The Travelers of the Heavens

On the evening of September 12, 1939, news of Germany's attack on Poland, Britain and Gaul and its declaration of war on Germany spread throughout the world.

Rooster Land, the temporary residence of the Andong Protectorate in the Old Summer Palace of the Capital

""See Your Highness." A group of military and political officials from the Kyushu Army in Beijing had already arrived. They saw Wang Yu coming and greeted him.

""Everyone, please sit down." Wang Yu waved his hand.

After everyone sat down,

"The war in Europe has broken out. What I mean is to dispatch a regiment to Europe to cooperate with the allies to fight. I don’t know what you think." Wang Yu spoke first.

"Your Highness, I think there is no need to go to Europe to participate in the war now, and the president is currently in Hunan to provide disaster relief. Should we wait until the president comes back to talk about this matter?" Foreign Affairs Director Qi Meng said.

The incident Qi Meng mentioned happened in August. Hunan was suddenly hit by heavy rainstorms in late October. The rivers surged and flash floods and mudslides broke out, destroying many residential towns and causing heavy casualties.

Millions of victims were forced to leave their homes and were in danger. If no one rescued them, almost all of them would be killed. Most of them may die from this natural disaster, and the plague that may break out after the disaster will cause even greater casualties. At this time, Cheng Qian, Xue Yue's troops, and the remnants of the Gui Clan had been completely wiped out in the Battle of Hengbao, and they were withdrawing to North China. The Southern Line Corps on the way was temporarily stranded in Hunan due to floods on roads and railways.

During this period, Chi Lian ordered the troops to fight floods and rescue local victims.

"Why not join the war in Europe?"Wang Yu asked

"The war is about to begin, and the outcome has not yet been determined, so it is not advisable to act lightly," Qi Meng said.

"Hahaha, if it is true according to common sense, but I think sending troops to participate in the war in Western Europe at this time can cause greater damage to the Westerners. You must know that Gaul is our old enemy," Wang Yu said.

Paris Want to be completely preserved in an undefended way? Dream on! Wang Yu plans to blow Gaul to pieces. As for the outcome of the Western European War, it doesn’t matter.

"Um.. Then I reserve my opinion," Qi Meng said

"Father, a few days ago the president sent a letter saying that the Kuomintang troops in Hunan had been completely wiped out. Will our army continue to launch major military operations?" Wang Qi asked

"Let's wait until the president comes back to talk about this matter," Wang Yu said.

He conceived a plan to trap the Kuomintang troops in places like Sichuan, Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou, and at the same time block all the passages to Xiandian and India, so that the Kuomintang troops could The ground is spinning.

As for the expeditionary force stationed in India, just stay at home.

Wang Yu's strategy completely destroyed the British army stationed in India and Malaya after the outbreak of the Pacific War.

"Now that war has broken out in Europe, I believe that the war will soon spread to all parts of the world, and the war will last for a long time. In order to deal with the new situation, the troops stationed in various places must not relax and must use all their strength to strangle all forces that dare to oppose our army," Wang Yu said

""Yes" everyone responded

"Hunan was hit by floods and millions of people were displaced. We can't just ignore it. We need to mobilize supplies, mainly medicines, as soon as possible to transfer to Hunan to help the president stabilize the disaster there. Since the Kuomintang has abandoned its people, let us take over."Wang Yu said

"Yes, Your Highness." Everyone responded.

After talking about the trivial matters in the capital, let's take a look at the battle situation in northwest Shanxi.

The time temporarily returns to May 1939, after the 216th Division of the"Red Snake" Corps arrived in Taiyuan City

"According to the intelligence we obtained from previous investigations, there are indeed important targets for the Eighth Route Army near Lijiapo, but what they are is still unclear." Yoshio Shinozuka and Major General Zhang Bo, commander of the 216th Division, discussed the upcoming operation in northwest Shanxi in front of the map.

The purpose of this operation was to discover and destroy the anti-Japanese forces in northwestern Shanxi. Since many guerrillas, county brigades and other irregular forces behind enemy lines did not have uniforms and decent weapons, most of them escaped during this operation. A calamity

"What does Commander Shinozuka think this important goal is?"Zhang Bo asked

"It may be their command structure, but the communication is not frequent, which makes me a little surprised." Yoshio Shinozuka adjusted his glasses and said

"Could it be a logistics organization like an arsenal or a quilt processing factory?" Zhang Bo hit the nail on the head. There is indeed an Eight Route Army Arsenal near Lijiapo, and a quilt factory not far away.

"It's possible." Yoshio Shinozuka nodded.

"Then choose the battle location here." Zhang Bo pointed to a point on the map.

"Li Jiapo has penetrated deep into the Eight Route Control Area and can easily be surrounded by the main force of the Eight Route Army," said Yoshio Shinozuka.

"If you don't enter the tiger's den, you won't get the tiger's cubs. This time I just want to do something in Lijiapo," Zhang Bo said.

"In this case, I can dispatch the newly arrived 29th Brigade to cooperate with your army," said Yoshio Shinozuka.

"Thank you very much, Commander Shinozuka, you can just send me any brigade," Zhang Bo said

"Okay, I'll arrange it right away," said Yoshio Shinozuka.

Not long after the Japanese 29th Brigade arrived in Taiyuan City, the Yamazaki Brigade of the brigade was finally assigned to the 216th Division to cooperate with the operation. The brigade had 500 Japanese soldiers, and the captain was Yamazaki. Lieutenant Colonel Jihei

"The 216th Division of the"Chilian King Snake" Corps has three infantry regiments, namely the 647th, 648th, and 649th Mechanized Infantry Regiments. Each regiment has a combat strength of nearly 8,000 people. It also has a half-track vehicle chassis. 75 mm anti-tank gun (PS: an enlarged version of the sdkfz251/22 gun truck).

However, due to the weak armor of the national army, and the Eighth Route Army has no access to armor, the anti-tank gun truck of this unit can only be used as a self-propelled cannon.

This In addition to the Japanese Yamazaki Brigade, the other force that attacked the Lijiapo Arsenal was the 1st Battalion of the 648th Regiment of the 216th Division. This battalion has a combat strength of 1,600 people, and the battalion commander is Lieutenant Colonel Ma Wenwen. In other words, the troops that attacked the Lijiapo Arsenal In terms of numbers, it has the strength of eight soldiers or a regiment of the National Army, but its firepower is far greater than this. The first battalion of the 648th Regiment also has small and medium-caliber self-propelled artillery and large-caliber mortars, but the artillery of this battalion is based on mortars. Mainly artillery and mountain artillery, these artillery mounted on the chassis of a half-track vehicle, the whole battalion has twelve such artillery vehicles organized into an artillery team, including four 120 mm heavy mortar vehicles. May

16, 1939 , the First Battalion and the Yamazaki Brigade left Taiyuan City and went straight to the arsenal near Lijiapo.

Zhang Bo led the main force of the 216th Division to set off on May 17, and the troops moved in covertly in a detour.

The First Battalion and the Yamazaki Brigade, which set out early, also opened up distance, the latter pretended to inadvertently enter the hinterland of the Eighth Route Army's Northwest Shanxi Base.

The Eighth Route Army's Northwest Shanxi Headquarters

""Chief, it has been found out that the enemy who broke into our base area is the Japanese Yamazaki Brigade, there are about four to five hundred people," the staff officer reported to the chief.

"Um? snort! A few hundred people from a mere Yamazaki brigade dare to be so rampant. Immediately order the 386th Brigade to eat this Yamazaki brigade!"The chief said angrily

""Yes" the staff officer went to ask someone to send a telegram.

The 386 Brigade's formal establishment only has two regiments, the 771st and 772nd; in addition to these two units that are also registered with the Kuomintang, the 386 Brigade has developed other units in the base area, such as protection The 386th Brigade Independent Regiment (commander Kong Jie), the New First Regiment (commander Li Yunlong), the New Second Regiment (commander Wang Xiaoshan, a new character added to this story), the New Third Regiment (commander Liu Zuo) of the Eighth Route Army Headquarters in the Northwestern Shanxi Province , new characters added to this story).

In addition, there are a number of irregular Eighth Route Army anti-war teams such as county brigade and district squad under the command of the 386 brigade. Among the several regiments of the 386 brigade, all the cadres of the 771st and 772nd regiments and most of the The soldiers are all veterans of the Red Army who have participated in the Long March. Each of the two regiments has nearly 3,000 people and is responsible for the combat effectiveness of the 386 Brigade.