Anti-Japanese War: I have unlimited assistance

Chapter 276 The guests are coming!

Taiyuan.

First Army Headquarters.

"Nani?"

"Major General Liuxia requested to be transferred to Taiyuan?"

After hearing the telegram from the communications staff, Yoshio Shinozuka's face suddenly darkened.

The main force of an independent mixed brigade, a division of the Locust Association, and air support from the aviation unit were actually defeated by an infantry regiment and an artillery regiment of the Eighth Route Army, suffering nearly half of their casualties and being nearly defeated. They even wanted to actively request retreat...

Trash, what a waste!

"Hi Yi!"

The communications staff officer thought the commander didn't believe him, so he lowered his head and handed the telegram to Yoshio Shinozuka.

After taking and reading the telegram, Yoshio Shinozuka tore it to pieces.

Mutaguchi Ren'ya, who was standing by, also had a bad look on his face.

The casualties haven't even reached half yet, and they want to retreat. Is this how the locust army fights?
"Mutaguchi-kun, what do you think?"

Shinozuka Yoshio asked with a gloomy expression.

"Your Excellency Commander!"

"I think the 3rd Independent Mixed Brigade should not retreat at this time!"

Mutaguchi Renya said in a cold and hard voice:

"Once the 3rd Independent Mixed Brigade retreats to Gang County, the Eighth Route Army in the northwest and northeast of Jinzhong can support the main Eighth Route Army in Jinzhong. This will suddenly increase the offensive pressure on the 39th Brigade, and the entire Jinzhong operation plan will completely fail!"

The operational plan for the attack on Jinzhong was formulated by the First Army General Staff headed by Mutaguchi Ren'ya.

If the battle plan fails, then Mutaguchi Ren'ya cannot shirk his responsibility.

Now that the 39th Brigade has been supported by a field artillery battalion and two powerful siege artillery pieces, the Japanese army has a chance to break into the Jinzhong base.

Shinozuka Yoshio asked gravely, "Where are the field artillery battalion and the two 2mm heavy guns?"

Mutaguchi Lianye said, "Major General Hirata sent a telegram half an hour ago, reporting that we are still about two days away from the Wangjiawan position!"

Shinozuka Yoshio frowned. "Based on the marching speed of the 240mm heavy artillery, the siege artillery unit should reach the Wangjiawan front line by tomorrow at the latest. Why is it so slow?"

Mutaguchi Ren'ya reported, "Because the transport unit was harassed and the roads were destroyed by the Eighth Route Army's special forces, Major General Hirata wanted to have Colonel Yamamoto lead the special forces to deal with the Eighth Route Army, but he refused. Colonel Yamamoto said that the special forces are strategic-level units of the First Army and it would be a waste to use them against small enemy forces. Unless the commander-in-chief personally ordered it, Colonel Yamamoto would lead the special forces to attack!"

It is obvious that Kenkichi Hirata participated in the telegram with Ikki Yamamoto.

Mutaguchi Ren'ya also disliked Yamamoto Ikki and tried to stir up trouble in his words.

Shinozuka Yoshio said, "Yamamoto-kun has his reasons. Hirata Kenkichi mobilized an infantry regiment. Can't he deal with a mere Eighth Route Army Special Forces unit?"

The Eighth Route Army infantry destroyed the positions of the 39th Brigade's field artillery battalion in the midst of thousands of troops.

They also wiped out more than 300 puppet and Japanese troops who came to pursue them.

The performance of the Eighth Route Special Forces gave Yoshio Shinozuka some idea of ​​the combat effectiveness of the special forces.

As special forces, the Yamamoto Special Forces, whose members are all graduates of the Munich Military Special Academy in Germany, should be no worse than the Yamakakari Eighth Route Army Special Forces, or even stronger.

This made Yoshio Shinozuka see the value of Agent Yamamoto.

Perhaps in the future, Yamamoto's special forces can behead the Eighth Route Army Headquarters, the Second War Zone Headquarters, and even the bald chairman in the mountain city.

That way, you will make a lot of money.

As the Chinese saying goes, if Yamamoto Ikki is a thousand-mile horse, then I am the Bole.

Mutaguchi Ren'ya sighed in his heart. As expected, the commander was still too fond of Colonel Yamamoto.

After a pause, Mutaguchi Ren'ya continued, "Commander, you can order the troops in Wangjiawan to return to support the artillery unit. Having two regiments of troops escort the artillery to the Wangjiawan front will definitely increase the artillery unit's marching speed."

Although the commander of the 77th Infantry Regiment had his head blown off, the main force of the 77th Infantry Regiment was still there.

"Yoshi, that's a good idea." Shinozuka Yoshio nodded. "Order the main force of the 77th Infantry Regiment to return and reinforce the artillery. Then, order the 3rd Independent Mixed Brigade to switch to a defensive position to contain the Eighth Route Army northwest of Jinzhong and prevent the th Route Army's New rd Regiment from reinforcing Mengxian County."

Mutaguchi Renya and the communications staff lowered their heads in unison: "Hi!"

……

"Nani?"

At the headquarters of the 3rd Independent Mixed Brigade, Yanagishita Shigeharu listened to Yamazaki Tatsuo read the telegram sent by the First Army Headquarters, his face full of disbelief.

"Your Excellency, Brigade Commander, it seems that Lieutenant General Shinozuka did not understand what we meant..."

Tatsuo Yamazaki handed the telegram in his hand to the communications captain and smiled bitterly.

"Yamazaki-kun, it's already this late, and you can still laugh?"

Liuxia Shigeharu's expression was uncertain for a while.

The telegram sent to the First Army Headquarters was rather obscure due to face issues.

In fact, the 3rd Independent Mixed Brigade could not defeat the Eighth Route Army and was about to be defeated by the Eighth Route Army, so it had to retreat.

In the telegram, it was Yanagishita Shigeharu who took the initiative to request that the 3rd Independent Mixed Brigade move to Gang County.

This resulted in the First Army Command not knowing the true situation of the 3rd Independent Mixed Brigade.

"Sir, what should we do now?"

Yamazaki Tatsuo's smile faded, and he asked in a deep voice with a grim expression. Yanagishita Shigeharu said nothing, but instead raised his binoculars and looked towards the battlefield, just in time to see the planes returning to Taiyuan Airport after completing their battle with the Eighth Route Army ground forces.

This time we really returned to Taiyuan Airport. It was impossible to launch a surprise attack. The Japanese planes had little fuel left and had dropped all their aerial bombs. The next air support would not come for at least an hour.

The Eighth Route Army's anti-aircraft firepower was a bit strong, and the Japanese air force did not gain much advantage.

In the ground-to-air battle that lasted just nearly ten minutes, the Eighth Route Army suffered some casualties, but one Japanese plane was shot down and two were damaged.

The fighter planes and bombers had already flown away, but there were still Japanese reconnaissance planes circling in the sky.

At this time, without air support, the main force of the Eighth Route Army surged forward like a tide.

Just then, the station received a radio call.

The communications captain reported solemnly, "General, the aviation reconnaissance plane just reported that a large number of Eighth Route Army troops are approaching our unit, with a total strength of nearly 10,000!"

Due to the loss of the main peak position, the brigade headquarters at this location could not see the entire Eighth Route Army's forces, but the Japanese reconnaissance planes in the sky could see them clearly, but they did not dare to fly too low.

"Nani?"

Upon hearing this, Yanagishita Shigeharu, Yamazaki Tatsuo and the other Japanese staff officers' faces changed drastically.

This is a hopeless force.

During these five days of fighting, the Eighth Route Army only displayed a strength of two to three thousand people, which is the normal strength of a main regiment of the Eighth Route Army.

Just one main regiment of the Eighth Route Army plus a heavy mortar regiment was enough to force the 3rd Independent Mixed Brigade to retreat step by step.

Now you tell me that the Eighth Route Army has a force of nearly 10,000 people.

How can the Independent Mixed Brigade fight this battle with these tired and demoralized troops?
"Your Excellency, the Brigade Commander..."

Yamazaki Tatsuo's voice was low, but his tone was anxious.

If we don't retreat now, we won't be able to retreat.

But if you retreat voluntarily, it means you are disobeying orders.

Yanagishita Shigeharu was suddenly caught in a dilemma.

Retreat, that would be disobeying orders from superiors.

But if they didn't retreat, the 3rd Independent Mixed Brigade would most likely be wiped out by the Eighth Route Army, becoming the first mixed brigade in history to be completely wiped out by the Chinese army, which would be a great shame.

Yanagishita Shigeharu stared at the map and thought for a moment: "Yamazaki-kun, immediately order all troops to retreat to the area north of Xiyan Basin for defense and see if the Eighth Route Army continues its attack."

The Japanese staff officers, including Tatsuo Yamazaki, were stunned.

Do you really want to disobey orders?

After a pause, Yanagishita Shigeharu explained, "Lieutenant General Shinozuka's order was for my troops to switch to a defensive position to contain the main force of the Eighth Route Army, the New Third Regiment in Jinzhong, but it did not specify where my troops were to do so."

"Hi!" Yamazaki Tatsuo said with his eyes shining, "Your Excellency the Brigade Commander is wise. I admire you!"

The other Japanese staff officers also relaxed their expressions. The brigade commander is truly a little genius.

Yamazaki Tatsuo quickly conveyed the order and deployed some small groups of Japanese and puppet troops to block the enemy and delay the Eighth Route Army's pursuit.

Yanagishita Shigeharu also considered whether the Eighth Route Army had cut off the retreat route of the 3rd Independent Mixed Brigade.

He felt that it was highly unlikely, as the one bombing the mountain artillery battalion in the rear was just a small cavalry artillery unit of the Eighth Route Army.

If there really was a large force of the Eighth Route Army in the rear, why didn't they attack from both sides?

If the Eighth Route Army had attacked from both sides, perhaps the 3rd Independent Mixed Brigade would have been defeated by now.

However, the Eighth Route Army was always cunning, and the cautious Yanagishita Shigeharu still ordered the retreating vanguard to explore carefully to avoid being ambushed by the Eighth Route Army.

As the brigade headquarters issued the order, the combat troops, communications troops, brigade headquarters and field hospitals of the 3rd Independent Mixed Brigade retreated across the board.

Some small units left behind by the Japanese army blocked the enemy's pursuit at various levels, slowing down the pursuit speed of the main force of the Eighth Route Army and causing the main force of the Japanese army to distance themselves from the main force of the Eighth Route Army.

Soon, the Japanese vanguard retreating troops entered the smoking basin.

"Captain, the devils are coming."

In Lingnan Village, at the headquarters of the independent regiment, a communications soldier walked in quickly and reported to Kong Jie.

Kong Jie looked delighted and quickly walked to the window of the regiment headquarters and looked through the telescope.

"What devil? They are guests and friends."

“It is said that when a friend comes from afar, he must be punished, even though he is far away.”

A few kilometers away, cautious and solemn-looking Japanese cavalry appeared in the field of view of the artillery scope.

The 3rd Independent Mixed Brigade did not have any cavalry units above the squadron level, but did have a reconnaissance cavalry squad of approximately 50 horses.

"Haha, it's finally here!"

"Pass my order, kill the devil's reconnaissance cavalry squad!"

Kong Jie immediately gave orders loudly.

"Yes!"

The operations staff quickly called to convey the order.

As Kong Jie's order was given, the soldiers quickly set up more than a dozen light and heavy machine guns on the road ahead of the Japanese reconnaissance cavalry.

(End of this chapter)