Chapter 390: Break into Taiyuan and capture Yoshio Shinozuka alive!
"Report to the general, the reconnaissance plane has been conducting reconnaissance along the Baijin Line for a whole day and found no trace of the Eighth Route Army!"
Taiyuan, First Army Headquarters.
Communications Staff Officer Toshimatsu Kasai reported to Commander Yoshio Shinozuka.
During the day, the 32nd Reconnaissance Team of the Kwantung Army and the reconnaissance planes taking off from Xincheng Airport dispatched dozens of reconnaissance sorties along the Baijin Line, but failed to find the Eighth Route Army.
"No?"
Yoshio Shinozuka stared at the map, his eyes narrowed slightly, revealing his thoughts.
Am I being paranoid?
If the main force of the Eighth Route Army came north from the Yuliao Highway, then the Eighth Route Army did not have that many troops to attack Taiyuan.
Think about it, the Eighth Route Army only has a main force of 50,000 to 60,000 at most, which can cope with the 37th Division and the 2nd Guards Division at most.
If the Eighth Route Army allocates half of its troops to attack the 37th Division and half its troops to attack Taiyuan, then the 2nd Guards Division can immediately reinforce it, but the Eighth Route Army will not be able to attack Taiyuan no matter what.
Then the strategic intention of the Eighth Route Army was clearly revealed. Half of the troops were trying to open the southward passage to rescue the Central Army, and half of the troops were trying to cut off the Chengtai-Taiwan Railway.
After all, the Eighth Route Army still does not have enough troops. If a main force of more than 20,000 people moves northward at this time, it can threaten Taiyuan.
Kasai Toshimatsu added: "In addition, according to the report of the 32nd Flying Squadron of the Kwantung Army, they exchanged fire with the Eighth Route Air Defense Force on the Heliao Highway. The Eighth Route Air Defense Firepower was very powerful, and the 32nd Squadron lost 2 attack aircraft and 1 fighter!"
The Taihang 1st Column led by the brigade commander is equipped with more than 80 machine guns.
Although the brigade commander ordered the cannons and artillery shells to be hidden, the troops were relatively scattered.
However, the brigade commander set a trap and used several fake cannons as bait. The Japanese pilots were indeed fooled and swooped down one after another.
More than 40 machine guns opened fire at the same time, and three Japanese planes were shot down on the spot. Several other Japanese planes fled in a hurry. After that, the Japanese planes only dared to conduct high-altitude reconnaissance and did not dare to attack at low altitudes.
"Also, in the sky over Xiangyuan County, the 32nd Flying Group was also shot down by an Eighth Route Army machine gun!"
In the area of Xiangyuan and Licheng, it goes without saying that Yoshio Shinozuka knew that this must be the main force of the Eighth Route Army.
If they were militiamen, they would definitely not have a back-and-forth fight with the 37th Division.
And the Eighth Route Air Defense firepower on the Heliao Highway is actually so powerful, so there is a high probability that it is also the main force of the Eighth Route Army.
"Kasai-kun, haven't we contacted the two groups of scouts deployed on the Baijin Line yet?" Yoshio Shinozuka asked in a deep voice.
"Report to General, we haven't contacted you yet, these two groups of scouts may have been destroyed!" Kasai Toshimatsu lowered his head and replied.
The two groups of scouts lost contact at the same time. It was definitely not as simple as a radio failure. There must have been an accident, and the accident happened before there was time to call for help.
At this time, the Japanese troops in the counties near the Baijin Line had already withdrawn to Taiyuan. Apart from aerial reconnaissance, there was no other way to conduct reconnaissance on the Baijin Line.
If the Eighth Route Army hides in dense woods during the day, the aviation reconnaissance planes cannot see it at all.
The Eighth Route Army has always been cunning and cunning. The headquarters of the First Army is in Taiyuan, so it has to be guarded against.
"Order!" Yoshio Shinozuka emphasized.
Toshimatsu Kasai put his feet together, held a folder and a pen, and made a gesture of listening and preparing to record.
Yoshio Shinozuka said: "Lieutenant Colonel Takahashi Sorō led the imperial army that transferred from various counties to Taiyuan, and the 5th Mixed Brigade of the 3rd Independent Division of the Imperial Association Army immediately went to Xiaodian Town in the south of Taiyuan City to build defenses."
There were approximately 2,000 Japanese troops transferred to Taiyuan from various counties.
The 5th Mixed Brigade of the 3rd Independent Division of the puppet army has more than 3,000 people.
The main force of the Eighth Route Army is in Xiangyuan, Licheng and the Heliao Highway area. Even if the Eighth Route Army has troops going north from the Baijin Line, it is estimated that there will not be too many.
Even if these 5,000 troops cannot block the Eighth Route Army, they can still buy Taiyuan a lot of time to prepare.
"Call the intelligence staff officer Ando-kun."
"Hi!" Kasai Toshimatsu recorded the order, lowered his feet, turned around and walked out.
After Toshimatsu Kasai left, Yoshio Shinozuka looked at the intelligence adviser Takeo Andeng in the conference hall:
"Ando-kun, your intelligence department is given half a day to find out who the commanders of the Eighth Route are on the line between Xiangyuan and Licheng and north along the Heliao Highway."
"I want to know the results tomorrow morning."
If you ask Yoshio Shinozuka who he is most afraid of, it must be Li Yunlong.
Not knowing Li Yunlong's movements, he, Shinozuka Yoshio, had trouble sleeping and eating.
"Hi!" An Tengwunan had no choice but to nod his head.
…
At night, the Japanese planes were unable to conduct reconnaissance, so Li Yunlong led the Taihang 3rd Column to continue northward.
After passing Taigu, there is a plain. Going further north to Taiyuan, the terrain is flat.
If it were during the day, with so many troops marching, they would definitely have nowhere to hide and would be detected by the Japanese planes.
However, the Eighth Route Army chose to march at night without lighting torches, so it was impossible for Japanese planes to detect it.
In addition, the Japanese have withdrawn all their troops from Taigu to Taiyuan, so no one will deliver news to the Japanese.
Under the leadership of Li Yunlong, the Taihang 3rd Column marched all the way out of the mountainous area and continued to advance toward Taiyuan.
After arriving on the plains, the troops' marching speed became faster, because the troops had to arrive outside Taiyuan City the next morning.
In the middle of the night, the attack group troops of the Taihang 3rd Column arrived at Chujia Village to assemble. Soon, two artillery regiments also caught up.
It is only 30 kilometers away from Taiyuan City and can be reached in a few hours of urgent march.
Li Yunlong ordered all ministries to take a temporary rest, and he ordered the leaders of each attack group and the commanders of each regiment to go to the headquarters for a meeting.
In less than 10 minutes, Ding Wei, Cheng Shifa, Kong Jie and the leaders of each regiment arrived at the headquarters.
Looking at the expectant eyes of everyone, Li Yunlong sighed in his heart.
Today's 129th Division has a very strong combat effectiveness. The main force plus militiamen may number 200,000.
Able to wrestle with two or three divisions of the Japanese army head-on, or even defeat them.
It was even possible to organize a larger offensive than the Hundred Regiment War to counterattack Taiyuan, mainly due to the sufficient weapons, ammunition and food supplies provided by Chen Laodi.
If it weren't for Brother Chen's continuous supply of weapons, ammunition and food supplies, I'm afraid we would still be fighting against the Japanese bayonets, let alone the counterattack on Taiyuan.
It is even less possible to support a new regiment of more than 8,000 troops.
Li Yunlong glanced at everyone and said in a serious tone: "I believe everyone here has guessed the combat mission of our column. Yes, it is to recover Taiyuan!"
Those here who can reach the level of team leader are not fools, but are very smart.
The troops moved all the way north and deliberately concealed their whereabouts. Everyone had long guessed that this combat mission was to attack Taiyuan.
Although I had already made a guess in my mind, when I heard the commander-in-chief say it himself, it unsurprisingly caused a commotion among the group leaders.
Except for Ding Wei, Cheng Shifa, Xing Zhiguo, Zhao Gang, Wang Dehou and Kong Jie, who had known about it in advance, all the group leaders showed excited expressions.
"Fuck you!"
"This time I can finally do something big!"
"I have long wanted to fight in Taiyuan!"
"..."
All the regiment leaders expressed their stance one after another, eager to try and attack the city immediately.
Li Yunlong glanced at everyone with a very satisfied expression.
After saying a few words, Li Yunlong said again:
"Ding Wei, Cheng Shifa and Kong Jie stayed behind. Time is tight and the tasks are heavy. The remaining regiment leaders will go back immediately to mobilize the regiments before the war."
"I have only one request. As soon as the guns are fired and the order is given, all the commanders and soldiers should rush up screaming."
"Our slogan is: Go into Taiyuan and capture Yoshio Shinozuka alive!"
"If any group loses control, don't blame me, Li Yunlong, for turning against the group!"
"Yes!" All the regiment leaders agreed loudly, and then they walked towards their respective units.
Mobilization before war is necessary to unify the goals of the troops and boost morale.
After the group leaders left, Li Yunlong glanced at Ding Wei, Cheng Shifa and Kong Jie and said:
"At dawn tomorrow, we will definitely be able to reach the city. Now I will deploy the combat mission."
"Lao Ding, you lead the first attack group to attack the south gate, Lao Kong, you lead the second attack group to attack the east gate, and Lao Cheng, you lead the third attack group to attack the west gate."
"The new regiment attacks the north gate."
"We have 50 howitzers and 38 mountain guns this time, and we can place 21 guns in each direction."
"Because there are Japanese planes in the sky, the artillery fires from a distance as before, and the special forces guide the bombardment."
"In order to prevent our ground attack troops from being attacked by Japanese planes, I have also prepared machine guns for you."
"After the meeting, each of you will send troops to the logistics department of the new regiment to receive 70 20mm machine guns, each with 1,000 rounds of shells."
"After Taiyuan is captured, these machine guns and the remaining artillery shells will belong to you. In addition, after Taiyuan is captured, I will replenish you with 1,000 rounds of 20mm artillery shells each."
The eyes of Ding Wei, Cheng Shifa and Kong Jie suddenly lit up.
"Commander-in-Chief, is it true or not, all 70 machine guns have been given to us?" Kong Jie asked with his eyes widened.
"There are no jokes in the army?" Ding Wei also asked.
Li Yunlong: "One spit and one nail!"
"My dear, 70 machine guns, you've made a fortune!" Cheng Shifa said excitedly, looking at Li Yunlong with gratitude in his eyes.
The three of them unanimously lamented that 210 machine guns were sent out at once. Only Li Yunlong could do such a big thing.
If you follow Li Yunlong, you can really make a lot of money.
Li Yunlong said: "These 70 machine guns are given to you, but don't be alone. The other regiments will also give some. As for how much they give, it's up to you."
At present, the new regiment has nearly 400 machine guns, 210 have been sent out, and there are still nearly 200 machine guns.
However, not all of these machine guns are used for air defense of infantry, at least half are allocated for air defense of artillery units.
After a pause, Li Yunlong reminded in a more serious tone: "The premise is that Taiyuan can be defeated. If not, I will still take back these machine guns."
"Hurry up and send someone to the logistics department of the new regiment to pick up the machine guns. When you get back, do some pre-war mobilization. We will set off in 15 minutes and adjourn the meeting."
"Yes!" Ding Wei, Cheng Shifa and Kong Jie shouted in unison, then quickly stood up and walked quickly towards their respective troops.