Age of Rebirth

Chapter 690 IX Soldiers Entering Shanxi

The battle to annihilate the two divisions and one brigade of the Japanese army crossing the Yellow River westward lasted five days, and finally came to an end. Tang Qiuli was not satisfied with the result of this battle, mainly because of the excessive casualties. The infantry brigade formed was transferred back to Dingbian for training, but the current situation did not allow him to do so. Okamura Ningji was still fighting in the Xinyi area, and there was not enough troops. Recovering Shanxi was empty talk.

This battle with artillery as the protagonist of the battlefield shocked Xiao Jinguang, the director of the Eighth Route Army's Rear Guard Division who participated in the battle. The artillery fire, in his memory, was the fifth anti-encirclement and suppression campaign against Yudu. Compared with today, the intensity of the central army's artillery fire is not worth mentioning. The young Vice Chairman Tang fought a lavish battle.

Standing on the hillside, he looked around with holes in his eyes. Japanese soldiers' corpses, limbs and broken arms could be seen everywhere. The loess turned the battlefield, and he had a deeper understanding of Tang Qiuli. Thousands of artillery bombarded two God, the cannons were fired like water. As a senior general of the Eighth Route Army and a battle-hardened veteran, he knew what all this meant. The artillery firepower of Vice Chairman Tang's troops had already surpassed the Japanese army's, taking the initiative on the battlefield, and, There is also a huge financial backing behind it.

Xiao Jinguang bent down and picked up a handful of loess, and counted more than a dozen pieces from it. He was silent. Based on the current equipment level of the Eighth Route Army, it is estimated that the artillery of one brigade of the Independent Division can defeat the existing troops of the Eighth Route Army. In my heart, I still have a lot of wariness towards Tang Qiuli, especially after the independent division has fully occupied Shandong, the senior generals of the CCP have to guard against fear. They are all masters of war. The importance of Shandong's location cannot be said And metaphor. [

Xiao Jinguang was secretly worried that a Chiang Kai-shek was already exhausting the CCP, and if a figure like Tang Qiuli appeared again, the Eighth Route Army would have to face a bigger opponent in the future. Of course, this was a thought hidden in his heart. Speaking to anyone, in fact, all the leaders and senior generals of the CCP will have such hidden thoughts in their hearts, but they cannot be said publicly.

Of course Tang Qiuli didn't know, what Xiao Jinguang was thinking at the moment was that he generously gave all the Japanese weapons and equipment that were considered complete to the Eighth Route Army troops. These Japanese weapons and equipment were really useless to the troops of the Independent Division. , Xiao Jinguang was full of joy, it was worth it to get so many good weapons after paying hundreds of casualties.

On May 26th, Tang Qiuli issued an order that all formed troops should immediately cross the Yellow River eastward, and the defense of the Yellow River would be handed over to the Eighth Route Army's rear guards and Dingbian civilian armed forces. Tang Qiuli used the troops in the direction of Shanxi, the Taihang Mountain Field Corps with Changfeng had more than [-] people, Sun Zhenbang's Yellow River Defense Corps had more than [-] people, and the newly formed six field brigades under his own command had [-] people Yu people, five artillery brigades, three heavy artillery regiments, with a total strength of more than [-], have an absolute advantage in the face of the [-] Japanese troops in Shanxi. Except for the corps, they are all newly formed troops, and the combat effectiveness and the quality of the soldiers still need to be improved.

At this time, more than 2 Japanese troops surrounded by the Houma and Quwo areas in southern Shanxi, under the attack of Changfeng Corps and Sun Zhenbang Corps, with more than 2 people, faced the Japanese army that had lost all their heavy weapons. In suspense, in two days, more than [-] Japanese troops were wiped out, and none of the Japanese soldiers escaped the fate of being annihilated. After the end of the Jinnan Campaign, the strength of the four brigades under Chang Feng and the five brigades under Sun Zhenbang followed the orders of the division. , quickly went north to Taiyuan, and cleared the scattered forces of the Japanese army along the way.

Later, Tang Qiuli issued an order that the Feng Jiwu Division of the Niangziguan Garrison Corps, with four brigades, leave Niangziguan and approach Taiyuan. The Battle of Changzhi has been completed, and the three divisions of the Eighth Route Army operating in southeastern Shanxi will immediately go to Li In the area of ​​Chengcheng and Shexian County, Yuan Jinghao, the garrison force of Shaanxi Province, was joined to capture Shexian County.

The Tang Qiusheng Department of the Sulu Mobile Corps in the Pingjin area must prevent the Kwantung Army from going south and leave Tianjin to join the Shanxi battlefield to ensure the smooth progress of the Shanxi campaign. The group was unable to deploy troops to support Ningji Okamura and Zhangjiakou defenders. Except for a small number of troops to defend Zhangjiakou, most of them went south to Pingjin to monitor the movements of the Japanese troops in Beiping.

So far, Tang Qiuli has used the whole of Shanxi as a bait to mobilize hundreds of thousands of troops to weave a huge encirclement net for Ningji Okamura. It is possible that all retreat routes have been cut off, and Neiji Okamura's army that captured Shanxi has in fact become a lone army.

The more than 6000 troops who crossed the Yellow River from the Wubao Ferry in Shaanxi to join the battlefield in the Lvliang Mountains. For Neiji Okamura, it was different from a disaster. Neiji Okamura, who was stuck in the Xinyi area, after several days of fierce fighting Afterwards, there were only less than 8000 troops left around, and the more than 1 Japanese troops desperately rescued were blocked in the Dawu area, unable to advance half a step, and the troops of the independent division fought fiercely in the back, which also lost troops and broke the way. .

The battle in the Luliang Mountains lasted for six days. During this period, the Japanese army assembled in Taiyuan had reached the strength of more than 8 people. They were aggressively preparing to march westward into the Luliang Mountains to meet and rescue the remnants of Ningji Okamura who had been encircled. , An alarm came from the east and south of Taiyuan. The independent division, with a strength of more than [-] troops, has approached the front lines of Jinzhong, Taigu, and Qingxu. The Japanese army in Taiyuan no longer dared to send troops. arm.

The situation is very clear. If the Japanese army in Taiyuan leaves the well-fortified city, they will only be eaten by the independent divisions with superior forces in the wild. The Japanese commander in Taiyuan is not stupid and cannot save the commander. Your Excellency, if you pay back the money you have in your hand, then you will really be on the way to heaven and enter the gate of the earth.

In his telegram to Neiji Okamura, he wrote: "Your Excellency, Commander, with the current strength of the imperial army in Shanxi, there is no fundamental way to rescue your Excellency who is surrounded by heavy troops in China. Now, independent divisions have appeared around Taiyuan. , defending Taiyuan is a top priority, and the troops are still insufficient, please Commander, please try your best to break through, and the staff will wait in Taiyuan City to wait for your escape, the imperial army has more than 8 soldiers, and look forward to the early return of Your Excellency, Commander."

That means, Commander Neiji Okamura, please ask for blessings. I really have no ability to help you. It is important to keep Taiyuan. Neji Okamura looked at the telegram and knew that this was the actual situation, but the problem is , his remnants of less than 2 soldiers were surrounded by 10,000+ troops under the command of Tang Qiuli, like dumpling stuffing, breaking through, how to break through?

Neiji Okamura didn't know how to break out of the siege. What's terrible is that with a force of less than 2 people, he was divided into two separate parts. Also, the troops to attack Taiyuan were not in place, so he did not launch a full-scale general offensive. His days were counting down on his fingers, and he was looking at the soldiers around him who had been knocked out. There was a burst of sadness in Cunningci's heart.

He was surrounded in the Luliang Mountains, lingering on his last breath, and Taiyuan was about to be surrounded by Tang Qiuli's heavy troops. He asked himself more than once, why did this happen?There is no answer, why does Tang Qiuli have so many troops?He didn't know the reason, why the elite Kwantung Army's troops going south couldn't enter Shanxi for a long time, he couldn't figure it out, all of this seemed to be a dream, a nightmare, tormenting Neji Okamura, who was already haggard physically and mentally. .

On June [-]rd, surrounded by heavy troops from Tang Qiuli, less than [-] Japanese troops in the Luliang Mountains were wiped out. Neji Okamura sent troops to cross the Yellow River in vain. On the side, the ashes disappeared. After the war, they checked and searched the entire battlefield, but they did not find Neiji Okamura. No one was alive or dead. The mysterious world of Neiji Okamura evaporated. Tang Qiuli was furious and ordered the troops to search carefully. This old man If the devil escapes, he will make a comeback. With Neiji Okamura's cunning and treachery, it will not be so easy to set up another trap for him.

I searched the entire battlefield, but still couldn't find it. I interrogated Nishio, the chief of staff of the North China Dispatch Army who intentionally left behind, and I don't know the whereabouts of this old devil. There are various theories about the disappearance of Okamura Ningji and the troops of the Independent Division. The opinion that it was blown to pieces by bombs and the remains of the bones became the mainstream, but Tang Qiuli firmly believed that Okamura Ningji was still alive, and at this time Okamura Ningji had returned to Taiyuan.

However, the majestic commander of the North China Dispatched Army of the Great Communist Empire, Army General Ningji Okamura, and his embarrassing way fled back to Taiyuan. He disguised himself as an old Chinese farmer, relying on his fluent Chinese After begging all the way back to Taiyuan, there were only three guards around him. The Japanese commander in Taiyuan still remembers the unpleasant smell of sweat on his body and his disheveled, haggard face.

From April 32nd, Okamura Ningji sent 32 troops out of Shexian County to sweep the Taihang Mountains and besiege the Huangyadong base. From June [-]rd, it took two months to sweep Pingjin, Taihang Mountains, and the entire Shanxi Province. The war in the province and the east bank of the Yellow River is coming to an end. The Japanese army has [-] elite troops. The heavy army group that Okamura Ningji placed high hopes on has lost more than three-quarters. Except for sporadic consumption, most of them were wiped out by the establishment .

In the whole of Shanxi, Okamura Ningji had nothing left except for an isolated city of Taiyuan, more than 8 remnants, and a few key points around him. The Japanese troops scattered throughout the Sanjin land were wiped out. The Battle of Shanxi reached its final stage, and Tang Qiuli transferred his headquarters to Gujiao, preparing for the final fatal blow to Okamura Ning. [

(To be continued)