The more Major General Kasawara Yukio thought about it, the more he felt that things were not so simple, so he called the chief of staff, and the two of them carefully analyzed the map for a long time, feeling that since the 21st Brigade was shattered, the situation in Shanxi had become extremely strange, as if it had been out of the control of the imperial army. In particular, this instructor of the local army in Shaanxi Province has caused the imperial army to suffer heavy losses when they come up, and it is a mystery where they are and what they are going to do now.

Judging from the situation of the Zhina army's attack on Niangzi Pass, it should be the method of the instructor who does not pay attention to the rules and is not comfortable with the regular cards. Because the regular army of China suffered great losses after the defeat at Niangzi Pass, they should have been frightened by the imperial army, and it would never be possible to take the initiative to send it to the door again. Only that instructor will work like this.

If this judgment is true, then I am afraid that the lady will not be able to hold it. This instructor dared to directly challenge the main force of the most elite Fifth Division of the Imperial Army, how could the defenders of a brigade of Niangziguan hold it? If this continues, the situation will be very serious. What if it is replaced by another branch of the army, what if it occupies Niangzi Pass? As long as the 15th Brigade arrives, it will naturally be able to take it down quickly, but it will be a stalemate for a while, and when the 20th Division and the 109th Division rush back, the Chinese army will naturally collapse again. But if it was really that mentor who captured Niangzi Pass, it must have been a huge attempt.

Now the question is, what exactly is the attempt of the Chinese army? Why do you do it in the west, east, and south at the same time?

Major General Yukio Kasahara didn't dare to think about it anymore, because the more he thought about it, the more afraid he became, the current strength of Taiyuan was already extremely weak, and such a large city was now only garrisoned by the baggage of the First Reading Force Mixed Brigade and the Fifth Division. The First Reading Mixed Brigade has just transferred a brigade to reinforce the Dike Detachment and the Daquan Detachment to attack the Western China Army, and at present there are only four infantry brigades in Taiyuan City and light tanks, armored vehicles, artillery, and engineering units attached to the First Reading Mixed Brigade. If the Chinese army attacks Taiyuan now, strategically speaking, it will be a black tiger digging out of the heart.

Major General Yukio Kasahara now has a clear mind and understands that if the Chinese army makes a big move, it must be an attack on Taiyuan. Whether it is attacking Niangzi Pass, fighting in the west, or even ambushing the 21st Brigade, I am afraid that they are all for Taiyuan. What a calculation!

As for the problem of the formation of a situation of closing the door and fighting the dog after the Chinese army took the Niangzi Pass, Major General Kasahara Yukio felt that it was the Chinese army that was beyond its strength, and the imperial army was looking for the main force of the Chinese army to fight for a decisive battle, so it was a big deal to have another battle for the Niangzi Pass.

After figuring it out and thinking it through, Major General Yukio Kasahara was relieved. Since the Zhina army is coming to seize Taiyuan, let him come. I am not afraid that the enemy will attack the city, but I am afraid that he is erratic and difficult to find. Since he is coming, let himself create a miracle under this strong Taiyuan city! In the face of the powerful artillery fire of the imperial army, the Chinese army did not want to step into Taiyuan even if it was bleeding.

Major General Yukio Kasahara quickly telegraphed his judgment to Seishiro Itagaki and General Toshiichi Terauchi of the North China Front. Then he strictly ordered the 15th Brigade to urgently rescue Niangziguan, ordered Di Bujia Guizhong Zuo to stop the pursuit of the China Army, and moved closer to Taiyuan, and ordered the Reading Power Mixed 2nd Brigade to stop the flanking attack on the West China Army, return to the division to ensure the Tongpu Railway from Xinkou to Yangqu, and prepare to reinforce Taiyuan.

Now, what Major General Yukio Kasahara hopes most is that the 15th Brigade of the Reading Force Mixed Brigade can quickly rush to Niangzi Pass, flank the defenders in front and back, repel the instructors of China, and hold the east gate of Shanxi.

It's a pity that Lieutenant General Seishiro Itagaki and General Terauchi Shouichi of the North China Front Army both think that Major General Yukio Kasahara is simply joking, what kind of army wants to attack Taiyuan, it is pure nonsense, does the Chinese army have the guts? However, the attack of the Zhina army on Niangzi Pass should not be careless. Because once the Chinese army occupies Niangziguan, it will inevitably destroy Niangziguan Station and Zhengtai Railway. Therefore, Itagaki strictly ordered Kasahara Yukio to carry out the original plan, reinforce Niangzi Pass, and jointly attack the Shina army from the direction of Gujiao and Kawaguchi.

Kasawara Yukio was helpless, thinking that it might be that he was worried about the sky, the Chinese army had already been busy fleeing for his life after the Taiyuan melee, where did he have the courage to attack Taiyuan! Let's hope it's just my own conjecture! As a result, Major General Yukio Kasahara had no choice but to send a telegram to the 15th Brigade of the Yoriki Mixed Brigade and Tsutsumi Butsuki Nakasa, canceling his orders and letting them continue to carry out the orders of Lieutenant General Seishiro Itagaki.

Kasawara Yukio didn't know that when he sent a telegram with Itagaki and the temple, the instructor's brigades had already moved to the foot of Taiyuan City, and the airfield and the south gate were about to start.

After Zhang Hongtao and Chen Dayong started on the eastern and western fronts, Liu Yimin knew that the time was ripe to attack Taiyuan.

Forcibly suppressing his excitement, Liu Yimin finally waited until it was dark, and then ordered the First Special Operations Detachment to take Feng Dafei's aviation students to secretly attack Taiyuan Airport. The 1st Brigade, the 2nd Brigade, the 3rd Brigade, the Artillery Brigade, and the Engineer Regiment moved covertly to the vicinity of the South Gate, concentrated the artillery fire of two field artillery regiments of the artillery brigade and one mountain artillery regiment, stormed the city, and eliminated the army in Taiyuan City; The 4th Brigade covertly drove to the north of Taiyuan City, cut off the Tongpu Railway, and prepared to meet the enemy who might be supported by the Tongpu Line to the south; The Fifth Brigade was fortified in the direction of the West Gate, preparing to meet the Yue army that was pursuing Chen Dayong's Jinxi Corps. As for the east, Liu Yimin ordered Zhang Haitao to lead the guard regiment to set up an ambush at the east gate, ready to ambush the fleeing army in Taiyuan City at any time.

At this time, the Taiyuan army was empty, and the army was arrogant and looked down on the squadron from the heart, so there were not many troops outside the city of Taiyuan. In view of this situation, Liu Yimin would not be verbose at all, and was determined to take advantage of the enemy's arrogance and defenselessness to concentrate the main force to break through the south gate, and then develop towards the urban area, so as to resolve the battle in a relatively short time. Then, according to the changes in the enemy situation, decide how to meet the enemy.

Due to the large force action, no matter how concealed, it is impossible to completely avoid the eyes of the enemy, so Liu Yimin chose to forcibly attack and break through, and also took advantage of the situation to test the effect of the troops training the city to attack fortifications.

After receiving the order, the troops quickly divided their routes and marched to Taiyuan in a concealed and rapid manner.

From the northwest of Qingxu to the city of Taiyuan, it was originally dozens of miles away, but due to the need to conceal the combat intention, the troops could not shoot torches, and the marching speed was very slow. Later, Liu Yimin saw that it would be too late to wait until the city of Taiyuan fell, and it would increase non-combat casualties, which was even more unacceptable to Liu Yimin, so Liu Yimin ordered all troops to light torches and speed up the march.

At 2 o'clock in the evening, the instructor's brigades had arrived at the foot of Taiyuan City.

By the time Gao Yuan and Yuan Guoping arrived at the south gate, all regiments of the First Brigade had already entered the attack position. Gao Yuan immediately ordered the artillery brigade of the division to blow up the south gate of Taiyuan City, and the whole division attacked Taiyuan.

After Major General Yukio Kasahara arranged the attack plans of the various troops, he went to bed. It's a pity that he didn't close his eyes before he was called out by the emergency military situation.

Judging from the reports of various troops, the Chinese army has surrounded Taiyuan, and Major General Kasahara Yukio is happy and sad in his heart: the joy is that he anticipated the enemy's opportunity and calculated the movement of the Chinese army; Sadly, the troops in Taiyuan City are empty, and I don't know if I can stop the attack of the Chinese army.

However, as a veteran Major General Kasawara Yukio, he naturally knew the importance of blocking the first wave of attacks by the Shina army, so he strictly ordered all the major brigades of the first brigade to go up to the city wall.

At 2:20 a.m. on 20 December 1937, the troops of the Eighth Route Army arrived at the city of Taiyuan, and the divisional artillery brigade, under the order of division commander Liu Yimin, pushed two field artillery regiments, a reinforced mountain artillery regiment, and a 75 medium mortar regiment all under the city of Taiyuan.

Artillery brigade commander Li Chang and political commissar Wang Shanzhu repeatedly told the artillery observers to correct the enemy's firepower points at the Taiyuan city wall and the south gate, and at 2:50 a.m., they thought that all artillery regiments, including the medium-sized mortar regiment, were ready to be in place. Please give the division commander the order to attack! ”

At this time, Liu Yimin had already arrived at the Jin Temple and placed the division headquarters in the Jin Temple. After receiving the report of the artillery brigade, Liu Yimin and Luo Ronghuan held a brief consultation, believing that strategically speaking, the time was ripe for the capture of Taiyuan. Now, it is time to wave the main force into Taiyuan and completely annihilate the first reading force of the army stationed in Taiyuan to form a mixed brigade. Therefore, Liu Yimin ordered Zeng Zhongsheng to go to the First Brigade immediately, and Cai Zhong to the Second Brigade, and after the artillery brigade blasted through the city wall, he threw all the main forces into the gap and commanded the troops to develop in depth.

Cai Zhong proposed what should be done if our army's attack on Taiyuan did not go well and caused the army to come to the aid from the direction of Niangziguan in northern Jin and eastern Jin.

Liu Yimin told him categorically, first, Shanxi belongs to our Eighth Route Army, and no one can take it away; Second, the army has now been transferred to the south of Jin, the east of Jin, and the west of Jinxi, and the army will not be able to reach Taiyuan within one or two days in the short term; Third, if the army marches to Taiyuan, our army has absolute certainty that its heavy army group will be wiped out around Taiyuan.

At 3 o'clock in the morning on 20 November 1937, the sneak attack on Taiyuan, which was promised as a classic example in military textbooks of later generations, finally began.

Li Chang, commander of the instructor's artillery brigade, mobilized the cadres in this way: "Comrades, the division commander wants to fight the Taiyuan campaign and take Taiyuan back from the hands of devils, and this determination is the biggest combat task of our brigade at present!" Devils are not scary, what I am afraid of is that devils are cunning enough! However, no matter how cunning the devil is, as long as the division commander says to let him die on the third watch, we can't let him live to the fourth watch! The whole brigade listened to my order and fired a test shot at the south gate of Taiyuan City! ”

(To be continued)