You were tasked with guarding the Sihang Warehouse, and you ended up with a German-equipped division

Chapter 123 The main force of the Japanese army marches south and approaches Taierzhuang.

Previously, Li Jianghe was able to take advantage of the information gap to launch a surprise attack, catching the Japanese army off guard and causing them to collapse overnight.

However, this time the Japanese army was prepared, and Li Jianghe's mechanized troops still suffered considerable losses when facing a large number of Japanese anti-tank guns and other weapons.

At least, it was no longer possible to achieve the same swift victory as before, leaving the Japanese army with no chance to retaliate.

Li Jianghe thought to himself, "The Japanese have sent quite a few this time. I wonder if the Fifth War Zone can handle them."

After all, in the historical Battle of Taierzhuang, the main target of encirclement and annihilation was actually only a detachment of more than 10,000 men led by Seya Kei, and the battle was extremely difficult.

Moreover, they were facing 60,000 to 70,000 Japanese troops, as well as the 5th Division and nearly 30,000 marines on their flank.

It's up to me now.

Li Jianghe thought to himself that, since the other conditions hadn't changed much, the only variable was the Third Independent Detachment that he was leading.

"Hey Jiang He, why do you seem so calm and collected?"

Wang Mingzhang asked, "This time we're not facing just one Japanese detachment, but at least two divisions, plus several mixed brigades of absolute elite forces."

Zhao Weibin then said thoughtfully:

"Jiang He, at the last meeting, were the higher-ups discussing the Japanese troop reinforcements? Do they already have a plan in place?"

Li Jianghe shook his head and said:

"I wouldn't dare to say that. I can only say that our superiors are farsighted, and all we have to do is obey orders."

Zhao Weibin understood the deeper meaning behind his words.

"I see, I see."

Wang Mingzhang nodded repeatedly, saying, "No matter what, the higher-ups have been very generous this time, providing money and equipment, and even allocating a lot of ammunition to our Sichuan Army. As long as they give the order, even if the Japanese have a million troops, we are willing to fight to the death."

Li Jianghe muttered to himself.

"Then I'm afraid we won't need it."

After all, the higher-ups planned to hold the decisive battle in the Taierzhuang area.

Yes, I was the one who brought it up.

······

Inside the command post in Jinan, the commander of the North China Expeditionary Army, Hisaichi Terauchi, was looking at Kei Seya with icy eyes.

Kei Seya led his troops to escape, thus preventing the entire army from being wiped out.

However, Terauchi Hisaichi was very dissatisfied.

"As warriors of the Empire, they chose to flee before the battle was even decided, making our entire North China Expeditionary Army a laughing stock."

Are the enemy's armored forces really that terrifying?

Keiji Seya thought to himself, "How could I not know how amazing he is?"

But at times like this, all he could say was:

"Commander, I am willing to atone for my crimes through meritorious service, but I need more anti-tank guns!"

"To atone for one's crimes through meritorious service?"

Terauchi Hisaichi gave a light snort and his gaze fell on Isogai Rensuke, the commander of the 10th Division.

Do you think he has the ability?

Isogai Rensuke took a deep breath and said:

"Yes, we do. We hope Your Excellency will grant our request."

He knew very well that if any other Japanese general had been in charge that night, they could not have done better than Seya Kei.

Before Terauchi Hisaichi could speak, Kawagishi Bunzaburo, commander of the 20th Division, said with considerable disdain in response to Isogai Rensuke's reply:

"We can't keep stumbling over the same stone twice. I think we should send our 20th Division. It's just a small county like Tengxian. We've even taken Taiyuan."

Kawagishi Bunzaburo was confident in this. Although his 20th Division was not one of the regular divisions, its combat strength was definitely not bad.

The reason why the Battle of Taiyuan ultimately failed was largely due to the fact that the Niangziguan line was breached by the troops of Kawagishi Bunzaburo, which led to Taiyuan being attacked from both sides by the Japanese army.

Isogai Rensuke said coldly:

"What? When your unit was fighting in Shanxi, did the enemy also engage you in combat with armored vehicles?"

Just as Kawagishi Bunzaburo was about to retort, Terauchi Hisaichi waved his hand and said:

"Alright, the task of attacking Tengxian will still be assigned to your 10th Division."

I'll assign you an additional tank regiment and three anti-tank companies.

Terauchi Hisaichi said, "Take Teng County within five days."

Otherwise, send the 20th Division to the front, and you can serve as reserves in the rear.

"Hai!!!"

Rensuke Isogai and Kei Seya answered almost simultaneously.

At noon that day, the main force of the Japanese army assembled in the Zoucheng area and launched another southward attack along the Jinpu Railway.

As the Japanese army concentrated its main force to move south, Li Jianghe's independent detachment also left Tengxian.

Meanwhile, the Sichuan Army originally stationed here was also rotated on this day and became a brigade of the Northwest Army.

The Sichuan Army suffered heavy losses and went to Xuzhou to rest and replenish its troops, while Li Jianghe's troops went into hiding on the edge of the Baodugu Mountain area.

The Japanese 10th Division was the main force of the attack, while the Japanese 20th Division was behind them.

The Northwest Army, which was stationed there, only resisted for two days before retreating south.

Standing on the city wall of Teng County, Isogai Rensuke and Seya Kei were not happy at all.

"Not the Sichuan Army?"

Isogai Rensuke asked.

"It's not Li Jianghe's independent third detachment either."

As Kei Seya said this, he felt somewhat depressed.

This victory brought him no joy. At this moment, all he wanted was to find Li Jianghe's troops again and fight them fair and square.

"Then let's continue south. Neither the Sichuan Army nor Li Jianghe will affect the overall situation."

What we need to do is to open up the entire Jinpu Railway.

"Isoya Rensuke said with an icy gaze."

"Hai."

As Seya Kei said this, he was thinking that Li Jianghe's troops had not suffered much loss in the last battle. As long as their troops continued to advance south along the Jinpu Railway, and even approached Xuzhou, as long as Li Jianghe's troops were still in the Fifth War Zone, they would definitely come out to fight them.

In the following three days, the Japanese 10th Division, after receiving reinforcements in equipment and firepower, advanced with unstoppable momentum, successively capturing Zaozhuang and Yixian, and its advance was close to Taierzhuang.

In Chenjiazhuang, south of Baodugu, at Li Jianghe's temporary command post, Long Wenzhang was reporting on the situation at the front.

"The Japanese are advancing at an extremely fast pace. They also have armored units, and they're quite large. Plus, the infantry are equipped with a lot of anti-tank guns. They're coming for us."

Long Wenzhang said with a worried expression.

Yang Ruifu pushed up his glasses and said:

"Yes, otherwise why would we need so many anti-tank guns? Does the Sichuan Army or the Northwest Army have tanks? Even Tang Enbo's Central Army doesn't have any."

Wang Dayong said in a Northeastern accent, cursing:

"Screw it, we're going to take down these bastards."

Lin Yongzhi then looked at Li Jianghe and said:

"Commander, when do we start the battle? The Japanese devils are about to attack Taierzhuang."

I don't think the Northwest Army can hold out much longer. The Japanese have an absolute advantage in both manpower and firepower compared to the Northwest Army.

Li Jianghe took a sip of tea before leisurely speaking:

"No rush, let's wait."

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