At the east gate of Taiyuan City, Iwamatsu Yoshio personally waited for news, raising his telescope to look at the end of the road from time to time.
Planes kept whizzing overhead, ensuring that no Eighth Route Army was approaching outside Taiyuan City.
"Your Excellency, Commander..." The subordinates suddenly exclaimed next to Yoshio Iwamatsu.
"The Jinzhong breakout troops have arrived..."
Yoshio Iwamatsu quickly raised his telescope.
The first thing that caught the eye were fifty or sixty Japanese and puppet troops, with rifles in their hands and light machine guns in their arms. They spread out in a battle formation and rushed towards the east gate quickly.
Two minutes later, the mighty main force began to enter Yoshio Iwamatsu's field of vision.
It was estimated that there were at least a thousand people.
Because they did not carry heavy weapons, the troops marched very fast, and there was an airplane circling overhead to escort the breakout troops.
Soon the troops rushed outside the east gate.
Enter Taiyuan City after confirming your identity.
The leader of the team, Lieutenant Colonel and Captain, was taken to the top of the city at the same time. He looked at Yoshio Iwamatsu and reported with shame on his face: "Your Excellency, Commander..."
"I failed to maintain my humble position in Jinzhong, please punish me..."
Yoshio Iwamatsu patted his shoulder and comforted him: "It's not your fault..."
"The Eighth Route Army attacking you is equipped with mountain artillery, large-caliber mortars, and tanks and armored vehicles..."
"Anyone who directs this defensive battle will be defeated..."
"Immediately tell me everything you know about the Eighth Route Army in Yizhong. The more detailed the better."
"Last night, the Yizhong Eighth Route Army not only captured Jinzhong, but also swallowed up the tank brigade sent by the headquarters to reinforce Jinzhong."
"The captured tanks and armored vehicles were then used to successfully raid Taiyuan Airport."
"Destroy all the planes we parked at the airport. The planes that escorted you just now were all transferred by me from other airports."
"I must immediately find out how many people the Yizhong Eighth Route Army has sent into Shanxi...whether it can threaten Taiyuan's security."
"If there is no danger in Taiyuan City, our troops sweeping northwestern Shanxi will not need to return reinforcements."
"When will the Northwestern Shanxi Eighth Route Army be wiped out, and when will it return to the Taiyuan garrison?"
"If they have the strength to conquer Taiyuan, we can only choose one of two options: stop raiding northwestern Shanxi, return to Taiyuan, and protect Taiyuan..."
"After all, this is the Shanxi Garrison Headquarters and the economic and political center of SX Province. If it is thrown away, it will have too much influence."
"Not only can I not bear such a high price...even Commander Gangcun cannot tolerate us abandoning Taiyuan."
The captain of the Lieutenant Colonel immediately put away the sad expression on his face and watched Yoshio Iwamatsu report with a serious face: "The Eighth Route Army attacking Jinzhong has one battalion of mountain artillery and field artillery, about two companies of large-caliber mortars, and six vehicles Tanks and armored vehicles, and about a battalion of infantry."
"The frontal assault capability is very strong..."
"More than half an hour after the battle started, the south gate of Jinzhong was breached, and a company of the Eighth Route Army followed tanks and armored vehicles into Jinzhong."
"Forty minutes into the battle, the East Gate of Jinxi was also broken through by the Eighth Route Army. About one company of the Eighth Route Army entered the city..."
"The next battle will be mainly street fighting."
"Our army has a large number of troops and is familiar with the terrain; our Eighth Route Army is well equipped and has tanks to support the battle. The two sides are fighting indistinguishably, evenly matched."
"If the headquarters did not issue a breakout order..."
"Even if the Eighth Route Army succeeds in taking Jinzhong, it will pay a huge price in the battle..."
"Based on the strength of their troops participating in the war at that time, it is possible that they could be beaten to the point of losing their combat effectiveness by us."
The chief of staff responded: "So, the Eighth Route Army attacking Jinzhong only has the strength of a mixed regiment."
After a few seconds of silence, he continued to report to Yoshio Iwamatsu: "The aviation reconnaissance revealed."
"The chariot brigade was ambushed on the road to reinforce Jinzhong."
"Intelligence personnel reported after approaching for investigation that no more than one battalion of the Eighth Route Army participated in the ambush, but they were equipped with seven or eight mountain field guns and infantry guns."
"They dug a large number of individual bunkers on the roadside, and the soldiers hid in them to camouflage themselves."
"After the chariot brigade entered the pocket formation, the mountain artillery and infantry artillery opened fire first, forcing the chariot brigade off the road."
"After they marched to the individual bunker, the Eighth Route Army hiding inside suddenly came out and launched a close-range attack on the tank group."
"The highway from Taiyuan to Jinzhong was destroyed. In order not to delay the reinforcement of Jinzhong, the chariot brigade left the two infantry squadrons far behind."
"Without infantry protection, our tanks can hardly destroy the Eighth Route Army attacking at close range..."
"Many tanks were captured in the crossfire... and became the trophies of the Eighth Route Army..."
"The airport raid was pretty much what the telegram said."
"Soldiers who had a lucky breakout from the airport reported that the Eighth Route Army drove tanks and armored vehicles that captured the tank brigade and entered the airport as a tank brigade. The airport garrison was unprepared."
"By the time the Eighth Route Army's tanks deployed into battle formation, it was too late for the airport garrison to counterattack, and they could only be massacred by the tanks at the airport."
"It can be seen that... the Eighth Route Army that attacked the airport and the Eighth Route Army that ambushed the tank brigade should belong to the same force, and the total strength is only about one reinforced battalion."
Yoshio Iwamatsu smiled...
The nerves that had been tense all morning relaxed at the same time, and he snorted and mocked: "The Eighth Route Army with only one regiment dares to attack Taiyuan..."
"I don't know whether the Yi Zhong Eighth Route Army is too arrogant or whether our combat effectiveness has become worse."
"If the chariot brigade hadn't already encountered an accident, I really wanted to lure them to gather outside Taiyuan City and annihilate them."
The chief of staff's frown also relaxed.
Before this, he had been worried that the Yizhong Eighth Route Army was hiding its strength and Taiyuan City might be in danger.
Now he is not afraid.
The Eighth Route Army outside the city did not have two regiments at all, and the main ones were tanks and artillery.
There are not enough infantry to participate in the battle, and no matter how powerful the tanks and artillery are, they cannot threaten Taiyuan's security.
Immediately, he slapped a rainbow fart at Yoshio Iwamatsu: "Commander, it's okay. He has considered the problem carefully..."
"I guessed from the beginning that the Yizhong Eighth Route Army could not threaten Taiyuan's security, and did not agree to the humble position of sending troops back to Taiyuan from northwest Shanxi."
"Otherwise we will be tricked by the Eighth Route Army..."
"The good situation achieved by the troops in northwestern Shanxi was wasted."
"How do we fight next?"
"Your Excellency, Commander, please make a decision as soon as possible."
Yoshio Iwamatsu was silent for a moment and replied: "I just had a phone call with the northwest Shanxi raiding force this morning..."
"Although the enemy and we are in a stalemate, no one can do anything to the other."
"But we have the advantage in equipment and logistics!"
"If both sides continue to hold on, in ten days at most, northwest Shanxi will be defeated by us due to lack of ammunition."
"The only thing we need to do next is to buy time for the mopping up troops in northwestern Shanxi."
"The Eighth Route Army operating outside Taiyuan City will not move, and neither will we..."
"The longer the stalemate between the two sides is, the better it is for us!"
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(End of chapter)
