Liu Yu rode a side tripod, carrying Ma Chao and the messenger, and drove all the way. It took about 20 minutes to reach the city headquarters.
But as soon as he entered the headquarters, three black lines fell on his forehead: "Isn't the Japanese just here to make a joke?"
"Ding! Congratulations to the host's troops for winning a small-scale defensive battle and gaining 50 points!"
"Ding! Congratulations to the host's troops for killing 31 Japanese soldiers, including 3 sergeants. They gained 34 points and were awarded Type 38 rifles..."
As soon as I walked into the headquarters, I saw Chief of Staff Wang Zhitao making a phone call.
"What? The enemy has withdrawn?"
"Okay, okay, how are your casualties?"
"Not bad, not bad. When you come back, I'll treat you to a drink! Hahahaha..."
Wang Zhitao smiled and hung up the phone, turned around and saw Liu Yu.
Before he could speak, Liu Yu asked first, "What's going on?"
Wang Zhitao smiled broadly: "The Japs in Pingding City launched a tentative attack on our Xilai Temple defense line, but they ran away before half an hour. Lao Yuan said they killed at least 30 Japs and injured many. A lot of them, including the wounded, corpses, and little devils, were all brought back."
Liu Yu nodded and asked: "What are our casualties?"
"There are only two lightly wounded people. They were a little dazed by the Japanese infantry artillery explosion when we were serving as observation posts. They were scratched by shrapnel and they will be fine after two days of rest! Commander, the anti-slope position you taught them is really good. So, the kid’s cannon can’t be hit!”
"That is!"
Liu Yu looked embarrassed, but his expression immediately darkened again.
"What's wrong, Commander?" Wang Zhitao saw that he looked wrong and asked.
"Don't make any noise, let me think about it, I always feel like something is wrong."
Liu Yu bit his fingers and thought for a long time but couldn't think of anything. Finally, he asked: "What did Lao Yuan say on the phone just now? Did you explain the general battle situation?"
Wang Zhitao was a little confused: "He said that the Japanese came with about a squadron, plus an infantry artillery squad, with a 92-type infantry cannon. They came up and launched an attack on the Xilai Temple defense line. They first bombarded it with artillery, and then the infantry pressed up. , it’s the same old thing.”
Liu Yu's frown deepened, and for a while, the light bulb on his forehead clicked on again.
"This is not a probing attack by the Japs. How can they use a squadron to test their firepower? They just want to capture Xilai Temple!"
Liu Yu touched his fists and continued: "Originally, we posted a company in Xilai Temple, and now we have added a battalion. There is another battalion in Beizhuang on the Pingliao road, and there is another battalion in Chaoyangbao behind. . But the little devil doesn’t know, it only takes three or four days for us to send more troops there!"
"There is no reason for the Japs in Pingding City to rush to attack Xilai Temple in such a hurry. They are garrison troops. They usually don't wander out of the city when they have nothing to do. So I guess they must have received orders from their superiors! In this way, little one The Japanese commander is very fond of the location of Xilai Temple, or we are very fond of us. So what makes them so sensitive? You know, although we have some strength, we have not registered with the Japanese at all. You may not know that there is such a person as Liu Yu!"
After hearing what Liu Yu said, Wang Zhitao also reacted and said directly: "Zhengtai Road!"
"bingO!"
Liu Yu gave Wang Zhitao a "biU" with his finger, and then said: "Now the fighting in northwest Shanxi is in full swing, and the Japs have a steady advantage. Brigadier Wang and the others can only rely on the terrain of Luliang Mountain to deal with the Japs. We here The main opponent on the side is the Fourth Independent Mixed Brigade. The current brigade leader is said to be Momotake Haruyoshi. With that old devil's personality, he will definitely not be lonely and will definitely not tolerate us threatening the shota line on the side. This is their first time. The lifeblood of an army!”
At this point, Liu Yu's eyes lit up: "Ask Yuan Xuekai to send out scouts to investigate along the Zhengtai Railway. I will investigate Yangquan, Shouyang, and even Yuci along the line to see if there is any gathering of Japs. !”
"You mean..." Wang Zhitao thought about it.
"If my guess is correct, that old devil Momotake Haruyoshi is probably going to attack us!"
"I'm going to make a call right now!"
. . . . . .
Two days later, the information from the Second Regiment came back.
Sure enough, as Liu Yu expected, the numbers of three brigades under the Japanese independent Fourth Mixed Brigade have appeared in Yangquan, namely the 1st, 4th, and 5th brigades, as well as their artillery, cavalry, and engineers. Wait for the directly affiliated troops.
At this time, more than 5,000 Japanese soldiers have gathered in Yangquan!
If the Japs in Pingding City can successfully defeat the Xilai Temple defense line this time, then the follow-up troops of the Fourth Independent Brigade will be able to drive straight in along the Pingliao Highway and fight all the way to Xiyang City.
The arrogance of Hyakutake Haruyoshi is recorded in history. Historically, when he was on the Guadalcanal battlefield, before he had confirmed the deployment of US military forces and only made a rough estimate, he dared to move towards Henderson, who was heavily defended by the US military. The launch of a general attack on the airport shows that he is determined.
This time, his main target was actually not Xiyang, but Liao County further south. He thought that it would be enough for him to ask the Pingding garrison to send a squadron to deal with the Eighth Route Army company in Xilai Temple.
Of course, the result was that they received a solid blow from the Second Regiment.
As soon as the intelligence arrived, a military meeting was held at the independent column to discuss how to deal with this Japanese attack.
Next to the map, Wang Zhitao gestured on the map with a command pole.
"Now the situation is roughly clear, because our 386th Brigade has already controlled the Le City and Binh Thuan areas, so we don't need to consider the enemies in the south for the time being. What we may face is the main force of the 4th Brigade fighting for the enemy alone, as well as those stationed in our hometown. , Jingzhuang and two field brigades belonging to the 108th Division, with a total of about 7,000 people."
Liu Yu nodded: "Where is the opinion of the staff?"
Wang Zhitao took the command pole and tapped a point on the map. When everyone saw it, they all took a breath.
"Niangziguan?" Liu Yu frowned.
"Yes, Niangzi Pass!" Wang Zhitao said in a deep voice, "We still have more than a thousand tons of food and more than 100,000 refugees here in Xiyang. It is impossible to relocate in a short time. Therefore, instead of sitting back and waiting for death, it is better to take the initiative. , attack the enemy and save him!"
"After the Battle of Taiyuan, the Japanese army completely occupied the Zhengtai Road, and Niangzi Pass became useless. According to the scout report, the Japanese army there was less than a squadron."
Liu Yu still frowned: "What's the specific combat plan?"
Wang Zhitao smiled and said: "We will definitely not be able to complete such a big operation by ourselves, so we plan to invite brother troops from the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region to help. First, we will ask the main force of the 115th Division to go south and move into the Yu County area to contain the main Japanese force in the direction of Yangquan. After that , the second regiment left one company to continue to garrison the front line of Xilai Temple, and the main force bypassed Pingding and moved to the Zaoshu Valley area west of Niangziguan, waiting for opportunities."
"Then, the first regiment separated a battalion of troops, set out from Pingdingnao, and cooperated with the main force of the second regiment to surprise Niangziguan from two directions, and at the same time blocked the Japanese troops who might go north for reinforcements in the direction of their hometown. A fight here at Niangziguan, The Japanese troops on both sides of Yangquan and Jingxing must not be able to sit still and must be rushing there like crazy. Here we need Niangziguan to be able to hold on for at least two days. At the same time, the remaining two battalions of the regiment made another raid. Jingxing, and at the same time capture Tumen Pass to the east of Jingxing!"
"As long as Niangzi Pass and Tumen Pass are captured and blocked at both ends, unless the enemy can gather more than one division of troops in both directions in a short period of time, he will never be able to open up the Shotai Line again."
"And the main purpose of this battle is to attract the enemy's troops to the well, so that they have no extra energy to attack in other directions!"
"As for the two field brigades in Jingxing, let's leave it to the main force of the division to deal with them. After all, if you have something good to do, you can't forget your parents' family. We eat meat, and at least leave a mouthful of soup for the division commander and the others."
Liu Yu nodded silently when he heard this.
Indeed, both Niangziguan and Tumenguan are dangerous passes that "one man is responsible for, and no one can open it." If they can really be defeated, then as long as one regiment of troops is placed in these two places, it will be enough to withstand two Japanese divisions. regiment's attack.
Liu Yu is famous now, and that is also within the Eighth Route Army. Among the Japanese, he is still an "unknown Tubal Commander" who does not even deserve a name. He can just take advantage of the gap when the Japanese do not use him as a meal matter.
Otherwise, if the Japanese are afraid of him in the future and send more troops to these two places, he will not be able to bite even if he has a mouth full of steel teeth.
Thinking of this, he turned to Luo Haiming and asked, "How is the training of the artillery regiment?"
After Liu Shuai left last time, he took away two cannons, but not long after Liu Yu replenished them with three 75mm field guns and one 37mm anti-tank gun. Including the original 1 field gun and 1 combat defense gun, the artillery regiment now has a total of 6 artillery pieces.
As for the four Type 92 infantry cannons, they were assigned to two infantry regiments as the seeds for future regimental artillery battalions.
Luo Haiming was shocked and replied: "Don't worry, Commander, if one of the 6 cannons loses its chain, I will come and see you!"
Liu Yu nodded again.
The early attack artillery is of little use, because both Niangzi Pass and Tumen Pass require lightly armed troops to attack, and they cannot bring cannons at all, but at most a few mortars.
At present, the enemy garrison strength in these two places cannot exceed one squadron. I believe that my own team will have no problem in defeating them.
In the Hundred Regiment War in history, the main force of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region once captured Niangzi Pass. It would certainly be no problem to replace it with the now well-equipped independent columns.
But for subsequent defense, artillery becomes the key!
Of course, things cannot be thought too simply. More than 90% of his hands are recruits who have just finished training. Although the quality of individual soldiers is no less than that of the elite Japs, they still lack actual combat experience. Whether they can achieve the predetermined goals? It’s really hard to say.
The other thing is, he feels great after this fight, what will he do next?
The Shotai Line is the lifeline of the First Army of the Japanese Army in North China. If it is cut off here, they are afraid that they will fight with the Eighth Route Army!
The overall strength of the Eighth Route Army is currently unable to cope with the heavy siege of the Japanese army. If the Japanese are really going to go crazy for revenge, our army may suffer heavy losses from the wealth it has finally accumulated.
Lighting a cigarette for himself, Liu Yu fell into deep thought.
After much deliberation, I decided to give him a go.
After the other Eighth Route Army captured a strategic location, they were afraid that the Japanese would react and mobilize heavy troops to besiege them, so they could only fight and then give up.
But Liu Yu is different. He has a system. The larger the territory and the more soldiers he has, the more Japanese he can kill, the more points he will gain, and the stronger his troops will be!
This is a virtuous cycle!
The time has entered 1939, and the overall situation on the anti-Japanese battlefield will soon transform into a strategic stalemate. At that time, the Eighth Route Army's hard days will really come.
Even if it is not for himself, but to better help other brother troops in the future, Liu Yu must find a way to get a lot of points.
Small things like pulling out strongholds and digging railways are obviously not suitable for him.
Then, it seems to be a pretty good idea to turn the well path into a flesh and blood mill and let the little devils keep filling it!
After making up his mind, Liu Yu threw the cigarette butt on the ground and slapped the table: "Done!"
Then he looked at Lao Song: "But we still need permission from our superiors to attack Niangziguan and Tumenguan. The little devils behind will definitely go crazy. We can't survive such a big hornet's nest! First, report the battle request to the division headquarters. Please tell the division commander to come forward and communicate with the headquarters. Without the help of our brother troops, we really can't fight this battle! Just tell the division commander that the reason why we want to fight here is to avoid refugee casualties caused by the enemy's raids on my base area!"
"Secondly, we are also cooperating with the brother troops in northwest Shanxi. They are fighting hard there. If we succeed here, maybe the Japanese there will all flock to our side in order to re-open the Zhengtai Line?"
