The sudden attack on Taiyuan City even caused Taiyuan City to have an empty force, and the North China Front Army undoubtedly appeared to be a little caught off guard. In fact, at present, their forces in Shanxi are diluted because of the occupation zone.

It seems that it is still the same troops as when attacking Taiyuan, but in fact, each important county town is stationed a little bit and diverted a little. In fact, according to statistics, their current strength in the entire Shanxi is actually dispersed.

In addition, as an important transfer station for their logistical supply, the attack on Taiyuan City completely disrupted the rhythm of their attack. If the offensive continues, it will be difficult for the front-line troops to supply logistically.

The biggest headache is that the Zhengtai Railway was sabotaged again. This also means that at the same time, many of their materials cannot be transported, and many materials cannot be transported into Shanxi. In this case, the only way to do this is to shrink the forces and control some important places.

As the commander of the Fifth Division, Seishiro Itagaki was well aware of this. In addition to the North China Front, if he is temporarily the garrison commander of the Shanxi Theater, he also needs to solve the current predicament.

When the order was given to the troops to retreat from the front line one after another, Seishiro Itagaki naturally left early. It's just that he never expected that the Eighth Route Army would launch a fierce counterattack on the day they retreated.

The 127th and 116th Divisions, which had not been able to send elite troops, finally launched a full-scale counteroffensive with the cooperation of artillery units. For the Japanese troops of the 5th Division, who were preparing to retreat, they were undoubtedly caught off guard.

Even when Itagaki left, he gave the order to cover the retreat alternately. But these blocking troops didn't seem to expect that the counterattack of the Eighth Route Army would be so sharp. As a result, many troops did not arrive and evacuated.

When Seishiro Itagaki walked out of Luliang, he received a telegram from the rear troops. He also looked extremely angry. But he soon said: "Send a report to the North China Front Army and ask the Air Force for tactical guidance." Eight-grid tooth road. Our officers were careless! ”

In fact, Itagaki also knew very well that many of his brigade commanders and wing commanders were carried away by the streak of victories in this march into Shanxi. They also didn't pay much attention to the Eighth Route Army, which had the upper hand during the attack.

So much so that when retreating, many artillery pieces were loaded and left in advance. The result is very natural, and it is normal to encounter the fierce pursuit of the Eighth Route Army, and it is also a normal thing to be defeated and retreated. After all, the little devil is also flesh and blood, and he will die if a bullet hits his body.

Get it at dawn. The two main divisions of the Eighth Route Army, which pursued overnight, dispersed the large forces and adopted the method of attacking and harassing with small troops. makes these retreating little devils scared at the first step.

For the planes that appear in the sky during the day, the Eighth Route Army has also always been on guard. When the plane came, many soldiers went into the forest and did not move. As soon as the plane left, it got in and continued to harass the little devils who were retreating quickly.

As a result, it was obvious that the Eighth Route Army, which had been chasing all the way, finally chased the Fifth Division after almost collapsed. Finally stopped the pursuit on the Luliang border. Began to build fortifications and besiege the Japanese puppet army stationed in the cities.

The Jin Sui army, who learned of this situation, originally planned to take the opportunity to launch a counteroffensive. only to find that they have lost the best opportunity to counterattack, even if they have recovered some places abandoned by the little devils. But it still didn't make the little devil lose anything.

But even so, Yan Xishan and the others were still happy. In their opinion, this is also the Reconquista! In Fu Zuoyi's view. When the little devil makes a comeback, Jin Suijun is afraid that he will have to suffer again!

It was a night for the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army. It was also a sleepless night. For the North China Front, it was also a sleepless night. When two trains of great concern to the North China Front arrived in Yangqu. The train still doesn't stop.

The reason is very simple, Yangqu City and the vicinity of the railway station were already in flames when the train arrived. The 120th Division, where the main force was assembled, launched a battle against Yangqu overnight, which caught the Japanese troops stationed here off guard.

Most importantly, several important passes in Yangqu and Taiyuan were occupied by the 120th Division almost overnight. In view of such a situation, the garrison officer of Yangqu believed that Yangqu was no longer suitable for the two trains to stop.

As a result, after the train entered Yangqu, it only replenished some coal and water, and continued to move forward. It will go to Xinzhou Station to stop, and at the same time, the North China Front Army urgently transferred the troops of the 129th to hold the railway station.

Originally, there was a suspicion that the two trains were not the North China Front Army, which had been hijacked, after receiving a telegram from Yangqu. The two trains were still protected by their escort team, and it was the two squadron leaders sent by Taiyuan.

In fact, for an officer like the squadron leader, the Japanese garrison officer stationed in Yangqu also did not know him. After all, there were as many as 200,000 Japanese troops attacking Shanxi this time, and the command of each unit was different.

In addition, now that the troops are scattered, the garrison officer has seen the credentials of the two escort squadron leaders, as well as the machine gunners who are still holding the train. I also think, who dares to be so bold?

hijacked the train, and dared to pretend to be their escort troops, swaggering to stop at their train station. It's a little incredible! Moreover, most of these escort troops are proficient in Japanese.

After replenishing coal and fresh water, the two trains that stopped at Yangqu Station for a short time headed for Xinzhou. When the train left, the officers and men of the reconnaissance brigade, who had been sitting in the carriage for combat preparations, also seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

Even Li Xiangdong said directly: "Commander, if the little devil forcibly got into the car to inspect before, what should we do?" ”

'What can I do?' Then kill them! Rest assured, we have interrogated before, and we are afraid that there are still materials on these two trains that we do not know. It can be seen from the little devil's anxiety that the materials on this train are not simple.

At present, they did not know the consent of the North China Front, and they did not dare to get on the car to inspect it. Remember those little devils we interrogated? This train stopped at various stations and had to be instructed by the North China Front to unload the goods.

This means that the other railway stations, including the garrison officer of Yangqu, only have the right to cooperate to protect the train and provide all the resources for the train. As for the inspection, let him not dare to check. He will be responsible for what he loses! ’

He Zhengdao, who explained with a smile, was somewhat surprised that the train ran to Yangqu and needed to replenish coal and water. But consider the current era, not to mention the slow speed of the train, the supply is also replenished at any time.

Compared with the trains that used electricity or oil in later generations, the coal-burning trains of today are indeed much slower. If the train journey is fast, they will have enough time to drive from Shouyang to Yuanping in one night. It's a pity that the train is so slow these days!

When the train left Yangqu Station, He Zhengdao sent a telegram to Mr. He and the headquarters, informing him that the train had left Yangqu smoothly. Mr. He, who received the telegram, also felt incredulous.

said with a smile: "I don't know why, I feel terrified when I see such a bold plan of the independent column." On the contrary, they dared to stop at Yangqu Station and let the little devils replenish their coal and water.

The most unbelievable thing is that these little devils actually replenished them with coal and water. Didn't they suspect at all that these two trains had been robbed by independent columns? How the hell did he do it! ”

Faced with the confusion in Mr. He's heart, I think it will be necessary to wait until the next time we meet. As the sky gradually brightened, the units of the 120th Division that attacked Yangqu City also cleaned up the battlefield and evacuated one after another.

Leaving a piece of chicken feathers, there is also the Yangqu City garrison that is also relieved. Regarding the situation in Yangqu, Taiyuan, which is currently taking care of itself, also can't send much reinforcements, so it can only stick to Yangqu City.

As for the rest of Yangqu, he can only give up helplessly for the time being. And this also means that except for Yangqu City, the rest of the towns will become the target of the 120th Division. Those Japanese puppet soldiers also mean that they have become outcasts for a short time.

With the 116th Division's Liu Zhi's single division, it converged with the 120th division headquarters left behind in the base area. The requirements of the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army for the counteroffensive have undoubtedly been accomplished. The troops were left to build blocking fortifications, and the rest of the troops continued to pursue.

This time, the Eighth Route Army used two divisions to launch a counteroffensive, which really caught the advancing Japanese army a little off guard. Not to mention the loss of troops, they also lost a lot of materials that they didn't have time to take away, and this became the spoils of war for all units of the Eighth Route Army.

Although the losses of the divisions were not small, compared to the victories obtained, there were also the real combat experience of these units on the battlefield compared with the Japanese army. The officers and men of the 116th Division, who went out for the first time, also felt that they had benefited a lot.

Even the 116th Division, which was cooperated by the artillery regiment directly under the headquarters for the first time, also captured more than a dozen artillery pieces that the Japanese army had no time to pull away when cleaning up the battlefield. For such a seizure, Liu Zhidan seemed very happy.

But it didn't take long for the headquarters to be happy, and the headquarters, which also learned the news, sent a telegram and said directly: "Let the 116th Division hand over the captured mountain artillery to the artillery regiment for use." Those 92 infantry guns, let them equip themselves! ”

Before the 75 mountain artillery was hot, it was received by the artillery regiment of the headquarters, and Liu Zhidan naturally felt a little depressed. But he knew that if there was no cooperation from the artillery regiment directly under the headquarters this time, their counterattack this time would not have been so smooth.

Therefore, he also carried out the instructions of the headquarters very happily. As for the captured 92 infantry guns, Liu Zhidan also transferred artillery to form an artillery battalion directly under the division headquarters, which can also provide artillery support to the troops in the future.

And Itagaki Seishiro, who had already arrived at Qingyuan (Qingxu) in the suburbs of Taiyuan during the day, undoubtedly felt very sad about the loss of troops and generals of the Fifth Division overnight. Looking at the troops arriving one after another, his expression also looked very solemn.

As a first-class division currently stationed in Shanxi, the role of the Fifth Division is self-evident. At present, even the divisions and regiments under his command have experienced such large-scale attrition. The rest of the troops fighting in Shanxi know what will happen if you think about it.

This made Itagaki Seishiro start to think about what they should do next to curb the current development of the Eighth Route Army in Shanxi. After all, the current Jin Sui Army is no longer a threat to them! (To be continued.) )