Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

Sekine Kyutaro took a deep breath and said, "General, something big has happened. I just received news that Xincheng County has been captured by the Eighth Route Army."

"what?"

The last bit of sleepiness in Shigeta Tokumatsu disappeared.

He immediately put on his military uniform and walked out. After arriving at the operations room, Shigeta Tokumatsu asked nervously, "What's going on? Although there are some Eighth Route Army troops around Xincheng County, they are all small groups, and there are no large-scale operations. How did Xincheng County get lost?"

Shigeta Tokumatsu couldn't figure it out.

There are Eighth Route Army troops around Xincheng County.

Because the western and northern areas of Xincheng County were the base areas of the First Division of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Region, there were a large number of guerrillas from the First Division operating there. Even the main force of the First Division used to operate there.

However, after the Japanese army sent a large number of people for this mopping-up operation, the main force of the first division here withdrew, leaving only some guerrillas.

The eastern part of Xincheng County is Jizhong Shifen District.

The Eighth Route Army had a very strong mass base in central Hebei. They had local troops and village militias. The Japanese were currently trying to drive out the main Eighth Route Army units in central Hebei, but they were unable to control some of the smaller units. However, the strength of the Tenth District was far inferior to that of the First District, and the small units that had slipped through the net were even weaker.

Now the main forces of the Tenth District have been forced into the Ninth District, and it is impossible for the main force to attack Xincheng County.

Although Xincheng County did not have the main force of the Japanese army, the North China Security Army and the puppet security forces had a total of about 5,000 people.

Without a large force, it would be impossible to capture Xincheng County.

"We haven't received any specific information yet. But around nine o'clock last night, troops from the First Jin-Cha-Ji Division attacked the Dingxing stronghold.

However, no news has come out of the Dingxing stronghold yet. Other troops of the 10th Independent Mixed Brigade replied that their reinforcements were ambushed by the Eighth Route Army and suffered heavy casualties. Therefore, they are not clear about the current situation of the Dingxing stronghold. "Is it possible?"

Kyutaro Sekine gave the most unlikely and unacceptable answer.

Shigeta Tokumatsu's face darkened. "Dingxing has 1800 of our Imperial Army troops, as well as the 5000th Independent Security Army Regiment and the Dingxing Guard Regiment. That's a full people in total. How is that possible? How is that possible?"

Looking at Xincheng County and then at Dingxing, Shigeta Tokumatsu began to sweat on his forehead.

The Japanese and puppet troops in Dingxing were powerful, and there were so many forts guarding them. Shigeta Tokumatsu was very confident about the Dingxing stronghold. If the Eighth Route Army could break through the Dingxing stronghold, then?

Shigeta Tokumatsu's expression began to turn ugly.

"If the Eighth Route Army troops from the First Division of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Region break out from Dingxing, all our previous efforts will be in vain. We are currently short of troops in the rear. If we let this army go, they will run rampant in Gu'an, Baxian, Yongqing, Liangxiang, and Daxing. And we don't have enough troops to stop them. This is really a big deal."

It was impossible for Shigeta Tokumatsu not to be nervous.

The North China Front Army was severely understaffed. In order to sweep through the Hebei-Central Military Region, all available mobile forces were withdrawn. This massive withdrawal of forces even left the defenses of many areas extremely weak.

If the troops of the First Division of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Region continued to flow in from Dingxing and galloped across the vast area between the three important bases of the Eighth Route Army, namely the First Division, the Hebei-Eastern Military Region, and the Hebei-Central Military Region, no troops would be able to stop them.

Because all the troops capable of fighting have now been transferred to Hebei Province.

Beijing couldn't provide any troops either.

There was only one division in Peking right now, the 59th. Would the 59th dare to send any troops? If they sent too few, they would become the rations of the First Division. If they sent too many, what would become of Peking? The th Column of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Column was right around Peking, eyeing it with eager eyes.

Now that they have captured Zhangjiakou, who can guarantee that they won’t attack Beijing?

"General, this isn't just one issue. Tomorrow, the frontline troops, including the Second Regiment, will need to resupply. It wasn't a problem originally, but now it's a huge problem. Now that Xincheng County is gone, how will we resupply?

Seeing that his division commander was only thinking about big issues, Kyutaro Sekine immediately reminded him.

Never mind that stuff.

Consider the 35th Division's own problems.

The 35th Division and the nd Infantry Regiment from Peiping, as well as the supplies of the puppet troops they brought with them, were all piled up in Xincheng County.

Now that Xincheng County has been lost, all these supplies have fallen into the hands of the Eighth Route Army.

What will our troops on the front line do if they have insufficient food and water, and are short of ammunition?

The Eighth Route Army in central Hebei Province concentrated its forces several times in an attempt to break out. How could they be stopped if the troops were out of ammunition? With Ningci Okamura's "Iron Wall Encirclement," if any one point failed, the entire strategy would collapse.

"So, immediately give orders to the frontline troops to stop attacking and deploy defensive positions.

"Yes."

"Send a telegram to headquarters. Ask General Gangcun what to do now?"

Chapter 440 Situation Fusion

In Peking, the North China Front Army's operations room was brightly lit.

This sweep was related to the future of the North China Front Army and the future of North China. From General Okamura Neiji on down, no one in the North China Front Army dared to be careless.

Ningji Okamura was quite satisfied with the current mopping-up situation.

Because all the troops were advancing according to plan. Although the casualties were a little higher than expected, they were still within the range that Ningji Okamura could bear. Therefore, Ningji Okamura was in a good mood these days.

But it's different now.

Okamura Neiji's hand began to tremble as he held the telegram, and the entire headquarters fell silent. This was because Yang Quanwu led the First Division to capture the Dingxing stronghold and then swallowed up Xincheng County, the logistics base of the 35th and 27th Divisions, directly disrupting the entire strategy formulated by Okamura Neiji.

The 63rd Division and the 35th Division were both extremely anxious.

The 63rd Division was responsible for the area from Peking to Baoding. In fact, it was mainly responsible for blocking the area from Shui to Baoding to prevent the First Division from causing trouble. Some small units broke through the blockade, but the 63rd Division did not care. The 63rd Division only needed to ensure that the large forces of the First Division could not break through the blockade and affect the sweep of Hebei. Originally, the 63rd Division was full of confidence and thought that completing the task was easy. However, in just a few hours, all the strongholds in their blockade line, except for the most stable Dingxing stronghold in Baoding, were captured by the First Division.

Afterwards, troops from the first division continued to arrive.

The Japanese troops that were supporting the Dingxing stronghold and preparing to close this gap were attacked by the First Division troops and suffered heavy casualties, so they retreated one after another.

This is not over yet.

When Yang Quanwu rushed into Xincheng County, he feared it would slow the advance, so he left the infantry artillery with him. All of the artillery remained at the Dingxing stronghold. Huang Fa and Chen Kaikun, from the First Division, took these infantry artillery pieces and ignored the small bunkers and artillery towers. They focused on attacking strongholds with a significant number of Japanese troops. Since there were ample ammunition, Yang Quanwu instructed them to use it generously, using it to their heart's content.

As a result, the Japanese and puppet troops were unable to stop the First Division troops at all.

It’s better not to have a fort.

Because of the presence of bunkers, they were targeted by infantry artillery, resulting in the 63rd Division suffering over 30300 casualties in a single night.

Such casualties were simply unacceptable to the 63rd Division.

When did the Eighth Route Army become so powerful?

The 63rd Division was a newly formed security division, and it was severely weakened by this. Even after hearing the news, many troops in the 63rd Division did not dare to go up to support.

What's even more serious is that the First Division had no intention of giving up. Feeling it wasn't busy enough, troops continued to pour in from Yixian and Laishui. At this point, the First Division's immense strength was undeniable. Nearly 63 to main and local troops had been mobilized. Yang Quanwu's intention was simple: to take advantage of the rd Division's current lack of other options to expand their victory and eliminate more of the Japanese army's active forces. Yang Quanwu wanted to commit all of the First Division's troops to this battle. Along the line between Beiping and Baoding, they would strike everywhere, annihilate the Japanese and puppet troops, and support the Jizhong Military Region's counter-mopping-up operations.

The 63rd Division had no choice but to order the Japanese troops in various strongholds to gather. They could not tolerate the Eighth Route Army conquering stronghold after stronghold. As a result, the gaps in the 63rd Division's blockade became larger and larger, and the blockade became a complete facade.

The same situation applies to the 35th Division.

They had been fighting for several days and were about to restock their supplies, including ammunition. But what were they going to do now? Yang Quanwu had completely destroyed their original supply base. Where could they get their supplies from in such a short time?

So the 63rd Division and the 35th Division sent telegrams for help one after another, asking Ningji Okamura to find a solution.

But what could Ningji Okamura do when he suddenly received such a telegram?

In order to carry out this raid, Ningji Okamura actually gave up a lot of things.

With so many troops being withdrawn, one can imagine what the situation would be like in other areas. For example, in Shandong, the Japanese army originally had only about 20,000 people, and the rest were maintained by more than 100,000 puppet troops.

Fortunately, relations between the Nationalist Army and the Eighth Route Army in Shandong were not very good. Not only were they poorly connected and cooperative, but they were also prone to friction. In Shandong, aside from Yu Xuezhong's Northeast Army, clashes between Nationalist and Eighth Route Army troops were commonplace. Normally, one-third of the Eighth Route Army in Shandong was also dedicated to dealing with Nationalist forces. Otherwise, given the strength of the Nationalist and Eighth Route Army forces in Shandong, if they had coordinated well, the Japanese would have been unable to control the situation in Shandong.

But for this mopping-up operation, Ningji Okamura transferred more than 13000 Japanese troops and more than 3 puppet troops from Shandong. This instantly reduced the Japanese military strength in Shandong.

In many places, only some pseudo-security groups were left to maintain order.

The Eighth Route Army is best at taking advantage of every opportunity. I wonder how much this will help the Shandong Eighth Route Army develop.

The 129st Division, which was originally set to sweep the base of the 41th Division, the rd Independent Mixed Brigade of the Zhengtai Road, and the st Independent Mixed Brigade, which was set to deal with the Eighth Route Army in southern Hebei, were all transferred to central Hebei.

The Taihang Eighth Route Army and the South Hebei Eighth Route Army are so excited right now.

That’s the 129th Division.

Now that half of the Japanese troops were fighting against the 129th Division, their pressure was greatly reduced. The 129th Division was powerful, and with the pressure of the Japanese and puppet troops reduced, it immediately became a tiger coming down the mountain.

What is the purpose?

The goal was to completely eliminate the Central Hebei Military Region and cut off the food supply of the Northern Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Region. This was to prepare for the future destruction of the Northern Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Region. In Gangcun Ningci's view, the Central Hebei Military Region was the most dangerous of the Eighth Route Army forces in North China. Yet, after only seven or eight days of fighting, something like this had already occurred.

This directly caused problems with the entire strategy.

Ningji Okamura was very troubled.

How should we deal with the Eighth Route Army troops in the First Division?

Okamura Neiji simply had no troops to mobilize. Was he supposed to withdraw troops from the front lines? However, if troops were withdrawn from the front lines, a loophole would appear in the defenses, and the Eighth Route Army in Central Hebei might slip through. This would mean his elaborate campaign to wipe out the Eighth Route Army in Central Hebei would be in vain. Okamura Neiji also understood that if this sweep of Central Hebei failed, the North China Front Army would never again be able to destroy the Eighth Route Army in Shanxi, Chahar, or Hebei.

Later in Hebei, the Eighth Route Army gained the upper hand.

"How did the First Jin-Cha-Ji Division capture the Dingxing stronghold in such a short time?"

This is something that Ningji Okamura could never understand.

Dingxing was a large stronghold housing 5,000 Japanese and puppet troops, so how could it be wiped out so easily by the Eighth Route Army? Tanabe Moritake frowned and said, "We still don't have a detailed picture of the battle. However, according to reports from other units of the 10th Independent Mixed Brigade, it seems that the First Division deployed a large number of artillery pieces."

"A large number of cannons? Where did the Eighth Route Army get the cannons?"

"Commander, have you forgotten? More than a month ago, the 8th Column of the Jin-Cha-Ji Army captured Zhangjiakou. Zhangjiakou has plenty of artillery, and there's no shortage of ammunition. Although we sent some planes to bomb, the effect may not be very good. The troops on the Jin-Cha-Ji side may have received artillery support from Zhangjiakou."

"Zhangjiakou, Zhangjiakou."

Ningji Okamura said grimly, "If they really have a large number of artillery, our blockade will be completely useless. Damn it, how did we lose Zhangjiakou? We need to re-formulate the mopping-up plan."

Ningji Okamura made all his plans based on the original situation of the Eighth Route Army.

Who could have imagined that Zhangjiakou would be captured by the Eighth Route Army just over a month earlier? At the time, Okamura Ningji thought that despite the repeated setbacks, the Mongolian garrison would be able to hold on to Zhangjiakou for a few months. He would wait until he had dealt with the Hebei-Central Military Region and then return to rescue Zhangjiakou.

Unfortunately, Zhangjiakou fell too quickly.

The thought of the Eighth Route Army's vast artillery reserves made Okamura Neiji restless. He realized his plan to blockade the Jincha Beiyue area with a cluster of blockhouses was a complete failure. In the face of such a large number of artillery pieces, those so-called blockhouses were nothing more than targets. He had to find a new solution quickly.

"General, something has happened."

When Okamura Neiji and Tanabe Moritake were considering how to formulate a new mopping-up plan, the Deputy Chief of Staff of the North China Front Army, Arimi Seizo, walked in.

"what happened?"

"The troops of the Third Division of the Eighth Route Army have captured our Quyang stronghold. The 69th Division reported that the Quyang stronghold was attacked by the Eighth Route Army troops and requested assistance from the division. However, there is no news from the Quyang stronghold now, and the division has lost contact with the Quyang stronghold."

"Quyang stronghold?"

Ningji Okamura immediately came to the front of the map.

Looking at the map, his face paled. The breakthrough points chosen by Divisions One and Three were completely unexpected by the Japanese. The Japanese troops were confident that if they wanted to break the blockade in the Jin-Cha-Ji-Beiyue region, they would choose a place with weaker troops. But who could have imagined that they would do the opposite, choosing the strongholds with the largest number of Japanese troops as breakthrough points, and they were successful. They had clearly used three divisions, plus the garrison troops, security forces, and the North China Security Army, mobilizing more than 5 people to build the blockade.

I didn't expect it to be of no use at all.