Not long after, the combat staff officer came to the two of them with a serious look on his face.
"Sir, the losses of the city defenders in all four directions have exceeded 200, and the casualties are still increasing! According to this loss rate, the city defenders can last for up to five hours!"
"Not bad!" the staff officer replied with a long sigh of relief.
"Your Excellency, Commander, it will be dawn in an hour, and our planes will definitely arrive. By then, with plane support, the Eighth Route Army outside the city will not dare to continue to attack Taiyuan City, unless they want to be blown up by planes. By then,
We will have one more daylight!"
Yoshio Shinozuka's face was still as ugly as ever.
The Eighth Route Army outside the city is too abnormal. Abnormality must lead to monsters.
If the Eighth Route Army really wanted to capture Taiyuan City, even if they could have one more day of preparation time in Taiyuan City, it wouldn't make much sense.
Because there are too few defenders in Taiyuan City, and the troops outside the city cannot come back, one more day will still not change the situation of being passively beaten.
"Tanaka-kun, the key now is the reinforcements! It's okay to hold on until dawn, but what about after dark? If the reinforcements we sent out haven't come back yet, I'm sure that as soon as it gets dark and our planes leave, the Eighth Route Army will
Launch a new round of attack, break through the outer city, and directly attack the inner city!"
"Reinforcements, Your Excellency Commander: Speaking of the problem, our reinforcements are still not given to you, so we cannot reinforce Taiyuan City in time!"
"You are right. Without reinforcements, we alone cannot hold on for too long no matter how hard we try. Therefore, we must find new reinforcements, break through the Eighth Route Army's interception, and quickly reinforce Taiyuan City!"
"Southwestern Shanxi!" Yoshio Shinozuka suddenly picked up the baton on the sand table and pointed at the two divisions of the Imperial Army confronting the Jinsui Army in southwestern Shanxi and said.
"The Jinsui Army in southwestern Shanxi is really too weak. If it weren't for the favorable terrain, the imperial army would have broken through their defenses and occupied the entire southwestern Shanxi. But even so, in southwestern Shanxi, the imperial army is still in an absolutely dominant position.
!”
"Immediately send a telegram to our troops in southwestern Shanxi, immediately mobilize a military regiment, and quickly return to support Taiyuan City. The sooner the better!"
"Also, forward the order to the North China Front Army Headquarters. The two division commanders in southwest Shanxi are both senior generals. If there is supervision from the headquarters, they will return reinforcements much faster!"
At the North China Front Army Headquarters in Peiping City, Temple Shouichi also stayed up all night.
He has been guarding the war room since Taiyuan City was attacked.
Senior staff officers lined up to report to him on the sudden battle centered on Taiyuan.
At the same time, several lower-level combat staff continued to organize and copy the reports reported by the senior staff onto the sand table, allowing Terauchi Shouichi to see the battle situation around Taiyuan City more clearly.
"What are you going to do on Bagaya Road and Tubal Road!" After listening to the report, Juichi Terauchi also expressed the same doubts as Yoshio Shinozuka.
Then he stared at the Chief of Staff with an expression of disbelief and asked: "Chief of Staff, are you sure that there are more than 50,000 Eighth Route Army troops participating in this battle around Taiyuan City!"
"Hey!" the chief of staff affirmed: "This is just the main force of Tubal Road, plus their so-called local troops and guerrillas, there are more than 60,000 people!"
"Bageya Road, where did they get so many troops... Our total strength of the Imperial Army in this area is less than 30,000. Who can tell me where so many Eighth Route Army troops came from!" Terauchi Juichi
Shocked, he sternly questioned the chief of staff, very dissatisfied.
The chief of staff didn't know, so he could only answer bravely: "The intelligence department has used all its power to investigate this matter. I believe there will be results soon!"
"However, Your Excellency Commander, the staff just discussed that the imperial army's troops in Taiyuan are too few. If there is no external reinforcement and the war continues like this, Taiyuan City will probably be lost tomorrow night, and at least the outside world will be lost.
city!"
"You know, there are not many defenders in Taiyuan City. Before the Eighth Route Army attacked, half of them were transferred out by Commander Yoshio Shinozuka!"
"Your analysis is good!" Looking at the deployment of enemy and friendly forces on the sand table, Terauchi's brows furrowed even deeper and he admitted helplessly.
"The Eighth Route Army is so abnormal. It is completely desperate. The garrison troops around Taiyuan City are completely held back by the Eighth Route Army. Not to mention reinforcing Taiyuan City, even self-protection is a problem. Troops must be mobilized from further away to reinforce Taiyuan City!
"
As soon as he finished speaking, a communications staff officer rushed in.
"Your Excellency, Commander, the First Army has an urgent call!"
"Commander Yoshio Shinozuka requested the headquarters to urge our garrison in southwestern Shanxi to deploy a brigade and march back to Taiyuan City to support Taiyuan City!"
"It seems that Shinozuka Yoshio also saw the problem!" Terauchi Juichi looked much better and said while staring at the sand table.
Then he began to issue an order: "Send a telegram to the garrison in southwestern Shanxi and dispatch two cavalry regiments and an infantry brigade for vehicle transport to march on an emergency march to reinforce Taiyuan City... and then dispatch two infantry regiments to march on foot to reinforce Taiyuan City!"
"Isn't the Eighth Route Army going to take Taiyuan City and fight us with Taiyuan City as the center? Then we will fight them in the Taiyuan area and eat them in one bite!"
In Chongqing, Chiang Kai-shek did not rest either.
The Eighth Route Army attacked Taiyuan City. With Taiyuan City as the center, more than a dozen surrounding counties were shaken. More importantly, the Eighth Route Army's participating troops exceeded 50,000. It was impossible to hide such a big thing from the intelligence personnel of the National Government.
At this time, the Minister of Military and Political Affairs, the confidant generals, and the intelligence chief Dai Li all stood in front of Chiang Kai-shek, with their heads lowered and saying nothing!
"Nang Xipi, can anyone tell me where the Eighth Route Army got so many troops? In just one year, they have expanded so many troops, why no one reported to me!" After receiving the news, what Lao Jiang was angry about was not the Eighth Route Army's attack.
Taiyuan City, but the Eighth Route Army suddenly showed up with 50,000 to 60,000 people!
Dai Li, who knew the most about the situation, could only bite the bullet and stand up: "Principal, please calm down, these Eighth Route Army troops are not organized by the government. They are local troops organized by the Eighth Route Army. They do not receive military pay from the government, and the government has not allocated a single gun to them!
"
"It is indeed beyond our expectations that the scale has grown so big. However, after this battle, this Eighth Route Army unit will suffer heavy losses even if it is not completely destroyed. They are so overestimating their capabilities that they dare to send troops to attack Taiyuan City. It is simply
It’s like pulling teeth out of a tiger’s mouth!”
The Minister of Military Affairs immediately agreed: "I agree with Director Dai. The Eighth Route Army overestimates its own strength and underestimates the combat effectiveness of the Japanese. A head-on confrontation with the Japanese is self-destruction!"
As an old rival, what Chiang Kai-shek wanted to see most was for the Eighth Route Army to be consumed in the battle with the Japanese army.
Therefore, after hearing this analysis from his subordinates, Lao Jiang's solemn expression suddenly became much better looking!
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