Bright Sword's Bloody War of Resistance

Chapter 881 Let You Ascend to Heaven

"Little devil, grandpa will give you something good to eat!"

There were only thirty soldiers on the third position. All of them were party members. Each of them held a detonating device in his hand, and everyone had a fearless look on his face.

The leading cadre squatted in the trench and looked around. Each person was four or five meters apart. The detonators in their hands were connected to electric wires and extended toward the second position in front. There was no clue on the ground.

"Comrades, are you afraid of death?"

"Not afraid!"

"If I was afraid of death I wouldn't be here!"

"Hey!" The leading cadre suddenly slapped himself hard in the face and shouted, "Detonate!"

"Detonate!"

"Detonate!"

"Detonate!"

The orders were quickly conveyed from the middle to the soldiers on both sides, each one louder and more resolute than the last.

“Boom, boom!”

As soon as Toshio Tojo turned on the radio, he heard a huge roar in his ears. Even though he was inside a medium tank, he could feel the rolling air waves sweeping over his skin.

In an instant, the world was spinning, and my internal organs felt as if they were hit hard. I felt dizzy and seemed to be ascending to heaven.

The situation outside was even more miserable, like hell on earth. The Japanese army, which was still proud of occupying the Eighth Route Army's position in the previous second, was completely engulfed in fire in the next second.

A huge roar erupted around the second position, followed by raging flames and flying shrapnel. More than a thousand Japanese soldiers were torn to pieces. More than thirty Japanese tanks jumped up a dozen feet high and rolled on the ground after falling down.

This was a gift that Li Yunlong carefully prepared for the Japanese. Within a range of one mile in front and behind the second position, there were 3,000 mines and 2,000 five-kilogram explosive packs.

As the war progressed, the Eighth Route Army's arsenals were able to produce more and more weapons and equipment, and their output grew. When fighting the Japanese, they no longer needed to carry explosives to blow up the enemy's tanks.

But the old tradition of using mines and explosive packs has not been lost. Laying down minefields to eliminate the enemy is undoubtedly the easiest way.

"Hehe, it's not that easy for us, Old Li, to take advantage of the situation!" Li Yunlong admired the beautiful scenery in front of him through the artillery telescope, and did not forget to notify Lieutenant General Qin Yue, the commander of the 11th Regiment, to pick up the officers and soldiers responsible for detonating the explosion.

"Brigade Commander, don't worry, I have already arranged it!"

"Commander, you really figured out the Japs' plan. You took advantage of their underestimation and rushed in with a ruthless attack!"

Seeing that Li Yunlong was in a good mood, Qin Yuezhong's mouth was almost grinning to his ears, and he took the opportunity to flatter him.

Li Yunlong was also quite complacent. He knew in his heart that even if the Japanese army bombarded the front-line positions and inadvertently detonated the mines and explosive packs buried underground, it would definitely not be possible to achieve the effect of detonating them simultaneously, so it would not cause many casualties to their own personnel.

On the other hand, once the Japanese were trapped, the scene was such that it was a pity that not enough people came.

"It's getting dark, and the Japanese army shouldn't launch any more attacks. But at night, we must step up our vigilance!" Li Yunlong instructed.

"Yes!"

The front-line positions that the 11th Regiment was responsible for were divided into five small positions in front and back, with each position about two miles apart. This distance allowed the troops in the rear to use heavy machine guns to suppress the pursuing enemy with firepower even if the front troops retreated.

However, the thirty officers and soldiers responsible for detonating the minefield were in a trench only about 500 meters away from the minefield. Although they immediately got into the anti-artillery cave after the detonation, the huge noise generated by the minefield could easily cause internal injuries to the soldiers.

"Quick, quick!"

The stretcher team responsible for transporting the wounded poured into the third position through the communication trench. One of them lay at the front of the trench and glanced in the direction of the Japanese.

"My goodness, this is quite a commotion. There is not a single living person in sight. The enemy's tanks were blown to pieces!"

"Stop talking nonsense and come over to help!"

The officers and soldiers responsible for detonating the explosion had a blank mind and could not hear any noise from the outside world. In serious cases, blood oozed from their mouths and noses and they lost consciousness. They were eventually transported back to the rear on a stretcher team.

The main force of the 11th Regiment successively entered the second and first positions through the communication trenches. When passing through the minefield area, the battle-hardened officers and soldiers covered their mouths and noses with towels.

The Japanese army paid a heavy price for its arrogance. An infantry battalion under the Guards Division and the search regiment under the Tank Training Brigade were wiped out at once.

There was no blood, no broken limbs, only charred earth. The air was filled with a pungent smell. The Japanese tanks were still on fire, but there was no movement inside.

"Don't look at it. With the little stuff we buried, there is no way the Japanese will leave any alive!" "Hehe, the Japanese infantry outside didn't suffer much before they died, but those in the tanks were miserable!"

Yamashita Tomoyuki had just returned to the tent where the headquarters was located and his mood had calmed down a little, but in an instant he heard some noise again and thought that the Eighth Route Army's artillery bombardment had begun again.

"What? Does the Eighth Route Army in Shangqiu still have heavy artillery?"

The adjutant hurried to find out the situation. Not long after, the commander of the Imperial Guard Division, Muto Akira, and Yamaji Hideo, came in in a hurry. Both of them had gloomy faces, like the bottom of a pot.

The two looked at each other, and finally it was Muto Akira who spoke up: "Commander, the vanguard attacking force has suffered a defeat, all of them must be destroyed!"

"What?" Yamashita Tomoyuki's eyes went dark when he heard that. In less than an hour since the war began, the Kwantung Army had suffered losses twice in succession.

The death of a battalion of infantrymen was the death of their own, but the number of tanks in the search regiment accounted for one-fifth of the entire brigade. The Japanese officers and soldiers of the tank training brigade were the hard work of Yamashita Tomoyuki.

Yamashita Tomoyuki strode out of the command center and looked towards the battlefield with a telescope. He saw only billowing black smoke and no sign of a living person.

"Why don't you send someone up to check the situation?"

The old Japanese soldier was so angry that he said such a foolish thing. Yamaji Hideo explained: "Commander, judging from the momentum just now, the officers and soldiers in the tanks have no chance of being spared, let alone the infantry who have no protection at all!"

"Our army has not yet discovered the location of the Eighth Route Army's artillery. Sending more troops at this time will only result in more casualties!"

After suffering a heavy blow, several high-ranking Japanese military officials present realized that the 16th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army garrisoning Shangqiu was extraordinary. Not only did it have large-scale artillery, but its commander was also extremely cunning.

The tank training brigade suffered the most serious damage, with the artillery regiment and search regiment directly wiped out. The most important thing was that the regiment flag was also gone, which was something Yamaji Hideo could not tolerate.

Facing his old superior, Yamashita Tomoyuki, Yamaji Hideo complained repeatedly: "Commander, the Eighth Route Army in Shangqiu has obviously been prepared for a long time. I don't understand why you can't dispatch an air formation to carry out continuous bombing of Shangqiu!"

"The next battle will surely be extremely brutal. Are we really going to let the empire's warriors sacrifice in vain?"

Everyone was furious when they heard this. The commander of the 57th Division, Okayama Nobuhiro, immediately retorted: "Major General Yamaji Hideo, you can't just casually question the decision of a general with outstanding military achievements!"

Yamaji Hideo also realized his mistake and quickly explained: "Sorry, I was too impatient!"

Anxiety makes people speak their mind, and Yamashita Fengwen forced a smile on his face: "I don't need to say much about the empire's military deployment. Although our army has suffered some losses, it still has the upper hand and the morale is still good. How can we easily admit defeat?"

The accusation of giving up easily made Yamaji Hideo's face change drastically. He also had his own grievances. Tojo Toshio was definitely dead, and if he did not take the opportunity to show goodwill to Tojo Hideki, it would be too late to ease the relationship after the war.

"Let's stop the battle for now. Please return to your respective command positions!"

Muto Akira and Yamaji Hideo left. The commander of the 57th Division, Okayama Nobuhiro, was a real one of them. Yamashita Tomoyuki had a gloomy face. He drew out his command knife and cut the wooden rack for hanging clothes in the tent into two pieces.

"Commander, they may have other intentions. We should pay more attention to them. As the commander of the Imperial Guard Division, Muto Akira should be a person trusted by the Emperor. How could this happen?"

Without Okayama Nobuhiro's reminder, Yamashita Tomoyuki knew that the two of them came together because they had discussed it together: "The Emperor trusts many people, doesn't Tojo Hideki also trust him?"

“Once some people are released for too long, they start to have a lot of ideas!”

"Mr. Okayama, I will continue to send the Imperial Guard Division to lead the charge tomorrow. You should take this opportunity to observe the Eighth Route Army's tactics!"

In his confrontation with Tojo Hideki, Yamashita Tomoyuki mobilized all his political resources and put his entire fortune on the line.

However, Hideki Tojo was in power, and even if some of his friends were willing to help, they did not dare to openly provide assistance until the outcome of the domestic struggle was decided.

Yamashita Tomoyuki had long thought of dispatching a flying squadron to bomb Shangqiu, but part of the Kwantung Army's flying group was transferred to the Southern Army, and the other part was needed to guard against the Soviet Union.

The North China Front Army's flying formations were almost gone, and only the China Expeditionary Army Headquarters had aircraft that could be dispatched, but they declined on the grounds that they were needed to bomb the Kuomintang-controlled areas.

Ultimately, it was Prime Minister Hideki Tojo who exerted influence, forcing Yamashita Tomoyuki to struggle and be constrained in every way.

Kenji Doihara had extensive sources of information in the front-line combat troops, and the situation on the Shangqiu battlefield was quickly transmitted to his ears via telegram.

"Haha, Yamashita Fengwen really played a good hand. His suffering has just begun!"

Doihara Kenji was playing with a piece of jade the size of a goose egg in his hand. There was a hint of blood inside. This was something his men had just looted from the city of Xuzhou, and it was exactly what the old devil wanted.

"Since the intelligence team previously stationed in Shangqiu can operate normally, then contact Gu Feng tonight and have him keep an eye on the movements of the Eighth Route Army!"

"Hi!" the adjutant responded immediately.

"Yamashita-kun, I don't know how long you can hold on, but don't worry, I can take over if you leave!"