Age of Conquest Reborn

Chapter 699: Troops march into Shanxi

The battle to annihilate the two divisions and one brigade of the Japanese army crossing the Yellow River to the west lasted for five days and finally ended. Tang Qiuli was not satisfied with the result of this battle, mainly because of the excessive casualties. He intended to use these six new

The formed infantry brigade was transferred back to Dingbian for training, but the current situation did not allow him to do so. Okamura Neiji was still resisting stubbornly in the Xinyi area. Without enough troops, recovering Shanxi was an empty talk.

This battle, in which artillery was the protagonist, shocked Xiao Jinguang, director of the rear area of ​​the Eighth Route Army who participated in the battle. He had fought against the Central Army countless times from the Soviet area in the south to the northwest, and he had never seen such a violent attack.

In his memory, the intensity of the Central Army's artillery fire during the fifth anti-encirclement and suppression campaign at Yudu was not worth mentioning compared with today. This young Vice Chairman Tang fought a magnificent battle.

He stood on the hillside and looked around at the bomb craters. The corpses of Japanese soldiers and broken limbs could be seen everywhere. The loess-turned battlefield gave him a deeper understanding of Tang Qiuli. Thousands of artillery bombarded the ground for two full days.

Sky, the cannonballs were fired out like a stream of water

, as a senior general of the Eighth Route Army and a battle-hardened battlefield veteran, he knew what all this meant. Vice Chairman Tang’s troops had already surpassed the Japanese army in artillery firepower, occupying the initiative on the battlefield, and they also had huge financial resources behind them.

Be a backup.

Xiao Jinguang bent down and grabbed a handful of loess, and counted more than a dozen pieces of shrapnel from it. He was silent. Based on the current equipment level of the Eighth Route Army troops, it is estimated that one brigade of artillery of the ** Division can defeat the existing troops of the Eighth Route Army.

In his heart, he was still very wary of Tang Qiuli, especially after the Japanese Army fully occupied Shandong. The senior generals of the Japanese army had to be wary. They were all masters of military art. The importance of Shandong's location

,it goes without saying.

Xiao Jinguang was secretly worried that Chiang Kai-shek was already too much for the army to deal with, and if someone like Tang Qiuli appeared again, the Eighth Route Army would have to face a bigger opponent in the future. Of course, this was the thought hidden in his heart.

I will tell anyone, but in fact, in the hearts of all leaders and senior generals in the country, there will be such hidden thoughts, but they cannot be said publicly.

Of course Tang Qiuli had no way of knowing what Xiao Jinguang was thinking at this moment. He generously gave all the relatively complete Japanese weapons and equipment to the Eighth Route Army. Do the troops of the ** Division really need these Japanese-style weapons and equipment?

Xiao Jinguang was so happy that he sacrificed hundreds of casualties to get so many good weapons. It was worth it.

On May 30, Tang Qiuli issued an order for all organized troops to immediately cross the Yellow River eastward. The defense of the Yellow River was handed over to the rear area of ​​the Eighth Route Army and the Dingbian civilian armed forces. Armies from all walks of life crossed the river one after another and headed for Shanxi. In this way,

Tang Qiuli used troops in the Shanxi direction, including Changfeng's Taihang Mountain Field Corps with more than 100,000 men, and Sun Zhenbang's Yellow River Defense Corps with more than 56,000 men.

He personally commanded six newly formed field brigades with more than 76,000 men, five artillery brigades, and three heavy artillery regiments, with a total strength of more than 260,000. Facing the 100,000 Japanese troops in Shanxi, he had an absolute advantage.

The only thing that worried him was that, except for Sun Zhenbang's regiment, the troops that recaptured Shanxi this time were all newly formed troops. Their combat effectiveness and the quality of the soldiers still needed to be improved.

At this time, more than 20,000 Japanese troops were surrounded in the Houma and Quwo areas of southern Shanxi. Under attack from both sides by Changfeng Corps and Sun Zhenbang Corps, more than 100,000 people faced the Japanese troops who had lost all their heavy weapons and fought without any fuss.

No suspense, in two days, more than 20,000 Japanese troops

The battle was wiped out, and not a single Japanese soldier escaped the fate of being annihilated. After the Battle of Southern Shanxi, the troops of four brigades under Chang Feng and five brigades under Sun Zhenbang quickly moved north to Taiyuan according to the orders of the division commander, clearing out the Japanese troops along the way.

Spread your forces.

Subsequently, Tang Qiuli issued an order. Feng Jiwu of the Niangziguan Garrison Corps, with four brigades, left Niangziguan and approached Taiyuan. The Changzhi Campaign had been completed. The three divisions of the Eighth Route Army operating in southeastern Shanxi immediately marched to Li

City and Shexian area, joined forces with Yuan Jinghao's unit of the Shaanxi Provincial Guard Force, captured Shexian County, and served as a second-line force to block the Kwantung Army's southbound troops from entering the Taihang Mountains from the direction of Handan.

The Tang Qiusheng Department of the Sulu Mobile Corps in the Pingjin area must prevent the Kwantung Army from going south and leaving Tianjin to join the Shanxi battlefield to ensure the smooth progress of the Shanxi campaign. Liu Tiehan's east command troops in Cangzhou launched an active offensive to ensure that the Japanese army in Cangzhou is heavily armed.

The group was unable to mobilize troops to support Okamura Neiji, and the Zhangjiakou defenders left a small number of troops to defend Zhangjiakou, while most of them went south to Pingjin to monitor the movements of the Japanese troops in Peiping.

At this point, Tang Qiuli used the whole of Shanxi as bait, mobilized hundreds of thousands of troops, and weaved a huge encirclement net for Okamura Neji. The Japanese army in Shanxi retreated eastward to Pingjin and joined the Japanese army in Cangzhou or Peiping.

Possibly, all retreat routes have been cut off, and Okamura Neji's troops who captured Shanxi have actually become alone.

More than 76,000 troops who crossed the Yellow River from Wubao Ferry in Shaanxi Province joined the battlefield in the Luliang Mountains. For Neiji Okamura, it was tantamount to a disaster. Okamura Neiji, who was stuck in the Xinyi area, after several days

after the fierce battle

, with less than 8,000 troops left, the more than 10,000 Japanese troops who were desperately trying to rescue were blocked in the Dawu area and could not advance even half a step. The troops of the ** Division fought hard from behind, and they also lost their troops and lost their retreat.

cut off.

The battle in the Luliang Mountains lasted for six days. During this period, the Japanese army gathered in Taiyuan had reached more than 80,000 troops. They were preparing to march westward to the Luliang Mountains to meet and rescue the remnants of the encircled Okamura Neiji. Before the Japanese army could wait,

During the operation, alarms came from the east and south of Taiyuan. The ** Division troops, with about 100,000 troops, were approaching the Jinzhong, Taigu, and Qingxu lines. The Japanese troops in Taiyuan no longer dared to send troops and retreated to Taiyuan. They were busy in

Deployment of defenses around Taiyuan.

The situation is very clear. If the Japanese army in Taiyuan leaves the fortified city with complete fortifications, they will only be eaten by the superior troops of the Japanese Army in the wild. The Japanese commander in Taiyuan is not stupid and cannot save the commander.

Your Excellency, if you lose your old capital, you will really have no way to heaven and no way to earth.

In his telegram to Okamura Neiji, he wrote: "Your Excellency, Commander, with the current strength of the imperial army in Shanxi, it is impossible to rescue your Excellency who is surrounded by heavy Chinese troops. Now, there have been massacres around Taiyuan.

division

Troops, the defense of Taiyuan is a top priority, and the troops are still insufficient. Please do your best to break out of the encirclement, Commander. The staff will be waiting for your smooth escape in Taiyuan City. There are more than 80,000 soldiers in the imperial army. We look forward to your early return, Commander."

That means, Commander Okamura Neiji, please wish yourself well. I really don't have the ability to help you. It is important to protect Taiyuan. Okamura Neiji was speechless when he looked at the telegram. He knew that this was the actual situation, but the problem is

, his remnant troops of less than 20,000 people were commanded by Tang Qiuli with more than 100,000 troops, and they were surrounded like dumplings. How to break out of the encirclement?

Okamura Neiji didn't know how to break out of the encirclement. What was terrible was that the force of less than 20,000 people was divided into two non-connected parts. He could also see that Tang Qiuli was trying to avoid troop casualties.

Also, the troops to attack Taiyuan were not in place, so he did not launch a full-scale attack. He was counting down the days on his fingers. Looking at the soldiers around him who had been beaten out of spirit, how could they still look like a warrior of the Japanese Empire? Okamura Ning

This time I felt sad.

He was surrounded in the Luliang Mountains, struggling to survive, and Taiyuan was about to be surrounded by Tang Qiuli's heavy troops. He asked himself more than once, why is this happening? There is no answer, why does Tang Qiuli have so many troops? He doesn't know the reason, why the elite

The Kwantung Army's troops marching south were unable to enter Shanxi. He couldn't figure it out. All of this seemed like a dream and a nightmare, tormenting Okamura Neji, who was already physically and mentally haggard and described as withered.

On June 3, under the heavy siege of Tang Qiuli, less than 20,000 Japanese troops in the Luliang Mountain area were all annihilated. Okamura Neji sent his troops to cross the Yellow River westward, and his plan to attack Shaanxi went bankrupt. One hundred thousand Japanese troops were destroyed on the banks of the Yellow River.

All sides were wiped out in ashes. After the war, we took inventory and searched the entire battlefield. There was no trace.

It was discovered that Okamura Neji was alive and dead, and Okamura Neji mysteriously disappeared from the world. Tang Qiuli was furious and ordered the troops to search carefully. If this old devil escaped, he would come back again. With Okamura Neji's

Cunning and treacherous, it's not that easy to set up a trap for him again.

After searching the entire battlefield, he still couldn't find it. He was interrogating Nishio, the chief of staff of the North China Expeditionary Force who wanted to stay, and he didn't know the whereabouts of this old devil. Regarding the disappearance of Okamura Neiji, the participating troops of the ** Division had various theories, including committing suicide.

Or he was blown to pieces by artillery shells, leaving no bones left. However, Tang Qiuli firmly believed that Okamura Neji was still alive, and at this time, Okamura Neji had returned to Taiyuan.

However, the majestic commander of the North China Expeditionary Force of the Empire of Japan, General Okamura Neiji, and his embarrassing methods, fled back to Taiyuan in a mess. He disguised himself as an old Chinese farmer and relied on fluent Chinese.

After begging all the way back to Taiyuan, there were only three guards around him. The Japanese commander in Taiyuan still remembers the commander's unpleasant smell of sweat and his sallow, withered face.

From April 2, Okamura Ningji sent 320,000 troops out of Shexian County to sweep the Taihang Mountains and besieged the Huangyadong base. By June 3, it lasted two months and swept through Pingjin and Taihang Mountains.

The battle on the east bank of the Yellow River in Shanxi Province is coming to an end. The Japanese army's 320,000 elite troops and the heavy force group that Okamura Neji had placed high hopes on have lost more than three-quarters. In addition to sporadic consumption, most of them were lost.

Completely annihilated the entire establishment.

In all of Shanxi, Okamura Neiji had nothing left except the isolated city of Taiyuan, more than 80,000 remnant soldiers, and a few surrounding key points. The Japanese troops scattered throughout the Sanjin land were wiped out.

The Battle of Shanxi reached the final stage. Tang Qiuli transferred his headquarters to Gujiao, preparing to deliver the fatal final blow to Neji Okamura.

(To be continued)