Anti-Japanese War: Li Yunlong dared to attack Taiyuan

"So how many defenders are there in Ping'an County?"

The Japanese combat staff immediately understood what His Royal Highness meant.

"Rather than letting this elite empire infantry squadron be consumed in Shouyang, it is better to retreat to Jinzhong and protect Taiyuan!"

"Li Yunlong's target has never been Shouyang."

After saying this, Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko pointed at Taigen on the map.

"Have you noticed the recent movements of the Eighth Route Army? Ever since the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain began, the Eighth Route Army troops have been attacking everywhere and raiding our strongholds."

"Ha Yi, it's true. The strongholds in Yushe, Liaoxian, Heshun, Laiyuan, Pingyao, Dingxiang, Xinxian and other places have all been attacked by the Eighth Route Army. So far, our strongholds have been attacked by hundreds!"

"I've always wondered where the Eighth Route Army got so many heavy weapons to capture the county town?"

"I've been thinking about this too, but have you noticed that, with the exception of Yulin and Liaoxian, these Eighth Route Army troops are all heading towards Taiyuan?"

"And the telegram we received also indicates that this Eighth Route Army is Li Yunlong's Jin-Cha-Ji Independent Column! They've been moving from east to west, eliminating many of our strongholds, leaving us unable to determine their specific movements. What do you think their purpose is?"

The combat staff looked at the map. No matter whether they came from Heshun, Laiyuan, Pingyao, Dingxiang, Xinxian and other places, they were always not far from Taiyuan. Now they appeared in Shouyang, obviously with other purposes.

"Li Yunlong's target is Taiyuan. He wants to attack Taiyuan? That's impossible, right? We have mobilized the 4th Division to reinforce Taiyuan's defenses. He..."

Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko shook his head and said, "No, nothing is impossible in this world. This guy dared to sneak into Taiyuan during our winter raid. Do you think there is anything he can't do?"

"Li Yunlong's current goal is to create chaos and give the illusion that the Eighth Route Army is launching attacks everywhere. He wants to lure our troops away from Taiyuan so that he can take the opportunity to attack Taiyuan."

"So instead of dispersing our forces and letting Li Yunlong defeat them one by one, it's better to gather our forces and control Yangquan, Jinzhong, Xinxian and other areas. We can wait until the battle of Zhongtiao Mountain is over and then wipe them out!"

"Your Highness is wise, but if Li Yunlong doesn't attack Taiyuan, wouldn't we lose a lot of occupied land? These areas..."

Prince Asaka Naruhiko smiled and shook his head, saying, "This is intelligence provided by the Special High Technology Bureau. Their people have already infiltrated Li Yunlong's army."

After saying this, Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko handed a piece of information in his hand to his trusted combat staff officer.

This piece of information was passed on by Liao Yaquan. After lurking here for about three months, Liao Yaquan obtained a lot of "intelligence".

This included some information told to her by Yu Zhigan, who personally witnessed Taiyuan's kidnapping of Shinozuka Kazuo, such as that someone in the headquarters colluded with insiders and leaked the information to Li Yunlong, allowing Li Yunlong to seize the opportunity when Taiyuan was weak and complete the decapitation operation.

In addition, there is also the action plan, which was inadvertently revealed by two wounded soldiers during a chat. The commander ordered the troops to continuously harass various strongholds to ask for reinforcements from the Japanese troops. Once the Japanese reinforcements arrived, they would immediately retreat and then prepare to do something big. In the entire Shanxi Province, the biggest thing was to attack Taiyuan.

"I see! So there's so much going on in the story of General Shinozuka Kazuo's capture? Looks like we need to clean up our ranks. These people are a disgrace to the Empire. They actually sold Imperial intelligence to the Chinese!"

Upon hearing this, Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko's expression immediately changed. "General Shinozuka Kazuo? I think if this information is sent back to headquarters, his title of general may be revoked. He is a disgrace to the empire. As an imperial general, he is so cowardly that he leaked the empire's intelligence!"

"Hayi, Your Highness, with this intelligence, I think we can lure out Li Yunlong's independent column and wait until he attacks Taiyuan..."

The Japanese combat staff officer immediately told them the plan he had just come up with. Most of the Fourth Division's troops were stationed in Taiyuan City. Li Yunlong certainly would not dare to attack Taiyuan openly, but he could send out some of the troops and then secretly mobilize troops from other places to give Li Yunlong a surprise.

For example, as the Tongpu Railway had been damaged recently, a regiment of the Fourth Division was dispatched to escort supplies to Zhongtiao Mountain. At the same time, a part of the troops were dispatched to Yulin and other areas to clear out the Eighth Route Army guerrillas active in these areas.

"I believe Li Yunlong will definitely attack Taiyuan after receiving the news, Your Highness. I have studied Li Yunlong's character. He is a general who likes to achieve victory by surprise. He is very fond of taking risks. He will not miss this opportunity."

Upon hearing this, Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko immediately said with a smile, "Mr. Yongtian, you share the same idea as me, but I have already ordered most of the 26th Division stationed in Datong to secretly move south. They will arrive in Taiyuan soon! Then we will give Li Yunlong a surprise."

"Your Highness is wise."

At the Eighth Route Army headquarters, the army commander and the chief of staff stared at the map. Seeing Li Yunlong's troops gradually forming a pincer attack on Taiyuan, they couldn't help but ask, "Chief of Staff, is Li Yunlong really planning to attack Taiyuan?"

Chapter 174 Xing Zhiguo, please remember my battle deployment as follows

Ping'an County, headquarters of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Independent Column.

Li Yunlong stood in front of the command department, walking back and forth, smoking, waiting for the latest information.

"Report to the First Detachment!"

"Read!"

"Our troops have successfully occupied Shouyang. The Shouyang devils withdrew without any resistance!"

After hearing this, Li Yunlong's expression did not change. He continued smoking and waiting for the news he wanted.

"Report, telegram from the Fourth Detachment!"

"Read!"

"The Fourth Detachment urgently reports that the 37th Regiment of the Japanese Fourth Division has left Ping'an County and is heading south along the Tongpu Railway!"

After hearing this news, Li Yunlong frowned slightly and thought for a while before saying, "Let the Fourth Detachment continue to investigate the movements of the Japanese troops!"

"Yes!"

"Report, telegram from the cavalry battalion!"

"Read!"

"The 70th Regiment of the Japanese 4th Division has departed from Jinzhong. Their destination is unknown!"

"Understood. Order the cavalry battalion to head north immediately, towards Mount Wutai!"

"Yes!"

At this time, Xing Zhiguo, Zhao Gang and others who were standing not far away did not disturb Li Yunlong. They all knew that Li Yunlong was thinking about the combat strategy. Now Li Yunlong's decision was related to the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers, and any decision was crucial.

After waiting for a while, Zhao Gang glanced at Li Yunlong, who was lighting another cigarette, and walked over to whisper, "Old Li, the battle results are already very good. The Japanese are mobilizing their troops south at this time. I think it's obvious that they are deliberately luring us into attacking Taiyuan."

"Taiyuan? What Taiyuan? Old Zhao, I originally thought I was a radical and you were a conservative. I didn't expect you to think I, a radical, was too conservative. That's Taiyuan, the headquarters of the Japanese First Army. If we attack Taiyuan with our limited forces, wouldn't that be giving the Japanese military credit?"

Li Yunlong looked at Zhao Gang in surprise. When had he said he wanted to fight Taiyuan? And why were the people around him looking at him like that?

"Don't you want to hit Taiyuan?"

Zhao Gang was stunned. He didn't expect Li Yunlong to give him such an answer. What radicals and conservatives?

However, Zhao Gang also breathed a sigh of relief. As long as Li Yunlong did not attack Taiyuan, it would be fine. Although the Japanese army was now in Zhongtiao Mountain, the Fourth Division was stationed in Taiyuan. Although some troops had been transferred away, there was still an Eighth Regiment, and in addition there was a Cavalry Regiment.

"You're just attacking Taiyuan now, you fool! The Japs are clearly trying to seduce me, but I won't fall for it. Last time, I took advantage of the Japs' sweep and went to Taiyuan to capture the commander of their First Army. Now the Japs are attacking Zhongtiao Mountain. Taiyuan originally had a large number of troops, but they suddenly withdrew two regiments, leaving behind the Eighth Regiment, nicknamed the "coward." This is clearly a trap!"

"What about you?"

Li Yunlong took a puff of his cigarette without saying anything, but continued to wait.

An hour later, a signalman came to Li Yunlong with a telegram: "Report, telegram from the reconnaissance team!"

After hearing this news, Li Yunlong's eyes lit up: "Read it!"

"It has been confirmed that most of the Japanese 26th Division has secretly moved south, and their whereabouts are unknown!"

Hearing this news, Li Yunlong narrowed his eyes slightly: "Xing Zhiguo!"

"Commander!"

When Old Xing heard Li Yunlong calling him, he explained the task to several guards and then trotted to Li Yunlong's side.

"Please remember this and inform all troops that I have made the following battle deployment!"

After hearing this, Xing Zhiguo immediately took out his notebook and pen, spread out the book, flattened it and waited for Li Yunlong's order.

"Use the First, Second, and Third Detachments, along with the Column's direct artillery and cavalry battalions, to attack the mining areas of Meiyukou, Hujiawan, Diaowuzui, and others in Datong!"

"The 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th detachments plus the newly formed 1st and 2nd Battalions directly under the column will definitely take Datong!"

"The Eighth Detachment and the New Third Battalion directly under the Column are blocking the Japanese reinforcements at Tanyaoyu."

"The Ninth Detachment and the New Fourth Battalion directly under the Column, the Tank Company, continue to harass Taiyuan, Jinzhong and other places, buying time for our army to rush to Datong!"

"The Tenth Detachment and the New Fifth Battalion directly under the Column are the overall reserve! Tell each detachment that this mission is top secret. The objective of this operation must not be revealed before the attack is launched! Repeat!"

Old Xing had already put pen to paper the moment Li Yunlong finished speaking, and immediately continued, "Use the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd detachments, plus the column's direct artillery battalion and cavalry battalion to attack the mining areas of Datong, Meiyukou, Hujiawan, Diaowuzui, and others. The 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th detachments, plus the newly formed 1st Battalion directly under the column, and the 2nd Battalion will attack Datong. The 8th detachment plus..."

Li Yunlong nodded after listening to it. Xing Zhiguo's retelling was flawless and the content of the order was very accurate.

The newly formed battalion was a separate battalion for recruits formed after the twelve detachments of Li Yunlong's independent column were full. Most of them were new recruits, but most of them had received more than a month of military training.

In the past few days, I have also followed the troops to attack the stronghold and participated in actual combat. However, my combat effectiveness is slightly weaker than that of other detachments. But now I have to be pulled out to fight the Japanese with real guns and real swords.

At this time, Zhao Gang thought for a moment and said, "Add the newly formed 88 rocket artillery company to Datong. We can't attack Datong without heavy firepower!"

"Ok, deal!"

"Order all troops to reach the designated location within seven days!"

"Yes!"

After Xing Zhiguo gave the order, Zhao Gang walked up to Li Yunlong and said, "Wouldn't it be too risky to rush over 300 kilometers to attack Datong? The order was just issued not long ago, there's still time!"

Li Yunlong shook his head and said, "It's a bit far, but the Japanese troops are all in the Zhongtiao Mountain area. Most of the 26th Division stationed in Datong has also moved south. Now the Japanese are focusing their attention on Taiyuan and Zhongtiao Mountain. This is our opportunity."

"After the Japanese attack on Zhongtiao Mountain, they will definitely find a way to attack us. Instead of passively waiting for the Japanese to attack, we should take the initiative and attack them by surprise. Although 300 kilometers is far, we have eliminated all the Japanese strongholds leading to Wutai Mountain in the past few days. The Japanese have no idea of ​​our movements now!"

"Datong is very important to the Japanese. In a sense, Datong is even more important than Taiyuan. The Japanese rely on the coal mines here to support their industry. This troop mobilization is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If we miss it, the same thing may never happen again.

If we take Datong, the Japanese will definitely send reinforcements desperately. Even if we can't take Datong, if we destroy the several mines in Datong occupied by the Japanese, the Japanese will also send crazy reinforcements! "

"By then, the Japanese troops in the entire Shanxi Province and Chahar region will be mobilized. As long as the Japanese troops are mobilized, we will have a chance to destroy them in mobile warfare!"

Zhao Gang nodded after hearing this. He unconditionally believed in Li Yunlong in military matters. Moreover, the independent column was now the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Independent Column, and Datong belonged to the Chahar region. There was no problem for Li Yunlong to attack Datong.

"Do we need to report to headquarters? Let the comrades in the Chahar region support us in this operation."

"Let's talk about this after we get to Datong. This operation must be kept secret and must not be leaked, otherwise our efforts may fail!"

After finishing speaking, Li Yunlong looked at Monk Wei who was not far away and said, "Monk Wei, go spread the news among the army. Tell them that we are going to attack Taiyuan. Remember, the more people who know, the better!"

"Yes!"

"What about Ping'an County?"

Zhao Gang asked as he looked at Ping'an County, where only some city walls and a monument remained in the distance.

"We'll fight back when the time comes. Notice to all troops: rest during the day and march at night. From now on, everyone must move in squads and not individually!"

"Yes!"

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Chapter 175 Yu Zhiqian: How come such a large headquarters is gone?