"Report to the brigade, the reconnaissance company needs an urgent call!"
Hu Xiaoman, the communications section chief, handed an urgent telegram to Luo Ying. Luo Ying guessed that the Japanese had made some movement. When he opened the telegram and saw that it was indeed the case, he couldn't help but muttered:
"The stupid Japanese really look up to me!
Hu Xiaoman quickly sent someone to notify the chief of staff and several regiment leaders to come over for a meeting, and told Company Commander Gao to pay close attention to the whereabouts of the Japanese and report their specific locations every two hours. "
Hu Xiaoman took the order and left. Luo Ying immediately leaned down to find the location of the Japs on the map, calculated the approximate time for the Japs to arrive in Kunshan City, and then mentally planned the countermeasures.
After a while, Xie Zhongyuan and others hurried to the headquarters. Luo Ying started talking about business after seeing everyone gathered:
"Brothers, news has come from the reconnaissance company. The Japs have been coming along the highway from the direction of Wuxi. The total strength is close to 10,000 people. They are the 103rd Brigade of the Thirteenth Japs Division, which is our old rival 65th Regiment. The brigade where the team is located, this is the younger brother who has suffered a loss at our hands, and the boss has come to find trouble."
After hearing this, everyone's expressions became serious. This time, they were a Japs from a field brigade. Kunshan City was undefendable and not so easy to deal with. Chief of Staff Xie Zhongyuan took the words and said:
"Brigadier, this battle is not going to be easy! In the past, we faced enemies at the regiment level at most, and they had complete fortifications. This time we faced a field brigade. The combat power is not a simple superposition of numbers. But it has increased exponentially, and the scale of the battle has also become a battle level. Kunshan City is undefendable, so we need to make a careful plan on how to fight."
Xie Zhongyuan said that he naturally understood that the Japanese regiment and brigade were completely different concepts. According to intelligence, the Japanese had also strengthened a large number of cavalry and artillery, which was equivalent to a detachment;
The Japanese detachments all carried out campaign-level combat missions. For example, in the just-concluded Battle of Taiyuan, the Fifth Division commanded by Seishiro Itagaki actually only had one brigade. After strengthening tanks, artillery, and cavalry, it was also a detachment. This detachment They defeated more than a dozen divisions and corps-level units in the World War II zone, swept half of Hedong, and finally occupied Taiyuan. This is the war myth known as "Half a Division Goes to Hedong" by later generations.
Itagaki Seishiro became an idol among the Japanese army. Although the North China Plain was conducive to the rapid assault of the Japanese mechanized troops, Itagaki was able to sweep across Hedong with a detachment, defeating hundreds of thousands of Central Army and Shanxi-Sui Army. From the side, it shows that a brigade-level detachment of the Japanese is not that easy to fight. The concerns of Xie Zhongyuan and others are also reasonable. This just shows that they value the enemy.
Luo Ying naturally knew that it was difficult to deal with, but he had to fight even if it was difficult to fight. Soldiers would come to block him, and water and soil would cover him up. After listening to Lao Xie's reminder, he nodded and said:
"The Japs in a brigade are definitely not easy to fight. They can't eat them in one bite, so let's grind them down slowly. Kunshan is a water town in the south of the Yangtze River. There is no danger to defend. It's obviously not possible to fight with them in positional warfare. It depends on us. This improvised appearance of thousands of people could not stop them;
The Thirteenth Division is known as the Beast Force. After landing, they massacred my defenseless people at every turn. The hands of every devil are stained with the blood of our Chinese soldiers and civilians. In order to prevent them from massacring the people, Kunshan must be conquered as soon as possible. The people in the city were evacuated to the countryside and places near the mountains and forests. This task was completed by the supplementary regiment.
Although the supplementary regiments are all new recruits, they also have guns in their hands. Under the leadership of veterans, it will not be a big problem to deal with some small groups. However, the large Japanese troops cannot enter the mountains and forests. Their main target is still the main force of our lone brigade.
One characteristic of the Japanese is that they like to occupy cities. We just occupied Kunshan City with a high profile, and they definitely want to take it back now, and then use Kunshan City to save some of their own face;
I thought about it carefully just now and decided to change my previous strategy. I sent a force to pretend to be the main force and announced in a high-profile manner that we would defend Kunshan City. Then we buried all the heavy artillery shells we captured in the center of the city to lure the enemy's main force into the city. At the right time, Detonate the bomb at the right time and exchange half of the city of Kunshan for the main force of the Japs. It is best to use all the main force that is well ambush..."
Everyone's eyes suddenly lit up when they heard this. This tactic was indeed very maneuverable. Due to the smoke bombs they had used before, the Japanese thought that all the heavy artillery shells had been blown up by the lone brigade. If it was done well, it could really trick the Japanese. , but the troops who stayed to defend Kunshan City would have to make heavy sacrifices. Thinking of this, Li Shuo stood up with a whoosh and asked for battle:
"Brigadier, our 881st regiment is willing to stay in the city and meet the Japanese 103rd Brigade!"
Zhou Shuzhuang also stood up and expressed his willingness to lead the 882 regiment to defend Kunshan City. Luo Ying could naturally see their determination. The more difficult and dangerous the task for the current lone army brigade, the more they rushed to undertake it. This made him very happy. This is what he A force that cannot fight hard and fierce battles cannot become a truly strong army. He fully affirmed Li Shuo and others' request to fight, and then said:
"Brothers, if we want to stick the main force of the Japs in Kunshan City and make them willing to fight with us in street fighting in the city, the commander can only be me. With me as the bait, I can hold the Japs in check. Big Fish, your weight is not enough, and the Japanese are not stupid. There is no need to argue about this matter, it is settled;
As for the troops who will accompany me to defend the city, I think each of your two regiments will take out a battalion to pretend to be the main force of the regiment. In addition, the mortar company, guard company, health company and regiment headquarters of the artillery battalion will stay, and the reconnaissance company will be responsible for the perimeter. Harass the enemy and find ways to knock out the Japanese cavalry.
Now we can inform Company Commander Gao to use harassment tactics to kill and injure the Japanese cavalry as much as possible. This is the most mobile force of the Japanese. With them in our main force, it will be difficult to hide for a long time, and the common people will also suffer;
I estimated the time and found that the Japanese army was still about fifty kilometers away from us. They carried a lot of baggage and could not move too fast. Normally it would take a day to arrive, so the reconnaissance company would have to hold off the Japanese for at least two days.
After the meeting, quickly evacuate the people and explain to them the brutality of the Japanese. If there are some elderly people who don't want to leave, forget it. What we want to protect now is to protect most people from harm. Time is tight and we can't argue with them;
The evacuation of the people must be completed before dark, and the artillery firecrackers will begin after night. All the heavy artillery shells that have been transported out before will be transported back to the city at night. The entire city will be under martial law from dark to prevent Japanese lurkers from leaking the secrets of the city. ..."
Following Luo Ying's order, the whole city began to evacuate, and the whole city was in panic. Fortunately, the people had gained a certain degree of mutual trust in the few days they had spent with the Gujun Brigade. Coupled with the notoriety of the Japs, most of the people were Choosing to cooperate with the lone army brigade to evacuate the city, there were only a few other old people who could not leave their hometown. They would rather die in the city than leave. Luo Ying could only follow their wishes, but those who stayed had all registered for convenience. Control;
Because no one can guarantee that there are no Japanese lurkers left to tell people, many secrets in the city cannot be known to the Japanese.
The task of resettling and protecting the people was left to the supplementary regiment. Most of the recruits in the supplementary regiment were children of the common people in the city. It was easy for them to communicate, so the evacuation was very efficient. Each person only had to carry more than ten days of rations and valuables. All other belongings were abandoned, so that the evacuation mission was successfully completed before dark, leaving only a few hundred elderly people in the city who were unwilling to leave.
After dark, the entire brigade was dispatched to transport all the thousands of heavy artillery shells that had been hidden outside the city back into the city. Thousands of heavy artillery shells seemed like a lot, but there were still thousands of people in the lone brigade. Even if two people carried one cannon shell , which only took two or three trips, so it only took more than two hours to transport it back to the city.
Many people must be thinking that Luo Ying is torturing people, but some tossing is necessary. If these shells remain in the city, they will easily be discovered by the Japs' spies or agents of the Blue Clothes Club.
After the heavy artillery shells were secretly transported back to the city, the Lone Brigade began to dig fortifications in the city with great fanfare, assuming a posture of defending Kunshan City to the death.
After dawn, the Japanese reconnaissance flew over Kunshan City. What they saw was the lone army brigade overhauling fortifications and preparing to defend Kunshan City. This was what the Japanese were very willing to see;
The information that the Solitary Army Brigade was preparing to defend Kunshan City was quickly reported to the Yamada Brigade. The brigade leader, Major General Yamada, chuckled disdainfully and continued on their way. What they were least afraid of was the Chinese people defending the city.
Using the cover of the overhaul fortifications, the Lone Brigade buried thousands of artillery shells in the city. In order to successfully detonate these artillery shells, Luo Ying personally led the technicians to arrange a large artillery battle. A total of more than a dozen places were buried, using captured detonators and explosives. Detonate and connect them in series with wires. The detonating device is in Luo Ying's hands.
These shells are buried one or two meters underground, and there are buildings above them. Even if the Japanese send planes to bomb them, they will not explode.
After arranging everything, Luo Ying played with smoke bombs again and clearly informed him that he would defend Kunshan City. Major General Yamada, who was worried about his escape, nodded repeatedly after knowing:
"Yo Xi, General Luo Ying is a real soldier. Although the two sides are hostile, I still look forward to a showdown with him in Kunshan City."
