The Eighth Division of the Japanese Army was established in 1898 in response to the Russo-Japanese War, and participated in the famous Battle of Heigoutai in the Russo-Japanese War, but suffered heavy losses and was almost wiped out. During the 918 Incident, under the leadership of Lieutenant General Nishiyichi, the commander of the division, he invaded northeast China from Korea, incorporated into the Kwantung Army, attacked Shanhaiguan, occupied the Rehe River, captured Chengde, and fought from the border between China and North Korea to the city of Pingjin, forcing the Chinese political axe to sign the "Tanggu Armistice Agreement".

Due to the arrival of Liu Yimin, the 21st Brigade and the Chahar Dispatch Corps were annihilated, and the Eighth Division, under the leadership of the new division commander, Lieutenant General Maemura Toshiwei, was incorporated into the southward corps of the Kwantung Army and went to the North China battlefield. In fact, it is not entirely the factor of Liu Yimin's crossing, the Eighth Division in history once wandered like a ghost on the battlefield in North China at this time. In a word, the Eighth Division is an old invading division of the army. The division has jurisdiction over the 4th Infantry Brigade and the 16th Infantry Brigade. It has the 5th Infantry Wing, the 31st Wing, the 17th Wing, the 32nd Wing, the 8th Cavalry Wing, the 8th Field Artillery Wing, the 8th Engineer Wing, the Baggage Wing, the Field Hospital and other combat and support units.

Lieutenant General Toshiyui Maeda, commander of the 8th Division, was a native of Ishikawa Prefecture, the 16th head of the Maeda family of the Kaga Domain, and a standard nobleman with a distinguished background. This guy's ancestor is one of the five elders of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Maeda Toshiki, his father is Maeda Toshiaki, the lord of the Seven Cities Domain, and he was succeeded to the lord of Kanazawa Maeda Toshi, and at the age of 15, he inherited the title of Marquis Maeda Toshi, graduated from the 17th phase of the Army Non-commissioned Officer School at the age of 20, and graduated from the 23rd phase of the Army University at the age of 26 with the third place.

After receiving the order to reinforce Weixian, Maeda Toshiwei moved quickly, Tai'an was very close to Jinan, and the troops were distributed along the railway from Jinan to Tai'an, so the task of transporting Jinan was quickly completed.

After arriving in Jinan, Lieutenant General Maeda Toshiwei met with Lieutenant General Naosaburo Gangbe and Lieutenant General Tsugahiko King of Higashijuernomiya, and when he heard that the Eighth Route Army had broken through the city, it did not break through the defense line of the headquarters of Lieutenant General Sasaki to the First Lieutenant General, and Lieutenant General Maeda Toshiwei felt that General Terauchi Shouichi was making a big fuss, and even Sasaki could not break through the position of a few hundred people. It was Lieutenant General Naosaburo Okabe and Lieutenant General Tsukihiko of Higashijueriya who repeatedly told him that it was indeed Liu Yimin's troops besieging Weixian, and the reason why they did not finally break through Sasaki's position was that the planes of the imperial army had been over Weicheng during the day, and they would be hit as soon as they showed their heads. Second, because the troops of the Third Brigade and Regiment stationed around Weixian County were constantly coming back for reinforcements, the Eighth Route Army should have adopted the tactic of encircling the point to send reinforcements, using Weicheng as bait, and aiming at eliminating the units of the Third Brigade and Regiment that had returned to the reinforcements, and the tactics were extremely sinister. The tactics of using the Eighth Division and the Qingdao garrison to advance east-west were to smash the tactics of the Eighth Route Army, which it thought it was proud of, and completely annihilate it. Now the Eighth Route Army is attacking everywhere to support the Chiang Kai-shek troops on the front line of Lanfeng, and their arrogance is very arrogant, Liu Yimin is fishing in troubled waters, and wants to take advantage of the opportunity when the imperial army's attention is concentrated in eastern Henan to make a big deal in Weixian. Besides, since Liu Yimin's instructor joined the North China battlefield, they always let the imperial army break jade, and the imperial army has never eliminated even a company of Liu Yimin's troops in a structured manner. Not to mention the elimination of the entire instructor, even the elimination of one brigade or one regiment is a great victory, at least it can let us see clearly the firepower composition and training of Liu Yimin's troops. It turned out that this was a great opportunity to make a name for himself, and he immediately commanded the troops to rush towards Weixian in accordance with the orders of the Second Army and the North China Front.

Before Lieutenant General Maeda left Jinan, he personally called the garrison of the Jiaoji Road along the Jiaoji Road to inquire about the situation of the railway. As a result, except for the Weixian railway garrison unit, the telephone from Jinan to Changle was connected, and the railway garrison units reported that the railway was in good condition and could be passed. Of course, the railway garrisons of Zhoucun, Linzi, Yidu, and Changle, which were within the defensive range of the 3rd Brigade of the Reading Mixed Brigade, reported that the army units stationed there had all been reinforced to Weicheng, and that the local defense was extremely empty, and that troops were urgently needed to be stationed there.

The Jiaoji Road Garrison is a veteran garrison force, with a total strength of 1,500 people, from Jinan to Changle is only 400 miles, which is an hour's journey on the high-speed railway in later generations, and the highway can be reached in only two hours. However, at this time, the speed of trains and automobiles was limited, and a brigade of the vanguard of the Eighth Division stayed on the train for 10 hours before seeing the lights of Changle Railway Station.

The devil train was about to slow down into the station when a salute sounded to greet them. However, the movement of this salute was a bit loud, and it directly caused the front of the car to drag more than a dozen carriages down the roadbed, and paralyzed there like a dead snake.

As soon as the train overturned, a team of soldiers rushed from the station and soon arrived at the scene. However, instead of going to rescue the wounded soldiers, they twisted the car door, smashed the car window, and threw the "little melon" grenade and the state-made grenade into the carriage indiscriminately.

By the time the five devil gendarmes in Changle County led Han Jian and the police to the station, the corpses of the devil squad guarding Changle Station had already stiffened, and the way to die was very simple, either their necks were broken, or they were pierced through the heart by a sharp blade, and they died peacefully, as if they didn't feel danger before they died, and there was no pain at all.

The captain of the devil gendarmerie gasped, these murderers are simply professional killers, they are all one-hit kills, and their methods are old and clean.

When they arrived at the scene of the rollover accident, the captain of the devil gendarmerie and a group of Han Jianjun were all vomiting, because the situation in the carriage was so miserable, where could they tell who the puddle of dirty blood and scraped meat was, it was simply a hodgepodge.

The large units of the Eighth Division came up one after another. As soon as the commander of the Fifth Wing, Gu Yi Dazuo, saw that one of his brigades had died so miserably, he immediately pulled out his command knife and pointed at the maintenance club and the policemen who came with the devil gendarmes, and shouted, "Kill it!" ”

At this time, those Han An, who were dedicated to serving the imperial army, were considered to have fallen into blood mold, and they lay down in a large area after a while. Fortunately, the commander of the 4th Brigade, Major Commander Mijin Suzuki, was able to stop the crazy Koyi Osa, and he was able to save the surnames of several key members of the maintenance association who stood with the gendarmes.

Major General Mijin Suzuki lost the 30th Wing at Yanmen Pass last time, and he almost committed suicide by disembowelment, but fortunately, the division commander put the blame on the Kwantung Army Air Force, saying that due to their poor reconnaissance and poor cover, the 30th Infantry Wing was shattered. The Kwantung Army and the base camp not only did not hold Major General Misumi Suzuki accountable, but also transferred the 31st Infantry Wing to the 4th Brigade, so that the elite 4th Brigade maintained a strong combat effectiveness.

According to the former Major General Suzuki Mijin's own idea, it is to take revenge in Changle, dig three feet into the ground and dig out the sneak attack of the Eighth Route Army, and avenge the tragic death of the imperial warriors, but considering that the attack on Weicheng is about to be imminent, this Lechangjian may be the logistics supply base of the whole division, maybe it will have to pull many people from here to help transport the wounded or something, and now if the slaughter of Lechang is carried out, it is a little early.

Sure enough, after Lieutenant General Maeda Toshinoi arrived at Changle, he praised Major General Suzuki Mijin's proper handling, saying that those who maintained the association could prepare military supplies for the imperial army, and when the Eighth Route Army that attacked Weixian was eliminated, he would settle the account with these people.

That night, the Eighth Division of the Chinese Army, which had arrived in Changle one after another, camped in and around Changle County. No matter how Lieutenant General Sasaki of Weicheng begged for reinforcements to attack quickly, Lieutenant General Maeda Toshiwei just stood still, because he knew that he was facing the troops of the Eighth Route Army Instructor, who was the best at sneak attacks, and the scene at Changle Station had already taught him a vivid educational lesson, and he would not violate several prohibitions of General Terauchi Shouichi about fighting with his instructor, wouldn't that be very dangerous?

The Eighth Division does not move, which does not mean that the Eighth Route Army does not move.

At 2 o'clock in the morning, the units of the 8th Division were sleeping one after another. At this time, the 2nd and 3rd Special Operations Squadrons led by Li Lingfeng began to act, and their targets were very clear, that is, those devil troops camped in the field with squadrons and brigades as units.

Originally, Li Lingfeng directly attacked the devil's artillery wing, killed all the artillerymen, and made all the devil's artillery dumb in tomorrow's battle. It is a pity that the devil's artillery wing is closely protected, and it is not easy to succeed, even if the sneak attack is successful, the second and third squadrons of special operations will also be surrounded by heavy troops of the Eighth Division, and the gains outweigh the losses. Therefore, from the perspective of being easy to get out, Li Lingfeng chose the devil troops camping outside the city.

Li Lingfeng drew a team from the second squadron and the third squadron and divided the entire team into three teams, and he, Zhao Yonggang, and Zhao Zhiyu each led a team and acted separately. Before leaving, the soldiers were asked to paint their faces with grass juice and soot, and they looked like ghosts. After packing up, Li Lingfeng made a gesture to go, and the three teams went separately to touch the devil.

The Eighth Division is all camped near Changle, there are devils everywhere, and the best thing for the special combat team is to hunt at night.

The permanent division of the devils is well equipped, tents have been set up in the temporary camp, and there are sentries and patrols around the camp, which is difficult to approach. However, this is not difficult for the warriors of the special combat team.

Zhao Zhiyu aimed at the camp of a devil squadron, he still used his own special skills, flying knives, one blow kill, after killing the sentry, and then killed the patrol of 5 people, and then touched the camp of the devil, a special operations team was in charge of a tent, and began the slaughter.

Li Lingfeng and Zhao Yonggang each have their own tricks, and no one is idle.

To be honest, if it weren't for the Eighth Division's being too elite, the hunt could have continued forever, and it would not be difficult to kill more than 1,000 of them in one night. It's a pity that the special combat team was still discovered by the devil. A terrible "ghost" cry from a devil with diarrhea made Li Lingfeng and the others have to retreat quietly in a hurry. That's it, the three small forces made more than 400 elite old devils become ghosts.

Since he could no longer go into the devil's camp to hunt, Li Lingfeng asked for a surname and did not stop fighting, and directly launched an attack and harassment battle against the Eighth Division, in Li Lingfeng's words, it was to make them unable to sleep, and they would yawn when they started to fight and charge tomorrow.

Needless to say, the special combat team is the most elite unit, and the shooting accuracy of the Bayi automatic rifle is high, and the tactics are to fight from the east and west. In the end, Lieutenant General Maeda had to order the tanks and cars to turn on their lights, and to put on electric lights in all the camps, and to put on torches if they could not pull electric lights.

Tossing and turning, and when the devils counted after dawn, more than 500 people were killed in one night, plus those who died on the train, basically there was no more than one brigade of troops. Lieutenant General Toshiwei Maeda realized how terrifying the opponent he had encountered.

Lieutenant General Maeda Toshiwei, who had not been able to live overnight, had a clearer mind, believing that the Eighth Route Army must have limited strength, and wanted to delay the advance of the Eighth Division through this fatigue tactic, so that they could have time to eliminate Sasaki to the remnants and finish the supplies in Weixian.

Lieutenant General Maeda Toshiwei sent a telegram to Lieutenant General Sasaki to Lieutenant General Ichi asking for the latest battle situation. He also contacted the troops from Qingdao and asked them where they had been.

Lieutenant General Sasaki to the 1st Lieutenant General pleaded in a telegram for rapid reinforcements of the 8th Division, saying that overnight, his position had shrunk by two-thirds, and only more than 200 people remained, and the Eighth Route began to persuade him to surrender, saying that they were the Eighth Route Army's instructor and the 3rd Brigade, and its supreme commander was the political commissar of the 3rd Brigade, and if they did not surrender, they would launch a general attack.

The Qingdao reinforcements reported that the railway had been damaged by the Eighth Route Army, the road had also been damaged, and that it had been harassed incessantly during the night, that the troops had suffered great losses, that the march was very slow, and that it was estimated that they would be able to reach Weixian tomorrow morning.

After reading the telegram, Lieutenant General Maeda Toshiwei was furious and ordered the Qingdao reinforcements to speed up and be sure to rush to the battlefield during the day today to encircle the Eighth Route Army so that it could not escape.

Thinking about it, Lieutenant General Maeda Toshiwei sent another telegram to Lieutenant General Toshikuri Palace, requesting him to immediately urge the aviation to be dispatched to assist Lieutenant General Sasaki to defend the position.

After the telegram, Lieutenant General Maeda Toshiwei saw that the gunfire of the Eighth Route Army's attack on the troops had finally stopped after dawn, so he ordered the troops to sleep immediately, eat two hours later, and then advance to Weixian.

(To be continued)