Show the sword, start from the guerrillas

Chapter 918 Chapter 917, Pressure is Given, Four Parties Link Up

"Okay, go ahead. I'll take the local comrades and the guard battalion to stay in Pingshan to guard against the Japanese from other directions and provide you with support! This time, the strategic initiative is in our hands. We have the final say on how to fight!" Political Commissar Zhao was also in high spirits and had full confidence in the current situation.

"Haha, it's you, Old Zhao! Let's go, we'll attack Huolu Town first, and then show up at the gate of Shimen! As long as we put enough pressure on the Japanese, they will have to mobilize troops to reinforce Shimen! At that time, we'll just wait outside Shimen and watch the show! Hahaha..." While Li Yunlong was speaking, he took Wei Heshang and Duan Peng out of the command center, rode their war horses and rushed towards Huolu.

After Li Yunlong left, Zhang Dabiao received a call from Zhao Gang, who personally assigned him a task: delay the enemy and prevent them from escaping, and report any new situation immediately!
"My old commander..." After answering the phone, Zhang Dabiao felt uncomfortable: "If you knew, I wouldn't have called to report... It seems that these Japanese puppet troops in Huolu Town have been favored by the old commander, so we probably won't have much trouble!" After saying that, Zhang Dabiao took off his hat, patted his forehead and said: "It was just a full-scale bombing, followed by an infantry charge! The result..."

Zhang Dabiao was also a militant, and the devils in Huolu Town were completely exposed to his own artillery fire, so it was easy to fight them. Now, what he could have done with one regiment, Li Yunlong brought the main force of the independent detachment, which was no exaggeration to say that he was using a butcher knife to kill a chicken.

However, there was nothing wrong with Li Yunlong's idea. He would capture Huolu Town and use it as a node to strategically oppress Shimen, so that Shimen would mobilize the defenders of the surrounding cities...

Why didn't they occupy Huolu Town from the beginning? Huolu Town was easy to attack, and the Japanese puppet troops in the stronghold were all eliminated in a sneak attack at dawn. But at that time, Pingshan Jingxing Jingxing Mining Area was under the control of the Japanese, and Yangquan Shouyang was also under the control of the Japanese... It's like playing chess, you have to make moves step by step!
Times have changed. Now that several county towns have been taken, the mission of the Ninth Division has changed from offense to full defense. But what? The number of troops that can be mobilized has also increased! In places like Jingxing and Pingshan, leaving a battalion behind can stabilize the situation. After stabilization, stationing a company can fully control it, and placing two more companies around can set up outer defense positions.

The key is that such things can be handed over to the local government, with local troops, such as county brigades, district squads, and backbone militia teams! The main forces of the third-level military units can now free up their hands to do big things...

In Huolu Town, the Japanese watched helplessly as their own artillery positions were blown up, and watched helplessly as the attacking troops were blown up, but they still had no intention of retreating. He knew that the Eighth Route Army was very strong, but he still had some hope for the flanking troops. Before his hope was completely shattered, he still wanted to take a gamble, betting that his flanking troops could achieve success.

So, while Zhang Dabiao and the others were on the phone, he also re-deployed his troops and turned the attack into defense. The remaining troops relied on the houses and streets of Huolu Town to build a defense line, intending to hold on for a while and wait for the arrival of the fighter! Of course, his private radio station was not idle either. He directly sent a report to the decision-makers of the family, and by the way, he used the military radio station to report the situation to the Shimen garrison.

At this time, in Peking, at the headquarters of the North China Front Army, a group of Japanese officers were sitting neatly in the office, and a group of combat staff were analyzing telegrams and drawing maps.

"Reporting to His Excellency the General, what is certain now is that Yangquan, Shouyang, Pingshan, Jingxing and the Jingxing mining area have been attacked by the Eighth Route Army. In addition to the Jingxing mining area, Fang Minjun has received telegrams for help from these counties! But now, we can't be sure whether these counties are still under control! What is certain is that the Yangquan defenders were bombarded by heavy artillery from at least three artillery regiments of the Eighth Route Army!" "The telegram said that the artillery mobilized by the Eighth Route Army is very powerful. The smaller ones are equivalent to 150mm howitzers, and the more powerful ones are equivalent to our naval guns and even Hanghong bombs! The steel-concrete circular bunker we built outside Yangquan City was bombarded by such heavy artillery and could not withstand a single blow! In addition, the Eighth Route Army mobilized more troops than an independent mixed brigade!"

"As for the other three counties, no specific firepower information was sent, but there is data on the troop strength mobilized by the Eighth Route Army. In Shouyang, the Eighth Route Army mobilized more than 5000 troops; in Pingshan, the Eighth Route Army mobilized a division of troops; in Jingxing, the specific number of troops from the Eighth Route Army is unknown, but troops appeared in the three directions of the outer highlands, and no less than 1000 people in each place..."

"The telegram I just received is from the Mitsui family... Over there, the Eighth Route Army has about 6000 troops defending, and there are also heavy artillery units. Mitsui is defending Huolu Town! If there is no strong reinforcement, then the Eighth Route Army may attack Shimen City next and completely occupy this hub city of the Zhengtai Line and Pinghan Line!"

"And the latest news is from Laiyuan Town on the Baijin Line. A main regiment of the Eighth Route Army is attacking Laiyuan Town... Another telegram? This is a forwarded telegram from the Qin County garrison. Three regiments of the Eighth Route Army are besieging the county town and requesting tactical guidance... Why is there another one? This is a forwarded telegram from Yuanshi, Zanhuang, and Gaoyi..."

"General, just now, the Eighth Route Army, with two regiments each, launched attacks on Yuanshi, Zanhuang, and Gaoyi. These three routes were supported by heavy artillery, as well as varying numbers of 82 mortars and smaller mortars. Intelligence personnel analyzed that they were the 60mm mortars of the Central Army, not the homemade earth grenade launchers of the Eighth Route Army..."

"Report, the latest telegram: A large number of Eighth Route Army troops were spotted in the Laiyuan direction, with a strength of about 6000. In the Wutai direction, the Eighth Route Army is gathering in large numbers, and according to observations, the number of troops has exceeded ..."

As he listened to the reports one after another, General Okabe Naosaburo, then commander of the North China Front Army, frowned more and more, so much so that the corners of his mouth twitched, as if he had a toothache.

"Is the Eighth Route Army going to fight a second Hundred Regiments Campaign? Isn't this how the Eighth Route Army is promoting it? The last Hundred Regiments Campaign put us in a very passive position, but at that time we had a strong military force in North China and had a chance to turn defeat into victory! What about now? Just near Shimen, the Eighth Route Army has assembled more than 20,000 main forces, and they also have heavy artillery!"

"Gangcun, Gangcun, you took away all the main forces and left only the 4rd Independent Infantry Brigade in Shimen. It has only 22 battalions, but it has to be responsible for 5 counties in Zhending area, counties in Bohai area, as well as the Shotai Line and the Shide Line... the troops are too dispersed!" Okabe Naosaburo's brain was twitching. He kept thinking about the garrisons everywhere and secretly blamed Okamura Neiji.

(End of this chapter)