That night, hundreds of thousands of soldiers of the Eighth Route Army and the Longya Column inside and outside Tianjin celebrated the victory of the Pingjin Campaign and the recovery of Pingjin, the two most prosperous, largest and most important cities in North China.

Countless people from the two places also spontaneously participated in the celebration that night, and the soldiers and civilians rejoiced together, and the cheers resounded in the sky, and they could be faintly heard for dozens of miles from far and near.

Qiao Youhua, Ma Biao, Wu Ming, Jiang Haidong, Zuo Quan, Li Yunlong, Zhou Dasheng, Liu Yidao, Ma Yiming, Ma Shoutian and other major generals of the Longya Column and the reinforcements of the Eighth Route Army gathered together in a restaurant in Tianjin.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the battle of Pingjin was completely won, thanks to all the brothers and brothers here who fought bloodily with tens of millions of soldiers under their command, not afraid of life and death, today, Qiao is here to give you a drink!" Qiao Youhua wore a neat military uniform, his face was radiant, and he stood in the first place and took the lead in holding his wine glass.

Everyone raised their wine glasses one after another, and said with a smile on their faces: "Haha, what the commander said is too much of an award, although this battle has the merits of the officers and men of the three armies, but without the commander and the chief of staff to coordinate the overall situation and deploy the battle plan, we will not be able to win!" ”

"Haha, let's stop being polite to each other, let's do this drink first!" Ma Biao laughed.

"Master Ma is right, let's do it first as a respect, why can't we let the commander toast us!" Ma Yunlong, commander of the heavy artillery brigade, and Zhou Zhibing, commander of the air defense brigade, said: "Yes, come, do it!" ”

Everyone picked up their wine glasses, raised their heads and drank them all, Qiao Youhua glanced at Zuo Quan with a smile and said: "Chief of Staff, since the brothers are gracious, then let's not hold it, hurry up!" ”

Zuo Quan was also infected by the warm atmosphere, and immediately nodded: "Okay, do it!" The two of them also drank it all with their heads up, and after drinking, they looked at each other and laughed, and their joy was beyond words.

Taking advantage of the gap when the orderly soldiers poured wine for them, Qiao Youhua said again: "Brothers, tonight is our celebration banquet for winning Pingjin, you don't have to keep the amount, you can drink heartily, come to him and get drunk!" ”

"Good !!" Everyone applauded in unison, and the atmosphere of the scene boiled to the peak for a while.

The next day, Liu Jianhua, who had set off overnight, took the lead in sending the troops north from Tianjin, and arrived outside Tangshan County in a hurry in only one night, at this time the Japanese army here had already been evacuated, and there were only a small number of old and weak soldiers of the puppet army left in the city.

After taking Tangshan without much effort, Liu Jianhua immediately sent a tank battalion and an infantry battalion, all of which rode armored vehicles to Jixian and Tongzhou.

He personally led the main force to continue to march towards Qinhuangdao, because the main elite of the Japanese puppet army in North China was completely annihilated by the dragon's tooth column in the Battle of Pingjin, so the entire northern Hebei and eastern Hebei regions can be said to have no formed Japanese army or a puppet army with combat power.

In the face of Liu Jianhua's advance corps artillery, tanks and armored vehicles, they were naturally invincible, and those who could not escape surrendered on the spot.

As a result, the advance corps commanded by Liu Jianhua was like a bamboo, and in just three days, it successively recovered Tangshan, Qinhuangdao, Jixian, Tongzhou and other places in northeastern Hebei, and the troops pointed directly at Shanhaiguan.

As early as three days ago, the news of the defeat and retreat of the North China Front had already been transmitted back to the Japanese Kwantung Army in Japan and outside the Kanto Army, and the whole country was shocked, and the current Prime Minister Nobuyuki Abe took the blame and resigned, and the Abe Cabinet collapsed and was dissolved.

Japan's military circles are considering the election of Fumima Konoe as the new prime minister to reshuffle the cabinet, but this will take time.

At this critical juncture, the Japanese emperor heeded the advice of Ishihara Wanji and Seishiro Itagaki and other high-ranking officials of the General Staff Headquarters, and gave an order to Hideki Tojo, commander of the Kwantung Army stationed in Manchukuo, asking him to immediately mobilize the elite of the powerful imperial army south to Jinzhou and take over the defense of Shanhaiguan.

to ensure the security of the western Liaoning corridor and curb the counteroffensive momentum of the Dragon's Tooth Column.

The emperor personally ordered that the current commander-in-chief of the Kwantung Army, Senior General Hideki Tojo, was naturally not willing to slack off, and hurriedly convened a group of his senior staff members to discuss countermeasures.

Lieutenant General Hyotaro Kimura, chief of staff of the Kwantung Army, and Major General Saburo Hahiko, deputy chief of staff, were all present.

Hideki Tojo was dressed in a clean and neat military uniform, with a golden epaulette representing the rank of general on his shoulders, he had a thick beard, his face was gloomy, not angry and arrogant, he sat at the head of an oval conference table, his eyes swept over the staff and senior staff members present, and then asked: "Ladies and gentlemen, Tianjin has been lost, the North China Front has been defeated, hundreds of thousands of troops have been wiped out, and the acting commander and chief of staff are seriously injured and in a coma.

At this point, North China is no longer owned by the Imperial Army, and His Majesty the Emperor has sent a telegram ordering our Kwantung Army to immediately send troops south to seize Shanhaiguan Pass and curb the momentum of the counteroffensive of the Chinese people. ”

Hearing this, a group of senior staff members and chiefs of staff whispered and discussed, and after a while, Deputy Chief of Staff Qin Yan Saburo took the initiative to stand up and said: "Your Excellency, Commander, I believe that we should obey His Majesty's will and immediately send troops to seize Shanhaiguan.

Because from a strategic point of view, Shanhaiguan is in a dangerous terrain and holds the only way to enter and exit North China and Western Liaoning, no matter how far our war with the Chinese army will develop in the future, Shanhaiguan will definitely become a place for both sides! This, I think, will definitely be thought of by the command of the Chinese Army.

Therefore, it is urgent to strengthen the defense force of Shanhaiguan. ”

After listening to Tojo Hideki, he did not say no, but turned his gaze to the chief of staff, Lieutenant General Kimura Hyotaro, Kimura Hyotaro noticed Tojo Hideki's gaze, and quickly said his opinion: "Your Excellency, General, I think that what Qin Yanjun said is very true, whether it is the Zhina Army going north to go out of the pass in the future, or the imperial army re-attacking North China, Shanhaiguan is very important, so we must strengthen the defense of Shanhaiguan as soon as possible.

It's late, I'm afraid that Shanhaiguan will be the first to be climbed by the Chinese army. ”

After hearing this, Hideki Tojo nodded and said, "Since both of you think so, then according to His Majesty's will of the Emperor, send troops immediately." ”

Major General Qin Yan Sanlang hurriedly said: "General, the 12th Division is in Tianjin, you can immediately send them a telegram and order them to quickly move south along the railway line, and at the same time, you can order the garrisons in Huludao and other places to quickly rush to the nearest Shanhaiguan to strengthen the defense forces inside and outside the pass, so as to wait for the arrival of the 12th Division!" ”

"Yo Xi, just do what you said the deputy chief of staff, and you will be personally responsible for the overall deployment of this matter!" Hideki Tojo nodded in agreement.