Chapter 335 Brigade Commander, Kong Jie has a big move!
Ando Daizuo quickly got the news he wanted.
"Sir, the Eighth Route Army buried gunpowder on the slope next to the highway. After the troops stopped advancing, it suddenly detonated. There were five explosion points in total. More than 150 soldiers were killed and injured..." A lieutenant ran to Ando Ozuo
Report in front of you.
The majority of the more than 150 casualties must have been from the Imperial Army, which meant that the explosion just now wiped out two of his infantry squads. Ando Daizuo immediately became furious and cursed angrily.
"What did the engineers do for food? Why didn't they find the gunpowder?"
"There are more than 150 soldiers. We and the Eighth Route Army can't even sustain so many casualties in a decisive battle on the battlefield!"
The lieutenant forced himself to explain: "The engineers were only responsible for detecting mines on the highway, and did not check the soil slopes next to the highway..."
"If the enemy buries gunpowder on the road, the mine detector will definitely be able to find the wires used by the Eighth Route Army to detonate the gunpowder, and follow the clues to find the gunpowder!"
Ando Dazuo was speechless. In the end, he could only suppress his anger in his heart and remember it on the Eighth Route Army. He would retaliate and vent it out after finding the main force of the independent regiment in the future!
At the headquarters of the 386th Brigade, Brigadier Chen was also focused on the Independent Regiment.
The first thing I do when I get up every day is to go to the telecommunications room, and today was no exception. When I saw the communications platoon leader, I hurriedly asked: "Platoon Commander Zhou, has the Independent Group sent a telegram..."
"I have the telegram here!" came the voice of his old partner from the war room.
Brigadier Chen hurriedly walked in and asked: "Is there anything new? Can the independent regiment win the counter-mopping operation? Is there anything Kong Jie needs our help with?"
Chief of Staff Zhou replied seriously: "The telegram said that they have a big operation this afternoon. They plan to gather all the main forces to fight decisively with the Japanese mopping up troops in the middle, annihilate them in one battle, and cut off a finger of the Japanese and puppet mopping up troops!"
Brigadier Chen's expression immediately turned serious. He strode to the edge of the map and asked, "Where do they plan to fight, and how sure are they?"
"How many troops are left by the enemy? How many troops can Kong Jie gather to join the battle?"
"On the road two kilometers southwest of Baipogou..." Chief of Staff Zhou introduced, pointing to a point on the map.
"The telegram said it was 70% sure. Based on my understanding of Kong Jie, I will definitely be modest. I estimate they are at least 80% sure!"
"There were originally more than 5,000 people in the middle route mopping up force. After Comrade Huang Yu's blockade and raids along the way, the total force has been reduced to less than 3,000 people!"
"The independent regiment can gather 6,000 people to participate in the battle, so as to be prepared and unprepared, and the chance of winning can be increased by 10%!"
"Wait a minute!" Brigadier Chen suddenly interrupted.
"You just said that Comrade Huang Yu of the Independent Regiment killed more than 2,000 puppet troops just by blocking and sneak attacks along the way... How is this possible!"
Chief of Staff Zhou was also shocked, but he believed the telegram sent by Kong Jie more. He shook his head and replied: "I don't know exactly how the fight was carried out, but Kong Jie will definitely not lie about the military situation!"
Brigadier Chen nodded and decided not to dwell on this issue for now, and would ask Kong Jie about it after the battle was over.
Then he turned his attention to the map: "Did they tell you how to fight the Japanese?"
The chief of staff shook his head again: "I didn't tell you. How about I send a telegram to Kong Jie now to ask."
Brigadier Chen refused without hesitation: "You can't send a telegram!"
"I will not accept your fate... Since Kong Jie is confident that he can win this decisive battle, we should believe in him."
"Sending a telegram now is tantamount to increasing the pressure on his command, and the gain outweighs the loss!"
The Japanese military headquarters in Taiyuan, Yoshio Shinozuka, was also paying attention to this great battle.
When he walked into the war room, he stared at the staff officer on duty and asked: "First of all, please introduce to me the latest situation of the three-way sweep force and the blockade force?"
"Hai!" The staff officer on duty immediately took out the several telegrams he had received from last night to just now.
"The New First Regiment and the New Second Regiment's attack on the blockade continues..."
"The attack began as soon as it got dark, using mortars, mountain artillery, infantry artillery, and their own torpedo cannons. The offensive firepower was very powerful, causing a lot of damage to the blockading troops!"
"According to statistics, the Eighth Route Army launched a total of 19 company-level attacks and eight battalion-level attacks on four battlefields, but we were all repelled..."
"The blocking position is still firmly in our hands!"
"I believe that the Independent Regiment has reached a critical moment of life and death, otherwise the New First Regiment and the New Second Regiment would not be so desperate!"
Yoshio Shinozuka nodded in agreement.
The content of the telegram was not much different from the information collected by the intelligence department, indicating that the main forces of the New First Regiment and the New Second Regiment were indeed blocked from the independent regiment's base area.
In this way, there will be no ambushes in the independent regiment's base area, and the three-way sweep forces will only have to face troops on the surface, so there is no need to worry about ambushes or anything like that.
The more Yoshio Shinozuka thought about it, the happier he became. He looked at the staff officer on duty and continued to ask: "Has the Eighth Route Army that blocked the mopping up troops on the left and right been moved?"
"No!" the staff officer on duty replied firmly!
"When they raided the mopping up troops, the mopping up troops also arranged for scouts to monitor them from a distance!"
"The 1st, 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the Independent Regiment have not mobilized any troops!"
"It seems I'm worrying too much!" Yoshio Shinozuka replied!
"After the middle road mopping up troops suffered heavy losses, I was particularly worried that the independent regiment would build plank roads in secret and secretly assemble troops to ambush the middle road mopping up troops!"
"Based on the analysis of the current battle situation, the independent regiment should not dare to mobilize troops to sweep up the troops from the left and right. They are afraid that their assault speed will be too fast, and they will outflank Baipogou from both wings and gather the main force of the independent regiment there."
After the analysis, he stared at the staff officer on duty and continued to ask: "What's going on with the troops sweeping up the middle road? How far is it from Baipogou!"
"They lost more than 200 people yesterday... The Eighth Route Army used explosives to place five explosion points on their march and used detonators to detonate them... causing them to directly lose more than 150 people!"
"Only more than 60 people were lost in attacking the blocking position and encountering landmines!"
"The independent group has run out of skills!" Yoshio Shinozuka interjected again.
"As long as we strengthen our vigilance and no longer be attacked by explosives, our losses on the mopping up road will plummet, forcing the independent group to come out to fight us!"
The staff officer on duty pointed to a point on the sand table and continued to report: "The middle route mopping up troops camped here last night..."
"There are only eight kilometers left between the Baipo Valley and the independent regiment headquarters..."
"Aerial reconnaissance shows that the Eighth Route Army has built two blocking positions on this section of the road!"
"There are still a lot of Eighth Route Army activities in the Baipogou area, which shows that the independent regiment headquarters has not been transferred!"
"As long as the attack speed of the central mopping up troops is fast enough, they will definitely be able to severely damage the independent regiment in Baipogou and cause trouble to the independent regiment headquarters!"
Shinozuka Yoshio immediately ordered: "Send a telegram to Ando Daizuo now. We must capture Baipogou today and severely damage the independent regiment..."
"The aviation force will deploy three aircraft to provide them with continuous air support!"
The Japanese army raided the temporary base of the troops on the middle road. Ando Dazuo was having breakfast and looking at the map.
When I learned that Baipo Valley was only eight kilometers away, the idea of setting up camp there tonight flashed into my mind.
Before I could make up my mind, Shinozuka Yoshio's order came.
"Yoshi... I didn't expect that Your Excellency, Commander, had exactly the same idea as me!" Ando Ozuo said with a happy face after reading the telegram.
The adjutant flattered him and said, "Captain, you guys think like heroes!"
"We will definitely be able to set up camp in Baipogou tonight and severely damage the Independent Regiment!"
Ando Daizuo immediately ordered: "The order given to us by the military headquarters said... There are only independent regiment guard battalions and cavalry battalions in the Baipogou area, plus the assault battalion and the fifth battalion to block us, the total strength does not exceed 2,000 people!"
"We have absolute strength superiority, artillery superiority, and can call for air support at any time. We will definitely be able to successfully capture Baipogou!"
"The troops will leave in half an hour..."
"The Imperial Alliance Army cooperates with the engineering team to clear mines..."
"Today we not only need to clear out the landmines buried by the Eighth Route Army on the road, but also clear out the gunpowder buried by the Eighth Route Army beside the road... We must not stumble on the same issue three times in a row!"
On the road two kilometers southwest of Baipogou, the first battalion of the main force had just withdrawn from the disguised blocking position.
After receiving the blocking mission, Shen Quan led his team to fight here overnight.
He already knew that Japanese heavy artillery could easily destroy anti-gun holes and machine gun bunkers.
The first battalion wanted to rely on blocking positions to block the Japanese and puppet troops and block them in pocket formations. The fortifications must be reinforced so that they could withstand the joint attack of heavy artillery and aircraft.
Otherwise, even if the whole battalion is exhausted, it will not be able to complete the blocking mission!
On the basis of the original positions, the bombholes and bunkers were deepened, and all the bombholes and bunkers were supported by logs...
Earthworks were then transported from other places, and a layer of soil more than half a meter thick was added to the anti-cannon holes and machine gun bunkers to increase their anti-cannon fire capabilities as much as possible.
"God's Coming"
The 2345th Battalion left their hiding place in the middle of the night and had moved to a position two or three kilometers away from the battlefield to lurk and stand ready. If their lurking positions were marked on a map, these points would just form a closed loop, surrounding the decisive battle battlefield!
The artillery battalion moved in the dark to a mountain col more than a thousand meters away from the battlefield. Four large-caliber mortars, six infantry guns, and two mountain cannons all had their black muzzles raised, camouflaged, waiting for the moment of decisive battle!
The cavalry battalion was hiding in a valley, ready to go.
The former enemy headquarters of the Independent Regiment was also moved from Baipogou to a high ground less than one kilometer away from the battlefield. Standing at the observation port, Kong Jie could overlook the entire battlefield from a high position.
"Weng buzz..."
Shortly after dawn, a Japanese fighter plane appeared above the battlefield, along the road and close to the top of the mountain, roaring past the decisive battle battlefield.
Although all the evidence showed that the independent regiment did not have that many troops to ambush Ando's team, the cautious Ando Dazuo still arranged for a plane to conduct uninterrupted reconnaissance of the road along Baipogou...
Make sure there is no main force of the Eighth Route Army ambushing you on the road...
Seeing Kong Jie's brows furrowed, Li Wensheng immediately comforted him: "Captain, don't worry...the soldiers are already used to aerial reconnaissance by little Japs..."
"The troops are all hidden in the woods, and their positions and heavy weapons are all well disguised... I guarantee that no matter how many times the enemy planes come, they will return without success..."
Kong Jie nodded and replied: "I'm not worried about avoiding air strikes..."
"I'm going to think about how to use the little Japanese planes to make the mopping up troops get into our pockets at all costs!"
