Liang Jian: Lao Li, I'm really not a military expert

The air attack formations, which had already arrived on the battlefield, launched a carpet bombing of the Japanese forward positions at the same time the general offensive order was given.

A large number of oil drum bombs and a small number of napalm bombs were dropped, and the Japanese soldiers, caught off guard, let out shrill screams.

"Moxi! Moxi! This is the front line at Niangziguan Pass. Please report to the Commander immediately. We have been attacked by both Chinese ground and air forces. Our troops have suffered extremely heavy losses. We request urgent tactical guidance!"

Colonel Kuroda picked up the phone and sent a request for assistance to the command post at the rear.

The Japanese officer on duty did not dare to neglect his duties and immediately reported the intelligence to Mitsui Ippei.

"Baka yarou! Tell Kuroda to hold the line for me. He must hold the position no matter what. Order the 22nd and 26th Brigades to rush to the front line to provide support."

"Report the battle report from the front to His Excellency the Commander and order the flight division to immediately take off and eliminate the enemy aircraft."

"Make our armored units ready to attack at any time. Once they receive an order to attack from headquarters, they must act immediately according to the order. There must be no delay, or they will be court-martialed!"

Mitsui Ippei reacted very quickly, launching a counterattack according to the pre-arranged battle plan, and also sent someone to inform Shinotsuka Yoshio of the situation.

Yoshio Shinotsuka, who had just gotten up, wiped his face with a wet towel after receiving the battle report from the front lines, which made him feel more energetic.

He went to the huge map in the operations room, listened to the report from the operations staff, and made some modifications to Mitsui Ippei's response in order to stabilize the situation at the front.

“Mitsui-kun, the enemy’s offensive is even more ferocious than we imagined. This proves that our previous assessment of them was quite different. Our 12th Army alone is simply not enough to defeat the enemy. We must ask General Headquarters for help.”

"I decided to send a telegram to the headquarters of the China Expeditionary Army requesting assistance, asking them to mobilize more forces to support us."

"Otherwise, once the entire Shanxi province falls, the transportation channels for supplies between the north and south will be interrupted once again, which will seriously affect the empire's rule in China."

Yoshio Shinotsuka knew he had no way out. Regardless of whether he could win the current war, his best outcome would be to be transferred to the home reserve.

Upon receiving the military report from the 12th Army, the operations staff at the Japanese headquarters, located on Japanese soil, were thrown into a state of panic.

They could hardly believe that the 12th Army couldn't even withstand the enemy's first wave of attack; this was completely beyond their expectations.

"Baka yarou! Is the 12th Army all a bunch of good-for-nothings? They haven't even held out for an hour, and they've already lost the front-line positions!"

"Even if the enemy's artillery fire is fierce, they should not have lost their positions in such a short time. This is a complete disgrace to the Empire!"

"Saying all this is useless. The most important thing now is to send more reinforcements. No matter what, we cannot lose Shanxi Province!"

……

The internal debates and reprimands at headquarters had no effect on the battle situation at the front. In order to resolve the predicament at the front, the Japanese headquarters decided to mobilize a flight division and a brigade to reinforce the 12th Army.

After receiving orders from headquarters, the Japanese 22nd Air Division immediately began its transfer to the front lines to assist the 12th Army!