At the headquarters of the Japanese North China Front in Peiping, Neji Okamura was pacing back and forth around the sand table, frowning, and looking up at the door of the war room from time to time.
"Your Excellency, Commander..." The communications staff suddenly burst in, looking nervous and anxious.
"The Nakamura brigade received an urgent call... Their breakout failed and they had to stand still and wait for help." Neji Okamura thought of this result when he decided to break out. He didn't show too much surprise when he heard the bad news. He just let out a long sigh. He replied helplessly: "Wars are always a matter of 50-50, especially in such sudden battles. No one can guarantee that they will win before the war."
"What's more, our opponent is the Yizhong Eighth Route Army who is good at winning by surprise."
"Immediately call Major General Nakamura back: I have contacted the aviation force and will send planes to reinforce the battlefield as soon as there are conditions for taking off. Please hold on until dawn." After saying that, he turned his attention to the chief of staff and asked with a murderous look on his face: "Kwantung Army Promise us when the second wave of reinforcements will set off, how many people there will be, and when they can reach Peiping..."
"I want a specific answer..."
"Get the headquarters guards ready to go."
"I will counterattack Baoding with the second wave of the Kwantung Army going south and avenge Nakamura's brigade." The chief of staff instantly noticed the hidden meaning in Okamura Neji's words. He hesitated for several seconds before summoning the courage to ask: "Revenge... …”
"Your Excellency Commander..."
"Don't you already think that the Nakamura brigade will not last until dawn..." Okamura Neiji did not intend to hide his thoughts in front of his deputy, and nodded firmly: "This is an obvious matter, do you still need me to analyze it with you?"
"Before the breakout, the main force of Nakamura's brigade was still more than 3,000 people, and the combat troops could only have 2,500 people at most."
"The breakout was their only chance to get out of trouble, and now it's been given up by Nakamura."
"It shows that they suffered very heavy losses in the breakout battle and were no longer able to continue the breakout. There were at least a thousand people."
"Do you think the remaining 2,000 people in the Nakamura Brigade can withstand the full-scale attack of the Yizhong Eighth Route Army?"
"There are still more than two hours before dawn, not dozens of minutes." The chief of staff has never fought against the Yizhong Eighth Route Army, but he has studied all the battle reports about the Yizhong Eighth Route Army.
A reinforced unit can be completely eaten up by them within three or four hours. Nearly half of the more than 2,000 troops left in the Nakamura Brigade still have artillery and heavy equipment, and the overall combat effectiveness is only a little more than that of a reinforced brigade.
With the combat effectiveness that the Yi Zhong Eighth Route Army usually displays, the battle can definitely be ended within two hours. Although I was very unwilling, I had to accept this cruel fact.
We can only continue our analysis based on what Neji Okamura just said: "The entire Nakamura brigade was destroyed."
"It will definitely have a huge negative impact on the morale and morale of the Kwantung Army going south."
"Only a quick battle, recapturing Baoding as soon as possible, and fighting a great victory against the Yizhong base area can restore the morale of the army and let the Kwantung Army going south see our hope of defeating the Eighth Route Army in Yizhong."
"You personally lead the team to Baoding, which not only shows the Kwantung Army that the North China Front attaches great importance to them, but also allows you to get close to command operations and better respond to emergencies on the battlefield. Kill two birds with one stone." After that, he walked quickly. On the table next to him, he took out a folder and rummaged through it to find a telegram, watching Neji Okamura continue to report.
"After I informed the Kwantung Army headquarters of the critical situation on the battlefield, they decided to speed up the reinforcements' move south."
"The second wave of reinforcements is exactly one main division."
"We have started waiting for the train now. We will arrive in Peiping at nine o'clock in the evening. We will repair for three hours and continue south after replenishing equipment and ammunition. We expect to reach Baoding tomorrow morning."
"The third wave of reinforcements is also a main division. It will set off tomorrow morning and arrive in Baoding the morning after tomorrow." Okamura Neiji immediately ordered: "The headquarters guard will divide half of the guards and follow me south to Baoding."
"The Chariot Regiment and the Cavalry Regiment each dispatched two brigades to go south with me."
"This operation must retake Baoding, eliminate the Eighth Route Army in the wing, and avenge the previous humiliation."
"Otherwise, the North China Front Army will really lose all face."... The deputy commander-in-chief of the Eighth Route Army General Headquarters also stayed up all night and stayed in front of the map.
After the Yizhong Eighth Route Army's plan to ambush the Zhongcun Brigade was reported, everyone, including the deputy commander-in-chief, was shocked.
The chief of staff said that Kong Jie and Li Yunlong had too much appetite and were too arrogant. The troops had just captured Baoding, which was heavily defended by the Japanese army. Before they had time to take a breath, they did not pay attention to the little Japanese who strengthened the brigade.
At that time, he was about to send a telegram to object, but was stopped by the deputy commander-in-chief. The reason is simple: Li Yunlong is very arrogant, bold in fighting, and does not take any enemy seriously.
Kong Jie's personality was completely opposite to Li Yunlong's. If he didn't have a 70% to 80% chance of winning, he would never make fun of the thousands of lives of the Eighth Route Army in Yizhong.
The telegram was jointly sent by Kong Jie, Li Yunlong, and Huang Yu, and it was their common opinion. Even if there is danger, Kong Jie's cautious character should have thought of an escape route in advance to ensure nothing goes wrong.
The General Headquarters does not know the specific enemy situation on the front line, so it cannot rely on its own ideas and blindly command.
As a result, an unprecedented ambush was approved by the deputy commander. But this does not mean that the deputy commander-in-chief is completely relieved about this battle.
The opponent is a reinforced brigade of more than 8,000 Japanese soldiers, all of them Kwantung Army. The Japanese army is known as the most powerful army in combat.
Not to mention equipment, rifles, machine guns, field artillery, mountain artillery, whatever you need. There is even a whole brigade of large-caliber heavy artillery.
In contrast, the Eighth Route Army in Yizhong. Because Baoding had just been captured, fatigue was certain, and the casualties were not small. The total number of participating troops in the Yizhong Eighth Route Army may not have been more than 7,000.
Without the five main regiments in the headquarters reinforcement wing, even the advantage in strength would be in the hands of the Japanese. No one can sleep in such a big battle with an unknown outcome.
"Good news, great news..." The deputy commander looked at the map over and over again. When he could hardly wait any longer, the operator's exclamation finally sounded in his ears.
"Chief, good news from Yi Zhong Base..."
"They took down the Japanese Nakamura Brigade..."
"There were more than 8,000 elite Kwantung Army troops. Except for less than 200 little Japs who took advantage of the chaos to escape, the other Japanese troops were all wiped out by us."
"Major General Nakamura, the leader of the Japanese Brigade, was also shot to death by us."
"The participating troops also seized a large number of weapons and ammunition, including six or seven heavy artillery pieces..." he said while handing the telegram to the chief of staff.
The chief of staff glanced at it and handed it to the deputy commander. The worry on his face was replaced by excitement at the same time, and he patted the table with emotion.
"Kong Jie and the others are really good..."
"Especially that kid Li Yunlong, he's so lucky."
"Attack Baoding, be the first to enter Baoding City, and kill the little devil, the commander of the Baoding garrison."
"Ambushing the Nakamura brigade, this guy became the leader who wiped out the most enemies, and also killed the Japanese Major General brigade leader. He is really our lucky general..." The deputy commander-in-chief just finished reading the telegram and put it on the table. He shook his head and replied: "It is indeed Yuan Fujiang."
"But he can also get into trouble."
"This kid is good at using it. In a fight, ordinary people are really no match for him."
"If you don't use it well, it will definitely cause us trouble every day."
"Judging from the battle report, we made the right decision to keep him in the Yi Zhong base to form a new regiment this time."
"With Kong Jie taking care of him and reminding this stubborn donkey from time to time, he not only stopped making mistakes, but also created miracles for us time and time again."
"Fifty thousand Kwantung Army troops marched south, but they have not yet reached Baoding to save a reinforced brigade."
"Kong Jie's slap hurt Okamura Neji, and it must have also stimulated the other Kwantung troops who marched south."
"If I were Neji Okamura, I would personally lead the team south to Baoding, sweep the base area in the wing for the second time, and take the opportunity to wash away all the shame I suffered before." The smile on the chief of staff's face was instantly replaced by seriousness.
Suddenly he sighed and said: "Killing more than 8,000 elite Kwantung Army soldiers in one battle is indeed a great victory."
"But Okamura Neji still has more than 40,000 Kwantung troops."
"If there is a bad move, the victory won by the Yi Zhong Base will be wiped out in a big sweep."
"Boss, I completely agree with your analysis just now."
"This old boy Okamura Neiji will definitely visit Baoding for the second time and personally command the Kwantung Army to sweep the Yizhong base for the second time."
"Looking at the entire North China Front, he is the only one qualified to command two divisions of the Kwantung Army at the same time."
"Calculated in this way, the anti-mopping pressure faced by Yi Zhong Base Area has not been reduced much."
"On the contrary, because it angers Neji Okamura, it may bring other crises to the base area." The deputy commander concluded: "It's a mixed bag of good and bad!"
"No matter how angry Okamura Neji is, the 50,000 Kwantung Army in his hands has been reduced sharply to 42,000 to 3,000. This is an indisputable fact."
"Call back to Kong Jie immediately: ask them to step up their guard, send out all intelligence agents and scouts, and closely monitor every move of the Japs to prevent Neji Okamura from being cornered and playing dirty tricks on them."
"Remind them to be prepared for the virus."
"All the gas masks that can be collected in the base area are distributed to front-line combat troops."
"Every food, food, and drink used by the troops must be strictly inspected to prevent poisoning by Japanese soldiers."
"In the Yizhong territory, the intelligence departments directly under the headquarters have also taken action to cooperate with the anti-sweep operations in the Yizhong base area."
"Once again remind the five main regiments reinforcing the Yizhong base area that during the troops' operations, everyone must unconditionally obey the commands of Kong Jie and Li Yunlong."
"Add another Huang Yu..." the chief of staff suddenly interrupted.
"In the attack on Baoding and the ambush of the Zhongcun brigade, Huang Yu was stationed at the former enemy headquarters and was responsible for coordinating all participating troops and determining the time for each unit to participate in the battle and the time for the final general attack."
"Xiao Huang is more like the commander-in-chief, and his orders must be carried out unconditionally." The deputy commander-in-chief nodded and continued: "The telegram ordered all the Eighth Route Army in North China to do their best to carry out their duties within five days without affecting their respective development. Launch a large-scale attack on the surrounding Japanese and puppet troops within a day, support the Eighth Route Army in the flank from the side, and increase the pressure on Okamura Neji."
