Chapter 567: Autumn Springs Return

All day on 5 January, the North China Dispatch Army Headquarters was busy with the formation of troops to rescue the mountain passes, and the order was given that it was not so easy to withdraw troops from the Datong and Niangziguan fronts, especially on the Datong front, which was originally facing the superior Jin army, its strength was thin, and a division was withdrawn, coupled with continuous combat attrition, the total strength of the Japanese army in the Datong direction was sharply reduced to less than 80,000, but they were facing nearly 300,000 elite troops of the Jin army.

If the Jin army takes a large-scale offensive at this time, the line from Xiwanbao to Huai'an will be broken through, and then, Zhangjiakou will also be difficult to protect, losing this important strategic support point in the west of Pingjin, and the Jin army's troops can be directed to the northwest of Beiping, and the situation in the Pingjin area is worrying.

Xiangyue Qingji kept praying, Amaterasu blessed, Yan Xishan, that old fox, don't provoke a battle at this time, mobilize troops from the direction of Niangzi Pass, he also took a lot of brains, knowing that the opponent on the opposite side is the main force of the independent division, they are not as good at talking as Yan Xishan, if he knows that he will transfer troops, and fight to the death, so that these troops cannot be withdrawn, Xiangyue Qingji absolutely believes.

Therefore, the mobilization of troops in the two battlefields was carried out at night, and in fact, whether it was Zhao Chengshou, the commander of the Datong front in Yan Xishan, or Feng Jiwu on the Niangziguan front, through different channels, they all noticed signs of abnormal movement of the Japanese troops on the opposite side.

Zhao Chengshou made a phone call to Yan Xishan, the old man groaned for a long time, told Zhao Chengshou, optimistic about his own door, the Japanese are scheming, as long as they don't take the initiative to attack, let them toss, Zhao Chengshou is very aware of Commander Yan's intentions, to order the front-line troops, not to move, but also particularly emphasized, increase night observation posts, pay close attention to the movements of the Japanese army.

If you want to say that you have the strength to take the opportunity to attack, it is still the troops in the direction of the Jin army in the same direction, compared with the strength of the Japanese army, more than three to one, and the firepower is not inferior to the Japanese army.

Feng Jiwu was dumb and reported the situation to the division commander, Tang Qiuli called back, don't interfere with the Japanese army's mobilization of troops, the division commander is planning the next battle, and attached the battle plan of the Shexian campaign with the telegram, Feng Jiwu suddenly realized that the division commander began to fight the Japanese army's idea again, otherwise, the Japanese army would never transfer troops from Niangzi Pass so lightly, even if they want to transfer troops, they can't stop, as long as they send two regiments to attack all the way, there is no eight or nine days, and the Japanese army doesn't want to reach the assembly place.

Therefore, Xiangyue Qingji mobilized troops from the battlefields of Datong and Niangziguan, without any interference, it was very smooth, but, the bitterness in his heart, Xiangyue Qingji knew that he was piecing together, and the troops guarding Beiping were almost emptied, and the huge Beiping City, only two brigades of troops were defending, and the strategic rear was so empty that Xiangyue Qingji was scared, who knew that Tang Qiuli, the devil who was used to playing cards out of common sense, could he suddenly wave his troops to attack Beiping?

On 6 January, the Japanese army on the third route finally arrived at the assembly place, Xingtai in southern Hebei, and immediately organized and integrated to form the Second Army of the North China Dispatch Army, the commander of which was Lieutenant General Hiroshi Hirano, the former commander of the Sixth Division, and the Second Army had only one task, that is, to break through the layers of resistance of the Chinese army at any cost and rescue the encircled Yamaguchi troops.

For this reason, the North China Dispatch Army Command specially strengthened the Second Army of Hirano Kora with a chariot wing, two cavalry wings, two field artillery wings, and a heavy artillery wing, for this, Kazuki Kiyoji almost emptied his family, and the last chariot wing of the dispatch army was taken out, this is not the end, Kazuki Kiyoji promised Hirano Kora to coordinate the aviation units of the Kwantung Army, and if necessary, he could send planes to participate in the battle and provide air fire support to the Second Army.

Hirano Hiroshi has confidence in his conscience, Isoya Ryosuke's first army was gathered and annihilated under the city of Xuzhou, leaving a lingering shadow in the hearts of every senior general of the Japanese North China Dispatch Army, Hirano Hiroshi knows that there is no Isoya Ryosuke's strategy, and the strength is less than the original First Army, only 100,000 people are full, and it is also deep in the hinterland of Tang Qiuli's Yellow River defense line, and it is in the rolling Taihang Mountains.

On January 7, after three days of preparation, more than 100,000 people of the newly formed Second Army of the Japanese Army set off from Xingtai in southern Hebei, passed through Handan, and marched in the direction of Shexian, Shexian, since ancient times, it is one of the main passages in and out of the Taihang Mountains, and the winding Qingzhang River flows through the south of the city.

Hirano Hiroshi went out of Xingtai, reversed the routine of rescuing troops as if fighting fires, was particularly cautious, did not rush forward, and spread out the strength of a wing about 10 kilometers in front of the main force, and whenever he encountered a dangerous area, he must first carry out fire reconnaissance, and then, the vanguard troops occupied the high ground on both sides to cover the passage of the large army, so that the speed of the march was bound to be not fast, but it was also very safe.

All the Japanese troops, the strings in their heads were tightened, Handan to Shexian more than 100 kilometers away, walked for three days, to the evening of 9 January, the Japanese army entered Shexian County, a small Shexian County, full of Deng, the streets were full of Japanese soldiers speaking bird language, the headquarters of the Second Army immediately moved into Shexian County, the four gates of Shexian County were tightly closed, the guard was tight, and the appearance of a great enemy.

As soon as the Japanese army came out of Handan, its whereabouts fell into the eyes of the reconnaissance unit of the special operations detachment, and a steady stream of information was gathered to the division command.

It had been three days since the troops entered the ambush position on the south bank of the Qingzhang River on 6 January, and in order not to expose their targets, they could not light fires for cooking, still less could they move at will; the soldiers were lying in the cold trenches, withstanding the biting cold wind, eating dry food with ice ballast, and their bodies were not warm at all.

Moreover, if the Japanese army marched in such a way, the idea of the troops ambushing the troops in a dangerous area would inevitably fail, and the exchange of fire with the vanguard of the Japanese army would inevitably alarm the main forces of the Japanese army behind, and once the Japanese army retreated, the carefully prepared ambush battle would come to naught.

Tang Qiuli fell into deep thought, and learned that the Japanese army had entered the county seat of Shexian County, he couldn't help but become anxious, Shexian and the south bank of the Qingzhang River, a few steps away, tomorrow, the vanguard of the Japanese army, will encounter the ambush troops, if this problem is not solved tonight, it will be a frontal resistance battle, the idea of annihilating most of the Japanese army, will be frustrated, and the meaning of besieging Sankou will be lost, this is not the result he wants.

After dinner, he looked at the map, thinking hard about the safest way, Mei Ting sat quietly on the chair, looking at her husband with a frown, her dark eyes, as his figure turned back and forth, secretly hating that she couldn't share her husband's worries, the only thing she could do was to keep pouring out the herbal tea and continue to pour hot boiling water.

There was a sound of hurried footsteps outside, the mountain tiger broke in, panting, Tang Qiuli turned his head in surprise, the mountain tiger rarely saw this kind of look, what happened? Without waiting for him to ask, Shanhu said thoughtlessly: "Xiaoqiu, you're back, you're back" Tang Qiu was confused, what was back, and he called himself by his nickname.

"Brother Qiuquan, Brother Qiuquan, they're back" Shanhu finally made it clear, Tang Qiuli heard this, his heart beat violently a few times, Brother Qiuquan, they are back? It's really great news, I left everything behind at that time, and hurriedly ran out with the mountain tiger, leaving Mei Ting helplessly looking at Tang Qiuli's cotton clothes on the bed, and then ran out with her.

In a warm room, Tang Qiuquan was sitting on a chair drinking water, and when he saw Tang Qiuli coming in, he immediately stood up, "Report to the division commander, Tang Qiuquan, the leader of the special operations detachment, complete the task, and now return to the team" Tang Qiuli took Qiuquan's hand and looked at his cousin carefully.

Since Tang Qiuquan went to the Northeast, he has lost contact for about five months, during this time, too many things have happened, coupled with frequent and tense battles, facing the pressure of nearly a million Japanese troops, Tang Qiuli has no more energy to think about Brother Qiuquan who is alone behind the enemy, but when he has a little leisure, he is really worried in his heart, although he knows that with Brother Qiuquan and the troops he leads, there will be no danger, but there has been no news, and he can't rest assured.

Brother Qiuquan was obviously emaciated, with the wind and frost of the long journey on his face, only those eyes, still so sharp, and the murderous aura on his body was even stronger, Tang Qiuli took his hand, sat side by side on the edge of the kang, and looked at Qiuquan with an eager face, as for knowing how he and more than 900 soldiers of the special operations detachment and the guard brigade had spent the past five months.

The commander of the Kwantung Army, General Minamijiro, ordered the Manchurian border to be tightly sealed, and set up a special force to pursue all the way, followed by two wings of motorized infantry, like mad dogs, biting tightly, Qiuquan considered returning directly to the south, and there were many difficulties, so he simply led the Japanese pursuit force to the direction of North Manchuria, all the way to the Heilongjiang area on the Sino-Soviet border.

In the dense forests around the Tongjiang River, Qiuquan set up an ambush circle and fought a bloody battle with the Japanese special forces who tracked him, and at the cost of 31 casualties, he killed all the Japanese soldiers who had always bitten behind him.

Although Qiuquan said it very plainly, everyone here knows that in this simple narrative, I don't know how many thrilling stories, how many hardships and dangers and bloody battles again and again, but finally returned safely, so that Tang Qiuli's heart that had always hung finally landed.

(To be continued)