When the Japanese messenger arrived at the Wangzhuang stronghold panting heavily, the assault platoon's convoy had already left for half an hour.
There are only about fifty Japanese and puppet troops stationed here, and the leading officer is a second lieutenant. He would not dare to intercept the armored convoy even if he had ten courages.
Besides, they were able to successfully pass through the first few strongholds and checkpoints, indicating that there was no problem with their identity, so there was no need for them to stop the vehicle for inspection.
Before the armored convoy reached the gun tower, they had already moved away the horses blocking the road...
The armored vehicle didn't even stop. It roared past under the gaze of the Japanese and puppet troops and disappeared into the night.
When the Japanese team leader learned from the messenger that the armored convoy belonged to the Eighth Route Army, his first reaction was that he didn't believe it and immediately called the squadron leader for verification.
But no matter how he called, there was no response. Apparently the phone line here was cut off.
Only after receiving repeated confirmation from the messenger did he believe that this was true. He actually let the Eighth Route Army rush back to the base from under his nose without firing a single shot, and even brought back several armored vehicles and troop transport vehicles...
Time cannot be turned back, and no matter how regretful I feel, it cannot change anything. I can only pray in my heart that the stronghold behind can block this armored convoy.
Once this armored convoy returns to its base safely, all the garrison troops along the way will suffer.
The Fourth Mixed Brigade set up camp, and all the Japanese were summoned by Major General Miyazawa. They surrounded the village and dug trenches face to face with the independent regiment.
Otherwise, after the Eighth Route Army launches a general offensive, the troops will not even have a bunker to hide.
At seven o'clock in the morning, it was already broad daylight, and the Eighth Route Army troops operating outside the village seemed to have disappeared. Not a single soul could be seen.
Except for a trench that had been dug, there was no sign of the main activities of the Eighth Route Army outside the village.
Major General Miyazawa was very confused and couldn't figure out what the Eighth Route Army was doing.
Immediately send an infantry team out of the village to test their true strength...
"Da da da……"
When the infantry team was still sixty or seventy meters away from the trench, six light machine guns suddenly appeared from the trench and opened fire on the attacking troops.
Major General Miyazawa's retreat order was shouted from his mouth at the same time...
A full infantry squad lost more than half of its members in just one probing attack...
Looking at the two dozen soldiers retreating in embarrassment before him, Gongze felt like crying but no longer dared to send troops to test the strength of the Eighth Route Army.
But there was one thing he didn't expect.
In order to avoid their air strikes, the two main battalions of the Independent Regiment remaining in the base area have indeed withdrawn.
But in order to scare the Japanese and hide the news of the retreat of the main force for a while, four machine gun squads were specially left...
A machine gun squad defends one direction. No matter which direction the Japanese launch a probing attack, they will be attacked by two machine gun squads at the same time... just like the battle just now.
As soon as eight o'clock passed, the four machine gun squads would secretly evacuate their positions, leaving a circle of empty trenches to continue to surround the village.
Major General Miyazawa, who had just suffered a small loss, did not know about this. He always thought that the Eighth Route Army surrounding him was hiding in the trenches. He planned to wait for the air support to arrive, then let the aircraft help him open a breakthrough and fight back to Yangquan.
Unfortunately, before the plane sent by the military arrived, another piece of bad news had already reached his ears in advance.
"General, we haven't contacted Yangquan County and Fujiwara Brigade yet... but the Prancing Horse Town stronghold sent us bad news..." The telegraph operator hurried to Major General Miyazawa to report, and handed over the translated telegram!
"Nani? How is this possible!" Major General Miyazawa became angry after looking at it for half a minute, shouting in disbelief.
"What happened? General!" Major Jiamu asked anxiously when he saw the brigade commander's mood suddenly deteriorated. A bad premonition flashed through his mind.
"Report from the Prancing Horse Town stronghold: At around 5 o'clock in the morning, an Eighth Route Army team driving armored vehicles and troop carriers broke through their interception and marched back to the base... This convoy came from Yangquan!"
"I remember that the military headquarters gave us six additional armored vehicles some time ago... I brought three of them to reinforce Lijiapo, and the remaining three armored vehicles were all left at the brigade headquarters!"
"If the armored vehicle driven by the Eighth Route Army was captured from Yangquan, then Yangquan must have been lost... Our Fujiwara brigade returning to Yangquan to aid may have had an accident!"
"General, we can't wait any longer!" Major Jiamu began to persuade him as soon as he heard this.
"We must immediately report the attack on Yangquan to the military headquarters and ask the military headquarters to send a plane to investigate there immediately. This is the fastest way for us to find out about Yangquan!"
"We also need to find a way to contact the garrison at the base near Yangquan and ask them to immediately send troops to investigate Yangquan and find the Fujiwara brigade returning to Yangquan to aid!"
"I'm going to send a telegram now!" Major General Miyazawa also realized the seriousness of the problem and hurriedly walked towards the room where the radio station was...
At the headquarters of the Japanese First Army in Taiyuan, Yoshio Shinozuka had not slept all day and night. His eyes were already red from sleep, and he was still staring at the sand table motionless.
Several operational staff members stood by, constantly marking the latest battle conditions on it.
"Your Excellency, Commander... there are still two hours left for the nearest reinforcement force from the Fourth Mixed Brigade to arrive on the battlefield. With two brigades, we will definitely have no problem cooperating with the Fourth Mixed Brigade to hold back the Eighth Route Army there," the Chief of Staff said.
Introducing the latest news just received.
"Do you have the latest battle report of the Fourth Mixed Brigade... I always feel that the Eighth Route Army is brewing another big conspiracy, but I can't find a clue..." Shinozuka Yoshio asked with a stern face.
"There was only a telegram sent half an hour ago, and the next contact will be with them half an hour later..." the chief of staff shook his head and explained.
Seeing that Yoshio Shinozuka's face was getting more and more ugly, the chief of staff quickly asked for instructions: "If you are in a hurry, I can arrange for someone to contact them now!"
"Not yet!" Yoshio Shinozuka shook his head and refused.
"We have to believe Miyazawa-kun. Not only will sending a telegram rashly not help them, it will also put tremendous pressure on him and affect his command of operations!"
"How long will it take for the aviation force to arrive on the battlefield!"
"As soon as the plane arrives, we will know the latest battle situation on the battlefield from the aviation force."
"Half an hour at most!" the chief of staff took a look at the time and reported.
"Why don't you go back to your room and rest for a while? I'll notify you as soon as the headquarters receives the news!"
Yoshio Shinozuka shook his head: "More than 10,000 troops were dispatched, a lot of weapons and ammunition were consumed, and an aircraft was lost... As a result, we didn't catch anything in Lijiapo, and the Yamazaki Brigade used as a bait was completely wiped out by the Eighth Route Army!"
"How can you let me sleep with such a result!"
"And I always feel that there is a conspiracy in the Fourth Mixed Brigade being surrounded by the Eighth Route Army. I won't be able to sleep until the mystery is solved!"
"Your Excellency, Commander, there is an urgent message from the Fourth Mixed Brigade: Ask the military headquarters to immediately send a plane to investigate Yangquan. Something may have happened there!" The communications staff officer hurried over to report, his expression very nervous, for fear that what he reported would upset the commander.
The official is angry.
"Nani?" Yoshio Shinozuka seemed to have found a clue. He took the telegram and began to read it, giving orders while reading.
"Hurry up and contact the aviation force to investigate Yangquan and find out where Yangquan belongs..."
"We also need to investigate the road connecting Yangquan to Yuanma Town to see if there are any signs of crossfire!"
After saying that, he turned his attention to the sand table...
After reading the sand table, I turned my attention to the telegram...
After reading it back and forth twice, he slapped the telegram on the table and suddenly realized: "I know what the purpose of the Eighth Route Army's sudden siege of the Fourth Mixed Brigade was?"
"If something really happens in Yangquan, the Fujiwara brigade returning to Yangquan has already had an accident. The Eighth Route Army did this to divert our attention and buy time for their troops to attack Yangquan to move!"
"Let the aircraft of the aviation force investigating Yangquan leave as soon as possible!"
"If Yangquan is really lost, they will not only find the Fujiwara brigade where the accident occurred, but also the Eighth Route Army that attacked Yangquan!"
"Yangquan is dozens of kilometers away from their base, and it would take more than ten hours to get back by walking on a small road. It must still be in the area occupied by the imperial army!"
"We must find them and kill them, otherwise our First Army will be completely disgraced by the Fourth Mixed Brigade!"
"Your Excellency, Commander...there is news about the aviation force supporting the 4th Mixed Brigade!" Another communications staff officer hurried over.
"After low-altitude reconnaissance, it was confirmed that the Eighth Route Army surrounding the fourth mixed brigade has all retreated..."
"The other Eighth Route Army troops that besieged the Fourth Mixed Brigade also disappeared..."
"Except for the Imperial Army, no Eighth Route Army was found around the battlefield!"
"Bagaya Road, we were really fooled by the Eighth Route Army!" Yoshio Shinozuka understood completely after hearing this.
He immediately ordered to the chief of staff on the side: "Send a telegram to the Fourth Mixed Brigade immediately."
"Let Miyazawa-kun explain to me immediately the attack on Yangquan!"
"When did he know that Yangquan was under attack, when did he send troops back to aid Yangquan, when did he lose contact with Yangquan and the Fujiwara brigade...you must all explain it to me!"
"Such a big thing happened in Shanxi, and as the commander, I was the last to know about it. It's too much!"
"If Yangquan hadn't been lost, would the Fourth Mixed Brigade plan to keep this matter a secret forever?"
Yoshio Shinozuka received a call back from the Fourth Brigade twenty minutes later, and the aviation force also sent the latest news about Yangquan County.
"Your Excellency, Commander...the aviation force has figured out the latest situation in Yangquan County?"
Yoshio Shinozuka has determined that Yangquan County has been lost.
If you want to save the defeat, you must not only retake Yangquan, but also try to kill the Eighth Route Army that attacked Yangquan.
He stared at the chief of staff and asked expectantly: "Is the Eighth Route Army that attacked Yangquan still there... If they haven't retreated yet, we have a chance to eliminate them in Yangquan!"
The chief of staff shook his head in disappointment: "The aviation force found no trace of the Eighth Route Army's activities..."
"But they found a large number of corpses of the imperial army on the road fifteen kilometers away from Yangquan..."
"It should be the missing Fujiwara Brigade..."
"The aviation force is trying its best to find the Eighth Route Army attacking Yangquan..."
"The search scope has been expanded to a range of 20 kilometers around Yangquan, focusing on the area of Yangquan close to the Eighth Route Army base!"
"The search range is too small...it needs to be increased by twenty kilometers..." Yoshio Shinozuka praised the telegram order sent by the 4th Mixed Brigade.
"Miyazawa-kun went too far this time..."
"I received news of the attack on Yangquan in the middle of the night, and I'm only reporting it now!"
"Based on what I know about the Eighth Route Army: In order to avoid our air attacks, they will probably withdraw from Yangquan before dawn!"
"It will be ten o'clock soon. If they evacuated Yangquan before dawn, they would have walked at least twenty kilometers by now!"
