Show the sword, start from the guerrillas

To borrow a phrase from Fighting Buddha: I haven't even used my full strength yet, and you've already fallen down... This was the situation in the battle of Hongdong. Before Division 2 could use its full strength, the Japanese again lost more than 200 soldiers.

"We have failed again and our artillery is gone. Captain, please give us your instructions on what to do next!" On the Japanese side, the adjutant of the battalion looked at Hashimoto.

"Then let's set up a defensive position on the nearby high ground and prepare to launch a blocking attack!" It seems that Hashimoto already had a plan. He said this as soon as the adjutant finished asking.

"Hayi, I'll go now..." The adjutant bowed and left, to command the troops to repair the position. Speaking of which, more than an hour has passed since the battle, and Hashimoto has only just realized the problem of building fortifications. Isn't it a bit late? In fact, Hashimoto initially thought that he could do it and win, so he didn't think about defense.

Now, realizing that he could not capture the county town ahead, Hashimoto also made this decision. As for going back? The brigade he led had only lost an infantry squad and artillery. If he went back now, he would be scolded by his superiors, laughed at by his colleagues, and even labeled a coward until the end of his life.

Therefore, staying, building consensus, and blocking the enemy seemed to be a good solution! He also figured out the reason. It was difficult for him to fight to the north, but the Eighth Route Army in Hongdong in the north was also difficult to fight him because of the Hong'anjian River and the Fen River! As long as the team was pulled back a distance, beyond the range of the Eighth Route Army's 82 mortars, they could build fortifications and wait for the Eighth Route Army to come and fight!
If the Eighth Route Army came to attack, he could use the puppet army to consume the Eighth Route Army's ammunition and manpower; if the Eighth Route Army did not come, his report to his superiors would be: maintain military contact, consolidate the northern front, stabilize Linfen, and wait for an opportunity to retake the county! And this is not a lie, what he said is true, the kind that can withstand the test! As for waiting for an opportunity to retake the county? Waiting for an opportunity means waiting for an opportunity, didn't we wait for it...

The Japanese retreated with the puppet army. They stayed away from the rocky beaches by the river and retreated 1000 meters south before stopping. Then, 2.8 kilometers away from the county wall, they chose a place with uneven terrain and many rocks as the battlefield, excavated there, and planned to build a circular fortification group.

"Our distance has exceeded the range of the Eighth Route Army's mortars, so we are safe now and don't have to worry about the Eighth Route Army's artillery fire!" Hashimoto said, standing on a small mound.

"We are just retreating to build fortifications. We thought they were going to run away! If they move forward again, we will have to use heavy guns to surround them!" said Captain Zhang of the 18th Regiment on the west gate tower of Hongdong City.

"Now, our defensive battle has turned into an offensive battle... In my opinion, we should have used artillery fire to keep them all back!" said Guo Jinglie.

"Don't worry about it. The situation has been reported to the military district. Instructions will be given soon. We just need to act according to the circumstances." Captain Zhang patted Deputy Captain Guo on the shoulder and said.

At the Taiyue District Headquarters in Anze, the commanders of the Taiyue District were analyzing telegrams one by one, and now they came to the telegram sent by the 18th Regiment.

"From a strategic point of view, we need to cut the meat with a blunt knife, and eat away at the enemy's vitality bit by bit. Therefore, we should maintain a standoff with the enemy in the front, and dig up the railway in the back and bring back the rails! But it is better to cut off one arm than to hurt ten fingers. There are still more than 2,000 enemy puppet troops, and this is also a big piece of fat meat!"

"Yes, it would be a pity not to eat such a piece of meat! My suggestion is to capture these devils first, and then see how they react! The 69th Division of the devil is in Yuncheng and south of the Yellow River. If they are there, Hu Zongnan in Xi'an will not dare to move. If the devils are really allowed to withdraw their troops, Hu Zongnan will be dishonest again!"

"The news from northern Shaanxi says that even if Hu Zongnan goes north, we have prepared a main force of 10, and there are also armored forces waiting for them! In fact, we are not afraid of him. It is this kind of friction, at this time, that will really make our relatives sad and our enemies happy!" "Well, my suggestion is to still fight, but try not to use heavy artillery, which is something that can be kept low in the box and cannot be easily exposed! For example, when we fought Lingshi and Huozhou, we chose the early morning to occupy the city walls first, so we did not use heavy artillery, and the Japanese did not think we had very powerful artillery."

"So this time, we will use the 60mm mortar and 82mm mortar, which are weapons that can be guessed on the surface, and at most use long-barrel grenades. But according to the current time and position, we probably won't need the 82mm mortar! Look, the 17th Regiment is watching the show from the back, the 16th Regiment has sent down a thousand elite soldiers, and the 19th Regiment is right behind the enemy."

"So, my suggestion is to immediately mobilize a battalion of the 19th Regiment to move westward and establish a blocking position directly behind the Japanese. Mobilize the assault team of the 16th Regiment to move a distance south and attack the Japanese position from the east. Mobilize the 17th Regiment to immediately cross the Hong'anjian River and attack the Japanese from the north!"

"The Japanese have pulled their troops so far south and directly abandoned their positions by the river. This gives us the conditions to cross the river. At least, we don't have to fight across the river, but walk across it! What do you think?"

"Then it's settled. To deal with the Japanese's 2,000 or 3,000 troops, we will use one main regiment to attack, one main regiment's commando to assist, and one main regiment to block. That's enough!"

After the discussion, the group immediately sent the telegram to the three regiments and also to the 16st Battalion of the New th Regiment, which was on its way. At this time, they had already come down the mountain and were on their way.

"They are planning to eat up the Japs! That's what we should do, taking this into consideration and estimating that, we should eat up some of the Japs first! What about the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army? There are only tens of thousands of people left. If they come to cause trouble, we will deal with them all together. Aren't they just occupying the name of a regular army? Shanxi-Suiyuan Army, Shanxi-Suiyuan Army, the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army, they are just guarding such a small area, and they still have the nerve to do that?" After receiving the telegram, Captain Zhang spoke his mind.

"Okay, after talking for so long, we are still watching the brothers fighting. Why don't we just watch the fun here..." Guo Jinglie said.

"Hahaha..." The two looked at each other and laughed.

Two hours passed quickly. The 17th Regiment was in position, the 16th Regiment was in position, and a battalion sent by the 19th Regiment also arrived in position after a 10-kilometer raid.

On the other hand, the Japanese worked hard for two hours to dig. Both the puppet army and the Japanese were exhausted. Even with simple trench fortifications, they did not play much role in the bombing of 60 mortars and 50 grenade launchers! It is worth mentioning that in this attack, the pepper bombs once again played their due power!
The choking smoke that completely covered the enemy's positions made the enemy's puppet soldiers' eyes blur and they kept coughing, causing their combat effectiveness to plummet. As a result, the comrades of the 17th Regiment fought happily, the comrades of the 16th Regiment killed like crazy, and the battalion of the 19th Regiment kept waiting, but the enemy didn't even come.

After dealing with these Japs, they were very quiet for the remaining days. They did not send any troops or planes to bomb, as if they were waiting for something.

When it was November 11, the intelligence personnel lurking in the south sent a message about the movements of the Japanese - many of the main divisions of the Japanese were heading north... (End of this chapter)