The county seat of Wei County, the headquarters of the 33rd Division.

Lieutenant General Gampa Shigetaro, commander of the 13th Division, was in a very good mood, although the 33rd Division had lost a lot of troops in the previous battle, after all, the most casualties were still those Imperial Allied troops that were used as cannon fodder, and the absolute losses of the Imperial Japanese Army were less than 3,000 men. The loss of 3,000 people in exchange for control of Ul County was a good deal in the eyes of Gampa Jutaro.

Of course, whether it is worth it or not depends on who snatches it from, and if 3,000 Imperial soldiers are used to snatch a Chinese county town from the miscellaneous army of the Nationalist government, then Gampa Shigetaro will definitely not think that he will have a reason to be happy. But taking Wei County from Han Yunhua's department is different, what is the concept of Han Yunhua's department of the Inner Mongolia Military Region, since 1937, how many elites of the imperial army have fallen in the hands of Han Yunhua, I am afraid that those bigwigs in the base camp may not all know this, no matter how many troops the Japanese Imperial Army dispatches, as long as they face that general of Zhina, the outcome must be tragic.

The 33rd Division defeated more than 20,000 elites under Han Yunhua's department head-on with 3,000 recruits who had just joined the army for less than half a year, and this record alone was enough to make Gampa Jutaro raise his head in front of those old guys in the base camp. Therefore, soon after taking the county seat of Weixian, the North China Front Army Headquarters issued a commendation notice to the entire 33rd Division, and at the same time, Tada Jun also promised to add a field artillery brigade to the 33rd Division.

According to Gampa Shigetaro's meaning, since the Chinese army has shown a tendency to retreat, and the news from all sides during this period has conveyed a relatively clear message to the Imperial Japanese Army, that is, Han Yunhua's unit in China suffered considerable losses in the previous war, and judging by the generally low military production capacity of the Eighth Route Army and the level of training of the troops, it is impossible for Han Yunhua's unit to completely recover its vitality in just two months. At present, with the cooperation of the Imperial Japanese Army, more than 300,000 troops have gathered in Saibei, and although the Chinese troops have shown good combat effectiveness, in terms of the current situation, the defeat of Han Yunhua's troops has become an irreversible foregone conclusion, and although the time is not ripe for the imperial army to completely solve Han Yunhua's troops, there should be no problem in recovering northwest Hebei, northern Hebei, eastern Hebei, Rehe and other places.

However, the order of the North China Front Army made the entire 33rd Division and the newly formed 3rd Division and the newly formed 4th Division of the North China Public Security Army, which followed closely behind the 33rd Division, only stop in Wei County, and even Yangyuan, which was close at hand, did not dare to approach too closely. This order made all the senior officers of the Japanese army, including Lieutenant General Gampa Shigetaro, very dissatisfied, but the soldiers are a disciplined collective, and it is the duty of the soldiers to obey orders, so although Gampa Shigetaro was not satisfied, he could only order the troops to strengthen their vigilance and not to deliberately provoke the Shina troops.

The Provisional Headquarters Riganpa Shigetaro was conducting a sand table exercise with several operational staff officers, and their operational plan was to deduce a vast area centered on Ul County and Yangyuan Tianzhen County. Although the quality of the Japanese army's operational staff officers was far inferior to that of the staff officers who graduated from the German Military Academy of its allies at the same time, the quality of the staff officers who graduated from the Japanese Army University in Asia was quite good, and many famous generals of the War of Resistance in China graduated from the Japanese Army University or the Japanese Army Non-commissioned Officer School, including Cai Yi, the most famous military strategist in modern China. Jiang Baili and others, and now most of the famous old warlords in China have received systematic Japanese military education, including Yan Xishan, the current commander of the Second World War Zone.

Therefore, although Japan's military is average in the world, it is very powerful in the whole of Asia, including China, so under the order of Gampa Shigetaro, the staff of the 33rd Division quickly formulated two more detailed battle plans. According to the first battle plan designated by the General Staff of the 33rd Division, the 33rd Division attacked Yangyuan in the same way as the way of taking Wei County, and the main force of the Imperial Army, with the cooperation of the Imperial Allied Army, gradually encroached on the living space of Han Yunhua's department, and gradually advanced the battlefield to Yangyuan. …,

The second plan was more complicated, the 33rd Division would first march east to Guangling, then detour back to the west of Yangyuan, and then flank the defenders of Yangyuan with the 40th Division. At that time, under the attack of the two master regiments of the imperial army, the Chinese army will need at least 40,000 troops if they want to hold Yangyuan. Compared with the first set of operational plans, the second set of operational plans is somewhat troublesome and takes a longer time, and at the same time, it is also necessary to enter the defense zone of the First Army, and coordination is also very troublesome. However, it can reduce the casualties of the troops, because there is a long mountainous area along the way from Yangyuan to Wei County, although the mountains of the Taihang Mountains are generally not too high, but as long as they reach the mountainous areas, they are the world of the Chinese troops. As far as the major resistance forces in North China at this time are concerned, in addition to the powerful Yan Xishan Group and Han Yunhua's subordinates, which occupy part of the plains, the Sun Lianzhong Group in southern Xianglu, the Yu Xuezhong group in northern Jiangsu, the Nie Rongzhen group in the Taihang Mountains, and the Wei Lihuang Group in the Zhongtiao Mountains are not based on the mountains, and the hundreds of thousands of troops of the imperial army have no way to defend these small mountainous areas.

The most troublesome thing is that stationed in Yangyuan is the fifth division of Han Yunhua's confidant Li Dayong of the Inner Mongolia Military Region, which is the descendant of Han Yunhua's lineage, according to the information obtained by the special high-tech department, Li Dayong's fifth division is all the standard equipment of the empire, and the whole division is equipped with more than 18,000 rifles, more than 220 light machine guns and more than 80 heavy machine guns, in addition, this fifth division also has its own special and independent artillery unit, the scale is about a regiment, and the fifth division also has engineers, cavalry, Special forces and other powerful arms of the armed forces assist in operations, and their comprehensive combat capability is very strong. If Li Dayong's troops had built strong fortifications in the area of Huajialing and defended the danger, then even if the 33rd Division had the assistance of the Aviation Corps, it would not be able to take Yangyuan in a short time, and even if Yangyuan was finally taken, it would have paid heavy casualties.

So when these two battle plans were placed in front of Gampa Shigetaro, Gampa Shigetaro himself was a little hesitant and didn't know which one to choose. But fortunately, this is just a tactical deduction, and it doesn't require Gampa Shigetaro to really make a decision.

After watching the tactical deduction of the General Staff, Gampa Shigetaro was in a very complicated mood, according to the tactical deduction just now, even if the 33rd Division captured Yangyuan, it would no longer have the ability to move forward, which made Lieutenant General Gampa Shigetaro, who wanted to show his ability in the North China battlefield, very dissatisfied.

"Fuyuan-kun, you have also seen the results of the tactical deduction just now by the General Staff, our 33rd Division really can't attack Yangyuan now, unless we occupy a few strategic points in that mountainous area in advance, all our plans can't be implemented," Gampa Shigetaro said to Fukugen Hayashi, chief of staff of the 33rd Division.

Fu Yuanlin, who graduated from the Staff Department of the Army University, is also a very experienced commander, and before being transferred to the chief of staff of the 33rd Division, he served in the field army, with the rank of Captain of the Great Zuo Wing, so Fu Yuanlin is very rich in both actual combat experience and theory, and after hearing Gampa Shigetaro's question, he immediately replied: "Hai, I agree with the judgment of His Excellency the Division Commander, the combat effectiveness of the Chinese army, especially the combat effectiveness of Han Yunhua's division in China, has improved too quickly, and a large part of the imperial army is now new recruits, In particular, the veterans of our 33rd Division only account for one-third of the total strength of the division, so now the attack on Yangyuan is filled with human lives, so we think that what we need to do at this time is to digest the occupied areas, raise wartime materials, and wait for the orders of the front army, and of course, we are also waiting for the more than 3,000 lightly wounded in our field hospital, as long as these more than 3,000 lightly wounded are recovered and rebuilt, then the combat effectiveness of our division and regiment will certainly be greatly improved, and the recruitment rate of the division and regiment will also drop to an acceptable level. ”

"Yo Xi, Fu Yuanjun is worthy of being a high-achieving student who graduated from the Imperial Land University, and his strategic vision is indeed extraordinary, your analysis is very correct, now it is not only the large number of new recruits in the army and the weak combat effectiveness that restricts our army from fighting north, but also the logistics support that plagues the imperial army to fight in the north cannot keep up, and the consumption of weapons and ammunition is difficult to replenish. Because the Chinese army has moved almost all the Chinese peasants in the non-security area, and even those who have not left have already hid in the mountains, so every time they occupy a county town, the imperial army will not only not be able to collect any materials, but will also leave a part of the troops to garrison, so that our army will have fewer and fewer field troops for attacking, and the most direct result of the final command is that the imperial army will be driven back to Beiping by the influx of Chinese troops. Lieutenant General Gampa Shigetaro said with emotion, with some emotion in his words. …,

Originally, Fu Yuanlin didn't think about it so far-reaching, but now listening to what Gampa Shigetaro said, Fu Yuanlin is also a smart person, and he just figured out the key after a few minutes of rough thinking, and couldn't help but say: "Yo Xi, the people of China are very cunning and very cunning."

At this moment, a second lieutenant hurriedly walked in and said, "Your Excellency, the commander of the reporting division, I have just received an urgent telegram from the 213th Infantry Wing."

"Reading"

"Your Excellency, Commander of the Division, two infantry squadrons of the Division and one infantry squadron of the 214th Infantry Wing were surrounded by the main force of the Fifth Division of China in the area of Huajialing half an hour ago, and I request Your Excellency the Division Commander to allow the headquarters to go to the rescue. 213th Infantry Wing, Wing Commander Tadaichi Akiyama. ”

"Baga, how did the two infantry squadrons of the Akiyama Wing get to the area of Huajialing, isn't their defense area in the north of the city? Why was it suddenly surrounded by the Shina troops, and the people of the 214th Infantry Wing were also involved, wasn't Akiyama and Tojo very unfriendly? Can anyone tell me? Gampa asked angrily.

Fu Yuanlin's performance at this time was very calm, and he hurriedly persuaded: "Your Excellency, now is not the time to hold you accountable, we must first ensure the safety of these three infantry squadrons surrounded by the Chinese people, with our current situation, we really can't afford to lose three infantry squadrons, please let your Excellency show me."

Gampa Jutaro eased his anger slightly, then turned around and asked, "Fuyuan-kun, how many troops do we need to lose if we want to completely take Yangyuan in the first set of plans we deduced just now?" ”

Fu Yuanlin's face was a little ugly and said: "According to the tactical deduction just now, according to the combat effectiveness of the Fifth Division under Han Yunhua's Division, in the case of the Fifth Division without reinforcements, the probability of our 33rd Division taking Yangyuan is more than 70, but it needs to lose about 20,000 people, of which 5,000 are the real imperial army." ”

"Order, the aviation regiment immediately reconnoiter in the direction of Huajialing, strictly prevent being ambushed by the Chinese army, and report any abnormal situation immediately. In addition, the 3rd and 4th Divisions of the Imperial Allied Army were immediately assembled, and then together with the 213th Infantry Wing, they went to Huajialing to rescue the encircled Imperial Army. Fuyuan-kun, by the way, you immediately ordered the other troops inside and outside the city to gather immediately and prepare them for battle. ”

"Hail"

Soon after Fu Yuanlin's order came out, there was new news from the aviation regiment, and I saw Fu Yuanlin walk in with an excited face and said: "Your Excellency, just now the news from the aviation regiment said that they had conducted a careful search in the mountains and did not find an ambush for the Chinese troops. However, he found that another unit of the Imperial Army was not far from the battlefield, and he had just investigated and found that the unit of the Imperial Army did not belong to our 33rd Division, but an infantry brigade of the 40th Division, and they were now rushing to the Huajialing battlefield. Moreover, our three infantry squadrons have already captured the difficult town of Huajialing, and we can completely avoid fighting with the troops in Huajialing. ”

"Yo Xi, how many troops are there on the battlefield, and how long can our army hold on?"

"According to the report of the aviation regiment, there are about two battalions of Zhina troops in the Huajialing battlefield, with a number of about 1,000 people, and at the same time, there is about a company of Zhina troops escorting more than 2,000 ordinary people to flee to the north." Fu Yuanlin replied.

Lieutenant General Gampa Jutaro thought for a while and said, "Yo Xi, it seems that the people of China are preparing to evacuate Wei County, and the troops left in Huajialing are the troops behind their palaces. Order: The 214th Infantry Wing stayed in Wei County, and the 215th Infantry Wing, the Division Search Team, the Cavalry Wing, the Chariot Brigade, and the Artillery Wing immediately assembled and went to the Huajialing battlefield, and ordered the three squadrons surrounded by the Zhina people to entangle the Zhina troops at all costs and never let the Zhina people escape. ”

"Your Excellency, although more than a thousand of that troops is a lot, but we don't need to make such a big move, I believe that the Akiyama Wing is enough to deal with them, and there is no need for the main force of the division to set off again, right? Quite a few words," Fu Yuanlin asked with some confusion.

Gampa Jutaro said: "Fuyuan-kun, the strategy of Han Yunhua's department at this time is to comprehensively shrink the troops, and the fist can only be powerful if it is retracted first and then punched out. Although there are not many troops of one thousand, as long as the elite of these more than one thousand is surrounded, then there is no fear that Han Yunhua will not send troops to the rescue, and when the offensive and defensive situation changes, our army in the defensive position will be able to inflict heavy damage on the fifth division of the branch with its strong firepower, and then take Yangyuan by taking advantage of the situation, even if it is not impossible to attack Tianzhen. ”…,

"Yo Xi, Your Excellency the Division Commander is wise" After saying that, Fu Yuanlin went out to give the order.

Not to mention the storm that was about to break out in the northwest region of Hebei at this time, almost when the army of the 33rd Division was advancing towards Huajialing, the battle on the Zhangjiakou side entered the most intense moment since the start of the war. After nearly 20 days of fierce attacks, the Japanese Fifth Division and the 38th Division, with the cooperation of the Third Tank Division, had already landed in Zhangjiakou City.

Although the Fifth Division suffered considerable losses in the five-day and four-night battle with the Sixth Field Division in Xuanhua County, it still drove the Sixth Field Division out of Xuanhua County under the attack of the aviation regiment and the tank troops, and finally occupied Dongwangshan and Shalingzi on the afternoon of 26 February, and the strength of an infantry brigade in the front was only 15 kilometers away from Zhangjiakou. At the same time, after capturing Chongli, the 38th Division directly drove its troops to Gaojiaying, which was less than 20 kilometers away from the east gate of Zhangjiakou.

However, at this time, the strength of the defenders in Zhangjiakou also increased significantly, from the original one regiment to two divisions and twelve regiments. Moreover, with the support of Han Yunhua's strong financial and material resources, the entire Zhangjiakou has now become a huge fortress, and the entire 300,000 residents of Zhangjiakou have all been relocated by Han Yunhua to the hinterland of the Inner Mongolia Military Region, although there are now less than 140,000 residents in the city, but some of these people are elderly people who are unwilling to leave their hometowns, and the other part are young adults who voluntarily choose to stay in Zhangjiakou to help Han Yunhua's troops defend the city.

The reason why Han Yunhua's department won the trust of the people of Zhangjiakou in just half a year was because the ravages and massacres of the Japanese army aroused the resistance of the people of Zhangjiakou, and on the other hand, because Han Yunhua's department did bring happiness and well-being to the people of Zhangjiakou after its arrival. Since Han Yunhua's unit was stationed in Zhangjiakou, it not only cracked down on traitors and illegal traders, stabilized prices and regulated grain and oil prices, but also distributed part of the seized grain to those really poor families, so that they could have a good year. Therefore, the people of Zhangjiakou supported Han Yunhua's department from the bottom of their hearts, so when Han Yunhua proposed to let them all move to Saibei, although some people were unwilling to leave their hometowns, but under the powerful political propaganda of the Communist Party, most of the people finally chose to relocate, and the propaganda team of the Inner Mongolia Military Region was Han Yunhua's heart, and the role they played was indeed not replaced by the combat troops, of course, the great price paid to empty Han Yunhua's department in Zhangjiakou was ......,