The command of the First Army of the Japanese Army.

Lieutenant General Yoshio Shinozuka was pacing back and forth in the headquarters with a gloomy face.

His right hand grasped the hilt of Emperor Hirohito's Imperial Treasure Sword, and at this moment, he wanted to practice another wave of sword techniques.

Just ten minutes ago, the 37th Division and the 2nd Guards Division called one after another, saying that they had been attacked by the Eighth Route and that the situation was critical.

Not only could it not reinforce Taiyuan, but it asked for tactical guidance, asked for reinforcements, and asked for aviation reinforcements.

At this time, Yoshio Shinozuka suddenly felt that Hideyoshi Kusunyama and Momoyo Kunomura were very similar to playing him.

The total strength of the main force in the southeast of the Eighth Route is so much, there are more than 30,000 in Taiyuan, and in the Zhengtai Railway, Xiangyuan, and Licheng, the main force of the Eighth Route together does not exceed 30,000.

Could it be that the elite divisions of the Japanese army can't even deal with the Eighth Route Army, which has more than 10,000 people?

Although these two divisions were rebuilt, they were both transferred from the Kwantung Army and the mainland, and the trained soldiers were not so bad in combat effectiveness, right?

Of course, Yoshio Shinozuka also has some doubts, the main force of the Eighth Road in the southeast of Jin will not really have 9 to 100,000 people, right?

However, waging such a large campaign requires a large amount of weapons and ammunition and sufficient logistical supplies.

Where did Balu get so many weapons and ammunition?

While thinking about it, amid the sound of hurried footsteps, Kasai Toshimatsu, a communications staff officer, hurriedly walked in and said with a pause: "Report to the general, the aviation unit has successfully destroyed the outer artillery position in the south of the Eighth Route City!" ”

Yoshio Shinozuka breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this, and asked, "How about the losses of the aviation?" ”

There were only more than 20 mountain and field artillery, and the firepower was still not enough, and the Eighth Route Army pulled more than 200 camouflage nets outside the south of the city alone.

Although these more than 20 mountain artillery guns relied on the advantage of using the city wall as an anti-slope position, the artillery position of the Eighth Route Army was suppressed.

But it was only suppressed, and when these more than 20 mountain artillery guns solved the Eighth Route Artillery position outside the south of the city, the Eighth Route in the other three directions was estimated to have already entered the city.

Therefore, Yoshio Shinozuka decisively sent a group of aircraft to deal with the artillery positions of the Eighth Road when the Eighth Route had strong anti-aircraft firepower.

Taiyuan is where the headquarters of the First Army is located, and once Taiyuan is lost, the consequences will be unimaginable.

In order to keep Taiyuan, Yoshio Shinozuka fought.

Kasai Toshimatsu said with a solemn expression: "According to the report of the three-type liaison aircraft, at least 20 planes of the imperial army have been shot down, and the specific number of those shot down will have to be counted after the aviation unit returns. ”

"Nani? No less than 20 planes shot down? ”

Yoshio Shinozuka's eyes suddenly gloomy, 10 planes were shot down in two waves of attacks by the 32nd Sentai Squadron of the Kwantung Army in the morning and noon, plus the planes shot down in the afternoon, the loss of more than 30 planes.

The loss of more than 30 aircraft was nothing, and the aviation industry of the empire was soon able to build more than 30 aircraft.

However, the loss of more than 30 experienced pilots made the old devil very distressed.

It is not easy to train a pilot, let alone more than 30 experienced pilots, these are all valuable resources of the empire, and the loss of one is one less.

"Hey!"

Toshimatsu Kasai lowered his head, he had just witnessed the battle with his own eyes on the southern wall of the inner city, using the artillery mirror.

Since the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War in 1937, there have been few such large-scale scenes.

At this moment, the rumbling artillery sound sounded again, and as soon as the Japanese planes left, the Eighth Route Artillery in the other three directions began to operate again.

A moment later, a communications soldier with the rank of lieutenant hurriedly walked in again: "General, the city wall is being bombarded by fierce shelling!" ”

Yoshio Shinozuka's face, which had just eased a little, suddenly became gloomy again.

The loss of more than 20 planes in the aircraft group was only able to take out the artillery positions of the Eighth Route Army in one direction, and there were still artillery positions of the Eighth Route Army in three other directions that could continue to shell the city wall.

The threat of the Eighth Route Cannon to the Taiyuan City Wall is far from being lifted.

"Yaga!" Kasai Nakazuo saw that Yoshio Shinozuka's face was wrong, and he slapped the lieutenant in the face, and asked, "Which city wall was bombarded by the Eighth Route Menglie?" ”

"Hey!" Lieutenant Devil suddenly paused and said, "Your Excellency Center Left, except for the eastern, western, and northern city walls of the southern city wall, which have been bombarded by the Eighth Route Menglie, please ask for tactical guidance!" ”

"Command!"

Yoshio Shinozuka reluctantly turned around and ordered sharply: "All the planes used in the Battle of the Central Plains will immediately stop the operation against the Central Army, reinforce Taiyuan all, and destroy the eight-way artillery positions around Taiyuan at all costs!" ”

Although yesterday plus today, the Japanese army has lost close to 40 aircraft, close to 40 valuable pilots.

However, there are still more than 160 planes, of which more than 20 are reconnaissance planes and liaison and command planes, and more than 140 fighters and bombers can be used in combat.

The top priority now is to solve the artillery positions of the Eighth Route and seal and repair the gap in the city wall that has been beaten out by the Eighth Route Cannon.

Destroy the artillery positions of the Eighth Road, and it is impossible for the small-caliber artillery of the Eighth Route to collapse the city wall, so that the Eighth Route will not be able to attack the city.

Although this would likely result in the loss of more aircraft and pilots, this was the only option if the 37th Division and the 2nd Guards Division were unable to reinforce them.

"Hey!" Kasai Nakazuo reluctantly lowered his head and straightened his feet, and then turned around and walked quickly to the communication room, and the communication lieutenant behind him covered his face and hurriedly followed.

……

At the same time, the headquarters of the 3rd column of Taihang.

Li Yunlong was holding the walkie-talkie and asked Ding Wei: "Hey, old Ding, how is the situation on your side, how many cannons have you lost?" ”

After the devil's plane flew away, Li Yunlong ordered all artillery groups to continue to bombard the city wall.

At this moment, the rumbling sound of cannon came from the direction of the city wall.

"Damn, the artillery was blown up by the little devil's plane, and there was no one left for us."

Ding Wei's scolding voice came from the walkie-talkie.

Grand Master Li was suddenly startled, and hurriedly asked, "What about the artillery, how many were killed and injured by the artillery?" ”

It doesn't matter if the cannon is blown up, it can be reimbursed anyway, but these artillery pieces are treasures, and if there are heavy casualties, the loss will be great.

Ding Wei said: "I let the artillery evacuate the artillery position in advance, except for more than a dozen artillery casualties caused by the shells fired in the devil's city, the artillery did not lose in this air raid." ”

"That's good."

Li Datuan breathed a sigh of relief.

"I guess this devil plane will have to come again, next time it will be Lao Kong and Lao Cheng, as well as the artillery position of your new regiment."

Ding Wei's tone was solemn, and he suggested: "Commander-in-chief, we have to be ready, or we should move all the artillery positions to conceal, and then move the artillery out at night." ”

Ding Wei knew very well that with the urine nature of the devil, air support would never stop there.

He knew that the Japanese army had assembled more than 200 planes, but only about 100 of them had been dispatched, and although more than 30 were shot down, there were still more than 160 planes.

Only by destroying the artillery positions of the Eighth Route Army can Taiyuan be able to hold it.

This battle has been fought so far, both sides are playing with their lives, and it is clear that the devils don't care about the loss of more planes and pilots.

"I know that."

Li Yunlong's eyes were calm, and he didn't panic at all: "But the cannon doesn't need to be transferred, just let the little devil's plane come." ”

If the artillery is transferred, there will be devil reconnaissance planes circling in the sky all the time, and the devil pilots will be able to see it wherever it is transferred.

Even if the cannons are hidden, once the devil group has no target, it will definitely attack the infantry on the ground.

The devil's medium bombers are coming, and if the devil's group is allowed to attack the infantry on the ground, even if there are anti-aircraft guns, the infantry will suffer heavy losses.

However, Li Yunlong had a plan in his heart, to give up the artillery position to the devil planes to bomb, and then strive to shoot down more devil planes.

Li Yunlong said again: "Lao Ding, once you receive a report that the observer devil plane is coming, you must notify Lao Kong and Lao Cheng, as well as the command headquarters, as soon as possible, and then immediately order the artillery to move to a safe position." ”

The observer's position was about 10 kilometers away from Ding Wei's headquarters and the artillery position, but it was close to 20 kilometers away from the headquarters, which had already exceeded the maximum call distance of the high-power walkie-talkie.

Ding Wei replied: "Understood! ”

Then, Li Yunlong asked: "Lao Ding, how many devil planes did you shoot down this time?" ”

Ding Wei pretended to be nonchalant and said: "So-so, it's only 24, but I lost 18 machine guns, what about him." ”

"Haha!" Li Yunlong was overjoyed when he heard this, and said, "Lao Ding, you are really fucking beautiful, now you have 24 mountain artillery pieces in your account, you kid is going to make an artillery regiment." ”

At noon, Ding Wei shot down 7 devil planes, and now he has shot down 24 planes, according to the calculation of 1 plane reward 1 mountain artillery, that is, 31 mountain guns.

In addition to the 5 mountain guns and 2 howitzers originally equipped by the new 2nd Regiment, a total of 36 mountain guns and 2 howitzers, a proper artillery regiment, plus mortars and Type 92 infantry guns provided by the headquarters, the wealth is very rich.

And he, Li Yunlong, is even richer.

"Old Ding, Wishing you prosperity!" Kong Jie said sourly in the channel.

"Lao Ding, you are going to be the commander of the artillery regiment." Cheng Shifa also said.

"Huh." Ding Wei only laughed and didn't speak, but from the laughter, he could hear that he was in a happy mood.

Li Yunlong said in a seductive tone: "Lao Cheng and Lao Kong, you two also come on, Lao Ding will soon have an artillery regiment, and when the devil planes come to bomb later, give me a fire to death, and how many mountain artillery pieces you can harvest depends on how many planes you two can shoot." ”

"Look, if the devil plane dares to come, Lao Tzu will dare to hit it down." Kong Jie's tone was confident.

"Commander-in-chief, I'm going to set your mountain artillery, and don't want to stop me when the king of heaven comes." Cheng Shifa's tone was very loud.

Haha, Li Yunlong said: "Then I will wish my brother a few good luck." ”

After finishing speaking, Li Yunlong hung up the call, and then his eyes narrowed.

Zhao Gang asked: "Lao Li, do you really want to blow up all the cannons to the devil plane?" If we don't have artillery, what will we do to attack the city? ”

"Yes, Commissar Zhao is right." Xing Zhiguo Road, "Cannons can also be used in street fighting, even if we capture the outer city wall of Taiyuan, we also need artillery to hit the inner city wall." ”

Li Yunlong's eyes were calm: "Then what should I do, if you don't let the devil plane bomb the artillery position, the devil's aircraft group will have to bomb our infantry, don't worry, our old Li has his own clever plan, pass on my order, transfer all the machine guns to the artillery position to hide, as soon as the devil plane comes, don't save ammunition, give me a fire to death!" ”