Taiyuan.
Japanese First Army Headquarters.
"Reporting to your Excellency, Commander, the Eighth Route Army that attacked Xiaodian Town has retreated!"
Masao Miyazaki, deputy chief of staff of the First Army, walked quickly into the office with a saber in hand and bowed his head to report to Commander Yoshio Iwamatsu.
Miyazaki Masao's face was so blackened by the smoke from the shells.
He hadn't closed his eyes for three days and three nights. His brows showed deep exhaustion, but he still held on.
Yoshio Iwamatsu was not much better. His eyes were all bloodshot. He was under great pressure from the Eighth Route Army's attack on Taiyuan.
The two old devils are both close to sixty. They are no longer young men and their energy can no longer keep up.
But after all, the two old devils are battle-hardened and often exercised.
If it were an ordinary person, he would have collapsed long ago.
"oh?"
"The Eighth Route Army retreated?"
Yoshio Iwamatsu's expression changed and he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Hi!"
Miyazaki Masao bowed his head:
"The Xiaodian Town defense line blocked the Eighth Route Army's attack. The thickened reinforced concrete bunkers and gun towers you ordered to build, Commander, have worked."
"The Eighth Route Army used 105mm and 150mm howitzers to attack, but it failed to penetrate the defenses of these permanent fortifications."
A look of pride appeared on Yoshio Iwamatsu's face: "Yoshi!"
Fortunately, he had foresight. When he took office as commander of the First Army last year, he had already guessed that the Eighth Route Army would attack Taiyuan sooner or later.
Therefore, Yoshio Iwamatsu applied for materials such as steel bars and cement from the North China Front and built these permanent fortifications around Taiyuan.
otherwise.
I am afraid that the artillery firepower of the Eighth Route Army would have hit Taiyuan City long ago.
At that time, cement was still called cement, and military cement and civilian cement were different. Generally, the hardness of military cement after hardening was much greater than that of civilian cement.
But soon, Yoshio Iwamatsu's face gradually turned gloomy.
In this battle, although the First Army was not completely wiped out, more than half of it was lost, including the Zhengtai Railway, the lifeline of the First Army, as well as Shouyang, Yangquan and other important military towns.
What was even more disastrous was that the 33rd and 37th Divisions were completely wiped out by the Eighth Route Army.
Lieutenant General Sakurai Shozo, the commander of the 33rd Division, and Lieutenant General Adachi Twenty-three, the commander of the 37th Division, both fell into pieces.
Since the Japanese invasion of China, there has been no precedent for an entire Japanese division being wiped out by the Chinese army.
But this time, two second-line divisions were completely wiped out, and both lieutenant generals were loyal to the Locust. This was an explosive phenomenon in the entire history of the Japanese army.
in addition.
The 14th and 18th Brigades were also defeated, leaving the First Army with only the 41st Division and the Yamada Regiment directly under the Front Army, Taiyuan Guards and other units.
Including the 1st Cavalry Brigade belonging to the Mongolian Army, the First Army now has less than 30,000 troops left.
Many of the Locust Alliance troops had fled long ago when they saw that the situation was not good.
This made Yoshio Iwamatsu very sad.
Why are the injured ones all from my First Army?
In this battle, more than half of the First Army was lost and a large area of ​​territory was lost. Someone must be responsible for this.
Be reasonable.
This battle was all conducted remotely by Neji Okamura, who controlled the overall situation, but Yoshio Iwamatsu felt that he would be regarded as the one taking the blame.
If he was just dismissed, Iwamatsu Yoshio could accept it, but if he was ordered to have a caesarean section to apologize, it would be very uncomfortable.
He glanced at Masao Miyazaki and wondered whether he should commit hara-kiri in front of a few of his cronies, just to show off.
The next words spoken by the chief of staff Masa Hanatani next to him made Yoshio Iwamatsu's face look even more ugly.
"Your Excellency, Commander, based on the information exchanged by the troops stationed in Mongolia, the main force of the Eighth Route Army attacking the 1st Division of Datong and the troops stationed in Mongolia is equipped with large-caliber heavy artillery, with a caliber of not less than 200 mm and a scale of not less than 20."
"In terms of power, it is not inferior to the 240mm howitzers and cannons of the Locust Army."
Masao Miyazaki also said: "Furthermore, your Excellency, Commander, the Eighth Route Army fired no less than 400,000 artillery shells on the Taigu defense line and Xiaodian Town defense line."
"From this point of view, the Eighth Route Army has sufficient artillery shells..."
On the first day, the Eighth Route Army threw 150,000 artillery shells at the Taigu defense line.
On the second, third and fourth days, no less than 100,000 rounds of artillery shells were airdropped every day.
Those large transport planes can each land 10 tons of airdrops. In addition to artillery shells, there are also various calibers of bullets, cans and other supplies.
Densely covering the entire sky.
And every time the airdrop was carried out in front of the Japanese.
Every time supplies were airdropped, the Eighth Route Army commanders and fighters grinned from the corners of their mouths to their ears, while the Japanese were so envious in the distance that their saliva almost flowed down.
Is it as powerful as the Locust Army's 240mm mortar?
Are there enough shells?
A deep sense of powerlessness arose in Iwasatsu Yoshi's ambition.
Can those permanent fortifications withstand the Eighth Route Army's large-caliber heavy artillery? Iwamatsu Yoshio was not sure.
Mainly because he didn't have a 240mm mortar in his hand, so he couldn't try it.
Tired, destroy it.
After a pause, Iwamatsu Yoshio looked at Yamamoto Kazuki:
"Yamamoto-kun, your intelligence department still hasn't investigated the source of the Eighth Route Army's weapons and ammunition? Still hasn't found out who Chen Feng is?"
The Eighth Route Army could achieve its current strength and record, annihilating more than half of the First Army, and severely damaging the main force of the Mongolian Army.
It all depends on the support channels behind it.
Without the support channel behind them, the Eighth Route Army would still be fighting guerrillas in the valley at this time.
However, now, the Eighth Route Army's large corps has begun to show its fighting potential.
I thought that it would take some time for the Eighth Route Army to transition from guerrilla warfare to large-scale corps warfare.
But judging from this battle, the combat strength of the Eighth Route Army's large corps was not inferior to that of the Locust Army.
Yoshio Iwamatsu estimated that the strategic goal of the Eighth Route Army's next large-scale corps campaign should be to completely annihilate the First Army.
"Hi!"
Yamamoto Kazuki's tone was bitter:
"Your Excellency, Commander, I have mobilized all the personnel of the First Army Intelligence Department, and even applied for reinforcements from General Kenji Dohi. I even did not hesitate to use the information of the Imperial Intelligence Department, but I still have not found out the details of Chen Feng and the enemy.
The military base is located as if this person does not exist at all."
"I have reason to suspect that the name Chen Feng is not a person's name at all. It may be a place name, it may be the name of an organization, or it may be a code name."
It took less than a year for Yamamoto Kazuki to go from being very ambitious when he was promoted to major general to feeling dejected now.
but.
Yamamoto Kazuki still has not given up his dream of revenge for Lieutenant General Shinozuka Yoshio.
Yoshio Shinozuka was kind to him.
If it weren't for Yoshio Shinozuka's guidance, he would still be an agent captain with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Kwantung Army.
"waste…"
Yoshio Iwamatsu snorted mercilessly.
Chen Feng, aid channel, Li Yunlong, Kong Jie, Ding Wei, 129th Division...
These are all things that give Yoshio Iwamatsu a huge headache.
To be continued...