Chapter 317: First Merit
Taiyuan First Army Headquarters
“Commander, bad news.”
A staff officer rushed to Shinozuka Yoshio’s front like his ass was on fire and screamed like a pig being slaughtered: “The arsenal side can’t hold on anymore, the Jin Sui Army is about to break in, the arsenal side sent an urgent telegram asking you whether to immediately blow up all the equipment in the Taiyuan Arsenal!”
Normally, whenever the battle situation turned unfavorable, the Japanese Army side would destroy as much as possible, such as destroying guns, destroying cannons, blowing up ammunition and supplies, and so on.
This could avoid being captured by the opponent.
But now this is the Taiyuan Arsenal, although most of the equipment inside has already been transported back to the homeland, the remaining equipment is still very important.
Even the factory director of the Taiyuan Arsenal wouldn’t dare to make the decision on his own to blow it all up.
So, they hurriedly sent a telegram to ask Shinozuka Yoshio’s meaning.
Shinozuka Yoshio listened, slammed the table hard, and angrily rebuked: “Baka, these Jin Sui Army rats, they couldn’t even be stopped by the remaining half of the poison gas shells, it really pisses me off.”
The brigade troops from the First War Zone would take another half day to arrive.
Otherwise, once this brigade troops reinforced the Taiyuan Arsenal, the Jin Sui Army couldn’t possibly break in.
It was just this half day short, baka!
“Your Excellency Commander, you need to make a decision quickly, if you hesitate any longer, there won’t be any opportunity.” The staff officer reminded.
Shinozuka Yoshio was distraught; how could he bear to blow up the equipment in this Taiyuan Arsenal?
If it was blown up, it would be gone, and the ammunition supply for the Second War Zone and the First War Zone would have problems!
Even some of the North China Area Army’s ammunition relied on supply from the Taiyuan Arsenal.
However, if not blown up, and the equipment was retaken by the Jin Sui Army, that definitely wouldn’t do either.
Just as Shinozuka Yoshio was agonizing, Miyano Doichi came over and said to Shinozuka Yoshio: “General, I suggest not blowing it up.”
Immediately after, Miyano Doichi said: “If this equipment is seized by the Jin Sui Army, they would also need time to move it out; having the equipment in their hands would be a burden. And our brigade troops will arrive in half a day, then intercept the Jin Sui Army and retake the equipment; I think it’s still no problem.”
Miyano Doichi’s meaning was that this equipment could at worst pass through the Jin Sui Army’s hands once, and then we could seize it back again.
If destroyed in advance now, there would be no opportunity.
Shinozuka Yoshio listened, pondered for a moment, nodding: “Mm, let’s do that. Have the guards at the Taiyuan Arsenal withdraw, don’t fight the Jin Sui Army head-on, save some troops first. Once the brigade reinforcement arrives, immediately counterattack.”
“Yes, Commander…” The staff officer hurriedly went to relay the order.
“Wait a moment.” Miyano Doichi stopped him, then Miyano Doichi reminded Shinozuka Yoshio: “After the Eighth Route Army troops attacked our airport, the Jin Sui Army attacked the Taiyuan Arsenal, and they haven’t shown up again; I think we have to guard against the Eighth Route Army.”
“Your meaning, could it be that the Eighth Route Army might sneak attack our Taiyuan City?” Shinozuka Yoshio asked suspiciously, “This is probably impossible, right? If the Eighth Route Army wanted to attack Taiyuan City, now is the best opportunity, yet they haven’t come to attack.”
“I judge that the Eighth Route Army’s intention is most likely still aimed at the Taiyuan Arsenal’s equipment.” Miyano Doichi answered.
“If the Eighth Route Army is aiming at the Taiyuan Arsenal’s equipment, then why didn’t the Eighth Route Army join in attacking when the Jin Sui Army attacked the Taiyuan Arsenal?” Shinozuka Yoshio questioned.
“I’m not exactly clear, possibly they thought they had too few men and couldn’t compete with the Jin Sui Army.” Miyano Doichi analyzed.
“Even if they had few men, if they teamed up with the Jin Sui Army, wouldn’t they take down the Taiyuan Arsenal faster? At worst, divide the spoils afterward…” Shinozuka Yoshio didn’t finish his words and stopped, “Oh, that’s impossible; the Chinese people have deep internal conflicts, the Jin Sui Army wishes the Eighth Route Army would die on their own. At the moment of dividing the spoils in the end, the Jin Sui Army definitely won’t honor any promise, so the Eighth Route Army doesn’t plan to join them. But if the equipment falls into the Jin Sui Army’s hands, the Eighth Route Army seems to have no chance to target the equipment either; what exactly is the Eighth Route Army up to?”
“No matter what the Eighth Route Army is up to, I think we still need to guard against it.” Miyano Doichi said, “The equipment can be left undestroyed, but extract the key parts from inside. If we can retake the equipment, best. If in the end the equipment is lost, whether it falls to the Jin Sui Army or the Eighth Route Army, it can’t operate normally.”
“Mm, makes sense; at the critical moment, Miyano-kun is right.” Shinozuka Yoshio nodded, then said to the staff officer, “Go, have the Taiyuan Arsenal side immediately extract the important key parts of the equipment and withdraw quickly.”
“Hai.” The staff officer nodded and went to relay the order.
The staff officer left, Miyano Doichi took out another urgent telegram and handed it to Shinozuka Yoshio: “Commander, take a look at this; this is the urgent telegram sent to me by the Kumamoto Division Commander.”
As soon as Shinozuka Yoshio heard it was the Kumamoto Division Commander’s urgent telegram, he instinctively calculated the account in his mind.
This was probably that the Kumamoto Division’s large army had run out of food, no food left; the Kumamoto Division Commander was urging for supplies.
Shinozuka Yoshio didn’t take the urgent telegram, but said to Miyano Doichi: “Miyano-kun, do you think we should help the Kumamoto Division Commander now?”
The railway was destroyed by the damn local Eighth Route Army; even with airplane escort, the military train couldn’t deliver the supplies; this was really too fucked up.
Shinozuka Yoshio temporarily couldn’t think of any way to help the Kumamoto Division Commander the fastest and most efficiently.
Miyano Doichi said: “General, the Kumamoto Division Commander says in this urgent telegram that he has urgently resolved the military grain problem, but he needs poison gas shells.”
The Kumamoto Division Commander urgently resolved the military grain problem?
Shinozuka Yoshio was stunned upon hearing: “How was it resolved?”
Could it be that this military grain fell from the sky?
Shinozuka Yoshio took the urgent telegram suspiciously and looked at it closely.
Seeing this content, Shinozuka Yoshio’s pupils shrank, his gaze filled with disbelief.
Shinozuka Yoshio hadn’t expected that the Kumamoto Division Commander actually had the wounded soldiers in the troops act as military grain.
He planned to let the troops eat their fill quickly, then break out to rendezvous with the reinforcement troops transporting supplies.
To speed up efficiency, the Kumamoto Division Commander hoped to airdrop poison gas shells to help his troops break out smoothly.
Thinking of something, Shinozuka Yoshio still said: “Leaving aside that poison gas shells are hard to get, even if poison gas shells are delivered, for him the Kumamoto Division Commander to lead the troops to rendezvous with the reinforcement troops transporting supplies, that’s not a one- or two-day journey; his wounded soldier military grain won’t be enough to eat.”
Tens of thousands of troops, over seven thousand corpses, high-intensity marching and combat; military grain won’t last long.
Miyano Doichi shook his head and said: “Since the Kumamoto Division Commander has already used wounded soldiers as military grain, in this breakout operation, there will definitely be more wounded soldiers and corpses produced; these are all sources of military grain.”
With more corpses and wounded soldiers, although the army’s numbers decrease, it also increases supplies at the same time and reduces consumption.
Shinozuka Yoshio fell silent.
Although the Kumamoto Division Commander didn’t state it this way in the urgent telegram, he would definitely do so.
To preserve the large army, to preserve the tungsten ore that was finally retaken with great difficulty, the Kumamoto Division Commander really had it tough.
“Matsui-kun in the First War Zone still has some poison gas shells; I’ll ask him for them.” Shinozuka Yoshio at this point didn’t want to ask Okamura Neiji anymore.
After all, Okamura Neiji had already helped many times.
The loss of Taiyuan Airport also affected Commander Okamura’s important warfare in the Ninth War Zone in China.
The Chinese commander Xue Yue in the Ninth War Zone was already counterattacking taking advantage of our important air forces’ loss; Commander Okamura’s pressure was now very great.
Miyano Doichi didn’t say anything.
He came to find Shinozuka Yoshio, actually with this meaning.
Although Wei Lihuang in the First War Zone was hard to deal with, and Matsui Iwane’s poison gas shells were for critical emergencies.
But to save the tens of thousands of troops on the Kumamoto Division Commander’s side, they could only put a little pressure on Commander Matsui Iwane.
Shinozuka Yoshio picked up the microphone: “Connect me to Commander Matsui of the First War Zone.”
……
Jin Sui Army 358th Regiment
“Haha, Regiment Commander, this last defensive line of the Taiyuan Arsenal is about to be breached by us.” Seeing the troops progressing very smoothly, Fang Ligong happily said to Regiment Commander Chu Yunfei, “Our regiment will be the first to break into the Taiyuan Arsenal; at that time, it will be the greatest merit.”
“I’m just afraid the Japanese Invaders will blow up the Taiyuan Arsenal in advance.” Chu Yunfei was still very worried.
Once the Japanese Invaders got desperate and blew up the Taiyuan Arsenal, we would have drawn water with a sieve in vain.
“It won’t happen.” Fang Ligong shook his head and said, “This last defensive line is about to be broken; the Japanese Invaders should have blown it up earlier if they wanted to.”
“Mm, makes some sense.” Chu Yunfei acknowledged, still suspicious: “Could the Japanese Invaders really be willing to hand over this Taiyuan Arsenal to us?”
In the past, our Jin Sui Army handed over the Taiyuan Arsenal to the Japanese Invaders because we didn’t expect the Japanese Invaders to act so fast.
Now, no matter how fast our actions are, we can’t be faster than the Japanese Invaders blowing up the Taiyuan Arsenal.
“I estimate the Japanese Invaders are reluctant to blow it up; once we seize here, their reinforcement troops might arrive, and they want to take it back.” Fang Ligong guessed.
This Taiyuan Airport was bombed by the Eighth Route Army, but there are still traces of airplanes in the sky.
Although the number of these airplanes is not large, they must be reinforcements that Shinozuka Yoshio requested from elsewhere.
Since he Shinozuka Yoshio could request airplane reinforcements, he definitely also requested ground troops reinforcements.
“Hmph, as long as this equipment falls into our hands, the Japanese Invaders won’t be able to take it back!” Chu Yunfei snorted heavily.
Under Chu Yunfei’s command, the 358th Regiment ultimately pierced through like a sharp knife, breaking the last defensive line of the Taiyuan Arsenal.
The Japanese Invaders guards were no match and were forced to withdraw; the Taiyuan Arsenal was seized by the Jin Sui Army.
