Age of Conquest Reborn

Chapter 673 The fall of Wuxiang

In early May 1938, undercurrents were surging everywhere in North China. Tang Qiuli and Okamura Neji each had their own plans and appetites. Both sides were intensively deploying their troops according to their own plans. Yan Xishan, who was in Taiyuan,

Sir's

The mood is extremely comfortable. Victory reports are coming from the Zhangjiakou front line frequently. The former enemy commander-in-chief Zhao Chengshou reported victory yesterday. The troops have entered Zhangjiakou and occupied most of the city. It is expected that Zhangjiakou will be captured in three days.--%.net

Yan Xishan was not very satisfied with Zhao Chengshou's record. Two hundred and eighty thousand people fought against more than 60,000 Japanese. They fought for four days and Zhangjiakou was not yet captured. The old man handed over the most elite troops to your young men.

But it’s not very neat underneath, so young

I don’t know the mechanism here. If Tang Qiuli gets involved at this time and monopolizes Zhangjiakou and northwest Hebei, there will be twists and turns. By then, I don’t know how much more talk will be needed to capture Zhangjiakou a day earlier. In this situation

The more it can be avoided.

Yan Xishan had no worries about capturing Zhangjiakou. To be on the safe side, he even gave Zhao Chengshou secret instructions to send a division of troops to monitor the Japanese division troops operating near Zhangjiakou, in order to prevent Tang Qiuli from picking peaches in the end.

, the old man does his job without leakage, and Yan Xishan, who has already smelled the aroma of meat, is undoubtedly the most proud person at this moment.

The Japanese and Tang Qiuli were fighting to the death in Pingjin and the Taihang Mountains. Old man, I sat on the mountain and watched the fight between tigers and took advantage of it. This is called sizing up the situation. The spring breeze in May blew warmly on my face. This is for the exclusive use of the Yan family.

The cook came in and asked Yan Xi respectfully

Shan: "Sir, what do you want to have for lunch?" "Add more mature vinegar to the shaved noodles," Yan Xishan warned. For many years, this is what I like. When I feel happy, what kind of shaved noodles do I add to the mature vinegar?

The fragrance penetrates into the sweat pores.

Tang Qiuli, who was in a hurry to return to Dingbian, was not in the good mood of Commander Yan. When he passed Sanmenxia, ​​he was slightly reassured by the defenses. Yuan Jinghao deployed two regiments of troops here, with complete defenses and firepower.

The configuration was reasonable. He sent a telegram to Yuan Jinghao and ordered two more regiments to be added to the Sanmenxia area. This was an important ferry crossing from Shanxi to Henan. The Japanese army occupied southern Shanxi, and Sanmenxia was one of the first choice crossings for a breakthrough.

Without stopping too much, when we arrived at Fenglingdu via Lingbao, the yellow water was surging, and the ancient Fenglingdu ferry was still the same. The ancient ferry was bumping in the endless yellow water, and the boatman's desolate call could be heard on both sides from time to time.

In the canyon, there were only a dozen soldiers from the Shaanxi local army conducting routine inspections. Tang Qiuli could not care less about admiring Fenglingdu, which was visited many times, and hurriedly checked the defense situation.

When Tang Qiuli and his party appeared in front of the soldiers on duty, these soldiers were stunned. The famous Vice Chairman Tang, in North China and even in the northern region, who did not know, even if he did not know, the three golden stars on his shoulders

Even a fool can tell the formation of the generals and their followers. Tang Qiuli looked at the dozen or so stunned soldiers and asked with a smile: "Who is the commander of your team?"

A young officer in his twenties with the rank of second lieutenant hurried forward and said, "Report to the division commander that Wang Ziwei, the platoon leader of the second platoon of the first company and third battalion of the newly established Shaanxi Local Guard Regiment, is on duty. Please give instructions to the division commander."

Excited, his voice was slightly trembling, and his saluting arms were also trembling slightly. The legendary big man was alive in front of his eyes, talking about a little second lieutenant. Even their captain couldn't help but feel nervous.

Tang Qiuli immediately asked Wang Ziwei how many of your troops were in Fenglingdu. He learned that the newly formed Shaanxi Local Security Regiment had received an order from the Dingbian Security Headquarters yesterday and set off from Tongguan to Fenglingdu overnight.

Fourteen hundred people had already set up defenses at Fenglingdu. Tang Qiuli was stunned and asked, "Are there no other troops?" Wang Ziwei replied affirmatively: "No."

"Platoon Commander Wang, continue on duty." This young second lieutenant left a good impression on him. Then, Tang Qiuli frowned. According to the time calculation, the vanguard of Sun Zhenbang's regiment should have arrived at Fenglingdu last night.

Not enough troops

Why is there less than one regiment? The Shaanxi Local Guard Regiment was reorganized after Yuan Jinghao's troops were transferred. It is affiliated with the Dingbian Guard Command. The local troops with only one regiment will be absolutely unable to resist the Japanese attack.

live.

"Send a report and ask Sun Zhenbang why the troops are not in place yet?" Tang Qiuli's face was very ugly. He had roughly guessed the reason. Sure enough, Sun Zhenbang called back and said that the leading regiment of the Corps encountered a group of Japanese troops near Tunliu.

A squadron of troops, the leader of the vanguard was itchy and decided to eat this little devil.

Unexpectedly, there was a regiment of Japanese troops following behind. As soon as the fighting started, the Japanese troops surrounded them following the sound of gunfire. The battle became a stalemate, and the leading regiment could not escape. If it were not for the following troops to rescue the siege, I am afraid that this regiment would have been killed.

He was about to suffer a big loss. After reading the telegram, Tang Qiuli became furious.

"Sun Zhenbang, the previous telegrams have repeatedly stated that your division's top priority is to set up defenses along the Yellow River. However, the troops actually disobeyed the strict orders of the division, were greedy for petty gains, and ignored the overall situation. If the Japanese army attacks at this time, the thousands of miles of defense line along the Yellow River will be in vain.

You Sun Zhen

General Bang is the sinner of all Shaanxi and the entire army. Even if he dies, he will not be able to make up for the losses. The commander of the vanguard regiment of your unit is immediately removed from his post and sent to the Military Justice Department. He orders your unit to arrive at Fengling Ferry and set up defenses before midnight today.

** Division Commander Tang Qiuli."

Tang Qiuli was really angry. From Hequ to Fenglingdu, there were more than a thousand miles of river defense line. Okamura Neji would take action at any time in Wuxiang. The situation was extremely critical. He wished that Sun Zhenbang's troops could grow wings and fly over.

The leader of the vanguard regiment still wanted to fight at a low price. Everyone at the division headquarters, including Mei Ting and Mei Xue, had never seen Tang Qiuli so angry or rebuked a regiment commander like this.

, deal with a group leader directly.

The spring breeze turns strong, the yellow water surges, and the river like wheat waves rushes into the distance. The roar of the river adds to the desolation. There is silence. Only Tang Qiuli stands with a livid face, hands behind his back, looking at the hazy opposite bank. No one knows.

, what was he thinking, witnessing Tang

Wang Ziwei, who was showing off his power in Qiu Li, trembled in his heart. He felt endless pressure. This young teacher with black hair mixed with silver threads and a scar on his face was engraved in his heart like a mountain. It seemed that he saw the ideal in his heart.

The distant sky gradually became clearer.

On May 8th, all the troops assembled by Okamura Neji were finally in place. In the direction of Wuxiang, he gathered nearly 210,000 troops. If it were not for the attrition in Huangyadong, he could have gathered more than 250,000 troops.

With the strength of the troops, plus the troops in the Heshun direction, Okamura Neiji's troops used to attack Taiyuan reached more than 290,000 troops, which was enough. Okamura Neiji looked at Wuxiang City under the night, the old fox

Smiling like that.

In the early morning of May 9th, the morning breeze of early spring in the Taihang Mountains had not yet dissipated the night chill. The sudden sound of gunfire from the direction of Wuxiang shattered the tranquility of the dawn. The Japanese troops were divided into three groups, starting from Guo Village.

Qin County and Xiying launched a fierce sudden attack on Wuxiang from three directions. The more than 80,000 Jin troops defending Wuxiang rushed to the battle without any precautions. Okamura Neji's concealment attempt in the battle was an unprecedented success.

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Because of Yan Xishan's misjudgment, most of the Jin troops defending Wuxiang were second-rate troops. His mood also affected the Jin generals. They were paralyzed and believed that it was impossible for the Japanese to go north from the Taihang Mountains and attack Taiyuan and Okamura.

Ningji's more than 200,000 troops took a full week

It took a lot of time to assemble. During this period, the Jin army did not send even a reconnaissance force to Qin County south of Wuxiang and the Xiangyuan area. Most of the officers and soldiers were secretly glad that they did not transfer to Zhangjiakou and the Japanese.

During the war, on this ordinary morning, disaster struck.

As soon as the battle outside Wuxiang began, the Jin army was in an extremely disadvantageous situation. The Japanese artillery fire flooded the Jin army's defense line like a volcanic eruption. After an hour of shelling, groups of Japanese soldiers, holding bright bayonets, shouted wildly.

Rushing towards the few Jin soldiers who had already lost most of their casualties, this burst of shelling killed more than two-thirds of the Jin soldiers on the first line of defense in Wuxiang.

In the Taihang Mountains, the Japanese soldiers who had been wrestling with stones for nearly a month were almost going crazy. Especially during that time in Huangya Cave, the bloodshed in their hearts and the desperate anger of not being able to find an opponent were all vented to the opposite side.

The Japanese soldiers who were capable of killing simply took off their arms and stabbed the Jin soldiers with bayonets.

The casualties of the front-line troops were too high. The remaining Jin soldiers resisted extremely weakly. The Japanese soldiers with blood-red eyes were completely ferocious. Regardless of whether they surrendered or not, they all bayoneted and spoke. Only a few brave Jin soldiers rose up to resist.

Facing the Japanese soldiers coming up like a tide, it was of no help to the battle situation, and they were soon submerged in the crowd of Japanese soldiers.

Less than three hours after the war began, under the fierce attack of the Japanese army, the first line of defense of the Jin army in Wuxiang collapsed and the entire line collapsed. Of the more than 20,000 Jin troops defending, no one survived, and most of them died in the battle.

After a few surrendered, they were shot and stabbed, and all of them died. The red-eyed Japanese soldiers did not make any stop and rushed directly to the second line of defense without waiting for the cover of artillery fire.

The bad news that the first line of defense was lost and all the more than 20,000 brothers died in the battle quickly spread throughout Wuxiang. In the ears of the more than 30,000 soldiers of the Jin army's second line of defense, fear, boundless fear, spread like a plague among the soldiers.

The feeling in the hearts of the officers and officers was that in just over two hours, more than 20,000 brothers were all gone. Can we withstand it?

The morale of the army was shaken more than any cannons and bullets. The Jin soldiers on the second line of defense were waiting in panic. The Japanese shouts were getting closer and closer. The Jin soldiers who were pressed like a tangible mountain could not breathe.

know that one

The commander of the troops was the first to flee. He wavered a little and the whole line collapsed. Before the Japanese soldiers could reach the second line of defense, more than 30,000 Jin soldiers retreated across the board and rushed towards Wuxiang City. There was also the last line of defense in Wuxiang.

Line of defense.

(To be continued)