Chapter 115: The Great Victory at Shangdang
"A great victory at Shangdang, a great victory at Shangdang!"
In the early morning, countless newsboys were walking quickly through the streets and alleys carrying newspapers printed overnight.
The newsboy's loud shouts attracted the attention of countless Chinese people.
"A great victory at Shangdang?!"
"What's going on? Isn't it said that the National Government is fighting a fierce battle with the Japanese in Yichang?
How did it become a great victory at Shangdang?"
"The Eighth Route Army, oh my god, it was the Eighth Route Army that recaptured the Shangdang area!"
"The Eighth Route Army? Didn't the Nationalist government say they were just roaming around and not fighting?"
"Give me a newspaper!"
"Brother, brother, let me see the newspaper."
"I can't read, who can read to me?"
"My fellow countrymen, my fellow countrymen, good news, good news!"
"The Eighth Route Army launched an attack on the Shangdang area a few days ago, and captured the two counties of Linyuan and Shiquan, the northern gateway of the Shangdang area, at lightning speed.
Then a large number of troops were mobilized to attack the areas controlled by the Japanese in various areas of Shangdang. "
"Just last night, the Eighth Route Army has recaptured all the areas controlled by the Japanese in the Shangdang area!
In this battle, the Eighth Route Army killed or wounded tens of thousands of Japanese soldiers, and more than 6,800 of them were clearly killed.
We captured more than 3,000 Japanese soldiers, and more than 10,000 puppet soldiers surrendered. We suffered 5,000 casualties.”
"A great victory, a truly great victory!"
"We killed nearly 7,000 Japanese soldiers, but only suffered over 5,000 casualties?
The Eighth Route Army is not falsely reporting its military achievements, right? "
"How is it possible to falsely report military achievements?
The Shangdang area has been completely recovered. If the Eighth Route Army falsely reported its military achievements, it will be obvious at a glance."
"This, this is too exaggerated, isn't it said that the weapons and equipment of the Eighth Route Army are very poor?
Even the German-equipped divisions of the National Government were no match for the Japanese, so how could the Eighth Route Army, with its equipment, possibly be a match for the Japanese?"
“Didn’t you see that it wasn’t just the Eighth Route Army’s newspaper that distributed the newspaper?
Even the Kuomintang’s newspapers are publishing it, which means that the Kuomintang has recognized the results of the Eighth Route Army’s battle. This is true! ”
……
The Eighth Route Army's actions in the Shangdang area shocked the whole country.
Originally, the Nationalist government was losing the battle with the Japanese in Yichang. All kinds of news were flying around, and many people even declared that if the Nationalist government lost the Battle of Yichang, it would most likely surrender.
Many students or scholars feel a little desperate when faced with this situation.
But now the news of the Eighth Route Army's great victory in Shangdang has come like a shot in the arm, once again inspiring the determination of the entire nation's military and civilians to fight against Japan.
……
"Niang Xipi!
Why was the Eighth Route Army able to recapture the entire Shangdang area?
Why are our troops losing ground?"
"Tell De Ling that Yichang cannot be lost. We must repel the Japanese attack. We also need a victory!"
"Connect me to the Fifth War Zone Command!"
……
Shanxi, Japanese military headquarters.
In the command center, Yoshio Shinozuka looked at the giant sand table in front of him. He silently took down the small plaster flag representing the Japanese invaders in Shangdang area, and then inserted a red flag representing the Eighth Route Army.
"Everyone, just say whatever you want to say." After changing the flag, Yoshio Shinozuka turned his gaze to the Japanese generals standing around the sand table.
"Commander, I think we need to mobilize superior forces to defeat the Eighth Route Army and retake the Shangdang area!"
"If we lose this supply line in Shangdang, I'm afraid it will have an impact on our troops in Zhongtiao Mountain."
"Commander, our Shanxi garrison currently does not have enough mobile forces to retake the Shangdang area.
If the garrison troops are mobilized, the rear will be left empty, and the Eighth Route Army is likely to attack the northern counties from northwest Shanxi and the Jin-Cha-Ji region."
"I think we should increase the intensity of the blockade and completely block the Eighth Route Army's external communication channels to trap the Eighth Route Army to death!"
"I suggest that we temporarily implement a policy of clearing the countryside and fortifying the city. Each county should send a team into the countryside to forcibly collect food, and arrest all the young and strong men to mine and build artillery towers!"
"Commander, this plan is absolutely not feasible. It is forcing the people of Shanxi to join the Eighth Route Army and fight against our Great Japanese Locust Army!"
"If we don't do this, won't the common people be against us?"
"If you do this, what about the Locust Army?"
"You captured their relatives to build artillery towers and mine. How can you expect the Locust Alliance to cooperate with the Locust Army in combat?"
"Locust Army? Are they cooperating well with the Locust Army in the battle?!"
"The reason why the Goryeo League suffered such a heavy loss this time was because the Locust Association launched a surprise attack when the Locust Army was retreating, which led to the Goryeo League being almost wiped out!"
"In the past year or so, how many times have the Locust Alliance rebelled?
Do you still want to deceive yourselves?"
"But without the Locust Alliance to help defend, our forces simply cannot defend so many cities and transportation lines."
"I'm not saying that I don't need the help of the Locust Army. I want to ask the North China Front Army Command to contact Manchuria and send the Manchurian Army from Manchuria to assist in the defense!"
Yoshio Shinozuka listened to what a major general said and spoke.
"Hattori, do you mean to stop recruiting local Shanxi people to form the North China Security Army, and directly mobilize troops from Manchuria?"
"Yes, Commander, the troops in Manchuria have no connection with Shanxi, and their loyalty is higher than that of the Locust Army in Shanxi."
"Then what about the Locust Army troops in Shanxi?
Are we going to lay off all of them?"
On the other side, Hiraru Isamu listened to what Hattori Naoomi said and directly refuted it.
"There are more than 100,000 locust soldiers in Shanxi, not counting the detective teams, police, and security teams that are formed by various places and are not part of the regular army.
If all these people were dismissed, they would be able to wear the uniforms of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army, the Central Army, the Northwest Army, or even the Eighth Route Army the next day!"
"Major General Hattori, do you think the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army and the Eighth Route Army don't have enough troops?"
“Moreover, the last large-scale mobilization of the Locust Army to change guards had already caused a great impact. The remaining Locust Army has united together and refused to change guards.
And now the Locust Army no longer obeys the orders of the North China Security Committee, but the orders of Wang from Nanjing!"
"Or does Major General Hattori want to kill all the Shanxi Locust Association troops?"
"More than 100,000 well-equipped Locust Army soldiers, this is not more than 100,000 unarmed civilians!"
"These Locust Alliance soldiers won't just stand there and wait for you to kill them!"
Hattori Naoomi listened to what Hiraru Isamu said and said sarcastically without changing his expression.
"In that case, please tell us your plan, Major General Pinglu."
"Or, Major General Pinglu, didn't you say that the special forces team is invincible?
How about letting the special forces take charge of destroying all the Eighth Route Army?"
(End of this chapter)
