I can't help but say that this king of Shanxi, who tried everything to preserve his strength, was quite painstaking in his calculations. It's just that he didn't expect that the Japanese army's counterattack this time, while attacking the central army in the northwest with all its might, actually had the spare strength to hit a beautiful right hook to the east of Yuncheng.

The 23rd Army, which also belonged to the Jinsui Army system to the north and was relatively weak compared to the 19th Army, hit its fist directly on the head of the 19th Army. Although this fist did not exert too much strength, it was not something that could be countered by the 19th Army, which had suddenly attacked the Japanese army and was completely unprepared.

It should be said that Lieutenant General Yuichiro Nagano, who was in charge of commanding the entire Yuncheng battlefield, had quite an accurate focus. He focused his attacks on the First Army and the Ninetieth Army, the two most well-equipped units of the surrounding Central Army. Although the price may be greater, this time it has also hit the hearts of some people.

What kind of unit is the First Army? It was a continuation of the first division of the party army during the Great Revolution, and the first army commander was the first person in Chongqing. The second army commander is the second person in Chongqing. This first army is known as the first army in the world, and it can be said that it is the ancestor of the Huangpu Central Army, which has now grown to nearly one million.

At present, a series of important central officials, such as the commander of the First Theater of Operations, the commander of the Third Theater, and the commander of the Chongqing Garrison, as well as high-ranking personnel in various fields, have all been sent out by this army. It is also known as the first protégé of the Son of Heaven, the former commander-in-chief of the enemy in the southeast battlefield of Jin, the king of the northwest, and the fundamental army that started.

Before the arrival of the US weapons, the army was all equipped with Soviet weapons. Among the many units of the Central Army, although the level of equipment cannot be said to be the best, it is definitely within the top five. And now it is the entire Eighth War Zone, and all the light weapons have been reequipped with the troops of the United States, and it is the eyeball unit of the king of the northwest.

The three divisions of the army are all of American weapons, except for some of the divisions' artillery, anti-aircraft and anti-tank firepower, and miscellaneous equipment imported before the war. The army has an artillery regiment, the division has a mountain artillery battalion and a combat defense artillery battalion, and the regiment has a mortar and a 20-mm antiaircraft gun company.

Each infantry regiment has six American-made 81-mm mortars, and four Surothong or Breda 20-mm high-level guns. The battalion had four 60-mm mortars, six Browning water-cooled heavy machine guns, one light machine gun per infantry squad, two submachine guns, and one imitation Japanese grenadier.

The artillery regiment is equipped with six American-made 105 howitzers and eight Italian-made 105-mm field guns. It is the only army in the entire Eighth Theater that is equipped with American-made 105 howitzers. Except for the 176th Division, which is equipped with Italian-made 75-mm field guns, the artillery battalions of the 1st Division and the 78th Division are all equipped with 12 American-made mountain guns.

The three divisions belonged to the anti-aircraft artillery battalion, except for the first division, which was equipped with 12 American-made 37 anti-tank guns. The remaining two divisions were armed with nine German-made 37-mm anti-aircraft guns, three Soviet-made 45-millimeter anti-aircraft guns, and one equipped with 12 Italian-made 47-millimeter anti-aircraft guns.

The three divisions of the whole army, together with the military engineer battalion and other units directly under the army, are equipped with a total of 8,000 American-made Type 1917 rifles, 1,200 Thomson submachine guns, and 200 American-made carbines. There were 900 American-made 1918 light machine guns and 240 Browning water-cooled heavy machine guns. Fourteen artillery pieces of caliber of more than 100 mm and thirty-six mountain artillery pieces.

There were 192 mortars of various calibers, including 60 American-made 81-millimeter mortars and 132 60-mm mortars. Thirty-six anti-aircraft guns of two calibers and 36 anti-aircraft guns of 20 mm. In addition, there are three divisions and regiments, and a total of 36 flamethrowers are equipped.

This level of equipment is unique among the more than a dozen armies in the entire Eighth Theater. Even if you look at the whole country, only the second, fifth, thirteenth, and seventy-fourth armies can be compared. Although in the second half of the fourth or third year, the Americans began to increase the amount of aid. But the infantry weapons have also been replaced by all American weapons, that is, there are only a few.

In this Yuncheng operation, although the first army was also transferred to the front line. But the identity of this army is really special, and after several hesitations, the king of the northwest still put the whole army in the position of the general reserve, except for some artillery. In the face of the Japanese army like mad dogs, he really didn't dare to take this army up easily. If this battle is over, he will not be able to explain if he is disabled.

As for the 90th Army, its status in the entire Central Army system is inferior to that of the First Army. The importance within the Eighth Theater is not as important as that of the 27th Army, which belongs to the Central Army system. But it is also the Central Army in the Eighth Theater system, the elite of the lineage that is second to none. Together with the First Army and the 27th Army, it became the main force of Chongqing to control the northwest.

Although the whole army is mainly composed of national armaments and some Czech and Belgian-made weapons imported before the war, it is after all a central army, and it has also supplemented a certain number of Italian and American weapons, mainly submachine guns. Except for the 61st Division, which was a Soviet weapon, the other two divisions were mainly based on national armament and supplemented with some Italian weapons.

The squad has Czech light machine guns, two Italian Beretta submachine guns, all rifles are of the same color, and the battalion has six Chinese-made Type 24 heavy machine guns and four 60 mortars. The regiment had six 82 mortars and four Surotong 20-mm high-level dual-purpose guns. Although the 60 guns equipped by this army are domestically produced, and their performance is slightly inferior to that of the American-made 60 guns of the First Army, because they are made in China, they are more convenient in terms of the source of replenishment of artillery shells.

As for the 61st Division, this is an all-Soviet armament unit, and the weapons equipped by the whole division are all Soviet-made light weapons that have been replaced by the First Army, and they can be called all-Soviet armament divisions. The whole division had Soviet-made Mosin Nagant rifles, the light machine guns were DP light machine guns and Tokarev light machine guns, and the heavy machine guns were Soviet-made Makqin water-cooled heavy machine guns.

Each squad was armed with a grenadier canister, two Thomson submachine guns. The regimental mortar is also a state-made 82 mortar, and the small cannon is equipped with six Madsen machine guns. Although there is no battalion of anti-aircraft artillery, there is a battalion of mixed infantry artillery and anti-aircraft artillery. Equipped with eight German-made L-13 infantry guns and four German-made 37 anti-aircraft guns, the overall strength is no worse than the other two divisions.

The army's subordinate artillery battalion was equipped with six Japanese-made 38-type 75-mm field guns, as well as five Bofors 75-mm mountain guns, which were imported before the war. Although it is a little older in terms of performance, in terms of maneuverability, it is better than those of the First Army, which can only rely on truck-towed American-made howitzers.

Although each battalion has only six 75 mountain artillery guns, it has a four-gun American-made 106-millimeter chemical mortar company, which no other army has. Among all the troops in the entire Eighth Theater of Operations, it is still unique.

Although the number and performance of heavy weapons are not as good as those of ace units such as the First Army, they are also fully established. Moreover, as one of the descendants of the Central Army, the army is also equipped with 500 Thomson submachine guns. At the same time, the army was also armed with eight German-made 75-mm L-13 infantry guns, which the First Army did not have.

Although it is not as good as the 27th Army left in Shaanxi at present, it is the eyeball unit of the king of the northwest who is the same as the First Army, and it is one of the most elite armies in Shaanxi in the Eighth War Zone. If these two armies are defeated, not only will he not be able to explain in front of his principal and all the senior officials in all aspects, but the family foundation he has worked so hard to cultivate will also be gone.

After receiving reinforcements this time, the Japanese army in Yuncheng counterattacked so violently that the deputy commander of the Eighth Theater was quite surprised. In particular, the two 280-millimeter howitzers of the Japanese army were gone half of the hill when they went down. In the face of the ultra-long-range cannon of the Japanese army, the Italian-made howitzer in his own hands is not an opponent at all.

In the face of the frantic counterattack of the Japanese army, in order to ensure the safety of these two armies. The king of the northwest did not hesitate at all, except to order the other two armies to block the attack layer by layer. The two corps were immediately ordered to retreat to the Jishan and Hejin lines, and confront the 37th Division with the Fenhe River as a natural defensive position.

And before these two armies retreated north, the 19th Army deployed in Zhangdian. It only lasted less than a day before the entire defense system was overwhelmed by the Japanese army. Under the cover of the 23rd Army of friendly and neighboring troops, they withdrew to the north of Xia County in one breath to stabilize their positions. However, its 68th Division stationed in Zhangdian has been completely defeated. The remaining two divisions were also killed and wounded, and a third of them were scattered.

Compared with the two elite armies of the Central Army in the northwest, the 19th Army is too different in terms of equipment and combat effectiveness. Despite the attack on the Zhangdian line, the Japanese army served only as a secondary direction. Only one squadron of mountain artillery and one independent mortar squadron were invested, which was far from comparable with the number of troops and equipment invested in the northwest direction of Yuncheng.

However, the Second War Zone sent more to grab territory and prevent the Central Army from infiltrating into Jinnan, and never thought about fighting the Japanese army. Such a quick collapse was not the slightest psychological preparation except for the first wave of counterattacks of the Japanese army hitting their heads. There are also considerable problems with its own deployment.

In the entire deployment, the three divisions of the army extended to the two flanks with Zhangdian as the core, and the deployment method of horizontal push on the first line was abnormally empty in depth. Each of the three divisions of the army had less than 4,000 men, and it was not surprising that in the face of the fierce onslaught of the Japanese army, the first-line defense was broken down in a short period of time.

Facing a main army, it was defeated in a short period of time. The commander of the Sixth Army, who commanded the troops participating in the second war zone on the entire Yuncheng battlefield, was afraid that he would be unable to deal with the two armies in his hands if he ran them out. The 23rd Army of Xia County was immediately ordered to withdraw north to Wenxi immediately after covering the 19th Army.

Although the Japanese army did not pursue, it was extremely rare that even the defeated and scattered troops of the 19th Army were not cleared. However, for the commander-in-chief of the Sixth Army, who had been repeatedly told by his superiors before the attack, he still did not hesitate to retreat north to Wenxi and hold on.

After the Central Army in the northwest retreated, the 19th Army on the front line of Zhangdian was defeated, and the 23rd Army in Xia County withdrew to Wenxi, after bluffing the Chinese troops around him to scare back, Lieutenant General Yuichiro Nagano, who had actually achieved his goal, did not take any pursuit action.

Because of the firing at any cost, the thousands of shells in the inventory have been completely destroyed in one go, the two 280-millimeter howitzers, as well as all the weapons and equipment that cannot be carried in the inventory, together with the mountains of materials that were stored in Yuncheng in order to cross the Yellow River and occupy Shaanxi.

The whole army adopted the tactics of alternate cover, and the troops rushed into Zhongtiao Mountain in two ways. Following the route of attacking Zhongtiao Mountain from the direction of Yuncheng, after the Jin Sui army on the front line of Zhangdian retreated northward, there was no longer a single Chinese army on the north bank of the Yellow River, and quickly withdrew to the northern Henan region.

Lieutenant General Yuichiro Nagano is advancing and retreating, and he is playing quite beautifully. Wait until the participating troops in the Second War Zone and the Eighth War Zone react and find out the true purpose of the Japanese army in Yuncheng. Except for the abandoned puppet army, the entire Yuncheng and outside the city were basically empty, and all the Japanese troops had arrived at the Hengqu line, and the best opportunity to pursue had been lost.