Anti-Japanese War: Li Yunlong dared to attack Taiyuan

Cheng Kang glanced at the captives lying on the ground in the distance and said something.

Hearing this, the staff officer was a little surprised that Commander Li was going to be captured.

Even the political commissar of the newly formed Third Division beside him looked at Blind Cheng in surprise: "My eyesight has been bad recently, Old Cheng!"

After hearing this, Blind Cheng rolled his eyes at his political commissar and said, "Alright, this is an order from the commander himself. We're short of miners lately, and these devils are excellent laborers. Let's deal with them the same way they tortured the miners in Datong. Look at these devil boys, they have good physical fitness and are good miners!"

After hearing this explanation, several people felt relieved. It was not that Li Yunlong was kind-hearted, but that Li Yunlong was planning to take the Japanese to dig coal.

If you think about it carefully, it is indeed in line with Li Yunlong's style. Only useful devils can survive in Li Yunlong's hands.

Just as Blind Cheng was leading his men forward, they heard a group of Japanese soldiers suddenly appear not far away, holding their hands in unison and walking towards them.

Cheng Xiazi led his troops at a rapid pace. After about five kilometers, they encountered fewer and fewer logistics troops. Just then, they spotted a group of soldiers rushing in one direction, all of them very excited.

"What's happening over there? Go check it out!"

When Blind Cheng arrived, he saw a group of at least three or four hundred Japanese devils, all squatting on the ground with their heads in their hands, and there were only about twenty soldiers watching them.

Many of these twenty-plus people were the soldiers that Blind Cheng and the others had just seen.

"Are these all your prisoners?"

Blind Cheng recognized several soldiers as being under his command and asked with a smile on his face.

More than 20 people captured hundreds of Japanese devils, which was a considerable achievement.

"Ah? Commander, we didn't capture them, they were captured by the three of them!"

The soldier said this while pointing to a truck.

On the truck, Pang Daniu was holding a machine gun and aiming at the group of devils below. Lao Ran and Wang Yongjun were standing on the left and right of the truck, each holding a rifle in their hands, staring at the devils fiercely.

"Comrade, these are the prisoners you captured. What are your names?"

When Blind Cheng heard that these three men had captured hundreds of Japanese devils, his eyes immediately lit up.

Ever since Cheng Xiazi heard about the battle records of Xiao Wanshi and Zhang Yingcai, he has always wanted to form a similar team to serve as the spearhead of his own troops and carry out some special tasks.

However, no suitable person was found to command the troops, so the plan was delayed again and again.

I didn't expect to meet him today. Three of them captured hundreds of Japanese soldiers. Isn't this the combat genius I've been looking for?

"Report to the commander, my name is Pang Da Niu!"

"My name is Ran Fulin!"

"My name is Wang Yongjun!"

Blind Cheng looked at the three men. They were all short and looked a little thin, but their voices were sonorous and powerful.

"Which unit are you from?"

"Report, I'm from the kitchen team of the military region's logistics department!" Pang Daniu spoke again.

"Report, I'm from the Transportation Battalion of the Military Region Logistics Department!"

"Report, I'm from the ammunition battalion of the military region's logistics department!"

"Are these the devils you captured?"

The more Blind Cheng looked at the three people, the more he liked them. He was thinking about finding a way to get them over later.

Pang Da Niu nodded and said, "Commander, we captured them. Not only did these little devils refuse to surrender, they even resisted. We shot some of them before they surrendered!"

Chapter 575: Choice of Attack Direction

"Not only did the devils refuse to surrender, but they also dared to resist?"

When Li Yunlong saw the telegram sent by Blind Cheng, he couldn't help but feel a little dazed.

"What do you think of using this title for promotion?"

Li Yunlong handed the telegram to Chief Jiang intactly.

Jiang Shou took a look, nodded, and said, "Not bad, very impressive, let's use this for publicity!"

In large-scale troop operations, in addition to formulating combat plans and arranging logistical supplies, ideological propaganda work is also indispensable.

These tasks are interrelated and not independent of each other. Whether the troops are on the march or taking a break from combat, they need to carry out certain ideological work.

Although this is similar to "brainwashing" to some extent, its fundamental purpose is to enhance the cohesion of the troops and thus improve their combat effectiveness.

Three ordinary soldiers captured hundreds of Japanese devils and said such domineering words. If they were promoted throughout the army, it would easily inspire the morale of the troops and take the already high morale to a higher level.

"These three Japanese divisions were mobilized from Harbin, Songyuan and other places. Li Yunlong, if you were in command now, what would you do?"

Li Yunlong looked at the map in his hand. It was densely covered with various lines, representing the strength of his own troops and the enemy troops. At this moment, Harbin and Songyuan were already empty of troops.

"If I were in command, we would attack Songyuan right now, and then march north to attack Harbin!"

Jiang Shou smiled and said, "What you're doing is actually a strategy. Harbin and Songyuan are currently undermanned, making them relatively easy to capture. But have you ever considered that once we capture these two cities, we'll be in a difficult situation?"

"The Japanese Far Eastern Front should be heading south soon. If we attack a large city like Harbin now, it will be extremely difficult to capture. It will cost a lot to take it. And even if we take it, it will be difficult to hold it. The situation in Songyuan is the same. There are no strategic locations around it, and we will have to divide our forces to defend it after we capture it."

"Once we capture these two cities, we will need to allocate a large number of troops to defend them, which will also give the Japanese a key target to attack. Now is not the time to fight a decisive battle with the Japanese."

"Let the New Third Division occupy Songyuan and recruit soldiers there, then have the New Seventh Division move to the Daqing Mountains near Harbin. The New Seventh Division is composed almost entirely of Anti-Japanese Allied Forces fighters, and they are very familiar with the terrain there."

"I want them to control Daqingshan and Pingdingshan and block Tonghe, the main route for the Japanese Far East Front's advance southward!"

The red route is the New 7th Division route, and the blue route is the Far Eastern Front route

"By the way, tell them that after arriving at Daqingshan, they must vigorously carry out publicity work to attract as many people as possible to join our team!"

Li Yunlong pondered Chief Jiang's deployment and roughly understood his thinking. He asked, "Do you mean to deploy a small number of troops in Heilongjiang Province and send the main force south?"

"Well, we're currently short on manpower, so we can only focus on one side, north or south. According to the intelligence we've obtained, the Japanese troops intend to defend the major cities to the death and won't be mobilized arbitrarily. Our battle plan must be adjusted accordingly."

"To the south are the two major cities of Fengtian and Xinjing, both important industrial centers. Their terrain is easy to defend but difficult to attack. After they are taken, we only need to garrison key locations with a small number of troops to block the enemy's reinforcements. However, the Harbin area needs to face the Far Eastern Front directly, and there are no good defensive points."

"Also, if we can defeat the devils in the south and open the southern gate of the four eastern provinces, our brother troops will be able to support the four eastern provinces."

"By then, we will concentrate our forces to fight a decisive battle with the Japanese and drive them all out of the four eastern provinces in one battle!"

As he spoke, he moved his fingers back and forth on the map, pointing out to Li Yunlong which were the key areas and which places needed to be temporarily abandoned.

There are hundreds of cities densely packed on the map, and Li Yunlong can only roughly remember some of the big cities.

However, Jiang Shou could clearly remember the names of some small counties, important towns and passes, and even knew the terrain like the back of his hand.

Commanding hundreds of thousands of troops in combat, and in coordinated land and air operations, truly required a tremendous amount of energy. This was especially true for a commander like him, whose missions were so precise as to blow up a bridge or capture a town to block the enemy.

Originally, Li Yunlong thought that he could command tens of thousands of people, and commanding 300,000 people should be barely feasible.

Now it seems that I was thinking too simply. I still need to learn more and gain more experience.

At the same time, at the headquarters of the Japanese Fifth Army.

Toshimichi Kamimura received a telegram from the front line.

"Report, the Baicheng defenders are reporting that most of the city has been occupied by the Eighth Route Army, and they are making their final resistance!"

At this time, there was chaos in Kamimura Toshimichi's command center, with telephones ringing and telegraphs ringing one after another, and the latest battle situation was constantly being presented to Kamimura Toshimichi.

"Report, Harbin Airport has called. The runway has been completely destroyed, the fuel depot has been bombed, and the ammunition depot has been damaged. Repairs are expected to take half a month!"

"Report, call from Xinjing Airport, airport runway..."

"Report……"

At this moment, Toshimichi Kamimura was extremely calm. He kept staring at the map and constantly digested the bad news from the front line.

Since the Eighth Route Army's large number of planes took off a few hours ago, Kamimura Toshimichi has not received any good news. All he received was information about attacks in various areas.

"Tell the White City defenders that reinforcements are less than 20 kilometers away and will arrive soon!"

"Hai!"

"Report, urgent message from the 201st Division: They were ambushed by the Eighth Route Army outside Baicheng and suffered heavy losses. They are currently retreating towards Songyuan. The Eighth Route Army is pursuing them. Requesting tactical guidance!"

"Report, the 205th Division has an urgent message: they were ambushed by the main force of the Eighth Route Army and suffered heavy losses. They are currently..."

"Report, urgent message from the 209th Division..."

The three divisions that were attacked outside Baicheng sent telegrams requesting support almost at the same time.

"What? Three divisions were ambushed at the same time?"

Toshimichi Kamimura looked at the telegram in surprise. These three divisions were drawn from Songyuan, Harbin and other places. How could they request support at the same time?

"Report, the 201st, 205th, and 209th Divisions met upon crossing the Taoer River and subsequently marched towards Baicheng together."

Upon hearing the staff officer's report, Kamimura Toshimichi was immediately enraged: "These bastards, don't they know that their respective attack directions are different? Why are they combining their forces to attack together and make it easier for the Eighth Route Army to stop them?"

As soon as he said this, Toshimichi Kamimura calmed down. He knew that now was not the time to get angry. The most urgent thing was to solve the difficult problems at hand.

The reinforcements sent to support Baicheng were defeated, and Baicheng could certainly not be held. The Eighth Route Army had already entered the Northeast Plain. Unless the Eighth Route Army could be driven out, the Eighth Route Army would have the initiative to attack before the reinforcements arrived.

"Send a telegram to the Kwantung Army Headquarters: The Eighth Route Army has captured Baicheng. Harbin is undermanned and urgently needs reinforcements!"

"Hai!"

"Order the frontline troops to closely monitor the movements of the Eighth Route Army. I want to know which city the Eighth Route Army's next target will be!"

Kamimura Toshimichi set his sights on the cities of Harbin and Xinjing. If the Eighth Route Army moved north, Harbin would be their target; if they moved south, Xinjing would be their target.

In the past, Kamimura Toshimichi would have taken a gamble and guessed the Eighth Route Army's key offensive area, but now he didn't dare to gamble. If he guessed wrong, the entire four northeastern provinces might fall because of his wrong decision.

The best way right now is to proceed steadily, abandon part of the city first, find out the key attack area of ​​Li Yunlong's troops, and then concentrate troops to defend, while also buying time to wait for reinforcements to arrive.

Chapter 576 The Japs' Countermeasures

"Has Li Yunlong's army captured Baicheng?"

After receiving the telegram from the Fifth Army, Mei Jing Meijiro glanced at the map and put the telegram aside.

"Hai, Li Yunlong's troops have a large number of aircraft and armored units. Because we have withdrawn a large number of aircraft and tanks, Li Yunlong's troops have destroyed several important airports in Manchuria, and the Fifth Army has lost air superiority."

"That's really bad news!"

Mei Jing Meijiro sighed. He had not expected that Li Yunlong's army would develop so rapidly. In just over a year, he had hundreds of fighter planes and hundreds of tanks.

The number of these planes and tanks is not large considering the current manufacturing capacity of the Japanese, but it is also difficult for the Japanese to gather so many planes and armored forces in a short period of time to deal with Li Yunlong's troops.