A formidable opponent, an army with extremely strong combat effectiveness. This evaluation can be said to be the highest evaluation of Yang Zhen among all the armies and generals at all levels participating in the Chongqing counterattack. Compared with the performance in this battle, the performance is somewhat low-eyed, the first protégé of the Son of Heaven in the Eighth War Zone. This miscellaneous army general who had just been transferred to the First War Zone made Yang Zhen pay more attention and sideways.

But the evaluation is high, but Yang Zhen doesn't have too much thought about this person. In fact, the First War Zone has ended ahead of schedule, and this fight is not exciting, and even the counterattack operation is anticlimactic, although the follow-up chain reaction triggered by Yang Zhen has been expected, but according to the development of the situation, he still has to adjust the deployment.

At present, the counterattack operation in the theater in eastern Henan, although everyone is still in a stalemate on the battlefield around Kaifeng. But at present, in fact, the shrinkage of the First War Zone back to the west of the New Yellow River is already a sure thing. Any battle is stressful of one blow, then decline, and three exhaustions. If you don't mention it, your morale will be weakened.

In addition, central Henan is the hinterland of the First War Zone, and not only a large number of military supplies are hoarded, but also a large number of dependents of various departments participating in the First War Zone. In central Henan, the Japanese army came and left whenever they wanted, and the troops sent to eastern Henan at the moment may have been unstable and had no will to fight.

At present, the division of Yoshimoto Sada, which has been withdrawn to northern Henan, has been completed in the shortest possible time, and it has been reorganized into five detachments based on a fully organized brigade and has begun to move south one after another.

Judging from the current situation, even a fool can see that it will not be interesting to continue this counterattack. No matter how stubborn the old gentleman in Chongqing is, his subordinates will not completely implement his ideas. There are policies at the top and countermeasures at the bottom, but there are ways for Chinese to deal with their superiors. If in this battle, he really executes his orders meticulously.

Judging from the troops and equipment invested in the two directions, even if these two counterattack operations cannot be fully successful, at least they should not be fought so aggressively. At the moment, I am afraid that he insists on fighting, but it is already a battlefield situation where people's hearts are fluctuating, and I am afraid that it is not something he can control.

As soon as the fighting in eastern Henan stopped, judging from the overall performance of the major theaters in Chongqing over the past 39 years, which basically focused on defense in terms of strategy, and as long as the Japanese army did not attack, it basically did not carry out any strategic or tactical counterattacks.

In this way, in the follow-up counterattack of the Japanese army on the Hebei battlefield, there was no need to worry about it on the entire flank. Of course, there must be some precautions, but there will definitely not be too much attention. That is to say, the Japanese army will only leave a part of its troops on the battlefield in eastern Henan, but it will not put too many troops.

Yang Zhen knew very well that after all the troops in the First Theater of Operations in eastern Henan were shrunk back to central Henan and the Bohai Bay was civilized, I am afraid that the Japanese army would definitely take action in the southern Hebei, northern Henan, and Hebei-Shandong-Henan border areas in the future. The First Army of the Japanese Army tried its best to get out of the Shanxi battlefield, and even did not hesitate to abandon a division, staying behind to hold the troops of the Taihang and Taiyue Military Regions in the southeast battlefield of Shanxi, and covering the main force to withdraw to northern Henan for rest. And definitely not to stay there honestly and do nothing.

Looking at the entire breakthrough operation of the First Army this time, Yang Zhen also had to sigh that this guy Yoshimoto Sadachi is bold and daring. Originally, Yang Zhen thought that after he captured Shimen, the First Army would definitely find a way to withdraw from the Shanxi battlefield. But for the Japanese army in the Shanxi battlefield, the preferred direction of breakthrough should be Jinnan.

Jinnan is connected with the mountains and rivers of eastern Henan and northern Henan, which are still controlled by the Japanese army, and they form horns with each other. Moreover, judging from the situation of the Shanxi battlefield, retreating to southern Jinnan can not only meet the 36th Division that is currently being beaten and trapped in Changzhi, but also control the Zhongtiao Mountains and connect with the north bank of the Yellow River behind them.

In this way, even if Chongqing regained Yuncheng, and Shanxi, Hebei, Luyu regained the entire southeast of Shandong, they were still under the threat of the Japanese army at all times. Especially under the situation that the Japanese army is still firmly in control of northern Henan, the Taihang Military Region in the southeast of Shanxi Province still has not shaken off the situation of facing a two-sided attack.

At that time, the Japanese army will be condescending, whether it is southwest or southeast of Jin, it will contain a large number of troops on the Chinese side. Choosing the direction of Jinnan as the breakthrough point is undoubtedly the most favorable choice for both the current Japanese army and the entire next step of the Japanese army.

Therefore, in terms of pre-war deployment, the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region still placed its subordinate Taihang and the troops of the Taiyue Military Region that cooperated with it in the Nantongpu Railway and the Baijin Railway, and carried out a siege war against Changzhi with most of its troops. It was to cut off the connection between the Japanese army in southern Jinnan and the Japanese army on the front line in Taiyuan.

The Japanese army that forced Jinzhong, when choosing a retreat route, took the line along the Nantongpu Railway. In fact, the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region has also achieved this in its entire deployment posture at present. However, neither Yang Zhen nor the head of the troops of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region expected that Yoshimoto Sadachi's breakthrough route would find another strange path. There was no Nantongpu Railway, let alone the rescue of the 36th Division.

The main force of the First Army will choose the most complex terrain, although it is not unfamiliar to the Japanese army, but it is not suitable for its heavy operation in the Taihang Mountains, along the way will not do any entanglement with the Taihang Military Region armed forces along the way, and even do not hesitate to avoid the resistance of the local armed forces of the Taihang Military Region in some key places, and forcibly retreat to eastern Henan.

Rush to concentrate on the main forces of the Taihang Military Region along the Baijin Railway and around Changzhi before receiving the news and returning to the base area. Taking advantage of his own local armed forces in the Taihang Military Region that remained behind, the equipment and training were very poor, and his absolute superiority in strength and firepower. After a beautiful time difference, it can almost be said that he safely withdrew all the way to the eastern Henan region.

And a part of the army ignored the Japanese troops along the Nantongpu Railway who were struggling under the siege of the Taiyue Military Region. Diverted to the hinterland of the Second War Zone in southwest Shanxi, and came a forcible interspersed of hundreds of kilometers to pick up the main force of the 37th Division trapped in Yuncheng. This hand broke the battle situation on the battlefield in Shanxi, which was originally quite unfavorable to the First Army. Most of the remaining forces of the entire First Army were taken out of Shanxi.

After withdrawing from the Shanxi battlefield, although in the Shanxi battlefield before, it also suffered casualties and lost nearly half of the troops, and it can even be said that it has been broken. But in addition to being trapped in Changzhi and the 36th Division along the Baijin Railway. In addition to the small number of troops north of Taiyuan that could not be withdrawn, the basic structure of the main forces is still there.

Not counting the 37th Division, which suffered heavy losses in central Henan, and the 36th Division, which was trapped in Changzhi, the remaining troops of the two divisions and regiments that were withdrawn from the Shanxi battlefield, plus half of the mixed brigades, could completely restore their combat effectiveness in a short period of time as long as they were replenished in a timely manner. At present, the battlefield in eastern Henan has actually subsided, which also indicates that the Japanese troops participating in the war in eastern Henan can be transferred eastward at any time and put into the possible counterattack operations in the future.

Yoshimoto Sadachi's hand surprised everyone. It also caused a lot of chaos within the entire Taihang Military Region. Fortunately, the Japanese army was in a hurry to retreat and did not make any stops along the way. Although there was a heart-piercing battle within the Taihang Military Region, it did not cause much damage.

Only the Taihang Military Region had a grain warehouse near Licheng, because it was on the retreating route of the Japanese army, it was looted by the Japanese army, and more than 100,000 catties of grain were lost. However, it was precisely by relying on this batch of grain that the Japanese army, which only carried seven days' worth of food, was able to hold out until the Taihang Mountain.

Faced with the current situation, Yang Zhen had to start preparing earlier. In order to prepare as much as possible before the Japanese army counterattacked Hebei on all fronts. Yang Zhen urgently transferred a 150 artillery regiment from the Hebei battlefield, plus a part of the 76-mm cannon battalion, plus an independent tank regiment to enter the Jin Dynasty as soon as possible.

In addition to Changzhi, which is still fighting fiercely, the Shanxi battlefield, which has basically calmed down, will be transferred to strengthen the support firepower of the Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong, and Henan Military Regions. In order to solve the enemy of Changzhi as soon as possible, the main force of the Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong, and Henan Military Regions can free up their hands as soon as possible. At the same time, before the Japanese army may make the next move in the southeast of Shanxi, let the Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong, and Henan Military Regions complete the combat mission as soon as possible.

Yang Zhen, who knew too much about the Japanese army, did not think that the main force of the First Army would completely abandon the 36th Division after breaking through. Judging from what Yoshimoto Sadaichi did on the Shanxi battlefield, who can guarantee that his actions in the northern and eastern Henan battlefields will not lose his bravado, but will only be a smokescreen for the offensive and defensive battles in eastern Henan released by the First War Zone.

Under the condition that there are no major changes in the battlefield in eastern Henan, will it not be diverted to the southeast battlefield of Jin? Northern Henan is close to the battlefield in eastern Henan, but it is not far from Changzhi, the main battlefield in the southeast of Jin. It's just that compared to eastern Henan, the terrain of this line is a bit complicated.

You must know that the line from Jincheng in the southeast of Jin to Qinghua in the north of Henan is still controlled by the Japanese army. The 14th Mixed Brigade, which was originally deployed in the Zhongtiao Mountains, was mostly withdrawn to Yuncheng. However, from Jincheng to northern Henan, it still maintains a strengthened infantry brigade and a puppet army, and firmly controls Tianjing Pass.

At the same time, although the line from Xingtai to Yongnian has been captured by the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region, the Japanese army still firmly controls Handan, an important city at the junction of Hebei-Henan, in southern Hebei. Relying on the support of the Japanese army on the front line of Anyang in northern Henan behind him, he still maintained a relatively large number of troops around Handan, and controlled the communication choke point between southern Hebei and Shanxi.

The troops of the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region concentrated the strength of two brigades, tried to recover Handan on many occasions and constantly fought for Fukou. However, under the stubborn resistance of the Japanese army, as well as the response and reinforcements of the Japanese army on the front line of Anyang, many strong attacks were unsuccessful, and the Japanese army in Handan turned into a confrontation on the line of Linhaoguan north of Handan.

The Tianjing Pass and Fukou are the two of the eight Taihang Mountains, and they have been the east-west traffic arteries connecting Shanxi and Hebei since ancient times. The Japanese army controlled these two passes that communicated the east and west of Taihang Mountain, and they could rescue the 36th Division of Changzhi at any time. Judging from the performance of the Japanese army since the full-scale war between China and Japan, neither Okamura Ninji nor Yoshimoto Sadaichi will completely give up on the 36th Division.

As long as the 36th Division is still resisting, they are bound to go all out to rescue. If the 36th Division cannot be resolved as soon as possible, the troops of the Taihang Military Region participating in the battle are likely to face a flank attack from the front and rear. Yang Zhen dispatched a batch of heavy firepower into the Shanxi battlefield and placed it under the command of the Taihang Military Region.

It is to assist the Taihang and Taiyue Military Regions, speed up the course of the battle, and solve the 36th Division in the shortest possible time. That is, to deal with the possible changes in the next battle situation, and also to speed up the process of fighting along the Changzhi and Nantongpu railways. In particular, the Changzhi battlefield must not be dragged on.

While mobilizing troops to enter Jin and speed up the battlefield in the southeast of Jin, Yang Zhen sent a telegram to the head of the Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong, and Henan Military Regions and the Taiyue Military Region after several considerations. It is hoped that the Taiyue Military Region will be able to allocate a part of its forces to launch an offensive against the Japanese troops on the front line of Jincheng to the south, and seize the Tianjing Pass to ensure the safety of the flank of the battlefield in the southeast of Jincheng.