People are shining their swords, secretly helping the Iron Triangle in Northwest Shanxi

Chapter 287
The main force of the 27th Division has been dispatched this time, and all the troops that can participate in the battle have already arrived on the battlefield.

Major General Keihisa Suzuki, head of the 27th Infantry Regiment, came to Nobumasa Tominaga, head of the division, and reported the situation in Jiaozhen in detail.

Here in Jiaozhen is the 11th Brigade under the Glory First Division. They have been strengthened by six [-]-type field artillery.

But facing the absolute main force of the 27th Division at this time, their more than 5000 troops are obviously not enough.

The little devil now has the first, second, and third infantry regiments stationed in the station, the search regiment, the engineer regiment, the transportation regiment, and the mountain artillery regiment.

In addition, there are the Artillery Battalion of the Imperial Association Army, the First Squadron of Independent Tanks, the Ninth and Tenth Squadrons of Armored Vehicles.

Their total strength exceeds 8000 people, and they also have numerous artillery.

After Tominaga Nobumasa learned of the deployment of the Jinsui Army in the Jiaozhen area, he personally deployed it.

The little devil's troops started a multi-way attack in an attempt to completely annihilate the 11th Reserve Brigade here in Jiaozhen.

However, after the attack by the little devils, the 11th Reserve Brigade began to break up into parts and quickly moved towards the Jiangcheng area.

At the same time, the cavalry battalion and other troops, under the command of Fang Ligong, immediately rushed over to assist them in their evacuation.

At the same time as these troops withdrew, they began to destroy roads and set up minefields to block the troops of the 27th Division.

At 08:30 in the evening, the First Division of Glory assembled in Jiangcheng.

According to Chen Ziyun's combat suggestion, Chu Yunfei commanded the troops of the Glory First Division and quickly advanced westward.

At the same time, they left the cavalry battalion and other troops, set up an ambush circle on the spot, and prepared to ambush the troops of the 27th Division.

It was at this time that Wei Monk's reconnaissance company, who had come to Li Yuanzhen's area in advance, had already grasped the favorable terrain.

More than 1 troops of the Glory First Division advanced westward from Jiangcheng, and it was almost impossible to achieve complete concealment.

The little devil soon got the news. The head of the 41st division, Shimizu, stood in front of the map, with an incredulous expression on his face.

After all, in his opinion, the advance of the Jinsui army to the west is a dead end.

However, Shimizu rule did not order his own troops to launch a pursuit, but quickly sent a message to contact the army headquarters for a report.

The 41st Division and the Ninth Brigade, an independent mixed brigade, are going to participate in the Zhongtiaoshan operation.

So far they are the only Japanese army that has not made progress, so they will definitely continue to attack the Hengling Pass and Shunwangping positions next.

As for chasing the first division of Glory, they definitely won't participate.

Yoshio Shinozuka was also surprised when the First Army Command received the report from the front.

However, he still made immediate adjustments and deployments based on the frontline combat situation.

The 41st Division, an independent and mixed ninth brigade participating in the battle, continued to carry out combat strikes on Zhongtiao Mountain, striving to obtain results in the shortest possible time.

"The Seventh Mixed Brigade of the Imperial Association Army, attached to the Imperial Army troops to defend Li Yuanzhen and block the westward path of the First Division of Glory."

"The 27th Division quickly advanced in pursuit, and cooperated with Li Yuanzhen's troops to flank the Glorious First Division."

"In this battle, we must besiege the first division of Glory in the area of ​​Li Yuanzhen, and we must not allow them to advance to Wenxi City and other areas to fight."

"The 41st Division and other troops must launch a fierce attack overnight. Before dawn, take down positions such as Hengling Pass and Shunwangping, and quickly capture Yuanqu City!"

The First Army Command immediately issued a combat order. He did not mobilize the 41st Division and other troops, but let the 27th Division pursue them with all their strength.

By nine o'clock, the First Division of Glory had reached the area east of Li Yuanzhen.

Monk Wei, the company commander of the reconnaissance company, made a detailed report. Chu Yunfei, Chen Ziyun, Fang Ligong and others listened to the report and marked it on the map at the same time.

In the area of ​​Li Yuanzhen, there were 5000 Imperial Army troops and about 500 Japanese soldiers.

Their firepower configuration is not bad. There are four infantry guns, eight Jin-made 17-type mountain guns, and six Jin-made 16-type 105MM mountain guns.

As for the number of heavy machine guns, there are quite a few. The two brigades of the little devils have a full twenty heavy machine guns.

The Imperial Association Army has a lot of [-]-knot heavy machine guns and [-]-type heavy machine guns here.

With Li Yuanzhen as the core, the Japanese and puppet troops built a complete defensive position and blocked the westward advance of the Glory First Division.

If the Glory First Division can break through Li Yuanzhen's position, they can move north and return to Houma City quickly.

To the west, you can advance to Wenxi City, interspersed with the 36th Division, and the 37th Division's combat troops will launch an attack from the rear.

Of course, if they could not break through Li Yuanzhen, the 27th Division would come after them, and they would be flanked by front and back.

To the north is Zijin Mountain, and they can't break out, so they can only go south into Zhongtiao Mountain.

Everyone knows what is going on in Zhongtiao Mountain at this time. Entering Zhongtiao Mountain is a dead end!
"Master, Commander Yan ordered us to support the 43rd Army to break out of the siege, but the 43rd Army is still fighting in Zhongtiao Mountain."

"I think we quickly broke through the blocking position of Li Yuanzhen's Japanese puppet army, then continued to bypass Zijin Mountain, returned to Jiangcheng again, and quickly responded to the 43rd Army to break through."

"This time we went back to Jiangcheng again. We have to quickly respond to the 43rd Army to break through, contact them, and withdraw directly to the western Shanxi area."

Deputy teacher Hao Shiwen pointed to the map and directly expressed his suggestion.

Chu Yunfei looked at the map and remained silent. He had already received a telegram from Wei Junru.

Wei Junru is currently still accompanying the capital, but after learning about the combat situation here in Zhongtiao Mountain, he quickly established contact with various ministries and conducted command operations.

Wei Junru of the First Glory Division hoped that they could support the battle with all their strength, so as to avoid too many casualties in Zhongtiao Mountain.

Up to now, the eastern part of Zhongtiao Mountain is still resisting at various levels. There are not too many casualties among the various armies, and the overall communication is still smooth.

But here in the west of Zhongtiao Mountain, there has been chaos. The Third Army of the Fifth Army and the 80th Army have been hit hard.

What Wei Junru meant was that he hoped that Chu Yunfei and Chen Ziyun would command the troops to advance to the front line of Wenxi City and Xia City to support the Fifth Army.

As long as the Glory First Division advances to this line, it will threaten the 36th Division, 37th Division and other troops.

The Fifth Group Army can quickly accommodate troops and gradually move towards the front line of Yuanqu City.

Wei Junru has been running the Zhongtiao Mountain defense line for many years and knows the situation here very well.

He is going to completely abandon the western area of ​​Zhongtiao Mountain and stick to the eastern area with all his strength.

In his view, with the fifth and 14th armies jointly defending the eastern part of Zhongtiao Mountain, there is still capital for World War I.

Wei Junru's idea is good, but he overlooked one point, that is the threat of little devils infiltrating the troops.

As early as in the afternoon, Kazuki Yamamoto had already commanded the secret service team, and the infiltration force responded to the airborne troops to complete the airborne.

At this time, according to the plan, the secret service team quickly attacked the command organization of the Fifth Army, and quickly seized the key points, which was favorable for the terrain.

The little devil's spies, the infiltration troops formed by the traitors, and the airborne troops gradually advanced towards the rear of Hengling Pass and Shunwangping.

They will cooperate with the 41st Division and other troops to quickly take the position here, thus cutting off the connection between the two armies.

"Mr. Wei has replenished our soldiers' weapons and equipment several times. Yunfei's existence today has a lot to do with Mr. Wei's support."

"What's more, I promised the Chief of Guards that if something happens in Zhongtiao Mountain, I will do my best to support the battle."

"Deputy Commander Hao, we have to obey Commander Yan's orders, but now we are too busy."

"We will advance to Wenxi City first, fight in Xiacheng, and then find a way to return to Jiangcheng to support the 43rd Army to break through."

"If you don't want to, you can decide to stay or not."

Chu Yunfei took a deep breath and said with a firm expression on his face.

"I will follow the order of the master." Chen Ziyun and others quickly made a statement.

Naturally, Wenxi City had to go here, after all, the system had issued a task, and Chen Ziyun definitely needed to complete it.

Hao Shiwen saw that most people were willing to follow Chu Yunfei, and he naturally had nothing to say.

Now the troops are still in a state of encirclement. If they divide their troops and act alone, it will be no different from sending them to death.

Immediately afterwards, Chu Yunfei began to deploy.

Artillery Regiment, 358 Regiment, and Reserve 11 Regiment, commanded by Chen Ziyun, quickly broke through the defense line of Li Yuanzhen's Japanese puppet army.

Chen Ziyun had already learned about Li Yuanzhen's general defensive deployment, so he immediately issued a combat order.

The artillery regiment assembled [-] mountain artillery pieces, and the field artillery continued to bombard the Japanese army and the joint part of the Imperial Association Army.

Under the command of Wu Ziqiang, the acting head of the 358th regiment, they quickly attacked the junction.

The 11th Reserve Regiment, under the command of the head of the regiment Shi Yujia, mainly launched diversion attacks on the Japanese army.

At around [-]:[-], the troops of both sides fought fiercely.

At first, the puppet army's artillery continued to conduct shelling in an attempt to prevent the Shanxi-Sui Army troops from attacking.

But after their position was exposed, under the personal command of Chen Ziyun, the artillery regiment quickly launched a counterattack.

Six Bofors mountain guns, six Type [-] mountain guns, six Type [-] field guns, and six Liao-made field guns.

These 24 cannons all have detailed shooting parameter tables with system rewards, and they are capable of precise bombardment.

A round of shells hit the artillery positions of the puppet army one after another. The artillery battalion of the puppet army paid casualties and hurriedly began to transfer.

At the same time, Wu Hama and Sun Fu commanded the heavy artillery company, and six Jin-made 105MM mountain cannons suppressed the firepower here at the junction.

The mortar company directly under the 358th regiment, six 81MM mortars also carried out suppressive shooting.

Four infantry battalions continued to attack, and at 09:30, the junction position was breached.

"The first battalion and the second battalion quickly advanced in depth, quickly cutting off the connection between the Japanese and puppet troops."

"The third battalion, the fourth battalion, the fifth battalion, the sixth battalion, and the seventh battalion attacked the puppet troops with all their strength."

"The 358th regiment prepares 11 mortar regiments to suppress the Japanese firepower with all their strength."

"Shan Pao Battalion, bombard the Japanese troops with all their might."

"The Field Artillery Battalion continued to suppress the artillery of the Japanese and puppet troops to prevent them from launching shelling."

Chen Ziyun raised his binoculars to check the situation on the battlefield, and commanded calmly.

All the ministries were actively fighting, and at ten o'clock in the evening, the Japanese and puppet troops stationed by Li Yuanzhen began to shrink their defenses.

They launched a defensive deployment to the north, blocking the way for the First Honor Division to break through to the north.

Xu Chengpu, the brigade commander of the puppet army, and the two major captains quickly sent power to contact the various ministries.

At this time, the 27th Division had already started to set off from Jiangcheng, and rushed here to help.

After the cavalry battalion attacked it to a certain extent, it quickly withdrew from the battlefield to avoid being encircled and attacked by the 27th division.

In the dark night, telegrams were sent one after another in Pingyang City, an important town in southern Shanxi.

Chief of Staff Hanaya is quickly sending the telegram to Army Commander Shinozuka Yoshio and making a detailed report.

The Japanese and puppet troops deployed by Li Yuanzhen failed to stop the Glory First Division, and the position was broken.

Shinozuka Yoshio was very annoyed when such news was delivered.

However, as the commander of the army commanding the battle, Shinozuka Yoshio quickly controlled his emotions.

He calmed himself down quickly, looking at the huge battle sand table, Yoshio Shinozuka fell into deep thought.

At this time, Shinozuka Yoshio missed the time when Chief of Staff Kusuyama Hideyoshi was there, after all, Kusuyama Hideyoshi was able to provide him with a lot of combat advice.

It's just that the current chief of staff, Hua Guzheng, obviously doesn't have this ability.

"The Glory First Division shows no signs of planning to break out north along Li Yuanzhen, otherwise with their strength, the troops will not be able to rebuild their defensive positions."

"The seventh group of the Royal Association Army is mixed, and it is impossible for the two brigades to stop them from breaking through to the north."

"Looking at it this way, it's obvious that their goal is to come here for Wenxi City."

"The Fifth Army has been defeated, and the Third Army and the 80th Army have also completely cut off contact."

"If there are no accidents, the two armies will suffer a devastating blow."

"But the first division of Glory appeared behind the 36th and 37th divisions. The situation is completely different."

"See, this is Chu Yunfei and Chen Ziyun. They always exceed our expectations and show up in time to give us a fatal blow!"

Yoshio Shinozuka pointed at Wen Xicheng, with an angry expression on his face.

Fighting at this time somewhat surprised Yoshio Shinozuka.

The 41st Division, the independent and mixed Ninth Brigade here, they failed to quickly break through the middle and cut off the connection between the two armies.

Of course, this is also directly related to the first division of glory, and the failure of the 27th division and other troops to contain the first division of glory quickly also caused a crisis for the Japanese army.

The source of all this is the first division of Glory!
"Army Commander, should we temporarily give up the battle in the west, so as to gather all the troops and quickly encircle and wipe out the Glory First Division."

Hua Guzheng also saw the way, so he made a suggestion.

Yoshio Shinozuka had such an idea, but he didn't want to prepare for the battle of Mount Zhongtiao, so his success fell short!
In any case, there are 10,000+ troops here in Zhongtiao Mountain. If they are completely defeated, the first army of the little devils will be able to take the initiative in the future.

If we give up the Zhongtiao Mountain battle in order to annihilate the Glory First Division, it is obviously a small gain but a big loss!
But the existence of the Glory First Division will directly affect the battle here.

Yoshio Shinozuka was having a hard time making a decision at this time, he frowned, looked at the map and fell into deep thought.

But at this moment, a staff member quickly came to Yoshio Shinozuka.

"Your Excellency, Commander, the Eastern Army has sent a message that the 21st Division has cut off the connection between the Ninth Army and the 14th Army."

"Currently, the head of the 21st Division, Tanaka Hisaichi, and the head of the 35th Division, Harada Kumayoshi, made suggestions."

"They are going to quickly bypass the Ninth Army's position with the 21st Division, and quickly advance to the Yuanqu City area, so as to open up contact with the independent and mixed 16th Brigade."

"The troops of the 35th Division participating in the battle can cooperate with the Imperial Association Army to encircle and wipe out the Ninth Army!"

A lieutenant staff officer came to Shinozuka Yoshio with a telegram and quickly reported.

After receiving the report, Yoshio Shinozuka showed a joyful expression on his face.

It is worth mentioning that the Japanese army sent troops to fully support the North China Front Army Command.

日军13军抽调17师团借调给12军，从而将12军部署在徐城的21师团替换，参加中条山作战。

The 11th Army of the Japanese Army directly transferred the 33rd Division and directly seconded it to the North China Front Army to participate in this battle.

The 21st Division deployed on the Little Devil East Road and the 33rd Division deployed on the Northeast Road participated in the battle at full strength.

The 21st Division is the first three field divisions organized by the little devil.

They have been serving as defense missions for Xu City for a long time!

You must know that Xucheng is the thoroughfare of five provinces, an absolute strategic location, and those who can undertake the defense task here are naturally the elite.

After the 21st Division entered the war, they fought very fiercely.

Even though the Ninth Army relied on its terrain advantage to occupy the commanding heights for defense, it was still forced to retreat in the morning.

The Ninth Army retreated to defend, and the puppet troops attached to the 35th Division continued to contain the attack in the east.

The 21st Division stormed the junction of the Ninth Army and the 14th Army, and now the 21st Division has captured the junction and completely encircled the Ninth Army.

The Japanese army's combat plan was to quickly advance along the north bank of the Yellow River with the east and west troops, quickly seize the ferry, block the Yellow River, and cut off the defenders' retreat southward.

It's just that although the independent mixed 16th brigade on the West Road has been strengthened by the puppet Mongolian army and the puppet Manchukuo army, there are more than 1 troops.

But they encountered a hard nail. At this time, the 14rd and 83th Divisions under the 85th Army held their positions and completely blocked their advance.

Under such circumstances, the 21st Division intends to continue westward, thus opening up the connection with the independent and mixed 16th Brigade.

For Yoshio Shinozuka at this time, it can be said that there is no light in the west and light in the east.

The troops on the west route were blocked and could not continue to advance eastward along the north bank.

However, the troops on the east route have a clear path and can continue to advance.

"Contact the 21st Division and let them quickly advance to Yuanqu City, so that they can quickly take Yuanqu City."

"Then the main force of the division continued to advance westward, connecting with the independent 16th brigade, and at the same time, the first part was attacking Shunwangping and Hengling Pass to the north."

"The 35th Division participated in the battle, and cooperated with the 20th, 21st, and 24th Divisions of the Imperial Association Army to encircle and wipe out the Ninth Army."

"Contact the 33rd Division and the 14th Cavalry Brigade fighting on the Northeast Road, and attack the [-]th Army with all your strength to prevent them from opening up with the Ninth Army again."

Shinozuka Yoshio pointed at the map, without the slightest hesitation, he decisively issued a combat order.

"Hi, Your Excellency, Commander." The staff nodded quickly and began to arrange power generation.

The eastern troops fought quickly here, which gave Yoshio Shinozuka enough confidence.

"Order the troops of the 36th Division participating in the battle to withdraw gradually and assemble in Wenxi City. The Seventh Mixed Brigade of the Imperial Association Army and other troops quickly advance to Xixuejia Town."

"The 27th Division pursues at full speed, and must catch up with the first division of Glory in the shortest possible time."

"The troops of the 37th Division, the Yamamoto Special Forces, keep fighting against the Fifth Army."

Yoshio Shinozuka took a deep breath, and after hesitating for a moment, he made a decision.

Xuejia Town is north of Wenxi City, Yoshio Shinozuka plans to arrange the 36th Division, and the Seventh Mixed Brigade of the Imperial Association Army to deploy this line.

As for Li Yuanzhen, it was completely empty.

The Glory First Division can follow Li Yuanzhen to break through to the north, so as to stay away from the Zhongtiao Mountain area.

But if they continue to advance westward, then there will be 36 divisions and other troops to stop them with all their strength.

When the 27th Division chases after them, the Glory First Division will be caught in the pincers of these Japanese troops.

(End of this chapter)