Shanxi.
Taiyuan.
First Army Headquarters.
Early in the morning, Commander Yoshio Iwamatsu received intelligence from the 37th Division that Niangziguan was attacked by a brigade of the Eighth Route Army.
Therefore, Yoshio Iwamatsu ordered the chief of staff, deputy chief of staff, Kazuki Yamamoto and a group of combat staff to the war room.
It is best to receive the battle situation at Niangziguan at any time and formulate corresponding strategies.
"Your Excellency Commander!"
Chief of Staff Hanatani was reporting the current battle situation to Yoshio Iwamatsu:
"According to the report from the 37th Division Regiment Headquarters, the Eighth Route Army attacking Niangziguan Station has about 5,000 troops. It should be a brigade in the Eighth Route Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region."
"Currently, two mobile detachments of the 37th Division have set off from Yangquan and Jingxing counties to reinforce Niangziguan."
"Calculating the time, if the two supporting armies did not encounter an obstruction halfway, then the two supporting armies would have arrived at Niangziguan and exchanged fire with the Eighth Route Army."
Yoshio Iwamatsu nodded upon hearing this. At this time, the news that the two mobile detachments of the 37th Division had been blocked had not yet come.
It means that these two mobile detachments are about to arrive at Niangziguan.
The Eighth Route Army is just a miscellaneous brigade. With two mobile detachments attacking from the east and west, it can completely crush it.
Thinking of this, Yoshio Iwamatsu looked relaxed. The Eighth Route Army wanted to get involved in the Shotai Railway, but it didn't have the strength yet!
But at this moment, the communications staff officer of the First Army hurried in with a telegram in his hand and reported to Yoshio Iwamatsu:
"Report! 23rd Lieutenant General Anda, commander of the 37th Division, urgent call!"
"Read it!" Yoshio Iwamatsu waved his hands, completely unaware that a tragedy had occurred in the 37th Division.
Masaru Hanatani, Masao Miyazaki and Kazuki Yamamoto who were standing aside didn't pay attention.
The soldiers of the two mobile brigades are all battle-hardened elites. They are also equipped with 20 armored vehicles and an artillery brigade, and their combat effectiveness is very strong.
As long as they don't encounter the main forces of the New First Regiment, the Independent Regiment, the New Second Regiment of the Eighth Route Army, and the main force of the 129th Division, they are enough to deal with other ordinary units of the Eighth Route Army.
If it is the large-scale main force of the Eighth Route Army's Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region, it can still run away even if it cannot be defeated.
"Hi!" the communications staff officer read out while holding the telegram, trying to keep his tone smooth: "The first mobile detachment and the second mobile detachment of the 37th Division were ambushed by the New Regiment of the Eighth Route Army in Pianlianggou and Longwangtu respectively. , all 4,000 Locust Army soldiers were in pieces, Niangzi Pass was occupied by a new regiment of the Eighth Route Army, His Majesty the Emperor was on board, and the Japanese Locust Army was on board!"
"Nani?" Yoshio Iwamatsu suddenly turned around and said in a deep voice, "What did you say? The first and second detachments of the 37th Division are all in pieces?"
Hanatani Masaru, Yamamoto Kazuki and others on the side also suddenly turned their heads and cast incredulous looks.
"Hi!" The communications staff paused and said in a deep voice with a positive tone, "We were ambushed by the new regiment headquarters of the Eighth Route Army, and everyone was shattered!"
"Baga, Li Yunlong, it's Li Yunlong again!"
Iwamatsu Yoshio gritted his teeth and held the handle of the sword tightly with his right hand. At this moment, he wanted to practice a wave of sword skills.
The ideal is full, but the reality is cruel.
He had the same idea as Anda Twenty-Three, imagining that two mobile detachments would severely damage the Eighth Route Army troops attacking Niangzi Pass.
But it is a pity that this time the First Army fell into Li Yunlong's plan of encirclement and reinforcements.
The First Army was ridden on the neck by the New Regiment of the Eighth Route Army. Yoshio Iwamatsu was very angry, but there was nothing he could do against the New Regiment.
The reason is simple, you can't beat it.
Not only were they unable to defeat them, but they lived on tenterhooks every day, fearing that one day the Eighth Route Army in southeastern Shanxi and the Eighth Route Army in northwestern Shanxi would attack Taiyuan from both sides.
"idiot!"
The more Yoshio Iwamatsu thought about it, the angrier he became. Finally he couldn't bear it anymore. He suddenly exploded and drew out his command saber with a swipe.
He chopped all the tea cups on the long table in the war hall to the ground, then turned around and slashed the antique vase in the corner into pieces.
Seeing this scene, Yamamoto Kazuki couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.
This violent scene of Iwamatsu Yoshio was all too familiar to Yamamoto. The previous commander Yoshio Shinozuka, every time the First Army suffered a defeat, he would draw out the lieutenant general's sword and chop him indiscriminately like this.
The fragments of the vase chopped into pieces by Yoshio Shinozuka could fill several trucks.
Over time, Lieutenant General Shinozuka Yoshio's sword skills improved rapidly, and he was almost promoted to a kendo master.
However, Lieutenant General Shinozuka Yoshio did not use his sword skills in the end and was beaten to a pulp by the submachine gun of the New Regiment of the Eighth Route Army.
Now, Lieutenant General Yoshio Iwamatsu, is he starting to practice swordsmanship frequently?
After venting his inner anger, Yoshio Iwamatsu pulled the sword back into its sheath.
Hanatani Masaru, Miyazaki Masao and the communications staff on the side did not dare to express their anger.
Then, Yoshio Iwamatsu looked at the communications staff: "Immediately forward this telegram to the North China Front Army Headquarters and request the North China Front Army Headquarters to mobilize troops to attack the New Regiment in Northwestern Shanxi."
Because Okamura was afraid of intelligence leaks, he strictly ordered the transfer of the first division and a second-line division from the mainland to Shanxi to be kept secret, so Yoshio Iwamatsu and others did not know yet.
"Hi!"
The communications staff member breathed a sigh of relief, bowed his head before turning around and leaving.
Then, Yoshio Iwamatsu looked at Kazuki Yamamoto: "Yamamoto-kun, how is the training of your advancing team?"
"Report to Commander!" Yamamoto Kazuki said, "The advancing team has completed training and screening. Unqualified soldiers have been eliminated. Every advancing team member is the best among the best!"
"Yo Xi!" Yoshio Iwamatsu looked relieved, "Let your advancing team enter the base areas of the New Second Regiment and the Independent Regiment of the Eighth Route Army as soon as possible and play their role."
This time, the most elite 500 officers and soldiers selected by the Yamamoto Special Forces from the three divisions and garrison units under the First Army participated in the training.
In the end, only 200 officers and soldiers stood out and passed the Devil's Moon training to become advance team members.
The combat effectiveness of this group of Japanese soldiers is second only to the Yamamoto special agent team.
"Hi!" Yamamoto Kazuki lowered his head first, then raised his head and said, "Commander, in order to improve the combat effectiveness of the advancing team and better complete the mission, I hope they are equipped with hundreds of submachine guns."
The special forces are all equipped with MP38 submachine guns.
It's just that Kazuki Yamamoto currently doesn't have the ability to get so many German submachine guns and ammunition.
Yoshio Iwamatsu asked: "How many Hundred-type submachine guns are needed?"
"200 is enough," Yamamoto Kazuki said, "to ensure the firepower of the advancing team in close combat."
Of course, when the advance team enters the Eighth Route Army base area, they still have to carry bolt-action rifles such as Type 38, Liao 13 and Zhongfu.
Yamamoto Kazuki also knew that these weapons did not match the weapons of the main force of the New Second Regiment and the Independent Regiment.
But he couldn't get the semi-automatic rifles and submachine guns equipped by the Eighth Route Army.
In Kazuki Yamamoto's view, this advance team's action was planned under top-secret circumstances. Apart from himself, only Commander Iwamatsu Yoshio, Chief of Staff Masaru Hanatani and Masao Miyazaki in the First Army knew about it.
Even the North China Front Army Headquarters didn't know.
Moreover, Yoshio Iwamatsu, Masa Hanatani, and Masao Miyazaki did not know the route the advance team took to enter the Eighth Route Army base area and the time it entered the base area.
In addition to the route, the time for the advance team to enter the base area was determined by Yamamoto Kazuki himself, and there was no need to tell Yoshio Iwamatsu.
The information on the advancing team this time will definitely not be leaked, right?
Yamamoto Kazuki is very confident.
If this information is leaked, it means that Yamamoto Kazuki has a big problem.
…
Beiping.
North China Front Army Headquarters.
"Your Excellency, General!"
The communications staff officer held the telegram in his hand, walked to Okamura Neiji and lowered his head to report:
"The commander of the First Army, Lieutenant General Yoshio Iwamatsu, sent an urgent message that Niangzi Pass was attacked by the Eighth Route Army. The first and second detachments of the 37th Division were ambushed by a new regiment of the Eighth Route Army on their way to reinforcements. They were all shattered and Niangzi Pass was lost. "
Okamura Neji suddenly stood up after hearing this.
He looked at Arimo Seizo on the side and asked: "Arumo-kun, how many troops are there in each mobile detachment of the 37th Division?"
"Your Excellency, General." Yu Mojing said three times, "Each mobile detachment of the 37th Division has 2,000 people, equipped with 100 trucks, 20 armored vehicles, and a mountain artillery brigade."
"That is to say..." Neji Okamura's face gradually darkened, "This time, 4,000 people of the 37th Division were crushed to pieces at once?"
"There should be more than 4,000 people." Youmo Seizan replied, "If Niangzi Pass is lost, then the brigade stationed at Niangzi Pass should at least be severely damaged."
"Baga!" Okamura Neji's face turned darker when he heard this.
But he still resisted the urge to slash the table with his knife.
This number of casualties is not worth mentioning compared to the number of casualties caused by the failure of the previous attack on northwestern Shanxi.
But it cannot be said that Okamura is not distressed by the number of casualties. After all, the mobile detachment of the 37th Division is composed of elite soldiers.
Although this lost force can be replenished quickly at the base camp, they are basically new recruits who have been trained for several months without actual combat training, and their combat effectiveness is completely incomparable with that of elite veterans.
However, there is nothing that can be done about it. The firepower of the new regiment of the Eighth Route Army is already very powerful.
Even if a full second-line division is surrounded by a new regiment, it will be difficult to escape, let alone two mobile brigades.
"I really didn't expect that Li Yunlong didn't go to Datong, but went to Niangziguan." Youmo Jingsan said bitterly, "I guess it was Li Yunlong who found out that Datong's 26th Division had not left, so he gave up attacking Datong and turned to Datong. And go attack Niangzi Pass."
Okamura Neji's eyes were gloomy: "Li Yunlong is simply cunning and cunning."
Suddenly, Okamura Neji thought of a word, which is to focus on one thing and lose another.
Although Datong was saved, Niangziguan was lost, as well as the lives of more than 4,000 Locust Army soldiers. This wave of blood loss.
Okamura Neji felt his heart bleed.
"Your Excellency, General, we must send troops to northwest Shanxi to see and contain the New Regiment." Youmo Jingsan said solemnly, "Otherwise, the New Regiment will run around and cause trouble for the Locust Army."
"Arimatsu-kun." Okamura Neiji said with a serious expression, "Immediately send a message to the Kwantung Army headquarters and urge the First Division to enter the border as soon as possible."
"Hi!" Youmo Jingsan suddenly lowered his head.
…
Southeast Shanxi.
Eighth Route Army Headquarters.
"What did you say?"
"The new regiment wiped out more than 5,000 enemies at Niangziguan, of which 4,500 were Japs and 500 were puppet troops..."
After listening to the telegram and reading the telegram, the headquarters staff, including the commander, chief of staff, and division commander, all fell into deep thought.
Immediately afterwards, everyone's expressions showed joy.
Previously, Li Yunlong sent a telegram saying that he requested to attack Datong and Niangziguan, and the headquarters agreed to Li Yunlong's battle plan.
However, since the Japanese 26th Division stayed in Datong, the new regiment launched an attack on Datong and turned to attack Niangziguan.
After Li Yunlong led his troops to set off, the radio station of the new regiment has maintained radio silence.
It wasn't until Li Yunlong took the initiative to send a telegram to the headquarters that the leaders of the headquarters knew that the New Regiment had won another great victory at Niangziguan.
"Well done!" The leader slapped the table hard, smiling broadly.
"Li Yunlong is a kid who doesn't take action, but when he does, he is astonishing." The chief of staff said with surprise in his tone.
"This is called taking a sword out of its sheath, and it will never return to its sheath until there is blood." The division commander applauded and commented.
"Li Yunlong has given your 129th Division a good start." The leader looked at the division commander and said with a smile, "The 37th Division was killed by the New Regiment, with more than 4,500 people killed. The next step is up to your 129th Division. "
"Don't worry, commander." The division commander nodded with a serious expression, "Let's watch the performance of our 129th Division next. Our 129th Division will definitely give all the tracks to the little devils in the Yangquan to Jingxing County section of the Zhengtai Railway within half a month. Overturned.”
The reason why the 37th Division was able to hold the Zhengtai Railway was because of three fast mobile detachments.
A mobile detachment equipped with cars and armored vehicles can quickly arrive at a certain attack point within an hour.
In this case, the guerrillas naturally did not dare to provoke them, and the cost of using the main force to remove the railroad tracks was too high.
Originally, the 129th Division was planning to carry out a major attack on the Zhengtai Railway after winter to clean up the Japanese mobile detachment.
However, Li Yunlong led a new regiment to take the lead. Li Yunlong captured Niangzi Pass and killed the Japanese mobile detachments in Jingxing County and Yangquan.
Then, the Zhengtai Railway between Yangquan and Jingxing County only has some strongholds and gun towers along the line.
Although Yangquan also garrisoned a Japanese infantry regiment, as well as an engineering regiment, a heavy baggage regiment and other units.
However, the Japanese will most likely not dare to reinforce, because once the Japanese infantry regiment leaves the city to reinforce the Zhengtai Railway, the 129th Division will be able to capture Yangquan with a backhand.
The artillery firepower of the 129th Division is now strong, and it is no joke to the Japanese.
Hearing this, the chief nodded heavily: "Okay!"
Anyway, his order has been issued, and then the division commander will be asked to formulate a battle plan.
"Li Yunlong gained a lot from this battle." The chief of staff laughed: "He actually handed over 100 Jiefang brand cars, 20 armored vehicles, and 12 75mm mountain guns."
Hearing this, the chief suddenly smiled.
…
After the battle at Niangziguan, Li Yunlong and Xing Zhiguo led their troops back to northwest Shanxi.
After four days of marching, the new regiment finally returned to northwest Shanxi.
Dagu Town.
Li Yunlong, who had just returned to the regiment headquarters, couldn't wait to contact Boss Chen to clear the account and receive the goods.
Chen Feng did not come forward, but let Yan Shuangying go.
In this battle, about 4,500 Japanese were killed, which just repaid the debts of one regiment and one brigade on credit.
In addition, it is the business of killing Japanese cars and armored vehicles. This is a long-term business. Half will be handed over to the headquarters and transported to Yangcun Airport, and the other half will be kept in the New Regiment.
At the receiving location in Dagu Town, Li Yunlong felt extremely comfortable looking at 100 Jiefang vehicles, 20 armored vehicles, and 12 75mm mountain guns.
