Just sent off the Jinsui troops, and they didn't wait for the boss and Chen Hanzhang to take a little rest, and they didn't even wait for the two of them to take a breath. Su Yingqi, who was escorting the artillery transferred to the troops of the Taihang Military Region on his way south, called the acting commander of the Jinsui Military Region almost at the same time.

Su Yingqi called to report that the Taihang troops led by him in the south had crossed the Hutuo River east of Fanzhi and entered the Wutai Mountains. Between Doucun and Nantai, north of Wutai County, he suddenly encountered a large number of Japanese troops. Judging by the number of Japanese troops at the time of the encounter, the Japanese troops in front of them had at least two infantry brigades reinforced with artillery.

Although the tanks and cavalry fully covered both flanks, and using intensive fire from rocket artillery, the Japanese troops scattered in front opened a fast passage to Guò. With the help of a regiment that had fought side by side under the city of Taiyuan not long ago, and a regiment of the Jin-Cha-Ji Second Division, they broke through the Japanese army's interception line and rushed through the branch line of the Tongpu Railway from Wutai to Xinxian in one go. However, the covering force also suffered certain losses because of the large number of Japanese troops.

In the midst of the melee, in order to cover the gap opened by the troops and ensure the safety of the breach, the covering equipment and personnel were quickly passed. Su Yingqi commanded the escort troops, and under the cover of artillery fire, fought a surprise battle on both flanks. In the fierce battle for nearly an hour, three tanks were lost, one-fifth of the cavalry were killed or wounded, and one-third of the 107 rockets carried were used intensively.

But fortunately, the escort personnel and equipment did not suffer any losses, and they were basically brought out intact. A regiment in the Beiyue District, which was attached, was basically brought out intact. In addition to the losses of the escort troops, the greatest loss of personnel and equipment under the escort was the fact that a horse carrying shells was frightened by the sound of gunfire. In order to do the best of the battlefield, he had to be killed in the end.

Su Yingqi reported on the telegram that this Japanese army was suddenly inserted from east to west. However, when the two armies encountered, because their own speed was too fast, it was obvious that the Japanese army itself was defenseless. At first, it was obvious that the tanks and cavalry that rushed over were their own troops. It wasn't until the tank rushed in front of me that it found that the anti-union had rushed over.

However, Su Yingqi telegraphed to Chen Hanzhang on the telegram that not only did this Japanese army encounter it, but he did not expect that a force of resistance would suddenly rush out from the north. As for this sudden appearance of the Japanese army, it is obvious that the troops of the Jin-Cha-Ji 2nd Division, which is responsible for receiving and covering, have not received any information in advance.

The commander of the Second Division, who personally led the team to respond, was an old acquaintance with Su Yingqi. When the Red Army was in the Western Route Army, they fought together. Although one was the chief of staff of the army, and the other was just an ordinary company commander, there was no such strict hierarchy at that time, and the two were familiar.

In the few days under Taiyuan City, although the status of the two people was very different, they also talked about their comrades-in-arms. After all, they have all fought in the same army, and Su Yingqi can be regarded as an old subordinate of the commander of the Second Division. Especially Su Yingqi, the second-pole company commander of the entire Red Fourth Front Army, who was famous in the army, can be described as a famous name in his army.

At least six of the regimental cadres in their army were once his old subordinates. The chief of staff of the army at that time, although he was a military-level cadre, knew Su Yingqi very well. Coupled with the experience of fighting side by side with the old chief again in the next few days in Taiyuan City, the relationship between the two people rose rapidly.

After receiving the order this time, the commander of the 2nd Division personally led the regiment of all the troops in his division, which was now the best equipped and most familiar with the terrain. Of course, it is also the last regiment in his hands now. Along the way, he also swore that there was basically no big enemy along the way.

The appearance of this Japanese army was very unexpected to him. And judging from the direction from which this Japanese army came, the marching route ran through almost the entire area under his division. Such a large group of Japanese troops entered his jurisdiction, but he did not receive any information in advance, which could not help but make him arrive quite unexpectedly.

Moreover, judging from the direction of its march, the Jin-Cha-Ji Third Division, which was sure of its marching route, did not send any information. This divisional commander, the only Huangpu graduate in the entire Jin-Cha-Ji region, also felt that something was very wrong. This is not a hundred or two hundred Japanese troops, but a whole two Japanese infantry reinforced brigades.

Judging by the dynamics of its actions, it is clear that there are follow-up forces. At the same time, after breaking through the Japanese marching sequence and quickly passing through the so-called blockade line of Guò, this group of Japanese troops did not pursue. Obviously, its goal is not itself, and it can even be said that it is not Jinchaji.

When he was out of danger, the commander of the 2nd Division sent a report directly to the 3rd Division, asking about the enemy's situation in the territory of the 3rd Division. However, the Third Division called back, and never found any large force of Japanese troops passing through its jurisdiction. After receiving the call back from the third division, Su Yingqi and the commander of the second division looked at each other, and they all had a bad premonition in their hearts.

Su Yingqi immediately sent a report to Chen Hanzhang and reported the latest enemy situation in detail. On the telegram, Su Yingqi, who knew the priority of the matter, only made a hasty mention of how he broke through the Japanese blockade. However, the direction of the movement of this Japanese army was reported in great detail.

Moreover, Su Yingqi judged on the telegram that these Japanese troops were definitely not acting alone. Because of the sound of gunfire, the number of Japanese troops in the vicinity increased significantly. Although the reinforcements were not many, the speed of reinforcements was very fast. It shows that the Japanese troops who came in reinforcements did not come from other places. It is even possible that the parts that are interspersed by themselves are in the middle of the Japanese army's marching sequence.

All the Japanese soldiers who participated in the war were veterans. It was not equipped with the Type 38 rifles and crooked light machine guns commonly equipped by the Japanese army in the Kannai, but all Type 99 rifles and Type 99 light machine guns. Its armament is even better than that of the Kwantung Army of the same period.

Su Yingqi also emphasized in the telegram that the number of new 47-mm rapid-fire guns equipped with this division far exceeded that of ordinary Japanese field divisions. The few tanks lost were destroyed by this rapid-fire gun at close range in the melee.

After receiving Su Yingqi's telegram, Chen Hanzhang immediately realized that this Japanese army was definitely not an ordinary Japanese division, but definitely the 21st Division that had been waiting on the Pinghan Line. Because in the entire North China battlefield, only this 21st Division can mobilize so many troops to participate in the battle in such a short period of time.

It's just that the time and location of the 21st Division made Chen Hanzhang a little uneasy. Not because of anything else, this 21st Division advanced from Hebei to the current area, almost crossing the entire jurisdiction of the Jin-Cha-Ji No. 2 and No. 3 sub-districts, and even passing through a corner of the Jin-Cha-Ji No. 1 sub-district.

It is too abnormal that such a large force of troops can be directly inserted from Hebei to Shanxi without attracting any attention from several sub-divisions of Shanxi, and it is already a few feet away from the entire battlefield in northern Shanxi. Even if he had most of the troops in the 1st and 3rd Divisions, they were now fighting in the northern part of the 1st Division.

However, this is in the core area of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region, even if the field troops of the Military Region do not respond. So how come the local armed forces in the entire region have not reacted at all? If it weren't for Su Yingqi's inadvertent insertion of such a horizontal lever, the 21st Division would have all entered the south of the Inner Great Wall, and he would still be in the dark.

Thinking of this, Chen Hanzhang couldn't help but feel a chill on his back. If this is not discovered until the 21st Division hits under the nose, it will really be passive. If the 21st Division gives itself another black tiger to dig out its heart, then the entire battlefield in northern Jin will be in danger of being cut off.

I really don't know if I should be happy, or should I be happy? The failure of the campaign intelligence system has already brought considerable trouble to itself on more than one occasion. If Su Yingqi had set off a day late, I am afraid that this information would not have been transmitted, and he would really have fallen into passivity at that time.

In fact, Chen Hanzhang did not know that after last year's unusually brutal continuous sweeps by the Japanese army, especially the winter sweeps, the losses brought to the Jinchaji Beiyue District operating in this area were huge. Compared with the sweep of the grain-producing areas in central Hebei, the northeast of Shanxi is the location of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region, and it is the top priority of the Japanese army's sweep of the Jin-Cha-Ji region.

Local power, eighty percent destroyed. Most of the base areas have become guerrilla zones. Under the brutal sweep of the Japanese army, there were many uninhabited places within dozens of kilometers of the entire Beiyue District. In fact, most of the local work in the entire base area has been paralyzed, and a considerable part of the local armed forces have been defeated.

In particular, the first and third sub-districts operating in the northeast of Shanxi Province suffered particularly heavy losses. The old area was basically destroyed by the Japanese army, and a considerable part of the mountainous areas in the northeast of Shanxi Province and the northwest of Hebei Province have now become no man's land. For a long time, the troops were not able to rest and replenish, and they could not even recruit additional soldiers.

The losses on the intelligence side have been particularly severe. In the sweep in the middle of last year, the Japanese army was two-pronged. On the one hand, heavy troops were mobilized to carry out a large-scale sweep of the base areas, and on the other hand, a large number of spies were mobilized to carry out large-scale sabotage of the underground party organizations in the Japanese-occupied areas.

Coupled with the betrayal of some people who are not strong-willed, they betrayed after the mutiny. It turns out that some of the two-faced people in the relationship are withdrawing and not providing information. Even in some of the relationships within the pseudo system, they directly turned their faces and did not recognize people, leading to the paralysis of a considerable part of the entire intelligence system of Jinchaji.

Almost all the intelligence stations in the enemy-occupied areas of several sub-districts in Jin-Cha-Ji were lost. A large number of intelligence officers were arrested and killed, and underground relations were destroyed. The underground party organization was almost completely destroyed. This is also the main reason why the intelligence system has repeatedly failed in this campaign.

Although it was possible to re-establish local power and armed forces as soon as the Japanese sweep was over, it took a lot of time. Those local cadres who have sacrificed will also need time to be re-trained. The most important thing is that the Japanese army carried out a sweep on an unprecedented scale last year, which caused a great loss of people's morale.

The common people did not dare to give any help to the troops in the Guannai, and they were guided by the lack of food and clothing. After the troops of Beiyue District arrived in northern Jinbei, the first thing they did was to reach out to Chen Hanzhang to ask for food. By the time they arrived in northern Jinbei, these troops had been without food for two full days.

And their entire march route was inside the base area. Even a considerable part of it turned out to be consolidation areas. It can be seen that last year's Japanese sweep brought great damage and severe consequences. At present, it is extremely difficult to re-carry out local work and rebuild local armed forces. The rebuilding of the intelligence system has been particularly slow. In this campaign, intelligence work has repeatedly failed.

In addition to the 1st and 3rd subdivisions in Hebei, where the main area of activity is located, most of the main force is heading north to Chasanan and is fully cooperating with the operations of the advance army in Chasan. For the rest of the troops, several regiments were transferred to northern Jin to participate in the war. In fact, the two divisions presided over by the commander of the three divisions are now singing empty plans. With only one detachment at hand, plus two battalions, he had few armed forces to serve as a guard.