Peiping.

Iron Lion Alley.

Command of the North China Front.

War Hall.

Okamura Ninji, Seizo Arisue, and Kazuki Yamamoto were holding an operational meeting with a group of staff officers.

Footsteps sounded, and Haruo Kitani, a communications staff officer, held a telegram in his hand, walked in quickly, and bowed his head to Okamura Ninji and reported:

"Report to the general, just sent a telegram from the Prime Minister."

Okamura Ninji's eyes narrowed, and he waved his hand and said, "Read! ”

"Hey."

Osamu Kitani took the telegram and read:

"The 11th Division, the 40th Division, and the 56th Division are all shattered, and His Majesty the Locust and I already know that Zhangjiakou and Baoding are very important military towns in North China, and they must not be lost, otherwise the Commander of the North China Front, Okamura Ningji, should cut himself to thank the Locust, Prime Minister Hideji Tojo, His Majesty the Emperor on board, and the Great Japanese Locust Army on board!"

After the 11th Division, the 40th Division, and the 56th Division were completely annihilated by the Eighth Route Army.

Okamura Ninji did not report to the base camp.

Reporting good news without reporting bad news and concealing it is just a routine operation of the Japanese army.

However, after the three divisions of the Japanese army were completely annihilated, the Eighth Route Army sent clear telegrams and newspaper propaganda, and the Japanese army base camp soon found out.

However, contrary to Okamura Ninji's expectations, the Prime Minister and His Majesty the Locust did not blame him, not even a word of blame.

However, the content of the follow-up telegram made Okamura Ninji's nerves tense suddenly.

If Zhangjiakou and Baoding are lost, there is a high probability that Beiping and Tianjin will not be able to hold either.

At that time, I'm afraid that he Okamura Ninji will really have to cut himself.

In the previous defeats, no general dared to come to North China to take over, so his position as commander of the North China Front was very stable.

But in this defeat, the North China Front will suffer heavy losses, and maybe it will be lost.

Then he, the commander of the North China Front, has no need to exist.

There are so many defeats, so many imperial generals and jade shatters, so many locust army elite soldiers jade shattered, someone must be responsible for this.

Okamura Ninji didn't believe he could still live.

So this battle can only be won but not defeated by Okamura Ningji.

Otherwise, he Okamura Ningji would inevitably be ruined, and more importantly, his life would not be guaranteed.

"Your Excellency Commander, this order from the base camp..."

The three faces of the last essence suddenly became solemn.

The North China Front had no intention of abandoning Baoding.

However, in Zhangjiakou, the North China Front planned to give up and let the Japanese retreat to the mountainous area to block the Eighth Route Army.

Okamura Ningji's face was also extremely solemn, but he didn't expect Tojo Eiji to also start a slight.

As soon as the telegram from the base camp came, Okamura Ninji could only order Nakazawa Sanfu to defend Zhangjiakou.

In Tojo Hideji's opinion, I gave you so many war materials and locust troops, but the North China Front has been defeated again and again, Okamura is simply a waste, and the North China Front is simply a shame for the Japanese Empire.

Zhangjiakou is the capital of Chahar Province, and Baoding is the capital of Hebei Province.

The loss of these two important provincial capitals means that the locust army has lost the territory of these two provinces.

Therefore, you Okamura must defend Zhangjiakou and Baoding for me, otherwise you will die.

The base camp allows you to be defeated two or three times, four or five times, but it is not acceptable that you have been defeated.

Even.

At the base camp of the Japanese army, the voice of the commander of the North China Front, Okamura Ninji, as a senior spy of the Eighth Route Army, became louder again.

In Okamura Ningji's opinion, the strength of the Eighth Route Army is too strong, and the troops and combat materials you gave me are simply not enough.

If it weren't for I, Okamura Ninji, who led the Locust Army in North China, the Eighth Route Army.

With a change of commander, the Eighth Route Army would have wiped out the North China Front Army long ago.

"Immediately forward this telegram to Lieutenant General Mitsuo Nakazawa, ordering the 1st Division, the 26th Division, and the 71st Division to hold Zhangjiakou at all costs."

Okamura Ninji gave the order in a difficult tone.

This time, Okamura Ninji didn't dare to go down.

The telegram said very harshly, if Zhangjiakou and Baoding were lost, he would have to be disemboweled.

"Hey."

Yusue Seizan suddenly bowed his head.

……

Zhangjiakou.

on the western city wall.

Mitsuo Nakazawa, Shigetoku Kuroda, and Noboru Toyama raised their binoculars to look at the battlefield in the distance.

The three old devils all had solemn faces.

The roaring sound of artillery on the other side of the mountain indicated that the attacking troops of the Eighth Route Army were only a few kilometers away from Zhangjiakou.

In the past few days, the Japanese army has used all their strength, but no Japanese unit has been able to hold the position.

Even if the Japanese guerrillas sent out had some gains, the sappers of the Eighth Route Army quickly repaired the damaged roads and railways.

The attack of the Eighth Route Army was still very fierce.

Mitsuo Nakazawa put down his binoculars and asked, "The clear-code telegram sent by the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army, presumably Kuroda-kun and Toyama-kun have already received it, right?" ”

"The clear-code telegram of the Eighth Route Army can't be true, right?"

"Takamori-kun, Aoki-kun, and Watanabe-kun, is the jade really broken?"

Lieutenant General Nagayama Noboru of the 71st Division glanced at Mitsuo Nakazawa and Shigetoku Kuroda, and he still couldn't believe the news.

"Is it true, ask your communications department to call the 11th Division, the 40th Division, and the 56th Division, and see if there is a response?"

Kuroda snorted coldly.

Lieutenant General Toyama was silent that he had ordered the signal corps to try to contact the 11th, 40th, and 56th Divisions, but received no response.

This news gave Yuanshan Deng like a slap in the face.

The three locust divisions, including 1 Division A and 2 Division B, were all shattered in the battle within two or three days.

Although he had overestimated the strength of the Eighth Route Army.

But it was clear that the strength of the Eighth Route Army was stronger than he imagined, far more powerful than he imagined.

Thinking of this, Enyama began to worry about the fate of him and the 71st Division.

Perhaps, one day he and the 71st Division will all be shattered.

"There are only a few hours left until three days, and in a few hours, we will be able to evacuate from Zhangjiakou to the mountains."

Mitsuo Nakazawa looked at the watch in his hand and said.

Holding on to Zhangjiakou for 3 days was an order from Okamura Ninji.

With the tactics of echelon ratio and layer by layer blocking, Nakazawa Sanfu has blocked the Eighth Route Army for three days at the cost of thousands of casualties.

In the mountainous terrain east of Zhangjiakou, there are a large number of tunnels and anticline fortifications built by the engineering wings of three divisions.

Okamura Ninji planned to use the strength of three divisions and regiments to block the attack of the Eighth Route Army's northern attack group with these large number of tunnels and anti-slope fortifications.

"Commander of the Reporting Division."

"The North China Front Command sent an urgent telegram."

At this moment, the communications staff officer of the 1st Division walked up quickly with a telegram in his hand and bowed his head to report.

"Read!"

Mitsuo Nakazawa thought it was a telegram issued by Okamura Ninji urging him to retreat, so he waved his hand and said.

The 11th Division, the 40th Division, and the 56th Division were all shattered, which dealt a great morale blow to the Japanese army.

Even they, the lieutenant generals and division commanders, maintained a pessimistic attitude towards this battle.

Even if the main forces of the Kwantung Army and the main forces of the 11th Army are reinforced, whether they can defeat the Eighth Route Army must be drawn.

"Hey."

The communications staff officer then held the telegram in both hands and read:

"The base camp has just issued an order, the 1st Division, the 26th Division and the 71st Division must hold Zhangjiakou, otherwise the commanders of the lieutenant generals and divisions should be disemboweled to thank the locusts."

"Your Majesty the Locust is onboard."

"The Great Japanese Locust Army is onboard."

After the report, the communications staff officer respectfully handed over the telegram, turned around and walked away quickly.

However.

The three old devils, Mitsuo Nakazawa, Shigetoku Kuroda and Noboru Toyama, were stunned in place, as if struck by lightning.

Isn't it to let the retreat?

Why did you change to stick to Zhangjiakou?

Kuroda Shigetoku's face was full of disbelief, and he took the telegram from Mitsuo Nakazawa's hand and read it, and after reading the telegram, his face suddenly showed anger.

"Yaga, how could Senior General Okamura give us such an order?"

Kuroda scolded angrily.

One will let you retreat, and the other will let you defend Zhangjiakou, and if you can't hold it, you have to apologize.

Isn't this bullying of honest people?

Toyama Noboru took the telegram and looked at it, and said in a deep voice: "This should be an order from the base camp, and General Okamura can't do anything about it." ”

"Since it is the order of the base camp, we can only carry out the order."

Mitsuo Nakazawa said with a sigh.

The group of idiots in the base camp didn't know the situation on the battlefield in North China at all, and only knew about micro-manipulation.

As Lieutenant General Sanfu Nakazawa, who has fought (poison) battles with the Eighth Route Army many times, he knows that the strength of the Eighth Route Army is far stronger than he imagined.

Okamura Ninji is already a commander with strong command and combat ability.

If there is a different commander with command ability, maybe the whole of North China will already be the territory of the Eighth Route Army at this time.

To be the division commander of the 1st Division, Mitsuo Nakazawa is naturally not a fool.

When he reached his position, he rose to the rank of commander of the group army, and even the commander of the front army.

However, due to the defeat of the 1st Division in the battle with the Eighth Route Army in the northwest of Shanxi, the 1st Division suffered extremely heavy losses.

This led to the fact that Nakazawa Mitsuo could not be promoted, let alone the commander of the group army, and even the position of division commander was kept by Okamura Ningji.

This campaign of aggression was nothing more than a campaign launched by Japanese politicians for the sake of interests, and it was far from being as glorious as it was propagated.

What bushido, allegiance to the locust, and the return of the soul to Kudanzaka after death are all just means for the government and the locust to control the army.

Now the strength of the Eighth Route Army is extremely strong.

And even far beyond the strength of the Soviet army in the Far East.

The best thing for the locust army to do is to abandon North China.

But what about after abandoning North China?

Should Central China, South China and Northeast China give up?

At this moment, Mitsuo Nakazawa has no choice.

The order of the base camp was obviously to let the 1st Division, the 26th Division, and the 71st Division use the method of breaking the whole jade to consume the strength and strength of the Eighth Route Army and delay the Eighth Route Army.

As for surrender?

Since the start of the Sino-Japanese war, there may have been many Japanese soldiers who surrendered.

But there was never a precedent for the surrender of an entire division.

So, they can only fight to the death.

After finishing speaking, Nakazawa Sanfu said in a cold tone, and said in a deep voice: "Yuanshan-kun, Kuroda-kun, readjust the deployment, withdraw the main force into Zhangjiakou City, and order a small part of the locust army and all the locust alliance army to enter the outer positions of Zhangjiakou. ”

"Prepare for a street battle with the Eighth Route Army!"

"Hey!"

Shigetoku Kuroda and Noboru Toyama bowed their heads in unison.

The current Japanese army in Zhangjiakou is full, with less than 40,000 men.

However, there were still more than 20,000 puppet troops to assist in the defense.

It was impossible to let the puppet army troops fight in the streets.

However, these puppet soldiers are the best candidates for cannon fodder.

Let a small number of Japanese troops and a large number of puppet troops eat the shells of the Eighth Route Army.

Then let a large number of Japanese troops fight a war of attrition against the Eighth Route Army in the city.

In fact, Hideji Tojo of the Japanese army base camp played such an abacus.

The 11th Division, the 40th Division, and the 56th Division, all of the 60,000 elite units of the Japanese army, only caused a few thousand casualties to the Eighth Route Army.

He also gave up the military towns of Shimen City and Zhengding to the Eighth Route Army in vain.

If Okamura Ningji's battle plan is followed, it is very likely that not only will Zhangjiakou and Baoding not be able to hold Zhangjiakou and Baoding, but more than 200,000 Japanese troops will be completely annihilated, and I am afraid that it will only cause tens of thousands of casualties to the Eighth Route Army.

But street fighting was different, and the ratio of casualties between the Eighth Route Army and the Japanese army was about 1 to 1.

If a Japanese soldier kills an Eighth Route Army, it is not a loss, and if he kills two Eighth Route Army, it is a blood gain.

Even if the entire jade of one division and one division of the Japanese army is broken, the Eighth Route Army will not be comfortable, and it will pay the same price of troops.

……

With the order of the Japanese command in Zhangjiakou.

The devils outside the city quickly shrank their defenses.

Most of the devils began to retreat into the city, and a small number of devils and a large number of devils entered the positions and fortifications outside the city.

The actions of the devils and the puppet army naturally can't hide the eyes of the vanguard of the Eighth Route Army.

The information soon reached the command of the Eighth Route Army's North Road Attack Group.

"Are the devils really going to fight with us in the streets?"

In the headquarters, Ding Datuanzi touched his chin, and his expression faintly showed a hint of excitement.

According to intelligence and aircraft reconnaissance, the Japanese army built a large number of fortifications in the mountainous area from Zhangjiakou to Beiping.

Among them, there are also a lot of tunnel fortifications, and the devils want to rely on the terrain and tunnel fortifications to resist the North Road attack group of the Eighth Route Army from entering the North China Plain.

But judging from the current situation, the devil is not going to retreat, but is going to fight in the streets?

"I expected it!"

Kong Jie smiled slightly, with an expression that was under control.

Ding Wei also smiled slightly.

Since the devil wants to fight in the streets, then don't blame me Ding someone to pick the head of Okamura Ningji!

"Pass my order, all artillery fire, artillery shelling of positions outside Zhangjiakou!"

Ding Wei gave the order.

If the heavy firepower units of the Eighth Route Army want to bypass Zhangjiakou, they must first clear the outer positions of Zhangjiakou.

"Yes!"

The chief of staff straightened up, turned around and went to give orders.

"The main force of this devil is stubbornly guarding Zhangjiakou, and it is always a threat to our rear."

After a pause, Kong Jie said to Ding Wei worriedly:

"In case the main force of these three divisions does not attack from our rear, but instead attacks Datong and northwest Jin, the situation will be a little bad for us."

"That's what the devils of the 1st and 26th Divisions did last time!"

"So what do you say?" Ding Wei's eyes narrowed, it was not impossible to do this, and he immediately asked, "Old Kong, what do you say?" It's impossible for our 100,000 main troops to be nailed to Zhangjiakou and get on the bar with the devils, right? ”

Kong Jie said: "I suggest that I lead the independent regiment to surround Zhangjiakou, and you lead the new second regiment and the main force of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region to attack Beiping and pick up the heads of Gangcun." ”

After a pause, Kong Jie added: "Just leave me 1 artillery regiment and 1 heavy artillery regiment." ”

"Do you want to eat the 1st, 26th, and 71st divisions of the Japanese army alone?" Ding Wei instantly saw through Kong Jie's thoughts.

Kong Jie smiled and was noncommittal.

Ding Wei said: "I have to ask Lao Li for this." ”