Lieutenant General Kato is in a very good mood now.
He finally didn't have to go any further. After more than ten days of fighting with the Eighth Route Army, he realized that fighting guerrilla warfare and mobile warfare with the Eighth Route Army, even if he had the superiority in troops, firepower, and even the ability to call in planes at any time, would still be impossible.
Opponents of the Eighth Route Army.
Under such circumstances, what Kato looked forward to most was a positional battle with the Eighth Route Army.
God favors you very much, and He will do whatever you want.
The front army really gave an order to stop carrying and directly occupy Linfen City. At the same time, they sent troops to teach the Jinsui Army behind them a lesson, and grabbed the food prepared by the Jinsui Army as a food supply for themselves to stay in southwest Shanxi.
"Division commander, the forward troops reported that the road to Linfen will be completely repaired in another hour!" A combat staff officer rushed over and reported.
"Very good, order the forward troops to dispatch an infantry squadron to advance into the city to ensure the safety of Linfen City!" Kato Division ordered with a smile on his face.
"The Eighth Route Army is too cunning. No one can guarantee whether they will prepare any conspiracy for us in Linfen City. We must take precautions and nip all possible accidents in the bud!"
"Hey! I'm here to give orders now!" The combat staff officer rushed out of the tent like a wind.
Less than five minutes after leaving, the chief of staff rushed in with a smile on his face.
"Division Commander, the troops who traded with the Jinsui Army are back!"
"They severely damaged a main division of the Jinsui Army with more than 600 casualties, and snatched back all 10 million kilograms of grain. They also seized all the weapons and equipment that could arm at least 4,000 people!"
"Yoshi...very good!" The smile on Lieutenant General Kato's face became even wider.
"With these weapons and equipment, we can form four more regiments of the Imperial Alliance Army!"
"Chief of Staff, all we have to do next is to enter Linfen City and then deploy the city defenses before dark to meet the Eighth Route Army's attack at night!"
"After dawn tomorrow, I really want to know what the commander of the Eighth Route Army will look like when he sees that we have no intention of leaving Linfen. He is shocked, or regrets giving up Linfen City to us."
The chief of staff said: "We will definitely surprise them this time!"
Suddenly, a burst of gunfire came from the forward troops.
Lieutenant General Kato only frowned for a moment before his expression returned to calm, and he directly regarded these gunshots as a sneak attack by the Eighth Route Army on the forward troops.
However, the gunfire that should have stopped instantly continued for nearly two minutes and did not stop.
"What's going on? What do the forward troops do for food? Why don't they fight back? It's taken so long, why haven't we killed the Eighth Route Army's sneak attack troops yet?" Lieutenant General Kato frowned again and cursed at a staff officer.
Before the staff officer could say anything, a lieutenant communications officer rushed in!
"Sir, we have been fooled. Linfen City is not an empty city. There are a large number of Eighth Route Army troops stationed in it!"
"An infantry squadron sent by the forward troops was ambushed by the Eighth Route Army when it entered the city, and the entire army was destroyed!"
"Nani?" Lieutenant General Kato was shocked by the news.
Just now, he was discussing with the chief of staff what the commander of the Eighth Route Army would do after the troops took over Linfen City.
The gunshots and reports in front of him were like a resounding eight chapters, telling Lieutenant General Kato that it was time to wake up from his sweet dream.
The Eighth Route Army did not abandon Linfen City. Kato's division wanted to enter Linfen City and could not leave, so it had to attack Linfen City from the hands of the Eighth Route Army.
"How many Eighth Route Army troops are there in Linfen City?" Kato, who quickly calmed down, stared at the communications officer and asked.
"I don't know what the rank is, but judging from the firepower that ambushed our attacking troops, it's at least one battalion!"
Lieutenant General Kato had a sullen expression and said nothing. He glanced at the watch on his wrist and analyzed.
"There are still five hours before the Tianhei aviation force retreats. Now that we have no heavy artillery, the only thing we can rely on is the aviation force. Therefore, we must capture Linfen City within five hours!"
"It will take an hour to repair the road, and another hour to kill the troops. There are only three hours left for the actual attack. The time is too short!"
"So, we can't wait for the road to be repaired before killing us!"
"Order, the Jingtian Regiment, all the mountain artillery squadrons, mortar squadrons, and heavy machine gun squadrons belonging to the three regiments, set off immediately, go to Linfen City with me, and march forward. After arriving at Linfen City, directly under the cover of the aviation force
Launch an attack and capture Linfen no matter what before dark!"
"I'll arrange my humble post now!" the chief of staff replied quickly.
In Linfen City, less than 500 meters away from the city wall, in a very inconspicuous courtyard, a dozen staff communications soldiers came in and out, continuously sending intelligence from the city defenses into a house next to the courtyard.
Chief of Staff Zhong Chenggong, First Battalion Commander Xiong Changhe, and Second Battalion Commander Xiao Yunshan were pointing and discussing something next to the huge city defense map.
"Chief of Staff, an infantry squadron of the Japanese forward troops has been completely wiped out by us, and no one has escaped the enemy!" A staff officer suddenly rushed over and reported.
Xiong Changhe shouted happily: "Chief of Staff, this is a good start for us to defend Linfen City!"
"I suggest that in the next battle to defend the city, as long as there are not many attacking Japs, we let them in and fight, and then give the Japs two annihilation battles!"
Xiao Yunshan next to him said: "I agree!"
"Except for us, the other participating troops killed a lot of kiddies last night. Now it's our turn to kill at least one kid from the regiment!"
Xiong Changhe replied with an arrogant look: "Old Xiao, your appetite is too small."
"We have so many troops, and Linfen City has such strong fortifications, how can one regiment of little devils be enough for us to have so many troops!"
"I think we have to kill at least two regiments of little Japs in this battle!"
Zhong Chenggong didn't have much smile on his face.
Killing a squadron of Japs was like pulling out a hair on the body for the entire Kato division, leaving them feeling no pain.
Seeing that Xiong Changhe was getting more and more exaggerated, he couldn't help but remind him: "Don't be careless, the Japanese Kato Division is not a vegetarian either."
"Although they no longer have heavy artillery, they still have aircraft reinforcements, and their strength cannot be underestimated!"
"Buzz buzz..."
As soon as they finished speaking, the huge roar of the engine sounded above them.
Then I saw the guard company commander rushing in: "Chief of Staff, three Japanese aircraft are conducting low-altitude reconnaissance of Linfen City!"
"I really mean that Cao Cao is about to arrive. Order the troops to stay hidden~ No troops can enter the position before the Japanese army starts attacking!"
"Although the fortifications of Linfen City are very strong, they can only withstand mountain artillery bombardment. A Japanese plane can just drop a bomb and destroy those fortifications in an instant!"
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