Chapter 316: The Doom of Itagaki Division (thirteen)
Chapter 316: The End of Itagaki Division (13)
"Yes, Commander, I will go and deliver the order right away..." Staff Wang turned around and ran towards the radio station.
Just five hours later, Commander Sun Xingbang, who had had a simple lunch, arrived at the resting station for the troops. At this time, after two companies were transferred from the second regiment to join a regiment, a full-strength main regiment of 1,500 soldiers
They all stood in front of Sun Xingbang in high spirits.
"Report to the commander, the first regiment has been assembled under orders. The whole regiment has a total of 1,562 people. Please commander to issue combat orders." I saw the commander Sun Xingbang walking over with Staff Wang. He Zhiyuan, the commander of the first division and regiment who had just assembled the troops,
He ran over and reported loudly.
"Well, yes, every soldier is in high spirits. Commander He, have you brought all the equipment I asked you to bring?" Seeing a main regiment ready to go, Commander Sun Xingbang nodded with satisfaction. He looked in front of him.
Captain He Zhiyuan asked.
"Reporting to the commander of the regiment, we have carried all the equipment as you requested. Including the two mortar companies and all the heavy machine guns and grenade launchers of the two regiments...The bullets also carry all the ammunition we captured and stored.
It is enough to experience at least four large-scale battles, commander, please rest assured." He Zhiyuan assured.
"Okay, comrades. I just received a telegram from the division commander. Now the Japanese fifth division, also known as the Itagaki division, is less than 5 hours away from the ambush position of our *** division's rapid reaction brigade.
Itinerary...According to the order of the division commander, our division must mobilize at least one regiment of reinforcements to reinforce Haseguchi and completely annihilate the remaining few thousand people of Itagaki Division. Comrades, do you have the confidence to follow me to Haseguchi and completely wipe out the remaining few thousand people in the Itagaki Division?
Annihilate the Itagaki Division of the Japanese Army..." Sun Xingbang walked to the front of the army and shouted loudly to the more than 1,500 soldiers in front of him, who were ready to go.
"Yes... there is..." Immediately, the battlefield that was still silent just now remembered the roar of the sky. Countless birds hiding in the woods all jumped out of the dense forest because of this roar full of murderous intent.
Soared into the sky.
"Okay, I believe in everyone. I believe that comrades will carry forward the fearless spirit of revolutionary warriors, fight continuously, and annihilate the Japanese Fifth Division in one fell swoop. Now we order the guard company to be the vanguard, aiming directly at Changgukou, and the troops will set off immediately.
.." Seeing that the more than 1,500 soldiers in front of him had not lost their fighting spirit due to two consecutive days of fighting, Commander Sun Xingbang was also excited and ordered loudly.
"Captain Zhong, I leave Gongcun to you. You must take good care of the materials we captured. Especially the 12 heavy guns and their associated shells. You must not let the little devil's plane blow up..." I saw a group of
As a group of soldiers left, Commander Sun Xingbang said to Zhong Wei, the leader of the Second Regiment who came to see him off.
"Commander, please rest assured. Even if I risk my name, I, Zhong Wei, will ensure that these heavy artillery are safely delivered to the division headquarters." Zhong Wei promised.
"Well? I want you to live a good life for me. Although these cannons are important, the lives of the soldiers are even more important. Tell me how you plan to ensure that the Japanese planes will not bomb these cannons." After listening to the bell,
Wei's words, Sun Xingbang frowned and asked.
"Yes, Commander, I understand. I plan to ask the remaining soldiers to move all these cannons to our trenches as much as possible. In addition, use wood to give the little Japanese planes in the open space outside Gong Village.
Rebuild a fake artillery position and let the little devils explode it. By then, how many tons of shell shrapnel can we still collect?" After listening to the commander's words, Zhong Wei quickly expressed his idea.
"Okay, a very good method. Commander Zhong, as long as you can complete this task, when the battle is over, I will personally ask the division commander for credit." After listening to Zhong Wei's words, Commander Sun Xingbang breathed a sigh of relief and said excitedly
.
"Yes, Commander, I promise to complete the mission." Zhong Wei was also full of excitement.
"Yes! I'll leave Gongcun to you. Counselor Wang, let's go too..." Sun Xingbang nodded with satisfaction, said to Counselor Wang beside him, mounted his war horse, and headed towards the village not far away.
The main force gave chase.
The 20-mile journey took about three hours under the premise that Sun Xingbang deliberately slowed down his marching speed. Three hours later, Sun Xingbang took Staff Wang and the commander of the first regiment He Zhiyuan to the Changgukou battlefield for temporary command.
department.
"Report to the division commander, Sun Xingbang has been ordered to report..." Just as the division commander Liu Hua was lying on the map, studying possible loopholes on the entire Changgukou battlefield, a familiar yet unfamiliar voice sounded at the door of the headquarters.
the sound of.
"Sun Xingbang... Haha, Old Sun, you are finally here. Come in and sit down, why are you standing there in a daze? Come on in..." When he saw Sun Xingbang at the door, Liu Hua immediately looked happy and put down the pencil in his hand.
, ran to the door of the headquarters, excitedly took Sun Xingbang's hands and said.
"Mr. Commander, several months have passed and I finally see you again. Sir, how is the political commissar? Has his condition gotten worse..." Seeing the division commander coming out to greet him excitedly, Sun Xingbang was also excited and asked with concern.
.
"The political commissar is still the same. His condition has not improved since he joined us. I often advise him to rest, but you also know that he has such a stubborn temper... Well, I thought about it. After this counter-encirclement and suppression campaign,
, I plan to report to the central government and ask the central government to force the political commissar to return to northern Shaanxi to recuperate. Don't worry." Liu Hua patted Sun Xingbang's shoulder in front of him and said.
"Yes, division commander. Division commander, I brought a total of 1,500 people this time. This is He Zhiyuan, the commander of the first division and regiment. In addition, I also brought all the mortars, heavy machine guns and artillery shells in the division. What do you have?
Just assign the task!" Sun Xingbang nodded and reported to Liu Hua.
"What? You brought all the mortars? Great, our firepower to ambush Itagaki Division will be even more powerful. In this way, Lao Sun, immediately transfer all the mortars in your hands to the division headquarters
The artillery regiment will be under the command of Commander Chen Guangrong. As for the main regiment you brought, I plan to keep it as a reserve force... What do you think, are you satisfied with this arrangement?" After hearing Sun Xingbang's words, Liu Hua felt happy for a while,
He ordered loudly.
"Yes, Commander, I will go and deliver the order right away." Sun Xingbang replied loudly.
While the Japanese division at Haseguchi was stepping up its preparations for the battlefield, the three regiments led by Seishiro Itagaki had already reached a distance of less than 20 miles from Haseguchi. After a day and two nights of continuous marching,
, almost every kid has dark circles under his eyes, and his legs move forward mechanically.
More importantly, after more than ten hours of continuous shelling, the Japanese army was almost numb to the shells constantly falling above their heads. Although the shells kept falling in or around their own marching columns, and
Constantly taking away the lives of the comrades around him.
However, for those soldiers who were killed or seriously injured due to the shelling, these little devils no longer had the pity they had a day ago. Instead, they indifferently carried the corpses one by one to the roadside. Even the seriously wounded, the little devils
Without any hesitation, after a simple bandage, he was mercilessly thrown on the roadside by the medical soldiers. This kind of thing can be said to have a huge blow to the morale of an army.
However, the reason why the division headquarters issued such an order was because of no choice. Because after more than ten hours of marching, the shells constantly falling above their heads and the sporadic bullets hitting around them had already given this unit
Hundreds of people were seriously injured.
If we follow past practice and carry all these seriously injured people, we will need at least a large group of troops, and this means that at least one large group of imperial troops will surround these seriously injured people and lose their combat effectiveness. As a result,
This is a very big problem for division commander Seishiro Itagaki, who is currently short of troops.
Therefore, in order to speed up the march of the troops, and at the same time to put pressure on the troops, so that these broken soldiers would not die in vain, Seishiro Itagaki issued this cruel order.
"Your Excellency, the commander of the division, we are now less than 35 miles away from Gongcun. According to our current marching speed, it will only take less than 4 hours. In other words, at 8 o'clock tonight
When the bell comes, we will surround the Eighth Route Army in Gong Village." Colonel Hide Kuririihara, who had lost his own unit and served as the temporary chief of staff of the division, ran to the frowning division commander Seishiro Itagaki and reported.
"Well, we are finally approaching Gong Village. Chief of Staff, please go down and tell us that there are soldiers and the Eighth Route Army is in Gong Village in front of us. Let all the troops speed up their march and surround the Eighth Route Army in Gong Village. Let's pay tribute to those who lost their lives under the Eighth Route Army's artillery fire.
The warriors of the Empire will take revenge." After hearing the words of Colonel Kuri Iihara Hide, the division commander Seishiro Itagaki breathed a sigh of relief and loudly ordered to the temporary chief of staff in front of him.
"Hi, Your Excellency, Division Commander..."
"Yoshi! Kurifan-kun, how many people are left in the army now... What is the current situation of each brigade? Have we contacted the Taiyuan General Headquarters and Nagano-kun in Gong Village..." Itagaki Seishiro clicked
He nodded and continued to ask the temporary chief of staff in front of him.
"Division Commander, so far, our radio station has not received any signals. We have lost contact with the general headquarters in Taiyuan, the 11th Infantry Regiment in Gongcun, and the chief of staff behind us. It is not good to work in a humble position, please
Your Excellency, the division commander, will punish you..." Colonel Hide Kuririishihara lowered his head and replied sheepishly.
"Baga, the cunning Eighth Route Army. They must have used something more advanced to make our radio station useless. Bage Yalu, Mr. Lifan, do you have any news about the messenger we sent out?"
Captain Kurifan's answer made Itagaki Seishiro angry and cursed loudly.
"Hi, Your Excellency, Division Commander, I also think that the Eighth Route Army has received some more advanced equipment from the Soviet Union. In just one morning, I have sent out a small team of messengers. However, so far,
I didn’t see any of the messengers coming back. I estimate that these messengers were all wiped out by the Special Operations Brigade of the Japanese Division around us, and the whole army was shattered.” Chief of Staff Colonel Rihanome nodded and replied.
"Baga... How many people are left in the main force of our division now? Later, after arriving in Gong Village, will there be enough troops to surround the Eighth Route Army in Gong Village and destroy them..." After hearing this, Chief of Staff Li
After Ibizu's words, Itagaki Seishiro frowned and continued to question.
"Your Excellency, the division commander, the casualties of the main force of the division..." After hearing the angry questions from the division commander, the temporary chief of staff, Colonel Kuridome, also frowned and hesitated, not knowing whether he should
Keep talking.
"Baga! Answer immediately, what happened to the casualties of the main force of the division...?" Looking at the hesitant chief of staff, Seishiro Itagaki, who was already very unhappy, became even more unhappy and asked loudly.
"Hi, division commander, our army has been under shelling since yesterday afternoon. In the jungle battle that afternoon, we lost a total of two brigade troops. In the evening of the Eighth Route Army's continuous shelling, our army lost again.
We lost half the strength of the brigade. In addition, in the night attack of the special warfare brigade of the Eighth Route Army's *** Division last night, our army once again lost the strength of two squadrons. In today's shelling and sporadic sneak attacks by the Eighth Route Army, we lost the strength of two squadrons.
The army has lost more than half of its brigades. In other words, so far, our army has lost nearly four brigades in total." Chief of Staff Colonel Kurihishi replied in a low voice.
"Baga... the cunning Eighth Route Army... I and you are at odds with each other." The division commander Seishiro Itagaki fiercely pulled out his general's command sword and split the small tree next to him as thick as a bowl into two halves.
.
"Chief of Staff, how many men do we have left in our army now? Are we still sure of victory in tonight's battle?" After hearing what the Chief of Staff said, the division commander Itagaki Seishiro became furious and turned to Kuri Iihara Hide.
The colonel asked loudly.
"Division Commander, according to the statistics just now, our army has 6,800 troops left. Including the 11th Infantry Regiment in Gongcun, our strength is almost equal to the main force of the Eighth Route Army. However, after dozens of consecutive hours,
After the shelling and the guerrilla attacks of the Eighth Route Army, the morale of the soldiers was very low. Therefore, the relative combat effectiveness will be reduced by at least 30%..." At this point, the temporary chief of staff, Colonel Hide Kuriihihara, did not continue.
.
"Baga...Chief of Staff, now order the troops to seize the time to march. Five miles away from Gong Village, the troops will rest for an hour. After the morale of the troops is restored, they will continue to march towards Gong Village. Try to make it in one go.
Join forces with our 11th Infantry Regiment and the Heavy Artillery Battalion to eliminate the Eighth Route Army *** Division in Gong Village in one fell swoop." Division commander Seishiro Itagaki gave a loud order.
"Hi, Your Excellency, Division Commander. I think that in order to boost the morale of the Imperial Army soldiers, we not only need to rest for a certain period of time, but more importantly, we must achieve a certain victory. Only victory, only the blood of the Chinese people,
Only by this can we arouse the morale of our Imperial Army soldiers." At this time, the temporary chief of staff, Colonel Hide Kuriihihara, also began to suggest.
"Yo Xi, Mr. Li Fan is very right. Only the blood of the Eighth Route Army can inspire the morale of the Imperial Army of the Japanese Empire. Mr. Li Fan, I wonder if you have any better suggestions that can solve our fifth division?
The group is currently facing difficulties." Seishiro Itagaki put away the anger in his heart and said sincerely.
"Hi! Division Commander. I think the best way we can solve the problem of soldiers' morale is to capture a few Eighth Route Army soldiers. In front of the imperial army, let the soldiers execute these soldiers personally with bayonets in their hands." Li
Colonel Iihara Hide nodded and said.
"Nani, capture a few Eighth Route Army soldiers... Mr. Lifan, let alone the living Eighth Route Army soldiers, even the corpse of an Eighth Route Army soldier is impossible for us to find..." After listening to the chief of staff's idea, he thought of the mysterious people around him.
The division commander Seishiro Itagaki of the special operations brigade of the Japanese Division just smiled bitterly. He shook his head and said.
"What the division commander said is very correct. We indeed cannot capture the special operations brigade of the *** Division around us. However, if we can capture the common people, we can use Chinese common people, wearing the uniforms of the Eighth Route Army, to replace those cunning Eighth Route Army. In short
, No matter what, we must restore the morale of the soldiers." Chief of Staff Colonel Hide Kuriihihara continued to suggest.
"Yo Xi, Mr. Lifan, your suggestion is very good. Now I order you to lead the division's guard squadron to capture at least 10 "Eighth Route Army" for me in the shortest possible time. Use these"
"The blood of the Eighth Route Army aroused the morale of the soldiers." The division commander nodded with satisfaction at Colonel Hide Kuriihihara's answer and ordered loudly.
"Hi, your Excellency, the division commander..." Captain Lifan replied excitedly. He led the division's most elite guard squadron, left the main marching force, and walked towards the surrounding villages... Soon, more than two hundred people
The guard squadron disappeared from the sight of division commander Seishiro Itagaki.
As expected by the division commander, in less than half an hour, temporary chief of staff Colonel Hide Kuriiihara returned to the main force with the guard squadron. What made the division commander Seishiro Itagaki even more happy was that the guard squadron also brought back
Among the 13 Chinese people who were kidnapped, several were wearing Eighth Route Army uniforms.
"The report is from the head of the regiment. I led the guard squadron. We successfully captured 13 Chinese people in a village less than two kilometers away from here. After my estimation, they are all militiamen from the Eighth Route Army base area..."
Seeing the captured prisoners, the temporary chief of staff, Colonel Hide Kuririihara, ran to the division commander Seishiro Itagaki with excitement on his face and reported.