Chapter 234 Capture the Japanese Major General Brigade Commander alive! Baihuling, brigade headquarters. At this moment, there was a telephone on the table in the brigade office. Everyone in the brigade office was standing around the phone, not daring to make a sound. The brigade commander stood aside, smoking one cigarette after another. Although the brigade commander's face looked calm, judging from the way he smoked one cigarette after another, it was obvious that he was not as calm as he appeared to be. "Why hasn't the call come in after so long?" The brigade commander looked at his watch and spoke to the political commissar beside him. The political commissar listened to what the brigade commander said and smiled. “Brigade Commander, it’s only been eight hours, it’s only ten o’clock. The Fourth Brigade of the Japanese is still a brigade after all. Even though the Vanguard Regiment, the Independent Regiment, and the New First Regiment are powerful, it would be difficult to eliminate the Fourth Brigade of the Japanese within eight hours. "
"But what is certain is that the Japanese Fourth Brigade has become meat in the pot. They will not be able to escape. It is just a matter of time. At the latest, good news will come from the Vanguard Group at dawn." After listening to the political commissar's analysis, the brigade commander nodded in agreement. “Well, that’s the truth. At first I thought that even if we gathered so many troops, it would take at least three days to completely wipe out the Japanese 4th Brigade. I didn’t expect that we could eliminate the Japanese Fourth Brigade in just one day.” The brigade chief of staff listened to what the brigade commander said and spoke with a smile. "Commander, this is not your fault. There are so many of us. Who would have thought that the Japanese Fourth Brigade was not aware of the true strength of our Eighth Route Army?" The brigade commander initially thought that it would take three days to completely wipe out the Japanese Fourth Brigade. This was based on a comparison of the strength of the Japanese Fourth Brigade with that of the Eighth Route Army. Under normal circumstances, if the Japanese Fourth Brigade knew clearly the strength of the Eighth Route Army, they would have started building defensive fortifications as soon as they arrived at Tongshi Town. With the strength of the Japanese Fourth Brigade, it was not difficult to resist the attack of the Eighth Route Army. Even the vanguard regiment has strengthened its heavy artillery regiment and tank company. It would be somewhat difficult to completely wipe out the Japanese Fourth Brigade within three days. However, if the Japanese Fourth Brigade wanted to stop the Eighth Route Army's attack, they had to build defensive fortifications as a prerequisite. The brigade commander and others also made their estimates based on the fortifications built by the Japanese Fourth Brigade. But no one expected that the Japanese Fourth Brigade not only failed to build good fortifications, but also did not build any fortifications at all. Moreover, the real situation of the Eighth Route Army was not clear, which led to the 4th Brigade making wrong commands. Not only was there a big problem with the command of the 4th Brigade, but there were also problems with the command of the Taiyuan Command. The 9th and 11th Brigades, which were originally on the offensive, suddenly stopped their attack, which directly bought the Eighth Route Army more time to mobilize more troops for an ambush.
At the same time, it would also give the Eighth Route Army more time to dig trenches and prepare fortifications to resist the attacks of the Japanese 9th and 11th Brigades. Then, the 4th Brigade not only chose not to defend, but also launched an active attack. The defending side should have had the advantage, but the actions of the Japanese 4th Brigade directly caused the 4th Brigade to lose the defensive advantage it should have had. On the contrary, the Eighth Route Army, as the attacking party, gained a defensive advantage. Although the brigade commander had thought of these situations at first, he did not think that Pinglu Yongfu would be so stupid and would underestimate the enemy. This is what made the battle in Tongshi Town so magical. The original battle plan was to confront the Japanese during the day and not to launch a troop charge. Use mortars, grenade launchers and sniper rifles to consume as much manpower as possible of the Japanese Fourth Brigade. On the last night of the first day, the three main regiments all launched charge battles in an effort to compress the movement space of the Japanese Fourth Brigade as much as possible. During the day on the next day, all the Eighth Route Army soldiers consolidated their defense lines and resisted the Japanese attacks, preventing them from taking over their positions again. On the second night, they launched another attack to reduce the space for the Japanese 4th Brigade to move. Finally, the general attack was launched on the third night. Completely annihilate the Japanese Fourth Brigade. This was the attack plan that the brigade commander first came up with. It just gave Qin Yangming, Li Yunlong, Ding Wei and others the power to respond to changes in circumstances. If something went wrong, the three of them could discuss it together. After all, the situation on the battlefield changes rapidly. Once some other situation suddenly arises on the battlefield, it will be reported to the brigade headquarters, and then the brigade headquarters will issue orders. This will consume a lot of time. But the brigade commander really didn't expect that the general offensive, which was originally scheduled to be launched on the third day, was actually launched on the first day. So after learning that the Vanguard Regiment, the Independent Regiment, and the New 1st Regiment had launched a general offensive, the brigade commander put aside most of his tasks and waited for the call from the Vanguard Regiment. "Dingling bell~" The sudden phone call startled the entire brigade. "Hello, I'm the brigade commander!" The brigade commander answered the call as quickly as possible. "Brigade Commander, this is the Vanguard Regiment. The Vanguard Regiment, the Independent Regiment, and the New First Regiment have successfully joined forces. We have completely wiped out the Japanese Fourth Brigade, and the independent regiment commander Li Yunlong has captured the Japanese Fourth Brigade Major General Commander, Pinglu Yongfu alive!" Listening to what Qin Yangming said on the phone, the brigade commander didn't react for a moment and quickly asked. "What? What did you say? Who was captured alive?!" Seeing that the brigade commander suddenly became excited, the political commissar realized that the vanguard regiment must have captured a powerful guy, so he quickly moved closer to the phone to listen to what was going on.
The chief of staff beside him also bent down and put his head under the phone. The rest of the people in the brigade moved closer, not daring to make the slightest sound. "Brigade Commander, the commander of the Japanese Fourth Brigade, Pinglu Yongfu, has been captured alive!" "Our troops have successfully wiped out the Japanese Fourth Brigade. We have captured the Japanese Fourth Brigade's Major General Commander, Pinglu Yongfu, alive!" As Qin Yangming repeated himself, everyone in the brigade clearly heard what Qin Yangming said. After a moment's silence, cheers broke out in the brigade headquarters. "Bring Pinglu Yongfu to Baihu Ridge immediately, bring Pinglu Yongfu to me immediately!" After confirming that what Qin Yangming said was that Pinglu Yongfu had been captured, the brigade commander suppressed the excitement in his heart and gave orders to Qin Yangming in a trembling voice. This is probably the first time that a Japanese brigade commander, a major general, was captured alive! "Yes!" After hanging up the phone, the brigade commander could no longer suppress his inner excitement and burst into laughter. "Political Commissar, let's go and report the good news to the boss!" …… Early morning hours. Unlike the morale-boosted Eighth Route Army, the Japanese Taiyuan Headquarters was shrouded in dark clouds at this moment. Yoshio Shinozuka sat in his office, leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed, wondering what he was thinking about. On the desk in front of Yoshio Shinozuka, there was a piece of intelligence sent by the intelligence department. This information is not confidential, but it is very important to the Japanese. The information in the intelligence was none other than the report sent to the headquarters of the Second War Zone after the Eighth Route Army completely annihilated the Fourth Brigade. The 4th Brigade was completely wiped out by the Eighth Route Army, and the brigade commander Ping Lu Yongfu was captured alive by the Eighth Route Army. Yes, the news that the 4th Brigade was completely wiped out was not obtained by Yoshio Shinozuka. This is still information sent back by spies lurking in the Second War Zone. Yoshio Shinozuka couldn't understand why it would only take two days at most. Why couldn't the 4th Brigade, an entire field brigade, even hold out for two days? Strictly speaking, it couldn't even hold out for one day, and then it was completely wiped out by the Eighth Route Army. The commander of the 4th Brigade, Ping Lu Yongfu, was captured alive by the Eighth Route Army! "I don't understand why the Eighth Route Army is so powerful? Qingshui-kun, can you give me an explanation?" Yoshio Shinozuka opened his eyes again and cast his gaze towards the head of the intelligence department, Qingping Yi, who was standing in front of him. The news that the 4th Brigade was completely wiped out cannot be false. The Eighth Route Army never falsely reports its military achievements, and the fact that Pinglu Yongfu was captured alive cannot be faked. But at this point, Yoshio Shinozuka also understood that the 4th Brigade was definitely beyond salvation. What he needed to do now was to quickly get rid of the responsibility for the annihilation of the 4th Brigade and the loss of the Shangdang area. Yoshio Shinozuka already had a plan in mind, but he did not expect that the plan he left behind would actually need to be used.
So Yoshio Shinozuka directly called over the head of the intelligence department in Taiyuan, Colonel Kiyohira. Qing Shuiping, as the chief of Shanxi's intelligence department, is certainly not an idiot. After receiving the information that the 4th Brigade was completely wiped out by the Eighth Route Army and the commander of the 4th Brigade, Ping Lu Yongfu, was captured alive, Qing Shuiyi immediately realized that something was wrong. Yoshio Shinozuka first sent someone to ask him why there was no information on the Eighth Route Army's equipment, which led to the First Army making wrong commands. Then he brought him to the headquarters and forbade him to talk to anyone. After arriving at the headquarters, Qing Pingyi immediately understood that Shinozuka Yoshio was planning to put all the blame for the annihilation of the 4th Brigade and the loss of the Shangdang area on the intelligence department. But Qing Pingyi was unable to refute it. The combat effectiveness and equipment situation of the Eighth Route Army are indeed the tasks of the intelligence department. But now, because Yoshio Shinozuka misjudged the combat effectiveness and equipment situation of the Eighth Route Army, the 4th Brigade was completely wiped out and the brigade commander Pinglu Yongfu was captured alive. The intelligence department is not unrelated to this incident. It’s just a matter of who has a heavier responsibility and who has a lighter responsibility. As for who has a heavier responsibility, it depends on how Yoshio Shinozuka reports to his superiors. If you want to reduce the responsibility of the intelligence department, you have to see what benefits the intelligence department can give to Yoshio Shinozuka. If the intelligence department gave Yoshio Shinozuka enough benefits, then Yoshio Shinozuka would definitely not mind joining forces with Yoshio Iwamatsu and putting all the blame on the intelligence department. If the benefits offered by the intelligence department are sufficient, it is not impossible for Yoshio Shinozuka to join forces with the intelligence department and shift most of the responsibility to Yoshio Iwamatsu. At least, the responsibility for the annihilation of the 4th Brigade can be shifted to the officers' observation group. As for Yoshio Shinozuka, the most he was responsible for was poor command or command errors caused by intelligence issues. Now Yoshio Shinozuka has two ways of reporting. One possibility is that the intelligence provided by the intelligence department was incorrect, which led to Yoshio Shinozuka making a wrong judgment and thus losing the Shangdang area. At the same time, it caused the 4th Brigade to fall into the encirclement of the Eighth Route Army and was eventually wiped out by the Eighth Route Army. Another possibility is that the intelligence provided by the intelligence department was wrong, and the Eighth Route Army obtained a large amount of material support, but the intelligence department did not report it in time, resulting in the failure of Yoshio Shinozuka's plan to wipe out the main force of the Eighth Route Army in the Shangdang area. Yoshio Iwamatsu sent out an officers' observation group. In order to protect the officers' observation group, the 4th Brigade, which was attacking, had to give up the attack opportunity and instead welcome the officers' observation group, which eventually led to the loss of the attack opportunity. In addition, a large number of troops were withdrawn and a lot of time was consumed in order to welcome the officers' observation group, which led to the Eighth Route Army mobilizing heavy troops to surround the 4th Brigade and eventually wiped it out. There are two ways of reporting. The first is that all the responsibility lies with the intelligence department. The second is that most of the responsibility lies with Yoshio Iwamatsu. If Yoshio Iwamatsu had not sent out an officer observation group, the 4th Brigade would have withdrawn a large number of troops to meet the enemy and lost the opportunity to attack. Otherwise, Yoshio Shinozuka's plan might not have succeeded, but the 4th Brigade would definitely not have been completely wiped out by the Eighth Route Army. At this moment, Yoshio Shinozuka asked himself how to explain it, just to see how much benefit Shuiping was willing to give up. If the benefits handed over by Kiyohira cannot satisfy Yoshio Shinozuka, or are not higher than those of Yoshio Iwamatsu, then Yoshio Shinozuka will report according to the first situation. "Commander, regarding your question, I need to return to the intelligence department to gather information. I will be able to give you an answer soon." Qing Pingyi is just a colonel. Even if he is the head of the intelligence department of the Shanxi region, what benefits can he gain?
Therefore, the only person who could exchange interests with Yoshio Shinozuka was the chief of the intelligence department of the North China Front Army. He was not qualified enough to be Qing Pingyi, so Qing Pingyi asked Yoshio Shinozuka to agree to let him leave temporarily. Of course, when I left, I didn't go to look up information, but to report the matter to my superiors and see what they said. Listening to what Kiyohira said, Yoshio Shinozuka nodded. "Yoshi, Qingshui-kun, hurry up. I will report this incident to the North China Front Army by ten o'clock at the latest." Yoshio Shinozuka agreed to let Qing Shuiping go back to prepare the materials, and at the same time gave a time limit. If there was no result before ten o'clock, he, Yoshio Shinozuka, would report it directly. After listening to what Yoshio Shinozuka said, Qing Pingyi stopped talking nonsense and turned around and left the headquarters. When Yoshio Shinozuka saw Kiyohime leave, he immediately picked up the phone. "To the North China Front Command, I'm Shinozuka Yoshio. Let Iwamatsu Yoshio answer the call." (End of this chapter)