Return to the 129th Division.
There are 13 strongholds in the section from Yuci to Yangquan of Zhengtai Road.
In addition to the two brigade strongholds in Shouyang and Yuci, the most difficult thing to defeat is the brigade headquarters in Yangquan.
Although these three places can be regarded as the top priority of the entire 129th Division, once the attack is successful, the spinal cord of the entire southern battlefield Japanese army will be extracted.
But Master Liu did the opposite and didn't hit anyone.
Instead, the focus was on another 10 small strongholds.
There are quite a few people on the Eighth Road who are called "Gods of War", whether they are Su, 101, Zhu, Peng and others, they all deserve this title.
But even though the entire Red Party lineup is so outrageous, there is only one person who deserves the title of "Military God", and that is Commander Liu.
The 129th Division is the unit with the fewest people and the worst equipment among the three divisions of the Eighth Route Army.
After eight years of the War of Resistance, under the management of Liu and Deng, more than 400,000 people were produced.
Originally, on the anti-Japanese battlefield, it was a rare thing for the seizure to exceed the loss.
But under the command of Commander Liu, the soldiers of the 129th Division basically never fought a losing battle.
This shows his profound military command skills.
In the original timeline, he had targeted eight of the 100-man strongholds.
Because our army at that time really lacked heavy weapons, even attacking a small stronghold required more than ten times the number of troops.
If it is a large stronghold, it will be useless no matter how many people there are.
If we place our main forces on three large strongholds, our army will be unable to successfully conquer them.
Even if a hundred or so people from a small stronghold provide reinforcements, our army will still suffer heavy losses.
What's more, soldiers are valuable and quick, especially in breaking attacks.
Once the strategic goal cannot be achieved before the Japanese react.
Even if the retreat was successful and most of the troops were saved, the mission would still be considered a failure.
But because of Zhu Han's appearance, the current 129th Division has been greatly strengthened in terms of equipment.
It is no exaggeration to say that it is the most well-equipped unit in the entire army in terms of light weapons.
Therefore, Commander Liu also adjusted his strategy this time. He planned to completely annihilate the enemies in the western section of the Zhengtai Railway.
Compared with when it first advanced into Jin Province, the entire division only had 6 mortars.
This time Zhu Han directly sent him 30 60mm mortars and 942 rounds of artillery shells.
20 recoilless guns and 500 shells.
Don't ask, ask because the Japanese have blocked it and cannot send it out, they can only digest it internally.
There are countless guns, ammunition and grenades.
Don't forget, the two 90mm mortars previously captured by Zhu Han's team were also assigned to the division's artillery regiment, or battalion.
For an army of over 100,000 people, the artillery regiment only had the equipment of one battalion, which was quite sad.
But when Zhu Han heard about this, he inexplicably heard a phone ringing.
When I picked up the phone, I heard the other person say with a smile: "Xiao Chen, congratulations on getting rich..."
At 22:00 on the 20th, more than a dozen battles started simultaneously along the line.
With the support of recoilless rifles, the soldiers of the 129th Division were so powerful that they demolished all the bunkers in 10 small strongholds in just one night.
And destroy all railways, bridges and stations.
The entire western section of Zhengtai Road was chopped into powder like fried dough sticks thrown into a mincing machine.
For a time, the entire Yangquan headquarters was in chaos.
There is war everywhere, and people are asking for help everywhere.
Facing such a large-scale operation by our army, the Japanese felt a deep sense of powerlessness for the first time.
Now the shortcomings of the Japanese army's insufficient strength have been fully exposed.
No matter how well-equipped your Japs are and how powerful your combat capabilities are, there are only 1,000 people in a brigade.
Facing the scale of tens of thousands of people in the Eighth Route Army, lack of reinforcements will lead to death.
If there are too many reinforcements, this place will be empty.
These three strongholds are too important, so the Japanese would rather watch their arms being chopped off and do nothing than let this knife hit their necks.
Therefore, the thousands of troops in the three major strongholds could only huddle up and dare not show their heads.
But so what?
The 129th Division is here to destroy you this time. It makes no difference to me whether we have reinforcements or not.
It will save me trouble if you come out. If you don't come out, I can still knock your shell off.
In less than two days, the two large strongholds of Yuci and Shouyang were heavily surrounded by our army.
Also bombarded by telegrams and phone calls was the 129th Division Headquarters. The difference was that the news coming here was all good news.
"Old Liu, the war is developing more smoothly than we imagined, but if we follow the tactics suggested by Xiao Zhu, our ammunition loss in this operation will definitely be high. Do we need to change the plan?"
"I don't think it's necessary at all."
"Sun Tzu's Art of War has a saying: The disease caused by accumulated water, as for the disease that causes floating stones, is the force. The disease caused by the birds of prey, as for the disease that destroys people, is the force of the joint. Therefore, those who are good at fighting have dangerous force and short joints. The force is like a crossbow, and the joint is short. Like a hair machine."
"It means that when accumulating energy, it must be stable and sufficient, and when releasing energy, it must be fast and violent. To put it bluntly, it means accumulating more and gaining more."
"The potential here refers not only to the number of soldiers and planning, but also material preparation is part of it."
As the commander-in-chief of the Western Section, Commander Liu can still remain calm even when the reports are all positive.
But when he mentioned Zhu Han, he couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth.
"What's more, didn't Xiao Zhu say that as long as we fight well this time, we can replenish the equipment as much as we need."
"Hahaha." Political Commissar Deng couldn't help but feel happy, "With Comrade Xiao Zhu, Lao Liu, you have a lot of confidence."
"Yes, that's right, Zhu Han is the source of our 129th Division's strength! Order the attack!"
"Yes!" Everyone in the command post was inspired by the two senior commanders and became excited.
In the early morning of the 22nd, the Eighth Route Army launched an attack on the two strongholds of Yuci and Shouyang.
This time, they changed their previous fiery style and became slow and leisurely.
As soon as he saw the bunker turret, he fired the recoilless rifle without saying a word.
If it's not enough, fire a few more rounds until you're sure there are no more survivors inside before continuing to move forward.
Mortars and grenades were used desperately to greet them.
Save ammo?
nonexistent.
For a large stronghold like this, even though the outside is full of open space.
Inside, there are various fortifications layered one after another, acting as horns to protect each other.
If there are too many people, there is no way to move away. If there are too few, it won't work. It can easily become a fuel tactic.
Now the Eighth Route Army has the coveted direct firepower, plus the approval from above.
Let alone the bunker, even if there is someone in the house, shoot him first.
This kind of tactics was new to the Eighth Route Army soldiers themselves, not to mention the Japanese.
Although the progress is not fast, the devil feels like he is sitting on the Titanic.
Even though the iceberg has been seen, there is no way to prevent the ship from hitting it and sinking.
This immediately made Lieutenant General Katayama Shoutaro in Yangquan furious.
"Baga! Baga!"
"The phone lines of other strongholds were cut off immediately! But they still kept the ones from Yuci and Shouyang! This is clearly telling us that they attacked these two places!"
"This is a typical encirclement and rescue operation! Attack the place we must save!"
The adjutant next to him naturally knew what was going on, and quickly advised: "Sir, there is no need to do this for now. We have a brigade of more than a thousand people in each of these two places. With the equipment of Tubal Road, it may not be impossible to defend it."
"But if we don't send troops to support, and the headquarters will hold us accountable when the time comes, we may be punished for cowardice..."
Hearing these words from the adjutant, Katayama Shoutaro couldn't help but shiver, and a chill ran through his body.
Cowardice, in the fanatical atmosphere of the Japs throughout the country, this is the second most sinful crime in the Imperial Army, second only to surrendering to the enemy.
Once you are judged to be a coward, not only will you be punished, but your family will also become "second-class citizens" by convention.
Not only was he being discriminated against, but he was also regarded as a traitor by his family.
The most important thing is that the soul cannot enter the Yingguo Divine Lair after death.
This is a bottom line that is completely unacceptable to soldiers who have been brainwashed by militarism.
Looking at the confused commander in front of him, the adjutant sighed.
They all came from majors, who can’t see the current situation?
Failure is inevitable, and punishment is inevitable. The only thing you can do is to reduce your punishment as much as possible.
"How about...sending a squadron for reinforcements and retreating immediately if the enemy is encountered?"
Katayama Shoutaro was stunned, nodded vigorously, and then squeezed out a few words from between his teeth:
"Balu! You are going too far!"
