Han Village, Yongqing County, at the front of the Yongding River defense line of the Japanese army, Yan Mingzhi, chief of staff of the 63rd Army, was checking the terrain on the front line, and the military correspondent hurriedly came to report: "Chief of staff, the army commander said that there is something urgent to find you, so let you go back quickly." ”

At present, the Eighth Route Army and Zheng Huzi's directly administered troops can be regarded as infiltrating each other, and the Eighth Route Army is militarily regularized and field-oriented, while Zheng Huzi's directly administered troops are gradually politically eight-route. The 63rd Army is an army with a relatively high degree of eight-route integration, and the army, division, and regiment are all equipped with political commissars, battalions have instructors, and companies have instructors, but their power is not as great as that of the political commissars of the Eighth Route Army. At the same time, in order to embody the idea of "equality between officers and soldiers," the title of a certain seat was also abolished as required.

Chief of Staff Yan hurriedly asked, "Oh, did the military commander say something?" ”

The correspondent shook his head and said, "The commander didn't say anything, but I see that he is very angry." He leaned in and whispered, "It seems that I lost my temper, and even the teacup was dropped!" ”

"This donkey temper!" Chief of Staff Yan muttered, "I don't know who provoked him again?" So he hurriedly explained what was at hand, and then hurried back to the headquarters of the 63rd Army.

"Commander, I'm back!" Chief of Staff Yan entered the house and took a look, only to find that Deputy Army Commander Deng Naibai was also there, and there was also Wang Pinglu, political commissar of the 63rd Army. According to the division of labor among several people, Chief of Staff Yan is generally on the front line to supervise the battle, the army commander and political commissar are in charge of the command headquarters, and the deputy army commander Deng Naibai is in charge of logistics.

"Well, Lao Yan, you came back just in time!" Captain Feng Zhan raised his head and greeted, his face was really a little ugly. The careful Chief of Staff Yan also saw a small puddle of water stains and tea leaves that had not been cleaned up on the ground, which was estimated to be the "masterpiece" of Commander Feng's anger just now.

Chief of Staff Yan responded. I found a stool to sit down on, and asked, "What's the matter, Commander?" Isn't it fun this morning, who made you angry again? ”

Commander Feng threw a telegram over, and said angrily: "You take a look at this first, it's the war situation report just released by the war zone!" ”

Chief of Staff Yan took a look at it, couldn't help but be overjoyed, and shouted: "Okay, I surrounded the two divisions in one go!" It's really a blockbuster. Well played! If both divisions are wiped out. We are equivalent to liberating 200,000 troops! ”

According to the war report, the 5th Army and the Shanxi New Army had successfully surrounded the 37th and 41st Divisions. Japanese reinforcements were also stopped by the 120th and 129th Divisions, respectively, and it is not surprising that the Jinnan side would soon usher in a big victory. This is not news anymore. Just before to prevent the news from being revealed. The battle situation in Jinnan has been tightly sealed. It was not publicly announced until this morning that the escape route of the Japanese army was completely blocked.

"That's a good thing, Commander, you're not mad at this, are you?" Chief of Staff Yan couldn't help but ask with some confusion. Commander Feng snorted. There was no answer.

Political Commissar Wang smiled: "Even if you said it, our army commander is really angry about this!" ”

Seeing that Chief of Staff Yan was confused, Deputy Army Commander Deng asked with a smile: "Old Yan, why do you say that we worked so hard to advance to the edge of the Yongding River?" ”

Chief of Staff Yan hurriedly said: "Counterattack the northeast!" ”

Deputy Army Commander Deng explained: "Well, yes, this will be a nationwide counterattack operation, and it will even be decisive in the world war situation." Originally, this major counteroffensive would be the first to be played by our 63rd Army, and if you think about it, how glorious it is! But this glory was robbed by friendly forces. ”

Chief of Staff Yan thought about it, indeed, if there was no accident in Jinnan, it would have been written in history in the autumn of 1942, when the 63rd Army took the lead in launching a counteroffensive against the Japanese invaders, thus setting off a big wave of counteroffensives. But now that it's good, it was robbed of the limelight by the 5th Group Army and the Shanxi New Army, no wonder Commander Feng was unhappy.

"Tell me, how do you get this field back?" Commander Feng asked with an unhappy expression.

Political Commissar Wang and Deputy Commander Deng looked at each other, everything had already happened, how could they get it back? Is it possible to turn back the clock?

"Well, Commander, it's up to us to see how our 63rd Army performs next." Chief of Staff Yan thought for a moment and said, "Although the 5th Group Army and the Shanxi New Army surrounded the two divisions of the Japanese army, it was not easy to eat the enemy army. If we can occupy eastern Hebei before this time, eliminate the main force of the Japanese puppet army there, and open up a new and stable base area, then our 63rd Army will still be the vanguard of the Second World War Zone. ”

Deputy Commander Deng stroked his palms and smiled: "Not bad! Army commander, it seems that our previous deployment needs to be adjusted, not only to quickly recover eastern Hebei, but also to win the beauty, so that both the enemy and us know the prestige of our 63rd Army. When the time comes, will the 5th Army be embarrassed to be embarrassed in front of us? ”

Political Commissar Wang also nodded and said: "The chief of staff is right, it is nothing for a while, now is a good time to counterattack the Japanese army, and our 63rd Army is the first batch of troops to enter the northeast, and we are not afraid of not being able to fight a war." However, the Japanese army has ruled in eastern Hebei for nearly seven years, and we can't take the enemy lightly! ”

Commander Feng's face finally looked a little better, and he nodded: "Well, this is natural!" This time, I called everyone here to discuss it and see how we could fight quickly and well. ”

Not long after, middle-level officers such as the chief of the operations section, the reconnaissance section, the intelligence section, and the baggage section of the military headquarters also arrived one after another. In order to restore the glory of the 63rd Army, everyone discussed for a night, and various plans were repeatedly deliberated. As soon as the 63rd Army was launched, it quickly broke through several strong defensive lines deployed by the Japanese army on both sides of the Yongding River, and continued to penetrate the Japanese army in depth.

As long as this line of defense is completely broken, the main base areas in eastern Hebei and North China will be connected at that time, and it will also be able to cut off many communication arteries in Beining and Pingjin, and threaten Pingsui and other communication lines, so as to carry out all-round countermeasures against the Japanese army in North China.

Okamura Ninji, the former commander of the enemy's North China Front, was well aware of the importance of this place, so he has been trying every means to strengthen it since he took office, and there are not only two railways and five roads between Beijing and Tianjin, but also a large number of pillboxes and hidden fortifications. Due to the existence of this line of defense, if the Second World War Zone wants to provide assistance to eastern Hebei, it can only take the Yanshan line in Pingbei, which is also an important reason why eastern Hebei has not developed.

Okamura Ninji once boasted: "Even if the Chinese army is bleeding, it will not be able to break through." But what Okamura Ninji never expected was. Not long after he finished class, the defensive line was disrupted by the 63rd Army.

Qinggongtai, Xianghe County, the temporary headquarters of the 63rd Army.

The headquarters was full of people, and the sound of hurried footsteps mingled with the ticking of telegraph machines and the occasional ringing of telephones, making it seem very busy. After careful deployment, the large force of the 63rd Army finally succeeded in breaking through the first line of defense of the Japanese army. However, this was only the beginning, the 35th Division stationed in Beiping and the 27th Division stationed in Tianjin were rushing in to reinforce them with all their might. Once it is intercepted by the Japanese army, let alone recovering the northeast, even if it advances into eastern Hebei, it will become very tricky.

"Commander. A call from headquarters. Congratulations to our army on its successful breakthrough of the Japanese defense line! ”

Commander Feng nodded and said solemnly: "This is the breakthrough of the three blockade lines, and there are still tough battles to be fought next, so that the soldiers can cheer up." Don't let up! ”

Report. Commander of the army, chief of staff. The 27th Division of the Japanese Army suddenly moved north, and it had already exchanged fierce fire with the 1st Division of our 93rd Division on the Wuqing line. ”

Originally, the 63rd Army had only two divisions, the 91st Division and the 92nd Division. After the outbreak of the Pacific War. Zheng Weiguo realized that the time for a counterattack was approaching, so he immediately began to prepare. Each army has been expanded into three divisions according to the principle of the three-three system, so that the standard establishment of each army can reach 50,000, and some elite troops may even reach as many as 60,000 or 70,000.

However, the newly expanded units are even worse than the old ones in terms of combat effectiveness. Therefore, this time, the 93rd Division did not seize the opportunity to attack the main force, and could only serve as a reserve on the front line of Jinxi to prevent a sneak attack by the Japanese garrison in Tianjin. As expected, the Japanese 27th Division did attack them.

The 27th Division had to defend important towns such as Tianjin and Tangshan, and a maximum of two infantry wings were transferred, while the 93rd Division was also transferred by the military headquarters with a main regiment and a supplementary regiment. In terms of troops, the two sides are evenly matched.

"Oh? The little devil came so fast! Commander Feng frowned slightly, and hurriedly walked to the map.

Chief of Staff Yan also walked over quickly, observed it, and said with a solemn face: "The little devil has a good time!" Army commander, the 93rd Division is a new unit, and the structure is incomplete, I am afraid that they will suffer a loss by their own strength, so we had better send troops to reinforce it. ”

After several years of training and rectification, the 63rd Army and other subordinate units have greatly shortened the gap with the Japanese army, but this gap still exists, and the larger the combat unit, the more obvious the gap becomes. This is determined by the quality of the officers, and it is difficult to make up for it in a short period of time, so it can only be reduced as much as possible.

Commander Feng thought for a moment, shook his head and said, "No! The purpose of the Japanese army is to hold back the main force of our army and not let them succeed. Inform Commander Li of the 93rd Division that from now on I will not have half of the reinforcements to him, but he must ensure the safety of the right flank of our army, even if the 93rd Division is exhausted, he is not allowed to take a step back! ”

"Yes!"

Boom Boom Boom ...... Under the cover of heavy artillery and tanks, the main forces of the Japanese 27th Division were desperately attacking the positions of the 93rd Division. Speaking of which, the 27th Division can also be regarded as Zheng Huzi's old rival, starting from its predecessor "Chinese Garrison Brigade", it has fought many times with Zheng Huzi's descendants. The enemy who knows the root is often the most terrifying, and the 27th Division guards the treasure land of Tianjin, and the logistics conditions are obviously much better, so the morale is also relatively high.

"Kill, give!"

"Onboard!"

Wave after wave of Japanese troops launched surprise attacks on the positions of the 93rd Division, and soon, the outer positions began to fall one after another. As a last resort, the 93rd Division had no choice but to ask for help from the military headquarters and headquarters.

Yongqing County, the former enemy headquarters of the Second War Zone.

Chief of Staff Zhou reported on the battle in Wuqing and said: "Commander, it seems that the 93rd Division is not the opponent of the enemy's 27th Division, should we send the 97th Army to reinforce in the direction of Wuqing?" ”

"Wu Qing!" Zheng Weiguo walked to the map and looked at it, and then asked, "Chief of Staff, where is the main force of the 97th Army at present?" ”

Chief of Staff Zhou hurriedly replied: "The 34th Division has arrived in Yongqing, the 33rd Division and the troops directly under the military headquarters have just arrived in Ba County, and the 35th Division is still in Xinzhen. ”

The 35th Division, like the 93rd Division, was a newly formed unit, so it followed behind and was responsible for baggage. Of course, this also shows the importance attached to baggage. It was not the first time that the 97th Army had fought the Japanese army, but this time it was an external battle, so the issue of logistics was particularly important.

Zheng Weiguo observed in front of the map, shook his head and said, "I'm afraid it's too late!" He asked again: "How is the main force of the 63rd Army deployed now?" ”

Chief of Staff Zhou hurriedly reported: "The 91st Division and the special forces directly under the military headquarters (that is, the name of the technical arms at that time. It is not the same thing as the special operations brigade) and the 93rd Division is continuing to attack and advance to the east of Hebei, and the 92nd Division is fighting on the front line of Pingdong. ”

"Hmm!" Zheng Weiguo pondered for a moment and said, "Don't worry, it seems that Commander Feng was premeditated, and sent a telegram to the 63rd Army to ask them if they needed reinforcements." In terms of command, let's not interfere directly, so as not to disrupt their plans. ”

Chief of Staff Zhou nodded hurriedly.

Zheng Weiguo smiled again and asked, "Chief of Staff, do you think we have the ability to inflict heavy damage or even destroy this 27th Division?" ”

Chief of Staff Zhou smiled: "With our current strength, as long as you want." Not to mention the elimination of the 27th Division. Even if you capture Tianjin, it will not be difficult. But does the commander really intend to do this? ”

Indeed, there are still at least seven or eight large troops in the Second Theater of Operations, and if it is a desperate gamble, let alone Tianjin. I'm afraid that Beiping can also be defeated. However, Zheng Huzi was able to carry out a counterattack on the northeast smoothly. I have been holding back and not doing anything. It's actually a multiple-choice question. To North China, or to Northeast China!

If the focus of the attack is on North China, there will be a strong base area as a backing. The chances of success are great. But once the strength is exposed, it will inevitably have a large number of unpredictable effects in the camp of the enemy and the enemy. For example, forcing the Japanese army to shrink the heavy army group in Siberia to the northeast, and for example, attracting the jealousy of the Military Commission, especially Chairman Chang Kaishen, led to the rupture of the united front.

Even if there were no such bad consequences, it would at least make the Japanese Kwantung Army vigilant, and it would be much more difficult to advance into the northeast at that time. And this is precisely what Zheng Weiguo cannot tolerate, in addition to eagerly recovering the Northeast, but also because it is related to the entire grand strategy of counterattacking Japan. If we fail to send troops to the northeast as soon as possible, then the Northern Front, which has managed to get on the road with the Yankees, will be in danger of failure.

Thinking of this, Zheng Huzi shook his head and said: "No, the plan to recover the Northeast must not be shaken, not to mention that the US military has agreed to provide long-range bomber escort and destroy the remaining Japanese troops in the Northeast." At this critical time, we must hold on! ”

……

It didn't take long for Admiral Feng Zhan to call back, saying that air and ground support was needed, and that he was asking for the direct command of Doolittle Squadron and the 34th Division!

Zheng Weiguo took the telegram and looked at it, and said with a smile: "Okay, this appetite is not small, commanding the army is not counted, even the air force has to be rounded!" ”

Chief of Staff Zhou said tentatively: "Let's just have these sixteen bombers at the moment, or should we be under the unified command of the headquarters?" ”

Zheng Weiguo shook his head and said, "No, since Commander Feng is confident, we can't hold back." You call back to the 63rd Army immediately, I will agree to whatever they want, but they must also give me what they want, that is, victory, and it will be a hearty victory! ”

……

At the headquarters of the 63rd Army, Commander Feng jumped up excitedly when he saw the callback, and laughed: "He is worthy of being a commander, he has courage!" He treated me as a countryman, and I should repay him as a countryman! ”

Chief of Staff Yan also said happily: "With the reinforcement of the air force and a division, I dare not say that I will leave a name in history, and I can't run away from a big victory." ”

With the support of the air force, Captain Feng Zhan personally led the main force of the 63rd Army to attack in the direction of eastern Hebei, and quickly broke through the defense line carefully arranged by Okamura Ningji. In fact, the defense line itself is still very good, the fortifications and firepower are very reasonable. It's just that this kind of shallow and deep defense tactics are outdated, and even the huge fortifications built by Maginot and the Japanese army in the northeast are vulnerable, let alone others. What's more, when building the fortifications along the Yongding River, the North China Front Army had already begun to be struggling, and it was all up to Okamura Ninji to save a little money from between his teeth to repair it, needless to say in terms of quality.

Subsequently, Commander Feng disguised a part of his troops as the main force and continued to advance eastward, but his main force quietly moved south, and the 93rd Division and the reinforced 34th Division suddenly launched a fierce attack on the Japanese 27th Division and inflicted heavy losses. Seeing that the situation was not good, the Japanese 27th Division left behind a full 2,000 corpses and fled back to Tianjin in a hurry.

Commander Feng did not pursue, but turned westward and cooperated with the 92nd Division and the 33rd Division of the 97th Army that had just arrived to launch a fierce attack on the 35th Division stationed in Beiping. The 35th Division had just lost a wing in Yixian not long ago, and its vitality was greatly damaged, and it soon could not resist it and had to retreat to Beiping.

At this point, the entire Yongding River defense line, or the Pingjin defense line, was breached, and the eastern Hebei base area was no longer an enclave. The officers and men of the 63rd Army, regardless of fatigue, once again advanced eastward, and with the assistance of the eastern Hebei team, they broke more than ten counties, including Jixian, Dachang, Sanhe, Baodi, Kaiping, Fengnan, Yutian, Pinggu, Xinglong, and Zunhua, and recovered a large area of rivers and mountains. The local Japanese puppet army was so frightened that they fled to Tangshan.

……

Beiping, the headquarters of the North China Front.

The newly appointed acting commander, Naosaburo Okabe, was shocked and angry, and roared: "Bage Yaru, when did the Shina Army have such a strong combat power? Why didn't you even inform me in advance, it's all rice buckets, incompetence, shame on the military! ”

As soon as the words fell, the attendant military attache hurriedly reported: "Oh no, Your Excellency Commander, Tangshan has also been captured by the Chinese army!" His Excellency Captain Matsumoto, the Supreme Commander of the garrison, has just sent a farewell message, please take a look! ”

"Nani?" Okabe Naosaburo couldn't believe his ears, and hurriedly opened the telegram with trembling hands, but he didn't expect to spit blood from his mouth after reading only a few lines, and he fell down with his head up. The attendants were startled and hurried to help, but they were already trismus and unconscious.

The newly appointed Lieutenant General Oshiroto Sanji hurried to the hospital to visit: "Doctor, how is the condition of Your Excellency the Commander?" ”

"Oh, please rest assured, Commander Okabe is just in a hurry, and after the rescue, there is no big problem! You can visit the ward now, but it is best not to go to too many people so as not to disturb the patient's rest. ”

Oshiro Sanji breathed a sigh of relief, thanked the doctor, and hurried to the ward again.

"Your Excellency, Commander!"

"Oshiro-kun, you came just in time, please contact the Kwantung Army immediately!" Okabe Naosaburo eagerly grabbed Oshitori Tozaburo's arm and said anxiously: "I suspect that their target is Manchuria, and they must send troops immediately, it will be too late if it is too late!" (To be continued......)

PS: I'm ashamed, it's so late, the mountain people are hopeless, woo