Comrade, Your Ingredients Are Too Complicated

Chapter 234 The Broken Northeast Defense Line

Time goes back to four days ago, in Yuanqu County, Zhongtiao Mountain.

Looking at the dilapidated city gate, Major General Hitoshi Sakamoto, chief of staff of the 41st Division, showed a satisfied smile. He punched his family's samurai sword on the ground and said proudly:

“Your Majesty Lieutenant General, it seems we are very lucky.”

“Not only did we not encounter a single enemy plane during the march, but even the siege went so smoothly.”

“The only regret is that we didn’t catch those annoying bedbugs, but then they won’t have the chance to bother us again.”

It was obvious that Qing Shui was in a good mood. He nodded and motioned for the other party to enter the city with him.

When the 41st Division and the 9th Independent Mixed Brigade broke through the frontal defense line of Hengling Pass, Okamura Neiji immediately issued a new phase of orders.

This old devil asked the troops on the northern front to march straight along Boqinghe Avenue and occupy the main villages and towns along the way and Yuanqu County.

 With heavy artillery and armor, the Japs completed the mission in just one day.

Of course, such success is also due to the preserved fruit defenders who retreated without fighting. They obviously have tens of thousands of people, and they can block them layer by layer with the help of favorable terrain.

However, due to the lack of trust among the troops and the fear that the friendly troops would retreat first and betray themselves, the 41st Division almost completed the tasks assigned by Okamura Neiji without any blood.

“Even if everything goes well, there is no need to relax our vigilance. Major General Kenkichi Ikegami will use his life to remind us.”

"No matter what happens next, we must not divide our troops. We must act as a unit as a whole division. As long as we have a flaw, those bugs will definitely not miss any opportunity."

“Is there any news from the front army? Has Commander Okamura Neiji given any instructions?”

 After hearing his commander’s instructions, Sakamoto Jinpachi nodded in agreement with a serious look on his face.

Due to the lessons learned from the independent mixed ninth brigade, the 41st Division never dared to divide its troops, but the mysterious Eighth Route Army never gave up its attack on them from beginning to end.

Although the actual harm was not great, it really disgusted everyone.

The opponent is proficient in guerrilla warfare and is as ubiquitous as a wild dog. As long as conditions permit, it will pounce on it and take a bite. They would even use the terrain to stage ambushes to give the people of the Republic of China time to evacuate.

"Hi! I will always arrange a special security force, please rest assured, Lieutenant General!"

“There is no news from the front army, but I guess”

Before they finished speaking, a communications soldier came to the two of them with a telegram. Qingshui took the message and read it carefully, followed by a classic island country curse.

　　"Baga! Okamura Neji is a common man! He is not a son of a man!"

“Knowing that the mysterious Eighth Route Army has the ability to eliminate brigade-level troops, he still asked me to divide his forces to attack! He must be retaliating for my previous actions!”

Seeing that his general was about to enter a familiar state of rage, Sakamoto Renpachi carefully took the telegram from the opponent's hand, as if he was a step too late, it would be torn up.

 The content of the message is simple and clear. The front army command requested the 41st Division to divide its troops into two groups.

Part of them marched eastward along Yuanji Avenue and joined the friendly forces in Jiyuan and Yangcheng.

　　Then combined the total strength of the four divisions, occupied roads and major ferries, surrounded and quickly annihilated the remnants of the Fourteenth Group Army who fled inside Zhongtiao Mountain.

The other unit advanced westward along the north bank of the Yellow River, cooperating with the 36th and 37th Divisions to outflank the Fifth Army, striving to end the entire Central Plains Campaign by the end of May.

 Originally, this task was completed by the 41st Division and the 9th Independent Mixed Brigade. Unfortunately, the latter had been jointly eliminated by the 1st Air Division and the 1st Marine Regiment.

There was no reason why Qingshui was so nervous. After all, it was a force of 4,500 people, and it was actually wiped out by the enemy with thunderous force.

 After a great battle, there were only 14,000 combatants left in the 41st Division.

If the troops are divided into two groups, the enemy may seize the opportunity to make a successful sneak attack.

“Your Excellency, Lieutenant General, do we obey the order issued by Commander Gangcun?”

“Or let me come forward and explain my interests to the front army command, and try to get them to take back their orders.”

Although my chief of staff is very discerning, he can always help him solve problems at critical moments. But you have offended your immediate boss before, and rejecting him again will most likely affect your career.

After thinking for a moment, Qing Shui gritted his teeth and said:

"Execute the order! Get the troops ready to go. You and I will each lead our way."

"Sakamoto-kun, you must be careful! I have an ominous feeling that I will encounter some obstacles."

 “Hi! Take care of yourself!”

  ·······

Stationed on the northeastern defense line of Zhongtiao Mountain are the 98th and 15th Guopu Army. Originally there was also the 93rd Army, but due to the intense fighting on the eastern front, the Commander Wei sent it to reinforce the 9th Army.

 The 15th Army is the Song-Suppressing Army, which can be called the standard template among the various preserved fruit troops.

The old foundation of this army is composed of hooligans from western Henan. It can be said to be a semi-bandit armed force.

Has a very bad reputation in the battle sequence of Preserved Fruit, and its combat effectiveness is always at the bottom. Their paper strength is about the same as that of the 17th Army, and they also face problems such as low-quality soldiers and poor weapons and equipment.

 The only thing worthy of praise is that the troops have participated in many major battles, but unfortunately their performance is generally without any outstanding achievements.

The current army commander is a general who is resolute in resisting Japan, but his abilities are very average, and he has not fully understood even the most basic ways of controlling people.

The situation of the 98th Army is not very good either. They were originally just a division of the Shaanxi Army. The previous army commander was expanded into a military-level unit only after he took refuge with Bald, and it was also a miscellaneous unit.

 However, compared with its colleagues, the army has a very obvious advantage.

They have been active in Zhongtiao Mountain since the failure of the Taiyuan Battle. They have been stationed for much longer than friendly forces and are quite familiar with the surrounding situation.

There is a reason why these two miscellaneous armies can hold on to the defense line for so long. The troops deployed by Okamura Neiji here are the 33rd Division and the independent mixed fourth brigade.

 Neither of them is full strength, and together they have less than 10,000 people. Most of the main force has been sent to the cruel battlefield on the Western Front. Their mission is not to attack at all, but to contain them.

  On the evening of May 11, 1941, the 98th Army Field Hospital.

At this time, the two division commanders and chief of staff were gathered together, with three pairs of eyes staring at the middle-aged man lying on the hospital bed, their expressions looking terrified.

Ten minutes later, Commander Wu struggled to open his eyes. He sat up with the help of the nurse. Just as he was about to speak, he broke into a cold sweat from the pain.

"Commander! You finally woke up! You have been unconscious for four and a half days, which has made the brothers worried for a while."

"You have an injury to your jaw, so you can't speak loudly yet. If you have any questions or arrangements, please keep them as brief as possible, and you can just leave the affairs in the army to us."

 Four days ago, the North China Front launched a full-line offensive.

As the main force of the Northeast Defense Line, the 98th Army’s headquarters naturally received special attention from the elite small group of Japanese soldiers. Although the guards resisted desperately, they succeeded in buying time for reinforcements. But Commander Wu was seriously injured in the battle. A bullet hit his jaw and another bullet penetrated his thigh.

 Fortunately, the tasks of the 33rd Division and the 4th Independent Mixed Brigade were mainly containment and did not launch a full-line attack. Otherwise, the defenders without overall command would definitely be in big trouble.

Commander Wu moved his stiff neck, and then began to ask about the details of the war.

"What have been the casualties of the troops in the past four days? Have our positions been lost? Is there any news about the 15th Army and the 93rd Army next door?"

“How is the battle situation across the entire front? Has any position been breached by the enemy?”

The three of them looked at each other. None of these questions were difficult. Finally, the chief of staff stepped forward and began to report.

"The casualties are still within control. We only lost 3,000 troops in four days, but the enemy is not feeling well either. Our 42nd Division got off to a good start on the first day, annihilating 700 enemies in Wangcun and killing a colonel. "

“Not an inch of the position has been lost. The situation of the 15th Army is similar to ours, and the 93rd Army has been transferred to the eastern front. At present, only the northern front has been penetrated by the enemy, and the rest of the positions are in our hands.”

 After hearing the words "the northern front was lost", the military commander was stunned.

 This means that the two armies are completely separated, and the Japanese may even occupy the crossing of the Yellow River. Once they are packed in their pockets, the troops will face the problem of running out of supplies.

 Even if the front is not lost now, defeat will be a matter of time.

As if he could see the nervousness of his military commander, the chief of staff walked over and signaled the other party not to get excited.

“Commander, it’s not my first day as a soldier. I can understand the situation on the battlefield.”

“In addition to the 15th Army, we also have a very powerful friendly force. Just three days ago, the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army took the initiative to contact us, and they are rushing to support us as quickly as possible.”

“And we already have an air force, which has been fighting with the Japanese Army Air Force since the first day of the war. The air superiority of the entire Zhongtiao Mountain is in our hands.”

 This news shocked Commander Wu, especially when he heard that the other side actually had an air force and had control of the air on the battlefield.

After being surprised, I felt full of security. After all, this was not the first time that the two parties had cooperated.

When their 98th Army crossed the Yellow River and rushed to the Niangziguan front line to stop the Japanese invasion of the west, they collaborated with the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army to severely inflict heavy losses on the Japanese along Zhengtai Road.

  In 1938, he himself fought side by side with the deputy commander-in-chief. It successively smashed nine enemy sieges and eight sieges, and even opened up the Nanyue Anti-Japanese Base Area.

  For the ally of the 129th Division, Commander Wu’s evaluation is very simple. That's reliability! Very reliable! Much more reliable than any candied army!

 “Okay, try to keep in touch with the other person!”

“We must cooperate with others to fight. As long as the two of us attack at the same time, we will definitely be able to eat up the enemies who invade the Northeast Front.”

But at this moment, bursts of explosions came from the west.

 Boom, boom, boom!

The three people in the ward immediately looked out the window to the outside world. The originally dark sky was already red with firelight, and shells fell on Dong Feng's western front position one after another.

 Judging from the power of the explosion, it must be a 105mm heavy howitzer only equipped by the division.

“Guard platoon! Move with the commander quickly! It’s no longer safe here!”

 “Damn it, it must be the kid from the northern line who came around! Look at the firepower, it must be no less than a brigade! Hurry and retreat!”

“Commander, leave the front line to the three of us. You can rest in peace and recover. We’ll see you soon!”

As soon as he finished speaking, several soldiers carrying stretchers rushed into the ward. Without saying a word, they carried Commander Wu and ran away. All their actions seemed like they had been rehearsed countless times.

 Under the uneasy eyes of the army commander, the two division commanders and chief of staff returned to their posts.

  ·······

 Six hours later, at three o'clock in the morning, all officers of the 98th Army at regimental level and above gathered in the temporary command post.

The atmosphere in the room was extremely solemn, and the dim kerosene lamp seemed to reflect everyone's mood. The previous optimism disappeared without a trace.

Commander Wu sighed, and a full third of the reserved seats were vacated, which meant that several old friends would stay on the battlefield forever.

“Just now, I received a telegram from the Commander of the First Theater Command.”

"Yuanqu County has fallen, part of the ferry has been lost, and our army's supply line is gone."

"Now we have two options. One is to hold our position and wait for support from the Eighth Route Army. The other is to follow the orders of our superiors and move to the north of Qinyi Highway. Use the strategy of turning around to drill gaps to hit the enemy's flank."

The entire conference room was silent, and no one answered the commander's question.

 At this moment, Commander Wang of the 42nd Division rose up. His eyes were red and he looked like he was about to eat someone.

"Commander! The 15th Army is so stupid! I will never let them go in my life!"

“These **** retreated at the drop of a hat, without even saying hello! As soon as we took over the fire! One of my regiments was outflanked by the Japanese! Fifteen hundred people, they all died on the battlefield!”

　　"I swear I won't be a human being unless I take revenge for this!"

These words immediately resonated with everyone, and the scene gradually began to get out of control.

In tonight's battle, the 33rd Division divided its troops into three groups and launched an attack on the 98th Army's position guarding Xuequan Ridge and the 15th Army's position in Dongchuocao Village.

As a result, the 15th Army did not make any resistance, retreated at the speed of light despite the enemy's shells, and fled directly into the mountains of Henghe Town.

Such an irresponsible move directly harmed the friendly forces who were still holding on.

The 33rd Division cooperated with the 41st Division to launch a general attack from three directions. In just six hours, one-third of the soldiers of the 98th Army were sacrificed.

“Commander, let’s retreat too! It’s still too late to leave now, and we can still join up with the 9th Army on the Eastern Front.”

"There are at least 20,000 Japs, and with our little wealth, it is impossible to fight against them. If we continue to defend like this, we will all be finished at dawn!"

 Looking at his subordinates who were all injured, Commander Wu was at a loss for words for a while. He originally wanted to persuade everyone to hold on for a while, and they could counterattack as long as the Eighth Route Army arrived on the battlefield.

 But the morale of the current troops is extremely low, and if the fight continues, there will definitely be deserters.

The order issued by the commander of the First Theater Guard is also unreliable. The enemy of the two divisions is blocking the north. The idea of ​​hitting the enemy's flank is like a joke.

 After thinking for a moment, he announced his decision.

 “Withdraw, break up the troops at all levels and join the 9th Army to the south!”

　　　My writing is so bad today...

Tomorrow there will be two chapters, 7~8k, a refreshing and refreshing article!

 (End of this chapter)