Chapter 209: The Fourth Brigade is Completely Surrounded
"How is it? Haven't you contacted Chief of Staff Yonekura Taro yet?"
In Tongshi Town, at the headquarters of the 4th Brigade, Pinglu Yongfu asked the telegraph operator.
Just now, the telegraph operator reported to Pinglu Yongfu that he had lost contact with Yonekura Dalang.
After losing contact with Taro Yonekura, Isamu Hiraru immediately sent a telegram to Ryota Ono, wanting to ask him what was going on.
But I couldn't get in touch with Ono Ryota either.
This made Pinglu Yongfu realize that something was wrong.
If one of Ono Ryota or Yonekura Taro could not be contacted, it could be said that the radio station of both sides was damaged during the exchange of fire.
But now neither side can communicate. It’s impossible that both radio stations were damaged at the same time.
In addition to the radio station, there is also a telephone at the Dawangzhuang stronghold, but now even the telephone cannot be reached.
This made Pinglu Yongfu realize that something was wrong.
"Could it be that the Eighth Route Army is really planning to encircle our Fourth Brigade?"
Thinking back to the initial discussion between himself and Kasahara Koizumi and others, the reason why the 4th Brigade was able to enter Tongshi Town so quickly was probably because the Eighth Route Army did it on purpose.
The goal is to surround the 4th Brigade and then destroy the entire 4th Brigade.
Although Pinglu Yongfu is now considering this direction, he really can't figure out how the Eighth Route Army should eliminate his Fourth Brigade.
Does the Eighth Route Army really have the ability to destroy its own Fourth Brigade?
In other words, does the Eighth Route Army really have the ability to destroy the Fourth Brigade before the other two brigades attack?
Just as Pinglu Yongfu was thinking, a telegraph operator came to report to him a telegram he had just received.
"Your Excellency, Brigade Commander, Colonel Kasahara Koizumi requests tactical guidance!"
"Nani?"
Listening to the telegraph operator's report, Pinglu Yongfu rubbed his ears, suspecting that he had heard it wrong, and asked the telegraph operator back.
"What did you say? What support did Kasahara Koizumi request?"
"Report, Colonel Kasahara Koizumi requests tactical guidance from the brigade.
The Eighth Route Army troops on the riverside positions were too cunning. They had dug a large number of anti-artillery holes and a large number of grenade launchers. The engineers and infantry were unable to get close to the river bank to build a pontoon bridge.
To save time and ammunition.
Colonel Kasahara Koizumi hopes the brigade will provide tactical guidance."
"Baga, is Kasahara Koizumi out of his mind? Can tactical guidance be used at any time?
Report to Colonel Kasahara Koizumi and ask him to find a way to break through the Eighth Route Army's position and attack Hegu Town!
Do not use tactical guidance unless it is absolutely necessary!"
Hiraru Isamu directly rejected Kasahara Koizumi's proposal.
Are you kidding? Can tactical guidance be used casually?
Now the entire Shangdang area has been occupied by the Eighth Route Army. If they use tactical guidance casually, and if one of the bombs fails to explode and is taken away by the Eighth Route Army, their international reputation will be completely destroyed.
There's nothing wrong with using it secretly, but if you use it openly, aren't you asking for trouble?
And most importantly, the 4th Brigade did not bring much tactical guidance.
If we give it to Kasahara Koizumi now, what if we encounter a more difficult situation later?
"Hi!"
After hearing Hiraru Isamu's order, the telegraph operator quickly reported to Kasahara Koizumi and conveyed Hiraru Isamu's order to the other party.
"Your Excellency, the brigade commander, the Dajing Town stronghold reports that they are under fierce attack by the Eighth Route Army. We request support!"
Pinglu Yongfu had just given orders to Kasahara Koizumi, asking him to figure out a solution on his own, and he hadn't sat down yet to continue thinking about what the Eighth Route Army was trying to do.
The telegraph operator immediately stood up and sent a telegram for help to Pinglu Yongfu.
"what?
The Dajing Town stronghold was attacked by the Eighth Route Army?"
Listening to the telegraph operator's report, Pinglu Yongfu couldn't wait for the operator to deliver the telegram, so he stood up and took the telegram document himself.
The Dajing Town stronghold is not any other stronghold, it is the stronghold located at the only exit to the north of Tongshi Town!
The terrain of the entire Tongshi Town is a horseshoe-shaped terrain, with a flat middle and mountains on the north, east and west. Although the south is not blocked by mountains, there is also a river between Tongshi Town and the ancient town.
In addition, if you want to go to other areas from Tongshi Town, you can either take the mountain road or take a highway that passes through the mountains.
Now the only way for the 4th Brigade to communicate with the outside world is the Dajing Town stronghold in the north. If the Dajing Town stronghold is occupied by the Eighth Route Army, it means that the 4th Brigade will be completely surrounded by the Eighth Route Army in Tongshi Town.
After listening to the report from his telegraph operator, Pinglu Yongfu no longer had to wonder what the Eighth Route Army was trying to do.
The enemy has attacked the stronghold in Dajing Town, and it is obvious that they intend to completely block their Fourth Brigade in Tongshi Town and then destroy their Fourth Brigade.
"Let the soldiers in Dajing Town withdraw. Don't stay in Dajing Town. You can't hold it."
Although the Dajing Town stronghold is a checkpoint area, it is also a large stronghold.
However, if this stronghold is attacked from the south, it can be said to be easy to defend but difficult to attack.
But if we attack from the north, it will be easy to attack but difficult to defend.
The Eighth Route Army launched an attack on the Dajing Town stronghold, and it was definitely impossible to attack from the south. After all, Tongshi Town was to the south of the Dajing Town stronghold, and the main force of the 4th Brigade was still here.
To attack from the south would be to commit suicide.
Pinglu Yongfu didn't think that the commander of the Eighth Route Army would make such a low-level mistake.
"Let the First and Second Infantry Battalions report the situation over there. Are there any unusual actions by the Eighth Route Army over there? Have they launched an attack against us?"
"Send a telegram to Colonel Kasahara Koizumi and ask him to speed up the attack on Hegu Town. I will request the aviation team to send aircraft for support."
"Order the 1st and 2nd Independent Battalions to launch a tentative attack on the Eighth Route Army."
"Order the Third Independent Infantry Battalion to return to defend Tongshi Town to prevent the Eighth Route Army of Shiquan County from attacking Tongshi Town from the Dajing Town stronghold."
"Send a telegram to the commander, saying that the Eighth Route Army is surrounding our Fourth Brigade and intends to annihilate it, and ask the commander to slow down the attack of the other two brigades.
Our troops will launch a fierce attack on the surrounding Eighth Route Army with Tongshi Town as the center, and try to attract as many nearby Eighth Route Army as possible.
At that time, we will launch a general attack and wipe out the nearby Eighth Route Army in one fell swoop!
Please ask the Commander to have the air force send planes to conduct reconnaissance in Linyuan County, Shiquan County, Baihuling, Guzhen Town, and Yuxi Town to gather intelligence on the Eighth Route Army. This will help us choose the main attack direction!"
Upon learning that the Dajing Town stronghold was attacked by the Eighth Route Army, Pinglu Yongfu was a little surprised at first, but after realizing that the Eighth Route Army was forming an encirclement of the 4th Brigade, he immediately began to make corresponding adjustments to the Eighth Route Army's plan.
Since the Eighth Route Army wanted to surround the 4th Brigade and annihilate it.
Pinglu Yongfu first abandoned the Dajing Town stronghold and withdrew the troops in the Dajing Town stronghold, and then arranged for the troops to attack in three other directions, in order to make the Eighth Route Army believe that the 4th Brigade did not want to break out after being surrounded, but wanted to directly penetrate into the hinterland of the Eighth Route Army.
After all, when a normal troop commander is surrounded, he will definitely find a way to break out unless there is no necessary situation.
The 4th Brigade was surrounded. Judging from the situation on Pinglu Yongfu's side, the best way was to break out from the direction of Dajing Town stronghold as quickly as possible before it was occupied by the Eighth Route Army and join the 9th Brigade.
But Pinglu Yongfu believed that what he could think of, the Eighth Route Army could definitely think of as well.
It was indeed feasible to break out from the direction of the Dajing Town stronghold, but the Eighth Route Army must have also taken this situation into account.
A large number of troops had definitely been dispatched to block the road behind the Dajing Town stronghold.
By then, even if the 4th Brigade left Tongshi Town and broke out of the Dajing Town stronghold, it would still face endless ambushes from the Eighth Route Army.
If the Eighth Route Army destroyed the road again, the 4th Brigade would not be able to carry the heavy weapons it was equipped with when it broke out.
Without heavy weapons, the Japanese Fourth Brigade was like a tiger without teeth.
Even if they broke out, the 4th Brigade would suffer heavy losses.
If the 4th Brigade suffered heavy losses and abandoned a large amount of heavy equipment, then the reorganization of the 4th Brigade into a garrison force would be irreversible.
The combat effectiveness is so poor and so much equipment has been discarded. If it is not reorganized into a mobile unit, will the 4th Brigade be allowed to act as a field force and discard so much equipment?
Pinglu Yongfu’s idea was very simple. Since the Eighth Route Army wanted to surround his Fourth Brigade, they wanted to swallow up his Fourth Brigade.
Then I will give the Eighth Route Army this opportunity. I will use the entire Fourth Brigade as bait to lure all the nearby Eighth Route Army troops over and then annihilate them in one fell swoop!
"I want to see what kind of ability the Eighth Route Army has that supports them to be so confident in wanting to swallow up my Fourth Brigade?!
Humph, a snake swallowing an elephant is not afraid of being stuffed to death! "
Under Pinglu Yongfu's order, telegrams were sent from the headquarters of the 4th Brigade.
Under the command of Pinglu Yongfu, the entire Fourth Brigade started operating again.
……
At the Japanese First Army Headquarters in Taiyuan.
Yoshio Shinozuka was constantly checking the telegrams sent from various areas.
Most areas of Shanxi were under attack at this moment.
"Humph, the Eighth Route Army wants to hold back all our troops, so that we can't withdraw troops to support the Shangdang area!
Once we have retaken the Shangdang area, we must ask the North China Command to transfer troops back from the south, and the Eighth Route Army will launch a comprehensive sweep!"
Looking at the pile of telegrams in his hands reporting the attack by the Eighth Route Army, Yoshio Shinozuka snorted coldly and spoke with disdain.
"Commander, Jincheng has sent a telegram that the Jinsui Army is moving towards Zhongtiao Mountain and Jincheng. The troops sent by Jincheng to attack the Shangdang area were blocked by the Jinsui Army and cannot go to the Shangdang area.
In addition, Jincheng reported that the troops sent by the Jinsui Army this time were all elite troops, not the troops encountered in the past. Jincheng asked whether to launch an attack on the Jinsui Army? "
"Send a telegram to Jincheng, asking them to confront the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army, but not to expand the battlefield. The Shangdang area has been occupied by the Eighth Route Army, and the troops in Jincheng and Zhongtiao Mountain cannot be moved around at will.
Let them maintain deterrence against the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army. The Shanxi-Suiyuan Army doesn't want us to move, and we don't want them to move.
Let the troops in Jincheng return to defend Jincheng, be alert to the Jinsui Army's surprise attack on Jincheng, and ensure that Jincheng is not lost. "
After listening to the deputy senior officer's report, Yoshio Shinozuka responded quickly.
Originally, he was thinking of letting the Jincheng troops attack the Shangdang area from the south, so that the Eighth Route Army would have to fight on two fronts and fall into the dilemma of insufficient manpower.
However, Yoshio Shinozuka did not expect that the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army would intervene.
Now that the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army has been dispatched, the troops in Jincheng cannot move.
If Jincheng is lost, the troops in Zhongtiao Mountain will be completely isolated and will be directly swallowed up by the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army.
Shangdang has been lost. If Shangdang is not taken back, Jincheng and Zhongtiao Mountain will also be lost, and all the troops there will be wiped out.
Then the only option for Yoshio Shinozuka was to commit seppuku to apologize.
The reason why Yoshio Shinozuka did not attack the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army was that he was worried that if he attacked too harshly, the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army would directly join forces with the Eighth Route Army to launch an attack on them.
Now a large number of their troops are tied up in Zaoyi, and there are no extra troops from North China to support them. Everything depends on the strength of the Shanxi First Army itself.
Unless the Kwantung Army is mobilized to enter the pass, the Kwantung Army must not be mobilized unless it is absolutely necessary. Otherwise, if the Soviet army over there discovers that the Kwantung Army has been mobilized, they may seize the opportunity to launch an attack.
So at this moment, Yoshio Shinozuka did not want to have any more conflicts with the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army.
Otherwise, if the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army really joined forces with the Eighth Route Army, the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army would help the Eighth Route Army to block all the Japanese invaders in Jincheng.
Then the Eighth Route Army could mobilize all the troops in the entire Shangdang area to the north to reach the 4th, 9th, and 11th Brigades heading south.
By then, the 4th Brigade, which had already entered the heart of Shiquan County, would be in danger.
If the Eighth Route Army can really stop the troops moving southward and defend the Shangdang area, then the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army can seize the opportunity to launch an attack on Jincheng.
In the end, most of Shanxi will be recaptured by the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army and the Eighth Route Army.
Having lost so much territory and so many troops, Yoshio Shinozuka had no other choice but to commit suicide.
"Order the troops in various regions to find ways to delay the Eighth Route Army while resisting its attacks.
As soon as the battle in Shangdang is over, I will immediately send troops to support them and wipe out the Eighth Route Army!"
"Send a telegram to the 9th 11th Brigade and tell them that they must reach the county seat before sunset!
Launch a fierce attack on Shiquan County and Linyuan County. I want them to capture the two counties as quickly as possible!
Send a telegram to the 4th Brigade, asking it to launch an attack on the surrounding Eighth Route Army, delay the Eighth Route Army as much as possible, and prevent the Eighth Route Army from having enough troops to support Linyuan County and Shiquan County.
Let the 20th Division prepare for the attack. As long as Shiquan County and Linyuan County are captured, the 20th Division will be dispatched immediately!"
(End of this chapter)
