I fought guerrilla warfare in the Yimeng Mountains during the Anti-Japanese War

The Japanese army did not attack Mengshan for a long time. Others could still hold back, but the emperor was in a difficult situation. Not to mention anything else, his own uncle had died, and this hatred had to be avenged.

The Emperor summoned high-ranking officials of the Imperial Headquarters to inquire about the reason, and the reply he received was that the offensive in the south had to continue, and that the Fifth and Ninth War Zones of the National Army were still restless. Sending too many troops would increase the battle situation and offensive, while sending too few troops would only lead to defeat in Mengshan, which would not help.

The emperor was furious after hearing this and threw his beloved cup directly. They were all excuses and nonsense. The North China Expeditionary Army had hundreds of thousands of troops, the Central China Expeditionary Army also had hundreds of thousands of troops, and there was also the Kwantung Army and the South China Expeditionary Army. The Japanese Islands were also sending troops every day. The emperor didn't believe that they couldn't spare tens of thousands of people to besiege Mengshan.

The headquarters held a meeting overnight. The Emperor was furious. They had to fight, but the problem was how many troops to mobilize. Although there were more than one million troops stationed in China, every soldier had his reasonable position, and most divisions were short of personnel, especially the divisions of the Central China Expeditionary Force. The shortage of personnel generally reached one-third, and some even reached one-half. They had originally planned to replenish them for another one or two months, but now it seems that they can't delay any longer.

After several hours of fierce fighting, the troops attacking Mengshan were finally determined. The 5th Division of the Central China Expeditionary Army (Itagaki Division), together with the 32nd Division, a Type B division stationed on the Jinpu Line, assembled in Lincheng and Tengxian. The 5th Division set out from Lincheng and marched towards Pingyi, while the 32nd Division marched towards Mengyin from Tengxian at the same time, capturing the two county towns and surrounding Mengshan within two days.

The Fifth Division moved from Shanxi to Linyi, from Linyi to Taierzhuang, then marched into Henan and joined the Northern Army in the Battle of Wuhan. After the Battle of Wuhan, the Fifth Division was reduced from 28,000 troops to 18,000, and there were 3,000 wounded among these 18,000. Although some reinforcements have been made recently, there are only less than 20,000 troops that can participate in the battle.

The 32nd Division was a Type B division that was sent to Shandong together with the 33rd Division. It had a strength of 18,000 troops. After entering the Jinpu Line, there were no major battles. It only had some interactions with the large and small guerrilla groups sent out from the Lunan Detachment. Its strength was relatively well preserved.

On June 6, the Itagaki Division of the Japanese Army boarded a warship from Huangshi, east of Wuhan, and was discovered by agents from the Statistics Bureau and the Kuomintang's special operations reconnaissance team behind enemy lines. The news was reported to the higher-ups and eventually reached the top. It happened that the commander-in-chief of the Fifth War Zone and the commander-in-chief of the Ninth War Zone were discussing the next defense focus in Chongqing. After the high-level officials disclosed the news, it attracted the attention of the two war zone commanders. However, it was difficult to guess the purpose. Bai Chongxi, then deputy commander-in-chief of the Fifth War Zone, suddenly expressed his opinion.

"Whether it was the Battle of Xuzhou or the Battle of Wuhan, the Japanese Fifth Division has always been the spearhead of their attack. This time they left, there must be something more important than the Yangtze River offensive. I believe that they are either heading for Guangzhou or Mengshan. Apart from this, I can't think of a third possibility."

This woke people up. The top leaders immediately issued orders, reminding Leng Qiang to be careful and instructing the Statistics Bureau to mobilize all its forces to closely monitor all cities along the Yangtze River.

The Itagaki Division disembarked from a warship in Nanjing and then boarded a train heading north. The purpose became clear immediately. A telegram was sent to Mengshan, and Li Yunyan immediately reported it to the captain Chen Feng.

The Itagaki Division boarded the warship in Huangshi. Chen Feng had already guessed their purpose because the Lunan Detachment had sent a message the day before yesterday that the 32nd Division stationed on the Jinpu Line of the Japanese Army was gathering in Teng County. There was no other reason for gathering at this time except to attack Mengshan. It was uncertain whether the Fifth Division would land in Qingdao or turn north along the Jinpu Line. Chen Feng did not mobilize troops on a large scale. When he received the news that the Fifth Division disembarked in Nanjing, he immediately issued orders to all the units heading east.

All the troops quickly assembled in the two cities of Pingyi and Mengyin, and cooperated with the Guard Regiment and the 1st Regiment to advance to the east of Teng County and the east of Lincheng to start blocking. The troops of the four regiments began to operate. The 3rd Company of the 1st Battalion, which was originally operating in Menglianggu, is now the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Regiment, which is closest to Teng County. As soon as the news was received, Li Ergou led his troops to set up a blocking position in Shanting District east of Teng County.

The closest troop to Lincheng was the Second Battalion of the Guard Regiment, which had been operating in the Xiong'er Mountain area northeast of Lincheng. Upon receiving the news that the Fifth Division was heading north, the special operations team rushed on fast horses over a long distance and successfully arrived at the railway bridge in Hanzhuang Town south of Lincheng before the Japanese train arrived. Not knowing when the Japanese train would arrive, and unable to wait to blow up the train, the special operations commander immediately ordered an attack and used powerful firepower to capture the railway bridge. Dozens of explosive packs exploded together, causing the railway bridge to collapse.

Before the Itagaki Division's train arrived in Xuzhou, they received news that the railway bridge in Hanzhuang Town had collapsed. They had no choice but to abandon the train, get off at Xuzhou Station, and begin a long march.

Seishirō Sakagami was a little depressed. He had originally planned to attack Pingyi City immediately after getting off the train in Lincheng and catch the Yimeng guerrillas off guard. He didn't expect that it would be so difficult to reach Lincheng.

The 32nd Division in Teng County was ready. As long as the 5th Division arrived in Lincheng, the two divisions could attack at the same time. The division commander, Kimura Heitaro, was ready to go. The tanks were fully fueled. Unexpectedly, the news he received was that the railway bridge was bombed and the 5th Division could only get off in Xuzhou and transfer in. It would take until tomorrow to reach Lincheng. He almost suffocated himself to death.

The Fifth Division's marching speed was very slow, mainly because it had too much heavy firepower, including eighteen tanks, twelve armored vehicles, eighteen 150mm howitzer heavy artillery, and eighteen 75mm field guns. In addition to tanks and armored vehicles, the heavy artillery needed to be towed by trucks. The trucks had been prepared in Lincheng as early as possible, but unfortunately the heavy artillery and field artillery could not be transported to Lincheng.

The trucks from Lincheng went to Xuzhou for support, but were attacked by the guerrillas of the Lunan detachment stationed on the shore of Weishan Lake. The loss was not great, with dozens of soldiers killed, but 28 of the 40 trucks were damaged. The captain of the transport team wanted to cry but had no tears. What was the point of attacking the trucks? Didn’t they know they had a big mission? The captain didn’t dare to fight with the guerrillas and continued to move towards Xuzhou with 12 trucks.

Sakagami Seishirō became even more depressed when he heard the news. He felt like he had failed in his mission. The railway bridge was blown up, and the truck that came to pick up the heavy artillery and field guns was also blown up. Did he not check the Chinese almanac before going out?

After passing Jiawang, they fortunately encountered twelve trucks for support. Seishirō Sakagami did not blame the captain who led the team, as the twelve trucks could solve the urgent problem.

Twelve trucks pulled twelve heavy howitzers, and the saved mules and horses joined the other heavy artillery and field artillery. The speed was indeed greatly improved, and it is expected to reach Lincheng at noon tomorrow.

As soon as the Itagaki Division left Xuzhou, it was targeted by the special operations team of the 2nd Battalion of the Guard Regiment. They blew up the railway bridge. The special operations team received telegrams of commendation from the regiment commander Lin Chuan and the team leader Leng Qiang, and the whole division was informed to learn from it. The special operations team was encouraged and stared at the marching troops of the 5th Division like a pack of hungry wolves, ready to kill them when they got the chance.