Anti-Japanese War: Li Yunlong dared to attack Taiyuan

Seeing Li Yunlong become serious, Kong Jie's expression also became serious.

After leaving Kong Jie, Li Yunlong began to prepare to gather troops.

The main force was still in Wutai Mountain with Zhao Gang. Li Yunlong only had Zhang Dabiao's First Team, part of the Guard Battalion, and the newly formed Sixth and Seventh Battalions that had not completed training before going to attack Datong. There were only about 4,000 people in total.

In addition, there is a heavy artillery company with a total of five 105mm heavy artillery pieces, a tank company, and eight Japanese tanks.

These people are definitely not enough to defeat an entire Japanese division. Li Yunlong needs to determine the battle plan with Zhao Gang and apply for support from the headquarters. It is currently unrealistic to rely on an independent column alone to wipe out an entire Japanese division.

After thinking about it, Li Yunlong decided to mobilize the 11th and 12th detachments in northern Hebei. After all, the troops were about to be reorganized and these two troops also needed to be expanded. It was a good opportunity to mobilize them to fight together and update their equipment.

In the northern Hebei region, Commander Che Youguo and Liu Changxi of the Northern Hebei Detachment of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Independent Column were counting their harvest with smiles on their faces.

Originally, the two men were a little dissatisfied when the Ninth Column was incorporated into Li Yunlong's Jin-Cha-Ji Independent Column, but they kept it in their hearts and didn't say it. However, after Li Yunlong sent them weapons and ammunition, the two men never complained again.

Now even if the headquarters asked them to continue to serve as commanders of the Ninth Column, the two would not be happy.

How comfortable was it for the Jin-Cha-Ji Independent Column? They used to have to take care of everything from eating and drinking to going to the toilet. Now, someone provided them with some logistical support, and even supported them with their rocket launchers, a powerful weapon for attacking artillery towers.

In the past, attacking artillery towers would require the lives of hundreds or even more soldiers. Now, there are basically no casualties. Now, the artillery towers and strongholds outside Shimen have basically been removed.

Throughout the northern Hebei region, the Japanese could only hide in the county town and dared not go out.

"Report, telegram from headquarters."

"A telegram from headquarters?"

Che Youguo and Liu Changxi immediately took the telegram. Since being incorporated into the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Independent Column, Li Yunlong had not issued any orders to them except for daily telegram exchanges. They didn't even know that Li Yunlong had captured Datong and obtained a large amount of supplies.

"Old Li told us to take our troops to the vicinity of Yu County within five days!"

Che Youguo quickly walked to the front of the map and found the location of Yu County: "What is Lao Li going to do?"

"I don't know, but I think they're going to do something big. The Japanese are planning to encircle and suppress our base soon, so we need to move."

"Well, take everything you can. Five days is plenty of time."

At this point, Liu Changxi suddenly spoke up, "Political Commissar Zhao sent us a telegram earlier, asking us to find several comrades. We only found one, so let's bring him along."

"Well, it's just right for us to go together. Oh, and there's also Li Dabenshi. I asked him to go to Ping'an County to find Old Li, but he didn't dare to go. This time he has to go even if he doesn't want to!"

"Okay, I'll give the order right away. Let's set off early and try to arrive early!"

At this moment, Li Dabenshi and Ding Dasuanpan arrived at the headquarters. "Commander, we've taken down three more enemy artillery towers this time. Can you give us a unit number? Without a unit number, our comrades won't feel confident when they go out to fight the enemy. When the enemy asks us which unit we're from..."

This is not the first time that Li Dabenshi has asked for the number of his sports car in front of Youguo and Liu Changxi.

Seeing Li Dabenshi coming again, Liu Changxi said with a smile on his face: "You want a number? Fine. This time, bring your people and follow the main force. Once the mission is completed, I will give you a number!"

After hearing this, Li Dabenshi's eyes lit up: "Really?"

"When did I lie to you?"

Li Dabenshi couldn't help but smile, and gave a thumbs up, saying, "Okay, I'll go and notify all comrades to gather at the headquarters."

"Go ahead, and be quick!"

By the time Li Dabenshi arrived, the 11th and 12th teams had already assembled and were ready to set off.

Among the group of people, there was a female comrade who was particularly eye-catching. She had a broken leg and was standing in the queue with a crutch. She was Xiaocao's mother. One of her legs was blown off during the battle with the Japanese. She had been recuperating from the injury and had no chance to return to the village to find Xiaocao.

The people that Liu Changxi mentioned Zhao Gang looking for just now were actually the families of Xiaocao and other little heroes. However, except for Xiaocao's mother, although the others were found, they would never be able to reunite with these little heroes.

The Third Direct Team where Loach was located fought until they ran out of ammunition and food in the last mopping-up operation to cover the retreat of the main force, and all the members died heroically.

The Anti-Japanese Drama Society, where the art troupe was located, encountered Japanese cavalry during the transfer. Unwilling to be captured, they had no weapons and used various tools used in the performance to fight the Japanese until the last man, and all of them died heroically.

Xiaohao's parents died in battle two years ago...

Li Yunlong knew this news, but he never told the group of children.

Chapter 237: In this battle, I, Li Yunlong, do not want any prisoners

"Commander, Chief of Staff, I have something to tell you. I want to attack Taiyuan..."

Li Yunlong hurried to the headquarters. Before he could finish his words, he saw the large porcelain jar next to the commander. He picked it up and filled it with water. After rushing to the headquarters, Li Yunlong was a little hungry.

"You want to fight Taiyuan?"

The boss and the chief of general staff stared at Li Yunlong with wide eyes.

Li Yunlong immediately waved his hand and said, "It's not Taiyuan, it's Taiyuan Airport. I'm planning to attack Taiyuan Airport and then destroy the devil's Sixth Division!"

"Then you might as well just attack Taiyuan!"

After listening to what the army commander and the chief of general staff said, they rolled their eyes at Li Yunlong. This kid Li Yunlong was getting cocky again, but he had made some progress and knew to report in advance.

The Sixth Division, the Japanese Type A Division, although Li Yunlong annihilated one of its 13th Infantry Regiment, still had more than 20,000 troops. Li Yunlong's plan to wipe out the Sixth Division was no different from directly attacking Taiyuan, as the Sixth Division was stationed in Taiyuan.

"Commander, Chief of General Staff, please don't object yet. Listen to me. This is my plan."

Li Yunlong walked directly to the front of the map and said, "I have an informant, ugh, an intelligence officer, the Major of the Japanese Fourth Division, Kota Kotaro, who I captured last time. He sent me some information."

Li Yunlong pointed to the junction of Wutai Mountain and Taihang Mountain and said, "The devil prince in Taiyuan City mobilized the 4th and 6th Divisions to these two places. The 4th Division is stationed from Yangquan to Niangzi Pass, and the 6th Division is stationed in Meng County."

"The devil prince wanted to prevent the more than 100,000 people led by Political Commissar Zhao from returning to the base area, and even wanted to kill the independent column. The devil also specially prepared a large number of poison gas bombs."

Upon hearing this, the army commander and the chief of staff immediately turned serious and asked, "Are you planning to fight two Japanese divisions at once?"

Li Yunlong waved his hand and said, "No, it's just one division. Don't worry about the Fourth Division. I've bought all their bullets."

"???"

The army commander and the chief of staff were stunned. What was Li Yunlong doing? Was he buying up all the Japanese division's ammunition? Why didn't they understand this?

"One dollar for fifteen rounds of ammunition. I bought three million rounds, which only cost three hundred thousand dollars in total. This is about the amount of ammunition a Japanese division usually has. They should have kept some for themselves, but definitely not much. They are all businessmen who value money over life."

Li Yunlong's words, taken individually, were understandable to both the army commander and the chief of staff, but why were they completely incomprehensible when taken together? Had he bought up an entire Japanese division's worth of ammunition? What would the Japanese use themselves? What would they fight with on the battlefield? A firewood stick without bullets?

Li Yunlong looked at the army commander and the chief of staff and immediately realized that they didn't know much about the 4th Division. He smiled and explained, "Commander, Chief of Staff, the 4th Division is nicknamed the Coward Division in the Japanese army. This is regional discrimination within the Japanese army. The contempt chain of the people in Kanto and Kansai, plus the fact that the 4th Division was a bit cowardly during the previous battle between the Japanese and the Russians, gave it this nickname."

"This division's combat effectiveness is not bad, but their soldiers are all from Osaka. That place is the Japanese commercial city, full of small vendors, so they prefer to do business, and they brought their business traditions into the army. The last time I sold the Japanese corpse, it was them who traded with me."

"The commander of the 165th Division of the Nationalist Army bought a military officer's sword, which was also sold to me by the commander of the th Division."

"This division is willing to sell anything for money. I contacted them after returning from Datong. I plan to exchange the gold I brought back from Datong for weapons, ammunition, and various equipment."

The army commander and the chief of staff roughly understood what Li Yunlong meant. Looking at Yangquan on the map, they asked, "Are you saying that the Japanese Fourth Division will not support the Sixth Division?"

"They will certainly support us, but they're just like the puppet army. At most, they'll shout a few words and provide symbolic support. We only need to send a troop to block them, and they'll just slack off. Besides, they march very slowly."

The army commander and the chief of staff said: "We can't trust the devils so much. If we want to fight, we still have to send a troop to keep an eye on them. If they go all out to support us, it will affect the entire battle situation."

"Well, I know that. I'm on guard. Even though I bought something from the Japanese, they'll have to pay it back sooner or later. If the Fourth Division goes all out to support the Sixth Division, I'll immediately give up on the encirclement and suppression of the Sixth Division and won't fight to the death."

The army commander and the chief of general staff looked at the map and this time they thought seriously about the feasibility of Li Yunlong's plan. They could not accept some of Li Yunlong's wild ideas, but Li Yunlong always proved that he was right, so even if Li Yunlong said that he wanted to fight back to the four eastern provinces, they would consider the feasibility of this matter.

The army commander and the chief of general staff looked at each other. They had a tacit understanding and had the answer in their minds at the same time. If there was only one Sixth Division, isolated and helpless, and Li Yunlong could blow up the Japanese airport, this battle could be won.

"In addition to the Fourth Division, we also need to cut off the roads leading to the Sixth Division's reinforcements. All the bridges here need to be blown up. The Japanese reinforcements will take time to arrive from Taiyuan."

Li Yunlong nodded and said, "I have contacted Ding Wei. He will send troops to blow up these bridges when the time comes."

Then Li Yunlong pointed at Taiyuan and said, "I also told Kong Jie to bomb the airport and then drop two rockets on Taiyuan. The Japanese defenders in Taiyuan should not dare to go out to support the Sixth Division easily."

"If that's the case, the only troops the Japanese can mobilize are the 14th Division in Changzhi. Far-flung water can't quench near thirst!"

"There are still some troops in Taiyuan City. As long as the entire 20th Division is not deployed, our troops can hold out for a while."

"I'm not going to fight the 6th Division to the death. I'm going to fight for the whole afternoon and night. All the ammunition consumed will be counted towards our independent column. But if there's a chance, I'm going to wipe out the entire 6th Division without leaving a single one alive!"

When the army commander and the chief of general staff heard Li Yunlong say in a decisive tone that he wanted to wipe out the Sixth Division without leaving a single one alive, they looked at Li Yunlong in shock, although Li Yunlong's troops had never captured ordinary Japanese prisoners of war.

But no one exposed this matter, and everyone knew it tacitly. But this time, Li Yunlong exposed it himself and said something that could not be kept.

"Li Yunlong, don't be stupid. We've only had a few days of peace, and you want to take the blame again?"

Looking at the caring eyes of the army commander and the chief of general staff, Li Yunlong took a deep breath to calm himself.

The reason why Li Yunlong said that he didn't want any prisoners of war was because there must be many other troops cooperating in the operation this time, and the killing of prisoners of war could not be concealed.

"Commander, Chief of General Staff, I have my reasons. This unit has been to Nanjing!"

"Ok?"

The army commander and the chief of general staff looked at each other. They knew what had happened in Jinling, but neither of them knew exactly how many people the Japanese had killed. In fact, no one knew at that time except Li Yunlong.

The people in the mountain city didn't know. They thought that only tens of thousands of people were killed, but at most more than 100,000 people died. The Japanese didn't know because they didn't keep a count at all. They just killed, buried, burned and threw them into the rivers.

Reporter Archibald Steele, who reported this incident, did not know the exact number. The figure of 30 was obtained through various records and excavations of Nanjing City after the Japanese were defeated, and it was no more, no less.

This doesn't even include the blood debt committed by the Japanese on the way from Shanghai to Nanjing.

"Commander, Chief of the General Staff, at least 300,000 people were massacred by the Japanese in Jinling City, and a large number of them were civilians!"

Li Yunlong slowly said this sad number.

The army commander and the chief of staff were both a little unsteady. They stared at Li Yunlong with wide eyes and asked, "How much?"

"Three hundred thousand!"

The commander clenched his fists tightly and asked through gritted teeth, "How did you know?"

"I have people from Jinling who have joined the army. I can't count the exact number, but it's at least 300,000!"

Li Yunlong did not lie. There were indeed people in his army who came from Nanjing to surrender. They also told Li Yunlong about the situation in Nanjing, and Li Yunlong also asked them to prepare a document.

He silently placed the compiled document on the table, which also included some newspapers exposing the Japanese massacre, some precious photos, some oral accounts of survivors, etc.

The commander felt a little heavy-hearted. He took a deep breath and picked up the document to look through it.

After reading it, the commander slammed his fist on the table.

"Those sons of bitches, beat them! We must beat them! Leave no one alive! This is my order! From now on, whenever we encounter the devil's Third, Fifth, Sixth, Ninth, Thirteenth, Sixteenth, Eighteenth, and 114th Divisions, I won't take any prisoners! Leave no one alive!"

Chapter 238 Spread the news of Li Yunlong’s marriage

The reason why Li Yunlong wanted to reveal Jinling's numbers was to gain the support of the army commander and the chief of general staff, and to mobilize some main forces to help Li Yunlong encircle and suppress the Sixth Division.

It is unlikely that Li Yunlong's independent column will completely wipe out the Sixth Division. They can defeat or crush it, but they cannot annihilate or cripple it.

This is the best opportunity to encircle and annihilate the Sixth Division. Once missed, there may never be such a good opportunity again.

If only the Sixth Division was defeated, this Japanese army would definitely be transferred to the rear for rest and recuperation. Next year, it might be transferred directly to another place or directly to the Pacific battlefield. Li Yunlong would never have the chance to kill them and avenge those people.