Rise From Eight Hundred

The night in Taihang Mountain is very dark!

But there are still several pairs of eyes in the mountains staring at the mountain road through the gaps in the bushes.

The Japanese army was already cautious when marching at night. Under Yamashita's military order, an infantry squad was only allowed to turn on two flashlights.

But the Japanese army was marching in a large force of more than 8,000 people. Looking from the mountain 700 meters away, the flashlight light was like stars scattered in the mountains, gradually connecting into a long, slowly squirming dragon, so clear that it was It couldn't be clearer.

"Notify Deputy Commander Lei that the Japanese are running away! Their marching direction is Wuxiang!" An army sergeant watching all this flashed a cold light in his eyes and barked an order.

After lurking for nearly a week, their mission was finally completed.

They were a reconnaissance squad left by the reconnaissance company to lead Lei Xiong, the main force of the Fourth Army Regiment. Before the Second Mixed Brigade arrived on the battlefield, they had already sneaked into the battlefield and quietly hid in the mountains to conduct reconnaissance on the whereabouts of the Japanese army.

In the past six or seven days, as lurkers, they had seen too many tragic battlefields. They watched with their own eyes as the Japanese army set up infantry artillery to destroy fortifications on high ground one after another, and watched as Japanese aircraft dropped heavy bombs to destroy their own side. The high ground where the officers and soldiers were stationed was blown into a piece of white ground. Even in the field of vision of the telescope, the Japanese could be seen brutally stabbing the wounded Chinese soldiers who were still alive with bayonets and setting them up as a flag after their victory.

The ferocious faces of the Japanese army were just 400 meters away. With their shooting skills and the help of the scope, they were fully capable of blowing the heads of those brutal Japanese with one shot.

However, the military order they received was to lurk on the battlefield and not let the Japanese, not even the Chinese, discover them.

They need to observe the movements of the Japanese troops at all times and report to the regiment headquarters immediately if there is any change.

They were already fighting, so why were they so concerned about the movements of the Japanese troops? That's it. One regiment plus two infantry divisions, with a total strength of more than 30,000 people, can you still defeat these ruthless Japs? I am afraid that not only the officers and soldiers of the Si Xing Regiment who have been dormant do not understand this, but also the scouts who were ordered to lurk.

Relying on the few dried meats, toffee and water they carried, the scouts lurked on the battlefield for nearly a week. Finally, they waited for the Japanese army to move. It turned out to be a night march, which completely violated the Japanese army's marching rules of day and night. .

The soldier's intuition made the sergeant squad leader aware of something different, and immediately asked the signal corps to report the situation to Lei Xiong using the field radio that had been silent and had never been turned on.

"Haha, okay, the little devil ran forward as Tuanzuo expected." Lei Xiong laughed loudly fifteen kilometers away.

"Immediately report this situation to the regiment, and at the same time order each battalion to send out advanced soldiers to see if the infantry brigade left behind by the little devil has escaped. If not, then each battalion will surround the infantry brigade on three sides according to the original plan. We will eat it tomorrow. If we lose them and run away, then we will set off as a whole army at 11 o'clock and compete with the little devils to see who can run faster. "

Obviously, Yamashita is not that stupid. He left 1,000 people for the Chinese army to eat in vain. He would have greased his feet and escaped!

. . . . . . . . .

A signal soldier hurried into the cave and sent the telegram to Tang Dao, who was smoking and chatting with a few people. Tang Dao just glanced at the contents of the telegram, grinned with white teeth, and handed the telegram to Brigadier Cheng: "Under the mountain Wen, this old devil, was finally frightened by us, and we have to rely on the big brothers of the 683rd Brigade for the rest."

Brigadier Cheng received the telegram and looked at the headquarters of the Second Mixed Brigade of Yamashita, marching overnight and fleeing north! ’ words, with a mixture of surprise and surprise on his face.

Fortunately, it was natural that Yamashita just as they had discussed for a long time, the second mixed brigade actually strode towards Tang Dao's preset encirclement.

Surprisingly, there are still nearly 8,000 people in the Second Mixed Brigade. Can such a large Japanese army be stopped by the three infantry regiments of the 683rd Brigade?

Yes, because the 17th Division and the 104th Division temporarily retreated for repairs, the infantry division of the 3rd Army, which was also lurking deep in the mountains, was responsible for blocking the 108th Division that had come back to its senses, and actually participated in the encirclement and annihilation of the Chinese army of the Second Mixed Brigade. There is only his 683rd Brigade and the Four Lines Regiment that will definitely pursue them in succession. The total strength will not exceed 15,000, which is just more than twice that of the Japanese army at full strength.

Surrounding it with twice the enemy's force and intending to annihilate it, and it is not an area that completely occupies a geographical advantage like Shentou Ridge. This is unprecedented in the Chinese battlefield, even for those who have experienced hundreds of battles. Brigadier Cheng felt a little uneasy at this time.

As for what Tang Dao said, "For the rest, we have to rely on the 683 brigade." Brigadier Cheng knew better that before the Sixings Regiment could catch up, the three infantry regiments of the 683 brigade had to be at the Zhuozhang River. This line of defense blocked the Japanese army's retreat.

7000VS7000, an offensive and defensive battle with nearly one-to-one strength, which can be regarded as the first time since the 683 brigade crossed the Yellow River.

However, what kind of person is Brigadier Cheng? The entire war zone has been planned for so long just to annihilate an organized Japanese aggressor and inflict heavy losses on the Japanese North China Front, so that they no longer dare to easily covet southeastern Shanxi. The prey has already been If he falls into a trap, whether it's a wolf or a tiger, as a hunter, if he doesn't even dare to thrust out his hunting fork, then what's the point of fighting?

"I make a guarantee for all the commanders and fighters of our 683 brigade. Before the friendly forces catch up, the Japanese aggressors will be blocked in front of the Zhuozhang River. If a Japanese aggressor is allowed to break through our brigade's defense line, I, the brigade commander, am not the right one!" After silence, Brigadier Cheng made an extremely solemn promise to Tang Dao.

"My 772nd Regiment also promises the headquarters that if the Japanese invaders break through our regiment's defense line, all of our regiment will be killed." Wang Xiaoqiang also put away his usual playful smile, his face was solemn, and his voice was like a bell.

"The same goes for our 771st regiment!" Captain Xu stood up straight.

"I believe in everyone, and please believe in our Four Corps. The 683 Brigade only needs to buy our regiment one day, and the main force of our Four Corps will rush to the battlefield. This old devil, Yamashita, will definitely not be able to escape." Tang There was a light in the sword's eyes, and he solemnly saluted the three chief officers of the 683 brigade who were present and made the promise.

"Okay! Then our brigade will march towards the Zhuozhang River tonight and try to build fortifications before the Japanese army arrives." Brigadier Cheng raised his hand to return the salute and said decisively.

The area where the 683rd Brigade is located is 16 kilometers away from the Zhuozhang River. A night march like this, and in heavy equipment, is estimated to take 6 hours. By the time it arrives, it will be almost early morning.

By the time the Second Mixed Brigade knew that Chinese soldiers were stationed at Zhuozhang River, it would be after nine o'clock in the morning at least. By that time, they should have been very close to Wuxiang. After a night of marching, they were already exhausted. Unless they were iron men, they would immediately Turn around and return to the mountains, otherwise you can only move forward.

After a short period of repair, their only way out was to defeat the Chinese defenders blocking them in one go.

It was night, and the two armies of China and Japan, which were close in strength, were trudging through the mountains of the Taihang Mountains.

Perhaps the only difference between the two sides is that the Japanese army uses flashlights that are slightly closer to modernization, while the Chinese army uses the most primitive torches.

The faint white light emitted by the electric energy and the warm yellow light emitted by the pine oil formed two long dragons in this dark night, winding in the mountains.

It's just that one dragon wants to leave this ghost place quickly, but the other dragon wants to cut off the other dragon's way home.

. . . . . . . .

Lucheng Japanese First Army Headquarters!

"Notify the Army Aviation Department that early tomorrow morning, I want to know if there are any signs of Chinese military activity in the Wuxiang area, and immediately notify the 108th Division that has arrived in Liao County for repairs, so that they can be on standby at any time." Xiang Yue Qingshi's face was more solemn than ever.

Although he did not deal with Yamashita, the Second Mixed Brigade was not directly under his First Army. In this battle of southeastern Shanxi, the Second Mixed Brigade suffered heavy casualties on the battlefield. He, the commander of the East Route Army, was actually not special. care.

However, according to the analysis of the current battle situation in the expedited telegram sent by Yamashita, the Chinese are really planning to form a second mixed brigade.

The heavy casualties on the battlefield and the heavy casualties caused by falling into the enemy's trap are completely different concepts for him, the supreme commander of the Southeast Shanxi Campaign.

The former was due to Yamashita's own poor command, while the latter was due to his negligence as a frontline commander.

Once the second mixed brigade really appears to be surrounded by heavy troops mobilized by the Chinese and severely damaged, it goes without saying whether they will be nearly wiped out like the two detachments in the Battle of Taierzhuang. Xiangyue Qingshi also knows that not only his front army The commander's dream was shattered, and it was open to question whether he could still sit safely in the position of commander of the First Army.

Especially when thinking about the tradition that the Imperial Army must find a suitable person to take the blame if it loses the war, Xiangyue Qingshi couldn't sleep.

Indoor Shroud took the blame for the defeat of Taierzhuang because he was the commander of the North China Front and the northern commander of the Battle of Xuzhou. He was responsible for direct command failure and he could not run away.

I can trust the commander of the North China Front Army, Yuan Shanshan. He is a former Minister of War. Being the commander of the North China Front Army is like "marrying off" and putting out fires. He is not yet familiar with the situation of the entire North China battlefield. He can find any excuse to excuse it. So what is left is the most suitable. Who else could he be, the frontline commander?

Xiangyue Qingshi can only hope that the situation is not as bad as Yamashita said, or that Yamashita's choice of marching direction is correct. Even if the Chinese want to move the second mixed brigade, they will transfer the army to the second mixed brigade. The rear of the brigade attempted to surround the second mixed brigade in the mountains, which was in line with the characteristics of the Chinese army that did not have much heavy firepower.

However, Xiangyue Qingshi's command level was still good, and Jiwang returned to Jiwang. He still asked the North China Front Army Army Aviation to dispatch reconnaissance planes early in the morning to conduct aerial reconnaissance of Wuxiang and other places that the Second Mixed Brigade had to pass through. If enemy traces are discovered, Yamashita can be prepared early.

There is nothing wrong with this move. China has neither fighter planes nor much air defense power. This is indeed Japan's biggest advantage at present.

Even Xiangyue Qingshi secretly felt cruel in his heart. If the Chinese really couldn't think of gathering troops around Wuxiang, then he would have to help the second mixed brigade build a clear road even if he used the heavy bombs dropped by the fighter plane formation.

He didn't believe that the Chinese could really withstand bombs and surround the 8,000 troops of the Second Mixed Brigade.

Xiangyue Qingshi, who was in Lucheng, was very anxious, but the person who was more anxious than him was the person in the game.

The Second Mixed Brigade, which had discarded unnecessary baggage, ran 36 kilometers in the mountains overnight, with an average speed of 3.6 kilometers per hour. This speed was not slower than the 108th Division's initial escape speed, and it was almost a record-breaking marching speed. It arrived at the outskirts of Wuxiang at 6 a.m.

After the dispatched scouts, no trace of the enemy was found in the six or seven kilometers ahead. Until then, Shan Wenwen, who was riding on a tall horse, was slightly relieved and issued an order for the entire army to rest.

The mountains near Wuxiang are much smaller than the mountains they passed overnight. Theoretically, they are far less suitable for blocking battlefields than those big mountains. As long as the Chinese are not fools, they will definitely not use Wuxiang as a battlefield to besiege his Second Mixed Brigade.

As long as nothing unexpected happens, his overnight forced march has already disrupted the Chinese tactics.

Although Shan Wenwen also wanted everyone to work harder and run another 30 kilometers in one breath to completely get out of the danger zone, but listening to the heavy breathing of the horse under him and the sweat flowing on the horse's neck, Shan Wenwen also knew that this could only be a fantasy.

His subordinates are elite soldiers, but they are also flesh and blood. The tall and strong war horses are so tired, aren't the infantrymen who are marching with nearly 25 kilograms of various military supplies also exhausted? Not to mention letting them run another 30 kilometers, it is estimated that they will be exhausted after another 10 kilometers.

Cursing his mother is a small matter. What if the Chinese really come, what can thousands of exhausted people do to fight?

Besides, he has to wait and see the reconnaissance report from the Army Aviation before deciding the marching route.

The Japanese army was exhausted after marching for 10 hours in a night. When they received the order to rest, except for the necessary guard troops, most of the Japanese army fell asleep with their bedding rolls as pillows, and they didn't even dig the field trenches required for their daily camping.

If a large army really came at this time, they would definitely be in trouble.

Unfortunately, this didn't happen.

The Sihang Regiment was still 20 kilometers behind, and the main force of the 683rd Brigade had arrived in Changle Village, 40 kilometers away from Wuxiang County.

That was all the troops that China could mobilize to compete with the Second Mixed Brigade. Even if the Japanese army drooled and slept for five or six hours here, it would be safe.

But the tragic Major General Yamamoto only slept for less than two hours before he was awakened by the hurried footsteps of his chief of staff.

The reconnaissance report forwarded by the Lucheng First Army Command from the Army Aviation showed that in the area of ​​Changle Village 40 kilometers away, there were no less than 10,000 Chinese troops. They were digging fortifications along the river and seemed to be setting up a defense line.

Shan Wenwen's face suddenly became very ugly. What he feared came true. Before he set out last night, he had carefully observed the map of Wuxiang and Yushe. As long as he walked out of the mountainous area, he was not particularly afraid of the Chinese siege. But there was only one thing that made him uneasy. No matter where he retreated, the Zhuozhang River flowing through 12 counties in southeastern Shanxi was a river he had to cross.

And Changle Village, which happened to have a big road, was the only way for his Second Mixed Brigade. If he crossed the river from other directions, those mountains and ridges would make people's scalps numb just by looking at them, not to mention the Second Mixed Brigade, which had already fought a hard battle with the Chinese army in the depths of the mountains and felt weak inside?

If there were no defenders, it would be fine. Even if the water level of the Zhuozhang River was not small, he had engineers to build a bridge, and horses, carts and other heavy equipment could still be transported across. However, there were guns and artillery on the other side of the river, so it would not be easy to cross.

"The Chinese are really dead." Yamamoto's eyes flashed with ferocity, and he cursed viciously. "However, they want to block our army's way with only 10,000 people. They overestimate their combat effectiveness."

"Go to Commander Xiang Yue Qingshi, my Second Mixed Brigade will immediately march to the Changle Village area of ​​the Zhuozhang River, and ask him to order the Army Aviation to dispatch a bomber group to bomb the Chinese army that wants to attack our army. I want them to pay a sufficient price before our army arrives." Yamamoto's face gradually became calm after giving the order quickly.

Although the Chinese army's deployment along the river hit his weak spot, 10,000 troops were not many, and he had a bomber formation to help him. In addition, he still had 24 mountain guns, more than 10 infantry guns, and more than 10 Type 94 tanks. He was confident that he could defeat the defenders with these superior heavy firepower alone.

As for whether Xiang Yue Qingshi would help him wholeheartedly, Shan Wenwen was not worried. As long as Xiang Yue Qingshi was not a fool, he would know that his own future was tied to the Second Mixed Brigade. If something happened to the Second Mixed Brigade, I'm afraid that the first person Shan Shanyuan wanted to kill was not Shan Wenwen, but Xiang Yue Qingshi who patted his chest and said that this battle would be a great victory.

The face of the former Minister of the Army, is it so easy to lose?

The Japanese infantrymen slept for three hours and had not fully recovered their physical strength. They were awakened by the alarm and set off on a forced march again with complaints. It was secondary. The important thing was that Shan Wenwen overestimated himself.

Maps are very clear, at least they can make people understand how to go, but they are not three-dimensional after all, and cannot fully display the geographical environment of the area.

In the past, in Changle Village, China and Japan had a fierce battle. China deployed an infantry division, and the protagonist was the 683rd Brigade, while the Japanese side was the 108th Division that was scared away in this time and space.

However, it was not the entire 108th Division, but the one that retreated from Wuxiang, but the force was as high as an infantry regiment.

The reason why Brigade Commander Cheng chose Changle Village as the place for the decisive battle was that he happened to catch up with the fleeing troops to the north here, and also because the high ditch on the north bank of the Zhuozhang River that flows in front of the village is 2 meters above the river surface. The Japanese have short legs and cannot jump up without a ladder.

Moreover, the Zhuozhang River happened to turn a corner in Changle Village. This big river that nurtured the people around the river bank was like a mother's warm arms encircling Changle Village, but for the Japanese army that broke in, it was like two deadly pliers.