In the war room of the Japanese Front Army in North China, General Okamura Ninji stood in front of the map of North China, raised his right hand and waved violently on the front line of Zhengtai Road, and said in a stern tone: "The Eighth Route Army launched the second phase of the Hundred Regiments Battle on Zhengtai Road, and carried out the largest range of sabotage attacks on the communication lines of our imperial army.

At this time, after the Eighth Route Army won the first stage of victory, it divided its troops and expanded to the periphery of our imperial army in an attempt to expand the results of the battle and destroy the strongholds of our outer line, bridges, culverts, stations, and other passes on the main lines of our transportation to the greatest extent.

Ladies and gentlemen, for the 100-regiment sabotage battle adopted by the Eighth Route Army, since the first and second stages, our army has suffered defeats in many ways, while the Eighth Route Army has relied on the green gauze tent as a cover, concealed when it came, and achieved the purpose of sabotage.

It is now late October, the green gauze tents in all parts of North China have disappeared, a large area of land has been exposed, and the Eighth Route Army has no place to hide. ”

Lieutenant General Tanabe Moritake, chief of staff, waited for Okamura Ninji to finish speaking, then stood up and added: "Commander Okamura has made a complete plan for the autumn sweep of the Eighth Route Army's base areas, and ordered the 180th Division to sweep the Eighth Route Army's Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region with the strength of a brigade from Shijiazhuang to Niangziguan.

The 2nd Independent Mixed Brigade was ordered to carry out a large-scale sweep on the Jin-Hebei-Henan Military Region of the Eighth Route Army on the front line of Jinnan, and it was necessary to destroy the enemy's main force (129) that attacked the northern section of Zhengtai Road in the area of Taihang Mountain.

The 118th Division, which captured the main division (120) of the Eighth Route Army's attack in southern Jin, wanted to wipe out this force in the area of Jinsui with the most fierce troops and firepower. ”

The North China Command of the Japanese Army, with the help of the disappearance of the green yarn tent and the loss of the green yarn tent of the Eighth Route Army, which was a hidden opportunity to mobilize troops flexibly and flexibly, made a vicious autumn sweep plan, in a vain attempt to wipe out the main force of the Eighth Route Army in this sweep in one fell swoop.

After completing the tasks of the second phase of the Battle of the Hundred Regiments, the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army indicated that the Japanese army would carry out a frenzied autumn sweep of the Eighth Route Army through urgent actions along the railway lines where the enemy troops were being increased according to the geographical location of each military region and each corps.

October is a golden season for harvesting crops, and at the end of the month, the entire crop field has basically been harvested, and the large cultivated fields in North China have become bare.

Since the beginning of October, the continuous autumn rain has continued, and the weather has slowly begun to cool, and Commander Okamura Ninji of the Japanese Army in North China has mobilized tens of thousands of Japanese troops from several major combat units, including the 180th Division, the 118th Division, the 36th Division, the 108th Division, and the 2nd Independent Mixed Brigade, to launch a large-scale autumn sweep against the Eighth Route Army's anti-Japanese base areas such as Jinchaji, Shanxi-Hebei-Henan, Jinsui, southeastern Shanxi, and northwestern Shanxi.

On 6 October, Okamura Ninji issued an order to carry out a frenzied sweep of the base areas above the Eighth Route Army.

On the same day, the 4th Brigade of the Japanese Army stationed in the southeast of Shanxi Province joined the 1st Division of the 36th Division, totaling more than 10,000 Japanese troops, and launched the most fierce attack on the Taihang and Taiyue base areas of our anti-Japanese base areas.

At this time, Chief of Staff Moritake Tanabe, who was standing in front of the map of the Japanese North China Front and the war room, looked at the map for a while, turned to Okamura Ningji and complimented: "Okamura-kun's autumn sweep of the Eighth Route Army this time, first with more than 10,000 Japanese imperial troops, concentrated superior forces, and launched a large-scale offensive in the base areas of the Eighth Route Army in Taihang and Taiyue. ”

Okamura Ninji was not as optimistic as Tanabe Moritake, he frowned and said: "The headquarters of the Eighth Route Army has strategized and actually attacked our communication line with 100 regiments, and I have taken an autumn sweep of the Eighth Route Army in accordance with the order of the army headquarters.

At this time, these organs of the leaders of the Eighth Route Army, where they are located, in the areas of Matian, Wangjiayu, and Zhuanbi, as well as in Shexian and remote cities, have concentrated their troops and the organs of the leaders, and as long as the Eighth Route Army and the organs of the leaders of the Eighth Route Army are eliminated here, the entire war situation in North China will appear in favor of the Imperial Japanese Army. ”

The commander of the Katayama Brigade of the Fourth Independent Mixed Brigade of the Japanese Army, who was carefully studying in the war room and obtaining information on the location of the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army, suddenly the phone rang suddenly, and the chief of staff Noda, who was standing beside him, grabbed the phone, and when he heard the voice inside, he stood up in fear and said respectfully: "Commander Okamura, mine is Noda, may I ask ......." ”

"Hay, Hay." Chief of Staff Noda covered the microphone, looked at the commander of the Katayama Brigade and whispered, "Katayama-kun, the commander of North China is looking for you." ”

"Katayama-kun? I'm Okamura, are you ready for this attack on the base areas of the Eighth Route Army's Taihang and Taiyue Eighth Route Army? ”

"Report to Your Excellency Commander, Katayama is ready to attack the important base areas of the Eighth Route Army, and will soon launch an attack on the front command of the Eighth Route Army Headquarters, the Northern Bureau of the Eighth Route Army, and the main force corps of the Eighth Route Army (129) from Heshun, Lucheng, and Wu'an, I don't know if His Excellency the General ...... such a deployment."

Okamura Ninji was very satisfied with the offensive line of the commander of the Katayama Brigade, and before he gave the order, he sent special forces to infiltrate and reconnoiter this area, and found out that the front command of the Eighth Route Army, the Northern Bureau, the main force corps (129), and the party, government, and army in the border areas were all concentrated in this area.

He listened to the commander of the Katayama Brigade say so finely, and praised on the phone: "Katayama-kun, I ask for the important task of clearing the head organ of the Eighth Route Army." ”

"Please rest assured, Your Excellency General, I will definitely live up to your high expectations and will completely eliminate the head organs of the Eighth Route Army from Taihang and Taiyue in a very short period of time." The commander of the Katayama Brigade swore and said.

Lieutenant General Katayama, commander of the Fourth Independent Mixed Brigade of the Japanese Army, ordered the three wings to simultaneously launch an attack on the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army.

As long as the little devils enter the base area of the Eighth Route Army, all the villages they occupy, regardless of men, women, and children, will be killed, the houses will be burned down, and the grain, cattle, sheep, donkeys, and horses will be robbed, as long as the little devils see everything in their eyes.

The grain that could not be taken away was burned, and even the water tanks, pots and pans in the homes of the common people were smashed and smashed, and poison was released when they saw wells, ponds, and reservoirs.

In response to the report on the atrocities of the Japanese army, the deputy commander-in-chief shouted angrily: "A group of thugs who do not eat the fireworks of the world, the soldiers and civilians in the anti-Japanese base areas of the Eighth Route Army must not sit idly by, and we must organize one or two powerful counterattacks to destroy some of the main forces of the Japanese army that the enemy has driven straight into our base area and defeated the enemy's arrogance." ”

The chief of the General Staff nodded and said: "At present, the head organ of our Eighth Route Army in the border base area is the biggest piece of fat to lure the enemy, and as long as we adopt the strategy of attacking the east and attacking the west and luring the enemy into depth, we will definitely look for an opportunity to beat the enemy hard. ”

In accordance with the direction of the enemy's large forces, the deputy commander-in-chief, in order to protect the front command of the Eighth Route Army, the Northern Bureau, and the party and government organs in the anti-Japanese base areas in the border areas, took the lead to avoid the enemy's edge, and led the leading organs to play hide and seek with the enemy in Wuxiang County, southeast of Shanxi Province, and constantly moved.

In the continuous autumn rain, the head office of the border area of the Eighth Route Army moved to the vicinity of Licheng and Songjiazhuang, and the deputy commander-in-chief ordered the special mission of the headquarters operating on the front line to assemble in the vicinity of Lianma and Songjiazhuang as quickly as possible.

In view of the enemy's scorched earth encirclement and suppression, the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army issued an operational order to counterattack the 'Japanese army's autumn sweep' at 0:00 on 19 October.

All units were ordered to 'assemble in appropriate places for rest and recuperation, concentrate superior forces, prepare to resolutely annihilate the enemy on one or two routes, strike at the enemy's arrogance, extensively carry out guerrilla warfare, disperse troops, seize opportunities to engage the enemy, fight when they can, and avoid fighting again when they encounter a strong enemy.'

In accordance with the order issued by the General Headquarters, the deputy commander-in-chief added an order: "In the struggle against the enemy's counter-sweeping, all military regions and corps should 'closely coordinate with our party, government, army, and people, go deep into the war mobilization, and lead the clearing of the empty field,' maneuver with the enemy, and seek opportunities to kill the enemy." ”

In response to the Japanese army's launch of the liquidation of the base areas of the Eighth Route Army, the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army ordered all units to enter the third stage of the anti-'sweeping' of the Hundred Regiments Battle.

(End of chapter)