On March 14, the Japanese army continued to launch a fierce attack on Zhangjiakou City, and also mobilized a large number of artillery and aviation units to carry out non-stop and indiscriminate bombardment of Zhangjiakou City. However, to the surprise of the defending troops, the Japanese troops besieging the city continued to charge the fortifications of Zhangjiakou as if they were sending them to death, and they were repulsed by several recruit divisions with dense heavy machine guns one by one, and then rushed in waves, like tired waves that did not understand at all, and could not be killed.

According to the estimates of the troops on the front, at least more than 10,000 Japanese troops were shot on March 14 alone, and even more. After receiving the report from the troops on the front line, Xu Shiyou and Cheng Zihua, who had just arrived at the front line, were surprised. Okamura Ninji is not a good stubble, that old devil is scheming, and there are many Chinese troops in his hands, including many elite troops of the Chinese Nationalist Government. During the Second Battle of Wuhan, even Xue Yue's First Corps of the Nationalist Government suffered heavy losses at the hands of the Eleventh Army in Gangcun, losing nearly 50,000 men in four divisions.

With Okamura Ningji's command level, he would never make such a mistake, so after Cheng Zihua discussed with Xu Shiyou, He Guangyu and others, he thought that if the Japanese army either changed its commander or Okamura Ningji made a big move, he would definitely cover up some kind of attempt of the Japanese army regardless of the life and death of the soldiers.

However, the intelligence department reported that the commander of the Japanese troops on the Zhangjiakou front was still Okamura Ninji, commander of the 11th Army, and that the observation group of the Japanese army and the Chinese dispatch army that had come to North China for exchange and study remained on the Zhangjiakou front and did not return to Beiping or Nanjing. Therefore, Xu Shiyou and others judged that Gangcun must be planning an earth-shattering conspiracy, and the target must be these defender infantry divisions in Zhangjiakou City.

But no matter how Xu Shiyou and others guessed, they couldn't figure out a clue, the Japanese army on the Zhangjiakou front line is now heavily gathered, not to mention the real elite infantry of the Japanese army, even the puppet army is rushing to the Zhangjiakou front line one group after another.

However, Xu Shiyou and others can be regarded as veterans of battle, although they can't figure out what the Japanese army wants to do, but how to say that the goal of Gangcun is inseparable from the infantry divisions defending the city and those fortifications around the city. Therefore, in desperation, Cheng Zihua had no choice but to order the defenders in Zhangjiakou City to strengthen their vigilance, and at the same time ordered the resting Sixth Field Division and the Seventh Field Division to immediately disperse to various street fighting positions in the city.

The headquarters of the Japanese army on the Zhangjiakou front, Lieutenant General Okamura Ninji took today's casualty statistics report and looked at it again and again, his brows furrowed tightly, and he didn't know what he was thinking.

"Report, Qi Sang from Beiping asks to see you," the captain of the guard from Gangcun came in and said loudly.

"Let him in," Okamura said without raising his head.

Qi Xieyuan, the commander-in-chief of the puppet North China Security Army, walked in slowly in a strange military uniform, and his voice was small and soft, and Lieutenant General Toshiyoshi Ando, who was looking at it, frowned.

Seeing Qi Xieyuan coming in, Okamura Ninji immediately got up and said enthusiastically: "Qi Sang, welcome, welcome, with the help of Qi Sang's security army, the imperial army is really like a tiger." ”

Qi Xieyuan didn't feel the slightest joy because of his master's praise, he said with a bitter face: "Taijun, the casualties of our security army today are too great, more than 10,000 casualties in just one day, and our security army has a total of only tens of thousands, so I hope that Taijun will let the imperial army take the lead in tomorrow's battle, and the security army really can't afford to lose." Speaking of which, Qi Xieyuan was almost on his knees and begged Okamura Ningji.

In fact, Qi Xieyuan now knows that his cooperation with the Japanese is not as harmonious as the outside world imagined, and the Japanese army looks down on traitors like him in their bones, and at the same time, they also deliberately suppress the development of the security army that restricts him. Although he was nominally headed by the security forces, the advisers and spies planted by the Japanese army in the North China security forces had seriously threatened his authority. In addition, the Japanese army's establishment of the North China Public Security Army was too small, and it was only a dozen groups (brigades) when it was full, and only three or four infantry divisions were combined into the Nationalist Government.

Even so, the Japanese army did not worry about Qi Xieyuan, and the North China Public Security Army must be used as cannon fodder in every battle. Although Qi Xieyuan himself privately formed more than 20 infantry groups, the Japanese army only turned a blind eye to this, after all, the Chinese army, especially the Eighth Route Army, developed too fast, and relying on only 40,000 or 50,000 North China security troops could not limit the Eighth Route Army. …,

However, it is the first time that the North China Public Security Army has been sent to death in batches wearing the standard military uniforms of the Japanese army like today, but even the first time is enough to make Qi Xieyuan frightened, more than 10,000 troops are gone, that is more than 10,000 people, if the Japanese army is allowed to do this a few more times, the family wealth that Qi Xieyuan has accumulated with great difficulty will be destroyed immediately. Although he knew that it might cause disgust among the Japanese officers, Qi Xieyuan still came hard.

"Baga, you dare to talk to the imperial army about conditions, your conscience is greatly broken" As soon as Qi Xieyuan's words fell, Lieutenant General Ando Toshikichi, the commander of the Fifth Division, couldn't help but jump.

Okamura Ningji looked at Qi Xieyuan, who was pale, and then signaled Ando Toshikichi to be calm and not impatient, and said: "Qi San, you understand that the premise of the existence of the security army is to fight for the imperial army, for the sake of the Great Japanese Empire, for the common prosperity of Greater East Asia, even if you lose a lot, you have greatly disappointed the Great Japanese Empire." ”

"Hai Taijun is angry, you can understand what you mean, but Taijun, you must also know that the security army is only 13 groups of more than 50,000 people in name, and the military establishment of the national government is only three infantry divisions. Therefore, the family foundation of the security army is too thin, and it can't withstand your toss like this. "Qi Xieyuan was originally a direct warlord, and served as the chief of staff of the sixth town of the Beiyang Army, the commander of the sixth division and the guard of Jiangning Town, the overseer of Jiangsu, and the patrol envoy of Suzhou, Anhui and Jiangxi. Along the way, Qi Xieyuan didn't learn anything else, but he had a clear understanding of the importance of military power, so the Japanese army spoiled his troops like this or tossed his family, even if Qi Xieyuan knew that saying this would make the Japanese army even more dissatisfied with him, but he still said it very hard, after all, this is a matter related to his future and fate, and he can't afford to fight.

Okamura Ninji said solemnly: "Qisang, don't worry, the empire will not treat loyal ministers like you badly, and of course, it will not let those guys who are against the empire go unpunished. I see that it's time for your security army to expand, this is a plan for the expansion of the security army, and I ask Qi Sang to take a look at it first and then we will talk. After speaking, Okamura Ninji handed Qi Xieyuan a paper document.

Qi Xieyuan opened it and looked at it, and was immediately attracted by the content of the document. This document was drawn up by the North China Front Command on the renaming of the North China Public Security Army as the "North China Pacification Army." In this document, the North China Front demanded that the North China Security Army be renamed the "North China Pacification Army" and that Qi Xieyuan should be the commander-in-chief of the Pacification Army.

I don't care about these Qi Xieyuan, after all, it's the same whether it's called the security army or the appeasement army, aren't those people who change the soup or not the medicine? Is it possible to change the name of the unit to the appeasement army to improve the combat effectiveness and make it possible to top two of the top? However, what attracted Qi Xieyuan was the establishment of the North China Appeasement Army, which, according to the documents of the North China Front, was expanded on a large scale after the renaming of the North China Security Army. The newly established North China Pacification Army consists of 15 infantry divisions and 20 infantry groups, with a total of 50 infantry groups and 280,000 men, which is 1.5 times larger than all the units of the current North China Public Security Army.

After reading this document, Qi Xieyuan was overjoyed, and immediately said flatteringly: "With Taijun's support, our appeasement army will definitely become a powerful help to the imperial army, don't worry, Taijun, it is alleged that the most elite infantry groups of the security army will be transferred to Zhangjiakou to assist Taijun in the battle." ”

"Yo West"

After Qi Xieyuan went out, Okamura Ninji asked Ando Toshiyoshi intently, "Ando-kun, how are the preparation of the engineer troops, and when will the task be completed." ”

"Your Excellency Commander, the engineer unit has now dug more than 300 meters of tunnel, which is less than 300 meters away from the Zhangjiakou city wall, but because the remaining 300 meters are too close to the position of the Zhina, the engineering wing does not dare to make a loud noise, so as not to attract the attention of the Zhina, so it is expected that it will take two more days to complete the task." Toshiki Ando said neatly.

"Yo Xi, the fortifications of the Chinese people are indeed very strong, and even if the missiles are concentrated directly, they may not be able to destroy those hateful pillboxes. However, the city wall of Zhangjiakou is an old city wall from hundreds of years ago, so it is very troublesome to rebuild, and the people of Jiazhi did not think that we would attack from the ground, so there is a great possibility that our plan will succeed this time. Ando-kun has worked hard, and I hope you will supervise and supervise the engineering wing more, so that they can speed up the construction progress. Okamura Ninji said. …,

"Hail"

Xu Shiyou and others never thought that what they annihilated was not the elite troops of the Japanese army, but the puppet army who were forced to go to the battlefield by the Japanese army and deliberately put on the Japanese military uniform. It is even more unclear that Okamura Ninji actually dug three huge tunnels outside the Zhangjiakou city wall, preparing to destroy the Zhangjiakou defenders' fortifications by underground blasting.

The fortifications of Zhangjiakou are a whole, and once there is a hole in any part, then the entire fortification may be in danger of collapse. However, this is only limited to the defense system of the city wall, but now the Japanese army is stumped by this last fortification, according to the judgment of the Japanese army's staff If the city fortifications of Zhangjiakou are stormed, the Japanese army will have to pay at least thirty or forty thousand casualties, but the current situation of the North China Front Okamura Ningji is very clear, not to mention the casualties of thirty or forty thousand troops, even one or two thousand is enough to make the North China Front injured. In desperation, I had to use the high-tech but slow-moving method of blasting to attack and attack.

For two days in a row, the Japanese army launched an attack on the fortifications of Zhangjiakou City in such a desperate manner, and the wave after wave of "devils" fell and rushed up again, which made the recruits defending the city feel frightened, and secretly said that the Japanese devils' will to fight was high.

However, soon the Chinese army found something unusual, that is, the Japanese soldiers who charged were not as fearless as they appeared, and when they charged, it seemed that there were Japanese commanders behind them, and as soon as the defenders' guns rang out, the Japanese soldiers fell in pieces, and when the troops retreated, the corpses of the Japanese soldiers who had "died" would also disappear, and the defenders did not know how many "Japanese soldiers" they had shot in the past two days.

This discovery made Xu Shiyou puzzled, although the quality of the Japanese soldiers had dropped very much, but it was not so low that they even needed the help of the supervising team to go to the battlefield, you must know that the Japanese army had a natural aversion to the supervising team regardless of whether the combat effectiveness was strong or not, because they thought it was an insult to them. Therefore, the methods of these Japanese troops are very incomprehensible, but they are a little similar to the fighting methods of the puppet army.

In order to verify his conjecture, Xu Shiyou risked his life to observe the city wall of Zhangjiakou for two hours, and finally affirmed that it was not the Japanese Fifth Division and the Tenth Division that were charging at the city fortifications of Zhangjiakou these days, but the puppet army wearing Japanese military uniforms, and the elite troops of the Japanese army were hiding in the rear to recuperate.

This discovery made Xu Shiyou panic, and the Japanese army definitely had a big plan to let the puppet army attract the firepower of the defenders at any cost. You must know that there are more than 90,000 troops gathered on the front line of Zhangjiakou by the Japanese army, and there are 1230,000 troops stationed in Zhangjiakou by the Inner Mongolia Military Region, but more than 70 of the 1230,000 defenders are recruits who have hardly been on the battlefield.

Xu Shiyou didn't dare to slack off, and immediately sent a telegram to Han Yunhua in Daqingshan, Xinghe County, telling Han Yunhua in detail about the situation on the front line in Zhangjiakou, and asking Han Yunhua to help him take a look, after all, this is a matter of life and death for hundreds of thousands of troops, and he Xu Shiyou really didn't dare to make any decision easily.

Han Yunhua was also surprised after reading the telegram sent by Xu Shiyou, it is not new for the Japanese army to use the puppet army as cannon fodder, and even the puppet army itself knows it. But it is really the first time that such an undisguised large-scale drive of the puppet army to attack the extremely strong fortifications of the Chinese army is stationed, which is no different from sending to death, is it really to let the puppet army consume the ammunition of the sixth field division and other troops.

Han Yunhua didn't believe that the famous Okamura Ningji would be so stupid, the Japanese army's plan to do this was not small, but Han Yunhua and Xu Shiyou couldn't figure it out. However, Han Yunhua is more cautious than Xu Shiyou, the four recruit divisions sent to Zhangjiakou are the main force among the ten newly formed infantry divisions of the Inner Mongolia Military Region, in addition to these four infantry divisions, the remaining six infantry divisions are not even equipped with weapons, each division has more than 20,000 people and more than 2,000 long and short guns, such troops are much worse than the Red Army three years ago, after all, the Red Army had one gun for two or three people. Therefore, Han Yunhua attached great importance to the four recruit divisions on the Zhangjiakou front, and since he couldn't tell what the Japanese army wanted to do, Han Yunhua simply ordered Cheng Zihua to immediately lead the four recruit divisions to withdraw from Zhangjiakou City immediately and return to the defense line of Zhangbei Daya Bay overnight. …,

However, not long after Cheng Zihua led his troops to withdraw from Zhangjiakou City, and Xu Shiyou's troops of the Sixth Field Division had just taken over the defensive line, the Japanese army's engineering units finally dug the tunnel under the Zhangjiakou city wall.

The Japanese attacked at the first moment when the city wall was blown up, and since the incident happened at night, most of the defenders stationed in the fortifications of the city wall were resting, so not many escaped. Although the remaining defenders also put up a desperate resistance, this time it was not those puppet soldiers wearing Japanese uniforms who attacked, but the real elite of the Japanese army.

Tens of thousands of Japanese troops rushed towards the gap in the collapsed city wall like a tide, and soon the hundreds of defenders who had just gathered were routed by the Japanese army, and the Japanese army officially entered Zhangjiakou City.

The news of the Japanese army entering the city surprised Xu Shiyou, but then Xu Shiyou was relieved, the Japanese army has been planning for so many days, it really can't be underestimated, now the city fortifications in the outer city have lost their effect, and fighting with the Japanese army in the outer city can only increase casualties, so Xu Shiyou and He Guangyu directly ordered the troops to immediately withdraw to the inner city, and fight street battles with the Japanese army in accordance with the battle plan formulated before.

Originally, Okamura Ningji thought that as long as the city fortifications of Zhangjiakou City were taken, the Eighth Route Army would take the initiative to withdraw from Zhangjiakou, and would not even stop at the periphery of Zhangjiakou, and it would be reasonable to withdraw directly to the large fortification group built by Han Yunhua's department in the Zhangbei area.

However, the news from the besieging troops surprised Okamura Ninji that the Shina troops were going to fight street battles with the Imperial Army. However, other high-ranking officers of the Japanese army on the front line were overjoyed, and although the street fighting was fierce, the street fighting had very high requirements for the quality of the individual soldiers. Although the Imperial Army suffered a great loss in positional warfare, it did not mean that the quality of the individual soldiers of the Imperial Army was superior, on the contrary, the vast majority of senior officers of the Japanese army still firmly believed that the quality of individual soldiers of the Japanese army was far higher than that of the Chinese army, and when they heard that the Chinese army was stupid to fight street battles with the Imperial Japanese Army, all the senior officers were crazy, and they thought that the opportunity to be ashamed of the past had finally come......