After the bridge was blown up, the Japanese army came to a sudden stop and stopped in front of the broken bridge.
Just when the 225th Regiment of the 37th Division got off the bus and prepared to take a pontoon bridge to march on foot, the teaching regiment of the 115th Division hidden in the dark opened fire.
The two sides fought until 11 o'clock in the night, and the casualties were not very large. The teaching regiment relied on the terrain and Tang Yanjie's excellent command to effectively block the 225th Regiment for 4 hours.
Finally, Tang Yanjie saw that his troops' ammunition was almost exhausted, and after the scouts reported that another Japanese regiment had arrived, he decisively ordered a retreat to avoid being surrounded by the enemy.
It was precisely because of their effective obstruction that a battalion of the vanguard of the 727th Regiment of the 122nd Division finally arrived in Shouyang at 11:30 pm. Under the leadership of the regiment's political commissar Li Lin, it took only one hour to defeat the troops stationed in Shouyang. A Japanese squadron and more than 200 puppet troops in Shouyang occupied Shouyang before the Japanese reinforcements arrived.
This Li Lin was also transferred here with Tang Tianji and the others this time, and she was a girl.
Although Li Lin is only a 24-year-old girl, this girl is amazing. She was originally the instructor of the cavalry battalion of the 6th detachment of the 120th Division.
Where did this cavalry battalion come from? Those war horses were captured by Li Lin and his 30 soldiers who defeated a battalion of puppet troops!
With 30 people, he dared to attack more than 200 puppet troops and still won, which shows how fierce this girl is.
. . . . . .
"Okay! When the battle is over, please give credit to Tang Yanjie and Li Lin, and I'll treat them to a drink!"
After receiving the news, Liu Yu was greatly excited: "Let the Second Guard Regiment go north and station in pacification, and let the Independent Regiment set off immediately to reinforce the 727th Regiment!"
"Call Deputy Commander Nie again and ask them to retreat to the mountains around Yu County to hide. Maybe we can ambush Hyakutake Harukichi then!"
"yes!"
Tang Tianji responded, then turned and walked towards the telegraph room.
Liu Yu picked up the phone again.
"Get me the 366th Brigade!"
"Hey, Lao Wang! I'm Liu Yu! Don't surround Yangquan, let go of the north, I have laid a trap, it depends on whether Momotake Harukichi can escape it!"
On the other end of the phone, Wang Zhitao responded without hesitation: "Yes!"
According to the original battle plan, the 122nd Division was to attack Yangquan; the 115th Division was to provide reinforcements and delay enemy reinforcements from Yuci to Yangquan.
Tang Yanjie's teaching group was responsible for the west of Shouyang and held off the enemy for more than 4 hours. Nie Shuai led the main force and was responsible for the east of Shouyang and held off the enemy for more than 8 hours.
But the plan could not keep up with the changes. The little Japanese who had always been stubborn to retreat actually gave up on pacification, which made Liu Yu's original idea of defeating them one by one come to nothing.
There are more than 2,000 Japs in Yangquan now. If the war goes unfavorably and it is postponed until tomorrow and the Japs' planes also join the war, it will be troublesome.
It was good that Liu Yu had anti-aircraft firepower here, but not the 115th Division, so they asked the 727th Regiment to march westward and take Shouyang directly, and then rely on city defense to resist Japanese reinforcements.
The most important thing is that most of the 122nd Division are new recruits and lack street fighting experience. If Hyakutake Haruyoshi insists on defending, the 2,000 Japs in his hands can cause huge losses to the 122nd Division!
Therefore, the classic tactic of surrounding three ques and one is very practical in this situation.
Now that the 727th Regiment has successfully captured Shouyang, it depends on the choice of Kozuki Seiji and Hyakutake Haruyoshi. If they really intend to defeat them, Liu Yu will not be afraid.
. . . . . .
At 1 o'clock in the morning, the headquarters of the Japanese First Army in Taiyuan.
"Idiot! Trash! The military gives so much funding to the special higher education courses every year, but all they end up with are a bunch of millipedes!"
Xiangyue Qingji was pacing back and forth in the combat command room, his face full of irritation and resentment.
Their previous assessment of Liu Yu's troops in the Eighth Route Army was based on the previous performance of the independent column. It was indeed well-equipped and well-trained, but there was still a big gap compared with the imperial army. If it hadn't been for the sneak attack before, With the addition of an ambush, Liu Yu's troops would never be able to defeat Jingxing.
Later, it was also because of the terrain advantage and mine tactics that the attack of the Imperial Army's Fourth Mixed Brigade was blocked.
Therefore, when the 122nd Division was formed, the First Army Staff's evaluation of him was that he could draw a tie with an independent mixed brigade of the Imperial Army in a positional battle. If the Royal Army's aviation force participated in the battle, the 122nd Division would be defeated! If they confront the permanent division of the Imperial Army, they will be completely wiped out!
But now, according to battle reports from the pacification side, a regiment under the 122nd Division is equipped with a 12-gun 75 field artillery group and a considerable number of heavy mortar groups. According to the information obtained from Chongqing by the Special High School Division, there are 6 such regiments under the 122nd Division. In other words, they have 72 75mm-caliber field guns alone!
Looking at the latest battle report from the Yangquan front, they were bombarded by at least 40 howitzers and cannons with a caliber above 100 mm, of which at least 10 were 150 mm class!
Now that all the defensive positions outside Yangquan have been lost, Hyakutake Haruyoshi's command has suffered heavy losses. Its city defenses are also crumbling in front of the Eighth Route Army's 120mm cannon and are about to be lost!
This horse riding!
Not to mention a division, not even the entire Chinese army in Shanxi combined had such large-scale artillery!
And they didn't know anything about this before, so they must memorize this special high-level course!
What frightened Xiangyue Qingji the most was the telegram from Shouyang. A squadron of the Imperial Army faced a battalion of the 122nd Division. After fighting for half an hour, a farewell message was sent, and this battalion did not have large-scale artillery support!
It is a full 45 kilometers from Yangquan to Shouyang, and the brigade in Pingding retreated around 7 o'clock. In other words, the Eighth Route Army first set off around 7 o'clock, and ran to Shouyang at 11:30, and immediately launched an attack, followed by The imperial army fought fiercely for nearly an hour!
The biggest question in Xiangyue Qingsi's mind now is not where Liu Yu's cannons came from, but how his soldiers were trained? Why can a group of new recruits have such fighting power and fighting will in just three months?
Now that Shouyang has been lost, Hyakutake Haruyoshi and the two brigades trapped in Yangquan have become alone.
"Where is the 37th Division?" Seiji Kozuki asked with a solemn face to Chief of Staff Hashimoto Gun on the side.
"The leading 225th Regiment has arrived at the outskirts of Shouyang City, about 10 kilometers away from Shouyang!"
Xiangyue Qingsi frowned: "Let them speed up. After arriving in Shouyang, they will launch an attack immediately. They must break through Shouyang and reinforce Yangquan within 2 hours!"
"Hi!"
A combat staff officer responded and immediately ran towards the telegraph room.
However, as soon as the staff officer left, a telegraph operator quickly walked over with a telegram.
"Report, Yangquan telegram!"
Hashimoto Group quickly received the telegram, and when he saw it, his eyes widened in shock, and then reported to Xiangyue Qingsi: "Sir, the 122nd Division of the Eighth Route Army has entered Yangquan, and the Fourth Mixed Brigade is fighting with it in the streets. Baiwujun Ask when reinforcements will arrive!"
Hearing this, Xiangyue Qingji was stunned for a moment, then raised his head and closed his eyes.
The 37th Division had already told Hyakutake Haruyoshi about the fall of Shouyang. By asking this question, this guy was forcing himself, the commander, to issue an order to abandon the city.
But he also knew that regardless of whether the retreat order was issued or not, his role as commander was over.
The previous raid against the 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army ended in a disastrous defeat. In addition, Jingjing was captured and the Zhengtai Railway was cut off. The 117th Regiment of the 108th Division was completely wiped out and the regiment flag was lost. At that time, the base camp called and scolded him severely.
Now because of his misjudgment, four counties will be captured by the Eighth Route Army.
In the past, the Imperial Army used frontal pressure and flanking attacks, but now the Eighth Route Army suddenly did this, and Xiangyue Qingji also felt extremely painful.
After a moment, he opened his eyes and ordered: "Order Hyakutake Harukichi to abandon Yangquan, turn into Yu County, and cross Mount Wutai from Yu County to retreat to Taiyuan! The 37th Division continued to attack Shouyang, and at the same time ordered the 108th Division of Shimen to attack Tu The gate is closed! I hope these two sides can contain part of the 122nd Division’s troops for Lord Baiwu.”
The Hashimoto group was shocked: "Your Excellency, Commander! The enemy 122nd Division is all new recruits, and they must be unfamiliar with street fighting. Hyakutake-kun can at least hold on until dawn tomorrow! We can have the 41st Division also assemble, together with the 37th Division Attack Shouyang, and at the same time let Handan's 110th Division cooperate with the 108th Division to attack Tumenguan! By the day tomorrow, we will have aviation to assist, and Lord Baiwu will contain the main force of the 122nd Division in Yangquan. We can come to a center to bloom. Completely annihilate Liu Yu’s 122nd Division! Why give up?”
Xiangyue Qingji shook his head and said: "Your plan is based on Baiwujun being able to hold back the main force of the 122nd Division in Yangquan, but now he only has less than one brigade of troops left under his command. Liu Yu only needs to leave one regiment in Yangquan to follow him. He fights in the streets, and all the remaining troops can be brought to Shouyang!"
"Judging from the current combat power displayed by the 122nd Division, even if the 41st Division arrives, they may not be able to defeat them in a short time!"
"As for Tumen Pass, the terrain there cannot even fully deploy a squadron. A strong attack will only make the imperial army's losses even more severe!"
Seeing that the Hashimoto group still wanted to refute, Xiangyue Qingji directly interrupted: "Hashimoto-kun, don't be impulsive! Our current logistics supplies are all provided by the Kwantung Army, and now the Kwantung Army's gang of Malu are in the Nomenkan area and Sumeng The army is in a stalemate, so that our ammunition supply is cut off. If we fight with the 122nd Division, the consumption will be too great. Once Yan Xishan from the west and Wei Lihuang from the south invade, how should we respond?"
"In such an embarrassing situation, what we can do is to ensure the safety of the existing defense zone and reduce the losses of the imperial army as much as possible!"
Saying that, Xiangyue Qingji sighed again and said: "The responsibility for this incident lies with me. I have already planned to resign to the base camp."
"Sir?" Hashimoto was stunned.
Xiangyue Qingji patted him on the shoulder: "No matter who my successor is, I hope you can continue to assist him well. In the future, we must pay more attention to the Eighth Route Army, especially Liu Yu and his 122nd Division, and pay more attention to it." Be on guard! We used to underestimate the Eighth Route Army too much, which led to today’s consequences!”
"Originally, the base camp planned to transfer the 20th Division to southern China. I will try my best to stop it after returning to China. The overall strength of the imperial army in Shanxi cannot be weakened any longer."
