Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

The troops in China could only loot their own food. Some Japanese troops even had trouble getting food because they couldn't loot enough food.

Therefore, the shortage of troops became more and more obvious.

We finally accepted new recruits a month ago.

The new recruits coming in are truly new. The quality of the new recruits coming in from the country is getting worse and worse. The 110th Division still has to fight, so the new recruits must at least be of the right age. At most, they can't be reservists who have received several years of training like the previous recruits.

After accepting these new recruits, the 110th Division originally hoped to give the troops at least three months of training. However, within a month, the newly appointed North China Front Army Commander, Naozaburo, formulated a strategy to attack the Nationalist forces in southeastern Shanxi, intimidate Pang Bingxun's troops, and win over Pang Bingxun's troops.

Okabe Naozaburo's decision to eliminate the Nationalist troops in southeastern Shanxi was not a sudden impulse. With the Japanese army now undermanned, Okabe Naozaburo certainly wouldn't start a war everywhere. He formulated this strategy in order to force Pang Bingxun to surrender.

Pang Bingxun's 24th Group Army has three armies under its command, of which the 27th Army is out of his control. Currently, Pang Bingxun can only command the 40th Army and the newly formed 5th Army, plus the four Hebei Security Brigades he established in Baoding.

After assuming command of the North China Front Army, Okabe Naosaburo analyzed the situation in North China. He concluded that the Jin-Cha-Ji Eighth Route Army was already dominating the region, and that it would be difficult to defeat them by simply sweeping across the Jin-Cha-Ji region as before.

The North China Front Army was no longer able to control the Eighth Route Army in Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei, including the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army and the 120th Division of Shanxi-Suiyuan. The only area that could still stabilize the situation was Shandong.

However, the North China Front Army was able to maintain its position in Shandong not because the Japanese army in Shandong was so strong, but because the Japanese army in Shandong had the support of about 15 puppet troops.

Moreover, the puppet troops in Shandong were all units that surrendered as a whole from the Nationalist Army. Those units that surrendered as a whole still had decent combat effectiveness. They were able to provide great assistance to the Japanese army during every raid.

Naosaburo Okabe drew inspiration from this.

The North China Front Army currently possessed numerous puppet troops. However, regardless of how these troops were trained, their combat effectiveness was very poor. For example, the Manchukuo Army, the Mongolian Army, and the North China Security Army were all formed by the Japanese army through the training of officers from specialized military academies. However, unexpectedly, the more such troops were, the weaker their combat effectiveness became. This was especially true for the officers trained by the North China Security Army.

They were all students trained by Japanese officers and traitors, but when it came to the Chinese Revolution and the officers who defected to the Eighth Route Army, the North China Security Army had the most. Therefore, Okabe Naosaburo no longer trusted those trained officers.

Moreover, the combat effectiveness of these puppet troops is really unbearable.

On the contrary, the troops that surrendered as a whole were still very combat-effective. Therefore, Okabe Naosaburo prepared to recruit some of the Nationalist troops to surrender.

Okabe Naozaburo had his eye on Pang Bingxun's 24th Army. This wasn't a haphazard decision. The Japanese had already infiltrated the 24th Army. In particular, Sun Dianying, commander of the newly formed Fifth Army, had long maintained close ties with the Japanese. If the 24th Army were captured, the North China Front would instantly gain nearly 30000 combat-capable puppet troops.

30000 regular army troops are more useful than all the current North China security forces combined.

That's why Naosaburo Okabe initiated this battle.

Regardless of the fact that the new recruits had only been added a month ago and had not had time to train, the 110th Division was still sent to attack.

The result is what it is now.

The 110th Regiment, which attacked in the first wave, took advantage of the Second Army's panic and launched a fierce attack, forcing the 30th Army of the Second Army to retreat step by step and suffer heavy casualties. However, after the 30th Army retreated to the 68th Army's position, the 110th Regiment ran into a big nail in the 68th Army.

Not only did several attacks fail to make a breakthrough, but even one of his captains was killed.

After the Second Army secured their position, they suddenly realized that the Japanese troops on the opposite side were not very strong. Sun Lianzhong concentrated the Second Army's artillery and began to attack the 110th Division.

The 68th Army not only drove out the 110th Regiment, but also forced the 110th Regiment to retreat.

If the 139th Regiment had not arrived, the 110th Regiment would have been defeated by the 68th Army. However, at this time, the Japanese Air Force began to come to support, and finally helped the 110th Division to stabilize its position.

Then the 131st Division stationed in Handan, formerly the 131st Independent Mixed Brigade, also moved out. At this time, Sun Lianzhong and Sun Tongxuan calmed down, and Sun Tongxuan's Third Army quickly deployed defensive positions to block the st Division.

Sun Tongxuan's Third Army only had the 12th Army.

Don’t underestimate this ragtag force, it has always been suppressed by Chongqing.

But Sun Tongxuan was still capable of leading troops, or rather, these generals from the Northwest Army were generally capable of leading troops in battle. Although Han Fuqu was executed for his poor performance in the anti-Japanese war, the combat effectiveness of his troops was still not weak.

The 12th Army was led by Sun Tongxuan.

The Japanese 131st Division was less effective than the 110th Division because the 110th Division was reorganized from a 131-regiment division to a -regiment division, while the st Division was a security division that was expanded from the st Independent Mixed Brigade.

Not to mention that there are more recruits, the weapons configuration alone is much worse than that of the 110th Division.

Sun Tongxuan's 12th Army directly blocked the attack of the 131st Division.

Sun Tongxuan knew that if they didn't fight desperately at this moment, they might be wiped out. As a result, the 12th Army fought very bravely, and even beat the 131st Division unable to resist.

Fortunately, although the Japanese army's combat effectiveness has declined a lot, it is still not made of paper.

The 131st Division did not expect the 12th Army to fight so fiercely, so it was caught off guard and was pushed back by the 12th Army. Fortunately, the Japanese Army had the support of the Air Force and was able to surround the Second and Third Armies.

Especially after the tank division joined the battle, the 55th Army was under great pressure.

"How's the situation over at Hongling?"

"We haven't broken through the 68th Army's territory yet."

"What happened?"

Okabe Naozaburo was very angry when he heard that the 110th Division had not yet broken through the 68th Army's position. The 110th Division attacked with preparations, while the Second Army was hastily fighting. They should have been able to defeat the Second Army with ease. But now they couldn't even break through the 68th Army's position. Therefore, Okabe Naozaburo couldn't hold back his anger and said angrily: "What's wrong with the 110th Division? Do they know how to fight? The Second Army on the opposite side is a ragtag army of the National Army, with only more than 68 people. I have already sent all the air forces that can be sent out to support them, so why haven't they broken through the th Army's position yet?"

冈部直三郎担任驻蒙军司令官的时候，河北这边主要依靠110师团和27师团。当时扫荡冀东，靠的是27师团。扫荡冀中和冀西靠的是110师团。那个时候110师团还是四联队编制两万多人的部队。是华北方面军在河北最大的依靠。

After returning this time, Naosaburo Okabe investigated the Japanese troops in Hebei.

What nonsense.

Compared to when he was the commander of the Mongolian Army, the situation was far worse. The 27th Division had been withdrawn, and the remaining 35th, 59th, 69th, and 131st Divisions were nothing.

The 35th Division was relatively good, but the 59th and 69th Divisions were both guard divisions, and their combat effectiveness had already declined significantly. As for the 131st Division, their combat effectiveness was even worse, and their weapons and equipment were seriously problematic.

In the final analysis, the most combat-effective and reliable unit is still the 110th Division.

The results of it?

The attack took the Second Army by surprise.

Now I can’t get in?

This situation greatly surprised Okabe Naozaburo. Although he knew that the 110th Division had just received a lot of new recruits, he still had high hopes for the 110th Division. After all, the 110th Division had fought here for so many years.

Lieutenant General Oshiroto Sanji, Chief of Staff of the North China Front Army, sighed and said, "I discovered this problem when I was in the 22nd Division. The new recruits we are adding to our frontline troops now are far inferior to those a few years ago. Many new recruits have only received some simple training in China, and some new recruits have not even fired a gun a few times before being sent to our front line. Tell me, how can these new recruits compare to the new recruits we added before? After these new recruits arrive at the army, they need at least three to six months of training before they can be put into battle. The 110th Division has added more than 4000 new recruits this time, and they have been rushed to the battlefield in less than a month of training. The direction of combat effectiveness will definitely be a problem. Those new recruits probably don't know how to fight when they arrive on the battlefield.

Okiroto Sanji and Okabe Naosaburo are very familiar with each other.

When the North China Front Army was established, both men participated in its formation and remained with it. At the time, Okabe Naozaburo was Chief of Staff, while Ōkiro Mitsuharu served as Second Section Chief of the North China Front Army Headquarters, responsible for developing operational plans and conducting combat operations. The two men were considered direct superiors and subordinates.

This time, when Okabe Naozaburo was appointed commander of the North China Front Army, he thought of Okiro Miharu, so he transferred Okiro Miharu to serve as his chief of staff.

Okiroto Sanji previously served as the Lieutenant General and Commander of the 22nd Division, which was stationed in Hangzhou and had a good understanding of the situation on the front lines.

Okabe Naosaburo touched his forehead and said in disbelief, "Are the new recruits nowadays so bad?"

"In fact, the quality of new recruits has been declining since three years ago, but it's not very obvious. But in the past two years, the quality of new recruits has been getting worse and worse."

Okiroto Sanji sighed.

The quality of new recruits had been declining, albeit slowly. However, after the outbreak of the Pacific War, a large number of troops were transferred to Southeast Asia and the Pacific theater. This forced the Japanese army to build 20 to 30 new divisions, further straining its already tight supply of troops. As a result, the quality of new recruits plummeted, leading to the current situation.

"But this time, nearly half of the North China Front's troops are new recruits."

The headquarters was very dissatisfied with the situation in North China.

Therefore, the recruitment of new soldiers this time was very strong. As a result, half of the North China Front Army's troops are now recruited. If the quality of the new recruits is so poor, then the combat effectiveness of the troops can be imagined.

When Okabe Naozaburo was commander of the Japanese Army in Mongolia, the Japanese Army was very strong. Later, the Army in Mongolia was constantly losing battles, so he was transferred back to Japan and has been serving as the principal of the Non-Commissioned Officer School for the past two years. I'm not very clear about these details.

Okabe Naosaburo suddenly thought of something and grumbled, "Have you visited the Third Independent Guard?"

"Looked."

Okiroto Sanji smiled wryly and nodded.

"The headquarters is really fooling us. What kind of a bunch of independent guards are these? I can only see fifteen or sixteen-year-olds among them.

"Commander, there's nothing we can do about it. The country is currently facing a severe shortage of troops. I heard that the newly formed garrison and independent guard units of the Kwantung Army were recruited directly from the colonization corps, rather than provided domestically. The quality of the troops is extremely poor."

Naosaburo Okabe felt very confused.

Although I understand that the current situation of the North China Front Army is not very good, I did not expect this result.

The combat effectiveness of his opponent, the Eighth Route Army, was growing stronger, while the combat effectiveness of his own troops was growing weaker. If this continued, how could he stabilize the situation in North China?

Okabe Naosaburo suddenly regretted being the commander of the North China Front Army, and even for the first time, he had doubts about the victory of this war. Could this war really be won?

This was the first time that Naosaburo Okabe had such doubts.

But he quickly abandoned this idea.

Then he asked, "How is Pang Bingxun's work going?"

“It’s not going very well.

Oshiroto Sanzhi reported: "Sun Dianying of the newly formed Fifth Army has agreed to our conditions and is willing to lead his troops to accept our reorganization. But the situation of the 40th Army is a bit delicate. Many people within the 40th Army have already wavered, but now we can't persuade the 40th Army Commander Ma Fawu. Ma Fawu is unyielding and has expressed his determination not to accept our reorganization. Moreover, the commander of the 24th Army Group, Pang Bingxun, is very stubborn. Although he is cheerful when meeting with our people, he does not accept our words at all. In particular, the progress of the 110th Division, the 131st Division, and the Tank Division is not very smooth, and Pang Bingxun is even more dissatisfied with our proposal.

Naosaburo Okabe understood that it would be difficult to reorganize Pang Bingxun's troops without defeating the Second and Third Armies.

Pang Bingxun, and Ma Fawu, commander of his direct 40th Army, were both capable fighters. The Japanese had fought against them before. If they could also bring the 40th Army over, that would be a success.

Although Sun Dianying was willing to accept the reorganization, in the eyes of Okabe Naosaburo, Sun Dianying was not as important as Pang Bingxun and Ma Fawu. The combat effectiveness of the 40th Army far exceeded that of Sun Dianying's newly formed th Army.

Okabe Naosaburo thought for a moment and said, "The Second and Third Armies must be dealt with as soon as possible, otherwise things will be difficult. Only by defeating them quickly can things be handled easily. The 69th Division will send the 50th Brigade to cooperate with the 110th Division to attack the Second Army. The 132nd Division will also attack, cooperating with the 37th Division, to flank the Second Army from the west.

It was clearly a successful strategy.

Okabe Naosaburo thought that a single charge from the 110th Division could completely defeat the Second Army. He never expected Sun Lianzhong to be such a skilled fighter, able to hold his ground even in such an unfavorable situation.

Of course, what Naosaburo Okabe did not expect was that the combat effectiveness of the 110th Division was too poor.

"it is good."

"Also, have the tank division increase its strength. They have so many tanks and artillery, they must break through the 55th Army's position.

"Hai."

Naosaburo Okabe began to mobilize troops.

All of a sudden, soldiers gathered in southeastern and southern Shanxi.

Sun Lianzhong could no longer hold on, so he repeatedly asked Chongqing for help.

After receiving the telegram for help, Chiang Kai-shek was not angry, but very happy, because he had learned from the battle report that the North China Front Army was really at the end of its strength.

The Second and Third Armies were put inside, but unexpectedly, they were not able to take them down.

This is good news.

Chiang Kai-shek had a preliminary assessment of the strength of the North China Front Army.

What is Chiang Kai-shek considering doing now?

Either let Tang Enbo, Jiang Dingwen and others send heavy troops to launch the Second Battle of Northern Henan, or choose another path.

Chapter 524 Being a traitor is also patriotic

Okabe Naozaburo had originally intended to quickly eliminate the Nationalist forces north of the Yellow River and then recruit Pang Bingxun's 24th Army. If this goal were achieved, there would be no Nationalist troops north of the Yellow River, and he would also gain access to 110 to highly effective puppet troops. Okabe Naozaburo could then concentrate his forces to eliminate the Eighth Route Army. However, who could have imagined the Japanese army would be so ineffective? The highly anticipated th Division, in particular, suffered a disgraceful defeat. Despite their intention to launch a surprise attack on Sun Lianzhong's Second Army, they were unable to defeat it quickly.