For the Japanese troops in Shanxi, tonight is destined to be another difficult night.

Especially last night, after the four large strongholds of Niangziguan, Pingping, Jucheng and Donghui, as well as Pingding County and Yangquan County were lost one after another.

This has greatly increased the pressure on the Japanese in other strongholds.

All the devils wished that time could be fast forwarded and the sky would light up immediately.

Because after the sky gets light, the Eighth Route Army, which uses the cover of night, will have nowhere to hide and its movements will be restricted.

At the same time, Japanese aerial reconnaissance aircraft can also take off to conduct aerial reconnaissance and launch retaliatory strikes against the Eighth Route Army on the ground.

Inside Jinzhong City.

The brigade headquarters of the 9th Japanese Infantry Brigade.

To be honest, Naoomi Hattori is not too worried about the safety of Jinzhong.

Even though the Eighth Route Army captured Pingding County and Yangquan County one after another last night.

It was originally very simple. During the day yesterday, their planes carried out sabotage bombing on the Zhengtai Railway, destroying at least dozens of sections of railway track.

Therefore, tonight, unless the Eighth Route Army puts wings on its armored trains, it is absolutely impossible to threaten Jinzhong County tonight.

And without the fire support of armored trains, why would the Eighth Route Army, which could not even capture a large stronghold, attack Jinzhong County?

Of course, there is a more important reason, that is, Jinzhong County is different from Pingding and Yangquan. The straight-line distance between Jinzhong County and Taiyuan City is only less than 40 kilometers.

The Japanese army in Taiyuan used military cards to travel, and they could reach Jinzhong in less than two hours...

However, this is just wishful thinking on the part of Naoomi Hattori.

Amidst the sound of hurried footsteps, Toruya Yamashita, captain of the Jinzhong Military Police, hurried into the war room.

"Your Excellency, General!" Toruya Yamashita walked up to Naoomi Hattori, put his feet back and stood at attention, then bowed respectfully, and reported: "Five minutes ago, a large number of Eighth Route Army troops suddenly appeared outside Jinzhong County!"

"Nani?" Naoomi Hattori suspected that he had heard something wrong because of something wrong with his ears: "What did you say?"

Not only Hattori, but also Chief of Staff Yasuda Makoto, and all the staff in the war room looked stunned.

Because all along, the Eighth Route Army only ambushed the Japanese army's supply troops, or took out a few small strongholds.

Although there were precedents of attacking Pingding County and Yangquan County this time, they still did not believe that the Eighth Route Army dared to attack Jinzhong.

The reason is very simple. Jinzhong is only less than 40 kilometers away from Taiyuan. It only takes 2 hours for the Japanese army in Taiyuan to arrive in Jinzhong and provide reinforcements to the Japanese army in Jinzhong.

In addition, the railway tracks were blown up and armored trains could not pass, so naturally they could not threaten Jinzhong's city defense.

After hearing the news suddenly, all the Japs looked in disbelief. Dare the Eighth Route Army attack Jinzhong?

Is this too long-lived?

"Five minutes ago, a large number of Eighth Route Army suddenly appeared outside Jinzhong County!" Toruya Yamashita repeated again, and then reported: "These Eighth Route Army have surrounded the four city gates, as well as the railway entrance and exit, and all channels in and out of the county.

.”

Hattori Naoomi finally heard clearly this time. He frowned slightly and asked again: "Yamashita-kun, how many Eighth Route Army troops are there outside the city?"

"It's not clear yet." Yamashita Tetsuya answered truthfully: "But even the most conservative estimate is that there are at least 10,000 people."

"More than 10,000 people?"

Although Naoomi Hattori was frightened, his face didn't show anything, but Chief of Staff Yasuda's expression was extremely ugly.

Although the Eighth Route Army lacks heavy weapons for attacking fortresses, their combat effectiveness cannot be underestimated.

The Eighth Route Army, with more than 10,000 men, already has at least one division in size, which can be called a heavily armed group.

If they attack with all their strength regardless of the cost, they will still be enough to pose a threat to Jinzhong.

The reason is very simple. Regardless of the fact that Jinzhong County has an integrated infantry brigade, as well as military police, ronin, and a security regiment, the total strength exceeds 5,000 people.

But the security team is simply embarrassing. The previous battle at Zhaojia'ao is the best proof. These guys saw the Eighth Route Army as if they were seeing their ancestors. They couldn't even hold their guns steady. The bullets were not flying into the sky.

Even if it hits the ground, it won't pose much of a threat to the Eighth Route Army.

[A book-chasing app recommended to me by an old book friend I have known for ten years, Yeguo Reading! It is so easy to use. I rely on this app to read and listen to books while driving and before going to bed. You can download it here www. 】

Their role is to maintain local law and order.

The gendarmerie's role is similar to that of the security corps. It is also responsible for maintaining local security. Its combat effectiveness may be much stronger than that of the puppet army, but it is definitely not as good as the Japanese field troops.

As for the ronin, they are wreaking havoc and bullying ordinary Chinese people. They are completely a burden on the battlefield.

The only one with real combat effectiveness is the 15th Infantry Regiment stationed in Jinzhong County.

But the problem is that the 15th Infantry Regiment suffered almost all casualties in the previous battle at Zhaojia'ao. The current soldiers of the 15th Infantry Regiment are all recruited from the reserve group.

Although these soldiers have undergone professional military training and have very good combat effectiveness, compared with the Japs veterans who have fought countless battles, these Japs recruits not only lack wildness, but also lack murderousness.

In addition, they have basically never been on the battlefield, and their fighting will is far inferior to that of veterans.

Therefore, Naoomi Hattori and Yasuda didn't have much confidence in how much combat power such a force could unleash.

"Yamashita-kun, are you mistaken?" Yasuda Zhen still didn't believe it, and frowned: "The Eighth Route Army is attacking the remaining eight large strongholds on the Shotai Railway. Previous reports from each stronghold stated that they would launch an attack on them.

The attacking forces were at least two regiments, which was slightly more than last night.

It must be that the Eighth Route Army that attacked Niangziguan and Pingping and other strongholds last night was also mobilized.

This does not include the reserve team who are on guard in the dark and ready to take action at any time."

"In other words, the Eighth Route Army invested at least nearly 20 regiments in tonight's attack."

"In addition, the always cautious Eighth Route Army will definitely leave enough general reserves to block the imperial army's reinforcements from the direction of Taiyuan. So how many people can be left in the Eighth Route Army?"

"How could they gather more than 10,000 troops to attack Jinzhong County?"

Tonight, after being attacked, the Japs in various strongholds basically exaggerated the strength and strength of the Eighth Route Army in the hope of minimizing the punishment they would suffer after the stronghold fell.

In doing so, they were self-defeating, making Baotianzhen mistakenly believe that the Eighth Route Army that attacked Niangziguan, Pingping and other strongholds last night had devoted themselves to tonight's attack, thus ruling out the possibility of them attacking Jinzhong.

It also excludes the most correct answer.

"Chief of Staff, I can't explain this either." Yamashita Tetsuya gave a nod to Yasuda, and then said: "But the fact is that a large number of Eighth Route Army troops did appear outside Jinzhong County, densely packed and countless, at least 10,000

above."

After a pause, Yamashita Tetsuya seemed to have thought of something, and added: "In addition, according to the imperial soldiers on duty, they seemed to have seen train lights a few kilometers away from the East Gate..."
Chapter completed!