While the New Fourth Army was still digesting the fruits of its victory in southern Anhui, in order to retaliate for the CPC slaughter of the two main divisions, the Japanese army stepped up preparations and carried out a sweep and a "law and order strengthening campaign" against the Jin, Hebei, Shandong, and Henan anti-Japanese base areas controlled by the Eighth Route Army, the purpose of which was to deal a heavy blow to the Eighth Route Army and even destroy the main force of the Eighth Route Army, so as to enhance the control of North China and make it the rear of the more stable Japanese army to launch the Pacific War. In addition, in the process, the Japanese were allowed to carry out any form of indiscriminate killing, in retaliation for the destruction of the 6th and 13th Divisions.

People who have experienced history education in later generations often look at the huge red maps in history textbooks and think that the anti-Japanese base areas in those years were very bullish and occupied such a large territory. However, there is an intuitive mistake in this, that is, there are Japanese troops in the anti-Japanese base areas. The Eighth Route Army rarely occupies places such as county seats, and their active activity space is in villages and towns, as can be seen from the address of the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army during the eight-year War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, basically the footprints of the Eighth Route Army did not involve entering the cities.

Of course, strategically this is incomparably correct, and it is also a great practice of encircling the cities from the countryside, and it is precisely because of taking a correct path that the War of Resistance and the Revolution finally succeeded one after another. However, from a more orthodox view, although the Eighth Route Army controlled large areas of the countryside, the most important node, that is, the cities, had no power to control it. And these places were the main strongholds of the Japanese army. According to a certain Cheng dù, this period was the coexistence of the Chinese army and the Japanese army.

After the Battle of the Hundred Regiments, the Japanese army deeply felt how idiotic it was to cede the vast rural areas to the Eighth Route Army, although the losses caused by the Battle of the Hundred Regiments to the Japanese army were not fatal, but it was also quite maddening to be bitten today and a piece to be bitten tomorrow.

While the New Fourth Army was quickly fattened by Qi Yuan, the strength of the Eighth Route Army did not undergo any essential changes, and the Japanese army's tolerance for the Eighth Route Army also reached a certain limit, so under the instructions of the military department, the Japanese army in North China began a sweep of the Eighth Route Army's Jin, Hebei, Shandong, and Henan anti-Japanese base areas.

The Japanese army dispatched two divisions, three mixed brigades, and two divisions of the puppet army, with a military strength of more than 60,000 men, which was much larger than the scale of the sweep launched in April in history. Moreover, in this sweep, the Japanese army has used two major tactics: iron wall encirclement and block clearance.

The Japanese troops who poured out of the county town and the Japanese barracks rushed to the countryside in a wah-wah-wah. The sparse villages were in front of him, and the Japanese squad leader hissed and shouted to the Japanese devils: "Kill all, kill all of them, every person in China may be the Eighth Road, even if it is not the Eighth Road, it may become the Eighth Road, or cover the Eighth Road, support the Eighth Road, the Imperial Kingdom does not need such disrespectful people, all of them will die to me!" ”

The puppet lieutenant who followed the Japanese army was sweating profusely, although he had become a traitor, but being a traitor and then killing ordinary people in his country was really a big upgrade. Even if many people's consciences are extinguished, but after thinking of this incident, they can't help but feel chills in their backs, and the Eighth Route Army also has a lot of traitors, and traitors who commit heinous crimes are often assassinated by them.

"Taijun, I see that there are still some good people in those villages, otherwise let's screen them well and then kill them." The puppet lieutenant nodded and spoke to the Japanese squad leader in front of him, obviously he was half a head taller than this little Japan, but he had to bend down to make him a lot shorter than the Japanese.

"Bagaya Road, you actually have sympathy for Tubalu, are you also a spy of Tubalu, a guy like you who doesn't work hard for the imperial army and has different intentions-" Before the Japanese squad leader finished speaking, he suddenly pulled out a katana from his waist and slashed at the neck of the puppet lieutenant, this knife was cut sideways, at an angle to the neck and shoulders, and did not cut off the head, but bleed the puppet lieutenant.

The Japanese soldier next to him immediately patted his ass and said, "Captain, your Juhe technique has improved again, and your sword skills are also among the best in the whole team!" ”

The puppet lieutenant had a look of disbelief in his eyes, and the blood in his neck spurted outward, and he died in the blink of an eye, without saying a word. Although the puppet soldiers he led were all panicked, no one expressed any objections, and it was obvious that this was not the first time that a Japanese officer had hacked the puppet army to death. In front of their masters, these minions have no self-respect and no human rights.

The captain of the Japanese squad snorted and shouted loudly: "Listen, the Imperial Allied Army does not have any right to question the Imperial Army, you must only follow our instructions, let you go to the east, you can only go to the east, and even if you go slowly, you will be disposed of as waste!" ”

It seemed that he felt that his appearance was very good and face-saving, and the Japanese squad leader became more confident and excited after continuing to lead the team.

It was too late for the puppet army to storm into the village that day, and it was obvious that the Eighth Route Army had not yet realized what kind of combat mode the Japanese army had started, and the few guerrillas in the village had not had time to resist before they had time to shoot and kill the indiscriminate Japanese army. This had never happened before, and the partisans were good at camouflage and were often able to deceive the Japanese army. But today, the killing of the Japanese army was comprehensive, leaving no room for survival, and the whole cunzài was soon caught in flames, and only a few people saw the arrival of the Japanese army and fled to the wilderness.

Then the Japanese squad leader found some tokens and weapons of the Eighth Route Army in the village, he made a prescient posture, and said to his subordinates: "See, obviously among the people we killed just now, there are a few people from the Eight Routes, if we investigate one by one, it is likely that they will run away, the newly formulated strategy is wise, only by killing these disobedient people, can we really destroy the Eight Routes." Moreover, the land opened up by the Imperial Army should be inhabited by the noble Yamato people, and we are also removing these things that hinder us and preparing our compatriots to live here. ”

In the entire Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong, and Henan anti-Japanese base areas, I don't know how many villages are playing out similar things. The Eighth Route Army was a little stunned by the sudden Japanese army, and the Japanese army's iron-walled encirclement tactics made the Eighth Route Army, which was already in a weak position, constantly compress the space, and finally was cramped in a square inch, facing the powerful Japanese army, even if it resisted desperately, it was difficult to escape the fate of being defeated.

The Japanese guerrillas and the Eighth Route Army, who did not anticipate the murderous Japanese army, began to withdraw from the villages where they had been stationed before the Japanese arrived, and the Japanese troops may not be able to catch up with them, but they will not be soft on the villages they left behind.

Some soldiers of the Eighth Route Army couldn't stand it, risked disobedience, refused to transfer, and set up a defensive line between the villages, trying to stop the Japanese army, but the difference in combat effectiveness was too great, so it was also in the hands of the Japanese army to clean up the Eighth Route Army, and many soldiers of the Eighth Route Army died in the battle to protect the village. And after defeating these Eighth Route Army, the Japanese army unceremoniously ravaged the villages they had protected with their lives.

In just one day, dozens of villages were destroyed, more than 4,000 villagers were slaughtered, and the Eighth Route Army suffered heavy casualties, a large number of soldiers were killed, and even some senior officers and cadres of the Eighth Route Army above the regimental level were killed in the counter-sweep.

In one day, the Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong, and Henan anti-Japanese base areas suffered huge losses, and the Japanese army was frequently mobilized, and it was already showing that it was necessary to encircle the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army and the main force of the Eighth Route Army.

At this time, the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army, while planning to break through the encirclement, jumped out of the pockets that the Japanese army was closing, and on the other hand, used the radio to contact the Yan'an side, as well as the New Fourth Army headquarters in Wuhu, hoping that the New Fourth Army could send the Wheel King to Shanxi, Hebei, Luyu, and Henan to assist the Eighth Route Army in resisting Japan.

Japanese Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka wrote a report overnight to prepare to send the military headquarters to China to show his merits when the first day of the sweep was a heavy success, as if he had already seen the day when he would be promoted and become a big man in the army in the future.

“…… Obviously, the Three-Light Policy and the Sweep were extremely successful operations, and the Eighth Route Army had no ability to resist in the face of our brave Imperial Soldiers. Although the sweep would have had a heavy impact on the economy of the rural areas of North China, the great improvement in law and order and the demise of the Eighth Route Army were generally beneficial to the Empire's rule in North China. At this rate, it is estimated that within one month, the Eighth Route Army will be completely wiped out by the imperial army, the main force will be lost, and the so-called anti-Japanese base areas established by it behind enemy lines will eventually be uprooted, and North China will completely become the North China of the imperial state. ”

Yoshio Shinozuka put down the pen in his hand, picked up the sake on the table and took a sip. He didn't care how many innocent Chinese people were killed in the process of sweeping, in his opinion, no side was innocent in the war, and as the people of the invaded country, they should have the consciousness of being killed.

The concept of right and wrong in Japanese morality has always been unclear, especially in this period, when the Japanese had a strict consequentialism, and the decision of justice was only in the hands of the victor, and no matter how much I did to others, I could do so just because I had the ability.

However, the fact that the Japanese firmly believe that they are strong and the Chinese are weak at this time has long been shaken. The two divisions lost in Wuhu have not yet sounded a loud enough alarm for the Japanese, and the military headquarters only thinks that if they are operating in the north, the New Fourth Army in the south will not be able to manage it even if they want to. However, the Japanese could not have imagined that from Wuhu to Shanxi, Hebei and Luyu, there was only one hour of work for the king of the wheel.