Anti-Japanese War: I have unlimited assistance

Chapter 156: Nothing!

The night was as dark as ink, with only the occasional cold wind rustling the leaves.

In the field of view of the telescope, the entire Shangzhuang Village was silent, without a single light.

The map shows that this is Shangzhuang Village, the headquarters of the New 1st Regiment of the Eighth Route Army.

"Yoshi!"

Putting down the telescope, the 78th Regiment Commander Kobayashi Tsuneichi sneered.

In order to ensure the suddenness of the attack, the 78th Regiment set out from Yangquan at night, contrary to its usual practice. After arriving in Xiyang County and resting for a day, they marched quickly all the way after dark and arrived at Shangzhuang Village.

The Japs thought they had done a perfect job and had not been discovered by anyone.

Then Kobayashi Hengyi called three Japanese battalion commanders and artillery squadron leaders under the 78th Regiment and gave orders in a cold tone.

"The 1st Infantry Battalion will attack the village from the front, and the 2nd Infantry Battalion will go around to the rear. We must not let a single enemy escape."

"The artillery squadron provides artillery support, and the 3rd Infantry Battalion remains on standby."

"Our target this time is Li Yunlong. We must see him alive or dead."

"The battle will be resolved within 20 minutes."

"Hi."

The three battalion commanders and the artillery squadron leader exclaimed in unison.

Although no reconnaissance had been conducted yet, Kobayashi Tsuneichi was very clear that there must be troops under the New 1st Regiment stationed around Shangzhuang Village.

After all, the 78th Infantry Regiment was an isolated force deep in the enemy's territory. If it could not win a quick victory, it would be in danger of being surrounded by the main force of the Eighth Route Army.

However, Xiaolin was not too worried. The party that was attacked would definitely be in a state of panic.

A battalion of the 20th Division plus a cavalry squadron ambushed an Eighth Route Army regiment in Qigeng Village and defeated it.

Now Kobayashi has a fully-strength infantry regiment in his hands. In the event of a night attack, he is confident that he can destroy Li Yunlong's troops.

The 20th Division also suffered heavy casualties in the Jindong Campaign and the Taiyuan Campaign, but the troops have been replenished and corrected.

This was the early stage of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. There were many veteran Japanese soldiers and sufficient combat supplies. The combat effectiveness of the various units of the 20th Division not only returned to its peak state, but also increased significantly compared with the previous two months.

Following Kobayashi Tsunekazu's order, the 1st Infantry Battalion and the 2nd Infantry Battalion quietly encircled Shangzhuang Village. The artillery squadron also quickly found a position and set up four 4mm mountain cannons.

除了4门山炮之外，步兵第78联队还装备了4门九二式步兵炮，和4门九四式90毫米迫击炮。

All 12 cannons were set up by the Japanese artillery, with their muzzles pointing towards Shangzhuang Village.

The signalman came to report: "Report to the regiment commander, the 1st Infantry Battalion and the 2nd Infantry Battalion have arrived at the designated location."

Kobayashi Tsuneichi said in a cold tone: "Prepare for attack."

"Hi."

The signalman quickly went to convey the order.

The captain of the 1st Infantry Battalion of the Japanese army received an order to send a small team of scouts to sneak up and kill the Eighth Route Army sentries.

The Japanese scouts in these small teams, like the soldiers of the reconnaissance squad of the New 1st Regiment, are all elite backbones.

Although it is a small team, there are only 8 people.

After receiving the order, eight Japanese scouts, holding daggers in their hands, quietly moved towards the entrance of Shangzhuang Village.

The leader of the Japanese reconnaissance team saw a sentry in military uniform and carrying a rifle at the entrance of the village from afar, and he approached the sentry cautiously.

He came behind the sentry, covered his head, and slashed the sentry's neck with the blade of the dagger.

The captain of the Japanese reconnaissance team showed a cold smile.

But soon his face suddenly froze.

The sentry didn't struggle, there was no blood—

The sentinel is fake!
He looked at the sentry's gun again. It was also made of wood. Because it was at night and the visibility was poor, it looked very realistic.

The Japanese reconnaissance team leader's face changed and he retreated quickly. He heard a faint sound in his ear.

Immediately his expression changed drastically.

Oh no, it’s a landmine!

Before he could react, there was a loud bang and a ball of fire rose up next to the reconnaissance team leader.

The reconnaissance team leader, a veteran with five years of experience, fell in a pool of blood.

"Baga, we're exposed, open fire."

The captain of the 1st Infantry Battalion's face changed, thinking to himself that the reconnaissance squad had done a really poor job tonight. However, the explosion would undoubtedly alert the Eighth Route Army in the village, so he had to order the fire to be opened in advance.

"Da da da…"

"Boom boom boom..."

The Japanese light and heavy machine guns, Type 38 rifles, and artillery of various calibers all opened fire.

Bullets and artillery shells were fired at Shuangzhuang Village like crazy, and the air was filled with the tracks of the flying artillery shells and bullets.

One operation is as fierce as a tiger!

"Kill me..."

After a burst of fire, the Japanese captain drew out his officer's knife and pointed it in the direction of Shangzhuang Village.

The Japanese soldiers were like chickens with their blood pumped up. They jumped up from their attacking positions with their rifles in hand, and densely packed helmets moved rapidly towards Shangzhuang Village.

ten minutes later.

The signalman trotted over to Kobayashi Tsuneichi and said, "Captain, no enemy troops have been sighted in the village."

"What?" Xiaolin Hengyi's face changed. "Where are the villagers?"

"No," the signalman replied, "not a single Chinese."

When he heard the gunshots and artillery fire, Kobayashi Tsuneichi felt that something was wrong. After listening to the report from the signalman, he felt that something was wrong.

He looked at his stomach and suddenly felt a dull pain in it.

Oh no, I have signed a military order in front of the brigade commander.

Kobayashi Hengyi was furious: "Baga, attack other villages immediately, don't let Li Yunlong escape..."

"Hi."

The signalman suddenly lowered his head, turned around and quickly conveyed the order.

……

after one day.

Inner city of Taiyuan.

Japanese military headquarters in Taiyuan.

"General."

A communications staff officer quickly walked into the operations hall and reported to Lieutenant General Yamashita Tomoyuki:

"The 39th Infantry Brigade just sent a telegram saying that the 78th Infantry Regiment has been searching for a day and has not found Li Yunlong and the New st Regiment. The whereabouts of this man and his troops are unknown."

The Battle of Xuzhou had already begun, with both sides deploying hundreds of thousands of troops in a fierce battle that was so fierce that the sky and the earth collapsed and became dark.

As soon as Itagaki Seishirō left, Yamashita Tomoyuki became the highest-ranking official of the Japanese army in Shanxi Province.

Although his power increased a lot, the burden on Yamashita Tomoyuki's shoulders also increased a lot.

He was promoted and given a raise for his good work, and was promoted to general and commander of a front, thus reaching the peak of his life.

If he did not perform well, he would be demoted to the reserve force and no one would care about him. His personal status and family status would plummet.

After listening to the report from the communications staff, Yamashita Tomoyuki frowned tightly, the situation seemed a little bad.

Not only the 39th Brigade, but also the other two troops attacking the Southeastern Eighth Route Army, the 14th Division and the 109th Division, all came back empty-handed.

Even the two county towns of Heshun and Liaoxian, which were captured by the Japanese army, became almost deserted cities, and the Eighth Route Army actually evacuated all the civilians in the county towns.

"Where are the Eighth Route Army?"

Yamashita Fengwen stared at the topographic map of southeastern Shanxi on the wall, his brows furrowed.

Colonel Ginnosuke Uchida, the newly appointed Chief of Staff of the 20th Division, said, "Your Excellency, the Eighth Route Army must have taken the civilians with them and fled into the mountains. It seems the Eighth Route Army is nothing more than a name. As soon as the locust army arrived in southeastern Shanxi, the Eighth Route Army fled. It's only a matter of time before the locust army captures all of southeastern Shanxi."

"What's more, driving the Eighth Route Army deep into the mountains, away from transportation and supply lines, was also part of the locust army's plan. Now that the Eighth Route Army has taken the initiative to escape, it also saves us energy."

"That's different." Yamashita Fengwen shook his head, his expression solemn. "The Eighth Route Army retreated on their own initiative, not being driven into the mountains by us. Their strength remains intact, and they took the civilians with them. Once the main force of the locust army leaves southeastern Shanxi, the Eighth Route Army and the civilians will surely return."

Although the Japanese army had captured several county towns in southeastern Shanxi, it would not be possible to deploy too many troops in southeastern Shanxi even if the Japanese army captured more than a dozen county towns in southeastern Shanxi.

As the Japanese army occupied more and more land, its forces became increasingly dispersed. Attacking the National Army on the front line and stationing troops in the occupied areas both required forces, a large amount of forces.

"That…"

Uchida Ginnosuke asked in a deep voice, "Should we send troops into the mountains to wipe out the Eighth Route Army and the Chinese people?"

(End of this chapter)