Early the next morning, in Beiping City, the headquarters of the North China Front of the Japanese army invading China.

Chief of Staff Kawabe Shozo came to the office of General Sugiyama Moto, who had just eaten breakfast at this time, was in a good mood, and was sitting behind his desk reading Wen Jiàn.

When he heard the footsteps, he raised his head, saw Hebian Zhengsan, and said, "Hebian-kun, come to me so early, something?" ”

Hebe Zhengsan stopped, suddenly stepped forward and saluted, and said with a complicated face: "General, I just received an urgent telegram from Major General Sakai Lizo from Raoyang, and the Eastern Route Coalition Army under his command yesterday has successfully captured Hengshui and Anping, and is currently advancing towards Shenzhou and Xinji. ”

"Oh? Really? That's good news. Sugiyama Moto's face was happy when he heard this.

Kawabe Shozo said with a worried face: "However, Major General Kawayasu Mubian of the Western Front also called, their progress is extremely unsmooth, and the Shahe Bridge that is being repaired was damaged by a surprise attack by the Shina Army last night, and the efforts of the previous two days were ruined." ”

Sugiyama Moto, who said this, frowned and said, "What did he do with Kawayasu Shogun?" A small bridge and an insignificant river of sand actually blocked his army of 100,000? ”

Kawabe Shozo explained: "General, please calm your anger, the worries and caution of Major General Kawayasu Makube are very necessary, because their opponents are very cunning, and they must not be taken lightly, and the geographical environment from Xinle to Shimen is not as flat and convenient as the eastern front, which is close to the mountains and has rivers crisscrossing it. ”

Sugiyama Yuan snorted coldly and said: "Then it can't just be a stalemate, the eastern and western armies should have gone hand in hand, but now they are stuck in Xinle, and with Sakai Rizo's Eastern Route Army alone, it is difficult to encircle and suppress it." ”

Kawabe Shozo sighed a little helplessly, and said: "General, this is also a helpless thing, the restrictions of the terrain, the cunning of the enemy, this is not something we can change, in the words of the people of China, it is to obey the destiny of heaven!" ”

The corners of Sugiyama Moto's mouth twitched twice, and he didn't refute, he understood the meaning of Kawabe Shozo's words, first of all, the troops participating in the encirclement and suppression this time were not the imperial army that could fight well, but the puppet army that had just surrendered not long ago.

As a Japanese soldier, Sugiyama understands that it is obviously unrealistic to expect this group of puppet soldiers to work like imperial soldiers.

Secondly, since the Dragon Tooth Column defeated the 21st Division, its strength has grown a lot stronger than before, even if it really brings in 100,000 imperial troops, it may not be able to defeat them easily, let alone a rabble like 200,000 imperial troops.

In desperation, Sugiyama Motoshi thought for a while and said, "Order Tokugawa Yoshitoshi to immediately dispatch aviation troops to carry out air raids and bombing on the area occupied by the Longya Column of Shinraku around Xinraku, so as to make progress in response to the progress of the Western Route Army." At the same time, he ordered the Sichuan Kang curtain to speed up the march, and be sure to capture Lingshou County as soon as possible, and attack Shimen with the East Route Army. ”

Kawabe Shozo bowed his head and said, "Yes, General." By the way, Your Excellency General, Major General Sakai Ritsuzo of the Eastern Route Army also asked the headquarters to give them as much air support as possible, and to attack Luancheng, Jinju, Xinji and other places east of Shimen, so that they could seize the above areas as much as possible. ”

Sugiyama Yuan was stunned and said: "Then let the aviation force dispatch a few more times, anyway, at present, encircling and suppressing the Longya Column is the only combat mission of our North China Front, and those guys in the aviation regiment should also make a good contribution, and they can't always be so greedy for life and afraid of death."

The empire spent so much manpower and material resources to cultivate them, but it didn't let them be vases. ”

"Yes, I understand." Kawabe Shozo bowed his head again, with Sugiyama Moto's words, he was not afraid, Tokugawa Hiroshi did not listen to the order and acted perfunctorily.

As the first veteran pilot in Japan to fly into the sky, Tokugawa Yoshitoshi was not a high rank, but he had a solitary personality, and his air regiment was self-contained, often disobeying the orders of the front army headquarters for fear of battle damage, and often perfunctory requests for help from other Imperial Army units.

As a result, some unnecessary losses often occur.

…………

A day later, Shimen County, Qiao Youhua, Zheng Yunshan, Liu Jianhua, Ma Biao, Zhao Tiezhu, Wu Ming and others led the cavalry battalion, guard battalion, artillery battalion, second regiment and third regiment directly under the Longya Column to withdraw here.

In the past day, the 2nd Regiment, 3rd Regiment and other troops have taken the initiative to abandon Shenzhou, Xinji, Jinzhou, and Luancheng.

In the process, the devil's planes made several sorties, and the above-mentioned areas, and even Shimen, Lingshou waited for air raids and bombing, and the various units of the Longya Column organized machine-gun fire to carry out stubborn air defense counterattacks, shooting down one devil fighter and damaging two bombers.

Tens of thousands of Japanese puppet troops on the East Road have taken the opportunity to capture the above-mentioned areas, and every devil and puppet army has left troops to garrison, and invisibly, their military superiority has been further offset and "diluted".

The fortifications of the Dragon's Tooth Column at Shimen have been repaired, and after the troops retreated, they were stationed in order, and the Japanese puppet army also temporarily stopped advancing because of the continuous capture of several places, and a new attack was brewing.

After returning to Shimen, Qiao Youhua immediately convened a military meeting and a pre-war mobilization.

Guo Meng, Ma Biao, Wu Ming, Liu Jianhua, Zheng Yunshan, Ma Yunlong and other regimental and battalion officers attended the meeting.

"Brothers, we have withdrawn to Shimen, and the next step is to rely on the existing fortifications to wage a war of attrition against the Japanese puppet army, and finally win this battle.

I hope you can make persistent efforts, strike hard at the invading enemy, and raise the prestige of our army again! Qiao Youhua sat at the head of the conference table and glanced around at the subordinates present.

"Commander, don't worry, the brothers who withdrew all the way yesterday would have been angry for a long time, if it weren't for the pressure of their humble duties, they would have to turn back and fight to the death with the two devil soldiers.

Now the soldiers of all battalions and companies are absolutely full of morale, and they can't wait to have a bloody battle with the little devil with bayonets right away! Ma Biao said.

"That's right, our cavalry battalion has always fought offensive battles, and we really haven't withdrawn like this, especially in the face of this rabble of two devils, the brothers are waiting for the commander to give you an order, and then they will attack the enemy again." Liu Jianhua, commander of the cavalry battalion, said.

Qiao Youhua said with a smile: "I can understand the mood of the soldiers, the temporary retreat is just a tactical strategy to lure the enemy, once the time is ripe, all the troops will be put into a counterattack!" After all, now that the enemy is outnumbered, it is our established battle plan to exchange distance for time, to resist step by step, and to offset the opponent's superiority in troops. ”

Wu Ming lifted his glasses and said, "Commander, I have an idea that I don't know if it's feasible." ”