The father of the sword is Kong Jie

Under the pressure of the sense of crisis, Naosaburo Okabe, who was quite at a loss, suddenly thought of his old senior Okamura Neji.

I heard that my old senior is still beating the US military in Guadalcanal!
Fortunately for me, not long after he took over as the commander-in-chief of the North China Front, he suffered a series of defeats and continued setbacks at the hands of the Eighth Route Army. Even Jinmen was captured, Datong was also captured by the Eighth Route Army, and Zhangjiakou was also captured.

Now even Peiping, the base camp where his North China Front headquarters is located, is in crisis.

Okabe wailed helplessly in his heart, wishing he could replace his old senior Okamura back now.

Speaking of which, there is another interesting thing.

The Japanese Army General Staff Headquarters discovered a very surprising phenomenon: on the Sino-Japanese battlefield, the imperial officers who fought against the Chinese army, especially the Eighth Route Army, were constantly defeated and were transferred to Guadalcanal and various parties in Southeast Asia.

Although they performed very poorly when fighting the Eighth Route Army on the Chinese battlefield.

However, in the Southeast Asian battlefield and the Battle of Guadalcanal, including the subsequent series of confrontations with the US military, they showed considerable wisdom and were even able to use surprising tactics to reverse the equipment gap between the enemy and ourselves, often winning by surprise.

This forced the Japanese army to redefine the combat effectiveness of the Eighth Route Army.

As early as in the past, the Japanese army had a relatively accurate list of criteria for classifying the combat effectiveness of the Chinese army:

Elites of the Eighth Route Army > Direct Line of the Central Army > Shanxi-Sui Army > Local National Army.

Of course, at the top of this list, the little devil shamelessly added - Japanese elite > Eighth Route Army elite.

After the outbreak of the Southeast Asian battlefield and the Pacific battlefield, the Japanese army's list of combat capabilities included more and more targets, and was no longer limited to the Sino-Japanese battlefield.

So this list has undergone new changes:
Chinese army (mainly the elite Eighth Route Army with the ceiling of combat effectiveness)>U.S. army>British army>Indian army.

From this perspective, the elite Eighth Route Army troops in China, especially in North China, are the most troublesome opponents for the Japanese army.

Didn’t you see that the imperial officers were defeated steadily by the Eighth Route Army on the North China battlefield, but once they moved to the Southeast Asian battlefield and the Pacific battlefield, did they immediately sing all the way?
Among them, the previous commander-in-chief of North China, Okamura Neiji, is a typical example.

This shows how powerful the Eighth Route Army is!
For the Japanese army and the Eighth Route Army, they were the most troublesome opponents, but they were also the most suitable subjects for learning.

The Anti-Japanese War has been going on until now, and the Eighth Route Army has learned a lot from the Japanese troops, making the troops more powerful in combat.

In the same way, the Japanese army also learned many surprising tactics from the Eighth Route Army, and used these tactics to win successive victories in the Southeast Asian battlefield and the Pacific battlefield.

Speaking of which, the Eighth Route Army is getting stronger and stronger, which is a blessing or a curse for the Allied countries.

As for the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain and other countries, when the Sino-Japanese War broke out, it is estimated that many military powers secretly laughed at China's industrial backwardness and military weakness. They even laughed with little Japan, thinking that the Sino-Japanese battlefield was The two sides are just noobs pecking each other.

The most typical one is probably the United States. Before the outbreak of the Pacific War, this neutral guy was still doing business on both sides and making a lot of money!
Even businessmen like John, who has been doing business with Kong Jie, firmly believe that if Japan dares to go to war with the United States, the United States can completely crush the Japanese army in a short time with its absolute industrial strength and military industry advantages.

Until the outbreak of the Pacific War, it was a slap in the face.

Although the U.S. military has advantages in equipment, when it comes to the military quality of the troops and the tenacity of their fighting will, they cannot catch up with the Japanese army even if they are trying to flatter each other.

Especially after the appearance of a group of Japanese officers like Okamura who had become stronger under the training of the Eighth Route Army, the US military was even more miserable.

It was also at this moment that the US military realized the strength of the Japanese army. It also realized the great pressure of the war on the Chinese military and civilians since the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War.

When they met again later, John also said with emotion: "It has been five or six years since China began to resist Japan. Facing such a powerful enemy, you can persist until now. The troops are getting stronger and stronger as they fight. This is really incredible!" "

"I heard some soldiers on the Pacific battlefield say that the Japanese were just like crazy people. They had never seen such an opponent before!"

"But even such a lunatic opponent is still afraid of your Eighth Route Army troops. Kong, why on earth is this?"

Kong Jie said with a smile: "John, there is an old saying in China: Those who are aggressive are afraid of being stunned, and those who are stunned are afraid of losing their lives."

"what?"

"The meaning is very simple. You are afraid of the Japanese army because the Japanese soldiers are crazy enough and not afraid of death. The little devils are afraid of our Eighth Route Army because our Eighth Route Army is less afraid of death than they are.

Those who are barefoot are not afraid of those who wear shoes. Our Eighth Route Army troops persisted in the war of resistance to defend our homeland and our homeland.

We have no retreat, we can only move forward!

Even if countless people fall down one after another and bleed and sacrifice, there will still be more people with lofty ideals who will follow without hesitation! "

John nodded, as if he understood, but also seemed not to understand.

Just like many Americans think.

Facing the crazy Japanese army, their first thought was not how to defeat the Japanese army with more crazy and determined fighting will, but to use the Chinese army on the Sino-Japanese battlefield to contain more Japanese troops and weaken the Japanese army's combat effectiveness in the Pacific battlefield. .

In this regard, the attitude of the Eighth Route Army is very clear:

We are professionals in fighting devils!If we use Li Yunlong’s words:
Our soldiers can't sleep well if we don't kill a few of his little devils every few days.

But we need equipment and assistance!

……

……

In addition, in the direction of Baoding, it turned out that there was a reinforced brigade.

There is a new infantry brigade in Zhuozhou.After the Eighth Route Army encircled Baoding, the Iinuma garrison from Shijiazhuang, a reinforced regiment from Shimen, a reinforced regiment from Handan, and a newly formed domestic security infantry brigade formed the southbound group.

In the direction of Jizhong, the Japanese army pieced together a mixed brigade and two mobile wings.

From the direction of Zhuozhou came a division directly under the military headquarters from Peiping, the 27th Division from Jinmen, a mobile regiment from Cangzhou, and two mixed mobile brigades of the Kwantung Army from the direction of Rehe and Chahar.

On this battlefield, the Japanese troops had assembled almost four and a half divisions, which could be considered to be the best of all.

It is precisely because the Japs are constantly deploying reinforcements from Shijiazhuang, Cangzhou, Jinmen and other directions that the defensive forces in Shijiazhuang, Jinmen and other places are empty.

This also gave Commander Wang the opportunity to sneak attack Jinmen.

Even Shijiazhuang, known as a steel fortress, was breached by the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei troops.

As for the Baoding area, since the beginning of the siege, it has been a focus of great attention for both China and Japan, except for Taiyuan.

From the very beginning, the Japanese made the northward group headed by the Iinuma garrison from Shijiazhuang in the south and the southward group headed north by the Honma 27th Division from Zhuozhou serve as the main field forces for this war.

All the mobile troops retreating to the core counties in central Hebei were mobilized, and the scattered armored units and rapid squadrons were gathered together to form an infantry brigade and an armored regiment to form an eastward containment group. These troops in Jizhong The Japanese garrison suffered heavy losses during the May Day raids by the Jizhong Military Region. Under the orders of Okabe, these troops who had retreated to the main county towns were partly defeated after gathering out of the city. They were barely able to gather together. In addition to containing the Eighth Route Army on the periphery of the Baoding battlefield, They simply do not have the ability to launch a large-scale attack.

If Commander Lu hadn't been hanging on to them and hadn't concentrated his forces to kill them, fearing that the Japanese would cower in fear, he would have dealt with them long ago.

The old Japanese Okabe also thought that if the elite field troops of the Imperial Army marched from the north to the south, they would not only be able to break the siege of Baoding, but also form a huge encirclement, and wipe out all the main field troops of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army and the main field troops in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei base area, so that they could be saved. The tragic defeats in three battlefields in Shandong, Taiyuan and Inner Mongolia swept away the haze of consecutive defeats.

Especially the Chahar and Rehe area mobile units of the Kwantung Army have arrived to join Honma's southbound group. This is simply my advantage.

Therefore, although he did not gain air superiority, Okabe ordered the troops to start a strong attack.

On the other side, Commander Liu of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army went into battle in person and held a meeting with former enemies on the Baoding front line.

Boss Nie of Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei, Commander Lu of Jizhong, as well as Brigadier Chen of the 386th Brigade, Brigadier Chen of the 385th Brigade, Captain Song, Captain Yang, Captain Deng, and the Fourth Cavalry Division of the 35th Army (upgraded to armored (mixed divisions), as well as the field regiments of the newly formed brigades from Jizhong, Jinnan, and Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei.

Looking at the dozens of main regiment commanders in the venue, Commander Liu was very happy and said: "Everyone is very confident, and I am also very confident. We have invested so many main troops this time, and our strength is almost three times that of the Japanese army. Not to mention There are auxiliary local troops and even mobile troops that are constantly joining from other battlefields.

This time I also brought 3 heavy-duty Dragon regiments, 5 medium-sized Dragon regiments, and 8 light Dragon regiments. These troops are all left behind directly under the headquarters and the Iron Triangle Field Group (there is a fear of accidental loss of these weapons when traveling over long distances) , so Kong Jie and the others did not carry it.)
There is also the heavy artillery regiment under the division. The third heavy artillery brigade directly under the headquarters is all composed of American 203, 155, and 105 howitzers. The remaining field artillery regiments, mountain artillery regiments, and light howitzer regiments will not be mentioned. This time our firepower is better than The devils have the upper hand.

There are also two newly equipped prototype 42-type new medium tank battalions carrying 85mm tank guns (the Soviet T3485 uses a torsion bar suspension version, with fully upgraded protection, larger internal space, and uses many mature technologies from the 97 modification).

This time we have to fight the Japanese outside Baoding.

Of course, considering the current overall situation, it is not a completely reckless final battle with the Japanese army, but a decisive victory against the Japanese invaders with an absolute advantage with the help of favorable terrain and sufficient pre-war preparations.

We have a huge advantage in this battle and have the absolute initiative.

On the one hand, the Japanese flying troops are far less aggressive than before, and we also have aviation reinforcements that can arrive at any time.

On the other hand, the Japanese navy suffered heavy losses and could not interfere with this battle.

Not only that, our troops have already crossed over to Pingjin and Tianjin. Not long ago, news came that Madman Wang, Kong Jie, and Li Yunlong had even breached the Jinmen base camp.

Because the Japanese mobilized troops to target the Baoding battlefield this time, the troops in the rear area were empty. Now that the rear area is in danger, they must find a way to launch a decisive battle in advance so that they can return to support the rear area.

This is what we can control and use to lure the Japanese to the preset ambush position to start the battle. "

"The specific deployment is as follows. The goal this time is to attack from the south to the north. The first and fifth divisions of the Taihang Army are ready to attack Xingtai, capture Shimen, and attract the Japanese from Shijiazhuang to return for reinforcements.

This time all the heavy artillery troops went to greet the Japanese advance group to the north. The troops in Jizhong and southern Hebei were to launch the main attack and told them to go back to Shijiazhuang.

The local troops, with the assistance of the main force of the new brigade, surrounded the Japanese eastward mobile brigade and waited for us to free up our hands to deal with him.

The main force of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Division, the 129th Division, with the support of Weilong troops and air support, launched a fierce attack on the Southward Group. The Fourth Cavalry Division and the divisional armored force fought a decisive battle with the Japanese Kwantung Army mobile armored force. After opening the gap, they divided and surrounded the group, forcing the Southward Group. Fall back, and then the rapid response clusters in Pingjin and Tianjin will intercept and kill them all outside Zhuozhou! "

...In fact, the Japanese army gathered four and a half divisions that day and almost all came out. For the Eighth Route Army, the combat objective had been achieved.

Although this autumn offensive was huge, it successively attacked many important Japanese cities in Taiyuan, Baoding, Shijiazhuang, and Datong.

But in the final analysis, the general policy that the Eighth Route Army troops are in a strategic stalemate has not changed yet.

This battle was not intended to recapture major counties, cities and towns in one fell swoop and completely defeat the Japanese army.

The current situation is not yet that far!

After all, what we are facing now is only the troops of the Japanese North China Front.

Once the Japanese Kwantung Army and the Central China Front Army reinforced the North China battlefield, the Shanxi-Sui Army and the Chiang Kai-shek Army were unable to unite as one to jointly defend the enemy. The Eighth Route Army suffered huge casualties and fought the Japanese army in a decisive battle, which obviously outweighed the gains and losses.
Therefore, after the Japanese army rushed directly to Baoding, the Eighth Route Army General Headquarters immediately ordered a battle in the Baoding area, but it was not a decisive battle, but to drag the Japanese army away as much as possible.

Waiting for work, using more to attack fewer, and striving to injure the Japanese army while ensuring casualties on one's own side.

Just buy time for the evacuation of troops from the Pingjin area and the transfer of captured materials.

...Soon after, a war between the two sides was about to break out.

Everything was as expected by Commander Liu. When they learned that Jinmen had been breached and Peiping was also in crisis, the main Japanese troops gathered in Baoding suddenly panicked and eagerly sought out the Eighth Route Army troops in the Baoding area to start a decisive battle with them. After the victory, Quick response.

Therefore, the Japanese advance northward group headed by the Iinuma garrison, with limited air support, took the lead in launching a strong attack on the Eighth Route Army troops on the outskirts of Baoding.