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Chapter 335 What is the Eighth Route Army doing?
Early the next morning.

The Japanese army mopped up troops and dispatched one after another.

The 37th Division set out from Xiangyuan and Licheng.

The 2nd Guards Division set out from Xiyang and Heshun.

The 14th Brigade started from Qixian and Taigu.

The 18th Brigade attacked from the Changhan Road area.

The total strength of the puppet army was close to 5, and they moved aggressively towards the base of the Eighth Route Army.

As for the other 2 Japanese troops, they stood still in various positions and hid them all in the barracks.

Because the intelligence department of the Japanese army did not get the specific combat plan of the Eighth Route Army.

Where the Eighth Route Army breaks up into pieces and breaks out of the encirclement, we have to wait for feedback from the mopping up troops.

After the mopping-up troops gave feedback on the direction of the Eighth Route Army's breakout, the devils on the outside line would move out and lie in ambush on the Eighth Route Army's retreat route or at the retreat assembly point.

However, what Shinozuka Yoshio and Kusuyama Hideyoshi didn't know was that the Eighth Route Army headquarters had already changed the battle plan.

He didn't even know that the Eighth Route Army had already assembled troops to fight a frontal battle against the 37th Division.

"Kill the chicken!"

Wuxiang County, Liujialing Village.

Looking at the village in front of him, Jizi Squadron Changjiang Daojiro drew out his command knife and pointed forward, his tone full of murderous intent.

Behind him, there are about two squadrons of devils, of course, one of the squadrons is pretended by the puppet army.

Liujia Village is a small village next to the Panshan Highway, which is already the sphere of influence of the Eighth Route Army.

Yoshiro Edo was originally a small captain of the Kwantung Army. After being transferred to the 225th Wing of the First Army, he was promoted to the squadron leader.

The order he received this time was to burn, loot and kill.

Seeing the village ahead, Yoshiro Ejima's eyes lit up, and he immediately gave the order to attack.

Following his attack order, the Japanese army did not move, and a squadron pretended to be a puppet army rushed into the village aggressively with rifles in hand.

While the puppet soldiers were running with their rifles in hand, they were also cursing words like Baga in Japanese, and their expressions were extremely arrogant.

They had no idea that the Hanyang-made, Liao-[-] rifles, Jin-made rifles and other weapons in their hands had betrayed their identities.

The devils still couldn't do a full set of tricks. Although they changed their military uniforms, their weapons still remained the same, because once they changed their weapons, the combat effectiveness of the more than 5000 devils would have to be compromised.

Not long after, the company commander of the puppet army came to report: "Taijun Jiangdao, no villagers were found in the village, and there was no food or livestock."

An interpreter next to him simultaneously translated the words of the puppet company commander to Jiang Dao.

"idiot…"

A hint of disappointment flashed in Ejima Yoshiro's eyes.

Obviously, the Chinese people in the village ran away ahead of time, taking their livestock and food with them.

"Burn the village!" Ejima Yoshiro said coldly.

More than 1 devils and puppet troops departing from Xiangyuan and Licheng were divided into more than 20 groups and swept forward along the main roads and small roads.

How many villages each mopping-up force will sweep every day and where they will be stationed at night are all planned in advance.

And the distance between the troops of each route is only 1 or [-] kilometers. If one route is attacked, the mopping up of other routes can also be directly supported by the troops.

Xiangyuan and the north of Licheng are almost all mountainous terrain. As long as they sweep along the main roads and small roads, it will be difficult for the Eighth Route Army to slip away.

"Hi!" The puppet company commander nodded quickly.

Following the order of the company commander of the puppet army, the puppet soldiers set their houses on fire one after another, and it didn't take long for the entire Liujialing village to be ablaze.

"Keep going!"

Yoshiro Ejima retracted his sword into its sheath, got on his horse, waved his right hand, and the devils and puppet troops continued to sweep northward along the highway.

An unremarkable dirt bag 500 meters away from Liujialing Village moved slightly.

Only a slight voice was heard:

"Call the headquarters, call the headquarters, a wave of the enemy has passed Liujialing Village, with 2 squadrons of troops, and is advancing along the road to Xinzhuang Village."

After speaking, a figure carrying a high-power walkie-talkie jumped up from the soil bag, and disappeared under the soil bag in a few breaths.

The cold wind blows, as if no one has ever passed by here.

The figure just now was a member of the Sword Squadron.

The scene of the devil burning the village was also going on in other places, and all the mopping up troops of the devil were also under the supervision of the sharp sword team.

Everywhere the devil goes, the Swordsmen will report the devil's whereabouts to Li Yunlong's headquarters.

……

Xiying Town.

Li Yunlong's headquarters.

Everyone is busy.

Li Yunlong's guard Huang Erhu was in charge of the wiring.

Because Li Yunlong's headquarters lacked a combat staff officer, Zhao Gang, Liu Dali, Huang Erhu and others all temporarily took over as combat staff officers.

"Political Commissar, the 12th Devil's Sweeping Unit has passed Liujialing Village." Huang Erhu reported to Li Yunlonghui.

For the convenience of recording, each devil is numbered.

Zhao Gang quickly drew an arrow on the map, and then marked 12 on the arrow.

Li Yunlong walked over and saw that the devil's mopping-up troops from all walks of life appeared to be advancing in unison.

Zhao Gang said: "Lao Li, the speed of the devil's advance is too slow. It took less than 15 kilometers to advance on the first day, and it will be dark. It seems that we will not be able to fight with the devil today."

Close combat and night combat are the Eighth Route Army's forte, and the devils will definitely not dare to continue to sweep at night.

After a pause, Zhao Gang suggested: "Why don't we send a small group of troops to attack the devil at night, so that the devil can't sleep well."

"No hurry." Li Yunlong stared at the map and shook his head, his eyes calm: "Don't startle the snake first."

The area around Wuxiang is mostly mountainous, and most of the devils will set up their camps on the reverse slope and send out scouts to guard them.

Most of the mountain cannons can't hit the devils. It is not feasible to use the mountain cannons to bombard the devils' camp first, and then send out infantry to attack the devils.

This method will definitely work on the plains.

If every devil mopping up troops sent a small group of troops to attack, the devils would definitely notice something was wrong.

It may even be guessed that every mopping-up force is under the close surveillance of the Eighth Route Army scouts.

"However, it won't work if you don't attack it." Zhao Gang said, "The devil's mopping up troops didn't encounter the Eighth Route Army all day long, and they didn't attack at night, which would make the devil feel abnormal."

Li Yunlong looked thoughtful, and then said: "Old Zhao, what you said makes sense."

Then Li Yunlong turned his head and said to Huang Erhu: "Notify Ding Wei, Kong Jie, and Cheng Shifa that each of them send a small group of troops to attack the devils from the 3rd, 12th, and 21st routes."

"Yes!" Huang Erhu quickly picked up the high-power walkie-talkie and called the three attack group headquarters one by one.

……

"Your Excellency, Division Commander, the mopping-up troops are progressing smoothly, destroying 43 villages, and none of the troops encountered resistance from the Eight Routes."

Guangzhi Town.

Headquarters of the 37th Division of the Japanese Army.

The communications staff officer held the combat reports from the mopping-up troops and reported to Hirata Kenkichihui.

"Yoshi!" Hirata Kenkichi cheered up, "Immediately forward the report to Commander Shinozuka."

"Hi!" The communication staff member bowed his head and walked quickly to the next communication room.

On the map in front of him, the combat staff drew the advancing direction of each sweeping force, as well as where they were stationed tonight.

At the same time, the communications team of the division headquarters also synchronized this situation to the First Army Command.

Hirata Kenkichi stared at the map with a sneer on the corner of his mouth.

According to this advance speed, in at most three days, the mopping forces of the 37th Division will be able to compress the eight roads into a small area together with the mopping forces in the other three directions.

Of course, the premise is that the Eighth Route Army will continue to be a coward within these three days, and will not run away if it does not resist.

However, Hirata Kenkichi knew that was impossible. It is estimated that starting tomorrow, the mopping-up troops will start fighting with the Eighth Route Army one after another.

On the third day, almost all mopping up troops would engage the Eighth Route Army.

After the eight roads are harvested once, they will be harvested again when they break through to the outside line.

Suddenly, Hirata Kenkichi's heart jumped, and he suddenly thought of the new regiment of Li Yunlong, the ace of the Eighth Route Army.

This new regiment fought fiercely, and almost wiped out his 225th regiment with one regiment.

Hirata Kenkichi only hoped that Li Yunlong's new regiment would not break through from his direction, otherwise the 37th Division would inevitably suffer heavy losses.

……

night.

Taiyuan, the headquarters of the First Army.

"Your Excellency, Commander."

"The results of the first day of each unit have been reported one after another."

Holding a stack of telegrams in his hand, Kusuyama Hideyoshi reported to Shinozuka Yoshio:

"The 2nd Guards Division advanced 13 kilometers and destroyed 42 villages. There was a small-scale exchange of fire between the 3rd Route mopping up troops and the [-]th Route, causing mutual casualties."

"The 18th Brigade advanced 11 kilometers and destroyed 26 villages. Among them, the mopping-up troops of one road were ambushed by the eighth road. The nearby mopping-up troops arrived in time, and the eighth road escaped."

"The 14th Brigade advanced 12 kilometers and destroyed 39 villages. There was a small-scale exchange of fire and there were mutual casualties."

"The 37th Division advanced 14 kilometers, destroyed 43 villages, and did not exchange fire with the Eighth Route."

After Kusuyama Hideyoshi finished his last sentence, Shinozuka Yoshio frowned slightly.

He seemed to smell something unusual.

"Mr. Nanshan, the 2nd Guards Division, the 14th Brigade, and the 18th Brigade all exchanged fire with the Eighth Route to varying degrees, but the 37th Division did not engage in any exchange of fire with the Eighth Route?"

"What is the Eighth Route Army doing?"

Shinozuka Yoshio's tone was puzzled.

"This is indeed a bit suspicious." Nanshan Hideyoshi narrowed his eyes: "Maybe Balu doesn't plan to escape from this direction, maybe Balu is planning some kind of conspiracy."

Shinozuka Yoshio said: "No matter what the Eight Routes are doing, we should remind the 37th Division that all mopping-up troops should be more vigilant at night to prevent the Eight Routes from sneaking in at night."

"Hi!" Kusuyama Hideyoshi bowed his head, "I will order the communication room to send a telegram."

……

It was still dark the next day.

Shinozuka Yoshio and Kusuyama Hideyoshi woke up almost at the same time, and both slept for only a few hours.

At this moment, a communications soldier came in holding the telegram, shouted the report and handed it to Kusuyama Hideyoshi after a pause.

Nanshan Hideyoshi said: "Your Excellency, Commander, you guessed it right. The Eighth Route Army did sneak attack on the mopping up troops of the 37th Division last night."

"Oh?" Shinozuka Yoshio's expression changed, "How many troops were attacked by surprise, and what was the loss?"

"Three troops were attacked by eight routes."

"Because of your order, Commander-in-Chief, all troops have stepped up vigilance at night, so the loss is very small."

Kusuyama Hideyoshi put away the telegram.

Shinozuka Yoshio felt relieved and let out a cold snort.

Nanshan Hideyoshi's tone was disdainful: "Balu is still the same old way. They dare not fight the imperial army head-on. They like to engage in sneak attacks."

"Don't be careless." Yoshio Shinozuka waved his hand and instructed, "Starting today, the small troops of the Eighth Route may break out one after another. Order all troops to kill the small groups of the Eighth Route as much as possible, and continue to sweep forward and attack!"

"Hi!" Kusuyama Hideyoshi turned around and began to write a telegram.

……

Xiying Town, Taihang Column Headquarters.

Li Yunlong didn't sleep almost all night, and he lay down on the chair and squinted for a while at dawn.

As the sky was getting brighter, the radio station of the command headquarters beeped, and the temporary combat staff members began to be busy.

Huang Erhu answered a few calls with a high-powered walkie-talkie.

They were called by three attacking groups respectively. At this time, the devil's mopping up troops began to dispatch again.

Huang Erhu turned around and walked towards Li Yunlong. Li Datuan was lying on a chair snoring like thunder.

He was about to wake Li Yunlong up, but Li Yunlong's snoring stopped suddenly, before he opened his eyes, his mouth moved first: "Huzi, have the devils started to raid?"

"Yes, Captain!"

"The detachment leaders of the three attack groups called just now, and the devils from all walks of life started to sweep again."

Huang Erhu answered truthfully.

Hearing this, Captain Li suddenly opened his eyes, lifted his gray woolen coat and raised himself from the chair, his gaze was like lightning.

Li Yunlong looked stern: "Pass my order, all attacking troops, enter the attacking position according to the plan, and prepare to attack the enemy!"

"Yes!" Huang Erhu stood up and responded, turning around and walking towards the high-powered walkie-talkie.

(End of this chapter)