Anti-Japanese War: I have unlimited assistance

Early the next morning.

Beiping.

North China Front Army Headquarters.

Many Japanese officers got up early and came to the operations hall to start their work.

"Your Excellency, Commander."

After getting up and washing up, Tada Shun rushed to the operations hall without even having breakfast. Kasahara Yukio, who had been on wartime duty all night, came quickly over with dark circles under his eyes to report:
"At 4 a.m., Lieutenant General Shinotsuka, commander of the First Army, sent a telegram that the 9th Brigade launched a night attack on the Eighth Route Army last night, eliminating 3000 Eighth Route Army soldiers and destroying 24 enemy tanks."

"Oh?" Tada Shun's expression shifted, and he took the telegram and began to read it, immediately falling into deep thought.

Eliminating 3000 Eighth Route Army soldiers and destroying 24 tanks can already be considered a great victory.

Based on the previous combat ratio between the First Army and the Eighth Route Army in Northwest Shanxi, eliminating one Eighth Route Army unit in Northwest Shanxi would result in the loss of five Japanese soldiers.

In other words, in the past, for every 3000 Eighth Route Army soldiers eliminated, the Japanese army would have to pay the price of 15000 casualties.

The 9th Brigade has a total strength of barely 6000 men, yet it has such strong combat power?

Tada Shun naturally didn't believe this battle report, and then he looked at Yamamoto Ichiki: "Yamamoto-kun, does the First Army Headquarters have a habit of falsely reporting battle achievements?"

“Absolutely not.” Yamamoto Ichiki said without any change in expression, “I have been fighting alongside Commander Shinotsuka for nearly two years, and he has never lied about his achievements.”

Tada Shun narrowed his eyes. Could it be that the 9th Brigade had lied about its battle achievements?
After a pause, Yamamoto Ichiki offered his conjecture: "Commander, for the past six months or so, at my suggestion, Lieutenant General Shinotsuka has been conducting night combat training every night in all units of the First Army. Regardless of whether it is sunny or snowy, they have never slackened for a single day, and the night combat capabilities of all units of the First Army have greatly improved. If the 9th Brigade launched a night attack on the Eighth Route Army camp last night, and the Eighth Route Army was unprepared, it is possible that they could have achieved this result."

Tada Shun's expression shifted. Shinotsuka Yoshio had reported this matter to him, but he hadn't expected it to be Yamamoto Ichiki who brought it up.

"Oh dear." Tada Shun suddenly realized. "Immediately send a telegram back to the First Army to commend the 9th Brigade. Night battles are the Locust Army's specialty, but the situation of the 9th Brigade is still very bad. After all, the Eighth Route Army dominates during the day, and once the Eighth Route Army is on guard at night, the 9th Brigade will find it difficult to launch a night attack."

After a pause, Tada Shun asked in a deep voice, "Do you gentlemen have any tactics that would allow the 9th Brigade to inflict heavy losses on the Eighth Route Army?"

The old Japanese soldier knew very well that the 9th Brigade had absolutely no chance of holding Xinxian County.

However, the key now is that the 9th Brigade must hold out in Xinxian for a sufficient amount of time to ensure that the main force of the North China Front Army and combat supplies are in place.

The timing of the Eighth Route Army's attack on the First Army was unexpected by Tada Shun. He believed that the Eighth Route Army would not attack Taiyuan until April or May, as most of its transportation capacity had been allocated to strategic materials such as cement and steel. At present, the main force of the North China Area Army was not adequately prepared in terms of combat materials.

It would be even better if the 9th Brigade could inflict another significant number of casualties on the Eighth Route Army.

The group of Japanese staff officers immediately fell silent.

Even Yukio Kasahara and Masahiro Hirata had their brows furrowed.

The Eighth Route Army has powerful firepower and now possesses large-scale lethal weapons such as incendiary bombs, rendering the concrete bunkers and pillboxes built by the 9th Brigade at the cost of countless resources and money ineffective.

Kasahara Yukio suddenly said, "We can order the entire 9th Brigade to withdraw to Xinxian County and fight the Eighth Route Army in street battles. There are Chinese civilians in the county, so the Eighth Route Army will not dare to use artillery fire or throw incendiary bombs into the county. Without firepower advantage, the Eighth Route Army will inevitably suffer heavy losses."

“That’s one option,” Tada Shun nodded. “But what if the Eighth Route Army surrounds Xinxian County but doesn’t attack, and then crosses the county to attack Taiyuan?”

“This…” Kasahara Yukio hesitated, “Then kill the Chinese civilians in the city and force the Eighth Route Army to enter the city and fight the Japanese army in street battles.” The Japanese 9th Brigade had also built a lot of fortifications such as concrete bunkers and watchtowers in Xinxian County, and had made plans to fight in street battles.

Hirata Masamune said, "Wouldn't killing all the Eighth Route Army civilians in the city be doing them a huge favor? Then the Eighth Route Army could directly bombard the city with artillery and incendiary bombs, and wouldn't the 9th Brigade be completely wiped out?"

"This won't work, that won't work," Kasahara Yukio scoffed. "Then what do you suggest?"

Hirata Masahiro fell silent. He could easily refute Kasahara Yukio, but he couldn't come up with any real tactics.

“Commander,” Yamamoto Ichiki suddenly said, “I studied the Eighth Route Army’s incendiary bombs carefully yesterday and came up with a targeted tactic.”

"Yamamoto-kun," Tada Shun asked hurriedly, "what tactic have you come up with?"

Yamamoto Ichiki then said, "Once the Locust Army inside the concrete fortifications discovers the Eighth Route Army's aircraft attacking, they can immediately use steel plates or bricks to block the firing ports and doorways, preventing the flames of the Eighth Route Army's incendiary bombs from entering the concrete fortifications."

"In addition, the locust army and locust guerrillas outside the concrete fortifications can also hide inside the concrete fortifications."

Kasahara Yukio questioned, "According to the 9th Brigade's report, the Eighth Route Army's incendiary bombs are extremely powerful. Not only can they heat the concrete fortifications to high temperatures, making the Locust Army soldiers inside feel like they are in an oven, but the Eighth Route Army's incendiary bombs will also consume a large amount of oxygen in the surrounding area. Are you sure this tactic won't cause the Locust Army soldiers to suffocate?"

"Once you survive the first wave of incendiary bombs, you can immediately remove the steel plates or bricks," Yamamoto Ichiki said coldly. "Let the outside air enter the concrete fortification. Although the temperature inside the fortification is unbearable, it's better than being burned to death."

"Yes, sir." Tada Shun nodded. "Immediately send a telegram to the First Army Headquarters, ordering the 9th Brigade to adopt Yamamoto-kun's tactic. Also, the fortifications in Taiyuan and Niangziguan can adopt this tactic to avoid attacks from the Eighth Route Army's incendiary bombs."

"Yes, sir." Kasahara Yukio bowed his head. "By the way, Commander, the outer fortifications of Niangziguan Fortress were completely captured yesterday by the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army under the attack of incendiary bombs."

“No problem.” Tada Shunichi waved his hand and said, “Niangziguan Fortress is very strong, equipped with 150mm fortress cannons. Incendiary bombs have limited effect on the fortress, and the Eighth Route Army cannot capture Niangziguan.”

……

at the same time.

Under the cover of night, several hidden fortifications of the Eighth Route Army, located about 400 meters from the Niangziguan Fortress, were set up.

The muzzles of four 203mm heavy howitzers were aimed at the massive fortifications of Niangziguan Fortress.

Commander Liu decided to use 203mm heavy howitzers to conduct a spot check on the main fortifications of Niangziguan, as well as the surrounding concrete bunkers and watchtowers.

This was extremely risky; the Japanese could break out of the fortress at any time to seize or blow up these strategic heavy artillery pieces belonging to the Eighth Route Army.

However, in order to reduce troop casualties, Division Commander Liu decided to take the risk.

Otherwise, the Japanese and puppet troops, numbering nearly 20,000, inside the Niangziguan Fortress, with their strong fortifications and ample ammunition, would have inflicted heavy casualties on the 129th Division.

Fortunately, the Japanese soldiers didn't notice.

To ensure that this strategic weapon did not fall into enemy hands, Commander Liu even personally supervised its use, and all the artillerymen involved in the battle were outstanding individuals with both excellent military skills and political ideology.

At dawn, in the artillery command post, the heavy howitzer battalion commander reported to Division Commander Liu: "Reporting to Division Commander, all four 203mm howitzers are ready and can fire at any time."

Commander Liu glanced at his wristwatch, then said without hesitation, "Fire." (End of Chapter)