Major General Miyazawa was the commander of the Fourth Mixed Brigade of the Japanese Army in Shanxi.
After receiving the order to reinforce Li Jiapo, he initially only wanted to dispatch two brigades, but the military headquarters actually asked him to send out all the troops, which made Miyazawa very uneasy.
The road near Yangquan was fairly smooth, and it was more comfortable to march in a wheeled armored vehicle than to walk. However, Major General Miyazawa was not in a good mood at all. He was restless. There was worry between his brows, and he always felt that something was going to go wrong.
"Harada-kun, how long have we been away from Yangquan?" Major General Miyazawa called the chief of staff to ask, hoping that he could help relieve his worries.
"Commander of the brigade...the troops have been setting off for almost five hours...and are about 30 kilometers away from Yangquan County. I want everyone to march for another hour and rest for fifteen minutes before setting off!" Lieutenant Commander Harada replied respectfully.
Although he is the chief of staff of the brigade, his military rank is only that of lieutenant colonel, and he is not as powerful as the captain of the colonel who holds the real power. The brigade commander can decide his future with just a word, so he can only be careful in what he says and does, for fear of incurring the dissatisfaction of the brigade commander.
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"You can rest!" Major General Miyazawa replied!
"There is still a long way to go, and the troops must maintain their physical strength..."
"But our vigilance needs to continue to be strengthened... After walking thirty kilometers in one breath, we are about to enter the Eighth Route Army guerrilla zone... Based on my understanding of them, we will definitely not let us easily reinforce Li Jiapo!"
"Please rest assured, brigade commander, I have repeatedly reminded the troops to be on guard... All the scouts that can be sent out have also been sent out..."
"The Eighth Route Army's means of blocking us are nothing more than guerrilla warfare and mobile warfare... As long as the troops stick together, regardless of the sporadic casualties, and go straight to Lijiapo... we will definitely reach the battlefield on time!"
"If the Eighth Route Army dares to block us head-on, the Fourth Mixed Brigade will not mind eating them!"
"I hope so!" Major General Miyazawa replied as he glanced at Huangpo, where there was not even a bird flying around. He suddenly slapped his head and suddenly thought of what he had been worried about.
He quickly asked: "Did you contact Yangquan County during the march?"
"That's our home base. Now our troops are empty. If we encounter the main force of the Eighth Route Army, we only need one regiment to get in!"
"The two sides have been in contact!" Lieutenant Colonel Harada quickly reported.
"Before the troops set off, you promised to contact the county seat once an hour. You will strictly carry out your orders without slacking off!"
"Yo Xi!" After hearing the good news, the worry on Major General Miyazawa's face was obviously much relieved.
Continue the order: "When you contact the garrison again, remind the commander of the gendarmerie squadron that during my absence in Yangquan, all troops staying in the county must stick to their posts and be ready to fight at any time... If there is any slack, military law will be engaged..."
"Especially the Imperial Alliance Army, they must be watched to death by me..."
"If something happens to the infantry squad, the platoon leader will be executed... If something happens to the infantry squad, the company commander will be executed... If something happens to the infantry company, the battalion commander will be executed..."
"I authorize him to execute all officers below the imperial army camp level who disobey orders and are afraid of fighting!"
"If you find out that the Eighth Route Army is attacking Yangquan, please contact us immediately..."
“Rumble… da da da…”
An explosion and the sound of machine gun fire suddenly sounded at the front of the team, abruptly interrupting Major General Miyazawa's unfinished order.
Quickly raise your telescope and look towards the explosion point.
A thick plume of black smoke rose from the ground, as if the forward troops had stepped on a landmine.
The forward squadron reacted very quickly. As soon as the explosion stopped, intensive counterattack gunfire came from the front...
What satisfied Major General Miyazawa the most was that the marching team only stopped for two minutes before moving on.
Five minutes later, a communications soldier panted and ran over to report.
"Report to your Excellency, General... The forward squadron was attacked sporadically by the Eighth Route Army... The opponent's force was about one squad, equipped with a light machine gun, and it has been repulsed by us..."
"Four people in the forward squadron were killed and two were seriously injured... Most of the casualties were caused by landmines..."
"The big hole caused by the landmine has been filled... In order to prevent the troops from being attacked by landmines again, our captain requested engineer support!"
"No..." Major General Miyazawa refused without hesitation.
"The engineer's route exploration will affect the marching speed too much. We will definitely not be able to reach the Lijiapo battlefield on time!"
"Go to the baggage team behind and select some mules and horses. Let them go to the front of the team to explore the road and detonate the mines!"
"When we encounter a village ahead, we will capture some Chinese people to help us explore the road. The Eighth Route Army prides itself on being a team of ordinary people. It will definitely use rat weapons and give up the use of landmines!"
"Reinforce the forward squadron with a mortar squad and a heavy machine gun squad!"
"After being attacked by a sneak attack, we directly used mortars, light and heavy machine guns, and grenades to fight back..."
"In order to kill the Eighth Route Army gathered in Lijiapo, the troops carried a large amount of ammunition, which is enough for us to consume... If it is not enough, we can ask the military headquarters to air-drop ammunition for us!"
"As long as five or six artillery shells can kill an Eighth Route Army...the ammunition we carry can make the opponent pay a heavy price..."
"The troops continue to advance and must reach Lijiapo in the shortest possible time!"
At the headquarters of the New Second Regiment, after waiting anxiously, Li Yunlong finally received the order to dispatch troops from the brigade commander. He walked to the map and shouted loudly.
"Zhang Dabiao, have you found out everything I asked you to investigate?"
"We've figured it out!" Zhang Dabiao pointed at the map and introduced.
"That old devil Yamazaki is very cunning. He built a circular position in the middle of the platform on the top of the mountain, seventy or eighty meters away from the platform, just beyond the grenade throwing distance!"
"Our soldiers will be beaten into sieves as soon as they reveal their heads from the edge of the platform..."
"The heavy machine guns we installed at the foot of the mountain cannot suppress the enemy's blocking fire for this reason. We can only use artillery to attack from a long distance!"
"But the heavy firepower of the offensive troops is seriously insufficient. The limited artillery and shells are difficult to cause a fatal blow to the Japanese..."
"The two regiments that have gone up all suffered heavy losses, and they didn't even reach the edge of the Japanese position!"
"When attacking, beware of little Jaap air attacks!"
"A large proportion of all our losses are caused by Japanese planes!"
"In one attack, the plane dropped two aerial bombs and wiped out half of our company... As a result, as soon as the attack started, before the Yamazaki Brigade opened fire, the attacking troops retreated because more than half of them were injured!"
"Also be careful to guard against Japanese mortars and grenade attacks..."
"Before the offensive troops rush to the top of the mountain platform, they will mainly bear Japanese mortar and grenade attacks!"
"All kinds of artillery shells were dropped on the attacking troops as if they were free..."
"More than 20% of the soldiers who died were caused by Japanese shelling!"
"No!" Li Yunlong suddenly frowned and retorted.
"The entire regiment, from me down, rushed towards me, preparing to fight hand-to-hand with the little devil..."
