Rise from eight hundred.

Afternoon of March 1th!
The truck riding on Major General Genichi Tamura entered Yuncheng. What awaited the Japanese Army Major General who had marched hundreds of miles in 24 hours was a devastated logistics base.

The millions of military rations that the North China Front spent nearly a month hoarding here have turned into coke, and three-quarters of the ammunition that was enough to support an army of 10,000+ for another battle was blown up.

Although Yuncheng is still in the hands of the 4th Division after tenacious resistance, it is actually not much different from nothing.

Perhaps in this disastrous defensive battle, the only bright spot of the 4th Division was that the casualties were much less than expected. The nearly 5000 people who participated in the battle were placed in various strongholds in the city by Okuma Yukisuke, intending to fight for every inch of land. But obviously the Chinese have no interest in the city. Their purpose is to obtain the most precious supplies for the Japanese troops on the front line.

As soon as the tactical goal was achieved, they immediately fled thousands of miles away.

But facing the fat Major General, whose head was covered with bandages and whose old classmate from the sergeant academy immediately rushed to him with tears in his eyes, what could Genichi Tamura say?
They have worked very hard. At the most critical moment, the Major General Brigade Commander brought the escort squadron to the front line. Not to mention that he, a Major General of the same level, could not criticize. Even if His Excellency Commander Shiro Itagaki came, he would probably only be able to criticize. Be more reassuring.

Yes, Genichi Tamura and Konosuke Ohma are classmates in the same grade and subject. Although they have a normal relationship in school, they were taught by the same teacher after all. They met under such circumstances, and they would hug each other. It's really not that big of a deal to kick someone's feet away, right?
‘I don’t blame my classmates for not working hard, I just blame my enemies for being too cunning! ’ has become a routine comfort phrase.

"Tamura-kun came all the way to support us, and I am deeply grateful to Okuma Konosuke. Tamura-kun can have a good rest here for a day. I immediately arranged for wine and food. The food here is great. There are also singing and dancing programs, and Chinese women's The gentleness is no worse than those on this island!" The Japanese Army Major General, who was comforted by his old classmate, now had a big smile on his face and was simply a model for the future sales industry.

"Follow my arrangements, and you won't suffer or be cheated." Majin Buu, who is enthusiastic but not flattering, gives guests full comfort and security.

"Mr. Big Bear, although that Chinese army is insignificant, it is like a thorn in the vest. If it is not removed, it will not calm the hearts of our frontline imperial officers and soldiers.

In order to ensure victory, Mr. Itagaki has allocated troops and firepower to our troops this time that far exceeds theirs. After resting for 2 hours, our troops will set off. Mr. Daxiong, please don't be too polite. "Tamura Genichi faced such enthusiasm, but he asked after a few polite words.

"You and I have been classmates for several years, but there is a question I don't know whether to ask or not?"

"Tamura-kun, before the war, I would have probably answered you. If you can't ask, don't ask. But now! I am the newly defeated general, you can do whatever you want." Daxiong Konosuke picked up the tea cup and answered with an indifferent expression. road.

‘My comfort is feeding the dog? ’ Tamura Genichi was almost choked to death by the dog-faced bear.

But who can become a major general in the army? Who is not shameless? Just pretend that he didn't hear anything. Tamura Genichi simply went straight to the topic: "I want to know, Mr. Big Bear, do you still have the courage to avenge your shame?"

Nearly six hours had passed since the Battle of Yuncheng. The reason why he came so eagerly was not specifically to see his colleague's jokes. He wanted to personally persuade him to join forces with him. If there were two more With an infantry brigade, he is much more confident.

In fact, on the way here, the intelligence sent by the frontline headquarters showed that the Chinese who attacked Yuncheng were not just the thousands of people who broke out of the encirclement, but there should also be the Four Elements Regiment who had fought with the Guoqi detachment in Wangwushan. One piece.

'Shadow of the Famous Tree of Man', the name Si Xing Tuan is definitely a nightmare for all departments of the North China Front. Nowadays, no less than an even number of divisions and brigades have suffered losses in front of them, and the number of lieutenant generals and major generals they have killed is also high. Too many to count on one hand.

Although Genichi Tamura is also very arrogant, he knows that he is still far behind the famous Yamashita, but isn't such an awesome person also a dead soul of the Four Elements Group?

Therefore, with more troops, he would feel more secure.

Otherwise, he would have a good chat with this shameless hawker from Osaka! When he was in school, this guy would often sell local specialties brought from his hometown. It was not until much later that he and his classmates realized that the dried fish and pancakes they bought were twice the local price.

Big Bear Konosuke's head instantly shook like a rattle!

'idiot! Do you want to not even consider pretending? ’ What Tamura Genichi wanted most at that moment was to punch this guy in the face.

"It's not that our 4th Division doesn't want to avenge its shame, but that I have a more important mission that I need to stick to. The glory of destroying that Chinese army belongs to you, Tamura-kun!" Daxiong Yukiyuki sighed, looking like I didn't want to but. Can't seem to do it.

"What do you want to hold on to, Mr. Big Bear?" Tamura Genichi was a little confused.

"Yuncheng! This place is the most important supply base for our hundreds of thousands of troops on the front line. His Excellency Shiro Itagaki sent me six military orders yesterday. Yuncheng is as important to our army as Kyoto is to our nation. I can't do it for a division. I want to abandon this important mission in my honor. Let alone Tamura-kun, even the commander of our division and even Commander Shan Shanyuan cannot let me leave this position that thousands of our division warriors have guarded with their lives." Daxiong Yuxinosuke said impassionedly .

Speaking of emotional moments, tears flashed down my face.

Tamura Genichi was stunned.

He really underestimated the shamelessness of his old classmate.

I bought dried fish at more than double the price back then. Really, that was probably the most kind time period for this product.

Apart from the charcoal in Yuncheng, what else needs you to protect?
"Okuma-kun, in this case, I have nothing to say. I wish you to remember your mission, guard this empty city, and say goodbye!" Tamura Genichi stood up and left the house with an ugly expression.

"If Tamura-kun doesn't worry about this, our department is determined to live and die with Yuncheng." Daxiong Konosuke sent him out and stood at the entrance of the command department to say goodbye to his classmates and friends.

"Bah!" The moment the door closed, two Japanese army major generals more than 20 meters apart each spit on the ground.

As the saying goes, 'different paths do not lead to mutual understanding', Genichi Tamura looked down upon the Osaka hawker and was completely beaten up after being beaten, but Konosuke Ohma did not want to be buried with some idiot.

Although this round of offensive and defensive battle was formed after bargaining and careful discussion between him and Shangguan Yun, the offensive power displayed by the Four Elements Group in this attack battle that was almost a 'drill' was still shocking.

For Yukinosuke Daxiong, what is even more terrifying is not the fighting power of the Four Elements Group, but the energy hidden behind it.

Just for the explosive that blew open the city wall, Daxiong Konosuke was sure that it could not be produced in China.

The Western world has always been dissatisfied with the Empire's all-out war against China, an ancient country in the East. It is not a secret in the Empire to secretly provide military and civilian aid to China. However, before breaking up with the Western world, the Empire can only endure it for now.

However, the Four Lines Regiment's use of such advanced and powerful explosives undoubtedly shows that Western military aid has reached an extremely terrifying level, but the imperial intelligence department still knows nothing about it.

What does this mean? This shows that sooner or later, the empire will have to confront the entire Western world. The empire is extremely lacking in intelligence penetration into the Western world, and the probability of failure is extremely high.

Everyone, including Tang Dao, only saw the greed for money of Major General Daxiong Yuxinosuke, but no one knew his sensitivity to the global situation.

This small businessman from Osaka actually predicted the failure of his empire that now seems to be in full swing six years in advance and will spread to the global war.

The burial he was talking about may not be referring to the battle with the Four Elements Group, but with the ambitious senior officials of the empire.

Okuma Konosuke may not have expected that he would actually come true to his prophecy!
It's just that his old classmate didn't wait until six years later.

Tamura Genichi divided his 1.2-strong army into two parts and pursued the fleeing Chinese army. Japan's North China Army Airlines dispatched up to 40 reconnaissance aircraft for this purpose, flying back and forth for dozens of miles around Yuncheng to search for traces of the Chinese army.

Even if the army with a strength of more than 8000 is protected by mountains and forests, it cannot avoid such high-density reconnaissance by Japanese reconnaissance planes.

Finally, at noon on the 17th, a Japanese reconnaissance plane discovered an infantry company marching in the mountains. Although the infantry company was fully camouflaged, the reconnaissance plane lowered its height and used its onboard machine gun to test and kill several of its comrades. Finally, some light machine guns fired back angrily.

Several heavy machine guns hidden in the mountains and forests also quickly participated in the shooting and wounded the reconnaissance plane, but did not shoot it down, allowing the reconnaissance plane to determine the general location of the Chinese army, Jiulong Mountain, about 15 kilometers away from the YC city.

After receiving the information transferred from the Army Aviation, the two Japanese troops nearby were like two packs of wolves that smelled the smell of blood. They rushed towards Jiulong Mountain, a branch of Zhongtiao Mountain that stretches for dozens of miles, at high speed.

"Yo Xi! The Chinese are seeking their own death by hiding here." After reading the map, Nishimura Genichi finally felt better because the big bear Konosuke was completely ruined.

Why Nishimura Genichi so confidently declared that the 46th Independent Brigade and the Leng Feng Division were seeking death was because of the unique terrain of Jiulong Mountain.

It's true that this is a big mountain, but because it belongs to Zhongtiao Mountain, there are more than 3 Japanese troops on the other side of the mountain. As long as a few mountain roads are blocked, the Chinese can't even think about where to enter the hinterland of Zhongtiao Mountain.

In other words, it is a dead end, and his more than 1 troops can block them alive and dead in it.

The only thing that Nishimura Genichi regrets is that he cannot rely on this simple siege method to starve the Chinese army to death in this mountain.

Because, after losing supplies, the 10,000+ troops on the front line can only last for 7 days at most. After 7 days, the entire frontline must be evacuated. This is what Itagaki Shiro told him in private.

Although Itagaki Shiro did not explain it too straightforwardly, Nishimura Yuanichi also knew the subtext of Itagaki Shiro: In the battle of Zhongtiao Mountain, with the destruction of Yuncheng's supplies, it was a foregone conclusion that the battle would be futile, but whether the honor could be restored would be a matter of course. To save face, annihilating this Chinese army will become the last hope.

If possible, Shiro Itagaki still has the hope of becoming the commander of the North China Front. He, the unlucky major general commander of the mixed brigade, also has the possibility of becoming the commander of the lieutenant general division!

If not, then just think about it yourself!
A lieutenant general commander who has lost hope of promotion but is ambitious can drag a few unlucky children into the water without any psychological burden.

This is what Genichi Nishimura figured out after being rejected by Okuma Konosuke with shameless reasons. But by then, he had already boarded Shiro Itagaki's pirate ship, and it was too late to regret it!

Since we can't fight without bloodshed, we can only fight hard and use the seven days when the Chinese cannot escape to attack the mountain and kill them.

Nishimura Genichi is still wise. If it is a simple siege as he thought, then he really made the wrong idea.

Although the Independent 46th Brigade and Leng Feng's Department did not carry a large amount of military rations, they still had ten days of rations for a single soldier. Moreover, the Fourth Line Regiment's baggage company and artillery company had a large number of pack horses. If they were forced to kill the horses for meat, they could also make the entire army Hold on for another ten days and a half.

Besides, with Tang Dao’s ability to control the battle situation, how could he let his two heroes and thousands of troops escape into Jiulong Mountain in such a dead end if he didn’t know that Yuncheng’s supplies were destroyed and the Japanese army of 10,000+ could not fight for a long time? in the terrain.

In fact, after the Japanese army launched another all-out attack on the 15th, Tang Dao felt something was wrong and immediately ordered Shen Laoliu's reconnaissance platoon following Li Jijin to conduct reconnaissance in the direction of Yuncheng.

Finally, on the night of the 15th, a team from Shen Laoliu's reconnaissance platoon detected the top soldiers of two Japanese infantry squadrons more than 30 kilometers away from Yuncheng.

The vanguard soldiers were all at the infantry squadron level. You can imagine the size of the main force following them. Tang Dao immediately realized that the target of this Japanese army was the 46th Independent Brigade and Leng Feng's Department, and immediately ordered Leng Feng to arrive before the morning of the 16th. End the Yuncheng raid.

Even if you are exposed to some strength, you must end it as soon as possible, so as not to be overtaken by the main force of the rushing Japanese army.

After three consecutive days of fighting, the physical strength and energy of the officers and soldiers of the Independent 46th Brigade and Leng Feng's Department were close to the limit. If they were not able to rest and recuperate, it would be extremely dangerous to be pursued by this Japanese army.

Fortunately, Luncheng is surrounded by mountainous areas, and it would take time for the Japanese reconnaissance planes to track their whereabouts. In the end, with Tang Dao's support, the Independent 46th Brigade and Leng Feng Department chose the Jiulong Mountains, a dead-end mountainous area that seemed unfavorable to them. As a defensive position.

Tang Dao chose this place for no other reason than the difficult terrain. As long as he stayed here for a week and the main force of the Japanese army was forced to retreat, this heroic army that broke through two cities and destroyed an important Japanese supply base could finally be saved.

Taking the initiative to put yourself into the encirclement is indeed an extremely helpless choice.

However, considering the situation and equipment of the two armies at that time, there was only one way to go. The Japanese army, which had control of the air, had eyes in the sky. Unless the army was flying at night and hiding in daylight, it would not be able to hide it from them. However, this would undoubtedly be a serious delay. If they increase their marching speed, they will soon be overtaken by the Japanese troops who have arrived in Yuncheng.

Tang Dao's choice ultimately proved to be correct. After the war, Highland 981 in Jiulong Mountain, which was called "Sadness Ridge" by the Japanese North China Front Army, was described in the "Asahi Shimbun" as follows:
This is a mountain that will scare the faint of heart just by looking at it. Countless branch veins extend from the main vein to the east and west, which reminds people of the backbone of a fish and makes their hair stand on end!
Therefore, this area has difficult terrain and is easy to defend but difficult to attack!
Any climber who wants to climb this mountain will have to exert a lot of physical strength, not to mention that there are nearly 3400 soldiers on this mountain.

Yes, in order to ensure that the two armies can support each other, Brigadier Kong, Leng Feng, and Shangguan Yun negotiated and found a total of two main highlands in the mountainous area with a radius of 2.5 square kilometers. A peak with an altitude of 981 meters was named 981 Highlands. , another peak with an altitude of 872 meters was named 872 Highland.

The two highlands are arranged on the left and right wings, like the two horns of a cow. If any highland is besieged, it will be attacked by artillery from the other highland, which can be used for mutual support.

The 46th Independent Brigade is stationed at Highland 981.

Genichi Nishimura, a boy full of wisdom, finally decided to pick the weakest after several rounds of fire tests, and gathered heavy troops to besiege Highland 981.

Although the Independent 46th Brigade does not have as many artillery pieces as Leng Feng's troops, thanks to the 12 mountain cannons and 4 25mm machine guns captured from the Japanese army, its heavy firepower is comparable to that of a standard finishing division, which means it is slightly lacking in heavy machine guns.

Fortunately, Leng Feng ambushed the two infantry brigades of the 4th Division. Although 60.00% of the heavy machine guns were damaged due to the focus on the Japanese heavy machine gun squadron positions, they still captured 10 Type 92 heavy machine guns that were still intact. As well as nearly 20 grenades and 16 Type 46 light machine guns, plus all Type [-] rifles, all of them were handed over to the Independent [-]th Brigade.

这使得防御981高地的独46旅两个步兵团总共拥有各式重机枪34挺，轻机枪60挺，掷弹筒基本达到一个步兵排2具，步枪可以做到一个步兵班18杆。

In terms of ammunition, there is naturally no shortage. In order to carry more ammunition, the Chinese soldiers, who have always regarded food as their life, were so distressed that they burned hundreds of thousands of kilograms of military rations.

The ammunition is sufficient and regardless of the light or heavy firepower, it is no weaker than the seven infantry brigades under Nishimura Genichi, and is even a bit stronger.

This was something that Shiro Itagaki never thought of, so that the smug Nishimura Genichi was just the first wave of cannon fodder in the Battle of Jiulong Mountain. The second wave of cannon fodder rushed to die on the third day of the battle.

This became the most unforgettable battle of "Heartbreak Ridge" for the North China Front at the beginning of the year 1939.

Itagaki Shiro also failed to recover from this battle and became a dispensable and marginal figure in the Japanese army. All generals and commanders had ambitions that were destined to be impossible to realize.

It was not reactivated until the Pacific War broke out a few years later. One can imagine the fate of the unlucky children who were ordered to garrison Guadalcanal.

There was no need to wait to be hanged on the gallows like in the past time and space, this unlucky child's small intestine filled with Yoneda was dried on the island. (End of chapter)