Anti-Japanese War: I have unlimited assistance

Chapter 289 Bombardment and decapitation tactics!

The headquarters of the 39th Brigade of the Japanese Army.

Although it was late at night and time to rest, Kenkichi Hirata and a group of Japanese officers forced themselves to stay awake.

Li Yunlong's strategic intentions are already obvious.

It would be fine if Li Yunlong used the strategy of besieging Wei to save Zhao and forced the main force of the 39th Brigade to retreat.

But Li Yunlong’s real target must be the combat supplies in Yangquan City - food and ammunition!

If the combat supplies were destroyed or seized by Li Yunlong, this attack would inevitably fail!

Kenkichi Hirata and the Japanese soldiers felt that tonight was the longest night they had ever spent since entering China.

At this moment, urgent shouts came from the radio, and there seemed to be sounds of gunfire. The Japanese telegraph soldier immediately answered the call.

"Is that Major Omori?"

After the telegraph soldier finished answering the call, Uwagawa Masao immediately asked in a deep voice.

The brigade headquarters had lost contact with the Japanese troops in Miaoling and Guanjiayu for nearly an hour, and Masao Uwagawa thought it was Major Omori.

"It's Major Watanabe, the military police captain stationed in Yangquan. A large number of Eighth Route Army troops are attacking Yangquan. The enemy's artillery firepower is very strong. Major Watanabe requests tactical guidance." The telegraph soldier reported with his head down.

As soon as these words were spoken, Kenkichi Hirata, Masao Uwagawa and the other Japanese officers all changed their expressions.

I'm really afraid of what's coming!
"Baga, how come the Eighth Route Army is so fast?"

Kenkichi Hirata cursed angrily.

He didn't understand why, an hour ago, the Eighth Route Cavalry was still attacking the blockade line in the Miaoling area.

In less than an hour, the Eighth Route Army was attacking Yangquan.

Did the Eighth Route Army fly over there?

In order to clarify the situation, Hirata Kenkichi said in a deep voice: "Immediately contact the Yangquan Military Police. I want to speak to Major Watanabe!"

"Hi."

The telegraph operator turned around and immediately connected to the Yangquan gendarmerie on the radio.

Kenkichi Hirata took the receiver and microphone and said, "I'm Kenkichi Hirata. Major Watanabe, how many Eighth Route Army soldiers are attacking Yangquan?"

Sure enough, there were dense gunshots and explosions coming from the receiver, which made Kenkichi Hirata's face even gloomier.

"Report to the General, the Eighth Route Army has at least three to four thousand men, and there are thousands of them attacking every city gate. They also have siege cannons and heavy artillery. Requesting tactical guidance! Requesting tactical guidance!"

When Watanabe Rokusaburo heard that it was Kenkichi Hirata, he immediately reported the situation and asked for help on the radio in a hurried tone.

The Eighth Route Army was coming with great force. With only a squadron of military police and a battalion of puppet troops under his command, it was impossible for him to stop the Eighth Route Army's attack on Yangquan.

He didn't know that the Eighth Route Army was equipped with heavy mortars. When the Eighth Route Army's heavy mortars fired, Watanabe Rokusaburo thought it was heavy artillery.

This attack on Yangquan was Li Yunlong's signature tactic - no assists, all main attack!
The dense artillery shells directly scared the Japanese military police and puppet troops in the city. The combat effectiveness of the military police was similar to that of the Japanese independent mixed brigade, and was far inferior to that of the Japanese Type A division.

Kenkichi Hirata's heart sank to the bottom, and even the last shred of hope was gone. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Major Watanabe, I order you to hold the city wall. You must defend the ammunition depot and the granary. The 6th Infantry Battalion..."

Just then, a series of beeps came from the radio.

"Moxi moxi."

"Moxi moxi."

"Mosimoxi?"

"Major Watanabe?"

"idiot!"

At the critical moment, the radio unexpectedly broke down. Hirata Kenkichi's face turned pale as he returned the receiver and microphone to the telegraph operator: "Continue to call the Yangquan Military Police."

"Hi."

The telegraph operator took the receiver and the microphone and continued to call: "Moshimoshi, Yangquan Military Police..."

Uwagawa Masao immediately walked over to Hirata Kenkichi and said, "Your Excellency, I just looked at the map. A forced march from Miaoling to Yangquan would take at least three hours. The Eighth Route Army is too fast. There is a high probability that the Eighth Route Army in Jinzhong has a cavalry division."

The Eighth Route Army that attacked the Miaoling and Guanjiayu blockade lines was a cavalry unit. Uwagawa Masao had a preconceived notion that the Eighth Route Army that attacked Yangquan was also a cavalry unit.

"That's impossible," Hirata Kenkichi denied. "Have you ever calculated how much fodder and grain a cavalry division consumes every day? The Eighth Route Army in Jinzhong can barely even get enough food, so there's no way they can afford to keep so many horses."

A cavalry division consists of at least three to four thousand people and more than four thousand horses. Each horse needs to consume one percent of its body weight in fine grain and three percent in fodder every day.

A military horse weighs more than a thousand pounds. If the Eighth Route Army in Jinzhong has a cavalry division, the daily food consumption will be as high as tens of thousands of pounds, and the fodder consumption will be as high as hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Although it is not known how the Eighth Route Army's Jinzhong base managed to survive this food crisis, the Jinzhong base, with its small territory, could not possibly support such a large amount of supplies consumed by a cavalry division.

Uwagawa Masao was speechless for a moment: "That's true..."

After a pause, Uwagawa Masao looked at his watch and said, "According to the time, the 6th Infantry Battalion should be arriving in Yangquan soon. If the Eighth Route Army only has 6 to men, the Military Police, the th Infantry Battalion, and a battalion of the Locust Association should be able to hold Yangquan."

Hirata Kenkichi immediately said to the telegraph operator: "Don't call the Yangquan Military Police, call the 6th Infantry Battalion and ask where the 6th Infantry Battalion is!"

The telegraph operator shouted, immediately adjusted the channel and wavelength, and began calling the 6th Infantry Battalion.

But unfortunately, no one answered the call to the 6th Infantry Battalion, and the radio channel kept hearing the dead tone.

"Could it be that the Eighth Route Army used special means to block the locust army's radio signals?" Masao Uwagawa guessed.

"I've never heard of a way to block radio signals." Kenkichi Hirata said annoyedly, "Let's try calling the First Army Headquarters." After a moment, the radio station successfully connected with the First Army Headquarters.

Masao Uwagawa and Kenkichi Hirata looked at each other in confusion. What was going on?
"Nani?"

An extremely bad feeling quickly surged into Uwagawa Masao's heart.

……

After half an hour.

Yangquan.

The battle is over.

"Report to Commander Li, the enemy has been completely wiped out, and a large amount of supplies, including their grain and ammunition depots, have been seized."

Shen Quan, the second battalion commander of the independent regiment, walked into the regiment headquarters and reported to Li Yunlong.

Shen Quan looked at Li Yunlong with a hint of admiration in his eyes.

This move of cutting off the source of the problem and launching a surprise attack on the 39th Brigade's base made Shen Quan admire them beyond words.

The main force of the 39th Brigade was all in Wangjiawan. There was a Japanese blockade line on the Mengyang Highway. The Japanese thought that the Eighth Route Army could not get through, so there were not many troops left in Yangquan.

As soon as the troops started the attack, although the four walls were under attack, the soldiers quickly reached the walls under the cover of artillery fire.

Then the artillery observer climbed onto the city wall, called in mountain artillery and heavy mortars, and implemented a precise artillery decapitation tactic against the Japanese gendarmerie headquarters and brigade headquarters in the city.

Watanabe Rokusaburo, who was talking to Kenkichi Hirata on the phone, was killed on the spot, and even the radio station was destroyed.

The remaining Japanese soldiers and puppet troops in the city would not dare to blow up the grain and ammunition depots even if they died without orders.

This gave Li Yunlong an advantage.

Shen Quan thought to himself, how great it would be if such a strong leader could be his own.

It’s not that Shen Quan has any objection to Kong Jie, it’s just that Li Yunlong is too outstanding.

Li Yunlong raised his lips slightly and asked, "How much food and ammunition are there in the granary and ammunition depot?"

Li Yunlong and Kong Jie had also attacked Yangquan once before, but that time they gained nothing except killing the commander of the 39th Brigade, Takagi Yoshito, and more than a thousand Japanese soldiers. The Japanese soldiers poured gasoline on the grain in the granary and set it on fire, and also blew up the ammunition depot.

This time, the ammunition and grain depots of the 39th Brigade were finally seized, and Commander Li was overjoyed.

After the last battle of Yangquan, Li Yunlong was thinking about how to seize the Japanese grain and ammunition depots in the city during the siege.

This gave him two ideas. One was to send elite troops and special forces to sneak into the city and launch a surprise attack to seize the grain and ammunition depots.

The second is to use precision methods to implement artillery decapitation technology to blow up the Japanese command center, so that the Japanese will not have time to issue orders to blow up the grain and ammunition depots.

The tactic of sending troops to infiltrate the city secretly was used when attacking Wuxiang and Mengxian county towns.

Very useful.

The Sharp Blade Commando was not present during the attack on Yangquan, and the troops attacked the Miaoling and Guanjiayu blockade lines. The Japanese in Yangquan must have received the news in advance and could not use the tactics of ambush infiltration.

But Li Yunlong also has a plan B, which is the artillery decapitation tactic, which is also very useful.

However, Captain Li was also very clear that no matter how good a tactic was, it could only be used once or twice, and the Japanese would not be fooled every time.

Shen Quan said, "Reporting to Captain Li, the soldiers haven't had time to count yet, but if I had to use one word to describe this seizure, it would only be a mountain of spoils."

"Haha." Li Yunlong smiled broadly. "We've made a fortune. Pass on my order and have the motor battalion drive all the big trucks over here. Load them with ammunition first and then food."

Hu Zi: “Yes!”

……

It was past three in the morning.

At the headquarters of the 39th Brigade of the Japanese Army, the devil officers were still awake, and the telegraph operator called the Yangquan Gendarmerie and the 6th Infantry Battalion over and over again.

But there was no response.

"General."

At this moment, a guard rushed in and reported to Kenkichi Hirata:

"The 6th Infantry Battalion is back."

"Nani?"

"idiot!"

Kenkichi Hirata was stunned at first, then he became furious.

I asked you to go and reinforce Yangquan, why are you running back?

Disobey orders?

Do you think you are Yamamoto Ikki?
Hirata was furious: "Send Major Taniguchi to see me immediately!"

After a while, a squadron leader of the 6th Infantry Battalion came in, covered in smoke and blood. It was obvious that he had just experienced a major battle.

Upon seeing Kenkichi Hirata, the squadron leader immediately bowed his head and reported grimly, "General, our battalion was ambushed by the Eighth Route Army Special Forces on the way. More than half of our battalion was killed or wounded, all the cars were blown up, and the battalion commander was seriously injured."

"Baga..." Kenkichi Hirata's mentality suddenly exploded.

(End of this chapter)