Bright Sword: Construction starts from southeastern Shanxi

Pinglu Front.

The commander of the 20th Division, Ushijima Mitsutomu, and the commander of the 27th Division, Homma Masaharu.

Standing at the command post on the front line, I looked at the five battalions in front of me who were constantly attacking Pinglu County.

Both of them looked unhappy.

This was the 15th attack they had organized.

The Third Army under the Fifth Army of the National Revolutionary Army is now stationed in Pinglu.

This army evolved from the original Second National Protection Army and was mainly composed of soldiers from Yunnan.

The commander of the army was Tang Huaiyuan, and under his command were the 7th Division and the 12th Division.

The two men did not expect that Pinglu would be so difficult to capture.

Their five battalions attacked Pinglu day and night for three days and three nights.

At this time, both sides were on edge.

Inside Pinglu City.

At this time, Army Commander Tang Huaiyuan was in the underground command center in the city.

Watching the fortifications above my head shaking continuously.

Sand and gravel occasionally fell onto the map on the table.

Li Shilong, commander of the 7th Division, looked worried.

"Commander, the brothers below have suffered heavy casualties.

These are all good men of my Yunnan Army.

We should make plans early, we can’t all fail here.”

Tang Huaiyuan glared at Li Shilong.

"Why should we retreat? If we do, the Japanese troops from these two divisions will join forces with the Japanese troops in Zhongtiao Mountain.

When we break through the Luoyang defense line, how will we face the people of Yunnan?"

Hearing the commander's words, Li Shilong shook his head.

"Commander, I don't mean to be afraid.

My brothers are going to Yunnan to fight against the Japanese. Even if our troops are wiped out and I am the last one to die in battle, I am not afraid!

Yes~

We have to leave some seeds for the army~"

The commander of the 12th Division, Cun Xingqi, was standing by.

Hearing Li Shilong's words, his expression became somewhat gloomy.

I led my Yunnan Army brothers to the north to fight against the Japanese, but today my entire army may be wiped out here.

For a moment, Cun Xingqi was also a little sad.

It doesn't matter if they died in battle, it's just a pity for these tens of thousands of young men from Yunnan.

Hearing this, Tang Huaiyuan fell silent.

Since the 389th Division cut off the retreat routes of these two Japanese divisions from the north.

The Japanese soldiers from these two divisions began to go crazy.

Planes from Xinxiang Airport dropped bombs on the county town every day.

Two-thirds of the army's troops have now suffered casualties.

But they still held on firmly in Pinglu County.

Just to be able to encircle these two Japanese divisions.

At this time, the 80th Army was rushing to Pinglu urgently.

At the same time, the 34th Division and the 17th Army had also moved south along Zhongtiao Mountain.

Prepare to attack the two Japanese divisions from the flank.

The most important force was the six regiments of the Westward Column composed of the 389th Division, with nearly 20,000 people, led by Xun Bai.

Along the way, we passed through Jishan, Wanrong and Linyi.

They went all the way from Wenxi to the rear of the Japanese army.

Also marching at the same time was a temporary artillery regiment.

该炮兵团装备了苏式24门76.2毫米F-22野战炮，12门122毫米M-30榴弹炮，六门37毫米M1939防空炮。

It also carries a large number of engineering, mechanical maintenance, transportation, and communications troops.

At the same time, instructors supporting from the north also accompanied and commanded the artillery regiment to carry out long-range artillery strike operations.

Looking at the current casualties, Tang Huaiyuan had no choice but to hope that the encirclement and annihilation troops could arrive safely.

The Third Army has been holding on until now, but it is already struggling to hold on.

The other side of perspective.

"Hurry, hurry~

Go up~

The friendly troops ahead are bearing the Japanese's firepower. We must not let them escape this time."

Sanguan Town is not far from Yuncheng, and it is only one township away from Yuncheng.

Xun Bai stood on the hillside nearby and spoke loudly to the soldiers who were driving the horses and pulling weapons.

And in Shuitou Town in the northeast of Yuncheng.

The other three regiments and artillery regiment of the Westward Column were also rushing to Yuncheng.

When they encountered Japanese strongholds along the way, they directly ordered the artillery regiment to bombard the Japanese strongholds.

Then let the local group in southeastern Shanxi be responsible for cleaning up the area.

Finally, in the afternoon of the 6th.

The westward column of the 389th Division appeared outside Yuncheng City.

Inside the city, the two Japanese division commanders were supervising the battle on the Pinglu front.

To prevent Yuncheng from being occupied by the Eighth Route Army.

Therefore, the 39th Brigade of the 20th Division was left to guard Yuncheng.

Inside the city, the messenger who was doing the daily routine reported to the commander of the 39th Brigade, Takagi Yoshito.

When a large number of Eighth Route Army troops appeared outside the city, Takagi Yoshito's face changed drastically.

The division commander was right.

Yoshito Takagi immediately took the two commanders of his brigade to the city wall to check the situation of the Eighth Route Army outside the city.

Yoshito Takagi stood on the city wall, looking at the Eighth Route Army outside the city with a solemn look on his face.

When Takagi Yoshito received the message from the messenger, the first thing that flashed through his mind was the 389th Division of the Eighth Route Army.

Ever since the 389th Division in southeastern Shanxi cut off their retreat route towards Taiyuan, Ushijima Mitsuki and Homma Masaharu had a bad feeling.

The two of them, one of whom succeeded the original commander of the 20th Division, Fumisaburo Kawagishi, and witnessed how the 389th Division of the Eighth Route Army grew stronger.

In the Battle of Wanjialing, the 27th Division was defeated and lost its organization.

If it weren't for Ningji Okamura who rescued the 27th Division regardless of casualties.

At that time, in addition to the 106th Division, I am afraid that the 27th Division would also be wiped out in the Battle of Wanjialing.

So the moment their retreat was cut off, they immediately realized the dangerous situation of their two divisions.

The danger did not come from the national army in Zhongtiao Mountain.

But it was the 389th Division in southeastern Shanxi.

So, after discussing, the two decided to keep the 39th Brigade, which was the most combat-effective at the moment.

Although the 39th Brigade also suffered heavy losses in the battle in Shanxi.

However, unlike the 40th Brigade, which was surrounded and annihilated by the 389th Division in Shijiazhuang, the entire army was destroyed.

The reorganized 27th Division also dispatched three battalions to defend Yuncheng under the command of Yoshito Takagi.

The two were afraid of being surrounded by the troops of the 389th Division and the Nationalist troops in the Zhongtiao Mountains.

If it was purely the National Army from the Zhongtiao Mountain area, the two of them might have led their troops directly to charge and join the two divisions on Zhongtiao Mountain.

But they dare not.

To the north of Zhongtiao Mountain is Zeng Jiwen's 389th Division.

If the 389th Division were to deploy troops, their breakout route would be cut off directly from Jiyuan.

Then the consequences will be unpredictable.

Every time the 389th Division troops were deployed, an entire locust army was wiped out.

In the last battle of Shijiazhuang, several divisions disappeared, and they had a say.

But if they hold on to the 389th Division's attack on Yuncheng.

Open up Pinglu Sanmenxia.

Then they could let the two divisions in Zhongtiao Mountain come down the mountain and join them.

The defense line of the Central Army in the south was riddled with holes.

Therefore, in this attack on Pinglu area, except for eight battalions, the rest of the troops were all deployed in Yuncheng.

This was to prevent the 389th Division's troops from suddenly appearing and surrounding Yuncheng.

As long as the 39th Brigade can hold on for a while, it can then evacuate and reunite with their division headquarters.