The First Theater was launched eastward with two group armies, and the strategic goal was clearly aimed at the Shandong-Henan border, and then threatened the attack of the two major communication arteries of Longhai and Jinpu. In order to ensure the safety of the Tianjin-Pudong Railway, Okamura Ninji had no choice but to squeeze out a division of the already insufficient reinforcements and deploy it in eastern Henan to deal with the offensive in the First Theater of Operations, which was called the Spring Offensive.

There is no way, the entire eastern Henan is now the strength of half of the 35th Division. The remaining Nanjing government troops, which had already colluded with the Chongqing side, were extremely unreliable under the attack of the Chongqing government army, and there was already a large-scale backlash. If a part of the troops are not reinforced in a short period of time, the entire eastern Henan will not be able to hold on at all.

Once eastern Henan is lost, for the current war situation, not only the Jinpu Railway will be more threatened, but the entire rear of the Jizhong battlefield will also be comprehensively threatened. And then the entire northern Jiangsu and northern Anhui will also be threatened. Even if Okamura Ninji was reluctant, he could only squeeze out troops to reinforce the battlefield in eastern Henan.

Originally, I thought that Chongqing had always procrastinated and was always accustomed to the practice of slowing down the first half of the beat, and the counterattack in the First War Zone would drag on for at least half a month. didn't expect that Chongqing's action would be so rapid this time, and the efficiency was quite unprecedented, and Okamura Ningji was somewhat caught off guard.

What made Okamura even more depressed was that at the same time as the First War Zone launched a comprehensive counterattack on eastern Henan. The king of Shanxi, who has been pressed and beaten by the First Army and honestly nested in the southwest region of Shanxi. After receiving reinforcements from several elite troops in the Chongqing Eighth War Zone, he uncharacteristically dared to launch an attack on the front line of Yuncheng and Jinnan.

The First Army, which was already under the siege of the Communist Army in the Shanxi Battlefield, was already struggling to support it, and it was even more stumbling in the face of several elite central armies besieging it. The 37th Division, which was originally alone in Yuncheng, was completely surrounded on the front line of Yuncheng by the three armies of the Eighth War Zone plus the Jinsui Army of the Second War Zone.

At present, Okamura Ninji really understands what the saying in Chinese is that the wall is down and everyone pushes it. The king of Shanxi, who had always been pressed and beaten by the Japanese army in the second war zone, not only rejected the suggestion of the North China Front at the beginning, but also dared to make a move at this time, which was very unexpected by Okamura Ningji.

At the same time, in the fifth, sixth, and ninth theaters of Chongqing around the 11th Army, although there were no major moves, small moves were frequent. The strength of the 11th Army remaining in Central China was almost completely contained, and it did not dare to make any rash moves, and it was unable to draw any more troops. At present, China's battlefield is in an extremely complicated situation, and the two countries and three parties are fighting an earth-shattering battle in North China.

The counterattack launched by Chongqing is tantamount to making things worse for the current Okamura Ningji. In fact, he has long been aware of Chongqing's previous small actions, but he is really unable to deal with Okamura Ningji. The only thing that can be done at the moment is to reinforce Uchiyama Eitaro's troops and deduct a division to reinforce eastern Henan. But the only way to report all the situation to the base camp and the dispatch army is to do so.

But the only reply the base camp could give him was to hold on, plus wait for new reinforcements to arrive. As for where the reinforcements were, the base camp didn't know where to choose after repeated checks. The divisions deployed in the Dutch East Indies and Taiwan did not dare to move even if the base camp was killed.

But where to find reinforcements, to find the divisions that can be used at the moment in the base camp, in addition to the Guards Division deployed in Vietnam, there is only one division that is not liked in almost all aspects, and other divisions and regiments are in full swing, but they have been waiting in various battlefields The Fourth Division can still be mobilized at the moment.

At present, the forces on all battlefields have been used to the extreme. The current base camp is really dissatisfied with this man who has always been fully staffed, but stayed on the battlefield in Indochina after the Philippine campaign, basking in the sun so leisurely and leisurely.

The Guards Division was transferred to the Chinese battlefield, which has now become a crater, and the base camp really didn't have the guts. What are you kidding, if the Emperor's Imperial Army is wiped out, the old face of the Imperial Army will be completely gone. Although the current Guards Division is already divided into two.

However, the base camp with a lack of troops never dared to transfer the Guards Division, which was also basking in the sun in Indochina, to the Chinese battlefield and sent it to the tiger's mouth. This Guards Division is still on standby in Vietnam, where it is safest. As for the reinforcements, let's let the 4th Division go. Whoever made him a veteran is now the most numerous among all divisions and regiments, and the equipment is also the best.

However, after kicking this Fourth Division to the Chinese battlefield, the base camp really didn't worry about this Fourth Division. Not only did the Southern Army instruct the Southern Army to transfer a group of elite soldiers and strong generals, but also removed more than half of the officers of the Fourth Division. After several hesitations, the newly formed 120th Division, which was originally intended to be deployed to Taiwan, was also transferred to the Chinese Dispatch Army. As for the vacancy left by the Taiwan military, the US military in the Pacific is still far away, and it is still too late at the moment.

Fortunately, in this stall with a nest head that is not suitable for gold, Okamura Ninji is not so picky. Another 120th Division was set up in the base camp, and there was no dispute. The Fourth Division is the Fourth Division, which is much stronger than those scarecrows. In particular, the veterans of the Fourth Division are the largest among all divisions and regiments of the entire Japanese army.

It's just that these two divisions, one is still far away in Thailand, and the other is still in the local formation. As for when reinforcements will be able to reach the Chinese battlefield, it is difficult to say. After all, the current transport fleet of the base camp suffered heavy losses under the attack of American submarines. Moreover, all battlefields have to be replenished, and it is really difficult to make up enough quantities in a short period of time.

When these two divisions will be able to arrive, the base camp has no bottom in his heart. But the current battle situation can no longer be delayed. Just after the five wings on the Baoding battlefield completely lost all contact, Okamura Ningji, who couldn't sit still, simply came to the bottom of the kettle to draw salary.

He ordered the First Army to immediately abandon the Shanxi battlefield and concentrate the whole army in Yuncheng. Forcibly crossed the Yellow River on the line from Luping to Quheng, invaded the First War Zone of Chongqing, and withdrew to the eastern Henan region through central Henan. His first move was to withdraw to the Hebei battlefield through Henan under the condition that the passes of the Taihang Mountains were already under the strict control of the North China Communist Army.

The entire First Army is now isolated on the battlefield in Shanxi, and if it does not find a way to withdraw, I am afraid that under the attack of the communist army and the Chongqing government army, it will not only be unable to hold the area controlled by Shanxi, but it will also be difficult to protect itself. Since the road to the east has been cut off, it is necessary to go south and borrow Henan.

According to the current intelligence, Chongqing has a large amount of grain and ammunition stored in Henan. And at present, its elite has also opened east and is counterattacking eastern Henan, and the entire Henan army is relatively empty. If you pass through the area controlled by the Chongqing government in Henan, you can not only withdraw smoothly, but also use the materials stored in Henan to replenish yourself.

The second reason is that if the First Army can force the Yellow River, it will not only get out of the current embarrassing situation. It can also cooperate with the battlefield in eastern Henan to completely defeat the counterattack in the First War Zone, and if you can't do it, you can occupy the entire Henan. If Henan can be captured, it can be regarded as a kind of compensation for the North China Front Army.

Okamura Ningji, who has made up his mind to completely abandon Shanxi, has a good plan. But his first army has been locked up in their respective control areas, and the largest cities can't even get out of the city gates. The last railway line controlled by the Japanese army in Shanxi, the Nantongpu Railway, has been completely interrupted. The Japanese troops on the front line of Yuncheng have been completely separated from the Japanese troops in the rest of the directions.

But Okamura Ninji's wish is good, but whether the First Army can be assembled or not is a matter of two words. As early as the start of the North China battlefield, Yoshimoto Sadachi tried to gather troops many times. But many efforts have failed. Instead of being able to assemble the troops, they lost one-third of their forces in the process of assembling.

Otherwise, where would the Japanese army, which has always only eaten and not vomited, beg the Second War Zone to take over the Japanese-occupied areas of Shanxi? Isn't it just to let the second theater of operations draw troops and cover their assembly and retreat. It's just that the king of Shanxi, who is better than him in abacus, was not fooled at all, so that Okamura Ningji and Yoshimoto Sadachi's plan failed.

Okamura Ninji, who didn't work hard this time, simply wanted to have a horizontal one. Didn't the troops of the Eighteenth Group Army in the Shanxi battlefield focus on the Zhengtai Railway and the Baijin Railway, as well as the passes of Taihang Mountain and Wutai Mountain? Okay, I'm not going to take those routes, I'm going to take a detour to Henan on the south bank of the Yellow River. I'll see if your hands can reach out over there.

It's just that it is now blocked along the Nantongpu Railway and Zhengtai Railway, in a few lonely towns. Whether the First Army, which was attacked by the 18th Group Army on the Shanxi battlefield and suffered heavy casualties, can still have this ability and gather enough troops to break through through Henan, that is another matter.

But regardless of whether Chongqing is sincere or not, what is the purpose of this counterattack. Strategically, the entry of the First War Zone into eastern Henan has reduced the pressure on the battlefield in central Hebei to a certain extent. Just as Yang Zhen expected, the First War Zone's Hu Interception Operation helped the Anti-Japanese Federation to a certain extent.

On the battlefield in Jizhong, with the arrival of the bell of four or four years, the first to fall silent were the two battlefields of Baoding North and Gaoyang. On the last day of the fourth and third years, Chen Hanzhang completed the complete encirclement and annihilation of the five wings of the Japanese army on the battlefield of Baoding. Qingfeng shop, a key node, is not used in the end. With the recovery of Baoding City, the entire Western Front battlefield has come to an end.

It was only a continuous hard battle on the battlefield of Baoding, although the five infantry wings of the Japanese army were annihilated. However, under the continuous counterattack of the Japanese army, the casualties of Chen Hanzhang's department were also quite large. Even the number of casualties has reached one-third of the total strength of the unit. After arriving in Zhengding, because there was no reserve to replenish them, they were actually unable to continue to move south and could only turn to defense.

And just before the gunfire in the northern battlefield of Baoding subsided, the Gaoyang battlefield ended first. The troops attacking from the direction of Gaoyang have already captured Lixian County and completely solved several infantry brigades of the Japanese army in front of them. After completing the encirclement and annihilation of the enemy in Gaoyang, the unit immediately turned around and attacked eastward, regardless of casualties.

In order to cooperate with the siege troops on the battlefield between the rivers, the enemy in the rivers will be encircled. The unit is currently in a fierce battle with the Japanese army in the frontal battlefield between the river and Suning. But in the face of the Japanese army who desperately resisted in order to ensure the safety of the left flank of the main force of the division. In addition, he suffered heavy casualties in the previous battles, and the troops invested were somewhat insufficient, so the progress was relatively slow.

However, on the right flank of the Hejian Battlefield, progress was relatively smooth, and the outflanking of the 64th Division of the Japanese Army in the Hejian Battlefield had basically been completed. The resistance of the 64th Division on the right flank was crushed, and the division of the link between the 64th and 22nd Divisions was completed.

Although they were encircled many times, they were all shaken off by this very cunning 64th Division. But it was also biting the right flank of the Japanese army, taking the tank cluster as the lead, and adopting the tactics of parallel and overtaking pursuit. carried out a multi-way siege, and constantly tore the flesh down the Japanese army piece by piece.