Anti-Japanese War: I have unlimited assistance

The Japanese air force also discovered the Eighth Route Army cavalry marching towards the airport.

So Takeda Isamu quickly mobilized a flying squadron to bomb.

Although some Eighth Route Army cavalry were killed or injured, it did not stop their advance.

Nearly 2000 cavalrymen were marching, forming a huge crowd.

The Japanese had to dispatch hundreds of planes before they had a chance to inflict heavy damage on this Eighth Route Cavalry.

At the same time, the Japanese cavalry in the direction of Datong Airport were also on high alert.

Not long after, the Ji Zhong Cavalry Regiment and the Jin Zhong Cavalry Battalion arrived at Datong Airport.

However, the two cavalry units did not forcibly attack the airport.

Instead, they directly set up 82mm mortars and launched a wave of artillery attacks on Datong Airport.

Although this wave of artillery fire failed to destroy the Japanese airport, it destroyed the runway, preventing Japanese planes from taking off and landing at Datong Airport.

In desperation, Takeda Isamu could only lead the remaining 21 aircraft of the 27st Flying Regiment to Zhangjiakou.

The straight-line distance from Zhangjiakou to Datong is about 150 kilometers, which is 300 kilometers round trip.

As a result, the Japanese aircraft's support for the battlefield was reduced from once every 40 minutes to once every hour and a half.

After bombing the airport, the Eighth Route Cavalry also bombed Datong Station to prevent the Japanese from escaping by train.

Then, the cavalry battalion quickly rushed towards Yujia Mountain, preparing to cut off the Japanese's retreat route to the northeast.

At the same time, the main forces of the Japanese North China Front Army were heading towards Shahukou and Majiapo.

After leaving some troops behind to cover their retreat, the rest of the troops had already left the battlefield and were rushing towards the north of Datong.

At this point both sides are racing against time.

At around 20: p.m., the vanguard of the new mechanized regiment arrived at Xinzhuang, about kilometers away from Datong.

At this time, the Japanese deployed the 1st Cavalry Brigade, the 7th Tank Regiment and the 108th Mountain Artillery Regiment here.

The 1st Cavalry Brigade and the 4th Cavalry Brigade were transferred from the Kwantung Army to the North China Front Army and were directly under the Front Army.

The 4th Cavalry Brigade is currently in Taiyuan.

The 1st Cavalry Brigade participated in the battle in northwestern Shanxi, with the task of protecting the headquarters and transport troops, and did not fight with the Eighth Route Army.

"Report to the brigade commander, the Eighth Route Army's mechanized vanguard has arrived at Xinzhuang."

Command.

A Japanese staff officer reported to Major General Ogamo, commander of the 1st Cavalry Brigade.

Beside him stood Colonel Yuo Nishizawa, commander of the 13th Cavalry Regiment, Colonel Hisanao Oshima, commander of the 14th Cavalry Regiment, Colonel Takao Maeda, commander of the 7th Tank Regiment, Colonel Masaharu Okaya, commander of the 108th Mountain Artillery Regiment, and some station guards.

The four old Japanese soldiers all looked solemn when they heard this.

Major General Ohga Mou frowned even more. He was the supreme commander in this battle, commanding two cavalry regiments, a tank regiment and a mountain artillery regiment.

There hasn't been such a prosperous war in eight hundred years...

The question now is, this may be the battle that will make Ohgamo rise to prominence, or it may be the last battle of his military career.

The headquarters has informed us that the troops marching towards Datong are the main mechanized forces of the Eighth Route Army, with a total strength of at least 20,000.

This main mechanized force of the Eighth Route Army just defeated the 26th Division at Jiangjunling!

Moreover, the 26th Division was defeated overnight, and only a small number of the defeated troops of the 26th Division escaped back to Datong.

The rest of the troops were either dispersed or destroyed.

Facing such a powerful Eighth Route Army force, one can imagine the pressure Ohgamo was under.

Because if they were defeated, not only would all of their regiments be wiped out, but even the main force of the North China Front Army might be wiped out by the Eighth Route Army.

"Gentlemen, the Eighth Route Army's vanguard is less than three kilometers away from us."

"What do you think?"

Taking a deep breath, Major General Ohgamo glanced at everyone and asked in a deep voice.

"Major General, while the Eighth Route Army's vanguard is still unstable, I think the Locust Army should take the initiative to attack."

Colonel Takao Maeda said, his not-so-big eyes revealing coldness and cruelty, representing that this person has a cold and fierce character.

This man is the commander of the 7th Tank Regiment, with more than a thousand troops under his command, equipped with more than a hundred small trucks and more than 50 tanks.

Although the 7th Tank Regiment was equipped with more than 50 tanks, the Japanese tanks were just as small as the Type trucks. Most of the more than ten Type medium tanks were Type light tanks.

However, Maeda Takao was very arrogant and threatened to wipe out the vanguard of the Eighth Route Army.

"What Maeda-kun said makes a lot of sense."

"To deal with the Eighth Route Army, we cannot simply retreat; we must have the spirit of proactive attack."

Commander of the 13th Cavalry Regiment, Yuo Nishizawa, said.

This man was a brave but foolish fellow, but he was very brave in battle and had superb riding skills. He became the captain of the cavalry regiment because of his military achievements.

"How many people are there in the Eighth Route Army's vanguard?"

Major General Ohgamo asked the staff officer who came to report.

"About a thousand people, about 50 large trucks, and a dozen tanks."

The staff officer answered quickly.

"The Eighth Route Army's convoy is at least 20 kilometers long. It will take time to deploy the formation... We have aviation support."

Ohgamo's eyes fixed, and he said, "Send the order!"

The four Japanese regiment commanders were all startled. Colonel Ohgamo immediately gave the order:
"The 7th Tank Regiment will attack Xinzhuang head-on!"

"The 13th Cavalry Regiment will outflank from the left and right wings!"

"Mountain Artillery Regiment provides artillery support!"

"Destroy this Eighth Route Army vanguard within half an hour!"

"The 14th Cavalry Regiment serves as the reserve!"

"Retreat immediately after success. We are a mobile force and must fully utilize our mobility advantage to deal with the enemy."

"Hi!" All the Japanese regiment commanders lowered their heads.

The reason why Muto Akira sent the 1st Cavalry Brigade and the 7th Tank Regiment to Xinzhuang area to block the Eighth Route Army.

It was also taken into consideration that these two troops could maneuver quickly, and could retreat quickly after completing the blocking attack and catch up with the main force.

After the four wing commanders left, Ohga ordered the communications officer, "Immediately contact Major General Takeda Isamu of the 21st Air Wing. We need aviation reinforcements, urgently."

"Hi!"

The communications staff officer lowered his head, turned around and immediately contacted the 21st Flying Regiment.

Watching the communications officer leave, Ohgamo stared at the map and muttered, "What a pity..."

"The main problem is that we don't have enough time. If we had ambushed the troops in the mountainous terrain, on both sides of the Eighth Route Army's marching road, and waited for the Eighth Route Army's convoy to enter the ambush circle, we could have launched a sudden attack. Not only would we have accomplished our blocking mission, but we could have also taken a large bite out of the Eighth Route Army."

"That's how the early Eighth Route Army ambushed the locust army's transport convoys."

"However, after this battle, the locust army will surely come back again."

"By the time……"

"Humph!"

……

New regiment headquarters.

"Yes, Deputy Commander Xing sent cavalry troops to bombard Datong Airport and quickly seize Yujia Mountain."

Li Yunlong nodded with satisfaction.

Zhang Dabiao and Chu Yunfei next to them also looked happy.

The Japanese planes launched two waves of air raids. Although the New 100st Regiment suffered few casualties, more than large trucks were destroyed.

It's very annoying.

The Japanese planes specifically dropped bombs on the supply trucks loaded with ammunition. The more than 100 trucks that were bombed were loaded with a lot of bullets, artillery shells and other combat supplies.

Even with Li Yunlong's family background, he couldn't afford such a thing.

Li Yunlong was thinking about how to destroy the Japanese planes, but he didn't expect that Datong Airport had already been destroyed.

"Cavalry can still play a role at critical moments," said Li Yunlong.

Some comrades suggested that Li Yunlong abolish the cavalry and focus on building mechanized troops, but Li Yunlong rejected it.

Mechanized forces must be vigorously developed, and cavalry forces must not lag behind so that they can play a role at critical moments.

"Commander, once the cavalry units cut off Yujia Mountain, the main force of the Japanese North China Front Army will have no choice but to retreat to the northwest and north." Chu Yunfei said, pointing to the map.

"That's right." Li Yunlong nodded and said, "At present, we don't have the strength to completely wipe out the main force of the Japanese North China Front Army, but we can bite off a piece of their damn flesh before the enemy's main force leaves Datong."

On the one hand, the troops had been fighting for more than ten days and were already exhausted.

On the other hand, the ammunition depot of the New 1st Regiment was almost empty, with only one-third of bullets left and only tens of thousands of artillery shells left.

After the troops switched to semi-automatic rifles, bullets were consumed at a rate visible to the naked eye, which was more than ten times the rate of bolt-action rifles.

Not to mention the artillery shells, each time they had to gather artillery fire from at least a hundred cannons, and the rate of consumption was very fast.

Although Li Yunlong can apply for wartime airdrop supplies, the quantity of airdrop supplies will not be large.

However, the Japanese did not know that the Eighth Route Army was running out of ammunition.

The reason why I led the mechanized troops to attack Datong was to give the Japanese an illusion that I was here to completely wipe out the main force of the North China Front Army.

In this way, the Japanese will be under tremendous psychological pressure and will send troops to block us.

Although Li Yunlong could not defeat the main force of the Japanese, he was still very confident in defeating the Japanese blocking forces.

At this moment, the communications company commander reported that the vanguard troops had arrived at Xinzhuang and established a defense line in Xinzhuang.

"Pass my order to the 152mm Howitzer Battalion and the 105mm Howitzer Battalion to establish positions and prepare for fire support!"

Li Yunlong said loudly.

"Commander, do you mean that the Japanese are likely to take the initiative to attack our vanguard troops in Xinzhuang?" Zhang Dabiao said with a change of expression.

"Not necessarily," Li Yunlong said, "but it's better to be prepared. If the Japanese attack Xinzhuang and our firepower support is not in place, the vanguard will definitely suffer heavy casualties."

Li Yunlong knew that the Japanese would definitely launch an ambush, but he didn't know where they were, after all, he didn't have a reconnaissance plane.

So halfway through the march, he ordered the main force to keep some distance from the vanguard.

If the Japanese attacked us instead of blocking us but ambushing us, the troops would probably not be able to react in time and suffer heavy losses.

"Let the soldiers of the artillery battalion remember Dora's camouflage net."

"Yes!" Zhang Dabiao straightened his body and quickly conveyed the order.

This area is already a flat terrain, with flat land everywhere, and artillery positions can be built everywhere. (End of this chapter)