Chapter 202: Hattori Naoomi in Despair
"Sir, the Linjiaji and Dawangzhuang strongholds have sent news that they have been attacked and cannot send troops to support us."
In the officers' observation group convoy, after receiving the news from the Linjiaji stronghold and the Dawangzhuang stronghold, the Japanese telegraph operator quickly told the news to Hattori Naoomi who was hiding in a bunker formed by three destroyed trucks.
Hattori Naoomi listened to the report from the telegraph operator, listened to the explosions and gunshots around him, and slowly closed his eyes.
If the troops in the Dawangzhuang stronghold are from the Fourth Brigade, and the Fourth Brigade wants their Officers Observation Group to be completely wiped out, then they will not provide support to their Officers Observation Group.
Still able to talk about it.
But the Linjiaji stronghold is different. The troops in the Linjiaji stronghold are all soldiers of his 21st Brigade of Hattori Naoomi. If his brigade commander is in trouble, they will definitely come to support at all costs.
But now the Linjiaji stronghold reports that it is under attack and they are unable to come to support.
They couldn't even abandon their stronghold and come to support them directly. It was obvious that they were completely blocked in the stronghold by the Eighth Route Army.
Or, the Eighth Route Army learned the news about the officers' observation group and wanted to take advantage of the last opportunity to strike a severe blow to their army.
Or, the Eighth Route Army had never thought about withdrawing from the Shangdang area and was preparing for a tough battle with the three brigades.
The 4th Brigade did not enter Shiquan County on its own, but was sent into Shiquan County by the Eighth Route Army. The purpose was to surround the 4th Brigade in Shiquan County and then destroy the entire 4th Brigade.
Now the Eighth Route Army is attacking the strongholds controlled by the Fourth Brigade, which can be said to be forming an encirclement of the Fourth Brigade.
Their officer observation group was just unlucky and happened to be within the attack range of the Eighth Route Army.
If it was the first case, Hattori Naoomi could still report to his superiors that someone leaked the information about the Officers Observation Group, causing the Officers Observation Group to be ambushed by the Eighth Route Army and thus annihilated.
Not many people knew about the Officers Observation Group, just a few.
Although there was no evidence, Hattori Naoomi believed that as long as he reported this speculation, Iwamatsu Yoshio would naturally look for evidence.
Moreover, if the Eighth Route Army specifically targeted the Officers Observation Group, they would naturally withdraw after destroying the Officers Observation Group.
And this is the clear evidence.
How did the Eighth Route Army know where the Officers Observation Group was? How did they know there was an Officers Observation Group?
Why did the Eighth Route Army retreat after simply destroying the Officers' Observation Group?
When a thorough investigation is carried out, not only Pinglu Yongfu, but also Shinozuka Yoshio will be in trouble.
Hattori Naoomi knew very well that he was probably in great danger this time.
Since you are going to die anyway, you should naturally seek greater benefits.
For example, let Yoshio Shinozuka honestly get out of the First Army, so that Yoshio Iwamatsu will have a reason to purge the First Army and completely control the First Army!
Even if he died at that time, Iwamatsu Yoshio would transfer the credit to his family on the premise that he paid the price for his purge of the First Army.
After all, if he surrendered, by then, not only would Iwamatsu Yoshio not be able to awaken the First Army, it would be considered a good thing if Iwamatsu Yoshio was not purged by Shinozuka Yoshio.
If he surrendered, Shinozuka Yoshio could say that the head of the Officers Observation Group, Hattori Naoomi, had intended to surrender to the Eighth Route Army, and then harmed the officers of the Officers Observation Group in exchange for money from the Eighth Route Army...
As the recommender of the head of the Hattori direct officer observation group, Yoshio Iwamatsu has an unshirkable responsibility, and it is possible that Yoshio Iwamatsu also accepted money.
When this hat is put on, even if the North China Front Army Command does not deal with Iwamatsu Yoshio, the families behind the nearly 200 officers of the Officer Observation Group will not let him and Iwamatsu Yoshio go.
If we say that Yoshio Shinozuka's troops were basically composed of civilian officers selected from military academies, the command system was built with civilian officers as the main force and descendants of the nobility as the auxiliary force.
The command system constructed by Yoshio Iwamatsu is mainly composed of the Chinese, and all senior military officers have a large number of connections behind them.
Even if one person is picked out alone, it is not that important, but if one or two hundred of them join forces to attack Iwamatsu Yoshio, then Iwamatsu Yoshio will have no choice but to commit suicide to appease the public anger.
Therefore, Hattori Naoomi was not worried that Iwamatsu Yoshio would play tricks on him if he used his name to purge the First Army.
If he does not bring any benefits to his own family, then Hattori Naoomi believes that his father will let Iwamatsu Yoshio know where the word "Hattori" came from.
But if the second situation happened, or if the Eighth Route Army continued to attack, then all of their officers' observation group would be wiped out by the Eighth Route Army.
Then it would not bring any benefits to Yoshio Iwamatsu or the families behind them.
Because it was all bad luck for the officers' observation group, as the Eighth Route Army was attacking the 4th Brigade.
The Officers Observation Group directly ran into the attack range of the Eighth Route Army. Even if the Officers Observation Group was completely wiped out by the Eighth Route Army, it would have nothing to do with the Fourth Brigade.
And most importantly, Hattori Naoomi also knew in his heart that if any major problems occurred in the 4th Brigade.
Then Hiraru Isamu and Shinozuka Yoshio would definitely put the blame on Hattori Naoomi and the officers' observation group without hesitation.
The direct report said that it was because of the division of troops to support the Officers' Observation Group that the 4th Brigade suffered heavy losses, and subsequently led to the failure of Yoshio Shinozuka's plan to eliminate the Eighth Route Army.
As for why Hattori Naoomi was so clear and certain that Hiraru Isamu and Shinozuka Yoshio would do this.
The reason is very simple. If it were him or Iwamatsu Yoshio, he would also put the blame on Pinglu Yongfu without hesitation.
After all, the mistake of losing the Shangdang area was quite big, and it would be difficult for Yoshio Shinozuka to walk away with this blame.
If he, Hattori Naoomi, was replaced by Shinozuka Yoshio.
Hattori Naoomi would certainly use the excuse of the officers' observation group to say that the reason he gave up on letting the Eighth Route Army occupy the Shangdang area was precisely because he wanted to attract the Eighth Route Army to the Shangdang area.
Then troops were sent out from Taiyuan and Jinzhong at the same time to completely destroy the Eighth Route Army in the Shangdang area.
However, the plan was completely disrupted due to the officers' observation group, which resulted in the 4th Brigade, the core of the plan, suffering heavy losses, and the plan could no longer be completed.
At that time, Yoshio Shinozuka would at most be held responsible for taking too much risk, leading to the failure of the operation.
The blame for the loss of Shangdang area would be placed directly on Iwamatsu Yoshio, who had not yet taken office as the commander of the First Army and was not in Shanxi.
As for Hattori Naoomi, he is dead and his family has bowed and apologized. What else do you want to do?
We can't let Hattori Naoomi crawl out of his grave and commit suicide by disembowelment.
But no matter which situation it was, there was no possibility for Hattori Naoomi to survive.
He could not and must not surrender, let alone be captured by the Eighth Route Army.
Otherwise, the impact of a major general surrendering to the Eighth Route Army or being captured by the Eighth Route Army would be too great.
At this moment, Hattori Naoomi could be said to be somewhat desperate.
After all, he also wants to live. He is still young and doesn't want to die.
"Why is the firepower of the Eighth Route Army so fierce?" Listening to the sound of heavy machine gun fire and mortar shells exploding all around.
Hattori Naoomi also had doubts in his heart.
The firepower of a group of Eighth Route Army troops who were only responsible for the ambush was so strong, so what about the main force of the Eighth Route Army?
Judging from the sound of the gunfire, it was obvious that the Eighth Route Army was equipped with their own Type 38 rifles, Taisho Type 10 light machine guns, and Type 92 heavy machine guns.
Even the equipment of the troops responsible for the ambush was no worse than that of their own army, so there was no need to think about the equipment of other Eighth Route Army troops, which would definitely not be much worse.
“Could it be that someone is reselling equipment?”
Hattori Naoomi opened his eyes and looked in the direction of Dawangzhuang, then stroked his chin and wondered who in Shanxi would resell standard equipment to the Eighth Route Army.
He knew something about the fact that some people in the army were reselling equipment.
There is a unit in the army that is extremely powerful and has an unparalleled fighting spirit.
But this troop hates fighting very much, and everyone from officers to soldiers prefers to do business.
That’s right, when Hattori Naoomi thought of reselling equipment, the first thing he thought of was the Osaka Division.
If this unit was in Shanxi, then Hattori Naoomi would have no doubt that it was this unit that did it.
As long as there is enough money, the Osaka Division dares to sell anything!
Reselling equipment is just a daily routine for the Osaka Division.
And because of the Osaka Division's extremely strong strength and cohesion, no one dared to blame the Osaka Division.
The Kwantung Army once wanted to deal with the Osaka Division for reselling equipment and refusing to fight.
As a result, the personnel sent to deal with the situation were all killed on the way by a group of bandits who were robbing the road with heavy machine guns and mortars.
In the end, no one dared to investigate the Osaka Division anymore. They could only report it to the headquarters and ask them to transfer the Osaka Division away so that they could out of sight and out of mind.
However, the Osaka Division was not in North China, so for a while, Hattori Naoomi could not figure out who was reselling equipment to the Eighth Route Army.
If the Eighth Route Army's equipment was entirely captured... then the captured equipment would be more than the equipment of the Japanese troops that were destroyed.
……
Of course, Hattori Naoomi sent more than just a telegram for help to the Dawangzhuang stronghold and the Linjiaji stronghold.
Hattori Naoomi also sent a telegram for help to the 4th Brigade, the Taiyuan 1st Army Headquarters, and the North China Front Army Headquarters.
However, Hiraru Isamu of the 4th Brigade and Yoshio Shinozuka of the 1st Army Commander both knew what was going on.
He just arranged for the troops to do some demonstration work and didn't take it seriously at all.
But the situation of the North China Front Army Headquarters was different.
Especially Iwamatsu Yoshio.
Most of the officers in the Officer Observation Group were the candidates he was going to use to replace the officers of the First Army.
If the officers' observation group was completely wiped out by the Eighth Route Army, he would not be able to control the First Army in a short period of time.
After receiving the telegram for help from Hattori Naoomi, Yoshio Iwamatsu immediately ran to the operations command room of the North China Front Army Headquarters with the telegram and found the commander of the North China Front Army, Tada Shun.
"Your Excellency Commander, the officers on duty have been ambushed by a large force of the Eighth Route Army and have been trapped. There is a risk of all of them being annihilated at any time. Please give an order immediately and have the First Army send out troops for support!"
Tada Shun, who was discussing the battle launched by Yoshio Shinozuka with the chief of staff, stood up immediately after hearing what Yoshio Iwamatsu said.
"What did you say? The officers' observation group was ambushed by the main force of the Eighth Route Army?
Is there a risk of total destruction?
How could the officers' observation group be ambushed by the Eighth Route Army? "
After listening to Yoshio Iwamatsu's report, Tada Shun's first reaction was disbelief.
The officers' observation group has two battalions of guard troops alone, and the 4th Brigade is located in Shiquan County. With so many troops, there will be no problem in ensuring the safety of the officers' observation group.
Tada Shun didn't think that the Eighth Route Army's small number of people and weapons and equipment could defeat the officers' observation group in front of a brigade.
Even the fact that the Eighth Route Army was able to capture the Shangdang area seemed to Tada Shun possible to be the result of Yoshio Shinozuka deliberately giving up the Shangdang area in order to completely eliminate the Eighth Route Army in Shanxi and make another great achievement before leaving office.
As a result, Yoshio Iwamatsu came to report that the officers' observation group had been ambushed and was in danger of being killed in action.
How could Tada Shun believe this?
……
On the mountain, Ding Wei also received telegrams from the brigade headquarters and the 772nd Regiment.
The brigade commander has questioned all the nearby troops, and no one has said that they have detached troops to attack the Dawangzhuang stronghold.
The 772nd Regiment also sent a telegram saying that their commander was now leading his men to attack the Linjiaji stronghold. They were very sure that their target was the Linjiaji stronghold and not the Dawangzhuang stronghold.
"Hey, this is weird, who is attacking the Dawangzhuang stronghold?
It can't be that the devils are attacking themselves, right?"
Ding Wei spoke to Wei Dayong beside him in confusion.
Ding Wei didn't know that his casual remark actually guessed the truth of the matter.
Wei Dayong listened to what Ding Wei said and shook his head, not wanting to think about those troublesome things. Those things were for the regiment commander and the political commissar to think about. He just had to focus on killing the devils.
"Captain Ding, let me tell you, why don't we just charge in and take care of the Japs down there, and then take the troops to the Dawangzhuang stronghold and take a look?
If it really was a group of bandits who launched an attack on the Japanese stronghold in Dawangzhuang, then we can also help.
If they were bandits, and they dared to attack the Japanese stronghold at this time, then this group of bandits could be completely incorporated into the Eighth Route Army.
If the Japanese are fighting themselves, why don't we just fight them together?
With the strength of the New 1st Regiment, there is not much difference between two hundred Japanese soldiers and three hundred Japanese soldiers. "
"That makes sense. Let's notify all soldiers to prepare for the charge!"
Ding Wei listened to what Wei Dayong said and nodded.
(End of this chapter)
