Anti-Japanese War: Li Yunlong dared to attack Taiyuan

Mei Jing Meijiro stretched out his hand a little tiredly. Since the war started, Mei Jing Meijiro had only slept for less than ten hours, and now he was very tired.

The content of the telegram requesting assistance from the North China Expeditionary Army was not long. It just hoped that the Kwantung Army could dispatch five divisions to the south to support the North China Expeditionary Army.

"Send a telegram to Okabe Naozaburo to find out the specific reason!"

"Hai!"

At this time, in the North China Expeditionary Force Headquarters, Okabe Naosaburo was in a state of panic.

Originally, the commander of the North China Expeditionary Army was General Okamura Yasuji, but after the outbreak of the Siberian War, General Okamura was transferred to the Kwantung Army to serve as the commander of the Siberian Front, and the position of commander of the North China Expeditionary Army became vacant again.

So Okabe Naozaburo, who had been demoted due to heavy losses suffered by the 35th Army, was promoted again and became the commander of the North China Expeditionary Army.

Originally, Okabe Naozaburo served as the commander of the North China Expeditionary Army, and everything was very stable.

Although the Eighth Route Army grew stronger, it did not launch an attack on any county or stronghold. However, just a week ago, he received intelligence that the Eighth Route Army began to mobilize abnormally.

The Eighth Route Army troops active in Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong, Henan and other regions seemed to be beginning to gather.

In particular, the main force of the Eighth Route Army in Hebei Province has appeared in Shimen, Baoding and other areas. All the outer strongholds have been eliminated, and it looks like they are going to attack these cities.

So Naosaburo Okabe immediately withdrew his troops and prepared for defense.

A day earlier, the Eighth Route Army troops launched an attack on Shimen and Baoding.

In addition, the Eighth Route Army in Henan Province, Shandong Province and other regions also launched counterattacks.

Moreover, this counterattack was completely different from previous ones. In the past, when the Eighth Route Army fought, due to insufficient ammunition, they would fire a few shots and then immediately start charging and engaging in hand-to-hand combat.

As long as there was ammunition, the strongholds or artillery towers built by the Japanese could block the attack of an Eighth Route Army battalion.

But all these Eighth Route Army troops were equipped with rocket launchers.

The fortifications built by the Japanese outside the big cities were simply unable to stop the attacks of these troops.

In one day, Shimen Airport was captured and all the outposts outside Shimen City were eliminated. According to the intelligence sent back by Shimen, the Eighth Route Army was also equipped with large-caliber heavy artillery. This was no longer the Eighth Route Army they were familiar with. Its equipment was better than that of the National Army.

In addition, the situation in Baoding and other areas was not much better. The outer positions were also taken away, and the defenders were trapped in the city and could not get out. The Eighth Route Army could attack the city at any time.

Especially this afternoon, the Eighth Route Army appeared outside the Nanyuan Airport in Sijiu City and began to bombard the airport. The 47th Division of the Japanese army stationed in Sijiu City went to support the Nanyuan Airport. As a result, in less than three hours, one division lost more than 5,000 people and failed to reach the Nanyuan Airport.

The Japanese North China Expeditionary Force currently has nine divisions and twelve brigades, totaling 250,000 people.

These 250,000 people were scattered across Hebei, Shandong, Henan and Chahar regions. There were not many troops stationed in each region, and almost all of the troops' bases had been attacked, making it difficult to withdraw troops for support.

So Naosaburo Okabe had to ask for help from the Kwantung Army.

Just after Mei Jing Meijiro finished reading the telegram from the North China Expeditionary Force, the Mengjiang Garrison Army also sent a telegram asking for help.

"The Mengjiang garrison? They were also attacked? Isn't it that Agula IX has been harassing the Shenquan troops, leaving them no time to harass the Mengjiang garrison?"

Since the rise of the Shenquan troops, the opponents of the Mengjiang garrison troops have changed from the 35th Army and the 115th Division to Shenquan.

However, because the Japanese supported Agula IX and had been fighting in Outer Mongolia, nothing major had happened to the Mongolian garrison except the loss of Datong and Suiyuan. Now they were asking for help, which caught Mei Jing Meijiro off guard.

"Report, it's the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army that has attacked Jining, Zhangjiakou, and other areas. The offensive is so fierce that the Mengjiang garrison troops are almost unable to withstand it!"

The adjutant quickly handed the telegram to Meijing Meijiro.

The content of the telegram was more urgent than that of the North China Expeditionary Army, and it seemed that they had indeed encountered a major crisis.

The current commander of the Mengjiang Garrison Army is Hasunuma Domain. The previous commander, Shigetaro Amakasu, was dismissed because of the Matsui devil incident and transferred back to the mainland. No one knows his specific fate, and no one has seen him since he returned to the mainland.

The newly appointed Hasunuma clan once served as the commander of the Mengjiang garrison army. Later, he was transferred back to the Japanese mainland and served as the chief military attaché of the Japanese Tianhuang Guard. Now he has been transferred back to clean up the mess of the Mengjiang garrison army.

Those who can serve as the chief aide-de-camp are not ordinary people, because this position is generally responsible for the exchanges and communication between the Japanese and the military, providing professional military advice, helping the Japanese understand the military situation, make military decisions, etc.

During the war, it is necessary to report the front-line situation to Guizi Tianhuang, analyze the situation, and assist Guizi Tianhuang in guiding military operations.

This position is equivalent to the Japanese army's military adviser and liaison officer, and has a very special status.

Generally speaking, the person who holds this position is someone trusted by Guizi Tianhuang, or a member of the locust tribe.

Chapter 553: Three hundred thousand versus six hundred thousand, are you sure?

The Mengjiang garrison troops were first severely defeated by Shen Quan, and then attacked by the 115th Division. Both troops caused heavy losses to the Mengjiang garrison troops, and they could only guard the city and dared not go out.

The new official of Hasunuma Domain launched a sweep against the Wutai Mountain base of the 115th Division. After a fierce battle with the 115th Division in the mountains for half a month, the Japanese withdrew from Wutai Mountain after suffering more than 4,000 casualties.

Later, the Japanese headquarters sent two additional divisions to the Mengjiang Garrison Army, which was originally short of manpower and regained confidence. It decided to find an opportunity to encircle and suppress the Wutai Mountain base again.

However, before the Mengjiang garrison troops could take action, the 115th Division took the lead in attacking.

The 115th Division was divided into three groups and launched an attack on the cities controlled by the Mengjiang Garrison Army. One of the groups headed straight for Zhangjiakou, where the Mengjiang Garrison Army's headquarters was located.

Initially, Hasunuma didn't take this attack seriously. After all, he had fought against the 115th Division before when he took office. He felt that the soldiers of the 115th Division had good fighting spirit, but their equipment was still far behind the Japanese, so he didn't take it seriously.

But what the Hasunuma clan didn't know was that after the 115th Division suffered losses in the last encirclement and suppression, it immediately sent people north to contact Li Yunlong.

Subsequently, the 107th Division brought back 200 rifles, million rounds of ammunition, various grenade launchers, mortars, rocket launchers, and even six rocket launchers and artillery shells from Li Yunlong's troops.

These equipments enabled the 115th Division to upgrade its weapons and greatly enhance its combat effectiveness.

However, after obtaining weapons and equipment, the 115th Division did not immediately launch a large-scale counterattack, but continued to develop in a low-key manner and wait for the opportunity.

Especially after learning that Li Yunlong had a counterattack plan, the troops trained all day long.

This made the Japanese soldiers who had been hiding in the major counties gradually bolder and become active again.

After receiving the news from Li Yunlong, the 107th Division, which had been patient for half a year, immediately ordered a three-pronged attack and began to encircle and suppress the Japanese around the base. Its main force even pulled the six rocket launchers and mountain cannons sent by Li Yunlong and attacked towards Zhangjiakou.

At first, the Japanese did not take it seriously, but after the two sides exchanged fire, the Japanese found that this group of Eighth Route Army was different. They no longer launched a charge after firing a few shots, but instead launched artillery bombardment before charging, and also provided fire cover from various light and heavy machine guns.

Soon, the county towns controlled by the Mengjiang garrison troops fell one after another. The 115th Division seized a large amount of supplies and began to encircle Zhangjiakou.

Now the 100,000-strong army of the 115th Division is less than 30 kilometers away from Zhangjiakou.

The time left for the Mengjiang garrison was short, so they could only ask for help from the Kwantung Army.

Mei Jing Meijiro looked at the two telegrams for help and rubbed his swollen temples.

"How many troops can the four eastern provinces mobilize to move south now?"

The Chief of Staff stood up and responded, "There are currently 620,000 troops stationed in the four eastern provinces, most of whom are new recruits. Sixteen divisions have completed training, totaling 300,000 men. All 300,000 men can be deployed."

Hearing that another 300,000 troops could be mobilized, Mei Jing Meijilang thought for a moment and said, "There's no need to mobilize so many at once. We can mobilize ten divisions to the south, three to support the Mengjiang garrison, and seven to support the North China Expeditionary Force!"

"Hai!"

Mei Jing Meijilang snorted coldly after he finished speaking, "What a bunch of rubbish! The Empire is winning victory after victory on every battlefield, but they are the only ones who are constantly losing on the Chinese battlefield!"

"Once we have completely resolved the Siberian issue, we will send the Kwantung Army south to completely resolve the Chinese issue!"

After hearing what Mei Jing Meijiro said, the Japanese soldiers around him did not think there was anything wrong.

It is indeed as the commander said, all other fronts of the empire are reporting victories and expanding the empire's territory, but only these two armies are asking for help, which is simply a shame for the imperial army!

"The Kwantung Army is heading south!"

The Kwantung Army acted quickly. After Mei Jing Meijiro's order was issued, the Kwantung Army stationed around the railway network in the four eastern provinces began to pack up their weapons and equipment, boarded trains, and headed south.

It took less than twenty-six hours from the receipt of the order to the arrival of the first batch of Kwantung Army troops heading south from Jinzhou in Tianjin.

Moreover, the remaining troops of the Kwantung Army were still taking trains, crossing Shanhaiguan and entering the North China Plain.

The brigade commander was the first to receive news of the large-scale mobilization of the Japanese.

The current Northeast Bureau has been established for nearly a year, and the brigade commander has placed intelligence personnel in several important cities in the four eastern provinces.

In particular, special intelligence stations were set up in important cities such as Changchun, Fengtian, Harbin and Qiqihar to collect intelligence.

Thanks to the information provided by Li Yunlong, the brigade commander also developed many key figures, such as Zhang Mengshi, the son of the traitor Zhang Jinghui, Zheng Tongwan and Zheng Kunlun, the grandsons of Zheng Xiaoxu.

Before the brigade commander contacted them, these people had already established or joined some anti-Japanese organizations on their own, and used their identities to assassinate the enemy and steal a lot of intelligence.

After being recruited by the brigade commander, they provided a large amount of intelligence about Manchukuo, including the locations of the Japanese military camps and arsenals throughout the four northeastern provinces, various ammunition depots, and the locations of some buildings secretly built by the Japanese.

“How many people left?”

"Ten divisions, about 250,000 men!"

"That leaves over 300,000 people!"

Li Yunlong turned his gaze to the old leader: "Old leader, 300,000 for 350,000, how about it?"

Gu Ying rolled her eyes at Li Yunlong and said, "Where did we get 300,000? The deputy division commander has only trained 100,000 new recruits. Plus, Shen Quan has to deal with the Mengjiang garrison, Ding Wei has to attack the enemy's Siberian Front logistics, and Old Han has to cooperate with the enemy's operations."

"At most, there are only 200,000 troops."

"Hey, old boss, what do you think about 200,000 versus 350,000?"

Gu Ying put out the cigarette in his hand, glanced at the map and said, "Have the raiding troops been deployed to several important cities?"

"Well, the special operations brigade, led by Zhang Yingcai, Yu Zhiqian, and Xiao Wanshi, has already infiltrated the three cities of Harbin, Changchun, and Fengtian, with approximately a thousand men in each city."

"Where are the weapons and equipment?"

"Everything has been prepared and is being transported in bit by bit."

After listening, Gu Ying stared at the map and said, "Where's the Japanese navy? Some important areas in the four eastern provinces are close to the sea. If the Japanese navy comes to support them, they won't be able to hold on!"

If we attack the four northeastern provinces, the Japanese North China Expeditionary Force and the Mengjiang Garrison Army will definitely support the four northeastern provinces at all costs. Then it will be extremely important to capture Shanhaiguan and Jinzhou and defend the Liaoxi Corridor.

But this place is close to Liaodong Bay, at its narrowest point, and the Japanese naval guns can directly fire.

So Gu Ying was worried that the Japanese navy would also come to support.

Li Yunlong handed over a telegram: "The Japanese navy is looking for a decisive battle with the American navy in the Pacific!"

Chapter 554: Yamato in the Pacific

In early June, the newly formed Pacific Fleet of the United States completed two joint exercises and has the ability to go to sea to carry out combat missions.

This time, the US Pacific Fleet is composed of 30 aircraft carriers, 6 battleships and 3 heavy cruisers as the main fleet, divided into three squadrons, each equipped with 10 aircraft carriers, one battleship and one heavy cruiser.

In addition, there are twelve light cruisers, more than 120 destroyers and some frigates.

In addition to these surface vessels, there are more than ten submarines operating with the Pacific Fleet.

If we include various auxiliary ships such as supply ships, minesweepers, and minelayers, the total number of ships in the Pacific Fleet reaches 300.

Don’t be scared by the number of these thirty aircraft carriers.

Of these thirty carriers, only six were fleet carriers, or large aircraft carriers. With the exception of one Yorktown-class carrier, the remaining five were Essex-class carriers. Of the remaining twenty-four, eight were light carriers, all of which were Independence-class.