As the saying goes, armed with sharp weapons, murderous intentions arise!
Looking at the 122nd Division, which had completed its recruit phase training, and looking at the medical team in the military division that was rare in the world, Liu Yu couldn't help but look up to the sky and scream.
Who else? ? ?
On June 9, in order to further deepen cooperation with Britain, the United States and other countries, Liu Yu prepared to flex his muscles and let those foreigners understand that the Eighth Route Army was qualified enough to make equal deals with them!
After asking for instructions from the headquarters and receiving approval, Liu Yu waved his hand, and the 727th Regiment of the 364th Brigade of the 122nd Division left Guguan and approached Shimenkou on the outskirts of Pingding County along the Shitai Highway.
At 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the 727th Regiment launched an attack on Shimenkou. Its artillery battalion had 12 75mm field guns and 12 120mm heavy mortars, plus each battalion was equipped with 8 81mm mortars, for a total of 48 artillery pieces launched a 30-minute bombardment against the Japanese squadron stationed at Shimenkou!
The two infantry cannons in the hands of the Japanese were no match for them. Their hands were too short and they could not reach the artillery position of the 727th Regiment. Fight those 81 forces, they are too scattered and cannot be eliminated in a centralized manner. As a result, the two infantry guns on the Japanese side had just fired three rounds of shells, but they still had no results, so they were bombarded by the artillery of the 727th Regiment on the opposite side.
At 2:50, the 1st Battalion of the 727th Regiment broke through the Japanese defense line at Shimenkou.
At 3:10, the 727th Regiment eliminated the remaining enemies and captured the eastern gateway of Pingding City.
At 4 o'clock in the afternoon, the main force of the 364th Brigade, led by political commissar Tang Tianji, arrived at Shimenkou and launched an attack on Pingding.
While the 364th Brigade was quelling Sahuan, the 366th Brigade left one battalion to guard Niangziguan, and the rest of the troops marched along the Zhengtai Line. The leading 731st Regiment successively captured Japanese strongholds such as Dongtaya, Xiwuzhuang, and Shangxiapanshi. By 5 o'clock in the afternoon, the 1st Battalion of the 731st Regiment arrived at Longzhuang, with its troops pointing directly at Yangquan!
At 6 p.m., the division's artillery regiment and air defense battalion arrived in the Lujiazhuang, Qiaotou Village, and Dongzhuang areas behind Shimenkou and built artillery positions on the spot. The large-caliber artillery of the artillery regiment has a range of more than 10 kilometers, and its deployment here can fully support two battlefields at the same time.
On the Japanese side, the Japanese did not take the 122nd Division's attack seriously at first. They thought that the 122nd Division was just like the other Eighth Route Army. Even if it was better equipped, it would not be much better. Even if there are heavy weapons, the only thing that can hold them back is a small-caliber mortar.
After all, in the Tumen Pass defense battle three months ago, Liu Yu only took out about 10 artillery pieces, and later I heard that those artillery pieces were confiscated by Commander Liu of the 129th Division.
But now, when the battle report came from Shimenkou that one regiment of the 122nd Division was equipped with 12 75mm field guns and a considerable number of large-caliber heavy mortars, Hyakutake Haruyoshi's face turned green at that time.
After the last counterattack on Niangziguan failed, the Fourth Mixed Brigade was dispersed to various strongholds. Now there are only two brigades stationed in Yangquan and Pingping areas!
If the Jinsui Army has two brigades in hand, it will not panic if 100,000 people come to attack it.
But this is the Eighth Route Army, and this Eighth Route Army actually has a field artillery group!
He hurriedly reported the war to the First Army Headquarters, and at the same time asked the 4th Brigade stationed in Yangquan to reinforce the pacification.
But before the 4th Brigade could set off, the 366th Brigade on the Niangziguan side moved, and their troops were sharp and their advance speed was astonishing.
After receiving the news, Xiangyue Qingsi of Taiyuan hurriedly asked the 37th Division stationed in Yuci to assemble to support the fourth mixed brigade.
But how can a division assemble so quickly? When the 225th Regiment of the 37th Division was assembled and ready to set off, the 122nd Division had already begun its attack on Pingding City.
Xiang Yue Qingji was so anxious that he quickly ordered the pacified defenders to move to Yangquan and ordered Hyakutake Harukichi to stick to Yangquan.
It would be okay if Pingding, Xiyang, and Jingxing counties were left to the Eighth Route Army, because these counties were very poor. If they were not located along Zhengtai Road, the Japanese would not be willing to occupy them, but Yangquan was different!
The anthracite coal mine here is an extremely important strategic resource. Yangquan is located on Zhengtai Road, and it is also the first gateway to the east of Taiyuan. There is absolutely no room for error!
. . . . . .
"Invincible is so, so lonely! Invincible is so, so empty..."
At 7:30 that night, the 364th Brigade Independent Regiment stationed in Pingding, while the remaining two regiments continued northward, preparing to cooperate with the 366th Brigade in attacking Yangquan.
Liu Yu, who followed the troops into the city, couldn't help but start showing off.
On the side, Tang Tianji rolled his eyes: "You are so vain! Why are you singing in a county town?"
After getting along for a few months, with Liu Yu's charisma and funny personality brought by his previous life, he had already become besties with the transferred cadres.
The big brothers think that this little brother is rich, wild and well-spoken, and can make them eat white flour steamed buns and canned beef every day. They like it very much!
"Old Tang, what you said was, 'Why don't you just build a county town?' How could you have said this three months ago?" Liu Yu replied unceremoniously.
Tang Tianji was speechless. Three months ago, he was leading a guerrilla detachment to hide and seek with the Japanese in the mountains.
Then, he also had a look of sadness on his face: "You can't do that little devil. Without beating, without beating, he withdrew even before I used any force!"
Liu Yu, who was caught off guard by this wave of counter-pretending, almost dodged his waist.
However, there was indeed no use of force. The artillery regiment's 48 heavy guns with a caliber of 105 mm or above were still building artillery positions in the Lujiazhuang area, and the Japanese withdrew.
The two looked at each other and laughed.
But after calming down, Liu Yu discovered the problem.
"The reinforcements from the 37th Division in the Yuci direction are being delayed by comrades from the 115th Division, but now the little devil has asked a brigade from Pingding to withdraw to Yangquan. This clearly means that we will defend to the death. If our attack here does not go smoothly, let the little devil If the Japanese hold off until dawn, then their planes will be able to join the battle. By then, whether it is us or the 115th Division tasked with blocking the enemy, the casualties will be huge!"
"Your concern is right." Tang Tianji nodded, and then said: "In this way, let the 727th Regiment bypass Yangquan, march lightly and go straight into Shouyang, capture him! Guard him! Block the reinforcements of the Japanese 37th Division! The division's main force will attack Yangquan with all its strength, and try to end the battle before dawn!"
Liu Yu nodded in agreement: "Last time, we didn't beat the little devil hard enough. We only left two brigades in Pingding and Yangquan. So this time, let him have a long memory and know how powerful I, Liu, am! I'll kill him hundreds of times." Wu Qingji’s retreat and reinforcements, if he doesn’t want to die, he can only take his troops back to Taiyuan via the mountain road from Yu County!”
"I'll send the report right away!"
After giving the order, the 727th Regiment from the north, which had almost reached the outskirts of Yangquan, left its artillery battalion. The entire regiment diverted lightly and moved forward at full speed westward.
. . . . . .
At the same time, Hedong Village west of Shouyang.
After receiving a telegram from the headquarters yesterday, asking the 115th Division to cooperate with the 122nd Division to attack Yangquan, Nie Shuai of the 115th Division sent his teaching group and asked them to set up an ambush position on a section of the Zhengtai Road from Yuci to Shouyang.
At 7:20 p.m., the 115th Division Teaching Group, led by regiment leader Tang Yanjie, marched from the north of Yu County to the Hedong Village southwest of Shouyang after eight hours of forced march.
After finding an ambush position, Tang Yanjie took advantage of the moonlight to see the looming railway bridge on the Xiaohe River in the distance.
"Third company commander!" Tang Yanjie shouted.
"arrive!"
The third company commander ran up to him, gasped and saluted: "Captain!"
Tang Yanjie was also breathing heavily, pointing to the railway bridge on the Xiaohe River and said: "You know about blasting, have you seen that bridge? Go ahead and blow it up for me!"
"yes!"
The commander of the third company returned to the position, called two soldiers of the third company, took two explosive bags, and ran towards the bridge.
However, as soon as they reached the bridge, the third company commander noticed something was wrong.
This bridge was rebuilt by the Japs. It is too wide and too thick, and it is a reinforced concrete structure. It is completely different from the stone bridges on the highway that they usually bomb. If explosives are placed on the bridge, at most two big holes will be blown. , even if the kid can’t get across by train, they can still get by on foot.
The bridge piers must be blown up!
The third company commander immediately led two soldiers into the water and swam to the middle of the bridge.
This section of the river is 80 meters wide, with two large bridge piers. The nearest one is 30 meters away from them. They have traveled dozens of kilometers, and now they are carrying more than ten kilograms of explosives. Swimming, of course, is not fast.
Coupled with the influence of the current, by the time they gritted their teeth and swam to the nearest bridge pier, 10 minutes had passed.
After the explosive package was tied up, the third company commander gasped and said: "I'll connect the wiring here, you go back to the shore first!"
"yes!"
The two soldiers turned around and swam towards the shore, but before they could return to the shore, the sound of a train whistle could be heard in their ears.
The two soldiers were shocked and turned their heads in the water to look at the third company commander.
A soldier shouted anxiously: "Company Commander!"
At this time, the third company commander had just connected the line.
But the detonator was not with him. He was afraid that the detonator would malfunction due to water ingress, so he placed it on the shore!
The third company commander quickly jumped into the water, and while swimming, he shouted to the two soldiers: "Quick, get ashore! Detonate!"
The two soldiers quickly turned their heads and swam towards the shore.
In the distance, Tang Yanjie saw the fast approaching train, and his heart tightened.
Looking towards the river again, the two soldiers in front had already reached the shore, but the third company commander was less than 5 meters away from the bridge pier.
He was too tired, and the current was fast, so he couldn't swim fast.
When the two soldiers ran to the detonator, the third company's long-range detonation point was still about 10 meters away.
The train was less than a mile away from the bridge.
A soldier held the detonator and stared blankly at the third company commander in the center of the river.
"Detonate, detonate quickly!" The third company commander simply stopped swimming and tried his best to poke his head out of the water, shouting at the top of his lungs.
"Company commander!"
"I can dive, it's okay, just detonate it!"
The train was getting closer and closer, and the sound was almost drowning out the roar of the third company commander.
Looking at the speeding train, the soldier holding the detonator closed his eyes tightly, gritted his teeth and pressed the detonator.
"boom!"
Before the soldier pressed the detonator, the third company commander took a deep breath and dived into the water. However, the huge shock wave generated by the explosion, mixed with a large number of concrete blocks, fell around him like a goddess, hitting him with a blow. String of blood flowers.
Then came the collapsed bridge. A section of the bridge deck and piers weighing hundreds of tons fell a few meters away from the third company. The water waves caused him to be pushed out violently, and the water vortex that followed sucked him in. Come back and slap it hard on the cement floor...
