Then the feedback from the staff of the 23rd Regiment further verified the "guesses" of Okamura Neiji and others.

The staff officer of the 23rd Regiment was a captain named Shoichi Shintani. He actually had nothing to report.

If there is any report, it is that Ning Jie performed very well in this battle. A battalion of the Eighth Route Army was blocked by him and the 23rd Regiment led by him and could not move.

It is conceivable that if the entire Datong was garrisoned by Ning Jie's 23rd Regiment or commanded by Ning Jie, the Eighth Route Army would not be able to occupy Datong before reinforcements arrived...

The most powerful of Ning Jie's tactics was to disperse the troops into civilian houses to engage in close combat with the Eighth Route Army. Such close combat would turn Datong into a quagmire, just like the Battle of Stalingrad, where the enemy and we were fighting each other in civilian houses.

war.

If the 23rd Regiment is equipped with enough anti-tank grenades, even if the tanks of the main force of the Eighth Route Army come up, they may be helpless... Tanks are actually the most afraid of street fighting, because the enemy only needs to hide in any broken wall with them

A few anti-tank grenades or explosive charges are enough to pose a threat to tanks.

But Shoichi Shintani certainly cannot say that.

Because if he reported it like this, wouldn't it make him seem too incompetent as a staff officer?

What's more, the Kwantung Army was completely wiped out in Datong. How could his 23rd Regiment retreat?

In particular, Shintani Shoichi is still responsible for supervising the 23rd Regiment. He should order Ning Jie to fight to the last man on the battlefield and never allow retreat without orders!

Now the 23rd Regiment has withdrawn at the cost of only more than 200 casualties. What is going on?

Shintani Masaichi was already in a state of nervousness, worried that he would be punished by his superiors if he lost Datong. Now that he received a question from the Taiyuan headquarters, he was even more nervous and sweating on his forehead.

Then, without any hesitation, Shintani Masaichi immediately put the responsibility on Ning Jie... The puppet army has always been the scapegoat. If a battle is won, it is the devil's credit. If a battle is lost, the devil has to take the blame. The devil has long been accustomed to doing this.

Already.

Therefore, the report that Okamura Ningsina received was: "Your Excellency, General, during the battle, I repeatedly asked the 23rd Regiment to hold on, but Ning Jie refused to carry out the order. I saw that Ning Jie and his men were in a rebellion trend, so I did not dare to stop them.

, had no choice but to retreat! As for why the Eighth Route Army did not stop the 23rd Regiment from leaving the city or pursue it, I don’t know the situation!"

In the last sentence, Shintani Shoichi told the truth, he really didn't know.

But precisely this adds to the authenticity of his report.

So Okamura Neji decided that Ning Jie must be secretly "colluding" with the Eighth Route Army. They had formed a certain tacit understanding on the battlefield. The Eighth Route Army would not fight, encircle, or pursue the 23rd Regiment. Of course, the 23rd Regiment would not be attacked on the battlefield.

It is also impossible to try our best to defend Datong.

This can be said to be a kind of irony.

The 23rd Regiment, which contributed the most and made the greatest contributions in Datong, was thus identified as a unit that had "colluded" with the Eighth Route Army and was doing nothing on the battlefield.

Ning Jie didn't even have a chance to explain. At this time, he didn't even know the situation. On the way to retreat, he was still thinking about how to stop the Eighth Route Army from advancing.

Kono Shinta said to Okamura Neji: "General, this situation must be severely punished, otherwise..."

Okamura Neji nodded to express his understanding.

The puppet North China Security Army now has a size of nearly 100,000 people. If Ning Jie's 23rd Regiment is allowed to start... then it will be like what the Chinese say, "a single spark can start a prairie fire." This kind of surrender

The trend will soon spread throughout the North China Security Army and even affect the Puppet Manchukuo National Army and the Peaceful Founding Army.

There was no way Okamura Neiji would let this happen, so he had to fight off this trend with thunderous force, not only but hard, so that he could intimidate other troops.

Shinta Kono looked at the map and said: "Your Excellency, General, without further ado, let's stay in Dongxiao Village! Then Ning Jie will be relieved of command, and then the 23rd Regiment will be disarmed!"

Shinta Kono's suggestion is not unkind.

Dongxiao Village is more than 60 kilometers away from Datong. If it is a forced march, we can reach Dongxiao Village just in time at night. At that time, the 23rd Regiment is exhausted and may not be able to resist even if it senses something is wrong.

(Note: The speed of forced marches during the Anti-Japanese War is different from the speed of forced marches of modern modern troops. The People's Liberation Army once forced marches 75 kilometers a day, which was incredible to the enemy)

Okamura Neji didn't think much and immediately nodded and agreed to Kono Shinta's plan.

He issued several orders in succession:

"Order the 23rd Regiment to rush to Dongxiao Village to garrison. We must reach the destination before dark!"

"Order Dongxiao Village to garrison troops and prepare for battle!"

After thinking about it, Okamura Neiji was worried that the garrison of a squadron in Dongxiaocun could not control Ningjie's 23rd Regiment of more than 2,000 people, so he ordered: "Temporarily transfer the nearby troops to Dongxiaocun and concentrate them under Dongxiaocun's command!"

"

After a while, Okamura Neiji added: "All troop movements must be carried out in secret, and the order to resolve the 23rd regiment's armed forces must also be kept secret!"

"Yes!" the staff officer responded.

This was necessary. If the 23rd Regiment had known about it in advance, Ning Jie would not have been able to lead his men to Dongxiao Village and surrender themselves to a trap.

But Okamura Neji ignored one thing... Wang Xuexin has been paying attention to the movements of the Japanese.

Since Wang Xuexin released the false information that was unfavorable to Ning Jie, Wang Xuexin asked the intelligence personnel to focus on the mobilization of the Eastward Japs.

It is very easy to do this. The Eighth Route Army has intelligence agents all over the world. All it takes is to issue a few orders.

When the Japs near Dongxiao Village made unusual movements, Wang Xuexin knew that the Japs had been fooled.

To be precise, Okamura Neji was fooled.

Because if Okamura Neiji hadn't determined that there was something wrong with Ning Jie, no one would have dared to attack a regiment of the puppet North China Security Army.

If things continue like this, needless to say what happens next. The 23rd Regiment rushed to Dongxiao Village exhausted, was disarmed, and then Ning Jie and all the commanders were arrested for interrogation.

This is not what Wang Xuexin hopes for.

Because it doesn't mean much to the Eighth Route Army.

If there is any significance, it is that it is possible to use the hands of the Japanese to get rid of Ning Jie, the enemy.

But the 23rd Regiment is still there, and those puppet troops are still there. They will soon be reorganized by the Japanese and sent to the battlefield.

Therefore, Wang Xuexin will not let things develop like this.

He said to Zhang Zongping: "It's time to let the intelligence personnel reveal some information to Ning Jie, saying that the Japanese suspect the 23rd Regiment and plan to disarm them in Dongxiao Village!"

These words made Chen Songyong and Zhang Zongping stunned on the spot.

Damn it, Captain Wang is playing a double act, he has done both good and bad things!
Chapter completed!