At the headquarters of the Japanese First Army in Taiyuan, Yoshio Shinozuka had determined that the Fujiwara Brigade had been completely wiped out, Yangquan County had been looted, and nothing was left of the Eighth Route Army except corpses and empty warehouses.
Seven to eight hundred tons of supplies, weapons and ammunition is not a small amount. If all fell into the hands of the Eighth Route Army, it would definitely greatly enhance their fighting ability.
After the Eighth Route Army's combat effectiveness becomes stronger, the difficulty for the Shanxi garrison to destroy them will also increase exponentially.
This is the situation he least wants to see.
Almost all the aviation troops stationed in Taiyuan were sent out by him to look for the Eighth Route Army transport team.
In the absence of transport trucks, it was almost impossible for the Eighth Route Army to return the captured goods to the base area within a few hours, so 80% of the materials, equipment and ammunition lost in Yangquan County were still on the way.
As long as we can find them and destroy them...
He could minimize the influence of losing Yangquan, and use the results of the Lijiapo battle to cripple three main regiments of the Eighth Route Army to silence his superiors.
"Found it... Your Excellency, Commander, there is news from the Eighth Route Army transport team!" the chief of staff rushed into the war room to report.
Pointing to a line on the sand table, he said: "The aviation force found a large number of Eighth Route Army transport teams on this mountain road, stretching for nearly 20 kilometers... A large number of mules, horses and horses were also found in the transport team... all loaded with weapons, ammunition and supplies..."
"Great..." Yoshio Shinozuka punched the sand table and opened his mouth to give orders.
"Inform the aviation force to gather all the aircraft in this area, and bomb the targets when they see them. Don't be afraid of wasting bombs... Then move all the troops stationed nearby and block them at all costs!"
Seeing Chief of Staff Xing running out of the war room in a hurry, Shinozuka Yoshio's nerves that had been tense for several hours finally relaxed. He sighed and said, "I hope it's not too late!"
On the edge of the Independent Regiment's base area, Chief of Staff Li Wensheng stood on the high ground and looked forward eagerly, looking very anxious.
The regimental commander made it very clear in the telegram that the first transport team would return to the base area at 11 a.m....
It had been half an hour and he still hadn't seen the transport team, and he couldn't help but feel nervous, fearing that something might happen to them somewhere.
I studied the retreat route twice based on the map, but found no danger, so I could only stay here and wait...
"Chief of Staff, the transport team is back..." The scout who entered the mountain to meet him panted and ran towards him. Before anyone arrived, the excited report was already heard!
"The people who came back are the reconnaissance company... they brought back two hundred mules and horses, and they all transported weapons and ammunition..."
Li Wensheng raised his binoculars and saw several scouts appearing at the mountain pass, rifles in hand, very alert...
After confirming that there was no danger ahead, the mule and horse team entered Li Wensheng's field of vision.
"The first company of the new camp is ready to respond... As soon as the reconnaissance company arrives, they will send the mules and horses they brought back to the predetermined area, and the equipment and ammunition will be stored in categories. No one can get close to those weapons and ammunition without orders from me and the regiment commander!"
"The cooking team will quickly deliver the prepared hot meals and dishes..."
"The attacking troops must be tired and hungry after continuous fighting. After finally returning to the base area, they must be fed, drank and rested well!"
The reconnaissance company is not only the first unit for the sortie to return to the base area, but also undertakes the task of pioneering the way to ensure that subsequent transportation teams can return to the base area safely.
As soon as they returned, follow-up troops came into Li Wensheng's sight one after another.
"Chief of Staff...the attacking troops have sent back 600 mules and horses...all weapons and ammunition...how many good things did the regiment commander capture in Yangquan!" Yang Wanhe, commander of the recruit battalion, took the time to run to Li Wensheng and sighed.
"Is that too much?" Li Wensheng asked with a smile.
"No... no matter how many weapons and ammunition the regiment leader brings back, I won't be too much... I just have never seen so many weapons and ammunition, and I feel happy!"
"Then I'll tell you everything!" said the chief of staff.
"The trophies you see are just the beginning, there are more to come..."
"Let the soldiers cheer up..."
"These seizures are not only related to the future of our independent regiment, but the entire 386 Brigade will also benefit!"
"Everyone must be more vigilant and store the loot in categories. No accidents can happen!"
"Li Wensheng... The chief of staff and I couldn't help but come over as soon as we saw the telegram sent by Kong Jie... It's almost twelve o'clock. Is the transport team back?" The brigade commander's voice suddenly came over, startling Li Wensheng.
A big jump.
"Hello, brigade commander...Hello, chief of staff..." Li Wensheng welcomed the brigade commander's arrival very much, and his face was particularly bright.
There are so many main groups in the 386th Brigade, but the brigade commander came to the independent group instead of going anywhere else. This shows that the independent group is deeply trusted by the brigade commander and reported quickly.
"Five transport teams have returned..."
"The reconnaissance company came back first, carrying two hundred mules and horses... The four patrol teams behind carried one hundred mules and horses!"
"The trophies received so far are all weapons and ammunition, including three to four thousand artillery shells, as well as a large number of unopened rifles and heavy machine guns..."
"Captain, another transport team is back!" the reconnaissance platoon leader of the new barracks reported from a distance.
"The Third Company of the Recruitment Battalion is here to take over...the cooking team is preparing hot meals and hot dishes...hurry up!" Li Wensheng ordered in an orderly manner.
"Let's go take a look too!" the brigade commander said with interest.
On the mountain road, more than a dozen soldiers were on guard with guns, and more than 20 soldiers were leading mules and horses...
Five mules and horses were strung together with ropes, led by a soldier, and walked slowly toward the base...
Each soldier stared with a pair of red eyes, very tired. He forced his body to move forward, and fell asleep...
"What are you still doing? Hurry over and lead the mules and horses... take them there to eat and sleep..." Li Wensheng hurriedly greeted the troops behind him.
After more than thirty soldiers were taken away, the brigade commander turned his attention to the mules and horses...
"They are all good things!" the brigade commander sighed, patting the box on his horse.
Yang Wanhe, the commander of the recruit battalion, had already handled several transport teams and knew which boxes contained what ammunition. He quickly ran over to introduce: "Chief..."
"This kind of long box contains 38 big lids..."
"There are five pieces in one box... This transport team brought back a total of one hundred 38 pieces..."
Seeing that the brigade commander nodded with satisfaction, Yang Wanhe pointed to another box and continued to introduce: "This contains mortar shells, ten shells in a box..."
"This transport team brought back a total of forty boxes of four hundred shells each..."
"The smaller box contains 65-caliber rifle bullets... One box contains 1,500 rounds of ammunition... There are a total of 40 boxes of 60,000 rounds of rifle bullets here..."
"And here..."
While the brigade commander was listening and watching, a figure suddenly entered his field of vision, and then hurriedly walked towards him!
"Comrade Huang Yu...when did you come here..."
"Where are the armored vehicles and personnel carriers that Kong Jie asked you to drive back? Are there any problems?"
"Reporting to the leader, the assault platoon successfully completed its mission..." Huang Yu replied proudly.
"Three armored vehicles, three troop carriers...all returned to the base intact!"
"I also brought back more than three thousand kilograms of fuel... In order to avoid the aerial reconnaissance of the Japs... I hid them when I returned to the base, sent two squads to protect them, and drove back to the base after dark!"
After hearing this, Chief of Staff Zhou of the brigade headquarters was delighted: "Great, from now on, our 386th Brigade will also have its own armored force!"
Then he stared at Huang Yu and praised him without hesitation: "Comrade Huang Yu, your assault platoon has made great achievements!"
"Last time we attacked Yamamoto's special agent team, the brigade commander decided to reward you with dozens of submachine guns..."
"I will be the master this time. If you want any reward, just ask for it. As long as I can do it, I will definitely agree to it!"
"What the Chief of Staff means is what I mean..." the brigade commander answered with a smile, in a very good mood.
"Our Eighth Route Army believes in rewards for meritorious service. Your boy has made such a great contribution in this raid, and the brigade headquarters must reward him!"
“Don’t be embarrassed, just ask if you have any requests!”
Huang Yu's mind immediately became alive.
It took a lot of effort for the three armored vehicles to persuade the regiment leader to take them back to the base area, otherwise they would have been blown to pieces.
The main purpose of doing this is to deal with the upcoming May Day raids by the Japanese...
According to the original direction of "Bright Sword", both Li Yunlong and Kong Jie will suffer heavy losses in this battle.
In particular, Sun Desheng's cavalry company was directly defeated by the Japanese cavalry regiment and was completely destroyed.
If the independent regiment had three armored vehicles to assist in this sweep, Huang Yu was confident that he could help Kong Jie break out of the encirclement of the Japanese and puppet troops at the minimum cost, and at the same time kill the Japanese's arrogant cavalry regiment, thus reducing the pressure on other units to counter the sweep.
After the brigade commander finished speaking, the first thought that came to his mind was to leave the armored vehicles in the assault platoon.
Otherwise, with the style of a regimental commander, the armored vehicle will definitely be handed over to the brigade headquarters.
His mind was running rapidly, analyzing the chances of the brigade commander agreeing to him.
Although armored vehicles are powerful, they also have great limitations. This is the main reason why the regiment leader wanted to blow up the armored vehicle after capturing it.
To put it more bluntly, in the eyes of the Eighth Route Army, armored vehicles are a powerful useless thing...
Even if the regiment commander is handed over to the brigade headquarters, the brigade commander will not be of much use. He might as well stay in the assault platoon.
The more I thought about it, the more confident I became, and I immediately proposed to the brigade commander: "Commander, I want the three armored vehicles that the assault platoon just brought back from Yangquan!"
"No problem..." Chief of Staff Zhou agreed without hesitation.
"Although the armored vehicles are very powerful, they have little effect on our Eighth Route Army. They will also affect the mobility of the troops. They can only play a role in certain local battles. The meaning of staying in the independent regiment is about the same as turning it over to the brigade headquarters!"
"But if other units need to second an armored vehicle, the assault platoon must be on call!"
Huang Yu didn't expect the chief to agree so readily, and quickly replied: "Please rest assured, chief, the assault platoon is a member of the Eighth Route Army. As long as there is need, we will definitely kill them as soon as possible!"
"I have one more request!" the brigade commander said suddenly!
"After the battle, I will ask each regiment to send some soldiers to the assault platoon to learn how to drive armored vehicles... Any armored vehicles captured in the future can be used by me instead of blowing them up like before."
