As soon as the Lijiapo war broke out, the entire southeastern Shanxi capital area became lively.
Japanese Chief of Staff Seishiro Itagaki, Commander of the Japanese Expeditionary Force in China, General Nishio Hiszo, Japanese Expeditionary Force in North China, Shun Tada, and Commander of the Japanese First Army in Shanxi, Yoshio Shinozuka, were all looking at the map at their respective headquarters.
and wait for news.
The operational staff of headquarters at all levels were busy working on the map. On the map, Guanjianao was surrounded by arrows of different colors.
Two regiments of the Japanese 37th Division and the Mountain Artillery Regiment, two regiments of the 36th Division, the 29th Brigade, and the 9th Brigade.
Various Japanese troops marched towards the Guanjianao area to attack separately.
At the same time, the reinforcement troops from various departments in the southeast Shanxi base area have also exchanged fire with the Japanese reinforcement troops.
The order from the Eighth Route Army headquarters is to prevent enemy reinforcements at all costs.
Around the little-known hilltop of Guanjianao, the entire Eighth Route Army troops and Japanese troops in the southeastern Shanxi base formed a decisive battle posture.
In the Guanjianao ring fortification, Yamazaki, middle left, felt something was not right.
After the Eighth Route Army organized two or three attacks, it did not continue the attack.
Yamazaki Zhongzuo intuitively realized that the Eighth Route Army must be preparing for a more violent attack.
But he was not too worried, let alone the casualties, although the Yamazaki Brigade had suffered more than 300 casualties in the previous battles, and there were still 1,000 people left.
He knew that all the armies were closing in on him. With the favorable terrain, sufficient ammunition, and close air support, there was no problem in holding on for two more days.
What surprised Yamazaki was that this group of Tubal soldiers had a very tenacious will to fight and their morale was also very strong.
Except for the weapons and equipment that are inferior to the Japanese army, there is not much difference between them and the elite Japanese army in other aspects.
Their commander gave an order, and all the soldiers charged forward one after another. Even if they fell on the way to the charge, not a single soldier took a step back.
This force is definitely not a group of beggars with crude weapons as promoted by the propaganda department.
In addition, the Eighth Route Army's artillery was actually very powerful.
The Yamazaki detachment's artillery configuration is very luxurious, equipped with 12 Type 92 infantry guns, 16 Type 97 81mm mortars, and more than 80 grenade launchers. It actually fell behind in the morning artillery battle. This is simply
Unimaginable.
In order to prevent himself from being too passive, Yamazaki prepared to take the initiative.
He lay down on the circular trench, carefully observed the situation around the battlefield, and called staff officer Matsuki Kumagoshi over.
"Matsuki-kun, after dark, you lead two squadrons of imperial troops to take down that hilltop."
Yamazaki Yehei pointed to the top of Fengnaoding Mountain opposite, which has an altitude no lower than the main peak of Guanjianao, and said to Matsuki Kumagi.
In the morning, Yamazaki Yehei prepared to send a squadron of soldiers to seize the hilltop, but the Eighth Route Army took the lead.
We lost the opportunity, and considering that the eight-way artillery firepower was a bit strong, we prepared a sneak attack in the middle of the night.
"Hi!"
Songmu Xiong Giton said: "The captain is wise, I admire you!"
"That hilltop and the Guanjianao Highlands are at an angle to each other. As long as they occupy that hilltop, no matter which hilltop Tuba Road attacks, they will be attacked by the other hilltop."
"In this way, we can hold on for at least two days."
After a pause, Matsuki Kumaki looked worried: "But will our reinforcements arrive in two days?"
Yamazaki Yehei held the sword given by the Emperor and said confidently: "It doesn't take two days for the reinforcements to arrive here. It only takes one day."
"We have firmly attracted the main force of the Eighth Route Army here, and when the counter-encirclement by the reinforcements is completed, another center will bloom."
As Yamazaki spoke, he made a fist with his right hand, palm upward, and quickly spread his five fingers.
"When this battle is over..."
"Commander Tada promised to transfer me to the 225th Regiment of the 37th Division as the commander."
"The 225th Regiment still lacks an adjutant. I will apply to Commander Tada to transfer you, Matsuki-kun."
"Yo Xi!" Yamazaki's face showed a proud look. He felt that he would make great achievements in the Battle of Guanjianao and become famous in one battle.
The future is bright.
…
In the new regiment's forward command post.
"Report to the regimental commander that all the artillery of the new regiment are in place!"
"The brigade artillery regiment is ready!"
"The Independent Regiment and the New Second Regiment have completed the construction of artillery positions and are ready to fire at any time!"
"The division artillery regiment is ready!"
Signal soldiers kept running in to report to Li Yunlong.
The last to be prepared was the divisional artillery regiment.
The artillery regiment of the brigade was originally located near Guanjianao, so there was no need to make too many preparations.
The divisional artillery regiment was not far from Guanjianao and rushed over immediately after receiving the order.
Moreover, the artillery positions of each mountain artillery group are set up in different positions. A few kilometers away from Guanjianao, precise shooting methods are used to determine the shooting points.
Each mortar group also built mortar positions at invisible locations on the Guanjianao main peak position.
Although the Japanese army on the Guanjianao Mountains did not have mountain field artillery, they were equipped with Type 92 infantry artillery, which had a longer range than mortars.
Once the Japanese discovered the Eighth Route Army's mortar position, the artillery shells came directly from the Guanjianao main peak position.
The quality of the Japanese artillerymen is not something you can just boast about.
For air defense, the brigade commander and division commander took out all the large-caliber heavy machine guns and machine guns handed over by Li Yunlong to protect the mountain artillery and mortar positions.
Moreover, many fake artillery positions were made to confuse Japanese pilots.
Hearing that the division's artillery regiment was ready, Li Yunlong did not hesitate to use the radio to give the order for the mountain artillery test firing.
At this time, Lijian captain Lu Yingjun was staying with the snipers at Fengnaoding with a radio communication machine.
The mountain artillery groups are in three different directions. Once the cannons are fired, no one knows who has missed, and there is no way to adjust the shooting elements.
Therefore, each mountain artillery group must take turns to test-fire first to ensure that every shell falls on the Japanese position after the bombardment begins.
At the moment, Lu Yingjun was using the radio channel to adjust the precise firing parameters based on the test firing points of the division artillery regiment, the brigade artillery regiment, and the new regiment's mountain artillery battalion.
…
At the 386th Brigade forward headquarters.
"salute!"
The brigade commander heard the sound of the sentry at the door, turned his head on the ladder and looked at the door, and saw the boss and chief of staff walking in.
"Boss, Chief of Staff?"
"Why are you here? It's very dangerous here. The kid's plane just left not long ago."
"It's better to go back to the headquarters quickly."
The brigade commander quickly advised.
"What nonsense!" the boss snorted, "You are not afraid of danger, and the soldiers on the front line are not afraid of danger. Are the chief of staff and I afraid of danger?"
The boss stepped on the ladder and raised the telescope on his chest to look. He only saw sporadic shells falling near the Guanjianao Highlands.
Immediately he said in surprise: "What is this kid Li Yunlong doing? Why haven't you started attacking yet?"
Ever since Captain Li stopped causing trouble, the boss also fell in love with Li Yunlong.
A cadre who doesn't cause trouble, can lead troops and win battles, and can also engage in side jobs to obtain weapons and ammunition is a treasure.
Who doesn't like it?
The brigade commander smiled and explained: "Li Yunlong is testing the impact point of the mountain cannon. This time Li Yunlong borrowed my artillery regiment and the division commander's artillery regiment."
"He also said he could reimburse the shells and cannons damaged in the battle."
"That's it..." the boss said with a smile, "If I had known I had lent the artillery brigade to Li Yunlong, it would have been reimbursed anyway, just so my artillerymen can practice."
"That's not possible," said the brigade commander. "The artillery and artillery involved in the battle need anti-aircraft protection from machine guns and large-caliber heavy machine guns."
"Boss, if you add the artillery brigade, you won't have so many machine guns and large-caliber heavy aircraft."
"Without the protection of machine guns and large-caliber heavy machine guns, the mountain artillery brigade would become a living target for Japanese aircraft."
The boss nodded and said: "That's true."
"It's better to come early than to come well." The chief of staff smiled, "Boss, we are just in time. This time we can also observe how this boy Li Yunlong fights."
"Um!"
The boss nodded heavily.
…
The Eighth Route Army did not attack for a long time, and there was silence all around the mountains and fields.
It was so quiet that the Japs on Guanjianao Highlands felt chills in their hearts.
Soldiers dislike silence the most, because silence on the battlefield often contains greater dangers and heralds more intense battles.
Yamazaki felt a little panicked for no reason, so he ordered the soldiers to continue building their positions and make some noise.
The Eighth Route Army on the hilltop diagonally across seemed to have increased its troops, but Yamazaki was not prepared to alert the enemy.
When it is almost dark, let the artillery prepare to shoot at Zhuyuan. After dark, let the artillery fire wash the ground there. The two squadrons can capture the high ground with just one charge.
However, not long after, artillery shells fell intermittently, some on the Guanjianao high ground, and some on the foot of the mountain.
Yamazaki Yehei was immediately confused.
The Eighth Route Army wouldn't want to launch an attack with this level of artillery fire, right?
That’s too little regard for me, Yamazaki Yehei, the center left!
The artillery squadron leader hurried over and paused: "Captain, this is the test firing of the Eighth Route Army's artillery. It is to provide reference for shooting Zhu Yuan Xiuding before the official bombardment."
"Nani?" Yamazaki Yehei was suddenly stunned. The shells were fired from three different directions just now. Didn't there be three artillery groups on the Eighth Route?
The leader of the Japanese artillery squadron continued: "According to the trajectory of the artillery shells, the artillery positions of the Eighth Route Army are far away from us. There must be observers of the Eighth Route Artillery near us."
Yamazaki Yehei understood it as soon as he heard it. He immediately raised the telescope on his chest and looked around, and finally locked on the top of Fengnaoding Mountain diagonally opposite. Only that mountaintop nearby could see the impact point of Guanjianao Mountain.
"Send the order!"
"The artillery squadron immediately shelled the Eighth Route Army position diagonally across the hill."
"The communications team immediately called the aviation force to find and destroy the eight-way artillery position!"
Yamazaki Yehei held the command knife tightly, his face was ferocious, and he almost growled and issued orders.
But it's too late.
Chirp!
Hearing the sound, Yamazaki Yehei raised his head as thick as his neck and looked up at the sky, where a red signal flare slowly rose into the sky.
His eyes were puzzled.
Isn’t the artillery position of the Eighth Route Army very far away? What does it mean to send a signal flare at such a close distance?
Soon Yamazaki Yehei knew what this meant, and the screams of many, many shells tearing the air rang in his ears.
The first round of more than 140 artillery shells fell on the Japanese position in Guanjianao from different directions. The metal projectiles with the smell of death exploded and made a series of muffled thunder-like sounds.
The entire highland of Guanjianao was immediately plunged into a sea of smoke and fire.