Anti-Japanese War: I have unlimited assistance

Chapter 233 There is still a backup plan!

"How is the battle situation at Caijiazhai?"

Kenkichi Hirata looked at the communications staff officer who was reporting and asked in a deep voice.

"According to the report from the captain of the 77st Infantry Battalion of the 1th Infantry Regiment, the Eighth Route Army's firepower is very strong and is definitely the main force of the Eighth Route Army in the Jinzhong Military Region."

The communications staff officer replied immediately.

"Yoshi."

Division Commander Ushijima Tsunemi was not angry but happy.

What he feared most was that the Eighth Route Army would not fight the Locust Army and the Locust Association Army head-on, but instead go into the mountains to fight guerrilla warfare.

In his opinion, although the final victory would definitely belong to the Locust Army, fighting a guerrilla war against the Eighth Route Army would be too troublesome.

Fighting guerrilla warfare with the Eighth Route Army in the Jinzhong Military Region not only took up a lot of time, but also resulted in the deaths of many soldiers and the consumption of a lot of combat supplies.

No matter whether the Eighth Route Army is in Caijiazhai or in Mengxian County, it will be fine as long as we can find the main force of the Eighth Route Army.

The Eighth Route Army lurking in the dark are the most terrifying, because they can give the devils and puppet troops a fatal blow from the dark at any time.

Kenkichi Hirata and Ginnosuke Uchida also showed a hint of joy on their faces.

Only those Japanese staff officers who were not competent enough could not help but look at each other.

Crazy?
The Locust Army and the Locust Association were ambushed, and the division commander and his men could still laugh?
But these old Japanese devils are warriors who are willing to sacrifice themselves for Tianhuang at any time. They don’t even take their own lives seriously, so how could they take the lives of the Japanese soldiers seriously?

Ushijima Tsunemi's smile faded, and after a moment's thought, he said in a serious tone, "Send the order!"

"The 77nd and 2rd Infantry Battalions of the 3th Infantry Regiment, as well as the 78th Infantry Regiment, abandon your attack on Meng County!"

"Immediately move to Caijiazhai and surround and destroy the main force of the Eighth Route Army in the Jinzhong Military Region!"

"Order the captain of the 77nd Infantry Battalion of the 2th Infantry Regiment to delay the main force of the Eighth Route Army at all costs!"

"Hi!"

After the communications officer finished recording, he gave it to Ushijima Tsunemi for signature, then turned around and quickly conveyed the order.

"Your Excellency, Division Commander, I think I should personally go to Caijiazhai to command this battle."

Major General Hirata Kenkichi eagerly suggested:

"The 77th and 78th Wings must have a unified command."

This is a rare opportunity to destroy the main force of the Eighth Route Army in the Jinzhong Military Region, and Kenkichi Hirata naturally intends to take the credit.

"That's good too. With Hirata-kun personally in charge, I can rest assured."

Ushijima Tsunemi nodded, his tone happy.

Once other troops arrive at Caijiazhai, they can quickly surround the Eighth Route Army. However, if there is a unified command in the subsequent battle with the Eighth Route Army, a lot of losses will definitely be reduced.

About 10 minutes later, Kenkichi Hirata's armored vehicles and escort convoy were ready to set off.

It takes two and a half hours to get from Yangquan to Caijiazhai, take a bus to Shouyang, and then follow the highway to Caijiazhai.

Kenkichi Hirata said confidently, "Please rest assured, Your Excellency the Division Commander, this time, I, Kenkichi Hirata, will personally chop off Li Yunlong's head."

"Yoshi." Ushijima Tsunemi said cheerfully, "Then I'll be waiting for good news from Hirata-kun at the division headquarters."

After saying this, Kenkichi Hirata, dressed in military uniform, prepared to set off to Caijiazhai to command his troops to eliminate the Eighth Route Army.

"Division Commander..."

At this moment, the communications officer walked in quickly and reported with a grim expression:

"Just received a farewell message from the 77st Battalion, 1th Infantry Regiment."

"What?" Kenkichi Hirata, who had just reached the door of the Operations Hall, suddenly turned around. "Farewell message?"

A farewell message is different from a farewell telegram. A farewell telegram is a telegram sent in the form of a secret message. What the radio station receives is a code, which needs to be translated by a decoder. Depending on the length of the telegram, this process takes 10 minutes to half an hour.

A farewell telegram is when the reporting party does not have time to send a telegram, so he directly sends a farewell telegram via radio call.

Ushijima Tsunemi and Uchida Ginnosuke also looked incredulous, thinking they had heard it wrong.

Not to mention the Japanese staff, they all showed expressions of disbelief and shock.

A brigade headquarters plus an infantry company, a logistics unit and an engineering unit, as well as an infantry battalion of the Locust Army.

The total force must be six or seven hundred people. Even if they are ambushed by the Eighth Route Army, it should be no problem to hold on and delay the Eighth Route Army for half an hour, right?

But after being ambushed for just over ten minutes, a farewell message was sent?
Is the combat effectiveness of the Eighth Route Army troops in the Jinzhong Military Region so strong?
"Hayi!"

The communications officer suddenly lowered his head and said in a firm tone:
"I personally spoke with Major Izuminaga, commander of the 77st Battalion of the 1th Infantry Regiment. The Eighth Route Army's firepower is simply too strong. They've pinned all the Locust Army and its allies within a small area. Utilizing a large number of machine guns, grenades, and artillery, the Locust Army and its allies are unable to break out and can only..."

After he finished speaking, the communications officer lowered his head, stood with his hands behind his back, and remained silent.

"It seems that I underestimated these Eighth Route Army soldiers from the mountain valley. Their fighting power far exceeds my imagination..."

Ushijima Tsunemi narrowed his eyes, and a murderous aura dissipated without being released.

After a quick review, Ushijima Tsunemi believed that he had underestimated the combat effectiveness of the Eighth Route Army of the Jinzhong Military Region.

He had greatly improved the combat effectiveness of the Eighth Route Army in the Jinzhong Military Region, but he found that it was far from enough.

The Japanese all anticipated that the Eighth Route Army of the Jinzhong Military Region would ambush the Locust Army and the Locust Association Army along the way.

But they had not expected the Eighth Route Army's ambush to be so decisive and swift. In less than half an hour, they wiped out a force of six or seven hundred locust soldiers and locust corps troops, a remarkable speed.

Ushijima Tsunemi suddenly felt a little regretful. He should not have divided each locust army and locust alliance army into three batches.

If a Locust Army infantry battalion and a Locust Affiliate Army infantry regiment were ambushed, they would definitely be able to hold out for at least an hour.

By then, the surrounding locust troops and locust alliances will be able to surround the Eighth Route Army and completely destroy it.

"Your Excellency, Division Commander, should I...still go to Caijiazhai?"

Kenkichi Hirata asked in a deep voice.

Less than half an hour after the battle, hundreds of Locust Army soldiers under his command suffered a devastating attack, and Kenkichi Hirata was very angry.

"Hirata-kun, you will stay at the division headquarters for the time being."

Ushijima Tsunemi gave this instruction, then looked at the precise map on the table and analyzed it coldly:

"After the main force of the Eighth Route Army in the Jinzhong Military Region ambushed the Locust Army at Caijiazhai, they had only two options."

"First, return north to the Jinzhong base and Mengxian County."

"Second, continue southward and flee from Shouyang to southeastern Shanxi."

"What do you think Li Yunlong will choose?"

Colonel Uchida Ginnosuke thought for a moment and then analyzed: "Your Excellency, Division Commander, I believe Li Yunlong will definitely continue to flee south to the southeastern part of Shanxi!"

"The reason is simple. If Li Yunlong returns to the Jinzhong Military Region, he will inevitably be surrounded by the 20th Division of our Locust Army!"

"Only by heading south into the southeastern Shanxi region can we completely escape the pursuit and interception of the 20th Division of our locust army."

Given the current strength of the Eighth Route Army in southeastern Shanxi, the 20th Division would not dare to rashly enter southeastern Shanxi for a sweep without adequate preparation.

The ambush of the main force of the 78th Infantry Regiment in southeastern Shanxi was a lesson for us.

Hirata Kenkichi also agreed: "My opinion is the same as Uchida-kun. Your Excellency, Division Commander, we should order the third wave of locust troops and locust support troops attacking from the Mengshou Highway to defend on the spot and resist the attack of the Eighth Route Army, and then order other troops to quickly reinforce!"

"Also," Uchida Ginnosuke said, "Your Excellency, Division Commander, we can request aviation reinforcements from the First Army Headquarters."

Ushijima Tsunemi turned a cold gaze towards the communications officer: "What are you waiting for? Go and convey the order and request aviation reinforcements immediately!"

"Hi!"

The Japanese staff officer suddenly lowered his head, turned around and quickly went to deliver the order.

As the Japanese division headquarters issued the order, the 77nd Infantry Battalion and the 2rd Infantry Battalion of the 3th Infantry Regiment, as well as two puppet army regiments quickly surrounded them. Colonel Li Dengxing also led the 77th Infantry Regiment to quickly set out from Shouyang County to provide reinforcements.

……

at the same time.

Caijiazhai.

After a thrilling ambush (a fifteen-minute one-sided massacre), the road was littered with the corpses of the devils and puppet soldiers.

The battlefield was quickly cleaned up, and Xing Zhiguo arrived with three battalions of new recruits to join the main force.

Xing Zhiguo walked into the temporary regiment headquarters: "Captain."

Li Yunlong was a little dissatisfied: "What's going on? Why are you twenty minutes later than planned?"

Everything was done here, the troops had already completed the ambush and cleaned up the battlefield, and they waited for a while.

Xing Zhiguo reported: "We had an encounter with the first wave of Japanese puppet troops. Three battalions of new recruits were evenly matched with hundreds of Japanese puppet troops. Fortunately, the cavalry battalion launched an attack from the rear of the Japanese puppet troops and defeated them, so we were a little late."

"Yes, our new recruits camp was not defeated."

Kong Jie nodded with satisfaction.

After the air defense operations in Mengxian County and this time's actual combat experience with the Japanese and puppet troops, the combat effectiveness of the new recruits' camp will be greatly improved.

As for the cavalry battalion, it was sent by Li Yunlong to meet the recruit battalion. Based on the marching speed of the Japanese and the marching speed of the recruit battalion, he judged that the two troops would most likely meet halfway.

Li Yunlong looked at the watch on his hand and said: "Stop talking nonsense, we are still surrounded by the devils."

"Pass on my order. All troops must set out immediately according to the plan. We must escape the Japanese encirclement today."

As Li Yunlong's order was issued, the troops of the three regiments immediately marched south along the highway.

Li Yunlong wanted to defeat the Japanese from the front and break through the Japanese encirclement.

Because this is unavoidable, either break out to the south or return to the base and wait for slow death.

Commander Li was so smart that even though there were variables in the breakout operation, the three regiments of the Jinzhong Military Region failed to break out and were surrounded by the Japanese.

He also has a backup plan.

More than half an hour later, the vanguard of the New 1st Regiment was ambushed by a group of Japanese and puppet troops in Liujia Village.

Simultaneously.

A large number of Japanese devils and puppet troops were surrounding them from all directions, attempting to encircle the three Jinzhong regiments in the Liujia Village area.

At the same time, the Japanese 6th Flying Squadron, which took off from Taiyuan, was also on the way!

(End of this chapter)