Bright Sword: Leading the Special Operations Squadron to Fight the Japs

Chu Yunfei's elite infantry took off their military uniforms and changed into the coarse cloth clothes of ordinary people, looking no different from guerrillas.

It was in this way that guerrilla forces took out the strongholds north of Jiaozuo and gradually approached Jiaozuo city.

The Japanese were afraid that it was another trap set by the Independent Column, so they did not send even one soldier out of the city to check the situation, but only ordered the entire city to be on high alert.

"Commander, should we prepare the artillery fire first?"

"No, there are valuables in the city, we can't blow it up!"

As for what the good stuff is, it is obvious. Jiaozuo was originally a bridgehead for attacking the south bank from the north of the Yellow River. A large amount of food, bedding, weapons and equipment and other supplies were stored in the city.

Chu Yunfei naturally looked down on these bedding and weapons, but they were barely adequate for equipping the local guerrillas.

What really attracted Chu Yunfei were the grains. After all, they were all high-quality rice shipped from the Northeast, as well as high-quality flour produced in the central Henan Plain.

Therefore, Chu Yunfei did not plan to bombard directly, lest the Japanese devils become desperate and set fire to the warehouse.

Chu Yunfei's mountain infantry had a higher training standard than the armored division and ordinary infantry, so his infantry had a high level of individual combat quality. Therefore, Chu Yunfei planned to adopt an extraordinary combat plan, break through the middle, and take down the warehouse in Jiaozuo without damage!

Chu Yunfei ordered the artillery regiment to launch a fierce artillery attack toward the northeast of Jiaozuo, and ordered the Third Infantry Regiment to advance rapidly under the cover of Xu Jin's barrage.

The Ergouzi Jiaozuo Security Regiment remained guarding around Jiaozuo City, while the Independent Infantry Regiment was stationed inside Jiaozuo City.

The mountain infantry division's bombs scattered randomly, confusing the First Regiment. They did not expect that a large number of Chinese troops would appear to the north of Jiaozuo, while their defense focus was on the west.

The Japanese regiment commander, Ikki Yamane, was still sleeping on his bed in the headquarters in the city when he was awakened by artillery fire.

"Baga, order the troops to quickly gather to the west. The cunning Chinese always launch sneak attacks in the middle of the night!"

"Sir, the intelligence from the front says that the enemy is not attacking from the west of Jiaozuo City, but from the northeast of Jiaozuo City."

Yamane Ikki was panicked. The northeast direction was mountainous, which was not suitable for the march of the armored and mechanized troops of the independent column. How could they give up their strengths and attack from the northwest?

"Baga, order the Jiaozuo Security Corps to hold on, and the Infantry Regiment to provide support immediately!"

Although Yamane Ikki gave the order, he was not confident about the combat effectiveness of the Jiaozuo Security Corps. These puppet troops usually followed the imperial army and bullied the common people and caught chickens, ducks and fish. However, it was hard to believe that they could withstand the attack of the independent column alone!

"Order the First Infantry Battalion to stay in Jiaozuo City, and all other infantry battalions to immediately provide support in the northeast direction!"

Yamane Ikki now hopes that the Jiaozuo Haokan Regiment can hold out for thirty minutes so that their infantry battalion can quickly provide support.

"Also, send a telegram to the North China Front Army Headquarters. The independent column is attacking Jiaozuo. The artillery fire is very fierce, but there are no heavy artillery and no aerial bombardment. It is expected to be a small force of the enemy!"

Anyang and Jiaozuo were attacked one after another. Okamura Yasuji frowned. Could it be that the independent column could not cross the river, so it took out all its anger on the imperial army north of the Yellow River? Or did it have further plans?

"Order all the defenders in Boai and Xinxiang to be on high alert and guard against sudden enemy attacks! In addition, all troops in the occupied areas abandon the surrounding strongholds and go to support the major cities. Once we have dealt with the Central Army on the south bank of the Yellow River, return immediately to support us!"

Okamura Yasuji originally planned to draw part of the troops from Peking, Tianjin and Hebei, and send them south along the Pinghan Line to provide support, but he had no choice but to do so.

"Baga! Order an attack on Yanshi, Dengfeng, and Xuchang, attack immediately!"

At this time, Chu Yunfei's 1st Infantry Regiment of the Mountain Infantry Division had also begun to attack Boai, which had only one battalion of defenders. Together with the Japanese soldiers in some surrounding strongholds, there were only two battalions of troops at most.

One infantry regiment can easily defeat two battalions of Japanese soldiers!

On the other side in Jiaozuo, Chu Yunfei's Second Infantry Regiment had defeated the Jiaozuo Security Regiment and began to gradually advance to a position one mile away from the city wall.

"Division Commander, the Japanese are coming! The Japanese on the western position only left one infantry squadron!"

"Very good, order the 3rd Infantry Regiment to quickly execute the plan!"

The mountain division artillery regiment began to bombard more fiercely, but due to the caliber of the artillery, it did not have much impact on the city walls and could only attack the Japanese infantry cluster targets.

The 2nd Infantry Regiment of the Mountain Division engaged in close combat with the Japanese infantry regiment.

The combat effectiveness and weapons and equipment of the remaining regiment were not as good as those of the independent column, and it also had an overwhelming artillery advantage, so there was no way they could fight.

Yamane Kazuki's attention was all focused on the northeast direction of Jiaozuo City, while the 3rd Infantry Regiment of the Mountain Division was quickly maneuvering to the southwest direction.

The Third Infantry Regiment, divided into battalions, took advantage of the gaps in the Japanese troops and quickly broke through to the base of the city wall with powerful individual firepower. Then, before the Japanese troops could react, they quickly drilled holes and placed explosives.

"blasting!"

More than a dozen explosions were heard, and more than a dozen gaps appeared on the Jiaozuo city wall. The Third Infantry Regiment took advantage of the smoke before it spread and attacked the designated targets according to the plan.

The first battalion attacked three military warehouses directly to ensure that the supplies would not be destroyed by the Japanese.

The Second Battalion controlled the traffic pass in Jiaozuo City, captured the headquarters of the Japanese independent infantry regiment, and cleared out the enemies in the city.

The third battalion seized the city wall and four city gates to prevent the Japanese from returning to reinforce Jiaozuo City.

The artillery battalion provided artillery support according to the instructions of the three infantry battalions.

The dozens of explosions in succession stunned Yamane Ikki. When he came to his senses, he immediately mobilized the remaining infantry battalion in the city to block the gap, but it was too late.

When the 1st Battalion of the 3rd Infantry Regiment of the Mountain Division rushed towards the Japanese's clothing warehouse, food warehouse, and weapons and equipment warehouse, Yamane Ikki finally reacted:

The independent column could have turned Jiaozuo City into ruins through long-range artillery and aircraft bombing, but they didn't? It wasn't because the independent column had a kind heart, but because they were eyeing these three warehouses!

"Baga, order the defenders of the three warehouses to blow up all supplies immediately. Don't leave even a grain of rice for the independent column! Explode immediately!"

When the staff officer called to notify, he found that the call had been disconnected long ago and there was no response from the other end of the line.

"Sir, the call has been disconnected!"

"Baga, send someone to notify them immediately!"