834 Tens of thousands of acres of food were lost, and the military and civilians created miracles!
The order from the detachment headquarters was quite clear:
Use any means necessary to keep the raiding Japanese and puppet troops within the base area for at least ten hours.
After the order was issued, the local army and militia comrades responsible for containing the Japanese troops along the route used all their strength to launch the attack.
During the confrontation between the two sides, feeling the sophisticated equipment, powerful firepower, and fierce combat effectiveness of the Eighth Route Army troops entangled along the way, the little devil complained endlessly, and at the same time he was puzzled in his heart:
During the advancement of the operation to destroy the Eighth Route Army's autumn harvest, they were constantly blocked by these Eighth Route Army troops.
The amount of troops emerging from the other side even caused the Japanese army's troops to advance from multiple directions to be obstructed to varying degrees.
Even if a team of the Eighth Route Army has strong soldiers and horses, so many main forces are almost all the elite of the team.
Various signs from the fight between the two sides indicate that these Eighth Route Army troops who are fighting against the Japanese army must be the main force of a team.
But why did news come from the direction of the county headquarters that a large number of main forces of the Eighth Route Army appeared in the farmland areas in the suburbs?
So, what kind of team are these Eighth Route Army troops who are currently attacking fiercely and the entangled Japanese and puppet troops are temporarily unable to withdraw from the base area?
Is it possible that they are all field troops from a detachment of the Eighth Route Army?
So how many elite troops does this team have to have?
At this time, the Japanese army was behind the scenes and in the suburbs of major counties.
When the main force of the Japanese army's mopping up force was entangled by the Eighth Route Army troops, it was temporarily unable to withdraw from the Eighth Route Army base area and return to the county town.
The little devils gave full play to the spirit of "self-rescue" and mobilized all the pseudo-policemen from the puppet army garrison, the devils from the gendarmerie and a small number of field troops stationed in counties and towns to reinforce in the direction of the suburbs.
After the Japanese flying troops returned to the airport, they were temporarily on standby, but they were not in a hurry to bomb the farmland areas in the suburbs.
Before the last step, the little devils, who had also been severely affected by the drought this year and were extremely short of military rations, were unwilling to blow up their own rations.
..."Commander, the Japanese reinforcements were spotted one kilometer away and are rapidly approaching the farmland area."
In the suburbs of Yangquan, on thousands of acres of farmland centrally managed by the Japanese army, Shen Quan, the leader of the Third Independent Regiment, who was directing the soldiers to engage in harvesting operations, received news from the forward scouts.
"How many Japs are there? What team are they? What is the firepower configuration?" Shen Quan asked.
The scout soldier replied: "There are about three to four hundred people. The composition of the team is very mixed. Not all of them are Japanese field troops, some of them are like little Japs from the Gendarmerie, and there are also some pseudo-policemen."
Chen Quan nodded and sneered indifferently, "I thought it was the main force of the Japanese field troops that came back for reinforcements!
Let me just say, those little devils have entered the base area of our first team. It is easy to get there. If you want to leave, you have to see if our old team leader agrees.
Tell me comrades, don’t worry, just go ahead and grab the food. As for the little devils who have increased their numbers, I will arrange a team to deal with them."
"Yes!"
……
The confrontation between the two sides was a preliminary test.
There are just some Japanese soldiers in the county, a small number of Japanese field troops, and some young Japanese soldiers from the military police.
In Li Yunlong's words, it is not even second-rate combat effectiveness.
Now in front of a team with powerful combat capabilities and well-equipped equipment, it is even less worth mentioning.
During the fierce battle, the two sides squared off.
It was just a face-to-face confrontation that lasted less than three minutes.
The young Japanese from the gendarmerie and the second Japanese from the puppet garrison were directly defeated by the combat platoon sent by Shen Quan with the help of the fire fortifications built in the alley.
The firepower of both sides is simply not on the same level.
These Japanese and puppet troops, who usually only maintain law and order, are far inferior to the Japanese elite field troops in terms of firepower configuration.
And after the current group of soldiers is equipped with a large amount of American equipment, even the Japanese field army can only be beaten in terms of equipment.
"Taijun, this is definitely the main force of the Eighth Route Army. The opponent's firepower is too fierce. Let's retreat quickly. If we don't retreat, we will be finished!"
Facing the artillery fire from the soldiers of the Third Independent Regiment, the captain of the puppet army guard said in a panic.
The opponent's direct firepower bombarded the fortifications they had built behind the alley.
The power of the artillery shells is much greater than the grenades that the Japanese and puppet troops are most familiar with.
That is a much more powerful artillery than the grenade.
The caliber is obviously small, but the power is amazing.
The captain of the Japanese Gendarmerie also realized that the Eighth Route Army opposite was well-equipped and powerful in combat.
He even identified a large number of beautiful weapons and equipment used by the opponent's Eighth Route Army.
If such a team was not the main force of the Eighth Route Army, no one would believe it.
So the old devil quickly issued an order to retreat, and passed the news through the headquarters to the general headquarters in the rear that the Eighth Route Army, which appeared in the suburban farmland and was harvesting crops from the Japanese Empire, must be the main force of the Eighth Route Army.
Taiyuan City.
Japanese troops stationed in the headquarters of the First Army in Shanxi.
Japanese commander Yoshio Shinozuka learned the news.
His face was also filled with astonishment.
Beichuan, the Japanese chief of staff on the side, was also puzzled by this:
"General, this is really weird. This time our army launched a large-scale raid on the Eighth Route Army's autumn harvest grain.
There were mopping up troops advancing along the way in all directions, forcing the Eighth Route Army encountered along the way to retreat continuously.
In the direction of the first detachment of the Eighth Route Army, we have deployed nearly two additional brigades.
Along the way, we were constantly blocked by Eighth Route Army troops. Judging from the equipment and combat effectiveness of the opponent's Eighth Route Army, it was correct that it should be the main force of a unit of the Eighth Route Army.
The opponent has a considerable number of light and heavy machine guns, and even mortars, which are the hallmarks of a main force.
But this Eighth Route Army suddenly appeared in the suburbs of our army's county and attacked our army's crops.
After the military police clashed with them, they found that the other party's combat effectiveness was equally strong and even had some American equipment.
This kind of team seems to be the main force of the Eighth Route Army."
"As for the direction of the Eighth Route Army Detachment, whether it is the Eighth Route Army encountered on the way forward or the Eighth Route Army encountered behind the county seat, it is most likely that it is the Eighth Route Army Detachment."
"Based on the judgment of our military intelligence department on the main force of a detachment of the Eighth Route Army, the strength is around 6,000."
"But this time, if we count the main force of a team that appeared along the way to block the attack, plus the main force of the Eighth Route Army that appeared in the farmland areas of various counties."
"The strength of Kong Jie's team may have exceeded 10,000, but how is this possible? How could our military intelligence department not be aware of this?"
Yoshio Shinozuka also had the same doubts in his heart.
How could these two old devils know?
Before this Autumn Harvest Defense War, the equipment of the main force of our team changed again.
The 50's small artillery, including some 50's mortars, originally assigned to the main force, were turned around and strengthened to various local army units and militia units.
The main force is equipped with a considerable amount of American equipment.
However, the Japanese intelligence department still stayed at its previous judgment regarding the equipment and firepower configuration of the main force of the Eighth Route Army.
This naturally led to misjudgment by the Japanese army:
The Eighth Route Army local troops and militia troops blocking the road along the way were powerful in combat, and the equipment they used were machine guns and mortars that only the main force of the Eighth Route Army had.
From this, the Japanese army determined that the main force of a unit of the Eighth Route Army was blocking the way.
Doesn’t this mean you have been fooled by Kong Jie?
……
At this time, Yangquan, Shouyang, Tanxian, Heyuan, Pingan, Zhangzhuang and other major counties.
Suddenly there were a lot of similar sounds, spreading in the streets and alleys:
"Folks, have you all heard? Captain Kong's troops have broken through the city gate and are now robbing the little devil's crops!"
Then, someone questioned, "Is it true or false?"
"Fellow, can I still lie to you?
An hour ago, everyone must have heard the sound of cannons coming from the direction of the city gate.
This little devil forces our folks to plant a large amount of crops. Once harvested, they will also be used to bully us Chinese and occupy our Chinese land.
Captain Kong will naturally have to send people to snatch the Japanese’s food!”
"It is estimated that the comrades of the Eighth Route Army are harvesting grain in the farmland at this moment!"
Then another voice rang, "I heard that many villagers near the farmland have already rushed to help.
The comrades of the Eighth Route Army were very grateful for this, and said that each of the villagers who came to help sent 50 kilograms of grain!"
As soon as these words came out, the people who wanted to help became more and more excited. Under the guidance of "relevant people", they rushed towards the farmland with farm tools.
The drought has become more serious recently, and the price of food in the county has soared. For ordinary people, these 50 kilograms of food are a huge fortune.
In addition, the Eighth Route Army troops are deeply supported by the people.
This is not only true in base areas, but also in counties and towns in enemy-occupied areas.
Even if it wasn't for the 50 kilograms of grain, the people would run to help willingly.
This is of course due to the good publicity work of a team.
Every battle and every victory was spread through comrades in the enemy's Ministry of Industry in the streets and alleys of enemy-occupied areas.
It is said that many people living in the county have developed such a habit:
While eating, I took a newspaper issued by a team and browsed the battle reports of the Eighth Route Army's defeat of the Japs.
The food in the bowl seems to be more fragrant, and my appetite is even greater.
All this even gave the people in enemy-occupied areas an illusion:
The little devils may be defeated by the Eighth Route Army at any time, and the lost ground may be recovered at any time.
As a result, the people's anti-Japanese sentiment increased, and their support for the Eighth Route Army was even greater
...soon.
A large number of people came to help with farm tools and enthusiasm.
The smiles on the faces of the three captains, Lei Dasheng, Wang Leihu, and Shen Quan, were even bigger.
They were not surprised by the current scene.
This is part of the old leader's plan.
Otherwise, use the main force of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd regiments. Although there are many troops, there are nearly 6,000 troops.
But after all, it was impossible to withstand the large area of farmland planned by the Japanese in the suburbs, tens of thousands of acres, or even hundreds of thousands of acres.
It’s not like mechanized harvesting is happening these days.
Manual harvesting capabilities are quite limited.
At this time, the advantage of having more people and more power comes into play.
When it comes to harvesting the banker, two people are always much faster than one person.
The soldiers of a certain company of the Independent Regiment alone are responsible for nearly 200 acres of millet.
More than 100 soldiers harvested nearly 200 acres of straw with sickles.
Even though the soldiers' hands and feet are very fast, their knives are very sharp, and they have rich experience in harvesting millet, each of them can harvest one or two acres of land every day, and the land of more than 1,300 square meters is almost exhausted.
For the 200 acres of land in front of them, it would take the soldiers a day to completely harvest it.
But the key is that time is very tight, and the Japanese reinforcements may return at any time.
The current seizure operation is no different from pulling out a tooth from a tiger's mouth.
The most important thing is speed!
The order from Lei Dasheng, the leader of the first regiment, was very clear, and the harvest should be completed within three hours.
This made the soldiers very embarrassed. They had no time to straighten their bent waists, so they could only keep their heads down and wave the sickles. Even in this harsh season of late autumn, they were still tired and sweating profusely.
During the intense harvesting, a soldier suddenly shouted: "Company commander, the folks are here to help!"
The company commander raised his head and said, "Hey guys, there must be at least a thousand people coming here!"
Everyone had farm tools in their hands, some had sickles, and some couldn't find the sickles, so they simply brought their own kitchen knives.
The simple villagers were also down-to-earth enough that they spontaneously threw themselves into the intense harvest operation without even having to say hello to the company commander.
Thousands of people suddenly joined, plus all the people who knew how to do farm work, the harvest speed suddenly increased.
The villagers harvested from all directions, actually surrounding the entire farmland.
Large tracts of rice straw were harvested quickly.
The situation here can only be regarded as a microcosm of the main detour of a team to seize Japanese crops.
Looking down from the sky above the entire northwestern Shanxi.
The soldiers of the Eighth Route Army and the common people who came to help blended together like water and milk, sweating and busy in the golden farmland.
This outlines a wonderful picture of the Eighth Route Army and its people helping each other as a whole during the Anti-Japanese War, grabbing the Japanese invaders' autumn harvest!
Inside Taiyuan City.
The old Japanese Yoshio Shinozuka is quite confident.
"Even if our army's intelligence is wrong, Kong Jie's troops have secretly grown to more than 10,000 people."
"Half of the main force was used in the ambush along the way. Another half of the main force was used in the rear raid on our farmland.
The main force of the Eighth Route Army that appears behind our army at this moment, raiding farmland and grabbing crops, will never exceed ten thousand people."
"And the farmland that our Japanese Empire has concentrated on planning and planting, and the crops waiting to be harvested, cover an area of more than tens of thousands of acres?"
"Even if you give these eight groups a week, they may not be able to finish the harvest."
After making this inference, the evil-minded old Japanese Yoshio Shinozuka still dreamed of taking the opportunity to destroy a team.
"We used the crops in the farmland as bait, mobilized raiding forces from all parties to quickly return reinforcements, and wiped out the main force of the Eighth Route Army that appeared in the rear area this time!"
Yoshio Shinozuka has always been determined to eliminate a team and eliminate Kong Jie:
"Even if it costs two brigades, it's worth it!"
……
The world flashed forward, and by around seven o'clock in the afternoon, it was almost dusk.
Nearly six hours have passed since the main force of a detachment of the Eighth Route Army appeared in the rear area of the Japanese army.
Guerrilla area in the base area of a detachment of the Eighth Route Army.
The Japanese mopping up troops are having a final confrontation with a group of local army and militia comrades.
After receiving orders from Commander Yoshio Shinozuka, the Japanese mopping up troops from all sides were eager to return for reinforcements, but were troubled by the Eighth Route Army troops along the way.
It has been more than ten hours since this Japanese raiding force advanced towards the farmland area of a team.
In order to complete the plan of mopping up the main force to return to the rear area and eliminate the main force of the Eighth Route Army appearing behind the county town.
Yoshio Shinozuka directly dispatched flying troops to carry out bombings from all sides to cover the mopping up troops and get rid of the Eighth Route Army's pursuit along the way.
Most of the Japanese army's mopping up troops successfully got rid of the quagmire of a team's base area and quickly returned to the rear county for reinforcements.
By around 7:30, the sky was getting dark.
Yoshio Shinozuka, who was eagerly awaiting the return of the main force to sweep away the main force and eliminate the main force of the Eighth Route Army in the farmland area, suddenly received a series of messages from the county headquarters:
"Your Excellency, Commander, the Eighth Route Army troops in the farmland area on the outskirts of Yangquan have disappeared and have disappeared."
"Sir, the eighth road in the farmland area in the suburbs of Shouyang is missing!"
"...Sir, the Eighth Route in the agricultural area of Ping'an County has been evacuated!"
"Asshole, these damn Eighth Route Army, could it be that they sensed the return reinforcements from our Imperial Japanese Army and escaped in advance?" Yoshio Shinozuka cursed secretly in his heart, and then seemed to remember something, and then asked again.
One sentence:
"How are the crops in the agricultural areas of various counties?"
The communications soldier who came to report the news was silent for a moment and said with a grimace: "Sir...according to reports from various counties, crops in a large area of agricultural areas have been harvested by the Eighth Route Army.
The Yangquan headquarters, which was the first to calculate the losses, reported that nearly 3,000 acres of farmland in the suburbs of Yangquan, where only millet was grown, was raided by the Eighth Route Army.
The losses of other crops have not yet been recorded.
The crops lost in other counties are still being counted, and the final results are expected to be calculated in two hours..."
Yoshio Shinozuka: "..."
"Baga, there are not many Eighth Route Army troops appearing in the rear. How could they lose so many crops?"
The livid Yoshio Shinozuka could no longer suppress the anger in his heart and asked.