Anti-Japanese War: Li Yunlong dared to attack Taiyuan

There is no need to worry about the mess in Taiyuan City. Even if Taiyuan City is lost, it has nothing to do with him as the division commander.

But Nanada Ichiro's joy did not last long.

While he was eagerly waiting for Matsui Ishigen to arrive in Taiyuan, bad news came that Matsui Ishigen was captured by the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Independent Column of the Eighth Route Army.

When Ichiro Nanada, who was preparing for a welcoming ceremony at the train station, received the news, he felt like the sky was falling.

If it weren't for the chief of staff supporting him, Ichiro Nanata would probably have collapsed to the ground.

The commander of the First Army, whom he had been eagerly awaiting, was captured by the Eighth Route Army before he even took office? Did Taiyuan still need to take responsibility?

What made Nanata Ichiro even more devastated was the next telegram from the headquarters, saying that the Navy's Marines were coming to Taiyuan to assist in the defense of Taiyuan.

When seeing the content of this telegram, Ichiro Nanata felt that this telegram was fake. How could the army let the navy take over their city defense?

However, when Nanata Ichiro sent a telegram to inquire, the answer he received was still that the Marine Corps had taken over the defense of Taiyuan, which made Nanata Ichiro almost faint. This was true, and this Marine Corps had been on the march for some time and would arrive in Taiyuan in the next two days.

Navy Shou Taiyuan, what a niche word. If the soldiers under his command knew this news, it is estimated that this group of low-level soldiers and officers would immediately mutiny and open fire on the navy's idiots.

Although Ichiro Nanada also wanted to do this, he knew that as a division commander, he could never allow such a thing to happen, otherwise the army might suffer a great loss because of the impulsiveness of the soldiers of his 20th Division.

As a division commander, he knew this truth, but the lower-level soldiers did not know it. They only thought it was a shame, a humiliation of the army by the navy.

Just as Ichiro Nanada was thinking about countermeasures, he finally received some good news.

The first good news is that the 116th Division has been incorporated into the combat sequence of the First Army to make up for the shortage of troops after the 6th Division was destroyed.

However, there is a drawback to this good news. The 116th Division is still a bit far from Taiyuan and is currently stationed in Wuhan. It may take about half a month or even longer for them to arrive.

There is even better news. The headquarters ordered the 20th Division to go north to assist the Mengjiang garrison troops in attacking the Wutai Mountain base and rescuing General Matsui Ishigen.

Although it was a combat mission, for Ichiro Nanada, it was definitely good news that could not be better. He could lead his troops to fight at the Wutai Mountain base without having to stay in Taiyuan City and without having to see the arrogant faces of the navy bastards after they arrived in Taiyuan.

"Your Excellency, Division Commander, wouldn't it be a bad idea for us to just leave Taiyuan like this and leave only a bunch of puppet troops in Taiyuan City?"

The staff officer of the 20th Division beside him asked in a low voice.

"What are you afraid of? There are military police in Taiyuan City, as well as the First Army Headquarters Guard, plus the Arsenal Guard and the Airport Guard. Together, they have nearly a regiment's worth of troops, plus more than 20,000 puppet troops. Taiyuan can't be lost."

After hearing this, the chief of staff of the 20th Division did not say anything more.

Nanada Ichiro asked, "Do you know where those navy idiots are?"

The Chief of Staff shook his head and said, "I don't know, but they appeared in the Jingxing area tonight and should reach Taiyuan within two days."

At this time, a signalman came in: "Report, secret message from headquarters!"

After hearing this, Ichiro Nanada took the telegram, asked everyone to leave, looked at the content of the telegram, found a code book and began to translate it.

After seeing the content of the telegram, Ichiro Nanata started to think about it.

The headquarters must save some face for the army.

Although the content of the telegram was very simple, Ichiro Nanada saw the attitude of the Army Headquarters from this confidential telegram.

The Minister of War would not openly send a telegram asking me to deal with this Marine Corps or other matters, but as a subordinate, I must be able to guess what he means in order to make further progress.

Since it is the intention of the Army Headquarters, then these idiots from the Navy who have come to Taiyuan must not be allowed to stay in Taiyuan peacefully.

As for how to save the army's face? The loss of Taiyuan is one of the most effective ways to save the army's face.

When the army was in Taiyuan, Taiyuan was as solid as a rock, but after the Marines took over, Taiyuan City was captured.

Then the navy will become the object of ridicule by the army, and the navy’s plan to vigorously develop the marine corps and occupy Southeast Asia will be shelved. After all, if they can’t even defend a city, how can they occupy a country?

As long as Taiyuan was captured after the navy took over, it can only mean one thing: it's not the army that is incompetent, but the navy.

The Army can hold it, but the Marine Corps cannot. Moreover, an Army Type B division can hold it, but the Marine Corps is not even as good as a Type B division.

Thinking of this, Ichiro Nanada already had a plan in mind.

The 20th Division was previously stationed in Changzhi, Yuncheng and other areas, and had frequent contacts with the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army.

If this news is told to the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army, they can take the opportunity to make a fortune.

At this time, the Marines had no idea that they were about to be betrayed, but continued to follow Xiao Wanshi and others towards Ping'an County.

"Taijun, Daqing Ridge is just ahead. After reaching Daqing Ridge, there will be a road that leads directly to Ping'an County. The road ahead will be much easier!"

Along the way, Xiao Wanshi has roughly figured out the weapons and equipment of this Japanese army, and also judged the strength of this Japanese Marine Corps.

It is roughly equivalent to the combat effectiveness of the Japanese Type B Division, perhaps even worse than that of the Type B Division.

First of all, it can be seen from the marching formation that when this unit was marching, all kinds of noises could be heard. The Japanese soldiers were chatting and complaining.

The second issue was the marching speed. There were gaps in the Japanese marching formation, and some soldiers, who had just rested for a while, could not keep up with the formation.

The last thing is the alert status of the march. In order to prevent the Japanese from arriving at Daqing Ridge, Xiao Wanshi will check the surrounding terrain. After all, the Daqing Ridge area is too suitable for ambushes. Any trained officer will send reconnaissance troops to check the surroundings before entering these places to prevent ambushes.

So Xiao Wanshi specifically led the Japanese Marines into several ravines and places prone to ambush. The Japanese didn't even send soldiers to conduct reconnaissance in advance, and they just walked in with a swagger.

Xiao Wanshi felt that with such a team, not to mention the Independent Column, even if the 772nd Regiment came, as long as they had enough ammunition, they could fight them.

Chapter 313 The Marines Discover a Shocking Secret

Daqing Ridge.

Zhang Dabiao led his troops and ambushed on the mountains on both sides of Daqing Ridge, waiting for the arrival of the Japanese Marines.

This time, Li Yunlong mobilized all the troops he could, and the troop deployment was even similar to when he eliminated the Japanese Sixth Division.

Except for the friendly forces that were not fighting for reinforcements on the periphery, all the troops that the entire Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Independent Column could mobilize were around Daqing Ridge.

Even the newly reorganized combat units of the National Army were temporarily organized into the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Independent Regiments and sent to Daqing Ridge.

There were about 20,000 people ambushed around Daqing Ridge.

It’s just to eat up this Japanese Marine Corps.

"Why haven't you come yet?"

Zhang Dabiao looked at the time. It was already around three o'clock in the morning. According to the distance, Xiao Wanshi and others should have arrived at Daqing Ridge at around one o'clock. After all, Daqing Ridge was not far from Fenghuang Mountain. Five hours would be enough for a round trip.

It has been almost seven or eight hours now and there is still no movement.

"Is nothing going to happen?"

Huang Zhiyong asked worriedly.

After all, Xiao Wanshi and others disguised themselves as Japanese soldiers and led them into the encirclement. If the Jibei reconnaissance force had sent a telegram telling them that Xiao Wanshi and others had infiltrated the Japanese army,

However, this kind of thing of infiltrating into the enemy's troops and leading the enemy is itself full of danger and uncertainty. No one can guarantee safety. If you are not careful, you may be exposed, and once exposed, it is basically equivalent to sacrifice.

While Zhang Dabiao and others were worried about whether something might happen to Xiao Wanshi and others, Xiao Wanshi was also doubting his life.

Are these the devil's troops? What are these devil's troops doing?

When he first arrived at Phoenix Mountain, Xiao Wanshi felt something was wrong, but he just thought that this unit might be similar to the Japanese Type B Division, a unit with no combat experience.

But after walking down from Phoenix Mountain and walking for a distance, Xiao Wanshi discovered that this Japanese army had actually started to rest.

It was not just the Japanese officers who needed to rest. After all, it was common for officers to be not good at running. However, the Japanese soldiers in this unit also began to clamor for rest, saying that they could not walk anymore, etc.

Next, the troops began to rest, and then started to eat. It had just been a short time since they finished their last meal, and they were in a hurry to eat again to fill their stomachs?

"Taijun, can you give us something to eat?"

The Japanese wanted to rest, and Xiao Wanshi had no choice but to continue acting.

"I almost forgot about you guys. Do you need coffee?"

As he spoke, he took out some food. There were many kinds of food, much more than the spoils Xiao Wanshi had captured from the Japanese army.

"These cans are for you!"

The Japanese staff officer took out a few cans and handed them over.

When Xiao Wanshi took the can, he felt something was wrong. It was heavier than the cans he had seized. After distributing them to the soldiers one by one, he opened the cans and found a shocking scene.

The cans of food given by the Japanese staff officer were all beef, not the half soup, half beef cans they had captured from the Japanese army. (Note 1)

"All meat?"

Xiao Wanshi was a little surprised. After hearing this, the Japanese staff officer looked at Xiao Wanshi in surprise and said, "Is there no meat in the canned food you were given? Maybe it's canned fruit."

"No, the canned food we were given was half soup and half meat. Sometimes it was only one-third beef. And we only got it when we won a battle. Normally, we couldn't eat canned beef."

When these words came out, the staff officer was stunned for a moment, and then asked excitedly: "Is what you said true?"

"Ha Yi, it's true!"

Of course it's true. Li Yunlong got married at noon today, so he opened a lot of cans of food for the entire independent column to eat. When he was opening the cans, Xiao Wanshi and others were staring at the meat in the pot and grinning foolishly.

At that time, when the kitchen staff opened cans, they would first poke a hole in the can, pour out the red water inside, then open it, take out the meat inside, cut it and put it into the pot.

After hearing this, the staff officer's eyes lit up and he ran to find Ouchi Denshichiro: "Your Excellency, Your Excellency, I have something important to report to you."

"Oh? Have you found any traces of the Eighth Route Army?"

Ouchi Denshichiro asked curiously while eating the can in his hand.

"No, I just asked those Imperial Army soldiers, and I found out that the Army is withholding their food. Those idiots in the Army are actually tampering with the canned food. Their canned beef is only half meat and half blood."

When Ouchi Denshichiro heard this, his eyes lit up: "Really?"

"Hayi, I've checked it over and over again."

"Baga, those bastards in the Army compete with our Navy for funding every year. They even tamper with canned food just to embezzle it. No wonder they always lose the war!"

The Japanese navy knew nothing about the army's food standards and thought that the food standards should be the same. Since half of the meat in the cans was missing, it must be that someone in the army was corrupt.

"This is important intelligence. I immediately reported it to the Navy Headquarters. It seems the Army doesn't want us to interfere in their affairs because they have a major internal problem. I think we discovered this problem accidentally. A single can of canned food can show just how serious the corruption within the Army is."

"These bastards are actually skimping on the soldiers' food. Don't they know how the Qing Empire fell? These are a bunch of parasites of the empire!"

As Ouchi Denshichiro spoke, he quickly asked the signalman to send a telegram to the Navy Headquarters. This was a major discovery.

When the army competes with the navy for funding again, they can bring out this evidence, claiming that the army's funds have been embezzled by them, and demand a thorough investigation into the army's corruption. Then the navy will be able to obtain more funding.

"Let them come to us, I need to ask them some questions!"

Ouchi Denshichiro thought about it and felt that he had discovered a big problem in the army. He needed to carefully question these Imperial Army soldiers, as they should know a lot of secrets.

Soon, Xiao Wanshi and others were brought to Ouchi Denshichiro by the Japanese staff.

Originally, Xiao Wanshi and others were a little worried, fearing that the Japanese general would suddenly call them over, perhaps because he suspected their identities. Some of them even communicated with each other through gestures, stating that if they found anything wrong, they would take action immediately and replace as many Japanese soldiers as possible.