Chapter 651 Closing the Net

After reading the report of Naosaburo Gangbe, Sugi was so angry that both nostrils spewed hot air.

As this was not the end, Toshitoshi Kinoshita, commander of the North China Front Air Group, reported that his fleet of planes on mission was attacked by fighters of the Eighth Route Army, losing 10 bombers and 22 fighters. By the time the large group arrived at the battlefield, the Eighth Route Army group had already fled.

Shanshan Yuan patiently asked Kinoshita Toshitoshi, didn't he find the escape direction and escape location of the Eighth Route Army fighter?

Kinoshita reported that two reconnaissance planes were reconnoitring in the southeastern part of Shandong, and it was up to them to see if they could spot the group of planes of the Eighth Route Army returning home.

Shanshan Yuan roared into the microphone: "Find the hidden airfield of the Eighth Route Army, immediately organize a huge group of aircraft, completely destroy the airfield of the Eighth Route Army, and eliminate the air force of the Eighth Route Army."

Kinoshita Min put his feet together on the phone, and Hai said.

Putting down the phone, Shanshan was not vigorous, like a wounded wolf, roaming around the house.

Yamashita Fengwen couldn't understand why the imperial army's fighters were flying all over the sky, and the Tubalu could still succeed in a sneak attack? Moreover, the results of the battle were so great that a complete artillery wing was defeated, an infantry wing ranked first in the whole army was defeated, and 32 imperial army planes were destroyed with it. If we continue to fight like this, the Japanese Empire will be completely crushed.

Yamashita Fengwen coughed, and cautiously suggested to Shanshan Yuan: "Your Excellency, commander, do you want the First Division and the Second Division to continue to attack and quickly encircle the Eighth Route Army on the west bank?" In my judgment, the reason why Liu Yimin dispatched fighter planes to bomb the imperial army at this time was probably because he had already seen the serious consequences of the first and second divisions outflanking them, but his main force was far away in Luzhong, and there was no time to rescue, so he did not hesitate to take the risk of the planes being wiped out by the large-scale fleet of the imperial army and the hidden airfield being discovered, so he came to a small gamble. The aim is nothing more than to help the troops in the West Bank survive and buy time for them to adjust their deployments. ”

It was only at this time that Shanshan Yuan really realized the strength of the Eighth Route Army Instructor. However, if he is not convinced, will such a huge force still be afraid of the Eighth Route Army?

Listening to Yamashita Fengwen's words, Shanshan Yuan thought for a while and said, "Order Lieutenant General Naosaburo Gangbe, the tasks of the first division and the second division remain unchanged, and quickly pursue." Be sure to annihilate the Tubalu on the West Bank. ”

Speaking of this, Shanshan Yuan hesitated slightly, but still said: "If the Tuba Road on the west bank escapes back to the east bank, the divisions on the northern front should pursue them relentlessly, cross the river to pursue, and directly capture Jinan." ”

Yamashita asked again: "What about the battle damage of the first division and the second division?" ”

Shanshanyuan was impatient and scolded: "All divisions and regiments on the northern front have artillery wings, which can fully meet the needs. Wouldn't there be no war without artillery support? The 2nd Division was ordered to move quickly and attack in a quick detour. As for the replenishment, a report was sent to the base camp to transfer an artillery wing to the 2nd Division and a tank brigade. The lost soldiers were replenished from four replenishment brigades of two divisions. ”

Yamashita Fengwen was full of slander in his heart, feeling that His Excellency the commander was simply standing and talking without a backache, and without artillery, the losses of tanks and armored vehicles would be relatively large, and the combat effectiveness of the Second Division would be greatly reduced, and the speed of attack would inevitably be limited.

Although he had an idea in his heart, Yamashita Fumi still went to convey the order.

Shanshan Yuan and Yamashita Fengwen couldn't imagine that they were correct in judging that the main force of the Eighth Route Army was not in Jinan, but it was a big mistake to judge that the main force of the Eighth Route Army was in Luzhong, and they would soon pay the price for their inaccurate intelligence and misjudgment.

After Xue Junmin led the second formation of bombers to the south, he crossed the Yellow River, flew over Jinan, and went directly south along the Feiji Highway, where he met the main force of the 14th Division, which was attacking northward, by the Wen River. This time, Xue Junmin opened fire on the attacking team of the 14th Division, not only dropping all the bombs on the plane, but also chasing the attacking formation of the 14th Division with machine guns and beating it violently, beating the 14th Division to crying father and mother.

Unlike Xue Junmin, Feng Dafei's first formation moved south along the Jinpu Road, and opened fire on the 35th Division of the Japanese Army and the 13th Brigade of the Independent Mixed Brigade on the line of Dawenkou in Beijipo, south of Tai'an.

Since all the fighters of the first air brigade were dispatched, they could fly at a high altitude and conceal when they went, but when they returned, they would inevitably be targeted by fighters and reconnaissance planes that had slipped through the net, and it would be very easy to expose the Zhujiazhuangzi Airport in Dadian, which would attract the frenzied retaliation of the Japanese army. Therefore, when formulating the battle plan, Feng Dafei took this into account, stipulating that the bomber formation would quickly conceal after returning home, and the fighters would expand the search range, search for the Japanese plane, shoot it down, and then return to the airfield to conceal.

When David stepped off the plane, the bombers at the Dadian Zhujiazhuangzi Airport had all been hidden, and Feng Dafei was relieved to report the results to the division commander.

At this time, the 14th Division, the 35th Division, and the 13th Brigade of the Independent Mixed Army all reported to the headquarters of the 12th Army and the North China Front that they had suffered heavy losses due to a surprise attack by fighters of the Eighth Route Army, and demanded that the responsibility for the North China Front's air group's ineffective cover operations be investigated.

As a matter of fact, the losses of the 14th Division, the 35th Division, and the 13th Brigade of the Independent Mixed Brigade in the raid of the fighters of the Eighth Route Army were not as great as those of the First Division and the Second Division, and the main reason was that no matter how fast the planes were, they did not transmit radio waves as fast. It's just that the planes of the Eighth Route Army are coming quickly, and the little devils don't have time to complete all the concealment, so they naturally have to suffer a little.

Another reason was that the 35th Division, the 13th Brigade and the 14th Division were not attacking smoothly, and they wanted to shirk their responsibilities and find the aviation to be the scapegoat.

The commander of the 35th Division, Osamu Maeda, is now suffering and can't say it. He commanded the 35th Division, the 13th Independent Mixed Division, and the 1st Division of the puppet Manchurian Defense Army to attack and advance along the Jinpu Road and the road from Tai'an to Yanzhou.

After capturing the town of Porcelain Kiln, in order to facilitate the deployment of troops, the 35th Division and the 13th Brigade of the Independent Mixed Brigade attacked on all fronts, and at the same time killed Dawenkou and Beijipo, and searched and reconnoitred to Tai'an, preparing to occupy these two key points, and then launched an attack on Tai'an. Unexpectedly, these two small market towns blocked the footsteps of the 35th Division and the 13th Brigade of the Independent Mixed Brigade.

Maeda Osamu did not know that there were two reasons why the Eighth Route Army was holding on to Dawenkou, one was that it was preparing to respond to the emergency landing of a large number of air planes, and the other was that the Dawenkou city wall was too strong, and the Eighth Route Army did not want to set up obstacles for the next encirclement and annihilation battle.

It is not only Dawenkou and Beijipo, but every village in this area has become a battlefield. Including Dawenkou, the little devils attacked it, and the problem was that the Eighth Route Army relied on the houses and tunnels in the town and village to start street battles with the little devils. In this way, the devil's plane threw a rat trap and did not dare to carry out large-scale bombing, and the artillery of the little devil also became an ornament, and the battle made Masamu Maeda and Morita Masahomi extremely depressed.

Maeda Osamu was impatient, and ordered the troops to withdraw from Dawenkou, Beijipo and various villages, and fired special smoke, hoping to poison the holding Eighth Route Army. As a result, the special smoke did not seem to have played a role, and the troops attacked the towns and villages again, but they were still attacked. Maeda Osamu was helpless, and wanted the 13th Brigade of the Independent Mixed Brigade to continue to attack the front line of Dawenkou and Beijipo, and led the 35th Division to attack in the direction of Tai'an.

Just when Maeda Osamu and Morita Masaho were in a dilemma, they were attacked by the fighters of the Eighth Route Army, and the casualties of the troops were already large, which made it even worse. As a result, Osamu Maeda and Masahomi Morita were going to report the black state of the air force to the North China Front Command.

This is the case with Osamu Maeda and Masano Morita, and Takamasa Sekii of the 14th Division is also having a hard time.

The combat effectiveness of the 14th Division under the command of Takamasa Sekii was much higher than that of the 35th Division and the 13th Brigade of the Independent Mixed Brigade. The most important thing is that the 14th Division is equipped with a heavy artillery brigade, equipped with 105 howitzers and cannons, and the artillery fire is very fierce.

Because Liu Yimin was bent on capturing the equipment of this heavy artillery brigade, he did not order Feng Dafei and them to concentrate on blowing up this heavy artillery brigade. To say that Liu Yimin's consideration was too wishful thinking, the artillery fire of the heavy artillery brigade was so fierce and the range was so long, if they were not destroyed, they would bring heavy casualties to the blocking troops and attacking troops. Maybe Liu Yimin has another magic method

Sekii Takasho led the 14th Division north along the Yanzhou-Ningyang and Feicheng highways, and the attack arrows were directed at Jinan. However, the Eighth Route Army did not follow the blockade and seemed to have calculated his movements, and cut the road every ten or eight miles, making it impossible for tanks, armored vehicles, and cars of the 14th Division to pass. There was no way, so Sekii Takamasa had no choice but to order tanks and armored vehicles to drive off the road and use tracks to crush the road that could be used by cars.

This old devil's method is not bad, but it's a pity that people are not as good as the sky, and the sky is not as good as the Eighth Route Army. Since the Eighth Route Army can dig up the road, it will not let him stop so much. Anti-tank mines and electric explosives were put into battle in unison, blowing up the vanguard of the 14th Division. forced the devils to invest troops to build roads and fill in the deep trenches dug by the Eighth Route Army.

When the main force of the 14th Division launched an offensive on all fronts, the Eighth Route Army took advantage of the existing positions and constantly launched small-scale blocking battles. Take a shot and run, get a little cheap and leave, it's like a cat playing with a mouse.

Sekii Takashi was angry, and simply ordered the heavy artillery brigade and his field artillery wing to stop advancing, establish artillery positions, and cover the positions of the Eighth Route Army with artillery fire.

As a result, as soon as Sekii Takamasa's heavy artillery fired, the blocking Eighth Route Army did not know where to hide. As soon as the sound of artillery stopped, the Eighth Route Army appeared again, still blocking the attack.

Sekii Takasho was puzzled, where was this Tubalu hiding?

It was not until the front-line position of the Eighth Route Army was occupied that Sekii Takasho suddenly realized that the Eighth Route had built anti-artillery holes in the trenches, and as soon as the Imperial Army hit *, the Eighth Route Army hid in the anti-artillery holes. As soon as the shelling stopped, they took up their positions and hit a blockade. Sekii Takasho couldn't help but scold, scolding the Eighth Route Army for being cunning and shameless, and it was simply a rogue army.

What Sekii Takashi saw was only scratching the surface, how did he know that a tunnel network had been formed here, and the blocking lines of the Eighth Route Army were connected to the tunnel network, and the tunnel network was the biggest support for the blocking position of the Eighth Route Army.

What made Sekii Takamasa even more annoyed was still to come, the Eighth Route Army didn't know where to get so many snipers to fight his grassroots officers, gunners, and machine gunners. At the beginning, it was easy to do, and Takamasa Sekii could transfer staff officers from divisions, brigades, and wings to serve as commanders. Later, it was not possible, he did not have so many staff officers to fill the vacancies left by the officers who died in battle, so he had to engage in battlefield surprise promotions, and regardless of whether he graduated from the Japanese Army Non-commissioned Officer School or not, he promoted officers among veterans with rich experience in actual combat.

In this way, the enthusiasm of those veterans has increased, and they have finally become the officers of their dreams, can they not work hard?

It is a pity that these newly promoted officers do not have a long life, and they often have just had time to give the first order and pass the addiction of being an officer, when they are hit by a silent bullet from nowhere, and they are thrown straight back.

Sekii Takamasa's heart, it was colder than this harsh winter weather, he knew that his elite 14th Division was being bled by the Eighth Route Army, and I was afraid that he would have to wait until the blood dried up.

In this way, the 14th Division, under the continuous resistance of the blocking troops of the Eighth Route Army, finally crossed the Wen River and prepared to advance rapidly to seize Jinan and copy Liu Yimin's nest. As a result, it was raided by the fighters of the Eighth Route Army, and even the ice of the Dawen River was covered with the corpses of Japanese soldiers wearing yellow military coats.

Takamasa Sekii couldn't bear the grievances he suffered along the way, and directly sent a report to the commander of the 12th Army, Iida Sadagu, and the commander of the North China Front, Shanshan Yuan, and also complained.

Of course, they also told me that the commander of the North China Front, General Shanshan Yuan, had just enjoyed Kinoshita's contribution to Kinoshita, so would he be willing to clean up Kinoshita

After receiving Feng Dafei's report, Liu Yimin's frowning brows finally stretched a little.

By this time, it was already half past four, and it would be dark in another hour. As soon as it gets dark and the little devil's plane returns to the nest, it will be the turn of the Eighth Route Army to do it.

Liu Yimin decided not to wait, if he waited any longer, the 35th Division and the 13th Brigade of the Independent Mixed Brigade would be better to say, they had few vehicles, slow movement, and were easy to be caught. The 14th Division is different, it is a mechanized division, and it runs very fast. You can't let the birds fly again, can you?

Liu Yimin decided to close the net.

Liu Yimin sent a telegram to Zeng Zhongsheng, asking them to tell Xu Shiyou and Fu Zhuting that they should seize the opportunity of the heavy losses suffered by the First Division and the Second Division, resolutely withdraw their troops, and jump out of the encirclement of the devils. After withdrawing to the east bank of the Yellow River, they can go east along the river at night, use the pontoon bridge to return to the Jilu side, and prepare for the battle to seize Cangxian.

Then, Liu Yimin drafted the mobilization order for the Battle of Taixi.

In the mobilization order, Liu Yimin wrote: "Early this morning, the Japanese army mobilized the Guards Division, the 1st Division, the 2nd Division, the 5th Division, the 6th Division, the 14th Division, the 16th Division, the 23rd Division, the 32nd Division, the 35th Division, the 36th Division, the 13th Brigade, the Armored Brigade, and a brigade of the puppet Manchurian Defense Army, totaling 300,000 troops, to launch a three-way siege on our Shandong base area. Our army fought fiercely with devils in the three regions of eastern Ludong, northwest Lu, and southern Thailand, and the blood of the martyrs soaked the land of Qilu and composed heroic songs. Facts have proved that our army is worthy of being the sons and daughters of the Shandong people and the number one main force among China's anti-Japanese forces. In particular, the 1st Brigade of our Air Force made two sorties to bomb the Japanese army's Xuzhou airfield, the Dexian advance airfield, and the Japanese ground offensive troops, providing strong support for the victory of the campaign and making indelible contributions. At present, the 14th Division, the 35th Division, and the 13th Brigade of the Japanese Army have entered the encirclement of our army, and it is impossible to escape, and the time is ripe for the destruction of the Japanese grouping on the southern front. Chief Liu Luo decided to launch a general attack on the 14th Division, the 35th Division, and the 13th Independent Mixed Brigade of the Japanese Army at half past five. In order to ensure the smooth achievement of the campaign objectives, Chief Liu Luo called on the commanders, commanders and fighters, ** members, and the old Red Army of the whole army to act quickly, polish their bayonets, rush forward with the sound of the trumpet, destroy all enemies who dare to resist stubbornly, wash away the shame of the Chinese nation with our blood, and take revenge on the devils with our bullets."

After Liu Yimin finished writing, he handed it to Luo Ronghuan to read, and the two of them signed and sent the participating troops.

After sending the telegram, Liu Yimin was about to call the artillery commander Li Chang and ask how the artillery group was prepared.

Li Chang immediately reported on the other end of the phone: "Report to the division commander: The artillery brigade and the artillery regiment of the brigade are all in a state of concealment and standby, as long as you give an order, the artillery brigade will fire the artillery first, and there is absolutely no ambiguity in pointing to where to strike."

Liu Yimin ordered Li Chang to act immediately, deploy the artillery group according to the battle plan, and deploy all the artillery groups in place as soon as it gets dark, and must ensure that the first shot hits, ensure the fierceness and continuity of the artillery fire, and guide and cover the troops to launch a general attack.

Li Chang was another upright on the phone: "Please rest assured, the division commander will only need five minutes for each artillery group to remove its artillery clothing, push it to its position, and complete the preparation for the shelling." ”

Putting down Li Chang's phone, Liu Yimin again called the 1st Brigade, the 3rd Brigade, the Cavalry Brigade, and the Heavy Machine Gun Brigade, asking them to prepare for an attack.

Then, Liu Yimin called Liu Jianli of the West Group and Lei Ming of the East Group, and ordered them to prepare for a quick attack, squeezing the middle from the east and west. In the end, Liu Yimin smiled and told Liu Jianli and Lei Ming that the speed of the east-west attack should be fast and the firepower should be fierce. Otherwise, it will be difficult to drink the broth when the 1st Brigade, the 3rd Brigade, the Cavalry Brigade and the Heavy Machine Gun Brigade start to attack.

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