Show the sword, start from the guerrillas

In fact, the Japs and the Eighth Route Army both understand one thing: now is the time to show off their muscles and fists! Whoever is better at fighting will control the right to speak on the transportation line battlefield and even the right to speak in North China!

From the headquarters' point of view, the Japanese have suffered heavy losses on the battlefield in South China, their troops are even more insufficient, their resources are almost exhausted, and their war potential has long been exhausted. So, at this time, we should set up our horses and cannons to fight the Japanese! If we win, the Japanese will retreat and go back to the big cities. If we lose? If we lose, we can leave, there are still fortress villages waiting behind...

What about the Japanese? After the continuous attacks of the Eighth Route Army over the past month, the Tongpu Railway was cut off in several places and was basically useless. The Zhengtai Railway, except for the cities at both ends, was also controlled by the Eighth Route Army, which was completely useless. Now, the only thing left to fight for is the Pinghan Railway, because the Pinghan Railway to the south is the Yuehan Railway, which is a link of the mainland transportation line.

It was for this reason that the devils were forced to turn back and continue to fight! At this time, Ningci Gangcun was not thinking about restoring the original occupied area. What he wanted now was to make the Pinghan Railway operate normally.

If you want the Pinghan Line to operate normally, you have to open up these nodes in North China! In fact, some counties close to the railway are now in the hands of the Eighth Route Army, such as Ci County. It's just that out of planning for the future, this time the Eighth Route Army did not become a road-breaking army, but organized a road-breaking team and maintained a certain degree of restraint.

After all, the Pinghan Railway is also China's! Once the railway is completely destroyed, we will have to repair it ourselves in the future...

Amid the anticipation of the public, amid the overt and covert investigations by various forces, and amid the respective preparations of the Japs and the Eighth Route Army, a war that seems random but can change the situation in North China has begun.

In Xinxiang County, Saito, commander of the Provisional 108th Division, sat at the table in the conference room, looking at the photos placed together, frowning and analyzing their contents.

There are dozens of photos, arranged in rows of squares, forming a huge bird's-eye view! Yes, these photos were taken by reconnaissance planes in the past few days. They are the first-hand combat data of the Japanese. Similarly, on one side of this huge bird's-eye view, there are photos of the dust platoon, which are battlefield photos taken from different angles.

"Commander, according to our analysis and the information we collected in the early stage, the Eighth Route Army used this village, which is only 1 kilometer long and wide, as the battlefield! For this battle, the Eighth Route Army relocated all the people and there is a record of long-term construction in the village. Then, relying on this village, the Eighth Route Army set up a circle of fortifications with a depth of 2 kilometers around it."

"According to the intelligence we received, the Eighth Route Army announced that they had deployed two infantry regiments, but the regiments of the Eighth Route Army are large-scale, so this is an infantry brigade defending! But according to the intelligence we received from various sources, the Eighth Route Army still has troops behind this village. Oh, and the Eighth Route Army has artillery, right in the square in the middle of the village, you see, it's right here!"

"According to our analysis, this is the mortar position of the Eighth Route Army, and it is a large-caliber mortar. There are at least 27 heavy mortars placed here, which is the size of an artillery battalion."

"Besides that, you can see the entire Eighth Route Army position! The outermost part of this position is a circle of barbed wire... ahem, these are the barbed wires we used to block the Eighth Route Army, and now they are used by the Eighth Route Army to build their own barbed wire. 50 meters inside the barbed wire is an anti-tank cone array 50 meters deep in every direction. The inner circle of the anti-tank cone is a three-layer trench fortification."

"You have also seen the overall layout. The Eighth Route Army has built a huge formation with the outer perimeter of this position and the inner circle of fortifications, which looks very much like the Bagua formation..." Listening to the intelligence officer's report, Saito looked at the position outside the square village, which really looked like a Bagua formation. Of course, if the village in the middle was a circle, it would be even more like it...

"Okay, you've said everything you need to say..." Saito glared at the intelligence officer who wanted to continue and said, "Whether it's the Bagua Formation or the Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation, they are just rumors spread by the Chinese! In the era of cold weapons, these formations might have some effect, but in the era of hot weapons, these formations are useless!"

"For this battle, we can mobilize 24 heavy bombers, 50 tanks, and 12 105mm howitzers. Finally, we have 108 mountain guns from our temporary 12th Division! This is a plain battlefield. The Eighth Route Army is good at guerrilla warfare, mobile warfare, and mountain warfare, but not plain positional warfare! They put their troops in such a small place, they are just asking for death!"

"So, just wait. As long as our means of attack are used, these Eighth Route Army troops will be like chickens and dogs, trapped in a jar, and will be vulnerable! After defeating these Eighth Route Army troops, we will push all the way to the north, open up transportation lines, and go to the Pacific battlefield to establish our achievements there!" Saito's tone was fanatical.

"Ha Yi..." All the officers present at the meeting bowed their heads collectively.

"Bagua Formation? You guys are really good at making trouble. Aren't you making a fool of yourself for the Japanese? Haha..." At the command post of the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Sub-district, the commander pointed at a group of cadres who were involved in the work and scolded with a smile.

"Commander, the Japanese want to see it, so we happened to find some ancient battle formations, so we built it according to the best-looking one. Don't worry, we are just making a battle formation for show. After all, we are just digging trenches, so we can dig it any way we want. The most critical components are not missing at all, such as the underground facilities." A combat staff officer replied.

"Well, showing it to outsiders is one thing, and actually using it is another. This is very good! Remember, in war, especially in war with the devils, you have to deal with them in a real and fake way. Think more about everything and make more calculations. It will be good for our victory! By the way, the one on the battlefield now is the 17th Regiment of the Division, right?"

"Yes, it's the 17th Regiment!"

"That's good. The 17th Regiment is our old base. The comrades have high ideological awareness and much combat experience. This time, a heavy burden is placed on their shoulders. The Japs will definitely use all means to win this battle. Therefore, gas masks are a must, and the comrades must prepare for anti-aircraft and anti-artillery rehearsals. There will definitely be great sacrifices in this battle, but it is better to have fewer sacrifices."

"We understand, the comrades are mentally prepared! The comrades all said that if we can dampen the enemy's morale here, it will be worth it! The enemy can't even defeat one of our villages, let alone future battles! Moreover, the comrades have already trained to fight tanks, and are just waiting for the tanks to come and fight tanks!"

"Haha, good! The logistics support must be done well. Pork stewed with vermicelli must be prepared and sent to the battlefield every day!" (End of this chapter)