Lieutenant General Sakuragi is blocked by a village.
Field artillery, mountain artillery, heavy artillery... poured artillery shells towards the blocking position at the entrance of the village as if they were free.
Just as the three planes that had dropped their bombs disappeared from the edge of the sky, three more black spots appeared above everyone's heads.
The black spots grew larger and larger, and slowly turned into three silver-white aircraft, which circled over the battlefield and joined the battle.
"Rumble..."
A thunderous explosion soon sounded at the entrance of the village, and the flames rolled up to a height of twenty meters, forming a huge mushroom cloud wrapped in thick black smoke.
Lieutenant General Sakuragi seemed anxious. He glanced at his watch from time to time, mentally calculating how long the bombardment had been and whether the infantry could launch an attack.
He opened his mouth and was about to issue an assault order when the captain of the cavalry brigade who was conducting peripheral reconnaissance suddenly ran towards him.
"Division Commander..."
"A reinforced battalion of the Eighth Route Army suddenly appeared northwest of us."
"We took the company as a unit and marched towards Chenjiazhuang at a very fast speed. I humbly request the division commander to allow the cavalry brigade to divide its forces to pursue and destroy this Eighth Route Army."
Before Lieutenant General Sakuragi could react, a squadron leader from the cavalry brigade ran over, panting and reporting.
"Your Excellency, the Head of the Reporting Division..."
"A reinforced battalion of the Eighth Route Army suddenly appeared in the southwest of the battlefield..."
"Take the company as a unit and march quickly to Chenjiazhuang..."
"map……"
The brigade commander was keenly aware of the unusualness of these two groups of Eighth Route Army, and immediately gave orders to the combat staff. At the same time, he marked the current positions of the two Eighth Route Army on top, and expressed his thoughts with a frown.
"Division Commander..."
"The Eighth Route Army must have guessed that we want to seize Chenjiazhuang... There are not enough troops there to stop our army's attack, so they can only mobilize troops from the front line to return reinforcements."
"We have to find a way to kill these returning troops."
"Two reinforced battalions may not seem like much, but if there are tunnels as bunkers, they can block an infantry regiment of our army without any problem."
"They must not be allowed to enter Chenjiazhuang."
Lieutenant General Sakuragi was convinced and immediately asked the cavalry captain.
"Before dispatching troops, His Majesty the Commander strictly ordered that the mopping up troops must not be divided without orders from the headquarters."
"Can you contact the aviation force and ask them to attack the Eighth Route Army's returning reinforcements from the air and eliminate the enemy on the road?"
The cavalry captain shook his head and replied: "It's difficult..."
“The Eighth Route Army was very cunning, and the returning reinforcements marched in company-based units.”
"After being attacked by aviation, they can disperse and move within a short period of time to avoid air attacks and minimize the threat posed by air attacks."
"Baga..." Lieutenant General Sakuragi cursed with an unhappy look on his face after hearing this.
He turned to the brigade commander and ordered: "Send a telegram to the Commander immediately to inform you of the Eighth Route Army's return to support Chenjiazhuang."
"I sincerely ask the commander to agree that we divide our forces to hunt down the Eighth Route Army's returning reinforcements and prevent the Eighth Route Army from increasing its troops in Chenjiazhuang."
"The offensive troops immediately attacked the Eighth Route Army's blocking troops and tried to end the battle with one assault."
…………
After reading the telegram requesting instructions from Lieutenant General Sakuragi at the Baoding Garrison Headquarters of the Japanese Army, Okamura Neji was very embarrassed.
Time and time again, bloody lessons taught Okamura Neiji that splitting up troops to fight in the Eighth Route Army base area was tantamount to courting death.
But the reasons put forward by Lieutenant General Sakuragi left him unable to refute.
As the only way for the Eighth Route Army to enter and leave the mountainous area, Chenjiazhuang has great strategic value.
The Eighth Route Army must have built a large number of tunnel fortifications there.
The Eighth Route Army with two reinforced battalions is not terrible.
Lieutenant General Sakuragi has more than 10,000 elite soldiers, and one person can drown that small number of Eighth Route Army soldiers in one breath.
But once the two battalions of the Eighth Route Army have tunnels to rely on, their overall combat effectiveness will rise in a straight line.
In the past, enemies that could be dealt with by one large group could not be solved by three or four large groups with the participation of tunnels.
There are already two battalions garrisoned in Chenjiazhuang. If two more battalions are added, the total strength will reach four battalions.
After the middle route mopping up troops arrive there, if they fail to seize Chenjiazhuang in time and allow more Eighth Route Army reinforcements to arrive at Chenjiazhuang, they will completely lose the opportunity to occupy Chenjiazhuang, and they will not be able to block the retreat of the Eighth Route Army in Yizhong.
The large-scale raids that I carefully planned would not be able to completely wipe out the Yizhong Eighth Route Army.
This result was unacceptable to Okamura Neji.
The deputy chief of staff seemed to see that Okamura Neji was in trouble, and suddenly pointed at the sand table and interjected: "Your Excellency, Commander..."
"Aviation report: Two regiments of the Eighth Route Army are transporting supplies, weapons and ammunition into the mountains. Many pilots have seen it, and it has been confirmed by many intelligence personnel. It cannot be faked."
"The mopping up troops on the left and right sides encountered a lot of resistance during the attack, although the Eighth Route Army attacking them always hid in the tunnels and did not show their faces."
"But judging from the firepower and troop strength of the battle between the two sides, their opponents should each have a main force group."
"This time we have gone to four main groups."
"Remove the two battalions stationed in Chenjiazhuang and directly intercept the Eighth Route Army's mopping up troops in the middle."
"The two reinforcement battalions to reinforce Chenjiazhuang should be all the mobile units that the Eighth Route Army can mobilize."
"Even if the Eighth Route Army in Yizhong wanted to use them as bait to force us to divide our troops, and take the opportunity to lure the enemy deeper and ambush us, they would not be able to draw out combat troops."
"I humbly request the commander to agree to Mr. Sakuragi's request, divide his troops to raid the Eighth Route Army reinforcements, and eliminate all the reinforcements in Chenjiazhuang."
Okamura Neji was originally going to nod.
The Eighth Route Army in Yizhong was a serious thorn in the side of the North China Front, and it had repeatedly made itself embarrassed and embarrassed. Finally came across an opportunity to annihilate them together, so I couldn't miss it no matter what.
Although it is a bit risky to divide the troops for reinforcements, compared with the benefits brought by completely annihilating the Eighth Route Army in the wing, this risk is worth taking.
The deputy chief of staff's analysis further solidified his idea.
He nodded immediately: "Call Sakuragi-kun back, I agree to his request."
"He decides how many troops to deploy for reinforcements."
"In order to avoid accidents after the reinforcements are divided, the aviation force will allocate a flying squadron to escort them."
"Reinforcement troops must carry radios to keep in touch with the aviation force at any time."
"Call air support immediately if necessary."
…………
When Okamura Neiji arrived at the temporary headquarters of the Japanese army's middle-road mopping up force, Lieutenant General Sakuragi was holding a telescope to observe the battle situation on the front line.
In order to seize the Eighth Route Army blocking position as soon as possible and seize Chenjiazhuang.
The artillery support did not stop as usual when the attacking troops launched their assault.
Round after round of artillery shells seemed to have eyes, continuously hitting the attacking troops forty or fifty meters in front.
Although fighting like this will cause some accidental damage to the attacking troops, in order to save time and reach Chenjiazhuang early, the price is still worth it.
"Woooooooooooo...boom..."
An aerial bomb fell from the sky and instantly destroyed a tunnel entrance and exit just discovered by the attacking troops.
The powerful air wave knocked over three little Japs who were too close to the impact point at the same time. They fell to the ground and made no movement.
Lieutenant General Sakuragi gritted his teeth in pain, but didn't say much.
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(End of chapter)
