Successfully recruited these 30,000 puppet army captives, Qiao Youhua immediately asked Ma Kuiwu to send people to escort them to the Botou and Nanpi fronts, preparing to mix and expand with the second brigade, the third brigade and other units, and at the same time secretly ordered the soldiers with the identity of the dragon shadow guard agents to closely monitor those puppet soldiers, who did not really want to join the dragon tooth column.

If discovered, be immediately executed to avoid further trouble.

Qiao Youhua would not be naïve to think that these 30,000 puppet soldiers were all sincerely attached, and there would definitely be a small number of people who were forced to join out of desperation.

This kind of person, if not found out and dealt with in time, will become an unstable dìng factor. If in normal times, after these puppet troops are mixed with the main force of the Dragon Tooth Column, although they can basically ensure that one Dragon Tooth soldier leads one or two puppet army recruits, there will be no big mess.

However, at the moment of the current war, it is urgent to use these puppet army recruits to fight, once someone on the battlefield escapes or spreads rumors, shaking the morale of the Jun army is likely to lead to the defeat of the battle, and the consequences are unimaginable.

Typically, a rat poop spoils a pot of soup, so you have to be on guard.

After arranging these puppet troops, Qiao Youhua himself rushed to Botou in a truck, planning to go to the front line to command the Cangzhou Campaign and fight to the death with the 8th and 14th Divisions.

These 30,000 puppet troops had surrendered, so they had weapons and equipment, and as long as they were handed over to them again, they could be armed and put into battle at any time.

The recruits of the puppet army were escorted by the dragon tooth infantry to march to Botou on foot, so Qiao Youhua, who rushed to Botou by car, rushed to Botou County one step ahead of them.

Ma Biao, commander of the Second Brigade, Wu Ming, commander of the Third Brigade, Ma Yunlong, commander of the Air Defense Regiment, and Zheng Yunshan, commander of the Guard Regiment, went out of the city to greet them in person.

After some greetings, everyone entered the city, it was already late at night and early in the morning, after entering the city, Qiao Youhua simply ate a simple dinner prepared by Wu Ming, and then summoned everyone to deploy the battle plan.

"Now that the 14th Division has retreated to Cangzhou, the 8th Division is busy assisting other Japanese counteroffensives, and the tank regiment and other units have been sent out to march to Cangxian, now is a great opportunity for us to seize the opportunity and take the opportunity to attack Cangzhou, what do you all think, you might as well talk about it."

Wu Ming said: "Commander, I heard that you have incorporated the 30,000 puppet troops in Dongguang County, so we have enough troops now to storm Cangzhou." ”

Ma Biao also nodded and said: "That's right, a regiment of our department and a tank regiment advanced to Cangxian and was responsible for containing the 8th Division, and now there is only one 14th Division left in Cangzhou that was disabled by us." With the addition of 30,000 puppet army recruits, the available strength in our hands will reach nearly 50,000.

How can you defeat Cangzhou and annihilate the 14th Division! ”

Ma Yunlong, the commander of the air defense regiment, made a rare suggestion and said: "Commander, the key is to ensure that these 30,000 recruited puppet army recruits can not be dragged back in chaos. We don't expect them to be able to exert the same combat effectiveness as the original troops of our Dragon Tooth Column, at least they have to obey our command. ”

Zheng Yunshan also followed: "What Commander Ma said makes sense, although the combat effectiveness of these puppet troops cannot be compared with our dragon tooth column, but they are better than the number of people, and after mixing, they can greatly expand our troops, but after going to the battlefield, whether they can be consistent with the outside and the inside, obey the command of our commander, and cooperate with the battle, it is difficult to say, this is the key." ”

Wu Ming said: "It's also true, after all, these puppet troops were absorbed by us as soon as they surrendered, and they have not yet undergone ideological education and political screening, and their loyalty cannot be guaranteed, so they have to find a way to solve it." ”、

Qiao Youhua smiled slightly: "I have made some arrangements, although I may not be able to ensure the loyalty of these puppet army captives 100%, but as long as our Dragon Tooth Column does not lose the battle and fights smoothly, there should still be no chaos."

Therefore, in the final analysis, this battle mainly depends on the strength of our dragon tooth column, and if we fight well, we can not only deter the new recruits of the puppet army, but also make them happy and convinced to follow us to fight devils to the death.

Well, victory is not a problem. ”

Ma Biao, Wu Ming and the others all nodded approvingly, and said, "The commander is right, the key to this battle is to rely on ourselves!" ”

Ma Biao preemptively said: "Commander, I request that my Second Brigade take the lead in the main attack and take the lead in launching an attack on Cangzhou." ”

Wu Ming was not willing to lag behind and said: "Commander, the second brigade is also responsible for containing the 8th Division in Cangxian County, and it also has to participate in the battle of attacking fortifications, so I think it is more appropriate for our third brigade to serve as the main attack!" ”

"Four-eyed, why are you kid fighting with me again!" Ma Biao said dissatisfiedly.

Wu Ming said: "Ma Biao, you kid, don't be ignorant, I'm thinking about you." ”

"Pull it down, don't you kid just want to fight for the first credit, Dongguang County soldiers won't be bloodless, you haven't been addicted, I know this, but don't want to grab the main attack with me!" Ma Biao didn't give way.

Qiao Youhua saw that the two of them were fighting more and more, so he immediately waved his hand and said: "Okay, you don't have to fight, this time the main attack task is in charge of the guard regiment, the second brigade and the third brigade are fully assisted, in addition, the second brigade is also responsible for maintaining contact with the tank regiment, if they can't contain the 8th division in Cangxian."

The 2nd Brigade needed to deploy troops to support them, and the 8th Division must not be allowed to reinforce Cangzhou City. ”

Seeing Qiao Youhua's final decision, although Ma Biao and Wu Ming were a little unwilling, they didn't dare to disobey, and immediately stood up with Ma Yunlong, Zheng Yunshan and others: "Yes!" ”

At the same time, the city of Beiping, the headquarters of the North China Front of the Japanese army invading China.

It was brightly lit, and Tada Jun was sitting in his office smoking a cigarette, and just now he received a telegram from the 8th Division, saying that a coordinated infantry unit of the Dragon's Tooth Column was advancing towards Cangxian, forcing the 8th Division to withdraw its troops participating in the siege of Hejian.

After the 6th Brigade and other units lost the support of the 8th Division, the attack on Hejian was once again thwarted by the defenders in the city. Failed to take Riverside City as ordered.

The news is all unfavorable, and Tadajun's mood can be imagined.

Therefore, it was late at night, he was still sleepy, and the situation deteriorated faster than he imagined, and he did not expect that the situation facing the North China Front was so unbearable now.

However, Tada Jun also understands that it is impossible to retreat now, so he can only face it head-on.

A sound of footsteps came from outside the office, followed by two knocks on the door, and the voice of the chief of staff, Shozo Kawabe, sounded outside: "General, you haven't rested yet?" ”

Tada Jun spit out the smoke, flicked the cigarette ash and said, "Riverside-kun, come in." ”

The door opened, and the river side walked in with a solemn face, came to Tada Jun's desk, and saluted Tada Jun: "General." ”

Tada Jun looked at him and said, "Hebe-kun, what's the matter with coming to me so late?" ”

Kawabe Shozo said: "General, it's like this, because of the accidental death of General Sugiyama Moto, plus the great losses of the troops of the Kwantung Army entering the pass, the punishment of the base camp has come down, and I have been removed from my post and can no longer serve as your chief of staff." ”

Tada Jun was obviously taken aback, and instantly sat up straight and said, "What, haven't I already pleaded with the War Department to intercede with you?" How could this still be the case? ”

"General, it's true, I just received a notice of appointment and dismissal from the special high school, and they are already waiting outside, and they are going to take me back to Tokyo to be tried by a military court." Kawabe Shozo said with a wry smile.

"Baga, I'm going to send a telegram to the governor of the Ministry of War and intercede for you, how can this be?" As soon as Tada Jun heard that Kawabe Shozo was going to court martial, he stood up anxiously on the spot and said.

Kawabe Shozo shook his head and said: "General, thank you for your kindness, it's useless, this time it was the Navy Ministry that put pressure on the emperor and the cabinet on the grounds of the setback of the war in North China, the War Department must do something, otherwise it will be difficult to explain, so it can only be humiliated to bear the punishment!" ”|

When Tada Jun heard this, he immediately understood that this was a game between the Admiralty and the War Department, and it was not something that he could control as a commander of the Front Army who had no right to speak in the base camp, and he couldn't help but angrily scold the people of the Navy Ministry for being shameless.

Tada Jun sat back a little decadently, and said to the riverside: "General, I have resigned from my humble position, I hope you will take care of yourself." ”

After speaking, Kawabe Shozo gave a final military salute and turned to leave. Compared with the terrible war in North China today, returning to the mainland may be a good choice, even if you lose your official position, you will not be an official and a light person.

After Kawabe Shozo left, Tada, who was a little lost, suddenly swept the lamp on the table to the ground, and the lamp shattered, and the desk was quickly plunged into darkness.

A ghost guard came running from outside when he heard the news, and was angrily reprimanded by Tada Jun: "Get out, Baga, get out of here!" ”

After a long time, Tada Jun stood up, took out two bottles of sake from a cupboard behind him, and began to drink it alone.

One night I got drunk and fell unconscious.

The sky gradually brightened, and outside the field defensive position of the Japanese army outside Cangzhou City, the Longya Column, which had moved overnight last night, was ready to attack.

The officers and men of the guard regiment in charge of the main attack were loaded with live ammunition and lay down in the sortie position waiting for the order to attack.

Behind them, the artillerymen of the air defense regiment and other brigades, were deploying artillery positions for anti-aircraft and other artillery.

It didn't take long for the artillery position to be completed, and with Ma Yunlong's order, hundreds of various artillery pieces opened fire one after another, and for a time the cannon roared loudly, and hundreds of shells pierced the sky like bright meteors, flying towards the Japanese defensive positions.

Immediately fell on top of the Japanese position, and there was a violent series of explosions! Large clouds of smoke rose into the sky with the flames.

From time to time, unlucky devils are hit by explosions, blown apart, and killed on the spot.

The fierce artillery fire was like ploughing, and for more than half an hour, the devil's field position was covered and attacked back and forth, causing great damage to the devils guarding outside the city.

As soon as the shelling ended, the officers and soldiers of Longya, led by the guard regiment, took advantage of the situation and launched a charge.