Chapter 61: Annihilation (2)

  "The journey was long, but all reinforcements have arrived and we've now surrounded the enemy," said the Chief of Staff.

  "Too good! Inform all departments immediately, launch a comprehensive attack, and don't save any shells for me. Beat these little devils hard, we must eat them up as soon as possible." The brigade commander ordered.

  "Yes! I'll go notify them right away!" The staff officer went to notify the troops to launch an attack on the devils. Under the order of the brigade commander, the Eighth Route Army's artillery fired at the devils without restraint. Hearing the sound was not right, the deputy officer pulled Gao Shu into the trench, and a shell landed beside them, killing the deputy officer instantly. Gao Shu was also blown up by the shell, covering his face with dirt. He crawled out of the trench, patted the dirt off his body, and looked at the deputy officer. Fortunately, the deputy officer had pushed him into the trench; otherwise, both of them would have died.

  "Come on! Charge!", Gao Shu waved his command knife and led the troops to charge northeast. Katō was also charging all the way, with fewer and fewer soldiers by his side. Another group of devils used carts and dead horses as cover and occupied a small highland on the west side of the highway, resisting desperately, but under the fierce attack of the Eighth Route Army, this group of enemies was completely annihilated here.

  Gaotree led the troops to break through several times, but failed. In the end, the 771 regiment surrounded them in the village. Gaotree leaned on the civilian house and continued to fight with the Eighth Route Army. After intense fighting, the 771 regiment broke through their defense and shot Gaotree to death in Sunjiazhuang.

  Kato then led his men to run into the mountain ridge, entangled with the Eighth Route Army who surrounded him. Since the enemy's reinforcements were about to arrive here, the Eighth Route Army was forced to abandon its plan to annihilate Kato and quickly withdrew from the battlefield. Not long after they withdrew, ten Japanese planes flew in and bombed the area around Sunjiazhuang, but the Eighth Route Army had already withdrawn from here, and the Japanese planes could only return without success.

  The city gate of Rongcheng was heavily guarded, and there were still some burning fires outside the city. The devils were tense and watching their surroundings, afraid that the Eighth Route Army would appear somewhere. Today, the devils were extremely depressed, as the Eighth Route Army they had been chasing in the past suddenly appeared at their doorstep today. The devils guarding the city were caught off guard by the Eighth Route Army and were thrown into chaos. It wasn't until the main force of the Eighth Route Army arrived that they withdrew from here. At this time, the commander of the devils, Lieutenant General Kotaro Shōji, was very clear in his mind that the Eighth Route Army was harassing them and didn't want to send troops to support Katō and others. He was also very uneasy, fearing that Ishihara's two regiments might not be able to reach Licheng smoothly. What if they encountered the Eighth Route Army on the way? The telegram from Katō gave him a bit of confidence, as Katō said in the telegram that they had encountered a large number of Eighth Route Army troops, with more than one regiment. This further confirmed that Ishihara and others were not in great danger. However, it was already this late, and Ishihara still hadn't sent back a single telegram. By now, Ishihara had already gone to see their emperor.

  The most urgent thing now is to support Katō and Takagi's troops, but with the current military strength in hand, it is obviously impossible to go and support them. However, we can't just watch our own troops being eaten away by the Eighth Route Army! In the end, Kodera Jirō dialed the North China Military Command's phone number, requesting air support for Katō and his men. Now, several supporting routes have been blocked by the Eighth Route Army along the highway, and it is impossible to arrive there in a short period of time, leaving only the reliance on air support.

  Depressed Temple Jiro paced back and forth in the room. At this time, Deputy Officer Tadakane came in from outside.

  "Sir! These are the telegrams we just received." Vice-officer Tadakane raised the telegram in his hand and said to Shōjiro Kōdera.

  "What was said? Although Kohei Shiratori is now very anxious in his heart, he can't show it at this time and still has to pretend to be calm."

  "The reinforcement troops sent by the 108th Division of Licheng were ambushed by a group of Eighth Route Army on the way, and are currently fighting with them, so it may take some time to arrive at Major General Kato's place," said Deputy Officer Tadakazu, glancing at Shojiro Kodera, who nodded for him to continue.

  "The reinforcements from the Changzhi area were destroyed by the Eighth Route Army shortly after they set out, and the county seat and strongholds were all lost. They were forced to return to their garrison and could not spare any troops to support Major General Kato for the time being." Deputy Officer Tadakane finished speaking and looked at Shojiro Kodera with a weak expression.

  "So in other words, there isn't a single unit that can go to reinforce Commander Kato and his men within a short period of time?" Jotaro Kodera said calmly.

  "It seems so for now," replied Vice Officer Tadakane.

  "Has the telegram sent to headquarters received a reply?" Temple Shirō could only reluctantly accept this result. Not to mention others, he couldn't even send someone to reinforce Katō's place now, and all he could do was pin his hopes on the general staff.

  "There's no response from headquarters yet." "The Eighth Route Army won't attack again for the time being, will they?" asked Shoji Jiro.

  "We have closed the city gate, and all the heavy artillery is in place on the city wall. Even if the Eighth Route Army comes, they will be defeated and unable to approach our city wall." Deputy officer Zhong Kang said with great confidence. The 769th Regiment of the 385th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army was stationed on high ground northeast of Lucheng, responsible for blocking the reinforcements sent by Lucheng to support Katō's army. The Japanese troops rushed towards Sunjiacun without knowing the situation, but they were soon recalled as Lucheng was under attack by the Eighth Route Army and the city's defenses were severely understaffed. Helplessly, the reinforcement troops split into two routes, one continuing to advance towards Sunjiacun to support Katō's army, while the other returned to defend the county seat of Lucheng. However, the troops that went to support Sunjiacun were intercepted by the 769th Regiment on the way and suffered a fierce attack. The Japanese troops also launched a crazy counterattack against the 769th Regiment, but it had no effect, and they found it difficult to continue advancing. The Japanese suffered heavy casualties and were eventually forced to retreat back to Lucheng. Upon receiving the reinforcement order from the division headquarters, the 769th Regiment immediately left one company behind to harass the Japanese troops and sent its main force towards Sunjiacun to support the 385th Brigade.

  "This is specifically designed for the relief troops of Ranzhong," said Kojiro calmly.

  "Your Excellency! I've been feeling that something is not quite right with Lieutenant Ishihara's group. It's already been so long, why hasn't Lei City sent any telegrams from them?" Deputy Officer Tadakane said, expressing his own doubts.

  "What does Lord Chokang think about this?" asked Kotero, turning around.

  "Captain Ishihara and his men took a radio with them, but so far we haven't received a single message. Don't you find that strange?" Tadakane asked.

  "Hmm!", Kotero Kodera only acknowledged Tadakazu's view without expressing his own. In fact, at this moment, Kotero was very anxious and worried that the Ishihara group might also encounter the Eighth Route Army. Every time he thought about why Ishihara hadn't sent him a telegram, he would reassure himself that they were on their way to Licheng and would definitely send him a telegram once they arrived. The two Japanese soldiers were discussing Katō's group in the house when another soldier walked in from outside.