Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

After the Japanese army divided and surrounded the National Army in the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain, they occupied the Yellow River ferry.

Next, the Japanese army began to repeatedly raid the national army.

But it wasn't as smooth as I imagined.

Because by this time, many Japanese troops had suffered heavy casualties, which directly affected the troops' ability to attack and advance. Many of the newly recruited soldiers began to have obvious problems in their combat effectiveness. Compared with the recruits in the past, the quality of the new recruits in this large-scale recruitment was very poor. These recruits had only trained in China for three months and conducted live-fire training, firing only a few dozen rounds of live ammunition before being hastily sent to China. They were completely incomparable to the previous recruits who had fired hundreds or even hundreds of rounds of live ammunition.

According to Imperial Headquarters, after these new recruits arrived in China, the remaining training would be handed over to the troops, who would then train them for several more months. However, the North China Front Army had no time to train these new recruits. Instead, Imperial Headquarters and the China Expeditionary Army were constantly directing the North China Front Army to launch the Southern Shanxi Campaign. As a result, these new recruits arrived without any prior training and were thrown directly into combat, resulting in extremely poor performance.

In addition, after the outbreak of the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain, it took the Japanese army a full ten days to control the Yellow River ferry and complete the division and encirclement of the National Army. Although the National Army was completely unprepared at the beginning of the war, they reacted after such a long time. At first, they thought that the Japanese army commanded 20 to 15 people, and the National Army in Zhongtiao Mountain with nearly people was certainly not in a hurry. However, when the Japanese army really started the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain, together with the puppet troops such as the puppet Manchukuo Army, the puppet Mongolian Army, and the North China Security Army, a total of nearly Japanese and puppet troops were mobilized.

So many troops were thrown into the battle.

No matter how foolish the Nationalist army was, they knew to re-fortify their fortifications. They also understood that this attack was different from the past. Previous attacks had only involved 20,000 or 30,000 men, but this one was a massive attack involving over 100,000 men.

Therefore, the national army also quickly began to strengthen its positions to resist the Japanese army's raid.

The most outstanding performance at this time was the ragtag Fifth Army. This unit was composed of the Yunnan and Shaanxi armies, under whose command were the Yunnan Third Army and the Shaanxi 98th Army. Although both the Yunnan and Shaanxi armies were inferior in combat effectiveness to the Japanese, they were very determined to fight.

The Battle of Zhongtiaoshan in history resulted in a crushing defeat for the Nationalist army. The primary reason for this was the swiftness of the Japanese attack, which secured the Yellow River crossings in less than five days, effectively dividing and encircling the Japanese army. This rapid advance gave the Nationalist troops no chance to react.

As a result, many troops were defeated by the Japanese army before they could react.

It's the same in any battle.

The real mass casualties only occur when the enemy is routed. The staggering casualties suffered by the Nationalist army in the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain were caused by the rout. However, during this time and space, the Japanese attack speed was twice as slow, taking a full ten days. This gave the Nationalist army ample time.

So that they would not collapse at the first blow. After all, the National Army had nearly 20 troops in Zhongtiao Mountain. Although they were divided and surrounded by the Japanese army, it would not be so easy for the Japanese army to eat them up if the National Army did not collapse quickly.

Instead, the Japanese army suffered heavy casualties.

But overall, the performance of many units of the National Army was really poor.

Basically, most of the resistance was useless. Moreover, the orders from above were inconsistent, sometimes asking them to hold on, sometimes asking them to recapture the position, and sometimes asking them to break out. The main reason was that there was no unified command.

The biggest problem is that each unit is fighting on its own.

That is to say, the current Japanese army is much weaker than in history in terms of combat effectiveness, which gave the national army so much time.

The North China Front Army is now in a lot of trouble.

As commander of the North China Front Army, Okamura Neiji was directly in charge of the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain and was currently directing the battle from the front lines. His original plan was for the Japanese army to crush the Nationalist forces in Zhongtiao Mountain with lightning speed. To achieve this goal, he had made extensive preparations.

Not only did he deploy the newly added 17th and 33rd Divisions to the Zhongtiaoshan front, but he also transferred all the mobile forces that the North China Front Army could mobilize there, bringing the Japanese army on the front to over troops. However, the results were not satisfactory to him.

It has been more than ten days, but the national army in Zhongtiao Mountain has not completely collapsed.

Although two-thirds of the Nationalist troops had lost their positions and were being chased by the Japanese, one-third of the troops still relied on their geographical advantages and positions to resist the Japanese attack.

Don't underestimate this one-third of the troops. There are nearly 200,000 troops in Zhongtiao Mountain, and another one-third of them maintain their positions. That means there are still 50,000 to 60,000 national army troops relying on the geographical advantages of Zhongtiao Mountain and their defensive positions to resist the Japanese attack.

As a result, the Japanese army's casualties increased rapidly.

By now, Japanese casualties had exceeded 6,000, a figure Okamura Neiji could not accept. After all, the North China Front had been suffering high casualties since last year. The troops currently stationed on the Zhongtiao Mountain front had only been replenished with great difficulty. With another 6,000 casualties, the North China Front was facing a significant blow.

Another thing that bothered him was the Eighth Route Army. He guessed that the Eighth Route Army had suffered heavy casualties in the Hundred Regiments Campaign, so they would not dare to take the initiative to attack the Japanese army. Besides, Chongqing had just created the "Southern Anhui Incident".

Many troops on both sides had already opened fire, and the only thing missing was a real fight. Under such circumstances, Ningci Okamura concluded that the Eighth Route Army would not take any action this time.

However, the actions of the Eighth Route Army were far greater than what Ningji Okamura had expected.

The 120th and 129th Divisions, as well as the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Division, all sent several regiments to participate. Altogether, although not as fierce as the Hundred Regiments Campaign, the Eighth Route Army still had around twenty regiments participating.

The strength of the Eighth Route Army was much stronger than Ningji Okamura had estimated.

This caused great difficulties for the Japanese army's logistical supply.

Logistical transport lines were repeatedly disrupted by ambushes by Eighth Route Army troops. Even supplies arriving from nearby Taiyuan and Datong were ambushed several times by the Eighth Route Army. With over 100,000 troops fighting on the front lines, they needed to transport vast quantities of weapons, ammunition, and logistical supplies daily.

As a result, they were frequently ambushed by the Eighth Route Army, which seriously affected the fighting on the front line.

What gave him even more headaches was the situation in Chahar.

The 11th and 12th Military Sub-districts of the Jin-Cha-Ji region mobilized large numbers of troops to expand their territory. Many counties, strongholds, and bunkers surrounding Zhangjiakou were unable to withstand the th Column's encroachment. This was similar to how the Japanese army gradually encroached on the Eighth Route Army's base areas, using strongholds and bunkers to squeeze the Eighth Route Army's space.

The Eighth Column also adopted the same approach.

The Eight Verticals method is very simple.

Surround a stronghold and completely cut off all its supplies. Whether it was a stronghold or a fort, logistical supplies needed support from other locations. However, the Eighth Column had more men and more guns, so they directly cut off the logistics lines of these strongholds and forts.

The 8th Column did not attack these strongholds and bunkers, but used superior forces to surround and blockade them.

As a result, the Japanese and puppet troops in these strongholds and bunkers had to come out on their own.

If they didn't want to starve to death, they had no choice but to leave their strongholds and bunkers. The Eighth Column was waiting for this opportunity. As long as they left their strongholds and bunkers, the Eighth Column would ambush them with superior forces. In the Chahar region, the Mongolian troops were not at an advantage.

Apart from the 2nd Independent Mixed Brigade, there were only garrison troops scattered in various strongholds and bunkers.

What the Eighth Column is doing now is to eliminate these garrison strongholds and bunkers one by one. They are even unwilling to waste their artillery shells or sacrifice their soldiers, so they don't attack by force. They just want to cut off your logistical supply lines.

The effect is very good.

The troops stationed in Mongolia also discovered this situation. In desperation, they could only choose to continue to abandon those strongholds and bunkers. Because they knew that if they did not abandon these strongholds and bunkers, the Japanese and puppet troops here would be eliminated one by one by the Eighth Column.

Unfortunately, before the Mongolian troops made this decision, the Eighth Column had eliminated another 7 strongholds and 21 forts.

Advancing step by step, the Eighth Column troops have arrived in Xuanhua.

The North China Front Army had no way to deal with the Eighth Column's reckless advance. This was because it wasn't just the Eighth Column that was using this method to erode Japanese strongholds and forts. Other Eighth Route Army units also adopted this approach.

Some Eighth Route Army units were unable to attack strongholds and bunkers due to heavy casualties in the Hundred Regiments Campaign.

But the lack of ability to attack does not mean that they have no way to deal with these strongholds and forts.

During the period when the main force of the Japanese and puppet troops was in Zhongtiao Mountain, the Eighth Route Army held a numerical advantage around the base area. Their strategy, similar to that of the Eighth Column, was to cut off the supply lines to the strongholds and blockhouses, starving the Japanese and puppet troops stationed there and ultimately forcing the Japanese to retreat. They did not attempt to ambush these Japanese troops, as they were not strong enough. However, they used this tactic to force the Japanese strongholds and blockhouses to evacuate the base area, and the results were very effective.

These things made Ningji Okamura very angry.

But he has no choice now.

Because the most important thing now is to deal with the Nationalist troops in Zhongtiao Mountain. After solving the problem of Zhongtiao Mountain, Ningci Gangcun can turn around and sweep the Eighth Route Army base.

Chapter 365 Cooperating with Fu Zuoyi

On July 1941, 7, the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain lasted for twenty days.

After twenty days of the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain, the Nationalist troops on Zhongtiao Mountain had essentially withdrawn from the area. They had either chosen to break out from the front or to seize and cross the Yellow River ferry. Only a few Nationalist troops, scattered by the Japanese, remained in the Zhongtiao Mountain area.

The entire army was in chaos, with no command system at all.

Each unit fought on its own.

As a result, the troops were defeated.

More than 100,000 casualties.

However, in this time and space, although more than half of the Nationalist positions had been occupied by the Japanese, the Japanese still could not completely eliminate the Nationalist troops.

On some positions, the national army troops continued to fight with the Japanese army for positions.

The Japanese army's strength has seriously declined, which can be clearly seen from here.

The aftereffects of the massive recruitment of new soldiers after the Hundred Regiments Campaign were most evident during the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain. Some units had so many new recruits that they lost their ability to advance.

It's not just because there are too many new recruits.

Another reason was that the Japanese army was constantly expanding, and coupled with the high number of casualties among officers, military academy graduates could no longer meet the Japanese army's needs. Consequently, a large number of so-called short-term officer training courses and cadre reserve students were added to the troops and served as junior officers in the Japanese army.

The command ability is much worse.

In this Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain, the performance of these Japanese grassroots officers was very poor.

These are the reasons why the Japanese army fought poorly in the Battle of Zhongtiaoshan.

Many Japanese units gradually lost their offensive capabilities, giving the Nationalist troops in Zhongtiao Mountain a chance to catch their breath and redeploy their defenses. Furthermore, the Nationalist command system began to recover. It wasn't a top-level command system, but rather many units on the battlefield found their own leadership.

It formed its own command system based on the national army in one region.

The Nationalist army has nearly 200,000 troops in Zhongtiao Mountain. As long as the army does not collapse suddenly, it will not be easy for the Japanese army to deal with so many people.

As a result, the Japanese casualties rose sharply.

By the 20th day, Japanese casualties had exceeded 10,000. Some Japanese units even withdrew from the battle due to heavy casualties. This made the commander of the North China Front Army, General Okamura Neiji, very anxious.

If the Nationalist troops on Zhongtiao Mountain cannot be eliminated as soon as possible, the Japanese army's logistics will become a problem.

The Eighth Route Army constantly rotated new recruits to ambush Japanese transport convoys, causing major logistical problems for the Japanese army. In such a large-scale war, the Japanese army consumed a huge amount of bullets, artillery shells, and logistical supplies every day.

However, the transport troops were always ambushed, and the logistics of the troops became increasingly tense.

The Eighth Route Army took advantage of this opportunity to train new recruits and replenish the weapons and ammunition consumed in the Hundred Regiments Campaign.

Fortunately, the North China Front Army had already collected a large amount of military supplies for this battle and placed them on the front line. Otherwise, according to the current situation of the transportation line, the Japanese army's weapons and ammunition would have been insufficient.

After twenty days of failing to defeat the Nationalist forces in Zhongtiao Mountain, Chongqing, already in a state of panic, reacted. The Japanese army began to mount a fierce attack, shocking Chongqing. However, it became clear that the North China Front Army was not that strong. Therefore, Chongqing immediately began to mobilize troops to support the Zhongtiao Mountain Campaign. However, in Shanxi, the troops Chongqing could mobilize were limited.

So after Chongqing began to put pressure on the Eighth Route Army, the first thing they thought of was the 35th Army of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army.

Chongqing asked the Nationalist troops on Zhongtiao Mountain to hold their ground and wait for reinforcements, while at the same time asking the Nationalist troops in North China to attack with all their might. Chongqing also had a large number of military experts gathered there, who also had their own intelligence and of course understood the current situation.

That is, the North China Front Army was seriously short of manpower.

The Zhongtiaoshan Campaign, at this point, required all the mobile forces the North China Front could muster. Chongqing, having recognized this opportunity, ordered the Nationalist troops in Zhongtiaoshan to hold their ground and await reinforcements. As for the true situation in Zhongtiaoshan, Chongqing showed little concern.

Although there were many central troops on Zhongtiao Mountain, there were more troops from various local warlords.

At this moment, what is more important is to take advantage of the Japanese army's lack of manpower to expand territory in North China.

After receiving the order, Fu Zuoyi immediately formulated a plan. He mobilized the 35th Army, the cavalry, and the additional troops to launch a surprise attack on Baotou. Currently stationed in Baotou was the st Cavalry Brigade of the Mongolian Army.

The 4th Brigade of the Cavalry Group moved south and participated in the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain.

The First Brigade of the Cavalry Group has about 5,000 people.

Fu Zuoyi gathered more than 50,000 troops from various disorganized groups.

The main force was his own 35th Army and the two newly reorganized divisions. The other troops were all miscellaneous units. However, even the miscellaneous units were able to fight under Fu Zuoyi, but their combat effectiveness was slightly lower than that of the main troops. So many people quietly came to Baotou and suddenly launched an attack on Baotou.

Fu Zuoyi launched the famous Battle of Baotou.

"The military district asked us to send troops to Jining?"

"I'm just asking you to act as if you're threatening Jining and pin down the 26th Regiment of the 13th Division in Jining. As for the Japanese troops in Datong, the 35st and th Divisions will contain them. Fu Zuoyi has already sent a request for cooperation to Yan'an and the headquarters through the Second War Zone and Chongqing. I hope we can pin down the Japanese troops so that the th Army of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army can successfully capture Baotou."

Luo Renfa came to Beilingzhuang to convey the military district's order.

In fact, the Eighth Column had already received the order via telegram. However, Luo Renfa still came to Beilingzhuang in person because some things still needed to be explained in person.