Lieutenant General Iida still had a glimmer of hope, but he was slapped in the face the next day. The guerrilla column surrounded the city of Jinan, using a strategy of surrounding three sides and leaving one side open, leaving only one way out in the north.

“Damn it, Yue Qianli has a very bad conscience. Although the north side looks like a way out, it is actually a trap.
This is a psychological tactic of the Chinese people, I won’t be fooled!”

Although the main force of the guerrilla column was already at the gates of the city, Lieutenant General Iida was still as stubborn as a dead duck. Major General Kobayashi could only persuade him:
“Commander, a gentleman does not stand under a wall. The defense of Jinan City is too weak. The guerrilla column has a large number of artillery. Once a full-scale attack is launched, the city’s troops will not be able to hold out for a few days.
I suggest that we should send troops to reinforce Jinan. The closest to Jinan is the 21nd Infantry Regiment of the 62st Infantry Division. As long as they withdraw to Jinan, the guerrillas will naturally retreat. “

Lieutenant General Iida pretended to think for a moment and then said:

“Xiaolin-kun, let’s do as you say!

Telegraph order to the 21nd Regiment of the 62st Division to immediately abandon the raid on the guerrillas and return to Jinan City to provide support.

Chief of Staff Kobayashi then breathed a sigh of relief. The 62nd Regiment was only 30 kilometers away from Jinan City and could arrive within days after receiving the order. There would be no problem for Jinan City to hold out until reinforcements arrived.

Luzhong Military Sub-district, Huangtu Town

The 62nd Regiment had been devastated by the guerrillas. Although they successfully captured Huangtu Town, it was an empty town and the results were minimal.

The commander of the regiment, Colonel Yasutomi Sawada, was considering whether to split up the troops to carry out various mopping-up operations. The senior staff officer, Major Masaya Nakano, hurried in and reported:
“Your Excellency, Commander, an urgent message from the division headquarters!”

Sawada Yasutomi took it and looked at it quickly. His face turned very ugly, but this was an order from the headquarters, so he could not bargain. He immediately said to Major Nakano:
“Mr. Nakano, gather the troops immediately and rush to Jinan to help. Let’s burn Huangtu Town and let the Chinese know the consequences of offending the Imperial Army!”

Lieutenant Colonel Nakano took the order and left. Not long after, the Japanese had assembled and thick smoke rose from the town.
The cruel Japanese devils set fire to Huangtu Town. This ancient town with hundreds of years of history was engulfed in flames. The raging fire almost burned the sky red and could be seen from dozens of miles away.

“The Japs are trying to escape! These bastards don’t take our Luzhong Military Region seriously!

Although I can’t swallow you in one gulp, I will make you lose a layer of skin even if I don’t die.”

Li Jie, commander of the Luzhong Military Sub-district, said with gritted teeth that Huangtu Town was an important economic town that they had focused on building, and now it was burned down by the Zetian Baofu League. Naturally, he would not tolerate this evil.

This was especially true for several team leaders, who all shouted that they wanted to settle accounts with the Japanese and their morale was high.

Li Jie looked around and said:
“The main force’s siege of Jinan City has shown its effectiveness. The 62nd Regiment is going to reinforce Jinan City.
On the one hand, we must use harassment warfare to delay the Japanese, and on the other hand, report the Japanese movements to the headquarters and wait for the headquarters’ instructions to avoid disrupting the headquarters’ plans. “

Everyone responded and became excited when the topic of fighting the Japanese was mentioned. They were rubbing their hands and were eager to surround and devour the Japanese.

The Japanese reaction was quickly reported to the column headquarters. Yue Qianli responded quickly and decided to concentrate the main forces of the third and fourth detachments to encircle and annihilate the 62nd Infantry Regiment and completely smash the Japanese raid.

Yue Qianli’s tiger body trembled and said:

“Comrades, the Japs’ raids are coming with great force, and we must be tough with them, and strike them with one blow before a hundred blows come;

This time we’re going to hit them hard and completely wipe out the 62nd Infantry Regiment!

If the devil still doesn’t understand, we will take over Jinan and capture old devil Iida alive!”

Yue Qianli’s heroic spirit infected everyone, and the fourth team leader Wang Jianmin immediately stood up and said:
“Old Yue, if you didn’t have to keep a low profile, taking Jinan wouldn’t be a big deal;
I heard that there are several months’ worth of war supplies piled up in Jinan City for tens of thousands of people. It’s just the right time to grab them and arm the masses. That old devil Iida is using them as a sacrifice!”

Duan Yulin, captain of the third detachment, also stood up to express his agreement. The two detachments together had more than ten thousand main forces, and one 62nd Regiment could not satisfy his appetite.

Zhu Chi, the captain of the first team, also stood up and said:
“The main force of our First Detachment will launch a full-scale attack on the Jiangsu section of the Jinpu Road and Xuzhou City to contain the 12th Division, another main force of the 114th Army;

At present, the 12th Independent Mixed Brigade of the 5th Army is stationed in Qingdao, and the 6th, 10th Brigades and 21st Division have all penetrated deep into the heart of the base area and cannot be assembled for the time being.

The 62nd Infantry Regiment rushed to Jinan to provide assistance. This is the best time to surround and attack the reinforcements. As long as the 62nd Infantry Regiment is annihilated, the Japanese will have to end this mopping-up operation if they do not want to lose Jinan. “

Yue Qianli deeply agreed with the opinions of several old brothers, and the others looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to make a big decision.

Yue Qianli did not keep the secret and said directly:
“Comrades, it is better not to eat the big piece of fat meat of Jinan than to eat it, just like it is better to leave the sword of Damocles hanging in the air than to cut it off;

As long as Jinan is there, we can use it to our advantage at any time. We can attack the enemy’s point and then surround and attack its reinforcements.

Jinan is a huge burden for the devils, and it is better for them to carry it than for us, so the core of this counter-mopping-up operation is to encircle and annihilate the 62nd Regiment;

At the same time, all units should be prepared to block reinforcements. During the period when the main force is encircling and annihilating the 62nd Regiment, each unit must perform its duties and absolutely not let a single enemy soldier into the main battlefield, at any cost! “

After Yue Qianli finished speaking, he exuded a domineering aura. Everyone stood up and expressed their determination to complete the task.

Then Chief of Staff Chen Zhongyuan read out the specific combat plan and clarified the division of labor among various departments. The guerrilla column’s war machine began to operate efficiently again. This time the target was the 62nd Infantry Regiment and even the 21st Infantry Division.

步兵第21师团是38年在金泽组建的三单位警备师团，属于丙级师团，下辖步兵62、82、83联队，以及炮兵、工兵、辎重第21联队、骑兵第21大队，总兵力约1.6万人；

The 62nd Infantry Regiment consisted of three infantry battalions and a field artillery company, with a total of more than 3 people, but only a dozen artillery pieces, which was very different from the regiments of the A-class divisions.

After burning down Huangtu Town, Sawada Yasutomi turned around and rushed to Jinan City for support. He was constantly harassed by guerrillas along the way, which gave Sawada Yasutomi a headache.

Although the guerrillas who harassed them were dressed in rags and had low combat effectiveness, they maintained the utmost restraint and focused on dispersing them without getting too entangled.

The guerrillas seemed unable to stop them and could only delay the actions of the Japanese. This greatly contributed to their arrogance and they did not take the guerrillas seriously at all.

In their view, not to mention a regiment, even a battalion can move sideways, coming and going as they please. Under the guidance of this idea, the 62nd Regiment returned to Jinan very quickly, and Sawada Yasutomi also wanted to show himself well in front of the commander, Lieutenant General Iida.

Gudao Valley, where the guerrilla column was ambushing, more than 62 Japanese soldiers from the 3nd Regiment marched in a mighty force. The search squadron was responsible for clearing the way, followed by the 1st and 2nd Infantry Battalions.

Next came the artillery squadron, the regiment headquarters, and the 3rd Infantry Battalion, which used a long snake formation, with each battalion arranged in four neat columns.

The distance between battalions was 200 meters, and between squadrons was 50 meters. The marching column was several kilometers long.
Behind enemy lines, a regiment is invincible. In the ancient road valley, the Japanese are still carefree and act as if they are in an empty land.

Gudao Valley is the only way to Jinan. It is named after the ancient Chidao Road leading to Jinan. On both sides of the valley are continuous mountains, winding for more than ten kilometers.

The widest part of the valley is about 1.5 kilometers, and the narrowest part is less than 500 meters. The terrain in the valley is flat, which is very suitable for marching.

After the main force of the Japanese invaders entered the valley, Sawada Yasutomi realized that there was something else inside the valley. He couldn’t help but say in a boastful manner:
“Mr. Nakano, this is a deadly place. If the guerrilla column is determined enough, they can send out powerful troops to block the passages in front and behind.

Then the main force launched an attack from both sides, and the Imperial Army was in danger. Unfortunately, Yue Qianli did not have the courage to do so, and they did not have the strength to surround and kill an entire regiment of the Imperial Army.”

Senior staff officer Major Nakano said in a playful tone:

“Your Excellency the commander of the regiment is right. To encircle and annihilate a regiment of the Imperial Army, even if it is the main force of the Chinese Central Army, it would require an army.

The guerrilla column did not have this strength, so they just took advantage of the opportunity when the main force of the Imperial Army went to the countryside to sweep the city and surrounded Jinan.

Although they came with great momentum and seemed to be ready to capture Jinan City, they were actually attacking Wei to save Zhao, with the goal of forcing the imperial army to withdraw from its base.
Therefore, I judge that their siege of Jinan is fake, and the rescue of the base is real. As long as the imperial army successfully passes through the ancient valley and appears outside Jinan, the guerrillas besieging Jinan will scatter like birds and beasts, and the first charge of the rescue commander must be the commander of the brigade. “

After hearing this, Sawada Yasutomi couldn’t help but smile triumphantly. He thought so too. This was equivalent to giving him merit, so he said in high spirits:
“Mr. Nakano, you overestimate the guerrillas, a bunch of ragtag men. They don’t even have a set of uniforms.
It’s ok for them to play dirty tricks, but do they dare to touch the tiger’s butt of the imperial army? “

“Dare you? I’m really looking forward to your arrival!”

After saying this, Colonel Sawada could not help but roar to the sky. He was extremely arrogant, just like a certain white-faced hero.

“fire!”

The front-line commander, Wang Jianfei, could not tolerate the existence of such powerful devils, and immediately ordered his troops to open fire.

Hundreds of artillery pieces from the artillery battalions directly under the 3rd and 4th detachments launched a devastating artillery attack on the Japanese from the forward artillery positions two kilometers away;

Rows of shells fell into the group of Japanese soldiers as if they had eyes, blowing them upside down and forcing them to flee in panic. Colonel Sawada even exclaimed:

“Enemy attack, quickly seize the commanding heights on the left wing, kill the chicken!”

Colonel Sawada was very experienced in the battlefield. He did not choose the easiest frontal attack or U-turn to break out, but concentrated his forces to fight with the guerrillas for the commanding heights on the left wing.

As long as they could break through the seemingly dangerous commanding heights, the entire line would be broken. This was the only chance for the 62nd Regiment.

Driven by officers at all levels, hundreds of Japanese soldiers fearlessly rushed to the unnamed high ground on the left wing. The battalion guarding the high ground was not afraid, but excited. The captain even shouted:
“Brothers, kill the devils!”

As soon as he finished speaking, hundreds of light and heavy machine guns stationed on the high ground opened fire on the Japanese. Thousands of bullets rolled towards the Japanese like a torrential rain, killing them like ghosts and howling like wolves.
The hillside was covered with piles of corpses, and it looked like shit-yellow all around, which was very relaxing.

Colonel Sawada had never seen such fierce firepower, which was not inferior to the main force of the Japanese army, and they used their standard weapons;
The Type 92 heavy machine gun, the Taisho 11th-year light machine gun, the Type 38 rifle, the Type 10 grenade launcher, the melon grenade, and even the Type 92 infantry gun and the small steel cannon and other heavy firepower made it a completely different group of “devils”.

“Bakayalu, where did they get so many imperial weapons?
A bunch of rubbish, don’t you have the time to destroy your weapons and equipment?”

“Sir, the situation is critical. Should we destroy the flag and then ask the commander for tactical guidance?”

Major Nakano’s words made Colonel Sawada even more furious. He slapped him twice and cursed:
“Bakayalu, this has just begun, it’s too early to destroy the military flag!
Tell the warriors that the time has come to serve the Emperor faithfully, and if they fail, they will die;
The Chinese are all paper tigers, charge forward and kill them all! “

Colonel Sawada was driven crazy. He had no way out and the only option was to break through the commanding heights at any cost.

The devils seemed to realize this, and they rushed to the commanding heights fearlessly, pinning all their hopes on it.
Under the overwhelming attack of the Japanese’s superior forces, the defenders’ defense line began to crumble. Seeing that the Japanese had exhausted all their strength, Wang Jianfei ordered the charge to be blown and all troops to march out.

Just as the Japs were fighting desperately, Wang Jianfei finally issued the order for a general attack. Rows of soldiers rushed out from the ditches and gullies, launching an impact like the Yellow River flooding at the Japs in the encirclement;
The Japanese soldier who was blocking the front was crushed into pieces. Only then did Major Sawada begin to feel a little scared and immediately ordered a retreat, but it was too late!
The Japanese soldiers in the pocket formation failed to break through the defenders’ defense line after several attempts. They became more and more desperate and their morale plummeted.

Even if the Japanese in other areas were included, they would still be helpless. Breaking out would be impossible, and it would only increase casualties and be meaningless.

“Kill the chicken and give it to me!”

The Japanese had already accepted the reality. After making a difficult decision, Colonel Sawada ordered the urgent burning of the military flag and then launched a desperate charge in an attempt to break out of the encirclement.

At this time, the main force besieging the Sawada Regiment reached 10,000 people, with nearly 100 artillery pieces of various types. The two sides were not on the same level at all;

This encirclement and annihilation battle lost its suspense from the very beginning. The 62nd Regiment was doomed since they entered the Gudao Valley. It was only a matter of time before they were completely annihilated.

In Jinan City, at the 12th Army Headquarters, Major General Iida angrily yelled:
“Bagayalu, what a bunch of rubbish! Since when did the Empire’s main regiment not dare to go to the countryside to conduct a sweep?
Order them to rush to the ancient valley for help immediately, or they will die!”

(End of this chapter)