Anti-Japanese War: From Becoming Chu Yunfei to Rising

Chapter 81: Captain, please give me instructions! (Subscribe)

"Has the old pass been recaptured?"

Hearing Wei Lihuang's question, the operations staff shook his head and responded: "According to the operational plan previously drawn up by the Second War Zone Command Headquarters, there may be results before the 17th."

"Guangou... Which unit was responsible for attacking Guangou?"

"It is reported that the 358th Brigade of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army was responsible for the main attack. It took them less than six hours to completely wipe out the enemy forces in Guangou."

"Six hours?"

General Wei Lihuang chuckled: "It's really not that simple!"

"Before this, the defenders in Guangou had been under siege by various units for three days. I'm afraid the number of Japanese troops left in the ditch is actually limited."

"There are a lot of tricks in this battle."

General Wei Lihuang nodded without comment: "Well, let's not talk about this. Send a telegram to the commander of the Ninth Army, Hao Mengling, to ensure that the Nanhuaihua position is firmly defended."

"Yes!"

Second World War Commander Headquarters.

After hearing that the defenders in Guangou were completely wiped out.

Old Yan was also much happier.

Humming an unknown northern Shanxi tune in his office.

I used a wooden comb to get hair dye from somewhere.

He carefully combed his already gray hair.

"Commander Yan, Commander Sun wants you to preside over the meeting."

"Tell him to wait for two minutes."

He put down the wooden comb in his hand.

Yan Laoxi picked up the hot towel beside him and wiped his cheeks and hair.

Glanced in the mirror.

Radiant!

Yan Laoxi nodded with satisfaction, then walked out.

"Commander Yan"

"Cui Ya, let's go to the war room together."

"Commander Yan, please..."

At this time, a new guest came to the headquarters of the Second War Zone Commander.

Commander-in-chief of the 22nd Sichuan Army Group, Deng Jinkang.

A leading figure of the Sichuan Army when the 22nd Army went out of Sichuan to fight.

Without a car, the only way is to walk along the Sichuan-Shaanxi Highway.

Along the way, we received support from people everywhere, and anti-Japanese sentiment was very high.

After a month of forced march, the main forces of the Sichuan Army arrived in Baoji.

Transfer to Xi'an by train.

Subsequently, the situation in Shanxi became critical, and Chiang Kai-shek urgently dispatched the 22nd Army Group to fight in Shanxi.

And today, it was Deng Jinkang who led part of the main force to arrive in Taiyuan, met with Yan Laoxi and asked for instructions on how to fight.

Yan Laoxi had already made plans for the use of this force.

Deep down, Yan Laoxi looked down on these Sichuan troops.

The weapons and equipment were poor, with a division equipped with less than a thousand rifles.

As for heavy weapons, there are also homemade mortars.

Only a variety of light and heavy machine guns are left.
It can be said that in Yan Laoxi's eyes, these troops do not seem to have much advantages except their enthusiasm for the war of resistance.

The Sichuan Army was also called the Beggars' Army at that time.

The reason why Deng Jinkang came to Shanxi to meet Yan Laoxi as soon as possible.

He also has his own plans.

Winter is approaching.

Not only were their Sichuan Army units owed wages, they didn't even have a pair of cloth shoes or a pair of cotton-padded clothes.

This time I came to Yan Laoxi with the intention of getting some benefits.

No matter what, he couldn't let his brothers go and fight the Japanese with fire sticks, right?

The Central Army has been defeated so badly, and if the Sichuan Army goes up to fight the Japanese like this, it would be simply courting death!

At the combat meeting.

When Deng Jinkang asked Commander Yan to assign them combat tasks.

Yan Laoxi immediately expressed his opinion: "Brother Jinkang led his troops out of Sichuan to fight the war this time, and he put national justice first. I also admire him very much."

"However, Xinkou and Niangziguan are both in critical situations. I have decided to split the 22nd Army into two parts. One part will rush to support the left wing defense line of Xinkou and serve as the reserve force.

The other part will go to the east of Yangquan to take charge of mobile defense."

Deng Jinkang had no time to express his opinion.

Yan Laoxi stretched out his right hand to signal him to calm down. "For this battle, all weapons and supplies will be supplied by the headquarters of the Second War Zone Commander. This is the approval note I prepared for Brother Jinkang's troops. With this approval note, the Sichuan Army can resupply at any armory, and no one can stop it!"

Deng Jinkang was extremely moved and immediately stood up to express his position: "We, the Sichuan Army, went out to Sichuan to fight the Japanese. If we win, we will return home with honor. If we lose, we will return with our bodies wrapped in a shroud. Please rest assured, Commander Yan, our Sichuan Army will definitely rise up!"

"Okay, okay~!"

Just like that, when the main force under Chu Yunfei arrived outside the old pass.

This simple combat meeting ended quickly.

After Deng Jinkang agreed to Yan Laoxi's decision to split the troops, he sent Wang Mingzhang's 122nd Division to rush to the Yangquan area to build a defense line along the Jinshan line.

The main force of the 124th Division, Sun Zhen's troops rushed to support the left wing of Xinkou and served as the reserve force, while Deng Jinkang himself was also placed under the command of General Wei Lihuang.

When fighting under Wei Lihuang, the main force of the 14th Army under his own command also made great contributions.

Deng Jinkang still trusts Wei Lihuang's character.

After Deng Jinkang went to rest.

Sun Cuiya came to Yan Laoxi with a worried look on his face and said, "Commander Yan, the supplies in Yangquan have been used by Chu Yunfei's troops. If the Sichuan Army arrives and can't get anything, there will definitely be problems if there is a commotion."

"Once the war starts, we won't be able to care about so many things!"

Yan Laoxi didn't seem to care. He stepped in front of the battle map, as if he wanted to deliberately avoid the question.

"Commander Yan, your approval..."

Yan Laoxi frowned slightly, seeming a little unhappy.

Sun Cuiya pretended not to see it and continued, "Should we give our subordinates a heads-up in advance, in case they really encounter our ammunition depot or something?"

Yan Laoxi nodded and said, "Yun Fei is now the commander of Yangquan City Defense. Let's give him a heads up in advance to avoid any trouble that will be difficult to deal with."

"Yes!"

That evening, the 20th Division Headquarters.

Kawagishi Fumisaburo had a blank expression on his face as he looked towards the battlefield at Niangzi Pass.

Today's frontal offensive was fruitful and progressed smoothly.

The attacking force successfully captured two hill positions.

At this rate of attack, Niangzi Pass will be without any barrier in two days at most.

At that time, the 20th Division will be able to march straight into Yangquan, attack Shouyang, and reach Taiyuan.

"report!"

Kawagishi Fumisaburo turned his head to look at the intelligence staff officer Shohei Nojima who was standing next to him.

"whats the matter?"

"Report to the general, we have obtained new intelligence."

Shohei Nojima bowed slightly and presented the newspaper and information he had brought with him with both hands.

This information
It is more like a summary of newspaper contents than intelligence.

In addition to the key content excerpts and translations of newspapers from the United States, France and the Soviet Union.

The original copy of the Central Daily News also appeared in the headquarters.

These are all targeted reports against the 358th Regiment of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army.

After taking a quick glance, Kawagishi Fumisaburo lost interest in continuing reading.

Put it below.

The intelligence agencies collected summary reports from American and French newspapers.

The main content highlights three points.

According to these reporters, the 358th Regiment is an elite force that uses American training methods, French weapons, and Soviet tactics.

After seeing these so-called reports.

Although Kawagishi Fumisaburo scoffed, he still captured some key information.

That's the artillery!
All the newspapers focus on one point.

The artillery force of this unit is extremely strong and is equipped with a large number of artillery pieces.

Recalling that the 77th Regiment had been out of contact in Guangou for more than three hours.

Fumisaburo Kawagishi could already imagine the fate of these more than a thousand Japanese devils.

He put down the intelligence and newspaper in his hands.

He stepped forward, took down the military flag representing his own troops in Guangou, and threw it aside.

The combat staff looked at the military flag thrown aside, their pupils shrank slightly, and they were very surprised.

This means that either the radio station was damaged and contact was lost, or the whole system was completely wiped out.

None of this will affect Kawagishi Fumisaburo's determination to use the old pass defenders as bait.

"Order, the 79th Infantry Regiment, must capture the frontline position at Niangzi Pass within tomorrow!"

"Hai!"

The next morning.

Colonel Ichiro Morimoto, commander of the 79th Regiment, went to the front line in person to command the operations.

Under the cover of artillery fire and aircraft.

They launched round after round of attacks on Chi Fengcheng's troops.

The front-line position at Niangzi Pass was crumbling, and calls for help came to Sun Lianzhong's command center one after another.

And in return, all I got was one sentence: hold on.

Hold on to your end.

How to defend without dying?
The most difficult day was the first day of the main offensive by the 20th Division, which was the 14th day.

Under the cover of planes and artillery, they launched a fierce attack on all fronts.

But it was only one day.

There were nearly three thousand casualties along the entire Niangzi Pass.

The war situation is intense and the situation is difficult.

In order to support Chi Fengcheng's troops,

Zeng Wanzhong of the Third Army sent out his reserve troops.

A brigade of troops suffered eight hundred casualties in just half a day.

Continue fighting at this intensity.

In less than three days, the entire brigade would be wiped out.

What else can Huang Shaolong do?
If the Japanese invaders in the old interior are not annihilated, we must divide our forces to fight against them.

About a thousand Japanese troops are guarding the key location, with the current strength of the various units at Niangzi Pass.

At least three times the number of troops would be needed to launch a decent offensive.

When defending, more than five times the number of troops is needed to ensure the stability of the front line.

If it weren’t for the fact that Niangzi Pass is a place that is easy to defend but difficult to attack.

I couldn't hold on any longer.

At this time, outside the old pass, in a village less than five kilometers away.

Qian Bojun's command center was set up here.

Luo Weiguo's troops of the Third Battalion held the mountain road to the southeast to ensure the safety of the First Battalion's flank.

In the headquarters of the 358th Regiment.

The first company commander Bian Fucheng, the third company commander Hu Shaoqing, the seventh company commander Xue Jie, the eighth company commander Liu Wang and others gathered around Qian Bojun.

"Let the mountain artillery battalion fire two or three rounds before charging, otherwise this battle will be difficult to win."

"We have seen the terrain. Once we attack, we will be attacking from the front. There is not much cover. We can only sacrifice lives."

Hu Shaoqing also agreed with Liu Wang's point of view: "Commander, this battle is not easy to fight. We have to fight hard."

"Although there are not many fortresses in Jiuguan, the Japanese army has the advantage of terrain after all. I plan to use the 7th, 8th and 3rd companies as the main force of this attack, and the other companies will be deployed in echelons and take turns to attack. After all, this group of Japanese devils are isolated."

Just as Qian Bojun and a group of company commanders were discussing how to take over the old pass.

The phone suddenly rang.

Zhang Fugui walked over and answered the phone: "Hello, 358th Regiment Headquarters."

"Yes Yes."

Zhang Fugui looked at Qian Bojun: "It's the host."

Qian Bojun quickly came to the phone and said, "Captain, this is Qian Bojun. Please give me your instructions!"

(End of this chapter)