The little devils speculated that the Taiyue Mountain Corps might continue to move south, so they built river defense positions along the south banks of Fenhe and Huihe rivers.

Moreover, they felt that the Taiyue Mountain Corps was likely to launch operations on the west side, after all, the west side had the least number of Japanese troops to attack.

During the defense, their main force was also gathered here on the west side.

The 23rd and 24th Regiments of the Puppet Manchu Army and the 21st and 35th Cavalry Regiments are in Jiangcheng!

The third independent brigade was formed, and the armored units were in Zhangjiashan and Lijiashan.

This place is very close to Jiangcheng, and we can quickly provide support at any time.

In particular, the fifty tanks and armored vehicles of the armored force can maneuver to the battlefield in the shortest time to support operations.

However, following the traitor's report, the Japs immediately realized that the most elite Li Yunlong Independent Regiment had actually maneuvered towards the east.

This made the little devils very confused. It was difficult for them to judge what they wanted to do for a while.

More than 20,000 troops from the 27th Army and the 358th Regiment seemed to be preparing to attack Zhangjiashan and Lijiashan.

More than 5,000 troops of the guerrilla detachment moved toward the east side of the battlefield, and the specific combat operations are unknown.

After the North China Front Army Headquarters received the news, Okamura Neiji and others quickly discussed it.

In the end, they speculated that Li Yunlong's troops were probably planning to open a gap from the east side to break through the Japanese and puppet defense lines.

Therefore, the North China Front Army Headquarters quickly mobilized troops to strengthen the defense on the east side.

The 21st Cavalry Regiment and the 35th Cavalry Regiment quickly moved toward Tianchi Mountain and Yangcheng to provide support.

At the same time, more than a thousand troops from the 23rd Regiment of the Puppet Manchu Army quickly advanced to the Zhangjiashan area to assist in defense!

The little devils gathered the main force of the river defense troops in the central and east areas and made full defense preparations.

In addition, the Little Japanese reconnaissance plane was dispatched first to conduct a detailed investigation of the actions of Li Yunlong's troops.

Bombers also began to take off from nearby airports, getting ready to bomb the guerrilla detachment.

The advance of the guerrilla detachment began to slow with the appearance of bombers, but the troops dispersed operations to avoid heavy casualties.

At this time, the guerrilla detachment's strategy was to push to Qinshui City, then advance to Yangcheng, and then contain the little Japanese in Tianchi Mountain.

The terrain here in Tianchi Mountain is mountainous, which is not conducive to guerrilla detachment operations.

After all, the guerrilla detachment has armored vehicle battalions and cavalry battalions. In mountainous areas, these troops cannot exert their strongest firepower.

At the same time, the field artillery in the three artillery battalions is relatively heavy and is currently dragged by mules and horses.

If you travel through mountainous terrain, the speed of these artillery pieces will be even slower, and you may even have to take detours in some places.

On the contrary, the terrain from Qinshui City to Yangcheng is relatively flat, which is conducive to the guerrilla detachment's accelerated march.

"Boom, boom, boom." Aerial bombs continued to fall, and deafening explosions sounded one after another.

Huge deep pits began to appear on the ground, but because the guerrilla detachments were relatively scattered, their bombing did not achieve the expected results.

The Little Japanese Air Force gradually discovered that their air strikes could not bring too many casualties to the guerrilla detachment, so they had to cancel the bombing.

After all, the little devil's resources are very limited, so most of these aerial bombs are purchased.

Unable to achieve results, they naturally cannot continue bombing endlessly.

The bombers stopped their bombing operations, but the reconnaissance planes still paid close attention to the actions of the guerrilla detachment.

At the same time, the village maintenance committees supported by the Japs were mobilized, and a large number of traitors continued to spy on the whereabouts of the guerrilla detachments.

At this time, in the Tianchi Mountain area, the Japanese army was independently organized into the 16th Brigade and Regiment Headquarters.

Major General Heiji Wakamatsu, commander of the brigade, stood in front of the map with a serious expression on his face.

At this time, he had 6,000 Japanese puppet troops, 2,000 cavalry troops, and 2,000 mechanized troops on paper, with a total strength of 10,000.

The task given to them by the North China Front Army was to ensure the safety of the line from Tianchi Mountain to Yangcheng, cover the east line of Zhongtiao Shandong, and the main force of the Japanese army on the northeast line.

Although he had 10,000 troops at his disposal, and there were 4,000 mobile troops at his disposal, Wakamatsu Heiji's expression was solemn at this time.

Because he had already received the news that what he wanted to deal with was the famous Li Yunlong Independent Regiment in Jin Province.

This unit successively achieved great results in Jin Province and caused great losses to the Japanese army in Jin Province.

In the previous battle at Roudingshan, they even cooperated with the 27th Army and other troops to directly annihilate the independent ninth brigade!

Facing such a force, Wakamatsu Heiji didn't have much confidence in winning.

All he could do was to hold on to his position as much as possible and buy more time for the main force.

After all, the main force of the Japs only needs to deal with hundreds of thousands of troops in Zhongtiao Mountain, and then they can completely free up their hands to deal with the Independent Regiment and other troops.

"Your Excellency, Brigade Commander, according to the aviation report, Li Yunlong's troops are currently preparing to advance towards Qinshui City."

"According to the previous battle report, they are also a reinforced regiment with armored troops, cavalry and artillery."

"These troops are not suitable for fighting in mountainous terrain, so they are likely to pass through Qinshui City to attack Yangcheng."

"After the Yangcheng troops are eliminated, they will attack us here, thus threatening our main force."

The brigade chief of staff came to Wakamatsu Heiji and said with a solemn expression on his face.

The North China Front had given the general combat direction and specific troop formations, so naturally they would not interfere.

First, they need to command hundreds of thousands of little devils to fight in Zhongtiao Mountain, and there are many things that need to be dealt with.

Secondly, they do not understand the actual situation on the front line. If they just look at the map and deploy, they will inevitably make mistakes.

In the end, if they have to make detailed deployments for each brigade, the North China Front Army Headquarters will be completely unable to operate.

Therefore, the front army headquarters only gave them the combat policy of holding the front line from Tianchi Mountain to Yangcheng, but they did not make any specific arrangements for the deployment.

At present, Wakamatsu Heiji has deployed 2,000 Japanese puppet troops in Yangcheng, and they are equipped with four field guns.

Two thousand Japanese puppet troops were deployed in Tianchi Mountain, equipped with eight mountain cannons. This was also where their brigade and regiment headquarters were located.

Another two thousand Japanese puppet troops were deployed in Lishan as a reserve force.

The 36th Search Wing and the 37th Search Wing are deployed in Ciying Town!

Ciying Town is located in the north of Yangcheng and is the only way to enter Tianchi Mountain and Lishan Mountain.

Two search wings are deployed here to connect various ministries.

At the same time, they are mechanized troops on paper and can quickly maneuver to support operations.

After the 21st Cavalry Regiment and the 35th Cavalry Regiment arrived on the battlefield, Wakamatsu Heiji deployed them in the Lishan area.

In this case, Wakamatsu Heiji has a reserve team of 4,000 people, which is not weak at all.

Wakamatsu Heiji's original idea was to block attacks layer by layer and gradually consume the attacking troops.

But with the emergence of guerrilla detachments, his layers of resistance were obviously impossible.

After all, the guerrilla detachment has a strong combat effectiveness, and if deployed in this way, it may be annihilated one by one.

Moreover, the guerrilla detachment is good at encircling points for reinforcements, and the two search units deployed in Ciying Town are almost their living targets.

"Your Excellency, Brigade Commander, should we send troops to take the lead in controlling the highlands around Qinshui City?"

"After their main force enters the Qinshui City area, we may be able to gain victory by attacking from the surrounding highlands."

"And there is only one road from Qinshui City to Yangcheng suitable for their advancement. We can block this road."

"At the very least, we can block them in Qinshui City and prevent them from moving forward."

The brigade's chief of staff on the left saw that Wakamatsu Heiji had not spoken for a long time. He pointed at the map and said with a serious expression on his face.

This suggestion is very good. Qinshui City is surrounded by mountains, making it easy to attack but difficult to defend.

The little devils quickly controlled the surrounding high ground, and when the guerrilla detachment came here, they would face attacks from the commanding heights.

If the guerrilla detachment wanted to go to Yangcheng, they could only bite the bullet and come to Qinshui City.

Otherwise, they can only go to Tianchi Mountain!

Moreover, there is only one main road from Qinshui City to Yangcheng that is suitable for the main force of the guerrilla detachment.

There are also highlands on both sides of this road, which is very suitable for blocking operations.

The staff of the Little Devils are all of high quality, and the advice from the left chief of staff of the independent 16th Brigade is very good.

However, Wakamatsu Heiji had a thoughtful expression on his face and did not express his position for a long time.

This suggestion is good, but it requires the investment of a lot of troops, almost a decisive battle with the guerrilla detachment.

If you want to carry out such a plan, not to mention two or three thousand troops, even four or five thousand troops will not be able to ensure an advantage.

They must deploy at least seven to eight thousand troops to control the highlands in order to ensure sufficient advantages.

However, the seven to eight thousand troops are the majority of the ten thousand troops controlled by Wakamatsu Heiji.

These troops were mobilized to fight in Qinshui City, leaving the line from Tianchi Mountain to Yangcheng completely empty.

If any troops take action at this time, they can instantly open the front-line positions from Tianchi Mountain to Yangcheng.

Speaking of which, Tianchi Mountain and Lishan Mountain are very important. This is where the main force of the Japanese army on the eastern and northeastern fronts lies.

Once this area is lost, the main Japanese forces behind these two lines will be in danger, which will directly affect the Zhongtiao Mountain battle.
To be continued...