The two devils on the head of the city were no better than the puppet troops outside the city who surrendered directly, and they were also hit by the fiercest artillery fire of the dragon's tooth column.

Under the blow of devastating artillery fire, which even the Japanese could not withstand, their will to resist was completely destroyed and disintegrated.

Therefore, in the face of the tide of charging and onslaught of the dragon's tooth column, their previous arrogance and disdain were all gone, and they were so frightened that their faces were like earth, they trembled all over, and some even peed their pants.

Unable to organize a decent blockade at all, the Dragon's Tooth Column soon broke through their defenses, stormed into the city, and forced a large number of puppet troops.

The battle of Liaocheng was without suspense, and the Dragon's Tooth Column regained this place without much effort.

Subsequently, Qiao Youhua ordered Zheng Yunshan to follow the Yellow River from Liaocheng non-stop, all the way to the east, and successively recovered more than a dozen counties along the river such as Pingxian and Dong'e.

In the end, two days later, the troops approached the city of Binzhou, and the puppet army in the city learned that all the areas from Binzhou to the west to Liaocheng had been recovered by the Dragon's Tooth Column, and the Japanese devils had withdrawn to the south bank of the Yellow River, completely abandoning the area along the river on the north bank.

It was very decisive to choose to surrender, so the guard regiment with less than one battalion left in Binzhou, and the soldiers took the last county town in the easternmost part of the north bank of the Yellow River without blood.

Knowing that Binzhou had been recovered, Qiao Youhua, who remained in Liaocheng, instructed Li Yansan: "Immediately send a telegram to the political commissar and ask her to arrange for a group of political cadres to come over with a group of militia to strengthen our actual control over the vast riverside area that has just been recovered."

Only with sufficient political work cadres can the normal operation and development of the base areas be guaranteed, and can the militia units be formed and expanded. ”

After arranging Li Yansan, Qiao Youhua said to Wu Ming again: "Now that I have laid down the city territory for you, whether I can defend it in the future, whether I can develop it well, and stand on my feet depends on your third brigade, with Liaocheng, Binzhou and other places have fallen into the hands of our army."

The forward defense line of your Third Brigade can already advance from Dongdezhou, Hengshui, Shimen, and Luquan, and it mainly needs to be guarded against in two directions, the first is Jingcheng Pass.

The second is the spinning of threads along the Yellow River, and we must be vigilant to prevent the Japanese army from making a comeback on the south bank of the Yellow River. ”

Wu Ming nodded solemnly and said: "Commander, please rest assured, our third brigade is a well-known iron rooster, not pulling out a dime, whether it is personnel, equipment or territory, as long as it enters our hands, there will be absolutely no example of going out again!"

This time is no exception, the nearly 20,000 soldiers of the brigade and the vast number of militia units, as long as there is still one person, will definitely not give up an inch of territory lightly! Defend to the death until the last soldier! One shot, one bullet! ”

Qiao Youhua nodded with satisfaction and said: "Well, I believe it, so this place will be handed over to you to deal with the aftermath, I have to go back to Pingshan County, there are still many things waiting for me to go back and deal with, in view of the fact that these areas have just been recovered, there may still be a lot of unstable factors."

That's why I've decided to stay with the Guards Regiment for the time being to strengthen your forces, but the Air Defense Regiment can't stay, and they must return to Botou and other places at once.

In the future, our strategy is to take a defensive position on the southern front, and the northern front is our main offensive expansion direction! Do you understand? ”

Wu Ming smiled and nodded: "Understood, rest assured, I will definitely guard the south gate of the base area for you and your brothers, and provide strong support for you to go north!" ”

Qiao Youhua smiled and patted the shoulder of his solemn promise brother, and left Liaocheng with Li Yansan and some of the guards with satisfaction.

…………

Beiping City, the headquarters of the Japanese army of the North China Front.

With a heavy face, Tada Jun stood in front of a huge combat map with one hand on his back and muttered: "Liaocheng, Binzhou and dozens of other towns along the river on the north bank have all fallen into the hands of the dragon's tooth column!" We have lost at least 10,000 Imperial Allied troops and a large amount of war materiel.

According to intelligence, these damned Imperial Allied troops almost did not put up much resistance, and all of them surrendered voluntarily and became prisoners! ”

When he said these words, Tada Jun was a little angry, and he hated to devour all the Imperial Allied troops who surrendered to the Dragon's Tooth Column and betrayed the Imperial Army one by one.

Iizawa Mamoru nodded with a not very good-looking face and said: "Yes, we are mentally prepared for this result, fortunately, we have transported most of the military supplies, withdrawn the main force of the imperial army, and preserved our precious vital forces." ”

Tada Jun knew that this method of Iizawa Shou was also a helpless way, and with the current situation of the North China Front, it would definitely not be able to hold Liaocheng and other places across the Yellow River.

If you really want to hold on, you can only increase your troops, once Qiao Youhua leads his troops to break through the defenders' outer defense line, and then make a detour to cut off the connection between the north bank and the south bank.

The defenders across the North Shore will still be in a state of no return, and the outcome will only be worse than it is now.

Therefore, Tada Jun was silent for a while, and then said: "Iizawa-kun, regarding the loss of Liaocheng, you will draft a telegram, and then make a report to the base camp!" ”

Iizawa Mamoru bowed his head slightly and said, "Please rest assured, Your Excellency General, the lowly will do its best to do a good job in this matter." ”

…………

When Qiao Youhua had just returned to Shimen, a group of political cadres and 3,000 militia soldiers drawn by the political commissar from all over the hinterland of the base area rushed to Jingcheng County and the Liaocheng area.

In addition, Wu Ming also transferred the main forces of his Third Brigade to the south and eastward from Dezhou, Hengshui, Shimen and other places.

In the Battle of Liaocheng, the Longya Column collected nearly 8,000 puppet army prisoners in various parts of the north bank, and was supported by Guo Meng's 3,000 militiamen and a large number of political cadres.

Wu Ming immediately mixed these 8,000 prisoners with 3,000 militia and reorganized them into his third brigade to expand his strength and improve the Yellow River defense line.

Of course, this process is indispensable to ask Qiao Youhua for approval.

With the reorganization of more than 10,000 "recruits," the total strength of the Third Brigade has exceeded 30,000, plus the Dragon's Tooth Guard Regiment is still in the area north of the Yellow River.

In addition, a large number of political cadres actively carried out work and mobilized the masses to organize the militia, so that the new defense line of the Third Brigade was quickly stabilized.

Under the mobilization of political cadres, the people spontaneously helped Wu Ming's troops build various fortifications for free.

The Yellow River's natural danger defense line is being improved little by little.

Half a month later, after inquiring about the situation in Wu Ming's jurisdiction, Qiao Youhua ordered Zheng Yunshan's guard regiment to be transferred back to the base camp.

At this time, Qiao Youhua and Guo Meng and others, after more than half a month of careful discussion, decided to start a new round of reorganization and expansion of the Dragon Tooth Column.