War of Resistance: Glory of the Beasts

Chapter 528: Two orders, whose order should I obey?

On the edge of the mountain area, Xu Chaoyang and his troops were stuck on the road that must be taken from Fanzhi to support Tiejialing. However, the battle behind them had lasted all night, and there was no movement at Fanzhi at all!

"report!"

"Director Yang has already captured Ruyuekou, and Commander Han's 688th Regiment has also captured Tiejialing. By the way, they also blocked the Japanese troops coming out of Ruyuekou."

Xu Chaoyang squatted on the top of the hill, looking at the road leading to the distance below him and asked only one question: "How much ammunition do Lao Yang and Captain Han have left?"

"Captain Han's ammunition reserves are not enough for another battle, but Director Yang's is still okay, and he has a lot of captured ammunition."

At dusk, the mountain breeze was chilly and Xu Chaoyang shrank back unconsciously.

What he was looking at was not the road, but the whole of Shanxi, or rather, he was not looking at Shanxi, but the whole battle situation.

The Shanxi battlefield is a very interesting place. How interesting is it? Everything here is the opposite of what it seems!

It seems that Yan Laoxizi and Itagaki Seishirō have nothing to do with each other, right?

Not really!

When Yan Laoxizi was still a juren in the Qing Dynasty, he was assigned to study in the infantry department of Guiziwo. His teacher at that time was none other than Itagaki Seishirō!

It looks like Seishirō Itagaki is a Japanese, right?

However, his knowledge of Chinese history was so profound that he could be called an "expert on China" among the Japanese army. Not only did he know the detailed map of the entire Shanxi Province, he had even learned about this land more than a decade ago.

The Battle of Shanxi between these two people who seemed to have no connection seemed destined. The path taken by Itagaki Seishirō was the same path taken by the Mongols to destroy the Song Dynasty. He even understood that our army was not afraid of the gain or loss of a city or a pond. To capture Shanxi was to cut off the entire rear area.

Itagaki Seishirō knew even more that Shanxi and the National Government were not on good terms with each other. Even if Yan fought back when Shanxi was attacked, the National Government would want to help. Perhaps Yan would not even let the National Government's troops enter Shanxi.

This led to the Fifth Division's deployment of troops to Shanxi.

In other words, Itagaki Seishirō originally came here to fight a warlord, but who knew that the July 7 Incident triggered a nationwide war of resistance, rather than the gains and losses of one faction. This battle not only involved the participation of the Kuomintang army, but also brought out our party in northern Shaanxi.

At that time, Itagaki Seishirō, a young teacher at the Army School, did not think highly of Yan Laoxizi. He felt that he was just an ordinary person, even though he was a successful candidate in the Army Division of the Qing Dynasty and a child of destiny.

However, since they had a good teacher-student relationship and often chatted with each other, Itagaki Seishirō still knew Yan Laoxizi's level.

In other words, Itagaki Seishirō was not aimless, and under this circumstance, Yan Laoxizi also shouted out a loud slogan in Shanxi: "I have Xishan, I have Shanxi." In fact, Yan Laoxizi did not give it away for nothing. Before the war started, Yan Laoxizi formulated the Datong strategy, with Li Fuying's troops holding off the Japanese army in Tianzhen and Yanggao to buy time for the rear to gather forces, and then lead the Japanese to Julebao, where the Shanxi army had already built fortifications, and finally, attack from the north and south to completely keep the Japanese in Shanxi.

To be honest, there is nothing wrong with the formulation of this strategy, there is just a small flaw!

The flaw is, how could Li Fuying withstand the Japanese attack?

The first to appear here was not Itagaki Seishirō, but the 15th Mixed Brigade of the Japanese Tojo Corps plus two puppet cavalry divisions!

How could Li Fuying hold on? But Li Fuying still chose to hold on for three days. However, Old Master Yan gave his subordinates the sympathy of: "Hold on for another three days."

Yan Laoxizi had his own considerations. He wanted to let the troops outside Shanxi fight with the Japanese first, and then reap the benefits himself. As a warlord, it was normal to have such an idea, but he also thought too highly of Li Fuying.

Li Fuying was beaten and pissed by the Japanese, but he still did nothing. In the end, he had no choice but to withdraw.

But how did Yan Laoxizi do it?

Killing Li Fuying would not be a mistake in Datong's strategic planning or a lack of consideration of the enemy's military strength, but Li Fuying's cowardice. At the same time, it also sent a signal to the outside world that anyone who went to the Shanxi battlefield must fight to the death, otherwise the Second War Zone Command would definitely deal with you.

Why didn't Guo Zongfen move at Tuanchengkou? It's because you scared him!

Who knows what the result will be after the fight?
So what was the historical outcome?

The result was also very clear. The fall of Tianzhen and Datong opened the door to the entire Shanxi province. Itagaki Seishirō, who knew Shanxi and Yan Laoxizi very well, marched straight into Taiyuan.

In his previous life, Xu Chaoyang had never seen anyone who could explain this period of history clearly in the anti-Japanese war novels. Almost everyone said that the Fifth Division adopted the path of the Mongols to destroy the Song Dynasty. Apart from that, there was no other reason. Anyway, it was anti-Japanese. With these two words, they could fight in any way. Including the later Pingxingguan Battle, it was also the result of Itagaki Seishirō's excessive understanding of the terrain. Otherwise, how could he dare to mobilize supplies from Pingxingguan? And how could the Tojo Corps go straight to Tuanchengkou after being blocked at Yanmenguan? What's the reason?

But in this era, Xu Chaoyang doesn't need to try hard to understand. There are always various people's voices in his ears to help him understand the situation, such as the comrades on the hidden front's investigation of the entire Shanxi Province.

Yes, Xu Chaoyang received a secret report, which was delivered by a farmer from Shanxi. That person was able to accurately find the ambush location of Xu Chaoyang and could also tell the name of "Xia Gong". He also sent a letter with so much writing paper that the envelope was stuffed until it was bulging. The letter contained the whole story of the Shanxi Campaign, and at the end he left a sentence "The Jin army cannot be trusted."

So SH went there in vain?
Can the leader’s life be saved in vain?

Especially when Xu Chaoyang saw Li Fuying being defeated by the Tojo Corps and being executed by Yan Laoxizi without surrendering or cowardly, he already understood that this group of warlords was on their way to an end.

Li Fuying's 61st Army withdrew from Zhangjiakou, but not a single life was saved. Isn't this the end of the warlord?

"report!"

The second signalman arrived at Xu Chaoyang's ambush site: "Divisional order!"

"Read!"

Xu Chaoyang said this word without turning his head. He felt that he was being praised.

"The 217th Brigade has repeatedly made remarkable achievements and is a role model for our army!"

"Having captured Ruyuekou today, we have taken control of the gateway between the enemy-occupied area and our rear, and we must not lose it. Now, the division headquarters orders you, the 217th Brigade, to defend Ruyuekou no matter what the cost, and prove to the world that we Chinese soldiers can also take back the lost land from the devils, and will never let the Japanese invaders advance even a single step, so as to boost the morale of the people!"

This is the same as what Xu Chaoyang thought. Now it is not only necessary to defeat the Japanese invaders, but also to give confidence to the people across the country. It is of strategic significance to defend Ru Yuekou and withstand the counterattack of the Tojo Corps!

"report!"

"Military (Commission) order!"

Another messenger rushed over from a completely different direction.

Xu Chaoyang watched the messenger riding his horse galloping through the mountains and fields, but he did not expect that this man actually came from the rear.

"Where is Brigadier General Xu?"

Xu Chaoyang then stood up from the top of the hill and immediately turned around to greet him. After the young soldier saluted Xu Chaoyang, he said, "Brigade Commander Xu, I am Ye Zilong, the head of the confidential section."

Xu Chaoyang’s eyes widened immediately!
This is a person that anyone who knows a little bit of history would not dare to look down upon!
Xu Chaoyang immediately returned the military salute and said without any hesitation: "Thank you for your hard work!"

Yu Kuier was stunned. He had never seen his brigade commander being so polite to the signalman.

"This is an order issued personally by the three commanders after consultation. It was issued by the Military Commission. The commander was afraid that Brigade Commander Xu might hesitate, so he asked me to deliver it."

"Military (Commission) order!"

Snapped!
Xu Chaoyang immediately stood at attention.

"Order the 217th Brigade to contact Guo Zongfen's troops immediately and hand over the Ruyuekou and Tiejialing positions to Guo's troops for garrison. The 217th Brigade will retreat westward and not provoke the Japanese garrison in Fanshi. Retreat to the rear along Xinkou and join up with the 120th Division."

Xu Chaoyang was stunned and retreated?

It took so much effort to find a base for development. Why?
When an order that was completely opposite to that of the 115th Division appeared in front of him, Xu Chaoyang was a little confused about what to do.

"report!"

At this moment, the third report sounded: "Report to the brigade commander, the telephone line is connected."

(End of this chapter)