Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

As the Eighth Route Army in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei region gained strength, it merged the Second and Fifth Military Sub-districts to form the Yanbei Military Region. The Yanbei Military Region was formidable, and Guo Tianmin was a highly skilled general, leading his troops to frequently raid the Tongpu Road. For the past few months, to protect the Zhengtai and Tongpu Roads, the 37th and 41st Divisions had been forced to deploy troops as road guards.

The most important one should be Pinghan Road.

But now there is a problem with Pinghan Road.

As a result, the communication between the various units of the North China Front Army was interrupted.

Not only was the communication between the Japanese troops in Hebei cut off, but the previously smooth channels for personnel and supplies were also interrupted between the Japanese troops in Hebei and Henan, as well as the troops between Hebei and Shanxi.

Therefore, Okabe Naozaburo had a hard time recruiting new soldiers. He first recruited the Mongolian garrison, the Shanxi troops, the Shandong troops, and finally the Hebei troops. By the time all the troops were recruited, it was already February of 1943.

1943 was the sixth year since the July Incident.

After all the troops had been recruited, Naosaburo Okabe began to deploy his troops to prepare to recapture Baoding.

In Peiping, the 35st Infantry Regiment was withdrawn from the 221th Division, the 59th Brigade was withdrawn from the 54th Division, and two artillery battalions from the 35th Cavalry Regiment and the 35th Field Artillery Regiment of the 35th Division were added to form the Changdao Detachment.

It's actually a temporary force.

Because the temporary leader of this unit was the Major General Nagashima Tsutomu, the commander of the 54th Brigade, it was called the Nagashima Detachment. Before the 59th Division, except for the 54th Brigade in Tangshan, the division headquarters and the 53rd Brigade were all wiped out.

Although it had been replenished with new soldiers, the 53rd Brigade was not able to fight at all. Therefore, the 59th Division placed its headquarters directly in Tangshan, leaving the 53rd Brigade in Tangshan while the 54th Brigade moved south.

Then, from Shijiazhuang, the 110th and 69th Divisions attacked from the left and right wings respectively to encircle Baoding. Although the Eighth Route Army of Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei had been very brave recently, they would not engage the Japanese army head-on even now.

Hebei's vast plains were particularly vulnerable, as they weren't as mountainous as Chahar and Rehe. Therefore, the Eighth Route Army was extremely cautious in these plains. Therefore, when the main Japanese forces were deployed, the Eighth Route Army troops in various bases chose to avoid them. At most, they would lay mines and launch a surprise attack if the Japanese troops took the mountain roads.

Naosaburo Okabe mobilized more than 50,000 Japanese and puppet troops to march towards Baoding without any concealment.

Chapter 522 Difficulties

Both the National Army and the Eighth Route Army witnessed the large-scale actions of the Japanese and puppet troops.

Pang Bingxun felt the most complicated and helpless.

Damn the Japanese, they can't even enjoy the New Year in peace. They actually sent so many soldiers here just before the New Year.

Pang Bingxun really doesn't want to fight.

It’s not that Pang Bingxun wanted to be a traitor, but because Pang Bingxun was in poor health. When he was young, he was a brave and hardworking man. Pang Bingxun didn’t have any background, and he was able to get to where he is today entirely by relying on his bravery. Without a backstage, how can you get promoted if you don’t fight for your life on the battlefield. Therefore, when Pang Bingxun was young, or when he was in his forties, Pang Bingxun was a fierce general on the battlefield. For example, during the First Zhi-Feng War, Pang Bingxun participated as a general under Cao Kun. He was seriously injured by the Fengtian Army’s artillery bombardment and almost lost his life. And because of this injury, one of his legs had a micro-tumor.

Pang Bingxun, now 64, was no longer physically fit to fight daily. He had repeatedly reported to Chongqing that he wanted to resign and no longer lead troops. However, Chongqing refused and continued to promote him.

That's how he was forced into his current position.

Over 24 Japanese and puppet troops attacked from both the north and south, their target aimed squarely at Baoding. Pang Bingxun immediately appealed to Chongqing for help. Pang Bingxun knew his own business. The th Group Army might have a large number of men and decent weapons, but its combat effectiveness was far inferior to that of the early days of the War of Resistance.

For the past few years, the 24th Group Army has been busy fighting for territory with the Eighth Route Army and figuring out how to raise money. Since their troops weren't directly under the Central Army, and Chongqing's pay wasn't enough, Pang Bingxun turned a blind eye to his troops' lack of resources. Pang Bingxun didn't know exactly how many men the 24th Group Army had at the moment, but he knew the shortage was serious.

There are also four newly reorganized security brigades, which are even less capable of fighting.

Normally this isn't a problem.

But now we have to fight a war, and that's the big problem.

After receiving Pang Bingxun's telegram requesting assistance, Chiang Kai-shek was not panicked at all, but rather very happy. This was because he had wanted to assess the quality of the North China Front Army the previous year. He simply couldn't understand how the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Eighth Route Army had beaten the North China Front Army into such a state of disgrace.

Was it the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Eighth Route Army that was powerful, or was it the North China Front Army that declined?

He must find a reason.

Besides, even if he lost, Chiang Kai-shek was not anxious. He had strategies for victory and for defeat. No matter what happened, Chiang Kai-shek had a plan.

He immediately ordered Sun Lianzhong's Second Army and Sun Tongxuan's Third Army to march north to directly threaten Shijiazhuang and relieve Pang Bingxun in Baoding. He also ordered Chiang Ting-wen and Tang Enbo in Henan to send troops to pretend they were about to cross the river, thus firmly pinning the Japanese 36th Division in northern Henan. If Pang Bingxun and his men performed well in Hebei, Chiang Ting-wen and Tang Enbo would send troops north to seize control of Hebei. If Pang Bingxun failed to perform effectively, they would remain inactive.

For a while, war clouds gathered in Hebei and Henan.

Pang Bingxun didn't want to fight, but he had to, so he began to deploy fortifications in Baoding.

Pang Bingxun is not a Japanese soldier.

The Japanese looked down on the Eighth Route Army, so they used the city wall as a barrier to defend against their attacks. They bullied the Eighth Route Army because they had no heavy weapons. But Pang Bingxun had fought against the Japanese.

The so-called city wall was just a decoration in the face of Japanese artillery fire.

In a real urban attack and defense, the most powerful defenses are always the densely packed fortifications inside and outside the city. Pang Bingxun kept calling for help while preparing for battle.

Chiang Kai-shek also kept giving orders to Sun Lianzhong and Sun Tongxuan.

Let them provide support quickly.

Sun Lianzhong and Sun Tongxuan began to enter southern Hebei and continued northward from southern Hebei, preparing to cooperate with Pang Bingxun.

Unfortunately, the Japanese army was just bluffing at this time.

The Japanese army had previously seemed to be heading north to attack Baoding, but the 110th Division took advantage of the night and suddenly moved south. At the same time, the Japanese tank division, which had just been successfully formed in Xinxiang, moved north to cooperate with the 110th Division to attack Sun Lianzhong's Second Army.

At that time, Sun Lianzhong's Second Army was composed of five armies and some independent brigades. But this time, Sun Lianzhong went north into southeastern Shanxi with only three armies under his command.

30th Army, 55th Army, and 68th Army.

The origins of the 30th Army are rather complex. It was formed by merging the troops that Feng Yuxiang defected to Chiang Kai-shek during the Central Plains Campaign with the former Fourth Army of the Nationalist Army. Broadly speaking, it is the remnant of the Northwest Army.

The 55th Army was Han Fu's unit. After Han Fu was executed, his unit was led by Sun Tongxuan. However, Chiang Kai-shek did not trust Sun Tongxuan, after all, he had executed their leader Han Fu. So Chiang Kai-shek kept withdrawing troops from the Third Army, and the 55th Army left the Third Army. However, Chiang Kai-shek could not go too far, as it would easily lead to a rebellion by the warlords. Therefore, Chiang Kai-shek withdrew the 55th Army from the Third Army and placed it under the command of the Second Army, also a unit of the Northwest Army.

The 68th Army was Liu Ruming's unit. Originally, it was part of the Northwest Army, but later became part of the 29th Army. After the 29th Army withdrew from North China, it was disbanded, and the 68th Army became part of the Second Army Group.

To put it bluntly, the entire Second Army is the remnant of the former Northwest Army.

According to the organization, the Second Army, which had three armies under its command, should have at least 70,000 to 80,000 troops. Even if it was a little less, it should have been 50,000 to 60,000. But in reality, there were not that many troops.

To gain Chiang Kai-shek's support, senior Northwest Army generals like Sun Lianzhong and Liu Ruming had been expressing their loyalty to him. They simply couldn't do otherwise; if they continued fighting like this, their troops would be wiped out.

For example, Liu Ruming's 68th Army had only about 1941 men at its worst in . Some of its divisions suffered heavy casualties, with only to men remaining. While a small number of men could at least allow for recruitment, the shortage of weapons and ammunition was impossible to replenish without support from Chongqing.

In fact, the strategy of Sun Lianzhong and Liu Ruming was successful.

Chiang Kai-shek gradually accepted the Second Army, essentially accepting its surrender. By the end of the war, the Second Army's subordinate armies were strong, especially the 30th and 68th Armies, each with nearly 30000 men.

Unfortunately, it is not now.

Their three armies, plus the newly recruited soldiers they had recruited, totaled only about 110 men. Each army had about men, and their weapons and equipment were not bad. They had never expected the th Division, which was attacking Baoding, to suddenly march south under cover of darkness.

The Japanese army caught them off guard.

Fortunately, Sun Lianzhong was a veteran who had fought on the battlefield for many years, as was Liu Ruming, who had recently been in charge of military affairs. So although they were caught off guard, the troops were able to deploy quickly.

Unfortunately, they did not expect that the Japanese army would also deploy the tank division they had just formed.

As a result, there were huge casualties in an instant.

The troops had no choice but to retreat. As the Second Army retreated, Sun Tongxuan's Third Army had no choice but to follow suit. Compared to the Second Army, Sun Tongxuan's Third Army truly had nothing.

Ever since Han Fuqu was shot, Chiang Kai-shek certainly no longer trusted Han Fuqu's troops.

所以对于第三集团军一直在打压。所以别看孙桐萱的第三集团军名义上是一个集团军，但手底下只有12军一个军。12军下辖第20师、第22师、第81师。这些部队全都加起来，第三集团军也只有14000人左右。第三集团军每个师大约只有4000人左右。

Of course, another reason why Chiang Kai-shek suppressed Sun Tongxuan was that Sun Tongxuan had very good relations with the Eighth Route Army.

Moreover, he had close contacts with the underground party in private.

Very wolfish.

It is completely different from what Chiang Kai-shek thought.

Chiang Kai-shek would never understand that the Eighth Route Army was able to gain a foothold in North China and inflict heavy losses on the North China Front Army because it had established extensive bases in North China. After occupying the rural areas of North China, it even cut off the food supply of the Japanese and puppet troops.

The lifeline of the Japanese and puppet troops was strangled.

It's not just because of the troops.

But Chiang Kai-shek could only think that the Japanese and puppet troops' combat effectiveness was declining too quickly. So he also wanted to take advantage of the situation. He did not expect that Okabe Naosaburo wanted to recapture Baoding, but he did not intend to engage in a full-scale battle in Baoding.

Okabe Naozaburo launched the Baoding Campaign for reasons beyond simply defending the city. The conflict between the North China Front Army and the Eighth Route Army was already intense, and he didn't want any other forces interfering. Seeing the Nationalist forces also trying to gain a share of Hebei's gains, Okabe Naozaburo couldn't be satisfied. Therefore, he planned to use this opportunity to eliminate the Nationalist forces in southeastern and southern Shanxi all at once, completely driving the Nationalist forces north of the Yellow River.

In this way, the Japanese and puppet troops could concentrate their forces to deal specifically with the Eighth Route Army.

To achieve this strategic goal, the Japanese army employed a deceptive tactic. Furthermore, the 37th Division, previously holed up in Jincheng and other areas, deployed its 226th and 227th Infantry Regiments, led by Major General Nakajima Yoshisaburo, to attack southeastern Shanxi. The attack targeted the positions of Sun Lianzhong's Second Army and Sun Tongxuan's Third Army, which were the Nationalist strongholds in southeastern Shanxi and southern Hebei.

Sun Lianzhong's Second Army and Sun Tongxuan's Third Army were thus surrounded by the Japanese army.

After all, the National Army is not the Eighth Route Army.

When faced with this situation, the main force of the Eighth Route Army would choose to disperse and break out before the Japanese army closed in. They would then reunite somewhere else. As long as the unit was not destroyed, even if it was scattered, it could still be reunited. But the Nationalist Army was not like that. If it was scattered, it could only retreat and eventually gather a few small units.

If they were dispersed elsewhere, the troops would be completely destroyed. The Nationalist troops really did not dare to split up, as they would never be able to gather again.

Now Sun Lianzhong and Sun Tongxuan's troops of nearly 50,000 people are in a difficult situation.

Chapter 523 Who wins and who loses

The Japanese army and the National Army's Third Army and Second Army fought in the Handan and Anyang areas.

After the two sides fought, they were both shocked.

Sun Lianzhong and Sun Tongxuan knew they had been deceived and surrounded by the Japanese army. After being attacked by the 110th Division, they suffered heavy casualties. Therefore, they hurriedly set up defensive fortifications.

I thought the troops were going to collapse.

Sun Lianzhong and Sun Tongxuan had fought for so many years and had already prepared for the worst. After all, they both understood that the Japanese army had set a trap to trap them.

This is to completely resolve the issue between the two families.

But after the fight, both Sun Lianzhong and Sun Tongxuan were surprised.

Is this the Japanese army?

Both Sun Lianzhong and Sun Tongxuan had fought against the Japanese for many years. Especially for Sun Lianzhong, the most dangerous moment was the Battle of Xuzhou.

His Second Army had just fought a bloody battle with the Japanese at the Battle of Niangzi Pass, resulting in heavy casualties. Without any reinforcements, they arrived at Taierzhuang and fought the Battle of Taierzhuang.

The Japanese army's combat effectiveness at that time was really strong.

In that battle, the Second Army led by Sun Lianzhong was almost wiped out.

Sun Tongxuan spent his early years fighting in Shandong. This included the Battle of Taierzhuang. Although Han Fuqu's Third Army was under his command, the Nationalist army was short of troops at the time, so Sun Tongxuan led the Third Army into battle. Later, he moved from Shandong to Henan, where he also fought against the Japanese for many years.

Of course, their troops hadn't fought any major battles in the past two years. It should be said that the entire Nationalist army in Henan hadn't fought any major battles in the past two years. If not, Chiang Ting-wen and Tang Enbo wouldn't have been fighting for power in Henan every day.

This time, when engaging the 110th Infantry Regiment, the 110th Division's charging infantry unit, Sun Lianzhong and Sun Tongxuan both noticed a significant decline in their offensive capabilities. Even their artillery equipment was significantly inferior. The 110th Regiment was equipped with only 12 infantry guns for this attack.

Originally, the 110th Division was organized as a four-regiment division, with a field artillery regiment under its direct artillery command, boasting formidable firepower. However, the 110th Division underwent several reorganizations and is now a three-regiment division. Furthermore, the 110th Division has performed poorly in the past two years, with the artillery regiment now commanding only two artillery battalions.

This change in artillery fire was very obvious on the battlefield.

Besides the changes in artillery firepower, the 110th Division's new recruits also saw significant improvements. Due to its frequent involvement in mopping-up operations, the 110th Division was never fully staffed. While its establishment was approximately 14000 men, it typically maintained a strength of around 12000.

Furthermore, the 110th Division had many locations to station, and the mobile forces it could mobilize were only around 7000 to 8000 men. As a result, during the recent Hebei Central Sweep and the Battle of Northern Henan, over 3000 Japanese soldiers were killed or wounded. Furthermore, the Japanese casualties during this period were not only from battlefield casualties, but also from the sick. Even on the Chinese battlefield, half of the Japanese casualties were from battlefield casualties, and the other half were from illness. This was the situation of the 110th Division. Because Japan's finances were becoming increasingly difficult, it could no longer provide the military with the large-scale food supplies it had during the July Incident.