Liuzhen
Seven to eight hundred Japs led by Araki chased Chu Xiong's defeated soldiers all the way into Liu Town. Araki was eager to make a contribution, but pursued a little too hastily. The forward squadron was ambushed by Zhong Guoliang's troops who were ambushing in the town, and they lost their lives. Seventy or eighty people later, they exited Liu Town in embarrassment and waited for the arrival of the main force led by Araki.
Half an hour later, Araki arrived with more than 500 other Japanese soldiers, and the two sides started an offensive and defensive battle in the town;
Since Araki's troops were lightly armed in pursuit and did not bring heavy weapons, they were at a disadvantage against the Eighth Route Army who relied on the town's building defenses. Therefore, after fighting for a while, they wisely chose to disengage and set up a position a few hundred meters outside the town. Waiting for the main force of the brigade to arrive.
After the main force of the brigade led by Ushijima suffered a heavy loss, the march became extremely cautious. The cavalry search teams on both wings were released 500 meters away, leaving no opportunity for the Eighth Route Army to take advantage of.
After passing Chenjialing, there was no terrain suitable for an ambush, so Chu Xiong did not arrange any more troops to block the attack. The main force of the Japanese rushed to the outskirts of Liu Town before dark and joined Araki's troops;
The Arakibe was formed temporarily by transferring the organic squadrons from each brigade. Now it is natural to return to the formation, and Araki will continue to be his squadron leader.
Since the beginning of the war, the Ushijima Brigade has lost more than 2,000 people, and there are less than 6,000 people left. It can be said that their vitality has been severely damaged!
The First Battalion suffered nearly half casualties, the Fourth Battalion had been maimed, and the baggage brigade was almost completely lost. Fortunately, the baggage brigade was filled with supplementary troops, mostly Korean sticks, which were not counted among the imperial army's casualties here in Udo. middle;
So strictly speaking, the Imperial Army only lost more than 1,400 people, which was a little more than one brigade, and Ushijima's strong heart could still bear it.
The first thing Ushijima did after joining forces was to summon Captain Araki to learn about the situation in Yanagi Town. Araki was fortunate enough to meet the General, which made him very excited;
After calming down his excitement, Araki began to report the enemy situation to the brigade commander:
"Your Excellency, General, Chu Xiong also has an ambush force in Liuzhen. The number is about 300. It is equipped with a large number of Taisho 11-type light machine guns, no less than 20. The personnel are well-trained and skilled in tactical movements. They are the main force of the Eighth Route Army. !”
"Yo Xi, it seems that Chu Xiong's strength has increased again. You performed well. Come on down!"
After Ushijima waited for Araki to go down, he said to his chief of staff Kitahara:
"Kitahara-kun, what do you think of the hundreds of elite soldiers who suddenly appeared in Chuxiong?"
"Your Excellency General, pre-war intelligence shows that there are four infantry companies in Chuxiong, three are located in Majia Village and other places on the periphery, and there is only one infantry company and one machine gun company in Liu Town, as well as a small number of cavalry and Tubal Road;
The main force of the Eighth Route Army that has appeared now has no less than a thousand people. One shows that our intelligence is wrong, and the other is that Chu Xiong is too capable of expanding his troops. If he is not eliminated when he is still very weak, he will definitely become a serious problem for the empire in the future. ! "
After hearing this, Ushijima nodded appreciatively and said:
"Kitahara-kun, you are worthy of being a top student who graduated from the Imperial Continent. Your judgment is correct! It's not that our intelligence department made a mistake, it's that Chuxiong's expansion of troops exceeds our awareness, and intelligence will always lag behind!"
"I finally understand why Commander Xiaozhuo is so determined to deal with a small battalion commander. Judging from his performance since the beginning of the war, Chuxiong deserves to be treated differently by Commander Xiaozhuo. We must also treat him differently." Treat him like a competitor on his level."
Beiyuan looked surprised after hearing this. He didn't expect that the General would think so highly of Chu Xiong, so he couldn't help but retort:
"Your Excellency, General, Chu Xiong is indeed worthy of a high look, but after all, he commands a battalion-level tactical unit, which is completely different from the battle unit you command. Giving him the attention of a regimental commander is the limit."
Ushijima nodded and no longer dwelled on this topic, and began to discuss the next battle plan with Kitahara. He was a little confused about Chu Xiong's choice to fight the imperial army in Liuzhen again. He wanted to hear Kitahara's opinion. Views can be understood by listening.
Kitahara thought for a while and expressed his judgment:
"Your Excellency, General, from my research on Chu Xiong's past battles, I found that the tactics he adopted in Liuzhen this time were very abnormal. Abnormality is a monster. The Eighth Route Army rarely chooses to fight positional battles with the Imperial Army;
If the positional battle in Chenjialing was to cover the evacuation of the people, now that the people in Liuzhen have withdrawn into the mountains, there is no need for him to fight with the imperial army in Liuzhen. I am worried whether he will be like Chenjialing in Liuzhen. The town planted a large amount of explosives to lure the imperial army in, and then detonated it..."
Kitahara paused when he said this, looking at Ushijima's reaction. He couldn't finish everything.
Sure enough, Ushijima seemed to be deep in thought, and Kitahara stood there quietly, waiting for the General to make his final judgment.
After a few minutes, Ushijima had an idea and said to Kitahara:
"Kitahara-kun, your worries are reasonable, but I don't think Chu Xiong will repeat his old tricks in Liu Town. They don't have that much explosives. To blow up the entire Liu Town would require at least dozens of tons of high explosives. To bury so many Explosives are also easy to detect.
Fixed-point blasting tactics have many limitations. Once used once, Chu Xiong will not use it twice at the same time when the imperial army is already on high alert! I still suspect that he has other intentions, so I need you to type out his intentions! "
Ushijima didn't want to guess anymore. He wanted to find out what kind of medicine was sold in the male gourd. Only after taking it could he know.
"Kitahara-kun, order the second infantry battalion and the first field artillery battalion to attack Liuzhen!"
"Hi!"
Watching Kitahara turn around and leave, Ushijima pinched his chin with two fingers and said to himself:
"Chu Xiong, are you setting up a plan to empty the city for the imperial army, or do you have other plans? I'm really looking forward to the moment when you show up!"
Not to mention that Chu Xiong really thought about blasting again in Liuzhen, but later he thought about it. The Japanese are not fools. Don't throw a large amount of picric acid explosives to the Japanese in vain.
It is far better to retain the right to use this tactic than to use it frequently. As long as it is not used a second time, the enemy will have to guard against it and be on tenterhooks. This is the so-called Sword of Damocles effect. It is better to hang there than to fall!
As for the empty city plan, there is no way to talk about it. It is just a novel, or it may be a tacit understanding battle between Zhuge and Sima. Afraid of being ambushed by 100,000 people, wouldn't they send 1,000, 2,000, or even 5,000 people to try?
Even if he was ambushed, Sima Yi could not afford to lose one or two thousand men?
If not, Niu Dao would have sent one or two thousand Japs to test whether Chu Xiong was planning an empty city!
"Boom boom boom!"
The Japanese field artillery brigade took the lead in launching an attack on Liuzhen. The adobe houses built in Liuzhen could not withstand a single shot of the 75mm field artillery.
If Chu Xiong and the others were hiding inside, Ushijima would laugh like crazy!
Liu Town is different from other cities in that its buildings are open and built along both sides of the only main road in Xingdao. Like many small towns in China, they are clustered along the highway.
A notable feature of such towns is that they are not large in radius, but very deep in depth, some stretching for several kilometers. If the Japanese use artillery fire to blow up one house after another, no matter how many shells they have, they will not be enough.
So Chu Xiong chose to fight a low-intensity street battle with the Japs in Liu Town. His troop configuration was a long snake formation arranged along the entire depth of Liu Town, and it was light on the head and heavy on the tail!
The main force is at the bottom a few kilometers away. There is a platoon in front of it, and it is spread out very widely. The width of Liuzhen can be defended by one squadron.
