Taiyuan, the headquarters of the First Army of the Japanese North China Dispatch Army

"Immediately send a telegram to Tadao Yoshizawa, asking the independent mixed 3rd Brigade to speed up, just a few dozen kilometers away, there are mules, horses, and cars, and it is not even halfway there, what does he want to do?" Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka thought that he would get up this morning and get the news that the 3rd Independent Mixed Brigade had arrived at Laojun Mountain and launched an attack, but now it was almost 10 o'clock in the morning, and the 3rd Independent Mixed Brigade was still 20 kilometers away from Heyuan County.

"Your Excellency, General Yoshizawa Tadao has no choice, the local troops of the Eighth Route Army have been like crazy since nightfall yesterday, and they have launched an all-out blockade against the 3rd Brigade of the Independent Mixed Brigade, the roads and bridges have been completely destroyed, and the Imperial Army has to spend a lot of time repairing it, even if they fill in the wells, intercept the rivers, and move away the villagers along the way, if it weren't for the fact that the Imperial Army still controls some towns and passes, it is estimated that the Imperial Army even has a problem with drinking water." Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka had been resting for a few hours, and our Major General Kazuki Yamamoto had been staring at the situation of the 3rd Brigade of the Independent Mixed Brigade all night, and at this time he felt that he had to say a word of justice for Tadao Yoshizawa.

"Hmph, it's still the same old way, there are no new means for these dirt and eight roads, that guy Yoshizawa Tadao has also fought with the Eighth Route Army several times, and this time he also strengthened two divisions of the Imperial Association Army to him, but he was still played around by the Eighth Route Army, shame!" Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka obviously felt that this was not a reason, after all, it was not the first time that the Eighth Route Army had done this, if they were all like you and mixed into the 3rd Brigade independently, would the imperial army of Jin Province still have to fight?

"Your Excellency, what you want is still an armed attack, compared to the previous kind of cold guns and planting a few mines, the troops of the Eighth Route Army have strengthened a large number of machine guns and small-caliber mortars this time, and they have been attacking all night long, and the night has limited the pursuit of the imperial army, and they have lost hundreds of imperial troops and more than 2,000 imperial troops in one night, and the troops of the 3rd Brigade and Regiment have not rested well, and today they can only slow down the speed of marching." Kazuki Yamamoto continued, the more than 8,000 Imperial Army troops of the 3rd Brigade Regiment, plus the Imperial Cooperative Army troops attached to it, are more than 20,000 people, and a force of this size can only camp in the field at night, but at night, a few shells or a shuttle bullet fly every few minutes, and it feels so sour.

Send a detachment of more than a dozen people to pursue it, if you don't do it, you will be annihilated by the ambush set up by the Eighth Route Army, you know, these attackers are equipped with machine guns and mortars, but if you send a team to pursue, you can't catch anything except a few shells, you can only be exhausted, but for the morale of the troops, the imperial army can't do nothing, so all night, the two infantry brigades that are responsible for the perimeter guard of the 3rd Brigade Regiment are almost tired and vomiting blood, Two squadrons were wiped out piecemeal by the Eighth Route Army, and as for the Imperial Army, there were definitely more than 2,000 people who were annihilated and those who deserted, and as for how many, Lieutenant General Tadao Yoshizawa was not interested in knowing at all.

"Yamamoto-kun, tell me what happened to the situation in Heyuan County?" Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka is a little impatient, the troops of the imperial army are like this, they are invincible when they talk about it, but once they act, they are full of situations, it is the loss figures reported by the 3rd Brigade of the Independent Mixed Brigade, there must still be a lot of water, think about a full independent mixed brigade of 8,000 people, Tadao Yoshizawa is a stupid person.

"Judging from the photos taken by the aviation troops, the Eighth Route Army is still building the main position of Laojun Mountain on a large scale, and around the Laojun Mountain position, they have concentrated at least 20,000 armed forces, as well as at least the same number of peasants, who are helping them build fortifications, large permanent fortification groups." As he spoke, Kazuki Yamamoto also presented a stack of photographs with both hands to Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka.

"How many planes can the air force provide to help in the war?" Looking at the photo, Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka was extremely troubled, the ground fortifications of the Eighth Route Army were obviously bombed in the photo, but compared to the huge position group of Laojun Mountain, the damage caused by the Japanese air force was really insignificant.

"Your Excellency Commander, Lieutenant General Kinoshita has transferred another 20 planes from Beiping to Taiyuan, plus the planes from Datong, we can mobilize 60 bombers at a time, but as of this morning, the aviation force has used up all the more than 50 kilograms of aerial bombs, in fact, there are not many 50 kilograms of aerial bombs, and the aviation side is studying the use of light bombs in stock, but there are not many planes that can be mounted." Kusuyama Hideyoshi naturally saw Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka's thoughts, but the seemingly powerful aviation force was actually an empty shelf in North China.

"Chief of Staff, didn't we apply for the secondment of aviation materials and bombs from the Kwantung Army early in the morning, why hasn't there been any improvement?" Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka feels that he is so powerless, the team is not powerful, and no matter how many tricks and ingenuity he has, it is useless.

"Your Excellency Commander, the military department approved our application early on, and the Kwantung Army's storage of more than 500 kilograms of aerial bombs has been transferred, but at present, these have been shipped to Wuhan, and the air force will go all out to bomb Chongqing and force the Chongqing government to surrender quickly, which is the consensus of the military department and the cabinet." Major General Kusuyama Hideyoshi smiled wryly.

"So, we can only watch the Eighth Route Army build fortifications like this, and we don't even have a way, right? The Eighth Route Army even dared to boldly move out even motor vehicles. "Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka, who has always had a good temperance, is almost scolding, I used my connections and cheekiness to get some aviation materials and ammunition reserves for the aviation troops, but Kinoshita Toshita's guy actually transferred valuable aviation materials and ammunition to Wuhan, from Kinoshita Toshi's position, this is to take into account the overall situation, but for the First Army, this is simply a salary draw from the bottom of the kettle.

"Your Excellency, this morning, Hirata Ichiro Nakasa's side still strengthened a regiment of cavalry of the Imperial Army, two squadrons of Imperial Army, and at present, the Imperial Army is planning to attack the supply line of the Eighth Route Army." Kazuki Yamamoto thinks it's better to say some good news to Yoshio Shinozuka, but whether this is good news or not, he is a little unsure.

"Two squadrons, it's been almost 24 hours, and it's been almost 24 hours since the main force of the Eighth Route Army appeared around Heyuan County, but the support given by the Imperial Army is only two squadrons, and it's really difficult for Ichiro Hirata." Yoshio Shinozuka smiled bitterly and laughed at himself.

"Report! The latest intelligence of the Aviation. At this time, a staff officer sent in a newly taken aerial photograph of a reconnaissance plane.

"Nani, is this the Tiger Pavilion stronghold?" Looking at the aerial photos of the Tiger Pavilion stronghold in his hand, Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka's hand trembled unconsciously, the Tiger Pavilion stronghold, which had been fortified by the imperial army, had been completely destroyed at this time, and the huge stronghold area did not even have a complete building. If it weren't for the unique landform features nearby, I really wouldn't be able to tell where this is.

"Large-caliber mortar artillery, heavy artillery with a caliber of more than 100 millimeters, Your Excellency, judging from the photos, the Eighth Route Army used at least two kinds of heavy artillery and fired a large number of shells. Major General Kusunayama Hideyoshi said leisurely on the side.

"I'm afraid it's not all, Your Excellency Chief of Staff, pay attention to the ruts on the ground, the Eighth Route Army should have used a lot of tanks in this operation, and at least two models." Kazuki Yamamoto said, pointing to the track imprint faintly visible in the photo.

"That tank battalion of the Eighth Route Army? They wouldn't have attacked the Tiger Pavilion stronghold first, and then galloped to attack the Black Island Cavalry Wing, this mobility ability is too amazing! Kusuyama Hideyoshi was a little surprised.

"Perhaps, the Eighth Route Army doesn't have only one tank battalion, right?" Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka, who had not spoken, thought of another possibility.

"Your Excellency Commander, don't worry too much, even if the Eighth Route Army has two tank battalions, there are only 12 tanks in one battalion, while a tank squadron of the Imperial Army is equipped with 17 tanks. Chief of Staff Hideyoshi of Nanxian County was relieved on the side, what he didn't say was that the third brigade of the independent mixed brigade was equipped with Type 94 tanks, and its combat effectiveness was at the floor level.

The CV-33 is very wasteful, but it is also really fought in North Africa, whether it is armor protection or attack power has been tested, and it is also a very good tank to get to the Asian battlefield, at least, there is no problem with the Type 94 tank.

"Tell Yoshizawa Tadao, let him fight steadily, and he must bring the troops to Heyuan County intact, this time, we must severely damage or even completely annihilate the Eighth Route Army in Heyuan County, we must tell these Chinese people, who is the master in Jin Province!" Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka quickly made up his mind that he wanted to extinguish the kind of undesirable thoughts that the Eighth Route Army had germinated, otherwise, Jin Province would not be peaceful, and it didn't matter how the conflict in Heyuan County was caused.

With the full support of Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka, the Hirata Ichiro Nakasa, who was far away in Heyuan County, became the temporary commander of the front-line troops in a daze, and there were constantly troops and materials converging to Heyuan County from all over the place, and the garrison, the gendarmerie, and the Imperial Allied Army were all being transferred one after another, since the independent mixed third brigade was called by the Eighth Route Army, I would just draw troops from other directions, a county town, a stronghold may not be much, but it adds up to a large number, at least, In this way, the Eighth Route Army could not focus all its energy on the independent mixing of the third brigade.