Shinozuka Yoshio gave an order, and the entire Japanese army in Shanxi moved into action.
In the afternoon of the same day, the deputy commander-in-chief, who had just moved the headquarters to Changzhi, was humming a tune happily. He was shocked when he heard the news and said, "How crazy is this kid?"
Due to Liu Yu's influence, the current Eighth Route Army is not as weak as it was in the original time and space.
Although the Eighth Route Army in the original time and space between 37 and 41 years was also very powerful, due to the lack of heavy weapons, the main method of combat was to rely on guerrilla warfare in mountainous areas.
It’s different now. The Eighth Route Army has no shortage of artillery, and it has a training syllabus copied from Liu Yu. In terms of funds, the Eighth Route Army has now occupied all the counties in the Taihang Mountains, and a lot of assets have been confiscated just by fighting traitors, so the Vice President The commander and others also tightened their belts and trained the elites of several columns as aces.
In particular, Liu Shuai's 129th Division dared to fight face-to-face with more than 50,000 Shinozuka Yoshio in a positional battle without much advantage in strength, and even pressed Shinozuka Yoshio to the floor and rubbed him.
Therefore, the deputy commander-in-chief was more confused about the movements of the Japanese army, rather than worried and anxious as before.
In the combat command room of the headquarters, the deputy commander-in-chief looked at the information in his hand, and then thought for a while against the map. Not to mention the deputy commander-in-chief, when he saw the mark of the 122nd Division in Shouyang, he knew that it must be Liu Yu who had made another big move.
"Damn it, he mobilized troops without permission. Who gave him the authority?" After thinking about it, the deputy commander directly cursed, "Send a telegram to Liu Yu and tell him about the situation of the Japanese, and then ask him what the hell is going on over there. Fame!"
General Zuo next to him also had a look of disbelief on his face and said, "The enemy reacted so strongly. Could it be that Liu Yu is attacking Taiyuan?"
"I think it's almost the same. This little bastard, I thought he was enlightened recently, but in the end he's still as tough as before!" the deputy commander sighed.
Then, he looked at the map again and said: "Now the Japanese army in Shanxi is marching towards Taiyuan. That kid has really stirred up a hornet's nest!"
"What should we do now, or should we order him to retreat? Before the enemy can encircle him, they can withdraw from the battle now!" General Zuo said worriedly.
At this time, a telegraph operator came in and handed General Zuo a telegram.
General Zuo took it and looked at it, his expression instantly brightened, and then handed the telegram to the deputy commander-in-chief.
The deputy commander-in-chief looked at the strange expression on his old comrade-in-arms and took the telegram in confusion. When he saw it, his eyes immediately widened.
"The airport in Taiyuan was blown up in the morning, and then one brigade surrounded and blocked the 41st Division and the 4th Mixed Brigade, and another brigade surrounded the 37th Division?!"
"Where did he get the planes and tanks? Why didn't I know?"
In the telegram, Liu Yu said that he did not want to attack Taiyuan, but wanted to attack the 37th Division and kill a few more Japanese. Then he said that his 366th Brigade had already entered with the cooperation of armored and aviation forces, and the 731st Regiment had already entered. At the same time, the remaining two regiments and the division headquarters of the 37th Division were stationed outside Yuci, and they already had an absolute advantage.
Finally, he didn't expect Yoshio Shinozuka's reaction to be so big, and he asked the headquarters for support.
"This stupid boy knows how to ask for help now!" General Zuo couldn't laugh or cry.
The deputy commander did not speak, but looked at the map quietly.
After a long time, he punched the map with his fist and said loudly: "Hit! Since Liu Yu has started the attack, let's just give him a good beating and beat him upside down!"
"Order the 129th Division to attack the Hanxinling area, and then pin it there, blocking the 20th Division and the 36th Division at all costs! If circumstances permit, let them allocate more troops to reinforce the 122nd Division! Order the 115th Division to attack Shiling Pass , hold there and cut off the passage to the north of Taiyuan! Order the 120th Division to attack Loufan and Gujiao. After taking it, the main force will go straight to Taiyuan!"
"At the same time, order the New Army's decisive column, the troops in Jinsui, Jizhong, Jinnan and other places to all mobilize, cut off the enemy's transportation lines, and do all they can to slow down the enemy's reinforcements!"
"Tell Liu Yu to deal with the 37th Division as soon as possible! He is the one who caused the incident this time. I have invested all my money. If he loses his chain, I will twist his head off!"
Following the deputy commander-in-chief's order, the whole of Shanxi once again became a pot of porridge.
First, there was the 386th Brigade, which had been renamed the Taiyue Military Region in advance. After receiving the telegram, the commander, General Chen, immediately ordered the nearest 772nd Regiment to raid Lingshi County and occupy Lingshi before the reinforcements of the Japanese 36th Division arrived.
After the main force of the Taiyue Column arrived, they quickly cleared all the Japanese strongholds in the entire Hanxinling area, and quickly built blocking positions to block the 36th Division's northward path.
At this time, the 36th Division has not yet completed its assembly.
Then Commander Nie of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region also ordered Tang Yanjie to lead a teaching regiment to storm Shiling Pass. He was not so relaxed here. Although Shiling Pass only had one squadron of Japanese garrison, the terrain here was compared to Tumen Pass. Not much different, the teaching regiment paid nearly three times the casualties to capture it.
The Eighth Route Army troops in other places were also unambiguous. Even the militia and guerrillas also participated, tearing up railways, blowing up roads, and laying landmines, which greatly slowed down the Japanese army's advance.
. . . . . .
It was not until the night of September 3 that the leading troops of the Japanese 20th Division barely arrived in Wenxi County; not to mention the 36th Division in Linfen. Although they arrived at Hanxinling within a few steps of leaving the city, their strength was Scattered throughout the Linfen Basin, the assembly was too slow. By the time they arrived at Hanxinling, the main force of the Taiyue Military Region had already established a defensive position, firmly blocking their progress.
For a time, throughout Shanxi, gunshots were heard wherever there were Japs. Yoshio Shinozuka finally panicked after receiving the news.
He was frightened by Liu Shuai last time. This time the Eighth Route Army made such a big move that he was completely convinced that the Eighth Route Army wanted to attack Taiyuan.
This is also true. No matter what Liu Yu thinks, the deputy commander-in-chief has this idea now anyway.
Now that Shilingguan and Hanxinling are captured by the Eighth Route Army, the 41st and 37th Divisions in the Jinzhong Basin have become isolated armies!
On the side of the 37th Division, the remnants of the 226th Regiment have joined the 227th Regiment to the south, but are surrounded by a depth of less than 3 kilometers in the Luoyangpo area.
The 225th Regiment is blocked in the Nanchangling area in the south. The distance between the two regiments is now only about ten kilometers. Under normal circumstances, they should break through the Eighth Route Army's defense line together and join together to wait for reinforcements. However, the best among them is to die. It's just across the Xiaohe River!
Several times the Japanese tried to cross the Xiaohe River and unite their forces, but they were all beaten back by Wang Zhitao, who had a vicious eye.
Yoshio Shinozuka looked at the map, feeling resentful and helpless, and at the same time a little self-blame.
If in the morning when the Eighth Route Army had just launched its attack, the two regiments of the 37th Division were allowed to withdraw to Yuci and rely on city defense to hold on, then he would still have the confidence to reverse the situation. But now, the two regiments have been divided and surrounded, and it is only a matter of time before they are annihilated, even if there are permanent fortifications on their positions.
The most critical thing is that another brigade in Liu Yu's hands is blocking the front line of Wusu. Under the threat of aircraft and heavy artillery, the 41st Division is unable to advance even half a step.
Even if there is a tank brigade to assist in the battle, it is useless. The 12.7mm heavy machine gun assigned to the 122nd Division can actually penetrate the front armor of the Type 95 light tank, and the thinner armored Type 94 ultra-light tank (Doudin tank) ) not to mention. In half a day, the First Tank Battalion of the First Army stationed in Taiyuan had already destroyed 8 tanks.
In fact, Shinozuka Yoshio had an idea in his mind, which was to abandon the 37th Division, withdraw the main force of the 41st Division to Taiyuan, cooperate with the independent 4th Mixed Brigade of Xinkou to break through Shiling Pass, and then stand still and wait for reinforcements.
Or, the main force of the 41st Division bypasses the 364th Brigade and goes south, attacks the 386th Brigade in Hanxinling, then cooperates with the 20th Division and the 36th Division to go north, and then has a decisive battle with the Eighth Route Army in the Jinzhong Basin!
But no matter how you choose, you must give up the 37th Division.
Since sending troops to China, the Japanese army has never seen a precedent in which an entire division was wiped out.
Although the 106th Division was in danger of being destroyed in Wanjialing before, it still broke through.
But then again, the 106th Division faced the Nationalist Army with poor equipment. A company had a maximum of three light machine guns, and the strongest fire support at the regiment level was only an 81mm mortar.
Look at the 122nd Division of the Eighth Route Army in front of us. Each squad has a machine gun with a very fast rate of fire. Each company has two 12.7 mm caliber heavy machine guns and two 60 mm light mortars. Each battalion is equipped with It has a machine gun company, 8 heavy machine guns and 8 81mm mortars. Each regiment has a 75mm field artillery group and a large-caliber heavy mortar group.
Now the special airplanes and tanks are coming out!
Coupled with the tenacious will and strong combat effectiveness of the Eighth Route Army soldiers...
Thinking of this, Yoshio Shinozuka looked up to the sky and sighed. After the failure of the mopping up of the 129th Division in Southeast Shanxi, he had paid enough attention to the Eighth Route Army, but unexpectedly he still underestimated the Eighth Route Army, especially Liu Yu's 122 division.
Although the First Army has sufficient strength, it is too scattered. For example, the 41st Division stationed in Taiyuan wants to control the entire Taiyuan area. You must know that the Taiyuan area is not just Taiyuan City. Loufan, Gujiao, etc. to the west Qingxu, Jiaocheng, Taigu, Jiexiu and other places in the south all need to station troops.
The 122nd Division's attack was too sudden and too fast. In just 3 hours, it defeated the 226th Regiment and the 239th Regiment and occupied Wusu.
By the time the main force of the 41st Division was assembled, the 364th Brigade of the 122nd Division had completed its defensive deployment.
Now the defense around Taiyuan City is very weak, and Yoshio Shinozuka only has the reserve force of a brigade left behind in Taiyuan.
After thinking for a long time, Shinozuka Yoshio said to the Hashimoto group beside him: "Order the 41st Division, Tanabe Moritake, to defeat the 364th Brigade within one day! Then order the 20th Division and the 36th Division to ignore those Tubal Road Nuisance, speed up the march, we must break through Hanxinling and reach Yuci within three days!"
"At the same time, request tactical guidance from Commander Tada, and at least send the aviation force from Baoding Airport to support!"
Yoshio Shinozuka still didn't want to give up easily and pinned his hopes on various reinforcements.
He believed that as long as the supporting units could arrive in time, the First Army's strength of more than 100,000 troops could completely defeat the Eighth Route Army.
Now that the 4th independent mixed brigade has launched an attack on Shiling Pass, he believes that it will not take long for a breakthrough to be achieved.
