Comrade, your ingredients are too complicated.

A dim kerosene lamp flickered inside the headquarters of the 8th Army of the North China Security Force, illuminating the battle map on the wall that was scratched with red and blue pencils, making it look mottled.

Several puppet army division commanders and army commanders sat around a conference table. No one spoke, only the Type 94 radio in the corner occasionally emitted harsh noises.

"Changqing County is lost."

"I don't know what the guy surnamed Wu is doing. He wiped out an army of soldiers just like that. He has completely disgraced the Northwest Army. I really want to beat him to death!"

Sitting in the main seat, the army group commander Wang Tiexiang cursed and threw the telegram in his hand to the center of the table.

The writing on the paper was half soaked by the splashing tea, but the big words "defeat", "prisoners" and "imminent attack" were still eye-catching.

As if thinking of a possibility, Chief of Staff Liu Peichen slammed the table and stood up. He glanced at the people in the meeting and said in a half-sarcastic and half-threatening tone:
"The Third Army has more than 5000 people. Even if there are more than 5000 pigs, the Eighth Route Army cannot catch them all in two hours."

"I don't think the Wu guy was captured at all. He was secretly in contact with the Communists and gave way to the enemy. I'm not surprised at all what that bastard with a criminal record does."

"Everyone, we are all on the same boat now. If anyone dares to do something to let down our brothers, I, Liu, will definitely not show mercy!"

The 8th Army of the North China Security Force has a total strength of more than people.

Although this force had a large number of people, it was mainly composed of miscellaneous troops such as the security brigade. They were poorly paid, poorly equipped, and lacked morale. Once they fought with the Eighth Route Army, most of them could only make up the numbers.

In addition, most of the senior officers of the 8th Army were from local warlords who defected to the Japanese and puppet regimes because of war or interests.

If these fence-sitters are not severely punished, who knows what kind of trouble they might cause before the war.

The group army commander Wang Tiexiang was well versed in how to control his subordinates. At this moment, he had a cold face and glared at the chief of staff with a glare as sharp as a knife, looking as if he was furious.

After Dadang sat down angrily, he slowly picked up the teacup, blew away the foam, and said in a pretended angry tone:

"Qiu Ming, you can't just discuss a lieutenant general with great military achievements. I just said I wanted to beat him to death, but that was just a thoughtless angry remark."

"Alright, this won't happen again. There's a big war ahead, so don't bring up anything that's not conducive to unity."

After he finished speaking, Wang Tiexiang clapped his hands and signaled his guards to bring in the reward money that had been prepared in advance.

After a while, a dozen puppet soldiers came panting and carried boxes full of Central Bank notes, Japanese military notes and legal tender into the headquarters.

The iron cash box made a "click" sound, and the officers in the room held their breath, with more than a dozen pairs of eyes staring at the boxes of money.

Although these three currencies have long been devalued and their actual purchasing power is extremely low, the huge number of them is enough to make Wang Tiexiang, who has been exploiting the people for many years, feel the pain.

There is no other way. He only has a bunch of colorful troops in his hands. If he doesn't spend money, who will work for him?

"Brothers, you have worked hard recently. Come, half a box each. This is a reward from the person in Jinling and the imperial army. As long as you can defend the western suburbs of Quancheng, there will be opium and gold waiting for you after the war."

"By the way, I know that the Eighth Route Army of Shandong Province is no longer what it used to be, but we don't need to fight to the death with the enemy, we just need to firmly defend our respective defense areas."

"Once the Eighth Route Army begins to attack Quancheng, we only need to hold out for a week and wait for the main force of the 13th Army in Central China to arrive for support, and then we can replicate Lanfeng's strategic victory."

In a large-scale battle, one move often affects the entire body.

Just like the Battle of Ping'angle in a certain timeline, many troops were forced to be involved in the war even if they did not want to, and the war turned into a mess in northwestern Shanxi.

The same is true for the current battle in eastern Shandong.

The North China Front Army and the Kwantung Army were trapped, so the Thirteenth Army naturally could not stand still when its allies were in trouble. After all, if TG took over Shandong Province, the next target would definitely be the Central China region.

The commander of the 13th Army, Shimomura Sada, who was well aware of the fact that one tooth is in danger when the other is gone, began to mobilize troops to provide support as soon as Okamura Yasuji launched the internal combustion engine plan.

As soon as the Eighth Route Army began to besiege Jinan, the 17th Division, the 60th Division and the 12th Independent Mixed Brigade under his command would quickly move north along the Jinpu Road to the battlefield.

Even though this independent mixed brigade, two divisions and puppet troops only had 7 people, this force was definitely enough to save Okamura Yasuji's life.

"Great! With the support of the 13th Army, we will definitely be able to defend Quancheng!"

"Commander, don't worry, our brothers will fight to the death. Even if the first line of defense is lost, we will delay the Eighth Route Army's offensive in the commercial port!"

The encouragement of money, coupled with the good news that the support troops were about to march north, immediately boosted the morale of the puppet army leaders of the 8th Army of the North China Security Army.

Everyone present patted their chests and made promises, all of them looked loyal to Wang Wang Wang, and even did not refuse the request to fill the battle line. Before this, these puppet troops were completely huddled together for warmth, and did not dare to disperse at all, fearing that they would be defeated one by one.

They seemed to control a large area, but in fact there were gaps everywhere. If this formation was broken through by the extremely mobile Eighth Route Army, the final fate would be death.

Now, all the divisions and armies were ready to fight. After all, after North China was liberated, the Central Bank notes and Japanese military notes in the hands of the officers became waste paper, so they had to fight for money.

After explaining the details, the puppet army leaders left the headquarters happily.

Looking at the military map of central China and the airport in his own defense zone, Commander Wang Tiexiang breathed a sigh of relief, as if he had put his heart back in his stomach.

"Everything will be fine once the 13th Army launches its attack! And we have air force support, so we will definitely be able to withstand the pressure on the front battlefield."

Hearing this, a trace of surprise flashed across Chief of Staff Liu Peichen's face. He looked at his partner's face and hesitated again and again, but finally couldn't help but tell the truth.

"They've been sold. All the planes at Xijiao Airport, the Japanese planes at Xijiao Airport have been evacuated."

Silence, deathly silence.

Although he guessed that he and his group would be used as cannon fodder by the Japanese, Wang Tiexiang never expected that the other party would be so decisive.

After a moment, he took off his glasses tremblingly and asked the chief of staff, the commander-in-chief of the first line of defense and the commander of the commercial port defense to stay.

Well, the three of us, the puppet army version of the Republic of China.

······
Two and a half hours later, at the First Division Command Post in Changqing County.

While waiting for airdrop support from the Henan Provincial Military Region, the staff built a military sand table in the western suburbs of Quancheng based on the results of the reconnaissance of the 1st Air Division and the deployment details provided by the captured lieutenant general.

Just when Commander Song was modifying the offensive deployment, the chief of staff walked into the combat meeting room with a smile on his face, obviously having received some good news.

"Commander, good news! The supplies from General Xu have arrived. There are 33 Cicada tanks and crew members in total."

"Friendly forces in central China also sent a telegram, saying they were ready to intercept the Japanese 13th Army and promised not to let the enemy leave Xuzhou."

"Now everything is ready. We just need the dispatch of the Second and Third Air Divisions. We can launch the attack immediately!"

As soon as these words were spoken, a hint of excitement flashed across Commander Song's face, and the comrades in the conference room were also in high spirits.

Encircling a point and attacking the reinforcements was the tactic that the Fourth Master and the Eighth Master were best at. Originally, they only planned to feint and attack Quancheng to gain an opportunity for the First Marine Brigade to launch a strong attack, but they never expected that they would have an unexpected gain now.

"It's so exciting! It's so exciting! The battle is getting bigger and bigger. Even the 13th Army in Suzhou, Yangzhou and Nantong has been dispatched. It seems that the Japanese are really desperate this time."

"If that's the case, I'll have to make a bigger noise."

"Pass my order on. Prepare for the attack in the eastern suburbs. Once the two air force divisions are in place, all troops will immediately launch a general attack. We must at least blow the two hilltops down by two meters."

"I want to see which is stronger, the Japanese semi-permanent fortifications or the aerial bombs and heavy artillery shells."

After assigning tasks to each brigade and regiment, Division Commander Song turned his attention to the western suburbs of Quancheng.

This place is different from the eastern suburbs. The defense zone where the puppet army is located is close to where ordinary people live, and even to the ancient commercial town of Shangbu, so they cannot simply use firepower to clear the way.

After much deliberation, Commander Song finally decided to target the airport as the main attack direction.

Although the Japanese planes had moved to the border between Hebei and Shandong, the infantry battalion originally stationed at the airport was still the backbone of the 8th Army of the North China Security Army.

As long as we give priority to killing the puppet army's reliance, they will most likely lose their morale as they have no loyalty at all. Then it will be a matter of verification as to whether it is harder to catch pigs or people.

After making up his mind, he immediately ordered the communicator beside him:

"Call the regiment commanders and local comrades to a meeting. In one hour, we will officially launch the general offensive. I want to let all the devils in central and northern China know that the Eighth Route Army is going to besiege the capital of Shandong Province."

"By the way, don't forget to synchronize the division's plan with the 1875st Marine Brigade and have Li Yunlong prepare to storm the headquarters."

"When the cannon sounds, the defense inside Quancheng will be at its weakest. Perhaps we can cooperate from inside and outside to take down General Okamura Yasuji in one fell swoop!" (End of this chapter)