Traveling through 1937, starting from the Battle of Songhu

Chapter 302: The Japanese Year-End Sweep 1

As the year was drawing to a close, the news of the Japanese invasion had already spread, and the merchants in Gaojia Town were naturally aware of it.

However, Gaojia Town is wealthy, and the Laiyuan Independent Regiment is famous for its victories, so the merchants took advantage of the last possible time to clear out their goods and then evacuated.

The wealthy families who moved here earlier had all sorts of gossip. Some heard that the Japanese army had tens of thousands of troops attacking Gaojia Town, while others heard that there were hundreds of thousands.

As a result, these wealthy families were afraid to stay and left Gaojia Town with their families.

In the end, within Gaojia Town, apart from the coolies who were already poor, the only people left were the local people.

They had nowhere to go and could only follow the independent regiment to the end.

Moreover, in their view, no matter how many Japanese invaders came, the independent regiment would definitely win. This was unreserved trust.

All the villages are now making preparations in an orderly manner, waiting to receive the order to enter the mountains.

The shelter had already been built. Although it was a bit hard to go into the mountains, at least there was a place to shelter from the wind and rain, so the people were not very resistant.

Gaojia Town is in a good location. If the Japanese army wants to enter, they can only come from Laiyuan official road.

There are roads on the other side, but they are bumpy and full of potholes. There are also huge mountains around.

Unless the Japs abandon their advantage of mechanized corps, they will not be able to get in.

Gu Changfeng was attracted by this point in the beginning: it is easy to defend but difficult to attack.

The Japanese certainly understood this, so they didn't think of launching a sneak attack.

The Laiyuan Independent Regiment is now notorious. If a regiment goes there, it will almost certainly be destroyed. Even a brigade will not gain anything.

The Japanese simply launched a large-scale attack and stored all the supplies in Baoding, more than 100 kilometers away from Laiyuan.

On December 12th of the lunar calendar, five days before New Year's Eve, the Japanese took action in advance.

First, the 2nd Mixed Brigade directly entered Laiyuan and stationed there without encountering any resistance.

The Eighth Route Army had no choice. If the Japanese could only defeat a regiment, they could still hold on, but forget about it if it was just a brigade. Apart from causing huge losses to their own troops, there would be no benefit at all. No one would do such a thing.

In fact, Commander Yang also asked Gu Changfeng if he wanted to take over, but was directly rejected by Gu Changfeng.

What a joke, defending a city is the most frustrating thing, he doesn't want it, not to mention that he has a place like Gaojia Town which is easy to defend and difficult to attack.

This time, the Japanese swept through Jinzhong. The 2nd Mixed Brigade, with 26 puppet troops, was responsible for clearing out the Eighth Route Army near Laiyuan, and the th Division, with puppet troops, was responsible for Gaojia Town.

The 108th and 109th Divisions were targeting the Eighth Route Army headquarters, and the number of puppet troops was also .

The 4th and 8th Mixed Brigade is responsible for defending the railway line and the security of Shijiazhuang and does not need to directly participate in the war.

The remaining 6th Division's initial mission was also to clear out the nearby Eighth Route Army, but the order they received was to be ready to support the 26th Division at any time.

This shows how much hatred the Japanese have for Gu Changfeng.

On the 12th day of the 26th lunar month, the 26th Division led puppet troops directly into Laiyuan City.

In the afternoon, the brigade commander, Shinichi Tanaka, led two infantry regiments of the headquarters, 10,000 puppet troops, a cavalry battalion, and an armored vehicle formation to march towards Gaojia Town.

The Japanese division commander, Lieutenant General Hou Gongjun, was well aware of the terrain of Gaojia Town. It was impossible to launch a full-scale attack.

Therefore, the mission of the 2nd Brigade was to first enter Gaojia Town, followed by the 10th Brigade.

As long as we entered Gaojia Town, things would be simple. It would be much easier for each regiment to sweep through the villages or encircle and suppress the Chinese settlements.

As for now, it depends on when the 2nd Brigade can enter Gaojia Town.

Naturally, the division commander, Hou Gongjun, also received the news that Gaojia Town was preparing for battle.

But for him, tens of thousands of soldiers, plus the heavy artillery regiment mobilized by the headquarters,

He only had to deal with Gaojia Town. Even if he used manpower, he could overwhelm the army and there would be no possibility of any accidents.

.........

On the official road leading to Gaojia Town, more than 20,000 people were marching, and various combat supplies stretched for several kilometers.

In order to prevent harassment from the Laiyuan Independent Regiment, the Japanese brigade commander split the cavalry battalion into several squadrons to escort along the way, and the search team entered the roadside forests to search.

The three-wheeled motorcycle team in front, carrying a large number of puppet soldiers, separated from the team to explore two kilometers to prevent being attacked or ambushed.

It can be said that the 2nd Brigade at this time was like a hedgehog, with no idea where to start.

"Sir, with your arrangements, it's practically impossible for the Chinese to ambush you. Even if I lead the elite Imperial warriors, I won't be able to do anything."

The commander of the regiment, Colonel Sadao Chida, said flatteringly.

In all his long battles in China, he had never encountered a situation where a division was used to deal with a town. It was simply using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

Tanaka Shinichi was already very proud of his arrangements, and now after being praised by his subordinates, he suddenly felt a little too proud of himself.

"Kuno-kun, our mission this time is just to enter Gaojia Town. As for fighting these Chinese, we'll talk about it after we get inside."

"By then, with the strength of an entire division, a few Chinese won't be worth mentioning."

Although he was very proud of his arrangements, he still carried out the tasks assigned by the division commander very thoroughly.

Anyway, it was just a matter of entering Gaojia Town, and the division commander didn't order him to fight, so he was not in a hurry at all.

Yang Zhenhua naturally received the news quickly when he saw the Japanese forming such a formation. He could not help but smile bitterly and shook his head. It was impossible to ambush them.

"Captain, what should we do now?"

The commanders of the Second Company were also dumbfounded. The ambush positions they had planned in advance were completely ineffective.

Yang Zhenhua pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said, "The Japanese's goal is very clear. They want to enter Gaojia Town first, then gather their forces and use their advantage to deal with us."

He also saw the obvious things clearly.

Indeed, if they did not enter Gaojia Town, the Japanese army's superiority in strength would not be fully utilized.

Marching for dozens of kilometers will not be of any use and will only make things worse. The Japanese are not stupid.

"Battalion Commander, are we still fighting here?"

"We must fight. If an ambush doesn't work, then we'll fight head-on. When has our independent regiment ever been afraid of the devil?"

Yang Zhenhua gritted his teeth and said,

The mission he received was to block and delay the enemy. Since the ambush had failed, he decided to face the enemy head-on.

"Yes, battalion commander!"

Several company commanders were promoted from ordinary soldiers, and they had fought many tough battles with Gu Changfeng. They were not afraid in this regard.

"Alright, hurry up and get ready. Whether they are puppet troops or devils, destroy them all!"

Yang Zhenhua waved his hand and turned to contact the regiment headquarters. He had to report the matter.

After all, the Japanese have changed their previous tactics. If they cannot resist, they will definitely need support from other battalions.