In fact, the progress of the First Army stationed in Shanxi was not only very surprising to Chen Feng, but even the commander of the North China Front, General Binshanyuan, was also taken aback. Although they did not take Yan Xishan's Jin Sui army in their eyes from the beginning, this self-confidence came from the results of many battles, whether it was Bin Shan Yuan or ordinary officers, they all thought that the Jin Sui army was not a tenacious force, although its combat effectiveness was not much weak, but it had little to do with the elite.

However, the Japanese army also knew that there was not only the Jin Sui Army in the battle sequence of the Second War Zone, but also the Central Army of the Nationalist Government, as well as the Sichuan Army and the Shaanxi Army transferred from Sichuan. In particular, the Central Army of the Nationalist Government still had some combat effectiveness, and if the commander commanded it properly, it could still pose a mortal threat to the Imperial Japanese Army. Moreover, this time it was the provincial capital of Shanxi, Yan Xishan's old nest, so the North China Front Army Headquarters was also prepared to fight a big battle, a hard battle, and a hard battle, but I did not expect that in just one week, the First Army would achieve such brilliant results.

Binshan Gen didn't know what was going on, but General Umezu Mijiro knew very well, as the commander-in-chief of this campaign, he had commanded all the battles, and he knew very well why this attack would go so smoothly.

Looking at the two young officers in front of him, Umezu Mijiro was full of emotion in his heart, the current battle is different from what it was more than ten years ago, now not only need strong soldiers, but also need intellectual talents like the two young people in front of him, if it were not for the assistance of these two young people this time, how could the first army take Taiyuan City so smoothly.

"Za, Yamamoto. I heard you studied in Germany? Umezu Mijiro asked with a smile.

"Your Excellency, I studied at the Military Academy in Munich, Germany for three years in the 9th year of Showa, and returned to China in the 12th year of Showa. Major General Kazuki Yamamoto replied respectfully.

"Yamamoto, don't say that in the future, you are only thirty-one years old this year, and you are already the deputy chief of staff of the major general, and I was still working as a martial arts gym abroad when I was in your grade. How can you say that the base camp doesn't reuse you! Umezu Mijiro said.

"Hay. I am very grateful for the teachings of His Excellency the Commander! ”

"You dare not be a teacher, you are the only general of special operations in the Imperial Army, and you are also one of the executors of the reform of the Imperial Army. I was shocked by the results of your special forces this time. I didn't expect a few hundred troops to play such an important role! I feel the need to apply to His Majesty the Emperor. A larger special forces should be formed, and a mere special brigade is still too small compared to the millions of troops in the empire. Admiral Umezu Mijiro spoke.

"Your Excellency. The expansion of the special forces is imperative and imminent. Having studied in detail the various combat cases of the Eighth Theater of Operations, he is sure that the Eighth Theater of Operations in China has a special combat team that is not inferior in strength to the special forces of the Front Army, and the number should be greater than ours. That unit repeatedly carried out head-of-head strikes against the commander of our army, causing huge losses to the front army, and it must be taken seriously by the front army. "Yamamoto Kazuki Road.

"Yo Xi, I will tell the front army and the base camp about this matter, you have to be ready when you go back!"

"Hay!"

"Hehehe, Koga, you are also good, your intelligence squadron has provided great help for this operation, and it is precisely because of the accurate information you provide that the special operations force will find the headquarters of the various units in China so accurately, and then break them down individually. It is even more because your intelligence squadron has intercepted and deciphered the telegrams sent by the China Theater Command many times, so that our command can successfully find the weakness of the China people, and then defeat them! I will ask the front army for credit for you, and I think after this battle, you will probably become the youngest female major general in the Imperial Japanese Army. ”

"Thank you for your Excellency Commander's cultivation, Koga is grateful!" Chiyoko Koga said loudly.

"This is the reward you deserve, in addition, like Yamamoto, your intelligence squadron should also increase some strength, if we have a special operations squadron and an intelligence squadron in every division of the Great Japanese Empire, then the Shina people are just a group of local chickens and dogs in front of us, and their regime will also become a high-rise building piled up with sand, as long as our Imperial Japanese Army stabs it lightly, it will collapse with a bang!" Admiral Umezu Mijiro said feverishly.

"Hai, the humble post will definitely live up to the high expectations of His Excellency the Commander!"

"The next battle will have to be cooperated by the two of you, now that the Imperial Japanese Army is strong, if there are two of you as the eyes and daggers of the army, I believe that the second war zone of the Chinese people will be withdrawn soon."

"Hay!"

The Japanese army in North China was making good progress, but the Kwantung Army ran into an iron plate. On May 15, Soviet planes bombed the Japanese assembly areas near Arshan, Kangyur Temple, and Amkulang, and 500 barrels of gasoline were blown up and set on fire. On May 16, the entire 23rd Division was dispatched, and Komatsubara marched with 20,000 men to Nomenhan. The Kwantung Army Command transferred the 1st Tank Regiment and the 2nd Flying Group to support the 23rd Division, with a total of 12 infantry battalions, 70 tanks, and 180 aircraft.

On 21 May, Lieutenant General Toru Saga, commander of the 2nd Flying Group of the Japanese Army, moved his headquarters from Xinjing to Hailar, transferred four flight regiments, and concentrated 17 squadrons of fighter-bombing and reconnaissance planes. On 22 May, the Soviet army dispatched 150 planes to attack the Japanese army's assembly areas and field airfields in the vicinity of the Kangyur Temple and the Temple of General Amugulang. From the 22nd ~ 24th, the two sides fought for 3 days in the sky over the Normenhan area, and nearly 60 planes were shot down on the grassland. Since then, the number of Soviet planes has continued to increase, and new fighters have appeared, while the Japanese army has gradually lost the initiative and is in a position of being passively beaten.

On 27 May, the main force of the 23rd Division, more than 20,000 people, arrived on the left bank of the Haraha River as planned, and launched an attack on the Soviet army with the cooperation of 84 tanks, 180 planes and 400 vehicles. At the same time, a force of 6,000 men under the command of Major General Kobayashi attacked on the west bank of the Haraha River, capturing the Sertauragai Heights on the east bank of the river at noon.

In this regard, the resistance of the Soviet side was very fierce, and Zhukov immediately organized 150 tanks, 154 armored vehicles, 90 artillery pieces, all aircraft and other troops to counterattack in three directions. Due to the open ground around the Bayinchagang Heights, which was very conducive to aircraft and combat vehicles, the Japanese troops were all exposed in front of Soviet tanks and armored vehicles. In this battle, the Japanese anti-tank guns and the tactics of destroying marching tanks with Molotov cocktails in close combat came into play. On the afternoon of the 28th, the tide of battle began to turn against Japan, and the 23rd Division retreated to the right bank of the Haraha River to join the Yasuoka detachment.

Subsequently, the Japanese attacked again, but the battle line was stalemate due to unsuccessful interception by tank and heavy artillery fire. Seeing this situation, the General Staff Headquarters knew that it would be difficult for him to win in the short term at Nomenkan, and was prepared to make concessions from the Japanese side to end the battle. However, the Kwantung Army insisted that the losses on the Soviet side were also large, and advocated another large-scale offensive. As a result, on the 31st, the General Staff Headquarters transferred the chief of staff of the Kwantung Army, Alum Valley, back to Beijing and showed him the "Outline for Handling the Nomenkan Incident," which meant that it hoped to end the war with the Soviet Union with the concessions of the Japanese side.

However, Lieutenant General Alum Valley said that the Soviet Union had no intention of waging an all-out war, and that the problem could only be solved by striking at it thoroughly. And once again asked the base camp to fight, hoping to fight to the death with the Soviet Union again. After deliberation, the Japanese base camp finally agreed to Lieutenant General Alum Valley's request.

The Kwantung Army felt that the Soviet Union was much stronger than expected, and its own artillery was insufficient. As a result, three heavy artillery wings were transferred from the interior, and the Antong detachment, which had suffered heavy losses, was disbanded, and air defense control was implemented throughout Manchuria.

At the beginning of June, the War Department of the Japanese base camp issued an order to organize the Sixth Army in Hailar and directly command the operation. The commander of the Sixth Army was Lieutenant General Di Zhou. The war turned into a protracted war, and the Soviet side formed the First Army Corps under the command of Zhukov, and continuously increased its strength with five armored divisions (420 tanks and armored vehicles each) as the center. At the same time, the Soviet Union continued to mobilize planes from the country, and Stalin also sent a telegram to the Eighth Theater, hoping that the Eighth Theater would be able to send troops to attack the Hung Yen and Hulunbuir regions, and that it would be best for the Northern Air Force to bomb the Japanese puppet military points in the above-mentioned areas, so that the Kwantung Army could taste the taste of being exposed to the enemy on its back.

Chen Feng of course gladly agreed to Stalin's request, and anyway, the Soviet side promised to give him an additional 20,000 tons of aviation gasoline, and Chen Feng decisively ordered the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Fighter Regiments, the 1st Bomber Regiment, and the 1st Transport Regiments of the Northern Air Force to immediately go to Xilinhot, and at the same time, the Air Force Command also temporarily moved to Xilinhot. He also ordered Chen Feng, Major General Ivan, Zacai Yefu and others to formulate an operational plan for the bombing of the Kwantung Army.

The army that had already assembled in Xilinhot and was on standby also received Chen Feng's order to immediately march towards Huolin Gol and Arshan, and the special combat team opened the way first, completely destroying as long as it was the stronghold of the Japanese puppet army, and the army wanted to uproot the power of King De and others in the eastern grassland with a strong crushing momentum.

On the one hand, General Ueda sent a telegram to Binshanyuan, asking Binshanyuan to immediately launch a fierce attack on Chen Feng's defense area to force his main force to return to help. At the same time, the 12th Division and the 8th Division stationed in Tongliao and Chifeng were ordered to attack in the direction of Xiwuqi and Keshiketeng Banner with the assistance of the 2nd and 3rd Cavalry Divisions and the 1st and 2nd Infantry Divisions of the puppet Mongolian Army, forcing the troops of the 8th Theater to fight southward.

At this point, the fighting quickly expanded from the Hulunbuir grassland to the Xilin Gol grassland and then to the entire eastern grassland, rapidly escalating. (To be continued......)