In several battles with the Dahongshan Guerrilla Independent Brigade, the Japanese army did not take advantage. Especially in the battle of Zhangjiaji Liushudian, the Imperial Japanese Army used the information transmitted back by the undercover agent hidden in the independent brigade, after careful layout, sent the troops of two brigades to carry out a north-south flanking attack, I thought that the victory was in hand, and this annoying Chinese army would be completely annihilated, but not only did not annihilate the opponent, but let the opponent successfully escape, and finally fought a counter-ambush, so that the imperial army suffered heavy losses, which completely angered the commander of the 40th Division of the Japanese army, Naojiro Amaya, and he showed his trump card- An army special operations team that has just returned from a training camp in Germany.

The Army Special Operations Team of the 40th Division of the Japanese Army is a newly formed special forces, although the number is less than 100 people, but it belongs to the wing system, which is equivalent to the regimental structure of the Chinese army. This is a specially trained, well-equipped, and highly combat-oriented special combat unit, and the special combat personnel are all selected from various units and sent to the special forces school in Berlin, Germany, for a one-year, almost cruel devil's training. Each special combat unit member is equipped with a German-made Hip-Sell MP38 submachine gun, a German-made 20-round barge gun, a single dagger, four grenades, 10 people in each combat team, two light machine guns, and a grenadier canister. In terms of weapons and equipment, it is several grades higher than any unit of the Japanese army; If you compare it with the Chinese army, it is simply one in the sky and the other in the ground.

The supreme commander of this special operations detachment, Masao Sato, graduated from the Imperial Army University, and his military rank was the lowest among the graduates of the same period of the Lu University, but this does not mean that his ability is not good, but because he is not interested in the operation of the large corps, his interest lies in the study of special operations, which is a brand-new military discipline, which is still unpopular in the military of various countries, which also leads to his inability to be promoted to general like other students. However, Masao Sato has never regretted it, and he believes that special operations will certainly show their skills on the future battlefield and become a topic that cannot be underestimated in the history of world military research. After coming to China, he found that the mountains and dense forests in the northwest of Hubei were far more complex than those in the northwest of Shanxi, which was not suitable for large corps operations, but on the contrary, it was a place for special forces. As soon as he arrived in the northwestern part of Hubei Province, he succeeded again and again and succeeded in destroying several command posts of the national army at and above the regimental level, which greatly enhanced the prestige of him and his special operations detachment, and also made him even more unsightly.

He thought that Major General Naojiro Amaya asked him to deal with the Dahongshan Guerrilla Independent Brigade, and he felt a little unbelievable, and he thought that Major General Naojiro Amaya was a little arrogant, and let him, a special operations elite, deal with a guerrilla independent brigade, in the words of the Zhina: "Use a knife to kill chickens!" In his eyes, the regular army of the Kuomintang was not an opponent in front of the ordinary troops of the Imperial Japanese Army, and this guerrilla independent brigade that had no regular number and was not considered a regular army He De could not have the qualifications for him to fight in person? This is simply a great insult to him Masao Sato.

Dissatisfaction is dissatisfaction, but it is the duty of a soldier to obey orders. Therefore, he proposed to Major General Naojiro Amaya that in the Dahongshan area, he was more interested in the headquarters of the 5th Division of the New Fourth Army under the leadership of the Communist Party, and only in this way could the high-level regular army head department be worthy of the special combat team's attack, and as for the so-called guerrillas, it was not worth mentioning at all. In order to convince the general, he promised to carry out the "decapitation operation" after the sneak attack on the headquarters of the 5th Division of the New Fourth Army, and by the way, he would also come to the grass to beat the rabbit and bring up the head of the captain of the Hongshan Guerrilla Independent Brigade. Although Major General Naojiro Amaya felt that Masao Sato's idea was a bit arrogant, after seeing the special combat team's plan of action for a sneak attack on the headquarters of the 5th Division of the New Fourth Army, combined with the recent achievements of the Masao Sato special operations detachment, he thought that if he could really destroy the headquarters of the 5th Division of the New Fourth Army, the effect would be far stronger than the extermination of an independent guerrilla brigade. If you can really kill two birds with one stone, wouldn't it be the best thing? Therefore, he decided to fully support Masao Sato in carrying out the "decapitation operation" against the headquarters of the 5th Division of the New Fourth Army.

Fast forward to February 4, 1943, which is the Chinese New Year's Eve. Despite the war, the people of the Dahongshan area still celebrate the New Year according to traditional customs. On Chinese New Year's Eve, every household not only cleans the inside and outside of the house, but also sticks door gods, stickers Spring Festival, New Year's paintings, and hangs lanterns. Starting from noon, firecrackers will be sounded one after another at the door of the farmer's house, and whoever firecrackers go off, it means that the family's reunion dinner has begun. The reunion dinner here is also very particular, by no means as easy as the northern people around a pork stewed vermicelli and sauerkraut hot pot to eat dumplings, the solid people are usually "one steamed and two fried, three chickens and four fish, five meat and six soups, seven belly and eight lungs, nine stews and ten yuan" on ten dishes, but also after calling the ancestors before the banquet. Even if the conditions are poor, you must try your best to get some good wine and food for the New Year, so as to make the coming year smooth and prosperous.

In Zhaoquanhe, the soldiers and civilians in the base area celebrated the New Year happily as in previous years, dancing dragon lanterns, stepping on stilts, rowing dragon boats, and setting off firecrackers; the leaders of the Jingzhongying guerrillas made a special trip to the field hospital of the 5th Division to visit the wounded and sick and all the medical personnel; and the Hongshan Guerrilla Independent Brigade also sent people to visit Xiao Hong. In the field hospital, the director specially arranged for the vice president to organize a colorful gala, and the young nurses performed their own programs to bring bursts of joy to the wounded and sick who were recuperating in the hospital. All this shows that the military and civilians in the base area have no idea that the Japanese army's special operations detachment is secretly approaching the base area and carrying out their carefully planned "decapitation operation."