The communications staff officer continued.

"Commander, the telegram sent by the North China Front Headquarters also said that the main force of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army is marching north in three groups!"

"The main force of the first Eighth Route Army is about 60,000 people, and it is heading north along Baijin Road, and the goal is Taiyuan!"

"The main force of the second Eighth Route Army is about 40,000 people, and the target is Shouyang!"

"The main force of the third Eighth Route Army is about 40,000 people, and the target is Yangquan!"

"According to the reconnaissance plane's reconnaissance situation, the first main force of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army has four artillery wings, and the second and third main forces of the Eighth Route Army are all three artillery wings."

The North China Front had transmitted all the information it had detected to the headquarters of the First Army.

"Nani?"

"The 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army dispatched 140,000 main forces and 10 artillery wings?"

Iwamatsu Yoshio's heart that had just fallen suddenly rose again.

The strength of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army and the size of the artillery unit were basically twice that of the First Army.

If it were to fight in the field, the First Army would definitely not be the opponent of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army.

However, the First Army was in a defensive position, and if the Eighth Route Army wanted to destroy the First Army, it had to dispatch at least 3 to 5 times the strength of the First Army to have a chance to destroy the First Army.

Iwamatsu Yoshio secretly sighed that the strength of the Eighth Route Army of the 129th Division had skyrocketed in the past two years.

In the past, although the Eighth Route Army in the southeast of Jin Province had a large number of troops, its equipment was not good, and the ammunition was pitiful.

An infantry wing of the First Army was able to enter the base area of the Eighth Route Army in the southeast of Jin.

But now, the troops of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army have dared to go north unscrupulously, and the First Army has nothing to do.

Of course, the main force of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army is definitely stronger in combat effectiveness than the National Army.

However, in terms of the quality of individual soldiers, it is still incomparable with the Japanese army.

After all, the troops of the 129th Division have been expanded in the past two years, and the soldiers were all out-and-out peasants before they joined the war, and their training time was not long, and they did not fight a decent battle.

However, after the 129th Division fought several major battles and adapted to the operations of the large corps, its overall combat effectiveness will inevitably improve by leaps and bounds.

"Your Excellency, Commander..."

"I think that the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army, like the previous northward movements, must have a strategic intention of providing cover and assistance for the new regiment of the Eighth Route Army attacking the 1st Division."

The chief of staff, Hanaya Masa, who had called the 1st Cavalry Brigade and gave the order, came over and said.

Several operational staff officers of the First Army were already working on the map according to the words of the communications staff officers, drawing arrows representing the northward movement of the Eighth Route Army.

Iwamatsu Yoshio nodded: "But you can't be careless, order the 37th Division and the 33rd Division to immediately switch to a defensive state!" ”

The main force of the 37th Division has been assembled in Yangquan.

The main forces of the 33rd Division have been assembled in Shouyang.

Because of the telegram from Pangolin, the Japanese army thought that the Eighth Route Army was going to gather heavy troops to attack Taiyuan, so the 33rd Division and the 37th Division were ready to reinforce Taiyuan at any time.

Iwamatsu Yoshio secretly rejoiced, fortunately, General Okamura Ninji only transferred the 1st Cavalry Brigade to reinforce the 1st Division of Datong.

If one or two more divisions were drawn from the 1st Army to reinforce Datong, the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army would definitely attack Taiyuan.

Hanayamasa: "Hey! ”

Then, Hanaya was holding a pen and paper and began to prepare telegrams to the 33rd and 37th Divisions.

Iwamatsu Yoshio looked at Yangquan City and Shouyang County on the map, his eyes contemplative.

The danger in Taiyuan has been lifted for the time being, but the Zhengtai Railway is afraid that it will be completely destroyed by the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army.

In the face of the main force of the Eighth Route Army going north, the 33rd Division and the 37th Division could only barely protect themselves, and they could not do more than 100 kilometers of Zhengtai Railway in the defense area of the two divisions.

There's no way around it.

Who made the First Army unable to defeat the Eighth Route?

However, if the Eighth Route Army attacked the 33rd and 37th Divisions, these two divisions could still turn north.

Why not give Shouyang and Yangquan to the Eighth Route Army temporarily?

Judging from the current situation, the troops of the entire First Army are still very safe.

Thinking of this, the stone in Iwamatsu Yoshio's heart finally fell to the ground.

Major General Kazuki Yamamoto of the First Army Headquarters always felt that something was wrong, but when he thought about it carefully, he couldn't figure out what was wrong.

Shan himself spoke softly, and he couldn't think of a clue, so he had to keep silent.

……

The battle of Datong began.

Just like Li Yunlong estimated in advance, the whole of North China will be chaotic.

The 1st Division of the Japanese Army is one of the oldest units of the Japanese army.

Everything in the world is full of contingencies.

In order to preserve a heavy artillery wing, the Japanese army was preparing to take in a three-unit division, and it was also the first division.

The commander of the North China Front, Okamura Ninji, was ready to inflict heavy damage and even total annihilation of the main force of the new 1st Regiment of the Eighth Route Army at the expense of the 1st Division and the 6th Heavy Artillery Wing.

Meantime.

The main force of the Japanese army stationed in Mongolia, the troops directly under the North China Front, and the two cavalry wings, were rushing to Datong day and night.

The military districts of the Eighth Route Army have received orders to delay the enemy's reinforcements to Datong by means of guerrilla warfare, sparrow warfare, and other tactics.

The reinforcements of the Japanese army at the brigade and division level cannot be handled by other military regions.

Forcibly giving a death order to block enemy reinforcements at all costs will only increase casualties.

Although the strategic goal of the Eighth Route Army this time was not to completely annihilate or severely damage the 1st Division.

But it is still necessary to pretend to be blocked, after all, if the Eighth Route Army does not even block it, it is likely to arouse the suspicion of the Japanese army.

Datong.

The six artillery battalions of the Eighth Route Army, after bombarding the city wall of Datong, blasted dozens of gaps in the city wall.

Immediately, Kong Jie pinched the time, estimating that the devil's fighters and bombers would arrive in about half an hour, so he ordered the artillery unit to immediately move to concealment.

Although the anti-aircraft firepower is very strong, Kong Jie does not want the artillery and air defense units to be tough with the devil's planes and bombers.

Subsequently, Kong Jie ordered 4 battalions of infantry to immediately storm the city wall from all sides.

Since the devil infantry abandoned the fortifications, the Eighth Route Army occupied the city wall without much effort.

The 6th Heavy Artillery Wing of the 1st Division was setting up its guns, waiting for the reconnaissance and liaison planes to arrive, and was ready to fire at the artillery positions of the Eighth Route Army outside the city under the guidance of the reconnaissance and liaison planes.

However, it took an hour for the reconnaissance and liaison planes to arrive from Beiping, but the Eighth Route Army only shelled for half an hour before opening dozens of gaps in the city wall.

Seeing this, the devil artillery hurriedly pulled the cannon to a hidden place and hid it.

After all, after the Eighth Route Army occupied the fortifications of the city walls, it could call in and guide the artillery to fire at the fortifications in the city.

However, the artillery position of the Eighth Route Army happened to be transferred and hidden, and when the artillery position of the Eighth Route Army was re-set up with artillery, the heavy artillery wing of the devil was already hidden.

Subsequently, the troops of the 4 battalions began to enter Datong City, and started a house-by-house street battle with the devils of the 1st Division.

Although Kong Jie does not plan to fight to the end with the 1st Division, this scene still has to be played to buy a day for the new regiment and the main force of the 129th Division!

One day later, the main force of the 129th Division and the new regiment will be able to complete the strategic encirclement of the 33rd Division and the 37th Division.