23rd, evening.

The soldiers who participated in the attack on the Japanese stronghold in the northwest of Shanxi Province arrived at their scheduled combat sites on time despite the severe cold along the way, waiting for the final order to be issued.

This time, the main combat force of the three regiments of the detachment had the clearest target of the three major strongholds in the northwest area of Shanxi, and the Japanese army was located in the middle line of the quasi-security area to the Eighth Route Army's base area, namely the Yangguan stronghold, the Pingbei stronghold, and the Hanoi stronghold.

The Japanese army used these three large strongholds as the final skeleton, or the beams of the house, and cooperated with some advance strongholds and small and medium-sized strongholds to build a large network of strongholds blocking the entire base area of the Eighth Route Army in the northwest of Shanxi.

Therefore, it can be said that these three large strongholds were the most important Japanese strongholds in the northwest of Shanxi Province and the throat of the three regimental defense areas of the Iron Triangle in the northwest of Shanxi Province.

"Once these three big strongholds are completely uprooted, then our regiments can really be said to be a sea wide and a fish leaping, and the sky is high and the birds will fly!

Since then, the little devil has honestly stayed in the main occupied county towns and towns, the vast suburbs and mountainous areas, and the vast countryside, all of which belong to our Eighth Route Army!"

At the headquarters of a detachment, when talking about the great changes that can be brought to the entire Eighth Route Army in the northwest of Shanxi Province after the uprooting of these three strongholds, Chief of Staff Xu Guoan said.

"Hit! Lao Kong, with the main force of three regiments of a detachment, went straight to the large strongholds of Yangguan, Binh Bei and Hanoi.

Once the battle starts, the devils will never watch these three large strongholds lost, and the Japanese army will quickly send additional reinforcements to the three strongholds.

The most likely choice is this Beitong Road, Xiaogou Linzi, and Sanhewan Road.

Beitong Road is the closest to our new regiment's defense area, there is no second word, staring me to death, the little devil who came from this road, just beat me to death, and half a devil can't let him appear in the Yangguan stronghold.

As for Xiaogou Linzi, there is a 771 regiment staring, and Sanhewan Road is staring at the 5th regiment, so we don't have to worry about it, Lao Xu and Lao Feng will never let the little devils go over!"

The headquarters of the new Second Regiment, Ding Wei said categorically when analyzing the battle situation.

The new 2nd Regiment was stationed.

Li Yunlong was naturally not idle.

He said that the new second regiment would be turned into a rapid reaction force.

However, with the development of the new second regiment over the years, the strength of the whole regiment is nearly 3,000 people.

That's not to say that all of them can be transformed into mechanized combat units.

His ultimate goal was to prepare to fish in troubled waters, take advantage of the detachment to attack the Japanese army's stronghold, lead the mechanized combat troops, and go straight to the devil's artillery test site and processing plant in Santai Township.

This did not prevent Li Yunlong from sending part of the elite infantry to assist a detachment in attacking the large strongholds of Yangguan, Pingbei and Hanoi before the final attack on the Devil Artillery Experimental Site began.

"Tuanza, what are we going to do this time to fight with a team of the Eighth Route Army?"

The headquarters of the 358th Regiment of the Jin Sui Army.

Chief of Staff Fang Ligong asked.

Chu Yunfei's gaze was always fixed on the battle map around Yangguan, Pingbei and Hanoi.

After a moment of thought, Chu Yunfei directly marked two points on the map.

"In this attack, the devils are in the last Yangguan, Pingbei and Hanoi strongholds in the northwest of Jin, and the Eighth Route Army is the main force of the frontal attack, there is no doubt about it.

We can't attack with the Eight Roads."

Speaking of this, Chu Yunfei paused, and then his words vaguely revealed a bit of military domineering: "In the past two years, our 358 regiment has basically not participated in any battles, and it is estimated that the world is about to forget about my 358.

After the start of this joint offensive operation, conventional means were not enough to deter the Japanese army.

Pass my order to let the artillery battalion be on standby at any time, once the Eighth Route Army's attack on Yangguan and Pingbei's strongholds begins.

Immediately let the automobile team carry the artillery, quickly arrive at the two high ground in Yangguan and Pingbei, and build an artillery position on the spot."

"Danza, what do you mean......

"Once the battle around the big stronghold starts, the attention of the Japanese puppet army will be drawn to the frontal attack of the Eighth Route Army.

The most advantageous firepower of our 358th Regiment lies in the artillery battalion, so it is better to pull it to the back of the stronghold in Yangguan and Pingbei, and hit him with a few firepower, so as to boost the military prestige of our 358th Regiment on the one hand, and on the other hand to respond to the attack of a unit of the Eighth Route Army.

It can also completely cut off the retreat route for the Japanese troops to retreat from the back of the stronghold."

Fang Ligong suddenly realized: "In this way, we can not only effectively reinforce the attack of the Eighth Route Army with artillery, but also avoid the casualties of our 358th Regiment itself.

Even if the little devils come to find fault in the future, we can still say that we didn't fight at all.

After all, there are no devils, and I really saw the frontal attack launched by our Jin Sui army's team!

This is really a clever trick for the group!"

Chu Yunfei glanced at Fang Ligong, as a decent soldier, Chu Yunfei was not as complicated as Fang Ligong's thoughts, and he had a lot of flowers.

He didn't think about it that much at all, he just wanted to reinforce the Eighth Route Army with the most powerful means, and at the same time show the prestige of his 358th Regiment.

That's all!

……

……

Night.

Two days later came Chinese New Year's Eve, and three days later came the first day of the Chinese people's most anticipated new year, the Spring Festival.

Although the Nationalist Government has always wanted to change the concept of the old society, regard New Year's Day as the New Year, and even want the people to have a lively and festive time on New Year's Day, just like the Spring Festival in previous years.

It's a pity that people who are used to the old calendar don't seem to buy it.

Therefore, the Spring Festival of the old calendar is still regarded as the most orthodox and festive festival by the people.

The cold wind howling in the night, mixed with the cold current, blew on people's faces, like a sharp blade, cutting the skin.

Even if he wrapped his whole body like a hedgehog, his eyes were just exposed, and even the water droplets hanging on his eyelashes seemed to be condensed into ice particles.

In Yangguan, Pingbei, and Hanoi, most of the Japanese puppet troops hid in relatively warm buildings, rubbing their hands and trembling.

Getting into the quilt early is the best choice at the moment.

The unlucky Japanese puppet army sentries on shift were shivering, and they stood bored in the lookouts and turrets, on guard.

The moonlight tonight is not very good, and it is miserable everywhere.

The puppet army sentries, who have always been accustomed to grinding foreign workers, even drooped their eyelids when they were on alert.

Anyway, in their opinion, it is impossible for the Eighth Route to attack the large stronghold of the Japanese army, which is extremely strong in defense.

However, the devil soldiers were quite loyal to their duties, lifting their searchlights manually from time to time to probe around the stronghold.

Woooo

It was about twelve o'clock in the evening.

The temperature at night drops to the extreme, dripping into ice, making people feel more and more cold, and the cold wind blowing goes straight to the bones.

Outside the Yangguan stronghold.

It was like the sound of someone slapping a few times.

If you listen closely, it looks like a gunshot.

Immediately after that, bullets burst into the air at an alarming speed, snapping a few times, on several lookouts, on the third floor of several turrets.

The searchlight flickering by the devil sentry shattered in response.

The lights went out suddenly.

In the darkness of the night, the last light was gone.

"Enemy attack, enemy attack—"

The sudden scene made the vigilant devil sentries scream in horror, and they pulled the hand-cranked alarm bell.

The cacophony of alarms echoed throughout the colony, throughout the area.

Led by Lei Dasheng, the commander of the 1st Independent Regiment of a detachment, the operation to attack the Yangguan stronghold of the Japanese army officially kicked off.

The snipers in the team took the lead in knocking out the devil's searchlight.

With the help of the cover of night, and the platoon commanders of each squad gave a detailed explanation of the Yangguan stronghold of the Japanese army in the early morning, and the rain prevention in detail

deployment, and even firepower deployment.

Even at night, the soldiers were no strangers to the Yangguan stronghold and its surroundings.

This is naturally due to the amazing detail of the information sent by the brigade commander.

As the first sound of gunfire rang out, it was then transformed into a volley of guns, and the dead silence of the night was completely broken.

The soldiers of the Japanese puppet army, who were still asleep, all woke up suddenly, hurriedly rushed out of the bunk, took their weapons in a panic, and then ran towards the fortifications of the stronghold.

At this time, the Eighth Route Army's approach to attacking the well-defended and heavily guarded strongholds of the Japanese army had already undergone a huge "change".

The sporadic rifle fire is no longer the single melody of the Eighth Route Army attacking the Japanese stronghold a few years ago.

After the offensive began.

Lei Dasheng, the commander of the first regiment, was not polite to the little devil at all, and directly mobilized the artillery unit in the rear, and then bombarded the devil's stronghold twice.

With powerful, larger caliber and powerful artillery. Cover the charge of the infantry.

At the same time, the attacking fighters opened up their formations, and according to the information collected in advance, they accurately avoided the minefields planted by the devils on the periphery of the stronghold.

Choose the direction where the mines are not planted and launch a surprise attack.

As for the defense of the devil's Yangguan stronghold, it is still the same old way.

The entire stronghold was built on higher ground, and the surrounding area was almost empty, and the Japanese army cleared the firing boundary in advance.

Within two or three hundred meters of the front and back, there was hardly any cover.

This is also the reason why Kong Jie chose to attack at night.

Used to evade the superior firepower of the Japanese puppet army defending the stronghold.

On the outermost part of the gathering point, two or three layers of barbed wire pulled up by the devils were even hung with barbs, and under the barbed wire, there were trenches two or three meters wide and one or two meters deep, which were filled with water.

Around the barbed wire, in some areas, the Japanese army also deliberately laid some mines, which was to prevent the surprise attack of the Eighth Route Army troops at night.

As for the trenches filled with stagnant water, they were also used to prevent the infiltration of the Eighth Route Army, and at the same time they dug large trenches that were wide and deep.

It can also restrain the enemy from incurring on a large scale after destroying the barbed wire.

Inside the barbed wire, a few dozen meters away, are artillery towers of reinforced concrete structures carefully built by the Japanese army.

It is accompanied by pillbox fortifications, semi-underground heavy machine gun fortifications, and ring, or trench fortifications.

Coupled with the strength of the Japanese army, especially stationed in the Yangguan stronghold, two fully formed field squadrons, plus a regiment of the Imperial Allied Army were stationed.

The firepower configuration is particularly strong, and it is equipped with a fairly convenient communication equipment that can call for reinforcements from the surrounding forces at any time.

The entire Yangguan stronghold can be said to be impregnable defended by little devils.

If it had been left a few years ago, it would have been impossible for the Chinese armed forces to dare to attack such a stronghold.

Only as the war continues.

The current Independent Regiment of the Eighth Route Army is no longer the Independent Regiment of a few years ago.

The current little devils are not the devils in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War.

Under the cover of the larger-caliber artillery bombardment in the rear, the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army in the vanguard advanced quickly, and then threw a large number of Molotov cocktails into the Japanese stronghold nearby.

This is an offensive equipment specially produced by the arsenal of a detachment.

It is said to be an incendiary bottle, which is as small as an ordinary wine bottle, with a certain concentration of flammable alcohol and a fire core.

The big one is the size of the wine jar used in the old society, and some white sugar and raw gum crumble are added to the alcohol to increase the stickiness.

Once the Molotov cocktail is thrown into the devil's stronghold, the flames burn instantly after an explosion, and the strong adhesion produced by adding alcohol with sugar and raw gum is used.

The flames can even stick to the devil's reinforced concrete turret, burning continuously for a while.

All of a sudden, a hundred guns fired in unison, and the artillery rang out indiscriminately.

The entire Japanese army Yangguan

The stronghold was even more blazing and chaotic.

A large number of Molotov cocktails were thrown, and the flames splashed down on the bodies of the hapless devils and puppet soldiers.

The flames that sparked immediately made the devils and puppet soldiers not have time to feel a moment of warmth in this bitter cold weather, and then they were burned into a whole fire man, scurrying and wailing in the stronghold under severe pain and fear.

"Resist, resist the attack of the Dirt Eight Road!"

A Japanese squadron leader drew his command knife and commanded hoarsely, although in the corner of his eye, there was also an irrepressible fear.

These damn Eighth Route Army, the attack came suddenly and violently, and it was all like a nightmare.

Under the cover of firepower, the fighters quickly reached the barbed wire fence on the outermost line of the devil's stronghold, and directly blew the barbed wire with explosives packs.

Immediately afterwards, the sturdy wooden plank, which was more than two meters wide and more than three meters long, which had been pulled by a car in the morning, was placed directly horizontally on the trench dug by the devil.

A simple wooden bridge that could span a trench was built in no time.

It's time to attack the devils and puppet armies inside the stronghold.

Quickly enter the white-hot battle.

The light of guns and flames on both sides almost dispelled the entire darkness.

The Japanese army resisted desperately, the puppet army trembled, and the casualties of the Japanese puppet army spread rapidly.

The soldiers of the Eighth Route Army became more and more courageous, rushing to kill one by one, and they were not afraid of death.

The top military commander of the Japanese army, who was in charge of garrisoning the Yangquan stronghold, saw that the situation was not good, and while organizing people to resist desperately, he immediately asked for help from the higher headquarters.

The little devils rushed to the turrets and pillboxes like crazy, and with light and heavy machine-gun fire, they strafed the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army who were advancing in the night.

The fighting intensified......

Taiyuan City, the headquarters of the First Army of the Japanese Army in Shanxi.

Yoshio Shinozuka, the commander of the devil, was woken up in his sleep by Chief of Staff Kitagawa.

"General, the situation is really urgent, I have to alarm you!"

Looking at Kitagawa's solemn face, Yoshio Shinozuka knew that there must be something bad coming to the door again, and during this time, these damn dirt roads became more and more rampant, and the bad news was one after another.

He even felt that he had nothing bad news that he couldn't accept.

"Tell me, what the hell is going on?"

"Hey!" Beichuan responded, with bitterness at the corner of his mouth: "General, there are communications from the big strongholds in Yangguan, Pingbei, and Hanoi that a large number of the main combat forces of the Eighth Route Army launched a fierce surprise attack on the three big strongholds almost at the same time at around 12 o'clock in the night!"

According to the report from the front, looking at the momentum of the Eighth Route Army, it seems that it is going to take advantage of the night to break through the big strongholds of Yangguan, Binh Bei and Hanoi in one fell swoop."

"Yaga, don't stop for a day!"

Yoshio Shinozuka scolded angrily, "The Yangguan, Pingbei and Hanoi strongholds built in the northwest of Jin are mainly used to block the combat units of the Eighth Route Army such as the Iron Triangle in the northwest of Jin.

In this way, it should be the team of Kong Jie and Li Yunlong who attacked the stronghold tonight?"

"You can't be wrong, no one has the guts but those bastards." Kitagawa echoed.