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

Chapter 206 The Corps Commander's Unpredictable Nature, Sun Lianzhong's Troubles

After all, Yaoli Town was in the rear of the Japanese army, and the Third Motorized Infantry Detachment had just experienced a fierce battle. The Japanese army must have been on high alert, and his concerns were not unfounded.

But Li Jianghe asked confidently, "Guess what Ogisu Ritsuhei and Iida Sadako are thinking right now?"

Yang Ruifu pondered for a moment, then suddenly realized, "They must be thinking that with the northern front under attack, the pressure on the southern front will be greatly reduced, and they would love for our armored forces to be entangled with the Sixth and Tenth Divisions on the northern front."

"This way, they can seize the opportunity to make a breakthrough at Fujin Mountain!"

"Exactly!"

Li Jianghe lightly tapped the table and said with a firm tone:

"Therefore, the Japanese army's main attention is definitely focused on Fujin Mountain. They have no idea that we have two targets to attack tonight, and they are even more than a hundred miles apart."

This is an extreme level of maneuverability that only mechanized forces can achieve.

As for the Japanese army, Li Jianghe was certain that their thinking was still stuck in the infantry combat model.

This kind of ingrained mindset cannot be quickly changed simply by possessing advanced weaponry.

Just as the Germans later launched a blitzkrieg and quickly destroyed Poland, the French still clung to the trench warfare mentality of World War I, attempting to use the Maginot Line to resist the German armored forces.

While the Germans were boldly penetrating deep into enemy territory with their tanks, the French were still holding their strong defensive lines, assuming that the Germans would, like in World War I, foolishly line up and charge at their machine gun bunkers and dense trenches.

Yang Ruifu slapped his forehead, finally understanding Li Jianghe's intentions completely, and a look of admiration appeared on his face.

"Commander, your strategy is brilliant! This way, the Japanese troops in Yaoli Town will be completely unprepared!"

The order was quickly issued via radio.

Wang Dayong, far away in Longtan Town, was not surprised at all upon receiving Li Jianghe's telegram. On the contrary, he was filled with excitement and couldn't help but exclaim:

"That's some serious skill! Our corps commander is truly something else! That feint attack was executed flawlessly!"

After his initial reflection, he immediately and decisively carried out the combat orders.

The Third Motorized Infantry Detachment split into two groups:

Acting as a diversionary force, they turned on their headlights and swaggered towards the Shi River, deliberately leaving obvious marching tracks to attract the attention of the Japanese troops on the northern front, making them mistakenly believe that the entire mechanized unit was about to cross the Shi River and return to the west bank.

Meanwhile, the main force of the motorized infantry detachment, under the cover of darkness, turned off all their vehicle lights and sped south towards Yaoli Town.

Inside the joint command post of the Japanese 6th and 10th Divisions.

Upon seeing the telegram announcing the retreat of the supply corps from Longtan Town, Yoshio Shinotsuka slammed his hand on the table in anger and roared:

"Cowards! Utter cowards! What are the Qingtian Brigade doing? Retreating like this?!"

Aota's supply regiment belonged to his 10th Division.

Now, seeing his troops so easily defeated in front of the Sixth Division, he felt utterly humiliated.

However, the commander of the 6th Division, Hisao Tani, had no time to mock or ridicule Yoshio Shinotsuka.

Because the infantry regiment that came to his aid belonged to the 6th Division, it was overwhelmed by the enemy's armored forces in half an hour, suffering heavy casualties, and he was equally ashamed.

Tani Hisao cleared his throat, then changed the subject, saying in a serious tone, "The deed has already been done."

There's no use talking about this now; the most urgent thing is to find a way to make amends.

As he spoke, he handed over a telegram that he had just received:

"Our reconnaissance troops discovered traces of enemy armored forces on the banks of the Shi River. They are crossing the Shi River and returning to the west bank."

"I suggest we immediately dispatch tank units to pursue them, to entangle these enemy troops as much as possible, and see if there's any chance of keeping them on the east bank!"

Yoshio Shinotsuka gripped the telegram from the front lines, tapped his fingertips heavily on the mark of Shikawa on the map, and said in a deep voice, "Agreed!"

On the banks of the Shi River, the Japanese tank units received orders, and their engines roared deafeningly.

The tracks rolled over the country dirt road, kicking up clouds of dust as it sped toward the riverbank.

But before they even reached the riverbank, they ran into a "gift" left behind by the Third Column—anti-tank mines.

With a deafening roar, the lead tank was instantly paralyzed, its tracks shattered into pieces, and the vehicle burst into flames.

The following tank units were forced to stop abruptly, completely disrupting the pace of the pursuit.

These landmines were specifically designed to slow down the advance of Japanese armored forces.

Meanwhile, this detachment of the Third Motorized Infantry Detachment had already crossed the Shi River and returned to the east bank by taking advantage of the pontoon bridge that had been built in advance.

Instead of returning to Fujinshan, they followed Li Jianghe's orders and headed north into Gushi County to join forces with Chifengcheng's Northwest Army to assist in the defense.

Li Jianghe knew very well that once Gushi was captured by the Japanese army, the 71st Army in the direction of Fujinshan would be attacked from both sides and the pressure would increase sharply, which was definitely not the situation he wanted to see.

What he wanted was to keep the main force of the Japanese army firmly tied down along the Gushi and Fujinshan line, so that he could lead his main force to carry out major operations behind the enemy lines.

Inside the headquarters of the Second Army Group, Sun Lianzhong paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back. His military boots made a dull thud on the floor, and he was extremely anxious.

Chief of Staff Wang Yaoyi rubbed his bloodshot eyes and said helplessly, "Commander-in-Chief, can you take a break? You've been pacing around like this, and my eyes are starting to hurt."

Sun Lianzhong abruptly stopped, glared at him, and said anxiously, "Stop? The Gushi defense line is at risk of being breached by the Japanese at any moment, and the war zone command can't spare any reinforcements. How can I not be worried?"

Wang Yaoyi looked at the battle map on the table and tentatively suggested, "How about we call Jiang He? His Third Column is an armored unit, so they can provide support quickly. If they can go north to support Gushi, they can definitely stop the Japanese frontal offensive."

But Sun Lianzhong immediately rejected these words.

He waved his hand and said in a deep voice, "Have you forgotten what Li Jianghe said at the meeting that day? His troops were going to launch a surprise attack on the Japanese flank and rear."

"If we're deployed to the front lines for defense and get bogged down by the Japanese, how can we leverage the mobility advantage of our armored units?"

At this point, he looked in the direction of Gushi, sighed heavily, and said in a tone full of helplessness:

"Now I can only hope that Chi Fengcheng can lead our Northwest Army to create another miracle."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the phone on the table suddenly rang urgently.

Wang Yaoyi quickly stepped forward to answer the call, and Chi Fengcheng's loud voice immediately came through the receiver.

His heart sank. He thought to himself, "Oh no, they're definitely coming to ask for reinforcements again."

But now that Sun Lianzhong has even sent out his own guard regiment, where are there any extra troops to deploy?