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

Chapter 299: Go south to support the regiment’s breakout
At two o'clock in the afternoon on May [-], the Third Flying Group under the Third Flying Group began operations under the command of Major General Saburo Endo.

The 32nd Bomber Team and the 44th Reconnaissance Aircraft Team dispatched aircraft one after another. These aircraft continued to bomb the eastern positions of Zhongtiao Mountain stationed by the 14th Group Army.

Aerial bombs fell on the position one after another, and with a deafening explosion, the entire position was instantly covered in gunpowder smoke.

The scorching air waves instantly raised the temperature, and the shock wave quickly spread around.

After continuous shelling and bombing, most of the positions of the 14th Army, 15rd Army, and 93th Army under the 98th Group Army have been destroyed.

By three o'clock, the Japanese army assembled the 33rd Division, the 41st Division, and the independent mixed Ninth Brigade with more than 3 troops to launch an attack.

This time the Japanese attack was very fierce, and they threw all their infantry into the battle.

A large number of infantry launched wave-like tactical attacks, repeatedly attacking the defenders' positions.

Lieutenant General Sakurai Shozo, the commander of the 33rd Division, and Nobu Shimizu, the lieutenant general commander of the 41st Division, directly supervised and directed the operations on the front line.

Kenkichi Ikegami, commander of the independent ninth brigade, led the attack in person.

For a time, fierce fighting started here in the east of Zhongtiao Mountain, and the defenders were under great pressure.

More than 93 troops from four divisions of the 98rd Army and the 2th Army fought hard to hold on to their positions. They temporarily held their positions, but their own casualties continued to increase.

At 03:30, the 27th Division began to set off from the Shunwangping area. They launched a fierce attack on the 14th Group Army's position from the flanks.

The 15th Army, which was originally planned to be deployed to support operations on the north side, was urgently deployed on the west side to block the advance of the 27th Division.

However, the 15th Army only has more than 1 troops, and its combat effectiveness is weak.

The 27th Division dispatched all its main forces and strengthened its artillery units. When the troops from both sides started fighting, the gap became obvious.

The Japanese army attacked with all their strength from the north and west sides, and a large number of troops were invested on the battlefield.

The 14th Group Army was unable to carry out tight defense, and defense loopholes appeared between various departments.

Yamamoto Kazuki commanded the special forces, paratroopers and other troops to continuously infiltrate, began to disintegrate the connections between various ministries, and harassed their command structures.

Commander-in-Chief Liu of the 14th Group Army ordered all ministries to hold their positions and quickly contacted the commander's headquarters to request support.

Wei Junru immediately made adjustments to his deployment based on the battlefield situation.

At this time, Wei Junru had already urgently returned from the capital to the Chief of the First War Zone in Luojing, Henan Province, to take over the operational command of Zhongtiao Mountain.

Chief of Staff He Jingzhi assisted in the command.

Wei Junru knew the Zhongtiao Mountain battlefield very well, and he made arrangements calmly.

The Ninth Army and the 27th Army, which have just met here at Fengmenkou, are providing full support to the north to strengthen the defense and garrison tasks of the 14th Army.

Of course, the position here at Fengmenkou is also very important, so there is a division responsible for staying here.

The two armies dispatched five divisions and quickly advanced northward to strengthen frontal defense and block Japanese attacks from the north and west.

The Zhongtiao Mountain Attack Corps advanced eastward and attacked Jincheng and Yangcheng with all its strength to support the 14th Group Army in its operations.

At this time, the independent detachment of the Zhongtiao Mountain Attack Corps, the Glory First Division, was drawn out.

The 17th Army, the 43rd Army, and the [-]th Division organized attack corps, and they advanced directly to Jincheng and Yangcheng to fight.

Li Yunlong's independent detachment quickly withdrew to the Zi JS area, using Zijin Mountain as their base.

Continuously conduct diversionary attacks on Hengling Pass and Shunwangping to prevent the 21st Division stationed here from participating in the battle.

Wei Junru's intention is obvious. He wants an independent detachment to contain the 21st Division.

The Zhongtiao Mountain Attack Corps and the 14th Group Army fought with all their strength against the 27th Division, 33rd Division, 43rd Division and other units.

Especially on the front lines of Jincheng and Yangcheng, Wei Junru planned to use offense instead of defense to disrupt the Japanese attack.

As for the Glory First Division, they have already captured Wenxi City.

Wei Junru asked Chu Yunfei and Chen Ziyun to command the troops and directly enter Zhongtiao Mountain to fight.

The 14th Army, the 80rd Army, and the [-]th Army of the Fifth Group Army were still surrounded and attacked by many Japanese and puppet troops.

These three armies suffered heavy casualties. If they continued to fight, they would be annihilated sooner or later.

Wei Junru hoped that the troops of the Glory [-]st Division would quickly break through the Japanese and puppet forces' obstruction in Zhongtiao Mountain, quickly advance to the Pinglu City area, and coordinate the operations of the Fifth Group Army.

Considering the situation of the three armies under the Fifth Group Army, Wei Junru was prepared to withdraw them to the south bank of the Yellow River for rest.

After all, their overall casualties and losses were too great. If they continued to fight, they might be gradually annihilated.

The commander of the Luojing First War Zone began to issue combat orders one after another.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, the [-]st Glory Division launched combat operations.

The artillery regiment, machine gun battalion, cavalry battalion, and spy battalion directly under the division headquarters are hidden in the Wenxi City area.

Chen Ziyun, the infantry commander, commanded these troops to fight.

Chu Yunfei and deputy division commander Hao Shiwen commanded the main force of the division, divided into two groups of troops, and quickly advanced towards the Pinglu City area.

Chen Ziyun commanded the troops to stay in Wenxi City, naturally to fight the ambush of the Fourth Cavalry Brigade.

The Fourth Japanese Cavalry Brigade is currently located in Li Yuanzhen, east of Wenxi City. Their main task is to contain the Glory First Division.

The Glory First Division is advancing towards Zhongtiao Mountain, they may come quickly.

Chen Ziyun commanded the troops to set up traps. As long as they come over, the various ministries will immediately attack them.

The special agent battalion unit is a unit jointly organized by the reconnaissance company of the artillery regiment and the guard company of the division headquarters guard communication battalion.

Xie Yunxia serves as the battalion commander, and Wei Monk serves as the deputy battalion commander.

At this time, the special agent battalion was responsible for various combat tasks. They were engaged in the work of guards, scouts, and orderlies.

Of course, Chen Ming should use the special agent battalion of the Glory First Division as a special force.

At around four o'clock, following Chu Yunfei, Hao Shiwen commanded the troops to enter Zhongtiao Mountain one after another.

Li Yuanzhen's fourth cavalry brigade also began to take action, and Sakuma Shigemori was very cautious.

He dispatched several cavalry squads and dispersed them towards Wenxi City, while the main force of the brigade was on standby behind.

At this time, the 41th Cavalry Brigade received the tanks and armored vehicles originally assigned to the [-]st Division and independently mixed into the [-]th Brigade.

In addition to their own tanks and armored vehicles, the armored forces of the Fourth Cavalry Brigade currently have a certain scale.

Major General Shigemori Sakuma, commander of the brigade, is also battle-hardened and has rich command and combat experience.

Unlike other imps, Sakuma Shigemori fought very cautiously.

This is also the reason why they were able to quickly evacuate the battlefield after encountering an attack last night to get out of the attack range and avoid serious injuries to their own troops.

Around five o'clock, gunfire started to sound here in Wenxicheng.

However, the reconnaissance teams of the Little Devils were very cautious. After encountering an attack, they evacuated decisively.

After Sakuma Shigemori listened to the report, he made a judgment on the spot, that is, the main force of the Glory First Division entered the Zhongtiao Mountain battle.

However, they left an elite force to defend Wenxi Castle. Sakuma Shigemori believed that the cavalry troops were not good at attacking fortresses.

So he immediately contacted the military headquarters and reported the situation here in detail.

It was at this time that the main force of the Glory First Division commanded by Chu Yunfei and Hao Shiwen had already advanced to Zhongtiao Mountain.

However, they were stubbornly blocked by the Japanese and puppet troops, and the troops from both sides fought fiercely in the mountains and forests.

From Wenxi City to the Pinglu City area, there is a mountain road.

More than 2000 troops from the 36th Mixed Brigade of the Royal Association Army met with more than 37 remnants of the two brigades of the 1000th Division and [-]th Division that were hit.

The Japanese and puppet troops assembled a force of about 700 people, and they originally planned to return to Pinglu City quickly.

However, Jing Guanren, commander of the 36th Division, and Anda 37, commander of the 23th Division, believed that there was a Glory First Division here in Wenxi City and had to guard against it.

During these more than 3000 days, the puppet troops began to deploy defensive positions in situ. They stationed themselves at commanding heights and key pass areas to build positions for defense.

The troops of the Glory First Division advanced, but were stubbornly blocked by them.

The Japanese and puppet troops stayed at the commanding heights and adopted flexible tactics to fight.

The Independent 48th Brigade under the Glory 11st Division prepared four regiments of the [-]th Brigade, but they were intercepted by them, and there was not much progress for the time being.

The two brigades are directly under the mountain artillery companies, which have been expanded into mountain artillery battalions.

The eight Jin-made 17-type 75MM mountain artillery captured by the puppet army were dispersed into two mountain artillery battalions.

Each mountain gun battalion has ten 75MM caliber mountain guns, and the overall firepower is not weak.

However, it is obviously difficult for these 75MM caliber mountain guns to completely destroy and suppress the defensive positions deployed by the Japanese and puppet troops.

When it was six o'clock, Chu Yunfei started to contact Chen Ziyun.

It is obviously impossible to fight here without the support of the artillery regiment.Chen Ziyun received the message from Chu Yunfei, and he arranged for Liang Guoping to command the artillery regiment to advance.

The Machine Gun Battalion and other troops continued to ambush in the Wenxi City area.

Time passed bit by bit, night fell, and everything around Zhongtiao Mountain was pitch black.

In the area east of Pinglu City, there is no sound of gunfire for the time being.

The Japanese and puppet troops continued to attack and fight, which consumed a lot of physical energy. They temporarily stopped attacking to rest and recuperate.

Of course, these Japanese and puppet troops have built a complete defense here. If the three armies of the Fifth Army want to break through, they will definitely have to be kicked against the iron plate.

The 14th Army and other units now have no ability to break out. They can only stay in place and wait for reinforcements.

In the area north of Pinglu City, the Glory [-]st Division continued its fierce attack, preparing to break through the position of the [-]th Mixed Brigade of the Imperial Association Army.

And here in the east of Zhongtiao Mountain, the troops from both sides launched a large-scale battle.

On the Zhongtiao Mountain position, Commander-in-Chief Liu of the 14th Group Army received orders from Wei Junru to uniformly command all armies to conduct operations.

Up to now, they have arranged for the 93rd Army and the 98th Army to undertake the defense of the northern position.

The 15th Army and the 27th Army are responsible for the defense of positions on the west side, while the [-]th Army is responsible for the defense of positions on the east side.

The little devils assembled the 33rd Division, 41st Division, and the independent Ninth Brigade to attack on the north side.

The troops of the 27th Division attacked from the west, and the 35th Division was assigned to three divisions of the Imperial Army to attack from the east.

The troops of both sides launched a fierce offensive and defensive battle. The Japanese and puppet troops attacked on three sides in an attempt to carry out a pincer operation against the 14th Army.

The strength of five armies and ten divisions was fully engaged in defense.

At the same time, five divisions of the 17th Army and the 43rd Army of the Zhongtiao Mountain Attack Corps also quickly came to the battlefield to participate in the battle.

For a time, the two sides launched a large-scale battle here, and it gradually developed into a melee.

The deafening sound of gunfire and various artillery shells continued to fire, and the dark night was as bright as day.

At nine o'clock in the evening, deployed at Hengling Pass, the Shun Wangping 21st Division wanted to join the battle, but they were harassed by Li Yunlong's independent detachment.

The 21st Division was attacked in Wenxi City and suffered certain casualties.

At this time, facing the harassment and attack of 9000 people from the independent detachment, they did not dare to be careless, and were forced to give up the idea of ​​participating in the war, and fully launched their defense.

The fighting here was very fierce and the fighting never stopped.

Around 10:30 pm, the Glory First Division completely abandoned Wenxi City, and all its troops began to advance southward toward Pinglu City.

The [-]th Mixed Brigade of the Imperial Association Army and other troops rushed over with the artillery regiment, and their positions were breached one after another.

After the Japanese and puppet troops suffered about 700 casualties, they lost confidence and began to flee toward the Pinglu City area.

The Glory First Division troops quickly moved south under the command of Chu Yunfei and Chen Ziyun!
It is worth mentioning that after the Wenxicheng battle, four people, Chu Yunfei, Chen Ziyun, Hao Shiwen, and Fang Ligong, jointly produced electricity.

They directly reported the news that Qian Bojun, the deputy brigade commander of the 11th Reserve Brigade, and Zhang Fugui, the acting head of the 12th Reserve Brigade, were missing.

Of course, these two people were shot, but the so-called family scandal should not be made public, so now they will definitely not make it public.

Now they reported their whereabouts as unknown, but at this time, the Chief's Department was not in the mood to care about a deputy brigade commander or an acting regiment commander.

This report did not arouse any response, but the commander's department hoped that they would speed up their advance to meet the Fifth Army's breakout.

"Master, this place in Yuanqu City is very important. It is the connection point between the east and west battlefields. It is still controlled by the Japs."

"We must deploy our troops in advance and advance here quickly to capture Yuanqu City."

"In this way, after we respond to the breakout of the Fifth Group Army troops, we can advance here at any time to prevent being encircled by the Japanese army."

On the way south, Chen Ziyun found Chu Yunfei, and he said with a serious expression on his face.

Chu Yunfei opened the map and looked at it. He felt that what Chen Ziyun said was very reasonable.

After pondering for a while, Chu Yunfei mobilized Sun Ming's 12th reserve regiment and secretly advanced to Yuanqu City.

As for other troops, they continued to fight south.

The Glory First Division came with great momentum, and the Japanese and puppet troops in Pinglu City had already received news one after another.

Here at the headquarters of the Japanese 36th Division, the main officers of the Japanese and puppet troops gathered together.

In this battle, neither the 36th Division nor the 37th Division dispatched their entire troops. They left a certain number of troops to stay in the occupied area.

As the battle continues, their two divisions have also suffered a certain amount of combat losses. Currently, these two divisions only have 5000 troops.

The 16th independent mixed brigade is the main force, and the entire brigade has 5000 troops.

So far, they have suffered no more than 500 casualties, and the overall impact is not very great.

Of course, their casualties were not large, but the Puppet Manchurian Army assigned to the independent 16th Brigade, and the Puppet Mongolian Army had relatively large casualties.

The North China Front Army Headquarters mobilized more than 3000 puppet Manchu troops, and the puppet Mongolian troops were assigned to them to fight.

However, in the fierce fighting so far, these puppet troops have suffered more than 2000 casualties.

There are only 1000 troops capable of fighting, and the losses are not insignificant.

After the [-]th Mixed Brigade of the Imperial Association Army withdrew, the Little Japanese Front Army Headquarters immediately issued an order.

The Royal Association Army, the Puppet Mongolian Army, and the Puppet Manchukuo Army, with more than 1 people, jointly formed the Second Division of the Imperial Association Army Army.

Xu Chengpu, the former brigade commander of the Imperial Association Army, was promoted to lieutenant general and division commander, responsible for commanding these puppet troops in combat.

At this time, the total strength of the Japanese and puppet troops was about 4, but they had to face the Glorious First Division to the north.

More than 2 troops from the three armies of the Fifth Army within the encirclement had to be besieged. The generals of the Japanese and puppet troops felt tremendous pressure.

The commander of the 36th Division is Iguchi Ren, the commander of the 37th Division is Adachi 23, and the commander of the 16th independent mixed brigade is Wakamatsu Heiji.

As well as Xu Chengpu, who had just served as the division commander of the Imperial Association Army, they quickly gathered together with their staff to discuss the next battle situation.

"According to the current situation, there are more than 1 people in the Glory First Division, and they are well-equipped with weapons and equipment and have strong combat effectiveness."

"It may be difficult for our troops to completely annihilate it, so we can only block it."

"Deploy relatively elite troops to block them with all our strength and prevent them from meeting up with the Fifth Army troops."

"Abandon the encirclement of the Fifth Army and let them break out. During their breakout process, we are dealing a heavy blow to them."

After some discussion, Jingguan Ren and Anda 23 summarized a specific combat plan.

They knew that it would be difficult for these Japanese and puppet troops to encircle and annihilate the Glory First Division, so they gave up their annihilation plan.

The Japanese Army's Second Division of the Japanese Army was independently organized into 16 brigades and more than 5000 troops to build blocking positions.

Wakamatsu Heiji and Xu Chengpu commanded these troops to block the first division of glory with all their strength.

The 36th Division and the 37th Division have more than 2 troops deployed on the east and west sides.

They gave up the siege of the Third Army, the 14th Army, and the 80th Army, allowing these three armies to break out.

As long as these three armies break through and leave their positions, the two divisions will attack them again.

After having a detailed combat plan, they immediately started generating electricity for reporting.

The First Army Headquarters received the news, but Yoshio Shinozuka and Hanatani no longer have command authority.

Chief of Staff Yukio Kasahara and Deputy Chief of Staff Masaru Hirata, who were dispatched by the front army, read the cable and discussed it.

Then they began to contact the front army commander Tada Shun. At eleven o'clock, Tada Shun approved the combat plan.

At the same time, the little devil contacted Akiyama Toyoji's First Flying Regiment and asked them to fully support the battle here in Hirakoku City.

Tada Jun asked Akiyama Toyoji's aviation force to completely block the Yellow River to prevent the Fifth Army troops from crossing the river.

With such a large number of aviation units assisting in the battle, the little devil is naturally full of confidence here.

For a time, the Japanese and puppet troops became busy and they actively prepared for combat.

At two o'clock in the morning on May 12th, Sun Ming commanded the [-]th Reserve Regiment to arrive at Yuanqu City.

They began to attack Yuanqu City, and the little devils here initially defended.

However, as the 12th Reserve Regiment continued their fierce attack, they abandoned Yuanqu City and evacuated directly to the north.

The 21st Division's baggage troops were stationed in Yuanqu City, and they had been attacked before.

Now that they don't have many remaining troops, they naturally won't stick to Yuanqu City.

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(End of this chapter)