"Boooooooo...boom, boom, boom..." The counterattack shells fired by the Japanese artillery quickly flew out of the city.
This scene completely exceeded Li Yunlong's expectations.
He originally thought that the number and caliber of artillery possessed by the Shijiazhuang garrison were far lower than his own, so he would not dare to let them join the war rashly, but would save them for life-saving use at critical moments.
Unexpectedly, they would join the battle as soon as the artillery troops under their command took action.
After being stunned, he snorted coldly and began to give orders: "Since it has been exposed, stop hiding it."
"Inform the artillery to immediately lock down the Japanese artillery positions and kill them for me."
"By destroying the Japanese artillery units earlier, we will have less worries in the subsequent siege battle. We don't have to think about when the Japanese artillery will suddenly join the battle and catch us by surprise."
"Damn it, I didn't expect that a simple show of force would force the Japanese artillery troops out."
"It seems that God is on our side in our attack on Shijiazhuang."
"The feint attack troops can retreat."
"Without artillery to suppress the Japanese and puppet troops at the top of the city, the casualties of the feint attack troops will definitely increase sharply. There is no need for us to compete with the little devils here."
"When the artillery is finished killing the Japanese artillery units, we will have enough artillery shells to consume the remaining Japanese and puppet troops in the city."
…………
Japanese Army Taiyuan Garrison Headquarters.
Looking at the troop deployment order just sent by Okamura Neiji, the newly appointed commander of the Shanxi Little Japanese First Army was very reluctant.
The Japanese and puppet troops in Shanxi are also very short of troops. Especially after the Shanxi Eighth Route Army launched a major counterattack some time ago in order to support the counter-mopping up in the Yizhong, many strongholds and county towns that were too late to give up were captured by the Eighth Route Army. The troops stationed in those strongholds and county towns were naturally destroyed.
The Eighth Route Army was wiped out.
As of today, half of the more than 100 small towns in Shanxi are controlled by the Eighth Route Army and the Shanxi-Sui Army.
With limited troops, the First Army of the Little Japanese had to gather heavy troops to defend important county towns, transportation arteries, military towns, transportation lines... abandoning large rural areas and ordinary county towns.
After the Japanese army retreated on its own initiative, the Eighth Route Army operating in Shanxi simultaneously expanded its base area.
The small base areas before were suddenly connected into large areas, and many local troops and guerrillas became the main force.
What's more important is that these Eighth Route Army were not satisfied yet and were taking advantage of the lack of Japanese troops in Shanxi and looking for opportunities to encroach on the areas occupied by the imperial army bit by bit and continue to expand their base areas.
Faced with the deteriorating situation in Shanxi, the army commander and his wife could not make a living without rice and could only wait.
Fortunately, during this period, the Front Army Headquarters sent a lot of new troops to Shanxi Province, and formed several Imperial Alliance troops within the territory, which somewhat stopped the deteriorating situation in the defense zone.
But in order to completely change the situation, the Front Army Headquarters still needs to add at least 10,000 new soldiers to Shanxi.
As a result, the new recruits did not wait, but instead waited for the troop deployment order from Okamura Neiji.
He finally stabilized the situation, causing the Eighth Route Army and the Imperial Army operating in Shanxi to fall into a brief stalemate, and no one could do anything to the other.
If he executes his order and dispatches two regiments from Taiyuan to the east to reinforce Shijiazhuang, this deadlock will be broken in an instant.
The battle situation that he had finally stabilized would deteriorate again.
If the Eighth Route Army is bold enough and takes the opportunity to launch another large-scale counterattack, Shanxi's losses will be huge.
But military orders are like mountains, and Okamura Neji's orders must be carried out.
Otherwise, even if he is the commander of the Shanxi First Army, he will be mercilessly sent to a military court by Okamura Neiji.
"Your Excellency, Commander... I feel that there is something wrong with this order." After reading the order, the Commander handed the telegram to the Chief of Staff. After reading it twice, the Chief of Staff suddenly put forward his own ideas.
"Military orders are like mountains, and we will definitely obey them and mobilize troops from Taiyuan and other places to reinforce Shijiazhuang."
"But isn't the reinforcement method that Your Excellency Commander has determined with us too reckless?"
"The troops marched lightly on small roads to reinforce Shijiazhuang, which means that the reinforcements spent most of their time marching in the Eighth Route Army base area."
"They did not carry heavy weapons, not even mountain artillery for attacking fortresses, only ordinary mortars. What if they were targeted by the Eighth Route Army and assembled heavy troops to surround and annihilate them?"
The commander frowned and replied: "I have considered this problem."
"The reinforcements gave up their heavy weapons and ammunition and took light roads to reinforce Shijiazhuang. This was their only chance to reach the battlefield on time."
"If you take heavy weapons and take the road, the Eighth Route Army will definitely try every means to intercept you."
"A road that can be completed in three days may not be completed in ten days."
"The reinforcements are lightly armed and take small roads to reinforce Shijiazhuang. The requirements for road conditions are very low. The commander leading the team can temporarily choose which road to take and which road to abandon, leaving the Eighth Route Army active along the route unprepared and unable to deploy blocking positions and pocket positions in advance.
Method."
"They can only watch us walking away through mountain roads and paths that they didn't expect."
The chief of staff felt that the commander was too arrogant.
He is also a senior military officer who has just joined the North China Front Army and has just taken office. He has almost no experience in direct confrontation with the Eighth Route Army in China.
All judgments about the Eighth Route Army are based on intelligence and past combat examples. They are very powerful on paper, but they have not experienced any actual combat.
From the Chief of Staff's point of view, the commander's analysis just now sounds like there is nothing wrong with it, but no one knows whether it can stand the test of actual combat.
More importantly, the Eighth Route Army operating in Shanxi is no longer what it used to be.
Both the military strength and equipment are much stronger than half a year ago.
The commander took it for granted that he decided to march thousands of reinforcements, which was inappropriate from any aspect of analysis.
But he couldn't think of any reason or evidence that could be refuted. Faced with the commander who was getting more and more energetic with his talk, he could only choose to compromise temporarily.
"I don't know where your Excellency, Commander, plans to mobilize troops to reinforce Shijiazhuang."
The commander stared at the sand table and hesitated for a long time before speaking: "Deploy a regiment from Taiyuan, and then another regiment from the surrounding Jinzhong. Let one of the regiments change into the uniform of the Imperial Association Army, and stay behind in Taiyuan and Jinzhong.
The Imperial Alliance Army put on Imperial Army uniforms to confuse the Eighth Route Army in the defense area, so that they did not dare to act rashly during the reinforcements' attack."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "There is also a very important point: the reinforcements must be a coward."
"Leave Taiyuan under the cover of night, take a small road and enter the territory of the Eighth Route Army in the dark."
"When encountering the Eighth Route Army during the march, avoid it if you can. If you really can't avoid it, fight again. But you must fight quickly and end the battle as quickly as possible. You must not be reluctant to fight."
"The mission of the reinforcements is to reach the outside of Shijiazhuang in the shortest possible time, not to fight with the Eighth Route Army along the way."
"Even if the Eighth Route Army takes the initiative to attack them, they must avoid it if they can. They must not be entangled by the Eighth Route Army and dragged on the battlefield."
The Shanxi Independent Regiment is a newly established main regiment after the Eighth Route Army's southeastern Shanxi base area expanded into Shanxi.
It was composed of several guerrilla groups and two local troops, with a total strength of more than 1,300 people, equipped with three mortars, six heavy machine guns, and no siege artillery.
For this reason, the independent regiment has not been able to fight this month, and the soldiers are almost sick.
The Japanese Army's North China Front was short of troops, and all the troops that could be deployed in Shanxi were all transferred by Okamura Neji, leaving Shanxi empty of troops.
In order to avoid accidents in important towns, the Shanxi Japs had to shrink their defenses, which gave the local Eighth Route Army the opportunity to expand their base areas. The Jinzhong Independent Regiment was also born at this time.
In order to avoid unnecessary losses, since the establishment of the Independent Regiment, the Japanese and puppet troops stationed in Jinzhong have become cowardly and cling to the county seat and important strongholds, refusing to come out no matter how provocative the Independent Regiment is.
The independent regiment was not equipped with artillery for attacking the enemy, and faced the turtle shell where the Japanese and puppet troops were hiding, there was nothing they could do except hurry up.
As usual, Captain Huang of the Independent Regiment entered the headquarters and began to read the intelligence sent to the regiment headquarters by the troops last night, hoping to find one or two fighters to practice for the newly established independent regiment.
Otherwise, the few battalion and company commanders under their command would go to the regiment headquarters and ask if they wanted to fight whenever they had free time.
The result was a huge disappointment to him.
There was still no movement from the little Japs stationed in Jinzhong County and surrounding strongholds. They huddled in their strongholds and stood still.
"Captain Huang..." Just when he was about to sigh and think about whether to start in other directions and create his own fighter plane, the divisional correspondent suddenly rushed to the command post and saluted him.
"The latest partition order..."
"The Independent Brigade in the Wing of the Eighth Route Army is storming Shijiazhuang. The superiors have determined that the Japanese and puppet troops from Taiyuan and Jinzhong will send troops to reinforce Shijiazhuang."
"In order to prevent us from destroying the highway and slowing down their march, the Japanese and puppet reinforcements are likely to give up all heavy weapons and ammunition, and use small and mountainous roads to reinforce Shijiazhuang."
"The division ordered the independent regiment to immediately mobilize the masses, assemble troops, and at all costs delay the Japanese and puppet reinforcements passing through the defense zone, consume a large number of their troops, and fight an unprecedented people's war."
"Haha..." Captain Huang laughed after hearing this.
"God has eyes..."
"I was just worrying about how to force the Japanese and puppet troops out of their turtle shells, but I didn't expect them to come out on their own."
"It's just like giving me a pillow for taking a nap."
"Go back immediately and tell the commander."
"The Independent Regiment came out of guerrilla warfare and mobile warfare."
"As long as the Japanese and puppet troops really give up their heavy weapons and ammunition, and use small roads to pass through our defense area with light equipment, I guarantee that they will shed a layer of skin even if they don't die, and I will drag them here for at least two days."
The correspondent seemed to have expected that Captain Huang would answer this way, and asked him seriously in response to his confident gaze.
"Captain Huang, the military orders are like mountains..."
"It only takes the Japanese and puppet troops the better part of a day to pass through the independent regiment's defense zone on a rapid march."
"It's a lot of pressure to hold them back for two days."
"The Independent Regiment has just been established and has not fought a major battle with the Japanese yet. Are you sure the troops can really complete their mission?"
Captain Huang slammed the table and replied: "What..."
"If we haven't fought a big battle with the Japanese and puppet troops, we can't delay them for two days..."
"It is precisely because the Independent Regiment is from guerrillas and local troops, has never fought a big battle with the Japanese, and is good at guerrilla warfare and mobile warfare, that I have the confidence to hold off the Japanese and puppet troops for two days."
"They are not equipped with heavy weapons and walk through the independent regiment's defense area on small roads and mountain roads. They are not qualified to fight a big battle with me. This is a good opportunity for the independent regiment to use guerrilla warfare and mobile warfare."
"Even if you report it to the commander, if you can't complete the task, I'll report it to you."
As soon as the correspondent left, Captain Huang's command sounded at the entrance of the regiment department: "All the communications squads are set off. Let the company commanders of each battalion immediately assemble their troops, bring all their weapons and ammunition, and rush to the regiment headquarters as quickly as possible to meet up. There is a big battle."
Want to fight."
"By the way, find the political commissar and ask him to notify the local troops in the defense area to assemble and stand by with the guerrillas."
"I want to fight a real people's war with the Japanese and puppet troops crossing the border."
…………
A regiment sent by Taiyuan City first entered the independent regiment defense zone.
One brigade wore Japanese military uniforms, and the remaining two brigade wore puppet army uniforms.
At first, they did deceive the independent group and suffered several losses. After several sneak attacks, Captain Huang realized that something was wrong with these "puppet soldiers".
Their reaction speed on the battlefield was too fast, and their marksmanship was extremely accurate. They were completely unlike the Imperial Alliance Army that I had encountered before.
Then I saw that they were generally shorter than the puppet soldiers, and the military uniforms many of them wore did not fit. I suddenly realized that they were Japanese soldiers pretending to be soldiers.
"Da da da……"
A series of gunshots suddenly rang out on the slope next to the mountain road. The familiar sound of machine gun fire was mixed with a lot of rifle fire. It sounded like there was at least one platoon on the other side.
The captain of the team of little devils is in trouble.
The earth slope occupied by the Eighth Route Army was stuck next to the mountain road. If it was not taken down, the troops would be constantly attacked during the march.
But if we capture this slope first and kill the Eighth Route Army above, the normal marching team will inevitably stop, and the attack will be delayed by more than ten minutes no matter how fast the attack speed is.
This was still the case when the Eighth Route Army had no backup.
If there are other Eighth Route Army troops constantly reinforcing Tupo, it will take longer to capture Tupo without heavy weapon reinforcements.
This is obviously contrary to the commander's repeated instructions before the troops left.
He asked the reinforcements to quickly pass through the Eighth Route Army defense area and reinforce Shijiazhuang. There would be no exchange of fire as long as the two sides could not capture the enemy.
Of course, there is no way to solve this problem if the two sides do not exchange fire.
There is a mountain road next to it that can bypass the slope occupied by the Eighth Route Army. The distance does not increase much, but this mountain road is more dangerous than the mountain road under the feet of the Japanese army.
Considering that the mountain road may be full of dangers, the Japanese army leader decided to take the mountain road with better conditions at his feet.
Unexpectedly, the Eighth Route Army also guessed that they would take this mountain road and arranged blocking positions in advance.
After a brief struggle and hesitation, the commander decided to strictly implement the commander's order.
If you disobey military orders and something happens in the end, it will be a minor offense to be sent to a military court by the commander.
But if you act according to orders and something happens in the end, your responsibility will be relatively small.
As a co-captain who still has room for improvement, he has to think about his future.
Immediately ordered: "Take another mountain road to bypass the Eighth Route Army blocking position and continue to reinforce Shijiazhuang."
"The pace of the army must be accelerated, and the Eighth Route Army will not be given any time to prepare..."
"Before the Jinzhong Independent Regiment reacts, pass through their defense area immediately."
