Devil's Army

Captain Nagano Yu retreated to the second line of fortification and did not launch an attack for the time being due to insufficient troops.

The Japanese 41st Regiment, which attacked from Linnancang Town and Xinyin Town, was ambushed by the devil troops one after another. They also retreated to Linnancang Town and Xinyin Town to build fortifications to prevent the devil troops from counterattacking.

There was a rare quietness around Xiaoguanzhuang Airport.

Wu Lang ordered Brigade Commander Li of the 364rd Brigade, Brigade Commander Du of the th Brigade, Brigade Commander Chen of the th Brigade and Brigade Commander Wang of the th Brigade of the Sichuan Army to hold a meeting at the Jixian Command Headquarters to discuss the next actions of the st Army in the North China battlefield.

Because the battle had reached this point, two voices emerged among the senior generals of the First Army. One voice demanded that the base be abandoned and retreated, and that guerrilla warfare be carried out everywhere like the Eighth Route Army. The other voice demanded that the base be defended to the death and that it be preserved.

Brigadier Generals Du and Chen, who had a red background, insisted on abandoning their bases and engaging in guerrilla warfare with the Japanese army. Brigadier General Du said with deep understanding:

"Commander-in-chief, I can now understand how you and the deputy commander-in-chief felt when you first arrived at the North China battlefield, changing from a brigade commander to a regiment commander. Our 9000th Brigade had more than 9000 men, but now only has the strength of a regiment. If I were to lead these men to fight guerrilla warfare, with our brigade's combat effectiveness and weapons and equipment, I'm sure we would defeat the Japanese without a clue of where to go."

"The three divisions of the Eighth Route Army were also developed through guerrilla warfare. We don't need to fight the devils head-on for a base area."

Li Guozhu, the commander of the Third Brigade, was a guerrilla fighter in the Northeast. He knew the hardships of guerrilla warfare. So he firmly adhered to the base area. He said:

"As Chinese soldiers, we are here to defend our country. Look at this piece of land in North China that was trampled by the Japanese army. Where else can our compatriots live as peacefully as our compatriots in the base area? In the Japanese-occupied areas, the lives of our compatriots are as cheap as ants."

Wang, the commander of the 364th Brigade of the Sichuan Army, was a centrist. He had no idea about guerrilla warfare. He believed that as long as there were Japanese fighting, he would resolutely obey the orders of his superiors, whether it was guerrilla warfare or defending the base.

……

……

Everyone was arguing endlessly about whether to defend or retreat.

Finally, Gray Wolf stopped everyone and analyzed:

"The reason why the Eighth Route Army fought guerrilla warfare was that their weapons and equipment were inferior to those of the Japanese Army, and their troops were not as numerous as those of the Japanese Army. However, our weapons and equipment were superior to those of the Japanese Army in some aspects. We had 150mm heavy howitzers, Type tanks, advanced supersonic fighters and subsonic bombers."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"As for the military strength, the Japanese North China Front Army currently has nearly 30 troops, and the Japanese Central China Expeditionary Army in the Songhu battlefield also has troops. We have much fewer troops than them. But Tangshan is not the main battlefield of the Japanese Central China Expeditionary Army and the North China Front Army. The Japanese army cannot concentrate all the troops of the North China Front Army to besiege us. Their main opponent is still the Nanjing government army with a million troops."

"Yes, the deputy commander's analysis is correct. The Japanese North China Front Army currently fighting us is the Japanese 109th Division, the Japanese th Mixed Brigade and part of the Japanese th Division, totaling more than people. They are only a few thousand more than us." Wu Lang took over the topic.

"At present, the soldiers on various battlefields are very tired and the troops are insufficient. But the Japanese army is not much better than us. They are the attacking party and have suffered more casualties than us. Moreover, the transportation lines are often harassed by the Eighth Route Army guerrillas. Victory often depends on who can hold on to the end." After Gray Wolf finished speaking, he asked Wu Wolf:

"How many new recruits are there in Ji County now?"

"Miao Nana's troupe performs very well, and new recruits are recruited every day. Currently, there are more than 3000 new recruits who have been trained for several weeks. There are also more than 1000 people who have just started training."

Gray Wolf asked Li Guozhu of the Third Brigade and Chen Dongbei of the Twelfth Brigade. They replied: Fengrun County, Panshan position, Sanchakou position and Bailonggang Bridge position are not a problem at the moment, and they can hold them.

Gray Wolf nodded and ordered: "Assign these more than 3000 new recruits to the most critical positions to the east, south, and north of Xiaoguanzhuang Airport! Let's carry out our First Army's tradition and let the veterans lead the new recruits and let them train into veterans on the battlefield."

Wulang knew that this was Gray Wolf's helpless move. In the tribe, a new soldier had to be trained for at least two months before he could go to the battlefield, but now this batch of new soldiers had been trained for less than a month and they were about to be sent to the battlefield.

Wu Lang asked Brigade Commander Du to go to the recruit training base to take over from Ai Lang after the meeting and bring the more than 3,000 recruits back to Xiaoguanzhuang Airport. He would call Ai Lang after the meeting to give instructions.

Brigade Commander Du suggested to Gray Wolf: Let the tribe send another main force brigade. As long as another main force brigade comes, it will definitely be able to crush the Japanese army's encirclement and suppression.

Before Gray Wolf responded to Brigade Commander Du's words, the messenger brought a telegram from Leng Feng.

After reading the telegram, Gray Wolf looked very unhappy and didn't speak for a long time.

Wu Lang took the telegram, read it without saying a word, and sat down quietly to drink water.