Resistance against Japan: Starting with the local militia

Chapter 192 Japanese Intelligence

While the local militia were busy setting up defenses, the Japanese soldiers in Wolongshan County were also busy, with waves of Japanese scouts and intelligence personnel going to the Wolongshan area to gather intelligence on the local militia.

On the second night after Sakai Yori arrived, a battle meeting was held under Sakai Yori's organization.

When Sakai Yori entered the conference room, all the Japanese officers stood up in unison.

"Greetings, Regiment Commander."

"Yes, everyone, please sit down," Sakai Yori said.

Only after Sakai Yori sat down did the Japanese officers dare to sit down.

"The headquarters is extremely dissatisfied with the battle a few days ago. In just over a month, our mighty Imperial Army has actually lost nearly 4000 troops in this place, Wolong Mountain. This is a great disgrace to our Empire!" Sakai Rai said coldly.

"Therefore, headquarters has ordered me to be the commander of this annihilation operation. I hope that everyone here can cooperate with me to wipe out the Chinese army in Wolong Mountain," Sakai Rai said with a serious expression.

"Hai." The Japanese officers present all nodded in support.

“Now, I need to understand the situation of this unit,” Sakai asked.

"Yes, now I will report on the situation of this unit," said Jiu Jin Tai Er, standing up.

"This unit was originally a militia established in Tangjia Town. The commander was named Tang Weiguo, formerly known as Tang Jiye. This is a photo of Tang Weiguo obtained by our intelligence agents. Please take a look." After saying this, Sakai Taiji handed the photo to Sakai Lai.

"Hmm, he looks very young," Sakai Rai said, looking at Tang Weiguo's youthful and handsome face in the photo.

"Yes, he is very young. Tang Weiguo is only 19 years old this year. He is the only son of a landlord family in Tangjia Town. Both his parents have passed away, and he was raised by the family's steward, Tang Xinren."

"In the tenth year of Showa, when he was 16 years old, he went to study at the private Fu Jen Catholic University in Beijing. The following year, he returned to Tangjia Town and, through the connections of his old clerk Tang Xinren, purchased a batch of weapons and ammunition from the 30th Army. He then formed a 300-man unit, which he called the Tangjia Town Militia."

"In that year, they wiped out a band of bandits on Wolong Mountain, and the current garrison of this unit is the former bandit camp."

"In 1943, he led this newly formed militia to attack one of our military trains on the Zhengtai Railway and captured a large amount of weapons and ammunition. After that, the militia he led rapidly expanded."

"It was after this battle that this unit officially appeared in our intelligence files."

"At the end of Showa 12, the Tangjia Town militia joined the Second War Zone and was officially designated as the Anti-Japanese Independent Militia."

"In the thirteenth year of Showa, Tang Weiguo led his troops to attack the Xiaoqingshan Mine. In this battle, the troops displayed amazing strength, defeating the Tanaka Battalion and the Ikeda Battalion one after another."

"Based on our recent combat experience with this unit, I judge that the militia's strength has further increased," Jiu Jin Tai Er reported with a serious expression.

"This unit was established in Showa 11, which is only two years ago, yet it has already achieved such amazing combat results?" Sakai Yori said in great surprise.

"That is indeed the case according to the intelligence investigation."

"This force cannot be allowed to remain! Sooner or later, it will become a major threat to our empire," Jiu Jinlai coldly retorted.

"Hay."

"Tai Er Jun, please continue."

"Hay."

"Although Tang Weiguo is young, he is extremely cunning in combat. He rarely engages us in direct combat. He is good at seizing every opportunity to ambush our troops, and our troops have suffered a lot of losses."

"Furthermore, this unit has been almost entirely equipped with our standard weapons, and in terms of light machine gun firepower, the enemy is even stronger than our unit. In terms of equal numbers, our unit does not have much of an advantage."

"It seems he's a formidable opponent." Sakai Rai's heart sank as he heard Sakai Taiji's description. Even if he managed to eliminate the opponent, he would have to pay a heavy price.

"According to intelligence reports, this unit has abandoned the Sanjiaji position. Currently, it is mainly stationed in Wolong Mountain and Tang Weiguo's hometown, Tangjia Town."

"According to the intelligence personnel who are scouting in Tangjia Town, there are at least 2000 people stationed there, and they are now speeding up the construction of defensive fortifications. It seems that they are determined to defend Tangjia Town to the death."

“Yes, Tangjia Town is Tang Weiguo’s hometown. There’s a Chinese saying, ‘It’s hard to leave one’s homeland.’ If it were me, I would definitely defend Tangjia Town to the death. But this is good news for us.” Sakai Lai said.

"How is the situation at Wolong Mountain?" Sakai Rai continued to ask.

"According to intelligence reports, this unit has already deployed a large number of defensive fortifications along the route to their camp, and the terrain of Wolong Mountain is easy to defend but difficult to attack, which increases the difficulty of our attack."

"That concludes my report."

After speaking, Sakai Taiji looked at Sakai Yori, who nodded and gestured for him to sit down.

"It is in these mountains that the Chinese army is able to compete with us by taking advantage of the terrain. However, with the attack of our empire's warriors, all defenses will crumble," Sakai Yori said loudly.

"Hay."

"So what do you all think? How should we eliminate this force? Please feel free to share your ideas," Sakai Yori asked.

“Commander, since this force has split into two defensive positions, and Tangjia Town is easy to attack, I think we can concentrate our forces to eliminate the troops in Tangjia Town first, and then turn around to attack the troops in Wolong Mountain,” Ikeda Maken said, standing up.

“I think that’s inappropriate,” Tanaka Shu retorted, standing up.

Tanaka Itsuki, who was originally in Aoyama Prefecture, also came to participate in the operational meeting to coordinate the two Japanese battalions stationed in Aoyama Prefecture.

"Tangjia Town is surrounded by mountains on three sides and has only one exit in the front, which is not conducive to the large-scale attack. Moreover, the Chinese troops in Wolong Mountain will not let us attack Tangjia Town and will definitely find a way to attack us."

“That’s perfect. We can use Tangjia Town as bait to lure the garrison of Wolong Mountain down, then ambush them on the way, and then turn around and wipe out the troops in Tangjia Town,” Suzuki Ichiro said, standing up.

“The commander of this unit is too cunning to be fooled,” Tanaka Shu continued.

“It’s better if they don’t provide support. We can eliminate the garrison in Tangjia Town first and cripple this force,” Masato Ikeda continued.

"I think the commander of this unit must have considered the point you just mentioned. They must have a way to make the two positions support each other, so our concentrated attack is exactly what they want."

“Mountainous areas are not suitable for large-scale offensives,” Sakai Rai said with a helpless expression.

"Commander, shall we split our forces and attack?" Masatoshi Ikeda asked.

“I have this idea. I will lead the brigade to attack Wolong Mountain, and you three, Ikeda, Suzuki, and Tanaka, will attack Tangjia Town. This way, we can take advantage of our strength and prevent the militia’s two positions from supporting each other.”

"In addition, although the mountainous area is easy to defend and difficult to attack, I have requested support from headquarters, which will send two more squadrons of aircraft to assist us in the attack and clear obstacles for our advance."

"What do you think of this battle plan?" The decision to divide the forces was made after much deliberation by Sakai Rai. He believed that with the support of aircraft, they would be able to wipe out the troops at Wolong Mountain without any failure.

"Agreed." After a moment of silence, the commanders present nodded in agreement.

"Commander, when should we attack?" Tanaka asked.

"The day after tomorrow, your two locust-fighting brigades from Qingshan County must arrive at Sanjiaji in the morning to join our troops."

"Hay."

"Everyone, go back and prepare immediately. We can't give the militia any more time!"

"Hay."