Chapter 60: Annihilation (I)

  "Commander! The 129th Division has sent a telegram, the devils they ambushed did not transport chemical weapons, but rather disguised devils on the vehicles, causing them great casualties. They have now controlled the situation and are confronting the devils, fearing that the devils may still have other plans. They request that headquarters dispatch other brother units to provide corresponding support, helping them eliminate this group of devils." The staff officer said to the deputy commander, holding the telegram.

  "Notify the 129th Division, let them go all out to fight, and I must get rid of this devil. The others can rest assured that other troops will be sent as reinforcements if necessary." "Also, you immediately dispatch someone to inform the surrounding reserve units, county battalions, and district squads to hold their ground, delay any devils passing through their areas, and buy time for the 129th Division to annihilate this enemy." "Understood, Chief. I'll go take care of it right away," said the staff officer as he immediately went out to transmit the orders.

  Before long, the deputy chief of staff came in with a telegram in his hand.

  "Comrade Commander, good news!", "Oh? What good news?", the Deputy Commander asked angrily. At this moment, the Commander was also angry, originally a well-planned ambush for the enemy's chemical weapons transport team had turned into a head-on confrontation with the enemy, our weapons were no match for the enemy's, and this time the enemy was well-prepared and must have brought large quantities of heavy artillery, making it even harder to fight against the 129th Division, and the losses would be significant!

  "What's wrong, Commander? Are you angry?", "What a ridiculous piece of intelligence! It's completely a plot by the enemy, take a look at this telegram!", The Deputy Commander said as he handed over the telegram on the desk to the Deputy Chief of Staff. After reading the contents of the telegram, the Deputy Chief of Staff burst out laughing.

  "Hahaha! Commander, I've come to cure you of this obsession." He said, handing the telegram in his hand to the deputy commander.

  "Has this kid really encountered the enemy's convoy? And actually taken out the enemy's convoy?" The deputy commander finally cracked a smile after reading it.

  "It seems that you nailed it! This kid really took out the enemy's convoy." "Yes, Commander. They destroyed the enemy's trucks, but they must have suffered heavy casualties as well. Right now, they're hoping HQ can send a few medics to treat the soldiers' wounds." The deputy chief of staff added.

  "Send support immediately!", The deputy commander was in a great mood and immediately ordered people to go and support Li Xinmin and the others.

  "Commander! The enemy's trick of hiding in plain sight didn't work, did it? Still can't escape the Buddha's palm!", "Hahahaha!", Both commanders burst out laughing happily.

  "That's right! Didn't the 129th Division encounter a large enemy force? Immediately assemble the surrounding troops and provide full support to the 129th Division, thoroughly annihilate this enemy unit, and make the enemy lose both men and generals." The deputy commander ordered.

  The 386th Regiment stuck together with the devils, resisting their attack while waiting for reinforcements. Before long, the reinforcement troops of the 385th Regiment arrived, and the arriving troops were the 770th Battalion. After receiving the order from the division headquarters, they left one company to guard the Luhe Village and block the devils' reinforcements. The main force came to reinforce here, with the addition of the Shengli Army, the devils were no longer as arrogant as before.

  Sasaotake led the troops to attack the heights on both sides repeatedly, but failed to capture them. Seeing the arrival of the Eighth Route Army's reinforcements, he became even more anxious.

  "Everyone, charge forward! Only by occupying those places can we have a chance to survive. Otherwise, no one will escape today!" Commander Sasao shouted to the soldiers. He called up his three squad leaders, Kosaka Masayoshi, Togawa and Ueno, and had them lead their troops in an attack on the two highlands.

  Sasaoki shouted, waving his command knife and charging forward. The Japanese soldiers, inspired by him, rushed towards the Eighth Route Army's position like they had been injected with chicken blood. At this moment, a shell exploded above Sasaoki's head. A hail of machine gun bullets flew towards him, and Captain Sasaoki was killed on the spot.

  The soldiers who had rushed up found that their commander was killed by the Eighth Route Army, and suddenly became chaotic. However, under the command of several squad leaders, they managed to stabilize their position, but the offensive was no longer as fierce as it was at the beginning.

  "Kato, our situation is not good! The Eighth Route Army has mobilized all its forces here, I'm afraid we can't handle it!", said Lieutenant General Kojima to Kato.

  "The Eighth Route Army has all been assembled here, won't it be safe for Lieutenant General Ishihara soon? The Eighth Route Army has fallen into the commander's trap. After a while, our reinforcements will arrive, and that will be the end of this group of Eighth Route Army." Kato said wildly.

  "But when will our reinforcements arrive?" Gao Shu asked again.

  "Colonel! Just received a telegram, the 10th and Ando detachments rushing to reinforce Lucheng were ambushed by the Eighth Route Army, the highway and bridges have been severely damaged, they are organizing repairs, estimated to arrive later." The deputy officer reported to Katō at this time.

  "What about the reinforcements from Licheng?" asked Gao Shu.

  "The 108th unit of Licheng was also attacked by the Eighth Route Army not far from the city, and is currently fighting against the Eighth Route Army. It will arrive here later." "The reinforcements from Changzhi direction just left the county town, but the county town was attacked by the Eighth Route Army. The reinforcements were forced to return to reinforce the county town and cannot support us here." Deputy officer Lu said continuously. The faces of Takagi and Kato also became more distorted.

  "Bastard!", they both almost shouted out at the same time.

  "Without reinforcements, how can we eliminate these Eighth Route Army?", Kato said in anger.

  "Kato-kun! I'm afraid we won't be able to carry out Commander's plan today," said Takagi.

  Two were talking, when a soldier rushed to them in a flurry. "Report to the officer, Lieutenant Sasao has just been killed on the battlefield, and the troops are temporarily under the command of Lieutenant Tonotani."

  "What did you say?", shouted Gaoshu, grabbing the soldier's clothes with one hand and asking fiercely.

  "Captain Sasao has just been killed!", said the soldier in a trembling voice.

  "Bastard!", Gaoshu pushed the soldier to the ground with one hand. At this moment, he was furious, he led his men to ambush the Eighth Route Army, but instead, he suffered losses and his plan was disrupted by the Eighth Route Army. The more he thought about it, the more he felt like he had fallen into the Eighth Route Army's trap.

  "General Kō! We must break out of here at once. As it is, we are at a disadvantage and our losses will be greater." Katō analyzed.

  "Not bad! You and I will immediately organize our troops to break out of the encirclement." Kao Shu also calmed down, agreeing with Katō's point of view. The two devils quickly assembled their troops to break out of the encirclement. However, at this moment, the reinforcements of the Eighth Route Army had all arrived.