Canteen System Assistance Notes

After calming down from the shock, Taniguchi Wulang showed the basic qualities of a qualified commander: in the chaotic situation where the radio antenna could not be deployed and telegrams could not be sent, he sent out his brigade staff and guards to act as messengers to keep the command system open.

On the one hand, he contacted the three battalion headquarters that were scattered by the artillery fire and asked them to quickly climb a nearby hill to organize a defense; on the other hand, he asked the chief staff to ride a fast horse and run back to Shexian along the Shexian-Licheng highway, asking the remaining troops to come to the rescue quickly, and use the radio station there to call for reinforcements from the Army Aviation.

The fragmented and confusing information gradually came together, and the enemy situation seemed to finally become clear: there were attacking troops of the Eighth Route Army from the west and north of the Licheng Valley, and even on the Nan'ao Mountain in the south, which was only 2 kilometers away from the imperial army, there were flanking troops of the Eighth Route Army.

Just now, at least one battalion (regiment) of the Eighth Route Army rushed down from Yanhougou in the north and seized Jiangu Mountain in the north. They used the height difference advantage to use machine guns to straf the Japanese troops gathered below. It was the 73rd Battalion that fought desperately to prevent the Eighth Route Army from continuing to rush down the mountain and cut off the Japanese army's formation.

Although the Japanese forces in Shexian numbered fewer than two squadrons, plus the puppet troops guarding the road and the supply detachment, totaling less than two thousand men, and even if the Army Air Force arrived, they wouldn't be able to drop many bombs and provide any support in this situation, the Japanese, seemingly clinging to a last vestige of hope for survival, erupted in fierce determination at the mouth of the valley. They withstood our artillery fire and attacks, climbed a nearby hill known as Queen's Ridge, and began relying on the terrain for defense.

"Sir! There are no Communist troops in the east. Should we break out?"

The dusty brigade headquarters lay on the reverse slope behind the hilltop. The few remaining staff officers used binoculars to watch the Eighth Route Army marching in columns below. Although their formation was loose, it seemed endless and innumerable. "The Eighth Route Army besieging us has at least eight battalions!"

"Damn it! Didn't the Intelligence Department report that the Eighth Route Army was short on manpower and couldn't handle our three-pronged assault? Those idiots are ruining the country!"

The relatively calm chief of staff had already ridden off on horseback to act as a messenger. The remaining staff officers, either regretting not having taken on such a big responsibility or simply nervous about being surrounded and unable to have an effective discussion, began to complain.

"Idiot, haven't you read Romance of the Three Kingdoms? The Red Army is imitating Zhuge Kongming's tactics, surrounding us on three sides and leaving one side open. They must have ambushed troops in the east, waiting for us to break through and turn around, so they can defeat us!" "That's better than waiting to die here!"

"alright!"

A rare opportunity to breathe, Gukou Wulang rebuked: "In the battle of Wanjialing, our army was besieged by the preserved fruit army for seven days and seven nights, but we finally moved in smoothly. We must have confidence

Confidence! Persistence is victory!

"Gentlemen!"

He shouted loudly in the brigade headquarters, regardless of whether others heard him or not, "As long as we hold on firmly, reinforcements will arrive, and the Army Air Force will arrive! As long as we hold on firmly, there is hope."

Three battalions and more than 3,000 people gathered in such a small area, turning the battle situation into a rather monotonous offense and defense.

This was supposed to be a fortress operation quite incompatible with the Eighth Route Red Army's tactics, which the Eighth Route Army was quite unfamiliar with—no, perhaps their current tactics were precisely because they had never fought such a battle before. Gukou Wulang watched helplessly as his three battalions were squeezed onto the small hillock of Queen's Ridge, less than a square kilometer in size, by the gradually approaching Eighth Route Red Army. He then watched as they seized the surrounding commanding heights and, using their superior visibility, eliminated his artillery. Then, he watched as the Eighth Route Red Army continued to leisurely organize their forces and launch successive attacks.

The Red Army didn't employ the split-and-intersperse tactics they'd previously employed in Changle Village and Xiangtangpu. Perhaps the density of the Japanese forces now made such tactics impractical. They didn't rush, but instead concentrated all their firepower, like peeling an onion while eating a steak, to cover the outermost 73rd Battalion.

Finally, under the cover of a diffuse smoke screen, the Eighth Route Army abandoned their previous elegance and, after a half-hour of artillery preparation, launched a stormy attack. Deprived of long-range firepower, the main unit was cut off from the battlefield and could only watch helplessly as the 73rd Battalion at the foot of the mountain, deprived of almost all of its automatic firepower, was swiftly penetrated, dismantled, and completely wiped out by the Eighth Route Army. The entire process took less than forty-five minutes.

after......

The Eighth Route Army began to turn its temporarily suspended artillery fire towards the 72nd Battalion located on the second line of defense, and the artillery fire rang out again.

This staged approach to death was too torturous. The sound of artillery fire heard in the temporary brigade headquarters was getting closer and closer, but the reinforcements that Gukou Wulang expected had not arrived.

Even the Army Aviation aircraft were nowhere to be seen.

When the courage generated by adrenaline quickly fades and all efforts have been tried but to no avail, people often collapse emotionally.

"Your Excellency, Brigade Commander..."

The Eighth Route Army, which had already occupied the foot of the mountain, was bombarding the hastily constructed field fortifications of the 72nd Battalion with artillery fire, as if the situation in front of Shexian County was being perfectly reproduced.

-These makeshift earthworks were no match for the direct fire of 75mm grenades-

They flew into the sky one by one.

This scene had already happened once, and the temporary brigade headquarters was now filled with a dying atmosphere. The staff officers looked eagerly at Taniguchi Wulang, their eyes filled with hope, or perhaps with the desperation of grasping at straws. "Gentlemen..."

Taniguchi Wulang spoke to his staff in a hollow, mechanical voice, "I am Taniguchi Wulang, commander of the 1st Independent Mixed Brigade of the Imperial Army. I will definitely lead you out. As long as you hold on, there is hope..."

“Report…Report!”

A dusty messenger stumbled in and handed over a piece of paper. "Sir! This is a telegram from Shexian County!" "Shexian County... Shexian County! What did they say?"

As if suddenly energized, fire flashed in Taniguchi Wulang's eyes. He jumped up from the ground and grabbed the signalman's shoulder tightly: "Tell me! How long will it take for them to arrive to support us!" "Brigade... Brigade Commander, they... they said..."

The city was attacked by the Eighth Route Army... Hope... Hope we can send troops to support... Because we can only receive messages now, not send them, this telegram has not been replied yet.

You see…”

Ah, that's it.

Brigade Commander Taniguchi Wulang was petrified. He stiffly let go of the trembling signalman, stomped his feet, and opened his mouth to speak, but in the end, he said nothing. I'm tired, really tired, he thought.

Chapter 194: Already Finished and Finishing

The 1st Independent Mixed Brigade has gone through its short historical career.

This force was formed earlier than in history and made targeted adjustments to the rapidly deteriorating security situation in North China. It was intended to strengthen the current situation of continuous bloodshed in the Japanese army. Except for one battalion that stayed behind and one battalion that was understaffed, all of it, including the 3rd Battalion of the 110th Division that was borrowed, were annihilated in the mountains of North China.

After confirming that Shexian County had also been attacked by the Eighth Route Red Army and quickly fell, the remaining troops of the 1st Independent Mixed Brigade lost their retreat and fell into the trap set by Chen Shukang. General Chen, who commanded this battle, used a variety of tactics such as showing weakness, stubborn resistance, and intelligence operations to lead the 1st Independent Mixed Brigade into the ravines of the Taihang Mountains.

Then he seized the most lax point and used a pocket-sized

The combination of encirclement and tail-cutting put the four battalions into a desperate situation.

In desperation, Brigade Commander Taniguchi burned documents, smashed the radio station, and ordered all units to disband and break out individually. However, in the hostile Taihang Mountains, the consequences of a scattered breakout were extremely tragic.

Although the Eighth Route Army would enforce battlefield discipline as much as possible, most of the guerrillas and militias in various places had suffered from the devastation of the Japanese and puppet troops, and had a blood feud with the Japanese army; in addition, the Japanese army at this time was basically unwilling to surrender, and under the repeated "Warrior Hunting", there were basically few Japanese and puppet troops who were lucky enough to be captured.

Wu Lang, who had fled into the mountains, was no exception. He and several of his staff were captured by the guerrillas. Because they refused to surrender and tried to resist with their arseholes, they were pierced by the grassroots militia armed with red tassel spears and went directly to see Amaterasu.

The working group of the Taihang Military Sub-district had to travel between various villages and settlements afterwards in order to have a more reliable estimate of the final outcome of the battle.

However, for Chen Shukang, who was commanding so many troops for the first time, simply destroying four battalions would not be enough. His eyes roamed across the map and finally landed on Baixing, which was more than 4 kilometers away from the Licheng battlefield.

_---——―-

Baixing, one of the Eight Passes of the Taihang Mountains, begins in Qixian County near Anyang and continues through Huixian and Lingchuan before entering the Changzhi Basin. Unlike Jingxing, which is accessible by the Zhengtai Railway, and Yikouxing, which is accessible by truck, Baixing is accessible only by horse and foot. The road between Huixian and Lingchuan winds its way through the sculpted Taihang Grand Canyon, sometimes requiring 72 consecutive turns before the trail reaches the mountain pass.

Therefore, the Japanese army could not advance quickly here. The 8th Independent Mixed Brigade, responsible for the offensive, suffered a particularly unfortunate setback. Just a month before the attack, heavy rains hit the Taihang Mountains, and a landslide hit Baixing, completely blocking the route. Limited by the base's excellent intelligence black hole, the Japanese army only knew of the landslide, but had no idea of ​​its scale or its impact on transportation.

As a result, when the search company of the 8th Independent Mixed Brigade reached the collapsed "Magedang" section, they were stunned for a moment when they saw Baixing covered with boulders, soil and trees.

"You idiot! Don't the Red Army know how to repair the road?"

Newly appointed Brigadier General Mizuhara Yoshishige was furious as he looked at the boulders blocking the mountain road and the towering cliffs nearby. The rocks from the landslide were massive and hard, with some even five meters tall lying across the narrow path, completely blocking it.

Just now, his signalman received a telegram from the 1st Independent Mixed Brigade forwarded by headquarters, stating that the Dao Corps (the 1st Independent Mixed Brigade's call sign) was advancing smoothly, had broken through the Red Army's defenses, and occupied Shexian County. The headquarters ordered the 8th Brigade to break through the Red Army's obstacles as quickly as possible and accelerate its advance to reach Changzhi together with the 1st Brigade, thus achieving the tactical goal of dividing and advancing to achieve a combined attack.

Speed ​​up, how to speed up!

Mizuhara Yoshishige's command style was cautious and varied, but he really didn't have a good solution for this situation. On the one hand, he ordered some troops to withdraw to strengthen the logistics line; on the other hand, he sent engineers forward to blast the landslide blocking the mountain road.

"Second time, bomb blast!" "Second time, bomb blast!"

The engineers' roars were so loud that they could be heard from far away. After making sure everyone was well away, one engineer crawled into a foxhole, lifted the detonator box, and pushed the switch hard. "Explode!"

Boom!

A thick cloud of smoke erupted from the massive rock mass. The high detonation velocity of the picric acid explosives sent a shockwave through the rock's surface, accompanied by a shower of boulders. After a long wait, the crackling boulders finally cleared, leaving a large section of the landslide behind, obstructing even further access to the road. A group of Japanese soldiers drove the peasants to work, sending them up to dig for the rocks.

Because the Japanese engineers lacked any mechanized equipment, not even pneumatic drills for drilling holes in stone for blasting, the laborers spent an entire morning and half an afternoon hammering out these blasting holes with pickaxes and sledgehammers. The entire road-clearing process was excruciatingly slow. From a distance, Yoshishige Mizuhara watched the starving laborers hunched over, shoveling away the gravel and dirt bit by bit, as if he were watching a group of ants slacking off and carrying a steamed bun.

"Will the road be clear after this explosion?" He turned and asked his staff officer.

"I'm so sorry, sir!"

The staff officer bowed without saying anything else. The blockage was enormous, and the rock was incredibly hard. Drilling holes and then placing explosives was time-consuming, and the debris from the blasting had to be cleared before the next blast could begin. The engineering company estimated that at least three more detonations would be needed to create a path through the blockage wide enough for troops and horses to pass.

"Alas... How long will this wait be in vain?

That morning, the communications office received a notification from the island corps: they had passed the dangerous section and were about to reach Licheng and launch their attack. "It's almost evening now, and I don't know how they're progressing over there," complained the Suwon brigade commander.

"The Red Army dares not engage our army head-on. Our friendly forces will surely prosper and successfully break through."

"That would definitely be the best, but our army is blocked here. Not only can we not complete the commander's order to advance and attack at the same time, but we can only watch our friendly forces gain merit.

Our army was blocked by rocks here, which is unforgivable...

How have the Red Army's attacks been in recent days?"

Looking at the bowing staff officer, Mizuhara Yoshishige suddenly had an idea. He asked, "Although the Red Army doesn't dare to confront our army head-on, they have always been good at guerrilla warfare and attacking our logistical supply lines."

Your Excellency, at your request, our army has assigned a battalion to support the logistics route. After repelling several Red Army guerrillas, they no longer dare to attack. In recent days, the logistics line has been safe and sound, supplies have been flowing smoothly, and the transportation of explosives for blasting has been very smooth.

"There are only a few Red Army soldiers blocking our advance, but rest assured, Commander. If it weren't for the landslide, our warriors would have driven them out long ago."

The staff officer, who was familiar with the situation, was very good at speaking. He not only reported the situation clearly, but also made Mizuhara feel very comfortable. He stroked his mustache, thought for a while, and gave the order: "After the engineering team completes this cleanup, no more blasting cleanups!"

"Have the search team help build the wooden ladders. Our army hasn't yet captured the Red Army-held county town, and there hasn't been a major battle. Furthermore, there aren't many Red Army troops ahead; they've likely been drawn to the Licheng front to defend the island corps. As long as our army overcomes the geographical barriers and unleashes the bravery of our soldiers, we'll surely secure victory for the Empire!"

He pointed at the tall, large obstruction:

"It's just a rock, isn't it? Look! Let's climb over it!"

Chapter 195: Climbing the Ladder

At the most dangerous section of the road in Baixing, the intermittent explosions stopped and the sounds of logging began to be heard.

The Japanese engineers at least brought enough axes, hammers and nails, and sent the unlucky stickmen to do the labor. They began to look for trees to cut down along Baixing and make ladders, which was quite similar to the style of ancient siege.

Because the landslide was as high as three stories, it was difficult to find trees suitable for making wooden ladders, and the newly felled wet wood was not convenient to process. There were no locals around to harm, so the engineering team of the 8th Independent Mixed Brigade hammered away all night before they managed to make two ladders long enough, which made Brigade Commander Mizuhara Yoshishige shake his head and say that they had missed the opportunity to fight.

Fortunately, the three battalions of the "Island Corps of Licheng" that the Independent Mixed 8th had been rapidly attacking were being annihilated one by one at Queen's Ridge. The desperate order to disperse and break out was about to be issued. The Spring Corps (call sign of the Independent Mixed 8th) would not lag behind its friendly forces in arriving at Changzhi.

If they can still arrive, of course.

"Two teams!"

"Hi!"

Several hundred people from the first company of the 32nd Battalion packed up their belongings, put on their backpacks, and stood in two rows on the narrow mountain road - there would not be room for more people - the Japanese army was of decent quality, and it took them a few minutes to form a line. The engineer in the front row blew the whistle and waved a small flag, signaling all the imperial patriots to climb the ladder forward.

The two wooden ladders on the collapsed structure had been tested and should be able to bear the weight of two armed soldiers. The leading Japanese scout strapped his rifle to his back, checked the strength of his straps, put his hands on the wooden ladder, and climbed up.

The wooden ladder exuded the fresh scent of wild jujube trees. The scout had cleverly wrapped his hands with a cloth to protect them from the thorns. In no time, he had climbed to the top of the collapsed structure and quickly lay flat on the ground, taking in his surroundings.

It looked like there were no enemies.

He gestured to the back, asking the others to come forward. He then settled into a more comfortable half-squat position and, using the binoculars the squadron leader had lent him, observed the area, confirming that there were indeed no traces of the Eighth Route Army. "Report, Squadron Leader! There are no Eighth Route Army soldiers ahead!"

"Yoshi!"

The people below cheered, and the formal climbing process began. Then, several of the leading soldiers brought up a coil of rope, secured it to a rock next to the two wooden ladders, and lowered it toward their team—this wasn't for climbing people, but for hoisting things.

How much can a person climbing a ladder carry? We can't let the Imperial Army become a "bolt-action rifle" squadron!

Unfortunately, even so, the scouts couldn't start immediately and deliver the machine gun that everyone was eagerly looking forward to - they had to spread out to the front and work on their own to hoist up the other two ladders: the other side of the landslide had a drop of seven or eight meters, and the mountain road below was small and narrow, and there was no trailer full of straw, so they could only use two more ladders to get people down.

This wasn't a "leap of faith" situation. The Japanese soldiers had to line up in two teams, grab the ropes, and pull back hard to get the ladder up first.

After several hours of struggling and repeating the process several times, the ladder made of wet wood finally reached the top of the rock and was then lowered down the mountain road after the landslide. Then, several unfortunate privates stood on it and began to pull hard for things like the Type 99 rifle and ammunition boxes.

After more than an hour of struggling, the first squadron, consisting of three teams of 54 people, finally climbed up the landslide, climbed down the ladder, and explored forward.

Because the ladders had a terrible carrying capacity, and the Japanese could only rely on hand-pulling and dragging, how much could they possibly carry? Although some newly climbed soldiers began assisting the machine gun squadron by attempting to hoist a few Type 92 heavy machine guns, even dismantling the heavy machine guns, weighing over 50 kilograms, proved incredibly difficult to lift, even when they were split in two. Either the ropes would fall off or the men on top would lose their strength. Furthermore, besides the machine guns themselves, the ammunition racks contained in the wooden boxes were also large and bulky, making them difficult to carry.

After struggling for a long time, even the Japanese soldiers, who were as tough as beasts, had to rely on pulling and dragging without any mechanical assistance, and their hands were bleeding. The machine gun squadron could only transport 3 of the 12 92 machine guns.

At this time, the entire brigade had only managed to crawl past one squadron. Excluding the battalion that served as the rear guard, the remaining three battalions were all stuck on the mountain road, waiting helplessly for their advance. By this time, the sky in the deep valley of the mountains had already darkened.

Mizuhara Yoshishige, watching from behind, was trembling with fear. How long would this tirade last? Over and over again, the entire 8th Brigade's marching formation was distorted and blocked, like a bowel obstruction and a massive dose of lecithin, unable to ejaculate. It was excruciatingly uncomfortable.

He could only order that squadron to remain alert and form a guard formation close to the main team. He would wait until tomorrow morning, crawl over more troops, gather the strength of at least one or two battalions, and then attack forward.

The night in the Taihang Mountains was dangerous, especially for isolated Japanese squads and companies. The 1st Company of the 32nd Battalion, which had first crawled through the landslide area, now had only extremely simple light weapons and was completely defenseless against a night attack.

The squadron leader had long heard stories of numerous troops being devoured by evil spirits in these mountainous regions. Those who managed to escape were often found mentally ill or disabled, spouting tales of "Red Army soldiers everywhere," "mountains and forests devouring people," and "tree stumps exploding." They were forced to return home due to illness. He didn't want to become a victim of such a monstrous phenomenon himself.

The First Squadron dared not even pitch tents or light a fire. Around a hundred men took turns guarding the night in the horse pit, barely surviving the night. However, perhaps because the Imperial Army was assembling in large numbers, and because the terrain around Baixing was high and dangerous, with only one road, the elusive Red Army did not exploit the cover of night to harass them, allowing the Japanese to spend the night in peace. The next day, the 8th Independent Mixed Brigade, by climbing and slingshotting, finally managed to get one and a half battalions of troops across the collapsed area.

Although these two battalions only had Type 38 rifles, Type 99 rifles, and grenade launchers, and only a squad's worth of heavy machine guns, Mizuhara Yoshishige finally breathed a sigh of relief. The Eighth Route Red Army before him was indeed small; their main force must have been firmly drawn toward Licheng. There were no Eighth Route Red Army troops in Lingchuan.

So, now is the time to attack!

On the one hand, he ordered the engineers to continue making ladders and clearing obstacles. On the other hand, Mizuhara Yoshishige, as the commander of the Spring Corps of the 8th Independent Mixed Brigade, ordered the two battalions to march lightly and quickly through the dangerous Magedang and Heimaogou sections ahead, rushing through the natural barriers and taking advantage of the gap when the Eighth Route Army was weak and had not yet provided support, to attack the core of the Changzhi Basin.

Not only did they need to eliminate the Eighth Route Army's core control, they also had to seek an opportunity to destroy the command center of the Red Army's main force and support friendly forces in the other two directions! "Report! The Magedang section of the road ahead is safe! No trace of the Red Army has been found!"

"Report! The Heimaogou section ahead is clear! No trace of the Red Army has been found!"

The messenger who returned joyfully reported that the advancing Japanese troops, charging forward under the scorching sun, had broken through two crucial sections of the road. In the past, this would have been a perfect location for the Red Army to set up a blocking position, and our army would not have advanced so smoothly. After days of frustration, Suwon finally felt a sense of relief. The Red Army was indeed short of manpower!

He became more convinced of his judgment and ordered the 35th Battalion in the rear to leave a squadron to guard the heavy weapons left by the 31st and 32nd Battalions in the front. The rest of the people also climbed over the landslide and followed up the assault. They must form a joint force to break through the dangerous Taihang Baixing as soon as possible.

"Report! We've reached Huangwei Mountain and spotted the 72-turn mountain road! Victory is in sight!"

Chapter 196: One Company Blocks a Brigade

After passing through Magedang and Heimaogou, Baixing arrives at the famous "72 Turns" section of Huangwei Mountain. This treacherous route, almost identical to the "72 Turns" of the Yela Mountain section of the Sichuan-Tibet Highway, features countless switchbacks. While not as dramatic as the 1500-meter elevation gain of Yela Mountain, this ancient road, over 2,000 years old, nestled between cliffs and winding its way back and forth along the mountainside, offering a nearly 40-meter vertical climb along a narrow 5-kilometer path, offers its own unique dangers.

In ancient times, this was an important passage for traveling merchants and armies. This narrow path, which could only accommodate one person and one horse, once connected the myths of Shanxi merchants and the legend of the 'Thirteen Guardians'. It was like a silent witness, treating all passers-by equally, whether they were for business or for war.