"Your Excellency, Commander, I think we must send troops to support you!" Yoshio Shinozuka paused and said.
"support?"
Okamura Neji said angrily: "You idiot, we have no idea how many trump cards the Eighth Route Army has.
Since they can dispatch cavalry, it means that they have other trump cards in hand. We have no idea what these Tubal Lu want to do now!
If we send troops to support, the defense in the stronghold will inevitably be relaxed. If the Eighth Route Army chooses to attack our stronghold at this time, how will you respond?"
Hearing this, Yoshio Shinozuka bowed his head and remained silent.
Okamura Neiji added: "Give me my order. From now on, all troops will stick to the stronghold. No one is allowed to leave the stronghold without my order. Anyone who dares to disobey the order will be dealt with directly by military law!"
"Your Excellency General, how to deal with the surrounded imperial army?" Shinozuka Yoshio asked anxiously.
"You idiot, don't you have any back-up plan?" Okamura Neiji said angrily: "For such a big action, you didn't even prepare an emergency plan?"
"This..." Yoshio Shinozuka said with a confused look on his face: "I am indeed prepared for my job, but..."
He really wanted to do it, but then he thought that it was a complete waste of time and the Eighth Route Army would definitely take the bait, so fortunately he gave up the matter.
Yoshio Shinozuka thought that it would take a little effort in the middle, but he never thought that this battle would be so difficult.
Seeing Shinozuka Yoshio's expression, Okamura Neji knew that his question was nonsense. Now he didn't have much time to reprimand Shinozuka Yoshio.
The first priority is to recover losses as much as possible.
"Immediately send my order to all command posts via radio, so that they must get in touch with their troops no matter what method they use."
Okamura Neiji said angrily: "Let them hurry up and rendezvous, and report their location to me immediately!"
"Hai!" Yoshio Shinozuka stood up and responded, walking quickly to the radio station.
When the fighting was going on in northwest Shanxi, Ding Wei secretly sent cavalry to attack and destroy the Japanese roads and railway lines.
Even if they react, it will be difficult for them to provide support in a short time because the road is destroyed.
The little Japanese took the time to make amends, but Ding Wei didn't bother to pay attention to their tricks and issued combat orders in an orderly manner.
Let the cavalry brigade be dispatched first.
The cavalry brigade attacked in batches and relied on its high mobility to cause great damage to the Japanese roads and railways.
Especially for railway lines, although the Japanese have deployed fortifications on the railway, they cannot deploy them on every section of the road.
In some sparsely populated and poorly guarded locations, under the leadership of Sun Desheng and Ma San, a precise blasting was carried out.
In addition to the railway, it also includes several wooden bridges and stone bridges, completely cutting off communication between the two places.
The bombed railway tracks were not wasted. The district team and other units pulled the bombed railway tracks back to the base area.
These rails are good for making blades, how can you just throw them here, cheap little devil?
Under the high maneuverability of the cavalry, the pursuing Japanese troops could only retreat hastily, preparing to retreat to their strongholds to defend against the Eighth Route Army's attack.
Because it is close to the county seat, the stronghold here is strong and has abundant firepower. If the Japanese really want to stay there, they can easily hide for two months relying on the remaining supplies.
For some troops with sparse equipment, it may be difficult to capture these strongholds.
But the incoming force was the 28th Brigade, the first force to form an artillery battalion.
To take a step back, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is an artillery battalion, and the heavy firepower of the army is that of an artillery regiment.
It's a pity that these Japanese soldiers didn't realize who they had provoked.
With the rapid maneuvers of the cavalry, the Japanese soldiers rushed to the stronghold.
The Third Battalion and the Independent Battalion also quickly attacked under the leadership of Ding Wei. The Third Battalion, in company units, dispersed and attacked near the stronghold of Shang'an Town.
In addition, Ding Wei left a company from the 3rd Battalion to block the reinforcements leaving Ping'an County.
As long as the Japanese from Ping'an County dare to come out, there will be no reason to go back.
Ding Wei, on the other hand, led the independent battalion to lurk near Ping'an County, preparing to give the Japanese soldiers in the stronghold a big hit.
At that time, as long as the Japanese in Ping'an County go to support Shang'an Town, Ping'an County will be in their pocket.
Qiu Chan originally wanted to refuse Ding Wei's decision to take action personally and lead his troops to attack.
Because with Ding Wei's current status, if something unexpected happens, it is simply not something ordinary people can bear, especially the blow to morale.
But Ding Wei doesn't think so. Attacking the county town is an important matter. If the command is not in place, problems will definitely occur.
In the end, not only will their previous efforts be in vain, but all the advantages they finally gained on the battlefield will be lost.
Finally, with Ding Wei's repeated assurances, Qiu Chan was willing to let him go and ordered Xu Hu to never leave Ding Wei.
Even if Ding Wei was about to poop, Xu Hu had to watch him.
When everyone's attention was focused on Shuozhou and other places, no one would have thought that Ding Wei would actually target Ping'an County.
Ping'an County had abundant firepower, and the Japanese built a stronghold outside the city to resist the attacking troops.
Not to mention, this stronghold is quite impressive.
Moats, bunkers, gun towers and other fortifications are all available, but the number of people is not much.
And most of them are from the Imperial Army, so the Japanese will be defending in a safe place like the county town.
Even if the Eighth Route Army attacks the stronghold, it may not be able to invade the county seat.
However, these devils are also very clever.
If they encountered ordinary troops, this stronghold might be able to block them, but this time they encountered Ding Wei's 28th Brigade.
Ding Wei, who is full of firepower and convinces others with his martial ethics, will naturally not miss this good opportunity.
For Ding Wei, the only way to conquer this stronghold is to blow it up.
There is no stronghold that cannot be solved with one shot. If there is, then use another shot.
After everything was deployed, time quickly came to the scheduled attack time.
The soldiers did not hesitate at all and immediately launched a fierce attack on several strongholds in Shang'an Town in front of them.
Ding Wei obviously knew that the Japanese wanted to be a turtle.
On the battlefield, our side has taken the initiative again. Even if you want to be a turtle, have you obtained my consent?
Ding Wei also anticipated this and was not worried about the Japanese not coming out. If the Japanese didn't come out, it would save a lot of effort.
The Japanese soldiers at the Shang'an County stronghold soon learned what it meant to have abundant firepower.
Seven or eight mortars of different calibers launched an attack on the Shangan County stronghold at the same time.
After one round of test firing, not much of the surrounding high-voltage power grid had been blown up, and all roadblocks such as wooden spikes and barbed wire were also destroyed.
The Japanese soldiers in the stronghold were completely surrounded by bombs. They never thought that the Eighth Route Army actually had such firepower?
The ferocious firepower made it impossible for them to raise their heads and fight back, and many of them had grenades.
The shells thrown by the grenades flew in along the hole of the gun as if they had eyes.
While the attacking troops were still a few hundred meters away, the Japanese artillery towers and bunkers were destroyed.
The Japanese and puppet troops in the stronghold were stunned by the bombing. They wanted to rely on the defense of the stronghold to hold out until reinforcements arrived.
Obviously, they can only think about it.
The Japanese subconsciously believed that the Eighth Route Army wanted to capture Shang'an Town, which was more difficult to defeat than Ping'an County.
Shang'an Town is much larger, and there are not many imperial troops stationed in it.
Not even ten minutes into the war between the two sides, several fortifications were taken down. If things continue to develop, it will only be a matter of time before Tubal Road breaks through Shang'an Town.
Listening to the sounds of mortars, grenades, light and heavy machine guns, etc. outside.
The Japanese and puppet troops in Shang'an Town were trembling. They immediately reported the incident and began to request support to prevent the town from falling into the hands of the Eighth Route Army.
You know, Shang'an Town also stores a lot of supplies!
Taiyuan First Army Headquarters.
Just after Okamura Neji's order to defend the stronghold was given, he received another surprise.
"Your Excellency, Commander, something happened. The Eighth Route Army led its troops to attack Shang'an Town!"
The second lieutenant who had reported the bad news before stumbled in again, with a look of panic on his face.
"What did you say? The Eighth Route Army is attacking Shang'an Town?" Yoshio Shinozuka thought he heard wrongly.
"Hai, General!" the Japanese second lieutenant stood up and said.
"How could this happen!" Okamura Neiji said angrily: "Where are the surrounding defense forces? What are they doing? Are they just watching the enemy penetrate deeply?"
He was really angry.
First, the Eighth Route Army actually had extra troops.
Secondly, the Eighth Route Army was so brave that they dared to go to Anzhen.
Just past Shang'an Town is Ping'an County!
"Reporting to your Excellency, Commander, the enemy has cavalry to open the road..." The Japanese second lieutenant hesitated and said: "And you did not give an order strictly prohibiting them from leaving the stronghold."
Hearing this, Okamura Neji felt his scalp numb and his head buzzing.
Now he has begun to regret it and agreed to the transfer order from the base camp to transfer the elite of the First Army to support other battlefields.
Yoshio Shinozuka opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but his previous experience told him that it was best to just shut up and say nothing.
"Your Excellency, Commander, the enemy's firepower in this attack is very fierce. The Shang'an Imperial Army hopes that we can agree to send troops to support." The second lieutenant said cautiously.
"Otherwise, once Shang'an Town falls into the hands of Tubal Road, the supplies stored by the imperial army in the town will not be protected."
"Where is the closest stronghold to Shang'an Town?" Okamura Neji asked.
"Ping'an County!" the second lieutenant replied.
"Ping An County?" Okamura Neji frowned slightly.
"Hai." The second lieutenant responded: "The nearest one is Ping'an County, which only takes half an hour, and there is no news of the Eighth Route Army's attack there, so it is relatively safe."
"Is there no other way?" Okamura Neji asked again.
"It is also possible to use reinforcements from outside Ping'an County, but the support will take a little longer, and those strongholds are being harassed by enemy cavalry, so the battle cannot be resolved in a short time." The Japanese second lieutenant replied honestly.
"Baga Ya Road!" Okamura Neiji cursed and said angrily: "Immediately send half of the Ping An County defenders to support the retreat!"
"Ha Yi!" the Japanese second lieutenant responded and ran down quickly.
"Wait a moment!"
Hearing that Okamura Nei wanted to transfer the defenders of Ping An County, Shinozuka Yoshio hurriedly dissuaded him.
Having accumulated many years of experience fighting against the Eighth Route Army in Shanxi, he clearly felt that there was something wrong with this matter.
"What else is there?" Neji Okamura asked dissatisfiedly: "Do you have any other opinions on this matter?"
Shang'an Town stored a lot of supplies. Thinking about the losses suffered by Pingyuan Town, he felt distressed now. He was not willing to waste any more time.
"Your Excellency, Commander, the enemy may have done this on purpose. Maybe they have other motives." Shinozuka Yoshio said hurriedly.
"Purpose?" Okamura Neji asked: "Is it possible that they still dare to attack Ping'an County?"
"This..." Yoshio Shinozuka was not sure.
"Yoshio Shinozuka, don't forget that your stupidity caused tens of thousands of imperial troops to be trapped. I haven't settled the score with you yet!" Okamura Neji angrily scolded.
The continuous bad news made Okamura Neji dizzy with anger.
If it were normal, the admiral and commander would definitely be able to detect something amiss.
But now there is another bigger mess waiting for him to clean up.
Okamura Neiji rarely encounters this kind of defeat, and his nerves are already showing signs of problems. He just wants to deal with this matter as soon as possible.
Then we will rescue all the trapped imperial troops, and then wipe out all those Tubalu who are bold enough to take the initiative!
As for the Eighth Route Army's dare to attack Ping'an County?
Okamura Neiji would never believe this. He did not believe that the Eighth Route Army still had extra troops to attack the county town.
They also deployed defense lines to resist the imperial army's attack, set traps to attract the imperial army to penetrate deeper, and wantonly destroyed roads everywhere. Shang'an Town was also attacked.
All of these require military support, just the first two items.
It can make the Imperial Army feel like the main force of the Eighth Route Army. Will the number of troops be small?
Let alone trying to surround the Imperial Army's troops, how many people would be needed?
Therefore, when the Eighth Route Army attacked Ping'an County, Neji Okamura would not believe it even if he was beaten to death.
Seeing that Okamura Neji was angry, Shinozuka Yoshio did not dare to say anything, bowed his head and stepped aside honestly.
However, it won't take long for Neji Okamura to regret why he gave such a foolish order.
Ping'an County Office.
"Captain, look, look quickly!" Xu Hu pointed in the direction of Ping'an County.
A Japanese army was hurriedly coming out of the city and heading towards Shang'an Town.
Seeing this scene, Ding Wei showed a sneer on his lips.
This little devil finally took the bait.
"Come here, give me my order. In fifteen minutes, the whole team will join me to attack Ping'an County!" Ding Wei said coldly.
"Yes!" Xu Hu stood up and responded and began to convey Ding Wei's order.
Because the Japs were very cooperative, the scene that Ding Wei and Qiu Chan had deduced before happened.
The Japanese thought they would attack Anzhen and chose to send troops to support it, thus causing the defense of Ping'an County to be weak.
"Captain, I don't understand something." Xu Hu said confused.
"Say." Ding Wei said.
Xu Hu asked: "Are you so sure that the Japanese will send troops to support them? What if they are unwilling to come out? How should you respond?"
"Whether they come out or not, it won't hinder my attack on Ping'an County. It's just that the fighting process is different and we have to kill more than a hundred Japanese." Ding Wei said.
"The most difficult step in conquering Ping'an County is how to get close to the county seat, not how to capture it.
Relying on the high mobility of the cavalry and their ability to attract the attention of the Japanese, we have successfully led our troops to the vicinity of the county seat without the Japanese noticing anything.
For us, this is already halfway successful, now all we have to do is..."
Having said this, Ding Wei lowered his head and glanced at the time.
"What is it?" Xu Hu was a little surprised.
"It's to break through the city gate and capture Ping'an County!" Ding Wei said in a shocked voice: "Give me the order and let the artillery bomb me!"