When it was daylight, the leading troops of the Japanese 41st Division had arrived in Pingan County.
When a squadron as the vanguard cautiously entered the county town, they were surprised to find that the county town was already deserted and all the people had fled.
The Japanese army was surprised and reported this information, and it was quickly reported to the division commander, Major General Yukio Koizumi.
"Nani...the Chinese actually abandoned Ping'an County and moved all their troops to the defense line of Qixia Pass?"
"Yes, your Excellency, division commander." Chief of Staff Ogihara Toda bowed and said: "According to the report of Colonel Ohta Ryūji, captain of the 67th Regiment, Gao Hongming has deployed three lines of defense in Qixia from low to high, which seems to be similar to our forty
Signs of a division fighting to the death."
"A fight to the death? Haha..."
A look of disdain appeared on Koizumi Yukio's lips. This time he brought an entire division, including three infantry regiments, a field artillery regiment, an engineering regiment, a cavalry company, and a baggage regiment.
An elite division of 8,000 people.
Although the 41st Division is nominally a second-class division, Yukio Koizumi believes that even if it is not as good as the most elite draft horse division, it is not inferior to the packhorse division.
Koizumi Yukio's self-confidence is based on the supremacy of strength. In his opinion, it is enough to dispatch a regiment to deal with such a local militia group. However, Commander Yoshio Shinozuka seemed to be in a daze and actually dispatched the entire division.
It's really overkill.
He said without thinking: "Order Ota Ryūji to launch an attack on Qixia Pass immediately."
After saying that, he raised his wrist and looked at it. It is now 9:21 in the morning. I will arrive at Ping'an County around noon. I hope Mr. Ota can bring me good news when I get there.
"Hi!"
Ogiwara Toda bowed in response, hesitated and said: "Your Excellency, the Sixty-seventh Regiment has been traveling for two or three days in a row. Do you want to let them rest until the Field Artillery Regiment arrives?"
Launch an attack, the effect will be better."
"madness!"
Koizumi Yukio angrily rebuked: "Does it mean that my heroic warriors of the Japanese Empire will not be able to fight without the artillery? The opposite side is just a Chinese militia group, and their retreat has been blown up by Colonel Yamamoto's special agent team."
In the words of the Chinese people, they are a group of turtles in a urn. If Ota Ryuji does not dare to attack the position defended by such a group of people, he does not need to be the commander of the regiment. I will suggest that the commander should be replaced by someone with courage.
Captain."
Seeing that Yukio Okukoizumi has already talked about this, what else can Ogiwara Toda say? He can only go down and deliver the order...
Qixia Pass, Gao Hongming came to an observation post.
Standing at this height, you can see the scenery below.
Qixia Pass is actually a checkpoint built on a mountain col. The mountain is more than 200 meters high. Two roads pass through the foot of the mountain. It can be said that as long as you occupy Qixia Pass, you will guard the two roads leading from Taiyuan to Kenanpo and Liantai County.
Passage, so the Jinsui Army originally stationed a regiment here.
It's a pity that due to the fierce attack of the Japanese army, Yan Xishan believed that Qixia Pass was definitely not safe, so he withdrew the regiment stationed here in order to preserve his strength. Otherwise, if he had one more regiment, this battle would be much more certain.
Already.
"Tuanzuo, the Japanese are coming!" an observer nearby whispered.
"I saw it. I ordered the fifth battalion not to be anxious. Wait until the Japs get closer before opening fire. This will give the little Japs a little surprise."
Gao Hongming responded without looking back. He looked at the first line of defense at the foot of the mountain with his binoculars. This line of defense was stationed by the fourth battalion. The second and third lines of defense were stationed by the fifth and third battalions respectively.
The second battalion was used as a reserve force, and the tank battalion was moved to a valley a few miles away to rest.
Looking at the densely packed figures in tea-green military uniforms that began to appear in the telescope, Gao Hongming took a deep breath, turned to the staff officer on the side and said: "Tell the logistics department to let them hurry up before the Japanese attack."
Take the time to cook, let the brothers on the front line have a hot meal, and let the brothers feel full. I don’t know when the next hot meal will be."
"yes!"
The staff officer took the order and left.
"Dig the trenches and foxholes deeper and deeper, maybe they can save your lives then!"
At the same time, on the first line of defense.
"Please thicken the breast wall in front of you. What's the use of just a little thickness? If a heavy machine gun bullet hits you, your life will be on the line!" I saw in front of the foxhole dug by a few soldiers in my company.
The thickness of the covering soil did not meet the standard requirements. The fourth company commander *** shouted loudly, it was already June and the weather was extremely hot, but *** still did not feel the slightest warmth. On the contrary, he only felt warm in his heart.
Overwhelmed by waves of irritability, he was filled with uneasy emotions.
I don't know if I feel so uneasy because I'm afraid, or if I feel a little excited about the upcoming battle, so I feel so irritable.
When *** knew that he was facing a reorganized division of the Japanese army this time, this emotion filled his heart, but he also knew that from this battle, whether he was dead or alive, he could never retreat, nor could he
timid.
Even after a whole night of emergency repairs, many of the fortifications were still unqualified in the opinion of ***. He didn't know how many people he had scolded this morning.
While inspecting the fortifications, he looked towards Ping'an County in front from time to time. Looking at the mountains and rivers in the distance, *** felt that his palms were sweating. Although he knew that as a company commander, he must not be afraid, but he still knew clearly in his heart that
There is still a trace of fear deep in my heart.
At this moment, Song Jie saw countless black spots appearing on the far line and heading towards them.
Seeing the figure appearing in the distance, Mao Zedong shouted loudly, "The Japanese are coming, everyone enter the trenches and prepare to fight!"
What *** didn't know was that in Ping'an County, dozens of miles away, Captain Ohta Ryuji of the 67th Regiment looked at the neatly built mounds of dirt on the roadside, wide at the bottom and narrow at the top.
Because the anger is bloodshot.
As a Japanese military officer, Ota Ryuji was no stranger to Chinese history, so he naturally knew what Jingguan was.
"Jingguan", also known as "Martial Army", is where enemy corpses are piled on both sides of the road and covered with earth and compacted to form a pyramid-shaped mound.
But he never dreamed that this kind of cruel thing, which had disappeared for hundreds of years, would appear in front of him openly today, and these temples were made of the corpses of Imperial Japanese soldiers. This was simply a disgrace to Japan.
The greatest insult to an empire.
Looking at Jingguan, which was almost as far as the eye could see, Ota Ryūji gritted his teeth and said, "Bagaya Road, the damn Chinese people... they will definitely pay the price for their stupidity!"