Bright Sword: Start with Ding Blast Bridge, Homemade Sweet Potato Cake

Operation Number One, also known as the Expedition of the Century by the Japanese Army, mobilized more than 50 troops.

Despite some minor obstacles, the Japanese built the Yellow River Bridge at a very fast speed and deployed a number of anti-aircraft guns to guard against bombing from Wucheng.

Okamura was well aware of the bombers' range and dispatched additional fighter planes to conduct frequent searches in the southeastern direction of Shanxi.

We found the simple airport built here and bombed it.

Niang Xipi wrote in her diary that she felt the Japanese army would launch an attack in mid-May, and ordered all units in the First War Zone to defend themselves to the death.

As long as we can hold off the offensive, victory will be near.

The Allied counterattack was going smoothly. All they had to do was wait and see the Japanese invaders’ defeat.

On the Pacific battlefield, the Americans have been continuously pressing forward towards the Japanese home island to seize control of the sea.

Because of the defeat in the Pacific battlefield, they had to concentrate their troops and launch an all-in war.

In an attempt to resolve the problem on the Chinese battlefield in one fell swoop, the expeditionary force can be withdrawn to engage in a decisive battle with the Americans.

The idea is good, but the Japanese have always had big strategic problems. They have never owned large tracts of land, and they don't know what price they would have to pay to control these lands.

The Eighth Route Army in North China was eyeing the county covetously and launched repeated battles to retake the county.

After a month of rest, Ding Wei's troops prepared to find a suitable opportunity to launch another large-scale annihilation campaign.

In early April, the Japanese troops on the north bank of the Yellow River were ready to move, and the Yellow River Iron Bridge was already passable, allowing light and medium tanks to pass through.

The 3rd Tank Division was put into the battlefield, and the Battle of Central Henan broke out, commanded by Okamura himself.

In addition to the 15 Japanese troops, puppet troops including Sun Liangcheng, Sun Dianying, Zhang Lanfeng, Pang Bingxun and others also joined the battle and followed Taijun to march southward.

Unlike previous large-scale frontal attacks, this time Okamura used a roundabout tactic.

Taking advantage of the tank division's mobile breakthrough capabilities, they made a detour from the flank and went straight to the rear of the first war zone.

The defenders who held on to the front line collapsed at the first blow.

Ding Wei was stationed in Wucheng and was the first to receive news of the outbreak of the Battle of Central Henan.

The defeat of the National Army was inevitable. The Japanese gathered their forces and invested 15 men. According to the casualty ratio of 1:5 or even 1:6 between the two sides, at least 75 men were needed to fight against them.

There are no strategic locations to defend in the plains, and a conservative estimate is that it would take one million troops to stop the offensive of the North China Expeditionary Force.

What is unexpected is that the First War Zone, with 40 troops, began to suffer a defeat on the first day of the fighting.

The Japs swept across the south bank of the Yellow River at a very small cost.

In the operations department of the Suirecha Military Region, Ding Wei looked at the dozen or so operations staff sitting below him and seemed slightly satisfied with his own command center.

It looks like this after all.

Zhou Weiguo, Wang Chengzhu, Duan Peng and Lin Yihu were all there, looking towards the main seat.

Zhong Zhicheng held the latest roster and congratulated Ding Wei on having nearly 20 troops.

After a winter of rest and a counterattack in early spring, the columns and independent regiments developed rapidly.

Three independent regiments were formed in the Hebei-Central region at once. As long as there were weapons and military equipment, a team could be formed at will.

Hebei, Shandong and Henan have been populous provinces since ancient times, and the passionate men here dare to poke a hole in the sky with just a wave of their arms.

"The battle in central Henan started. The North China region was short of troops, and friendly forces launched local counterattacks. Our Fifth Column, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Independent Regiments captured large areas of towns in northern and central Hebei."

"The Japanese and puppet troops were unable to withstand the attack and abandoned their strongholds one after another and retreated to the county town. The situation was very good."

There was a relaxed smile on Zhong Zhicheng's face.

Ding Wei couldn't be happy, because he had just received a heartbreaking news.

A group of guerrilla forces that were harassing the Japanese logistics line behind enemy lines were chased and suppressed by the Central Army. Facing a powerful enemy, they were unable to unite to resist the enemy and were thinking that they had to stabilize the country before they could resist the enemy.

If he doesn't lose, then who will?

The main reason for the failure of the so-called Battle of Henan, Hunan and Guangxi was the national strength. It was indeed impossible to defeat the 50-strong Japanese army. However, if everyone had united as one and worked together to repel the enemy, they would never have been defeated so miserably.

Withstand the pressure from the front, destroy the transportation lines from the rear, and then assist with flank harassment.

It is easy for the Japanese to gather 50 people together, but it is difficult to withdraw them.

It’s a pity that the man from Shancheng would rather give up a large piece of territory than preserve his strength.

Ding Wei was unable to interfere with the situation on the front battlefield. The central Henan region was thousands of kilometers away from Wucheng, and was really out of reach.

The current solution is to consider annihilating the Japanese 23rd Division.

They surrounded Jianchang and Jianping and pressed into Chaoshi and Fuxin areas, threatening the Kwantung Army's rear.

"From the current situation, the Japanese offensive is still not exhausted, and we can mobilize hundreds of thousands or even millions of people to launch a large expedition. The gap between us and the Japanese invaders is still huge."

"Due to the war in the Pacific, the initiative is still in their hands. They can attack when they want to and defend when they want to."

"I, Ding Wei, do not have much ability, but I am willing to help in the stage from strategic stalemate to strategic counterattack."

Spreading out the battle map, there are three columns of troops in the front direction.

Zhang Dabiao’s third column, Gao Qing’s first column, and Wang Tao’s fifth column.

Deploy troops along the Yanshan area, build a defense network based on the mountainous area, and continuously launch offensives towards the plains.

The influence is huge and can threaten the Japanese invaders in the Peiping-Tianjin area.

Needless to say, in the Ji-Zhong region, the three independent regiments have grown into six, the strength has doubled, and the influence is growing day by day.

The next step was to send troops to eastern Hebei. Wang Tao's Fifth Column took the initiative to look for the main force of the Japanese and puppet troops, striving to annihilate 3000-6000 Japanese and puppet troops in eastern Hebei and reverse the situation of the anti-Japanese war in the region.

The advance group infiltrated into Suizhong and Huludao areas and continued to attack the defending Kwantung Army.

Destroy railway lines and ports, and look for opportunities to blow up all bridges.

A formal-scale bridge explosion was carried out to cut off the connection between the Kwantung Army and the North China Expeditionary Army.

The two columns of Zhang Dabiao and Gao Qing launched offensives towards Chifeng and Chaoshi respectively.

It involved the main force of the 23rd Division and was supposed to be a massive attack, but it was just a feint.

The real killer lies in Jidong, Suizhong and Huludao.

Simply blowing up the railway line and destroying the bridge across the river would be enough to sever the relationship between the Kwantung Army and the North China Expeditionary Force.

This would make it difficult for both sides to supply logistical materials, and would also isolate them separately, thus creating a strategic advantage.

Compared with the gains and losses of a city or a place, Ding Wei would rather gain further strategic initiative.

Zhang Dabiao received an order to build a temporary airport in a spacious area of ​​Pingquan.

A large number of personnel were organized to repair the roads in the Rehe area so that trucks could pass quickly.

The mountainous area is full of gullies and logistics is always a big problem. Field artillery and howitzers are difficult to use, so Zhang Dabiao prefers mortars instead.

The more the better, you can launch a counterattack by relying on the high ground.

The range doesn't need to be very far, four or five kilometers is enough.

The Russians' 120mm mortars were very good, and even the Germans would use them after capturing them. When Ding Wei made his fortune, he also relied on a 120mm mortar to launch an unexpected annihilation war and seize the Japanese mountain artillery weapons.