"Your Excellency Chief of Staff, urgent call from Taiyuan"
Just as the two old devils Ishii and Nishikawa were pondering Chu Xiong's true intentions, an urgent telegram forwarded from the commander of Taiyuan's First Army made Chu Xiong's intentions even more confusing!
Nishikawa took the message and read it before handing it to Major General Ishii. The old Japanese's brows suddenly furrowed into the character "Chuan"...
After a while, Ishii's eyes left the map and stared at Nishikawa and asked:
"Nishikawa-kun, what do you think?"
Xi Chuan thought for a moment and said:
"Your Excellency General, is Chu Xiong attacking in the east and in the west?
His real purpose is to smash the cage locked in their base? "
Ishii lowered his head and looked at the map again, shook his head and said:
“If his real purpose was to blockade the line, there was absolutely no need for him to attack Anping City, because attacking Anping City would not mobilize the imperial army on the blockade line at all;
Our fifth brigade is a mobile force in the southeastern Shanxi region. It cannot achieve the effect of moving tigers away from the mountains, unless his appetite is for the entire southeastern Shanxi? "
When Nishikawa heard this, he was immediately startled by Ishii's conclusion. Chu Xiong's troops appearing at the blockade were only four or five thousand strong.
"General, are you worrying too much?
No matter how good Chu Xiong is at fighting, the thousands of people he relies on to break through the blockade will not be able to swallow up the entire southeastern Shanxi;
In the face of absolute strength, all conspiracies and tricks are in vain. I don't think he has this strength. "
Ishii himself was frightened by this idea. As Mr. Nishikawa said, he might have been overly worried. He didn't think Chuxiong's independent group had the strength!
Although it is said that "soldiers have no constant momentum, and water has no constant shape", war still has its essential laws, and Chu Xiong's soldiers cannot be equal to ten;
"Is it true that he is attacking in the east and west with the intention of breaking through the blockade? If so, then it would be too risky for Chu Xiong to abandon himself under Anping City. It is really full of fog!"
Ishii entered the Changkao realm, and Nishikawa on the side was also staring at the map, trying to see Xiong's true purpose through the fog.
Suddenly, Ishii raised his head, with a flash of light in his eyes. Nishikawa, who was familiar with the general's habits, knew that the general had made up his mind...
"Xichuan Jun, since you can't see clearly, then fight! Find out Chu Xiong's true intentions!
According to the intelligence, Chu Xiong's main force only has a total of 6,000 people. If we add another 1,000 to him, the total number will be 7,000;
Judging from the telegram, the Chuxiong Division of the Eighth Route Army attacking the blockade had a large number of artillery and anti-tank cannons. They were very elite and were undoubtedly the main force!
Then there is a possibility that the Eighth Route Army in the direction of Anping City is bluffing, maybe it is all Tubal Road, and Chu Xiong wants to use himself as bait to take risks again! "
After thinking about this, Ishii had a rare smile on his face;
"Yo Xi, Mr. Xichuan, whether the enemy in front of you is the main Eighth Route Army or the Tu Eighth Route Army, it will be exposed after a fight!
Mr. Nishikawa ordered the First Battalion to launch a fierce attack on Chuxiong's troops. In addition, he requested the headquarters to send planes to bomb. Whether it was a mule or a horse, you would know after pulling it out for a walk. "
The general finally made up his mind to attack the Eighth Route Army. As soon as he attacked, a field brigade appeared. He couldn't wait...
"Hey!"
Nishikawa gave a heavy nod, and then went to notify the first brigade to launch an attack. Ishii was left alone to continue thinking about things. He still felt that Chu Xiong's intention was not that simple.
"Boom boom boom..."
The Japs from the Fifth Brigade finally began to attack Chu Xiong's troops, using the same old routine - artillery bombardment!
And even if they didn't move, the ground would shake as soon as they moved. Eight 75mm field guns from the field artillery brigade were used to launch a violent bombardment on Chuxiong's position. Dust flew up and shrapnel flew across the front position. .
The first company of the regiment's garrison battalion was responsible for guarding the forward position. Since discovering the Japanese independent fifth brigade, Chu Xiong had retracted the troops on both wings and only built three lines of defenses on the front of Anping City. Each line of defenses They are all three horizontal and four vertical civil engineering works;
Two garrison companies were sent to watch the Japs in the direction of Wangjiawa, and faced off against the Independent Fifth Brigade with the mountains behind them.
In fact, the Japs in Wangjiawa were also restrained. The main force of the Fourth Battalion had already rushed over from Liuzhen, and the two sides had already exchanged fire at the exit of Wangjiawa;
It’s just that the width of the Wangjiawa exit is only more than 300 meters, and a Japanese battalion is stuck there. No matter how many troops come from the direction of Liuzhen, they will not be able to break through for a while. The two sides are in a stalemate. Although the fourth battalion is a reinforcement, they are not fighting warmly with the Japanese. Not popular.
No wonder Ishii was confused. Chu Xiong's formation was so unconventional. It was no exaggeration to say that he was put to death!
"How could Chu Xiong have the confidence to defend a position surrounded by enemies on three sides with three to four thousand infantry without artillery support?"
This is the confusion of Ishii and Nishikawa, abnormality is a demon!
"Boom boom boom..."
The Japanese artillery preparations lasted for more than an hour. Not long after it stopped, seven or eight bombers came over and dropped another round of bombs, blowing up the Eighth Route Army's position into a mess;
This is already the last air support in the direction of Taiyuan. They want to protect the main battlefield in the Taiyue area.
"Ququ...ququ..."
A sharp whistle came from the position of the 1st garrison company, and figures covered in dirt emerged from the artillery holes and ran to their fighting positions to prepare for the Japanese infantry charge.
In this round of artillery bombardment and aerial bombardment, a heavy-weight aerial bomb directly hit a gun-proof hole in the company, penetrating the three-layer civil roof covering it, and all the soldiers hiding inside were killed.
The lethality of heavy aerial bombs is still great. This round of firepower preparations caused more than 30 casualties to the company, mainly from the Japanese planes. Fortunately, there were not many Japanese planes.
"Comrades, the Japanese infantry is about to charge forward. Everyone, stay calm, aim and shoot again. Listen to my gunfire!"
Company Commander Tian Duoduo reminded loudly that the garrison company usually trained a lot, but had few opportunities to participate in actual combat, so Tian Duoduo, the company commander, could only shout more and more.
In the first round of the Japanese attack, more than half of the brigade was committed. Their purpose was to test the quality of the Eighth Route Army.
Ordinary second-line troops of the Eighth Route Army don't even have a few machine guns, let alone artillery. They count the bullets and fire them. The Japanese can't hold back and start shooting when they reach more than 150 meters. The firepower configuration and the combat quality of the soldiers are a dozen. It was exposed.
The Japanese First Battalion dispatched a total of more than 400 people, pulled out a standard skirmisher line, formed three echelons, and moved towards the 1st Company's position. The leader was Captain Jing Yi, the leader of the 1st Company.
The independent mixed fifth brigade is based on the field regiment and has 6 infantry brigades. It is the only mobile force of the Japanese in the southeastern Shanxi region. The soldiers are all old Japanese, a real elite division!
Jingyi Laojizi almost always rushed to the first echelon for 150 meters, but after approaching 100 meters, he fell to the second echelon, and he always hid behind other Japanese soldiers intentionally or unintentionally.
Ninety meters!
The Eighth Route Army has not opened fire yet!
Jing Yi was ready to lie down at any time.
Eighty meters!
"Kill the chicken and give it to me!"
After Jing Yi gave the command to attack, he reflexively lay down on the ground...
"Itaiya!"
"Ta-ta-ta..."
"Ta-ta-ta..."
The Japs just straightened up and were about to sprint, when the machine guns on the position rang out, and more than a dozen tongues of flames swept towards the Japs...
