"Well, don't worry about this, I will reorganize two field divisions and two reading brigades from the domestic reserves in the near future. At the same time, from among the units of the Kwantung Army, a tank brigade, a field artillery wing, a heavy howitzer wing, and an aviation wing were transferred to support the North China garrison army. It will take a month at most for these troops to arrive, so you have to be prepared to accept them..."Hideki Tojo said, nodding.

"Hi, thank you, Your Excellency, for your support. I believe that with the reinforcement of these troops, our North China garrison army will definitely be able to turn the tide of the current battle and complete the task assigned to me by His Majesty the Emperor..."Hearing that there were suddenly so many more elite troops under his command. General Bin Sanyuan couldn't help but be excited, and thanked the Minister of War in front of him from the bottom of his heart... Immediately, in the afternoon of the same day, after receiving the command sword that His Majesty the Emperor had personally granted. General Bin Sanyuan did not make any stops, but took the special plane designated by Emperor Hirohito, and arrived at Beiping, the headquarters of the North China Garrison Army, at the first time... After a short period of greeting, General Bin Sanyuan didn't have time to eat a welcome banquet, so he rushed into the war room in the headquarters non-stop, wanting to know the specific situation for the first time?

"Chief of Staff, now that time is pressing, I won't say much. Immediately report to me the current situation and specific situation in the entire North China region and between the enemy and our armies. Walking into the war room, General Bin Sanyuan, who had just taken office, could be said to have not even had time to drink a sip of water, so he rushed to the huge combat sand table and said to the chief of staff who was following behind him.

"Hi, Your Excellency, Commander. According to the latest information we have, after a day and a night of decisive battle. In the entire North China region, there are now a total of 16 county seats, which are occupied by the Eighth Route Army. About 12,000 Imperial soldiers were killed in battle, and nearly 10,000 Imperial Cooperative soldiers were killed or captured. At the same time, a large number of military supplies hoarded in these more than a dozen counties were sparsely captured by the Eighth Route Army... All the circumstances have been marked on the sand table, please take a look at the commander..."The chief of staff did not hesitate to report on the commander he was familiar with in front of him.

"Baga, the cunning Eighth Route Army..., I really didn't expect that in just one year, the strength of the Eighth Route Army would develop to the point where it was strong as scheduled. In one day and one night, so many county towns were occupied from the hands of the imperial army. Eight-grid tooth road. General Bin Sanyuan's face immediately showed a look of shock.

"Hi, Your Excellency Commander, the Eighth Route Army has indeed developed very rapidly in the past two years. Moreover, in North China, the hearts of the people of China occupy a very important position. In particular, the combat effectiveness, individual soldier quality, and equipment of the Eighth Route Army's Reading Division are no longer under our Imperial Army. The chief of staff nodded and replied.

"Baga, I really didn't expect that the situation in North China would be so bad. However, at present, there is one thing to do, that is, to find a way to solve the predicament encountered by our troops stationed in North China....Chief of Staff, do you have any good countermeasures in this day and night? We can't just watch so many county towns and north occupied, and so many imperial soldiers die in the hands of the Eighth Route Army, right? General Bin Sanyuan, who was still full of confidence just now, immediately frowned after listening to the words of the chief of staff. Facing the chief of staff beside him, he continued to ask.

"Hi, Your Excellency, Commander, before you arrived, I had the General Staff draw up an emergency battle plan. However, because the strength of the entire North China garrison is limited, the main content of our plan is still to give up. The Imperial Army troops in various places were ordered to take the initiative to abandon some county strongholds that were not particularly important. The main forces will be concentrated in some county towns along the railway line and in the transportation points to ensure the smooth flow of all railway lines. Lay a certain foundation for our army's future counteroffensive. Looking at the commander General Bin Sanyuan, who was frowning in front of him, the chief of staff quickly replied.

"Yo Xi, for the current our army, this tactic can be said to be the best combat plan. Chief of Staff, looking at the sand table in front of you, you can explain to me the battle plan that your staff has just formulated. If there is no problem with this battle plan, it will be sent to the top commanders of each county in the form of an order from the headquarters, and they will be able to implement it immediately..."General Bin Sanyuan nodded and said.

"Hi, Your Excellency, Commander. What our general staff department means is to abandon the 116 county strongholds outside the railway line and concentrate all the remaining 100,000 people of our garrison troops in North China into the 48 county strongholds along the railway line to hold on. At the same time, all the air units in North China are also providing continuous support to dozens of county strongholds. I think that as long as our army can hold these dozens of strongholds in the county seats, we can prepare for our army's counteroffensive in the future..."Under the command of the chief of staff, a group of combat staff officers gathered around the flash plate immediately pulled down a large number of banners representing the imperial army... In an instant, on the entire combat sand table, representing the banner of the Imperial Army, there were only dozens of county towns along the railway. The small flags representing the little devils, like a few thin lines, are entrenched there..."Yo Xi, very good, I completely agree with this battle plan drawn up by the General Staff. Chief of Staff, give this order at once, in my name. Our army must complete the task of defense in the shortest possible time..."The commander, General Bin Sanyuan, nodded with satisfaction, and then ordered.

"Hey, Your Excellency Commander, I'll go give the order right away...", the Chief of Staff turned and left the war room.

However, although General Bin Sanyuan and even the operational staff officers of the entire headquarters, their ideas are the best for the army at this moment. However, they underestimated the strength of the common people in the entire North China region and underestimated the real strength of the Eighth Route Army in North China? They forgot, or they simply couldn't imagine, what kind of results those troops that broke through the siege would fall under the blows of various units of the Eighth Route Army without the protection of the city walls.

Just after the supreme commanders of each county received a telegram from the headquarters. Without any hesitation, he immediately collected the remnants of the army, prepared to break through, and then assembled to the nearest assembly target. However, just after these little devil commanders gave up a large amount of baggage ammunition and hastily withdrew from the county town they were holding. They are completely caught up in the people's war prepared by the common people in North China for the little devils.

As soon as they left the county seat where they were trapped, they randomly fell into the encirclement of the main force of the Eighth Route Army, militia units, local guerrillas and even local people. Around them, the sound of gunfire from time to time, the explosion of mines planted on the highway that were seen, the water from wells where poison had been put ... All of them are aimed at this little devil army, which has done a lot of evil... At this moment, the little devil troops, which have been nearly 1,000 people, are marching with difficulty under the command of a Nakasa officer, plagued by various attacks around them. The unit has been on the march for a day since the picture is shown. However, during this day, because of the constant cold guns, cold running, and even a large number of earth-made mines. The entire brigade of more than a thousand little devils marched less than twenty kilometers.

What's more, in the midst of this constant attack, because of his own carelessness, there were already three integrated squads responsible for sorties, which were ambushed by the main force of the Eighth Route Army hidden around him, and finally the whole army was wiped out. At the same time, there are almost 150 soldiers who were killed or horrified in the constant attacks of the day today... In just one day's march, one of its own reinforced brigades lost more than three hundred soldiers. If at such a rate of loss, by the time of the time your own brigade arrives at the predetermined target, there will be very few troops left.

"Baga, the Eighth Route Army is very cunning, why don't you dare to have a decisive battle directly opposite the Imperial Army, Bage Yalu..." However, the supreme commander of this unit looked at the corpses in front of him, and the seriously wounded who let out painful wails one by one. couldn't help but hold his command knife tightly, and scolded loudly at the officers around him, to vent his bad mood at this moment... However, his venting did not play any role. In less than half an hour after these little devils set up camp, one question after another came one after another. Commander Nakasa sat in his tent, anxious about the casualties of the troops for a day. A staff officer rushed into his tent and came to his face..."Your Excellency Zuo... The cooking squads of each squad reported that we did not find any drinking water sources within a radius of several kilometers around us, and even the wells in the nearby villages were polluted by the people of China and could not be used..."Seeing His Excellency Nakasa, who had a dissatisfied look on his face, the staff officer quickly replied..."Baga, the cunning Eighth Route Army, the cunning Zhina people... There is no water, so let the soldiers concentrate all the water in their own kettles and let the cooking squad cook... Anyway, the meal should come first..."Officer Nakasa ordered loudly... In this way, nearly a thousand little devils, because of lack of water, had to eat a sandwich meal. What's more, after this meal, they don't have any drinking water to eat... However, the raw rice and lack of water are just the hors d'oeuvres tonight... Just when the little devils, after eating the raw rice, just lay down next to the pile of bonfires, in a state of sleep, to replenish the physical strength consumed by the day's march... Bursts of sparse gunfire reached their ears... As soon as they heard the gunshots, these well-trained soldiers quickly lay on the ground. At the same time, a pair of hands quickly raised the rifle in his arms, loaded the bullets, and prepared for battle... However, just as they were ready for battle and the seekers were sneaking up on them, the sparse gunfire disappeared in less than half a minute... The final result was that the three patrols, 36 Imperial soldiers, were all killed in the attack that had just lasted half a minute, and none of them were spared....As for the attackers, after eliminating the patrols, they had quietly disappeared into the dark night, and there was no way to pursue them.

Nearly a thousand little devils, after scolding the Eighth Route Army, had to put away their weapons and prepare to continue to rest....However, in less than half an hour, an explosion mixed with a messy gunfire once again reached the ears of these little devils who had just closed their eyes..."Baga, it was the artillery bombardment of the Eighth Route Army, everyone immediately hidden, quickly hidden... Get ready for battle...", followed by the explosion of artillery shells, resounded in the barracks. The little devils who had just closed their eyes had to cheer up again, hold the weapons in their hands, and lie on the ground again, ready for battle

Of course, the shelling and gunfire this time were no surprise, and they were another false alarm. Except for a dozen unlucky little devils, who died in the gunfire and explosions just now. The rest of the little devils are intact and ready to rest again... However, such a sneak attack, for the next time, still happens every half an hour...

In this way, for the rest of the night, almost every half hour, the camp would be reminded of the sound of gunfire like bursting beans. And every gunfire takes the lives of a dozen Imperial warriors... What's more, in the sound of gunfire all night, the entire camp, nearly a thousand little devils, almost no one rested for more than half an hour... Finally, in the anticipation of all the little devils, the next day finally arrived. The gunfire that haunted them all night slowly stopped because of the arrival of dawn. Although, the gunfire stopped. However, almost a thousand soldiers who did not take any rest all night, almost all of them had a bunch of dark circles under their eyes. What's more, the overnight attack made this army, which had already suffered heavy losses, lose a large number of devil soldiers again.

"Nani, what do you say. In the attack of one night, the troops once again lost 158 people, and dozens of light and serious wounded, how could it be, what did the patrol do last night, and why did the troops continue to be attacked by the Eighth Route Army, and the Eight Grid Tooth Road..."Commander Zhongzuo, after receiving the report from the staff officer, looked shocked and asked in disbelief.

"Hi, Your Excellency Nakasa, now there are 846 Imperial Army warriors left in our army, and they can continue to fight. In addition, there were 47 seriously wounded people who needed to be cared for by two squads of soldiers. Therefore, the strength of our army that can still continue to fight is only 750 men....less than two-thirds of the troops when they broke through..."The staff officer replied in the affirmative.

"Yaga... How so. Knowing this, we might as well stick to the county seat. In the county seat, we have at least the cover of the city wall, as well as a large number of logistical baggage materials, enough for us to hold on for a while. Eight Grid Tooth Road, the Eighth Route Army is very cunning..."Commander Nakasa clenched his fists and scolded loudly.

"Hey, Your Excellency Nakasa, now that the troops are suffering heavy losses, what should we do next?" The staff officer asked.

"Baga, the only way out for us now is to continue to move forward and rush to the scheduled assembly county. Order the troops to set off immediately, and we must not stop any longer on the road today, no matter what. Even if it encounters a sneak attack by a small group of troops of the Eighth Route Army, it cannot make any stops. In a word, with the fastest speed of the march, you must get to the predetermined assembly position before dark...."Commander Nakasa ordered loudly... More than 800 little devils who didn't have any energy, carrying dozens of seriously wounded people, and Ou, their own weapons, once again embarked on the journey under the orders of commanders at all levels... Because of the order of the Supreme Commander, in the face of the gunshots that rang out from time to time around him, his comrades who fell in a pool of blood. The rest of the devil soldiers, without any stop, continued to lower their heads and marched... This way of marching did have a great effect in the first two hours. Although, again, the troops lost more than two dozen soldiers. However, the entire unit walked a distance of almost ten kilometers. If you follow this pace of marching, don't wait until dark, you will be able to take most of the main forces and enter the predetermined assembly county... However, the wishful thinking of the little devil did not escape the eyes of the commanders of the surrounding Eighth Route Army. Since the tactics and tactics of the Yue Army have changed, the tactics of the surrounding Eighth Route Army have also been changed at the first time. That is to increase the frequency of sneak attacks by the troops, and strive to beat the little devils. So that he had to stop in the face of huge casualties... Thinking of this, in the process of the sneak attack, in addition to dozens of rifles. The commander of the Eighth Route Army went so far as to move out all the only heavy weapons in his troops, six light and heavy machine guns. Ready to use all the heavy firepower in his hand to fight guerrilla warfare with the little devils..."Bang bang bang..."Several messy gunshots rang out again, and several little devils with their heads down and marching quickly let out one scream after another. With a look of despair, he fell in a pool of blood... As for the rest of the devil soldiers, they continued to march in a blind eye. Because they believed that the gunfire just now must have been a sneak attack by a small group of troops of the Eighth Route Army.

Just when the remaining little devils, not knowing the danger coming, still lowered their heads and marched briskly. A dense burst of machine-gun fire suddenly came from the side of the marching army. Immediately after that, the sound of "snort...", when the bullet entered the body, immediately reached everyone's ears.

(To be continued)