The news that the Eighth Route Army had recaptured Taiyuan began with a clear telegram sent from the Eighth Route Army headquarters, and then spread rapidly throughout China like a hurricane.
By noon, this news had been published in many newspapers, and it was definitely the front page.
Not only the Jinsui Army Headquarters, but also the Chinese and Japanese troops with radio stations, and people from all walks of life knew that the Eighth Route Army had recaptured Taiyuan.
The Chongqing National Government naturally received the clear telegram immediately.
And reported it to Principal Chang Kaishen.
Principal Chang lost his temper immediately after reading the telegram, scolding the Japanese for being pigs, scolding Yan Lao Xiyang for disobeying Yin, missing the opportunity to fight, and Niang Xipi...
at the same time.
"Xinhua Daily" published this headline news, along with the announcement that the Eighth Route Army was recruiting patriotic young people to fight on the front lines, attracting many patriotic young people with ideals and ambitions to sign up.
Since the Eighth Route Army launched the major offensive on Taiyuan and Zhengtai Railway.
In fact, the battle of Taiyuan and Zhengtai Railway is serialized on the headlines of Xinhua Daily almost every day, gaining a large number of fans across the country.
For example: The Eighth Route Army surrounded the 21st Regiment, 24th Division, and 41st Division of the Japanese Fifth Division on the outskirts of Taiyuan, with more than 30,000 people.
For example: He gave the Japanese Fifth Division a head-on blow near Caidong Village, killing more than 4,000 Japanese soldiers.
Also: The Eighth Route Army surrounded 3 Japanese divisions and 2 brigades at Niangziguan.
Inspiring, the Eighth Route Army successfully recaptured Taiyuan!
…
These are the headlines of Xinhua Daily for more than half a month.
certainly.
The Xinhua Daily headlines will be strictly reviewed and they will only report on the battle situation and will not reveal the Eighth Route Army's battle plan in the newspaper.
And it is not a real-time broadcast. With the current conditions of the Eighth Route Army, real-time broadcast is not possible.
Of course, this also allowed some Japanese to learn about the real war situation in North China through newspapers.
In order not to shake the morale of the Japanese army, they usually reported good news but not bad news. Even if the Japanese army lost a battle, they would still say it was a victory.
Every time the official media of the Eighth Route Army publishes a headline, other newspapers and media reprint it one after another, and the attention of the military and civilians across the country is focused on Shanxi.
It was very popular in the Kuomintang-controlled area for a while.
It completely shattered the rumor that the Eighth Route Army was loitering but not attacking.
The "Central Daily News" founded by the National Government was reduced to a second-rate media.
After learning that the Eighth Route Army had recaptured Taiyuan and wiped out tens of thousands of enemies, the whole country was excited.
However, the Battle of Shota is not over yet.
The headline series of "Xinhua Daily" has not ended yet.
…
"General."
"Signs of battle were found in the woods ahead, as well as more than a dozen killed military horses, as well as the broken corpses of several of our special agents."
Outside a forest about 25 kilometers away from Shouyang County, a special agent team member who went to conduct reconnaissance in the woods ahead returned to report to Kazuki Yamamoto.
Since Kazuki Yamamoto was promoted to major general, the special agents have all called him general.
"Have you found General Iwasatsu?"
Yamamoto Kazuki's eyes darkened and he asked with an ugly face.
"No!"
The special agent lowered his head and replied.
At that moment, Yamamoto Kazuki galloped towards the woods, followed by more than a dozen special agents with MP38 submachine guns hanging on their chests.
Yamamoto Kazuki and more than a dozen special agents fled to Shouyang County and met with the 40th Division Commander Aoki Seiichi.
He did not act with the 40th Division, but led the special agents along a path to look for Yoshio Iwamatsu.
Finally, some traces of the battle were discovered in this small forest, as well as the bodies of several killed agents.
"Be alert!"
Yamamoto Kazuki looked around with wary eyes, and several agents around him quickly dispersed on horseback.
Soon, Kazuki Yamamoto personally inspected the traces of the battle.
Yamamoto carefully looked at the bullet holes in the trees, the blood stains on the ground, the bullet casings on the ground, and the wounds where the agents were shot.
"General, what did you find?"
Captain Goro Oga asked, carrying a radio on his back. However, the special agent team's radio station had always maintained radio silence in order to prevent exposure.
"These special agents should have died protecting the injured General Yansong."
Yamamoto Kazuki said in a deep voice:
"Otherwise, they have already run here, and they will definitely be able to escape the pursuit of the Eighth Route Cavalry and head to Shouyang."
"What about General Iwamatsu?" Korogoro's expression changed slightly.
"General Yansong was either captured by the Eighth Route Army, or his jade was broken into pieces, and his body was taken away by the Eighth Route Army." Yamamoto's eyes became more and more gloomy.
At this moment, a special agent team member ran over quickly and whispered to Yamamoto Kazuki: "General, the Eighth Route Cavalry has been discovered!"
"How many people are there in the Eighth Route Cavalry?"
Yamamoto Kazuki's hand grasped the handle of the submachine gun on his chest, and his words were filled with murderous intent.
Now General Yansong's life and death are unknown, and most of the special agents he spent a lot of time and effort to train are in pieces. All of this is caused by the Eighth Route Army cavalry.
Of course Kazuki Yamamoto will avenge this.
"No less than a hundred cavalry." The agent team member lowered his head and replied, "There may be more Eighth Route Army cavalry behind."
Yamamoto Kazuki's face froze. If the Eighth Route Army cavalry only had a dozen or twenty, then he would definitely do one of his jobs.
But the Eighth Route Army came with hundreds of cavalry. Even if it was an ambush, even if one of them could equal ten, this number of people would not be enough to fill the teeth of the Eighth Route Army cavalry.
"retreat!"
Yamamoto Kazuki's right hand subconsciously released the handle of the gun, and issued the retreat order without hesitation.
Unable to defeat him, he slipped away.
The agent team member who reported the report immediately put his hand to his mouth and blew a bird call, then got on his horse and quickly left behind Yamamoto Kazuki. The agent team member in charge of the alert quickly followed after hearing the retreat signal.
…
five minutes later.
A group of heavily armed Eighth Route Army cavalry entered the woods.
"Hush!"
The leading cavalry company commander looked around cautiously and found something was wrong, so he stopped his horse.
A veteran got off his horse, came to the ground and looked at the fresh horse manure and the horse hoof prints on the ground. He turned around and said to the cavalry company commander:
"Company Commander, this horse dung is fresh, and the horse dung was pulled out by military horses that had eaten refined grains. They should be Japanese cavalry. Judging from the horse's hoof prints, there should be more than a dozen cavalry. They left less than ten minutes ago."
The cavalry company commander narrowed his eyes and looked in the direction where the Japanese had left.
"Company commander, catch up and do your damn job?"
The deputy company commander riding on a military horse beside him was eager to try.
This company is the 3rd Company of the 1st Battalion of the Eighth Route Army Cavalry.
The cavalry of the New First Regiment and the New Second Regiment had completed the task of chasing the escaping Japanese infantry. After a night's rest, they received the task again and pursued the Japanese 40th Division and the 56th Division along Zhengtai Road.
In addition, the political commissar of the 129th Division left part of the army to clean up the battlefield and led the main force to pursue them along Zhengtai Road.
"It should be the reconnaissance cavalry of the 40th Division." The company commander sounded confused, "Didn't the 40th Division go towards Yangquan? Why did they send cavalry in the opposite direction?"
"Could it be that the 40th Division just turned around?"
The instructor on the side tentatively analyzed:
To be continued...