Since the counterattack on the Pinghan Line, it has generally gone smoothly. Not only did they destroy a lot of enemies, but they also captured a lot of them. However, the corresponding material consumption is also extremely staggering, which is completely different from guerrilla warfare and movement warfare. More than 10 million rounds of ammunition alone were spent, accounting for half of the total reserves in Jizhong. It is said that the battle should be stopped at this time, but listening to the tone of Master Liu, it seems that there is still something to do.

Zheng Weiguo said: "Senior Commander Liu, do you have any suggestions?" ”

Division Commander Liu smiled, waved his hand and said, "It's not a suggestion, but I want to ask your army to drag the Japanese army north from Shijiazhuang for three days." I wonder if it's possible? ”

Zheng Weiguo looked at Chief of Staff Zhou and asked, "Can you do it?" ”

Chief of Staff Zhou smiled: "This must be no problem." Even if Master Liu doesn't mention it, we have to do it. You see, on the more than 100-kilometer railway line from Baoding to Xinle, we have seized so many materials that we can't move them in three days. Moreover, we also have to liquidate traitors and traitors, destroy railways and city walls, recruit soldiers, distribute surplus supplies to the people, clean up Japanese puppet spies, and lay out new eyeliner...... Alas, there are so many things going on, I think it will take at least a week. ”

Zheng Weiguo nodded and said, "Well, then let's arrange it for a week first." If the strength was insufficient, the 53rd Army was withdrawn from the direction of the Jinpu Line as a reserve, and the local defense was handed over to the military divisions. He smiled at Master Liu again: "Master Liu, you are still satisfied with this reply!" ”

Division Commander Liu said: "What I want is not only three days, but to drag the main force of the Japanese army so that it will not be able to return to Shijiazhuang within three days!" ”

Zheng Weiguo and Chief of Staff Zhou were stunned for a moment, and wondered: "Why is this?" ”

Master Liu smiled. A little embarrassed to say: "Seeing that you are fighting hard, our 129th Division also wants to join in the fun." ”

Zheng Weiguo suddenly realized and said in surprise: "You want to fight Shijiazhuang!" ”

Master Liu smiled: "What, are you only allowed to attack big cities?" ”

Zheng Weiguo and the others had also considered attacking Shijiazhuang before, because it was one of the most important material distribution centers in North China at that time, and it was also an important military station base for the Japanese army, and its status was second only to Tianjin. Although the Japanese army transported a large amount of supplies south after the outbreak of the Battle of Wuhan, the emaciated camel was larger than the horse, and its reserves must be above Baoding.

What's more, Shijiazhuang also had the largest train dispatching center in North China at that time, with a large number of locomotives, wagons, spare rails and repair shops. The train Zheng Huzi is not needed for the time being. But the boilers on the locomotives, the springs on the wagons, the rails. There are also machines in the repair shop that are all goodies that are in dire need.

Why did you give up such a delicious food? Because the Japanese army not only stationed a division here, but also could reinforce from the Pinghan line, the Zhengtai line, and the west, south, and north. According to the strength of the 41st Group Army, even if Shijiazhuang can be captured, its strength will definitely be exposed. And it will be very costly. It is not conducive to follow-up operations.

Of course. Now new fighters have indeed appeared. Because the remnants of the 110th Division and the two independent mixed brigades reinforced were all heading north from Shijiazhuang. The garrison of the entire Shijiazhuang is only a reinforced brigade and thousands of armed expatriates, and if a surprise attack is adopted, it is indeed very promising to take it.

Zheng Weiguo asked, "Division Commander Liu, I don't know how many troops you plan to dispatch?" ”

Master Liu stretched out his hand to make an OK shape. said: "Not much, only three brigades." Attacking Shijiazhuang is enough, but there are not enough reinforcements, so I want to ask you to help hold back the main Japanese army. ”

Zheng Weiguo asked: "Are they the three Red Army brigades?" ”

Division Commander Liu nodded and said: "Yes, although our division has grown to a large force of seven brigades, the combat effectiveness of the recruits is weak. ”

Zheng Weiguo's heart moved, and he said to Chief of Staff Zhou: "Chief of Staff, should we also mix up such a good deal?" ”

Chief of Staff Zhou nodded in agreement, and said with a smile: "I know that the general seat of Lu Dao is tempted, I think it can be!" ”

Division Commander Liu said with a smile: "Okay, it will be more certain to have the participation of the troops in Jizhong." But do you have any extra troops? And the time has to be fast, once the Japanese army notices it, it will be too late. ”

Chief of Staff Zhou explained: "There is no problem with time, the cavalry troops have rested long enough, and it is time to come out and exercise." In addition, I think we can also transfer the Blue Eagle troops. With their help, they will definitely get twice the result with half the effort! ”

Master Liu was overjoyed and hurriedly said, "That's without further ado, we'll draw up a plan now." ”

Zheng Weiguo and Chief of Staff Zhou looked at each other and smiled, nodded and said, "Okay, Master Liu, please!" ”

Arriving at the war room, Chief of Staff Zhou divided the staff officers into three groups. The first group was led by Deputy Chief of Staff Li Du and was responsible for the northern line and material transshipment. The second group was led by Principal Xiong, who was temporarily brought in from the military academy, and was responsible for blocking the enemy on the southern front and disrupting communications. He himself and Master Liu personally led the third group, specializing in the study of the plan for a sneak attack on Shijiazhuang.

Division Commander Liu was very confident in this plan, and also vividly compared the Japanese army to the fact that the Japanese army was now like a monkey, climbing up the railway, but he didn't know that his butt had been exposed. In today's words, a good chrysanthemum is exposed to the guns of the southern Hebei base area, should it be shot, or should it be shot?

Two flowers bloomed, one on each branch, and then look at the Japanese army. After the recovery of Xinle County, it dealt a heavy psychological blow to all units of the Japanese army. Lieutenant General Kuwaki Takaaki, commander of the 110th Division, eager for revenge, commanded his troops to launch a frantic attack on the Cihe defense line. Admiral Feng Zhan ordered the 91st Division to join the troops of the First Army Division to defend in the front, the 33rd Division crossed the Cihe River to attack the Japanese army from the east, and the troops of the Jin-Cha-Ji Eighth Route Army also crossed the river to contain the Japanese army from the west.

With a three-pronged approach, Sangmu Chongming not only failed to cross the Ci River, but was in danger of being surrounded and annihilated. The 5th and 8th Brigades of the Independent Mixed Brigade, which had just arrived in Shijiazhuang, had to go north for reinforcements. The various units of central Hebei and the Eighth Route Army fought and retreated, gradually attracting the main forces of the enemy. At this time, the defenders of the entire Shijiazhuang were less than two thousand people!

However, Division Commander Liu believed that it was not enough to attract the enemy to the south of the Cihe River, because Zhengding County and Shijiazhuang were only separated by a Hutuo River, and the Japanese army could go south at any time to defend itself. So Feng Zhanhai's army was ordered to continue to lure the enemy army, and even the newly arrived Xinle County gave up. All the troops were withdrawn to the north of the Shahe River. The Japanese army, anxious for revenge and the restoration of the Pyonghan line, followed in pursuit.

Originally, the two independent mixed brigades didn't want to chase after them, but as soon as they withdrew, the units in central Hebei came back again, posing as if they were biting and eating the remnants of the 110th Division. This style of play finally angered the Japanese army, and they began to attack desperately, chasing the butts of the central Hebei troops to Dingxian north of the Shahe River.

Division Commander Liu and Chief of Staff Zhou saw that the time had come! So they immediately moved, as usual, the Blue Eagle troops opened the way, and then the 129th Division and the Jizhong cavalry units quickly launched a blitzkrieg operation on Shijiazhuang.

There are four independent cavalry units in Jizhong (directly under the jurisdiction of the group army headquarters). The newly formed Fourth Cavalry Division reorganized from the Northwest Army. The Third Cavalry Division of the Northeast Army System, the newly formed Mechanized Cavalry Division, and the Muslim Teaching Brigade of Ma Benzhai.

When the infantry divisions were reorganized, there was a shortage of horses and drivers, except for the mechanized cavalry divisions, which were constantly expanding. The remaining three units have been downsized to varying degrees. The generals are all in one belly. Fortunately, Zheng Weiguo's prestige is increasing. and appeased in time, and there was no chaos.

After receiving the order this time, the cavalry generals held their breath. Determined to fight a good battle to show the assembly and the infantry brothers. Let's see if it's two-legged or four-legged! The mechanized cavalry division was not going to be dispatched because of the lack of fuel, but the division commander Liao Yaoxiang insisted on participating in the battle and was finally able to make the trip.

Since its formation, the mechanized cavalry division has always been the focus of support from the group army headquarters, and all supplies and supplies have been tilted towards this department. But this unit has never fought a single battle, let alone performed any meritorious deeds. The army is a place where strength speaks, why should other troops work desperately, you eat white food, sit back and enjoy the results? Therefore, there are a lot of cool words, from Division Commander Liao down, the soldiers also want to prove to the friendly troops that they are not eating soft rice.

As soon as the battle began, all the departments secretly competed with each other, and they all took out the strength to eat milk. It took less than half a day to break through the Japanese defenses, and together with the various units of the Eighth Route Army, the remnants of the enemy army were divided and surrounded in a few isolated strongholds such as the railway station and the gendarmerie headquarters.

To say that the Japanese army's defense is still very thorough, but after the hardest shell on the outside was broken by the Blue Eagle troops, there were many loopholes inside. In particular, those areas defended by armed expatriates are simply vulnerable. The Eighth Route Army in southern Hebei now had mountain artillery troops, and soon transferred artillery to the front line to shoot directly at the Japanese strongholds, and after a fierce battle, Shijiazhuang was also declared recovered.

At this time, the Sangmu division was panicked, and it was important to know that the most feared thing for the modern army was that the logistics supply line would be cut off. The US military even stipulated that it was possible to surrender to the enemy in the event of the loss of logistical supplies in order to avoid a "humanitarian tragedy".

Not only Lieutenant General Kuwaki panicked, but even the commander of the North China Front, General Terauchi Shouichi, was also frightened enough. If half of the division and two independent mixed brigades under the Sangmu Division are annihilated, then he, the commander, will definitely be the end, and he will have to go to court-martial!

As a result, the general of the temple urgently ordered the Sangmu department to turn around and attack south, trying to recapture Shijiazhuang. At the same time, he also ordered the Mongolian Army (which had been reassigned to the North China Front at this time) to send the 26th Division and a cavalry brigade to reinforce along the Jingsui Line, ordered the First Army in Shanxi to send half a division to reinforce along the Zhengtai Line, and ordered the 14th Division, which was still resting on the north bank of the Yellow River, to reinforce along the Pinghan Line. After thinking about it for a while, he felt that the troops were not enough, and he cheekily asked the base camp for help.

At this time, the Japanese base camp was still immersed in the excitement of the imminent fall of Guangzhou and Wuhan. Guangzhou fell the day after the liberation of Baoding. During this time and space, due to the great increase in the strength of the national army, the Japanese army in Central China suffered heavy losses, and the base camp had to temporarily transfer troops from the 21st Army in South China.

However, the battle of the Nationalist Army was so bad that except for the Zhong Fangjun Brigade of the 153rd Division to block the Japanese army in Futian, it did not even fight a decent battle, and gave up the city of Guangzhou to the Japanese. What is even more shameless is that the officials only cared about fleeing for their lives without notifying the citizens in advance, and they also advocated a great victory in Futian. The citizens were kept in the dark, unprepared, and many people died during the emergency retreat.

Li Jiezhi, then chief of the Guangzhou Municipal Police, recalled the scene at that time and said: "The dead were violently corpsed, the injured shouted for help, and the living rushed to the road, and the tragic situation was unspeakable. We were heartbroken along the way, thinking that the country raised troops to defend the country and protect the people, and now that the enemy has not yet arrived, our group of people have fled for their lives, leaving the people behind. Secretly gave up Guangzhou, as a Chinese active duty soldier, the enemy is currently cowardly to this point, bow to himself, rather than die! ”

In this confusing defeat, three people were nailed to the pillar of shame in history: Wu Tiecheng, chairman of Guangdong Province, Yu Hanmou, commander-in-chief of the Fourth Route Army, and Zeng Yangfu, mayor of Guangzhou. The people of Guangdong and overseas Cantonese overseas Chinese were very angry at Guangzhou's abandonment of Guangzhou without a fight. "Yu Han has no plan, Wu Tie lost the city. once raised no score" ballad has since spread freely.

It is worth mentioning that the 153rd Division's brigade commander Zhong Fangjun after participating in the Futian battle. On several occasions, he requested to lead his troops to the Zeng and Bo lines to carry out surprise attacks on the enemy, but they did not obtain the approval of their superiors. Later, when he heard the news of the fall of Zengcheng in the front, he was filled with righteous indignation and committed suicide with a gun. This is a negative act of pessimism and disappointment. But he is worthy of being a hot-blooded man. He committed suicide before the battle. It fully reflects the anguish of most of the lower-level Kuomintang officers who had patriotic ideas in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.

Corresponding to China's sorrowful voice. Naturally, it was a jubilant scene in Japan. The Japanese people are eager to march through the streets every day to celebrate, and it seems that the scene of April 17, 1895 or September 5, 1905 is about to be repeated. As for the recovery of Baoding a few days ago, the Japanese cabinet and the land minister were only angry and their faces were damaged. I didn't take this defeat to heart at all.

However, the annihilation of tens of thousands of troops was different. Japan, which was already short of troops, could not afford such losses. If it comes a few more times, the cabinet will also step down.

Under the coordination of the base camp, Japan urgently transferred the 9th Division from the Kwantung Army to the south along the Beining Line, and at the same time ordered North China to suspend the delivery of materials to Central China, giving priority to replenishing the consumption of all units participating in the war on the Pinghan Line. The 21st Division stationed in Beiping and the 27th Division stationed in Tianjin were originally making very slow progress, on the one hand, because they were unwilling to take the risk of advancing and on the other hand, it was also related to the shortage of materials.

Now that the supplies were available, the two division commanders of Washizu Matsudaira and Honma Masaharu had no reason to delay any longer, and they each launched a strong attack along the Heihan Line and the Tsuura Line. These two Japanese forces were the closest to Jizhong, and the threat was also the greatest.

At that time, the remnants of the Japanese army fled all the way south, and were chased and beaten by the main force of Jizhong and the Jinchaji Eighth Route Army. After the last retreat, he finally withdrew to the bank of the Hutuo River, but was blocked by the 386th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army. There were really chasing soldiers in front and interceptions in the back, and they almost followed in the footsteps of the 106th Division.

It's a pity that the Japanese reinforcements came quickly, especially after the 21st Division successively abandoned Pingxi and Pingbei, and transferred two wings with artillery directly under the Front Army to attack southward, which brought great casualties to the blocking troops. The Japanese 109th Division also quickly broke through the interception of the Eighth Route Army along the Zhengtai Line and reached the west of Shijiazhuang.

Terauchi Shouichi thought that the Chinese army would take advantage of the fortifications of Shijiazhuang, and ordered the air force to bomb the city wildly, almost flattening the new city. However, to the surprise of the commander of the 109th Division, Lieutenant General Shigehou Yamaoka, their subsequent entry into Shijiazhuang was met with only some sporadic resistance and no formed troops stationed.

Lieutenant General Shigehou Yamaoka thought complacently: Could it be that the Shina army was scared away by the bombing of the air force? I deserve to pick up a big bargain! Therefore, he hurriedly asked the staff officer to report to the headquarters of the North China Front that after fierce fighting, our 109th Division recaptured Shijiazhuang, an important town in North China, and defeated more than 30,000 Chinese defenders and killed more than 10,000.

In fact, Shijiazhuang was given up by Zheng Weiguo's order, because they didn't plan to eat the remnants of mulberry wood at all. Although the Mulberry Division and the two independent mixed brigades suffered heavy losses, the total strength was still more than 10,000 people, including nearly 20,000 auxiliary troops. The General Staff made a rough calculation, if so many Japanese troops were to be destroyed, at least 30 million rounds of ammunition would be consumed, and more than 30,000 people would be killed or wounded. And that's not even counting the damage caused by the blockade.

Such a large loss and casualties are unbearable for Jizhong, and even the Eighth Route Army can't. Don't look at the number of soldiers on the Eighth Route Army, only those few troops can really fight. Ordinary local troops, let alone let them participate in the offensive, or they may be scattered even if they come all the way from the base areas. This point is the best proof of the collapse of the Red Eighth Army and the loss of 50,000 people in the Jizhong Rebellion.

By the time the Japanese army was pleasantly surprised to rescue the trapped troops on the Hutuo River, the units of Jizhong and the Eighth Route Army had already returned to the base area with the booty with joy. Of course, I didn't forget to leave a few souvenirs for the Japanese army when I left. The North China Front Air Force had just gathered at the Baoding airfield, preparing to carry out retaliatory bombing against the troops in central Hebei. Unexpectedly, the oil depot suddenly caught fire, and nearly 10,000 gallons of fuel just transported from Tianjin were instantly detonated. It was bombed and burned, and the whole airport was turned into a big torch.

Many years later, the people of Qingyuan still relished: "Huh! The fire blew up, and the firelight reflected half of the sky, knocking down the cowshed of the old grandson's house ten miles away! ”

In addition to the airport, violent explosions also occurred in Baoding's military barracks, warehouses, oil depots, and stations. What is even more surprising is that before Lieutenant General Washzu Matsudaira, commander of the 21st Division, who had just entered Baoding, had his ass hot, the entire headquarters was blown up into the sky, almost destroying the command organs of the 21st Division.

It turned out that when the Jizhong troops withdrew, they carried out the materials that the Japanese army had not had time to destroy. One of the soldiers looked at the empty warehouse and casually made a joke, saying, "Brothers, we laughed at so many things from the little devils, should we leave them something too!" ”

Everyone took it as a joke, and Ha Luha laughed and didn't take it to heart. However, one person had a whim, thinking that the Japanese army would definitely use these warehouses after reoccupying Baoding, because this was the inertia of human thinking.

Who is this man? It was Hu Yixuan, who had just been transferred from the Jizhong Military Academy to the 341st Regiment as a battalion commander. Hu Yixuan has been introduced before, and he is very good at using his brain in war. He immediately realized that he could leave a huge "surprise" for the Japanese army, so he applied to the division headquarters to bury explosives in some special buildings in Baoding.

This plan was quickly approved by Zhao Yunxiang, commander of the 34th Division. When the news reached the General Assembly, Chief of Staff Zhou and Division Commander Liu also thought it was feasible. Under the unified dispatch of the general assembly, the engineering unit immediately launched an operation, and sure enough, it achieved miraculous results.

During the critical period of the Japanese attack on Wuhan, the Japanese army did not hesitate to transfer heavy troops to North China, not just to restore the Pinghan line. The materials that had just arrived in Baoding were actually used to sweep the base areas in Jizhong. Now it's good, the fuel has been blown up, the supplies have been blown up, and the front-line commanders have also been blown up! Terauchi Shouichi had no choice but to order the troops to postpone the attack and stick to the railway line first.

This defeat finally went to the base camp and lost confidence in Shouichi Terauchi, and he was immediately relieved of his post as commander of the North China Front. However, the temple family is powerful, and the base camp has given it three points of face, and has given a military senator an idle position. In place of the temple is the Japanese Army General, Sugiyama Moto, who is known as the first person in the Japanese Army Aviation.

The order given by the headquarters to Sugiyama Yuan was to maintain stability in the occupied areas of North China, to quickly restore law and order in northern Hebei Province, Shandong Province, western Shanxi Province and Inner Mongolia, and to ensure the safety of the main communication routes. This is the origin of the so-called "law and order war in North China." To put it bluntly, it was to eliminate the armed forces behind enemy lines and consolidate the rule of the Japanese army in North China. In Zheng Weiguo's words, the good days are coming to an end, and the next will be the most difficult period in North China. (To be continued......)