I really came here to fight against Japan

Chapter 483 Ono's Judgment (Continued)

"Mr. Ono, what do you think about the rumor that the 1st Division of the 9th Brigade caused trouble in Taiyuan?"

Ono: “General Hayata, I feel this is something that cannot be accomplished.

Although in recent years, the Eighth Route Army has developed rapidly in Shanxi.

However, it was totally unrealistic for them to gather 100,000 regular troops near Taiyuan City at once.

Judging from the situation last night, the Eighth Route Army captured hundreds of our strongholds and has already sent out all its elite troops.

Especially in Yangquan County, an entire regiment was destroyed by the Eighth Route Army.

Although it was caused by the garrison commander of Yangquan County who left his post without permission.

However, if you want to defeat such a regiment, it is impossible to do it without 10,000 to 20,000 elite troops.

Therefore, the siege of Taiyuan by 100,000 Eighth Route Army troops was simply a smokescreen released by the Eighth Route Army.

It's just to prevent us from sending troops to support those small strongholds.

So that the raiding troops can calmly transport the supplies back to their base."

Chih-Hsien Hayata: "Then what about the numbers of these siege troops mentioned by the Eighth Route Army?"

Ono pointed to the military map on the wall and analyzed it for the people in the headquarters.

"Let's talk about the east of Shanxi first. There are a large number of troops stationed there from Hebei.

One of the larger units of the Eighth Route Army was their First Independent Brigade of East Shanxi.

This newly formed brigade was originally a unit called the Third Regiment, which had just been expanded into a brigade.

Even if a second brigade was established, the soldiers would be a mixture of new and old soldiers.

Even if these two forces are added together, the regular troops that can fight do not exceed 5,000 people.

Besides, they had just occupied Yangquan, so they didn't have time to run to Taiyuan to die.

And the arrangement of the four heavy artillery companies is pure fabrication.

The Eighth Route Army generally lacked knowledge and had no idea what heavy artillery meant.

And it is done in companies, which is simply unheard of.

I'm afraid that in the eyes of the Eighth Route Army, if they had four Type 92 infantry guns, they would be called a heavy artillery group."

"Ha ha ha ha……"

The Japanese officers in the operations hall all laughed in unison.

“Let’s talk about the north. There are still many large strongholds that they have not captured.

If they really were to go out, how could a cavalry division of 10,000 people not have a radio to report to us in Taiyuan?

And to the south, one of our brigades has just withdrawn to Taiyuan.

If the Eighth Route Army had five brigades lying in ambush there, they would not have seen nothing.

Besides, there are the five independent brigades of the First Death Column.

Isn't their mission to surround the point and attack the reinforcements?

How could we possibly let that brigade go and allow them to return to Taiyuan City to increase the city’s defense capabilities?

The only troops that could possibly appear are the two rapid reaction brigades belonging to the Taiyue Military Region of the Eighth Route Army.

The idea behind establishing these two brigades was to find the Eighth Route Army's important targets when the Imperial Army discovered them.

So when a large-scale sweep is carried out, they will respond quickly.

Now in the whole of Shanxi, there are only two brigades with sufficient manpower to harass Taiyuan.

I estimate that their current location should be in the area of ​​Liulang Temple."

Hayata Chih-hsien asked, “Why is it Rokuro Temple?”

Ono: “The direction of the mountains here stretches from south to north.

But the mountain road from east to west is only a few dozen miles long.

This Liulang Temple is located right on the mountain at the exit.

If they retreat, they can quickly retreat back to what they call the Taiyue base.

If we move forward, we can march straight to the city of Taiyuan.

So outside that mountain pass, we have a defense zone consisting of five artillery towers and bunkers.

Because the terrain there is very dangerous, the mountain pass can be tightly locked.

So until now, we have not given them an order to withdraw all of them to Taiyuan."

Tomohiro Hayata: “Yoshi, I totally agree with Ono-kun’s analysis.

I will report your analysis truthfully to Commander Tada.

So what else do we need to do?"

Staff Officer Ono Jipi pointed to the stronghold called "Hu Ting" and said.

"Send a telegram to the defenders of the Huting stronghold and ask them to fire two shots in the direction of Liulang Temple. We will know after a try."

In the temporary command center of Liulang Temple, everyone was discussing the matter.

How to quickly send Gong Jijijuteng's body back to Taiyuan City.

So that the Japanese could use our compatriots in Taiyuan Prison to exchange the bodies of the Japanese officers.

Everyone looked at the Huting stronghold on the map and felt uncomfortable no matter how they looked at it.

Song Wenwan asked: "Commander of the Brigade, we have been fighting all night, why is this Huting stronghold still there?"

He said this without any other meaning.

The main reason why Gu asked this question was because this stronghold blocked their way to Taiyuan.

Brigade Headquarters Chief: “The main purpose of this stronghold is to block our way out of the mountain.

But it is not adjacent to the main railway and highway, and there is more than one road for us to get out of the mountains.

Therefore, this stronghold is not among the targets of our raid this time."

There was another reason, which the brigade commander did not mention.

After passing the Huting stronghold, the flat land behind you is Taiyuan City.

If they took down the Huting stronghold, they would not be able to hold it for long.

Moreover, if we attack Taiyuan city from here, the Japanese planes will come to bomb it before we have even gone a few miles.

This is a useless piece, which is why Li Yunlong has not had the Dahuting stronghold since he arrived at Liulang Temple.

Song Wenwan looked at the map and smacked her lips. It was not impossible to take a detour.

But Song Wenwan was so lazy that he was unwilling to take a detour in the hot summer.

"We must fight, as the saying goes, there is no room for two tigers in one mountain.

If you leave the Huting stronghold here and don't attack it, aren't you trying to undermine your great brigade commander's power?"

The brigade commander glanced at Song Wenwan and said, "Haha, it seems that if I don't take down this Huting stronghold today, I will be sorry for myself!"

Now that the commander-in-chief of the front line has spoken, Wu Changfeng naturally has to make every arrangement meticulously.

The top of the mountain is only about two kilometers away from the Huting stronghold.

Wu Changfeng's artillery arranged the artillery positions this morning.

They were in a commanding position, pointing their guns at the Huting stronghold below, ready to fire at any time.

They had already calibrated all the parameters. It was the artillery commander Wang Chengzhu who had calibrated each gun one by one.

There are a total of five Type 92 infantry guns, which are specifically responsible for attacking the five artillery towers.

In addition, thirty Type 82 mortars were aimed at the barracks in the stronghold below.

If the fighting continues, even a standard battalion of Japanese soldiers stationed below won't be able to withstand more than a few rounds.

At this time, an observation post on a commanding height hurriedly ran into the temporary command center.

"Reporting to the commander-in-chief, reporting to Brigade Commander Wu, I just discovered that the Japanese in the Huting stronghold have made new moves.

They pulled out a Type 92 infantry gun and a box of artillery shells from the warehouse.

Judging from the direction the Japanese guns are aiming, it should be our Liulang Temple."

The brigade commander said: "Wu Changfeng, what are you waiting for? Go over and order the artillery to fire.

Don't wait for the Japanese shells to fall first, or we will suffer a great loss!"

Captain Songkou of the Japanese army at the Huting stronghold has not slept all night.

The sound of gunfire outside had been going on all night, and the fire burning in the artillery tower had also been burning all night.

After waiting for a long time, they still did not see the Eighth Route Army attack their stronghold.