"Cooperate with Comrade Yang Quan to kill the Chief of Staff and Deputy Chief of Staff of the Japanese First Army?"
The Zhengtai Line, a railway artery that runs east to west in the middle of Shanxi Province, divides the entire Shanxi Province into two parts. At the same time, it also divides the Taihang Mountains into two parts.
Yangquan is the midpoint of the Zhengtai Line and is also located on the edge of the Taihang Mountains.
Trapped in the mountains near Yangquan is the 16th Regiment of the 129th Division.
One of the established main teams.
In the early morning of that day, an order from the headquarters, escorted by simultaneous correspondents overnight, came to the hands of the head of the 16th Regiment - to dispatch a death squad to cooperate with the intelligence of underground comrades in Yangquan to kill the Chief of Staff and Deputy Chief of Staff of the First Army at any cost.
This order made the commander of the 16th Regiment somewhat dissatisfied.
It is somewhat uneconomical for him, an elite member of the main force, to kill the Chief of Staff and Deputy Chief of Staff of the Japanese First Army.
These two are not elite officers.
"This matter was personally ordered by the boss."
"It can solve the problem of insufficient funds for our troops..."
The headquarters correspondent who came to convey the order took out the boss's handwritten order.
"No matter the cost!"
"Three million oceans a month!"
The boss's order made the 16th regiment battalion commander's unhappiness disappear immediately.
"First battalion commander."
"You select a group of fighting backbones and lead the team yourself."
Without hesitation, he sent the most elite battalion commander of the 16th regiment to lead the team personally.
A gentle-looking officer wearing glasses, about 25 or 26 years old.
"three million!"
Upon hearing the numbers, the battalion commander's eyes suddenly lit up.
"It's three million a month."
The head of the 16th regiment emphasized.
"Captain, just keep an eye on it."
A battalion commander straightened his eyes and exhaled:
"The Chief of Staff and Deputy Chief of Staff of the Japanese First Army are dead!"
"Even if the Lord of Hell is here, he can't be saved."
Just half an hour later, a battalion commander led more than 130 carefully selected combat cadres, mortars, grenades, submachine guns, explosive packs and other weapons, as well as an artillery platoon from the headquarters. Together they ran towards Ping County south of Yangquan.
···
That afternoon.
Yangquan.
The new Chief of Staff and Deputy Chief of Staff of the First Army came to Yangquan and prepared to transfer to a car. Under the protection of a squadron, they took an armored vehicle along the Pingxian route to Li County.
Considering safety, this time there were two armored vehicles in the convoy, one for him and one for the deputy chief of staff. The two went to Li County to investigate the fiasco of the Xitian United Team.
Because Liao County was occupied by the Japanese, after arriving in Xiyang, they would avoid the Tubal Road activity area and transfer to Wuxiang County, and then follow the Baijin Railway to Li County.
During this period, the new Chief of Staff of the First Army had been thinking about one thing.
In June, the Eighth Route Army in the Taiyue Mountains made great movements.
Not to mention the complete annihilation of the Shandao Regiment.
At the end of the month alone, the 386th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army dispatched more than 5,000 troops to besiege and blockade Wuxiang County, cutting off the Baijin Railway, and forcing the First Army to mobilize a brigade to relieve the siege.
At the same time, the independent regiment in the south fought against the Westfield United Army, and then sent a small force to capture the Westfield United Union flag.
According to the analysis of the First Army Staff Department,
The 386th Brigade surrounded Wuxiang County to cover the independent regiment in seizing the imperial regiment flag.
But this analysis doesn’t hold up.
Although they both belong to the First Army, Li County is in the south of the Taiyue Mountains and is protected by the 33rd Brigade and other troops, while Wuxiang County is in the middle of the Taiyue Mountains and is protected by the 29th Brigade.
The forces of both sides do not overlap.
Even if Wuxiang County was attacked, the locust troops stationed on the Zhengtai line would be the ones sent to support them, and had nothing to do with the troops near Li County and Chang City.
However, after the reinforcements arrived in Wuxiang County, the more than 5,000 troops of the 386th Brigade quickly retreated after only a brief encounter. The opponent's purpose was obviously to attract the locust troops stationed on the Zhengtai Line to dispatch.
"Are they covering the supplies from the Taiyue Mountains through the Shotai Line and heading to the base in the north?"
The Chief of Staff of the First Army quickly analyzed and came to a conclusion.
It is not difficult to come to this conclusion.
In the Cage Plan, the Zhengtai Line was the main pillar. The continuous garrisons and stronghold artillery towers almost prevented the passage of large-scale transport teams between the north and south of the Eighth Route Army's Taihang Base.
However, the Locust Army is severely under-strength. Once the railway garrison is dispatched temporarily, the alert must be reduced, and a large number of loopholes in the blockade will naturally appear. At this time, it is very suitable for transportation teams to pass through the railway.
"what exactly is it?"
"Food supplies?"
"Weapons and ammunition?"
The new chief of staff of the First Army opened the map, looked at the Taiyue Mountains in the center, and frowned deeply.
For several months.
The strange and continuous flow of large amounts of materials from the Taiyue Mountains caused the strength of Tubal Road to increase dramatically.
But the Locust Army has never been able to find out where these supplies came from.
"No matter who they are, they will be found out by the end of this month."
Shu frowned and the Chief of Staff of the First Army flashed his eyes.
The field divisions, the 27th Division, will gather in late July to launch an attack on the Taiyue Mountains and destroy the Taiyue base area in one fell swoop. By then, they will surely be able to find out the source of these supplies and cut off the transportation routes.
Then the chief of staff turned his mind to the next thing.
Westfield United's flag was seized.
"Is there a Tubal spy among the officers within the Locust Army?"
He didn't believe this speculation.
The officers within the Locust Army are all recruited from the mainland. Elites who have received bushido training since childhood, how could they be spies of Tubal Road?
He prefers that Tubal Road obtained the position of the alliance flag through some means and channels.
"We must find out about this."
The voice of talking to oneself just fell, suddenly.
boom·
There was a sudden explosion, and the armored vehicle he was riding in suddenly braked, causing the chief of staff to almost hit his head.
"what happened?"
Grasping the handrail firmly, the Japanese chief of staff wanted to raise his head and get out of the armored vehicle.
"Enemy attack!"
The guards' shrill screams startled the Japanese chief of staff and quickly pulled his head back.
This is near Ping County!
How dare someone attack the Locust Army convoy?
who is it?
Don’t want to live anymore?
The Pingxian Cavalry Squadron can arrive in less than thirty minutes, and the Yangquan Cavalry Brigade and Armored Squadron can arrive within an hour for reinforcements.
The guard then answered his doubts:
"It's Tubalu!"
"Eighth Route Army!"
The Japanese chief of staff was shocked. He put his eyes in front of the observation hole and looked out.
The scene in front of him made the Japanese chief of staff feel cold and sweat was running down his spine.
Outside the narrow shooting hole, on the position of the accompanying escort squadron, there were dense explosions one after another, including many 82 mortars that were as powerful as the 75 mountain gun.
The escort squadron that was attacked could only hastily organize a counterattack.
Even armored vehicles had to move continuously to avoid being hit - even armored vehicles would be severely damaged in the face of an explosion comparable to 75mm artillery.
"The main force of Tubal Road?"
The violent explosion and fierce artillery fire made the Japanese chief of staff realize that it was the main force of Tubal Road that attacked him.
But how dare the main force of the Eighth Route Army rely on ** County?
In the midst of doubts, the artillery shells outside were still as dense as rain. The hastily organized counterattack by the escort squadron could not form a scale at all, and was easily suppressed by the ferocious artillery fire from Tubal Road.
But at this time, the density of artillery fire increased sharply again.
Then, more than a hundred Tuba soldiers appeared on the side of the road, armed with submachine guns, and charged towards the road in a skirmish line.
Machine guns and grenade launchers also joined in the suppression.
The enemy's firepower increased again, and the charge was fierce and fearless. It was like a desperate charge. The escort squadron was unable to stop it and retreated steadily. Even if the armored vehicles provided emergency fire support, they could not stop it at all.
"withdraw!"
"Retreat to Ping County!"
This scene made the Chief of Staff of the First Army realize that something was wrong and immediately ordered the troops to start retreating.
But the continuous falling artillery shells, especially the artillery platoon coming from the headquarters, three 82 mortars stared at the Japanese armored vehicles and opened fire.
Impeding the retreat of armored vehicles.
The Japs' thin-skinned armored car has a main armor of less than six millimeters and low-level bulletproof tires. Not to mention being directly hit by 82 mortar shells, it can't even block fragments at close range.
A few minutes later, a Japanese armored vehicle was directly hit. Although it was not destroyed, as it was the fuse of a grenade, it was still lying on the spot. The machine gun turret on the roof of the vehicle was blown away. The life and death of the deputy chief of staff was unknown.
The other car had a damaged transmission system and was also lying on the ground.
Without the suppression of 82 mortars, the escort squadron was finally free to block the attacking Tubal Road. However, contrary to the Japanese's expectation, the attacking Tubal Road not only had powerful firepower, but also was fearless in death. It almost stared at the escort squadron. The firepower dispersed the escort squadron.
Then he went straight to the two armored vehicles lying in the nest.
Boom boom...
Fifteen minutes into the battle, a battalion commander of the 16th Regiment led his team to blow up two armored vehicles and kill the two Japanese chiefs of staff.
"withdraw!"
After confirming that the target was dead, the battalion commander refused to fight and retreated with his troops.
(End of chapter)
