Chapter 669 Eyeing Taiyuan

Tang Qiuli, who had a deep strategic vision, did not set his eyes on the isolated cities of Beiping or Zhangjiakou, but instead of the troops of the six brigades of the Sulu Mobile Corps, who were dizzy in Xianxian and Suning.

It's unbelievable to say, the six brigades of the Sulu Mobile Corps, but more than 80,000 troops, and the Japanese army opposite, but there are 130,000 people, in a state of hard defense, this is also the commander of the Sulu Mobile Corps Tang Qiusheng, the soldier made a dangerous move, he gambled on the Japanese army before the reaction, quickly took Tianjin, Tang Qiusheng won the bet, after the war, even Tang Qiuli was impressed by a cautious and calm Qiusheng brother.

On the day of the end of the Tianjin Campaign, Tang Qiuli issued an order to the troops to immediately carry out the Xianxian and Suning campaigns, and the troops that were freed up quickly moved south, outflanking the Japanese flank, and more than 100,000 troops were surging towards the direction of southern Hebei.

The soldiers with high fighting spirit, with the aftermath of the battle of Tianjin, were eager to fight, and they heard that they were going to fight again, and they were still hundreds of thousands of little devils, and the troops launched a fast marching competition, and the first brigade to arrive at the battlefield was the main attack force, and the more than 40,000 recruits recruited by Yu Guanghan in eastern Hebei were also added to the troops, and the strength of the Sulu Mobile Corps increased by several brigades.

There is no way, the Yellow Cliff Cave was bitten by Okamura Ningci, and the distance between the fixed sides is far away, Tang Qiuli violated the principle for the first time, using untrained recruits, and exercised in the actual battle, he used the ruthless move of going south to Xianxian County and Suning, it was to give Okamura Ningci a heavy blow, he didn't believe it, Okamura Ningci could watch his hundreds of thousands of troops being wiped out, and he was indifferent, and he also bit the Huangyadong base, this time, Tang Qiuli underestimated Okamura Ningci, and then the development of things was completely out of line, It was far beyond Tang Qiuli's expectations.

According to his plan, as long as Tianjin held out for three days, the southbound troops of the Kwantung Army would appear at Shanhaiguan, and Tang Qiuli had only two choices, one was to immediately withdraw from Tianjin, and the other was to fight a decisive battle with the southbound troops of the Kwantung Army around Tianjin, and use Tianjin to attract Tang Qiuli's main force, which was also part of Okamura Ningji's plan.

No matter which choice is made, it is extremely unfavorable to Tang Qiuli's troops gathered around Pingjin, which is also one of the reasons why he is not in a hurry to return to Pingjin, and the other reason is that he is out of reach, and when he rushes back to Pingjin in a hurry, I am afraid that Tang Qiuli's troops have already retreated triumphantly with the spoils of war.

And now, all judgments have been deviated, the root of the qiē is in Tianjin, the southbound troops of the Kwantung Army are being assembled, Ono Ichiro's farewell telegram, in the hands of Okamura Ningji, has weighed more than a thousand catties, "Your Excellency Commander, the city of Tianjin is about to be destroyed, the shouts of the soldiers of China are clearly audible, and they have done their best to ensure that Tianjin is safe, and they have failed to live up to the trust of the commander, and when they send a telegram to you, a fierce battle is taking place outside the headquarters building. ”

"Reviewing the gains and losses of the Battle of Tianjin, the main reason for the weak garrison strength of our army and the improper command of the inferior duty should be the main reasons, but His Excellency the commander swept the Taihang Mountains with heavy troops, and ignored the foundation of our empire in North China in Pingjin, which is really a serious mistake of Your Excellency, Tianjin fell, Beiping is a lonely city, and Zhangjiakou, which hangs alone in northern Hebei, will not be guaranteed, and the strategic rear of North China will lose all of Your Excellency's mistakes, endangering the fundamental interests of our Japanese Empire."

"The little savage man is soft-spoken, the words from the bottom of his heart, I hope that His Excellency the commander will think twice, and exchange the desolate Taihang Mountains for the rich land of Pingjin, which is more important, needless to say, Tianjin has fallen, with irretrievable, the responsibility of losing the city and losing the land, it is difficult to shirk, Ono can only self-judge to apologize, long live the Emperor of the Great Japanese Empire Long live Ono's pen"

This telegram, Okamura Ningji read it many times, and every time he read it, his heart was like being hit by a heavy hammer, and the war situation in North China was so erosive, who was responsible? Kwantung Army? Isn't it timely to go south to rescue, Ono? Is it not good to stick to Tianjin, yourself? insisted on going his own way, insisting on the strategy of sweeping the Taihang Mountains, and insisting on attacking the Huangya Cave, and it seemed that no one was responsible.

From the beginning of April, the troops entered the Taihang Mountains, Tang Qiuli's two chess, disrupted the steps of Okamura Ningci, one is to avoid the real and the virtual, did not fight with the Japanese army in the Taihang Mountains, did not send troops to relieve the siege of Huangya Cave, the second is to attack the well, capture Shijiazhuang, Baoding directly down Tianjin, Okamura Ningci only fished a Yellow Cliff Cave, or can not be attacked for a long time, the loss of troops and generals, dilemma.

On the other hand, the troops of the Independent Division, galloping around Pingjin, swept the Japanese forces in North China like leaves swept away by the autumn wind, fought the Jingcheng Pass in the first battle, then fought Shijiazhuang, and fought the third battle in Tianjin, annihilating the Japanese army before and after reaching 1560,000 people.

Not only Tang Qiuli, but also all the generals of the independent division thought so, so Tang Qiuli ordered the troops of the Japanese army on the front line of Xianxian and Suning to solve more than 100,000 Japanese troops on the spot in no later than five days, and then the whole army immediately turned to the eastern Hebei region and prepared to meet the southward troops of the Kwantung Army.

Five days is the fastest time for the southward troops of the Kwantung Army to reach the periphery of Tianjin, as for Okamura Ningci's troops in the Taihang Mountains, they will not be able to climb back to Pingjin without more than ten days, first of all, Sun Zhenbang's corps and the troops of the Eighth Route Army will not let the Japanese army get away lightly, Tang Qiuli is in his hands, and now there are 14 infantry brigades and nearly 180,000 troops, and the Japanese troops in Xianxian County and Suning are completely capable of annihilating them.

Solve this Japanese army, Okamura Ningci in North China, there is no large heavy army group to use, the troops are also in accordance with this plan to deploy troops, Tang Qiuli and Okamura Ningci, the forces in their hands have been used to the limit, there is no large-scale force that can be mobilized, therefore, the time for the Kwantung Army to enter the south corps is the key to Tang Qiuli's victory, and if this time difference is fought, it may not be impossible for the troops to gain a foothold in the Pingjin area, Tang Qiuli even optimistically estimated the best situation.

Tianjin was lost, 50,000 soldiers were lost, and the war situation in North China fell into passivity, Okamura Ninji suffered the first defeat in his military career, although he was not defeated to the point of no return, for Okamura Ninji, who thought that the Japanese Empire would open up territory and serve the emperor, the blow was not heavy.

The attack on the Yellow Cliff Cave is still the same, the result of each attack has made him numb, the scorched earth around the Yellow Cliff Cave seems to be laughing at his incompetence, and the unfavorable rumors about him have been secretly circulating in the headquarters, this qiē makes Okamura Ningji feel haggard, and he can't take care of it for the time being.

In this way, he returned to Pingjin, with the character of Okamura Ningci, he absolutely could not return empty-handed like this, another worrying problem is that in Xianxian County, Suning line, and the hundreds of thousands of troops who fought hard with the troops of the independent division, according to intelligence, Tang Qiuli has already commanded more than 100,000 troops to attack Tianjin, and urgently went south, the purpose is obvious, he wants to eat his last old book in the Pingjin area, this, Okamura Ningji can't afford to lose, and can't lose, if he loses these hundreds of thousands of troops, Okamura Ningji probably has to run to Manchuria to take refuge.

Okamura Ninji locked himself in the tent, no one was allowed to disturb him, all night, the senior staff gathered outside the tent, they were worried that His Excellency the Commander would not be able to think about it for a while, and he would commit suicide by caesarean section, the sky was bright, when His Excellency the Commander came out, the staff officers and staff found that there were a few more strands of gray hair on his sideburns, and there seemed to be more wrinkles on his face, and no one knew what Okamura Ninji thought and did this night.

Just saw, Okamura Ningji's eyes flashed with a cold light as fierce as a lone wolf, this is a person with a typical gambler's character, he thought hard all night, looking for a way to solve the current crisis, that huge military map of North China, infinitely enlarged in front of his eyes, Huangya Cave, an insignificant little black dot on this map, once again pierced his heart, all passivity, all from here.

Taiyuan, falling into his eyes, was shocked, as if it was a hazy sky, revealing a ray of sunshine, this is the only point to solve the current crisis, Tang Qiuli's main forces are in the Pingjin area, Taihang Mountain and even the entire Shanxi, only the Jin army, for Yan Xishan's Jin army, Okamura Ningci did not pay attention to it at all.

Gambling, this is a typical gamble, ignoring Pingjin, dumping the forces of the Taihang Mountains, going north to attack Taiyuan, relying on the combat effectiveness of the Jin army of Yan Xishan, it is impossible to stop the attack of hundreds of thousands of Japanese troops, after taking Taiyuan, along Yangquan, Niangzi Pass, Jingcheng Pass all the way east, recovering Shijiazhuang and Tianjin, meeting the southward troops of the Kwantung Army, encircling Tang Qiuli's main force in the Pingjin area, Tang Qiuli only has two ways to go, one is in the Pingjin area and the main force of our imperial army decisive battle, the other is to retreat to the Taihang Mountains, so that Shanxi, Tianjin was recaptured.

This is Okamura Ningci after a night of hard thinking, the main point of the Shanxi campaign plan, he gambled on Tang Qiuli's troops, can not rush back to Shanxi in time, the Kwantung Army southward troops, quickly enter the pass, this is his biggest gambling capital, reverse the situation in North China, in this move, Okamura Ningci decided to gamble, and the odds of winning are very great, in his plan, annihilation or defeat of the Jin army, is just piggybacking.

Seeing that almost all of his subordinates were looking at him worriedly outside the tent, Okamura Ninji bowed slightly: "Gentlemen, everyone is worried" The tone was modest, with infinite apologies, the Japanese generals breathed a sigh of relief, at least for now, His Excellency the commander was in a good state of mind, and there was no intention of committing suicide.

(To be continued)