Devil's Army

Gray Wolf also felt that during this period, the Japanese army was no longer keen on peace talks and knew that the decisive battle in North China was about to come.

After receiving the news, Leng Feng prioritized allocating the new recruits to the First Brigade and the Third Brigade, and then ordered the First Brigade to march to the outskirts of Peiping and the Third Brigade to march to the outskirts of Tianjin.

In this way, the troops of the First Anti-Japanese Army outside Beijing and Tianjin included the Independent Brigade, the Jidong Independent Brigade, the 12th Brigade, part of the Second Brigade, the First Brigade and the Third Brigade.

The number of troops reached more than 5, which was similar to the Japanese troops in Tianjin and Beijing.

Moreover, the 18th Brigade, which is resting in Dalian, can come to provide reinforcements at any time.

The 364th Brigade of the Sichuan Army, which was responsible for the security of the Tangshan base, has quadrupled its strength over the years, from less than 3000 troops to 11000.

They served as the reserve force for this battle, ready to reinforce the First Anti-Japanese Army in Peking and Tianjin at any time.

However, the Japanese troops in Peking and Tianjin had no reinforcements.

The redeployment of the First Army's troops soon attracted the attention of the Japanese army.

The news soon reached the ears of Commander Okamura Yasuji.

Okamura Ningci was keenly aware of their intentions and offered peace talks to the devil troops, but Brigadier General Zhang did not accept it.

He refused on the grounds that his troops were engaged in exercises and had no time for peace talks.

"Troop exercises during the standoff? Who are you trying to fool?" Okamura Neiji judged that the Devil Army was actively preparing for war, so he urged the Army Department to put the remaining fighter planes promised in place as soon as possible.

While the Japanese troops and the First Army in Peking and Tianjin were actively preparing for war, the Third Regiment of the Second Brigade, which had moved to Shanxi, was surrounded by superior Japanese forces in Lu'an (now Changzhi) on the western foot of the Taihang Mountains.

The Second Brigade Commander hurried over with the Fourth Regiment nearby to provide reinforcements, but was stubbornly stopped by the Japanese blocking forces.

The rest of the First Army was fighting the Japanese.

The troops outside Peking and Tianjin did not dare to be mobilized easily because a major battle could break out at any time.

After receiving intelligence, Commander Liu of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army urgently ordered Commander Chen of the Third Military Sub-district of the Taihang Military Region to bring the 14th Regiment of the 769th Regiment from Qiaojiazhuang, Licheng, and Yushe County to reinforce the Third Regiment of the Second Brigade.

Japanese scouts also discovered that two regiments of the Eighth Route Army were rushing towards them, and immediately arranged for blocking troops to intercept them.

Although the Japanese troops surrounding the 3rd Regiment of the 2nd Brigade were numerous and well-armed, the soldiers of the 3rd Regiment of the 2nd Brigade were also well-armed and formidable. Therefore, it was quite difficult for the Japanese to completely annihilate the 3rd Regiment.

The Japanese troops that were encircling and suppressing the enemy in other places received the intelligence and rushed to reinforce.

Fierce gunfire and explosions were heard everywhere on the western foothills of the Taihang Mountains.

The situation of the Third Regiment became increasingly dangerous.

The closest First Army air force to the foothills of the Taihang Mountains in Shanxi was the Xiaoguanzhuang Air Force. However, Gray Wolf did not transfer the Xiaoguanzhuang Air Force to reinforce it, but instead ordered the Jinzhou Air Force to rush to reinforce it.

When the Jinzhou Air Force arrived at the battlefield, the Third Regiment was fighting fiercely with the Japanese army in the encirclement.

The Jinzhou Air Force launched a fierce bombing and strafing attack on the Japanese troops west of the Taihang Mountains.

The smoke from the air raid had not yet dissipated when the commander of the Third Regiment organized his troops to launch a fierce attack on the Japanese troops in the west.

The soldiers of the Third Regiment forcibly broke through the Japanese defense line in the west, and the commander of the Third Regiment immediately led the main force of the Third Regiment to retreat into the Taihang Mountains.

The main force of the Japanese mopping-up force lost the trace of the 3rd Regiment and immediately adjusted its strategy, attempting to encircle the 769th Regiment, the 14th Regiment and the 4th Regiment of the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Army of the Eighth Route Army.