Comrade, your ingredients are too complicated.

On the wall of Changqing County, where the smoke of gunpowder had not yet dissipated, a tattered Wang Puppet regime flag was draped on a broken flagpole, rustling in the sharp evening breeze.

At the foot of the city wall, hundreds of puppet soldiers squatted in a row, their tattered uniforms covered in mud, and each of them had confusion and fear in their eyes.

"Why are you pretending to be dead?"

"Keep going forward, don't block the truck's way, squat at the corner of the city wall and wait patiently."

"Don't worry, you won't die now. We in the Eighth Route Army treat prisoners well. But after the public trial, everything will be hard to say."

In front of the city gate, a soldier from the Shandong Provincial Military Region poked the middle-aged prisoner on the back with the butt of his rifle.

He was a round-faced "captain" with an untidy beard. His belt had been lost somewhere long ago, and his uniform was torn by shrapnel, revealing the yellowed cotton wool inside.

Suddenly, there was a roar of an engine in the distance.

As if he saw hope of survival, the middle-aged prisoner suddenly struggled to stand up. He stared at the commander of the First Division on the military vehicle and shouted at the top of his lungs:
"Sir! We are one of us! I am one of us!"

"I am under the order of the chairman and have led a team to Quancheng to collect intelligence on the Japanese army. We are like a flood that has blown away the Dragon King Temple. Family members no longer recognize each other."

"I shed blood for the anti-Japanese war, and I made contributions in Taierzhuang. Let me meet your leader!"

After hearing Guo Su's classic words, the soldiers who were counting the seized weapons nearby burst into laughter.

The soldier who had just been in charge of escorting the prisoners pointed his gun directly at the puppet army captain's chest, signaling him to behave himself and not play any tricks.

In order to seek leniency, the middle-aged prisoner of war quickly squatted down with his head in his hands. However, he did not stop talking and continued to shout in his defense.

"I am the Lieutenant General of the 8th Army of the North China Security Army. In 38, I participated in the Battle of Taierzhuang as the commander of the 28th Independent Brigade."

"Last month, I came to Quancheng undercover on the orders of Director Dai, all for the purpose of recovering the lost territory as soon as possible."

Perhaps because he felt that his words were not convincing, the middle-aged captive hurriedly continued to add:
"I just picked up this outfit randomly. My original uniform and officer ID are still in the county headquarters. You can check their authenticity at any time."

"Yes, yes! I also know the complete defense map of Quancheng. The two areas in the west and east of the city have been completely cleared. I want to redeem myself for my crimes. Let me meet your leader!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the commander of the First Division glanced at the puppet army lieutenant general with interest.

Adhering to the principle of recycling waste, he thought for a moment and then asked his guard to take the other party to the temporary command center that had just been set up.

······
After a while, the convoy arrived in front of the largest building in Changqing County.

This was originally the Chamber of Commerce building for Japanese expatriates. It had a complete power system and ample space, making it the perfect choice for a temporary command center.

When the commander of the First Division stepped through the gate, the lights in the building were already on steadily, and the sounds of the telegraph machine sending and receiving messages began to echo in the house.

The communications squad leader was half-kneeling in the corner, two copper wires still in his mouth, wrapping the wires of a field telephone around the exposed wires in the wall.

Just as Commander Song was about to go to the map that had just been laid out, his chief of staff came running into the room in a hurry, holding a post-war statistics table and an officer's certificate.

"Report to the division commander. Our division has annihilated 2914 enemies, including 2444 captured, and 470 killed or wounded."

“除此之外，部队还缴获了25门掷弹筒、7门60迫、9挺重机枪、89挺轻机枪，以及2492支长短枪。”

"As for casualties, we lost 7 people, including 1 officer at the platoon level and above. We injured 56 people, including 7 officers at the platoon level and above."

Changqing County is the first line of defense on the west side of Quancheng. The Japanese deployed 4000 puppet troops here, as well as a moat, solid city walls and fortifications.

If it were the Eighth Route Army of Shandong Province a year ago, the comrades would have to bleed if they wanted to take this place.

However, for the well-equipped First Division, its main force can perform a good show of hot knife cutting butter, and 90 minutes is enough to end the battle.

"Okay, that's good. The work of settling the wounded must start immediately. The division's field hospital should be set up in Changqing County first."

It was obvious that Commander Song was very satisfied with the combat effectiveness of his troops. He first encouraged them with a few words, and then reached out to take the officer certificate handed over by his subordinate.

While the division commander was reading, the chief of staff reported again:

"We have confirmed the identity of the puppet army lieutenant general we just captured. He was originally from the Northwest Army and participated in the Northern Expedition. During the warlords' melee, he defected to Han Fuqu and became his confidant."

"After Han Paopao was shot, he led his troops to follow Baldy, and they did fight the Japanese in Taierzhuang."

"A month ago, when our military region was gathering its forces, his troops almost had a fight with the Central Army over supply issues. In the end, he defected to Wang Wang Wang and became a traitor."

Talent, real talent.

This kind of service experience of having no bottom line, following whoever is stronger, and whoever feeds you is your mother, really made the comrades speechless for a while. Feng, Han, Jiang, Wang, and Tuqiao once more, this is definitely the five surnames of slaves, even Lu Bu would have to admit defeat.

After hesitating for a moment, Commander Song looked at the officer's ID in his hand, and then asked the attendant to bring the other person back.

"When this fence-sitter sees that the Japanese are showing signs of defeat, he will definitely try his best to collect all available intelligence as a token of his allegiance to us."

"The defense map he mentioned should have some value and can save the troops some time."

"Bring the men back and see what surprises this lieutenant general can bring to our division. We need to be quick, as the 1st Marine Brigade is still lurking in Quancheng."

Attacking a city, especially a provincial capital, is never an easy task.

Even the first generation of the God of War in the original timeline, the master of soybean annihilation and a chronic patient of the Sad Face Syndrome, had little confidence in the battle to capture large cities.

Otherwise, the siege would not have started in June and the battle would not have lasted five months to end.

The main reason why Division Commander Song planned to obtain intelligence from the prisoners was that time was pressing. If their division did not launch an attack to attract firepower, the 1875st Marine Brigade would not be able to take advantage of the chaos to attack the headquarters of the th Unit.

As for the authenticity of the defense map?

There is no need to worry about this.

Even if the puppet army lied, the reconnaissance plane of the First Air Division would be able to see through his tricks and it wouldn't take much time.

Soon, the middle-aged prisoner was escorted to the temporary command center by the attendants.

Perhaps due to his long years of wandering, he almost immediately entered the state of selling out his master for fame and fortune, and told all the important information he knew.

"Tuqiao once deployed an independent mixed brigade in the eastern suburbs of Quancheng, all of which were elite troops of the Type B division."

"Especially at the two commanding heights of Maoling Mountain and Yanchi Mountain, they built a group of reinforced concrete bunkers and deployed a regiment of artillery, making the attack extremely difficult."

"Even if you succeed in breaking through the eastern suburbs' defense line, Quancheng still has inner and outer city walls and other fortifications, so I don't recommend you attack from the east."

At this point, the captured lieutenant general seemed to want to increase his credibility, so he simply picked up a pointer and began to mark the enemy's defensive points on the military map.

When Commander Song saw the fort system consisting of 17 main forts and nearly a hundred sub-forts, reverse slope fortifications, and multiple obstacle belts, he felt a little at a loss as to where to start for a moment.

Relying on static fortifications and lacking mobile defense, why are the Japanese getting worse and worse and starting to learn Guosu's squatting tactics?
Seeing the Eighth Route Army commander beside him start to think, the captured lieutenant general moved his teaching stick to the western suburbs of Quancheng as if offering a treasure.

"Compared to attacking from the east, I think it would be easier to attack from the west. Commanders, please take a look!"

"The troops defending the western suburbs of Quancheng are the 8th Group of the North China Security Army. They are all a group of old, weak, sick and disabled people with poor organization, poor equipment and little training."

"Among this group of people, our army is the most capable of fighting. I'm sure that the leaders can lead their troops unhindered."

As a fence-sitter who changed sides repeatedly, the captured lieutenant general had no psychological burden at all about betraying his former colleagues.

In just half an hour, he told everything he knew, and some of the defense situations were even accurate to the company and platoon level.

Of course, there is some personal emotion involved.

After all, the well-equipped 12th Army was responsible for guarding the eastern suburbs defense line with a large number of fortifications, while the poorly equipped North China Security Army was responsible for guarding the flat and unprotected western suburbs, which was obviously a sell-out.

In Guosu, the ragtag troops had to serve at the forefront, and their equipment and supplies were often withheld.

Now that I have become a traitor, and except for my military rank, no other treatment has been raised. Wasn't it that I surrendered in vain?
After marking all the information in his mind on the map, the captive lieutenant general turned his attention to the airport in the western suburbs of Quancheng. After racking his brains for half a minute, he added in an uncertain tone:
"This is the military airport of the 12th Army. There are probably two squadrons of Type 97 fighter jets here."

"This is a high-security military stronghold. I'm not sure how many Japanese soldiers are stationed here. But based on the transportation of supplies last month, there is at most one enemy battalion at the airport."

"Sir, everything I said is true. You must count it as meritorious service for my crime!"

After saying this, Division Commander Song waved his hand and did not make any direct promises. After the captured lieutenant general was escorted away, he decisively ordered:

"Pass on my order, contact the First Air Division immediately, and have Captain Wang Hai arrange for personnel to investigate the eastern and western defense lines of Quancheng, and identify the authenticity of the intelligence as soon as possible."

"Send another telegram to the Henan Provincial Military District to see if General Xu still has any Cicada tanks in stock. It would be best if we could ask the transport aircraft brigade to airdrop a few dozen tanks."

"If everything goes well, we will attack from the western suburbs of Quancheng. I don't want to play house-to-house battles with the puppet troops in the commercial port. If we have tanks, the troops will advance much faster."

"Yes!" (End of this chapter)