Chapter 274 Lancheng fell, trying to encircle the 48th Independent Brigade

The 71st Division began to move into Lancheng and Jingle City, with four artillery positions behind them to provide cover for them.

The 48th Independent Brigade assembled on the south side, and officers such as Chu Yunfei and Chen Ziyun were in charge of the command. They paid close attention to the battlefield situation.

After the commander's department made adjustments, the battlefield situation changed instantly.

The Little Japanese troops immediately made changes and formed an independent Ninth and 16th Brigade to form a force of 4,000 people to participate.

These four thousand troops have always been assisting in operations on the south side, but Chen Ziyun had previously commanded the troops to carry out strikes.

At present, they are reuniting with the 27th Division, and as the 48th Independent Brigade advances to the south.

The little Japs, who had only 3,000 troops left after being beaten, did not dare to return to the south to fight.

After the 27th Division headquarters received the news, they did not dare to gather all their troops to attack Lancheng with all their strength.

After all, although the 48th Independent Brigade suffered a certain degree of losses, their remaining troops still have strong combat capabilities.

"This means that the Seventh Army troops may advance to the battlefield at any time and engage in defensive operations here."

However, just when the defensive positions of the Japanese and puppet troops were shaken, the junction between Lancheng and Jingle City was broken through by the 27th Division.

For a time, the 71st Division troops stationed in Lancheng were under great pressure.

The 71st Division troops stationed in Lancheng and Jingle City took the opportunity to rest and quickly restore the physical fitness of the officers and soldiers.

They launched an attack on Jingle Castle overnight, while Kojima Shinko's troops and Yanashita Shigeharu's troops launched a counterattack directly with the cooperation of the 27th Division Search Wing and other troops.

"Your Excellency, Commander, if the Shanxi-Sui Army troops continue to increase their combat strength, we may not have any advantage."

"Now that they are defending Lan City and Jingle City, it obviously shows that the Jinsui Army is ambitious. After all, the distance here is too far and very close."

"They may even resort to wheel-and-wheel warfare, constantly consuming our troops, and eventually the frontline troops will suffer heavy casualties."

Zhao Yinfu knew the fighting situation on the front line, but he couldn't help but take a breath of air.

Otherwise, the 48th Independent Brigade threatens the 27th Division from the flanks, and it will be difficult for them to fully launch an attack.

These tanks and armored vehicles use machine guns to carry out operations to attack the 48th Independent Brigade.

He asked the 27th Division and other troops to continue fighting and capture Lancheng and Jingle City no matter what!

Kojima Nobuki commanded the special garrison, the 1st Army Division of the Royal Association Army, and the 7th Mixed Brigade of the Royal Association Army with more than 10,000 troops, and they went south to fight.

The third regiment of the garrisoned infantry and the Yamamoto Special Forces successfully captured the junction and quickly advanced in depth.

This time, the little devils have gathered a lot of troops. According to their plan, these troops are going to achieve results quickly.

He has an intelligence background, so he knows the situation in Jin Province very well.

"If the Jinsui Army gathers heavy troops here in the future, they will sooner or later launch an attack on Taiyuan, directly threatening the security of our military headquarters."

Apart from anything else, they still have about 7,000 troops. Once these troops attack from the flank, they will still pose a great threat.

Special garrison, two reinforced infantry brigades, an artillery brigade, as well as tanks and armored vehicle units.

After the 48th Independent Brigade launched its attack, 105MM mountain guns launched a fierce shelling.

In the past, when the 48th Independent Brigade fought, the Shanxi-Sui Army would provide supplies, ammunition and personnel to supplement the troops.

Officers such as Nobumasa Tominaga also contacted subordinate officers one after another to convey combat orders from the military headquarters.

"So I think we must not only continue the battle between Lan City and Jingle City, but we must also win here."

At around 11 o'clock in the evening, after both sides suffered casualties, the 48th Independent Brigade stopped attacking and quickly withdrew.

If the 71st Division had not taken over the defense in time and continued fighting at this level, the 48th Independent Brigade would have been exhausted sooner or later.

At this time, the first section chief came to Yoshio Shinozuka, and he directly made suggestions.

"Based on the current situation, the Jinsui Army wants to launch a large-scale battle with us here."

In a head-to-head battle, even if they achieve results, they will suffer certain casualties.

"Your Excellency, Commander, if we withdraw our attacking troops at this time, wouldn't we be showing weakness to the Shanxi-Sui Army?"

This means that they only have two days!

Commander Guo of the 33rd Army quickly reported to Commander-in-Chief Zhao Yinfu of the Group Army.

However, the 71st Division troops continued to defend under four artillery positions. After all, they had more than 6,000 troops.

The 27th Division Search Regiment, the Engineer Regiment with 2,000 troops, the 1st Army Division of the Royal Association Army, and the 7th Mixed Brigade of the Royal Association Army with 12,000 troops.

This is also the reason why the 48th Independent Brigade was able to obtain results several times after launching operations.

The total number of troops invested by the Japanese and puppet troops exceeded 40,000, and the aviation force also fully supported the operation.

Early on the morning of the 30th, around eight o'clock, the Japanese air force came over the battlefield again.

Chief of Staff Hanagu was making a report with documents, his brows were slightly wrinkled and his mood was not very good.

Here in Jingle City, there are the Kojima Shinhung Special Guards, the 1st Army Division of the Royal Association Army, and the 7th Mixed Brigade of the Royal Association Army with 15,600 troops.

As night fell, at eight o'clock in the evening, the 48th Independent Brigade troops began to take the initiative.

The 48th Independent Brigade was restrained and attacked by a large number of Japanese and puppet troops, and was gradually in a situation of being surrounded.

They were scattered in different areas and built complete bunker positions.

The Yamamoto Special Agent Team is assigned to the 27th Division for combat operations.

In defense, they will actively launch counterattacks to prevent the attacking forces from exerting continuous pressure on the defending forces.

"Once a field division is defeated, the consequences are not something we can bear."

One bomber after another began to carry out carpet bombing on Lancheng, and the troops of the 27th Division launched an all-out attack.

After Chu Yunfei received the report, he decisively commanded the troops to attack.

He had no idea that the situation in the battle would turn around in such an instant.

Here in Lancheng, there are 20,000 troops of the 27th Division, which are independently mixed into the 9th and 16th Brigade, and more than 4,000 troops.

The Jinsui Army began to deploy troops to join the battlefield. This was not good news for the Japanese army.

The previous section chief, Ryuzo Takeshita, has been transferred to the 12th Army, so the current section chief, Colonel, has just been appointed.

The little Japanese troops could not get enough rest time. They were worried that they would be attacked at night, so they could only strengthen their vigilance.

On the contrary, the little devils here have four 99-type 105MM mountain cannons and eight Jin-made 16-type 105MM mountain cannons.

Tominaga Nobumasa's 27th Division troops attacked Arashi City with all their strength. They wanted to capture Arashi City in the shortest possible time.

Kojima Nobuhiro also developed a relatively complete defensive battle plan after repeated research.

The First Army Headquarters assigned an Army Lieutenant Colonel Nobuhiro Kojima to command such a large number of troops in combat, which shows the First Army Headquarters' trust in him.

These large-caliber mountain guns also played a strong fulcrum role in combat.

After the Japanese and puppet troops received the combat order from the First Army Headquarters, they began to mobilize.

The commander of the First Army, Yoshio Shinozuka, looked at the map and fell into deep thought. He did not express his opinion for a long time.

For a time, the Japanese and puppet army officers expressed their opinions one after another. They stated that they would completely capture Lan City and Jingle City before midnight on December 31st!

Time is passing, and the night is passing by in a hurry.

After Yoshio Shinozuka listened to the advice of the Chief of Staff, he nodded thoughtfully.

The First Army Headquarters conducted repeated discussions on the frontline combat situation, and they began to adjust their attack strategy.

"This unit is the earliest division-level combat unit organized in the Shanxi-Sui Army. They have certain combat effectiveness."

"You must know that the Shanxi-Sui Army troops had little courage to fight us before, but later their independent 48th Brigade continued to gain results by fighting against us."

However, after a long period of fierce fighting, physical energy and ammunition are consumed, and weapons are destroyed, the morale of the officers and soldiers will naturally be affected.

The participating troops of the independent mixed 3rd, 9th, and 16th brigades will be united, and the 5,000-strong force will be under the unified command of Yanashita Shigeharu.

"Currently, the troops responsible for the defense of Lancheng and Jingle City are the 71st Division of the 33rd Army of the 7th Group Army of the Shanxi-Sui Army."

When it was past ten o'clock in the morning, Commander Zhao of the 71st Division hurriedly began to contact the 48th Independent Brigade.

They currently only have the 11th Reserve Regiment and the mountain artillery company directly under the 12th Reserve Regiment.

At five o'clock in the afternoon, the sky gradually became dark.

Hanatani felt that the Japanese troops needed to stop in time to avoid an uncontrollable situation.

However, this Japanese and puppet army still maintained a strength of tens of thousands, and they did not achieve much results in subsequent operations, and their casualties did not continue to increase.

Kojima Nobuhiro also knew that the 48th Independent Brigade had certain anti-armor combat capabilities, so he just arranged these tanks and armored vehicles for mobile operations.

Especially the 27th Division, they showed the fierce strength of a field division.

Yoshio Shinozuka personally issued an order this time, requiring all ministries to complete the operation before February.

The mountain artillery regiment continued to carry out shelling, and a large number of artillery shells fell one after another around the position.

After all, if a large number of Jinsui troops were deployed to fight in Lancheng and Jingle City, the consequences would be disastrous.

After the troops of the 27th Division captured Lancheng, they did not rest and recuperate, but continued to attack.
To be continued...