The father of the sword is Kong Jie

Kong Jie's willingness to save Tang Keqin was based not only on personal factors, but also on the overall situation.

One of the most important purposes was to hope that Tang Keqin's troops could evacuate to northeastern Henan under the alternate cover of the Eighth Route Army in northern Henan, and then attract the main force of the Japanese over.

For the Japanese army, what frightened them was not the territory occupied by Tang Keqin's troops in central Henan, but the obvious existence of an anti-Japanese armed force such as Tang Keqin's group.

From this perspective, the strategy of exchanging space for time that Jiang Jun sometimes promotes to the outside world is not wrong. They can use this as an excuse to lose their territory.

But the key point is that Chiang's army traded space for time and did not necessarily have to abandon their positions and continue to retreat to the rear. Just like this time the Japanese army pressed heavily on the border and advanced to central Henan. If Tang Keqin could lead his troops to avoid the Japanese front, instead Detour to northern Henan and northeastern Henan.

Even if the central Henan defense area is lost, as long as Tang Keqin's armed forces are still there, the little devils will still have trouble sleeping and eating, and they even dare not continue to advance south despite the pressure from the rear.

At that time, the mobile detachment composed of the Japanese Jihad Army and the Armored Army will definitely keep distance from the Bipedal Division behind them. It will be much easier for the Eighth Route Army to deal with them first, and then attack the Bipedal Division behind them in a straight line. .

Time continued to pass, and soon after, the development of the war in central Henan was discussed at the headquarters.

Kong Jie took the lead in clarifying the situation:
"The Kwantung Army led by Lao Guizi Yamashita Fengwen, which was claimed to be a jihadist army, had a strength of about [-]. During this period, the Kwantung Army went south to fight. It first attacked Xi'an, then went straight to Chongqing, and then assisted the Changsha area. Fighting in the central area of ​​Henan indeed showed impressive combat effectiveness.

In addition, after entering the central Henan area, the armored division led by Inoue benefited from the relatively flat terrain in central Henan, and its mobility advantages were fully utilized, and it was almost overwhelming.

After the Battle of Central Henan broke out, until now, in just over ten days, more than a dozen counties in central Henan have fallen in one fell swoop.

Comrades! It seems that the burden of holding back the Japanese Kwantung Army going south in the end still falls on our shoulders! "

Li Yunlong couldn't help but cursed: "Damn it, they were the ones to fight this battle. What do you think Commander Tang was thinking? Before the Battle of Central Henan broke out, we sent them a lot of information, including the latest Japanese military equipment. Information about tanks.

The Chiang Army originally built several anti-tank trenches in central Henan, but those trenches could not stop the Japanese's new tanks.

After our special reminder, I heard that Commander Tang did pass on the order, but less than 1/3 of the anti-tank trenches across the entire line were widened and renovated, and I don’t know whose pockets the other 2/3 money went into.

As long as they can carefully build up the anti-tank defense line, they won't make the Japanese armored force so rampant! "

The old comrades in arms all sighed.

Kong Jie was actually speechless. He once again deeply realized what it means that mud cannot hold up a wall.

After the Battle of Central Henan broke out, the Japanese army fought against Tang Keqin's group. Tang Keqin's troops retreated step by step, constantly losing cities and territory.

If before Tang Keqin came into contact with Kong Jie and his party, he was still thinking about sticking to Yuzhong in accordance with the order of the Chairman.

When the Eighth Route Army told Commander Tang that if the troops in central Henan were really unable to resist the Japanese offensive, the Eighth Route Army would assist the friendly forces in central Henan to move to northern and northeastern Henan, Commander Tang immediately felt moved.

This is because you know there is a way out, so why are you still willing to fight?
After the battle broke out, just a few days later, seeing the fierce Japanese offensive, Tang Keqin commanded the troops to retreat again and again. Then he contacted the Eighth Route Army headquarters and expressed his immediate preparation to lead the troops to evacuate in a roundabout way to northern Henan.

When Kong Jie heard the news, he was stunned for a long time.

He had originally hoped that even if Commander Tang could not stop the Japanese offensive, he would at least have a large first theater with hundreds of thousands of regular troops. If you drag the little devils and consume the Japanese army, this is always okay, right?

Who would have thought that the situation would take such an unexpected turn.

Fortunately, although Commander Tang's troops were poorly maintained and he was also a loser in power, he was somewhat competent in military command.

After the Japanese army launched a surprise attack on the defense area in central Henan at night.

Commander Tang followed the plan he conspired with Advisor Li to let miscellaneous troops and other non-main forces go up. The main force would alternate cover and evacuate first, and then abandon some peripheral defense lines and warehouses, which would take three to five days.

Just when they retreated to the core area, and when the Japanese thought they had a chance to win, Commander Tang acted decisively and broke through in reverse with the assistance of the Eighth Route Army's Henan Yang Command troops.

And use the useless anti-tank ditches made before to evacuate.

Commander Tang probably didn't expect that the broken anti-tank trenches he built would be used during retreat. These fortifications were wide and straight, and trucks driving in felt like they were entering the expressway. When the Japanese broke through their defense zone, they did not send troops to guard them - these What's the point of guarding the ditch?
In this way, the evacuation went quite smoothly!
As for the warehouse materials in the core defense area, they were basically either sold or moved. Those that could not be moved were allowed to be occupied by the Japanese. They were all handed over to the commandos sent by the Eighth Route Army to plant bombs and give the Japanese a surprise after they evacuated.

On the 16th, Commander Tang, who was completely determined, led his elite group army to successfully break through, leaving only a few rabble behind as resistance, and then moved to northern Henan.

The chairman of the committee who was in command of the rear area was furious after hearing about this. Once the Henan defense line was lost, it would directly threaten the rear area.

He is reorganizing the army and allocating supplies in the rear area, and he needs the central Henan defense line to buy time!

For this reason, the principal sent out multiple telegrams at once, reprimanding Tang Keqin for his incompetence in fighting and for being a runaway general.

But now Commander Tang has figured it out and he can scold the principal as much as he likes.

Anyway, as long as he still has the troops at hand and the gun in his hand, no matter how unhappy the principal is, he will have to value himself when it's time to value him later.

Besides, I just lost some positions, and the elite troops are still there.

This is just a smart move to preserve your vitality.

Moreover, I, Mr. Tang, did not escape, and I did not retreat to the rear, but detoured to the northern and northeastern areas of Henan to fight guerrillas and continue to contain the Japanese army. How can you say that I was defeated?
At best, it can be regarded as a tactical change of ownership. The Eighth Route Army often used this tactic. Now why not give someone a try?
On the other side, the Japanese were stunned by Tang Keqin's withdrawal. They did not expect that the offensive against Yuzhong would go so smoothly.

Except for the initial blockade by the Chiang Kai-shek troops in central Henan.

Afterwards, Chiang Kai-shek made little resistance.

Second, the Japanese army did not expect that Tang Keqin's troops would not continue to escape south, but would instead detour to the northern Henan area.

The Japanese also did not expect that the Eighth Route Army would vigorously assist Tang Keqin's troops in breaking out.

The person in charge of the Japanese army's command this time was still the old Japanese warrior Neji Okamura.

Shunroku Hata, the commander-in-chief of Japan's China Expeditionary Force, seemed to have completely accepted his fate. He realized that in order to deal with these cunning Eighth Route Army troops and deal with the ever-changing situation on the frontal battlefield, what was needed was someone like Okamura Neiji. A commander who is both courageous and capable and experienced.

Okamura's stunning performance in the Battle of Guadalcanal, as well as his rapid launch of Operation Plan No. [-] after assuming the role of commander of the Sixth Front Army, and then the complete conquest of Changsha, all prove this.

This allowed Hata Junroku to choose to delegate power.

In other words, although the apparent commander-in-chief of the Chinese Expeditionary Forces is still Tabata Shunroku, the direct commander of many battles in the south this time is Okamura. Okamura almost became the supreme commander of the China Expeditionary Forces with real power.

After realizing that Tang Keqin's group abandoned the defense line in central Henan and detoured to northern and northeastern Henan, Okacun did not hesitate. Everything was just as Kong Jie and others expected.

Under the command of Okamura, first Yoshisa Inoue's armored division and Yamashita Fengfumi's Kwantung Army mobile force formed a fast pursuit force, which quickly pursued Tang Keqin's group in a circuitous direction in northern Henan.

The main force of the Japanese army that originally attacked the central Henan region, which was what Kong Jie called the Bipedal Division, followed up with a counterattack in the northern Henan region in an attempt to completely annihilate the Tang Keqin Group.

at this time.

Tang Keqin's Army Corps headquarters.

After receiving the news that the Japanese army dispatched mobile troops to pursue the rapid pursuit, Commander Tang was completely panicked and quickly ordered again, asking the Communications Department to continuously contact the Eighth Route Army to seek reinforcements from friendly forces.

To be honest, if it weren't for the Eighth Route Army's solemn promise this time and the many wonderful victories fought by the Eighth Route Army on the battlefield behind enemy lines, Commander Tang would not have dared to lead his troops to make a detour to northern Henan.

At this time, Commander Tang, who had completely lost his footing in Henzhong, was as frightened as a bird.

After receiving the news, the former enemy headquarters of the Eighth Route Army was afraid that Commander Tang would run away to the south again, so they immediately responded in the affirmative and made it clear to Tang Keqin that the pursuing Japanese mobile troops would naturally be intercepted by our Eighth Route Army troops.

This is also a tough battle to show off the skills and muscles of Tang Keqin's group army.

This time, the mobile force that responded to the Japanese pursuit was the main force of the Eighth Route Army from southern Hebei, northern Henan, and western Shandong.

In addition, under the command of Kong Jie, the Eighth Route Army aviation unit will also make great efforts this time.

According to the battle plan agreed by Kong Jie, Li Yunlong, Ding Wei, Lao Cheng, Lao Xu and other old comrades.

This battle was to deal with the jihadi army formed by Yamashita Fengfumi and the armored division led by Yoshisa Inoue.

The Eighth Route Army will use three parts. One is aerial firepower reinforcements, and the aviation combat force is declared as the "Eagle in the Sky".

The second is the elite infantry gathered by the three parties. The external designation is the elite helmeted soldiers of the Iron Triangle of the Eighth Route Army, and it is externally declared as the "Tiger on the Ground".

The last part is the surprise force formed by the mobile troops of the Eighth Route Army.

It is declared to the outside world as the "inserting surprise soldier".

To this end, the Eighth Route Army's literary and art department also composed three corresponding songs for the three troops to promote the power of the troops.

In addition, for the purpose of publicity, special reconnaissance aircraft were used this time, and multi-camera photography equipment was used to broadcast almost live the scene of the Eighth Route Army beating the Japanese invaders.

Spectacular armored force.

Planes fill the sky.

There are also fighter planes that launch rockets, and airborne troops that are well-trained and can carry out airdrops at any time in any area.

This is a battle destined to fully demonstrate the advanced weapons and equipment specially developed by the Eighth Route Army.

Most of this equipment was specially provided by the Allies for the Eighth Route Army this time. It was hoped that the Eighth Route Army could fully contain the Japanese army on the battlefield behind enemy lines and support the general's troops in the frontal battlefield operations.

Then Kong Jie naturally wanted to make a big publicity about using the equipment provided by the Allies to defeat the Japanese invaders.

Soon after, the Inoue Armored Division and Yamashita Jihad Army, which were pursuing all the way, were intercepted by the Eighth Route Army.

at this time.

The Japanese Army's North China Front had already lost its battle with the Eighth Route Army for air supremacy in North China. Faced with the Eighth Route Army's superior air firepower, the so-called elite Jihadi Army and Armored Division ushered in their biggest nemesis.

No matter how elite your Kwantung Army is, it is still made of flesh and blood and has almost no power to fight back in the face of air fire.

Even the armored vehicle troops of the Iron Flood were simply hit by dimensionality reduction when facing bombers.

The old Japanese soldier Okamura who was in charge of the headquarters was speechless when he received the news. In the short time since he went to Guadalcanal, had these damn Eighth Route Army developed their equipment to such an exaggerated level?
Okamura had actually received information about the situation in which Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union and other countries vigorously assisted the Eighth Route Army during this period. He just did not expect that the Eighth Route Army would have such courage and be willing to use all the most advanced equipment provided by the reinforcements to attack the Imperial Army. , assisting Jiang Jun in the battle.

This is the end.

Okamura no longer had any doubts. In his opinion, besides Kong Jie's team, could there be other possibilities for using such advanced equipment, such powerful combat power, and the elite steel-helmeted troops of the Iron Triangle?

The Japanese command headquarters judged from this that the Eighth Route Army put all the most advanced equipment provided by the Allies into battles in North and Central China.

By extension...

Do they still have extra strength and equipment to attack Kanto?
"asshole!"

Okamura clenched his fists and stared at the military simulation sand table that appeared in front of him, the Eighth Route Army unit designated as the Iron Triangle Group Army.

His eyes seemed to be looking over the sky, looking down at the battlefield where the elite of the Eighth Route Army clashed with the most elite armored division of the Imperial Army and the Jihadi Army.

"We must kill the elite steel-helmeted soldiers of the Eighth Route Army and completely defeat the Eighth Route Army's front!"

Okamura secretly swore that in his opinion, if the Eighth Route Army was compared to a spear, there was no doubt that the elite steel-helmeted soldiers of the Iron Triangle of the Eighth Route Army were the tip of this powerful spear.

If the tip of the gun can be broken, the threat of this gun will not be a concern.

Considering that the battles in central Henan and the Guiliu area are still going on, the southern battlefield is also inseparable from air fire reinforcements, and the aviation units in North China were almost completely lost under the attack of the Eighth Route Army aviation units.

Okamura had no choice but to contact the commander of the Kwantung Army, Umezu Yoshijiro. He couldn't care about so much anymore. During the call, he specifically asked for help from the Kwantung Army, especially the Kwantung Army's aviation unit.

Umezu Yoshijiro did not dare to delay, after all, it was his Kwantung Army troops that were being bombarded by the Eighth Route Army's aerial firepower.

Under the mobilization of Meizu Yoshijiro, fighter jets and bombers one after another set off from the Kanto region and headed towards northern Henan.