"Hey!"

The communications staff officer bowed his head: "The sweeping troops reported that they were all subjected to fierce artillery bombardment, and the offensive of the Eighth Route Infantry was also extremely fierce. ”

"At present, there are 5 sweeping forces that have lost contact."

The chief of staff of the division, Ishida Jinzo, threw the slide rule on the map and said, "Your Excellency, the division commander, the situation is not right. ”

Hirata Kenyoshi glanced at Ishida Kanzo coldly: "Do you still need to say this?" ”

Ishida Jinzo stubbornly said: "Your Excellency, Division Commander, judging from the current situation, it seems that the Eighth Route wants to concentrate its forces and firepower to break through from our direction, and then flee the troops and civilians of the entire bandit area from the area of Xiangyuan and Licheng to the south. ”

Hirata Kenji's eyes narrowed slightly: "You mean, the people of the Eighth Road and its bandit area are ready to flee to Jinnan?" ”

One difference between the Eighth Route Army and the National Army is that when the Eighth Route Army is surrounded and breaks through, it has to bring the common people with it.

And when the national army was surrounded by devils and broke through, it either chose to surrender, or left the people to run by themselves.

The troops of the national army were also unable to adopt the tactics of dispersing and breaking through the encirclement into pieces, because the cohesion of the national army was low, and many soldiers were only recruited after being captured.

Except for a very small number of elite units of the national army, once the other units are divided into pieces, the team will directly disperse and lose its combat effectiveness, let alone break through.

Ishida Jinzo's expression was solemn, and his tone was hurried: "Your Excellency, the Eighth Route this time is different from all the previous ways of dealing with it, it seems that the Eighth Route has changed its anti-sweeping tactics, we have to immediately order the troops on the outer line to rush to help, and at the same time report the situation to the headquarters." ”

Kenyoshi Hirata held the lieutenant general's command knife and thought for a while.

More than 20 sweeping troops were attacked at the same time, and they were all reporting heavy losses, and how heavy they were, Hirata Kenkichi still did not know.

However, it is certain that the offensive of the Eighth Route Army was fierce, using at least 100 cannons of more than 75 mm.

If the first wave of sweeping troops was not 5,000 Japanese troops and 5,000 Imperial Allied troops, but more than 10,000 Japanese troops, then they would definitely be able to block the offensive of the Eighth Route.

But now there are only 5,000 Japanese troops, and the strength and firepower of the Eighth Route are superior, and the sweeping troops will definitely not be able to withstand it.

Should the sweeping forces retreat immediately, or should they hold on and wait for reinforcements?

If you retreat, it will be tantamount to giving up the gap, and the Eighth Route will definitely take the opportunity to let a large number of people go south.

"Report, 226th Wing Inokakura Tetsuro Urgent!"

At this moment, the communications staff officer hurriedly walked in with a telegram in his hand, and reported after a pause.

"Read!"

"Hey!" The communications staff officer bowed his head, then picked up the telegram and read: "When the captain of the 5th Brigade of the 226th Wing, Hamachi Kiyo Taishaozuo, was sweeping in the area of Shangzhuang Village and Guanyan Village, he encountered the main force of the Eighth Road, and Hamaji Shaozuo was shelled and shattered, and His Majesty the Emperor was on board, and the Great Japanese Imperial Army was on board!" ”

"Yaga!" When Hirata Kenkichi heard this, he scolded angrily.

Hirata Kenyoshi turned around, walked to the map, pointed to the map and said, "Order the sweeping troops to converge in large groups, find the hill on the spot, build fortifications, and wait for reinforcements." ”

"Order the 227th Wing, the 6th Brigade of the 226th Wing, to rush to the aid immediately!"

The area to the north of Xiangyuan and Licheng is mountainous terrain.

The sweeping troops almost all swept along the main roads and small roads, looking for the hills on the spot, which was completely able to cut off the southward passage of the Eighth Route army and civilians.

"Hey!" The communications staff officer turned and left.

Subsequently, Hirata Kenyoshi said to Chief of Staff Ishida Kinzo: "Ishida-kun, immediately prepare a telegram to report the situation of our department and your and my speculations to Commander Shinozuka. ”

"Hayi!" Ishida Jinzo Dazuo suddenly got up and lowered his head, and turned his feet upright.

……

"Nani?"

"The sweeping troops of the 37th Division were attacked by the Eighth Route and suffered heavy losses?"

Taiyuan, the headquarters of the First Army of the Japanese Army, the communications staff officer finished reading the telegram sent by the 37th Division.

Yoshio Shinozuka and Hideyoshi Kusuyama were stunned for a moment, and their faces invariably turned into shock.

The Eighth Route is actually not breaking through, but attacking the 37th Division?

Yoshio Shinozuka and Hideyoshi Kusunayama walked quickly to the map and looked at the area north of Xiangyuan and Licheng.

"Nanshan-kun, where is the current position of the 37th Division's sweeping troops?" Yoshio Shinozuka asked in a deep voice.

"At the pace of advance of the 37th Division Sweeping Troops."

Kusuyama Hideyoshi holds a pencil and a scale bar and draws a straight line on the map.

This straight line is almost parallel to the line connecting the two points of Xiangyuan County and Licheng County on the map.

Kusuyama Hideyoshi pointed to the map and said, "Your Excellency, please see, although the various sweeping units are one or two kilometers away from each other, they are basically advancing in unison, so the sweeping troops of the 37th Division should be near this line at this time. ”

Yoshio Shinozuka saw that it was only 20 kilometers away from the county seat, and the reinforcement troops of the 37th Division could arrive in a state of rapid march in a maximum of 3 hours.

At the moment, Yoshio Shinozuka breathed a sigh of relief, and the situation in the 37th Division had not deteriorated too much.

However, Yoshio Shinozuka, who has a keen sense of smell, still smells a hint of something unusual.

Something is wrong, something is so wrong.

The Eighth Road, which has always liked to break through in pieces, actually took the initiative to attack the imperial army head-on?

Who gave the Eighth Route Army courage?

You must know that it was not only the 37th Division that participated in the sweep this time, but also the 2nd Guards Division and the elite of the other 6 infantry wings.

The strength of 4 Japanese divisions and 3 puppet army divisions, what do you take on the Eighth Road?

Even if the Eighth Route withstood this time and both sides suffered heavy losses, the Japanese army could continue to transfer troops and replenish war supplies.

And you are poor and white, what will you do with the next sweep?

Kusuyama Hideyoshi was silent for a while, and then said, "Your Excellency, commander, this maybe... It is an opportunity for the Imperial Army to gather and annihilate the main force of the Eighth Road! ”

"Oh?" Yoshio Shinozuka's eyes narrowed slightly, and he asked, "How can you see that?" ”

Nanshan Hideyoshi shook his hand at the map: "Your Excellency Commander, please see, the 14th Brigade and the 18th Brigade are in the northwest and northeast directions of the 37th Division at this time, and you only need to order the 14th Brigade and the 18th Brigade to give up the sweep and flank and encircle the area where the 37th Division is responsible for the sweep, and you can gather and annihilate the main force of the Eighth Road." ”

Yoshio Shinozuka asked, "What do you mean by letting the troops of the 14th Brigade and the 18th Brigade on the outer line also rush to the aid of the 37th Division and give up their positions, what if the people of the Eighth Road and Shina escape from the east and west directions?" ”

Nanshan Hideyoshi said frankly: "It depends on how His Excellency the commander makes a choice, whether he wants to gather and annihilate the Eighth Route attacking the 37th Division, or he wants to kill the Eighth Route and the common people who are scattered and fled." ”

"If this attack on the 37th Division is left unchecked, the 37th Division is likely to be defeated."

"A large number of troops from the Eighth Route and the common people of China will flee south through this gap."

Yoshio Shinozuka said disapprehantly: "The 37th Division's reinforcements on the outer line have been dispatched, and they can arrive in three hours at most, Nanshan-kun, do you think the Eighth Route can defeat the 37th Division?" ”

Kusuyama Hideyoshi's tone was affirmative: "The 37th Division will definitely be defeated, and the telegram sent by Lieutenant General Hirata said that the Eighth Route used at least 100 75 mountain guns, and even a lot of 105 howitzers, while the 37th Division only had 32 mountain artillery. ”

"In the previous battles with the Eighth Road, the Eighth Road has never fought head-on with the Imperial Army."

"And this time, the Eighth Route is unusual, and is attacking the 37th Division, which shows that the Eighth Route feels that they have a great confidence in winning the 37th Division."

"It is only a matter of time before the 37th Division is routed."

After listening to Nanshan Hideyoshi's analysis, Shinozuka Yoshio's face changed: "Nanshan-kun, immediately order the 14th Brigade and the 18th Brigade to rush to the aid of the 37th Division. ”

"Hey!" Kusuyama Hideyoshi paused and prepared to turn around and walk out.

"Wait!" Yoshio Shinozuka called out to Kusunayama Hideyoshi and said, "Order the 18th Brigade to divide one wing and the Imperial Allied Army to attack in the direction of the first line of heaven and destroy the Eighth Route Arsenal. ”

"Hey!" Hideyoshi Kusuyama paused again, turned around and walked towards the communication room.

Orders are relatively simple and can be dictated directly to the dispatcher.

The strength of 5 Japanese wings and 1 puppet army division was enough to rush to the 37th Division.

In Kusuyama Hideyoshi's view, although the 37th Division could not defeat the Eighth Road, it should not be a big problem to hold on for two days.

The 14th Brigade and the 18th Brigade were only more than 40 kilometers away from the 37th Division, and in two days, they could climb even if they climbed.

The corners of Yoshio Shinozuka's mouth also showed a sneer: The imperial army has a big chance of winning.

……

"Lao Li, the results and casualties of the attacking forces have been counted."

Xiying Town.

At the headquarters of the Taihang Column, Zhao Gang took a notebook and reported to Li Yunlong:

"In the first wave of attacks, we invested a total of 36 battalions, fired a total of more than 2,400 shells, destroyed more than 5,000 enemies, and killed more than 600 of our casualties."

This is the advantage of the fact that the units above the company level are equipped with walkie-talkies, which can not only report the battle situation in a timely manner, but also report the number of enemies destroyed and their own casualties in a timely manner.

The puppet army is used as cannon fodder, so of the more than 5,000 people who annihilated the enemy, at least 3,000 people are puppet soldiers, and the captured puppet army is also counted.

Closing the notebook, Zhao Gang smiled slightly: "This battle is even smoother than expected, only the first wave of attacks, half of the enemy's sweeping troops were killed." ”

Even if the 3,000 puppet army is removed, 2,000 devils are annihilated, and their own side only suffers 600 casualties, and the casualty ratio of the Eighth Route Army to the devils is almost 1 to 3.3.

Moreover, except for a few troops with ambush conditions, basically the attacking troops defeated the devils head-on.

"More than 100 mountain guns and more than 30 howitzers, with a great advantage in strength and firepower, and sufficient ammunition."

Li Yunlong waved his hand and said, "If you can't beat the devil like this, just go home and pick up the child." ”

Huang Erhu answered the call, and then turned around and reported to Li Yunlong and Zhao Gang: "Report, Ding Wei's attack group report, the remnants of the Japanese puppet army on the left flank retreated to the corner of Mahu Mountain and resisted stubbornly, with more than 1,000 troops, Ding Wei, the head of the regiment, asked whether to launch a general attack?" ”

"Launch a general attack now!" Li Yunlong's tone did not hesitate: "At this time, we have to completely defeat the devil puppet army in one go, and not leave the enemy the slightest respite!" ”

"Yes!" Huang Erhu turned around and gave Ding Wei an order.

It didn't take long for Kong Jie and Cheng Shifa to report the same thing, and the devil puppet army held a group to occupy the top of the mountain and resisted stubbornly.

Li Yunlong's order is also domineering and resolute: attack, kill all the devils and puppet army raised by the son of a bitch!

82 Chinese Net