Anti-Japanese War: I have unlimited assistance

Chapter 619 Severely Damaging the 39th Brigade!

"what happened?"

"Has the ambush force been exposed?"

"This shouldn't be the case!"

Just as Iwasaki Minoru was wondering, a buzzing sound suddenly rang out in the sky, and his expression changed drastically.

I raised my binoculars and looked up at the sky. In the western sky, I saw a large number of airplanes.

Eighth Route Army planes.

A dozen seconds later, the Eighth Route Army's planes were already on their dive route, their target the earthen slopes on both sides of the Dazhaigou Highway.

"idiot!"

This sudden scene startled Iwasaki Minoru so much that he wet his diaper.

"Order all units to immediately move to Taiyuan..."

Tamio Iwasaki loudly issued the order.

But it was too late.

The Japanese soldiers were not equipped with walkie-talkies; even the telephone lines of the brigade headquarters and various units were only connected to the battalion level.

In order to achieve the effect of launching a sudden attack and then rushing in for hand-to-hand combat.

On the ambush site, the Japanese troops were in a relatively dense formation and had no fortifications.

If it is bombed, the losses will be devastating.

However, given the current situation, even if the 39th Brigade squad were equipped with walkie-talkies, it would be too late to retreat.

"Boom boom boom..."

As fighter jets and attack aircraft swept past, massive explosions erupted on the earthen slopes on both sides of the road.

One after another, napalm bombs tumbled and fell heavily, turning both sides of the road into one color—fiery red flames!
Countless elite Japanese soldiers were burned to ashes in an instant by the intense heat.

In addition, some Japanese soldiers were set on fire and ran out of the ambush position, screaming and running wildly on the road.

Upon seeing this, Iwasaki Minoru's eyes widened in fury, his gaze practically bursting with rage.

Just then, a Japanese battalion closest to the vanguard battalion of the New First Regiment rushed out of their ambush position and launched an attack on the vanguard battalion.

During the bombing, incendiary bombs had not yet covered the area; only a dozen or so aerial bombs fell.

This resulted in significant casualties for the Japanese battalion.

However, the second round of bombing was about to begin when Eighth Route Army planes came hurtling towards the area.

The Japanese battalion commander thought that rather than being burned to death by incendiary bombs or bombed by aerial bombs, he should rush up and get mixed up with the Eighth Route Army infantry.

Killing one Eighth Route Army soldier is not a loss, killing two is a huge gain.

However, Wang Xikui had anticipated the Japanese's intentions and had already used walkie-talkies to micro-manage the various companies and platoons to prepare for defense.

As a result, most of the Japanese soldiers in the battalion became targets for the vanguard battalion to practice their marksmanship.

……

More than an hour later.

Taiyuan.

Japanese First Army Headquarters.

"Commander, Chief of Staff."

The communications officer, clutching the telegram, rushed into the operations hall and bowed deeply to report:
"Urgent telegram from Major General Iwasaki, Commander of the 39th Brigade."

"Read!"

Yoshio Shinotsuka's expression darkened slightly, and he waved his hand, saying...

Seeing the communications officer's expression, he knew it wasn't good news, and Mutaguchi Renya's expression also darkened slightly.

"Hi."

The communications officer held the telegram in both hands and read it aloud:

"At noon today, enemy planes suddenly attacked our brigade's ambush position. All soldiers adhered to the duty of soldiers of the Empire and fought bravely with the strength of a blade of grass, but the enemy's firepower was extremely fierce."

"The 1st Battalion launched a desperate charge against the enemy and was completely annihilated. The other battalions also suffered heavy casualties, their field artillery was destroyed, and their communication systems were on the verge of collapse." "Currently, the commander is leading the remaining troops to retreat towards Yangqu."

"Major General Tamio Iwasaki, Commander of the 39th Brigade, Your Majesty the Emperor, and the Army of the Great Japanese Empire!"

After reading the telegram, the communications officer stood with his hands behind his back, awaiting orders.

Upon hearing the telegram, Yoshio Shinotsuka's face turned as black as the bottom of a pot. He looked at Renya Mutaguchi with a gloomy gaze: "Mutaguchi-kun, is this what you meant by being able to annihilate the Eighth Route Army's vanguard battalion?"

If it weren't for Renya Mutaguchi firing the first shot in the invasion of China, Yoshio Shinotsuka would have suspected that the kid was a spy for the Eighth Route Army.

Why is it that every time Renya Mutaguchi devises a battle plan, the First Army suffers heavy losses?
“Commander, something must have gone wrong!” Mutaguchi Renya said in a deep voice. He certainly didn’t want to take the blame. “The order was issued yesterday afternoon, so it shouldn’t be a leak of intelligence.”

"There's only one possibility."

"What's possible?" Yoshio Shinotsuka felt his heart bleeding, and he was on the verge of a mental breakdown.

An elite brigade of a Class A division went to ambush the Eighth Route Army's vanguard battalion.

Not only did they fail to ambush the enemy, but they were also bombed and suffered heavy losses.

It is estimated that by now, the 39th Brigade has already suffered heavy losses and lost its combat effectiveness.

"It's very likely that the 39th Brigade's ambush positions were poorly deployed," said Renya Mutaguchi. "The Eighth Route Army's reconnaissance planes spotted the flaws."

"Hmph!" Yoshio Shinotsuka snorted coldly, feeling a sense of powerlessness throughout his body.

He tried everything he could and mobilized a lot of combat supplies, but he still couldn't defeat even the vanguard battalion of more than 2,000 Eighth Route Army soldiers.

Yoshio Shinotsuka held a pessimistic view of the Third Battle of Taiyuan.

The Japanese referred to this operation as the Third Battle of Taiyuan.

The First Battle of Taiyuan was a Japanese offensive against the Second War Zone of China, in which the Japanese army attacked Taiyuan and fought against the Chinese forces. The Japanese army won and captured Taiyuan.

The Second Battle of Taiyuan saw the 129th Division launch its main force to attack Taiyuan and fight against the main force of the First Army. Although the 129th Division did not recapture Taiyuan, it achieved its strategic objective of holding back the main force of the First Army and preventing it from reinforcing the Jin-Sui battlefield. The Eighth Route Army won a minor victory.

The current situation is the Third Battle of Taiyuan, with the Eighth Route Army of Northwest Shanxi attacking Taiyuan and fighting against the main force of the First Army.

The strategic objective of the Eighth Route Army was to recapture Taiyuan and annihilate the First Army.

The First Army's strategic objective was to deplete the Eighth Route Army's manpower and then smoothly advance into Hebei Province.

Because the North China Front Army compared the strength of the First Army and the Eighth Route Army.

It was indeed discovered that the First Army was no match for the Eighth Route Army.

The 129th Division alone was enough to overwhelm the First Army.

With the addition of the even more formidable Jin-Sui Military Region, the First Army had virtually no chance of resisting.

Therefore,
The Japanese spent so many strategic materials and built a large number of concrete fortifications, hoping to use these fortifications to kill and wound the Eighth Route Army soldiers and resist the Eighth Route Army's recapture of Taiyuan.

However, the idea was beautiful, but the reality was cruel.

The Eighth Route Army not only possessed airplanes, but also cannons and shells specifically designed to deal with concrete fortifications.

But things have come to this point, and the only option is to fight to the death.

“Mr. Mutaguchi,” Yoshio Shinotsuka said after a moment’s thought, “tell the soldiers of the First Army that the 39th Brigade annihilated two thousand men of the Eighth Route Army’s vanguard battalion at Dazhaigou.”

"Yes!" Mutaguchi Renya paused for a moment, then quickly bowed and said.

The only option now is to forcefully boost the morale of the troops. If the other units were to learn that the 39th Brigade had suffered heavy losses, their morale would likely suffer another significant blow.

However, Yoshio Shinotsuka did not dare to report this false victory to the North China Area Army Headquarters.

The reason why the results of the 9th Brigade were doubled and given to Tada Shun was because he knew that the 9th Brigade would be completely annihilated by the Eighth Route Army, and the North China Area Army Staff could not verify the results.

However, the 39th Brigade was not completely annihilated. If they reported false battle results to the staff of the North China Area Army, they would definitely be found out.

“Commander,” said Renya Mutaguchi, “our First Army has ample ammunition and food supplies. With our sturdy concrete and tunnel fortifications, we will surely defeat Li Yunlong and the Eighth Route Army.”

Although he offered words of comfort, Mutaguchi was secretly planning to report the matter to the North China Area Army Headquarters after the battle.

Exposing Yoshio Shinotsuka's fabrication of battle records.

When that time comes, Yoshio Shinotsuka will be stripped of his rank in the First Army, and I might be able to be promoted to lieutenant general and become the commander of the First Army.

After all, he had the potential to become the marshal of the brother country.

“That’s right.” Yoshio Shinotsuka nodded emphatically. “The Locust Army will surely win, and the Eighth Route Army will surely lose.”

(End of this chapter)