July 1st.

With the unremitting efforts of about 300,000 people from the 5th Army, the 14th Army, the 17th Army, the 76th Army, and the 90th Army, the national army finally pushed the front to the outskirts of Taiyuan.

With the cooperation of Zhu Ergou and Gao Quan's two artillery regiments, the national army captured many positions outside Taiyuan City, and the most violent attacking troops had already reached the outside of the city wall.

Seeing that the opportunity to regain Taiyuan was right in front of them, the morale of the national army's troops was high, and there was a strong momentum.

Behind the scenes, major newspapers including the JoongAng Ilbo reported on the battle situation on the front line continuously.

It has been two years since the all-out war between China and Japan. Will Taiyuan be the first provincial capital city that the Chinese army takes the initiative to recapture?

This question affects everyone's heart, and countless eyes are looking at the land of Jinzhong.

Although the situation on the front line looks good to the outside world, in the eyes of Chairman Bai Jiansheng, Hu Zongnan and others, the advantage of the national army is gradually shrinking, and the prospect of the battle is worrying.

This is because reinforcements from the Japanese North China Front are already approaching the battlefield, including a heavy artillery brigade, a cavalry brigade, an independent mixed brigade, an independent guard brigade and the 41st Division.

Nearly 50,000 Japanese troops attacked Taiyuan from three directions.

You must know that in the previous days of fighting, only about 10,000 little Japanese fought against the 300,000-strong National Army in the Taiyuan area.

The defensive strength of about 10,000 troops blocked the 300,000-strong army for four days.

Now that 50,000 people have arrived all of a sudden, Wei Junru and other senior frontline commanders are starting to get a little worried.

The first problem to arise was with the five divisions of the Shanxi-Sui Army near Xinkou.

The fighting will of these five divisions was not resolute, and they did not make any progress during the confrontation with the 41st Division.

In five or six days, the task of cutting off the Tongpu railway line was not completed, and their own casualties exceeded 3,000.

Yan Xishan, who was far away in Shaanxi, was hesitant. He wanted Taiyuan but also wanted to preserve his strength.

Time delayed again and again, and finally the fighter plane was missed.

Seeing the Japanese reinforcements coming in force, on July 1, without notifying the Chairman, Yan Xishan ordered the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army to retreat.

It would be okay if all five divisions were withdrawn, but what is annoying is that the Jinsui Army lost at least one division on the way back.

More than 5,000 people were trapped in a desperate situation and became prisoners of the 41st Division.

The Japanese troops in the direction of Xinkou were completely freed from containment, and reinforcements from all directions quickly marched towards Taiyuan along roads and railways.

After such a situation occurred, the Chairman of the Generalissimo immediately ordered the 90th Army to rush to Xiangyang and other places north of Taiyuan to garrison.

Among the 17th Army, apart from the First Army, which is known as the best army in the world, the 90th Army has the strongest combat effectiveness, the best equipment and the best quality of its soldiers.

The entire army has three divisions, six brigades, and 12 regiments, with a total strength of nearly 30,000.

The Japs are coming with force, and there is also a heavy artillery brigade to provide fire support.

The 90th Army's march north to stop the attack was met with misfortune.

These are the assets that Hu Zongnan spent a lot of effort to accumulate. He was originally unwilling to let the 90th Army take risks, but the Chairman insisted on doing so, and Hu Zongnan had nothing to do.

In the Chairman's eyes, Jiangdong was on the Eastern Front, and he was not worried at all.

As long as the 90th Army can keep the Japanese north of Taiyuan, the recovery of Taiyuan is likely to become a reality.

The people across the country and the international community are paying attention to this battle. In order to win, what does a mere 90th Army mean?

…

On the Japanese side, two airports were destroyed and all aircraft were lost.

After severely reprimanding Sugiyama Gen, the base camp tried every means to replenish the North China Front with aircraft.

Some air fleets from North Korea, the mainland, South China and other places have been transferred to the North China Front. Although the Japanese Army has moved very quickly, after all, the distance between these places is far, and it may take a few days for the aircraft to enter the battle.

Even without air support, Sugiyama Moto ordered all troops to attack with all their might.

The Chinese army has already reached the city wall of Taiyuan, and will take one step forward to enter the city.

Sugiyama Moto still remembers Kasahara Yukio’s analysis at the beginning of the war:

Both the Soviet Union and Germany were paying attention to this battle, and the outcome of the battle was likely to affect the conclusion of the Germany-Japan alliance treaty.

For this reason, Sugiyama Yuan did not allow the Chinese army to attack Taiyuan, not even to take a step into the city.

He wanted to use the most decisive victory to show the absolute strength of the Japanese Army to those watching.

He wants to tell the international community:

"China can't hold on much longer, and Japan will definitely win the complete victory in the Sino-Japanese War!"

At the moment the counterattack came, all Japanese troops received death orders:

"Defeat the enemy in front of you and rush to Taiyuan at all costs!"

After being suppressed and beaten for more than half a month, now it was time to feel proud and proud, so Sugiyama Gen gave it a try.

…

The Japanese troops east of Niangziguan are gathering more and more.

In addition to the two brigades that arrived first, the 80th Regiment of the 4th Division also arrived. More than 6,000 little Japs gathered at the foot of Snowflake Mountain.

The 6,000 little Japs were no match for the Jiangdong troops. They did not rush to attack, but continued to stay where they were, waiting for the arrival of follow-up reinforcements.

In the Dongyangguan area on the southern line, in addition to Jiangdong's Second Division, there are also the 22nd Division and the 24th Division belonging to the 14th Group Army.

The three divisions had absolute terrain advantages, and the fourth division's attack could not gain any advantage and gradually died down.

The little devil stopped moving, but Li Zhaoying and Wang Laohu started to move.

The two regiments of the 2nd Division crossed the mountains and ridges, bypassed the front of the battlefield, and moved to the two wings of the 4th Division, assuming a posture of annihilating the 4th Division.

Although Sawada Shigeru knew that the Chinese were definitely bluffing, the reputation of the Kodong team was so great that he did not dare to be careless.

As a result, the two regiments that originally planned to go north to support Niangziguan were dragged back in Henan by Li Zhaoying and Wang Laohu.

As the war subsided, the commercial cells carried in the bodies of the soldiers of the Fourth Division since birth began to become active.

Song Li, Director of the Military Intelligence Department, personally contacted the Fourth Division.

This time he proposed a barter transaction method.

After all, Jiang Dong didn't have much gold and silver in his hands, so he could save a fortune.

The Fourth Division exchanged grain or ordnance for Jiangjun brand cigarettes produced in Jincheng.

Cigarettes are hard currency on the battlefield, and the Jiangjun brand cigarettes are of high quality and have a unique taste, so the two sides hit it off immediately.

…

While the bloody battle was going on in the front, Xie Chengrui, Wang Liang, Wang Xueqin, Qi Zhemao and others in the rear were also not idle.

The work assigned by Jiangdong is being implemented bit by bit.

The militia systems in Xiangyuan, Licheng, Pingshun, Wuxiang and other places are under intensive preparation.

The recruitment and training of new recruits has never stopped.

Weapons factories, civilian factories... are processing additional production.
Chapter completed!