Taiyuan Headquarters of the First Army of the Japanese North China Dispatch Army

The commander of the First Army, Yoshio Shinozuka, the chief of staff, Major General Kusuyama Hideyoshi, and Major General Yamamoto Kazuki were leading a group of staff officers to study the huge map of Jin Province on the wall, on the map, with Heyuan County as the core, it was already covered with dense red flags, each of which represented at least a regiment-sized unit of the Eighth Route Army.

"Your Excellency Commander, the Special High Division has sent a notification that the command organ of the Jin Sui Army has received a telegram from Yan Xishan, asking them to immediately enter a state of combat readiness and fully cooperate with the Eighth Route Army to launch a strategic counterattack." A staff officer walked up to Yoshio Shinozuka to report.

"Nanshanjun, it seems that this junior brother of mine is still unwilling, this is to use the hand of the Eighth Route Army to win back a game." Yoshio Shinozuka shook his head and said with a wry smile.

"Your Excellency, I applied to send aviation troops to bomb Daxia Bay, since I know that the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army and Yan Xishan are there, I can't hesitate!" It was Kazuki Yamamoto who spoke, as a shining star in the Japanese military circles, he was not arrogant and arrogant, nor was he invincible, but followed Yoshio Shinozuka more conscientiously, because he knew very well that without Yoshio Shinozuka's support, he would not have achieved such a record at all, let alone have his current status.

"Daxia Bay is in the hinterland of the Eighth Route Army's base area, and our planes have already been evacuated before they can fly to the place. Yoshio Shinozuka shook his head, he knew that what Yamamoto Kazuki said was right, but the reality was that their army aviation was not invincible at some point.

"Yamamoto-kun, in recent times, once the plane at Taiyuan Airport takes off, there will be several different radio waves detected by the investigation department, the Huaxia people have been frightened by you, at least in the recent period, it is not very realistic for us to use aviation to raid the Huaxia people." The chief of staff on one side, Kusuyama Hideyoshi, also smiled bitterly, Yamamoto Kazuki's set of combination punches can be regarded as completely frightened some people in the Chinese government, it is said that now in Chongqing, Xi'an, Luoyang and other big cities, the military and the central command are like crazy, desperately arresting the imperial agents, and sniper teams are equipped on the roofs of every tall building to comprehensively monitor the city, that is, to prevent someone from shelling the city.

"Is it true that we just can't do anything about them staying there? Now you still let the Eighth Route Army organize such a large-scale battle? Yamamoto Kazuki felt a great insult with a sad and indignant face.

"The strategic purpose of the Eighth Route Army is unclear, and we can only wait a little longer, and we cannot rashly mobilize troops." Yoshio Shinozuka is also very helpless, he really doesn't have much capital in his hands, he doesn't dare to send the troops in his hands easily, once he makes a mistake in judgment, the consequences will be even more serious.

The First Army of the North China Dispatch Army, the existing troops include the 36th Division, the 37th Division, the 41st Division, the 3rd Independent Mixed Brigade, the 4th Independent Mixed Brigade, the 9th Independent Mixed Brigade, and the 16th Independent Mixed Brigade.

But the Huaxia army that the First Army needs to face is also huge, in addition to the Eighth Route Army, there are also the Jin Sui Army and the Central Army, to protect the Zhengtai Line and the Pinghan Line, to guard the Huaxia Army in Shaanxi and Henan, and to garrison nearly 100 county towns in Jin Province.

"Your Excellency, I humble you think that the target of the Eighth Route Army is definitely not Heyuan County, a small Heyuan County, but more than 200 imperial troops and more than 1,000 imperial troops, even if the Eighth Route Army wants to take Heyuan County, it is enough to dispatch two to three main regiments, like now, nearly 20,000 troops were dispatched, and even precious artillery was used, just to fight a county town of little strategic significance, with the consistent style of the Eighth Route Army, they would not do this." Yamamoto Kazuki has always boasted that he is a rare smart person in the Japanese army, but at this moment, the actions of the Eighth Route Army also made him scratch his head.

"Could it really be that the Eighth Route Army wants to cooperate with the Jin Sui Army to launch a strategic counteroffensive in retaliation for our attack on Kenanpo?" Kusunayama Hideyoshi reminded.

"Heyuan County, as long as they take it, the 358th Regiment of the Jin Sui Army and the 1000th Regiment of the Eighth Route Army can connect the defense areas together, and at the same time, they can also threaten the Zhengtai Line nearby, but it is not impossible to do so, but why have they not attacked Heyuan County again until now, but have built a position in Laojun Mountain, putting on a posture of stubborn defense, there is no need, the little troops in the hands of Hirata Ichiro can't help them at all." Yoshio Shinozuka still couldn't make up his mind.

At this moment, the aviation sent the latest aerial photos, the photos show that the entire Laojun Mountain has become a large construction site, thousands of people wearing standard military uniforms are busy there, although there should be many troops hiding, but the photos can still see thousands of people, according to common sense, the Eighth Route Army stationed in Laojun Mountain troops must be more than 5,000 people, and they are the main force, to know whether the Eighth Route Army is the main force, look at the military uniform can guess a rough idea.

Before, we said that the troops reinforcing Laojun Mountain were not all local armed forces and even bandits? How can there still be thousands of soldiers in standard uniforms? Could it be that there is something new again? Speaking of which, this is Wang Yue's work again, knowing that there are more and more troops on the side of Laojun Mountain, he sent over the 5,000 sets of military uniforms prepared for Li Yunlong, along with 20,000 bottles of canned feed fish and a batch of weapons and ammunition, anyway, the loss of the 772 regiment this time was completely because of himself, he really didn't expect that this time it would be so big, if these thousands of people were annihilated by the devil like this, Wang Yue felt that he would not be at ease for the rest of his life, so he thought about helping them as much as possible.

"Ichiro Hirata's report is still a bit conservative, there are almost five regiments on Laojun Mountain, and the divisions of some local troops in China are only of such a scale, what is this going to do, are they going to fight a decisive battle with the main force?" Yoshio Shinozuka was a little annoyed in his tone, the Eighth Route Army was too faceless, and it was going to engage in a decisive battle with the main force quietly, did he really feel that he was old and couldn't wield a knife anymore?

"Look at this, Your Excellency, this is a crater from the detonation of at least a few hundred shells." Kazuki Yamamoto handed over a photograph of the previously destroyed artillery battery position of the Eighth Route Army, where hundreds of shells had been detonated and had caused a huge crater.

"Soga, at least four large-caliber artillery pieces, hundreds of shells, why didn't the Eighth Route Army directly attack the city, such firepower, Heyuan County can't stop it at all." Major General Nanshan Hideyoshi also took a breath of cool air, when did the Eighth Route Army have the ability to mobilize hundreds of shells at a time, and even the imperial army can't compare to the amount of shells used in such a way.

"Huting stronghold, Heyuan County, could it be that the Eighth Route Army just wants to send troops to attack their Huting stronghold, in fact, they never wanted to take Heyuan County from the beginning to the end?" Looking at the photo, and then looking at the huge map in front of him, Yoshio Shinozuka said leisurely, at this time he was infinitely close to the truth.

"Report, Your Excellency Commander, the Black Island Wing sent an urgent telegram, they encountered the Eighth Route Army Headquarters Cavalry Regiment and a tank unit with at least twelve tanks ten kilometers north of Heyuan County, the two sides fought fiercely for half an hour, the Black Island Wing suffered heavy losses, and the Black Island Wing Commander requested tactical guidance from the Air Force!" Just as Yoshio Shinozuka was thinking, a staff officer ran over and reported loudly.

"Nani, tank troops? Yamamoto-kun, didn't the Eighth Route Army only have two tanks? "Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka was also shocked, shocked, the Eighth Route Army has tanks is scary enough, and now there are twelve tanks, will he have a tank battle with the Eighth Route Army in Jin Province in the future?

"Your Excellency, this can only prove that the Eighth Route Army has received new support, and they are receiving support from the outside world one after another." Kazuki Yamamoto also has a serious face, his opponent is even stronger, with a tank, he no longer has much hope for the future of the Kuroshima Cavalry Wing, Kuroshima Morita? Hehe, just a clown.

"Is there still any aircraft on the air side that can support the Black Island Wing?" Yoshio Shinozuka asked.

"At present, the combat planes of the air force are all on their way back, and the closest to the Heidao Wing are only the three Kawasaki Type 87 heavy bomb planes near Ping'an County, but they have already completed the bomb dropping." The staff officer replied with some embarrassment: The army aviation has a limited number of troops, and there is almost no mobile force in the event of a sudden war.

"Let them go over immediately, cover the Black Island Cavalry Wing as much as possible, and in addition, let Black Island not fall in love with the battle, and immediately turn in the direction of Heyuan County." Yoshio Shinozuka thought about it and instructed the staff officer, whether it was the Kuroshima Cavalry Wing or the wing commander Kuroshima Morita Daisa, it was impossible for him to ignore it.

Kuroshima Morita This guy is a distant branch of the royal family, hereditary baron, noble status, in the first army, this guy is a thorn, does not listen to commands, and reckless behavior is simply commonplace, as for his subordinates, it is not a good thing, more or less have some identity, to join the army is just to mix some qualifications, such a force, even if it is well-trained and well-equipped, it is okay to fight a tailwind battle, once it encounters a hard battle, this wing will become an absolute fish belly, in order to have less trouble, Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka felt that he still had to give the other party an excuse to retreat, and once this guy was killed, he would inevitably be in trouble.

But soon, the aviation reinforcements came back with a news that surprised everyone, the Black Island Cavalry Wing had surrendered when they arrived at the battlefield, yes, that's right, an elite cavalry wing, after losing four or five hundred people, actually surrendered to their opponents, you know, the Black Island Cavalry Wing is a strengthened wing, and now there are at least a thousand troops in the hands of Kuroshima Morita Daisa, but that's it, this guy actually surrendered, he actually surrendered.

Another news from the air force proved the previous report of Heidao, the Eighth Route Army used at least 12 light tanks and more than 1,000 cavalry, and judging from the situation on the battlefield, the Eighth Route Army also used 75mm caliber heavy artillery and fired more than 100 shells.

The devil pilot asked if it was possible to strafe the troops of the Eighth Route Army, but considering the safety of Kuroshima Morita, Yoshio Shinozuka still let the pilot come back, it seems that he can only wait for the war to find a way to redeem this guy, thinking of this, the lieutenant general couldn't help but sigh, it seems that he can no longer wait.