Lieutenant General Harada and Lieutenant General Tanaka discussed it and decided that Lieutenant General Tanaka would lead the 62nd Infantry Regiment, the 21st Field Artillery Regiment, the 21st Baggage Regiment, and the Cavalry Brigade of the 21st Division, totaling more than 8,000 Japanese soldiers. With the cooperation of more than 5,000 people from Zhang Lanfeng's tribe, they marched along the Langya Valley Road towards the Langya Mouth.
In order to open up the supply line, the Japs also fought hard. They dispatched one-third of the Japs and half of the puppet troops of the East Route Army at once, which can be regarded as worthy of the 78th Army.
Lieutenant General Tanaka did not want to get along with Lieutenant General Harada for a long time. They were both division commanders. Just because his division only came with one unit, he had to listen to Harada's command, and no one else would be happy with it.
If you want to get enough military merit, you have to act alone. Zhao Sihu of the 78th Army is known as a famous Chinese general. If he can annihilate the 78th Army in one fell swoop, his contribution will be great.
During the march, Lieutenant General Tanaka, who was in a good mood, said to Chief of Staff Naofuku Mikuni:
"Master of the Three Kingdoms, what is your impression of the 78th Army?"
Mastering the enemy's situation is an essential tactical quality for a chief of staff. When asked by the division commander, the Colonel of the Three Kingdoms immediately replied:
"Your Excellency, Division Commander, the Chinese 78th Army was established not long ago. It was upgraded from the 78th Division. Its predecessor was only the Zezhou Garrison Regiment of the former Imperial Association Army;
Zhao Sihu was a regimental commander of the Imperial Army three years ago, with no more than a thousand soldiers. When he saw a squadron leader of the Imperial Army, he had to nod and bow.
Later, by chance, he defected to the Chinese government army and was directly promoted to division commander by their superiors. His regiment was also promoted to the 78th Division. He was a miscellaneous member of the Central Military System of the Chinese government and had no foundation in the army. In the past three years, he has been in officialdom. Hengtong has been promoted to lieutenant general.
His army belongs to the B-level army and has three brigades under its direct jurisdiction. One of the brigades was upgraded from the Eighth Route Army bandit regiment that had just taken refuge with him, and its combat effectiveness was very low. "
Lieutenant General Tanaka nodded with great satisfaction and then said:
"Yo Xi, the Lord of the Three Kingdoms is indeed a master of China. He has a comprehensive understanding of Zhao Sihu's situation. There are some things you may not be aware of, such as Zhao Sihu's sudden success in officialdom."
The Colonel of the Three Kingdoms immediately showed a very interested expression, which greatly aroused Tanaka's desire to continue talking, and fulfilled his duty as a compliment very well.
Tanaka was in a good mood, so he showed off in front of his chief of staff:
"Master of the Three Kingdoms, you must have heard about the assassination of His Excellency Prince Zezhou of Chaoxiang Palace, right?"
"Your Excellency, Division Commander, I have heard something about it. Is this related to Zhao Sihu?"
Tanaka glanced at Sanguo with admiration and continued to show off:
"Three Kingdoms Lord, the assassination under the Chaoyang Palace was caused by Zhao Sihu's rebellion. He has been on His Majesty the Emperor's blacklist. If we eliminate Zhao Sihu this time, the credit will be great. You and I can go further with this merit. big."
The eyes of the Colonel of the Three Kingdoms suddenly shone when he heard this. He had been in the position of Colonel for too long. He needed a good opportunity to be promoted to Major General, and this Zhao Sihu was his opportunity.
Thinking of this, he gratefully said to Lieutenant General Tanaka:
"Thank you, Division Commander, for your support. Zhao Sihu and his 78th Army are just famous. Eight thousand imperial troops are enough to destroy the ragtag 78th Army."
The 21st Division has not suffered serious losses since its establishment, so no one from top to bottom took the 78th Army, a Type B Army, too seriously.
Lieutenant General Tanaka even planned to use Zhao Sihu as a stepping stone for him to go further. He could not wait to rush to Langyakou immediately and annihilate the 78th Army.
Unconsciously, they were less than ten kilometers away from the main ambush position of the 78th Army.
Sealing the gate was the only way for the Japanese to return eastward and enter Langya Valley. The east-route army's attack all the way to the west was so smooth that they encountered almost no resistance;
This made the two old Japs, Harada and Tanaka, a little careless. Only one squadron of Japs was left at the sealed gate, and this squadron had been wiped out by the Pre-Three Regiments.
The external designation of the Third Regiment is the Third Brigade of the 78th Army. Since this brigade is all adapted from the Eighth Route Army that defected to the Central Army, the Japanese also have some information about the Third Brigade, including the information that his predecessor was a bandit in Qinglong Village. Got it by Minami Hanako.
The Third Preliminary Regiment built blocking fortifications at the gate in a grand manner. The flag of the 78th Army's Third Brigade was fluttering in the wind in a conspicuous position, for fear that the Japanese would not know.
The search squadron of the 62nd Regiment of the Japanese 21st Division soon discovered the blocking third brigade and reported it to Lieutenant General Tanaka through the Three Kingdoms Colonel. Tanaka said excitedly:
"Yo Xi, Lord of the Three Kingdoms, the 78th Army indeed captured Fengmenkou and sent an entire brigade to defend the danger, intending to stop the Imperial Army from advancing eastward;
Although this third brigade came from the Eighth Route Army and defected to the 78th Army, its predecessors were just a group of bandits in Qinglong Mountain. They were a real mob. They rebelled first against the Eighth Route Army and then against the Central Army. Such a force with no combat effectiveness is just for you and me. Military merit!
Your troops, the 62nd Regiment and the 21st Field Artillery Regiment, immediately launched an attack on the enemy troops at the sealed gate, defeated the mob in one fell swoop, and then drove the troops all the way to Langya Valley, disrupting the defense system of the 78th Army, and then the Imperial Army …”
Tanaka is indeed a top student who graduated from the Japanese mainland, and his tactics of driving rout troops and disrupting the enemy's positions are extremely clever.
The Colonel of the Three Kingdoms admired the division commander's commanding ability and was very grateful to him for giving him the most attractive job;
He didn't even plan to give the Manchurian Army any share of his general power. It was just a ragtag group of 5,000 people. A random brigade from the 62nd Regiment was enough to defeat them!
At around three o'clock in the afternoon, the Japanese's main force, the 62nd Regiment and the Field Artillery Regiment, rushed to seal the gate. As expected, thousands of Chinese troops blocked their way.
The Colonel of the Three Kingdoms immediately ordered the 21st Field Artillery Regiment to quickly establish artillery positions. Artillery is the key to successfully defeating the enemy in front of them;
The tactical literacy of the Japanese artillery is very high. It only took half an hour to set up the artillery position of a regiment. The dark muzzle of the cannon faced the Third Brigade at the closed gate position, which made the officers and soldiers of the Third Brigade tremble when they saw it. trembling……
"Kill the chicken and give it to me!"
Following the order from the commander of the Three Kingdoms, the Japanese artillery took the lead...
"Boom boom..."
More than a dozen cannons blasted at the position of the third brigade. As expected, the commander of the Three Kingdoms did not disappoint. They only took two rounds of artillery and let go. A rabble is a rabble!
"Run quickly, the Japanese artillery fire is too fierce!"
"Run quickly, the officers have already fled, whoever runs faster will save his life!"
"The devil is too fierce, run away..."
…
The thousands of men and horses of the ragtag Third Brigade ran faster than rabbits. In order to increase the speed of escape, some people even did not use cannons. They ran as fast as they could!
"Kill the chicken for..."
The Colonel of the Three Kingdoms issued a pursuit order, and more than three thousand Japanese soldiers of the 62nd Regiment followed the defeated troops of the Third Brigade into the Langya Valley.
What he didn't notice was that in the process of escaping, the Third Brigade left thousands of people behind and hid in the mountains on both sides. The Japanese thought it was a small number of defeated troops who chose to enter the mountains. They didn't care at all. Their target was 918 Gao Gao and Zhao Sihu.
