After several years of exploration, the Japanese army's special forces have basically formed their combat effectiveness, and they have also achieved considerable results in the war against China, with no less than 10 Chinese officers at or above the rank of major general or above lost in the hands of this special combat unit alone, and most of them are officers in the first and second theaters.

This time was no exception, although a special operations squad of the Japanese army was only 30 people, its combat effectiveness was not weak. Because it was not familiar with the characteristics of special operations, the 1st Division in eastern Hebei was completely defenseless, so the guards on the periphery were quickly cleared out by the Japanese special combat team, and in addition to these more than 30 Japanese special combat personnel, a reinforced brigade of the Japanese army also surrounded from the periphery.

At 0:25, just as Bao Sen and the others were about to end this discussion and go back to rest, a sudden gunfire suddenly came from outside, at first they thought that the little cub of the family did not sleep in the middle of the night and set off firecrackers, but then there was a fierce exchange of fire outside to make them realize that things were far from being as simple as they imagined.

Soon, Li Dayong, the commander of the guard regiment of the 1st Division in eastern Hebei, ran in from outside and said: "Commander, political commissar, it's not good, we are surrounded by little devils!" ”

"Dayong, what are you talking about, how can the Japanese surround us silently, and what about our guards?"

"Commander, our guard post must have been secretly eliminated by the little devils, the east and south of Zhuangzi have found a large number of devil soldiers, and there is also a small army of devils mixed in, you must move immediately!" Li Dayong said loudly.

Bao Sen thought for a while and said, "It's too late, I heard what the head of the headquarters once said." The devil has a specially trained combat squad, which is similar in nature to the special combat team under General Chen of the Eighth Theater, and has repeatedly attacked the Second Theater, causing many casualties among senior officers, and it must have been the Japanese army that sent that squad. ”

"Commander, it's even more dangerous, while the encirclement of the little devils has not yet closed, I will send someone to escort you out of the city, and I will break off with the soldiers." Li Dayong said.

"Dayong, how many devil soldiers have come outside. Have you found out? ”

"It should not be less than one infantry brigade. And even more, in addition they have formed artillery units, the size of which should not be less than a squadron. Li Dayong said.

"Dayong, now I'll teach you a task. Must be completed. If you can't finish it, come and see you! ”

"Yes. Mission completion guaranteed! ”

"Obviously, the little devils are not good at coming this time, and it seems that they also know that I have someone here, so they will not give up if they don't catch me. We can retreat and move now. As long as a small force is left behind, it should be able to break out. But what about the folks who left the farm? With the character of a devil who will repay him, he will definitely make the people in the Zhuangzi angry, so we can't go. ”

Then Bao Sen ordered loudly: "Li Dayong, I have now ordered you as the commander of the Eighth Route Army's Jidong Army Division, immediately take a battalion of the guard regiment to cover the retreat of the people in Zhuangzi, don't care about those altars and jars, first withdraw the villagers from Lu, and leave one person to ask!" Do you understand? ”

"Commander, what are you going to do?" Li Dayong said.

"Lao Tzu joined the party in 32 years, served as the secretary of the brigade in 37, and led you to fight devils in eastern Hebei in 38, more than 100 battles large and small, that time I suffered a loss, I need you to worry, hurry up to cover the retreat of the villagers!" Bao Sen said loudly.

"Yes, mission guaranteed!"

The night of the Lantern Festival was destined to be a sleepless night, at the same time that the 7th Army of the North China Front besieged the headquarters of Tiangezhuang Baosen, the 2nd Regiment of the 1st Division of the Eastern Hebei and the 1st Regiment of the 1st Division of the Eastern Hebei Division of Houjiazhai in Zunhua were also suddenly besieged by the Japanese army.

At the same time, in the Pingjin area controlled by the North China Front and in Luxi and Lunan, the Japanese army also dispatched a number of troops to encircle and suppress the regular troops of the Eighth Route Army, guerrillas, bandits and bandits and other anti-Japanese forces that they had already mastered.

Peiping. Command of the North China Front.

Okamura Ninji and Kasawara Yukio didn't sleep all night last night, this is the first big move since the two of them took charge of North China, although the enemy they are dealing with is not a difficult hard bone, but if they mess up this, it will seriously affect the prestige of their pair's team, and it will also damage their personal honor, so there is absolutely no room for loss.

"Report!"

"Come in!"

"Your Excellency, Commander, an urgent telegram from the Seventh Army!" After speaking, the staff officer handed a telegram to Okamura Ninji.

After taking the telegram and looking at it, Okamura Ninji changed hands and handed the telegram to Yukio Kasawara, and then said to the staff officer: "Immediately send a telegram to His Excellency Tojo, ordering them to immediately press up the outer line troops, cooperate with the inner line troops to fight, and absolutely not let the Shina army that broke through the encirclement escape from the army!" ”

"Hay!"

After the second lieutenant staff officer left, Lieutenant General Yukio Kasahara said dissatisfiedly: "The combat effectiveness of the Seventh Army really needs to be improved, a reinforced brigade plus an artillery squadron, and a special operations squad to cooperate in the operation, but it is a shame that only half a regiment of the Chinese army escaped!" ”

"Kasawara-kun, don't be impatient, Tojo-kun is our senior, and we should respect him. Moreover, all the troops under the jurisdiction of the Seventh Army are newly formed second-line troops, and the recruits account for more than 70% of the total strength, and even the veterans are all drawn from other second-line troops, and it is understandable that the combat effectiveness is not high. Okamura Ninji said lightly.

"Your Excellency Commander, this truth is not ignorant, but I thought that a few years ago, an infantry brigade of the imperial army could completely compete with that infantry division alone, and it could still win in battle, but I didn't expect that the combat effectiveness of the troops is so weak that an infantry brigade can't even wipe out half of the infantry regiment!" Yukio Kasahara sighed.

"Hahaha, don't be too persistent, Kasahara-kun, with the expansion of the war and the rapid expansion of the army, this is an inevitable result, there is no need to be angry about this kind of thing. Although the Dirt Eight Road broke through the troops directly used by the Seventh Army for attack, there is still a larger encirclement on this periphery, and Tojo-kun does things without leakage, even I admire it very much, this time the Dirt Eight Road is probably difficult to fly! Okamura said with a smile.

As soon as Okamura Ninji's words fell, the voice of the staff officer sounded outside the door again: "Report!" ”

"Come in!"

"Your Excellency Commander, this is a telegram from Commander Iijima of the Twelfth Army, please take a look!"

Okamura Ninji took the telegram and looked at it, and said with a smile: "Yo Xi, call back to Your Excellency Iijima, and let them make persistent efforts to strive to wipe out all the Tuba Roads in Luxi Lunan, as for those bandits who can recover and subdue as much as possible, in order to replenish the Imperial Army!" ”

"Hay!"

"Your Excellency Commander, is there good news from Iijima-kun?" Seeing Okamura Ninji smiling so happily, Yukio Kasahara hurriedly asked.

"Hehehe, Kasahara-kun should see for himself!" After speaking, Okamura Ninji handed the telegram in his hand to Yukio Kasahara.

After reading the telegram, Yukio Kasahara couldn't help but laugh and said: "Yo Xi, Iijima-kun is worthy of being a famous general of the empire, and it is really not easy to achieve the brilliant record of destroying more than 4,600 enemies in one night and defeating the three divisions of the Tsuchibachi Road!" ”

"Kasawara-kun, we must believe in the Imperial Army, a small setback will not crush the Great Japanese Imperial Army, and our main task at this stage is to rectify military discipline and conduct large-scale military training, and we will make use of the Tuba Road in the security area and those small forces of resistance to train the troops, and in less than half a year, the combat effectiveness of the front army will be qualitatively improved."

"Yo Xi!"

The results of the Japanese army's "Lantern Festival" sweep are not brilliant, the sweep began on February 12, and lasted until February 20, although it lasted only 9 days, but the four divisions of the Eighth Route Army in the enemy-occupied area were heavily damaged by the Japanese army, although the vast majority of senior officers broke through, but still lost a lot of soldiers, in addition to a lot of independence. Li's small anti-Japanese forces were dealt a devastating blow by the Japanese army.

As a result of this sweep, the Japanese army regained control of the vast rural areas in the occupied areas, and the rural areas and small towns that had been gradually infiltrated by the Eighth Route Army and other troops returned to the hands of the Japanese army.

In addition, after this operation, the morale of the Japanese army, which had been low, was quickly restored, and the small troop sweep that had not been carried out for a long time began again.

However, this time the Japanese army went to the countryside and entered the village as brutal and murderous as before, and their expressions were very gentle, generally only to register and survey the population and land in the village, and at the same time tell the village chief or the maintenance chairman how much food to pay every month, and report the situation in the village to the imperial army within the specified time, etc., not at all like before, they kicked the door, robbed the cattle and sheep when they saw them, and pressed the big girl and little daughter-in-law on the kang when they saw it.

Of course, the little devils could not forget to propagate their ideas of "goodwill", "fraternity" and "co-prosperity in Greater East Asia" wherever they went, and they also put up notices and painted slogans everywhere in the village, and at the same time destroyed all the traces left by the Nationalist Government.

According to the Japanese, as long as they pay their money and taxes on time and do not assist the Tubalu to fight against the Japanese Imperial Army, then they are greatly good people, and they are protected by the Good People Imperial Army, and they will never kill innocents indiscriminately, which makes the people in North China seem to see the hope of survival. (To be continued......)