12dz Chapter 458 Cutting off Railway and Air Transport
Chapter 458 Cutting off Railway and Air Transport
The train driver wiped his sweat. The expected explosion did not happen. He could now breathe a sigh of relief.
Just as he took out a cigarette, put it in his lips, and prepared to calm down.
A ball of fire rose in front of him.
"It's just a cigarette, do you need such a big fire?"
The train and the bridge were engulfed in thick smoke and flames, and the long carriages behind the locomotive were overturned.
The explosion of the bomb caused the ammunition in the carriage to detonate, and a mushroom cloud of moderate size rose up.
Wei Dayong saw through the telescope that the tattered locomotive fell from the broken bridge into the creek, splashing a large amount of water, and the rails were like twisted wires, randomly placed on the roadbed.
A warrior covered in water appeared in front of him, laughing.
"It's so cool to jump into the water on such a hot day!"
Wei Dayong patted him on the shoulder and said, "When Commander Li rewards me with two bottles of Fenjiu, I'll give you one!"
"Hey, thank you, Captain!"
"withdraw!"
Wei Dayong, along with more than twenty soldiers, disappeared again into the endless mountains and forests.
Raids like this occurred continuously on the Ping-Sui Line.
Lieutenant General Saeki Fumio, commander of the 26th Division in Datong, looked at the counties and strongholds that were constantly being marked with red flags on the sand table, and his face looked uglier than if his father had died.
"Datong is about to be surrounded. Where are the weapons, ammunition, medicine and food?"
The chief of staff remained silent for a long time. Only when Fumio Saeki questioned him with a trembling mouth did he open his mouth.
"General, the military train carrying supplies was ambushed. There is very little supplies left, almost no rice! Moreover, many parts of the railway were damaged, and the Pingsui Line was paralyzed!"
On the eve of the war, Zuo Bowenlang had studied the battles of Yuncheng, Linfen and Taiyuan in detail and summed up his experience, which was:
It's impossible to defend it!
The artillery of an armored division of the independent column is comparable to that of their artillery division, not to mention that they have seven armored divisions, while the 26th Division has only one field artillery regiment, the 11th.
The entire field artillery regiment had only 36 field guns and 12 mountain guns, which was really not enough firepower.
Fumio Saeki asked Okamura Yasuji for support many times, but his response was always to wait a little longer. As for what he was waiting for, he didn't know.
"How is Datong Airport? Is it still in our hands?"
"General, it is still in our hands. I am curious, the independent column has an overwhelming air superiority, but why don't they bomb the airport?"
Fumio Saeki sneered twice. He certainly knew the intention of the independent column.
"Humph, they just want to occupy the airport and claim it as their own!"
"A bunch of robbers!"
But Fumio Saeki did not realize that they were the real robbers.
"Immediately request the Imperial Air Force to deliver supplies to our unit via Datong Airport. I'm afraid we won't be able to hold out until reinforcements arrive!"
Neiji Okamura never expected that his vicious "human shield plan" would be resolved like this.
In the short term, materials cannot be effectively and quickly transported to Datong via rail.
"Then use air transport to transport the supplies to Datong! Remember, be sure to avoid the planes of the Independent Column!"
However, no matter how good the Japanese did their confidentiality work, they could not escape the eyes of ground radar.
As soon as the Japanese's twelve planes entered the airspace over Shanxi, they were attacked by the Hellcats hiding in the clouds above.
In less than ten minutes, six escorting fighters and six transport planes were eliminated.
It was completely dark and Fumio Saeki crumpled up the telegram into a ball.
Datong’s connections to the east had been completely cut off, and the vanguard of the independent column was only four hours away from Datong.
If they were to stay in Datong City, they would only die. Without independent columns to attack and without supplies, their fighting spirit would be particularly weak.
There were only two options before Okamura Neiji and Saeki Fumio:
One is to abandon Datong, preserve the manpower, and wait for the arrival of the 30th Army of the Kwantung Army to launch a counterattack together.
The second option was to continue to hold on, fight to the death with the independent column, and then disappear in northern Shanxi along with the city of Datong.
Okamura Neiji ultimately chose the second plan because he believed that the 30th Army would reach Datong before the city was captured.
Moreover, he has more than just the 26th Division at his disposal.
Fumio Saeki reluctantly accepted Okamura Yasuji's order and began to command all the Japanese soldiers to enter Datong City.
Datong, formerly known as "Yunzhong" and "Pingcheng", is located at the junction of Shanxi, Hebei and Inner Mongolia. It is the barrier of the entire Shanxi Province and the gateway to the north. It has been a battleground for military strategists throughout the dynasties and is known as the "key to the north".
Datong City is located in the Datong Basin, with Yinshan Mountain and Mongolian Plateau in the north, Yanshan Mountain and Taihang Mountain in the east, Hengshan Mountain and Luliang Mountain in the south, and the Yellow River in the west. If Datong is lost, it can go directly to Yanmen Pass in the south and Juyong Pass in the east.
Similarly, as long as the independent column can capture Datong, it can pry open the door to Hebei and Mongolia.
Similarly, as long as the Japanese held Datong, the armored group that the independent column was proud of would only be able to wander around Shanxi.
Therefore, this battle is of great significance!
In order to ensure that supplies could be transported to Datong after the war broke out, Fumio Saeki ordered the 11th and 12th Independent Infantry Regiments, the 11th Independent Field Artillery Regiment, the 26th Engineer Regiment, and the 26th Light and Heavy Infantry Regiment to all enter Huairen.
The 13th Independent Infantry Regiment and other division-affiliated units remained in Datong City.
Huairen is located in the south of Datong, with Wuzhou Mountain to the west and Hengshan Mountain to the east. Huairen is the only way to Datong.
The 26th Division had been deeply rooted in Datong for many years and had already built numerous permanent facilities on the high ground of the two mountains. In the Huairen city area in the middle, a number of trenches and even many anti-tank cones were also constructed.
These anti-tank cones were specially prepared for the armored division of the independent column.
The 11th Regiment entered the Wuzhou Mountain position in the west, and the 12th Regiment entered the Hengshan position in the east.
The 11th Field Artillery Regiment and puppet troops of the Datong Security Army were distributed in the Huairen urban area.
In short, Fumio Saeki did not expect to completely wipe out the armored division of the Independent Column in Huairen, but instead attempted to consume these 8,000 Japanese soldiers and 5,000 puppet troops to block the armored torrent of the Independent Column for ten days.
Because, in five days, even if the 30th Army came from Zhangjiakou, they should have arrived!
What's more, there are the 4th Tank Division and the 5th Tank Division, which have also arrived in Zhangjiakou. Four wheels are faster!
Fumio Saeki looked at the starry sky and could only pray to his Amaterasu to bless them, the group of sheep nailed to death here.