After consideration, Qiao Youhua decided to mobilize at least 50,000 troops to fight in Jin this time, including more than 3,000 troops led by Zhao Youde, deputy commander of the Third Division, who had already been stationed in Jingcheng Pass and Jingcheng County for defense.

After the comprehensive expansion and reorganization of the troops, the number of garrisons at Jingcheng Pass increased by more than 1,000 compared with before, because it was a strategic point on the main road to Jin.

The guard regiment stationed in Pingshan County, in addition, Wu Ming's third division in Dezhou and Hengshui has a total of about 6,000 people, about two infantry regiments.

Because the arsenal has not yet produced enough tanks, armored vehicles, and all kinds of high-tech weapons and equipment, some of the directly subordinate arms of the three divisions, such as tank regiments, armored regiments, air defense regiments, and so on, are still empty shelves with only personnel and no equipment.

Therefore, they are all infantry, more than 20,000 people in a division, six or seven regiments, all infantry.

In Dezhou, Hengshui transferred two regiments, plus Zhao Youde's three regiments in Jingcheng Pass, with more than 10,000 troops.

In addition, Qiao Youhua decided that in addition to one tank regiment left behind, the other two armored regiments (due to insufficient equipment, they are also infantry regiments for the time being), plus three regiments each of the first and second divisions, a total of eight infantry regiments, about 25,000 people, immediately secretly went south to Luquan and Jingcheng Pass to assemble and stand by.

In addition, the guard regiment directly under the column (plus a cavalry reconnaissance battalion), the artillery brigade (three regiments), and part of the logistics personnel, the participating troops reached fourteen infantry regiments plus a cavalry battalion and several thousand logistics personnel.

The total number of troops is just about 50,000. Ma Yunlong's air defense brigade remained intact and remained on the northern front to assist the 1st and 2nd divisions in garrisoning to prevent a possible counterattack by the Japanese army in Beiping, Tianjin, Baoding, etc.

After deciding on the size and list of troops participating in the battle, Qiao Youhua sent a telegram to the divisional headquarters, asking them to act immediately according to the order.

After Wu Ming, Ma Biao, Jiang Haidong and others received the order, of course, they did not dare to slack off in the slightest, and quickly mobilized troops to carry out Qiao Youhua's order.

Soon, the combat units of the three regiments of the Third Division were the first to complete the assembly and gathered in Jingcheng Pass and Jingcheng County.

The guard regiment directly under the column stationed in Pingshan County, the newly expanded artillery brigade, and several thousand logistics personnel from the base camp in the base area were also ready to set off.

In view of the fact that the number of troops under his command had exceeded 20,000, Qiao Youhua decided to personally lead these troops south along the railway line to fight in Jin.

Before leaving, he asked Li Yansan to inform the political commissar Guo Meng, the director of the confidential department Liu Ruhan and others, and explained to them separately: "Political commissar, the military situation is like fire, I will first take a group of troops south to enter Jin, and when the troops of the first division, the second division and the armored brigade arrive, let them immediately follow into Jin."

The base area will be left to you, a lot of hard work"!

Guo Meng was very satisfied with Qiao Youhua's mobilization of so many troops to respond to the order of the headquarters, and nodded happily: "Well, don't worry, with me in the base area, there will definitely be no chaos, I will do my best to ensure the logistics supply of the combat troops this time, I hope you can win the victory as soon as possible and return triumphantly." ”

Qiao Youhua nodded, and said to Liu Ruhan again: "This time I led my troops south to Shanxi to fight, and the liaison is very important, I will take half of the people and machines in your confidential office, and you, as the number one person in the confidential department, will stay in the base camp." ”

With Guo Meng present, Liu Ruhan immediately stood up and saluted, and said with a businesslike appearance: "Yes." ”

"Don't forget to tell Deputy Director Sùwan later, let her personally lead the team to set off with me."

"yes, I see." Liu Ruhan nodded in response.

After saying goodbye to several wives, Qiao Youhua, accompanied by Guo Meng, Liu Ruhan and others, left the headquarters and came to the playground outside the city.

At this moment, in addition to the guard regiment, the cavalry reconnaissance battalion, the artillery brigade, and nearly 5,000 logistics personnel, a large number of civilians were also gathered on the playground.

They were men and women, old and young, all local people inside and outside Pingshan County, and they heard that the Dragon's Tooth Column was about to go on a big expedition again.

He spontaneously rushed to gather, just to give the soldiers of the Dragon's Tooth Column a ride.

Since the establishment of the Dragon's Tooth Column, the people living in its base area have experienced first-hand how lucky they are to have the protection of this invincible iron army.

Therefore, they support and love this team in their hearts, hoping that they will win every battle.

In addition, there are many officers and soldiers in the Dragon's Tooth Column, all of whom are relatives and children of these local people, and many of those who came to see them off this time have relatives and sons serving in the guard regiment and other troops.

They are also here to send off their relatives and meet each other, because no one knows whether there will be an accident in the future, after all, there are no eyes on the battlefield, and no one knows if this is the last side.

Inside and outside the playground, the crowd was crowded, and at a glance, the black pressure was crowded with people, but Qiao Youhua just swept it casually, and then turned his gaze to the more than 10,000 dragon tooth soldiers who were standing in line in the center of the playground.

Due to the lack of large-caliber artillery in the artillery brigade, this artillery brigade is really fully equipped with artillery, and there is only one regiment at full strength, and the other two regiments are still infantry regiments equipped with light weapons.

This time, Qiao Youhua only planned to use them as infantry, so in order to strengthen their combat effectiveness, Qiao Youhua asked the logistics department to equip the two regiments with machine guns, grenadiers, mortars, submachine guns and other weapons that the infantry regiments were conventionally equipped with.

As a result, its combat effectiveness can basically reach the scale of the B type regiment, and of course, there is still a certain gap between it and the nine pure A type A infantry regiments and guard regiments directly under the column drawn from the three divisions.

Therefore, on the playground, except for a regimental phalanx in the east, where dozens of artillery pieces with a caliber of 75mm or more were placed in front of it, all the infantry phalanxes to the west, and there were about 1,000 cavalry on the westernmost side of the infantry phalanx, ready to go.

Behind all the phalanxes of officers and soldiers, hundreds of military trucks and three-wheeled motorcycles were parked, all of which were transport vehicles equipped with guard regiments and artillery brigades.

Although the artillery of the artillery brigade is insufficient, the vehicles are still relatively sufficient, and the guard regiment is the absolute descendant of Qiao Youhua's subordinates, not to mention the elite ace.

Qiao Youhua, after Guo Meng arrived, Zheng Yunshan, the head of the guard regiment, led the commanders of several artillery brigades, and immediately hurried over to greet them, and saluted the two of them: "Commander, political commissar, the troops have been assembled and can set off at any time, please instruct!" ”