1181 Encirclement and Annihilation of Inoue Division (2)
The situation on this day was like a nightmare to the old Japanese Inoue.
First, they were attacked by heavy artillery units arranged in advance by the enemy north of Yangyuan. The main forward force of the 14th Division was severely damaged, and even its organization was almost completely disbanded.
Then the main force of the Chinese army was also penetrated and raided by the enemy.
Even the core armored vehicle unit of his 14th Division was completely defeated.
Inoue, who had lost all his courage, had no choice but to order the troops to retreat to the forested highlands and hold tight, waiting for the arrival of reinforcements.
Although he also knew that these mountainous and forested highlands were not suitable for the deployment of his own mechanized combat vehicles, facing the massive siege of the Eighth Route Army, he had no choice but to make this choice to avoid greater casualties to the troops.
When approaching the forested highlands in this area, the Japanese officers also discovered a phenomenon. These higher-lying areas did not have the Eighth Route Army stationed in advance, but were occupied by them quite smoothly.
At this time, some smart Japanese officers also realized that something was not right.
But having reached this point, they could only rely on the condescending terrain of the forested highlands to hold on. The Japanese army built multiple lines of defense on these highlands in the direction of facing the enemy, including corresponding anti-tank fortifications and artillery positions.
To guard against the Eighth Route Army's attack with chariot troops.
In addition, the Japanese placed mechanized combat vehicles on both wings of the high ground, ready to serve as advance troops to strangle the attacking Eighth Route Army infantry.
Everything was quickly arranged.
In the subsequent development of the war situation, the Eighth Route Army troops that quickly pursued the enemy launched many attacks, but they were easily repelled by the Japanese troops who were firmly entrenched and condescending.
This made many Japanese officers stationed on the hilltops breathe a long sigh of relief.
Finally got a firm footing.
Until about seven o'clock in the morning.
Day replaces night again, and dawn comes quietly.
The roar of aircraft engines came from mid-air from far to near.
If in the past, upon hearing such a noise, the Japanese officers and soldiers would most likely have cheered, because it meant the arrival of their aerial firepower reinforcements.
But now, when they heard the movement of fighter planes in mid-air, these little devils felt as if they were facing a formidable enemy.
The scouts at the front took out their binoculars and paid close attention to the fighter planes coming from far to near, judging whether they were enemies or friends.
It is still a Japanese fighter plane, but this does not mean that it is a flying force of the Japanese army.
The Japanese officer in charge of the garrison immediately ordered the troops on all lines of defense to prepare for air defense.
Just like this, under the sight of a large number of Japanese troops, several leading fighter jets roared over their heads and flew towards the enemy camp. After reaching the area above the enemy camp, they launched a firepower air strike.
.
The enemy forces also immediately launched a fire counterattack towards the fighter planes roaring in the air.
This made the Japanese officer in command stunned for a moment, and then said with an ecstatic expression:
"Xinxi, this is the fighter plane of our Empire of Japan!"
Then a large number of fighter planes roared over, which made the Japanese officer stunned. He didn't expect that the Commander-in-Chief would send such a large number of flying troops to reinforce the battle this time.
In this way, the next step can definitely turn the tide of the war in one fell swoop.
But at this moment, a sudden change occurred.
The Japanese troops on almost every line of defense were certain that what was roaring in the air was the Japanese aviation force, so they even relaxed their vigilance.
Then more than ten fighter planes roared over, including a considerable number of bombers.
Before the plane passed over the heads of the Japanese positions, it dropped bombs one after another.
The bombs carried an initial speed and then landed accurately within the positions where the Japanese troops were stationed.
Boom——
Amidst the continuous explosions, the positions where the Japanese troops were stationed, as well as all the Japanese soldiers, were completely submerged in the artillery fire.
On the other side, the commander of the Eighth Route Army, who only launched a few feint attacks to avoid heavy casualties in his troops, was looking at all this from a distance with a telescope, and a cheerful smile appeared on his lips.
The reason why the first few fighter planes that came over just opened fire on their own camp was just to paralyze the Japanese army's judgment.
Long before the fighter jets arrived, the ground troops had already learned the news through the communications squad. The previous fire counterattack was just a show in conjunction with the aviation troops.
"Everyone is here, be prepared. After the bombing is over, we will launch an attack to completely kill this little devil!" the Eighth Route Army commander in charge of the attack issued the order.
At this moment, a scene like this is not accidental, but is happening across a large area in the entire Yangyuan region.
The Japanese troops stationed in the mountainous highlands were constantly attacked by fighter jets belonging to the Eighth Route Army.
At this time, the 14th Division of the Kwantung Army was in a very bad situation.
Their troops gathered on high ground one after another, almost completely exposed to the bombing sight of the enemy aviation forces.
At this time, mechanized combat vehicles and artillery pieces basically fell in the surrounding area. Facing the air attack firepower of the Eighth Route Army, there was no time to hide and avoid.
In addition, the Eighth Route Army aviation units were almost in full force this time.
It was aimed at the 14th Division of the Kwantung Army.
In Kong Jie's words: "It would be better to cut off one of his arms than to hurt ten of his fingers. The Japanese's deployment in the past few days has been ambitious. They not only want to deal with our aviation forces, but also want to cooperate with the ground infantry to eat up our main force. The idea is
Yes, but it's a pity that they don't have the appetite yet.
Let us be more realistic. The ground combat troops, including our aviation troops, will launch an all-out attack. If we concentrate more, we will completely eat up the Japanese Kwantung Army’s 14th Division!"
"beat!"
Nearly a hundred fighter planes of all kinds roared over and fired artillery fire. Not to mention the Japanese troops stationed in those highlands, even the mountains and mausoleums were almost flattened by bombs.
The number of fighter planes used by the Eighth Route Army this time is unprecedented in the history of the Eighth Route Army's operations. The despair in the hearts of the little devils facing such power at this moment can be imagined.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! The troops stationed everywhere are reporting casualties, all of which are heavy casualties.
After being completely exposed, the Japanese troops gathered in the highland area had little power to fight back in the face of the large-scale bombing by the Eighth Route Army aviation unit.
The old Japanese Inoue, who was hiding in the air defense fortification in embarrassment, was shocked and angry. While cursing that the Imperial Air Force was a fool, he ordered the communications troops to quickly contact the headquarters to ask what was going on.
How could such a large number of enemy planes appear and target our 14th Division?
What do the Empire's flying troops do?
Do you just have to watch the enemy's air strikes in such numbers?
And just a few dozen minutes ago, Inoue, an old devil, finally learned that the enemy force that had sneak-attacked his main vanguard force at night and severely damaged his tank force was not a member of the national army at all. 35
The Route Army, but the most elite Iron Triangle Army of the Eighth Route Army, was the elite steel-helmeted soldiers of the Eighth Route Army that he had always wanted to eliminate.
This made Inoue feel ridiculous, but more importantly, it was humiliating and shocking.
The opponent that he had always wanted to defeat completely defeated him right under his nose, with almost no knowledge of his own.
Inoue, who was completely panicked, quickly contacted various reinforcements after contacting the headquarters.
As a result, they learned that the Morita Chariot Division, which was originally preparing to go south for reinforcements, was completely intercepted by the National Army's 35th Route Army.
The imperial troops advancing from Huashaoying as planned were also intercepted by the Eighth Route Army on the outside and could not approach Yangyuan at all.
"Where is the 35th Division? Where is Harada's troops?"
Inoue, who treated a dead horse as a living horse doctor, couldn't care less. Even the old Japanese Harada, whom he had always belittled and despised, became his last savior at this moment.
According to the battle plan coordinated by several Japanese armies this time.
When the 14th Division takes Yangyuan on a snowy night, the 35th Division should send troops to Yanmen Pass, take Yixian County, and then quickly move towards Datong to cooperate with the 14th Division's operations.
As a result, the intelligence returned from the front line was that not a single soldier of the 35th Division was seen at all.
This inevitably makes Lieutenant General Inoue angry. At present, his 14th Division is completely besieged in the Yangyuan area, but this is the time when reinforcements are needed.
Faced with Inoue's angry questioning.
The reason Harada reported was that after the troops were dispatched, they would attack Xinkou while defending the east side of Dai County to prevent the Eighth Route Army from outflanking the Wutai Mountain area. Before the reinforcements arrived, it was not advisable to easily leave Yanmen Pass and attack in the direction of Datong.
"Baga, this damn fool, stupid coward!"
Inoue was almost stunned. The battlefield situation was changing rapidly, and the fighter planes were fleeting. If everyone was like the Harada Division, they had to wait until they were completely safe before they dared to advance step by step. Then why fight?
Feeling: You North China Front troops are all afraid of death, but you have given the dangerous task of charging into the battle to our Kwantung Army?
After Inoue cursed and cursed, he had no choice but to send a message to the general headquarters, condemning the Harada Division and requesting rapid reinforcements from the Harada Division.
The real situation on the 35th Division's side is.
When Harada captured the Eighth Route Army warehouse in Dai County, he seized a batch of heavy machine guns as well as Shan orogenic artillery, field guns and other miscellaneous artillery. Although the performance of the artillery was not very good, who has captured usable cannons from the Eighth Route Army in recent years?
Harada, Ikeda, Ishikawa and others looked at these equipment and thought that they had achieved great success, but they always felt that there was something missing?
Finally, Harada had an idea - yes, the numbers of the heavy artillery units directly under the 120th Division must be written on the mantlets of these cannons. When the time comes to take pictures, wouldn't it show that it was our 35th Division that defeated the main force of the 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army?
Immediately afterwards, his subordinates from the Okita Fighting Team sent a message: "There are actually several aircraft at Dai County Yangmingbao Airport, including Hawker fighter jets, Japanese training aircraft, Japanese Type 95 fighter jets, and Baidu transport aircraft. All of them are...
It is in a state of maintenance and will not be able to take off for a short period of time."
This made Harada extremely happy, and he immediately ordered Okita to guard the airport, and asked Lieutenant Colonel Fujiwara of the air force under his jurisdiction to immediately drop parts to repair these aircraft, so that they could fly to Peking.
This is a huge achievement!
In addition, there was a huge amount of supplies accumulated in the warehouses captured by the 35th Division along the way.
Almost all the carriages of the mechanized combat vehicles originally used for combat assigned to the 35th Division were piled up.
Subsequently, Old Japanese Harada collected a large number of carts, mules and carriages from local villages and counties, and then reluctantly pulled all these supplies.
Inoue was so confident about this that he asked Okita to lead people to put the serial number of the 120th Division Headquarters special plane on the Hyundai transport plane. He also specially invited a group of field reporters to interview, and shamelessly told the press group that this was the 120th Division.
The division commander’s special plane.
What happened next was a matter of course.
The old Japanese soldiers Hata Shunroku and Okabe, who were still waiting for the good news in Peiping, heard that the Harada division was progressing smoothly and had captured a large number of machine guns, heavy artillery, and even aircraft. They immediately held a display meeting in Peiping and called for
Reporters from all over the country were invited.
Okabe also gave a special order for Harada to prepare and send some of the captured machine guns, artillery and fighter planes to Peiping as exhibits.
So Lieutenant General Harada had more and more reasons.
When a communication came from the general headquarters, asking Harada why he did not move closer to Datong as planned to cooperate with the 14th Division of the Kwantung Army.
Harada looked aggrieved.
"Your Excellency, Commander, I am busy transporting captured equipment and weapons to Peiping, and there are also planes going there!"
Yes, even Hata Junroku and Okabe had nothing to say for this reason. After all, they were the ones who gave the order.
After some words of comfort, he ordered the 35th Division to seize the time and move closer to Datong to assist in the battle and relieve the 14th Division's crisis.
"General, shall we set off in the direction of Datong immediately?"
However, when the chief of staff on the side asked this question, Harada said unhurriedly: "Isn't the Kwantung Army always known as the elite of the imperial army? Couldn't they even deal with the mere Eighth Route Army?
Why are we in a hurry? We went early. Maybe people will accuse us of being in the way and trying to gain military exploits!
Let's wait and see how the 14 regiments fare.
Of course, now that the order from the headquarters has been issued, our troops should also make some statements, so we should slow down our pace and say that we were blocked by the Eighth Route Army reinforcements along the way.
After the reinforcements are in place, we will fully dispatch the troops."
"Hi!"
Just like that, although the forward reconnaissance team had occupied Yingxian County, the main force of the Harada Division was still preparing, but they were just dragging their feet and not starting.
Until the large-scale dispatch of the Eighth Route Army aviation units, the 14th Division of the Kwantung Army was completely in danger of destruction.
The Japanese headquarters did not dare to wait any longer and resolutely ordered Harada to quickly provide reinforcements.
Realizing that the situation was indeed serious, Harada did not dare to delay.
He immediately gathered his troops and waited for the opportunity.
But Harada had new ideas about how to reinforce the 14th Division of the Kwantung Army.
After discussing with the commander of the 101st Division, he concluded, "The Eighth Route Army has created a huge encirclement in the Yangyuan area, enveloping the entire 14th Division of the Kwantung Army. This clearly intends to eat up the 14th Division.
The enemy's situation is currently unclear. If we rush to reinforce the enemy, the Eighth Route Army, which has received the information in advance, will definitely set traps along the way.
The Eighth Route Army has not been a soft persimmon in recent years. If we rush to reinforce the army so rashly, not only may we not be able to rescue the 14th Division, but we may get involved ourselves.
I don't think it's better than this. Our 35th Division and your 101st Division will pretend to go to Yangyuan to relieve the siege and send out corresponding camouflaged troops.
The main force delayed in the rear, then quickly turned back after dark to sneak attack on the Eighth Route Army's rear."
Harada is very confident about this.
This Inoue has already blossomed in the center. I, Harada, will have to get a black tiger to take out the heart no matter what!