From the southwestern Shandong border into Dongming, southern Hebei, and then cross the former Yellow River road to Changyuan, the distance between them is only about 100 kilometers. The third army took less than four hours from departure to arriving at Changyuan and annihilation of the enemy's 9th Brigade!

Subsequently, Wu Deqing and Zhou Ziqian divided into two groups: one was the main force of the army led by Wu Deqing, heading west from Changyuan to Jiyuan, two hundred kilometers away, to completely block the retreat route of the Japanese army through Hebei; one was the two divisions, two brigades and artillery divisions led by Zhou Ziqian, and the heavy artillery regiments were carried on from Changyuan to the northwest, and deployed along the Qi River to prevent the Japanese army from moving south in North China and to prepare for northward...

After the 9th Brigade was eliminated, Ji, Hua, Qi and other counties had only less than one brigade of Japanese troops, and this amount of force was not enough to stop Zhou Ziqian's troops from moving. At around 11:30, Zhou Ziqian's troops controlled the south bank of Qi River and established a defense line between Qi, Hua, Changyuan and the old road of the Yellow River.

"Send a report to the Group Army and the War Zone Command that our department has successfully controlled the designated areas and is ready to welcome the enemy." Zhou Ziqian gave the accompanying staff a dictator, "It is recommended that the War Zone Command send cadres to accept the local area as soon as possible, rebuild the counties and township governments and provide relief to the victims..."

Zhou Ziqian's troops were the first to achieve the predetermined battle goals, which made Gu Haichuan and others who were waiting for news ahead in the Jinan War Zone Command very happy. The other departments were not slow to move. Just around noon, the Wudeqing troops of the Third Group Army, as well as the Jiang Bin and Ye Sheng troops of the First Group Army, all sent back exciting news one after another.

Although there is a distance of more than 200 kilometers from Changyuan to Jiyuan, the south bank of the Yellow River is controlled by the Japanese army, and there are two brigades of the 1st Army of the North China Front Army in southeastern Shanxi, and the 9th brigade of the Japanese army in the east. In addition, there are railways and highways available in the local area, and the Japanese army only deployed several brigades of troops in this area.

The weak enemy's troops and convenient transportation made the Wude Qing army's advance smoothly. By about 1:00 in the afternoon, the vanguard of the armored division of the Third Group Army arrived in Jiyuan. At this point, the northern Henan area north of the Yellow River and south of the Qi River had all fallen into the control of the guards.

The Third Army took the lead in achieving the purpose of the battle and completing the mission of blocking the north bank of the Yellow River. In contrast, Jiang Bin and Ye Sheng, the first Army, did not act slowly.

With the cooperation of the Air Force, around 12:30 noon, the First Army of the Guards advanced after more than seven hours of attack. Not only did they successfully break through the defense line of the 7th Brigade of the Japanese Mixed Brigade and control the Yellow River Iron Bridge in Kaifeng, but they also rushed to Xingze on the south bank of the 15th Brigade of the Japanese Mixed Brigade through the Yellow River Iron Bridge in Pinghan Line. This opened the gateway for the First Army to go south to Zhengzhou, laying the foundation for the southward and westward advance along the Pinghan Line and Longhai Line.

"It's so satisfying to break through the enemy's depth of more than 200 kilometers in one breath and successfully seize two iron bridges!" After learning that the Pinghan Line iron bridge had been taken down, Jiang Bin, who led his troops from Kaifeng, laughed and said after seeing Ye Sheng, "We must thank Su Lei and the others well. If it weren't for the close cooperation of the Air Force brothers, we might be busy building bridges now!"

"Well, without the Air Force, we can't get to Xingze so quickly without the Air Force destroying the Japanese near the two iron bridges. We must thank them so well." Ye Sheng nodded in agreement and reminded him, "Laojiang, with these two iron bridges connecting Zhengzhou and Kaifeng, do you still need to rush to build the floating bridge on the new Yellow River? It's the time for Liuling, and it's quite difficult to build a bridge!"

"It's difficult, but the floating bridge still needs to be built." Jiang Bin explained, "It is estimated that the connection between the northwest along the Longhai Line will be realized in at most ten days and half a month, but it takes a lot of time to resume transportation on the Longhai Line. During this period, when the materials and personnel are dispatched east and west through Zhengzhou to Kaifeng, they have to set a big circle from the north of the Yellow River. Not to mention the distance, it is probably difficult to meet the needs of transporting a large amount of materials by relying on two iron bridges alone. In addition, it is necessary to open a channel."

After pausing, Jiang Bin said again: "I left Chief Qiu with the 15th Division and the Engineer Corps under the Group while building a floating bridge. 1(1) Take the opportunity to take control of all areas east of the Yellow River and south of the former Yellow River route, and ensure the smooth transportation of materials in the rear. From this, the Japanese devils heading south and west will have to solve the problem."

After the 7th Brigade of Mixed Brigade was eliminated, there were only a few places left in the eastern Henan area east of the Yellow River Flood. The Japanese and puppet troops stationed in small groups, plus a small number of Japanese troops, it was not a problem for Qiu Ziping to pacify several counties in eastern Henan with an elite division of more than 20,000 people.

As for setting up a floating bridge, although there are Liuling now, it is more difficult, but there are sufficient materials prepared by the First Group Army in advance. In addition, the convenience of material transportation brought about by the section of Kaifeng to resume operation in the Longhai Line, it will take at most a few days.

After taking over civil rights, the Longhai Railway section, which was previously interrupted by the confrontation between the enemy and us, entered a tense recovery construction. After it was restored, the Longhai Line between Kaifeng and Lianyungang will be fully restored to traffic and can be connected with railways in Shandong through the Jinpu Road and other sections. Therefore, not only the iron-shell barges that were originally unable to be transported through the highway can be transported directly from Laiwu Gangcheng to Kaifeng through railways for use in erecting pontoon bridges, but other military supplies and civilian disaster relief materials can also be transported to eastern Henan, northern Henan and other places controlled by the guards through railways. This also provides guarantees for the follow-up operations of the People's Party and local recovery work.

"With Lao Qiu here, it is not a problem to solve the remaining enemies in eastern Henan or to build a floating bridge!" Ye Sheng smiled happily and said, "Lao Jiang, I think we will take action separately after lunch. I led my troops to move westward to Heyin, Sishui and other places, striving to cross the Yiluo River at night, and fortunately advance to Luoyang tomorrow, and to resolve the Japanese 59th Division. From here, you will have to solve it south, including Zhengzhou, Xinzheng, Xuchang, and even Yancheng."

"We have to solve the problem before the Japanese react, otherwise we may not be able to advance so quickly! That's it!" Jiang Bin thought for a while, but reminded, "There is only one 4th cavalry brigade in Zhengzhou. I have two divisions on my side, and the two brigades plus most of the artillery divisions. It's no problem to solve the old Japanese Ichiming, Ohara. You are facing the 59th Division, and you may also encounter the Japanese army withdrawn from Guanzhong, so be more careful!"

Although he knew that the Japanese army suffered heavy damage in Guanzhong, it was not very likely to advance east along the Longhai Line, Ye Sheng was still grateful to Jiang Bin's reminder and said with a smile: "There is no big problem. You Lao Jiang is in the east, and Lao Wu and the others are there on the north bank of the Yellow River. In addition, Xu and Dong are coming out of Guandong. If the Japanese really dare to come, we will let their entire army be destroyed!"

The two armies of the Guards could advance two or three hundred kilometers in about half a day. Although these two units had strong troops, strong firepower, sharp tactics, and caught the Japanese off guard, they also had a lot to do with the main force of the Japanese 12th Army participating in the Xi'an operation, eastern Henan and northern Henan's forces being too weak. If the three divisions and four brigades were deployed in eastern Henan and northern Henan at one time, even if the air force cooperated, the Guards' operations would not be so smooth!

However, as time goes by, the People's Army and Guards' east-west situation have emerged, and the Japanese army will definitely not sit still and wait for death. Among them, the first to make adjustments and deployments were Yoshimu Shichiichi on the front line of Guanzhong, and two old Japanese devils at Tuqiao at a time.

By around noon, the second and third armies of the People's Army had been fully pressed, forcing the Japanese army to retreat one after another.

Among them, Xu Mingyi's troops in the Second Army left some troops to cooperate with the third army on the north bank of the Wei River to annihilate the 3rd Japanese division. The main force had crossed the Ba River and attacked Lintong. The armored division of Dong Bicheng's troops of the Third Army had crossed Gaoling and advanced to the Gushi area across the river from Weinan.

In order to prevent the People's Army from crossing Henan and cutting off its retreat route, Yoshimu Shinichi and Tuqiao once reached a rare agreement. After receiving a telegram from Gao Qiaodae Er, the commander of the 3rd Division, he moved the command center to Huayin to command the battles in Lintong and the north bank of the Wei River in front.

Throughout the morning, Shinichi Yoshimu and Tuqiao were either avoiding air strikes from the People's Army or leading the command to move forward to the rear, so they failed to get news about the escort troops going west in time. It was not until around noon that the two old Japanese men settled in Huayin that they learned from the emergency telegram of the 4th Cavalry Brigade stationed in Zhengzhou that the northern Henan, eastern Henan and other places were lost, and the escort troops arrived in Zhengzhou. This news was like a slap. They immediately missed the two old Japanese men, Jimu and Tuqiao!

Not to mention that the powerful armed armed forces of the People's Party can fire artillery while moving, the existing anti-tank firepower of the Japanese army is ineffective against its attacks! This means that each armored cluster is equivalent to hundreds of "artillery groups" that are not afraid of Japanese firepower but can quickly deploy! Its powerful attack power is beyond the reach of the Japanese army now! With such a "artillery group", it is enough for Ringgit, and the two old Japanese devils of Tuqiao can't stand it, but according to the news from the east and west, the People's Party armed forces dispatched at least four such "artillery groups" in this battle! That is more than a thousand 105-caliber tank guns!

In addition, the other large and large artillery deployed by the People's Party in this battle, as well as hundreds of air strikes that were launched and bombed were one or two hours. This made Yoshimu and Tobashi shudder when they thought about it!

"Tuqiaojun, due to the strong intervention of the People's Party's armed forces, the Xi'an battle has been defeated. Judging from the relevant information, the People's Party's troops dispatched this time should be more than 400,000! Moreover, the People's Army and the Guards are rushing towards our Xi'an combat troops in the east and west. The People's Party's armed forces annihilate our main force, control the relevant areas of Henan and Shaanxi, and open up the Longhai Line, is very obvious! We must make adjustments!" Jimuzhen sighed with sorrow, "If it is delayed, the more than 200,000 elite imperial troops in Xi'an will be in danger of being destroyed!"

"After being attacked by the People's Army, we asked Commander Okamura for tactical guidance, but the front army had no order to withdraw troops except to insist on waiting for aid." Tohashi no longer had the intention of competing with Yoshimu Shin-chan and said frowningly, "At present, all we can do is to temporarily suspend the attack on southern Shaanxi, draw the 40th and 58th Divisions to Luoyang, and with the 59th Division to withstand the westward advance of the guards. The Guanzhong troops retreated one after another."

There were eleven divisions and two brigades used by the Japanese army for the Battle of Xi'an. After taking Tongguan, six divisions and one chariot cluster entered Guanzhong to fight. Among the other five divisions, the 59th Division was stationed in Luoyang, responsible for the safety of railways and roads between Zhengzhou and Tongguan, and cleared out the defeated soldiers of the First War Zone in Songshan, Luohe, Yihe and other places; the 60th Division was deployed in Laohekou area to maintain the connection between Xiangyang and the 11th Army in Central China, and prevent the fifth War Zone Li Zongren's troops from making a comeback from northwestern Hubei; the 69th Division was deployed between Hangu Pass, Lu and Xichuan to maintain the rear of the Japanese army attacking southern Shaanxi, and prevent the remnants of the First War Zone in the mountains in southwestern Henan; the 40th and 58th Divisions were fighting in Shangnan and Wuguan areas.

"Tuqiao, please be honest, with the advancement speed of the guards and the attacks of the People's Party Air Force, the 40th and 58th Divisions are now drawn to reinforce Luoyang, and it is probably too late to go to time!" Jimu thought for a moment, shook his head and said further. "Now the north bank of the Yellow River has been lost. The guards there can cross the river south at any time and attack Luoyang with the troops advancing from Xingzexi. Under this circumstance, Luoyang is no longer defended! It is better to order the 59th Division to retreat to Shixia, let the 40th and 58th Divisions increase defenses to Lingbao and Hangu Pass, and the 69th Division defend the Lu family. In this way, our troops can withstand the guards for at least a while, waiting for the orders from the front and dispatched troops, and at the same time retain a way to retreat to central China!"

"Are you saying that the front army is no longer able to reinforce?" Tobashi was stunned for a moment, feeling bitter.

"Tuqiao, you should know that for Xi'an, the front army's troops have been used to the extreme." Yoshimu nodded slightly and said with a serious expression, "Unless the troops from the Kanto Army can be obtained in time, it will be difficult for the Commander Okamura to send troops to reinforce. Without foreign aid, if our troops retreat to Luoyang and fight with the guards, the People's Army will follow up later! This will cause the 200,000 elite imperial troops to be surrounded by the People's Party armed forces!"

"Although what Yoshimu Jun said makes sense, Luoyang cannot be abandoned lightly!" Toohashi did not fully agree with Yoshimu's opinion once, but said, "The attack on southern Shaanxi can be temporarily suspended. The 40th and 58th divisions can also be transferred to Lingbao and Hangu Pass, but the final stay and departure of our troops will be decided by the front army and the dispatched army! We will still send the details to the Commander Okamura!"

Tuqiao was not stupid once. The 59th Division was under its 12th Army. If the 59th Division fled without fighting and abandoned Luoyang at a critical moment, even if it escaped from the Tiantian in the future, Tuqiao would face the blame from the front, dispatched troops and even the Japanese base camp.

Just as the two old Japanese devils at Yoshiki Satoichi and Tobashi were worried about the sharp deterioration of the battle situation and were waiting for Okamura's orders, the battle between the second and third armies of the People's Army encircled and annihilated the 3rd division of the Japanese army began!

The remnants of the 3rd Division, under the command of the division commander Gao Qiaodaeji, retreated to the mudflats on the north bank of the Wei River early on the 9th, and although the People's Army's heavy equipment was not suitable for fighting in the soft areas of the river beach, the situation of this group of Japanese troops did not improve at all.

With the eastward advance of Dong Bicheng's troops of the Third Army of the People's Army, especially after the armored troops of Song Wei captured Gaoling and advanced eastward along the north bank of the Wei River, the retreat route of the 3rd Division along the river bank was cut off.

To the north are the 34th Division of the People's Army's Mofang and the 35th Division of the Artillery Division, and to the south are the Wei River, east and west, and the main force of the Third Army of the People's Army. The Second Army of the People's Army appeared on the south bank of the Wei River, and there was no ferry available in the hands of the Japanese army, which completely fell into despair!

Knowing that his troops could not escape the fate of destruction, Gao Qiaodaoji also issued an order to "fight to the death" and "suffer the country through shattering the jade" to the remaining troops, and was ready to take the lead in attacking.

"Your Excellency, launching an attack now is not conducive to the use of the enemy's chariots, but our troops attack from the river beach is also unfavorable. For example, the artillery corps and artillery belonging to the infantry corps are difficult to move. Should I take the opportunity to break through when it is frozen in the evening? That will be more beneficial." Major General Tang Zhenze, the commander of the 3rd Infantry Regiment, reminded.

"Tang Zhenjun, under the current circumstances, it is impossible for our division to break through the People's Army's heavy army blockade! It's time for us to serve the Empire and His Majesty!" Gao Qiao Duohe Er shook his head and said without doubt, "After the earth is frozen, it will indeed be beneficial to our troops' attacks, but it is more conducive to the enemy's heavy equipment and heavy firepower! Now launching an attack outside will be even more unfavorable to the enemy! As for the existing artillery of our division, there is no need to move. Order the artillery to blow up the artillery after the artillery shells!"

"Your Excellency, I understand!" Tang Zhence nodded heavily and said with a ferocious face, "Even if the fish dies, you will be able to break the net!"

It also costs money to break the net to the death. At least, it also requires the fish's strength to break the net. Compared with the remnants of the Japanese 3rd Division, which were prepared to encircle and annihilate it, the remnants of the 3rd Division were inferior to the leader of the People's Army in terms of military strength and firepower, and it was not enough to threaten the People's Army on both sides of the Wei River.

As soon as the Japanese artillery opened fire, Gong Qingbin, the commander of the 34th Division of the Japanese army on the north bank of the Wei River, couldn't help but curse: "**! I couldn't open fire, these ***s actually started to take action first! Order the troops to prepare for anti-aircraft artillery, and after calibrating the enemy's artillery position, all the artillery fired together! See who's the artillery is more powerful!"

"Old Gong, it's not enough for us to open fire alone. We also need to communicate with the brothers of the Second Army of the South Bank and open fire together!" Deputy Division Commander Xiao Songshi suggested, "Use heavy firepower to make this group of Japanese devils into sandwich biscuits!"

The artillery positions set up by the 34th Division and other units on the north bank of the Wei River are located in the northeast of the 3rd Division of the Japanese Army, while the position of the 25th Division of the Artillery of the Second Army on the South Bank is located in the southeast of the 3rd Division. There is an angle between the firepowers of both sides, and their respective firing boundaries have been calibrated in advance, so there is no risk of attacking each other by mistake.

"Okay! That's it!" Gong Qingbin nodded and reminded him, "After the shelling, our troops should not rush to clean the battlefield. After the freezing overnight, we will clean up tomorrow morning! It is estimated that by then, even if the Japanese are lucky enough to die, they will be frozen to the point, which can prevent unnecessary casualties from the brothers. But everyone should be more strict tonight!"


Chapter completed!