The father of the sword is Kong Jie

Chapter 1174 Harada’s surprise attack on Yanmen Pass

The war is about to break out.

And at this juncture, unexpected news came to Kong Jie, Ding Wei, Li Yunlong and other generals:

The Japanese 35th Division's leader, Jizi Harada, who had always had business dealings with the Iron Triangle's caravans, actually sent someone to deliver the news, saying that he wanted to make a big deal with Kong Jie.

Harada claimed in the letter sent by someone that he had a large amount of military supplies that Kong Jie needed, including wood, coal, steel, and various rare metal mines.

As for Harada, there is always only one thing he needs - money!

After receiving the news, Kong Jie smiled and asked Ding Wei, Li Yunlong, Xu Guoan, and Li Wenjie what Harada's purpose was.

Li Wenjie was surprised: "In recent years, with the development of our Eighth Route Army base area, the Japanese army has been in a state of shortage of quite a lot of supplies, but this Harada Division alone always has a steady stream of military supplies on hand.

Since this year, we have spent no money doing business with the Harada Division.

Why does Harada, an old Japanese devil, have an endless supply of supplies that he can never use up?
But speaking of it, Harada, this old devil, really has a lot of tricks. With his private business dealings with us, the soldiers of other Japanese divisions are not even allowed to fight, and they can't even take care of three meals a day. At that time, the little devils of the Harada Division were all very happy!

If we talk about other Japanese divisions, the obedience of soldiers to officers stems from the soldiers' bounden duty to obey orders and strict hierarchical obedience.

In the Harada division, those little devils really admired the old devil Harada from the bottom of their hearts. "

Xu Guoan took over the conversation and said happily: "The so-called food and clothing parents, Harada provides them with food and drink, and also pays them military pay. Naturally, these Japanese soldiers will follow Harada wholeheartedly."

"As for your doubts, Wenjie, let me answer them for you!"

"The reason is very simple. Although the resources at hand of this Japs are getting less and less as they are used, including many mines owned by the Japanese army, we have robbed them. But if we can't stand them, we can go back and do business with the Kuomintang-controlled area!"

As a smart man, Li Wenjie immediately came to his senses and said with a look of astonishment: "Old Xu, you mean that the Harada Division is doing business with the Jiang Army. After getting supplies from them, they then turned around and Let’s do business and make money from us?”

Xu Guoan smiled and nodded.

Kong Jie continued: “This is what I often tell you about the middlemen making the difference in business.

Harada, an old devil, is the middleman. On the one hand, he buys materials from Jiang Jun at a relatively low price, and on the other hand, he sells these materials to us at a higher price. He just spends a little time, and this back and forth goes back and forth. If you change hands, you will make a lot of money.

I would say that Harada, an old devil, wasted his talents by leading troops in war. If he was doing business, he would be a particularly speculative and profiteer! "

"Brother, shall we do this business?"

"Do it, why not do it?" Kong Jie said with a smile: "The Chiang Kai-shek army came here under the banner of saying that they would rather cooperate with the Japanese army than come into contact with our Eighth Route Army.

We have a lot of business we want to do with Jiang Jun, but there is no way. We just go through this Harada, which saves us the trouble. "

The next topic was about what exactly Harada, an old devil, was thinking, and why he proposed doing business with Kong Jie at this juncture and why he wanted to specifically increase cooperation?

"This old devil is probably planning something!"

The area in charge of Ding Wei is closer to Shouyang County. He was the first to make an analysis: "According to the relevant information I received near Shouyang, the Harada Division was originally stationed in the Shouyang area, and these days, the Harada Division Some caravans belonging to the regiment appeared in large numbers near Shouyang, and even blatantly conducted business with us.

Everything about this thing is abnormal.

If my guess is correct, Harada, an old devil, probably wants to use the caravan to confuse the public and mislead our judgment. Perhaps he wants to use these caravans to cover up some secret military operations. "

"Bypassing Shouyang, this battle around Datong and Zhangjiakou is nothing more than heading straight to Xinkou or Dai County."

Li Yunlong followed: "So, this old devil Harada is also a drunkard and is not interested in drinking. He is probably going in the north direction. It's interesting. This old devil is now smart and knows how to use this method to hide the truth. means."

Li Wenjie said: "If it is just to paralyze our judgment, what Harada wrote in the letter, even the time, place, quantity and list of goods, was clearly written with sincerity.

Is it possible that he wants to use this to mislead our judgment and bypass Shouyang to attack Dai County or Xinkou without delaying our business? "

Hahaha--

Li Yunlong said happily: "Wenjie, what you said is absolutely right. Harada, an old devil, did a good job in killing two birds with one stone.

This means fighting and making money without delay.

I think we might as well just follow this old devil's wishes, pretend we don't know anything, and let this self-righteous old devil get to Dai County smoothly! "

Kong Jie agreed: "Let's just do what Lao Li said and don't let the Japanese be clever. How can they think they have the upper hand?"

"Let me reply to the letter first and confirm this business cooperation. It just so happens that we can also take the opportunity to make another fortune."

……

……

The Japanese army temporarily stationed at the headquarters of the Japanese 35th Division in Shouyang.

After Kong Jie's news was delivered, Lieutenant General Harada was overjoyed and immediately arranged for people to prepare various supplies and equipment for handover with the caravan sent by the Eighth Route Army.

Harada has no hesitation in this regard. He has conducted many business cooperations with Kong Jie's team, and the two parties are based on mutual trust.

After all, this is not a one-time deal.

Attending the meeting, Ikeda, the commander of the [-]th Mixed Brigade, who received the order to cooperate with the Harada Division in operations, questioned: "Harada-kun, it's not a promise, he is just using the guise of doing business to paralyze the judgment of the Eighth Route Army. , is it better to bypass Shouyang and attack Dai County?
This is you? "

Harada said: "The commanders of the Eighth Route Army are very cunning. Do you think you can really deceive them with some false business cooperation?
There is an old saying in China: if you put on a show, you will get the whole package.Since we want to paralyze the Eighth Route Army, this business cooperation between the two parties must be carried out truthfully.

This is the perfect cover for our army to bypass Shouyang and attack Dai County! "

"Hi!" Ikeda had nothing to say after being scolded by Harada.

Harada was filled with joy at this time. He had never thought that there would be such a good thing. This time, the order from the military headquarters was arranged:
Let him lead the 35th Division to bypass Shouyang and attack Dai County. After capturing Yanmen Pass, he left troops to garrison at Yanmen Pass. Then he turned around and went south to Dai County and captured Mingbao Airport.

Then they detoured from the direction of Xinkou and cooperated with the 120th and 106th Divisions from Guoxian to attack the 26th Division of the Eighth Route Army guarding Xinkou, and attacked the main force of the 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army.

After this order was issued, Harada realized that his opportunity had come. He took the initiative to apply to the military headquarters, and he would use the official caravan cooperation to paralyze the judgment of the Eighth Route Army and take the opportunity to surprise Dai County.

To this end, Harada specifically proposed that since the beginning of this year, his many business cooperations with the Eighth Route Army have had the effect of paralyzing the Eighth Route Army, and this time he can take advantage of it.

In this regard, even the old devil Guancun, who was watching with cold eyes, had nothing to say for a moment.Harada's boldness, thick skin, and eloquence were beyond his reach.

Just like that, Lieutenant General Harada ushered in his own spring. This time, he launched a further expanded business cooperation with the Eighth Route Army without any disguise.

It is true to do military cover, but it is also true to do business.

Anyway, the empire is fighting against the empire, and I, Harada, take the opportunity to make a few more bucks. This holy war is about to die out. I have made a lot of money. Even if the war is over, we can still live a good life after returning home.

Even in terms of military achievements, Harada is not bad at all.

The entire division allows us to develop strong soldiers and horses, and every soldier is strong and powerful.

Since the outbreak of the Pacific War and the Southeast Asian War, coupled with the growing rampage of the Eighth Route Army behind enemy lines, the Japanese divisions have basically suffered heavy losses in the battle with the Eighth Route Army, with their strength reduced sharply and their elites exhausted.

But Lieutenant General Harada can pat his chest and say: "No matter what the losses of other divisions, my team is getting stronger and stronger!"

Based on this, when the holy war was over, Harada thought, maybe His Majesty the Emperor would personally award him an outstanding officer medal!
Time goes on.

On the one hand, Harada asked a large number of caravans to appear near Shouyang to carry out actual business cooperation with the Eighth Route Army to attract the attention of the Eighth Route Army.

At the same time, he asked the Ninth Mixed Brigade, which cooperated with his 35th Division, to continuously advance into the Eighth Route Army's guerrilla areas and confront the Eighth Route Army, thereby interfering with the Eighth Route Army's judgment.

So it was a dark and windy night for a month.

As Harada's final order was issued, the main force of the Japanese 35th Division marched at night to avoid the reconnaissance aircraft of the Eighth Route Army that appeared in the sky from time to time during the day. The main force quickly chose a secret mountain road that bypassed Shouyang, and then headed north , approaching Dai County.

After the main force of the army quickly arrived near Dai County, Harada shrewdly avoided the easy-to-defend and difficult-to-attack fortifications left by the Eighth Route Army in Dai County, and instead bypassed Dai County and made a surprise attack on Yanmen Pass.

"attack!"

Harada, an old Japanese soldier who was stationed at the temporary army headquarters, issued the order with full confidence.

The fierce battle between the two sides was on the verge of breaking out.

It took less than half an hour before the frontline combat troops sent back news that they had successfully broken through the Eighth Route Army's defense line and had fully captured Yanmen Pass.

Harada's old face smiled like a blooming chrysanthemum after hearing the news.

"Xinxi, everything is just as I expected. The little Yanmen Pass is within easy reach!"

the other side.

The Eighth Route Army battalion commander responsible for garrisoning Yanmen Pass led his troops to evacuate in advance along the reserved trail under the fierce attack of the Japanese army early in the morning.

On the way, the battalion commander couldn't help but yawned a few times and muttered a few curses: "This little devil is real. He came in a long time. An order came from the headquarters saying that the devil probably started at night." Who would have thought about the raid? We have to wait till midnight!

If the Japanese come earlier, we can go back and have a peaceful sleep! "

The next day, it was just dawn.

Yanmen Pass has completely fallen into the hands of the 35th Division of the Japanese Army. Under the command of Harada, the Japanese army left corresponding forces at Yanmen Pass, and then turned back to capture Dai County and Mingbao Airport.

The news that the 35th Division had defeated the Eighth Route Army and achieved a great victory was then widely publicized.

When he got the news, Guancun, an old Japanese soldier, was leading his defeated soldiers who were severely injured during the May Day raids and stationed in the Changzhi area as a mobile force.

His face was also full of astonishment, and he didn't know what to say for a moment.

How could a silverfish like Harada, who only secretly do business with the Eighth Route Army and enrich his own pockets, achieve such a victory?

Fortunately, Guancun graduated from the prestigious Imperial Military University and led the Empire's elite Sixth Field Division. However, he was constantly defeated in the confrontation with the Eighth Route Army and was almost wiped out.

There is no gap without comparison.

Guancun suddenly felt the humiliation of being completely slapped in the face.

Then he became depressed. In the hands of the 35th Division, a second-rate combat unit that only did business and got by, how could the combat effectiveness of the Eighth Route Army be reduced to such an extent?
From this it can be seen that...

"There must be something fishy about this. Maybe it's a trap deliberately set by the Eighth Route Army to lure the 35th Division deeper and deeper!" Guancun, who realized this, immediately passed the news to the 35th Division headquarters.

Lieutenant General Harada, who was unable to extricate himself from the joy of the victory, after receiving the news, said dismissively to the officers around him:
"We have fought too many defeats in Guancun, but now we don't even have the will to be enterprising. We defeated the Eighth Route Army and won the victory, but he said there were some traps in it. Is it normal for us to lose to the Eighth Route Army?" ?"

The officers below agreed and taunted Guancun.

And after the 35th Division successfully captured Yanmen Pass and took Dai County and Mingbao Airport, this was like a perfect fuse, completely igniting all the Japanese army's preparations around Datong and Zhangjiakou.

The Japanese 106th Division and the 26th Division set out from Guo County that day and launched a fierce attack on the 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army guarding Xinkou.

The two sides fought fiercely for less than two hours.

Forced to open up the situation, the Japanese commander directly transferred the Japanese 101st Division, which was originally a reserve force, to the battlefield.

The Japanese 110th Regiment was a mechanized division mixed with armored units. After quickly entering the battlefield, it immediately put tremendous pressure on the 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army stationed in Xinkou.

Soon after, Harada, an old devil, led his main force of the 35th Division to bypass Xinkou according to the plan, and attacked the main force of the Eighth Route Army's 106th Division from both sides with the Japanese 26th, 101th and 120st Divisions.

"Beautiful play!"

At the headquarters of the Japanese First Army in Shanxi, the Japanese commander Yoshio Iwamatsu was overjoyed when he received the news.

He really didn't expect that Harada could bring him such a surprise.

The 35th Division actually opened the battle directly!
Without further delay, Yansong immediately issued an order for the main force of the First Army to move forward to attack in the direction of Datong.

The 27th Division and the 69th Division attacked Shuoxian, and the 101st, 106th and 35th Division attacked Yingxian.

Guancun's Sixth Division moved from Changzhi to Taiyuan as a reserve force.

The various combat forces targeting Datong quickly advanced...

(End of this chapter)