The father of the sword is Kong Jie

Chapter 1172 Deployment of the Japanese Army

On the other side, the Japanese army was in a panic.

For the little Japanese, it was already a shame for the Japanese Empire that Datong and Zhangjiakou, the base camps, were captured by the Eighth Route Army.

And this shame will become heavier as time goes on, as Datong and Zhangjiakou continue to be controlled by the Eighth Route Army.

Although the Japanese army does need sufficient time to mobilize troops, including mobilizing heavy artillery units for critical battles, to deal with the steel barriers of Datong and Zhangjiakou.

However, after analysis, the Japanese command headquarters also believed that as time goes by, the Eighth Route Army's defensive deployment in Datong and Zhangjiakou will definitely become stronger.

This will be very detrimental to the empire's subsequent offensive.

Some Japanese officers even suggested that they should concentrate their forces to launch a critical attack on Datong and Zhangjiakou in the shortest possible time, and must not give the Eighth Route Army enough time to prepare and defend.

The head of the Japanese spy agency, Tu Feiyuan, was secretly exploring relevant information under the guise of openly negotiating with the Eighth Route Army in exchange for the remains of imperial soldiers.

His intelligence officers soon discovered that the Eighth Route Army did not seem to have any intention of transferring the people of Datong and Zhangjiakou.

On the contrary, they are still continuously deploying troops to Datong and Zhangjiakou.

In addition, a large number of soldiers and ordinary people are helping to build fortifications. They seem to be strengthening defenses and defending Datong and Zhangjiakou.

This made Tufei Yuan secretly think something was wrong.

In fact, for senior Japanese military officials like Doi Yuan, because Datong and Zhangjiakou have extremely high military value and important geographical location, they cannot be lost.

But in their hearts, they hoped that the Eighth Route Army could take the initiative to abandon these cities, just like they abandoned Jinmen and Taiyuan before.

In this way, both sides avoid a decisive battle and everyone is happy.

In the final analysis, these years of fighting behind enemy lines and constant defeats at the hands of the Eighth Route Army have caused the Japanese army to lose all its energy.

Even Naosaburo Okabe, the commander-in-chief of the Japanese North China Front, no longer expects to wipe out the Eighth Route Army base areas and eliminate the Eighth Route Army's effective forces these days.

They only want to be able to defend the inherent occupied area, stabilize the security in the rear area, and wait for the changes in the Pacific battlefield and the Southeast Asian battlefield.

Then, Dofeiyuan secretly detected the news and heard that the Eighth Route Army was preparing to hold some autumn competition in the Iron Triangle base area. Many troops gathered there, including the main force of the Eighth Route Army's Iron Triangle Field Group Army and various troops from the base areas of all parties.

Realizing the importance of this information, Madoka Doi immediately passed the news back.

As for the General Headquarters of the Japanese Army's China Expeditionary Force, a group of old Japanese soldiers believed after analysis that regardless of whether this matter was a trap deliberately set by the Eighth Route Army, the battle around Datong and Zhangjiakou was imperative!
If the Eighth Route Army really takes it lightly and holds a big competition in the Iron Triangle base area, this is the perfect opportunity to take advantage of the empty troops in Datong and Zhangjiakou to launch an offensive in one fell swoop.

After discussions with Japanese commanders such as Junroku Hata, Naosaburo Okabe, and Yoshio Iwamatsu, the Japanese Army Staff finally decided to make the following operational deployment:
In this battle, since Datong and Zhangjiakou are both in North China, and most of the combat areas are basically in Shanxi, the Japanese First Army in Shanxi is still the main force.

After the first army was specially replenished this time, the troops were fully equipped. The third, fourth, ninth, and No. 16 mixed brigade were fully organized; the 36th Division was built in Licheng, the 41st Division was built in Linfen, and the 37th Division was built in Linfen. The regiment returned to Jian Yuncheng, the 114th Division was newly built in Xiangyuan, and the 69th Division was newly built in Taiyuan.

The 26th Chaishan Division of the Mongolian Army retreated to Nao County, north of Taiyuan.

Reinforcements include the Harada 35th Division, the Ito 101st Division, and the Matsuura 106th Division, which are assembled in the Taiyuan area. Among them, the Guancun [-]th Division of the strategic reserve is stationed in Changzhi (almost the entire army was wiped out in the May Day raids and was seriously injured after replenishment). Being able to serve as a reserve team, I am also preparing to go to the Pacific).

These combat units will be the first to launch the attack with the assistance of the reinforced heavy artillery brigades and independent tank regiments.

The troops left Nao County and went north through Xinkou, attacking Shuozhou and approaching Datong.

The main force of the garrison in Mongolia gathered with the First Division in Yanqing County and launched an attack on the outskirts of Zhangjiakou. The Kwantung Army's special force Niu Daoman Division - "After being severely damaged in the Eighth Route Army's Huangyadong defense battle, it was supplemented and strengthened. "The full-scale troops formed" attacked from Jingyi County, Baoding, and launched a pincer offensive.

The 27th Division in Tianjin assists, the Shijiazhuang Iinuma Guards Division is responsible for maintaining the rear route, the 13th Division and the No. [-] Division are mobile reserves, and the [-]rd Division is on standby as a strategic reserve force.

Having made up his mind, Junroku Hata's order was unquestionable:

"After the battle has completely begun, let the hardcore armed forces such as the Korean Imperial Army, the Kwantung Crusade Team, and the North China Security Army be the vanguard. I don't care whether you are coercion or inducement. I want to see these Imperial Army soldiers holding obstacle-clearing explosive packs. Launch a fierce attack under cover of artillery fire!

In order to achieve this combat effect, before various imperial troops officially enter the battle, they must form special wartime supervision teams to supervise these Imperial Army troops to fight for the empire wholeheartedly.

After attracting the attention of the Eighth Route Army with the vanguard Imperial Alliance Army troops.

Then the elite troops of the empire, equipped with Type 97 submachine guns, Type 99 semi-automatic rifles, Type 99 shoulder-fired cannons (Japanese version of rocket launchers), Type [-] flamethrowers, Type [-] rifles, and Type [-] light machine guns, took the opportunity to carry out strong attacks.

If the Eighth Route Army relies on fortifications to defend, our army will attack with coordinated tactics of running and running. With the assistance of the heavy artillery unit, even if the Eighth Route Army's defenses are really made of reinforced concrete, they will be completely blown to pieces, along with the inside. All eight routes were wiped out.

Datong took action first, followed by Yanqing County, and finally the troops from Yixian County took action.

Once the battle begins, the three parties will go all out and cooperate with each other! "

"Everyone, this battle is even related to the final destiny of the empire on the Chinese battlefield. I hope that you can put aside your past resentments and work together and cooperate closely for the glory of the empire and the survival of the nation!"

Hata Junroku's words were particularly heavy.

As for the Japanese flying force, Junroku Hata said:
“After a period of adaptation, rest and replenishment by the Imperial Air Force, the original losses have been basically replenished.

After this battle begins, our empire's aviation base will have an additional large fleet formation put into action.

In addition, the China Expeditionary Force Headquarters has decided to dispatch the Third Aviation Division to fully cooperate with the North China Air Force in operations. The commander of the Central Division will personally come to Peiping to direct the operations, and the main force of the headquarters will dispatch two aviation teams to join the operations.

After temporary strengthening and replenishment, the air fleets at various airports in North China can gather together a super-equipped flying team, and the Kwantung Army supports a flying team; Central China, South China, and Northeast China can also mobilize various types of heavy explosive bombers to form a strategic bombing team.

A total of 4 teams of fighters and bombers formed a joint air force to strangle the Eighth Route Army's aviation units.

There are nearly 400 aircraft of all types in total. As for external claims, it can be said that our empire has thousands of aircraft to completely eliminate the Eighth Route Army. "

Of course, don't listen to Tian Junliu's braggadocio. In fact, even the so-called nearly 400 fighter planes have a lot of water.After excluding the old models, it is estimated that there are only more than 200 fighters that can be dispatched normally. In addition, the fuel supply is insufficient, and the Japanese simply do not have the confidence to engage in fighter operations for a long time regardless of fuel consumption.

According to the final decision made after discussions between Junroku Hata and Naosaburo Okabe:

After the Japanese army breaks through the mountain defenses in the northern part of Yi County and the defenses in the southern part of Zhangjiakou, the Japanese army will dispatch the mobile unit No. 14 Division to launch a surprise attack on Huashaoying, and then penetrate into the Yangyuan area, cutting all the way to the railway lines in the direction of Zhangjiakou and Datong. , completely cutting off the Eighth Route Army's main maneuver route.

Then Datong sent troops to bypass Xinkou and go to Shuozhou County to take the Eighth Route Army's back route. "

To this end, Hata Junroku issued a special order: The Morita Cavalry Group was upgraded to a tank division, responsible for assaulting the Houhe direction from the eastern Mongolia area with the assistance of the Kwantung Army troops. If everything goes well, the reserve team will be deployed to Guisui. Attack in the direction of Zhangjiakou and Datong.

In this regard, Junroku Hata is full of confidence:

"In this way, the troops advancing simultaneously from multiple directions can form a huge encirclement, enclosing the main force of the Eighth Route Army in the encirclement at one go.

The 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army, including the damn 35th Route Army of the National Army, were all wiped out by him! "

“Didn’t the damn Eighth Route Army always say that the outcome of the chessboard is not within the chessboard?
Now that all the units of the imperial army are united as never before, with top and bottom unity, and several parties joining forces, I want to see how the Eighth Route Army will respond to our army's attack this time. "

In addition, the cunning Hata Junroku also made some special preparations before the war.

For example, let the Japanese wounded soldiers disguise themselves as the first batch of evacuated troops.

The remaining troops carried out a check-in attack. On the one hand, they tested the coordination degree of the Eighth Route Army's infantry and artillery. On the other hand, they tested the reaction time of the Eighth Route Army's anti-artillery positions. At the same time, they calculated the accuracy of the Eighth Route Army's artillery strikes based on the impact point of the artillery shells.

As for the First Army, the commander of the First Army in Shanxi, Yoshio Iwamatsu, who inherited the fighting will of Shinozuka Yoshio, finally decided:
"The 106th Division and the 26th Division set out from Nao County to launch a fierce attack on the 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army guarding Xinkou.

The 101st Division serves as a reserve force - a mechanized division drawn from the Central China Expeditionary Army and composed of armored units. The division achieved brilliant results in the Nanchang Battle and is considered a good experimental unit.

The Ishikawa Department of the 35rd Mixed Brigade, the Ikeda Department of the [-]th Mixed Brigade, and the Harada Department of the [-]th Division, passed through the Shouyang Mountain Road, bypassed Dai County to the north, and went straight to Yanmen Pass, leaving some troops to guard Yanmen Pass.

The main force turned around and headed south, directly to Shixian County and Yangmingbao Airport, and then detoured toward Xinkou to attack the main force of the 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army.

The 106th Division serves as backup.

After the first phase of the offensive was completed, the main force of the First Army moved forward to attack in the direction of Datong.

The 27th Division and the 69th Division attacked Shuoxian, and the 101st, 106th and 35th Division attacked Yingxian.

The Sixth Division moved to Taiyuan as a reserve force.

If Yixian is broken through Yanmen Pass, the two armored mixed mechanized divisions of the 101st and 35th will be used as the spearhead to attack Datong. The third and ninth mixed brigade will cover the flanks, and the 106th Division will defend the back roads of Yingxian and Yanmenguan.

The heavy artillery brigade of the First Army and the heavy artillery brigade of the Central China Dispatch Army fully cooperated with the operations in these two directions.

The air force was provided with air cover by the [-]rd Flying Division. "

After finishing his deployment, Iwamatsu said to Harada, "Harada-kun, you and I have cooperated sincerely many times in the past year. Taiyuan City was besieged several times, and we relied on Harada-kun to lead his troops to actively rescue. This war relied on Harada." Please use your surprise attack to open up the situation, please!”

Harada immediately replied: "Commander, you don't have to be like this. For the glory of the empire, you must fight to the death to serve the country!"

For a moment, Harada, who seemed to be possessed by a drama queen, even shouted: "Long live the Emperor! Long live the Empire of Japan! Serve the country with sincerity!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Ishikawa and other well-connected officers beside him shouted slogans together, and the scene was filled with excitement.

Those who didn't know better thought that these old devils were fighting a just war to protect their homeland and country!
Only Guancun, the commander of the Japanese Sixth Division sitting in the corner, looked at him coldly, and his heart was full of disdain - do these clowns want to become a big deal?It’s simply a mistake for the country and the people!
Especially when he returned to Shanxi during this period, he secretly visited and discovered that Harada's troops regarded the empire's material blockade order as useless paper and conducted almost semi-open trade with the Eighth Route Army.

Guancun even witnessed with his own eyes that the Eighth Route Army's caravan entered the occupied areas of the empire, and it was as if they were entering uninhabited territory. They were not blocked at all, and the imperial officers along the way even helped to clear the way.

Euphemistically called paralyzing the Eighth Route Army, it is simply the most ridiculous thing in the world!
Including the major occupied areas, the Eighth Route Army's border tickets were even circulating, and even the bills used by the people in the city for daily life only recognized the border tickets.

Even the officers of the empire seemed to agree with this. They even secretly hid the border tickets and spent them in private.

With these silverfish around, what hope is there for the Empire's holy war?

But Guancun just sighed and didn't say anything after all. He knew that there were many officers like Harada. Over the years, as the situation of the Jihad gradually declined, too many imperial officers had gradually become desperate, and even... Be willing to be corrupt and use this method to numb yourself.

He alone can't turn the situation around.

In addition, it is really a mockery.

It happened to be the area that Imperial officers like Harada were responsible for. Although they conducted trade with the Eighth Route Army privately and almost openly, they managed to support the troops through this method and even ensured the relative security and stability of the area they occupied.

The Eighth Route Army seemed to have reached a relative tacit understanding with these corrupted troops.

The two sides basically do not offend each other and have frequent trade exchanges.

On the other hand, areas under the jurisdiction of conservative imperial officers like Tagancun, who still had hopes for the imperial jihad, have been in constant tit-for-tat confrontation with the Eighth Route Army, so their security and stability have been constantly hit.

Coupled with the shortage of logistics supplies in the empire and the decline in economic efficiency, even the soldiers could not even make a sound.

The combat effectiveness of the troops has been seriously affected as a result, and there have even been cases in the Imperial troops where soldiers can't even fill their stomachs.

Judging from the superficial political achievements, Guancun is not as good as Harada.

In this regard, Guancun knew very well that the Eighth Route Army was just paralyzing Harada and others. The inaction attitude of Harada and other officers was tantamount to drinking poison to quench their thirst!

Unfortunately, Guancun can't change anything.

(End of this chapter)