Eight days later.
Shanxi.
Changzhi in the southeast of Shanxi Province. In February 1938, the city of Changzhi fell. It is now late February 1941, three years have passed.
Three days ago, the Japanese 37th Division Division Headquarters had entered Changzhi.
Changzhi has been put under martial law throughout the city, and ordinary people are not allowed to move around at will. Frequent mobilizations of Japanese and puppet troops can be seen everywhere.
There was an atmosphere of tension and chill in the air.
The headquarters of the Japanese 37th Division.
Kenkichi Hirata is holding a combat meeting.
In addition to the six regiment captains, chiefs of staff, combat staff and other Japanese officers, there was also Wang Wenfeng, the commander of the 1st Independent Division of the puppet army who assisted the Japanese army in mopping up, referred to as the 1st Independent Division of the Imperial Association Army.
The puppet army's 1st Division is usually stationed in the Yuncheng area. This time it was ordered by the Japanese army to assist the Japanese army in mopping up the Eighth Route Army.
"Order from the First Army Headquarters." Chief of Staff Colonel Ishida Kinzo took the order sheet and glanced at everyone.
Except for Hirata Kenkichi and Wang Wenfeng, all the Japanese officers stood up quickly, their bodies straightened, their heads slightly lowered, as if listening.
"The 225th Regiment launched from the Xiangyuan area and moved towards Wuxiang to sweep and attack."
"The 226th Regiment launched from the Licheng area and attacked in the direction of Yixiantian."
"The 227th Regiment launched from Guangzhi Town and swept and attacked in the direction of Panlong Town."
"The Independent 1st Division of the Royal Association Army divided its forces to assist the 225th Regiment, 226th Regiment and 227th Regiment in mopping up and advancing."
"Two days later at eight o'clock in the morning, all units launched a sweep at the same time."
"Hi!" All the Japanese officers nodded in unison.
The three Japanese infantry regiments have about 10,000 troops, and the mountain artillery regiment has about 2,000 troops.
Therefore, the 37th Division has only about 12,000 troops that can be put into combat. The other two engineering regiments and the baggage regiment generally do not participate in combat.
The puppet troops are the ones leading the charge, that is, they are cannon fodder.
At this moment, a communications soldier with the rank of second lieutenant walked in.
"Your Excellency, Division Commander, Commander Shinozuka's secret telegram!" Second Lieutenant Japanese gave a military salute, and then respectfully handed the telegram to Kenkichi Hirata.
Hirata Kenkichi's expression moved slightly, and he quickly took the telegram from the Japanese second lieutenant.
Then with a wave of his hand, the Japanese lieutenant lowered his head, walked out quickly, and closed the door.
Then, Kenkichi Hirata picked up the telegram and read it. After reading the telegram, he looked slightly stunned.
This order was exactly Kusuyama Hideyoshi's plan, using half of the infantry of the 37th Division to exchange military uniforms with an equal number of the Imperial Japanese Army's 1st Division of the puppet army.
The rest of the plan remains unchanged.
The replaced Japanese troops then lurked on the outside waiting to ambush the Eighth Route Army and civilians who were broken into pieces and scattered to break through.
Yossi, General Shinozuka’s new battle plan is still very powerful.
Hirata Kenkichi breathed a sigh of relief.
In fact, he was not very satisfied with the original battle plan. It was too satisfactory and it would definitely not be able to eliminate the Eighth Route Army.
But as a soldier of the empire, you can only carry out orders.
Fortunately, Commander Yoshio Shinozuka and Chief of Staff Hideyoshi Kusuyama hid something.
Then, Hirata Kenkichi handed this telegram to Chief of Staff Ishida Kinzo: "Ishida-kun, this is a new combat order, deploy it immediately."
"Hi!" Colonel Ishida Kinzo received the telegram respectfully and narrowed his eyes after reading it.
Then I picked up the telegram and started reading:
"Order to select 5,000 short soldiers from the 1st Division of the Imperial Army and exchange uniforms with the same number of Imperial Army soldiers."
"The Imperial Army in disguise followed the Imperial Army into the Eighth Route Bandit Area to sweep up. The Imperial Army in disguise ambushed outside, waiting for the small group of Eighth Route Army troops."
"The change of clothes must be completed before tomorrow night. After the change of clothes, no matter whether it is the Imperial Army or the Imperial Alliance Army, they are not allowed to leave the military camp, otherwise military law will be enforced."
"The rest of the plans remain unchanged."
"Hi!" All the Japanese officers nodded in unison.
Only Wang Wenfeng, the commander of the 1st Division, was a little confused because he couldn't understand Japanese.
A combat staff officer next to him spoke Chinese and translated for Wang Wenfeng before he understood the second order.
"General Shinozuka is truly a master of the art of war. He builds plank roads openly and secretly attacks Chen Cang, and he will surely wipe out all the Eighth Route Army."
Wang Wenfeng had a smile on his face and a complimentary tone.
What I was thinking in my mind was, should I sell batches? This plan has changed over and over again, but I still want my people to be cannon fodder.
The combat staff then translated Wang Wenfeng's words to Hirata Kenkichi.
Kenkichi Hirata just glanced at Wang Wenfeng coldly and ignored him at all.
Kenkichi Hirata looked down upon these puppet troops, because the combat effectiveness of the puppet troops could only be described as sand, and they were scattered in one blow.
If it weren't for the shortage of troops, he would never command such an army to fight.
Hirata Kenkichi glanced at the officers and said coldly: "This time, the goal of the 37th Division is to clear out all the Eighth Route Army and civilians in the bandit area and turn the southeastern Shanxi bandit area into a no-man's land. This sweep only Success is allowed, failure is not allowed!”
"Gentlemen, the time has come to make contributions to His Majesty the Emperor!"
"His Majesty the Emperor is on board!"
"His Majesty the Emperor is on board!"
All the Japanese officers raised their arms and shouted in unison.
Wang Wenfeng looked embarrassed, then raised his arms and shouted: "Onboard!"
…
"The division headquarters of the 37th Division has arrived in Changzhi."
"In addition to the 37th Division, there is also the puppet independent 1st Division."
Information about the Japanese 37th Division and the puppet 1st Division gathering in the Changzhi area was quickly passed to the headquarters of the New 1st Regiment.
"finally come."
Yangcun, the headquarters of the new regiment, Li Yunlong narrowed his eyes and said in a gloomy tone: "It seems that there will only be two or three days at most before the Japs launch a raid. Immediately notify the captains and regimental leaders of all detachments to attend a meeting in Yangcun."
"Yes!" Xu Yonghai immediately picked up the phone and called each branch captain and group leader one by one.
For this battle, the New Regiment prepared two telephone exchanges to facilitate communication with other regiments.
"Have the enemies finished gathering?"
Zhao Gang couldn't wait to ask as soon as he entered the door.
During this period, Zhao Gang was also very busy. He was mainly responsible for mobilization, logistics and other tasks.
If you take the initiative to launch such a large battle against the enemy, there must be no mistakes in logistics. If the logistics supplies are sufficient, half of the battle will be won.
Fortunately, through the efforts of Zhao Gang and political cadres, the mobilization of the military and civilians has been completed, and all logistical work has been prepared, waiting for the war to begin.
"Yes, the Japanese and puppet troops have completed their assembly. In addition to the 37th Division, there is also the puppet independent 1st Division." Li Yunlong responded.
"The 1st Division of the Puppet Army also came to Changzhi?"
Zhao Gang sounded worried: "In this case, the Japanese 37th Division has about 15,000 people, and the puppet army's 1st Division has about 7,000 people, a total of 22,000 people, and we only have more than 30,000 people. This battle... I'm afraid It’s not that easy to fight.”
"Old Zhao, you can't settle the account like this."
Li Yunlong said: "In addition to the two logistics regiments, the Japanese 37th Division has three infantry regiments and one mountain artillery regiment, which together only number 12,000 people."
"The 1st Division of the Puppet Army is also called an army?"
"Although there are more than 7,000 people in the 1st Division of the Puppet Army, without the help of the Japanese, a main infantry battalion can easily put it away."
"So, our opponent is just the Japanese 37th Division."
"If we don't count the Japanese army's two logistics wings and the puppet army's 1st Division, our military strength against the Japanese army is 3 to 1."
"The advantage lies with our Eighth Route Army."
"What's more, according to Brother Chen's intelligence, the Japs are playing a trick this time. The first wave of Japs to be swept away can only number 5,000 people at most, and the other 5,000 people are puppet soldiers pretending to be soldiers."
It was this important information that made Li Yunlong give up an opportunity to use air support.
The opportunity for air support can only be obtained by killing the Japanese Major General. It is too precious and should be used as much as possible.
"That being said, you still need to be cautious." Zhao Gang nodded.
"Don't worry." Li Yunlong said confidently, "When did we, Mr. Li, ever do business at a loss?"
"That's true. You, Lao Li, have always been the only one who has made a fortune. I have never seen you suffer a loss." Zhao Gang said with a smile.
…
Following Li Yunlong's notification, the order was issued.
The three temporary detachment leaders Ding Wei, Kong Jie and Cheng Shifa, as well as the heads of each regiment who received the order.
Within 2 hours, all personnel were assembled and in place.
Many of these people are old comrades-in-arms who rarely meet each other, and when they do meet they always greet each other.
All the group leaders have smiles on their faces, because they have all made money these days.
Except for the New Second Regiment, the Independent Regiment and the 772nd Regiment, each regiment received 15 machine guns, 30 submachine guns, 8 60mm mortars, and 6 bazooka rocket launchers from Li Yunlong.
As well as the ammunition corresponding to the two bases, without exception, they are all sophisticated weapons from major foreign manufacturers.
In addition, soldiers in each regiment who lacked rifles were all provided with rifles, and each regiment was issued 2 basic ammunition.
Several group leaders laughed so hard that they couldn't close their mouths.
Li Yunlong was just a regiment leader, so asking them to obey Li Yunlong's command did make them feel a little uncomfortable.
But when I heard that Li Yunlong was already treated as a brigade commander and was given so many weapons and ammunition produced by major foreign manufacturers for free, the last trace of discomfort in his heart disappeared.
The conference room was in a lobby of a common people's house in Yangcun. The new regiment headquarters was relatively small and could not accommodate so many people.
When Li Yunlong and Zhao Gang walked into the conference room, the originally noisy group leaders became quiet.
All the commanders looked at Li Yunlong. In this year, Li Yunlong's popularity could be said to be unparalleled among the commanders of the Eighth Route Army.
Not only has he repeatedly accomplished extraordinary feats, but he has also provided weapons and ammunition from many major foreign manufacturers. He is now a popular figure in front of the head of the headquarters.
The expressions of all the group leaders were different, some were admiring, some were curious, some were grateful, and of course there were also leaders like Cheng Shifa who felt a little sad.
"Lao Li, why are you here? We are all waiting for you to have a meeting."
When Kong Jie and Ding Wei saw Li Yunlong, they immediately came up to him.
"Sorry, I was delayed because of something just now."
Zhao Gang found a seat and sat down, and then Zhang Dabiao, Xu Yonghai, Zheng Yu, Chen Dugu, Sun Desheng, Wang Chengzhu and Lu Yingjun also moved stools into the conference room to listen.
Among them, the second battalion commander Zheng Yu held a pen and notebook in his hand and was responsible for recording the content of the meeting.
Li Yunlong glanced at everyone and raised the corners of his mouth slightly: "We are all acquaintances. In order to save time, we, Mr. Li, will not greet each other one by one."
After a pause, Li Yunlong added: "I believe everyone has received their weapons and ammunition. Before the battle meeting begins today, I, Mr. Li, want to give you a treasure first!"
