Anti-Japanese War: I have unlimited assistance

Chapter 491: It’s a mess!

If this battle really resulted in 60,000 casualties, it would be a huge disadvantage for Sugiyama Gen.

Because in the previous battles, the North China Front Army had suffered about 40,000 casualties.

If the North China Front Army suffered 10 casualties during his tenure, he would be madly targeted by his political enemies in front of Tianhuang.

There is a question mark over his promotion to Minister of War.

"Hi." The reporting staff officer lowered his head, "There are approximately 1500 more Locust Alliance casualties."

Sugiyama Gen nodded expressionlessly. He would not feel the slightest bit of heartache even if 1500 Locust Alliance soldiers were killed or wounded, let alone 1500 million.

Locust Army?
To put it nicely, they are the Locust Army; to put it bluntly, they are just a bunch of cannon fodder.

The communications staff continued, "Major General Takeda Isamu reports that on the road west of Jiangjunling, the 21st Aircraft Regiment wiped out a heavy artillery regiment-sized unit of the Eighth Route Army, losing four aircraft and damaging three."

Three aircraft of the 21st Flying Regiment were shot down on the spot, and another one crashed on its way back to the airport after being hit in the engine.

"Yoshi!" Sugiyama Moto nodded with satisfaction.

Yamashita Tomoyuki said, "Commander, the troops are reporting that the Eighth Route Army has abandoned their positions and is hiding in concrete fortifications. They are using machine guns to straf the attacking Locust Army and Locust Alliance. This is why they have suffered so many casualties. Should we use the heavy artillery siege battalion to blow up the Eighth Route Army's concrete fortifications?"

这次，杉山元从太原和北平，调来了重炮攻城第1大队和第2大队，共装备8门四五式240重榴弹炮和16门150榴弹炮。

However, these 16 150mm howitzers are of the Type 150 type, and their performance is quite poor compared to the Type mm howitzers.

Therefore, to deal with the Eighth Route Army's concrete fortifications, we have to rely on the eight 8mm heavy howitzers.

For fear of being attacked by the Eighth Route Army's special forces, these two independent siege heavy artillery siege battalions are currently in a hidden state.

Even Sugiyama Gen and Yamashita Tomoyuki didn't know where the artillery was hidden. The captains of each siege artillery battalion decided where to hide it. If the artillery was blown up by a surprise attack, both captains would have to commit seppuku to apologize.

"Order the 1st and 2nd Independent Heavy Artillery Siege Battalions to participate in the battle tomorrow. They must destroy the concrete fortifications of the Eighth Route Army." Sugiyama Gen's expression became serious, and he immediately decided to dispatch strategic-level troops.

The battle with 2000 locust soldiers killed and wounded every day is like a meat grinder. Every day of delay in using independent heavy artillery siege troops will increase the casualties of 2000 locust soldiers every day.

However, Sugiyama Gen hesitated about whether to use another backup plan.

After the locust army mobilized two heavy artillery siege battalions and destroyed the Eighth Route Army's concrete fortifications, let's see if Li Yunlong still has any cards.

Fighting a war, especially this kind of positional warfare, has many similarities with playing poker. Bombs are not fired right away.

"Order the front lines to strengthen the protection of the 1st and 2nd Independent Siege Artillery Battalions. If anything goes wrong, the infantry commander responsible for protecting the artillery unit will commit seppuku and apologize to the Heavenly Locust."

"Hi."

Yamashita Fengwen suddenly lowered his head, turned around and made arrangements.

……

"Reporting to the regimental commander, the engineering battalion has repaired the destroyed bridge from Jiangjunling to Ping'an County."

At the New 1st Regiment Command, Zhang Dabiao reported to Li Yunlong.

Li Yunlong said sternly, "Order the motor battalion to start working and transport a basic number of artillery shells to Jiangjunling and the various artillery units."

Whether it was the mountain artillery battalion, the 105mm howitzer battalion or the 152mm howitzer battalion, they were all located in solid concrete fortifications to avoid being bombed by Japanese planes.

Li Yunlong was not sure how many days Jiangjunling could be held, so the troops did not store much ammunition in the tunnel.

"Yes."

Zhang Dabiao took the order and quickly went to convey the command.

……

At the same time, the situation in Taiyuan was already tense!
At this time, the 20th Division was transferred back to Taiyuan by Yoshio Shinozuka.

Taiyuan.

Japanese First Army Headquarters.

"The Eighth Route Army attacking from the Baijin Road has reached the Taigu area." "The Eighth Route Army troops advancing north from the Heliao Highway have captured the county towns of Yangquan and Shouyang, and are advancing along the Zhengtai Road toward Taiyuan."

"Reconnaissance aircraft discovered that the Eighth Route Army in the Jinzhong base area was gathering and seemed to be preparing to attack Taiyuan."

Intelligence staff Lieutenant Colonel Mizuno Kiyoshi brought news about the Eighth Route Army.

The combat staff worked quickly and drew the Eighth Route Army's attack direction on the map with a large red arrow.

On the map, the map representing the Japanese defensive positions was like a shield wall, placed in front of the Eighth Route Army's offensive arrows.

Looking at the situation map of the enemy and our side, and the three armies surrounding Taiyuan, Yoshio Shinozuka suddenly broke into a sweat.

The Eighth Route Army in the southeastern Shanxi and Jinzhong base areas reached 12 troops, while the Japanese and puppet troops in the First Army had only 8 troops, including 3 Japanese troops and puppet troops.

8 vs. 12, the advantage is not in my hands.

If Yoshio Shinozuka had 200 planes and absolute air superiority, he would not have to be too afraid of the Eighth Route Army.

pity…

He had only more than 40 planes at his disposal. In a battle of this level, these planes could at most cause certain casualties to the enemy, and were far from being able to turn the tide of the battle.

"Order all units to prepare for battle. This is a battle to wash away the shame of our First Army."

Shinozuka Yoshio's expression turned serious, and he glanced at the officers with a cold gaze:
"At this point, we have no choice but to fight to the death!"

"Hi!!"

All the Japanese officers bowed their heads in unison, their fighting spirit high.

Suddenly, the Japanese officers became busy. Shinozuka Yoshio called the communications staff officer Kasai Toshimatsu aside and whispered, "Immediately request tactical guidance from General Sugiyama!"

"……Hi."

Kasai Toshimatsu was stunned. Was that resolute expression just now just an act?

……

Taigu, the headquarters of the 129th Division.

The ticking sound of the telegraph continued, and "boom, boom, boom", loud explosions and the roar of the Japanese plane's engines came from not far away.

"Commander, the Japanese planes are bombing our artillery units again."

The division chief of staff smiled slightly.

The division commander was also observing secretly through a telescope. A smile appeared on his face at this moment. "It has to be Boss Lin's inflatable cannon that has achieved such a realistic effect."

The Chief of Staff nodded. "Yes, even if you hadn't pointed out that they were inflatable cannons and inflatable tanks, I wouldn't have been able to tell them apart, let alone if the Japanese pilots were watching from the sky."

Li Yunlong also applied for a batch of inflatable weapons for the 129th Division and sent a special person to the 129th Division to guide the combat. The use of inflatable weapons was highly confidential throughout the Eighth Route Army.

"Commander, look, two Japanese planes have been shot down!"

"Not bad." The commander nodded with satisfaction, obviously he saw it too.

The real artillery and tank units of the 129th Division were hiding in the rear and would set off at night.

All the Japanese fighter planes and reconnaissance planes saw were inflatable weapons and inflatable trucks.

"The fighting has already begun in northwest Shanxi."

The division commander said with a solemn expression, "We can't sit idle here either. We have to relieve the pressure on Li Yunlong. Order all troops to march quickly tonight. I want to see the troops at the gates of Taiyuan tomorrow morning!"

Chief of Staff: "Yes!"

As the war broke out in northwest Shanxi, the main force of the 129th Division attacked Taiyuan. The Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region and other brother military regions cooperated one after another, and the entire Shanxi area north of Taiyuan soon became a mess.

(End of this chapter)