I'm killing enemies with my sword and exploding equipment

It is said that Yang Yuanshan led a large group of special forces and hurried westward to Qixia Town.

On the way, they caught up with several artillery battalions that had set out earlier.

Although a lot of artillery had been lost and there were not many shells left, the advance speed was not slow due to the help of mechanical power such as self-propelled howitzers and artillery tractors, but Yang Yuanshan was still not satisfied.

He was anxious to return to Qixia Town to reorganize the troops and prepare for battle.

It would have been terrible if the 26th Division had reacted quickly and ran away.

However, the roads these days are mud roads rather than concrete roads.

Although there has been little rain in Jin recently, the ground has not turned into mud, but it is still difficult to walk on due to the gullies and ditches.

The soldiers of the artillery battalion had to drive mules and horses to pull artillery and artillery carts, and then ask them to move at the same speed as the infantry, which was really too much to ask.

Yang Yuanshan's eyes rolled, and he prepared to let the soldiers of the infantry battalion go up to help push the cannon.

At this time, the sentry who was exploring the way ahead on a motorcycle hurried back to report:
"Captain! There are people from the 9th and 10th Regiments heading back this way."

Upon hearing this, Yang Yuanshan quickly picked up the telescope and looked, only to see smoke and dust billowing in the distance. It was obvious that a large army was marching.

He immediately smiled and said to Han Yang and Zhan Haishan beside him:
"Haha, now someone can help us push the cannon."

Han Yang nodded and said:

"Not only can we push the cannons, we can also let them help transport our dried meat, mules and horses to Qixia Town.

This way our soldiers can travel easily and quickly return to the base to prepare for the next battle."

Yang Yuanshan nodded repeatedly:
"Not bad!"

Zhan Haishan reminded:
"Captain, if we let the comrades from the supplementary regiment continue to help us with the work, I'm afraid we will have to consume a lot of food.

Although we have more than 30 kilograms of horse meat now, with these two groups of 6000 mouths, we won’t be able to sustain it for long!"

Yang Yuanshan knew very well that more people would consume more food.

But at the moment, he had no other way to solve this problem, so he could only smile bitterly:

“That can’t be helped.

Let them help us transport the supplies and artillery to Qixia Town first.

As for the food problem, we will think about how to solve it later.

If it really doesn't work, let's just take over Jinyang City.

There must be plenty of food in Jinyang City.

Our group could rely on him for several years!"

Yang Yuanshan, who could raise an American howitzer battalion or a Leopard tank company at any time, felt that he would be extremely powerful as long as he had enough soldiers to fill the gaps in his troops.

The city of Jinyang, the most fortified city in the world, is no better than this.

Hearing him casually say that he wanted to take over Jinyang City, Zhan Haishan was speechless.

I thought to myself: Captain, you really dare to think like that!

However, Han Yang was very good at supporting the main character and immediately followed up:
"That's right, Commander. After we take care of the 26th Division, we can just go back and take over Jinyang City.

Anyway, we have more than a dozen regiments of our brother troops in the north of Jinyang City, and our manpower is sufficient.

With their help, we only need to send out artillery to break down the city walls. Maybe we can succeed in one battle and drive the Japanese out of Jinyang City!
Once we lose the fulcrum of Jinyang City, all the Japanese in Jin will be doomed!"

As he spoke, he felt his blood boiling.

If he could really take this opportunity to drive the Japanese out of Shanxi in one fell swoop, then Han Yang would be famous in history and live forever!

Yang Yuanshan certainly didn't think the Japanese were an invincible enemy, and nodded repeatedly:
"Well, if you have the chance, you can do that!"

……

While they were chatting and laughing, Wei Junfeng, commander of the 9th Supplementary Regiment, and Yuan Peng, commander of the 10th Supplementary Regiment, stepped out of the crowd, came up to them, and reported to Yang Yuanshan how they had delivered the wounded and a batch of medicines to the field hospital.

After expressing his gratitude repeatedly, Yang Yuanshan asked them to help transport the artillery and supplies to Qixia Town.

Wei Junfeng and Yuan Peng would of course not refuse and agreed immediately.

Afterwards, Yang Yuanshan ordered each camp to take enough dried horse meat to last for two days, travel light, and rush to Qixia Town.

……

While the troops in northwestern Shanxi were making intensive preparations to deal with the Japanese 26th Division, the Japanese side was of course not idle either.

After the Japanese expeditionary army commander, General Hata Shunroku, arrived in the capital by plane, he immediately stabilized the morale of the Hebei-Northern Front Army Command and restored order in the front army command which had fallen into chaos due to the simultaneous deaths of Okamura Ji-ning and Tanabe Seigo.

Then, he began to understand the situation of the Jibei Front Army and prepare to respond.

However, after he spent half a day understanding the situation of each unit, he immediately felt his scalp tingling and his whole body chilled.

The situation of the Jibei Front Army was several times worse than he had imagined.

As for the First Army, it was badly defeated by the Eighth Route Army in northwestern Shanxi, not to mention the successive deaths of two big bosses, Kazuo Shinozuka and Ji Ning Okamura.

The 12th Army stationed in eastern Shandong and northern Jiangsu also suffered heavy losses and repeatedly requested reinforcements and equipment from the front headquarters.

It's just that before this, Okamura Ji Ning had always focused his attention on the First Army in Jin and ignored them.

Even the 12th Independent Mixed Brigade, which was originally affiliated with the 7th Army and withdrew to the capital for rest and recuperation, was transferred to northwest Shanxi.

The most outrageous thing is that on the Army Aviation side, those flying squadrons assigned to the Jibei Front were almost completely lost!

Hundreds of planes were lost, hundreds of pilots were lost, and Jinyang Airport and Shimen Airport were repeatedly destroyed. It was simply unbearable to watch!

……

After understanding all the circumstances, Hata Shunroku was a little uneasy.

I couldn't help but curse at that damned Okamura Ji Ning:

"Baka! Okamura-kun, I thought you were a pillar of the empire and a hero of the army.

As a result, you have now ruined my locust army's cause to this extent!!!

It is a disgrace to your Okamura family!!!"

He didn't know that after hearing his curse in hell, the old devil Okamura immediately opened the coffin and yelled at him:

"idiot!
What the hell are you talking about, you bastard?
This is all the fault of that jerk Taro Tada!
It was he who made the Eighth Route Army in northern Hebei so powerful!

What does this have to do with me, Okamura Ji Ning?

I've only been the commander of the expeditionary force for a few days?"

……

Cursing obviously won't solve the current problem.

After Hata Shunroku spit out some sweet words, he finally calmed down.

Just at this time, his telecommunications staff came to report that they had received a telegram from the headquarters, appointing Matsui Jugen and Okabe Saburo as the new front commander and chief of staff.

They will soon fly to the capital to take over the military affairs of the Jibei Front Army.

At this point, Hata Shunroku was too lazy to worry about the military affairs of the Jibei Front Army and was ready to pass the blame to Matsui Jugen.

Anyway, although the Hebei-Northern Front Army was nominally a subordinate of him, the commander of the expeditionary army, due to its important status, most of the time it was directly commanded by the headquarters.

Now that the old Japanese Tojo has sent the extremely ruthless guy Matsui Jugen, Hata Shunroku will of course choose to let go.

After all, his energy now needs to be focused on the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Campaign.

So he immediately ordered the telecommunications staff to go to the telecommunications room to send a telegram to all troops, asking them to stop all current military operations, hold their ground or withdraw to their respective defense areas, and wait for new orders.

……

Because the military situation was urgent, neither Matsui Jugen nor Okabe Saburo delayed after accepting the appointment.

After taking care of their personal affairs, they boarded a plane with a few confidants and landed at the Beijing Airport. After getting off the plane, the two drove to the Jibei Front Army Headquarters and saw Hata Shunroku greet them at the door.

They dared not disrespect their superiors, and quickly bowed and saluted:
"Your Excellency Commander!"

When Hata Shunroku saw these two scapegoats arrive, he was naturally very satisfied.

He greeted the two with a smile and asked them to come to his office to talk.

After having the guards serve tea and chatting for a while about whether the cherry blossoms in his hometown had bloomed, Hata Shunroku got down to business.

I briefly explained the current situation of the Jibei Front Army to them.

At this point, both Matsui Jugen and Okabe Saburo felt as if they had fallen into a trap.

They were all smart people, so of course they all heard that the current situation in northern Hebei could not get any worse.

However, they soon realized that if not for this, the old Japanese devils Tojo would not give them the opportunity to come out and fight on the battlefield again.

So Matsui Jugen could only bite the bullet and say:

"Don't worry, Commander. Although the local Eighth Route Army in northern Hebei is rampant, our locust army warriors are invincible.

As long as the dispatched troops and the headquarters can give us enough support, I believe that the Imperial Locust Army will be able to defeat them."

Hata Shunroku nodded:
"of course.

Mr. Matsui, since Mr. Tojo has chosen you to save the situation in Jibei, I will give you the greatest support I can give!"

In fact, he was muttering in his heart: Support? Bullshit support!
It’s harder than climbing to the sky for me to find the base camp to ask for personnel and supplies!

……

After a pretentious communication, Hata Shunroku verbally gave Matsui Jugen the greatest support he could give.

He also summoned all the people in the front headquarters and reporters in the capital to serve as witnesses and helped him hold a simple inauguration ceremony.

The position of commander of the Hebei-North Front Army was officially entrusted to Matsui Jugen.

After he finished his inaugural speech, Hata Shunroku patted his butt and flew back to Nanjing.

As soon as the old Japanese left, Matsui Jugen and Okabe Saburo suddenly felt much more at ease.

There is a sense of power in everyone's heart.

The two of them did not waste any time and immediately went to the combat command room to carefully learn about the current situation of the various troops of the Jibei Front Army.

Prepare to mobilize troops and turn the tide.

However, after listening to the report, they were all dumbfounded and unable to say a word.

The situation is more than ten times more serious than what Hata Shunroku just said!
Especially the 7th Independent Mixed Brigade and the 26th Division, they were like dancing on the edge of a knife and could be swallowed up by the enemy at any time!
So Matsui Jugen pondered for a moment, and then immediately said to Okabe Saburo:

"Okabe-kun, we must immediately order the 7th Independent Mixed Brigade to withdraw to Shimen City.

They are alone and deep in the territory, which is very dangerous!
As for the 26th Division, Yansong-kun asked the enemy to capture Xinkou and then hold on to the spot. I think there is nothing wrong with this plan and we can just leave it as it is for now.

We will make the arrangements after we have sorted out the situation in northern Hebei.

how do you feel? "

Okabe Saburo nodded:

“I believe this decision is in line with our current situation.

However, now the Zhengtai Road and the Tongpu Road have been cut off by the Eighth Route Army. Our First Army in Jin has actually become an isolated force in a larger area, and the situation is very bad.

I think our next important task is not to wipe out the Eighth Route Army, but to open up any road first to save them!
Therefore, I think we can order the 26th Division to speed up the repair of the road while defending Xinkou, in preparation for receiving the troops we will dispatch later."

"Yoshi! Okabe-kun is right."

Matsui Jugen nodded.

Then he ordered:

"Okabe-kun, go and give orders to the troops immediately.

In addition, immediately request reinforcement of troops and supplies from Tojo-kun.

I think we currently need at least 3 to 4 divisions to ensure the stability of the situation in northern Hebei.

To completely wipe out the Eighth Route Army, at least 8 to 10 divisions are needed!"

"What? 8 to 10 divisions?
This... this is probably impossible!

There is no way the base camp can provide us with so many troops."

Saburo Okabe felt that the old man in front of him was dreaming.

If there were really so many troops, would Okamura Jining have to go to the front line and eventually die in battle?

Wouldn't it be great if I could just stay in this headquarters and give orders?
Matsui Jugen smiled slightly and said confidently:

"Okabe-kun, it's only 8 to 10 divisions. Of course the Empire has them!"

Okabe Saburo was suspicious:

"Commander, I heard that there are only two or three new reserve divisions formed at the headquarters?
Moreover, the quality of the soldiers is not high.

Where did the 8 to 10 divisions come from?
Do you want Lord Lu Xiang to revise the strategy and call back the troops heading south?"

Matsui Jugen shook his head repeatedly:

“The southward strategy is certainly not likely to be modified in the short term.”

"What do you mean?"

Okabe Saburo became more and more confused.

“Okabe-kun, I think it doesn’t make much sense for the Empire to stockpile a large number of troops in Liaodong.

As long as the Liaodong Army can be pushed south, what does a mere local Eighth Route Army matter? "

Matsui Jugen talked about the solution he had been thinking about since he accepted the position of commander of the Hebei-North Front Army.

"What? Let the Liaodong Army go south?

Is this...is this appropriate?

If the Russians make any move, wouldn't it be more trouble than gain?"

Saburo Okabe felt that the other party's idea was not reliable at all.

For the Japanese, since the Battle of Nomonhan, the Russians have become their most feared enemy.

Therefore, they have been increasing their military forces in Liaodong, ready to block the enemy's steel torrent from the south at any time.

However, Matsui Jugen didn't take his worries seriously and waved his hand:

"Okabe-kun, don't worry too much.

The Russians' main focus now is on the Western Front.

In a short period of time, there is no possibility for them to take care of us on the eastern front, or even march southward.

At worst, we can let the Liaodong Army return to Liaodong after wiping out the Eighth Route Army!
As long as we are fast enough, even if the Russians really make a move, they may not be able to stop us in time!"

After hearing what he said, what else could Okabe Saburo say? He could only nod and say:

"Yoshi! That's a good idea."

"In this case, let's act immediately!

I will never allow those damned Tubalu to continue to be so arrogant!"

...(End of chapter)