At the headquarters of the First Army of the Japanese North China Front in Taiyuan City, Lieutenant General Shinozuka Yoshio did not know that he was being stared at closely by a pair of eyes, and his every move was under his watch.
For more than five thousand days, the puppet army left Taiyuan City in a mighty manner, including cavalry, tanks, and cars pulling mountain cannons to speed up the march.
With so much heavy equipment, even if the Japanese army wanted to cover up their whereabouts, they couldn't.
So, less than half an hour after they left the city, Chen Zhengxiang outside Shouyang City received the news.
"You damn little Japs, you really think highly of our first detachment. There were more than 5,000 people in action, as well as planes, tanks, and artillery!" Even though the other party was a life-or-death opponent, Chen Zhengxiang, who saw the telegram, couldn't help but feel sorry for the Japs.
A big sigh of relief!
"Old Chen, the Japanese army is coming fiercely. We are definitely no match for a head-on confrontation. Do you want to retreat immediately?" the political commissar reminded with a worried look.
"No hurry!" Chen Zhengxiang shook his head and replied.
"Taiyuan City dispatched so many troops for us, and the task given to us by the headquarters has been overfulfilled. But there is one thing, that is, they have to delay them for two days until dawn the day after tomorrow, and they cannot return to Taiyuan City. So we withdrew.
They will definitely withdraw to Taiyuan City!"
"The puppet troops have been marching on two legs for more than 5,000 days. It takes at least four hours to get here, leaving an hour to clean the battlefield and retreat. We still have three hours to attack Shouyang!"
"Order the troops to strengthen the attack on Shouyang. Shouyang must be captured within three hours!"
"I want to capture Shouyang City under the eyes of the Japanese reinforcements, and use my victory to anger the Japanese reinforcements. Only then will they want to destroy us and pursue us at all costs!"
For the first detachment with ten mountain cannons, it was not difficult to capture Shouyang County.
In order to control casualties, the attacking troops did not attack much. They only used firepower and shelling to kill and injure them as much as possible and weaken their defensive strength.
Now that they received the order from the detachment leader to attack the city, the several regiment leaders who had suppressed their anger immediately found a target to vent their anger to. Without a word of nonsense, they directly ordered the troops to start attacking the city.
Less than an hour after the native colonel left Taiyuan with more than 5,000 people, the communications staff rushed over panting: "Chief of Staff, the Shouyang garrison has an urgent call. The Eighth Route Army has suddenly stepped up its offensive. The troops have suffered heavy losses. Please speed up the march!"
"Baga, Tubal Road must have known that we were reinforcing Shouyang, and then stepped up the offensive!" The native colonel immediately made a judgment.
Then he asked the adjutant next to him: "How long will it take to reach Shouyang if we continue to speed up!"
"Sir, it will take another three and a half hours!" the adjutant replied quickly.
The native colonel only hesitated for a few seconds before making a decision: "Call back to the Shouyang garrison and hold on for another two hours. The Tubal Road attacking them will take the initiative to retreat, so they must hold on!"
After saying that, the native colonel urged the troops to continue to speed up.
Soon, two hours passed. The native commander who was marching had vaguely heard the sound of gunfire coming from the direction of Shouyang.
"Baga, why haven't the Eighth Route Army who attacked Shouyang retreated yet? Aren't they worried that we will surround them outside Shouyang City after we arrive in Shouyang?" The native colonel looked at his watch and asked with disbelief.
As soon as he finished speaking, the communications staff rushed over to report again.
"Chief of Staff, there is an urgent call from the Shouyang garrison! The troops have suffered heavy losses. The Eighth Route Army is about to enter Shouyang City. Reinforcements are urgently needed!"
"Call them back, reinforcements will be here soon!" The native colonel made a decision without even thinking about it this time.
Then he ordered the adjutant beside him: "The troops continue to speed up! The cavalry squadron, the chariot squadron, and the car bring an infantry squadron to reinforce Shouyang immediately. Other troops follow closely!"
"Sir, think twice. If we divide our forces now, we may be defeated by the Eighth Route Army one by one!" the adjutant reminded immediately. You must know that the Eighth Route Army attacking Shouyang has the strength to completely annihilate an infantry brigade of the Imperial Army in a short period of time.
The original colonel did not listen to the advice and insisted on the order: "Execute the order!"
"If Tubal Road really has the guts to attack our forward troops, then I will annihilate them all outside Shouyang City!"
"Don't forget, we are only more than an hour away from Shouyang. Even if the forwards are fast, they can only keep a distance of half an hour at most. No matter how powerful the Eighth Route Army's combat effectiveness is, it is impossible to eliminate one of our cavalry squadrons and one of our cavalry squadrons in such a short period of time.
Tank squadron, and an infantry squadron!"
"If they really dare to provoke us, I can just kill them!"
Chen Zhengxiang knew the good news as soon as the chief of staff rushed over to the temporary headquarters of a team outside Shouyang City.
"The detachment leader and the political commissar have gone in. A group has entered Shouyang City!"
"Okay!" Chen Zhengxiang's tense heart suddenly relaxed, and then ordered: "Notify each regiment to immediately eliminate the remaining enemies, end the battle, and clean the battlefield. Within an hour, we must withdraw from Shouyang. Reinforce the Japanese troops.
The troops are fighting under their noses, and the troops must obey orders and prohibitions. Political Commissar, please come to Shouyang City, there are many of our comrades who cannot move their feet once they see good things on the battlefield."
"Okay, I'll go there!" The political commissar was relieved to be able to capture Shouyang City under the eyes of the Japanese reinforcements. At this time, no one wanted the troops to have problems at the last moment, so they took over without saying a word.
Take this task.
Just as the political commissar was about to go to Shouyang, the communications company commander suddenly barged in with a worried look on his face.
"Detachment leader, political commissar, reconnaissance platoon telegram: Japanese reinforcements are coming here with a cavalry squadron, a tank squadron, and an infantry squadron as the forward. They are very fast and can reach outside Shouyang City in forty minutes at most!
"
"Both the tank squadron and the cavalry squadron are here?" the political commissar stopped suddenly and stared at the communications company commander and asked.
"Yes, the political commissar is here!" the communications company commander replied immediately.
The political commissar who rarely took the initiative to offer opinions on military issues stood up for the first time: "Detachment leader, I suggest that the troops withdraw from Shouyang immediately. Retreat now!"
"The troops have no experience in fighting Japanese tanks, and have never even seen a tank. Once they encounter a squadron of Japanese tanks, they will definitely suffer a big loss!"
Chen Zhengxiang frowned and said nothing. It took a full minute before he made a decision.
"No, keep attacking!"
"As for the Japs forward, kill them if you can. If you can't, I'll hit you hard! The coward will be starved to death, and the bold will be starved to death. If we can kill the Japs forward, we will definitely anger the Japs who are coming for reinforcements. Then they will follow.
If they are chasing us from behind, we will have the opportunity to lead them in circles around Yangquan, holding them back and preventing them from returning to support Taiyuan City!"
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