Li Yunlong issued an order requiring the coalition forces to launch an attack on the Japanese army across the board one hour in advance.
At 4 o'clock in the morning, all coalition forces received the order to attack. The artillery of the coalition forces, which had been waiting for a long time, launched a fierce bombardment at the Japanese army.
Hundreds of artillery pieces fired together, and countless shells exploded on the Japanese positions. Looking from a distance, the flashes of exploding shells appear one after another, which is extremely spectacular.
After 25 minutes of artillery preparation, Li Yunlong gave the order to attack. Tens of thousands of soldiers of the coalition troops held sharp bayonets, shouted and rushed towards the enemy's position.
The Japanese army was withdrawing. In order to cover the large forces, the 113th Division and the 109th Division each left an infantry regiment on the forward defensive position.
On the position of the 11th independent mixed brigade, only one reinforced infantry brigade was left. The Japanese army's command structures and logistics at all levels have begun to evacuate, including their artillery units.
They did not expect that the coalition forces would launch an attack at this time. Facing the fierce attack by the coalition forces, the Japanese army was very passive and appeared very confused.
The commander of the Japanese 113th Division really didn't expect that the coalition troops happened to launch a sudden attack just when they started to retreat. This made him very embarrassed. He didn't know whether he should order the withdrawn troops to return and support the troops on the front line, or continue to withdraw and abandon the troops on the front line who were responsible for covering the mission? He is a relatively rule-abiding person and plans to report the situation here to Yoshio Shinozuka and ask for tactical guidance.
The division chief of staff stopped him and said worriedly: "Your Excellency, division commander, our army is short of ammunition. Even if the whole army stays here, I am afraid that it will not be able to withstand the powerful enemy attack.
Moreover, our actions were so hasty that even if all the troops returned to the front line, it was already too late. My opinion is to keep those troops defending the forward positions and let them serve the Yellow Army. As long as they can cover the retreat of the main force of the division, even if they are all destroyed, it will be glorious. "
The chief of staff made a grand statement, but in fact he wanted those troops on the front line to die to cover their retreat.
The division commander was still a little hesitant. After all, those troops were his old subordinates for many years, and he couldn't bear to be buried there like this.
Seeing that the division commander was still hesitating, the chief of staff urged: "Your Excellency, division commander, now our command organs and logistics troops have all left the county, villages and towns, and are marching on the highway. If we don't seize the time and use the night to evacuate quickly, , the enemy sent bombers to bomb after dawn, and our army must have suffered heavy losses.
In order to preserve the main force of the division, the division commander is also requested to make an early decision. "
The division commander hesitated for a moment, and finally made up his mind to let the officers and soldiers on the front line serve as scapegoats. He bowed deeply toward the front line, and then said: "Order the troops to speed up their march and evacuate the Licheng area."
Seeing that the division commander had made up his mind, the chief of staff finally breathed a sigh of relief. He hurriedly issued a series of orders, then urged the driver to drive quickly and sped away.
The division commander of the Japanese 109th Division and the brigade commander of the 11th Independent Mixed Brigade received reports from their subordinates that enemy troops had launched an attack on their defensive positions. They didn't know what to do for a while, so they had to send a telegram to the division commander of the 113th Division for instructions.
But after the telegram was sent, there was no reply at all. The two of them were not fools, and they guessed that the commander of the 113th Division had already escaped first. They did not hesitate and immediately ordered the troops to evacuate quickly.
The Japanese officers and soldiers who stood firm in the front-line defensive positions resisted desperately and exchanged fire fiercely with the coalition troops. As the fierce artillery fire from the coalition forces destroyed most of the Japanese defensive positions, it was very difficult for the Japanese army to hold on. Soon after, the Japanese defensive positions were breached by coalition forces.
The combat effectiveness of the Japanese officers and soldiers was extremely strong. Although their organization was disrupted, they still fought on their own and fought desperately with the coalition forces at the forward positions. In the end, they were outnumbered and were soon annihilated by the coalition forces.
After the battle started, the commando team composed of the New 1st Brigade and the Licheng County Guard Group came out of the tunnel and saw that the tents of the Japanese troops originally stationed here were gone. All the nearby Japanese troops had withdrawn. The commando team was very calm. All the ground left the tunnel.
Deputy Commander Yang, who served as the commander of the commando team, discussed with Lin Husheng and prepared to lead the commando team to attack the rear of the Japanese defensive positions and cooperate with the main force to attack the enemy's defensive positions.
At this time, they discovered that the officers and soldiers of the coalition forces had already broken into the enemy's defensive positions and were fighting fiercely with the Japanese army. It was no longer necessary for their commando team to rush over.
The two had been preparing for a long time, hoping to play a major role in this battle, but they did not expect that they had basically lost their role now, which made them feel very embarrassed.
Especially Lin Husheng, he spent a lot of effort organizing the commando team to carry out this raid.
He said: "Deputy Commander Yang, we are no longer needed here. I think it would be better if we just go after the escaped Japs. We should be able to gain a lot."
Of course, Deputy Commander Yang was not willing to end the raid in such a cowardly manner, and immediately agreed with Lin Husheng's opinion.
He said: "Well, let's go chase the escaped Japanese. If we are lucky, we might be able to catch a big fish."
The commandos have put in a lot of effort to join the commando team, and of course they are not willing to end the commando mission just like this. Seeing that Deputy Commander Yang and Lin Husheng were taking them to pursue the Japanese army, everyone was very excited, stretched out their legs, and started a rapid march.
The hard work paid off. An hour later, they discovered that there were not only trucks but also many horse-drawn carriages on the road ahead. They turned out to be the Japanese army's baggage troops. They stayed on the road, waiting for other baggage troops to come to join them, and they were overtaken by the commando team.
After a brief discussion between Deputy Commander Yang and Lin Husheng, the commandos were allowed to rest on the spot for ten minutes to recover their strength, and then launched an attack on the Japanese army's baggage troops.
The Japanese troops resting on the road thought they were far away from the front line and were very safe. Unexpectedly, the Eighth Route Army suddenly appeared here and was caught off guard.
There was only an infantry squad of the Japanese army responsible for escorting this baggage unit. The other baggage soldiers were relatively weak in combat effectiveness, and many of them even had no weapons in their hands. The carefully selected Eighth Route Army soldiers were equipped with powerful weapons, making the Japanese army vulnerable to a single blow.
In less than ten minutes, the commandos annihilated more than 300 Japanese soldiers, then doused the Japanese vehicles with gasoline and set them on fire. These burning vehicles and supplies blocked the highway. It was impossible for the Japanese troops behind to pass by the highway without taking a long time to clean up.
After eating a Japanese baggage unit, the officers and soldiers of the commando team were very excited. They continued to pursue in the direction of Taiyuan, hoping to find more valuable targets.
In the grain store in the county town, a special operations team member came back and reported that a convoy came into the city, with several cars in it. The license plate number belonged to the Japanese 109th Division.
Li Qiulin became excited when he heard this and said: "Captain, the cars with so many Japanese soldiers are probably their division headquarters. I want to take my brothers out and kill them."
Xu Dalong understood his mood, nodded and said: "Okay, I have complete trust in your combat effectiveness. I only have a few requirements for you. Look at the retreat route in advance. After the attack is successful, you are not allowed to fight and evacuate immediately."
Li Qiulin said excitedly: "Captain, don't worry."
After saying that, he stood up, went outside to greet his special operations team members, and climbed over the wall from the backyard to leave the contact point.
It was indeed the headquarters of the Japanese 109th Division that entered the county. On board those cars were the division commander and chief of staff of the 109th Division. They had traveled in the middle of the night and were very tired and hungry, so Decided to stay and have breakfast before continuing on the road.
The car stopped at the entrance of a hotel. The Japanese soldiers set up a cordon around it, rushed into the hotel, arrested the chefs inside, and forced them to make breakfast quickly.
Li Qiulin and others, led by the intelligence officer from the grain store, quickly arrived at a two-story building opposite the restaurant. They prepared to attack the Japanese commander from here.
After Li Qiulin and others arrived, another intelligence officer who had been monitoring here told them that many high-ranking Japanese officials got out of those cars, including generals and colonels. They were now dining in the hotel opposite. It will come out soon.
Li Qiulin and others were very excited. They did not carry weapons such as rocket launchers, but only shell guns. The short period of time when the Japanese commander walked out of the hotel and got into the car was their only chance to take action.
Li Qiulin arranged for eight special forces members to hold rifles and prepare for the attack, and three of them were ready to throw grenades at the Japanese army.
Half an hour later, the high-ranking Japanese officers who were dining in the hotel came out. The leader was short and fat, with a fat head and big ears. He had the title of lieutenant general on his shoulders. Behind him were several colonel-level officers. officer.
Li Qiulin aimed his shell gun at the chest of the Japanese lieutenant general, pulled the trigger and shouted: "Fire."
Eight shell guns fired at the Japanese officers at the same time. They were only 20 meters away. It was very difficult to miss with the marksmanship of the special forces team members, not to mention that they were shooting at close range. The eight shell guns fired instantly. One hundred and sixty rounds.
The Japanese officers could not hide at all, and all the guards around them were knocked to the ground.
Each of the three special forces members threw three grenades downwards one after another. They wanted to create chaos so that they could cover everyone's breakout.
Li Qiulin and others were not willing to fight and evacuated immediately. The entire attack took less than 15 seconds.
In the short attack, the division commander of the Japanese 109th Division and several key officers of the division were killed immediately. Only the chief of staff survived. He was hit by seven bullets, but his vital parts were not injured. Fortunately, he survived.
The division commander was attacked and shot to death. The Japanese soldiers responsible for the cover were all furious. They conducted a frantic manhunt in the hope of catching the heinous attackers.
It's a pity that they are unfamiliar with the place and don't know where to search for the attackers.
Just as the Japanese army was about to call the local military police to cooperate with them in the search, the chief of staff woke up. He thought this was not a place to stay for a long time, so he ordered the troops to retreat immediately.
The Japanese soldiers had no choice but to stop the search operation and escorted the division headquarters to quickly leave the county and head towards Taiyuan.
After returning to the grain store, Li Qiulin said excitedly: "Captain, I can see clearly, there must be their division commander among those Japs. Most of the 20 rounds of bullets in my shell gun hit that guy." He will definitely not survive this."
The special forces members were also very happy. They all said that they had hit the high-ranking Japanese officials and saw them all fall down. They should all be killed.
Being able to kill the Japanese division commander, Li Qiulin and the special forces members were very happy, and even Xu Dalong was also very happy. So far in the Battle of Licheng, the coalition forces have deployed tens of thousands of troops. Although they have broken through the enemy's defensive positions and caused the Japanese army to retreat across the board, the results would be too shabby if they did not kill one or two high-ranking officers. .
Xu Dalong said happily: "Well done, your performance this time is very good. When I go back, I will suggest to your Minister Li that you should be awarded for your meritorious service. I will also report to the Commander and Chief of Staff."
Li Qiulin and the special forces team members were very happy when they heard that the captain wanted to take credit for them personally.
Li Qiulin said with emotion: "Captain, it's better to follow you and fight the Japanese. We all want to return to the special operations brigade and fight the Japanese under your leadership."
Other special operations team members also expressed their willingness to return to the special operations brigade. It's no wonder that they are now working in the special forces of the military region headquarters. Although they have performed some combat missions, they are not as happy and confident as they were when they fought under Xu Dalong before. Xu Dalong is the guarantee of victory. Following Xu Dalong, I feel at ease. That feeling they missed so much.
Deputy Commander Yang and Lin Husheng led the commando team to continue chasing the enemy along the road. The soldiers running at the end of the team saw a Japanese convoy appearing on a fork in the back and hurried to the front to confront Lin Husheng and others. reported.
Deputy Commander Yang and Lin Husheng quickly picked up their binoculars and looked in the direction where the Japanese convoy appeared. They saw a convoy of more than a dozen cars heading towards the road from the southeast. That side is the defense area of the Japanese independent mixed 11th Brigade. These Japanese troops should belong to this unit.
Lin Husheng said excitedly: "Deputy Commander Yang, did you see that? There are two cars behind those motorcycles, and they must be high-ranking Japanese officials."
Deputy Captain Yang also said excitedly: "I saw it, this is a credit to the people who came to us. Kill them!"
After saying that, the two of them each took part of the commando team and hid in the cornfields on both sides of the road.
Fifteen minutes later, the Japanese convoy drove over. When they entered the commando ambush position, Lin Husheng yelled: "Fire!" After speaking, he took the lead and fired a shot at the Japanese car.
(End of chapter)
