After successively disrupting eastern Hebei, Jilubian, Jinchaji, and southern Hebei, Okamura Ningji finally showed his fierce blade against the Jizhong base area and launched a full-scale attack. This wave of offensives was extraordinary, and it was the largest offensive since the July 7 Incident.

On April 27, 1941, the enemy's North China Front Army, which had received a large number of reinforcements, was divided into three routes, the first route was under the command of Lieutenant General An Da 23, the newly appointed Chief of Staff of the North China Front, and the 35th Division, the 2nd Brigade of Independent Mixed Brigades, and the 51st Division, which had just arrived from the northeast. This line of Japanese troops was dedicated to "sweeping" Jinchaji, in an attempt to completely defeat the Eighth Route Army in Luxi.

The second route was commanded by the newly appointed commander of the 10th Division, Lieutenant General Jiro Togawa, and was under the command of the 10th Division, the 15th Brigade of the Independent Mixed Division, and the 14th Division, which had been newly reinforced, from the Kwantung Army. These troops were all along the former Pinghan Railway (this railway had been completely destroyed, so it is necessary to add a preface), and their main task was to attack the Jizhong base area from west to east.

The 3rd Route was commanded by Masaharu Honma, the commander of the 27th Division, and was under the command of the 27th Division, the 7th Brigade of the Independent Mixed Division, and the 16th and 18th Divisions, which had newly arrived from Japan for reinforcements. At the same time, it was also responsible for temporarily commanding the 12th Brigade of the 10th Army, which was stationed in Texas and belonged to the combat sequence of the 10th Army.

In the war room, Zheng Weiguo knocked on the table and said in a deep voice: "Okay, this is the situation, let's talk about it!" ”

Chief of Staff Zhou analyzed: "General, colleagues, Okamura Ningji's strategic intentions are already obvious. He changed his previous practice of playing the three-point zone first and switched to a block-and-back attack. Go both ways. ”

The 3rd Division is located in the Beijing-Tianjin-Baozhou Triangle, and because it is too close to the enemy and there is no danger to defend, it was easily occupied by the Japanese army in history. However, in this time and space, due to the discovery and repair of the Yongqing Underground Great Wall, the Japanese army has not been able to effectively occupy it, but has suffered great losses. So this time Okamura Ninji simply abandoned this route.

Chief of Staff Cai Wenzhi said: "Senzai, do you think the focus of the Japanese army's attack is on the Baoding and Cangzhou lines, or the Shijiazhuang and Dezhou lines. ”

Chief of Staff Zhou nodded approvingly and said, "Dingwu (Cai Wenzhi's character) is a good question. It's also a back-and-back attack. Okamura has two options. The first is to attack the front line of Baoding and Cangzhou, that is, to cut our base area in central Hebei into two sections; The attack on Shijiazhuang and Dezhou is to completely separate central Hebei from southern Hebei. ”

He got up and walked a few steps, and talked eloquently: "These two plans have their own advantages and disadvantages. It can be said that it is comparable. So which plan will Okamura choose? I think it's going to be the former. ”

Cai Wenzhi hurriedly said: "Please give us a specific analysis!" ”

"Yes. Let's talk about it! ”

……

Chief of Staff Zhou waved his hand and scolded with a smile: "You stinky boys, don't interrupt!" Then he said, "Why do you say that?" There are three reasons for this! First. It's a logistical supply problem. Choose Bao (Ding) - Cang (Zhou) front line is convenient for the Japanese army to supply, the current Okamura is incomparable with the previous commanders, and you have to worry about gasoline all day long! ”

When the generals heard this, they laughed. Indeed, after the railway system was completely paralyzed, the North China Front immediately changed from a tiger to a plague cat. If it weren't for Japan's efforts to help Okamura Ninji this time, there would have been no retreat from Jizhong's strength. In modern warfare, everyone knows that what is fought is logistics, that is, supply. This is also an important reason why Okamura has not achieved much in the past two years, and has been held back by logistics every time. Halfway through the battle, the ammunition is gone, the food is gone, what should you do if you don't retreat?

Chief of Staff Zhou continued: "Moreover, the Shi (Jiazhuang)-De (Zhou) line is too far to the south, and once the heavy army group of the Japanese army gathers here, there is a possibility that the logistics supply line will be cut off by our army. ”

Everyone looked at the map in unison, and sure enough. Now there is no railway line support, and there are not enough cars and gasoline, and the large forces of the Japanese army are clumsy to adjust. The North China Front, on the other hand, had to maintain more than 300 kilometers of supply lines, and there were two. In the absence of a railway, it will be extremely difficult, and it will be very easy to be cut off by the troops in central Hebei. The combined number of Japanese troops on the eastern and western fronts was 150,000. When the time comes, a large number of people will be a burden. No matter how bold Okamura Ninji was, he might not dare to take such a military adventure.

Chief of Staff Zhou stretched out two fingers and said, "The second point is time." Okamura Ninji has already delayed a lot of time in order to clear the periphery of my base area, and he can't afford to wait. ”

Xiong Dajin, the director of the supply department, said curiously: "Why can't you afford it? ”

Chief of Staff Zhou knew that he did not know much about military affairs, so he patiently explained: "In two aspects, the first is logistics, and now Japan is almost all the strength of the country to attack us, and it is impossible to drag it out for too long, because Japan has to deal with not only our Jizhong, but also that if we delay here for a long time, there will be problems elsewhere." ”

"On the other hand, it is because the Japanese army will inevitably have a big operation within this year."

Someone asked curiously, "What kind of big action is it?" ”

Chief of Staff Zhou waved his hand and said with a smile: "Hey, this is kept secret for the time being, and everyone will know about it in the future." Let's not go too far, let's get down to business. ”

He stretched out three more fingers, and then said: "Continuing from the previous point, there is a third point, the thorn in the eyes of the Japanese army is us, and it is the hard bone in our hope!" Okamura is sowing discord, sending female spies around, training paratroopers and special forces, and purchasing advanced electronic equipment from the United States. What is he for? ”

The generals laughed and said, "It's all for us!" It's really a fart to take off your pants, do this more, pull the troops over directly, and fight with us, isn't it over? ”

Chief of Staff Zhou smiled: "So I dare to conclude that Okamura will never go around in circles with us again." Of course, in addition to my analysis, there is another reason that makes me convinced. ”

Everyone wondered, "What is the reason?" ”

Chief of Staff Zhou smiled and said, "We have obtained the intelligence of the Japanese army. Their battle plan is clearly written, that is, to attack the front line of Bao (Ding) - Cang (Zhou)! ”

Everyone was stunned for a moment, and then burst into laughter. Some of the quick-spirited generals even joked with Chief of Staff Zhou. said with a smile: "Senza, your tirade made us stunned, and our feelings are hindsight!" ”

Chief of Staff Zhou has a good temperament, and he is not angry, but just laughs and does not speak.

Zheng Weiguo slapped the table and scolded: "Okay, don't make trouble!" The chief of staff is the first to do the analysis, and then look at the intelligence. Why, you're not convinced! ”

Everyone hurriedly laughed and said: "Obey, serve!" ”

Zheng Weiguo snorted. He said, "If you all have the ability to be a chief of staff." Do I need to worry so much? Okay, the chief of staff has explained the cause and effect to everyone, and you can talk about it, how should this battle be fought? ”

……

Peiping. The Warlord Yamashita said to Okamura Ninji with admiration, "Your Excellency the Commander is worthy of being a person of His Majesty's trust. The barrage of attacks was truly spectacular. It's dazzling and dizzying. In the words of Go, this is a living 'continuous cherry blossom'! ”

"Constant Sakura" is a Go term. Sakura, in Go, symbolizes the essence of means. The so-called "continuous cherry blossoms". It is a metaphor for the endless emergence of brilliant and colorful hands.

Because of the outbreak of the Battle of Nomenkan, Yamashita was transferred to the Kwantung Army, and later to serve in Japan. Emperor Hirohito attached great importance to the plan of "public order and rectification" in North China, so he specially sent Yamashita Fengwen to supervise the battle. This is extremely rare in the history of the Japanese army, and it also shows that Japan is determined to win, because they cannot afford to lose. Losing is not only a matter of face, but also affects the overall strategy. When the time comes, Pearl Harbor will start fighting, but the army can't keep up.

However, Okamura is a close confidant of Emperor Hirohito, and he is the boss of Yamashita Fumi's faction. Therefore, Yamashita Fengwen did not dare to put on the shelf of the "minister of the imperial mission", but welcomed him more, and seized the opportunity to slap the sycophants.

Some people may have questioned a long time ago, Okamura Ningji suffered defeats in a row, and was disgraced by Zheng Huzi, why can he still sit firmly in the position of commander of the North China Front? I said before that there is someone behind Okamura, and this person is actually the culprit behind the war of aggression against China - Japanese Emperor Hirohito.

When Hirohito was the crown prince, Japan's domestic military and political affairs were always controlled by the "Choshu Domain". That is, Hirobumi Ito, Aritomo Yamaguchi, Noshinori Nogi, Gentaro Kodama, and Masaki Terauchi (Shoichi Terauchi's father). Just by listening to the name, you can know how powerful this group of people is. Hirohito didn't want to be a puppet like his father, so he had to pull up his own team.

Under the introduction of Minoru Higashikure (Hirohito's uncle), Okamura finally hugged Hirohito's big thick legs, and then helped Hirohito desperately recruit young military attachés as henchmen in Europe (which is far from the power of the Choshu Domain, and there are many talents in Europe).

One day in October 1921, Okamura Ninji, Nagata Tetsuyama, and Toshiro Obata formed an alliance in a steam bath in Baden-Baden, Germany. It is also very narcissistic to call it the "Three Feathers of the Alliance".

This day is considered by Japanese historians to be the birth date of the warlord Showa (i.e., Hirohito). In fact, in addition to Okamura and their brothers, there was another person, who is the current Japanese land minister - Hideki Tojo. However, he didn't have much status at the time, just lighting a cigarette for Nagata Tetsuyama and standing guard at the door of the steam room. I didn't expect it to be the best mix now, which is probably a joke made by history.

Except for Okamura Ninji and Tojo Hideki, the other two are unlucky, and Nagata Tetsuyama was originally the most bullish among them. In terms of talent, he is known as the first brain in the Japanese army, and it is said that even Ishihara, the first staff officer of Japan's Showa, is not worthy of lifting his shoes; In terms of power, he is the leading brother of the unification faction and a leader-level figure in the Japanese Army. But unexpectedly, because of the infighting between the unification faction and the imperial faction, he was beheaded by Sazawa Saburo in the imperial army in 1935.

If Nagata Tetsuyama really has the Japanese boasting so well, that guy named Saozaburo Saizawa is really fucking beautiful!

Toshiro Obata was the least famous of them, because he later followed the Imperial Sect, which was tantamount to betraying the "Three Feathers Alliance", and Hirohito drove him into the reserve in a fit of rage.

In addition to these four people in Baden-Baden, "Sanyu Wu" also selected seven more talented colleagues who did not belong to the Choshu domain. These are Umezu Mijiro, the military attache in Berlin, the military attache in Berne, Yamashita Fumifumi (no wonder he joined the Imperial Road faction and had a chance to turn back), the military attache in Copenhagen, Kotaro Nakamura, the military attache in Paris, the military attache in Cologne, the military attache in Harbin, Matsui Ishone, and the military attache in Beijing, Ryosuke Isoya. These 11 people are the core backbone of the Showa warlords that Japan relied on to launch the Second World War.

That's the background, let's get down to business. Okamura waved his hand humbly. said: "No matter how well prepared you are in the early stage, the victory or defeat is always known when the blades meet. Yamashita-kun, you have fought with Zheng Huzi, you should know how powerful he is. ”

Yamashita Fengwen nodded and said with emotion: "Sodosne! This is really a difficult and hateful guy, especially since he has raised the sabotage of transportation to a strategic level and caused us a lot of trouble. ”

As soon as he talked about traffic, the flesh on Okamura's face couldn't help but twitch, and his eyes began to become gloomy. In the past two years, Zheng Weiguo first picked up the railway. After picking up the railway, I hit the locomotive. The railroad was completely paralyzed.

At present, there are only two sections that can be opened to traffic by the Japanese army in North China, one is from Shanhaiguan to Beiping, and the other is from Beiping to Tianjin and then to Tanggu. The rest of the road was forced to be completely abandoned, and even the railroad tracks were all removed by Zheng Weiguo's order. lest the Japanese army repair. Later, Okamura himself picked it up. The main thing is not to want these rails to fall into the hands of the Chinese army. All right. With the full cooperation of both sides, the railway transport is finished.

In addition to trains, cars are also the target of Zheng Weiguo's key attacks. And not only against cars, but also on oil depots and roads. As a result, the North China Front Army did not dare to drive its cars out at all in peacetime, and the oil depot was also carefully hidden in the underground oil depot for fear of being attacked by the special forces of Jizhong.

What made Okamura even more depressed was that many officers or others in the country who had never been on the battlefield always criticized Okamura's incompetence and strongly demanded that Okamura Ningji, who had been defeated many times, be sent to a military court. There are many shadows of the consortium behind this, because Okamura's military defeat has caused them huge losses. If it weren't for Emperor Hirohito's efforts, I am afraid that Okamura would have been driven back to Japan long ago, and maybe he would have been retaliated against by a resentful chaebol.

It may be that the shadow in his heart is too big, and Okamura replied after being silent for a long time: "Yo Xi, Yamashita-kun's opinion is very insightful. I've been bothered by this problem for a long time, so I wonder if Yamashita-kun has any good solutions? Please don't hesitate to give us advice! ”

Yamashita Fengwen hurriedly bowed and said, "Your Excellency the commander is really polite. In my opinion, it is nothing more than to strengthen the strength of troops on the logistical line, and the troops should not be too scattered in peacetime, and it is sufficient to concentrate on guarding some strategic points and important lines of communication. ”

Okamura Ninji stroked his palm and smiled: "Suoga, Yamashita-kun's thoughts are really the same as mine. He said regretfully: "It's a pity that Yamashita-kun is about to take up his new position." Your Majesty is about to be reused for you, I can't delay your future, otherwise with you coming back to help me, how can the situation in North China be stuck here. ”

As the Pacific War was about to break out, Yamashita was about to become the commander of the 25th Army of the Southern Army, responsible for attacking Malaya and Singapore. In history, Yamashita Fengwen also really made his fortune after this, relying on the British colonial army to "brush copies", and actually brushed out the title of "Malay Tiger".

Seeing that Okamura valued himself so much, Yamashita Fengwen said movingly: "Okamura-kun is really a false praise." It's been a great benefit to be working under your command. If it weren't for Okamura-kun's mention over the years, how could there be today's Yamashita Fengwen. Can you do a little bit for Okamura-kun and the war situation in North China, and dare not do your best? ”

Okamura Ninji owed a debt and smiled: "Yamashita-kun has won the prize!" You and I have known each other for a long time, and today we have the fate to cooperate again, so let's work hand in hand to give His Majesty the Emperor a satisfactory answer! ”

"Hello!"

……

Under the command of Okamura Ninji and Yamashita Fumi, the Japanese moved extremely quickly. The Second Route Army quickly crossed the Tang River and directly threatened Gaoyang, Boye, Anguo and other counties, as well as Lixian, the capital of the Jizhong base area. Although the command organ of the theater has now moved to Hengshui, Lixian has always been one of the most important strongholds in central Hebei, and at the same time it is also the center of economic gravity, where the fur, grain and handicraft industries feed a large number of troops, once destroyed, the consequences are unimaginable.

At the same time, the Japanese army on the Eastern Front also made rapid progress, and its vanguard, under the cover of armored vehicles, tanks, and aircraft, successively occupied Dusheng Town, Jinghe Town, and Shaheqiao Town, and advanced to Hejian, the capital of the Second Army Division.

Zheng Weiguo frowned slightly, slapped the table, and said dissatisfiedly: "How did the first and second divisions fight?" The Japanese army is simply in a no-man's land, which is really unreasonable! ”

Chief of Staff Zhou hurriedly persuaded: "The general seat doesn't need to be angry, the matter is not as serious as it seems." He also explained: "The Japanese army's current operation is indeed very different from the past, and it is reasonable that the various divisions have mishandled the response. ”

"Oh?" Zheng Weiguo hurriedly asked, "What's the difference?" ”

Chief of Staff Zhou explained: "According to intelligence analysis, there are three changes in the Japanese army's battle this time. First, great attention is paid to logistics, and if the total force is divided into four parts, three of them are guarding supply lines. It was difficult for the small units we sent to attack to connect with the convoys of military transports, let alone raids. ”

"Second, take only the big road, not the small road. In the past, the Japanese army was ambushed by us many times because of the unfamiliar roads. But this time they attacked specifically along the main road, and because of the enemy's artillery fire and air superiority, it was difficult for our troops to block it. ”

Zheng Weiguo asked in a deep voice: "Didn't the road be destroyed and mines were laid?" ”

Chief of Staff Zhou shook his head and said with some annoyance: "The Japanese army has dispatched professional minesweepers and engineering vehicles this time, and some of our previous methods are outdated. He blamed himself and said: "I am also responsible for this matter, and I failed to find out the enemy's equipment in advance." In particular, there is no attention paid to some new equipment. ”

Zheng Weiguo nodded slightly, and said with emotion: "It seems that we are making progress, and the enemy is also improving!" Judging the developing enemy with a deep old eye, there is no reason to be invincible! Then he asked, "What about one more point?" ”

Chief of Staff Zhou replied: "It's easy not to enter the village!" ”

Zheng Weiguo snorted and laughed: "What's the matter, this little devil still can't change his sex?" Don't disturb the people! ”

Chief of Staff Zhou stomped his feet a little annoyed and said, "It's not that I don't disturb the people, but I just don't enter the village." He also explained: "The little devil may have been scared by our militia." Nowadays, villages are rarely raided, but the villages on both sides of the road are bombarded with artillery, and sometimes arson. ”

As he spoke, Professor Yang and Political Commissar Cheng strode in. Professor Yang was so anxious that he rubbed his hands back and forth, and asked anxiously, "Commander, when will you be able to drive the little devil out of the city?" It's not okay to go on like this, the loss of the villagers is too great! (To be continued......)