Chapter 31: The Japanese Cavalry
But soon Maeda Hide's face fell and he hung up the phone silently.
Maeda Jiro asked, "Brother, can't you get through to the Tiger Pavilion base by phone?"
"Yes, I can't get through." Maeda Hide said, "A group of local Eighth Route Army soldiers appeared near the Huting stronghold recently. Not only did they steal and cut the telephone lines crazily, but they also repeatedly attacked the telephone soldiers of the Imperial Army."
Maeda Jiro asked, "Why didn't you send troops to clear out the enemy?"
"We have." Maeda Hide said, "We have just sent an infantry squad and a company of the Imperial Army into the mountains to pursue the enemy."
Seeing that Maeda Hide stopped talking, Maeda Jiro became anxious and asked, "What happened next? Was this group of Eighth Route Army wiped out by the Imperial Army?"
"No."
Maeda Hide shook his head and said, "You can never guess what the final result will be."
Maeda Jiro thought for a moment and said, "Is this a trap? The Tubalu had set up an ambush in the mountains, and the infantry squad and the Imperial Army that were just sent out were ambushed? Is that right?"
"No, Jiro, you are wrong. There is no ambush in the mountains."
Maeda Hide waved his hand and said, "However, among the 54 infantry squads that were just sent out , not a single imperial soldier was able to return to the Huting stronghold alive!"
"What?"
Maeda Jiro's face turned pale: "Did the whole team die?"
"Yes, the entire infantry squad was killed in battle." Maeda Hide said solemnly, "No one was spared."
"Baka!" Maeda Jiro said, "So this group of local Eighth Route Army soldiers are not ordinary Eighth Route Army soldiers at all. Could it be that the Eighth Route Army also formed a special forces team in imitation of the Imperial Army?"
"The Eighth Route Army also formed a special forces team? This is impossible."
Maeda Hide shook his head and said, "Special operations are a cutting-edge military subject that has only recently emerged in the world today. Among the major military powers, only Germany and the Empire have established real special forces. The Eighth Route Army only has a few senior generals who have attended the Frunze Military Academy. It is absolutely impossible for them to be exposed to special operations."
Maeda Jiro asked, "Then how do we explain this small unit of the Eighth Route Army?"
"They are probably a group of elite veterans of the Tubalu Army," said Maeda. "Before heading to the Shanxi battlefield, the Tubalu Army had just experienced a two-year-long Long March covering a distance of more than 25,000 miles, during which they also had to fight bloody battles with the government army. Those who could survive under such harsh conditions must be elites."
"That's possible." said Jiro Maeda.
"I remember Colonel Yamamoto said that when the Eighth Route Army first arrived at the Shanxi battlefield, they could even fight the Imperial Army head-on with bayonets without losing the upper hand!"
"This is simply unimaginable in the Chinese army."
"Neither the Central Army nor the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army has such strength."
"It was during these two years that the Eighth Route Army's rapid expansion and the large number of casualties suffered by veterans on the battlefield led to a significant decline in its combat effectiveness."
"But one thing is certain."
"The veterans of the Eighth Route Army who participated in the Long March are indeed very tough."
Maeda Hidetoshi said: "So, this group of Tubalu are most likely a group of veterans of the Long March."
Maeda Jiro asked, "So my brother asked me to come to Yangquan just to deal with this group of Tubalu?"
Jiro Maeda was really confident in himself and felt that he could deal with this elite force of the Eighth Route Army by himself.
"That's not the case." Maeda Hide waved his hand and added, "Although this group of Eighth Route Army soldiers is extremely difficult to deal with, there are only a dozen of them after all. I can still deal with them."
"I called you here for something else."
"Can you convince Mr. Yamamoto to assist our 4th Brigade in conducting a reconnaissance?"
Maeda Jiro said, "Brother, what you mean is to have Yamamoto's special forces conduct a detailed and comprehensive reconnaissance of the Eighth Route Army's Taihang bandit area, right?"
"Yes." Maeda Hide said, pointing to the map on the wall, "Jiro, you see, the military map provided by the Army Department is generally correct, but there are many minor errors."
"Especially some remote paths are not clearly marked."
"This is extremely disadvantageous for the subsequent mopping-up operations, because it is very likely to cause a fatal loophole in the imperial army's encirclement of the Taihang bandit area, which will lead to the Eighth Route Army's collapse and escape."
"This...Excuse me, but it's probably very difficult."
Maeda Jiro frowned and said, "Colonel Yamamoto is extremely stubborn. He sometimes dares to refuse missions that are not within the scope of the special forces' duties, even if General Shinozuka personally speaks to him."
Maeda Hidetoshi said, "You are Yamamoto Ikki's most trusted deputy, but you can't influence him?"
Maeda Jiro shook his head and said, "Brother, no one in this world can influence Colonel Yamamoto."
"Okay." Maeda Hide said helplessly, "In that case, I'll figure it out myself and won't bother you."
Maeda Jiro nodded and asked, "Brother, the phone call to the Huting base is not connected. Is there any problem? Is Gang's life in danger?"
"It's not dangerous."
Maeda Hide waved his hand and said, "Anyway, the Huting stronghold has an infantry squadron of the Imperial Army and a reinforced battalion of the Imperial Auxiliary Army. Although the field combat capability of the Imperial Auxiliary Army is not satisfactory, it is still competent for defending the city. In addition, the Eighth Route Army does not have heavy weapons for siege, so the Huting stronghold will not be in danger."
Maeda Jiro said, "But the communication of the Tiger Pavilion base can't be unrecovered for a long time, right?"
Maeda Hidetoshi said: "Communications at the Huting stronghold must be restored, and it must be restored today. I plan to borrow a cavalry squadron from the Kuroshima Regiment to wipe out this group of local Eighth Route Army."
"That's a good idea." Maeda Jiro nodded and said, "This group of Eighth Route Army soldiers have strong military skills and are very familiar with the terrain of the mountainous area. It is difficult for infantry to catch up with them. Only cavalry can catch up with and kill them. In addition, the terrain near the Huting stronghold is also very suitable for cavalry operations."
After saying this, Maeda Jiro said, "Brother, I will also go with the cavalry of the Kuroshima Regiment."
"That's fine, but you don't have to participate in the fight." Maeda Hide nodded and said, "Otherwise, if Yamamoto finds out, he'll accuse me of not following the rules."
"Also, tell Gang to be careful in everything he does."
"It's less than three months until he returns to Tokyo to go to school."
"I don't want him to have any accidents during his last days and make his father and mother sad."
"Hai!" Maeda Jiro nodded sharply and said solemnly, "I will definitely convey my brother's words."
Looking up, Maeda Jiro said, "And I won't go through Yangquan on the way back. I'll go directly back to Taiyuan via the small road. By the way, I'll help you scout the terrain along the way. This is all ."
"Jiro, thank you." Maeda Hidetoshi said.
…
Li Sigen, Huang Dongsheng and Zhao Xiaohu were busy cutting the telephone wires.
More than a kilometer of telephone wires had been cut and rolled into several large bundles and thrown haphazardly beside the road.
As Li Sigen's team's work location continued to move forward, the Spade Group responsible for guarding the Yangquan direction also moved forward under the leadership of Wang Ye.
At this moment, the four men had just ambushed behind a hill.
Wang Ye looked back at the valley behind him, just in time to see Wang Xikui. He made a gesture, and Wang Xikui immediately returned the gesture, meaning that he had received it.
Seeing this, Wang Ye turned around and leaned against the step.
He took out another rifle bullet with a plate from the bag.
Then take out a small file and file the bullet tip.
After a while, a cross was filed on the lead bullet.
Wang Gensheng came over and asked quietly, "My lord, is this the dum-dum bullet you mentioned last time?"
"Yes, this is the dum-dum bullet." Wang Ye smiled and said, "With just a little modification, the bullet's lethality can be doubled."
Wang Gensheng immediately became excited.
Wang Ye poured cold water on him again: "However, using dum-dum bullets will greatly reduce the shooting accuracy. The hit rate cannot be guaranteed beyond a hundred meters, so use it with caution."
"Ah?" Wang Gensheng was immediately disappointed when he heard that.
The hit rate dropped drastically from 100 meters away? This is fucking embarrassing.
As they were talking, Wang Ye suddenly tilted his ear and seemed to hear something.
Wang Gen's expression suddenly became stern, and he said in a deep voice: "My lord, what did you hear?"
Just as he finished speaking, Wu Sanxi, who was on guard in the front, suddenly shouted in a low voice: "Japanese cavalry!"
Wang Ye and Wang Gensheng hurriedly looked forward and saw a large number of Japanese cavalry rumbling along the road two kilometers ahead.
"Oh my god!"
Wang Gensheng shouted, "So many Japanese cavalry?"
Wang Ye estimated that there were at least hundreds of them.
Fortunately, the mountain road was winding, and the Japanese cavalry could not see Li Sigen and his men for the time being.
Wang Ye immediately turned around and signaled to Wang Xikui using sign language to remind them to move.
After Wang Xikui received the warning from Wang Ye, he quickly and loudly reminded Li Sigen who was cutting the wires. Li Sigen slid down from the electric pole and rushed into the woods on the side of the road with Huang Dongsheng and Zhao Xiaohu. They didn't even have time to collect the hundreds of kilograms of telephone wires piled on the side of the road.
