Anti-Japanese War: Li Yunlong dared to attack Taiyuan

Tada Shun nodded. There were so many Eighth Route Army soldiers, and Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko was just one person. The probability of one person being killed in a bomb among tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people was too low. Even if he was killed in a bomb, it had nothing to do with Tada Shun. Now Okamura Ningji was the commander of the North China Expeditionary Army.

"Is there still no news from General Matsui Ishisuke?"

Compared to Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko, Tada Shun cares more about Matsui Ishigeru. The two have a good relationship. Now it has been five days since Matsui Ishigeru was arrested, but there is still no news.

"The Kwantung Army has entered Mount Wutai, but they haven't found General Matsui Ishigen. General Matsui Ishigen should have been moved away, and is most likely in Taiyuan."

Ningji Okamura thought of Li Yunlong's previous telegram, saying that Matsui Ishigen was in Taiyuan.

"Then should we send the Kwantung Army south to capture Taiyuan?"

Hearing this, Ningji Okamura shook his head: "The headquarters has agreed to my plan to abandon Shanxi Province and also give up the blockade of the Wutai Mountain area. The Kwantung Army is ready to return, and the 14th Division will also return to the Kwantung Army."

"Kwantung Army!"

Tada Shun shook his head. The Japanese generals knew very well that the reason why they did not allow the Kwantung Army to go south to Taiyuan was that the Kwantung Army now controlled the four eastern provinces and was too powerful to be eliminated. If they continued to allow them to grow and become stronger, the consequences would be disastrous.

Perhaps the Kwantung Army will really transfer the locusts from its headquarters to Fengtian, and the empire will once again enter the shogunate era. This is not in the interests of the other devils, so most people in the devil army are very resistant to the Kwantung Army and will not mobilize the Kwantung Army if they can avoid it.

What the Japanese could not accept the most was that the Mengjiang Garrison Army was also a part of the Kwantung Army. Although it was called the Mengjiang Garrison Army and was not affiliated with the Kwantung Army, all the actions of the Mengjiang Garrison Army were subject to the Kwantung Army.

Once the Kwantung Army entered Shanxi Province, its tentacles would extend to North China. Then the Kwantung Army would definitely not have the problems of disobeying orders, rebelling against superiors, and sending troops on its own. Mei Jing Meijiro and the people behind him might really abandon their homeland. After all, they had done a lot of things secretly before.

Chapter 350 Shen Quan Memoirs

"Matsui Ishigen? When we caught that old devil, he was eating hot pot and singing. The commander once said, don't eat hot pot or sing on the train. It's like that movie that a little director made. It's easy to get robbed."

"The two comrades who captured Matsui Ishigen were named Zhang Yuanshan and Ma Weiguo. At that time, Zhang Yuanshan said to me, 'Captain, there is a high-ranking Japanese officer and two female Japanese devils in the carriage.'"

"I became interested the moment I heard it, and when I looked, I saw that they were indeed two female ghosts with very pale faces."

"That old devil, Matsui Ishige, is a complete wimp. At first, he relied on his status to act arrogantly with us, but after being slapped a few times by Zhang Yuanshan, he became obedient. To use a popular saying nowadays, I still like his rebellious look at the beginning."

"Originally, the commander planned to throw Matsui Ishige and that devil prince into the cabin."

"Yes, it's that magical little wooden house in Yunlong County. The Japanese bombed Yunlong County dozens of times, using poison gas bombs, incendiary bombs, and high-explosive bombs, but that little wooden house was never hit."

"But due to some other reasons, these two old devils were sent to the rear base along with the commander after we withdrew from Taiyuan. They were eventually tried and sentenced to death."

"Where is the body? How would I know? People say it's in the statue, but I don't think that's true. Anyway, I don't know. Don't ask me. If you have the guts, go ask the commander. Let's change the subject. I really don't know."

"Four attacks on Datong? Actually, there's nothing much to say. It's just constant movement, looking for the Japanese's weak points, and giving them a fatal blow. If you want to hear it, I can also tell you about it. I came up with this idea because I was thinking of Chishui at the time."

"The commander sent me a telegram telling me to fight my own battles and let the Japanese fight theirs. I thought the Japanese had gone to Mount Wutai and their rear was empty, so I took advantage of the situation and attacked Datong. I didn't expect to encounter any resistance and took it."

"Resistance? The most intense one was probably the third time we took Datong. At that time, I led my troops into an ambush inside Datong City. We ambushed a Japanese cavalry regiment and almost wiped out the entire regiment. Only a few dozen escaped, and the rest were all killed by our soldiers. We also captured over a thousand war horses."

"Later, relying on these war horses, I took over Jining. Jining is a good place. There is a horse farm there, and many of the Japanese soldiers' families were killed by me."

"I used these captured war horses, about 7,000 in number, to attack Zhangjiakou while it was empty. But halfway through, I ran into the Japanese Kwantung Army. After a brief exchange, they retreated."

"The Kwantung Army was very strong, stronger than any Japanese I had encountered before. We exchanged fire for less than half an hour before I ordered a retreat. In that time, over 300 of our comrades were killed. However, the Japanese Kwantung Army didn't gain any advantage. I also killed at least 300 of them. I can't count the exact number."

"The sneak attack on Zhangjiakou failed, so I turned around and headed for Guisui. There were two battalions of Japanese soldiers guarding Guisui. I initially sent out 300 people to lure them out and wiped out one battalion. Then I disguised myself as Japanese soldiers and tried to trick them into opening the Guisui city gate."

"Unfortunately, the Japanese had learned their lesson and didn't open the city gates. I ordered a siege, but didn't attack the city. I wanted to attract the Japanese reinforcements. A part of the Japanese 26th Division had just reoccupied Jining. After receiving Guisui's request for help, they went to support Guisui. I ambushed them halfway and killed about 1,300 Japanese and some puppet troops. I then took Jining back."

"And then? Then I sent another cavalry unit to rush towards Zhangjiakou. After the Japanese reconnaissance plane discovered the intelligence, they mobilized troops to return to Zhangjiakou and mobilized most of the 26th Division that had returned to Datong to go north to recapture Jining."

"I took advantage of the fact that the Japanese were focusing on Zhangjiakou and Jining, led the remaining cavalry, made a detour, and reappeared outside Datong City, thus capturing Datong for the fourth time."

"This time, Datong had a lot of supplies. Because the Japanese 26th Division left in a hurry after returning to Datong, many of the supplies were not taken away in time and were intercepted by me. Among them were twelve field guns and twenty-four mountain guns, which were the heavy artillery of the Japanese artillery regiment. I took them all away."

"I was running with the guns in front, and the Japanese were chasing us from behind, and there were also bombers chasing us and bombing us. Unfortunately, there were no anti-aircraft weapons at that time. In the end, I only took away six of the 36 heavy guns, and the other 30 were all blown up."

"In order to prevent the Japanese from discovering that I had secretly taken away six guns, I played a trick and disassembled the Japanese guns. Then I pieced them together randomly and made up the remains of 36 guns, which actually made up 30 guns."

"After the Japanese found these thirty guns, they stopped pursuing us, so I returned to Mount Wutai and continued to develop my base. The following year, I followed the commander to the four eastern provinces. While in the four eastern provinces, these six heavy guns played a significant role. During our first encounter with the Kwantung Army, we blew up an entire field artillery regiment!"

"Zhang Dabiao, let me check the time. What time is it now? Two thirty-six? Impossible. My watch shows only twelve thirty-three. It's almost time for lunch. Do you want to join us?"

"Commander? I visited the Commander a few days ago, and he's in good health. Don't listen to Zhang Dabiao's nonsense. The Commander doesn't watch Douyin. He exercises every day."

"The commander said, 'Work hard and prepare to live until 2049. That will be exactly a hundred years.' National Day should be very lively then. You're still young, so you should be able to see it. Oh, I really envy you."

"Me? I can't. Although I'm younger than Zhang Dabiao, my health isn't as good as his. Let me tell you a secret. Zhang Dabiao likes to drop his hat during battles, and once he drops it, you can never find it again!"

"After every battle, we had to go to the quartermaster's office to get our hats. One time, the commander couldn't stand it anymore and pointed at Zhang Dabiao's nose and yelled, 'Zhang Dabiao, you prodigal son! The hats you wasted could have made several uniforms!'"

"You want to visit the commander, but it's a little difficult. It depends on the commander's mood. I heard that the commander is not in a good mood recently. Wait until the commander is in a better mood, then you can apply."

"Old child, old child, you just need to be coaxed. Do you think my time is really wrong? I am just trying to make the commander happy. You see, I know the time is 3:26 now."

"Three o'clock one? Damn watch! I just adjusted the time, why is it running fast again..."

——Excerpt from the second episode of the 2020 documentary "My War of Resistance", an interview clip of Lieutenant General Shen Quan, former commander of the Second Detachment of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Independent Column, about the capture of Japanese General Matsui Ishigeng and the four attacks on Datong.

Chapter 351: Enough Buns Today

As the sun rose from the east, Taiyuan City, which had been busy all night, gradually quieted down.

Friendly troops arrived in Taiyuan one after another, taking over from the comrades who had been busy all night and continuing to move things out of Taiyuan City.

Li Yunlong also did not sleep all night. He sorted the list handed over by Xing Zhiguo and arranged for the troops to send away some important things first.

Although there are five trains, the current railway tracks are all single-track and there is no double-tracking. After a trip out, the trains have to queue up to come back.

There were only two trains running that night, or ten trips in total, which transported some large goods. Combined with manpower, it took half a day and a whole night of transportation to move roughly a quarter of Taiyuan's items.

There are still a lot of supplies piled up in the city.

The reason why it is so slow is mainly because the initial disassembly work is too time-consuming and various equipment need to be disassembled bit by bit.

These dismantled equipment need to be numbered, classified, packaged and shipped out. Yesterday afternoon and evening were basically spent on packaging and dismantling.

Now almost all the equipment in the factory has been disassembled and packed, and only transportation remains, which will be much faster.

"Old Li, the clothes are ready, two hundred pieces in total, take a look!"

Xiuqin entered the command center with bloodshot eyes and took out a modified Japanese officer's uniform. At first glance, it was indeed no different from the general's officer uniform worn by the Japanese prince.

However, if you look closely, you will find that there are still differences in many places, especially some golden areas, which use yellow lines. But if you don’t look at it from a close distance, you can’t see any difference at all.

"You've worked hard, take a rest."

Xiuqin shook her head and said, "I'm not tired now. I'll take some people to the kitchen to help out. They're short of staff over there too. There are over 200,000 people waiting to eat, and they don't have enough manpower."

The kitchen team is now the busiest team in the entire team.

In order to ensure that the soldiers who were carrying things could have enough to eat, the soldiers in the kitchen team had tried every possible means and mobilized many people who could cook in Taiyuan City to build stoves outside the city.

I was so busy last night that the fire in the stove never stopped burning.

It is to ensure that the soldiers have enough to eat.

"Okay, you get busy first."

Li Yunlong did not dissuade them. The entire independent column, as well as the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army's brother units, had been busy all night without rest. Everyone was gritting their teeth and persevering, and Li Yunlong would not make any special arrangements.

"Duan Peng, Duan Peng!"

Li Yunlong shouted a few words to the outside of the door, and Duan Peng entered Li Yunlong's room with breakfast in his hand: "Commander, here's your breakfast."

"Put them here. Send these clothes out first. Have each transport team find someone who can wear them and walk in the most conspicuous places. Also, bring banners. When the Japanese bombers come, unfurl the banners!"

"Yes!"

After Duan Peng left, Li Yunlong picked up the bun on the plate and took a bite. It was filled with meat. Although the amount of meat was not much, he could still taste the meat.

Li Yunlong also wanted the soldiers to eat meat every meal, but there was no way. The country was weak now, and it was not easy to fill their stomachs, let alone eat meat every meal.

At this time in Taiyuan City, the soldiers who had been busy all night were taking a break during breakfast, and some were eating breakfast while moving things.

"Hey, we're having buns today! What's the filling? Is there meat?"

A soldier looked at the buns sent by the kitchen team with some surprise. The buns were made of white flour and could only be eaten during the Chinese New Year or after a great victory in battle.

Li Yunlong's independent column ate meat once when Li Yunlong got married some time ago, but many people in other brother units have not tasted meat for half a year.

"There's meat, there's meat! The commander has given the order. There's plenty of buns for today. We made them all night yesterday, so everyone can eat to your heart's content!"

After putting down the bamboo basket, the squad leader of the cooking squad spoke while smoking his pipe.

"Give me four... give me two, two is enough!"

A soldier originally wanted four, but looking at the group of soldiers around him, he finally swallowed his saliva and only asked for two. He ate four himself, and perhaps other comrades would not be able to eat the meat buns.

"Are two enough?"

"That's enough, that's enough. Just taste the meat. I haven't eaten meat for a long time."

The young soldier said with a smile. After hearing this, Lao Hong took out four buns and stuffed them directly into his hands: "Eat more. You don't look that big, and you're still growing. Don't worry about the other comrades not having enough to eat. There are plenty of buns. Come back for more after you finish eating."

After hearing this, the little soldier happily grabbed the bun, found a spot and started to gobble it up.

"I'll take two."

"Two isn't enough. With such a large size, I need at least eight!"

"Old squad leader, that's enough, that's enough. Let the other comrades have two more. I still have potatoes here, enough!"

"Listen to me, there are plenty of buns today, you don't have to save."

Squad leader Hong stuffed eight buns directly into the hands of the tall man in front of him.

Lu Junsheng put the buns away somewhat embarrassedly. After eating one himself, a smile appeared on his face. He looked at the remaining seven buns, thought for a while, and then wrapped them with cloth.

These were left for the wounded soldiers in the team. Everyone who came to move things this time could eat the buns, but there were still a few wounded soldiers in Lu Junsheng's company.

Although Lao Hong kept emphasizing that there were enough buns, most of the soldiers chose to order two buns, saying that it was enough. After leaving, they took out the potatoes or fried noodles in their arms to eat with the buns.

Especially some old comrades and cadres, they were reluctant to eat even the two buns they received. They ate the dry food they brought with them, put away the hot buns, and gave them to some comrades who were unable to come and move things after they were done.

The division commander, brigade commander and others were in a similar situation. Although the kitchen staff sent over a large plate, which could give each person at least six buns, the division commander and others only ate one each and asked someone to send the buns back.

A few people smiled and asked the guard to bring some black bean cakes, and discussed the issue while eating.

Around eight o'clock in the morning, the Japanese bombers appeared over Taiyuan again.

This time, the Japanese pilots were ordered not to be misled by the Eighth Route Army banners.

As long as His Royal Highness himself is not seen, bomb directly.

Many Japanese pilots were very angry. They didn't drop a single bomb yesterday and were scolded after returning to the airport. So this time they had to bomb the Eighth Route Army no matter what.