Liang Jian: Commander, save some for me

Xiao Zhang immediately led his men to rush forward and finish off the Japanese soldiers who were still alive after falling to the ground.

The gunfire from their side naturally attracted the attention of the other Japanese soldiers, who all moved closer to them.

"First platoon, set up artillery positions! The rest of you, fight the Japanese!" Xiao Zhang immediately gave the order, and he had his men take up advantageous positions nearby.

They opened fire before the Japanese soldiers could surround them.

Bang bang bang…

Da da da………

The Japanese soldiers who came to provide support were shot and fell to the ground in droves. This terrified the Japanese soldiers behind them, who broke out in a cold sweat. These enemies were too fierce; they had wiped out so many of their soldiers in a single encounter.

The Japanese major leading the team hid behind a bunker, sweating profusely!

"Kill them!" The Japanese major overcame his fear, stood up, drew his command sword, and loudly ordered the nearby Japanese soldiers to continue their attack.

However, before the Japanese major could hide, a bullet struck him in the chest. His eyes widened in disbelief.

He was only two or three hundred meters away from the enemy, yet he was killed by a single shot and collapsed, powerless.

"Major!" A Japanese captain nearby scrambled over.

"Quickly tell the brigade commander about the situation here!" The Japanese major had barely finished speaking when his head slumped down and he died.

The Japanese captain didn't hesitate and immediately withdrew to report the situation.

At the same time, Xu Qingfeng and his men continued their fierce attack on the Japanese, firing grenade launchers one after another at the Japanese, causing havoc among the Japanese soldiers.

The Japanese soldiers were forced into a retreat, and dared not show themselves easily, for fear of being shot dead by the enemy.

Boom boom boom......

Da da da………

Bang bang bang…

The battle continued, with gunfire almost constant. The intense firepower made the Japanese soldiers think they were being attacked by tens of thousands of troops.

On the other side, just as the Japanese brigade commander was about to lead his troops to retreat, a Japanese captain rushed over.

"Brigade Commander, something bad has happened..." The Japanese captain hurriedly reported the situation, saying that the positions of the artillery shells and tanks had been attacked by the enemy and had been captured.

"What?!" Nakajima Ichiro was shocked to hear this. If so many cannons were captured by the enemy, they would have even more powerful firepower.

"Brigade Commander, given the current situation, it's practically impossible for us to recapture those artillery pieces."

"Once the enemy surrounds us, we won't be able to retreat! This is clearly something the enemy did on purpose." The Japanese regimental commander quickly tried to dissuade them.

The enemy's fighting power is very strong, and they took out the artillery at the beginning. They cannot annihilate the enemy in a short time, and instead, they are easily tied down by the enemy.

Nakajima Ichiro was panting heavily, his mind in turmoil, wondering whether to gather his forces, drive the enemy away, and recapture the cannons, or to retreat directly.

"Brigade Commander, we can't hesitate any longer. Although there are many artillery pieces over there, they are not all of them. If we don't leave now, we'll miss our chance," the Japanese regimental commander urged again.

"No way! We're retreating!" Nakajima Ichiro gritted his teeth and gave the order.

Soon, the 33rd Brigade withdrew in an orderly manner. At the same time, they left behind a battalion to block them and buy them a chance to escape.

.........

Meanwhile, Li Yunlong and his men were also using binoculars to observe the situation towards the Japanese, but they were too far away to see anything.

All that could be seen was flames shooting into the sky and explosions echoing from the Japanese side.

"Damn, this fighting is really intense," Li Yunlong said. Hearing the sounds of gunfire, he felt a little itchy and wished he could join the battle right now.

"With such intense artillery fire, anyone who didn't know better would think Xu Qingfeng and his men numbered in the tens of thousands," Chu Yunfei couldn't help but remark. The combined firepower of several regiments was indeed quite formidable.

Even setting aside the subsequent offensive, the artillery bombardment alone would have given the Japanese a real headache.

"I estimate that by the time the Japanese arrive, the number of dead and wounded will reach one or two thousand," Commander Zhang couldn't help but say.

Xu Qingfeng led more than two thousand men in a fierce attack against the Japanese. Given their marksmanship, killing one or two thousand Japanese soldiers in a short time should not be a problem.

"Commander Zhang, you're underestimating us. One or two thousand is nothing. Our deputy regimental commander can wipe out at least two thousand Japanese soldiers! And that's only because these are a Class A division."

"If it were a Class B division, this brigade wouldn't be enough for us to kill," said a squad leader from a special operations regiment behind him.

He was responsible for ensuring Commander Zhang's safety, so he naturally felt somewhat disdainful upon hearing what Commander Zhang said.

“You know what, that’s really true.” Li Yunlong agreed with what the squad leader said.

The Japanese soldiers in Class A divisions were indeed much stronger in combat than those in Class B divisions, but compared to special operations regiments, they were just so-so.

.........

On Mount Araun, Yamamoto Ichiki was sound asleep in his quarters when suddenly a member of a Japanese special forces unit burst in.

Yamamoto Ichiki suddenly opened his eyes, even preparing for battle.

"Commander, the division commander wants to see you at a meeting. It looks very urgent! You'd better hurry over," the Japanese soldier said. "What?!" Yamamoto Ichiki suddenly had a bad feeling. He quickly grabbed his uniform jacket, put it on, and hurriedly walked towards the command post.

When he entered the command post, he saw Tani Hisao's gloomy face.

"Division Commander, what happened?!" Yamamoto Ichiki swallowed nervously and asked.

"Take a look at this telegram yourself!" Tani Hisao threw a piece of paper at Yamamoto Ichiki, who caught it.

He felt a little uneasy as he looked at it, and soon his eyes widened and his pupils contracted.

"Division Commander, how... how is this possible..." Yamamoto Ichiki said, his voice trembling.

"How is it impossible?! The facts are right in front of you! Your perfect plan was easily thwarted by that Northeast Army, and now they're even trying to annihilate one of my brigades! Yamamoto Ichiki, you bear the main responsibility for all of this!" Tani Hisao roared.

That was an entire brigade; if it were wiped out by that Northeast Army, his losses would be enormous.

The key issue is that other units were unable to quickly provide support to the 33rd Brigade, leaving it isolated and without assistance.

"That shouldn't be the case. Why would that Northeast Army abandon the attack on the command post and instead attack the 33rd Brigade?! Did they realize our presence and therefore turn to attack the 33rd Brigade?!" Yamamoto Ichiki speculated, feeling that there couldn't be any problem with his plan.

Once the enemy discovers that the command post is not heavily defended, they will definitely attack!

"That goes without saying. The enemy must have discovered that the command post was easy to defend and difficult to attack, and that they might not be able to take it down in a short time, so they chose to attack other units instead!"
"I told you from the beginning not to choose this location for the command post, but you wouldn't listen. Now look what's happened, the enemy realized something was wrong and chose to run away!" Tani Hisao said angrily.

He believed that the enemy thought the command post had a large number of people and was located in a position that was easy to defend and difficult to attack. Therefore, the enemy felt that they might not be able to take down the command post before other troops could come to their aid, so they chose to change their target.

This change of target has put other units in a difficult position.

"The 33rd Brigade is now in a fierce battle and can only retreat to our side, and even then, it's not certain they can get here!" Tani Hisao continued.

He was genuinely angry. Had he known this would happen, he shouldn't have agreed to Yamamoto Ichiki's plan, which now risked annihilating one of his brigades.

"Division Commander, don't worry. We can still support them. With the combat strength of the 33rd Brigade, holding out for a day shouldn't be a problem."
"As long as we get there, we will definitely be able to hold off the enemy. I request that the division commander send a telegram to the other brigades and have them encircle the 33rd Brigade! I will do my best to hold off the enemy and prevent them from escaping!" Yamamoto Ichiki calmly analyzed.

They still have a chance. As long as the 33rd Brigade can hold out until he comes to their aid, they will definitely be able to hold off the enemy. Then, other troops can come over and encircle Mu Jin and his men.

"Given the current situation, this is the only option." Tani Hisao took a deep breath. Yamamoto Ichiki's method was indeed the best way to annihilate that Northeast Army.

"Division Commander, please send a telegram to Division Commander Itagaki and ask him to transfer another brigade from the 16th Division to help. Otherwise, there will be no way to annihilate the enemy," Yamamoto Ichiki continued.

If the 33rd Brigade is annihilated, they will only have two brigades left, which is equivalent to one division. It will be unlikely that they can encircle that Northeast Army.

"I will send him a telegram. You must set off with your men immediately. If the 33rd Brigade is annihilated by the enemy, I will never forgive you!" Tani Hisao threatened through gritted teeth.

"Yes, sir!" Yamamoto Ichiki dared not hesitate any longer and immediately ordered his men to assemble the special forces. To be on the safe side, Tani Hisao also transferred soldiers from the nearby fake command post to Yamamoto Ichiki to take with him for support.

"Division Commander, I feel something's not right." At this moment, a Japanese regimental commander standing next to Tani Hisao said slowly.

"Something's not right?!" Hisao Tani looked over in confusion.

"Logically speaking, Yamamoto's plan is indeed sound. Even if the enemy sees that our position is easy to defend and difficult to attack,..."
"It wouldn't be difficult for them to take us out before other units arrive to provide support, so why did they choose to attack other units instead?!" the Japanese regimental commander said slowly.

If Yamamoto Ichiki's plan had a problem, wouldn't the division commander or even the general have noticed?! However, an unexpected event occurred, and things went differently from the planned outcome.

"You mean the enemy might have known about Yamamoto's special attack force?! That's why they chose to change their target?!" Tani Hisao also realized what was going on and said.

If the enemy knew about Yamamoto's special attack force, they certainly wouldn't fall for it. Compared to attacking the command post, which could lead to being surrounded, it would be wiser for the enemy to attack other units.

“I do have that suspicion, but how did the enemy know about the existence of Yamamoto’s special attack team?! And thus choose to abandon the attack on the command post?!” The Japanese regimental commander frowned.

Logically, the arrival of Yamamoto's special attack force in Taiyuan should have been a secret, and the enemy shouldn't have known about it.

"An insider leaked information about Yamamoto's special attack force to the enemy, putting them on guard, which is why they chose to attack the 33rd Brigade!" Tani Hisao's face darkened. If an insider had indeed leaked information about Yamamoto's special attack force, then the problem would be much bigger.

The fact that such a confidential matter was known to the enemy means that there are likely enemy spies within Taiyuan City who learned about Yamamoto's special attack team and passed the information out.

"It's just speculation right now, and not many people know about it; they're mostly high-ranking officers. I don't think they'd defect to the enemy," the Japanese regimental commander said.

Those who knew about Yamamoto's special attack force were mostly officers of the rank of field officer or higher; other officers and soldiers had no idea how formidable Yamamoto's special attack force was.

"So how do you think the enemy knew?! Or perhaps they didn't know, but simply felt that attacking the command post would result in too many casualties, so they chose to attack the 33rd Brigade," Tani Hisao said.

The location they chose was indeed easy to defend and difficult to attack, and it was also well-defended. It was possible that the enemy, fearing excessive casualties, would choose to abandon it.

"What the division commander said is indeed possible, but there's another possibility: that Yamamoto's special attack force was probably discovered by the enemy the day they arrived in Taiyuan."

"I suspect that the intelligence personnel of that Northeast Army were keeping watch outside Taiyuan all night, so when Yamamoto's special attack team arrived that night, they had already been discovered!" The Japanese regimental commander continued his analysis.

Compared to other possibilities, he felt this was the most likely, because that was how the 16th Division was discovered by the enemy, who then set a trap, attacked the 16th Division's command post, and ultimately caused the death of Division Commander Nakajima Kesago.

“Your analysis is indeed more likely. Yamamoto’s special attack team looks very unusual. Although they made many preparations, they couldn’t withstand the enemy’s surveillance sooner or later.” Tani Hisao agreed with the Japanese regimental commander’s guess.

"If Yamamoto's special attack force hadn't chosen to enter the city but instead went to other counties, perhaps this situation wouldn't have occurred. In the end, it was Yamamoto Ichiki who was too confident," the Japanese regimental commander continued.

If Yamamoto Ichiki had chosen to go to another county instead of Taiyuan, he would not have been discovered by the enemy, and they would not have realized that the command post was a trap. In that case, their plan would not have failed, and the 33rd Brigade would not have been attacked by the enemy!
"Damn it! In the end, the biggest problem is still this Yamamoto Ichiki. He is indeed capable, but he is too confident, and now he has ruined us!" Tani Hisao gritted his teeth in anger.

Such a perfect plan, yet the final flaw was Yamamoto Ichiki's doing. How could this not infuriate Tani Hisao? Now, it's uncertain whether his 33rd Brigade can even escape! (End of Chapter)