General Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Forces, Shunroku Hata, is very supportive of the upcoming combat operations of the North China Front!

Although there was also a lack of troops in Central China, he still dispatched the 21st Division and the 33rd Division to support this operation.

At the same time, considering the situation in Jin Province and the strength of the defenders at Zhongtiao Mountain, Shunroku Hata communicated with the Kwantung Army immediately.

The commander of the Kwantung Army, Umezu Yoshijiro, once served as the commander of the First Army. Shunroku Arihata came forward in person, and he was very happy.

Not only did Umezu Yoshijiro say that the Puppet Manchukuo Army and the Kwantung Army infantry could be deployed to support the operation, but the aviation and armored forces could also come to support the operation!

With the support of this series of soldiers, Okamura Neji's confidence continues to increase.

So even though he still had some doubts about this parachute operation, for Miyazaki's sake, he still agreed.

Of course, Neji Okamura would not know that the parachute operation he questioned played a key role.

Moreover, this time in the Zhongtiao Mountain battle, there was once again a tragic scene in which the army commander and division commander were killed at the same time and sacrificed their lives for the country.

When Yamamoto Kazuki saw Okamura Neji agreeing, his face was full of excitement, and he hurriedly stated that he would do his best to complete the combat mission.

Miyazaki had a smile on his face on Monday. In his opinion, this battle was a sure win and the victory was completely guaranteed.

At this time, the Japs were constantly gathering combat forces, and the problem of insufficient troops they originally expected was completely solved.

So far, they have initially estimated that they can dispatch about 120,000 infantrymen, equipped with hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles, and hundreds of aircraft to fight.

Among these troops, we do not count the puppet troops drawn from various places to assist in combat operations.

As for Zhongtiao Mountain, it is said that there are 150,000 to 60,000 troops, but in fact there are not so many troops.

The conditions here are very difficult, and many people call it a living hell.

In addition to the different situations of each ministry, such as empty pay, desertion, etc., it would be good if they could actually have 140,000 people.

As for weapons and equipment, since they are not standard direct troops, they naturally will not receive much care.

In fact, you can imagine that Zhongtiao Mountain has restrained the strength of the four divisions and prevented them from moving.

But to put it another way, Zhongtiao Mountain was besieged for a long time by four divisions of the Little Japanese.

To their south is the Yellow River, which makes it difficult to transport materials. Even if there are 140,000 people, they will consume a lot of food and drink every day.

Moreover, this is a dangerous mountainous area, so just drinking water is a big problem.

It can be said that the little devil has made sufficient preparations for this battle.

At this time, some of the main forces of the Zhongtiao Mountain garrison were being transferred away, and the commander of the theater, Wei Junru, who had a lot of command experience, was still not there.

Although the Chief of Staff He Jingzhi gradually arrived as the Japs continued to be mobilized, he did not understand the situation on the front line.

Moreover, He Jingzhi has been in a high position for a long time and directly commanding troops in combat is obviously not what he is good at.

At the end of June, with the abnormal mobilization of the little devils in various places and the comprehensive intelligence from all aspects, the battle in southern Shanxi was about to start.

He Jingzhi successively convened operational meetings with officers above the military level of the first, second, and fifth theater zones in the capital of Henan Province.

At this time, they had already determined that the First Army of Jin Province would seize the strongholds in Zhongtiao Mountain one by one in an attempt to completely eliminate the defenders on the north bank of the Yellow River.

Looking at the overall situation, once the Japanese army captures the north bank of the Yellow River, it will coordinate with the 14th Division in eastern Henan and attack Henan and Shaanxi provinces.

In the next few days, they began to discuss response plans.

At this time, in the independent regiment's garrison, as the battle in southern Shanxi was about to break out, they were also receiving orders to prepare for the war one after another.

Regiment leader Li Yunlong and chief of staff Lu Ming went to the brigade headquarters several times for meetings.

Although the brigade commander did not express it clearly, both Li Yunlong and Lu Ming understood what the brigade commander meant.

The current total strength of the independent regiment is close to 4,000, and it has strong troops and even two artillery battalions.

Such a powerful force, no matter where it is placed, is a fighting force that cannot be ignored, so the independent regiment has the possibility of going south to fight.

"Old Li, Lu Ming, do you think the brigade headquarters is too worried?"

"There are hundreds of thousands of troops in Zhongtiao Mountain. Even if a war breaks out, the Japs may not be able to win."

"Didn't you say that the little devils have fought many times before, but they still failed to knock this place down?"

In the headquarters of the Independent Regiment, Zhao Gang glanced at the map and said with a puzzled expression on his face.

By now, the atmosphere of the war has become very thick, as if the air is filled with the smell of gunpowder smoke.

In two days, Lu Ming followed Li Yunlong to the brigade headquarters three times.

Before going to the brigade headquarters, the brigade commander asked about the situation of the independent regiment and introduced the relevant situation in southern Shanxi.

These few times, the brigade commander did not hide anything and introduced in detail the situation of Taiyue and Taihang Mountains near Zhongtiao Mountain.

Especially this time, the brigade commander revealed a very important signal.

The 386th Brigade currently serves as the Taiyue Military Region, and the brigade commander also serves as the commander of the Taiyue Military Region.

However, the three military divisions under the Taiyue Military Region are not very strong, and some military divisions only have more than 2,000 people.

Even for a military division with three to four thousand people, the weapons and equipment are not good enough.

The brigade commander's original words were that he had been a regiment commander for more than ten years, and now he was the commander of a military division with at least two to three thousand men.

You, Li Yunlong, have been the group leader for so many years, it’s time to change your position.

This meaning is obvious, so after Li Yunlong and Lu Ming came back, they focused on the situation in Taiyue Mountain.

Political Commissar Zhao Gang had a puzzled expression on his face. He felt that even if the fighting started in the southern Shanxi region, the situation might not be so bad.

"Old Zhao, the situation may be more serious than you think."

"What kind of vision does the brigade commander have? Let me tell you, our brigade commander is no ordinary person."

"Moreover, there are big changes on the Zhongtiao Mountain side. They may not be able to hold on this time."

Li Yunlong said with a serious expression. He looked at the map and frowned tightly.

Wei Junru, who has rich command experience, went to accompany the capital to report on his duties.

The Fourth Army, known as the Iron Chain of Zhongtiao Mountain, was mobilized and left.

And this time the troops gathered by the little devils exceeded everyone's imagination!

Of course, what Li Yunlong and others do not know is that the decision for the independent regiment troops to go to the southern Shanxi area was not decided by the brigade commander, but by the headquarters.

How strong the independent regiment is now, with three infantry battalions, two artillery battalions, one armored cavalry battalion, directly under the assault guard company, and sniper company.

Among other things, there are two artillery battalions with twenty artillery pieces, as well as Schneider 85MM field guns and Brand 120MM mortars.

Such artillery can't be compared not only with the artillery of the brigade headquarters and division headquarters, but also with the headquarters artillery regiment.

As for their weapons and equipment, not to mention a large number of light and heavy machine guns and automatic weapons.

You must know that the division has recently formed a cavalry regiment, and even the division commander's mount has been incorporated into the cavalry regiment.

But when we went up to the headquarters and down to the brigade headquarters, no one or the independent regiment reached out.

There is a reason for this!

The battle at Zhongtiao Mountain is imminent, and there is a possibility of losing the place at any time.

Once Zhongtiao Mountain is lost, the consequences will be disastrous.

First, no one knows whether the Japs will take advantage of the situation to cross the river and directly attack Henan and Shaanxi provinces.

Shaanxi Province has agencies that are tens of millions of times more important than the headquarters, so there cannot be any mistakes.

Second, even if the Japs don't fight across the river, they just deal with the defenders of Zhongtiao Mountain.

But once the defenders of Zhongtiao Mountain were eliminated, the First Army would be able to free up at least three divisions.

Once these three divisions are freed up, they will definitely deal with the Eighth Route Army.

Therefore, transferring strong independent regiments to the southern Shanxi area at this time can have the greatest impact.

So until now, everyone wants to transfer their weapons and equipment, but no one can.

Because the next combat mission that the independent regiment will undertake will be very difficult.

Li Yunlong and others were discussing inside the regiment headquarters, and time passed by bit by bit.

As night falls, the lanterns come on.

At around ten o'clock in the evening, Lu Ming had returned to his room and was ready to rest, but the messenger from the regiment headquarters came over.

After receiving the notice from the messenger, Lu Ming hurried to the regiment headquarters.

At this time, here at the regiment headquarters, the brigade commander and the chief of staff were sitting on chairs.

Li Yunlong and Zhao Gang were on the side. After Lu Ming came over, they looked at Lu Ming one after another.

Lu Ming saluted, and the brigade commander personally read out the brigade's appointment.

The independent regiment has four recruit companies. If these four recruit companies are included, the independent regiment's combat strength is more than 4,000 people.

This time, the brigade commander personally brought more than a hundred elite veterans.

These veterans mixed with four recruit companies, disrupted the organization, and formed five recruit companies.

At the same time, these five recruit companies were organized into a combat supplementary battalion. Lu Ming, the chief of staff of the independent regiment, also served as the battalion commander of the combat supplementary battalion.
To be continued...