Songhu: Never Give Up

Chapter 239 The end of the road

"One enemy captured? What's going on with Lao Zhu? When did the guerrilla column ask for prisoners? I allow him to report it again."

After listening to this, Chen Zhongyuan couldn't help but smile bitterly and had to explain:
"Old Yue, this senior Japanese staff officer claimed to have Chinese ancestry when he surrendered, and even donated his private code book to buy his life. This guy had already made up his mind to surrender."

Now it was Yue Qianli's turn to "change his face". When he heard that he had to hand in the code book in exchange for his life, he changed his face and said:

"In this case, I won't bother you to report it again, Old Zhu. My guerrilla column always treats prisoners well!"

Chen Zhongyuan and Tian Yuanxi pretended not to hear his last sentence. Old Yue's ability to tell lies with open eyes has become more and more advanced, which is worth learning from.

Then Yue Qianli added:
"Let Lao Zhu take this prisoner to the guerrilla column and inform Lin E to treat him well and squeeze him dry.
The Japanese staff officers have all attended the Army University and know many of their secrets, which is more important than a code book. In the future, he will assist Lin E in deciphering the Japanese secret messages and make up for his crime with merit.

After he has done enough good deeds, I will allow him to restore his Chinese surname!"

Chen Zhongyuan said secretly:
"As expected, he is a man who does not do anything without profit. He has learned another trick!"

After annihilating the 65th Regiment, Yue Qianli's mood became very good. This was equivalent to liberating two more battalions, and he had more cards to play.

"Old Chen, tell Old Zhu to stay where he is after cleaning up the battlefield and be sure to hide well.
Their temporary mission is to assist the 1st Battalion of the 1rd Brigade in defending Feiying Ridge. The st Battalion is in the light, and they are in the dark. They must be ready to be deployed at any time when needed!"

Chen Zhongyuan excitedly accepted the order and left. Tian Yuanxi interrupted and said:
“Now that we have two more battalions of reserve troops, we can fight more steadily in subsequent operations;
According to intelligence, the Japanese sent the main force of the 18th Division to reinforce the 13th Division, and we only have two days at most.

The Japanese on the left and right wings are also trying their best to reinforce the 13th Division Headquarters. If we are lucky, we can even annihilate part of them."

Yue Qianli waved his hand and said:

“Old Tian, ​​you can’t bite off more than you can chew. You can’t expose all your strength. This will be disadvantageous for future battles.

This time we will safely take down the Japanese in the middle and scare off the ones on the left and right wings. We must show that we are no longer able to defeat them.

If we really wipe out the 13th Division, the Japanese will send two or three divisions over next, which will be unbearable!"

Tian Yuanxi suddenly realized:
"Is this a sign of weakness?"

Yue Qianli nodded and said:

"There are at least four divisions of Japanese invaders in Jinling City. We cannot lure them all here. The government's strategy is to lure the main force of the Japanese invaders to a decisive battle in the Jianghuai area.

Central China is not ready yet, and it would be troublesome if we lead the main force of the Japanese to Central China."

At the 13th Division Headquarters, after receiving the farewell message from the 65th Regiment, Ogisu Rippei burst into swearing again. This time he did not curse Colonel Ryokaku. There was no need for him to bother with a dead man.

He was angry now more because of a feeling of grief for the loss of a rabbit. If no miracle happened, he would really have to go down there and join the other two in the fight.

"Bakayaloo, do the 58th Regiment and the 104th Regiment still have any military honor?
A regiment of the Empire couldn't even break through the Chinese blockade. They are unworthy of the Emperor's trust!"

"Bakayarō, the headquarters hasn't responded yet? The 18th Division alone is not enough. The guerrilla column is the empire's biggest threat!" "How far is that bastard Soeda from the division headquarters? Are they just crawling like turtles?"

Ogisu Ritsuhei was like a grudge woman, cursing this and that, completely breaking down;
When people are waiting for death, the ugliest side of human nature is often exposed. Colonel Ishikawa looked at him with even more disdain, without any respect at all.

Colonel Ishikawa simply replied:
“Soeda-kun’s 116th Regiment is only two kilometers away from the division headquarters, but they have suffered heavy casualties along the way;
The few remaining troops were annihilated by the Chinese, and now the total strength has dropped to 3.

After annihilating the 65th Regiment, the Chinese freed up at least several thousand troops, which would be a disaster for the Imperial Army no matter which direction they were deployed;

At this time, we should remind the troops on the left and right wings to slow down so as not to fall into the trap of the Chinese."

Colonel Ishikawa's implication was to abandon the division headquarters, which Ogisu Rikuhei could not accept. His life was more important than anyone else's, so he immediately said with a stern face:
"The division headquarters is the soul of the 13th Division. The Empire cannot afford to lose a division headquarters.
Send a telegram to the 58th and 104th Regiments, requiring them to arrive within one day, otherwise they will be subject to military law!

Immediately send a telegram to the Commander-in-Chief, asking him to send air warriors to help. Once the 13th Division is annihilated, the southern attack will fail, which will greatly undermine the morale of the Central China Front Army. "

Since Ogisu Rippei had said so much, Colonel Ishikawa did not dare to say a word more. He just took the order and left.

An hour later, with Wang Jianfei's deliberate release of troops, the main force of the 116th Regiment stumbled to the division headquarters, but the previous 4 people were reduced to less than 3, and about half of them were engineers and baggage soldiers with low combat effectiveness.

Before Ogisu Rippei could breathe a sigh of relief, the Chinese troops surrounded him from all directions, numbering nearly 20,000.

The reason why Wang Jianfei did not deal with the 13th Division Headquarters in advance was to tie up the Tiantian Detachment and slowly bleed them along the way;

Now that the Tiantian Detachment and the 13th Division Headquarters have come together, he can cook them all in one pot.

As long as the 13th Division Headquarters is still there, the Tiantian Detachment will not break out, and they can be completely wiped out.

After encircling the main force of the Japanese, Wang Jianfei did not rush to launch an attack, but switched to defense on the spot, and began to act as a groundhog, digging earthworks around the Japanese;
They had just dug out some shapes when a group of Japanese planes arrived. This was the air force of the Central China Front Army supporting the 13th Division, with more than twenty planes.

Seeing that they were surrounded by Chinese positions, they excitedly dropped a large number of aerial bombs, causing many casualties to the guerrilla column;

Fortunately, they had civil engineering works to protect themselves, and the defense line was spread out. The Japanese only had about twenty planes, so the casualties were still within Wang Jianfei's tolerance.

After dropping the bombs, the Japanese planes left. The soldiers continued to dig fortifications, which became wider and wider. In just half a day, they were connected into one piece, and the Japanese were surrounded.

After completely surrounding the Japanese, each battalion launched attacks from multiple directions. There was no main or secondary attack, just a simple and crude artillery bombardment and infantry charge, followed by artillery bombardment after the infantry charge;
The Japanese defense line was constantly being compressed, the number of casualties was constantly rising, and the military forces were becoming increasingly stretched.

During this period, the Japanese bombers came twice, but the attacking troops had already built complete civil engineering works, so the bombing effect was not obvious.

As soon as the Japanese aircraft group left, the battalions surrounded the Japanese from all sides, squeezing their space for movement, and finally drove them into a small area centered on the unnamed slope. A Type 38 rifle was enough to penetrate the Japanese defense line.

The strength of the Japanese troops was also reduced to less than 3, and a small half of them were non-combat personnel from the division headquarters;

Ogisu Rikuhei also had to accept the reality of being annihilated and said dejectedly:
"Ishikawa-kun, send a farewell message to the headquarters!"

(End of this chapter)