Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 245 I thought, I didn't offend the 109th Division

North China Front Army Headquarters.

"In the end what happened?!"

Sugiyama Gen stood in front of the sand table, looking at the people around him with great dissatisfaction.

Up to now, he has received a pile of battle reports, but no one can tell what exactly happened.

"General, there were multiple train derailments on the Pinghan, Tongpu and Zhengtai railways, and several railway strongholds were attacked."

"The railway is currently in a paralyzed state." Takahashi Tan, the head of intelligence at the General Staff, came forward to report.

"What are the garrisons in various places doing?" Sugiyama Moto asked angrily.

"What is the current status of railways in North China? How long will it take to resume transportation?"

The railway is the lifeline of the locust army. Once the railway is paralyzed, the locust army's material transportation capacity will be reduced by 80%.

Facing Sugiyama Gen's question, everyone lowered their heads and no one dared to speak.

Sugiyama Gen looked at Takahashi Tan again.

Takahashi Tan couldn't help cursing in his heart, but he was the head of intelligence, so he had to speak now.

"Railway status is being confirmed, additionally"

"The Highway Department also reported that several sections of the road were damaged and are currently confirming the situation."

After hearing Takahashi Tan's report, Sugiyama Gen looked around in disbelief.

The capacity was reduced by 80% just now, and now it has been reduced to zero?
Those who were caught in his gaze lowered their heads involuntarily.

"Can anyone tell me what happened in North China?"

"Can anyone explain this?"

"Who can explain it clearly?!"

Sugiyama Gen was almost mad at the sight of everyone remaining silent.

"Send out all reconnaissance aircraft to conduct a large-scale reconnaissance of North China!"

"Immediately send orders to troops in various locations to strengthen defense and prevent the Eighth Route Army from attacking again!" Sugiyama Gen ordered.

Now no one knows what the Eighth Route Army is planning, and everyone just thinks that they are planning another raid.

However, this is the first time it has happened on such a large scale.

"Ha!"
Dozens of reconnaissance planes circled and surveyed the skies over North China for several hours, but found nothing.

The Eighth Route Army, which had kept the Japs awake all night, seemed to have disappeared, and only in a few places could they still be seen in action.

Faced with this unprecedented situation, Sugiyama Gen was a little confused and could only take one step at a time.

"Let the Railway Bureau send personnel to conduct assessment and repairs, and restore railway transportation as soon as possible!"

However, what the Japanese did not expect was that the Eighth Route Army, which had rested for a whole day, appeared again after nightfall.

Because the Japanese Railway Bureau wanted to show off in front of Sugiyama Gen, they issued an order to start work overnight.

This caused great misfortune for these Japanese technicians and the puppet soldiers who were responsible for protecting them.

Even the regular Japanese troops were useless at this time, let alone these technicians and puppet troops who had little combat effectiveness.

After clearing out the Japanese who showed up to build the road, militiamen and masses from all over the country began to dismantle the railway again.

The removed sleepers were directly set up and burned, and the rails were handed over to a special transport team, which transported them back to the base.

The continuous victories greatly inspired the people who participated in the road-breaking campaign.

Even the railway workers took their tools and joined in the road demolition.

Everyone was working enthusiastically and the scene was extremely spectacular.

There was smoke during the day and flames at night.

There were crowds of people along the railway. In just 10 days, the 35-kilometer-long Tongpu Railway in the Xin'ertuan Mountains completely disappeared from the ground.

Naturally, none of the more than two hundred Japanese devils and four or five hundred puppet soldiers along the way survived.

The puppet army did surrender to the New Second Regiment, and the New Second Regiment did treat the prisoners well, but the people would not treat them well.

Being beaten to death on the spot is considered good, but the unlucky ones have to warm themselves by the fire in the hot summer.

Faced with this situation, even Luo Ping was speechless. After all, he was the political commissar of the New Second Regiment, not the political commissar of ordinary people.

Of course, how these puppet troops appeared before the people is unknown.
Inside the operations room, looking at reports from various places, Sugiyama Gen finally reacted.

"This is not sabotage, this is an attack, a strategic attack!"

Sugiyama Gen's face was full of disbelief at this moment, he didn't even know if he was dreaming.

How dare the Eighth Route Army do this? And where did so many troops come from?

"When will the railway be open to traffic?" asked Sugiyama Gen.

Now the locust army urgently needs to transport troops and supplies by rail.

The operations room was silent again. Takahashi Tan had no choice but to bite the bullet and stand up again.

"It will take one and a half months for the Pinghan and Jinpu railways to resume operation, but it will take 18 months for the Tongpu and Zhengtai railways."

"All traffic must be restored within one and a half months." Sugiyama Gen said expressionlessly.

Sugiyama Gen was now thinking with his heels, and he knew that the Eighth Route Army would definitely make big moves next.

If we really wait until 18 months later, there is an % chance that Shanxi will be lost.

This is something that Sugiyama Gen cannot accept in any way.

Once Shanxi is lost, the situation in North China will be completely devastated, and there will be no need to think about fighting in Central China.

By then, he would not be far from committing seppuku.

After hearing Sugiyama Gen's order, Takahashi Tan didn't know what to say.

But seeing Sugiyama Gen's cold eyes, he could only stand at attention and agree.

Anyway, you are not the one doing the work, so just push it down when the time comes.

But at the beginning, I'm afraid I'll have to kill a few of them first to establish my authority.

"Draw troops from Baoding, Changshan, Suxian and Suicheng to support Shanxi." "Send troops from Yangquan to cooperate in retaking Niangzi Pass!" Sugiyama Yuan ordered.

These cities are the closest to Shanxi and are also the cities that can send troops now.

Even if the troops in other places wanted to provide support, they could not arrive in time.

"Ha!"
As soon as the Japanese invaders in various places made a move, the Eighth Route Army headquarters immediately received the information.

At the Zhongshan temporary headquarters of the New Second Regiment, the radio station received a telegram forwarded from the military region.

"Commander, telegram, there are Japanese reinforcements from Suicheng heading this way by train." Xu Wu reported.

Although the railway section from Fu'an to Luye was stripped bare, there was no major damage to the section from Suicheng to Fu'an.

The 160-kilometer journey only takes half a day by train.

At the same time, the combat staff also marked the movements of the Japanese on the hanging map.

"how many people?"

"According to the intelligence, it should be a reinforced infantry regiment of the 109th Division." Xu Wu said seriously.

"The Japanese reaction is really big." Chen Chengxing stood up and sighed: "It's a pity that I can't make money anymore."

"Pass on my order. The road-breaking team will withdraw immediately. All units of the New Second Regiment will switch to defense and prepare to block the attack!"

After digging out the railway in the mountains a few days ago, Chen Chengxing set his sights on the more than ten kilometers of railway from Niuzhuang to Luye.

However, because the area is located in a plain, Chen Chengxing did not mobilize too many people this time.

Before this, the people mainly continued to transport the rails to Dayunshan.

At this time, the road-breaking team was mainly composed of militiamen and young and strong people from the base, and their retreat speed was relatively fast.

At 4 pm, the sun sets.

Chen Chengxing stood on a hill, holding a telescope and slowly scanning the area.

Just as he was thinking about where to build a position, Chen Chengxing suddenly saw that there seemed to be countless black spots on the mountain ridge ten miles away.

And it is moving towards the east, appearing and disappearing from time to time.

Chen Chengxing was a little surprised and thought he had seen it wrong.

When he rubbed his eyes and looked again, he found that it was still the same.

"Damn it, how come the Japs came so fast?!"

Even if they took the train from Suicheng early in the morning, the Japanese would not be able to reach Fu'an until noon at the earliest.

The straight-line distance from Fu'an to Zhongshan is 22 kilometers, not to mention that the Japanese had to cross mountains and rivers.

The appearance of the Japanese now means that after arriving in Fu'an, they did not stop for a moment and chose to march quickly with light equipment.

I have never offended the 109th Division before. What are the Japanese doing?
But at this moment, Chen Chengxing didn't have time to think too much.

"Monk, go find the battalion commander immediately and ask him to lead the battalion to rush to Liushuping as quickly as possible to seize the position and the commanding heights to prevent the Japanese from continuing to move eastward!"

"Yes!"

Wei Dayong ran away in a flash.

Chen Chengxing also returned to the regiment headquarters immediately.

"Lao Luo, the Japanese are coming, you must lead the regiment to evacuate immediately."

"The militias from the guard company, artillery company, and road-breaking team should also move immediately!"

After hearing what Chen Chengxing said, Luo Ping was a little surprised.

"The devils are coming so soon?"

"Here they come, less than 10 miles away, retreat quickly!"

"Okay! I will lead the team to evacuate now, you please be careful." Luo Ping said without any hesitation.

He knew clearly his abilities, and at this time, leading the regiment headquarters and militia to evacuate quickly would be the greatest help to Chen Chengxing.

"Lao Luo, you lead the team south along Huangdiaogou, Libeikou, and Niujialiang."

"After arriving at Ximafang, take the main road back to Dayun Mountain." Chen Chengxing gestured on the map.

"Send more scouts along the way. If you encounter people transporting rails, ask them to abandon the tracks and evacuate with you."

"Okay! Don't worry!" Luo Ping nodded.

Although I don’t know why Chen Chengxing chose this route, he must have his reasons.

Now is not the time to get to the bottom of things.

Dozens of minutes later, we saw Luo Ping leading his troops rushing south.

After watching everyone react immediately, Chen Chengxing pulled the reins and led the cavalry company westward.

After receiving the order, the other several main battalions also began to move westward.

After receiving the telegram from the North China Front Army Command, Yamaoka Shigetoshi immediately dispatched troops to form a reinforced regiment.

The 108th Infantry Regiment was the most adept mountain penetration unit in the 109th Division and had previously participated in the siege of Zhongtiao Mountain.

However, due to resource reasons, the firepower configuration of the 109th Division, a Class B division, is far inferior to that of a Class A division.

The entire 108th Regiment has only 2800 people and does not have an independent artillery squadron.

The subordinate infantry battalion was not equipped with infantry guns, but only with Type 97 81mm mortars.

Even the number of heavy machine guns was only half of that of the battalion under the Class A division, with a total of only 18 in the entire regiment.

The number of grenade launchers in the squad was also reduced from the standard three to two.

Of course, Yamaoka Shigehisa also knew the firepower situation of the New Second Regiment.

Therefore, he not only strengthened the artillery squad under each infantry battalion from the original 2 mortars to 4.

Four Type 4 mountain cannons were specially drawn from the division's artillery regiment to reinforce the 41th Regiment.

Of course, although the artillery regiment of the 109th Division was called a regiment, it actually only had 12 Type 41 75mm mountain guns, and its firepower was not as good as that of the independent mountain artillery battalion of the mixed brigade.

After arriving in Fu'an by train, the 108th Regiment did not stop at all and went straight into the mountains under the order of the regiment commander Takuhito Ishihara, marching rapidly all the way.

(End of this chapter)