Peking.
Iron Lion Alley.
North China Front Army Headquarters.
"Your Excellency, General."
"Lieutenant General Shigeta, commander of the 35th Division, sent an urgent message. The Eighth Route Army troops stationed at Niangziguan have been replaced by troops from northwest Shanxi. The strength is no less than 10,000. The attacking 220th Infantry Regiment suffered more than half of its casualties..."
In the war room.
Communications staff officer Haruo Kitani reported to Okamura Neji, Tanabe Moritake, Arisu Seizan and others.
Since the defense change was at night, Brigadier Zhang and Kong Jie's troops were all elite, and they did not reveal any flaws during the defense change.
Moreover, the soldiers changed defenses through trenches and tunnels, and moved hunched over in the trenches.
Let alone at night, even during the day, the Japanese on the opposite side may not be able to detect you.
Shigeta Tokumatsu thought that the Eighth Route Army on the opposite side was still the 2nd Independent Brigade.
As soon as they came up, they sent an infantry regiment to make a sneak attack in the middle of the night. They happened to encounter the independent regiment that had been replaced not long ago, and suffered a big loss immediately.
The casualties suffered by the 35th Division in this attack were equal to the casualties suffered by the 23rd Division and the 110th Division in several attacks.
Since the Niangziguan position could not hold too many troops, Kong Jie only sent some troops into the position and left a large portion of the reserve team.
The Japanese didn't know how many troops the Eighth Route Army in northwestern Shanxi had sent to Niangziguan, so they could only guess at no less than 10,000 people.
The 10,000 Eighth Route Army in northwestern Shanxi is worthy of attention. In a field battle, it can casually defeat a Japanese second-line division.
Haruo Kitani continued: "Lieutenant General Shigeta of the 35th Division, Lieutenant General Nishihara of the 23rd Division, and Lieutenant General Kuwaki of the 110th Division jointly requested tactical guidance..."
After reading the telegram, Haruo Kitani stood with his head bowed and looked at his nose and heart.
As expected by Haruo Kitani, Neji Okamura was furious after hearing this telegram: "Three divisions can't conquer a Niangzi Pass, Baga! A bunch of trash..."
Okamura Neji breathed out the fragrance for three minutes.
Once these three divisions cannot capture Niangzi Pass, they will not be able to enter Shanxi. The reinforcements from these three divisions will not be able to enter Shanxi, and Shanxi's 100,000 locust army will be in danger of being completely annihilated.
Okamura Neiji's initial idea was that after these three divisions attacked Niangzi Pass, they would send one or two regiments to defend Niangzi Pass.
Then the main forces of the three divisions entered Shanxi to join the two divisions stationed in Shouyang and Yangquan on the Zhengtai Railway.
By then there will be nearly 70,000 main elites, and then the 70,000 main elites from Taiyuan will be transferred to Hebei Province.
This can not only kill a large number of Eighth Route Army troops, but also give an explanation to the base camp.
However, Okamura never expected that three divisions would fight so hard in just one Niangzi Pass.
In the opinion of Okamura Neiji, the Northwestern Shanxi Military Region of the Eighth Route Army has the strongest combat effectiveness, followed by the troops of the 129th Division, and the other Eighth Route Army military regions are just like chickens and dogs.
As long as the three regiments from northwest Shanxi are not here to defend Niangzi Pass, wouldn't it be easier and more enjoyable for three divisions to conquer one Niangzi Pass?
However, the more you fear something, the more it will happen.
The Eighth Route Army from northwest Shanxi really came to guard Niangzi Pass.
This is bad!
The idea in Neji Okamura's mind became clearer and clearer. The Eighth Route Army came to completely annihilate the 100,000 locust army in Shanxi!
but.
The division commanders of the three divisions were all lieutenant generals, and it was not easy for Neji Okamura to order them to commit seppuku.
When Okamura Neji stopped cursing, Tanabe Moritake asked: "General, will you send the 27th Division to reinforce Niangziguan?"
This division was reorganized from the China Garrison Corps in June 1938. It was affiliated with the Japanese 11th Army and participated in the battle to attack Wuhan. Later, it was transferred to the vicinity of Tianjin in North China to serve as a guard duty. It is a division directly under the North China Front Army.
Part of the 27th Division also participated in the last Japanese raid on the Jizhong Military Region.
In addition to the 27th Division, the troops that Okamura Neiji could mobilize also included the 12th Army stationed in Shandong.
The 12th Army has the 21st Division, the 32nd Division and the 8th Mixed Brigade.
However, only one division can be transferred at most. The Eighth Route Army in Shandong is also causing a lot of trouble. If all the Japanese troops in Shandong are transferred away, will the main force of the Eighth Route Army and the guerrillas in Shandong still be able to shake things up?
Okamura Neiji narrowed his eyes, stared at the map and thought for a moment: "Order the 27th Division and the 21st Division of the 12th Army to assemble and stand by!"
"Hi!"
Kitani Haruo suddenly lowered his head, turned around and left quickly.
Neji Okamura asked: "Where did the 1st Division and the 26th Division arrive?"
With the main force of the 3rd Tank Division being wiped out by the Eighth Route Army, these two divisions were the last main force of the Japanese army in Mongolia.
However, the 1st Division and the 26th Division both suffered heavy casualties in the last Eighth Route Army attack on Datong.
If these two divisions are sent south to reinforce the Taiyuan and Zhengtai Railways, they will undoubtedly be sending food to the Eighth Route Army.
Therefore, Okamura Neiji sent these two divisions to bypass Datong and attack northwest Shanxi to surround Wei and rescue Zhao.
at the same time.
Okamura Neiji also sent Japanese troops from HEN Province to attack the main force of the Eighth Route Army in southeastern Shanxi.
Okamura Neiji was a China expert and was well versed in the art of combining vertical and horizontal forces. He also sent a secret telegram to Tang Enbo and Yan Xishan to unite the Central Army and the Shanxi-Sui Army to simultaneously attack the rear base areas of the Eighth Route Army.
However, according to intelligence, Tang Enbo and Yan Xishan agreed on the surface, but did not move a single soldier at all, assuming a posture of sitting on the mountain and watching the fight between tigers and tigers.
But Okamura was helpless.
"The 1st Division and the 26th Division have just bypassed Datong. Since the main road is defended by Eighth Route Army troops, the 1st Division and the 26th Division can only take small roads to pass through."
Moritake Tanabe replied:
"It carried no heavy artillery, only 75mm mountain guns and 75mm field guns, and did not carry much combat supplies."
Okamura Neiji nodded: "We must instruct the 1st Division and the 26th Division to be cautious of the Eighth Route Army on the Datong side, so as not to be attacked from both sides by the Eighth Route Army!"
"Hi!"
Tanabe Shengwu suddenly lowered his head.
…
Southeast Shanxi.
The county seat of Liao County, the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army.
"Chief, the current offensive on the Taiyuan and Zhengtai Railways is not going well..."
The chief of staff compiled the telegrams sent by various units and reported the battle situation on the front line to the commander:
"The Japs in Taiyuan, Shouyang and Yangquan have learned from the experience and lessons learned from our last attack and adopted our tunnel and anti-slope tactics."
"This has resulted in the loss of most of the advantages of our army's heavy artillery, tanks and aircraft."
"The Japanese relied on tunnel and reverse slope tactics to resist tenaciously. The previous operational plan of capturing the Taiyuan and Zhengtai Railways in one month may not be completed, and the casualties of our troops are expected to increase a lot."
The leader nodded. The Japanese used tunnel and reverse slope tactics, and the headquarters had already received the information.
However, the commander still underestimated the power of tunnel and reverse slope tactics.
The Eighth Route Army's heavy artillery, tanks and aircraft's firepower superiority could not be fully utilized. This was something the commander did not expect.
"This tunnel and anti-slope tactics are really powerful."
The chief's tone was filled with emotion and his expression was somewhat solemn. He paused and then said:
"Hasn't Li Yunlong thought of a way to crack the tunnel tactics?"
"Probably not yet," the chief of staff said, "but Li Yunlong is a kid with many clever ideas in war, and he will definitely think of a way to crack it."
The boss also nodded, and then his brows widened: "This kid Li Yunlong is really a bit of a genius when it comes to fighting."
"He, Li Yunlong, was the former commander-in-chief of the enemy in this battle. He is probably studying how to crack the tunnel and anti-slope tactics."
Although the tunnel and reverse slope tactics are more difficult to crack, they are not a big problem.
In this battle, the Eighth Route Army had abundant combat supplies!
It won't be a problem to fight for three months or even half a year.
As long as Niangzi Prison is firmly guarded, the main force of 100,000 Japanese soldiers in Shanxi will not be able to escape, and at most they will have to spend a lot of extra effort.
To be continued...