Lieutenant General Maeda Toshiwei, commander of the Eighth Division of the Japanese Army, received a telegram from Hayakawa Osaku asking for help, and was taken aback, the aviation unit had already reported that there was no sign of the defense and activity of the [***] squadron in the direction of Yanmen Pass, so how could Hayakawa be ambushed by this stupid man?

Although he was a little puzzled and a little puzzled, Lieutenant General Maeda Toshinoi did not delay and immediately ordered the main force of the division to advance rapidly to reinforce the 30th Infantry Wing of Hayakawa Osa.

After giving the order, Lieutenant General Maeda Toshiwei remembered that there was also a Major General Yano, the deputy chief of staff of the Kwantung Army, who was in charge of coordinating the operation, and went to report to him out of politeness.

Major General Otozaburo Yano was in the car with his eyes closed and recuperating, and when he heard that Lieutenant General Maeda Toshiwei had come to report an emergency military situation, he lost his sleepiness for a moment, and hurriedly got out of the car, exchanged military salutes with Lieutenant General Maeda, and then asked what was going on.

Lieutenant General Maeda Toshiwei said lightly: "Yano-kun, Hayakawa Shidasa, the 30th Infantry Wing of the vanguard unit, reported that it was attacked by the main force of the Shina Army with all its might, and asked for urgent tactical guidance. I have ordered the Eighth Division to speed up and reinforce Hayakawa this idiot. ”

Otozaburo Yano was the deputy chief of staff of the Kwantung Army, and his bones were full of the arrogance peculiar to the senior staff officers of the Kwantung Army and the Yue Army. ”

Maeda Toshiwei and Major General Yano Otozaburo have a German surname, smiled knowingly, and said: "Please Yano-kun order the aviation to dispatch, I will lead the Eighth Division to repel the Chinese army, please let the First Division and the Twenty-fifth Division follow up, we will camp in Daixian tonight and enjoy the long-famous Shanxi wine." ”

Otozaburo Yano nodded, and said yo west.

Lieutenant General Maeda never dreamed that the elite 30th Wing would be wiped out in such a short period of time. By the time he led the main forces of the Eighth Division to the battlefield in the shortest possible time, the roads in the valley and on the slopes on both sides were littered with corpses covered in only a piece of crotchcloth, and armored vehicles and cars had turned into piles of wreckage.

Looking at the tragic situation in front of him, Lieutenant General Maeda Toshiwei felt cold all over, when did the Kwantung Army suffer such a loss, Amaterasu, it's not that you are joking with your loyal people! How is it possible, from the time he received Hayakawa's telegram for help to the time he saw Hayakawa's body, less than an hour and a half before and after, more than 3,000 officers and soldiers of an elite wing equipped with armored vehicles disappeared so quietly, this is also incredible!

Lieutenant General Maeda Toshiwei glanced up at Major General Mijini Suzuki, the commander of the Fourth Brigade who was already a little demented, sighed in his heart, and said: "Suzuki-kun, you lead the troops directly under the Fourth Brigade to stay, cremate the remains of the warriors, and let the Fifth Wing serve as the vanguard, and we will catch up and eliminate this group of cowardly and despicable Shina people." ”

Mijin Suzuki was already a little stupid, and she had never heard of the words of the division commander, but she just looked at the rolling mountains and the corpses in front of her in confusion, and did not reply.

Lieutenant General Maeda Toshiwei was furious, stepped forward and slapped him a few times, slapping Suzuki Mijin's face red, swollen and swollen, and roared loudly: "Suzuki-kun, where is your samurai spirit, why is it dementia?" ”

Mijin Suzuki came back to her senses at this time, bent down and bowed and said: "Your Excellency the division commander taught me a lesson, I was thinking, what kind of troops dare to do this, move so fast, and clean the battlefield so cleanly, it is as fierce as a tiger, as ruthless as a wolf, and as cunning as a fox, I have never seen such a unit." ”

Lieutenant General Maeda Toshiwei was relieved to see that Suzuki Mijin was sober, and when he heard Suzuki Mijin say that he was as fierce as a tiger, as ruthless as a wolf, and as cunning as a fox, his heart moved, and he said: "Needless to say, this must have been done by the Eighth Route Army of [***], and only they dared to be so bold, and they dared to lightly brush the tiger's whiskers, and Tai Sui's head broke ground, and in front of the three elite divisions of the powerful Kwantung Army, they ate our vanguard troops." Needless to say, hurry up, if we have time, we can catch up with them and let them know what will happen if we offend the Kwantung Army. ”

Major General Mijin Suzuki said this and ordered the troops to begin cleaning up the bodies of the war dead.

Those ordinary soldiers of the Japanese army did not have the high vision and deep thinking of Lieutenant General Maeda Toshiwei and Major General Suzuki Mijin, and some of the fanatical soldiers were already chanting the slogan of revenge, looking very murderous and excited. Most of the soldiers were a little confused, because in their education, the Chinese army was scattered and defeated in one blow, and they had no idea that they would be killed one day. When I saw the corpses of my comrades-in-arms all over the ground, I was a little scared, and there was a hint of fear in my eyes.

In fact, all robbers and invaders are the same, when they slaughter others with knives and guns, they all look fierce and happy to slaughter. If you really put a butcher's knife on their necks, they are not much stronger than ordinary people, and even more timid and afraid of death. Historically, when Sugiyama Moto, a war criminal and prime minister of the land, committed suicide, he hesitated to commit suicide under the pretext that he couldn't shoot, and it was his wife who forced the guards to teach him how to shoot, forcing him to shoot himself.

Lieutenant General Maeda Toshinoi saw that most of the soldiers were afraid and knew that the destruction of the 30th Infantry Wing would be a great blow to morale, so he strictly ordered officers at all levels to lead the soldiers to sing the military song of the Kwantung Army. The song was sung, and the team began to move forward, but Lieutenant General Maeda Toshiwei could not hear the spirit of moving forward from the song anyway.

Turning over the mountain beam, you will see the Yanmen Pass in the confrontation between the two mountains. This time, Lieutenant General Maeda Toshinoi did not dare to be careless, and no longer believed the report of the air force, and ordered the field artillery wing to quickly occupy the position and fire a three-shot salvo at Yanmen Pass.

After carefully observing the effects of the shelling through the binoculars, and observing in detail the movements in and around Yanmen Pass, and confirming that there was no response, Lieutenant General Maeda Toshiwei ordered the Fifth Wing to send a search force to form an attack formation and advance toward the search at Yanmen Pass.

The Fifth Wing sent a squadron of search troops to search and advance directly to Yanmen Pass, and when they were about to reach the front of the pass, the squadron leader ordered to occupy the position, set up grenadiers and heavy machine guns, and first came a fire reconnaissance. Then, the squadron leader of the search squadron stayed in command of the grenadier and heavy machine gun positions, and the three squads were divided into three, with guns in their hands and cats on their waists, and quickly ran towards the Guanlou, planning to occupy the Guanlou first, and then continue the search and advance.

Lieutenant General Maeda held a telescope and kept chasing the figure of the search squadron, and when he saw the three squads entering the gate one after another, his hanging heart finally let go.

It didn't take long for Lieutenant General Maeda Toshinoi to see through the binoculars that several soldiers of the Imperial Army had boarded the gate and began to guard with guns. The grenadiers and heavy machine guns that were prepared to provide fire support outside the gate were also withdrawn and advanced towards the gate.

Seeing that the squadron leader of the search squadron had entered the pass with grenadiers and heavy machine gun groups, he thought that the flag language soldiers had continued to advance with the search force, and he no longer doubted it, so he immediately ordered the cavalry wing to attack, and together with the fifth wing, support the search squadron, occupy the key points of Yanmen Pass, and prepare to cover the passage of the main force.

The cavalry wing, which received the order, immediately began to move, quickly galloped in the direction of Yanmen Pass, and soon overtook the fifth wing. The cavalry galloped through the dust that rolled up, leaving everyone in the 5th Wing dusty, but the infantry did not dare to scold the noble cavalry, so they could only spit out the sand in their mouths, kick and stomp, and continue to advance.

Unbeknownst to Lieutenant General Maeda, his search squadron had now turned into a cold corpse, lying on the stone pavement of the Seki.

According to the order of the [***] division commander, Yang Dezhi led his troops to withdraw to Yanmen Pass after the ambush ended. Ambushed on both sides of the road in the pass, the search squadron of the army was dizzy as soon as it entered, and was quickly killed by the soldiers who rushed out with bayonets, and only a few who reacted quickly had time to fire a shot, wounding several soldiers. As soon as he saw the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army wearing military uniforms going up to the gate, he was still shouting words, thinking that his troops were controlling the gate, so he hurriedly followed the fire support group into the ghost gate. In this way, it is impossible for Lieutenant General Xiyi to not be fooled.

Seeing that the cavalry wing of the army rushed towards the gate, Yang Dezhi and Li Lin discussed it together, and felt that if the cavalry wing was allowed to rush into the pass, a fierce battle would inevitably occur, and if the devils could not be eliminated in a short period of time, once the two sides were entangled together, the troops would not be able to get out, and it was likely that the devils would be dumplings by the large army. After thinking about it for a long time, Yang Dezhi decided to take advantage of this cavalry wing, and when the devil arrived in front of the gate, close the gate, concentrate his firepower to inflict a part of him, and then quickly retreat. Otherwise, when the devil's reinforcements come up, the planes and tanks will go into battle, and they won't be able to withdraw if they want to.

With a decision, Yang Dezhi immediately ordered all the troops to pull up to the Guanlou and the hilltop positions on both sides, concentrate their firepower to attack the enemy's cavalry wing, and then quickly retreat and transfer.

As soon as the Eighth Route Army was ready here, the cavalry wing of the Yue Army rushed over.

To say that the training of the Kwantung Army is indeed not Gaidi, the army galloped all the way, although the mountain road is rugged and difficult, but the formation of the cavalry of the Yue Army is still very good, it looks neat and smooth, and it is very powerful. But this neat and smooth formation was now a mess, because at the very moment when the cavalry arrows were about to shoot into the pass, the open gate suddenly creaked shut, and squeezed the head of the first cavalryman's war horse out of the pass.

This time it was lively, and the galloping cavalry was so powerful, just like a waterfall that flowed straight down met a stone mountain, it would inevitably roll back and splash in all directions.

Although the order was to search and advance in battle formation, although they had just seen the bloody scene of all the jade shattering of the 30th Wing, and although the cavalry had been trained for a long time and had superb riding skills, the cavalrymen who were deceived by the false phenomenon of the search squadron controlling the closing of the building had not thought about whether the gate would be closed suddenly. In their minds, as long as they quickly pass through the gate and occupy the commanding heights, they can catch up, so that the despicable Shina, who does not know the samurai spirit of fair duels, trembles under the hooves of horses, and appreciates what the style of chrysanthemum and sword is. Now all this can only be searched in dreams, imagined, recalled, ruthless closing the door is like a thousand-year-old boulder hit by the stormy waves, the tide of the cavalry wing of the army rolled up and rushing down firmly withstands, immediately before the door is people shouting horse neighing, the cavalry in front of them has just been thrown off the horse, trampled into mud, followed by the following one after another fell off the horse, continue to be trampled into mud.

Before the ancient Yanmen Gate, there was chaos.

At this time, Yang Dezhi's order to open fire was issued. As a result, on the slopes on both sides of the Guan Tower, rows of gray figures appeared, light and heavy machine guns, and grenades fired at the invaders together, and a puff of blood mist flew in all directions, and corpses were thrown high and then fell to the ground fiercely.

The cavalry wing of the army is crying!

Seeing that the cavalry behind had already controlled the war horse, began to dismount to seize the position, and shoot at our army, Yang Dezhi glanced at the dead and wounded devil cavalry in front of Yanmen Pass, Yang Dezhi said, "Dog, let you go today, let you go, and then slowly clean you up", he ordered to stop shooting and move immediately.

The gunfire on the position of the Eighth Route Army stopped abruptly, and groups of gray figures withdrew from their positions and disappeared into the vast mountains.

This scene made Lieutenant General Maeda Toshinoi, who was holding a telescope on the mountain beam to observe the progress of the cavalry wing, so shocked that his jaw dropped. He never imagined that this squadron would dare to perform such a theatrical scene under his nose and severely damage his elite cavalry wing. It was the chief of staff who reminded him and quickly ordered the artillery to open fire and cover the withdrawal of the cavalry wing.

Stunned and stunned, Lieutenant General Maeda Toshiwei remembered that his field artillery wing had already been on standby, and immediately ordered the artillery to open fire and blow up the cunning Shina people.

In fact, without waiting for Lieutenant General Maeda to give the order, the commander of the field artillery wing of the army also saw the drastic changes in front of the Yanmen Pass through the telescope, and had already ordered the artillery to open fire. It is a pity that the Chinese [***] team retreated too quickly, and when the swarms of shells flew through the sky and landed on the position of the Eighth Route Army, there were already no traces there, and the soil, snow and dead branches and leaves blown up by the shells were as gorgeous as fireworks, as if they were seeing off this heroic unit.

Maeda Toshi, who was extremely angry, angry, angry, ashamed, and ashamed, was lieutenant general, and while ordering the artillery to extend the fire, covering the remnants of the cavalry wing to withdraw and organize the troops; On the one hand, he ordered to send a report to the commander of the Kwantung Army, General Ueda Kenkichi, reporting the losses of the troops, and demanding severe punishment for the aviation troops. Second, the rescue of the aviation unit was not timely, and it was always late after the sneak attack of the Chinese army was successful, resulting in heavy losses to the cavalry wing and almost losing its combat effectiveness. At the end of the telegram, Lieutenant General Maeda Toshiwei said in very ugly words: "If the air force cannot accurately detect the enemy's situation and cannot reinforce them in time, then it is better for the empire to raise them than to raise a herd of pigs." At the very least, pigs can also be used to fill the stomachs of the emperor's warriors, what is the use of raising this group of aviation troops who eat and do not work? ”

The chief of staff looked at it with a straight smile, because he saw a trace of undue cunning in the face of His Excellency the division commander, which had become purple, and knew that His Excellency the division commander was using the aviation as a scapegoat to exonerate himself for losing battles and battles.

After sending the telegram, the arrogant Lieutenant General Toshiwei Maeda really put away his arrogant heart and began to hold a combat meeting to make serious combat arrangements. It was determined to use artillery as a cover, the Fifth Wing as the main attack, and the two flanks to outflank in a roundabout way, striving to completely annihilate the enemy in front of them, and opening the passage for the whole army to go south to Taiyuan.

After the deployment was completed, Lieutenant General Maeda Toshiwei forgot about the black state of the air force just now, and cheekily implored the air force to urgently dispatch and carry out intensive bombing on the front line of Yanmen Pass to cover the smooth capture of Yanmen Pass by the Eighth Division.

This time, the army learned from top to bottom, and under the cover of artillery, aircraft, tanks, and armored vehicles, it began to storm Yanmen Pass by separate routes.

To Lieutenant General Maeda's surprise, what was unexpectedly was that at this time, Yanmen Pass was already an empty pass, and despite the indiscriminate bombardment of thousands of artillery pieces by the army, not a single shot was fired at the gate. The army, which could not figure out the reality of the truth, did not dare to advance, cooperated left and right, took care of the front and back, and deduced the tactics of an infantry into a supernatural way, and slowly forced towards the closed door.

It wasn't until the tanks of the Yue Army arrived at the gate without any obstruction, blasted the gate open with their guns, and drove into the gate with a roar, that they found that except for the neatly placed corpses of a squadron wearing only a piece of crotch cloth, the dangerous Yanmen Pass was empty.

The huge contrast made the soldiers of the Yue Army suffer a great blow, and a junior soldier named Beach Wild Man vomited on the spot. After spitting up, this guy went crazy, his eyes were dull, he was sluggish, he didn't want a gun, he shouted his mother in his mouth, and staggered back and forth on the stone road in Yanmen Pass.

The actions of the wild man on the beach infected the soldiers, and many began to vomit, and many began to mumble and shout for their muddy mother, mother. The captain of the army who led the team saw that it was not a play, and if it went on like this, the army's heart was in chaos, so he chased after him and split the beach wild man in half with a knife, took out a handkerchief and wiped the blood that the beach wild man splashed on his face, body, and knife, and then turned around and slapped the squadron leader with a crackle. After inciting, he ordered the squadron leader to slap the squad leader. And so on, until the Yanmen Pass was full of crackling slaps, and every soldier's face was swollen into a pig's head, the army's will to fight was restored, and its courage became bigger, and it began to act separately to seize the key points around the Yanmen Pass and cover the passage of the large army.

Lieutenant General Maeda Toshiwei, who walked into the pass, saw that Yanmen Pass was an empty pass, and then looked at the bloody corpses of cavalry and war horses at the gate, and then looked back at the naked corpses of the soldiers of the search squadron.

The accompanying military doctor hurriedly stepped forward to rescue, did abdominal compressions, and gave a cardiac injection, and tossed for a long time before Lieutenant General Maeda Toshiwei pulled back from Amaterasu.

After Lieutenant General Maeda was sober, he asked the guards to bring sake, took a sip, and then ordered the troops to advance steadily, and no unit should break away from the main force and advance alone, otherwise it would be done by military law.

By the time Major General Otosaburo Yano, deputy chief of staff of the Kwantung Army, arrived at Yanmen Pass with the 1st Division, Lieutenant General Maeda Toshiwei had already returned to normal.

This time, Lieutenant General Maeda Toshinoi was no longer as arrogant as before, but reported the losses of the troops in ambush in 1510. When it was over, Lieutenant General Maeda Toshiwei was worried and said: "Judging from the two encounters with the Chinese [***] team, the other side is not only full of tricks and boldness, but also has light weapons that are not weaker than our army, the soldiers are well-trained, the shooting accuracy is high, and the attack and retreat are quite proficient in the art of war. If my guess is correct, this army should be the Shaanxi instructor who made General Itagaki Seishiro hate. We have to be extra careful when we are targeted by this force. It is necessary to form a heavy army group and advance steadily. Otherwise, you may be fooled anytime and anywhere. ”

Although Major General Otozaburo Yano is arrogant, he graduated from the Army University after all, and his military literacy is still very high. After listening to Lieutenant General Maeda's words, he took several division commanders to observe the positions of the squadron, but since the units of the Eighth Route Army had now developed the habit of exchanging shells for shells and bullets, he did not find anything valuable.

Although he was a little disappointed, Major General Otozaburo Yano still smelled a little peculiar smell from it, and said to the commanders of the three divisions in a muffled voice: "Your Excellency, Lieutenant Generals, our army is heading south, and the goal is directly aimed at Taiyuan. The [***] team will inevitably block the layers along the way, delaying our movements. We are not afraid to fight head-on, and I believe they are no match for us. But the terrain of Shanxi is complex, easy to defend and difficult to attack, so we have to be careful next. If today's situation were to happen a few more times, I am afraid that our forces would be greatly weakened. I decided to immediately report to Commander Kenkichi Ueda and ask him to order the Kwantung Army Aviation Corps to send more planes to provide our troops with uninterrupted air cover and support ground operations at any time. It's just that this night camp, the plane is impossible to dispatch, please take a lot of pain, make careful arrangements, and strictly guard against the cunning Zhina people in night battles and sneak attacks, fishing in troubled waters. ”

After speaking, Major General Otozaburo Yano bowed to the three division commanders again and again, and kept saying, "Please, please take care of me!" ”

Hearing that Major General Otozaburo Yano said that he would report to General Kenkichi Ueda and let the aviation provide air cover during the day, the commanders of the three divisions relaxed and hurriedly returned to their troops to command the troops to attack and advance.

After the three division commanders left, Major General Otozaburo Yano immediately sent a telegram to Senior General Kenkichi Ueda, and Yangxi reported that the 30th Wing of the 30th Wing and the cavalry wing of the 8th Division had been severely damaged, and implored His Excellency the Commander to order the air force to increase its support for the southbound army, and to ensure uninterrupted flight cover during the day. Otherwise, according to the current momentum, I am afraid that if we do not reach Taiyuan, the troops will suffer huge losses, and it will be difficult to complete the combat mission of the base camp to attack Taiyuan.

(To be continued)