Bright Sword: I am an undercover agent in the puppet army

Chapter 78: Hundred Regiments Campaign, Xu Yang promoted to Honorary Staff Officer of the Brigade (Please order first!)

at the same time.

There was also great turmoil internationally.

Germany sent troops to occupy Denmark, Norway and other countries, and then the Netherlands, Belgium, France and other countries surrendered one after another. The British army withdrew from the European continent, and even the British Isles were seriously threatened by invasion.

In fact, if it were not for the English Channel, Britain might have succumbed to the German steel torrent.

As an Axis power, the war situation in Europe greatly stimulated Japan's desire to quickly subdue China in order to facilitate the next step of competing for hegemony in Asia and the Pacific region.

So in early May, the Japanese army could not wait to launch the Zaoyi Campaign, the largest campaign since the Wuhan Campaign. In addition, it also launched the Liangkou Campaign in Guangdong.

In addition to military actions, the Japanese also comprehensively strengthened their economic blockade and political inducement to China.

The dark clouds of national destruction were looming, and some people within the Kuomintang were feeling suffocated. They saw no hope of victory, and some began to waver in their beliefs. The crisis of compromise and surrender was unprecedentedly serious, adding enormous difficulties and challenges to the War of Resistance.

……

In order to tie down the Japanese army, relieve the pressure on friendly forces in the south, boost the enthusiasm of the military and civilians across the country to fight the war, and also to smash the Japanese army's cage policy, the Eighth Route Army decided to organize a large-scale counterattack.

……

Headquarters of the 386th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army.

The leaders of each regiment received the order and rushed over early.

Ding Wei walked over to Li Yunlong and sat down. "Old Li, you have a lot of connections. Do you know why the brigade commander called us here this time?"

"It is said that there is a big battle to be fought. Since everyone is here, it seems that this time the commotion is quite big." Li Yunlong's eyes sparkled, and his face was filled with excitement that was difficult to conceal.

Everyone immediately started an in-depth discussion around this topic...

Soon, the brigade commander, the chief of staff, and several leaders of the brigade walked in from outside, followed by a strange man in plain clothes.

Except for Li Yunlong and Kong Jie, no one else knew him, so as they stopped talking and stood up, they began to guess his identity.

The brigade commander walked around the crowd and came to the top seat. He looked around and said, "Everyone is here. Please take a seat."

After everyone was seated, the brigade commander pointed at Xu Yang and said, "I believe you must be very curious about his identity."

Seeing everyone nod, the brigade commander said, "His name is Lone Wolf. He is the honorary staff officer of my brigade. He has provided a lot of military intelligence and supplies to our army."

Lone Wolf is a code name given to Xu Yang by the brigade commander in order to protect him.

Since Xu Yang provided a large amount of intelligence to the 386th Brigade, and much of the information required him to personally explain it, he was invited to participate in this meeting.

It would have been better if the brigade commander didn't say it. After he said it, Xu Yang's identity became even more mysterious.

"Lone Wolf, you can start speaking now." After saying that, the brigade commander sat down.

Xu Yang asked: "Brigade Commander, before I introduce the situation, can I ask you a question first?"

Brigade Commander: "As long as you ask me, I will tell you everything I know."

Xu Yang: "How many troops will our army deploy for this battle?"

Li Yunlong, Ding Wei, Kong Jie, Blind Cheng and others all pricked up their ears; they also wanted to know.

The brigade commander thought for a moment and then said, "After analyzing the changes in the domestic and international situation, the headquarters ordered that the total force directly involved in the operation should be no less than 22 regiments. The Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region is required to send at least 10 regiments, our 129th Division to send at least 8 regiments, and the 120th Division to send at least 4 to 6 regiments.

Of course, this is just the minimum requirement, in principle the more troops the better."

“就以我们129师为例，就要出动385旅、386旅、新编第1旅、新编第4旅、新编第7旅、新编第8旅、新编第9旅、新编第10旅、新编第11旅、新军第212旅，以及决死第1纵队、决死第3纵队，共计30多个团。

Although I don't know the exact number of troops participating in the 115th and 120th divisions, I think they should be no less than our 129th division." Xu Yang nodded, it seemed that this was undoubtedly the Hundred Regiments Campaign.

Historically, the Eighth Route Army headquarters originally planned to dispatch 22 regiments. As a result, the leaders above completely underestimated the development speed of the troops below. As the fighting went on, more and more people came. In the end, they were extremely shocked to find that the number of troops participating in the battle exceeded 100 regiments.

The Hundred Regiments Campaign got its name from this.

Li Yunlong said excitedly: "Doesn't that mean that our troops participating in this battle are likely to exceed 100 regiments?"

The brigade commander nodded heavily.

Li Yunlong's eyes lit up: "It's exciting, this battle must be exciting!"

The brigade commander ignored Li Yunlong and continued, "Among them, the 120th Division is mainly responsible for the raids on the Tongpu Railway and Fenli Highway."

"The 115th Division is mainly responsible for the sabotage operations on the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway and the Pinghan Railway."

"And our 129th Division is mainly responsible for the sabotage operations on the Zhengtai Railway and the Baijin Line!
Our brigade and the 1st and 3rd death columns are responsible for the section from Niangzi Pass to Yangquan. Our brigade is the main force, and the 1st and 3rd death columns are the auxiliary forces. "

"Didn't the Japanese army in North China implement a 'cage policy', using railways as pillars, roads as chains, and bunkers as locks to cut off the connection between the Taihang Anti-Japanese Base Area where our Eighth Route Army Headquarters and the 129th Division were operating and the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Border Region, and to lock up all the bases we gave them?"

"Then let's break its locks, cut its damned chains, and smash its pillars!"

After saying this, the brigade commander slammed his fist on the conference table in front of him.

Li Yunlong, Ding Wei, Kong Jie, Blind Cheng and others all became excited.

More than 100 regiments of the Eighth Route Army participated in the battle at the same time, and the scale of this battle was no less than a major battle.

The most crucial thing is that it was initiated by the Eighth Route Army. It’s exciting to think about it.

Xu Yang said: "Brigade Commander, according to your analysis, our army's combat goal is still mainly to destroy the Japanese railway?"

The brigade commander nodded. "That's right in principle. After all, our army has limited offensive weapons, and the gap in strength between us and the Japanese is huge. Even with the Flying Thunder Cannon, we are still unable to attack the Japanese's large strongholds and cities."

At this time, neither the brigade commander nor other senior leaders of the Eighth Route Army realized how powerful their Eighth Route Army had become, so the goals they set at the beginning were very conservative.

In fact, in the Hundred Regiments Campaign in history, the Eighth Route Army wiped out more than 20,000 Japanese devils.

As a time traveler, Xu Yang is extremely clear about these things.

He said: "Commander, since our army is going to send out so many troops this time and the momentum is so great, we might as well set a bigger target and list Yangquan County, Pingding County, Niangzi Pass, and all the strongholds along the line as attack targets."

Ding Wei, Kong Jie, Blind Cheng and others immediately changed their expressions.

The chief of staff was also shocked by Xu Yang's words and his heart began beating violently.

This goal has far exceeded the headquarters' operational plan.

Because as the brigade commander said, even if their 129th Division had dozens of flying thunder cannons, it would still be extremely difficult to capture a large stronghold, especially an important county town like Yangquan.

Not to mention an offensive operation, even if it were a frontal battle regardless of the unfavorable terrain, the Eighth Route Army would not have much chance of winning.

After all, although the Eighth Route Army had a large number of troops, their training and equipment were uneven. The main regiment was still okay, but for the newly formed regiments, only a few people could get a rifle, not to mention machine guns.

Such a regiment couldn't even defeat a squadron of the Japanese devils.

In the entire brigade meeting room, only Li Yunlong listened and nodded repeatedly, eager to try.

This guy is a person who never minds trouble and never knows what fear is.

Otherwise, we wouldn't have dared to break out from the front at Cangyun Ridge...

(End of this chapter)