Seven puppet soldiers listened attentively to their platoon leader's instructions, and one by one, they seemed to awaken from a dream. The platoon leader was indeed a platoon leader; he saw things so clearly!

Fan Jinglue led his team back to report, and Si Fangtang Dun, the commander, and Bian Binbiao, the division commander, also understood from the information sent back by several reconnaissance teams.

The attacking force had not retreated; they had only withdrawn two kilometers and were now setting up camp, building fortifications to prepare for a long-term defense.

As long as the enemy was digging trenches and building fortifications, Bian Binbiao felt relieved. This at least indicated that they would not attack for the time being.

Si Fangtang Dun thought the same way. Delaying was very advantageous to them.

Tian Jia'an was now an important coal production base for the Japanese. As soon as the North China Front Army received the news, they would immediately send reinforcements.

Uenomoto Yusuke, the garrison commander, had already reported the news of Tian Jia'an being attacked by the National Revolutionary Army.

His position was under the dual jurisdiction of the North China Puppet Government and the North China Front Army.

The puppet government could do nothing about the information he submitted. They only had puppet soldiers, whose combat effectiveness was weak.

Even these puppet soldiers with weak combat effectiveness could not be dispatched at will by the puppet government; their use still required the consent of the North China Front Army.

Commander-in-Chief Terauchi Hisaichi could no longer ignore Uenomoto Yusuke's request for assistance.

The Special Operations Brigade had occupied Hefei, and the Second Army could send a division to recapture it. Even now that the 16th Division had suffered losses, wasn't there still the 10th Division to continue doing this?

Tian Jia'an was different. Coal, a strategic material, was a major objective of their invasion, and it could not be lost.

In this situation, it was necessary to send a reinforcement. Commander-in-Chief Terauchi Hisaichi gathered the staff of the entire North China Front Army headquarters to study how large a force to send.

In recent days, as they occupied more and more territory, the number of troops needed to maintain local security also increased.

Even though they had voluntarily abandoned many small counties, every county along the railway lines and main highways required them to station troops.

Now there was another problem that plagued the entire imperial high command: resistance in the occupied areas was becoming increasingly fierce.

Especially in the newly occupied areas, there were not only National Revolutionary Army units deliberately left behind to wage guerrilla warfare, but also local warlord units and guerrilla units spontaneously organized by villagers from various places.

Although these units were not under each other's command, they all had a common goal: to fight the Japanese!

This made the North China Front Army's troop strength increasingly strained, but troops had to be sent to Tian Jia'an.

After careful consideration by the staff, it was finally decided to send out the Independent Mixed Infantry Brigade 10, stationed in Xuzhou.

The organizational structure of the Independent Mixed Infantry Brigade did not exist in the Japanese army before 1934.

This was a new structure they created after occupying Northeast China, feeling that their troop strength was insufficient. The original intention of establishing this type of Independent Mixed Infantry Brigade was to maintain security in the rear.

It was also to suppress resistance in the occupied areas and deal with armed forces like guerrillas.

Therefore, the organizational flexibility of this type of Independent Mixed Brigade was very high. A small Independent Mixed Infantry Brigade could have only one infantry regiment, under which were two infantry battalions, and another engineer battalion.

A large Independent Mixed Infantry Brigade could have two infantry regiments, under which were six infantry battalions.

In addition, there was a direct-controlled tank unit, with twelve tanks, including six tanks and six armored vehicles.

In addition, there was a direct-controlled artillery unit with two companies of twelve Type 94 mountain guns, and one company of six Type 38 field guns.

Plus a direct-controlled cavalry unit with more than seven hundred cavalrymen.

Finally, there was an engineer battalion.

Such an Independent Mixed Brigade had a total force of more than ten thousand Japanese soldiers. The Independent Mixed Infantry Brigade stationed in Xuzhou was such a force.

The North China Front Army headquarters had considered everything very carefully. They believed that sending a strong reinforcement this time would not only repel the Special Operations Brigade attacking Tian Jia'an, but also cooperate with the 10th and 16th Divisions to encircle and annihilate the Special Operations Brigade in Hefei.

Commander-in-Chief Terauchi Hisaichi was very satisfied with this plan. He only asked what would happen to their interests in the area around Xuzhou after such a strong force was transferred away.

The officers of the staff said that there was another smaller Independent Mixed Infantry Brigade in Xuzhou, as well as an army of puppet soldiers, which could fully guarantee local security.

In that case, Terauchi Hisaichi immediately ordered: "The Independent Mixed Infantry Brigade 10 will immediately reinforce Tian Jia'an via the railway line."

The train distance from Xuzhou to Tian Jia'an was four hundred li. Even if the Japanese set off immediately and used the fastest speed, it would still take at least seven hours.

In reality, it was impossible for the Japanese to send all ten thousand troops and so much equipment at once.

After receiving the order from the North China Front Army headquarters in Xuzhou, the commander of the Independent Mixed Infantry Brigade 10, Major General Kuga Shunji, frowned.

In recent days, the security situation north of Xuzhou had been poor, and guerrilla activity had been frequent.

He had already sent out four of the six infantry battalions, as well as the tank unit, cavalry unit, and engineer unit.

In Xuzhou, there were only two infantry battalions and a direct-controlled artillery unit. It would take at least three days to gather the entire brigade back.

This order from the North China Front Army headquarters was too demanding. Just a few days ago, he was ordered to thoroughly clean up the guerrillas in the entire Xuzhou area.

Today, such an order to immediately dispatch troops was issued, without any preparation whatsoever.

Brigade Commander Kuga Shunji had to bite the bullet and report the current difficulties to Commander-in-Chief Terauchi Hisaichi.

Commander-in-Chief Terauchi Hisaichi simply pondered for a moment and then ordered: "First send the two infantry battalions and the artillery battalion. The follow-up troops will depart successively after they are assembled. Within three days, the entire 10th Brigade must be assembled in Tian Jia'an."

This was a modified agreement to Brigade Commander Kuga Shunji's request.

Receiving this 100% executable response, Brigade Commander Kuga Shunji immediately took action.

He notified Infantry Regiment Commander Mizukami Ichiro, Infantry Battalion Commander Nakatsu Yusuke, Infantry Battalion Commander Hisada Taro, Artillery Battalion Commander Ueda Haruki, as well as Major General Manda Yuto, commander of the Independent Mixed Infantry Brigade 17, and Ruan Lesheng, commander of the 37th Army of the puppet army stationed in Xuzhou, to attend a meeting.

The regimental commander and three battalion commanders under Brigade Commander Kuga Shunji were stationed in Xuzhou. Now they were going to Tian Jia'an as the vanguard of the 10th Brigade.

The defense lines originally held by these Japanese soldiers needed to be reassigned to the Independent Mixed Infantry Brigade 17 and the 37th Army of the puppet army.

Furthermore, all the Japanese soldiers of the Independent Mixed Infantry Brigade 10 on the entire Xuzhou front were to be withdrawn, which also required the Independent Mixed Infantry Brigade 17 and the puppet army to take over.

This meeting was very intense. The three battalion commanders of the Independent Mixed Infantry Brigade 10 only had the duty to obey orders; they had no right to speak.

After hearing Brigade Commander Kuga Shunji's order, they waited for the other two big shots to discuss the takeover issue.

Major General Manda Yuto, commander of the Independent Mixed Infantry Brigade 17, was dissatisfied. His brigade was the smallest type of brigade, with just over three thousand Japanese soldiers.

With such a small force, suddenly having to take over the defense lines after the withdrawal of ten thousand Japanese soldiers was simply beyond his capabilities.

Ruan Lesheng, commander of the puppet army, also had his difficulties. Although he had more than fifteen thousand puppet soldiers, these puppet soldiers, for some unknown reason, were either unaccustomed to the climate or something else.

When they were in the Northeast, they were always able to deal with guerrillas and resistance armies with ease, often winning battles.

Now, in the Xuzhou area, they were always losing more than they were winning against the guerrillas, to the point that the entire army was filled with war-weariness and fear of battle.

Asking his troops to take over county towns that the 10th Brigade had not yet captured with tank units and infantry battalions was like sending sheep into the tiger's mouth.

Manda Yuto and Ruan Lesheng argued fiercely to take over as few defense lines as possible.

For them, taking over fewer defense lines now meant that fewer defense lines would be lost, and there would be less responsibility.

When it came to their lives, the Japanese never dared to be careless, let alone Manda Yuto, who had already reached the level of brigade commander.

Seeing that the meeting had been going on for two hours, and it had not yet been decided who would take over the defense lines of the two infantry battalions that were to depart today,

Kuga Shunji finally couldn't bear it any longer. He stood up and said to the two commanders who were still arguing, "Leaving aside the area outside of Xuzhou for the moment, let's first take over the defense of Xuzhou so that the three battalions in Xuzhou city can depart.

The battle in Tian Jia'an brooks no delay! None of us can afford to be blamed by Commander-in-Chief Terauchi Hisaichi."

This was the truth! Major General Manda Yuto, whose face was already flushed from arguing, said loudly, "The 17th Brigade will take over the defense line north of the city."

Ruan Lesheng, commander of the puppet army, had to say, "Then we'll take over the defense line south of the city!"

After speaking, he sighed, "I only have so many men in my hands. Every place needs me to send puppet soldiers to maintain security. This time, taking over the defense of the south of the city is just a matter of dividing half of the troops originally deployed in the east of the city and sending them over. If this continues, what will happen if the guerrillas attack Xuzhou?"

Brigade Commander Manda Yuto sneered, "Hiss! When have guerrillas ever dared to attack such a large city?

They can't even break through county towns, let alone attack Xuzhou. You're thinking too much!"

In any case, the Japanese soldiers of Nakatsu Yusuke's battalion and Hisada Taro's battalion finally began to prepare to hand over their defense lines.

Xuzhou Railway Station also began to urgently arrange trains to transport more than three thousand Japanese soldiers and equipment to Tian Jia'an. This was a sudden decision.

The scheduling of the entire railway line had to be readjusted, and all stations along the way received notification.

The dispatcher at Tian Jia'an Railway Station was overjoyed when he heard this notification.

They had been feeling uneasy these days. They had heard that the National Revolutionary Army had retaken Hefei, and they were afraid that the National Revolutionary Army would come to Tian Jia'an again.

A few days ago, the entire mining protection team of the mine had been mobilized to the front lines, indicating that the situation was getting worse and worse.

Now that they heard that troops were coming, whether they were passing through or coming to reinforce, it was good news for them as long as the Japanese were coming.

At the Tian Jia'an Garrison Command, Commander Uenomoto Yusuke had received the message from the North China Front Army: An Independent Mixed Infantry Brigade 10 with more than ten thousand Japanese soldiers was coming to reinforce them.

The first batch of troops, consisting of two infantry battalions and one artillery battalion, would arrive tonight. The remaining troops would all arrive within three days.

This was good news!

Commander Uenomoto Yusuke immediately passed on this good news to Si Fangtang Dun and Bian Binbiao on the second line of defense.

The two highest commanders on the second line of defense felt that the reassurance they had initially felt was now doubly guaranteed.

Such good news could boost morale, and they immediately passed the message down, demanding that the message be conveyed to the ears of every Japanese soldier and every puppet soldier.

Fan Jinglue, who had finished reporting his reconnaissance information to his superiors, returned to his position in the trenches outside the pillbox.

The puppet soldiers under his command excitedly told him the news they had just heard: The Japanese had sent reinforcements from Xuzhou, a full ten thousand Japanese soldiers.

Fan Jinglue looked around, seeing that only a few of his trusted puppet soldiers were around him: "Coming back from the front, the more I think about it, the worse the situation seems.

You all saw that the attacking force had sufficient firepower and artillery. Why did they retreat after only firing a few shots?

This retreat isn't a faraway retreat where they just ran away. Instead, they've set up camp in front. They must be thinking of ways to deal with the Japanese.

Brothers, keep your eyes peeled. When the fighting really starts, run if you can. If you can't run, surrender."

"Really? The Japanese have sent over ten thousand more soldiers, and I heard they have artillery and tanks. Surely nothing will happen," He Yushu said, somewhat incredulously.

The Japanese and puppet soldiers sent out reconnaissance platoons to scout the situation, and the 1st and 8th Regiments also sent out reconnaissance platoons.

In broad daylight, the Japanese and puppet soldiers were on high alert in the pillboxes and their fortifications, completely unaware of Company Commander Shi Junxia and his men hiding five hundred meters away.

Feng Junya, Lin Fan, and Chen Sichuan were also in another direction, a full thousand meters away from the Japanese pillboxes, observing with binoculars.

Chen Sichuan pointed to the Japanese defense line and said, "Brigade commander! Let's move ten kilometers to the side and go behind their defense line to attack.

The defense line they've built doesn't completely surround the entire Tian Jia'an."

Lin Fan said, "The defense line the Japanese have built looks very solid, but if you really bypass it, it won't be of much use.

However, the Japanese have a strange confidence in these pillboxes, and each pillbox is garrisoned by quite a few Japanese soldiers.

On this second line of defense, the pillboxes are all filled with Japanese soldiers, and the puppet soldiers are only allowed to stay in the fortifications.

Blowing up a pillbox can kill a lot of Japanese soldiers. It's a worthwhile trade.

Our main goal in attacking Tian Jia'an is to get some coal and kill as many Japanese soldiers as possible.

Now that we have such a good opportunity, why not use it?"

Feng Junya immediately laughed and said, "Brigade commander! Leave this task to me. I guarantee I'll complete the mission and make sure that not a single pillbox sees the sun tomorrow."

Lin Fan said with a smile, "Prepare during the day, enter the positions tonight, and attack at dawn tomorrow."

"Yes!" Feng Junya replied loudly.

Lin Fan then said to Chen Sichuan, "Prepare the land and water transport. After we capture Tian Jia'an, try to transport as much coal as possible."

Chen Sichuan quickly said, "Zhang Shun and the others are already coming in this direction, with a full three hundred boats.

We've also prepared the railway, and we're just waiting to capture Tian Jia'an before we can start."

After thinking for a moment, Chen Sichuan asked, "Brigade commander! Time is of the essence. We can break through the Japanese second line of defense today, even if we suffer some casualties.

Why do we have to use heavy artillery to blast the Japanese pillboxes before attacking?

If we delay for another day, the Japanese are very likely to send reinforcements to Tian Jia'an via the railway line."

He had wanted to ask this question when Lin Fan ordered the retreat this morning, but he had never had the opportunity to ask.

Lin Fan said with a smile, "You've wanted to ask for a long time, haven't you? It's actually very simple.

The Japanese can only reinforce Tian Jia'an via the highway and the railway.

Comparatively speaking, the railway is more convenient and faster. Therefore, the Japanese are likely to send reinforcements via the railway.

If they want to get here as quickly as possible, they can only send troops from the nearest surrounding area.

We've occupied Hefei for so long, and the Japanese haven't sent a large army to attack from the north, which shows that they don't have a lot of troops in the north either.

This time, we've poked the tiger's butt, and they have to save it.

The closest place they can send troops from is only Xuzhou, but Gu Xiuming has been expanding since a few days ago.

I believe the Japanese don't have many troops stationed in Xuzhou either. This time, in order to send troops to reinforce Tian Jia'an, they can only draw troops from Xuzhou.

If that's the case, it will be very beneficial for Gu Xiuming and the others to expand the Lunan base area.

As for us, we still have Tang Youwei's five thousand men behind us who can be replenished at any time. At the same time, we still haven't used the air force.

If the Japanese come with too few men, they can't stop us from advancing at all. If they come with too many, what about their rear?"

Chen Sichuan now understood that the brigade commander was forcing the Japanese to make a choice.

He was trying to mobilize the Japanese to make it easier for the Lunan Detachment to take action. He said with a smile, "If Gu Xiuming can't expand the base area by two times this time, he'll be too embarrassed to say hello to us."

Feng Junya also said with a smile, "They'd better be able to fight all the way to the Yangtze River and connect with the Jurong base area and the Jiangbei base area here."

Lin Fan smiled and said, "It's definitely possible. Even if it doesn't succeed this time, we can create opportunities next time and continue to fight.

After the Japanese occupied Wuhan, they had a lot of energy and troops to maintain the front line, and they would pay more attention to controlling the rear, but their strength would be even weaker."

The battle plan had already been drawn up here. The next task was very heavy, mainly to prepare the road to the front line for the heavy artillery of the 8th Regiment.

This time, although Lin Fan didn't specifically mention that every pillbox should be blown up,

Regimental Commander Feng Junya heard the brigade commander's thoughts from Lin Fan's words about eliminating the Japanese: Eliminate as many Japanese soldiers as possible.

Of course, he had to include all the Japanese pillboxes on this defense line as targets. In order to achieve this goal, he said to Lin Fan, "Brigade commander! I'll go back and make arrangements!"

The 8th Regiment had prepared a lot of materials to build bridges and pave roads, but in the past, they only needed to pave one road that the entire regiment could pass through.

This time, they had to move twenty-five 150mm howitzers, which meant they needed to prepare twenty-five roads. This was a test for the entire 8th Regiment.

Fortunately, they had Tang Youwei's logistics team behind them. Tang Youwei sent four thousand men from his logistics team of five thousand men to help.

Some of the logistics team were also coordinating with more than two thousand civilians who had been recruited from the surrounding villages to clear the battlefield ruins from the morning.

More than fifty pillboxes needed to be cleared as soon as possible. This was not a small project. The Japanese had spent a lot of time building them, and it would take a lot of work to clear them in a day or two.

Li Dazhu was from a nearby village. He was in his thirties this year. When the Japanese built the pillboxes, he was dragged over to work for half a month, eating his own food, using his own tools, and not earning a single penny.

Today, he was dragged over by the Special Operations Brigade to clear the pillboxes. Although it was said before he came that it was voluntary and that everyone would be paid one yuan a day,

Looking at the energetic National Revolutionary Army soldiers standing in the village, even though he didn't want to go, he couldn't bring himself to say no.

He could only follow along with a bitter face, carrying a hoe.

They had just been digging at the pillbox for less than ten minutes when they dug up a Japanese corpse.

The villagers were scared and didn't dare to go over. The soldiers of the logistics team rushed up without a second thought, dragged out the Japanese soldiers who had been dead for half a day, and stripped off their clothes, belts, and shoes. These items were set aside.

They threw the Japanese corpses into the deep pit that had been dug in advance. At this time, Li Dazhu realized that the purpose of digging such a big pit when they first arrived was this.

Earlier, these people were digging soil and discussing what the big pit, which had a layer of lime at the bottom, was for.

With the first corpse, the subsequent corpses gradually increased.

Seeing that the people from the logistics team could take off the Japanese soldiers' clothes and boots, the villagers also learned to do it.

Li Dazhu took off a pair of leather shoes and asked timidly, "Officer! Can I take these leather shoes home? If you need money, deduct it from my wages."

The soldiers who were digging soil with them said, "Except for weapons and ammunition, which you can't take, you can divide the rest of the things yourselves, but be fair!"

These words made all the villagers excited. There were more than fifty of them here. If they could dig out all the Japanese and puppet soldiers in the pillboxes today, they could almost each get a set of clothes, shoes, and boots.

If they dragged it to tomorrow and another group of people came to do it, they would get half of the things.

As a result, the enthusiasm of these people suddenly increased. At noon, Li Dazhu and the others habitually stopped working and prepared to go home for lunch.

At this time, the officers from the logistics team who had been digging soil with them stopped them and asked if they were going home for lunch.

They immediately told them that working for the Special Operations Brigade included meals, not only lunch but also dinner.

At noon, Li Dazhu ate canned food for the first time in his life. Although it was only half a can, it was so fragrant that he almost swallowed his tongue.

The officers treated them so well that Li Dazhu and the others didn't rest after eating and immediately started working again.

For them, working from dawn to dusk was a common occurrence, but it depended on who they were working for.

Before it was dark, they had cleaned up the pillboxes. Li Dazhu not only got a pair of boots but also a pair of pants.

In addition, Tang Youwei gave them each one yuan and a can of meat, the kind they had for lunch.

This made all the civilians very happy, and they were going to eat another meal here, but the rice wasn't ready yet.

During this time, they had nothing to do, so they sat together and rested, listening to the officers talk about the principles of the united resistance war and the oppression of ordinary people after the Japanese invasion.

Without comparison, everyone couldn't see the difference. Li Dazhu and the others built pillboxes for the Japanese for half a month without any wages, and they still had to eat their own food every day.

Working for the Special Operations Brigade for a day not only included meals, earned one yuan, but also got things.

When he was about to leave, Li Dazhu asked, "Officer! Is there any work tomorrow?"