After receiving the goods.
That night, Li Yunlong led a new regiment to set off.
The Taihang 3rd Column and three other attack groups also set off under the leadership of Ding Wei, Cheng Shifa and Kong Jie.
Li Yunlong asked Wang Dehou to draw the marching routes of the three attack agencies on the map with arrows.
Then report to the headquarters so that the headquarters can keep track of the movements of each unit.
At the same time, the 1st Taihang Column, led by Brigadier Chen, rushed towards the 2nd Guards Division of the Zhengtai Railway.
Today, Chen Geng still holds the title of brigade commander, but he has long been the person in charge of the Taiyue Military Region, and has already received division-level treatment.
Although Li Yunlong already has brigade-level treatment, he is still far behind a brigade commander in terms of qualifications and position.
The Taihang 2nd Column, led by the division commander, rushed towards the 37th Division.
The Japanese 37th Division is the closest to the base area, only more than 30 kilometers away. In a night at most, the Taihang 2nd Column will be at war with the 37th Division.
At the same time, the Eighth Route Army troops in southern Shanxi were ordered to respond
The boss and chief of staff work in the base area while guarding their homes and coordinating the overall situation.
Li Yunlong can command at most one column, while the boss and chief of staff command a corps.
At present, the main force of the Eighth Route Army is out in force, but no Japanese troops can threaten the base area, so there is no need to worry about being stolen.
On the contrary, the better the three columns fight outside, the safer the people in the base area and the headquarters will be.
The Taihang 2nd Column led by the division commander and the 1st Column led by the brigade commander marched in a swaggering manner without implementing battlefield information interception.
However, the third column led by Li Yunlong implemented battlefield information interception operations.
Before the main force of the large army set off, the Sharp Sword Squadron had already taken the lead.
Battlefield interdiction refers to the temporary "shielding" of the target battlefield through air power or long-range strike forces, blocking the connection between the battlefield and the surrounding combat areas, blocking external support, and placing the target area in a relatively isolated environment.
This will provide better battlefield conditions and help our side achieve its combat objectives in the area.
Before the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain, the Japs had sent many scouts and spies to sneak into the base area. Many of them were discovered by the militiamen and the main force and captured or killed.
There were also some Japanese spies who retreated as soon as they came in. These spies did not dare to go deep into the base area and were definitely squatting outside the base area at this time.
Battlefield interdiction is widely used in modern warfare.
However, this combat operation of the Sword Squadron should be called battlefield information interception.
Through special operations, the enemy scouts are surgically removed and the enemy scouts are cut off from the headquarters.
During the Hundred Regiments War, the Baijin Railway was severely damaged, but later the Japanese rebuilt the Baijin Railway, and it has now reached Wuxiang.
After the Japanese escaped from various counties, the railway reconstruction was also abandoned.
On the edge of the base area, near the Baijin Railway, behind a huge rock.
"Captain." Two strong figures touched the rock, and the leader of them was Duan Peng, the leader of the first combat team.
"Duan Peng, how is the situation?"
Lu Yingjun asked with a slightly surprised expression. He asked Duan Peng to conduct reconnaissance, but he didn't expect to come back so soon.
Duan Peng said: "This is Captain Liu of the guerrillas."
Under the bright moonlight, Lu Yingjun could clearly see the person behind Duan Peng. He had dark skin, a strong build, and resolute and sharp eyes.
The two sides gave each other a military salute and then exchanged a few words.
As early as two days ago, various ministries issued instructions to order the guerrillas operating around the base area to quietly look for Japanese spies.
The area bordering the base area was not an occupied area by the Japanese army, but a guerrilla zone, which the Japanese army called a quasi-security area.
In the guerrilla zone, the Eighth Route Army's guerrillas and county brigades were active frequently, and there were also many Japanese troops.
However, after the Japanese troops stationed in the county town fled, only a few Japanese spies remained in the guerrilla zone.
This is China after all, and everyone living on this land may be an intelligence agent of the Eighth Route Army.
Mobilizing the power of the militia and the masses to investigate and search for Japanese spies one by one is infinitely more efficient than a squadron of swordsmen.
Duan Penghui reported: "Captain, we have found the lair of the Japanese scouts. It was Captain Liu and the others who discovered it. It is in a cave 2 kilometers away. The Japanese have placed sentries on the roads and alleys nearby. I have lurked there.
We conducted reconnaissance outside the cave and found that there were more than 20 people carrying radios."
"There are about 10 Japs in the cave now, and the remaining 10 or so are squatting on the nearby roads and trails."
Lu Yingjun squinted his eyes. The little devil was working in two shifts. This ensured that there would be people watching the road north from the base 24 hours a day.
Duan Peng continued: "In addition to the caves, we have also found the places where the Japanese are hiding on the main roads and alleys, and our team members are keeping an eye on them."
"Well done, lead the way!"
Lu Yingjun raised his hand and pressed forward. Dozens of special forces members who were squatting on the ground behind him immediately stood up and moved forward silently with submachine guns.
Not long after, Lu Yingjun led two combat teams outside the cave where the Japanese were hiding.
The other three teams went to deal with the Japanese who were camping out.
After Duan Peng used a short knife to deal with the secret whistle of a Japanese guard who was on guard, more than 20 team members came to the entrance of the cave.
There were constant snoring sounds coming from the cave, and the Japanese were sleeping inside.
The alert Japs also buried a few mines at the entrance of the cave. The Japs would definitely not step on the mines they planted themselves. If other troops came to attack the Japs, they would suffer big losses if they were caught off guard.
However, this time, those who were eyeing this group of Japanese scouts were none other than the most elite troops of the Eighth Route Army.
More than a dozen grenades were thrown into the cave, and several submachine guns fired concentratedly.
The battle happened suddenly and ended quickly.
Within a matter of ten seconds, the cave fell silent.
The dozen or so Japanese scouts who had just been resting in the cave were all killed.
Gunshots and explosions rang out here. When they heard the gunshots and explosions, the Japanese who were squatting on the main roads and alleys immediately realized they were exposed.
The members of the Sharp Sword team also took action at the same time, and in a very short period of time, they completely eliminated the Japanese scouts in the area.
After clearing out the Japanese scouts and notifying the headquarters on a high-power walkie-talkie, Lu Yingjun led the Sword Squadron to continue moving forward to clear obstacles for the larger force.
An hour later, a new large group of troops arrived here. The soldiers carried ammunition boxes and light and heavy weapons and passed safely without being exposed.
The two corpses were carried by soldiers from the guard company to Li Yunlong, Zhao Gang and others.
The two corpses were dressed in civilian clothes and were none other than the Japanese scouts killed by the Sword Squadron.
Xing Zhiguo stepped forward to inspect the corpses of the Japs and said with emotion: "Both these Japs were shot in the head and killed with one shot. The Sharp Sword Squadron did a great job!"
"Of course."
"For the Sharp Sword Squadron to do this kind of work, it would be a piece of cake for Zhang Fei to eat bean sprouts."
Li Yunlong laughed and said.
At this time, the large army headed north along the Baijin Highway. The advantage of taking the main road is that it saves time and effort, and it also facilitates the march of the artillery troops.
Because the 1st and 2nd columns were fighting in the field, and the 3rd column was going to attack the city, the head of the headquarters transferred the howitzer regiment to Li Yunlong.
Of the 12 howitzers Li Yunlong handed over to the headquarters last time, only 4 were added to the howitzer regiment, and the other 8 were given to the division artillery regiment and the 385th brigade artillery regiment.
Each column has almost two artillery regiments, that is, an artillery brigade, equipped with all mountain guns and howitzers above 75 mm.
Li Yunlong's column had the strongest artillery firepower.
Li Yunlong's artillery battalion has 48 guns, including 10 105mm howitzers and 38 75mm mountain guns.
The howitzer regiment is even more powerful, with 40 of them all being 105mm howitzers.
An artillery regiment of a three-unit division of the Japanese army was equipped with only more than 30 75mm mountain guns.
In the past two months, the personnel of the arsenal worked overtime and produced 200 infantry guns and 350 mortars.
Cannonballs are abundant.
In this battle, each column was crushed in all aspects in terms of artillery firepower compared to a Japanese division.
"By the way, Commander-in-Chief."
Xing Zhiguo pointed to the Baijin Railway in the distance and said: "The Japanese have escaped. This is a good opportunity to dismantle the rails and let the local militia and civilians organize to transport these rails back to the arsenal."
"Can't tear it down!"
Li Yunlong said: "At least it cannot be demolished now. After Taiyuan is captured, we will have to rely on railways to transport the captured materials back to the base area. So much material cannot be moved in ten and a half days with manpower alone."
"The commander-in-chief is right," Zhao Gang said, "Not only can we not demolish it, but we must send local troops to protect the railway."
"Don't worry, the headquarters has given the order."
Then, Li Yunlong turned his head and shouted loudly: "Follow me, speed up!"
Hearing the voice of their regiment leader, the soldiers all carried their guns and ran quickly, full of energy.
Not long after the new regiment passed by, the headquarters was directly under the howitzer regiment, and each attack group passed through one after another.
After a night of rapid marching, the Taihang 3rd Column marched 50 kilometers north, and before dawn, all units had found forest cover.
Rest during the day and march at night.
The Taihang 2nd Column led by the division commander had arrived in the Xiangyuan and Licheng areas after a night of rapid march.
The vanguard troops have already exchanged fire with the 37th Division.
The Taihang 1st Column led by the brigade commander has also exposed its whereabouts. In fact, there is no cover up at all. The target is the Zhengtai Railway.
Outstanding brand.
Taihang's 1st and 2nd columns were equivalent to a bright-card style of play, the purpose of which was to cover Li Yunlong's 3rd column.
Because the Japanese army did not know that the Eighth Route Army had expanded its main force to more than 40,000 people.
This data is also top secret in the Eighth Route Army, and only a very small number of absolutely reliable senior officers know it.
When Shinozuka Yoshio learned that there were 38,000 main troops in the direction of Xiangyuan and Licheng, and that there were 38,000 main troops attacking the Shotai Railway, plus militia troops and troops stationed in the base area.
The number of main forces of the Eighth Route Army was beyond Yoshio Shinozuka's expectation. It was hard to guess that there was a powerful force of the Eighth Route Army heading north to attack Taiyuan.
This chapter has been completed!