Zhou Youfu's troops had just beaten the rescue force of Shunroku Hata, who had arrived from Guangxi, and the forward was not too far from Saigon. But Japanese rescue troops are arriving from Korea, mainland China and Taiwan, and some have already landed in Nha Trang.

Lao Zhou studied the intention of the tips, the core of success or failure lies in deceiving the enemy, in fact, from beginning to end, the core of Chu Tingchang's battle is deception. Lao Zhou knows it well.

In order to create the illusion of attacking Saigon, he deliberately brought Ho Chi Minh, who had been working closely with him in recent times, to discuss with him the strategy of dividing and attacking together. Now that no one restrains Lao Zhou, he does almost whatever he wants. In order to deceive Shunroku Hatata, he felt that he had to start by deceiving Ho Chi Minh. Using the Vietnamese guerrillas to entangle the enemy as much as possible, to create a false impression for the enemy, it is better to play a trick to the fullest, he could not sacrifice his own people, and decided to let Ho Chi Minh go to the top tank. During the talks, the atmosphere was harmonious, and Zhou Youfu agreed to Ho Chi Minh's lion's big mouth, promising to use heavy firepower to clear the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City, but let Ho Chi Minh's troops enter Saigon first.

For the South Vietnamese guerrillas, they were originally just sitting on the ground and raising prices, but they didn't expect pie to fall from the sky. The Chinese army even agreed to fight for them, and they were the ones who picked the fruit in the end. If Ho Chi Minh knew about Zhou Youfu's past behavior, he should keep an eye on it. But for him, the seizure of Saigon meant rapid legitimacy and international recognition, and he knew that the Americans were still in Hue to make contact with Baoda, so Lao Zhou's offer was irresistible. After leaving Zhou Youfu's headquarters, Ho Chi Minh began to plan to return to his hometown.

The preparations were not just military, as Ho Chi Minh's cadre Le Duan, who knew a bit about politics, had already planned to change the name of Saigon and use Ho Chi Minh's name. In this way, it can be the first time, creating a fait accompli. In the next step, you can also use Zhou Youfu to go north to Hue and eliminate Emperor Baoda. At present, Japan, the United States, and France are all striving for this puppet, which is definitely the biggest obstacle to the cause of Vietnam's national liberation.

Of course, in order to increase the combat effectiveness of the Vietnamese guerrillas, Lao Zhou generously gave several thousand old guns captured from the Japanese and French.

The headquarters of the old Southern Army in Da Lat is being reorganized. Some troops arrived from North Korea and the mainland, as well as from Taiwan. He may go ashore in Da Nang, Nha Trang, and Saigon separately, so that his forces will be greatly enhanced. Therefore, in order to make the play sufficient, he deliberately strengthened the armed forces of the Vietnamese guerrillas. Don't be stingy at this time.

The Japanese army's hasty retreat was seen by the Vietnamese guerrillas, and it seemed that Hata Junlu was going to withdraw to Da Lat, using Nha Trang as the main supply port, waiting for the troops to assemble, while Saigon and the delta in the south were quite empty. The Japanese army seemed to be very jealous, the mobility of the Chinese army, and the narrow terrain of Vietnam, which was very easy to be divided and surrounded, so Shunroku Hahata was not prepared to defend Saigon.

According to information obtained by Viet Minh intelligence officers, only some French troops remained in Saigon and the lower Mekong region, and the security forces nominally subordinate to the Bao Dai Emperor and controlled by Ngo Dinh Diem, the secretary of the Bao Dai court.

After obtaining this latest information, Ho Chi Minh decided to play a trick and deliberately delayed the information in the hands of Zhou Youfu, he felt that since there were no enemy troops in Saigon, he could easily seize it with his 10,000 guns, there was no need to take risks, and let Zhou Youfu carry out a surprise attack, he was worried that the Chinese army might not leave. Wouldn't it be better if Zhou Youfu abandoned Saigon and the delta rice area, followed the rugged mountainous terrain, and went north all the way to Guangxi, China, and regained the lost territory in the back and picked up ready-made?

Of course, when Ho Chi Minh had a ghost in his heart and daydreamed. Zhou Youfu completed the last assault, and after the advance entered Vietnamese territory, the main force suddenly turned westward, leaving only one battalion on the border, responsible for monitoring the Japanese and Viet Minh guerrillas.

His rash betrayal of the Vietminh this time will cause some unexpected losses. The U.S. submarine had just secretly transported a group into Saigon, preparing to take advantage of the Allied forces entering Saigon to contact Ngo Dinh Diem, and through him to contact the court of Shangbao Da.

In the minds of Americans, Ho Chi Minh is definitely not a long-term candidate to work with. Of course, this operation was hidden from Chu Tingchang, and Zhou Youfu had no way of knowing, and it seemed that the timing was just right in the Strategic Intelligence Bureau, and it was expected that there would be no trouble in attacking Saigon, and the French army would definitely not resist. When the Chinese army entered Saigon, they took advantage of the situation to assign new puppets in Hue and tore their faces with the Communists-controlled Viet Minh forces. This group is bound to become the first victim of the Japanese counteroffensive.

At the same time, the 5 divisions besieging the Yamashita group, according to the command of Zhou Youfu, opened a gap and allowed the enemy to flee back to Phnom Penh. Due to the presence of drones, 419 judged the signs that the enemy was about to break through very early, and Qin Xiaosu was able to get a very precise time of action through the analysis of the enemy's telegrams. Although the enemy no longer reveals key information on the radio, the coordination of the grassroots troops before the offensive will always leak all kinds of tricks. For intelligence analysts in the 21st century, these chaotic details of operations can play a role in corroborating each other and finding the enemy's intentions.

Yamashita originally stayed here, pretending to be a trapped beast, originally just to contain the Chinese army and buy time for the landing in Bangkok, but now seeing that Itagaki's plan has failed, he can only fall to Shunroku Hata's plan. Although he felt at a loss as to what to do between the two commands of Dalat and Singapore, he was confident that he could easily break through.

During the night, the Japanese began shelling in all directions as planned, and the Japanese air force also made a rare night sortie to bomb some of the oil depots, as well as key roads and bridges in areas where they guessed that the Chinese troops were stationed. The bombing used a new night raid tactic, in which one medium bomber dropped flares, followed by the rest of the light bombers.

The bombing destroyed only a few roads and did little to do so. However, the remaining 40,000 Japanese troops managed to break through the defenses and escape from the mountains. This breakthrough was close to perfection in organization, and after opening the breach, the troops attacked on both sides to capture the key commanding heights, while the rear troops took the opportunity to break through without any confusion. The Chinese army attacked with heavy artillery, but because there were too many recruits, it was not suitable for night battles, and there was no ground offensive.

Phnom Penh has a river port that opens to the sea, so this is the only place Yamashita to go and doesn't need to be judged.

The Chinese army did not hurry to catch up and did not show speed. The troops under the mountain are composed of two veteran divisions, and they still can't swallow them in one bite before Zhou Youfu's troops arrive.

Yamashita Fengwen destroyed the road all the way and retreated to Phnom Penh, knowing that there was no enemy in Phnom Penh, and one of his brigades on the periphery had just returned there.

In the next step, he could only carry out Shunroku Hatata's plan, first lead his troops along the Mekong River to the Mekong Triangle (Dongou Peninsula) in southern Vietnam, and wait for Shunroku Hata in the north to complete the buildup of troops. It was expected that the enemy might temporarily capture Saigon (which was the shortest offensive route for Zhou Youfu) and thus cut off the whole of Vietnam, which was expected to add a lot of festive atmosphere to the upcoming conference in Cairo. However, as long as he is on the Jinou Peninsula, he can get supplies from the sea, and the enemy's supply lines span India, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, so it is obvious that he cannot maintain too many troops. Once he and several divisions of Shunroku Hata attacked from the north and south, he could naturally recapture Saigon.

After a day and a night of marching, the disorganized Japanese army finally returned to Phnom Penh. King Sihanouk and Major General Koyama of the 54th Brigade greeted the return of the disgraced imperial army outside the city.

King Norodom has been tired of running for a while now, and he has been sending people from all walks of life, and after a while, Zhou Youfu's troops will come over and loot Phnom Penh and the palace; After a while, the Japanese came back again, and beside him, the pro-Japanese ministers who were not popular were copied and encouraged him to go out of the city to meet the imperial army. Unexpectedly, Zhou Youfu, who escaped every few days, relied on an airport to slow down for seven days, and then called back again, and the pro-Western courtiers around him urged him to go out of the city again to welcome the allies into the city. It's been going on and on several times.

He couldn't remember how many times it was, but in short, the Japanese had returned, and he was already familiar with this set, so he put away the chess pieces of "welcoming the Allied forces to expel the Japanese invaders", replaced them with the banner of "Long live the common prosperity of Greater East Asia", and led his ministers out to welcome the imperial army into the city. The king would love to see how many more times he tossed back and forth.

After Yamashita Fengwen led his troops into the city, he appeased the king very perfunctorily. He knew he was about to run, and the time came for the wall grass to welcome the Allies into the city.

His command, immediately proceeded to count the boats, the number was obviously insufficient, but his troops were known for their mobility, and could move along the river on foot or bicycle, and he immediately assigned the way forward and prepared to evacuate in separate groups.

According to the intelligence, Zhou Youfu is rushing to Saigon and will not interfere with his retreat for the time being. The enemy who followed closely, except for the 200th Division, the rest of the troops were still relatively immature and did not dare to chase too closely. Especially when retreating, he destroyed all communications and bridges along the way, expecting the enemy to arrive a day or two late.

In Phnom Penh, no gasoline was found, but the Dong Sari Lake fleet sent a large number of bicycles (after the Malay campaign, a large number of bicycles were hoarded in Da Lat, Vietnam, as a strategic reserve). This is something he desperately needs, and he quickly distributes it.

Kimura, the commander of the 4th Division, told a military meeting that his troops were too tired to use waterways and could not ride bicycles, so Yamashita agreed that the 4th Division would give priority to the river boats and head south. The 5th Division retreated on horseback.

The commander of the Kimura division himself boarded the first cargo ship and was considered a pioneer. The Mekong River valley is no longer safe, and a guerrilla force composed of underage baby soldiers bought by the US military has been operating downstream recently, and this grass gang under the command of Wang Bao has become more and more emboldened, and before that, it only robbed civilian merchant ships from time to time, and even robbed Japanese ships after obtaining weapons such as machine guns and rocket launchers. A few days ago, they robbed a boatload of Japanese expatriates and comfort women who had fled Phnom Penh, and the Xiaoshan Brigade swept several times without finding a trace.

Of course, Lieutenant General Matsujiro Kimura did not believe that his fleet loaded with the main force of the Japanese army would be attacked, and most of his fleet was a French-made 1,000-ton inland river transport ship used to transport rice. The draft is not deep, and it looks quite big. He ordered the machine guns to be deployed to the sides. If there are really bandits who don't open their eyes and dare to approach, then you're welcome.