After the order to retreat was issued, the eastern Hebei troops quickly took action. The 63rd Army and the Fourth Column of the Eighth Route Army were both sure to withdraw. There were too many people in the Anti-Japanese League, and the newly recruited part had already decided to disband, and in addition to the need to allocate forces to persist in the guerrilla struggle in the locality, only a small part could be withdrawn. It was not easy to lay down such a big territory, and everyone was very uncomfortable when they said that they would withdraw. The thought of the sacrificed comrades-in-arms made it even more uncomfortable.

Among them, the anti-union forces are the most reluctant to leave, because most of them are locals, and Jidong is their hometown! As soon as the army left, the fathers and villagers were going to be slaves under the iron hooves of the Japanese army again. Li Yunchang, deputy commander-in-chief of the Anti-Japanese Federation, was the most unwilling, and was so sad that he almost shed tears after learning the order.

Commander Song of the Fourth Column of the Eighth Route Army comforted: "Lao Li, don't be sad. We just went to Pingxi for training, and we didn't come back as soon as we went. Jidong is not completely giving up, we will still leave the troops to fight guerrillas! ”

Political Commissar Deng of the Fourth Column also persuaded: "Yes, Lao Li! Let's train the soldiers in Pingxi first, and then fight back when the time is right! ”

"No, I've decided, I'm still going to stay!" Li Yunchang said: "The anti-union armed forces were brought up with great difficulty by the eastern Hebei party committee. We are all gone, and the troops have no backbone. ”

Commander Song objected and said: "The next situation in eastern Hebei is bound to be very dangerous, you should first withdraw to Pingxi with the large army, and it will not be too late to come back if conditions permit." Anyway, there is radio contact, and you can still command in Pingxi. ”

Deputy Commander Li shook his head and said: "The eastern Hebei and the western Hebei are far apart, and remote command will not work. As for the sinister situation. The more sinister it is, the more it has to stay. Otherwise, wouldn't our previous hard work be in vain, and wouldn't the blood of the martyrs be shed in vain? ”

Commander Song and Political Commissar Deng glanced at each other, but they had no choice but to report to Commander Jinchaji Nie. Commander Nie thought about it, finally agreed, and appointed Li Yunchang as the commander of the newly established Eastern Hebei Military Region. The deputy commander was Bao Sen, the detachment commander of the Fourth Column, who would lead more than 1,000 Eighth Route Army as the backbone of the guerrilla attack behind enemy lines in eastern Hebei.

As for the 70,000 horses under Li Yunchang's headquarters of the Anti-Japanese Alliance, they were divided into three parts, 20,000 old and weak were demobilized after anti-Japanese education, and 30,000 well-trained troops were mixed with the fourth column. Brought to Pingxi for training. The remaining 20,000 people were under the command of the Eastern Hebei Military Region. Assigned to the counties to fight guerrillas.

In addition to the 70,000 horses under the command of Li Yunchang, the Anti-Japanese Federation also has the Loyal National Salvation Army led by Hong Linge and Gao Zhiyuan's militia group. There are about 20,000 people in the Loyal National Salvation Army, which has some relationship with the Tianjin Station of the Military Command, but the actual power is in the hands of Hong Linge and other officers. Gao Zhiyuan's department has the smallest number of people. There are only nearly 10,000 people. But the combat effectiveness is the strongest. Because they have developed in 31 years. Most of the troops are the backbone of the troops who have experienced many years of fighting, have rich experience, and their marksmanship is also extremely accurate.

Hong Linge thought for a moment. said to Gao Zhiyuan: "Commander-in-chief, is it too thin to leave only one part of the strength of the Anti-Japanese Federation? Why don't we stay too! ”

Gao Zhiyuan also had this intention, so he nodded in agreement. But the two were finally persuaded by Captain Feng Zhan and decided to withdraw to Jizhong with the 63rd Army. Now that the 63rd Army is not yet in formation, Zheng Weiguo has agreed to incorporate them into the 41st Group Army and put them under the command of Captain Feng Zhan.

The next few days will be the time for the various ministries in eastern Hebei to frantically "turn in". A large number of newly developed troops were disbanded, and the surplus weapons were stored in a centralized manner and hidden in several places. The troops with slightly better training were mixed with the 63rd Army and the Fourth Column, and were divided into several routes to break through to the west.

According to the instructions of the superiors, the breakout was mainly divided into two directions. The Fourth Column of the Eighth Route Army and the anti-United Nations forces it incorporated broke through to the northwest and withdrew to the Pingxi base area through the Yanshan Mountains. This road is mountainous and very difficult to walk, but it is not a problem for the eighth road, but it is conducive to evacuation and concealment. The 63rd Army and the Gao and Hong divisions broke through to the southwest, forcibly crossed the Chaobai River and Yongding River and withdrew to Jizhong. This is an avenue, relatively close, and the road condition is also better, which is convenient for the 63rd Army to bring back heavy equipment. Of course, it will be easy for the Japanese army to intercept it, and if it is not done well, it will have to fight several tough battles.

Before the main force retreated, two small units were sent to the front station, on the one hand, to find out the enemy's clear and explore the road, and on the other hand, to carry out battlefield shielding and prevent the retreat from being detected by enemy detectives.

The fourth column was due to the fact that Commander Song personally led the team to reconnoiter and advance in the direction of Xinglong. The 63rd Army was led by Chief of Staff Yan Mingzhi to lead a regiment to cross the Luan River west and search for the Haihe River Valley. Behind them were large forces on both sides, bloated and slow to move due to the fact that they had been replenished with too many new soldiers. Commander Feng and Political Commissar Deng had no choice but to lead a main force to prevent the enemy's 11th Division from suddenly attacking from behind the army.

Of course, at present, the 11th Division has not yet arrived at Shanhaiguan, and the threat is not very great. The key is that the enemy of Tianjin is gathered in a group, and its movements are unknown, which makes people quite worried. The plan drawn up by Chief of Staff Zhou was to invite friendly forces to launch feints in various parts of North China and force the enemy troops to be deployed in various places to reduce the pressure on the eastern Hebei side. At present, all the departments in North China have acted according to the plan, but the enemy in Tianjin has not moved, which makes Zheng Weiguo and them very anxious.

Lixian, Headquarters of the 41st Group Army. In the past few days, Division Commander He and Commander Nie didn't have time to go back, so they simply moved the headquarters over to sign the office.

"Report!" The confidential telegraph operator put down the headset, turned around and said, "Main seat, the Japanese army in Tianjin has moved!" ”

Zheng Huzi, who had been waiting for news, hurriedly stood up and asked, "How did you move?" ”

The telegraph operator hurriedly replied: "The enemy's 6th Brigade is moving south along the Jinpu Line, and the 8th Brigade is taking a train from Tianjin to Beiping, and the destination is unknown for the time being. ”

Zheng Weiguo asked again: "What about the enemy's 110th Division and the 7th Brigade of the Independent Mixed Brigade?" ”

The telegraph operator replied: "There is no movement for the time being, and it may still be on standby in Tianjin." ”

Commander Nie said worriedly: "There is no need for Tianjin to hoard so many troops, could it be that we are going north to attack our army in eastern Hebei?" ”

As mentioned earlier, eastern Hebei itself is under attack on three sides, and the enemy's 11th Division, the 21st Division stationed in Beiping, and the 27th Division stationed in Tianjin from the northeast to the south have formed a situation of encirclement. If you add the 110th Division and the independent mixed 7th Brigade, then Jidong will be really dangerous.

Master He gasped. Said anxiously: "Niang Xipi, it must be that the movement in various places is too small to cause enough pressure on the enemy army!" In my opinion, just give the little devil a few hard blows, and completely cut off the Pinghan Railway and the Zhengtai Railway! ”

Now the main forces of the Eighth Route Army are moving to the eastern part of Shanxi and the central and western parts of Hebei, so Mr. He did not mention the Tongpu Railway and the Jinpu Railway.

Zheng Weiguo hurriedly asked, "What does Mr. He mean?" ”

Division Commander He slapped the table and said sharply: "Concentrate the main forces of more than a dozen regiments to carry out a major attack on the two railways and cut off the main arteries of the little devils!" ”

Zheng Weiguo thought to himself, isn't this the 38-year version of the "Hundred Regiment War"? If you do it, the benefits are obvious, but the sequelae are also very troublesome. He hesitated for a moment and said, "We can make preparations for this first, but don't rush to do it." It is likely that the Japanese army will have other deployments, so let's wait and see what happens. ”

Sure enough, the enemy independently mixed into the 6th Brigade and quickly moved south. Took over Cangzhou, an important town on the Jinpu line. A wing of the 27th Division, which was originally stationed there, was retracted to Tianjin. After the 8th Independent Mixed Brigade arrived in Beiping, it moved south along the Pinghan Line and took over the defense of the Shijiazhuang area. The 5th Independent Mixed Brigade originally stationed there moved westward along the Zhengtai Line and was responsible for the defense of Yangquan and other places in Shanxi.

By the way, historically, this was supposed to be the responsibility of the 4th Brigade of the Independent Mixed Brigade. But now the ministry has long since been wiped out in Guantai Village on the edge of the Yellow River. Therefore, the Northern Branch Dispatch Army had to be transferred to the 5th Brigade to fight the tank.

A few days later, the Japanese army in Tianjin began to move again. The enemy's 110th Division moved north along the Pingjin Railway, and then south from the Pinghan Line, all the way to Shijiazhuang. The 8th Independent Mixed Brigade, which had just been stationed there, moved south to Xingtai. Deterrence of the national army in the southern section of the Taihang Mountains and the Eighth Route in southern Hebei.

At the same time, the enemy's independent mixed 7th Brigade moved south along the Jinpu Line and took over the defense of the Cangzhou area. The 6th Brigade of the Independent Mixed Brigade continued south and was stationed in Dezhou, Shandong. The enemy's 114th Division stationed in Jinan shrank its forces from southwest Shandong and went all out to deal with the Nationalist army in the hinterland of Shandong.

Looking at the dazzling transfer of the Japanese army, Zheng Weiguo and the two bosses of the Eighth Route Army felt a little bad. Zheng Weiguo thought for a while, then suddenly sighed and said, "Alas, we were calculated by the old fox Shouichi in the temple. ”

He Nie and the two bosses hurriedly asked, "How do you say this?" ”

Zheng Weiguo explained: "Originally, although the Japanese army in North China was at a disadvantage, it was not a problem to hold on to large and medium-sized cities and transportation arteries. However, the enemy abandoned the defense of Tangshan, and successively abandoned large areas such as the Jilu border, creating the illusion of precariousness in North China, thus forcing the Japanese base camp to increase troops from the country. ”

Commander Nie thought for a moment and said with a wry smile: "Well, that's true, but this is also something that can't be helped." Whether to increase the number of troops or not, the initiative is always in the hands of the enemy. From the perspective of the overall situation, it is better to increase troops in North China than to increase troops in Wuhan! ”

Zheng Weiguo nodded and said, "Well, it's also a good thing to consume a little more of Japan's war potential." However, Japan's national strength is much stronger than China's, especially after acquiring Northeast China, and its national strength has almost doubled. You may not know that the Japanese army has also increased its troops in Wuhan this time. ”

Master He exclaimed, "What, it's increased again!" How much does that increase? ”

Zheng Weiguo stretched out three fingers and said with a heavy heart: "3 divisions!" They were numbered the 15th, 17th, and 22nd Divisions. Originally, there was still the 27th Division, but it could not be made because of the Jidong riots. ”

Division Commander He calculated and said in surprise: "Isn't the total strength of the enemy army in Central China 13 divisions?" ”

Zheng Weiguo nodded and said, "Yes, there is also a Botian detachment. "The officers of the Potian detachment are Japanese, but most of the soldiers are Taiwanese, and the Yu Zhishan Brigade in the northeast can be called the two major traitor troops during the Anti-Japanese War. What's even more unpleasant is that these two troops are quite capable of fighting.

Master He sighed and muttered, "Wuhan is really dangerous this time!" ”

As early as the beginning of the Battle of Wuhan, the Japanese army sent two additional divisions, the 106th and 116th, to the newly formed Central China to send troops. In mid-July, when the war was at a stalemate, the 15th, 17th, and 22nd divisions were urgently transferred for reinforcements, but it was only slowed down by the Zhang Gufeng incident, otherwise the Nationalist army would have been afraid that it would be difficult to survive August.

Now, as soon as the Zhang Gufeng incident was resolved, the Japanese army could not wait to increase its troops in Wuhan, so that the total strength of the Japanese army in central China increased to 13 divisions and regiments, plus one detachment, and its strength was unprecedentedly strong. Although there was one less division than in history, the national army still struggled to deal with it. It's like two people fighting, one party is exhausted, and only the ability to parry is left, and the other party is calm and leisurely and calls a large number of helpers to come over, how can it not be shocking!

Commander Nie frowned slightly, and said: "We can't reach the whip in the affairs of Central China, let's think about how to take the troops from eastern Jidong!" ”

Although the Japanese troops in Tianjin have gradually withdrawn, the situation in eastern Hebei is still not very optimistic. The enemy's 11th Division advanced extremely fast, barely snoozing as it passed through Manchuria, and went directly to Jinzhou, and then quickly moved south along the Bac Ninh line, which can be described as menacing. At this rate, I am afraid that the eastern Hebei troops will be caught up by the Japanese army before they have withdrawn halfway.

Zheng Weiguo casually pulled open the curtain in front of the map, pointed to Beiping and Tianjin, and said: "It is better to follow the original plan, first contain the troops in these two places, and then let the eastern Hebei troops quickly retreat, and if they can't retreat, they will scatter and fight guerrillas on the spot." ”

Master He said: "Okay, I will immediately lead my troops to attack Beiping from the south of Ping, but Lao Zheng, is it time to fulfill your promise?" He was referring to the equipment of a brigade and two mountain guns, which were not much, but they were generous for the 120th Division.

Zheng Weiguo said with a smile: "No problem, I'll open a note for you, and you can get it at the General Armament Department later." "Not long ago, the General Armament Department of the Jizhong Military Region and the 41st Group Army was also established, and the first minister was Yu Laogener. Although he has no culture, the final assembly is currently an empty shelf, and he only needs a person with tight hands.

Commander Nie breathed a sigh of relief and said, "As long as the 21st Division in Beiping can be contained, the northern front will be relatively safe." As for the southern front, it depends on Zheng Huzi's performance. ”

Zheng Weiguo said confidently: "We have a lot of main forces, and there are also Zhouqiao troops, so there will be no problems." Although I said this, I was still very anxious. After the 63rd Army left the customs, it gradually grew to 15,000 people, and the two departments of Hong Linge and Gao Zhiyuan, which had just been recruited, also had a total of 30,000 or 40,000. It was not easy to connect the Chaobai River and the Yongding River (the water volume was too large at that time to be crossed), and the Japanese army also had planes to help, so if it was not good, the scene of the blood-stained Xiangjiang River would be repeated.

At the beginning, the evacuation of the eastern Hebei troops was quite smooth. On the northern front, the 21st Division stationed in Beiping sent a brigade to intercept it, but the 120th Division immediately launched an attack on Nanyuan (now the area around Nanyuan Airport). The commander of the 21st Division, Lieutenant General Washizu Matsudaira, feared that Beiping would lose and had to withdraw his troops, and the fourth column took the opportunity to enter the Yanshan Mountains. The mountains here are high and dense, and the Japanese army did not dare to chase too closely.

On the southern front, Commander Zhou Fucheng commanded the 53rd Army to launch a feint attack on Tianjin, and the commander of the Tianjin defense, Masaharu Honma, did not dare to defend the Chaobai River defense line, and obediently shrank his troops to the outskirts of Tianjin. The large forces of the 63rd Army, including artillery and baggage troops, were smoothly withdrawn to the south of Yongding Henan, and were temporarily at a relatively safe boundary. Only the 541st Regiment led by Captain Feng Zhan had not had time to cross the river because he was in charge of the palace.

At this time, the Japanese army was also stepping up the encirclement, and the fastest was the 11th Division that was pursued all the way from eastern Hebei. They pounced all the way from Shanhaiguan and entered a land where no one was looking. The guerrillas in eastern Hebei were weak and hardly played any role in slowing down.

Seeing that most of the 63rd Army had withdrawn, Commander Zhou Fucheng was worried that the 541st Regiment would lose, so he hurriedly ordered: "Notify Commander Feng immediately, let them cross the river immediately, and be careful of being entangled by devils!" ”

Sometimes I'm really afraid of something, and as soon as Zhou Junchang's voice fell, bad news came. "Report!" A telegraph operator said with a frightened face: "Oh no, military seat, the scouts have found a Japanese army at the crossing of the Chaobai River!" ”

Elder Zhou Fucheng was shocked and hurriedly asked, "What! What about Captain Feng? Check it out! ”

It didn't take long for another telegraph operator to finally contact the 63rd Army, and said with a crying voice: "Report to the military seat, Commander Feng, they were entangled by the devil cavalry and did not retreat!" (To be continued......)