Age of Conquest Reborn

Chapter 560

Yamaguchi's Dilemma

In Gu County, Shanxi Province, the temporary headquarters of the ** Division, Tang Qiuli took a telegram and was checking it on the map and checking it from time to time. When he learned the information that Yamaguchi wanted to slip away, he smiled coldly, enough of rampaging through the Taihang Mountain base area.

, I want to run away, but there is no such cheap thing. If I stay in Taihang Mountain all the time, aren't I just asking for death?

Tang Qiuli was puzzled by the fact that the Japanese troops under Yamaguchi and Yan Xishan's Jin troops were in a stalemate on the front line of Wuxiang for more than 20 days, doing nothing but not evacuating.

What are the plans? If Isotani Rensuke's First Army is not wiped out and Yamaguchi is in Wuxiang, he can contain the Chinese Army, which makes sense.

However, Isoya Rensuke's First Army had been completely wiped out for three or four days before Yamaguchi took any action. At this time, it was too late to prepare to evacuate Wuxiang. I really don't know what the Japanese commander thought. Anyway,

Tang Qiuli did not intend to let go of this mad dog in Yamaguchi. Now, he could free up his hands to mobilize troops. Tang Qiusheng's troops arrived in the Changzhi area yesterday.

On January 1, 1938, amidst the raging war, all Chinese ushered in a new year. On the same day, Tang Qiuli issued the No. 1 combat order to encircle the Japanese troops at Yamaguchi and ordered Sulu to maneuver.

Tang Qiusheng's five field brigades in the Corps, with a strength of about 63,000, and Sun Zhenbang's four brigades in the Yellow River Defense Corps, with a strength of more than 36,000.

The Niangziguan Garrison Corps of the ** Division mobilized three brigades with 40,000 troops and entered the Taihang Mountains. After supplementation and reinforcement, the Yellow River and Henan Defense Line Garrison Corps Chief of Staff Wang Dongshan (acting commander) led four brigades and four

The troops of more than 16,000 men immediately ended their rest and regrouped and marched out of Huangya Cave.

Liu Chun's 1st Cavalry Brigade had its original combat mission cancelled, and immediately assembled in the direction of Licheng. Tong Batu's 2nd Cavalry Brigade continued to carry out the mission of attacking the Japanese transportation lines. Currently, it is destroying all the bridges on the mountain pass retreat route.

For the Lord, take all measures to keep the mountain pass in the Taihang Mountains.

The above units, plus Ma Chaoyang's Second Army Brigade, Jiang Yanming's Huangyadong Garrison Brigade of more than 35,000 people, and two cavalry brigades, a total of more than 230,000 people, form the Taihang Mountain Base Area Field Operations

soldiers

The regiment was responsible for the combat mission of encircling and annihilating the Japanese troops at Yamaguchi. The commander of the ** Division Tang Qiuli served as the commander-in-chief, the deputy commander Tang Qiusheng served as the deputy commander-in-chief, and the commander of the Yellow River Defense Corps Sun Zhenbang served as the chief of staff.

The various units used Licheng as the assembly point and must arrive at the designated location on January 3. Among them, Tang Qiusheng's unit left Xiangyuan from Changzhi front to take on the task of guarding the regiment.

The reason why Tang Qiuli mobilized a large number of troops was based on his consistent principle of using troops. He must concentrate superior troops and firepower to deal a devastating blow to the Japanese army. He strived to make every battle a battle of annihilation rather than defeat. Kaifeng and Shangqiu

This kind of battle was a last resort. Unless it was necessary, Tang Qiuli would rather not fight and find another opportunity to fight.

The encirclement and annihilation of the Japanese troops at Yamaguchi followed this principle. After the Japanese troops were depleted in the Taihang Mountain base area and fought against the Jin army in Wuxiang for many days, the strength of the Japanese troops dropped sharply from more than 110,000 people to more than 80,000 people now.

,and,

Being stranded in the mountainous area for a long time greatly reduced the combat effectiveness and morale of the soldiers. In addition, the cavalry units of Liu Chun and Tong Batu continued to attack the Japanese supply lines, which made the mountain pass even worse. There was an extreme shortage of supplies and ammunition.

There was a lack of food, grass and ammunition inside, the soldiers were exhausted, and there were no reinforcements nearby. The fate of Yamaguchi and the tens of thousands of Japanese troops he led was already doomed. If he had started to retreat five days ago, there would still be a glimmer of hope. At that time, Tang Qiuli

The deployment has not yet been completed, but it is already too late. Armies three times the strength of Yamaguchi have already surrounded him. Unless Yamaguchi grows wings and flies out of the Taihang Mountains, he will have to leave tens of thousands of his men here.

There is another main reason why Tang Qiuli is determined to kill Yamaguchi, and that is the Matsushita Seiichi Regiment that caused the Sucheng massacre, and the Japanese spy Xu Fu who sent more than 3,000 innocent Sucheng people into the tiger's mouth.

They were all in the army of three, and if they were let go, Tang Qiuli would be condemned in his heart for the rest of his life. He could never forget the tragic scene in Su City, and the three thousand innocent souls tortured him all the time.

Orders were issued one after another, and all units of the temporarily formed Taihang Mountain Base Field Corps, in accordance with the requirements of the headquarters, rushed to the designated areas. A large net was cast towards the mountain pass where something was already feeling wrong.

In the evening, the leaden clouds hung low, and the cold wind stopped howling, but the weather became even colder. In the middle of the night, it snowed heavily, and the sky and the earth were completely white. The wind picked up, and the strong wind rolled up the snowflakes, flying all over the sky, like a jade dragon tearing its scales.

A, it is falling from the sky. The heavy snow is coming with fierce force. The wind is strong and the snow is dense. It is difficult to walk in the snow. There is no one on the other side. The thousands of miles of Taihang Mountain is completely shrouded in a world of white.

At the mountain pass under Wuxiang City, he sat silently around the stove, his triangular eyes moving rapidly from time to time, looking uneasy. The stove was lit in his tent, and he didn't feel cold yet, but other ordinary Japanese soldiers did not.

Such a good treatment, but there were not enough tents, so many people slept in the ice and snow. Fortunately, they found a cave and dozens of people crowded together. Everything that could be burned would have been burned long ago.

The strong wind carried snowflakes and poured them in from the entrance of the cave. The inside of the cave was as cold as an ice cellar. In addition, they had endless rations, no food in their stomachs, and no fire around them. On such a windy and snowy day, these Japanese soldiers

The soldiers were cold from the inside out. Only the little warmth in their hearts seemed to prove that they were still alive. The cold wind penetrated their already cold bodies pervasively, making their joints feel frozen.

Yamaguchi is a very cunning guy. Ever since he was blocked at the gate of Wuxiang City, he felt that the momentum was not right. Isotani Rensuke's first army was besieged in Xiao County. He became frightened. Looking around, he saw that the nearest reinforcements were not far away from him.

Hundreds of kilometers away, they were still blocked by the Jin Army's troops and Yan Xishan's troops, and could not move forward. Isn't this an obvious situation of an army going deep alone? The more Yamaguchi thought about it, the more unsure he became.

He originally tried his best to implement the plan to sweep the Taihang Mountains. It was based on the background of the Japanese army in North China launching a full-line offensive at that time, and Tang Qiuli's lack of troops in the Taihang Mountains, that he dared to take this strange move. However, to this day,

Everything has changed. The Japanese offensive was blocked across the board, and Isoya Rensuke's First Army was completely wiped out. Yamaguchi knew very well that the longer he stayed in Wuxiang, the greater his danger.

He sent several telegrams to the commander of the dispatched army, Koyuki Kiyoshi, requesting permission for the troops to evacuate Wuxiang and return to Shijiazhuang. However, he was not approved. Instead, he was ordered to carry out a hopeless attack. This went back and forth and was delayed for several days.

This heavy snowstorm caused him even greater difficulties. Not to mention the supplies for the troops, the road conditions alone could make Yamaguchi worry to death.

He pricked up his ears and listened to the howling cold wind outside the tent, which rolled up snowflakes and hit the tent. He became more and more restless and secretly complained to Xiangyue Qingsi for not ordering a retreat. After several days, Tang Qiuli's actions were not needed.

If the army comes to fight, your tens of thousands of soldiers will be reduced by more than half due to cold and hunger.

Before receiving the order to retreat, this guy had already designed a retreat route for himself. There are two routes to choose from. One is to leave Wuxiang via Yushe and arrive at Xingtai, Hebei Province. This is a relatively short route, one is to leave Wuxiang via Licheng.

To Handan, Hebei, this route is relatively far, but no matter which route you take, you have to pass through the Taihang Mountains.

Thinking of the Taihang Mountains made Yamaguchi's heart tremble and chills ran down his spine. Those days in the mountains were a nightmare experience in Yamaguchi's life. The feeling of being chased and beaten all the way through the Taihang Mountains made him reluctant to cross the Taihang Mountains.

There is an instinctive fear, but you can only go to mountainous areas unless you don't want to go back.

Now the heavy snow has undoubtedly added more difficulties to him. He also knows very well that the Chinese devil Tang Qiuli will not let him easily return to Shijiazhuang. He does not know how many hard battles he will have to go through along the way.

He didn't know how many ** division troops were waiting for him.

In order to safely evacuate Wuxiang and return to Shijiazhuang, Yamaguchi used a strategy. He called it "building a plank road in the open and crossing Chencang secretly." He sent three regiments of troops to the nearest road in Wuxiang, Yushe, and Xingtai

Along the route, roads and bridges were built with great fanfare in preparation for the evacuation of the troops.

In fact, he planned to take the route from Licheng to Handan. Although it was a bit far, the terrain was not too complicated in comparison. There were far fewer dangerous terrains where he could be easily ambushed, and it was much safer. Not to mention, it was also much safer.

As for the plank road that was being built, the soldiers of the four regiments had to be thrown out as bait to attract Tang Qiuli's troops to focus on that route.

He has no psychological burden on this. It is worth sacrificing thousands of soldiers to save the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers. The soldiers of the empire can show up for His Majesty the Emperor at any time. Their sacrifices are very valuable. Although I think so,

But Yamaguchi himself felt that this move was too underhanded and against the will of nature, and he did not even disclose it to the most trusted senior officers around him, including his chief of staff.

The poor three regiments of Japanese troops were still faithfully carrying out the orders of the dispatched army chief of staff Yamaguchi, braving the wind and snow, working hard to repair bridges that would never be used. They had no idea that they had been used as pawns by their superiors.

Their fate was sealed. Three regiments and thousands of Japanese soldiers were lined up like sheep dung eggs along a route hundreds of kilometers long. At each point, there was less than the strength of a squadron.

Not to mention, Yamaguchi’s plan really deceived Tang Qiuli. He sent Tong Batu’s Second Cavalry Brigade specifically to deal with the Japanese troops of these three regiments, and the main force was also deployed around Wuxiang.

The route to Yushe was started, but because of heavy snowfall, the troops were still stranded in Licheng.

Yamaguchi had arranged his escape route, and with an order, all the troops could set off immediately. However, without an order from the commander, Kozuki Seiji, he did not dare to move. The more Yamaguchi thought about it, the more worried he became, and all the female relatives in Kozuki Seiji's family were taken away.

After greeting him countless times, he had no choice but to wait. As a result, the heavy snow came, but he didn't know it. Also waiting at the same time was the 230,000-strong Army of the Japanese Army.

Yamaguchi's heart felt like a cat scratching him, and he kept pacing in the tent. The tent curtain was wide open, and the strong wind blew snowflakes straight in. Yamaguchi shivered, and when he saw a snowman walking in, he couldn't help but get angry.

(To be continued) Piao Tian Literature registered members recommend this work