In the mountains of China, Yuan Yihonggang and his warriors are making the last struggle for the last shred of life, and Liu Tuanzuo has also mobilized an army of nearly 400 people to lay a net of heaven and earth.

In Shijiazhuang, an important town in Hebei Province, dozens of kilometers away, although it was just dawn, the headquarters of the 20th Division was already brightly lit.

The operational staff officers sent telegrams to all units on the basis of the dictated military orders of Kawagishi Fumizaburo, who was standing in front of the map, and today was the day when the 20th Division would attack the Niangziguan area in eastern Shanxi, China.

On the Xinkou side, the 5th Division led by Seishiro Itagaki and its subordinate troops, totaling more than 80,000 people, had already started a hard battle with the more than 100,000 Chinese troops stationed there.

The warlord in Shanxi, China, had an unexpectedly large number of artillery, not only did the mountain artillery have seven or eight regiments, but there were even 150 heavy artillery, although their heavy artillery did not dare to be pulled to the battlefield at will because of the deterrence of the Imperial Air Force in the sky, but the use of night artillery fire to attack also dealt a big blow to the Imperial Army.

Lieutenant General Kiyoji Kazuki, commander of the Northern China Dispatch Army and commander of the First Army, had given an order to the 50,000-strong army on the Western Front, mainly the 20th Division, to pursue the fleeing Chinese army at full speed and capture Niangzi Pass and approach Taiyuan, the great city of Shanxi, China, in order to relieve the pressure on Itagaki Seishiro's troops. They faced nearly twice as many Chinese defenders as they were, and artillery that was not inferior to Imperial artillery.

"Where is the caller ID of the 77th Wing?" Kawagishi Fumizaburo asked as he wandered around the huge battle map.

"The 77th Wing has arrived at Jingcheng, and after reconnaissance, the people of China probably have a regiment of troops defending in the direction of Jingcheng, and about a regiment of troops in the direction of Xuehua Mountain in Jingcheng County, firmly controlling the Zhengtai Railway leading to Niangziguan in China." The chief of staff of the division, Kimura Kuzo Daisa, replied respectfully.

"Oh? Kimura-kun, what do you think of the arrangement of the Shina people? Kawagishi Bunzaburo's gaze stopped at the location of the county seat of Jingcheng and the Snow Flower Mountain, which was only a few miles away, on the map, and asked casually.

"Hey! From the point of view of the post, the defense of Jingcheng County by the people of China is fake, and the delay in building fortifications for the defensive position of Xuehua Mountain is real. With more than 2,000 troops in a regiment, it confronted our army, but it was just to buy time for the main defensive position behind. Their purpose is to use the dangerous snowflake mountain as the basis to resist our army in front of Niangzi Pass, even if they can't resist, they can delay time, and then build a defense line with Niangzi Pass as the main body. Kimura Kuzo said eloquently.

Kawagishi Bunzaburo glanced back at himself, the newly appointed chief of staff of the division last year, the corners of his mouth were slightly upturned, and his face showed a hint of satisfaction.

As an academic officer parachuted into the 20th Division as chief of staff, Kimura Hisazo had excellent grades when he studied at the Army Non-commissioned Officer School, and when he was recommended to study at the Imperial Army University from the position of lieutenant, he was the second among 59 cadets in the same period.

However, because he had just been promoted to Dazuo, he was not a major general like the chief of staff of other divisions and regiments, but he did not have the proud stinky fault of ordinary academic officers, and while maintaining enough respect for his superiors, he was able to make very appropriate suggestions.

Undoubtedly, for Kawagishi Bunzaburo, who is good and assertive, with such a chief of staff, he will have a lot of peace of mind.

Of course, for the Japanese army, because the military rank of the chief of staff is often much lower than that of the division commander, even if he is a major general, the constraints on the commander of the division at the lieutenant general level are almost none, and he is basically a role of a herald. The slightly weaker ones, even the major generals and brigade commanders below the division and regiment did not take the chief of staff of the division and regiment at the same level seriously.

That's not to mention just Osa's Kizumura Hisazo, his military position, but like most wing commanders, unlike Sun Tzu against the notoriously strong Kawagishi Bunzaburo, where can he still get mixed up in the 20th Division?

"Kimura-kun is worthy of being the most outstanding graduate of the Imperial Army University, your analysis is very correct, the commander of the branch is hoping to delay the offensive of our army, trying to buy time for the Chinese army in the north of Shanxi to resist the attack of the fifth division of the empire to keep Shanxi." Fumizaburo Kawagishi nodded. "What does Kimura-kun think, what should my 20th Division do? Don't worry about it, but it's okay to say it. ”

"The commander of the branch is really a little ridiculous, although Xuehua Mountain has held the Zhengtai railway line, but can they hold the road six miles away? Our army can be divided into two routes, one way to attack the stubborn Chinese army in Xuehua Mountain to completely open the Zhengtai line, and the other way to approach Niangzi Pass through the road. Whether it is Niangzi Pass or Xuehua Mountain, it is a stone mountain, it is extremely difficult to build fortifications, although the terrain is dangerous, but under the fire of our imperial army, all the efforts of the people of China will come to naught. Kimura Kuzo glanced at the unclear face of his boss, and after a little thought, his face was full of pride.

Indeed, the 20th Division, with a dozen aircraft and 12 105 caliber howitzers, was proud enough to destroy the defensive positions of the Chinese defenders of nearly 4 divisions of the Hutuo River defense line in Shijiazhuang in just one day.

"Yo Xi, then, according to what Kimura-kun said, order the 77th Wing to Liden Xingdazuo, launch a full-scale attack on the defenders of China in Jingcheng County at 6 o'clock in the morning, and after defeating the defenders of China, guard the station, and our army's baggage will be transported to Jingcheng by rail, and all the materials of the combat troops will be drawn from there. At the same time, the 79th Wing and the 80th Wing of the 40th Brigade Regiment will each send an infantry brigade to attack Xuehuashan, the division will send a field artillery brigade to support its Xuehuashan operation, and the Imperial Air Force will also send bombers to support. The 77th Wing and the 78th Wing attacked Niangzi Pass by road, and the remaining combat units of the artillery wing directly under the division and regiment arrived later to support the 77th and 78th Wings. Kawagishi Fumizaburo casually recounted the military order.

"Hey!" Kimura Hisazo quickly set up a record.

"Did Yoshihiro Gen and his special attack team send their reconnaissance information?" Kawagishi Fumizaburo asked suddenly.

"Two days ago, before they entered the Niangziguan area, they had sent information about the defenders of Jingcheng, and the communication radio of the division and regiment headquarters called them several times but never responded, probably because they did not turn on the field radio in order not to expose the target." Hisashi replied.

"Baga, a bunch of useless guys, so delayed the military plane, I don't know that our army is about to attack!" A hint of anger flashed across Kawagishi's face.

"Order the 28th Cavalry Wing directly under the division and regiment, after the successful capture of Jingcheng County, search and advance to the Niangziguan area at the fastest marching speed, reconnoiter the deployment of the Chinese defenders and report to the division headquarters, if a battle is encountered, 。。。。。。" Kawagishi Bunzaburo, who had calmed down his anger, quickly made another deployment, paused for a moment, and continued: "The camera acts. ”

"Hey!" Kimura Kuzo agreed without hesitation.

At this moment, the arrogance of the 20th Division was undoubtedly revealed.

The cavalry wing of a permanent division of the Japanese army is different from the cavalry wing of the independent formation, the number of which is only more than 400 people, and the establishment of four cavalry squadrons. Their role in the division is only to exist as a highly mobile reconnaissance unit.

However, in the face of the Chinese Niangzi Pass Defense Area, where tens of thousands of troops were gathered, the somewhat arrogant commander of the Japanese lieutenant general division actually issued an order to fight independently, and the somewhat cautious chief of staff of Dazuo did not hesitate to carry it out.

It can be seen that the incomparably smooth fighting in China's Pingjin area in the past three months has swelled their self-confidence.

Also, if you change to any commander, a brigade of more than 1,000 people can chase after more than 4,000 people in an opponent's brigade, and more than 3,000 people in an infantry wing can launch an attack on the defense area of nearly 10,000 people in an opponent's division.

Especially for the Japanese, who have begun to claim to be the number one in the army world, it is even more inflated.

Known as a useless guy, Yuan Yihonggang didn't know that it was his prudence, although he did not let his five subordinates immediately become fish in the net of Liu Tuanzuo, who had already cast the fishing net, but he sent another proud imperial cavalry of the 20th Division into the abyss.

Compared with the arrogant Japanese infantry, only the nobles could ride the Japanese cavalry with high horses, which was a model of arrogance.

They saw the scum infantry, composed of farmers and fishermen, whose nostrils were all facing the sky, and their snorts were as thick as the horses on which they sat down.