February 9, 1938, at about 10 o'clock in the morning, racecourse!
At this time, Li Cheng had already organized his troops. There was an infantry brigade, about 10,000 people in total. They left the racecourse in a mighty manner and followed the mountain road to the east with great momentum.
Li Cheng's face was expressionless at this time, and he seemed to be very angry.
The reason is that last night, he had the supervision team beat him up and nearly an infantry brigade was injured or killed.
Otherwise his men at this time would have numbered eleven thousand.
But most importantly, it embarrassed him.
Yesterday at the wine table, he boasted to Momotaro and others about how powerful his Chao Xian army was.
But at night, I was slapped in the face. While people were still in the garrison, nearly an infantry brigade was killed or wounded.
So Li Cheng was very angry and ordered his troops to beat the Chinese hard whenever they saw him.
At the same time, Momotaro, Kudo Shinichi, Nikaidou Konan, Daigaido Minami and others were snickering.
In the night attack of the Supervisory Corps last night, not only did they escape unscathed, but they also angered Li Cheng. And judging from Li Cheng's expression, they didn't need to add any more anger. This Li Cheng would risk his life for them.
Of course, when Li Chenglin set off, Momotaro told him to be careful. Because the supervision team is accustomed to fighting quickly and then evacuating quickly. This tactic is very troublesome.
Therefore, the biggest danger Li Cheng faced when entering Mount Tai was an ambush.
Although the Supervisory Corps has been continuously exhausted in the previous battles, judging from the surprise attack on the racecourse last night, the Supervisory Corps has not yet run out of ammunition and food.
Therefore, Momotaro inferred from this that the probability of the supervision team setting up an ambush in advance was very high.
Li Cheng did not dare to disobey Momotaro's orders, not to mention that he also knew something about the supervision team. Moreover, there is also a staff department in his army, and more than a dozen staff officers unanimously believe that what Mr. Momotaro said is correct. They must be on their guard.
So Li Cheng not only moved forward with a large force, but also sent a reconnaissance team to conduct reconnaissance along both sides of the army, and also sent another vanguard force of more than fifty people to the front of the team.
So it can be seen that this Li Cheng is completely imitating the little devil's combat ideas, and he still thinks that the tactics of the Imperial Japanese Army are invincible.
It's just that Duanwu didn't know that he didn't understand the tactics of the Chaoxian Division, otherwise he wouldn't have been so conservative.
Because just imagine, when a new enemy appears, we don't understand it at all, and then we fight according to the established tactics. Is this feasible or not?
For example, after the little devils entered China, they attacked the Eighth Route Army in the same way as the Central Army, but they were completely defeated.
Because the opponent has changed, the operations of the Eighth Route Army are fundamentally different from those of the Central Army, so it would be strange if he does not suffer a loss if he fights the Eighth Route Army in the same way as the Central Army.
When the Eighth Route Army encountered the Japs at the beginning, they were also very surprised. They also followed the idea of attacking the Central Army. As a result, they went up to fight with the Japs with bayonets and could not fight at all. Many veterans of the Red Army died inexplicably.
Therefore, when the enemy you face is different from the previous enemy, you need to play steadily and test it first, and then decide what tactics to use.
At this time, Duanwu was testing the Chaoxian division. Therefore, the fourth battalion was sent to five kilometers west of Wolong Mountain and began to lay mines.
When Li Cheng arrived here with his people, it was already past two o'clock in the afternoon.
Boom!
There was a sudden violent explosion that startled Li Cheng, and he almost fell off his horse.
This Li Cheng did not ride in a car, but rode a tall horse. Because Japanese officers all like to ride horses, he followed suit. He also sent a special person to Japan to buy Oriental horses. There was not a hair on his body and he was very impressive when riding.
But he didn't expect that at this moment, an explosion suddenly sounded, which almost frightened him and caused him to fall off his horse.
The guard holding the horse had quick eyes and quick hands and quickly supported it. Li Cheng took the opportunity to dismount and asked slightly nervously: "What's going on?"
When I was young, a communications officer hurriedly ran over and said: "Your Excellency, our forward team was attacked, and the supervision team used landmines."
"Hmph!"
Hearing this, Li Cheng actually laughed. Because it was just a landmine, he thought the supervision team was coming to kill him!
Moreover, if the enemy uses landmines to block him, doesn't that mean that the enemy is afraid of him?
He just said that his division was invincible. He had even cracked the hard-to-gnaw bones of the 55th Army and the 56th Army, not to mention the mere Supervisory Corps.
"Order the engineers to go and clear mines. Huh, if the Chinese want to use this method to hold us back, it is just a daydream."
Li Cheng sneered, and then ordered the troops to rest, while he, surrounded by guards, set up a tent on the roadside, drinking tea while waiting for news about the demining ahead.
Demining is a long process, because if one person buries something, another person wants to find it, which requires him to prick the mine inch by inch with a mine detector.
In other words, little devils will not give things like mine detectors to the Chaoxian Division. The Chaoxian Division is still using the most primitive methods to clear mines.
Therefore, the demining speed will be quite slow.
Momotaro couldn't wait any longer. He knew the equipment of the Chaoxian Division. When a telegram from Li Cheng came, saying that the supervision team had laid mines on the highway and needed to be demined, he picked a demining team from his subordinates and rushed to reinforce them with mine detectors.
Because they can't do it without reinforcements. Without reinforcements today, they won't be able to go far.
And he didn't know the enemy's intentions. Logically speaking, the purpose of laying landmines on roads is to delay the enemy's attack or to conduct an ambush.
But the area where Li Cheng was located was not suitable for an ambush, which was a bit hard to understand.
So even Momotaro couldn't see what Danwu wanted to do at this time. In his eyes, Danwu would never do such a meaningless thing.
Procrastinate for time, why procrastinate for Dragon Boat Festival. Last night he sent people to attack the racecourse. And today, he went to the road to lay mines to delay time? Is the Dragon Boat Festival timid?
He did not believe that Duanwu was such a person, and he had always suspected that Duanwu still had fighting ability, and did not enter Taishan territory because he and the Kunisaki detachment were forced into desperation.
So the more abnormal it is, the more certain Momotaro is that things are not that simple.
And he couldn't tell what exactly Dragon Boat Festival had in mind. Because judging from Li Cheng's report, his current location is not suitable for an ambush.
In other words, if the Dragon Boat Festival is not stalling for time, it would not make sense at all.
But the more incomprehensible the explanation becomes, the less Momotaro is able to see through Dragon Boat Festival’s intentions.
"Baga, this is such a cunning guy!"
Momotaro shook his head helplessly, because so far, although he has fought against Duanwu many times, he still doesn't understand Duanwu and his tactics!
(End of chapter)
