In North China, the Eighth Route Army's August Storm operation was still in full swing.

At first, Okamura also suspected that the Eighth Route Army was deliberately bluffing, and the main force might have been transferred to other areas, so he also launched a special offensive to test it.

"The Shimomura Division has launched an offensive in the eastern direction of Hebei with the cooperation of the First Army and the Twelfth Army, but what is the result, Umejin-kun, I think you also know.

- The Shimomura Division was ambushed by the main forces of the Eighth Route Army, including the First Army and the Twelfth Army, all of which were defeated by the fierce offensive of the elite of the main forces of the Eighth Route Army.

In that battle, a considerable number of troops were clearly mobilized in eight directions.

How could their main elite not be in North China? ”

After a moment of silence, Umezu Mijiro suddenly said: "Then is it possible that it was only the remaining troops of the Eighth Route Army that defeated the Shimomura Division, and even some local army troops, and you mistook them for the main elite of the Eighth Route Army?" ”

Okamura said: "So the local troops of the Eighth Route can even easily defeat your elite division of the Kwantung Army?" ”

You must know that the Shimomura Division is an elite division of the Kwantung Army.

“……”

Umezu Mijiro was speechless.

The situation continues to evolve.

While Umezu Mijiro and Okamura were frightened by the strength of the attack group advancing on the central line of the Eighth Route Army, the offensive of the advancing troops on the southern front of the Eighth Route Army continued.

The scale of the troops that unfolded immediately made even the little devils on the front line reconnaissance dumbfounded.

How many troops are there?

"Chief, sir, there are too many, there are offensive troops of the Eighth Route everywhere, and they have a considerable number of mechanized combat vehicles, all over the mountains, and they can't be counted at all.

In just one line of defense of our department, there were at least ten regiments on the eighth line of attack.

And there are at least a dozen nodal defense lines like ours in our army, and almost at the same time, all of them were fiercely attacked by the Eighth Route Army! ”

After hearing the news, Umezu Mijiro sat down in the command center.

Okamura, who also received the news, muttered to himself: "In 40 years, in 40 years, the Eighth Route suddenly launched an unprecedented scale of sabotage operations against the cage blockade created by our army in North China, which was called the Battle of the Hundred Regiments.

At that time, the Eighth Route Army had not yet risen completely, its equipment was relatively backward, and ammunition was scarce, but even at that time, they still gathered more than 100 regiments and nearly 400,000 troops, which completely turned the entire North China upside down.

Now it has been almost four years, and the Eighth Route has risen rapidly in recent years, the base area has grown rapidly and steadily, and the equipment has developed amazingly, who knows to what extent their troops have grown? ”

In fact, in recent years, the Japanese army has also been trying to figure out the specific data on the size of the Eighth Route Army, the relevant intelligence departments have been making efforts, and the front-line reconnaissance units are constantly gathering data.

The inferred numbers have been on the rise.

The New Fourth Army in the south will not be mentioned for the time being.

After the end of the Hundred Regiments War in 41, at the military meeting of the headquarters of the Chinese Dispatch Army, the previous commander-in-chief of the Chinese Dispatch Army, Junroku Hatata, said: "The Eighth Route Army in the occupied area is growing stronger and stronger, and now it has become a major problem for the empire.

It is initially estimated that the total strength of the Eighth Route Army in North China is likely to be nearly 500,000.

The focus of our army's follow-up operations will gradually shift from the frontal battlefield to the sweep of the Eighth Route Army in the occupied area.

We must thoroughly suppress the development of the Eighth Route Army, and we must not sit idly by and watch it grow. ”

This data may not be accurate, but it is not bad, after all, during the Battle of the Hundred Regiments, the Eighth Route Army gathered nearly 400,000 troops in one go.

Of course, these 400,000 troops, in addition to the main combat units in the base areas, also include many local army units and militia units that have been mobilized rapidly.

There are even many ordinary people who have volunteered to help.

It's really a soldier for all.

Later, in 41 and 42 years, in order to suppress the Eighth Route Army, the Japanese army set off one brutal sweep after another behind enemy lines in North China.

The construction of the base areas of the Eighth Route Army has also ushered in the most difficult period for the development of the troops.

A series of factors, such as the military blockade by devils outside, the growing strength of the troops inside, the shortage of logistical materials, and the inability of agricultural productivity to keep up, have led to the fact that the base areas cannot make ends meet, and the troops can only continue to shrink and downsize their troops in order to reduce the financial and logistical pressure.

Therefore, in the past two years, the total strength of the Eighth Route Army has not only not increased, but even decreased.

In the team, only the team led by generals like Kong Jie, Li Yunlong, Ding Wei and other generals broke the deadlock, and even under the pressure of the devil's blockade, they were still further expanding the base area and expanding the troops.

By the end of 42 years, the Eighth Route Army, which was dominated by a team, took the lead in breaking through the blockade of the devils, and quickly led the economic development and the growth of the base area.

The Eighth Route Army as a whole is also like a big snowball, rolling up completely, changing with each passing day.

After the rapid harvest of all kinds of high-yield crops, including potatoes, rice, and wheat, the base areas had a solid grain foundation, and the soldiers no longer had to go hungry, and the fundamental shackles that restricted the development of the size of the army were broken.

The hot-blooded youths in the major base areas, guerrilla areas, including the areas occupied by devils, and even the nationalized areas responded one after another and actively joined the army.

The main force of the Eighth Route Army, the local army units, including the militia units, ushered in an almost explosive growth.

So by the middle of 43, the Japanese Army Intelligence and Statistics Department reluctantly pointed out:

The Eighth Route Army may already have an army of one million.

Including the August Storm Operation set off by the Eighth Route Army in North China, troops from all over the country attacked one after another, and the Japanese army was disturbed.

This also further proves that the scale of the main force of the Eighth Route Army has developed to a considerable extent.

However, Okamura still underestimated the speed of development of the Eighth Route Army after all.

"So far, the main force of the Eighth Route has attacked the central and southern fronts of western Manchuria, and the number of troops displayed before and after has far exceeded 300,000.

General, how exactly did they do it?

North China launched such a large-scale offensive, and the entire Central and South China regions were completely beaten into a pot of porridge.

The Eighth Route had to launch both an offensive and defend a large area of the base.

Now that these hundreds of thousands of troops are suddenly advancing to the western defense line, they are crazy, do they want to completely abandon the large base areas in North China and transfer all the main forces to the north? ”

Okamura was also in turmoil at this time.

The chief of staff of the devil pointed out sharply: "If the Eighth Route wants to defeat the Kwantung Army, it will definitely gather the most elite combat troops.

The battle in the western defense zone has completely begun, and the main offensive force of the Eighth Route has also surfaced.

In this way, the defensive forces of the major base areas of the Eighth Route Army in North China will inevitably be in an unprecedented state of emptiness.

General, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! ”

Okamura was silent for a long time, and then sighed bitterly: "The equipment level of the Eighth Route Army has now been thoroughly developed, in all fairness, even if the main force of the Eighth Route Army is not in the base area, their local army units and even militia units, if they use these sophisticated equipment, and then rely on the powerful terrain of the base area to carry out an attack."

It was also very difficult for our army to completely wipe out the large base areas of the Eighth Route Army.

It will inevitably invest a lot of manpower and material resources, not to mention the huge consumption, and the goal will not be achieved in a short period of time.

If we fail to achieve a final victory and completely collect the military industry and agricultural materials developed in the base areas of the Eighth Route Army, the gains in this battle will outweigh the losses. ”

I think that when he Okamura was transferred from Kuah Island to be the commander of the Sixth Front Army, he was also sharp and unstoppable.

The launch of the No. 1 operation plan shook the whole world.

The Battle of Yuxianggui defeated Chiang's army one after another, directly breaking the international discourse that the Japanese army was already declining and that the skills of the donkey were exhausted.

At that time, Okamura was so high-spirited.

But now, he looks like a gambler who is about to lose all his gambling money.

I have long lost my initial courage and self-confidence, and even my determination has been lost.

Even if he knew that the main elite of the Eighth Route Army was not in the base area behind enemy lines in North China.

What can it be?

Does he still have such courage in Okamura, or does the Chinese dispatch army still have such a background, withstanding the offensive of the Central Army on the frontal battlefield in the south, the offensive of the Tang Keqin Group Army in the northern Henan battlefield, and the situation in a mess after the Eighth Route Army launched Operation August Storm in the entire North China Battlefield.

- Do you bet all your bets on an attack on the base areas behind enemy lines of the Eighth Route Army, which are empty?

"That will only hasten the fall of the Empire!"

Okamura said helplessly, it was almost predictable.

"Now, General, what else can we do?"

The chief of staff of the devil asked a little dejectedly, and he also recognized the reality.

To be honest, he has no confidence in the base of the Eighth Route Army at all.

"What else can I do, take one step at a time, and it can be delayed for a day!"

Okamura waved his hand weakly: "The main force of the Eighth Route Army is not in North China, and the August Storm Operation set off by the Eighth Route is really just a bluff.

Shrink back all the unnecessary forces, stick to the main county towns and communication lines, and draw out the surplus forces to find a way to reinforce Manchuria.

The No. 1 battle plan can be suspended, and the national army on the frontal battlefield can be stabilized.

Assist Shimomura, Ishida, Fukuyama, Okada and other Kwantung Army divisions to return to reinforcements.

Manchuria must not afford to lose, this is our final bottom line! ”

"Hey!"

Puppet Manchurian Western Theater of Operations.

The confrontation between the attacking troops of the Central Line of the Eighth Route Army and the attacking troops of the Southern Front and the Japanese army intensified, and soon entered a white heat.

As the battle continued to expand, the central and southern fronts were completely connected.

The entire puppet Manchuria, the entire Sino-Japanese battlefield, and even the entire international community were almost entirely attracted to this battle.

Under such a great cover.

The headquarters of the Northern Attack Group, composed of generals such as Kong Jie, Li Yunlong, and Ding Wei, followed the main force of mobile operations and followed the established northward interspersed curve, avoiding the Japanese defense line as much as possible all the way, and making a detour to the northern part of the Daxing'an Mountains.

Occasionally, when encountering the inevitable Japanese defense line, he carried out a surprise attack with a small group of mechanized combat elites, further paralyzing the judgment of the Japanese army, and making the devils believe that it was only a small group of elites of the Eighth Route that broke through to the north.

At the same time, the whole unit made sufficient camouflage, and the motorized search and alert force with minimal movement took the lead, avoiding the Japanese defense line, and marched on the uninhabited wide grassland.

Non-stop march.

Although the strength of the entire northern attack group was much smaller than that of the central and southern attack groups, the overall superiority in mechanized combat was brought into full play.

A variety of mechanized combat vehicles with four wheels.

There are also armored vehicles and tanks traveling on tracks, as well as bicycles with two cages, and even lone bikes on one wheel, including war horses and all kinds of horse-drawn carts ridden by various troops.

Basically, there are no teams that walk on two feet.

The speed of the march was quite astonishing, to put it mildly, it was really a thousand miles in a day and eight hundred miles in a night.

At about 10 o'clock in the morning of the next day, the team successfully arrived at the northern border of the Great Khing'an Mountains, successfully arrived at the northern province of Xing'an in the puppet Manchuria, and then crossed Amugulang and advanced in the direction of the Hailar fortress group.

At this time, the operational focus of the entire Kwantung Army was basically placed on the defense areas of the central and southern fronts.

When the offensive of mechanized armored forces suddenly began.

Everywhere you attack along the way, you will be devastated.

The northern part of the Great Khing'an Mountains, after passing the mountain range, is basically unobstructed, and the flat and open plain terrain is really too suitable for the cluster development of mechanized combat troops.

When hundreds of armored vehicles and tanks swept in.

The little devils stationed in the defense line swore that this was definitely a shocking scene they had never seen in their lives, and it was also the last scene they could see.

Completely one-sided crushing!

Push all the way!

In the words of Chu Yunfei, who followed up: "This is not like a battle at all, it is more like a one-sided slaughter!" ”

Kong Jie said: "Murderers are always killed, since the little devils invaded our China, how many of our innocent compatriots have died tragically, and how many hot-blooded sons have died under their butcher's knives."

Until now, we are afraid that we have not even recovered any interest.

The aggressor does not deserve any cruelty.

If we can't kill him, what are we going to do here?

The despicable and lowly people should teach them the truth of life with their blood! ”

The cold but heroic words are completely inconsistent with the image of the low-key and honest Kong Jie in Su Ri.

Chu Yunfei nodded heavily.

By midday, under the steely assault of the northern assault group led by Kong Jie, the mechanized armored forces pushed all the way to the outside of the fortified fortress group in the military and political core of Hailar.

The heavy artillery roared incessantly.

Armored forces made a roundabout advance.

Accompanied by a heavy blow of fire from the air.

The outright outbreak of the offensive was like a thunderclap that spread across the entire continent, shaking the entire Sino-Japanese battlefield.

When the commander of the Kwantung Army, Umezu Mijiro, received the news, the Hailar fortress Joan was close to collapse and lose the situation, and looking at the situation of the Eighth Route Army's troops on the third line on the military map, Umezu Mijiro realized the determination and ambition of the Eighth Route Army to advance north this time.

They had a great plan, which was to tear the whole of Manchuria into two parts.

"Hailar Fortress Group to the north, Qiqihar area on the central line, and Rehe on the southern line.

The three points are completely connected to the western dividing line of Manchuria, and in this way, half of the occupied area of our Kwantung Army will be completely lost! ”