With the columns dispatched their main forces to fight behind enemy lines in Shanxi, Chaji and Hebei and eastern Hebei successively. ※%top ※%small ※%small ※%s said, x. The Japanese army stationed in North China suddenly discovered that the situation in North China, which had already calmed down, seemed to be deteriorating.

Even the 10th Japanese Division, which crossed the Yellow River from North China, repeatedly protested to the North China Front Army when the supply of materials from the rear was not timely. Without stable material supply, how could the main Japanese forces on the front line concentrate on fighting?

What's even more fatal is that as the 117th Division commanded by Xu Xiangqian advanced into Shanxi, Shandong and Hebei, the Japanese army quickly felt that their material transportation was even more difficult. On the other hand, the Japanese troops advancing from Nanjing seemed to have made it smoother.

Originally, the defense line was established in Henan to block the Japanese army from opening up the Central Army that marched into Zhengzhou, and also obtained extremely rare defense preparation time. Even the troops that led the Japanese army to advance into Henan were also very difficult to fight.

Even in this case, the Central Army saw that the front line was still smooth, and knew that the Eighth Route Army launched a winter offensive in North China did provide them with great help, and no one mentioned the Eighth Route Army's entry into Henan for combat.

In fact, for Chiang Kai-shek, if possible, he would rather stay in Shaanxi than move. Once the Eighth Route Army expanded its power to other occupied areas, he could almost foresee that those occupied areas would be surnamed Eighth Route Army in the future.

As Henan, where its strategic position is extremely important, Chiang Kai-shek also did not want the Eighth Route Army to come in. For him, Henan is also one of the granaries of the Central Army. If the Eighth Route Army occupied this place, it would undoubtedly make the Eighth Route Army look like a tiger.

It seems that the Central Army did not want the Eighth Route Army to march into Henan. The Eighth Route Army troops stationed in Xi'an also gathered a lot of reserve troops in Tongguan and Luonan area to prepare for advancing into Henan at any time.

Even when the Japanese army launched an offensive against Henan, many newly formed enemy-behind armed forces teams of the Eighth Route Army had already begun to operate in Henan and formed anti-Japanese guerrilla areas. However, there were very few, and they had conflicts with the Central Army stationed there.

In short, in the context of the full-scale war of resistance, although the Central Army and the Eighth Route Army are currently guarding against each other, no one dares to destroy this situation of resistance and unification. The Eighth Route Army also focused on the development of the North China base.

Compared with the Japanese and Central Army who were doing their best to prepare for the Battle of Xuzhou, the columns of the offensive against Shuozhou and Datong were launched, but they were constantly pushing forward the front line, causing the Japanese troops in both places to suffer.

The Second Division of the Column successfully eliminated the Japanese army stationed in the southern suburbs. The main force of a regiment appeared outside Datong City to deploy defenses, which made the defenders of Datong also feel the feeling of coming soon.

What made the Datong defenders even more helpless was that the reinforcements they were looking forward to were still on the way to aid. Even the guards from Zhangjiakou suffered casualties of varying degrees almost every day.

Faced with this situation, the Second Division, who arrived outside Datong City, began to build fortifications outside the city. Such actions made the Japanese corps stationed in Datong feel a little unclear, but did not disturb the Eighth Route Army's defense.

At least when the Japanese army came, as long as their reinforcements arrived, the Eighth Route Army that was deploying defenses outside the city would have no choice but to retreat if they did not want to be completely wiped out. After all, the Japanese gang stationed in Datong did not lose much strength.

As the main force of the Second Division completed the assembly in the Datong area. According to the order issued by He Zhengdao, the main force of the Second Division bypassed Datong City and began to march towards Xinrong and other places. The defenders there alone could not resist the advance of the Second Division.

In order to ensure that the Second Division completed its siege of Datong and recovered surrounding counties, He Zhengdao even reduced his combat effectiveness to the remaining troops of the Fourth Division, and also sent them to the Datong area to cooperate with the Second Division to launch a battle against Datong.

After all, the commander of the Jin-Cha-Hebei Military Sub-district, who is now in cooperation with the Second Division in Datong area, is himself the former commander of the Fourth Division. If the rest of the main groups of the Fourth Division are cooperated with each other, I believe that it will be more convenient to cooperate.

When a main force encircled Datong, as long as the Japanese army did not leave the city, the Eighth Route Army stayed outside the city would not take the initiative to launch an attack. Such a strategy made the Japanese army stayed in the city feel very uncomfortable.

Because while they were sticking to Datong, the counties around Datong were constantly falling. This made the Japanese corps captain who was guarding Datong feel too cowardly and made the captains seem very aggrieved.

At the regular meeting, a captain said, "Captain, how long do we have to stay here to guard? When will we, like the incompetent Chinese troops, have to hide in the city and defend the dead? We must attack!"

Faced with the request of these captains, the captain stationed in Datong also said helplessly: "You guys, the current situation is very unfavorable to us. According to the news we have received, the troops attacking Datong should be the Eighth Route Army Division.

Judging from the current information feedback from various places, this division should be the Eighth Route Army's strongest combat capability. During their battle against Xinrong and Nanjiao, they even used a mountain cannon and field cannon brigade.

The security team that drove from Zhangjiakou is still on the way to help. The Eighth Route Army has blocked them fiercely, and the time when reinforcements arrive will be greatly delayed. Therefore, we must preserve our limited strength.

I also want to go out of the city and lead you to attack the Eighth Route Army. But you should be clear about the importance of Datong. Once Datong is lost, our Shanxi battle will be completely defeated, and it will even affect the empire's rule over Suiyuan."

'General, then do we just watch the Chinese army besiege? If reinforcements still haven't arrived, how long can we last for the supplies we have reserved? Even if we don't attack, we can still let the guards attack!'

Soon, the Japanese infantry captain suggested sending a guard team with six infantry brigades out of the city to counterattack the Eighth Route Army outside the city. In fact, the guard teams stationed in the city are now dissatisfied with the formation.

But even so, there were still four infantry brigades guarding the city with the 14th Guards stationed in Datong with the Japanese wing. With these people, the Japanese army gathered a lot of troops in Datong.

Listening to the captain of his commander, the Japanese brigade captain looked at the guard captain and said, "Zawakawa, what are your opinions?"

‘Your Excellency the United Captain, please give an order! I am willing to be the pioneer of the Empire!’

Facing this Japanese corps captain who was the same as the military rank but still had a higher position, Colonel Sawakawa, the captain of the 14th Guard, gave this reply very happily.

For Zechuan, it is really not pleasant to stay in the city. The most important thing is that he knows a little bit that most of the soldiers in the security forces were trained by Chinese prisoners of war.

Now that Datong's supplies are about to be in short supply, if he has to choose an army to go out of the city to fight, his guard team is undoubtedly the best candidate. Even if he is the captain of the guard team, he will consider it as a replacement for the Japanese army.

As long as the guard team is in place, the lost soldiers can still be expanded from prisoners of war in the future. Now some cannon fodder is needed, so the Japanese army will naturally push the guard team out. After all, many of the guard team's officers and soldiers are Chinese!

‘Yu Xi! We admire the loyalty of Zekawa to the empire. No matter how strong the Eighth Route Army troops outside the city are, please send an infantry brigade out of the city to see how this Eighth Route Army is different from other troops.

If they are also vulnerable, I will advise General Itagaki to send all your 14th guards to Yanggao to carry out encirclement and suppression operations, and to meet reinforcements from Zhangjiakou.

If the attack is unfavorable, we can only choose to stick to Datong. Regarding the shortage of materials, I have sent General Itagaki to ask for help. When the weather gets better, the Empire will send planes to airdrop.’

After making this decision, the scouts of the Second Regiment of the Second Division, who had been guarding Datong, soon saw that the gate of the city was suddenly opened. Looking at the troops driving out of the city, the scouts seemed somewhat surprised.

But the reconnaissance captain who led the team quickly said, "Wang Er, hurry back to the regiment headquarters and tell the regiment commander that the Japanese have troops out of the city. You go and report first, we will scare the Japanese here, and we will come back later."

‘Okay, Captain, be careful!’

As he spoke, a scout, who was also wearing a white cloak, quickly got up from a piece of snow outside the city. After walking a few steps, he picked up two poles from a slope and stepped on two boards, and then slid quickly with his legs.

This kind of skiing equipment is not uncommon among the reconnaissance units of the four main divisions of the column. Many scouts have found that as long as they master this kind of skiing skills, their walking speed is undoubtedly much faster.

If you encounter a place that cannot be slippery, the weight of these things is not heavy. You can pick them up and pick them up and continue walking. For this reason, when fighting in the snow, this is already the fixed equipment of the scouts.

As the scouts returned to the regiment headquarters to report the news, the reconnaissance team responsible for monitoring the movements in Datong City quickly watched the Japanese army's every move from the city. After discovering an infantry brigade, the city gate was quickly locked up again.

When they learned about this situation, the captain of the reconnaissance team sneered: "It's just an infantry brigade. Do the Japanese want them to come out and die? Go to another person and report the situation to the regiment commander. Everyone else will scare them with me."

'yes!'

As another scout left the squad, the remaining scouts began to prepare for battle. The snipers of the squad immediately seized the best sniper position, while the other scouts buried mines in the snow.

Although the people in the reconnaissance squad knew that just one of them was impossible to chew the infantry brigade of the Japanese soldiers out of the city. But they could still do it if the Japanese were worried.

Moreover, when the gunfire sounds outside the city, the main group behind can know that the battle has already occurred. In this way, it also provides valuable time and conditions for the main group behind to block and encircle and annihilate!
Chapter completed!