Lu Ming commanded the assault detachment to enter the Hengzhen area to fight, causing thousands of losses to the Japanese army, which was unexpected by the North China Front Army Headquarters.

Moreover, they also knew that with the emergence of guerrilla detachments, the Japanese and puppet troops responsible for attacking Zhongtiao Mountain were being defeated one after another at their hands.

In order to prevent them from entering Zhongtiao Mountain to support operations, the Japanese army also deployed a large number of troops for defense.

After these troops were transferred and left, the battle at Zhongtiao Mountain was still affected to some extent.

After all, three independent mixed brigades left, which is more than 10,000 troops.

Even after paying such casualties, they still failed to stop them, which made the North China Front Army Headquarters very dissatisfied.

Major General Shigeyuki Watanabe, commander of the third independent mixed brigade, is obviously going to take the blame. If he had not taken the initiative, he would not have had these problems.

But Okamura Neji looked directly at the map with a thoughtful expression on his face.

He knew that now was not the time to hold people accountable, but to quickly solve the problems before him.

Otherwise, allowing Lu Ming to command the troops to continue fighting in Zhongtiao Mountain may affect the overall operation.

"Your Excellency, Commander, as their troops continue to fight, the number of Zhongtiao Mountain defenders who have taken the opportunity to break out has obviously increased."

"They mainly dispersed to break out to the north and crossed the Yellow River towards the Henan Province area. Our combat plan has been affected."

"The joint operations of Li Yunlong's troops, the 27th Army's troops, and Chu Yunfei's troops have caused us a lot of trouble. We must deal with them completely!"

"Especially Li Yunlong's troops. They are well-equipped with weapons and equipment and have strong combat effectiveness. As long as they are defeated, other troops will not be a concern."

"So I suggest that we assemble a large group of troops in the Lishan and Tianchishan areas to fight. First, we can completely annihilate them by going deep into the army alone."

"Then we will conduct a blockade and take the opportunity to completely eliminate the main force of Li Yunlong's troops in the Qinshui City area."

Deputy Chief of Staff Miyazaki came to Okamura Neiji on Monday and made direct suggestions.

Okamura Neji hesitated slightly, then nodded directly.

Soon, the North China Front Army Headquarters quickly started discussions on this basis.

They decided to quickly deal with Lu Ming's assault detachment, and then deal with Li Yunlong's main force.

At two o'clock in the morning on the 13th, the North China Front Army Headquarters began to issue combat orders.

The 41st Division fighting on the northern front began to advance towards Moli Town, Hengshui Town, and Yuanqu City.

Their mission was to blockade the defenders in the area south of Zhongtiao Mountain and prevent them from breaking out to the north.

At the same time, they stationed in Meili Town and other towns, forming a blockade on Mount Li from the west and south.

The troops of the 33rd Division set out from Yangcheng and advanced towards Ciying Town and Hengzhen.

The 4th Cavalry Brigade set out from Wangwu Town and advanced towards Shaoyuan Town.

The mission of these two troops is to blockade Lishan from the east and at the same time establish contact with the 41st Division and the 16th Independent Mixed Brigade.

The main force of the 16th Independent Mixed Enemy Brigade gradually moved closer to Tianchi Mountain and blocked Lishan from the north.

At the same time, equipped with fifty tanks and armored vehicles of the independent mixed third brigade, the 23rd Regiment of the Puppet Manchukuo Army also advanced towards Tianchi Mountain to strengthen the defense here.

This is the tactic of encirclement proposed by Miyazaki on Monday. He is preparing to trap the assault detachment and the 98th Army in Lishan!

He was planning to make these two armies become turtles in the urn, and then completely annihilate them under the cover of aviation.

After receiving the order, various departments of the Japanese and puppet troops immediately assembled quickly towards the designated area.

At this time, the situation on the battlefield has changed greatly!

The independent mixed third brigade, the 24th Regiment of the Puppet Manchukuo Army, and Tanaka Shonobu's troops, a team of 12,000 people, are attacking the 27th Army and the 358th Regiment.

These troops fought in the Licun Town and Roudingshan areas north of the Huihe River.

The independent mixed main force of the 16th Brigade, the 21st Cavalry Regiment, the 35th Cavalry Regiment, the 36th Search Regiment, and the 37th Search Regiment were equipped with more than 20 artillery pieces, with a total strength of 9,000 troops, and formed a confrontation with the main force of the guerrilla detachment.

These troops are fighting in the area north of Qinshui City.

The 41st Infantry Division, the main force of the 33rd Division, and the 4th Cavalry Brigade were independently combined into one part of the 16th Brigade, equipped with fifty tanks and armored vehicles, and surrounded Lishan on all sides. Their total strength was more than 40,000.

Of course, the 41st Division also has the task of blocking the evacuation of the Zhongtiaoshan garrison to the north!

But at this time, among the hundreds of thousands of Japs attacking Zhongtiao Mountain, the number of troops restrained by the Taiyue Mountain Legion was 60,000!

This is almost half of their strength, and with these troops being contained, the pressure on other combat units has been significantly reduced.

However, this is obviously not a good sign for Lishan's assault detachment and the 98th Army.

As a large number of little Japs surrounded Lishan, their situation became more delicate.

At four o'clock in the morning, Lishan, in the headquarters.

Commander Wu Mianzhi of the 98th Army had already received Wei Junru's message, and the various units of the Zhongtiao Mountain garrison began a full-scale breakout.

As a large number of Japs came to encircle Lishan, the number of breakout troops increased significantly.

After understanding the situation here in Lishan, Wei Junru knew that the guerrilla detachment had played an important role.

He had directly sent a message to the headquarters to express his gratitude. At the same time, he hoped that the guerrilla detachment would continue to support the Zhongtiao Mountain garrison in their operations.

Regarding the current situation of the 98th Army and the Assault Detachment, Wei Junru's suggestion was to move to the west.

The troops stormed Moli Town, opened a breakout road from here, and then moved north to join the 27th Army and other troops.

Of course, he did not issue an order regarding the specific situation, but asked Commander Wu to make response and deployment based on the actual situation.

After Commander Wu received the telegram, he immediately found Lu Ming, and he introduced the situation to Lu Ming.

In fact, there is no need for Commander Wu to introduce it. Sun Desheng's cavalry battalion has already made a detailed report.

A large number of small Japanese troops appeared around Lishan, and they gradually sealed Lishan tightly.

In Moli Town, Hengshui Town, Yuanqu City, Ciying Town, Heng Town, Shaoyuan Town and other areas, heavy Japanese troops were stationed.

The little devils have also established contact between these towns and set up warning positions.

If the troops want to leave Lishan, they must pass through these towns.

These towns are connected to Mount Li by roads. Although these roads are difficult to walk, they are passable.

It's not impossible to go elsewhere, but many heavy weapons have to be discarded.

There are tens of thousands of Japs around Lishan now. If you abandon your heavy weapons at this time, even if you leave Lishan, you will be doomed once you encounter the Japanese army.

Without heavy weapons and facing tens of thousands of little devils, there is absolutely no chance of winning.

After some discussion between Lu Ming and Commander Wu, they decided that the two troops would temporarily stick to the high ground near Mount Li and wait and see what happens.

The specific situation outside is currently unknown, and a rash breakout may result in greater losses.

On the contrary, there are many highlands in Lishan. By stationing troops on the highlands, casualties can be kept to a minimum.

Moreover, through previous battles, they have been captured, and the weapons and equipment have also been improved.

Even food has been temporarily solved. It is definitely not possible to stick to it for a long time, but if you stick to it for a day or two, there is still no problem.

The 98th Army and the assault detachment stationed themselves in the highlands overnight and quickly repaired the fortifications to prepare for comprehensive defense.

After the Japanese troops arrived at the designated positions, they did not attack immediately. Instead, they strengthened contact and set up warning positions.

By six o'clock in the morning, all Japanese troops had tightly surrounded Lishan.

At this time, here in Tianchi Mountain, Major General Wakamatsu Heiji, commander of the 16th independent mixed brigade, adjusted his deployment.

There were originally 2,000 Japanese puppet troops in Tianchi Mountain. With the support of Liu Huawen and more than 1,000 people from the 23rd Regiment of the Puppet Manchu Army, the number of troops increased.

But after Wakamatsu Heiji learned about the results achieved by the assault detachment in Hengzhen, he still acted very cautiously.

Search Regiment 36 and Search Regiment 37 quickly assembled in Tianchi Mountain, where the number of troops increased to more than 5,000.

Moreover, they also have fifty tanks and armored vehicles to assist in the battle, and their overall strength is very strong.

Here in Qinshui City, Wakamatsu Heiji shrank the defense line.

He controlled the main force in the two highlands of Yuhuangling and Mofeng Mountain.

There are 4,000 Japanese puppet troops, more than 1,000 cavalry, and 24 artillery pieces on these two highlands.

Their main task is to contain the main force of the guerrilla detachment and prevent them from entering the battlefield through Qinshui City.

Of course, after their troops shrink, there will be many defensive loopholes on both sides.

The guerrilla detachment can also make detours through here, but these 6,000 troops can attack them at any time.

What's more, the guerrilla detachment rushed to the battlefield at this time. It would be difficult for them to rescue the besieged troops from Lishan.

Even in the little devil's view, it might not be a bad thing if the guerrilla detachment advanced near Mount Li.

They can easily deal with them. After all, the Japs have gathered tens of thousands of troops near Mount Li at this time!

The little devils have made targeted deployments. It is currently difficult for the assault detachment and the 98th Army to break out.

But here at Foye Mountain, Li Yunlong stood anxiously in front of the map.

He frowned, with a solemn expression on his face.

Political commissar Zhao Gang stood aside and looked at the map from time to time.

Lu Ming's message has been sent. After learning about the situation of the assault detachment, they were very worried.
To be continued...