Songhu: Never Give Up

At the same time, Huoshan City was also attacked. After several hours of fierce fighting, several battalions of the defenders were completely wiped out, and most of the baggage left in the city by the 13th Division was also seized by the guerrilla column.

This sudden change was like a bolt from the blue. Tanaka Jingyi's back was wet with cold sweat. He roared:
"Bakayarro, this must have been done by the guerrilla column. Yue Qianli is not a samurai!"

The chief of staff, Colonel Hikoshiro Nakata, felt a chill and thought to himself that the division commander must have been fooled by the guerrilla column, as Yue Qianli was not a samurai to begin with.

Thinking of this, he gritted his teeth and said:

"Your Excellency, the division commander, Yue Qianli has always been cunning. I suspect that his purpose in doing this is to attack Wei and save Zhao."

Tanaka Shizuka quickly regained his composure and his IQ started to improve. He followed Colonel Nakata's thoughts and carefully thought them through before nodding and saying:
"Yoshi, what Nakata-kun said is absolutely right. This is the guerrilla column's method of supporting Fujin Mountain's operations. We must treat it with caution."

"Your Excellency, Division Commander, Yue Qianli's goal is to lure the Imperial Army to send a part of it to retake Huoshan, and then set up an ambush to attack the Imperial Army halfway. This is Yue Qianli's most common tactic."

Tanaka Jingyi agreed with this deeply. He had suffered too many losses and would not be fooled by Yue Qianli again.

At this time, the communications staff sent a report that Lu'an City had also been captured by the Chinese. Tanaka Shizuka's face changed drastically, and he said in a firm tone:

"This is most likely done by the guerrilla column. Most of the supplies for the Eighth Brigade are stored in Lu'an City. Once word of this gets to the front line, the morale of the army will be in chaos. The battle at Fujin Mountain will be in trouble!"

"Quickly, send a telegram to the 8th Brigade, reminding them not to fall for Yue Qianli's trick. The baggage carried by the Imperial Army is enough to sustain them for a week. Don't worry about Liu'an, and focus on conquering Fujin Mountain!"

After being beaten a few times, Tanaka Shizuka has become the embodiment of sobriety in the world. He is not only sensitive, but also very pragmatic. Unfortunately, not every devil is as low-key as him;
When Major General Setakehira, the commander of the 8th Brigade, received Tanaka Shizuka's telegram, he sneered:
"Tanaka-kun must have been frightened by the guerrilla column. It seems that a rebuilt unit like the 13th Division is still far behind the top standing divisions.

The guerrilla column attacked Lu'an by despicable means and robbed the 10th Division's supplies. This is a naked provocation to the Himeji Division! "

Major General Setake's arrogance seemed normal to Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Ushijima Hiroki. Although the Seya Detachment of the 10th Division was annihilated in Taierzhuang, they were a brigade fighting against more than a dozen divisions alone, and the casualties suffered by the Chinese were far greater than those of the Japanese, so they had the capital to be arrogant.

Lieutenant Colonel Ushijima took over and said:
“General, I learned from the warriors who broke through the siege that there were at least 1 Chinese people attacking Lu’an City. This is obviously an exaggeration.
I have learned about the organization of the guerrilla column. It has three detachments, each with several thousand people. If I am not mistaken, the Chinese who attacked Lu'an should be a detachment, which means several thousand people, no more than 3 at most. "

Se Wuping still agreed with Lieutenant Colonel Ushijima's judgment and continued:
"Tanaka-kun's judgment on Yue Qianli's intention is correct. His purpose is to attack Wei and save Zhao, so the guerrilla column will not defend Lu'an City to the death.

Since Yue Qianli has already challenged the Himeji Division, we must accept it. Otherwise, wouldn't the Himeji Division become a coward like the Tanaka Division?
I decided to send the 39th Infantry Regiment back to Lu'an City. It is enough to defeat a detachment of the guerrilla column. If I am not mistaken, when the flag of the 39th Regiment appears under Lu'an City, the Chinese in the city will flee in panic!"

Lieutenant Colonel Ushijima thought about it and realized that this was indeed the truth, so he said flatteringly:
"General, you are indeed a famous general of the empire. You have understood the minds of the Chinese people. Yue Qianli does not want to fight the imperial army. He must be unable to obey military orders, so he came up with this strategy of besieging Wei to save Zhao.
Lu'an City is the supply transit point for the Sebu Brigade. Yue Qianli robbed the Imperial Army's supplies, and they must pay the price.

Reclaiming Lu'an is not only about the face of the Sebu Brigade, but also about a large amount of supplies. This battle must be fought, and one regiment is completely enough!"

Se Wuping nodded and said:
"Order the 40th Infantry Regiment to moderate its offensive and put some pressure on the defenders. The Seya Brigade will be coming to reinforce us soon, and it won't be too late to use all our strength then.
Order the 39th Infantry Regiment to immediately attack in the direction of Lu'an, defeat the enemy in the city within one day, and recapture Lu'an City! "

The 8th Brigade finally chose to send a regiment to retake Lu'an City. The first regiment also reduced its offensive, reducing a lot of pressure on the Fujinshan defense line.

When Tanaka Seiichi found out, he cursed angrily, but there was nothing he could do. The 8th Brigade was not under his jurisdiction. He only had the right to make suggestions, and it depended on Setakehei's mood whether to listen or not.

Yue Qianli also received the good news that the Second and Third Detachments had recovered Lu'an and Huoshan. He immediately reported the victory to the headquarters to boost the morale of the Fujin Mountain defenders.

At the 71st Army Headquarters, when Song Xilian received the victory report forwarded by the Headquarters, he excitedly praised:
"Well, my fellow countryman is a fierce fighter. He recovered Huoshan and Lu'an in one day, not only cutting off the enemy's supply, but also putting two butcher knives on their backs.

Whether it is the 8th Brigade or the 13th Division, they dare not go all out when attacking Fujin Mountain, which effectively reduces the defensive pressure of Fujin Mountain. We must appreciate this!"

Chief of Staff Xia Sheng took over and said:
"Commander, the combat capability of the guerrilla column is obvious to all. With them on the periphery to contain the Japanese, we can at least share more than 30% of the defensive pressure for Fujin Mountain.

I suggest that we apply to the headquarters to allow our troops to establish direct contact with the guerrilla column, so that the two sides can fight together, which will help to better eliminate the devils. "

Song Xilian was instantly moved after hearing this. Fujinshan was under great pressure from the siege of the 10th and 13th Divisions. Intelligence showed that the 16th Division was also on the way. This meant that one army of theirs had to take on three divisions. One could imagine the pressure. If there were guerrilla columns cooperating in the battle on the periphery, he could defend Fujinshan for a much longer time and even inflict severe damage to the Japanese. His 3st Army was no pushover.

Thinking of this, he had an idea in his mind...

In Lu'an City, the Third Brigade was rushing to empty the city of seized materials. There were too many to move. Duan Yulin was delighted and told the deputy brigade leader Liao Jianping again:
"Tell the brothers to pick up the lightest items first and pay attention to the planes in the sky. These ammunition and food are precious treasures. They belong to our guerrilla column and we cannot afford to lose them."

Liao Jianping immediately patted his chest and said:
“Old Duan, don’t worry, we have mobilized the people in the city to help, and we can evacuate them as well;

After losing so many things, the Japanese will definitely send planes to retaliate. It is too dangerous for the villagers to stay in the city."

Duan Yulin nodded and said:

"The villagers are working for us, so we can't treat them unfairly. We should give them half of the captured food so that they won't be left without food when they go out to avoid the war."

Liao Jianping naturally had no objection to the captain's decision. He agreed to it on the spot and turned around to get down to business.

Now there are only the 1st and 2nd Battalions in Lu'an City, and the 3rd Battalion is on guard in the direction of the west city, and in the meantime, it is destroying the Lu'an-Yangliudian-Yejiaji road;
Yejiaji was the key point of the Sewu Brigade's attack and the barrier of Fujin Mountain on the northern line. When the 8th Brigade counterattacked Lu'an, this was the main road that the Japanese had to take.

It would take time for the Third Detachment to evacuate personnel and supplies, so the Third Battalion had to delay the Japanese for two days. After the personnel and supplies were evacuated southward to the mountainous area, it would be much easier to retreat or defend.

Huoshan City was also being evacuated, but they were evacuating to the west, which was the area where the main force of the column was active, and ammunition could be replenished to the First Detachment nearby.

During this period, the Japanese also sent two batches of planes to bomb Lu'an and Huoshan, causing certain losses.

Yue Qianli originally wanted to use Huoshan City to ambush the 13th Division, but he didn't expect Tanaka Jingyi to be very cunning and didn't send troops to retake Huoshan, which wasted a lot of his feelings;
Since the Japanese refused to take the bait, he could only take the initiative and sent part of the Third Detachment to attack Mabu from the flank, which immediately frightened Tanaka Seiichi.

The image of his teacher, the head of the regiment, Ogisu Rikuhei, even appeared in his mind. This was not a good sign, and he immediately said to Colonel Nakata:
"Mr. Nakata, Yue Qianli is here with ill intentions!

There should be one detachment each in the Lu'an and Huoshan directions, and the one attacking Mabu is the third detachment, with nearly 10,000 troops;

Mabu City only has one regiment, the 104th, which is a rebuilt regiment and can hardly stop the attack of Yue Qianli's detachment."

Although Tanaka Shizuka's words were not made clear, Colonel Nakata understood them and immediately took over the conversation and said:

"Your concern is very justified. The 104th Regiment alone cannot defend Mabu. I suggest that the 65th Regiment be withdrawn to assist in the defense.
The main forces of the Seya Brigade and the 16th Division arrived immediately. These were fresh troops and no shortage of the 65th Regiment, but Mabu needed them desperately.

As long as the 65th Regiment comes back to support, the Imperial Army can even launch a counterattack against the guerrilla column and teach Yue Qianli a lesson. "

Tanaka Jingyi's heart was moved at first, but he immediately suppressed the impulse and shook his head:
"Mr. Nakata, the Imperial Army's target is Fujin Mountain. Don't fall for Yue Qianli's trick of luring the tiger away from the mountain. Just dispatch the 65th Regiment to defend Mabu."

After Tanaka Shizuka finished speaking, his face rarely turned red. He had never expected that such words would come out of his mouth. It was too embarrassing.
Fortunately, Colonel Nakata was also a very versatile person. He just lowered his head and didn't see it, thus resolving the embarrassment.

Colonel Nakata's execution ability was very strong. He withdrew the 65th Regiment from the Fujin Mountain direction an hour later. The defensive pressure of the 71st Army was reduced again. Yue Qianli achieved part of his goal, but this was not what he needed.

This is only a temporary solution and not a fundamental solution. If we want to truly reduce the pressure on the Fujinshan defense line, we must eliminate the enemy's effective strength and then fight a war of annihilation.

Just when Yue Qianli was thinking about how to lure the snake out of its hole, Chen Zhongyuan hurried in and reported to Old Yue:
"Old Yue, the Third Detachment called and said that the Seto Brigade has sent a regiment to attack Lu'an City. Old Duan is waiting for your decision on whether to fight or retreat."

As expected, someone brought a pillow just when he was feeling sleepy. Yue Qianli showed a happy smile on his face... (End of this chapter)