In fact, at the beginning, when Han Yunhua proposed to return this infantry regiment that had just rebelled against him to the northeast, many leaders of the military region were resolutely opposed, especially the upgrading of this unit with a number of more than 4,000 people, at best, an infantry brigade to a group army, which made many people not understand, including Luo Ronghuan and others.

According to Han Yunhua's knowledge, there are many numbers of the Northeast Democratic Anti-Japanese Allied Army, and each of them is big and scared to death, and the general number level is at the military level, but in fact, the number of each army is very small. Let's take the first few armies formed by the Anti-Japanese Federation as an example: the 1st Army of the Northeast People's ** Army, formerly known as the Panshi Nanman Guerrillas, was reorganized and established in November 1934. Yang Jingyu served as the army commander and political commissar, with 2 divisions and more than 800 people in the army; The 2nd Army of the Northeast People's ** Army, formerly known as the guerrillas of East Manchurian counties, was reorganized and established in May 1935. Wang Detai served as the army commander, with 3 divisions and about 1,200 troops; The 3rd Army of the Northeast People's ** Army

, formerly known as the Hadong Detachment of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Force (formerly the Zhuhe Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Force), was established in January 1935. Zhao Shangzhi served as the army commander and commander of the 1st Division, with 3 regiments under his command. From September 1935 to the spring of 1936, it was expanded into 6 regiments, which were successively expanded into 6 divisions, with more than 700 people in the whole army; The 4th Army of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Allied Army, formerly known as the Mishan People's Anti-Japanese ** Army and the Mishan Guerrillas, was established in October 1934. Li Yanlu served as the army commander and commander of the 1st Division, with 4 divisions and more than 230 people; The 5th Army of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Combined Army, formerly known as the Suining Anti-Japanese Allied Army, was established in February 1935. Zhou Baozhong served as the army commander, with 2 divisions and more than 900 people; The 6th Army of the Northeast People's ** Army, formerly known as the Tangyuan Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Corps, was established in January 1936. Xia Yunjie served as the army commander, with 6 regiments under his jurisdiction and more than 1,000 people in the army. Looking at these troops, it is not an exaggeration to call the infantry brigade sent by the Inner Mongolia Military Region a group army.

This can be said to be a style of the Anti-United Nations, because the Japanese puppet forces in the northeast are extremely strong, so the struggle against the United Nations is also extremely difficult. Weapons and ammunition were scarce, and it was difficult to replenish the troops, so they had to adopt this method of pulling tiger skins to confuse the enemy. As a matter of fact, the struggle of the Anti-Japanese Federation in the northeast region is extremely necessary, and the results are extremely brilliant. According to the statistics of the Heilongjiang Provincial Anti-Japanese War Research Association, the Northeast Anti-Japanese Allied Forces fought more than 100,000 times against Japan. According to the statistics of the Japanese pseudo-statistical agency: 39,105 times in 1935, 3,617 times in 1936, 13,110 times in 1938, 6,547 times in 1939, and 3,667 times in 1940; Nearly 200,000 casualties were caused to the Japanese puppet army, and a large number of Japanese troops were also contained, according to historical records, in 1940 alone, the Northeast Anti-Japanese Federation contained about 400,000 Japanese puppet troops.

Now that the situation in North China is turbulent, Han Yunhua does not dare to withdraw many troops to the north to block the southward movement of the Kwantung Army, so he has no choice but to use the banner of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Alliance to contain the Japanese puppet army, Han Yunhua believes that before the formal signing of the Soviet-Japanese non-aggression pact, the Kwantung Army Command will not dare to arbitrarily transfer troops to the south. If there is another strong and abnormal force in the hinterland of the northeast, then General Umezu Mijiro can only have more than enough strength even if he really wants to send troops south.

Of course, Li Dingguo, the commander of the group army, is only talking to the outside world, in fact, the Inner Mongolia Military Region has long made up its mind on this, and the name of the First Group Army of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Federation is only suitable for use in the northeast region, and it is positioned as a guard brigade within the Inner Mongolia Military Region.

Li Dingguo didn't care about these things, he was very clear about the status of himself and the entire Flying Dragon Special Operations Brigade in the commander's heart, although the number of each special operations brigade was now between 700 and 800, and it could only be regarded as a reinforced battalion in terms of numbers, but in the combat establishment of the military region, the special combat team was a division-level establishment, and the captain of his special operations brigade was equivalent to the commander of the division, so he did not look down on this so-called commander of the guard brigade at all.

But he also knew Han Yunhua's intention to send him to the northeast, and from the bottom of his heart, he was unwilling to serve as the commander of this group army, because in his eyes, the combat effectiveness of this group army was really a bit rubbish, not to mention compared with the most elite Kwantung Army of the Japanese army, even compared to the regular army of the Inner Mongolia Military Region. The sudden appearance of such a large force in the northeast is not regarded as a thorn in the side of the Kwantung Army, and compared to the Takeoff Dragon Special Combat Team, this so-called group army is like a fat and strong big stupid elephant, with no flexibility at all. …,

However, he also knew that his Flying Dragon Special Operations Brigade alone would not be able to cause much trouble to the Kwantung Army at all, and only a large organized force attack would make hundreds of thousands of Kwantung Army scruples. So despite his reluctance, Li Dingguo decided to serve as the commander of this group army.

January 18, 1940, was a very good day for the North China Front, which had been in a state of flux for some time, although the weather was not warm and light snow fell. But all the officers of the entire North China Front Army had smiles on their faces, and just now news came from the front that tens of thousands of Eighth Route Army troops who were playing hide and seek along the Zhengtai Railway with the Imperial Army were finally repelled by the Imperial Japanese Army. Although the main force of the Eighth Route Army was not completely annihilated in this battle, more than 20,000 people were killed and wounded by the Eighth Route Army, and more than 4,000 corpses of the Eighth Route Army were left along the Zhengtai Railway alone.

Of course, the losses of the imperial army are also very large, the Eighth Route Army at this time is not the Eighth Route Army two years ago, their weapons and equipment are obviously much better than before, and there are even snipers equipped with sniper rifles in the troops. In the pursuit of nearly a month, the imperial army lost more than 8,200 soldiers, but less than 2,000 people died, but the Eighth Route Army captured five county seats, blew up four military trains and 27 bridges, as for the destroyed artillery strongholds and damaged roads are countless, on the whole, the losses of the imperial army are also very large.

However, in any case, it was a fact that the Eighth Route Army had suffered a heavy blow, and it was the first major victory of the North China Dispatch Army of the Imperial Japanese Army since April last year, so every Japanese officer's face swept away the previous gloom, and they all thought that this was a sign of the rise of the North China Dispatch Army.

What made Tada Jun happiest was that due to their outstanding performance during this time, the base camp announced the entire North China dispatch army for the first time in the whole army, and postponed the time limit for resolving the Northern Cyprus problem by one month. What was supposed to be three months suddenly became four, which gave Lieutenant General Tada more time to prepare and a much better chance of victory.

At the same time, with the expansion of the war of aggression against China, in order to consolidate its rule in the occupied areas of China, unify the deployment of troops, and facilitate the implementation of political strategies against the Nationalist Government, the Japanese army base camp carried out a large-scale adjustment of the Japanese troops in the entire Chinese theater, and ordered the formation of the "China Dispatch Army", with Nishio Shouzo as the commander-in-chief and Itagaki Seishiro as the chief of the general staff, set up the headquarters in Nanjing, and at the same time abolished the Central China Dispatch Army.

The Chinese Dispatch Army commanded the North China Front, the 11th Army, the 13th Army, the 21st Army, and the 3rd Flying Group, with a total of 23 divisions and 17 brigades and regiments, with 850,000 troops. Previously, the Japanese army base camp made a small adjustment to the Japanese troops stationed in China, and it was expected that the number of troops would be reduced to about 550,000 within three years after the stalemate phase of the war.

However, due to the offensive launched by the Chinese army, especially the Inner Mongolia Military Region, in the autumn and winter of 39, the Japanese army underwent tremendous changes in the entire North China battlefield, and even lost its strategic superiority for a time, so the Japanese emperor and the entire base camp felt great military and political pressure, and once put Japan in an unfavorable situation in the international arena. Therefore, the Japanese emperor believed that excessive troop cuts would lead to the failure of Wuhan to defend, so he temporarily rejected the disarmament plan proposed by the cabinet and only symbolically agreed to reduce the number of troops to 800,000 by 1940.

At the same time, the Japanese army headquarters ordered the Chinese dispatch force headquarters to draw up a detailed operational plan, and demanded that the Chinese dispatch force formulate all the strategic objectives for the next few years and submit them to the base camp for examination.

Senior General Nishio Shouzo did not dare to slack off, and immediately handed over the battle plan that had been drawn up to the base camp. According to the plan drawn up by the Chinese Dispatch Force Command, the 11th Army in Wuhan will first carry out a short sortie this year, that is, in 1940, with the main body of the Nationalist Government. After the Japanese army occupied Yichang in the summer of the same year, it launched an air attack on Chinese mainland in a vain attempt to lure the Chinese government to surrender. At the same time, in North China, with the North China Front Army as the main force, the tank divisions, and the aviation corps as the auxiliary, a new operational plan was formulated, and the strategic goal was to initially remove the threat of the Inner Mongolia Military Region to the Pingjin region, restore the situation in Saibei to the same as it was in the summer of '38, and completely remove all hidden dangers in North China by the autumn of '41 at the latest, and in particular, it was necessary to completely eliminate Han Yunhua's headquarters. In addition, the Chinese dispatch army is also expected to draw the main force of the North China Front Army to form the 5th Front Army, cross the Yellow River in the winter of 42 and occupy Xi'an in the dry season, and cross the Qinling Mountains in the summer of 43 to capture Chengdu; At the same time, the 11th Army was ordered to attack and occupy Chongqing along the Three Gorges. Then it took a year to clean up the mess, and around 1944, the Chinese problem was completely solved, and the result was the complete occupation of China and the destruction of China. …,

This military plan was formulated in great detail, every step and every possible problem was elaborated, even if the Soviet army entered the war and possible external intervention by the United States and Britain, it was also considered, and in this military plan the Japanese army mentioned for the first time the war against the United States and the occupation of the islands in Southeast Asia by the south.

The Japanese army headquarters attached great importance to this military plan, and after nearly a week of debate, although the base camp did not fully adopt Nishio Shouzo's plan, it almost completely adopted the battle plan before 1942. He also urged the Japanese troops in all theaters to immediately deploy according to the plan, especially the North China Front, which is now in the most complicated situation, must launch an attack on February 8, that is, before the eve of the Chinese lunar calendar.

On January 23, in the name of the commander of the North China Front Headquarters, Tada Jun issued a large combat mobilization order against the Chinese army in the northern Saibei area, mainly against the headquarters of Han Yunhua of the Eighth Route Army. In accordance with Tadajun's order, all the units of the North China Front Army immediately entered a combat state, and with the exception of the First Army stationed in Shanxi, which only used one division, almost all the remaining troops stationed in Shandong and the troops directly under the Front Army went north, and the mobilization must be completed within a week.

On January 26, there was a crowd of people outside Beiping, where the headquarters of the North China Front Army was located, and the Japanese army now gathered in Beiping and Tianjin had as many as nine infantry divisions and one chariot division, as well as five independent mixed infantry brigades.

Beiping, conference room of the North China Front Headquarters.

Present at the meeting were the newly appointed commander of the 12th Army, Sakata Sadagu, the commander of the 5th Division, the 3rd Tank Division, the 38th Division, the 39th Division, the 40th Division, the 41st Division, the 110th Division, the 10th Division, the 33rd Division, the 26th Division, the 7th Independent Brigade, the 8th Independent Brigade, the 6th Independent Brigade, the 5th Independent Brigade, and the 9th Independent Brigade, as well as the Aviation Corps.

The military meeting was held for a very short time, and first Tada Jun read out the operational instructions of the base camp to all the senior Japanese officers, and then began to assign tasks. The current meeting was not to discuss the battle plan, as some officers thought, but to draw up the battle plan jointly with Tada, Yoshio Shinozuka, commander of the First Army of the North China Front, Iida Sadagu, commander of the 12th Army, and the General Staff Office of the Front Army.

Tada Jun looked at all the officers present, the deep and murderous gaze made all the officers dare not look directly, almost all the officers knew what kind of role this commander of the front army was, that was the character who slaughtered tens of thousands of ordinary people in Nanjing without frowning, he was a real iron-blooded person, it was better to pretend to be a grandson in front of such a person, and it would be bad not to let him be targeted.

Seeing that all the officers did not dare to look directly at him, Tada Jun was very satisfied, especially even Sakata Sadagu did not dare to argue with him, and he was very satisfied with this result. Tada Jun cleared his throat and said: "Gentlemen, everyone has heard this combat instruction clearly, in the eyes of the old generals in the base camp, our entire North China Dispatch Army is a rice bucket, including everyone sitting here, of course, including me, the commander of the front army. So what we can do is to wash away our shame with our knives, right? ”

Tada's words were very incendiary, so when he finished speaking, almost all the officers shouted: "Hai"

Seeing that everyone agreed with his words, Tada Jun shouted even louder: "Ladies and gentlemen, since the 11th year of the Showa era, after the rise of Han Yunhua's headquarters in the northern Saibei region, our North China dispatch army has become a laughing stock many times, and it has become a shame for the entire imperial army. Think about how majestic and invincible our Imperial Japanese Army was when it first entered China, and how many heroic units such as the Fifth Division emerged, think about the majesty of half of Itagaki Jun's division that caused the 30 or so infantry divisions to flee in a hurry, think about the 14th Division led by General Kenji Dohihara almost swept the entire Henan, and then look at all of you here, who were defeated by a Tubalu army in the north of the country in just two years, I, as your boss, am ashamed of you. ”…,

"Now I'm giving you a chance, a chance to prove that you're not a waste, but a true samurai. Now I order," and when he heard that Tada was about to give the order for battle, the Japanese officers present immediately stood up and respectfully prepared to accept the mission.

"Order: The 5th Division, the 38th Division, and the 3rd Chariot Division, as the vanguard of the front army, formed the 1st Attack Group and launched an attack on Zhangjiakou, where Han Yunhua's headquarters were entrenched, on February 5, and Yasui-kun was responsible for directing the battle. The 38th Division, the 39th Division, the 7th Independent Brigade, the 8th Independent Brigade, and the 6th Independent Brigade formed the second attack group, and the second attack group attacked westward from the front line of Zhulu, and it was not necessary to drive Han Yunhua's headquarters out of Hebei within a month, and then cooperate with Yasui Jun's first attack group to attack northward, forming a major strategic situation to cut off the connection between Han Yunhua's headquarters in northern China and the eastern Hebei division. The 40th Division, the 41st Division, the 110th Division, and the 10th Division formed the Third Attack Group and sent troops to the Taihang Mountains to encircle and suppress the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region and the Jizhong Military Region of the Eighth Route Army entrenched in the Taihang Mountains. The 33rd Division, the 26th Division, the 5th Independent Brigade, and the 9th Independent Brigade are the general reserves, and they are in the Beijing-Tianjin area to respond to the attacks of various units, and the Aviation Corps will provide fire support to you at any time. ”

"Ladies and gentlemen, this battle is related to the fortunes of our Imperial Japan, and even more importantly, to the reputation of our North China Army. If this battle is won, the situation in North China can be determined, and this battle will be lost" Speaking of this, Tada Jun suddenly stopped, before this he never thought that the North China Front Army would lose this battle, but there is no absolute thing in the world, and there are not a few examples of winning more with less in the war, and Han Yunhua's combat effectiveness is indeed very strong, especially the best thing this branch army is at creating miracles, thinking of this, Lieutenant Tada Jun will continue to say: "Gentlemen, if we lose this battle, I and you really have to meet at the Yasukuni Shrine." , we can't afford to lose this battle, the Great Japanese Empire can't afford to lose, please"

"Hail"

This time, instead of prohibiting the puppet army from participating in the war, the Japanese army specially transferred 50,000 infantry from the puppet North China security army into three attack clusters to serve as cannon fodder and pathfinder for the Japanese army.

It was the first time for the Japanese army to take such a large-scale operation in North China, and the last time the Japanese army dispatched 150,000 troops to attack Han Yunhua's headquarters was surprising enough, but compared to this operation, it was simply a small thing, and for a time the entire North China region was shaken, and the eyes of the whole country and even the whole Asia were gathered in ......North China.