Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

When Okamura Ningci ordered the Japanese troops to end their mopping-up operations, things did not go as Okamura Ningci had expected. According to Okamura Ningci's plan, the Japanese troops burned houses, destroyed crops, and then left the Hebei base in an orderly manner.

Although they withdrew from the Ji-Zhong base area, the devastated Yi-Zhong base area became a burden to the Eighth Route Army.

Unfortunately, the situation is completely different.

Suddenly, the troops in the Jin-Cha-Ji Beiyue District and the Hebei-Central Military Region became extremely active. The First and Third Divisions alone had nearly 30 main force regiments. Following Marshal Nie's order, First Division Commander Yang Quanwu and Third Division Commander Huang Yong immediately dispersed their troops.

Free combat.

When the Japanese attacked, the First and Third Divisions really didn't dare to do this, because the Japanese army was at its peak at the time, and if they rushed over like this, they would easily be caught and annihilated by the Japanese army on the plains.

Now is the best.

Japanese troops have begun to retreat.

After nearly twenty days of fighting, the Japanese army was exhausted and naturally wanted to withdraw as soon as possible. However, at this time, the Eighth Route Army was everywhere. Up to now, the Eighth Route Army was most familiar with guerrilla warfare.

Forcing you to confront others head-on is not the style of the Eighth Route Army.

There are more sneak attacks, ambushes and other tactics.

At this time, the Japanese army had no energy to carry out Okamura Ningci's orders. In particular, the puppet troops brought by the Japanese army were completely wiped out by the Eighth Route Army. This time, Hebei was truly a mess.

There are wars everywhere.

The Japanese and puppet troops engaged in daily battles with the Eighth Route Army. When Marshal Nie called on all the soldiers and civilians of the Hebei-Central Military Region to join the fight against the Japanese and puppet troops, every step became difficult for them. Combined with the tens of thousands of troops from the First and Third Divisions, the remaining tens of thousands of troops from the Hebei-Central Military Region operated in a regimental, battalion, and company-based format.

Hundreds of battles a day.

In the end, the two sides engaged in a chaotic battle.

As a result, Okamura Neiji couldn't control his troops, or rather, lost control of them. The 32nd Division, the th Independent Mixed Brigade, and the th Independent Mixed Brigade from Shandong, for example, had fewer Eighth Route Army troops around them. Therefore, they reacted most quickly. Upon noticing the signs of chaos in Hebei, they abandoned Okamura Neiji's orders and quickly withdrew their forces from Hebei back to Shandong. The same thing happened to the puppet troops from Shandong.

Unlike the North China Security Force, the Shandong puppet army consisted mostly of former Nationalist troops who had surrendered in an organized manner. Their other abilities aside, their ability to escape was exceptional. They immediately followed the Shandong Japanese army out of Hebei.

But it was very difficult for some troops to evacuate.

Two regiments of the 27th Division, one of which followed the 35th Division, were cut off from their supply lines and low on ammunition. They attempted to evacuate but were pursued and attacked by troops from the st Division. Yang Quanwu had already reached the front lines, commanding his troops to launch a relentless assault.

Another regiment had suffered heavy casualties when the main force of the Jizhong Military Region broke through. Now, if they wanted to return to Jidong, they had to pass through the location of the main force of the Jizhong Eighth Route Army.

In addition to the 27th Division, there are also the 36th Division and the st Independent Mixed Brigade.

They were attacked by the troops of the Third Division and the Sixth and Seventh Divisions of Hebei Central Region. In addition, the Eighth Route Army troops of the Fourth Division and the Southern Hebei Military Region were mobilized.

It's a complete mess.

Each Japanese unit only cared about its own situation and didn't care about the lives of other units. As a result, the fastest and strongest units quickly evacuated Hebei. However, some weaker units, and those that suffered heavy casualties during this mopping-up operation, were left behind.

This chaotic battle lasted for fourteen days before it was completely over.

By the time the casualty reports from various units reached Okamura Ningji, he was already furious. Looking at the rows of casualty data above, it kept irritating Okamura Ningji, who really wanted to shoot those who disobeyed him.

Some divisions ran too fast.

When they fled, they did not report to the commander of the North China Front Army at all. They just took their own troops and evacuated, leaving other troops exposed.

Especially the 32nd Division.

Okamura Neiji was the most dissatisfied. They had the largest force this time, but encountered the fewest Eighth Route Army troops. They had just swept through the Eighth District of Hebei Province when they received the order to retreat. As a result, the Japanese and puppet troops in Shandong, led by the 32nd Division, retreated the fastest, fleeing back to Shandong in a flash.

But the 32nd Division also has its own difficulties.

Shandong has a large population and a large cache of weapons among the people. Since ancient times, Shandong has been known for producing heroes, and its anti-Japanese forces were exceptionally strong. After Han Fuqu lost Jinan, anti-Japanese armed forces emerged one after another across Shandong. The Shandong Provincial Party Committee dispatched a large number of cadres to recruit these anti-Japanese forces, quickly accumulating tens of thousands of armed forces in Shandong. Soon, large forces from the 115th Division also entered Shandong to strengthen the anti-Japanese forces there.

As a result, by the end of 1940, the Shandong Eighth Route Army had grown to 14 active troops. Furthermore, there were also numerous local troops in Shandong. If it weren't for the poor relationship between the Nationalist Army and the Eighth Route Army in Shandong, the current situation of the anti-Japanese war in Shandong would be completely different. In 1941, the Japanese and puppet troops in Shandong launched repeated raids against the Eighth Route Army in Shandong.

Tens of thousands of Japanese and puppet troops were dispatched at any time.

Achieved very good results.

Of course, it was not easy for the Japanese and puppet troops to suppress the Shandong Eighth Route Army alone. The reason why the Shandong Eighth Route Army suffered heavy casualties was not only due to the frequent raids by the Japanese and puppet troops, but more importantly, the Kuomintang troops also participated in suppressing the Shandong Eighth Route Army.

However, before the Pacific War broke out in 1941, the Imperial Headquarters transferred the 21st Division from the North China Front Army. Although the 21st Division was not a complete Shandong Japanese army, it also participated in the Shandong sweep of the Eighth Route Army.

The loss of the 21st Division was a huge loss for the Japanese army in Shandong.

This is not enough.

The North China Front Army suffered repeated setbacks in Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei.

In order to strengthen his forces in Hebei, Ningji Okamura transferred the 63th Independent Mixed Brigade and the 69th Independent Mixed Brigade in Shandong to Hebei to form the rd Division and the th Division.

As a result, the Japanese army lost more than 10,000 troops in Shandong.

It gave the Shandong Eighth Route Army a chance to breathe.

Then, in order to sweep the Hebei-Central Military Region, Ningji Gangcun pulled out the main forces of the 32nd Division, the th Independent Mixed Brigade, and the th Independent Mixed Brigade, and also pulled out more than puppet troops.

After so many troops entered Hebei, the enemy and our forces in Shandong suddenly changed drastically.

After all, the troops that Ningci Gangcun drew from Shandong during the sweep of the Hebei-Central Military Region accounted for nearly half of the entire Shandong Japanese and puppet troops. This made it impossible for the Shandong Eighth Route Army, which had been suppressed for a year, to suppress them.

The Shandong Eighth Route Army was a powerful force. However, it had to deal with the Japanese and puppet troops' raids while also guarding against friction with the Nationalist army. Now that the Japanese and puppet troops had suddenly lost half their forces, the Shandong Eighth Route Army quickly launched an attack.

Within a month, the Shandong Eighth Route Army captured ten county towns in succession.

The development speed is rapid.

The Japanese and puppet troops in Shandong were extremely anxious because if they didn't control the Eighth Route Army in Shandong, the situation in Shandong would deteriorate. However, they couldn't return without Okamura Neiji's order. Once Okamura Neiji gave the order to end the mopping-up operation, the 32nd Division ignored all other orders.

Such as burning down houses in the central Hebei region and destroying farmland and crops.

They don't have time to waste here.

If they don't go back, their base will be occupied by the Eighth Route Army.

It was fine to do these things while retreating. They didn't have the time to do them specifically. Just as a large number of troops from the Jin-Cha-Ji Beiyue region began pouring into Hebei, the 32nd Division immediately led the Shandong Japanese and puppet troops to evacuate quickly.

The Japanese and puppet troops in Shandong took the lead, and other Japanese and puppet troops followed suit.

As a result, the retreat caused big problems.

Some troops, following Okamura Neiji's orders, split up and burned houses and destroyed crops. However, these units were surrounded and annihilated by the Eighth Route Army. Although the main force of the Hebei-Central Military Region had withdrawn, a large number of local troops and militia remained within the base area. They dared not provoke the large forces, but they dared to attack the small groups of Japanese and puppet troops who were burning houses and destroying crops. Therefore, the Japanese army soon abandoned this practice.

The troops that faithfully carried out Okamura Ningji's orders suffered heavy casualties, while those troops who took the opportunity to escape suffered very little losses.

This caused a lot of doubts about Ningji Okamura.

"idiot."

This was a great defeat.

Look at the casualties.

The two regiments of the 27th Division went on the expedition and have not yet returned to eastern Hebei. They can only temporarily find a county town to rest and recuperate, because the two regiments suffered nearly 4000 casualties and both regiments have lost their combat effectiveness.

The 63rd and 69th Divisions were the focus of attacks by the st and rd Divisions.

The 63rd Division suffered over 5600 casualties, more than half of its troops, severely weakened. The 69th Division suffered 3000 casualties, slightly better off than the 63rd. The 63rd Division abandoned all its previous strongholds and bunkers and retreated to Baoding. The 69th Division was even split in two, with one part fleeing to Baoding and the other to Shijiazhuang.

During their retreat, the two regiments of the 36th Division were pinned down by troops from the 2700rd Division, the 2000th Division in Central Hebei, and the th Division. Furthermore, they were attacked along the way by troops from the th Division and the Southern Hebei Military Region. Over men were lost in the process, and their return to northern Henan was extremely difficult. Furthermore, the st Independent Mixed Brigade was repeatedly attacked by the main force of the rd Division, led by Commander Huang Yong, during its retreat. They suffered over casualties and were nearly depleted of their combat effectiveness.

These are the divisions that suffered the most casualties.

Other Japanese troops involved in this mopping-up operation suffered casualties to varying degrees. Even the 32nd Division, which suffered the fewest casualties, had around 600 casualties after retreating to Shandong.

After fighting for nearly a month, the Japanese army suffered more than 20,000 casualties.

As for the puppet army, there is no need to say more.

Six puppet army regiments were annihilated as a whole, three puppet army regiments were dispersed, and even more puppet army regiments were defeated.

Many puppet troops even surrendered directly to the Eighth Route Army. In the space of a month, the puppet army, puppet security forces, and puppet police lost more than 40,000 people.

"Commander, we must recruit new soldiers as soon as possible."

Tanabe Moritake has a headache.

Hebei currently has six divisions, totaling nearly 63 troops. While this might seem like a significant number, the reality is that the 27rd Division has completely lost its combat effectiveness, the 69th Division has only one regiment still capable of fighting, and the th Division is severely weakened, making it difficult for it to fight anytime soon.

The 110th Division was to be stationed in Shijiazhuang, one of the 35th and 59th Divisions was to be stationed in Beiping, and the other was to stop the development of the th Column's Beiping Detachment. With this calculation, the Japanese army in Hebei now had no mobile forces at all.

Not to mention the Japanese and puppet troops in Hebei, the same is true in other places.

Needless to say, the troops stationed in Mongolia had even lost Zhangjiakou. The Japanese 36th Division and the st Independent Mixed Brigade, the main forces sweeping southern Hebei, had also suffered heavy casualties and would need at least one or two months to recuperate after returning.

The South Hebei Military Region, which seemed to be on the verge of disappearing, has once again "resurrected from the ashes."

Anyway, the North China Front Army must be replenished with new soldiers as soon as possible. Otherwise, it can only hide in large cities and major transportation routes and cannot control other places at all.

"Ah."

Ningji Okamura nodded.

But after thinking for a moment, he said, "Send a telegram to headquarters requesting support from the Kwantung Army. I will also reorganize the Mongolian Garrison. The Mongolian Garrison Headquarters will be located in Datong. The 2nd Independent Mixed Brigade will be rebuilt and the 9th Independent Mixed Brigade will be expanded."

"Yes."

Chapter 453 Yi County Meeting

After the failure of this mopping-up operation, Ningji Gangcun had already deeply understood that unless the North China Front Army added another 100,000 Japanese troops, the Eighth Route Army in North China would become a formidable force and could not be dealt with at all.

So he requested that the Kwantung Army be deployed to support the North China Front Army. The North China Front Army needed combat-ready troops, not newly assembled ones. Neither a special division composed of veterans nor a security division composed of new recruits could solve the North China Front Army's problems. Even a special division composed of veterans was inferior in combat effectiveness to a unit composed of new recruits.

However, as the quality of recruits from Japan became worse and worse, the combat effectiveness of the North China Front Army declined rapidly. No matter how many new recruits the North China Front Army recruited, it was already in a passive position in the face of the Eighth Route Army in North China.

The only army that can support the North China Front Army and enable it to quickly reverse the passive situation is the Kwantung Army. Because among the current Japanese troops, only the Kwantung Army has a large number of powerful troops.

In addition to seeking assistance from the Kwantung Army, Ningji Okamura also requested the reorganization of the Mongolian garrison. If the Mongolian garrison was not reorganized, the Chahar and Suiyuan areas would have completely become the domain of the Eighth Route Army.

The response from the base camp was quick.

However, the news from the base camp made him at a loss as to what to say.

There are joys and sorrows.

The Imperial Headquarters also agreed that the Chahar and Suiyuan regions could not be left to the Eighth Route Army, so they agreed to reorganize the Mongolian Garrison Army. They appointed Lieutenant General Ichiro Shichida, the current headmaster of the Japanese Military Academy and commander of the 20th Division, who had fought in Shanxi, as commander of the newly formed Mongolian Garrison Army.

Because Zhangjiakou had been lost, it was decided to place the headquarters of the Mongolian troops in Datong.

In order to strengthen the strength of the troops stationed in Mongolia, the headquarters agreed to reorganize the 115nd Independent Mixed Brigade. However, it was not a direct reorganization of the nd Independent Mixed Brigade. Instead, a new security division, the th Division, was formed based on the newly formed nd Independent Mixed Brigade, with a total force of about .

Although both the 3rd Regiment Division and the 3rd Regiment Division have a strength of about 10,000, their troop organization is different.

A three-command division consists of an infantry regiment under its command, each of which has three regiments under its command, for a total of nine infantry battalions. The currently established 115th Division, on the other hand, consists of an independent mixed brigade under its command, plus three independent battalions, for a total of eight independent battalions. This division is inferior to the three-command division in all aspects.

At the same time, General Okamura Neiji's request to expand the 118th Independent Mixed Brigade was approved. The headquarters then formed the th Division based on the th Independent Mixed Brigade. This was also a security division, under which the th Independent Mixed Brigade and three independent battalions were organized.