Chapter 223: Confrontation
Over a hundred kilometers away from the Zuoqiu battlefield, inside the Eighth Route Army headquarters hidden deep in the mountains, the atmosphere was originally somewhat tense.
Under the dim oil lamp, several senior commanders were gathered around a crude military map, discussing the current war situation.
Suddenly, the door curtain of the headquarters was flung open, and Deputy Chief of Staff Zuo, with an expression of irrepressible excitement and a touch of disbelief on his face, hurried in, even somewhat losing his usual composure.
“Deputy Supreme Commander! Deputy Supreme Commander! Great victory! Tremendously good news!” Deputy Chief of Staff Zuo shouted with a trembling voice before he even got close.
The Deputy Supreme Commander, who had been deep in thought staring at the map, was slightly startled upon hearing this. He raised his head, looking at this subordinate who was always known for his calmness now so flustered, and couldn’t help but frown. He asked in a deep voice, “What’s got you so panicked? Speak slowly. Which direction has good news?”
Deputy Chief of Staff Zuo took several deep breaths, trying to calm his excitement, but his voice still carried a hint of exhilaration: “Deputy Supreme Commander! It’s 385th Brigade 770th Regiment! They… they successfully captured the Zuoqiu stronghold!”
“What? The Zuoqiu stronghold? When did the 385th Brigade gain such strong assault capabilities?”
Upon hearing this, a flash of surprise appeared in the Deputy Supreme Commander’s eyes. Of course, he knew the importance of the Zuoqiu stronghold and how solid its defenses were.
According to the original plan, the 770th Regiment’s mission this time was mainly harassment and containment, with no hard requirement to capture that stronghold. After all, with the Eighth Route Army’s current equipment level, storming such a heavily fortified stronghold would cost too much.
“Yes! That tough nut!”
Deputy Chief of Staff Zuo nodded vigorously and continued, “According to the urgent telegram just sent back by the 770th Regiment, they launched an attack on the Zuoqiu stronghold this morning. The battle was exceptionally fierce, with heavy casualties on our side. At one point… at one point, we were even prepared to withdraw…”
Hearing this, the Deputy Supreme Commander’s frown deepened, and he couldn’t help but feel anxious for the warriors of the 770th Regiment.
Deputy Chief of Staff Zuo changed his tone, his face showing even more excitement: “But! At the most critical moment, two airplanes suddenly appeared in the sky… Extremely advanced airplanes we’ve never seen before.
They directly used… things like rockets, and bombs, to blow up all the little devils’ bunkers… Completely demolished them!”
“Airplanes? Blew up the bunkers?” The Deputy Supreme Commander abruptly stood up, a sharp glint in his eyes, his tone filled with disbelief.
He knew that the Eighth Route Army currently had no air force at all, let alone airplanes capable of destroying the Japanese bunkers.
“Absolutely true!” Deputy Chief of Staff Zuo stated firmly. “The telegram says those two airplanes beat the little devils black and blue. Almost all the main firepower points in the stronghold were destroyed.
Later, comrades from the 770th Regiment launched a general assault and, with almost no effort, annihilated the remaining enemies in the stronghold, successfully capturing the Zuoqiu stronghold! They seized a lot of weapons and ammunition, and captured several little devils who were scared out of their wits!”
The other commanders in the headquarters, hearing this, all showed shocked and joyful expressions.
This was practically a miracle from the heavens!
After the initial shock, the Deputy Supreme Commander quickly calmed down. His gaze swept over the map and finally settled on the position of Jinshaling Airport. In his mind, the figure of that young and mysterious militia supreme commander—Su Yaoyang—emerged.
“It’s them…”
The Deputy Supreme Commander murmured to himself, his tone carrying a hint of realization and a touch of complex emotion. He was almost certain that these suddenly appearing airplanes with powerful ground attack capabilities could only belong to that wealthy and resourceful Su Yaoyang.
“Deputy Supreme Commander, do you mean… it was the Shanxi Militia’s airplanes that helped us?” Deputy Chief of Staff Zuo immediately reacted and asked tentatively.
The Deputy Supreme Commander nodded slowly, a faint relieved smile on his face: “Besides them, I can’t think of anyone else with the ability to secretly obtain such powerful airplanes and appear on the Zuoqiu battlefield at the critical moment.
It seems our Su Commander has given us another big surprise!”
“So timely! If they hadn’t intervened, the 770th Regiment this time probably…” Deputy Chief of Staff Zuo said with lingering fear.
“Yes, we must remember this favor.” The Deputy Supreme Commander pondered for a moment and said to Deputy Chief of Staff Zuo:
“Immediately send a telegram back to the 770th Regiment, commend their heroic combat, and at the same time, have them report in detail the course of this battle, especially the model, features, and attack methods of those two airplanes. This intelligence is very important to us.”
“Yes!”
“Additionally…”
The Deputy Supreme Commander paused, then continued: “We need to think carefully about how to thank this Su Supreme Commander.
He helped us tremendously this time! Not only did he relieve the 770th Regiment’s siege, but more importantly, he demonstrated a brand-new combat mode to us—air-ground coordination… This has extremely important reference value for our future operations against the Japanese!”
The atmosphere in the headquarters became heated due to this unexpected victory report.
Japanese First Army Headquarters in Taiyuan: Furious roars and impotent rage
Meanwhile, in the Japanese North China Area Army First Army Headquarters far away in Taiyuan, the atmosphere was one of depression and dead silence.
Shionizuka Yoshio, the commander of this First Army, was now livid, sitting behind his large desk, clutching a just-received urgent battle report from the front lines. His chest heaved violently, and the veins on his forehead throbbed, showing that his inner anger had reached its peak.
“Pa!”
Shionizuka Yoshio slammed the battle report onto the desk with a loud bang, startling the chief of staff and operations section chief standing nearby into a shudder.
“Baka yarou…” Shionizuka Yoshio finally erupted, roaring like a wounded beast! “Who can tell me! What the hell is going on?
Our Zuoqiu stronghold was garrisoned by a company’s elite imperial warriors and had solid bunker clusters! How could it be captured by those poorly equipped dirt Eighth Route Army in just a few hours?
Ah… someone tell me!”
His spittle flew everywhere, his bloodshot eyes glaring fixedly at his subordinates who were frozen in fear.
The operations section chief braced himself, stepped forward, and reported with a trembling voice: “Commander, according to… according to the report from soldiers who luckily escaped from the stronghold… the Eighth Route Army’s attack this time… received… airplane support…”
“Airplanes?” Shionizuka Yoshio’s pitch suddenly rose, his eyes filled with disbelief. “What did you say?! Where did the dirt Eighth Route Army get airplanes from?! Could it be the air force from Chongqing? When did they have the guts to fly into the heart of our imperial occupied zone?!”
“No… not airplanes from Chongqing…”
The operations section chief swallowed hard and continued: “According to… according to the survivors’ description, they were two deep blue single-wing fighters they’d never seen before, extremely fast and with ferocious firepower… They… they used weapons like rocket projectiles and bombs to directly destroy the stronghold’s main bunkers… Our warriors suffered heavy casualties in the air raid… The defense system collapsed instantly…”
“Deep blue single-wing fighters… rocket projectiles…”
Shionizuka Yoshio’s pupils suddenly contracted! In his mind, a name that made him gnash his teeth in hatred immediately surfaced… Su Yaoyang! Shanxi Militia!
Besides that damned Su Yaoyang, who else could possess such advanced weapons that even the Empire coveted?!
“It’s him again! The Shanxi Militia again! That Su Yaoyang again!!!”
Shionizuka Yoshio, like a viper whose tail had been stepped on, revealed a menacing glint in his eyes. He drew his command saber with a “clang” and slashed it onto the hard rosewood desk, leaving a deep gash!
“This bastard! This despicable sneak attacker! He dares to use airplanes against our Imperial Japanese Army’s strongholds! This is an open provocation against our Imperial Japanese Army! An unforgivable crime!”
Shionizuka Yoshio trembled with rage, his face turning from livid to purplish, feeling like his lungs were about to explode!
He had originally thought that with the Imperial Army’s powerful strength and the upcoming reinforcements, he could easily crush those dirt Eighth Route Army daring to covet the Zuoqiu stronghold.
But unexpectedly, the enemy received air support and pulled out the Zuoqiu stronghold, making the Empire’s efforts in this area go down the drain.
This was simply a great humiliation!
“Investigate immediately! Find out for me! Where did that Su Yaoyang get these airplanes from! How many more does he have! Where are their airports! I’m going to bomb them all! Bomb them all!” Shionizuka Yoshio waved his command saber, roaring like a madman.
The operations section chief stepped forward: “Commander, we know the location of the Shanxi Militia Flight Group’s airport, but bombing it isn’t very realistic. Have you forgotten that air battle a few days ago?”
Mentioning that air battle, Shionizuka Yoshio instantly calmed down.
After several consecutive air battles, Japan’s air forces in Shanxi had suffered heavy losses twice and had not fully recovered. Now, the army air force pilots all felt fearful at the thought of fighting the Shanxi Militia. The 60th Fighter Group’s leader, Colonel Yiga Tetsuji, even publicly stated that until the Empire sent more advanced fighters to Shanxi, they would not engage in large-scale air combat with the Shanxi Militia Flight Group.
This statement, tantamount to enemy-fearing talk, even received support from many pilots, leaving Shionizuka Yoshio so furious he couldn’t sleep well for days.
The loss of the Zuoqiu stronghold and the ghostly appearance of the F4U “Corsair” fighters were like two resounding slaps to Shionizuka Yoshio’s face.
This ignited the anger he had accumulated from repeated setbacks against Su Yaoyang and the Shanxi Militia to its peak.
Su Yaoyang and the Shanxi Militia he led had evolved from an initially insignificant local force into a major threat, even the most dangerous and headache-inducing enemy the First Army faced across all of Shanxi!
This Su Yaoyang was just like a stone in a latrine pit—smelly and hard!
Not only did he possess equipment far superior to other Chinese forces, but more terrifyingly, he seemed to endlessly obtain one jaw-dropping new weapon after another.
From the initially massively powerful heavy artillery, to the later P-47 “Thunderbolt” fighters, and now these even more advanced, more ferociously armed F4U “Corsair” fighters… Every time Shionizuka Yoshio thought he had figured out the opponent’s cards, Su Yaoyang always brought new “surprises,” or rather “shocks.”
Shionizuka Yoshio had more than once, late at night, stared at the military map, gnashing his teeth and pondering how to completely eliminate this thorn in his side.
He had even fantasized about mobilizing the entire main force of the First Army, combined with massive air force bombing, to launch a devastating general offensive on the Wutaishan area, uprooting Su Yaoyang and his Shanxi Militia, and erasing them completely from Shanxi’s map!
However, ideals are plump, but reality is skinny.
The situation in Shanxi was far more complex than he imagined.
It wasn’t just his First Army and that damned Shanxi Militia here.
Yan Xishan’s Jin-Sui Army, though repeatedly defeated, remained a non-negligible local force occupying vast territories and population.
And the elusive Eighth Route Army, experts in guerrilla warfare, were like maggots in the bones, constantly causing trouble in the First Army’s occupied areas, harassing transport lines, pulling out small strongholds, leaving them running ragged.
Not to mention the armies nominally under the central government, and various local armed groups, bandits, religious sects of all sizes and complexities… These forces both clashed and, at times, temporarily allied against the Japanese for common interests.
The entire Shanxi was like a massive quagmire, with forces interlocked and mutually restraining each other.
Shionizuka Yoshio knew well that if he rashly concentrated heavy troops against the Shanxi Militia, it would inevitably leave other fronts understrength, giving opportunities to the Jin-Sui Army, Eighth Route Army, and others. In the end, not only might he fail to eliminate Su Yaoyang, but he could invite fire upon himself, causing the entire Shanxi situation to spiral out of control.
This was truly “pull one hair and the whole body moves”!
What made Shionizuka Yoshio feel even more stretched thin was the shortage of troops.
Although the First Army was touted as the Empire’s elite ground force, Shanxi’s vast areas needing garrison were too many: railway lines, key towns, strategic strongholds, resource areas… Each required substantial forces to maintain occupation and suppress resistance.
Added to the constant combat attrition and troop withdrawals for other battlefields, the mobile forces Shionizuka Yoshio had were always in short supply.
He had more than once sent earnest telegrams to North China Area Army Commander-in-Chief General Terauchi Hisaichi and the distant Imperial General Headquarters in Tokyo, detailing the difficulties of the Shanxi battlefield and the huge threat of Su Yaoyang and the Shanxi Militia, requesting reinforcements.
Hoping to at least transfer two or three more elite divisions to Shanxi, giving him enough forces for a decisive offensive.
However, Terauchi Hisaichi’s responses always disappointed him.
The North China Area Army’s responsibilities were spread too wide, from Beiping-Tianjin to Shandong, Henan to Suiyuan, everywhere needing troops. Moreover, with the growing tenacity of Chinese military and civilian resistance, and subtle changes in the international situation, Japanese pressure across the entire China battlefield was constantly increasing.
The Imperial General Headquarters’ strategic focus was also gradually shifting southward and to the Pacific.
In this situation, Terauchi Hisaichi naturally couldn’t easily meet Shionizuka Yoshio’s requests for more troops.
He thought Shionizuka Yoshio was making a fuss, exaggerating the Shanxi Militia’s threat. In his view, a mere local militia, no matter how well-equipped, couldn’t be that capable. With steady advances and gradual compression of their space, they could eventually be wiped out.
Thus, despite Shionizuka Yoshio’s repeated requests, Terauchi Hisaichi only symbolically sent one division—the 24th Division.
This 24th Division, though called a standing Imperial Army division, lagged in troop quality and equipment compared to true main field divisions. Moreover, one division’s strength was just a drop in the bucket for Shionizuka Yoshio, far from enough to support a large-scale annihilation battle.
Upon receiving Terauchi Hisaichi’s reply, Shionizuka Yoshio was so furious he nearly spat blood on the spot. He knew hoping for sufficient reinforcements from above to deal with Su Yaoyang was impossible.
Left with no choice, Shionizuka Yoshio deployed this newly arrived 24th Division to the line from Xinxian to Wuning.
Xinxian and Wuning were located north and northwest of Wutaishan, at the boundary between Japanese control zones and Shanxi Militia activity areas.
Deploying the 24th Division here would, on one hand, increase military pressure on the Jinshaling direction for deterrence; on the other, serve as a barrier to prevent the Shanxi Militia from infiltrating and expanding northward.
At the same time, Shionizuka Yoshio ordered troops stationed in Yangquan, Shouyang, and elsewhere to strengthen vigilance on the south and east approaches to Jinshaling.
In this way, the Japanese formed a loose encirclement around the Jinshaling area, facing off against Su Yaoyang’s Shanxi Militia.
Facing the Japanese moves, Su Yaoyang paid them no mind. He promptly sent the 2nd Regiment to garrison Xiangding, then had the newly formed 4th and 5th Regiments form a defensive line from Xiangding to Dai County. He himself led the 1st, 3rd, and 6th Infantry Regiments along with two armored regiments to hold the Wutaishan area. If the Japanese dared come, he would make them pay dearly.
What puzzled Su Yaoyang was that the Japanese never launched an attack against them.
Days passed like this, and time soon arrived at 1940…
