Age of Conquest Reborn

Chapter 566: Encirclement for reinforcements

At 5 o'clock in the morning on January 4, Tang Qiusheng commanded the 230,000 troops of the Taihang Mountain Field Corps. He led the Japanese North China Expeditionary Army Chief of Staff Yamaguchi to sweep away more than 90,000 Japanese troops in the Taihang Mountains and encircled them from Xiangyuan to Lucheng in southern Shanxi.

area, by about 8 a.m., after three hours of fierce fighting, the Japanese troops were compressed into a triangular area of ​​Xiadian, Wuyang, and Guhan, with a radius of only more than 30 kilometers.

After the initial blow, the remaining Japanese soldiers, under the command of Commander Yamaguchi, built temporary field fortifications and resisted stubbornly. The Japanese division troops pushed the front all the way to the center, narrowing the encirclement and making it impossible for the Japanese troops to escape.

In the encirclement, Yamaguchi looked at the division commanders around him with a depressed expression. He knew very well the fate he was about to face. These division commanders also looked like defeated troops. Their troops and structures had been crippled.

, the fierce artillery fire of the Chinese *** team caused the arrogant Japanese army to suffer a lot.

Yamaguchi looked at the soldiers who were desperately building fortifications. Their bodies were covered with mud and gunpowder smoke. Their uniforms were full of traces of war. The frozen corpses of their companions had also become part of the bunker. He felt miserable in his heart. The invincible Emperor of Japan...

When did the * Corps fall to this point? In just three hours, more than 30,000 soldiers fell under the artillery fire of the * Army Division.

He knew very well that there was no danger to defend, and holding on was just to survive. Most of the troops' supplies and ammunition were destroyed in this sudden bombardment. Even if the troops of the ** Division did not attack, in this ice and snow, the soldiers

We couldn't last more than three days, and we were starving.

The only thing he could do was to send one telegram after another to the Commander of the Expeditionary Forces, Kozuki Kiyoshi, truthfully reporting the desperate situation faced by the troops. There was no need to exaggerate. In this ice and snow, there was no danger to defend the wilderness.

Surrounded by an enemy with absolutely superior strength and firepower, what outcome will it face?

He believed that the commander must understand that he was in a desperate situation. Kozuki Seiji, who received the telegram from Yamaguchi asking for help, was going crazy. First, he lost the 13th Army of Isotani Rensuke who had high hopes in Xuzhou.

Ten thousand troops, followed by more than 90,000 troops from Yamaguchi, Kozuki Kiyoshi was almost collapsed.

But he had no choice at all. No troops could go to rescue the mountain pass. If they were temporarily formed, they would face the situation of breaking through the interception of Tang Qiuli's army. Now, the Imperial Army in North China is in a state of full defense.

Being able to hold on to the current defense line is already very good.

At the Niangziguan frontline headquarters, he was so anxious that Yamaguchi had to be rescued, but this would take time. Troops were mobilized from various places and sent out to form a regiment, which was an appetizer delivered to Tang Qiuli's mouth.

So, he telegraphed back to Yamaguchi, "Mr. Yamaguchi, the dispatched army headquarters is actively forming a rescue force. I hope your troops will stay in place for three to five days, and the rescue force can reach the Lucheng area."

In fact, Xiangyue Qingji himself had no idea. Firstly, where did this army come from? It would definitely not be able to survive without a small number of troops. There were more than 200,000 Japanese troops surrounding Yamaguchi. Secondly, even if the army was formed

Once it is completed, it is unknown whether it can break through the blockade of the ** Division troops. Once the troops desperately approach Lucheng, all the Yamaguchi troops will be shattered. If the rescue troops fall into the encirclement again, won't they lose their wives and lose their troops?

In a dilemma, Xiang Yue Qingji was not able to die. At this time, he received a telegram from the chief of the general staff of the base camp, Prince Zai Ren, ordering him to immediately form a rescue force for the Yamaguchi headquarters. Otherwise, all consequences will be borne by him personally. Xiang Yue

Seiji felt dizzy for a while. How did His Highness the Prince know about this? That bastard Yamaguchi must have jumped to the next level and reported it.

After Yamaguchi received the telegram from Kozuki Seiji, he was so angry that he almost vomited blood. He held on for three to five days. Just kidding, to put it lightly, more than 60,000 people were crowded into such a small area, and the Japanese army could take them with one shell.

The lives of several soldiers, he fully believed that as long as the ** division surrounded the troops and immediately began to attack, the troops that had been severely damaged would be wiped out in less than ten hours. Even if it was only bombarded with artillery fire, it would be possible in one day.

Blow up this big ass place.

It's not that Yamaguchi has never tried to break out, he also knows that water from afar cannot quench the thirst of the nearby. However, the soldiers fought desperately several times to break through, but they were beaten back mercilessly. In addition to throwing corpses on the ground, they didn't even advance half a step. Yamaguchi also

I had no choice but to give up, could I just

Could Yamaguchi sit back and wait for death? The anxious Yamaguchi tore the telegram from Kōgetsu Seiji into pieces, and ignored the army's rules. It was important to save his life, so he simply sent a telegram directly to Chief of General Staff Zain, hoping that Zain could put pressure on Kōgetsu Seiji.

, dispatch rescue teams as soon as possible.

Under unprecedented pressure, Xiangyue Qingsi assembled three divisions with nearly 100,000 troops from the Datong front line, Niangziguan front line, and Peking garrison as quickly as possible, using Handan as the assembly point to form a rescue corps.

, to implement the rescue plan, but it will take about three days just to assemble these troops, not counting the time for logistical supplies.

Throughout the day on January 4th, the ** Division troops did not launch a full-scale attack on the surrounded Japanese troops. They only violently bombarded the Japanese positions with uninterrupted artillery fire. This was Tang Qiusheng's order. He sternly refused the command of the various troops.

The Japanese army still had more than 60,000 troops. As the so-called "trapped beast still fights", there was no need to make heavy sacrifices when victory came.

sacrifice.

This move is more powerful than a direct attack, causing greater casualties to the Japanese army. If the infantry launches an attack, the Japanese soldiers can have a face-to-face bloody battle, and it can also stimulate the fierceness in their hearts.

Being able to pull up a few back cushions is in line with the most basic Japanese Bushido spirit.

But the artillery shells whizzing in and no infantry charges were seen, which made the Japanese soldiers in the encirclement suffer a lot and destroyed their will to resist bit by bit. The only Japanese artillery unit that could counterattack had just fired

After firing one artillery shell, an unknown number of artillery shells were fired back. The fire flashed and the snow foam stirred up blocked the sight of the Japanese soldiers. When the smoke dissipated, there were only craters scattered all over the Japanese artillery position.

The Japanese infantry watched helplessly as the artillery turned into piles of scrap metal, and the artillery soldiers turned into fragmented corpses. They could only hide in temporary fortifications, enduring hunger, the biting cold wind, and the falling shells whistling above their heads.

The bloody corpses of my companions made me feel numb. Maybe, the next one lying on the ground would be me.

The unique tactics of the ** Division troops made it impossible for the Japanese soldiers who were ready to fight to find their opponents. Moreover, each unit used water to form ice and snow to form trenches, forming a line stretching for dozens of kilometers on the outside of the encirclement.

The ice wall facing the Japanese soldiers has a very steep slope, which is as smooth as a mirror and makes it difficult to stand on the ice slope. There are more than 60,000 defeated Japanese soldiers trapped inside.

The siege of the Japanese troops at Yamaguchi was so successful that Tang Qiuli was surprised. He immediately left Guocun and rushed to the Huangnian Corps headquarters with his division commanders. On the evening of the 4th, he met Tang Qiusheng and was still in Guocun.

When he was fighting, he thought that the siege in front of him was very similar to the situation on the Huaihai battlefield between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party.

The ** Zhongye and Huaye troops, under the command of Liu Bocheng, Chen Yi, ***, and Su Yu, surrounded the 300,000 troops of *** General Du Yuming. It was also freezing cold, heavy snowfall, and 300,000 ***

, with no food and grass inside and no reinforcements outside, it can only be destined to be destroyed. This battle also determined the balance of military power between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party in the Huang-Huai-Hai area.

The difference is that the Japanese army is being surrounded now. There will definitely be a shortage of supplies, but there will be reinforcements. He is well aware of the tradition of the Japanese army. If one unit is surrounded, the other units will fight to the rescue. He looked at the map for a long time, his eyes

It fell near Xingtai and Shexian in Hebei Province, which are the closest to Lucheng. If the Japanese army sent rescue troops, they would definitely take this closest route. This was the main reason why he rushed to the front line.

After arriving at the front line, he immediately held a meeting of commanders of all units and brigade and above. At the meeting, he fully agreed with Tang Qiusheng's style of play. It was this style of play that laid the foundation for the next battle. Later, he proposed a new

Our battle plan was to use the surrounded Japanese troops as bait, attack without annihilating them, and attract Japanese reinforcements, so that we could eat the Japanese reinforcements.

He inspected the encirclement, and greatly appreciated the soldiers' creative method of pouring water into ice. Now, even if the little devils are allowed to break through, just climbing over this ice wall will kill them half to death, and half of the troops will be mobilized for reinforcements.

, completely implementable, this new combat plan immediately attracted everyone’s attention.

The combat plan was quickly formed, with four brigades under Sun Zhenbang's command of the Yellow River Defense Corps, three brigades of the Niangziguan Garrison Corps, the Second Brigade of the **, Huangyadong Garrison Brigade, and the First and Second Cavalry Brigade of the ** Division, a total of ten

Twenty thousand troops immediately withdrew from the encirclement and rushed to the Shexian area to set up an ambush, preparing to ambush the Japanese troops coming for reinforcements.

Tong Batu's Second Cavalry Brigade immediately ended the battle from Wuxiang to Yushe and headed to the Shexian area to join the troops. In addition, two artillery regiments were transferred from Tang Qiusheng's troops to follow the troops and surround the Japanese troops at Yamaguchi.

The task was undertaken by the five brigades of the ** Division and the Yellow River and Henan Defense Line Guard Corps, with a total of 110,000 troops.

Tang Qiuli was not worried. The encircling troops with reduced artillery firepower would be stretched thin when facing more than 60,000 Japanese troops. The ice wall could withstand 50,000 troops. Besides, the surrounded Japanese troops, after a whole day of shelling,

The morale of the army has been shaken and its combat effectiveness has been greatly weakened. Such a Japanese army is like a tiger without claws and fangs. It will not pose much of a threat. If it is starved for two days without fighting, the Japanese army will naturally collapse. In the severe cold weather,

It is a fatal difficulty that they cannot overcome.

At night, the artillery bombardment of the ** Division's artillery against the surrounded Japanese troops did not stop as night fell. Instead, it became more violent. Some heavy mortars also joined the shelling. The Japanese soldiers were living in hell.

, they still don’t understand where the Chinese army got so many artillery shells, they fired them all day long, and they kept throwing them at them.

They will never understand that with Huangya Cave at their back, ammunition and supplies are open to supply, and under the cover of artillery fire and night, the troops heading to Shexian County quietly evacuate their positions. Everything is done without the Japanese army noticing.

The soldiers had no energy to pay attention to these changes, and a new battle was about to begin.

(To be continued)