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Volume 1: On the Songhua River Chapter 566: Encirclement and Calling for Reinforcements

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    Chapter 566: Encirclement for reinforcements

    At 5 o'clock in the morning on January 4, Tang Qiusheng commanded the 230,000 troops of the Taihang Mountain Field Corps. He led Yamaguchi, the chief of staff of the Japanese North China Expeditionary Army, to sweep away more than 90,000 Japanese troops in the Taihang Mountains and encircled them from Xiangyuan to Lucheng in southern Shanxi.  area, by about 8 a.m., after three hours of fierce fighting, the Japanese troops were compressed into a triangle area of ??Xiadian, Wuyang, and Guhan, with a radius of only more than 30 kilometers.

    After the initial blow, the remaining Japanese soldiers, under the command of Commander Yamaguchi, built temporary field fortifications and resisted stubbornly. The Japanese division troops pushed the front all the way to the center and narrowed the encirclement. The Japanese army could not escape.

    In the encirclement, Yamaguchi looked at the division commanders around him with a depressed expression. He knew very well the fate he was about to face. These division commanders also looked defeated. Their troops and structures had been crippled.  , the fierce artillery fire of the Chinese *** team caused the arrogant Japanese army to suffer a lot.

    Yamaguchi looked at the soldiers who were desperately building fortifications. Their bodies were covered with mud and gunpowder smoke. Their uniforms were full of traces of war. The frozen corpses of their companions had also become part of the bunker. He felt miserable in his heart. The invincible Emperor of Japan  When did the Japanese Army fall to this point? In just three hours, more than 30,000 soldiers fell under the gunfire of the Japanese Army Division.

    He knew very well that there was no danger to defend, and holding on was just a matter of survival. Most of the troops' supplies and ammunition were destroyed in this sudden bombardment. Even if the troops of the ** Division did not attack, in this ice and snow, the soldiers  We couldn't last more than three days, and we were starving.

    The only thing he could do was to send one telegram after another to the Commander of the Expeditionary Forces, Kozuki Kiyoshi, truthfully reporting the desperate situation faced by the troops. There was no need to exaggerate. In this ice and snow, there was no danger to defend the wilderness.  Surrounded by enemies with absolutely superior strength and firepower, what outcome will they face?

    He believed that the commander must understand that he was in a desperate situation. Kozuki Seiji, who received the telegram from Yamaguchi asking for help, was going crazy. First, he lost his high hopes in Xuzhou, Isoya Rensuke's 13th Army.  Ten thousand troops, followed by Yamaguchi's more than 90,000 troops, Kozuki Kiyoshi almost collapsed.

    But he had no choice. No troops could go to rescue the mountain pass. If they were temporarily formed, they would face the situation of breaking through the interception of Tang Qiuli's army. Now, the Imperial Army in North China is in a state of full defense.  Being able to hold on to the current defense line is already very good.

    At the Niangziguan frontline headquarters, he was fuming with anxiety. Yamaguchi had to be rescued, but this would take time. Troops were mobilized from various places and sent to a regiment. That was an appetizer delivered to Tang Qiuli's mouth.  So, he telegraphed back to Yamaguchi, "Mr. Yamaguchi, the dispatched army headquarters is actively forming a rescue force. I hope your troops will stay in place for three to five days, and the rescue force can reach the Lucheng area."

    In fact, Xiangyue Qingji himself had no idea. First, where did this army come from? It would definitely not be able to do it without a small number of troops. There were more than 200,000 Japanese troops surrounding Yamaguchi. Second, even if the army formed  After it is completed, it is unknown whether it can break through the blockade of the ** Division troops. Once the troops desperately approach Lucheng, all the Yamaguchi troops will be shattered. If the rescue troops fall into the encirclement again, wouldn't it mean that they lose their wives and lose their troops?

    In a dilemma, Xiang Yue Qingji was not able to die. At this time, he received a telegram from the chief of the general staff of the base camp, Prince Zai Ren, ordering him to immediately form a rescue force for the Yamaguchi headquarters. Otherwise, all consequences will be borne by him personally. Xiang Yue  Qingji felt dizzy. How did the Prince know about this?  It must be that bastard Yamaguchi who escalated the situation.

    After Yamaguchi received the telegram from Kozuki Seiji, he was so angry that he almost vomited blood. He held on for three to five days. Joking, to put it lightly, more than 60,000 people were crowded into such a small area, and the Japanese army could take them with one shell.  The lives of several soldiers, he fully believed that as long as the ** division surrounded the troops and immediately began to attack, the troops that had been severely damaged would be wiped out in less than ten hours. Even if they were bombarded with artillery fire, they would be able to be destroyed in one day.  Blow up this big ass place.

    It¡¯s not that Yamaguchi has never tried to break out, he also knows that water from afar cannot quench the thirst of the nearby. However, the soldiers fought desperately several times to break through, but they were beaten back mercilessly. In addition to throwing corpses on the ground, they didn¡¯t even advance half a step. Yamaguchi also  I had no choice but to give up. Could I just sit back and wait for death?  Yamaguchi, who was so anxious that he tore into pieces the telegram from K¨­getsu Seiji, ignored the Army's rules and put his own life first, so he simply sent a telegram directly to Chief of General Staff Zai Ren, hoping that Zai Ren could put pressure on K¨­getsu Seiji and send a rescue as soon as possible.  force.

    Under unprecedented pressure, Xiangyue Qingsi assembled three divisions with nearly 100,000 troops from the Datong front line, Niangziguan front line, and Peiping garrison as quickly as possible, using Handan as the assembly point to form a rescue corps.  , to implement the rescue plan, but it will take about three days just to assemble these troops, not counting the aftermath.Frequent replenishment time.

    Throughout the day on January 4th, the ** Division troops did not launch a full-scale attack on the surrounded Japanese troops. They only violently bombarded the Japanese positions with uninterrupted artillery fire. This was Tang Qiusheng's order. He sternly refused the command of the troops.  The Japanese army still had more than 60,000 troops. As the so-called "trapped beast still fights", there was no need to make heavy sacrifices when victory came.  sacrifice.

    This move is more powerful than a direct attack, causing greater casualties to the Japanese army. If the infantry launches an attack, the Japanese soldiers will be able to engage in a face-to-face bloody battle, and it can also stimulate the ferocity in their hearts. At most, they will be defeated and the enemy will die.  Being able to pull up several back cushions is in line with the most basic Japanese Bushido spirit.

    However, only the artillery shells were whistling and there was no infantry charge. This made the Japanese soldiers in the encirclement suffer a lot and destroyed their will to resist little by little. The only Japanese artillery unit that could counterattack had just fired  After firing one artillery shell, an unknown number of artillery shells were fired back. The fire flashed and the snow foam stirred up blocked the sight of the Japanese soldiers. When the smoke dissipated, there were only craters scattered all over the Japanese artillery position.

    The Japanese infantry watched helplessly as the artillery turned into piles of scrap metal, and the artillery soldiers turned into fragmented corpses. They could only hide in temporary fortifications, enduring hunger, the biting cold wind, and the falling shells whizzing above their heads.  The bloody corpse of his companion was already numb in his heart. Maybe he would be the next one lying on the ground.

    The unique tactics of the ** Division troops made it impossible for the Japanese soldiers who were ready to fight to find their opponents. Moreover, each unit used water to form ice and snow to form trenches, forming a line stretching for dozens of kilometers on the outside of the encirclement.  The ice wall facing the Japanese soldiers has a very steep slope, which is as smooth as a mirror and makes it difficult to stand on. There are more than 60,000 defeated Japanese soldiers trapped inside.

    The siege of the Japanese troops at Yamaguchi was so successful that Tang Qiuli was surprised. He immediately left Guocun and rushed to the Huangnian Corps headquarters with his division commanders. On the evening of the 4th, he met Tang Qiusheng and was still in Guocun.  At that time, he thought that the siege in front of him was very similar to the situation on the Huaihai battlefield between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party.

    The ** Zhongye and Huaye troops, under the command of Liu Bocheng, Chen Yi, ***, and Su Yu, surrounded the 300,000 troops of *** General Du Yuming. It was also freezing cold, heavy snowfall, and 300,000 ***  , without food and reinforcements inside and outside, it can only be destroyed. This battle also determined the balance of military power between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party in the Huang-Huai-Hai area.

    The difference is that the Japanese army is being surrounded now. There will definitely be a shortage of supplies, but there will be reinforcements. He is well aware of the tradition of the Japanese army. If one unit is surrounded, the other units will fight to the rescue. He looked at the map for a long time, his eyes  It fell near Xingtai and Shexian in Hebei Province, which are closest to Lucheng. If the Japanese army sends rescue troops, they will definitely take this nearest route. This is the main reason why he rushed to the front line.

    After arriving at the front line, he immediately held a meeting of commanders of all units and brigade and above. At the meeting, he fully agreed with Tang Qiusheng's style of play. It was this style of play that laid the foundation for the next battle. Later, he proposed a new  Our battle plan is to use the surrounded Japanese troops as bait, attack without annihilating them, and attract Japanese reinforcements, so that we can eat the Japanese reinforcements.

    He inspected the encirclement and greatly appreciated the soldiers' creative method of pouring water into ice. Now, even if the little devils are allowed to break through, just climbing over this ice wall will kill them half to death, and half of the troops will be mobilized for reinforcements.  , completely implementable, this new combat plan immediately attracted everyone's attention.

    The battle plan was quickly formed, with four brigades under Sun Zhenbang's command of the Yellow River Defense Corps, three brigades of the Niangziguan Garrison Corps, the Second Brigade of the ** Army, the Huangyadong Garrison Brigade, and the 1st and 2nd Brigade of the ** Cavalry Division, for a total of ten  Twenty thousand troops immediately withdrew from the encirclement and rushed to the Shexian area to set up an ambush, preparing to ambush the Japanese troops coming for reinforcements.

    Tong Batu's Second Cavalry Brigade immediately ended the battle from Wuxiang to Yushe and marched to the Shexian area to join the troops. In addition, two artillery regiments were transferred from Tang Qiusheng's troops to follow the troops and surround the Japanese troops at Yamaguchi.  The task is undertaken by the five brigades of the ** Division and the Yellow River and Henan Defense Line Guard Corps, with a total of 110,000 troops.

    Tang Qiuli was not worried. The encircling troops with reduced artillery firepower would be stretched thin when facing more than 60,000 Japanese troops. The ice wall could withstand 50,000 troops. Besides, the surrounded Japanese troops, after a whole day of shelling,  The morale of the army has been shaken and the combat effectiveness has been greatly weakened. Such a Japanese army is like a tiger without claws and fangs. It will not pose much of a threat. If it is starved for two days without fighting, the Japanese army will naturally collapse. In the severe cold weather,  It is a fatal difficulty that they cannot overcome.

    At night, the artillery fire of the ** Division against the surrounded Japanese troops did not stop as night fell. Instead, it became more violent. Some heavy mortars also joined the shelling.?The Japanese soldiers were living in hell. They still didn't understand where the Chinese army got so many artillery shells. They fired them all day long and kept hitting them.

    They will never understand that with Huangya Cave at their back, ammunition and supplies are open to supply, and under the cover of artillery fire and night, the troops heading to Shexian County quietly evacuate their positions. Everything is done without the Japanese army noticing.  The soldiers had no energy to pay attention to these changes, and a new battle was about to begin.

    (To be continued)
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