Chapter 674 Wind and Rain

On the day of 9 May, only more than two hours after the battle began, the first defensive position in Wuxiang was broken through, more than 20,000 Jin soldiers were killed, and more than 30,000 Jin soldiers in the second line of defense were shaken by the commander after fleeing in panic.

In the city of Wuxiang, it was crowded with more than 50,000 Jin soldiers, people were panicked, all kinds of rumors were flying all over the sky, and the Jin soldiers who fled into the city could not even find their own commanders.

In the city of Wuxiang, the rebels collided like flies, and the common people also learned of the murderous news from the front line, and the rich people hurriedly packed up the gold and silver, took the female dependents, caught up with the car, and fled for their lives in the direction of Taiyuan.

Outside the city of Wuxiang, a burst of gunfire, getting closer and closer, an astonishing news, finally crushed the last bit of resistance of the Jin army's troops, Wuxiang former enemy commander-in-chief and Wuxiang city defense commander Liang Pei fled away from the city, followed by him to escape, as well as more than a dozen senior generals of the Jin army on the Wuxiang front, more than 50,000 soldiers of the Jin army with complete weapons, the dragons were leaderless, and there were strong city fortifications in Wuxiang, and they could not organize effective resistance.

When the official ran away, the remaining soldiers had no intention of fighting again, the streets were full of soldiers who took off their military uniforms, forced the people to take out their clothes, guns and ammunition were thrown all over the streets, and the soldiers were busy running away.

At the north gate, the sun flag flashed, rushing in a group of Japanese soldiers, Okamura Ningji's vanguard troops, without the slightest resistance, rushed directly into the city of Wuxiang, although every Japanese soldier ran sweaty, panting, in their expressions, it was extremely excited, as if there had been no such a sense of rampage for a long time.

The panicked crowd on the street caused the Japanese soldiers to scream like wolves, and immediately became the slaughterhouse of these ferocious beasts, bullets, mercilessly fired at the unarmed people, more Japanese soldiers rushed into Wuxiang City, massacres were staged everywhere, in Wuxiang City, fires were everywhere, gunshots were continuous, blood flowed like rivers, the corpses of innocent people, all over the streets and alleys, the wild laughter of Japanese soldiers, spread to every corner.

Wuxiang, this ancient city, fell into an unprecedented catastrophe, killing red-eyed Japanese soldiers, venting their bestial and bloody desires, Okamura Ningji stepped on the blood everywhere, crossed the corpses of innocent Chinese people, and entered Wuxiang with the attitude of a victor, surrounded by a large number of followers, Wuxiang was lost, and the south gate of Taiyuan was opened, from which to the north, it was the Jinzhong Plain of Pingchuan, and Taiyuan was at your fingertips.

The victory came so quickly, so that Okamura Ningci was somewhat uncomfortable, launched an attack in the early morning, less than five hours, Wuxiang, which was defended by more than 80,000 Jin troops, collapsed like paper paste, and stepped on the feet of the Japanese Imperial Army, according to Okamura Ningji's prediction, although there was no suspense in the final victory, but after all, there were more than 80,000 Jin troops defending, and Wuxiang City was bound to be a bloody battle.

He was going to use two days, about 10,000 casualties, to take Wuxiang and open the south gate to Taiyuan, and the result was surprisingly smooth, except for the beginning, when he encountered some weak resistance, the rest was that the warriors of the Great Japanese Empire pursued the fleeing Jin soldiers all the way, and entered Wuxiang City without the slightest obstruction, with less than 2,000 casualties, he broke through the three lines of defense defended by the 80,000 Jin army in a row, and easily opened the south gate of Taiyuan, Okamura Ningji in addition to surprise and disbelief, There should still be a burst of confidence.

He solemnly saluted the sun flag that had been raised at the head of Wuxiang City, and then gave an order: "All troops immediately pursue the soldiers of China who fled north to Taiyuan, and they must pass through Wuxiang City like wolves with blood stains on their hands stained in Wuxiang by this evening, and chase them along the route of the Jin army's rout and escape."

Liang Peijiao, the commander of the front line of Wuxiang of the Jin army, fled in panic to such a point, and was bent on saving his life, he was so frightened that he forgot to report the battle situation in Wuxiang to Yan Xishan, the chief of Yan Xishan in Taiyuan, Yan Xishan was in the official residence, looking at the telegram sent by Zhao Chengshou with a smug face.

"Commander Yan Xun Jian, our department has been in Zhangjiakou after a fierce battle, the Japanese army in Zhangjiakou, compressed in the southwest corner, according to the current battle situation, before this evening, can all recover Zhangjiakou, gather and annihilate the remnants of the Japanese army, so far, our department has suffered more than 40,000 casualties, killed, wounded and captured more than 30,000 Japanese soldiers, at that time, please come to Zhangjiakou to celebrate our Jin army's reconquest of lost territory, in order to strengthen the prestige of our army, the Jin army's Zhangjiakou former enemy commander-in-chief Zhao Chengshou telegraphed."

Yan Xishan has seen the victory, although the casualties of more than 40,000 troops make him feel distressed, compared with Zhangjiakou, this price is still worth it, Zhao Chengshou is still quite capable of fighting in his later life, but he doesn't know politics, don't kill the Japanese, let them live, as long as the Japanese give up Zhangjiakou, the remaining 30,000 people, let them go back to Beiping or Tianjin.

Don't do everything, leave three points on the lips, this is my old man's philosophy of doing things, dealing with the Japanese, Lao Jiang, Tang Qiuli, all of them are like this, more than 30,000 Japanese soldiers, the Japanese can not talk about their own benefits, he called the secretary, dictated a telegram, and gave Zhao Chengshou a secret opportunity, not to say it thoroughly, this stunned young man may have wiped out all the Japanese, and he can't make a knot of death with the Japanese, maybe one day he will sit on a bench, besides, he will hide from Tang Qiuli's eyes.

Unexpectedly took Zhangjiakou, betrayed the Japanese a big favor, and made Tang Qiuli unable to say anything, this matter was done, not leaking, exquisite, Chief Yan picked up the tea on the table, the refreshing fragrance in his nose, the door of the study was slammed open, and an adjutant broke in with a panicked face, and the loud bang made Yan Xishan's hand tremble, and the teacup almost fell to the ground.

Chief Yan was furious, blinded, and had no rules, "Chief Yan, the big thing is not good, the Japanese have broken through the Wuxiang defense line, and the forward troops have reached Taigu, southeast of Jinzhong, and they have also found that a large number of Japanese troops are approaching Taiyuan" "What? The teacup in Yan Xishan's hand fell to the ground suddenly, and the hot tea soaked through the tight-fitting shoes of the dress, and he stood up suddenly, knocking over the desk in front of him.

"You doll talking nonsense, the Japanese are still far away in the Taihang Mountains, fighting to the death with Tang Qiuli's soldiers, how did they get to Taigu and Jinzhong?" Yan Xishan didn't believe it at all, the adjutant trembled and handed over two telegrams, one was sent by Liang Peiyi, this guy didn't know when he was sober, if he didn't report it to the old man, he would lose his head, and hurriedly sent Yan Xishan a telegram no less than a magnitude eight earthquake.

In the telegram, of course, Liang Peiji would not say that he had not seen the shadow of the Japanese, and just hearing the sound of gunfire, he was so frightened that he left tens of thousands of troops and fled, "Commander Yan, at about 5 o'clock this morning, the Japanese army, under the command of its commander of the North China Dispatch Army, Okamura Ningji, launched a fierce attack on the defense line of our Wuxiang with about 400,000 troopsIn desperation, he had no choice but to lead the remnants and retreat to the direction of Taiyuan, in order to block the Japanese attack, and asked Chief Yan to indicate the direction of the next move. ”

Liang Peifu was thick-skinned enough, exaggerating more than double the strength of the Japanese army, more than doubling his own casualties, and dressed himself as leading his troops to fight bravely against the Japanese army, and in the end, outnumbered, helpless to retreat on the battlefield, Yan Xishan saw the Venus in front of him, the handwriting on the telegram was blurred, and only one sentence kept echoing in his ears, "Wuxiang is lost"

He cheered up his spirits, and looked at the telegram sent by Sun Chu, the general of Jinzhong, and it was not good news, in the telegram, Sun Chu reported that in the area of Changning and Beitian in the southeast of Jinzhong, Japanese troops were found, and this morning, Sun Chu's troops had a fierce battle with the Japanese troops, and spontaneously reported that the time was stopped, and the battle was still raging, and Sun Chu was very determined to block the Japanese army in the front line of Jinzhong and ensure that the southeast of Taiyuan was safe.

Yan Xishan finally recovered from the initial blow, "Quickly send a telegram to Zhao Chengshou, give up Zhangjiakou, and immediately return to Taiyuan, quickly" has always flaunted that Mount Tai collapsed in front, and the face did not change Chief Yan, at this time he was already in chaos, he knew that Liang Peifu's words, most of them were not credible, where did the Japanese get so many troops, but one thing is certain, Wuxiang is lost, the south gate of Taiyuan is opened, and the Japanese are killing towards Taiyuan.

If you lose Taiyuan, won't that kill my old man? This bastard Liang Peifu, with 80,000 heavy troops in his hands, backed by Wuxiang, which has strong city fortifications, did not even resist the Japanese for a day, Yan Xishan wanted to cut off Liang Peifu's head immediately, his only hope now is to pin on Zhao Chengshou, as long as he attacks Zhangjiakou's troops and returns to Taiyuan in time, he will have a way to keep Taiyuan.

The defense situation of Taiyuan, Yan Xishan knows his family background too well, only three pro-training brigades of more than 36,000 troops, this is his imperial forest army, well-trained, well-armed and well-equipped, but with this mere strength of less than 40,000 people, it is impossible to keep Taiyuan no matter what, the Japanese are less than 400,000, at least 200,000 will always have them, and there will always be about 300,000 Japanese from the direction of Jinzhong, together, there will always be about 300,000 people.

After all, Yan Xishan is experienced, he at least judged the approximate strength of the Japanese army, as for Sun Chu, who was defending Jinzhong, he did not doubt this person's command ability and loyalty to himself, but in Sun Chu's hands, there were only two divisions of 28,000 troops, blocking the Japanese, that had to speak with strength, there were no soldiers in his hands, and Sun Chu was powerless.

(To be continued)