Chapter 237 The Emperor is not so afraid of death, right?
Li Yunlong and Zhao Gang sighed for a while, and then quickly ordered the troops to hurry up and dig foxholes and build fortifications to prevent the Japanese attack. What surprised them was that after waiting for more than an hour, they did not see the Japanese attack them.
In fact, what the two men didn't know was that the damage done to the 10th Regiment by this air raid far exceeded their estimates.
Today, Gao Hongming sent a fleet of thirty-three aircraft. Although the Wave 2 aircraft was originally just a training aircraft, allowing them to carry out bombing was purely to catch ducks on the aircraft, but aircraft are aircraft, no matter how different they are, every aircraft can
Carrying 300 kilograms of bombs, the entire fleet carries nearly ten tons of bombs.
Especially the last batch of napalm bombs dropped by the six Wave 2s were a devastating weapon for the unsuspecting Japanese troops. Any Japanese troops stuck by the napalm bombs would lose their combat effectiveness even if they did not die.
According to the statistics of the 10th Regiment, in this bombing, the 10th Regiment lost more than 800 people, which is almost the strength of a brigade. In addition to the losses in the hand-to-hand battle with the Independent Regiment just now, it is calculated like this
, their regiment has lost more than 1,300 people, and less than half of the regiment's strength is just gone.
Such a heavy loss made the commander of the regiment, Colonel Akashiba Yaezo, feel so distressed that he almost vomited blood. Seeing the wounded soldiers wailing everywhere after the bombing and the corpses that were burned to charcoal everywhere, he had no choice but to call the division commander Sasaki.
A lieutenant general sent a telegram requesting tactical guidance.
When Sasaki received the telegram, he was furious at first, and then became worried. At this time, the main force of the 10th Division was still hundreds of kilometers away from the 10th Regiment, and there was no time to support him. In desperation, he just
Neng sent a telegram to the headquarters of the First Army, requesting the First Army to send troops to reinforce the 10th Regiment.
"Your Excellency, Commander...the Tenth Division received a call. Their Tenth Regiment was stubbornly blocked by the Eighth Route Army at Xiaolongling. During the attack, the Tenth Regiment was bombed by a Chinese aircraft group and dropped a large number of
The incendiary bombs caused heavy losses to the 10th Regiment, requesting urgent tactical guidance."
When the telegram from the 10th Regiment reached Yoshio Shinozuka, Yoshio Shinozuka was hosting a banquet in honor of Neji Okamura, the commander of the front army who had come from afar, and was accompanied by the chief of staff.
Naosaburo Okabe, Colonel Yamamoto Kazuki, and combat advisor Miyamoto Ichiro brought by Neji Okamura.
When the hurried communications officer finished reading the request for help telegram, the originally pleasant atmosphere in the restaurant suddenly solidified.
Shinozuka Yoshio felt his head was pounding after receiving the telegram from the communications staff officer. He turned to ask Naosaburo Okabe next to him: "Okabe-kun, which unit is our closest to Xiaolongling?"
Okabe Naosaburo thought for a while: "It is the 187th Regiment under the 14th Brigade stationed in Dazhi County. It is about 20 kilometers away from Xiaolongling. If we support it at the speed of a forced march, it can be reached in two hours.
arrive."
Yoshio Shinozuka said without hesitation: "Immediately order the 187th Wing to send two brigades to rush to assist the 10th Wing, and then order Linfen Airport to urgently dispatch the 10th Wing of the aircraft fleet for air support.
Let the 14th Brigade go to Ping'an County immediately to prevent the Liantai Militia from making any changes."
Okabe Naosaburo was stunned for a moment: "Your Excellency, Commander, Linfen Airport is far away from Xiaolongling and Taiyuan. Even if we can barely reach Xiaolongling, the time in the air will not exceed ten minutes. And the 14th Brigade stationed in Xiaoqiu Mountain was originally
He is the one who monitors Kenanpo. If he is suddenly transferred, will Yan Xishan have any other intentions?"
Shinozuka Yoshio slowly shook his head: "I don't need them to stay long, as long as they can appear in Xiaolongling and let the 10th Brigade see it, it is enough. As for the mobilization of the 14th Brigade..."
Having said this, Yoshio Shinozuka had a sarcastic smile on his face, "If he had any ulterior motives when he transferred the 14th Brigade, he would not be Yan Xishan."
Okabe Naosaburo thought for a moment and then understood what Shinozuka Yoshio meant, with a look of admiration on his face. Then he took out a pen and paper and drafted a telegram and gave it to Shinozuka Yoshio for signature.
After the communications staff member left, Ning Okamura, who had been silent all the time, said: "Shinozuka-kun, I'm sorry about the Tenth Division. Although this was not an order given by me, I can understand your mood.
I think the handling of the base camp on this mountain was inappropriate, but as senior generals, how we deal with this kind of thing needs to test our wisdom.
I think what you did just now is very good. Yan Xishan was famous for looking forward and backward when he was studying in the empire. Such people cannot achieve great things. But I still have some objections to your transfer of the 14th Brigade to Ping'an County.
not understand.
As far as I know, a regiment is already stationed there, is it necessary to transfer another brigade there?"
Yoshio Shinozuka sighed: "Your Excellency Okamura, you have been sitting in Wuhan for a long time in these years, commanding the 11th Army to fight against Chiang Kai-shek's elite troops in the Changsha area. You may not know much about Gao Hongming. This person has always been bold and reckless.
The empire has no respect for the imperial army. This can be seen from the encounters of the 41st Division, the 16th Division and the 108th Division since last year.
And I can be sure that the fleet that bombed the 10th Wing just now was definitely sent by Gao Hongming, and only he would hate the empire so much."
Okamura Neiji closed his eyes and was silent for a long time. Although he was far away in Wuhan as the commander of the 11th Army a few days ago, he still heard about what happened in Shanxi. It took him a while before he opened his eyes.
, said sternly to Yoshio Shinozuka: "You must pay all your attention to Gao Hongming and eliminate him at all costs. It would be terrible if he is allowed to continue to develop."
Yoshio Shinozuka smiled bitterly and said: "I understand what your Excellency Commander means, and I have thought of many ways. But now that Gao Hongming has grown up, Liantai County has been run by him like an iron barrel.
We also thought about sending spies to get rid of him, but this man is extremely cautious and has a very strict life style. In addition to working at the regiment headquarters, he stays at home and never accepts any banquets. The spies and killers we sent are simply
No chance of getting close to him."
"Can we assassinate him on the way?" Neji Okamura asked.
"It's useless." Yamamoto Kazuki on the side answered this question for Shinozuka Yoshio. Gao Hongming is too cautious. Every time he travels, he travels in a convoy. Except for his personal guard, no one knows that he is traveling in a convoy.
What kind of vehicle? For slightly longer distances, he will even travel in a chariot!"
"Nani?"
Even Ningci from Gangcun, who had been a soldier for most of his life, was shocked.
It took a long time before he said, "Even His Majesty the Emperor is not so afraid of death, is he?"