otherwise, the Central Army, which will be a regular national army in the future, is afraid that it will really not be able to raise its head and be a man.

Looking at the telegram sent by Lao Jiang, Li Zongren also said: "I don't take other people's troops seriously, but I feel sorry for the casualties of my own troops." How can such a completely different treatment make the officers and men of the three armed services use their lives? ”

On the other hand, Bai Chongxi, who served as the chief of staff of the headquarters, said with a smile: "From this telegram, it can be seen that our chairman is a little anxious. People are playing well in North China, but we are not as good as we should be here.

They all say that we are a regular army, and they are guerrilla troops called Hanako. But they recovered Suiyuan and Datong, and even wiped out a formed Japanese division. Although this is a bit incredible, it is also worthy of admiration.

Commander-in-chief, in the next battle of Taierzhuang, it seems that we have to die with the little devils. The blocking troops sent to Taierzhuang this time are all troops who dare to fight to the death with the little devils, and I believe that something like Lan Feng should not happen.

Although we missed Tengxian County, the Sichuan army, which blocked the Japanese army for nearly a week, is also worthy of our admiration. Now that the fortifications of Taierzhuang have been constructed, all we can do is wait for good news. ”

I hope so! To be honest, I was genuinely tired of commanding so many troops to participate in this battle. I now finally understand why the commissioners sometimes feel tired and want to concentrate military power.

Such a coalition army seems to be strong, but in fact, there are too many troops who are careful. Any mistake in the layout link may affect the overall layout. At this point, we are really inferior to the Eighth Route Army! ’

'Yes! However, the next days of the Eighth Route Army will not be too easy. According to the information we have learned, the 12th Division of the Kwantung Army, which is stationed in the puppet Manchukuo, has already moved south to prepare to cooperate with the North China Front Army to attack the base area of the Eighth Route Army.

In addition, the two divisions of the Japanese army currently stationed in Shanxi, as well as other subordinate units drawn from the North China Front. The Eighth Route Army also had to face more than 100,000 Japanese main forces. It's also a tough battle! ’

Although Li Zongren also considered whether to let the Eighth Route Army transfer a main division to cooperate with their blocking war in Central China. From the current situation, I am afraid that the Eighth Route Army will also not be able to send reinforcements.

The reason is very simple, the Eighth Route Army needs to bear no less pressure to block than theirs. In this case, if the Eighth Route Army is asked to transfer a main division to increase, the Eighth Route Army will only be afraid and will not agree.

But no matter what, with the resurgence of wolf smoke in Central China, Northwest China, and North China. The main forces of the Eighth Route Army, which had just rested for more than two months, also began to assemble in battle, intending to meet the heavy advance of the Japanese army.

On the other hand, He Zhengdao, who was now transferred to Yan'an, made a report to the leaders of the central government on the matter of the iron and steel plant, and then returned to Yulin by car the next day to preside over the next anti-encirclement and suppression battle.

In this case, the marriage application has been approved, and even the cave allocated to them by the central government, He Zhengdao didn't have time to think about it, met with Chen Siya, and said goodbye after chatting a few words.

As for how long this battle will be fought next, and what will it be like in the end, He Zhengdao's psychology is also uncertain. It's just that he knows that only by winning the Eighth Route Army this time can it be possible to maintain the existing good development situation.

He Zhengdao, who even returned to Yulin, was looking forward to the battle with the Kwantung Army in the near future. The shadow of the person, the name of the tree, whether the Kwantung Army is really as strong as others say, can only be known by fighting! (To be continued.) )