Age of Rebirth

Chapter 690

Neiji Okamura commanded less than 5 troops at night and ventured across the Yellow River Yongheguan Ferry. Two batches of more than [-] Japanese troops successfully crossed the river and landed on the west bank to defend a battalion of the Eighth Route Army at Yongheguan. According to Tang Qiuli's order, the troops made a symbolic resistance, then turned around and fled in the direction of Yanchuan and Jiaokou.

In order to do their tricks, the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army also gave full play to their housekeeping skills when fighting against the Japanese army, discarding some broken guns and shoes along the way, making them even more embarrassed. At this moment, the Japanese army has entered the ambush circle, and thanks to Neiji Okamura's order, Tang Qiuli took an extra 1 Japanese troops into the net, which was an unexpected gain.

Neiji Okamura had just boarded the rubber boat. In front of him were thousands of Japanese troops from the third echelon. They were right in the middle of the river. The noise of Japanese soldiers and the rapid flow of the river was as lively as a market, and there was no need to hide. Xingzang, Neiji Okamura did not blame these soldiers. He could tell that Tang Qiuli was rushing to deploy troops towards Yonghe Pass. When the mob arrived, he could only see the back of the imperial army. and greet their sons.

The development of the battle is very good, and everything is going smoothly according to the original plan. The two divisions and regiments that went ashore earlier, plus a brigade, have approached Yanchuan and Jiaokou, and only encountered weak resistance. I should also cross the river to command In the battle, Fenglingdu's troops also successfully crossed a division's strength, only Liulindu crossing did not go smoothly, but it did not have the slightest impact on the overall situation. Neiji Okamura was extremely excited. If this is a miracle, then You are the creator of miracles. [

Suddenly, there was a strange sound in the sky. All the Japanese soldiers and officers, including Ningji Okamura, stopped talking and laughing wantonly. They looked up into the sky to find the source of the sound. From far to near, with a long tail, it came to the top of the head in an instant, and it was visible to the naked eye that it was a group of black cannons.

Neiji Okamura's face suddenly turned pale, and there were only three words in his mind, "I've been fooled." The gun fell on the river surface and the bank, and the water column and the smoke column rose from the river surface and the bank at the same time. The Japanese army crossing the river and waiting on the bank to cross the river fell into a catastrophe. If his chief of staff and guards were not alert and dragged him ashore, His Excellency Okamura Neiji, the majestic commander of the North China Expeditionary Army of the Chinese Empire, would have died. Blown to pieces by a large-caliber cannon, the rubber boat he was going to ride in became a victim, and with a flash of fire, it turned into pieces of debris in the surging Yellow River.

Neiji Okamura, who was hiding in a small cave on the bank, stared blankly at the soldiers struggling in vain on the river and running and screaming on the bank. His thinking was numb. He only had one idea, where Tang Qiuli ambushed so many large-caliber soldiers Heavy artillery?Why didn't the troops who had already landed find it?

In fact, this is all to blame for Okamura Neiji himself. He ordered the troops to attack in depth without searching the two wings. He only controlled the width of the west bank of only about four kilometers. The artillery group in the mountains did not notice at all. This was Tang Qiuli's bold deployment based on Okamura Ningji's character.

The chief of staff looked at Ningji Okamura, who had lost his mind, and reminded in a low voice: "Your Excellency, we should take corresponding measures now, order the troops that have already landed to turn around immediately, and eliminate the Chinese artillery. The troops remaining on the east bank, Immediately retreat and get out of the range of the Chinese artillery fire," Okamura Neiji looked at the chief of staff dully and nodded slightly.

Before the chief of staff could give an order, a staff officer ran in with his face pale, and the head of the Akita Division sent an urgent telegram, "Your Excellency, Commander, our division and the neighbor division are in the area of ​​Yanchuan and Jiaokou. I was ambushed by heavy troops from the Independent Division, and I am now fighting hard. Can I retreat to the shore, seize favorable terrain, establish a solid beachhead, and wait for the follow-up troops to attack in depth? Ask for instructions!" This is the safest way, if you want to say The quality of the senior generals of the Japanese army is really not given in vain, and Akita has already realized the danger.

Seeing the staff officer's mouth opening and closing, Okamura Neiji could no longer hear other voices, only the words "was ambushed by heavy troops from the Independent Division" kept circling in his messy head, suddenly as if he was being shocked by an electric shock He jumped up and shouted loudly: "Quick, send a telegram to Akita, and return to the shore immediately!" He fully understood that Tang Qiuli's purpose was not to have 1 people who were about to cross the river on the east bank, but his appetite was to eat Lost more than [-] imperial soldiers who had crossed the river and penetrated into the interior.

As soon as the telegram was sent out, I received a telegram from Akita, "Your Excellency, our division and the neighbor's division were surrounded by the Chinese army, and the retreat road was completely destroyed by artillery fire. We cannot retreat according to the order and organize two breakouts. , all failed. Judging from the intensity of the artillery fire of the Chinese army, the Chinese army surrounding our imperial army has six infantry brigades and four artillery brigades. Our army is now compressed in a small area on the south bank of the Qingjian River. There were heavy casualties." Akita was also stunned, his field artillery regiment was still waiting to cross the river on the east bank of the Yellow River.

Okamura Ningji screamed, it's over, the troops crossing the river are all gone, and the troops on the east bank have also suffered heavy losses. There are less than 6000 troops left. Those are tens of thousands of elite Kwantung Army soldiers. The jade was shattered under Qiuli's trick. Looking at the guns flying non-stop, blowing up the shore into a sea of ​​flames, Neiji Okamura's heart was about to break. To make matters worse, another news came from the direction of Fenglingdu, one of the people who had already crossed the river The division was heavily surrounded by the Chinese army, and the experience was exactly the same as that of the Japanese army at Yonghe Pass.

Ningji Okamura became numb. He suddenly felt that his brains were not enough. Yongheguan surrounded two divisions plus one brigade, Fenglingdu surrounded one division, and Liulindu had one more division. The troops of the division are fighting, how many troops does Tang Qiuli have in hand?

After much calculation, Neiji Okamura came to the conclusion that Tang Qiuli didn't have more than 20 troops in his hand, and he didn't dare to have such a big appetite, but where did he mobilize so many troops in such a short time?The direction of Cangzhou is confronting my more than [-] imperial troops. The area around Pingjin is inextricably fighting with the troops of the Kwantung Army going south. They also occupy Zhangjiakou and defend Henan and Shandong. This Chinese devil has so many troops. How can he surround it? I have three divisions and one brigade of the imperial army?

Relying on the armed civilians summoned from Dingbian who just knew how to hold guns, a group of mobs would not believe that Neiji Okamura was killed. He suddenly had a glimmer of hope that the imperial army on the other side of Yonghe Pass might be able to break through these Surrounded by armed civilians, they withdrew to the shore to gain a foothold. The gunfire on the west bank of the Yellow River rang from afternoon to evening, and it rang all night.

This night, for Neiji Okamura, was a painful torment and inner torture. He sent telegrams again and again to inquire about the results of the Akita Division's actions, but each time he was extremely disappointed. The imperial army still did not break through the siege of the Chinese army. , was in the midst of a bitter battle, finally looking forward to the dawn, Okamura Ningji looked at the other side eagerly, hoping to see the soldiers of the imperial army.

The sun was rising high, and Neiji Okamura, who was looking forward to see through, did not wait for the shadow of a brave soldier of the Imperialist Empire. Only the invisible west bank far away, the sound of solidified guns continued to torment his heart, the empire The soldiers are still fighting, and the only way now is to cross the river with all the troops in hand, meet the troops on the other side, and still have a chance of survival.

But the soldiers with corpses strewn across the fields, the huge pits everywhere, and the wounded soldiers in agony all reminded him of yesterday's nightmare. Yesterday's shelling cost him nearly 5000 soldiers. Now, Neiji Okamura In his hands, there are less than 5000 troops. With such a small force, they are thrown into the unknown battlefield on the other side. What is the result?What's more, can Tang Qiuli make himself cross the river smoothly?In the middle of the river, if he suffered another round of fierce shelling like yesterday, he would really become a bare-bones commander.

Neji Okamura was so anxious that he ordered the troops scattered in various places to gather in Taiyuan immediately. Apart from leaving a small number of troops to guard the occupied area, the main force immediately drove to Liulin Ferry, Fengling Ferry, and Yongheguan Ferry. , The response troops retreated to Taiyuan, the order was issued, but the answer he got made him almost crazy with anger.

The replies were almost unanimous, "Your Excellency, Commander, our department has been continuously attacked by the Chinese army, and it is difficult to assemble. It is estimated that we will be able to arrive in Taiyuan in three to five days!" Neji Okamura cursed loudly. Calm and general demeanor, three to five days, plus the time to come from Taiyuan, there is no more than seven days, and it is impossible to reach the bank of the Yellow River. Did Tang Qiuli give himself time? Seven days, the troops trapped in the west bank, I am afraid Not even one can survive, these stupid pigs and idiots.

In the afternoon of the next day, another ominous message came, this time it was an urgent telegram from Fenglingdu to the troops, "Your Excellency, our southern Shanxi troops were violently attacked by the independent division troops, and were distributed with Yongji, southern Shanxi, The troops in the occupied areas of Ruicheng, Linqing, Yuncheng, and Wenxi all sent urgent telegrams, claiming that they were besieged by the troops of the Independent Division and requested reinforcements. The division troops are moving towards our army, intending to attack our army's rear, how to deal with it, please give instructions to your commander!"

Ningji Okamura found out that he was wrong, so wrong that he couldn't forgive himself. Tang Qiuli's appetite was not to eat the imperial army troops who had crossed the river. Yu Wan's troops found an independent division behind Fenglingdu's troops. So, can Tang Qiuli let Tang Qiuli go behind Liulin and Yonghe Pass? [

This is the true intention of the China devil. I was fooled from the very beginning. From the time I occupied Taiyuan and even Shanxi, I fell into Tang Qiuli's trap. This is a huge conspiracy, insidious, cunning, and despicable. Cun Ning used all the vicious words imaginable to curse Tang Qiuli, but it didn't work. The question before him was how to escape back to Taiyuan. With more than [-] troops left, he could fight Tang Qiuli again. Compete in Shanxi.

(To be continued)