"Division commander, what do you mean is that the Eighth Route Army must have deployed a large number of ambushes in the Baita Mountain area, ready to block our army's attack..."

"Sano-kun, for the sake of safety, the main force of the division will immediately stop the march. The 59th Infantry Wing was ordered to immediately enter the Baitashan area to reconnoiter the enemy's situation. At the same time, a certain number of troops were sent to occupy all the commanding heights along the highway. I think that as long as we can occupy these commanding heights, even if the Eighth Route Army wants to attack us. We are condescending, and our comrades-in-arms have the advantage of geographical advantages, and we can also pass through the Baitashan area in the shortest possible time and get rid of the blocking of the Eighth Route Army..."The commander of the division, Lieutenant General Kenji Dohihara, nodded, and ordered with a serious face to the chief of staff in front of him.

With the order of the division commander, Lieutenant General Kenji Dohihara, a wing of more than 4,000 little devils, under the leadership of wing commander Saka Daisa, quickly broke away from the main force of the division and advanced rapidly to the Baita Mountain area a few kilometers away. However, what made the Yue army feel lucky was that the vanguard of a wing rushed into the Baita Mountain area in a daze. In the huge Baita Mountain Area, unexpectedly, there was not a single gunshot... Because, before the arrival of the army, the entire Eighth Route Army retreated a distance of several hundred meters under Wang Nanhu's order, and all of them were hidden in the mountains. The reconnaissance unit of a wing of the army entering the mountains did not find any clues... More than 4,000 little devils, in just one hour, will go deep into the mountains, the length of more than ten miles of road all the reconnaissance clear. At the same time, all the heights along the highway were also garrisoned by defenders of different sizes from squadrons to brigades, ready to escort the advance of the main divisions.

"Your Excellency, the commander of the reporting division, the commander of the Nagasaka Wing, sent a telegram that the entire section of the road has been fully investigated, and no enemy situation has been found. At the same time, all the commanding heights along the way have been completely controlled by our army. The main force can pass..."While the division commander Kenji Dohihara was anxiously waiting in the middle, the chief of staff, Sano Osa, said with a telegram he had just received.

"Yo Xi, it seems that I am too worried, the Eighth Route Army did not ambush any troops here, are we really too high in the Eighth Route Army's reading division, or the Eighth Route Army's reading division has learned that our army is attacking in a big way, and has abandoned Taiyuan City in advance..."The division commander, Lieutenant General Tsuchihara Kenji, frowned and said with all his thoughts.

"Your Excellency, Division Commander... I think we're overthinking. This time, we have assembled the strength of the two main divisions. According to the strength of the readers, unless they gather all their strength, they will not have the strength to compete with our army at all. Therefore, I think that the Eighth Route Army has abandoned Taiyuan City in order to preserve its strength...."The chief of staff pondered.

"Order the troops to march at once, and speed up the march. Be sure to pass through the Baita Mountains before dark..."Lieutenant General Kenji Dohihara nodded thoughtfully, and then, with a serious face, ordered... Finally, while everyone was waiting, the main force of the division moved again, and the front of the army pointed directly at the Baita Mountain area. Because of the advance reconnaissance of the 59th Infantry Wing, the main force of the Yue Army marched very quickly, and there was hardly any vigilance. In this way, under the command of the division commander, Lieutenant General Kenji Dohihara, who lightly attacked the enemy, they rushed into the 20,000-odd soldiers of the Third Division in a stunned manner, and arranged a huge encirclement for him..."Commander, political commissar, and more than 10,000 people of the main force of the army have all entered the ambush circle, will the troops immediately launch an attack?" Because of the arrival of the army, the atmosphere in the entire command headquarters is also very tense. And at this moment, the voice of the chief of staff broke the silence of the command. As soon as the chief of staff finished speaking, everyone's eyes in the entire command headquarters were focused on Wang Nanhu, waiting for the commander to give the combat order.

"Start... Bang bang bang..."Looking at everyone's gaze, Wang Nanhu's fist slammed into the sand table in front of him, and he ordered loudly. Just when Wang Nanhu's words fell, three sharp gunshots reached everyone's ears. Three signal flares, with a sharp whistling sound, flew into the sky..."Boom, boom..."As the signal flares were lifted into the air, the first to speak was the heavy artillery regiment deployed a few kilometers away from the road. Two heavy artillery regiments and 54 heavy artillery pieces of various kinds, as if they had eyes, smashed huge shells one after another on the commanding heights that the army had just occupied and had not even had time to arrange the fortifications... Suddenly, several commanding heights occupied by the Japanese army were covered by the dense artillery fire of the heavy artillery regiment. In less than ten minutes of artillery fire, several commanding heights were reduced to ruins, and they were completely plunged into a sea of fire. The little devils who have just occupied these commanding heights have no doubt, and in this dense artillery fire, all of them have suffered heavy casualties.

However, just as they were recovering from the artillery fire, a loud trumpet of the charge sounded. As the artillery fire began to extend to the road, the troops of the Eighth Route Army, which had already been ambushed on the mountainside, immediately rushed out of the woods where they were hiding and launched an attack on the Yue army on the top of the mountain..."Baga, it is the Eighth Route Army. Quickly, immediately organize a defense, and be sure to block the attack of the Eighth Route Army..."Looking at the dense mountainside, the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army rushed to the top of the mountain quickly. Those little devil officers who were lucky enough to survive, their whole faces immediately turned pale. He quickly drew his command knife and prepared to command his troops to block it... However, not many people responded to his order. In the dense artillery fire just now, the little devils who were defending at various commanding heights had been completely disrupted. More importantly, the troops suffered heavy losses, and less than a third of what they were able to fight was left before the war..."Hurry up, shoot right away ... We must block the attack of the Eighth Route Army, and our reinforcements will arrive soon..."One by one, the commanders of the army howled and ordered the soldiers around them to join the battle. However, although their shouts were very loud, the sparse firepower was only able to cause some negligible casualties to the soldiers, and it was not able to stop the pace of the soldiers' attack... A dense burst of grenades was thrown onto the top of the mountain by the soldiers, and the little devil who had been howling just now was immediately blown to pieces, and the entire defense line of the army also collapsed. One by one, the commanding heights occupied by the army were reoccupied by the soldiers under the desperate attack of the soldiers.

Less than 20 minutes after the battle began, in the sand table in the headquarters and on all the commanding heights occupied by the army, all the small red flags representing the Eighth Route Army were planted. The direction of the whole battle, from the very beginning, slowly developed for the better.

"Good, well played. Now all the commanding heights have been completely occupied by us, and the army is all under our firepower. Chief of Staff, the casualties of the troops occupying the commanding heights are not large, and if nothing else, the army will certainly launch a fierce counterattack on these commanding heights at the first opportunity. Tell the commanders of the various units that before the end of the battle, we must ensure that all the commanding heights are in our hands. Looking at the good form in front of him, Commander Wang Nanhu ordered loudly while being excited.

"Commander, the casualties of each unit are less than one-third of the total strength, plus we have an absolute superiority in artillery fire, holding the position, there is absolutely no problem." The chief of staff replied in the affirmative... And at this moment, the commander of the division, Lieutenant General Kenji Dohihara, heard the dense sound of artillery from several commanding heights. He was still calm just now, but immediately became a miserable white... Because he knew that he had been fooled, and his division had been completely surrounded by the Eighth Route Army. The purpose of the Eighth Route Army was not to block and defeat itself, but to annihilate its own troops.

"The commander of the division, all the commanding heights along the highway were shelled at the same time by heavy enemy fire. The various units suffered heavy casualties, and they sent telegrams asking for help one after another, asking for artillery support..."At this moment, when he heard the dense artillery fire around him, the chief of staff of the division, Sano Osa, also panicked.

"Baga, the purpose of the Eighth Route Army is to annihilate us, and these commanding heights must not be lost. Order the troops around each commanding height, and immediately reinforce all the commanding heights. All the remaining troops, with the artillery wing as the center, immediately assembled and built fortifications... In addition, report the ambush of our troops to His Excellency the Commander, and ask His Excellency the Commander to send planes to support our troops and destroy the artillery positions of the Eighth Route Army" Although the division commander was shocked by the audacity of the Eighth Route Army. However, Lieutenant General Kenji Dohihara, who has been on the battlefield for a long time, still reacted from the shock at the first time. He gave various orders to the staff officers in front of him in an orderly manner.

However, although the division commander's order was very timely, the response speed of the reinforcements was also very fast. However, no matter how fast they were, the offensive speed of the Eighth Route Army, which had already been ambushed halfway up the mountain... Just when the reinforcements of the Yue Army had just rushed to the halfway point of the mountain, the commanding heights had been completely occupied by the Eighth Route Army... In the face of the counterattack of the reinforcements of the army, the soldiers did not hesitate and repelled them all with their most intensive firepower... At the same time that the army had lost all its commanding heights, a reply from His Excellency the Commander arrived. Because the weather has turned dark, the planes cannot take off for support operations, and the 14th Division is required to stand on the spot and wait for reinforcements, and after dawn tomorrow, the headquarters will send a combat aircraft of an aviation group to carry out cooperative operations..."Sano-kun, how is the situation outside now?" After reading the call back from the headquarters, the division commander asked with a frown.

"Division commander, the situation is very bad. Under the heavy artillery fire of the Eighth Route Army, we lost all the commanding heights, and at least 2,000 Imperial soldiers were all shattered in less than half an hour. At the same time, due to the terrain and the continuous shelling of the Eighth Route Army, the speed of troop build-up was also very slow. In addition, on the flanks of our army, a large number of units of the Eighth Route Army have been found. If nothing else, our army has now been completely surrounded by the Eighth Route Army..."Facing the division commander who was frowning, Chief of Staff Sano Osa could only tell the truth.

"Yaga... As for our artillery, order all the artillerymen to immediately build artillery positions and return fire. In addition, if we want to succeed in holding out until tomorrow, we must gather enough troops. So, Sano-kun, please, gather more troops at all costs..."The division commander almost roared and ordered..."Hi, Your Excellency the division commander. However, the artillery used by the Eighth Route Army was all heavy artillery. And our artillery, which was almost completely destroyed by the Eighth Route Army a few days ago, is simply not capable of any counterattack..."Sano Osa quickly explained.

The commander of the "Nani" division asked rhetorically in disbelief. However, in less than half a minute, the division commander lowered his head and began to quietly think about countermeasures: "Sano-kun, no matter what, I still say what I just said, no matter what method is used and how much price is paid, we must gather enough troops." Now this task is entrusted to you, and I hope that you will not disappoint the expectations of all of us for the sake of the future of our 14th Division..."

"Hey, please rest assured that I will complete the task and gather all the troops around the division headquarters to hold on..."Looking at the sincere gaze of the division commander in front of him, Chief of Staff Sano Osa replied affirmatively, turned around and rushed out of the headquarters, with a group of guards, and ran towards the battlefield full of artillery fire... With the order of the division commander, the chief of staff, Sano Osa, no longer had any scruples. After personally killing several officers who were ineffective in commanding operations, the morale of the troops was immediately raised to the peak. One by one, under the command of commanders at all levels, they quickly ran towards the location of the division and regimental headquarters in the face of shells that might fall on their heads at any time.

However, every move of the army in the encirclement, illuminated by the fire generated by the explosion of the shells, did not escape the eyes of the soldiers on the commanding heights... A piece of information about the movements of the Yue army in the encirclement was sent to Wang Nanhu, the general headquarters.

"Political commissar, the purpose of the little devil is very clear, that is, before we launch a general attack, we will hold as much as possible, hold on to and wait for help, and strive to hold on until dawn tomorrow..."

"Lao Wang, what do you mean is that we have to prevent the little devils from hugging together as much as possible, divide and surround them, and then eliminate them separately..."Looking at the commander Wang Nanhu in front of him, political commissar Chen Revolution replied thoughtfully. Because, in his eyes, there are more than 10,000 little devils after all, and the best way for his troops at present is to divide and surround the army and eat it little by little.

"No, that's too slow. If the battle drags on until tomorrow, the planes of the Japanese army will definitely come to reinforce it. When the time comes, even if we have two anti-aircraft regiments of anti-aircraft fire, the casualties paid by the fighters will increase a lot. Order the various troops to appropriately slow down the pace of the attack, so that the little devils can gather together in the shortest possible time. When the time comes, we will serve him a pot at one time..."Commander Wang Nanhu made a final decision and ordered affirmatively..."But, Lao Wang. Do we have such a big appetite. There are more than 10,000 little devils, can we afford to eat all these more than 10,000 little devils in one night? Looking at Wang Nanhu with a confident face in front of him, political commissar Chen Revolution reminded with a suspicious look while being surprised.

"Commissar, I'm not going to deal with these little devils overnight. Think about it, if we don't concentrate on these little devils. At that time, in this mountain within a radius of dozens of miles, there will be traces of little devils everywhere. It is also a big trouble for the soldiers to clean up. More importantly, the dispersion of enemy forces will also cause many unexpected casualties to the troops. I don't want more than 20,000 soldiers to fight a guerrilla war in the mountains and forests with little devils in the mountains..."Looking at Chen Revolution, the political commissar in front of him with a puzzled face, Wang Nanhu hurriedly said another reason in his heart..."So that's the case, Lao Wang, if it weren't for your reminder, I wouldn't have remembered that we are now in the middle of a mountain... Okay, I completely agree with what you mean, let the little devil hug each other, and when the time comes, we will serve him a pot..."Political Commissar Chen Revolution suddenly came to his senses and said suddenly.

"Also, commissar. Although the little devils are huddled together, there are more than 10,000 people, and it is a very difficult bone to gnaw. However, don't forget, now we have two heavy artillery regiments to support. At the same time, there is also a secret weapon of an armored battalion in hand. These more than 10,000 little devils are not a particularly difficult bone for us to gnaw. As long as our various units cooperate properly, it will not take long to eliminate these Japanese troops. Looking at the sand table in front of him, Wang Nanhu looked confident.

"Lao Wang, I completely agree with your opinion, you can assign tasks to the following troops... As for me, I'm here, waiting for your good news..."Listening to Wang Nanhu's words, Chen Revolution, as a partner, kept nodding his head and agreed.

In the face of the general command, the order to slow down the attack, although the various units were very incomprehensible. But still unconditional execution. There is no more disturbance from the soldiers at the commanding heights along the way, and there are no raining shells. The little devil who has completely fallen into the encirclement will be in the shortest possible time right away. After recovering from the chaos just now, they began to quickly assemble at the location of the division headquarters under the leadership of their respective commanders.

(To be continued)