diymy Chapter 202 Deploying Mines to Support Chifeng City
Chapter 202 Deploying Mines to Support Chifeng City
Even sinking just one warship would be a huge boost to the Nationalist army on the main battlefield.
After all, the several naval guns on a warship could inflict devastating damage on the Nationalist army positions on the shore.
Long Wenzhang, who was far away at the front line, did not hesitate for a moment after receiving Li Jianghe's telegram.
An elite engineering detachment was immediately dispatched to take full responsibility for the mine-laying mission.
This small detachment, with its minimal size and inconspicuous location, was better able to conceal itself by operating behind Japanese lines.
The Yangtze River waterway has long been completely blocked by the Japanese army.
The river was filled with Japanese transport ships and escorting warships, so there was no need to worry about bombing the wrong target.
Moreover, the mines they carried were equipped with self-destruct devices, which would automatically destroy them after a period of time, leaving no future problems.
After giving Long Wenzhang his orders, Li Jianghe's gaze returned to the battle map of the Dabie Mountains.
"How's the situation with the 71st Army?"
Yang Ruifu immediately stepped forward and reported to the leader:
"After the Kameda Regiment was completely annihilated by us, the Japanese army was enraged and is now concentrating its main force to launch a fierce attack on the Fujin Mountain defense line. They are currently fighting hard."
Li Jianghe pondered for a moment and then gave the order in a deep voice:
"Send a telegram to Wang Dayong, instructing him to avoid direct confrontation with the main force of the Japanese army as much as possible."
"Find a way to outflank and penetrate, specifically targeting the Japanese army's flanks, rear, and supply lines."
The armored units should operate at night as much as possible to avoid being spotted by Japanese reconnaissance aircraft and revealing their location.
At this moment, the main force of the Third Column remained silently hidden deep in the dense forest.
Japanese reconnaissance planes flew overhead almost every day.
Thanks to the dense foliage, the Japanese army never managed to discover the main force's whereabouts.
Li Jianghe knew very well that Wang Dayong's Third Motorized Infantry Detachment's appearance at Fujinshan and its complete annihilation of a Japanese infantry regiment would inevitably send the wrong signal to Nishio Toshizo.
This led the Japanese army to mistakenly believe that the main force of the Third Column was fighting along the Fujinshan-Gushi line.
This was one of the core reasons why he left Wang Dayong's detachment in this area—to use a detachment to mislead the Japanese army's overall assessment.
In fact, the main force of the Third Column has not yet been deployed.
Inside the city of Xuzhou, at the headquarters of the Japanese Second Army.
Nishio Toshizo stood with his hands behind his back in front of the huge battle map, holding the battle reports just sent by the Imperial Guard Division and the 13th Division, his expression shifting between anger and uncertainty.
"The entire Kameda Regiment was wiped out; it was Li Jianghe's Third Column that carried out the attack."
Chief of Staff Naosaburo Okabe stood to the side and spoke in a solemn tone.
"I never expected that the enemy's hidden armored forces were actually with the 71st Army in Fujinshan all along."
Upon hearing this, Nishio Toshizo not only did not get angry, but instead a cold smile appeared on his lips.
"That's a good thing."
At the cost of an infantry regiment, we lured out the Third Column, those rats hiding in the shadows, saving us the trouble of searching for them again.
As he spoke, his rough fingertips touched the mark of Fujin Mountain on the map.
"Order the 13th Division and the Imperial Guard Division to concentrate all their main forces and launch a full-scale attack on Fujin Mountain."
"We must completely wipe out the Third Column and the 71st Army entrenched here, otherwise our westward flank will never be at peace."
Toshizo Nishio knew better than anyone that the most terrifying aspect of the Third Column was its superior mobility and the correspondingly terrifying offensive capabilities.
If left unchecked and the main force continues its advance toward Xinyang, the Third Column could use the mobility of its armored units to harass the supply lines at any time, or even cut off the Japanese army's retreat route in one fell swoop.
Now that the Third Column is willing to engage in a head-on battle with them in the Fujinyama area, it is exactly the situation that Nishio Toshizo most wanted to see.
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He never dreamed that what appeared at Fujinshan was not the main force of the Third Column, but just a motorized infantry detachment.
The defensive battle of Fujinyama truly entered its most brutal phase after the Kameda Regiment was completely annihilated.
Previously, the Japanese army's attacks had carried a somewhat probing element.
Now that a full-strength infantry regiment has been annihilated, the probing for the 13th Division and the Guards Division is completely over.
They have made it clear that a large number of Chinese troops are entrenched along the Fujin Mountain line, including the most troublesome Third Column armored forces.
The Japanese reinforcements that were originally sent to aid the Kameda Regiment immediately turned into an offensive force and launched a fierce attack on the Fujinshan defense line defended by the 71st Army.
The sounds of gunfire from the position never ceased, day and night, and the smoke of battle almost obscured the entire hilltop.
On the second night after the Japanese army concentrated its main force to launch a fierce attack on Fujinshan, Wang Dayong's Third Motorized Infantry Detachment quietly withdrew from its position and headed north to reinforce Gushi County, which was under heavy attack by the Japanese army.
At this moment, the forces besieging Gushi are Yoshio Shinotsuka's 10th Division and Hisao Tani's 6th Division.
The leader of the team was none other than Chi Fengcheng, who had made a name for himself in Taierzhuang.
After two days of fierce fighting, Chi Fengcheng's troops had already suffered heavy casualties.
According to Yoshio Shinotsuka and Hisao Tani's prediction, they would be able to completely take over Gushi County in one more day at most.
Then they could continue westward, attack Huangchuan, and eventually reach the walls of Xinyang.
But in the middle of the night, a torrent of steel quietly appeared behind the Japanese army on the northern front.
Wang Dayong's tank unit, having traveled a hundred miles, had silently approached the Japanese army's flank and rear positions.
Under the cover of night, they quietly left Fujinshan and crossed the Shi River silently from Zhanglaobu Township, between Gushi and Yeji.
Then, without stopping, they penetrated deep into the rear and flanks of the Japanese forces on the northern front.
In one night, they completed a forced march of over a hundred miles.
Such a maneuvering distance would be a pipe dream for infantry, but it was a piece of cake for Li Jianghe's fully mechanized troops.
As night deepened, the sounds of gunfire and artillery continued unabated both inside and outside Gushi County.
Even in the dead of night, the Japanese troops of the 6th and 10th Divisions continued their fierce attack on Gushi County.
The city walls had long since collapsed under heavy artillery fire, and Japanese tanks, covering their infantry, repeatedly stormed into the city.
Inside the city, the soldiers of the Northwest Army, led by Chi Fengcheng, fought to the death.
Using the ruins of the streets and alleys, and under the cover of night, they carried cluster grenades and repeatedly approached to blow up Japanese tanks.
The soldiers carried a variety of weapons, but in each of their eyes was a resolute determination to fight to the death.
They still have a small number of anti-tank guns.
That was a 37mm anti-tank gun captured from the Japanese army during the Battle of Taierzhuang.
Although its power wasn't top-tier, it was sufficient to deal with the thin armor of Japanese light tanks and armored vehicles.
Using these weapons and their unwavering will to fight to the death, they managed to hold onto Gushi and prevent its fall.
The headquarters of the Japanese northern front forces was located in a courtyard on the east bank of the Shi River.
Yoshio Shinotsuka and Hisao Tani, two war criminals whose hands were stained with the blood of Chinese people, were leisurely holding binoculars, watching the battle in Gushi County on the west bank.
The pale yellow tea sloshed in the teacup on the table.
"It's the Northwest Army again, and it's Chi Fengcheng again."
Yoshio Shinotsuka put down his binoculars, his tone tinged with disdain, "Back in Taierzhuang, Rensuke Isogai was defeated by this man and Li Jianghe."
He chuckled and continued, "However, this time, without Li Jianghe's troops, these remnants of the Northwest Army simply cannot stop the advance of the Imperial Japanese Army."
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