Headquarters of the Japanese First Army in Taiyuan.

Lieutenant General Shinozuka Yoshio frowned and stared at the sand table.

Yoshio Shinozuka felt a little aggrieved from this battle.

If the Fourth and Ninth Brigades of the First Army had not been transferred, would Tubal Road dare to attack Yangquan even with air support?

Even Tubal Road, which has always been engaged in guerrilla warfare, actually dared to attack big cities.

It is true that there are no tigers in the mountains and the monkey is the king.

Yoshio Shinozuka's expression could not help but reveal a bit of sadness.

Yamamoto Kazuki failed to behead him and his jade was broken into pieces. Chief of Staff Miyano Michichi followed him to the front line of Mount Nakajo.

Now there is no one at the First Army Headquarters who can help with ideas, and the entire strategic rear area burden rests solely on his shoulders.

Lieutenant Colonel Rukichi Kasutani, the communications staff officer, walked in and paused: "Your Excellency, Commander, Colonel Yoshio Watanabe has just sent a farewell telegram!"

"Nani?" Yoshio Shinozuka's face suddenly changed color, "How could it happen so quickly?"

According to Yoshio Shinozuka's prediction, there was no way Yoshio Watanabe could persist until tonight. By then, the Fujika Cavalry Regiment had almost arrived at Yangquan.

As long as the Fujika Cavalry Regiment and Watanabe Yoshio hold off the Eighth Route Army until the Yoshino Infantry Regiment and the Nakamura Infantry Regiment arrive at noon tomorrow, they can severely damage the Eighth Route Army.

But the speed of Yangquan's fall far exceeded Watanabe Yoshio's expectations.

Yangquan City has strong walls, powerful firepower, and sufficient food. Even if tens of thousands of people are besieging it, Yangquan City can hold on for at least two days without any problem.

Ryukichi Kasutani said: "According to the telegram sent by the Watanabe Regiment's communications team, Dobali used dozens of aircraft to bomb the city wall. The Imperial Army and the Imperial Alliance Army on the wall suffered heavy losses. The aerial bombs also exploded the city wall.

The Imperial Army had too few troops. In the street fighting, Tubal Road used heavy firepower such as machine guns and mountain cannons, and the soldiers of the Watanabe Regiment were unable to withstand it!"

Yoshio Shinozuka asked hurriedly: "What about the arsenal and grain depot in Yangquan?"

Keguliuji paused and said: "It has fallen into the hands of the Eighth Route Army!"

Yoshio Shinozuka's face suddenly sank. Yangquan is an important military town and has ammunition reserves and food reserves for the Fourth Brigade.

Even though the Fourth Brigade took away most of the ammunition, there are still more than one million rounds of ammunition and tens of thousands of artillery shells in the arsenal.

He had previously thought that it was almost impossible for Tubal Road to attack Yangquan, so he did not order Watanabe Yoshio to destroy arms and food.

When Yangquan City was defeated, the Eighth Route Army used its elite troops to seize the arsenal and grain depot with lightning speed.

The arsenal and grain depot in Yangquan were of great importance, and Yoshio Watanabe would not dare order their destruction without ordering them.

"Send a report to the Second Army Headquarters to urge the Tengjia Cavalry Regiment to speed up and arrive at Yangquan before dark tonight. We must not let Tubal Road transport food and ammunition away!"

With so much ammunition and food, it would be impossible for the Eighth Route Army to transport all of it in a short period of time.

Even if Yangquan City is destroyed, the Japanese army still has a chance to snatch back all the food and arms.

"Hi!" Rukichi Kasutani paused and prepared to walk out.

"Wait a minute!" Yoshio Shinozuka said, "Ask intelligence staff officer Kunihiko Kudo to come see me!"

"Hi!" Rukichi Kasutani walked out.

After a while, intelligence staff officer Kudo Kunihiko walked in, paused and said: "Your Excellency, Commander, are you looking for me?"

"Kudo-kun!" Yoshio Shinozuka asked, "Have you found out which unit of the Eighth Route Army attacked Yangquan? What is their designation?"

"Report to your Excellency, Commander!" Intelligence Staff Officer Kudo Kunihiko said, "We haven't found out yet!"

Seeing Shinozuka Yoshio's face becoming more and more gloomy, Kudo Kunihiko quickly said: "However, based on my analysis of the combat style of this Eighth Route Army, they are most likely the 129th Division's 386th Brigade, one of the most powerful in the Eighth Route Army!"

"Brigade 386?" Yoshio Shinozuka asked, "Kudo-kun, do you have any evidence?"

Kudo Kunihiko had a thoughtful look on his face and was about to speak.

At this time, Communications Staff Officer Ryuyoshi Kasutani hurriedly walked in again, and with an ugly face he paused and said: "Your Excellency, Commander, a telegram has just been sent from the Second Army Headquarters. The Fujika Cavalry Regiment was bombed more than an hour ago and suffered heavy losses!"

"How heavy are the losses?" Yoshio Shinozuka's cheeks twitched, "Can the Fujika Cavalry Regiment still rush to Yangquan's aid?"

"The casualties are no less than 500 cavalry!" Rukichi Kasutani started to say, "Deputy Regiment Captain Takaki Yoshiichi and Lieutenant Colonel Satama are broken, but the cavalry regiment led by Colonel Fujikoshiro is still on the way to aid Yangquan!"

After bombing the Yangquan city wall, more than ten bombers went to bomb the Japanese cavalry regiment rushing for reinforcements.

Because the formation of the Japanese cavalry was relatively long, it had basically dispersed after the first round of dive bombing, otherwise it would have caused greater casualties to the Japanese cavalry.

"I understand." Shinozuka Yoshio waved his hand, "You all go down first and report any new information immediately."

"Hi!" Rukichi Kasutani and Kunihiko Kudo paused and walked out.

After the people left, Yoshio Shinozuka drew out his commander's sword and angrily slashed at the desk, cursing Baga while slashing angrily.

The documents and telephones on the desk were all overturned to the ground, and then even the valuable desk was chopped into two pieces.

Rukichi Kasutani and Kunihiko Kudo heard the voice coming from behind, looked at each other with fearful expressions, and hurried away as if running for their lives.

He was afraid that the angry commander would chop him both alive.

…

On the highway from Wenxi County to Yuncheng.

A large group of Japanese soldiers were running forward with steel helmets on their heads and marching bags on their backs.

Six or seven Japanese soldiers lined up in a row, very close to each other. They looked crowded, and the thousands of steel helmets looked a bit dazzling in the sun.

This group of Japanese soldiers was the 132nd Regiment of the 37th Division of the Japanese Army heading towards Yuncheng from the north to the south.

Colonel Imai Tokichiro, the commander of the regiment, was riding on a military horse, with a high-powered telescope hanging on his chest, looking forward.

Colonel Imai is of medium build, with a mustache under his nose, a commanding sword across his waist, and a cold look in his eyes.

After reining in his horse, Colonel Imai turned around and asked: "Where are we now, and how far are we from Yuncheng?"

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Eiichi Ebi, the commander of the regiment behind him, waved back, and a Japanese captain trotted forward.

Then he spread out the map and looked around, then paused and said: "Report to Colonel, we have arrived in the area of ​​Maqiao Village, with Shuitou Town in front, and less than 20 kilometers away from Yuncheng after crossing the Sushui River!"

"Yo Xi!" Colonel Imai nodded and said, "Communication Corps, order the Koike Squadron in front not to send out scouts for reconnaissance, but to move forward faster!"

"Hi!" A Japanese scout behind him rode forward from the flank of the large army and galloped away.

Lieutenant Colonel Hai Lao, chief of staff of the wing, asked: "Colonel, what should we do if Koike Squadron is ambushed by the Chinese Army?"

"It would be great if Koike Squadron was ambushed." Imai Tokichiro sneered, "Then I will show the China Army what an elite mountain division unit is!"

The order Imai Tokichiro received was to retake Yuncheng Airport, although he didn't know why a whole regiment was asked to seize the airport.

The superiors did not clearly inform them of what exactly happened at Yuncheng Airport, but judging from the fact that the fast mobile convoy sent by Imai was bombed and lost everything.

Imai Fujikiro guessed that the Chinese army not only occupied the airport, but also used the aircraft at the airport to bomb the Japanese army.

Moreover, the strength of the Chinese army should not be large. The fall of Yuncheng Airport had nothing to do with him, but it would be a great achievement to annihilate this Chinese army and then recapture the airport.

Lieutenant Commander Hai Lao added: "Our rapid mobile convoy was blown up, and there were reconnaissance planes following it in the sky. This shows that the China Army knows the position of our unit clearly. The China Army that occupied Yuncheng Airport may not be able to do anything when it knows that it is surrounded by enemies on all sides.

We will sit back and wait for death, Your Majesty Colonel, we’d better be more cautious!”

"So what?" Imai Tokichiro said disapprovingly, "Hai Laojun, you don't think that the Chinese army that occupied Yuncheng Airport can compete with our 132nd Regiment, do you?"

"I admit that the Chinese army that occupied Yuncheng Airport was somewhat capable. When surrounded by imperial troops, they actually led pilots to infiltrate and occupy Yuncheng Airport."

"But their good luck ends here. I can bet you, Hai Laojun, that the Chinese army will not dare to break through from the north."

"Go east, west, and south to break through. The Chinese Army will only face one imperial army group. Going north, they will face our 132nd Infantry Regiment."

"If the commander of the China Army had not lost his mind, he would never break out to the north!"

Lieutenant Colonel Ebi thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "What Colonel Ebony said makes sense!"

"Drive!" Imai Tokichiro quickly rode forward on his military horse. Behind him, a group of Japanese lieutenants, majors and officers hurriedly followed on horseback.

Two kilometers away from the Japanese 132nd Regiment, a Japanese army of nearly 200 people was marching forward. It was Koike Squadron, the forward infantryman of the 132nd Regiment.

A group of Japanese cavalrymen caught up from behind and stopped in front of Captain Xiaochi.

"Koike-kun, the colonel orders your squadron to advance at full speed. There is no need to waste time by sending scouts to conduct reconnaissance!"

Captain Xiaochi said with sweating profusely: "I know!"

A Japanese soldier ran up from the front, gave a military salute and said: "Squadron leader, there is nothing abnormal about the bridge ahead!"

Squadron Leader Koike was also extremely cautious, fearing that the Chinese army would place bombs under the bridge and detonate them when they crossed the bridge.

"Cross the bridge!" Squadron Leader Xiaochi waved his hand, and a group of Japanese soldiers quickly ran towards the bridge.

After crossing the bridge and running forward for more than ten minutes, Ikeda Squadron quickly marched to the place where Wei Dayong and others buried fuel and aerial bombs.

There are nearly 2-meter-high slopes and hills on both sides of the road. They are rolling and undulating. There is no vegetation, only dots of bushes, and even exposed iron-green rocks.

Several members of the Langya team, including Wang Gensheng, were hiding behind a slope a hundred meters away, waiting for the Japanese army to come in and press the detonator.

This time the battle was relatively large. Not only did six detonators modified from telephones be used, but the detonation wires were also stretched a hundred meters away for personal safety.

Although this terrain could not hide a large number of ambushes at first glance, and no scouts were sent to conduct reconnaissance, Captain Koike still waved his hand forward.

The two machine gunners behind him came forward with crooked light machine guns and fired randomly at the low mounds on both sides.

Da da da da da... The machine gun bullets swept over, and the mounds bounced up into a cloud of soil and gravel.
Chapter completed!