Anti-Japanese War: From Becoming Chu Yunfei to Rising

Chapter 77 It is better to rely on yourself than on others. Let them make way for our army! (Subscribe)
Japanese army.

20th Division, 39th Infantry Brigade Headquarters.

The brigade commander was named Yoshito Takagi.

A graduate of the 19th class of the Japanese Army University.

During the same period, some well-known veterans had been promoted to lieutenant generals of the army.

And he had never held an important military position before.

Before being promoted to commander of the 39th Infantry Brigade.

He once served as Chief of Staff of the Eighth Division.

During his tenure, he assisted two division commanders, Nakamura Kotaro and Shimomoto Kumamiya.
After being awarded the rank of major general, he was transferred to serve as the commander of the 20th Division and the 39th Infantry Brigade.

As a military commander, command troops in combat.

At his age.

In another seven or eight years, he will be transferred to the reserve force. At this time, he is still a major general, and in essence, he is still a person with nothing.

No background, no military achievements.

Without background, air support will not be given priority.

No military achievements mean that you have never fought any tough battles.

As for whether they have the ability, this remains a question mark.

From the perspective of military history, Takagi Yoshito's command ability can be described as average.

Although he mistakenly overestimated the combat effectiveness of his own troops, it caused heavy losses to his own troops.

But after all, it defeated the main forces of two divisions in succession.

After the main force of the 20th Division provided support (at this time the main force of the division was resting in Shijiazhuang and not participating in the battle).

They even broke through Xinguan, conquered Yangquan, and occupied Taiyuan city.

Yoshito Takagi was like the vast majority of Japanese soldiers.

He is short, bow-legged, relatively strong, with a round face and a bald head.

The head is about the same thickness as the neck, and at first glance it looks like a big bucket.

Looking closely, it looks more like a shotgun bullet.

At this moment, he was holding a telegram in his hand with an expressionless face.

There was only a brief sentence on it: Upon investigation, an elite unit of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army, numbering about 3,000, arrived in the Yangquan area, equipped with a large number of heavy weapons including artillery.

For Yoshito Takagi and the 39th Infantry Brigade.

This is not good news.

The word "elite" was rarely used in Japanese military telegrams.

The arrogant, spoiled and brutal Japanese hardly took any Chinese army seriously.

The Jinsui Army was the one that made the division commander use the word "elite".

There are only two or three.

"Brigade Commander, could it be Chu Yunfei's unit of the 358th Regiment of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army that has gained fame recently?"

Gao Muyi nodded: "It is very likely that Chu Yunfei... a famous general of the Jin army, a fifth-term student of Huangpu Military Academy, a genius in commanding operations, and an opponent that should not be underestimated."

"Brigade Commander, this man is very good at building fortifications. Should we request support from the division's artillery?"

Takagi Yoshito frowned slightly, thought for a moment and waved his hand: "No need."

Talk about it.

Even after Sun Lianzhong, deputy commander of the Second Army, led his Northwest Army to the front line.

Takagi Yoshito was also very disdainful after fighting with Zhao Shoushan's 17th Division for more than a week.

The 78th Infantry Regiment, which was responsible for the frontal attack, had no time to rest.

So under his strict orders, he continued to attack westwards.

The commander of the 78th Regiment, Kobayashi Tsuneichi, even came to the headquarters and argued his case.

But he was still rejected by the cold-blooded Yoshito Takagi.

He then asked in return: As a warrior from a fraternal country, can't you win the battle without air support?
Kobayashi Hengyi was extremely ashamed.

He has always used the war of aggression against China as a "stage" to show himself.

In terms of age, he is only two years younger than the brigade commander Yoshito Takagi.

In terms of seniority, Yoshito Takagi graduated from the 19th class of the Japanese Army University, while he graduated from the 21st class.

There is not much difference. He and Yoshito Takagi are essentially the same now.

They lack military achievements and an opportunity to prove themselves.

Go on the attack.

Facing Sun Lianzhong's troops which were four times larger than his own.

Kobayashi Tsunekazu seemed to have completely ignored veteran players like Sun Lianzhong who had been famous for a long time.

What shocked the combat staff and senior military officers was...

Takagi Yoshito's brutal use of troops actually achieved the corresponding effect.

Sun Lianzhong's troops seemed to lack experience in fighting against Japan.

A large number of infantry were concentrated in some key hill positions.

It is precisely because of this that their artillery units have exerted tremendous power.

The deployment of Yoshito Takagi's unit in the 20th Division is as follows.

The right column consisted of six infantry battalions, two field artillery battalions, two howitzer battalions, one mountain artillery battalion, and two mortar squadrons.

Attack Niangzi Pass directly.

It sounds like there is a lot of artillery, but in this period, it was just the basic configuration of the troops under the permanent division.

Four infantry battalions, a mountain artillery battalion, and a mortar squadron formed the left column and served as assisting forces.

At this time, it was in the Guangou between the Old Pass and the New Pass.

There was a full-strength battalion of Japanese invaders.

This is also the combat goal of Chu Yunfei's trip.

Although Takagi Yoshito was somewhat wary of Chu Yunfei, he was too arrogant to think that Chu Yunfei would take the initiative to launch a counterattack.

A commander who is good at defensive warfare is facing such a battlefield situation.

The first priority must be to choose a location to build defensive fortifications to increase the depth of the Niangzi Pass defense line.

Rely on the terrain to carry out blocking operations.

They would never take the initiative to attack. Once they lost, it might even lead to the defeat of the entire line of defense. After thinking for a moment, Takagi Yoshito did not adjust the current deployment.

Continue to attack Niangzi Pass according to the original plan.

Niangzi Pass line.

In charge of the frontal defense was Sun Lianzhong's fierce general, the commander of the 31st Division, Chi Fengcheng.

Inside the headquarters of the 31st Division.

They saw that their positions were on the verge of collapse due to the bombardment of Japanese artillery fire.

As the division commander, Chi Fengcheng couldn't help but speak out, saying: "Damn it, these damn Japanese are real devils!"

Once there were few troops on the front line, the Japanese army would use mortars to bombard, and then launch an infantry charge.

After sending reinforcements, the Japanese army immediately bombarded with heavy artillery.

Not only did it cause heavy casualties, but it also destroyed many of their fortifications.

This battle was fought in an extremely passive manner and was very uncomfortable!
"Commander-in-Chief, their artillery is too powerful. We must not gather heavy troops to fight them!"

Although what you said is correct.

But with their firepower, they could not stop the Japanese attack without gathering their forces.

After gathering their forces, the Japanese army would launch targeted artillery attacks.

Such a battle is really difficult to fight.

If it weren't for the terrain advantage and the support from the Third Army.

Niangzi Pass might have been lost long ago.

"Didn't Commander Huang say that reinforcements had arrived? Why is there only one regiment?"

"I can't care about so much. If you lose Niangziguan, both my brother and I will be beheaded!"

The Northwest Army itself was known for its defensive capabilities.

The troops under Sun Lianzhong were also proficient in this.

Although the national defense fortifications led by the Nationalist government were a mess.

But the fortifications repaired by Yan Laoxi were real reinforced concrete bunkers.

The soldiers of the 31st Division fully demonstrated their advantages in close combat and night combat.

Using broadswords and grenades as their magic weapons, they defeated the Japanese army's several consecutive charges.

Rubber-soled shoes and leather shoes worn by Japanese troops.

The speed of climbing the mountain was extremely slow, and we had to climb uphill.

Although the soldiers' shooting accuracy was not high, they were shooting at living targets in this situation.

In order to win this battle, Sun Lianzhong also took out his own mountain artillery battalion.

Although there were only eight mountain cannons, they were Sun Lianzhong's few savings.

In order to fight this battle well, he personally led his elite 27th Division to the front line to participate in the battle, and attacked the Japanese infantry regiment that was attacking Niangzi Pass.

Sun Lianzhong had a total of three divisions under his command.

They are the 27th, 30th and 31st Divisions respectively.

These three divisions had suffered heavy casualties in the previous battle on the Pinghan Railway.

The 27th Division is also known as the Adjustment Division.

That is, the "German-equipped division" was selected for the second batch of adjustment plan.

Although they were not German weapons, the troops unified the rifle caliber.

A large number of light and heavy machine guns and mortars were listed.

It sounds powerful, but at this time the entire 27th Division.

There were less than 160 light and heavy machine guns, only 22 mortars, and less than 2,000 artillery shells.

On average, a mortar has less than a hundred rounds of ammunition.

However, things are changing over time.

The troops that had been defeated due to Liu Zhi's command errors were also gradually returning to their base.

It also added a lot of troops to Sun Lianzhong's troops.

When Chu Yunfei led his troops to arrive.

At this time, the combat strength of the 26th Army under Sun Lianzhong had reached nearly 10,000 people.

The Japanese army also sent corresponding support troops.

That is, the Xiyang Detachment, commanded by Tani Nagahide of the 109st Infantry Brigade of the 31th Division, arrived at the battlefield.

The commander of the 20th Division, Fumisaburo Kawagishi, took over the battlefield command.

Go to the front line in person and issue combat orders.

Day three.

As the absolute main force under Chu Yunfei, Qian Bojun's first battalion arrived less than ten kilometers west of Jiuguan.

Huang Shaolong did not carry out the order given by Yan Laoxi.

Without waiting for the arrival of reinforcements, he ordered Sun Lianzhong to launch a counterattack.

Sun Lianzhong immediately led the elite regiment of the 27th Division to launch a surprise attack on the Japanese troops in Guangou.

At the same time, the Third Army and Tang Huaiyuan's 12th Division under Zeng Wanzhong were dispatched to provide support.

This group of Japanese invaders was an isolated force.

The reinforcements were blocked by the 12th Division.

358, inside Jinshan Command Center.

After Fang Ligong sorted out the battlefield intelligence, he added: "At present, Feng's troops have not been contacted, and Commander Huang has no idea what they are doing. I suspect that Feng's troops may have been bombed by the Japanese army."

Chu Yunfei smiled but said nothing.

It's not that I can't get in touch with him, nor is it that I'm bombed.

This bastard Feng Qinzai is too smart.

From the beginning to the end, he never set up a radio station in order to prevent Yan Laoxi from giving him orders.

"Feng Qinzhai from the Shaanxi Army, Zeng Wanzhong from the Yunnan Army, and Sun Lianzhong from the Central Army who came from the Northwest Army. These three are veterans. It's hard for Commander Yan to command them. They don't like each other, so naturally, it's impossible for them to cooperate well."

Fang Ligong frowned slightly, his face solemn: "The Japanese troops in Guangou are in a desperate situation. They are trapped and still fighting. This is a tough battle."

"Ignore them. It's better to rely on ourselves than on others. We have to fight this tough battle by ourselves." Chu Yunfei ordered domineeringly: "Sun Ming, send someone to inform Deputy Commander Huang and Commander Zeng, and ask them to make way for our army..."

(End of this chapter)