lcionline Chapter 205: You are such a rude boy, you didn't even bother to say hello to me in advance! 3-w
Chapter 205: You are such a rude boy, you didn't even bother to say hello to me in advance! 3-w
After receiving the telegram from the Taiyuan Command, Major General Ichiro Katayama of the 2nd Independent Mixed Brigade felt his worries grow worse instead of lessened. He had previously learned about the situation of the independent regiment in detail, and because of this, he became more cautious about this attack.
"Today is July 7rd. Order all troops to reach Erchaling and Zhangzhuang strongholds before July 3th, then build fortifications on the spot and wait for the order to attack!"
The reason why the attack on the independent regiment was not launched immediately was mainly because of the problem of ammunition supply for the Independent Second Mixed Brigade. The ammunition allocated by the Taiyuan Command had been delayed on the road for eight days due to the heavy rain. In addition, the roads were muddy, which brought great inconvenience to the transportation of ammunition.
According to Ichiro Katayama's estimation, it would be impossible for the ammunition to arrive on time. They would have to wait for this batch of supply ammunition to arrive before launching an attack on the independent regiment.
"Brigade Commander, the six 120mm cannon howitzers assigned to us by the headquarters cannot arrive on time due to road problems, and the final arrival time is also uncertain!" Chief of Staff Junichiro Hatoyama said with regret.
"Damn it! Ammunition and heavy artillery can't arrive on time. Even a tank brigade urgently assigned to us was blocked on the road! Now we can only mobilize 5000 infantry and less than 2000 artillery. We don't even have enough ammunition. How can I fight this offensive? Those bastards in the headquarters only know how to urge us. They don't solve any practical problems for me. Without the advantage of equipment, we will have to pay a huge price to break into the base of the independent regiment. I will never do such a stupid thing!"
Not to mention that Ichiro Katayama was annoyed, even the Chief of Staff Junichiro Hatoyama felt that the headquarters was a little too anxious this time. The Independent Regiment had obtained German equipment from at least two regiments, and the ammunition was very sufficient. In addition, the troop strength ratio between the two sides was 1:1. What's more, the Independent Regiment also had fortifications to rely on for defense. If the advantage of equipment was not used, it would be difficult to break the defense line of the Independent Regiment. The bastards in the headquarters only knew how to urge them, but did not know how to allocate more ammunition to the Second Mixed Brigade.
"Hatoyama, don't rush to attack. The road conditions are very bad now. There are even landslides in some places. It will take a long time just to clear the silt on the road. But if we take a detour, our 105mm howitzers will not be able to pass. Without the support of heavy artillery, we have no way to knock down the independent regiment's solid fortifications. Last time, the Yoshino Regiment suffered a great loss before their public announcement. We can't make such a mistake again, otherwise we will become the laughing stock of the 12th Army, and you and I will be nailed to the pillar of shame forever. Our families in the mainland will also be implicated. We don't seek merit, but we seek to avoid mistakes!"
"As long as the 2nd Independent Mixed Brigade doesn't suffer huge losses in its troops, even if we can't take down the Independent Regiment's base, the two of us will at most be exiled to a more remote place. At least our lives won't be in danger!" Katayama Ichiro whispered.
Junichiro Hatoyama didn't expect that his brigade commander had this idea, but what the brigade commander said was indeed right. They really couldn't be too honest. Yoshino Masao was severely cheated by Kojiro Hirata last time, and they didn't want to follow the same path again.
"Brigade Commander, we must be careful of Kojiro Hirata and Ikki Yamamoto. Any unit that has anything to do with them will have a bad ending!" Chief of Staff Junichiro Hatoyama reminded.
"Yoshi! Your reminder is absolutely correct. If these two people get involved in this offensive, don't believe anything they say. Do the opposite of what they say to break the conspiracy of the Chinese army. Sometimes I suspect that those two bastards are the traitors planted in our headquarters by the China Independent Regiment. They always screw our own people so badly. The Shimada Battalion was screwed so badly that only one person survived!"
Thanks to Saburo Matsui's propaganda, Kojiro Hirata and Ikki Yamamoto were really hated by the middle-level Japanese troops, and no one wanted to be involved with them. But sometimes things don't go as planned. After receiving the news that the 2nd Mixed Brigade was about to attack, Ikki Yamamoto and Kojiro Hirata were waiting near Maoerling. They survived on wild fruits and prey in the forest, and they were almost living like a group of savages.
Zhaojiayuyu is the location of the independent regiment’s headquarters.
"College student, what's going on with the Japanese? We have been waiting for two days, but we haven't seen any trace of their bombers. Even the reconnaissance planes that appeared from time to time before have disappeared. Could it be that the Japanese are planning some big move?" Li Yunlong asked in confusion.
Lin Zhenhua tilted his head and hummed a little tune. If he held a feather fan in his hand, he would be dressed like a counselor. He calmly picked up the tea bowl and took a sip. He felt that the heat on his body was lessened. Li Yunlong's eyelids twitched when he saw this. When he was about to curse, Lin Zhenhua replied slowly: "Old Li, didn't I tell you last time? I guess you didn't listen carefully at that time!"
"Didn't I tell you before that I sent the special forces company to attack the Japanese Taiyuan Airport? At first, I really didn't think they could complete this mission. I was just trying my best. Unexpectedly, the heavy rain that lasted for seven days helped us. It should be the special forces company that took advantage of the heavy rain to complete the task of blowing up the oil and ammunition depots at Taiyuan Airport. This put the Japanese fighter planes in an embarrassing situation of having no oil available!"
"Didn't I tell you before that the Japanese started their southward march plan? The two divisions under the guise of supporting the Shonan battlefield are proof of this. The Japanese are planning to play a trick of sneaking into Chencang. I feel a little suspicious. With the current strength of the Japanese navy, there is really no rival in the entire East Asia region. It's just that the Japanese are too cautious. I guess they haven't made up their mind to go to war yet, and they are now making preparations for the war!"
"In preparation for the upcoming southward movement, the Japanese must have tightened the fuel supply to all units, and will use all the fuel for the Japanese navy first. The Japanese have already had a hard time in the past two years, and this has made things even worse for the Japanese troops in the country. I estimate that even the Taiyuan Airport only had enough fuel to last the Japanese for a month. Now that we have blown it up, the Japanese can't transfer the fuel to us in a short period of time!"
"Not to mention attacking, our second mixed brigade of the Japanese is a newly formed mixed brigade. When it was withdrawn, it only carried a small amount of ammunition. The Japanese headquarters originally planned to replenish them later, but the heavy rain this time had a great impact on transportation. There were even landslides near the mountainous areas. Fortunately, we withdrew early, otherwise there would really be personnel and equipment buried in the mudslide. Compared with the Japanese, we are much luckier!"
"If they want to attack our independent regiment, the Second Mixed Brigade needs to clear the road, otherwise the heavy artillery and armored forces they carry will not be able to pass. I estimate that even if the Japanese want to attack us, it will take about ten days. We can take advantage of these ten days to make a good plan!"
After listening to Lin Zhenhua's explanation, Li Yunlong slapped the table happily and laughed heartily: "College student, you are really thoughtful. You sent a special agent company to attack Taiyuan Airport. This move is really brilliant! But can you give me a heads-up in advance so that I can have an idea in mind? I have been so nervous these days that I haven't had a good night's sleep. I can finally sleep well tonight!"
Zhao Gang stood up and spoke a fair word for Lin Zhenhua: "Old Li, the college students mentioned this matter before, but neither of us paid much attention to it at the time. We felt that the hope of the spy company's success was too slim, so we forgot about it!"
"Monk, you should remember this incident, right? I remember that the college students wanted you to lead people to carry out this mission, but you were unwilling to do so, right?"
Wei Dayong scratched his head and replied embarrassedly: "Political Commissar, I felt that what the college students said was unreliable. Taiyuan Airport is an area that the Japanese focus on defending. There is a battalion of guards alone. Even if all the hundreds of people in the special agent company were put in, they wouldn't be able to make a single wave. I really didn't want to go at the time, so I talked to the regiment commander. The regiment commander also said that the college students were fooling around and told me not to bother with them and to do what I had to do."
Li Yunlong didn't expect Wei Dayong to expose his shortcomings at this time. He glared at Wei Dayong fiercely, then smiled and changed the subject, "Oh, maybe it's been too long, I forgot about this matter! I was wrong about this matter, but Xu Zhongyi sent a telegram saying that a special force of the devils had entered Ping'an County. There was only one squad, and the leader was very polite, not like an officer at all, a bit like a university professor. This matter aroused Xu Zhongyi's suspicion. When he was about to inquire about it, he was warned by Nakamura Ichiro not to inquire out of curiosity, otherwise even he could not save Xu Zhongyi!"
"Tell me what this strange team is up to, and why did they come to Ping'an County at this time? I have a feeling that the Japanese are up to no good this time, and they are going to use some shady tactics against us!"
Zhao Gang also looked serious and said, "I've also heard about this from the brigade commander, but he said that the intelligence officers they sent out didn't find out where this Japanese team was, and they lost two senior intelligence officers. And they came to Ping'an County at this time. I guess this mysterious Japanese team is really coming for our independent regiment!"
When Lin Zhenhua heard Li Yunlong's description, his face changed drastically. He hoped that his guess was false, but thinking of the previous evil deeds of the Japanese, this incident might really happen. Could it be that this was really the Japanese's backup plan? Once the Second Mixed Brigade failed to take down the Independent Regiment, the Japanese would release the devilish weapons and turn the Independent Regiment into a no-man's land!