Spy Wars: I am the Captain of the Military Police

In Zhangjiakou, the 68rd Division, which was reorganized into the 143th Army, and the Independent 40th Brigade were stationed in Zhangjiakou and Xuanhua.

They were responsible for guarding the two important cities of Zhangjiakou and Xuanhua. The soldiers built fortifications around the cities, strengthened patrols, and were vigilant of the movements of the Japanese army.

In addition to the 13th Army, the 17th Army and the 68th Army deployed in Nankou and Zhangjiakou.

Fu Zuoyi also commanded the remaining troops of the Seventh Army, including the 35th Army, the 61st Army and the 1st Cavalry Army, deployed on the second line in Nankou and Zhangjiakou.

The 35th Army and the 1st Cavalry Army were deployed along the Pingsui Railway. They were ready to launch an offensive against the puppet Mongolian troops in Shangdu and Shangyi.

The cavalry troops galloped across the grassland, while the infantry built defensive positions along the railway. They hoped to disrupt the Japanese army's offensive rhythm and reduce the pressure on the Nankou front by taking the initiative.

The 61st Army was distributed in Tianzhen, Yangquan, Weixian and other places at the southwest gate of the Pingsui Railway.

The soldiers built fortifications in these places to strengthen the defense and prevent the Japanese army from encircling the Nankou defense line from the flank.

Overall, the scale of the troops deployed by the Chinese defenders in Nankou and Zhangjiakou seems to be quite large, but in fact there is a lot of water in them.

These troops have different organizations and equipment.

For example, the two divisions of the 13th Army of Tang Enbo’s Central Army were so-called adjustment divisions, with a total strength of 2.8 people, sufficient manpower and excellent equipment.

The soldiers are dressed in neat military uniforms and armed with advanced weapons. They have undergone rigorous training and have high combat qualities.

The two divisions of the Shaanxi Army's 17th Army had a total of only 1.4 people, and their equipment was incomparable to that of the 13th Army of the Central Army.

The 94th Division had only 5160 men! With such a small force and inferior equipment, it was unclear how much combat power they could exert against the Japanese.

When the Chinese army was busy and hastily building a defense line in the Nankou area.

The Japanese side presented a completely different picture. They were carrying out their offensive deployment in an orderly manner, and every link was carefully planned.

Decades ago, Japan launched intelligence theft operations against China.

They sent a large number of spies to infiltrate various parts of China, quietly collecting all kinds of information.

He also drew a large number of detailed maps of China, from prosperous cities to remote villages, from steep mountains to broad rivers, leaving no detail untouched.

At the same time, intelligence personnel are continuously infiltrating into all levels of Chinese society. They disguise themselves as businessmen, scholars, laborers, etc., and closely monitor the movements of the Chinese army.

After a long period of accumulation, the Japanese army was well aware of the topography of the Nankou battlefield and the troop deployment and mobilization of the Chinese army.

It was as if countless battles had been rehearsed on this land.

Initially, the garrison army formulated a combat plan, which was to launch an attack on the Baoding and Cangzhou front with a large force of four divisions, namely the 5th Division, the 6th Division, the 10th Division, and the 20th Division.

In order to deal with possible emergencies, they also arranged the garrison brigade, the 1st Independent Mixed Brigade, the 11th Independent Mixed Brigade, and the 20th Mixed Brigade as reserve forces.

Always ready to jump into battle to increase offensive firepower or fill gaps in the defense.

However, the plan has now changed. The Japanese army wants to pull out the two nails of Nankou and Zhangjiakou first.

Therefore, a powerful force was formed by the 11th Independent Mixed Brigade and the 5th Division to attack Nankou.

In order to unify the command, the commander of the 5th Division, Seishirō Itagaki, was appointed as the commander-in-chief of this operation.

At the same time, the 1st Independent Mixed Brigade and the 2nd Independent Mixed Brigade received orders to leave North China and return to the Kwantung Army.

The Kwantung Army also drew combat power from other units to form the 15th Independent Mixed Brigade.

Under the planning of Chief of Staff Hideki Tojo, these three teams formed the Chahar Expeditionary Corps.

Hideki Tojo was an officer with great ambition and strategic vision. He planned to command the Chahar Dispatch Corps to launch an attack on Zhangjiakou from the north, like a pair of pliers clamping the Chinese army in Nankou from behind, putting it in a dilemma of being attacked from both sides.

At this point, two huge offensive arrows clearly appeared on the Japanese army's battle map.

One arrow points to Nankou, which is composed of the 11th Independent Mixed Brigade and the 5th Division, and the other arrow points to Zhangjiakou, which is composed of the Chahar Expeditionary Corps.

These two arrows tightly clamped the Nankou and Zhangjiakou areas, as if foreshadowing that the Chinese army was about to fall into a devastating disaster.

The Japanese army's orderly deployment formed a sharp contrast with the chaos of the Chinese army, and also cast an even heavier shadow on the upcoming Battle of Nankou.

1937 8 Month 8 Day.

The pointer of history has quietly pointed to a turbulent moment.

At this time, there was only one day left before the Battle of Shanghai, which was triggered by Japanese Marine Corps Lieutenant Isamu Oyama.

Just as the Japanese headquarters focused its main attention on Shanghai, it did not expect that a brutal battle in northern China, the Battle of Nankou, had already begun.

In the early morning, when the first rays of dawn had not yet completely dispelled the morning mist over Changping City, a part of the Japanese Army's 11th Independent Mixed Brigade, about 500 infantry and cavalry, under the cover of the deafening roar of 10 artillery pieces, launched an attack from Changping City to Deshengkou, east of Nankou Town, like a wolf.

For a moment, the sounds of gunfire and shouts of killing intertwined together, breaking the tranquility of Nankou Town in the past, and the bloody battle of Nankou officially began.

At the beginning of the battle, the 5th Division commanded by Seishirō Itagaki did not rush to the battlefield immediately.

The 11th Independent Mixed Brigade, entrenched in the Changping City and Shahe area, was like a tentacles testing the water temperature, constantly testing the combat effectiveness of the Nankou defenders.

They frequently launched probing attacks, attempting to gauge the defenders' defensive deployment, firepower, and fighting spirit. Each attack was like a carefully planned chess game, with the Japanese attempting to exploit weaknesses in the defenders and prepare for subsequent large-scale offensives.

On August 8, the fighting escalated further.

The 11th Independent Mixed Brigade launched a more fierce attack.

In the sky, fighter planes roared past, and the bombs they dropped rained down on the defense line of Nankou Town, creating huge craters on the ground, with smoke filling the air and flames shooting into the sky.

On the ground, more than 10 artillery pieces roared in unison, and the shells streaked across the sky like meteors, slamming heavily into the defenders' positions, blowing the fortifications to pieces.

Under the cover of fighter planes and artillery, the tanks slowly made their way like steel behemoths, their tracks crushing the broken ground, making a dull sound.

More than a thousand infantry and cavalry followed closely behind, waving their weapons and shouting as they rushed towards the Nankou Town defense line, launching several charges within a day.

However, the 11th Independent Mixed Brigade's attack was not intended to completely break through the defense line.

They were like cunning hunters, constantly testing the defenders' reactions and strength.

Each charge seemed fierce, but in fact they were reserved. They were just looking for the weak links of the defenders and accumulating experience and intelligence for the subsequent full-scale offensive of the Fifth Division.

The attempt was to use this tentative attack to consume the defenders' manpower and ammunition, undermine their fighting will, and pave the way for final victory.