Tu Feiyuan was very ambitious this time. In addition to taking down Tai'an City, sweeping the entire Southwest Shandong Military Sub-district, and conquering Taohua Mountain, he also had to join forces with the Japanese Seventh Army in Henan to attack Nanyang.

He believed that such a huge military group was like a huge stone mill, and wherever it was pressed, it would crush it.

Of course, Yoshiji Hamada knew very well. He also believed that the Japanese army had such a huge force, and no matter which battlefield it was put into, the anti-Japanese armed forces could not support it. But he was just uneasy because there was a big variable here, that is, there was an elusive Gao Jiu inside. I don’t know what kind of tricks he would use, but it might be unpredictable.

Hamada Yoshiji was nervous and found the commander of Komura and asked him if he would attack Taohua Mountain after conquering Tai'an City?

When talking about Gao Jiu, the commander of the Hongmura village was also very troubled. He said: "Mr. Minister has this idea. The situation in Japan is very complicated. Although Taohua Mountain is small, it has a great influence. If Taohua Mountain can be captured, it will be very beneficial to enhancing his influence. I think he will definitely do this."

Yoshiji Hamada said worriedly: "I also believe that it is not a problem to capture Taohua Mountain with six divisions and a chariot brigade, with huge forces. But Gao Jiu is really a terrible opponent. If he captures Taohua Mountain, he will offend Gao Jiu to death.

Minister, Gao Jiu cannot cause trouble for him, but we will face Gao Jiu's anger directly. I think it is better to be cautious about this matter."

The commander of the Gang Village nodded and shook his head again. He said: "This time, I'm afraid that it's really necessary to fight Gao Jiu, because the arsenal in southwestern Shandong is very important to the underground party armed forces in Shandong. The weapons and ammunition provided there have caused great losses to the Huang army, so the arsenal must be destroyed.

It is said that the arsenal was founded by Gao Jiu's woman. After building the arsenal, she offended Gao Jiu. Even if she didn't go to Taohua Mountain, there would be no difference."

Hamada Yoshihiko felt a headache when he heard this. He also knew that the arsenal had to be destroyed. Hamada Yoshihiko knew the relationship between Jiang Xiaomei and Gao Jiu clearly. Now it seems that this is a dead end and can no longer be resolved.

Hamada Yoshiji had no good idea for the time being, so he had to take one step at a time.

Not long after, the two divisions and chariot brigades that the Japanese army drove from outside the pass entered Shandong and were attacked by local underground anti-Japanese armed forces along the way. However, the Japanese army was too strong to stop their progress. Soon after, the Japanese army arrived in Jinan and would continue to move south soon.

The 3rd Japanese Division had left Xuzhou and attacked towards Zaozhuang. The 141st Division and the 142nd Division also left Jinan and attacked towards Tai'an.

Various news kept spreading to Taohua Mountain, and Gao Jiu also began to prepare.

Gao Jiu was unable to participate in the battle in Tai'an. The Japanese had so many troops, and filling the entire Taohua Mountain guerrillas was not enough for others to get stuck in the teeth.

He had already promised the people of Taohua Mountain to protect Taohua Mountain, so he decided to strengthen the defense of Taohua Mountain first.

Gao Jiu first withdrew Liu Shengyu's troops from Shoucheng County, and the left-behind troops in Taoyuan Town all retreated into Taohua Mountain to strengthen the defense of Taohua Mountain.

Of course, these are far from enough. Gao Jiu flew to Nanyang to meet Wang Jindong and others.

Gao Jiu asked Wang Jindong to send troops to reinforce Taohua Mountain. Wang Jindong agreed readily. He decided to draw a reinforcement regiment from the 187th Division to assist Taohua Mountain guerrillas in defense.

In order to strengthen the defense of Taohua Mountain, Gao Jiu sent a telegram to Tianchuan, asking him to airlift some of the Taohua Mountain guerrillas to Taohua Mountain to strengthen the defense forces here.

In order to ensure the supply of materials in Taohua Mountain, the Air Force transport planes transported materials to Taohua Mountain day and night.

Wang Jindong also made a request to Gao Jiu. He knew that after the Japanese army swept southwestern Shandong, he might join forces with the Japanese Seventh Army to besiege the 41st Corps. By then, the Japanese army's troops would reach more than 200,000, and even the entire 41st Corps would not be able to bear it. Zhengzhou, Luoyang, Kaifeng and Nanyang would not be able to save them. He hoped that Gao Jiu could assist the 41st Corps and repel the Japanese's attack.

Gao Jiu suggested that a joint meeting of the Iron Triangle should be held to discuss strategies to repel the Japanese offensive.

The heads of the underground party, Gao Hong, Chen Zhiyong and others, soon flew to Nanyang City to meet Gao Jiu, Wang Jindong and others.

After discussion, the Shandong Military Region decided to abandon Tai'an City and Zaozhuang, leaving a small number of troops to launch guerrilla warfare along the Jinpu Railway. All the organs and main forces retreated to Lanxi County and Zhiyuan County to deploy defenses, resolutely defending the southwestern Shandong Arsenal.

The 41st Corps sent the 69th Army across the Daqing River, and jointly defended Lanxi County and Zhiyuan County with the Southwest Shandong Military Region to defend the arsenal in southwest Shandong, and at the same time ensured the safety of the northeast of the 41st Corps.

Wang Jindong and the person in charge of the underground party believed that once the battle began, all counties around Taohua Mountain would become enemies, and Taohua Mountain would fall into the siege of the Japanese army. They also suggested that Gao Jiu give up Taohua Mountain and retreat to Zhiyuan County.

Gao Jiu said: "I appreciate your kindness, but I have already promised the brothers in Taohua Mountain to resolutely defend their homes. What's more, being able to stick to Taohua Mountain can also restrain a considerable number of Japanese troops, and it can also play a great supporting role in the upcoming battle to defend Lanxi County and Zhiyuan County."

After a period of preparation, all the defensive measures that should be taken have been taken. However, being passively beaten is by no means Gao Jiu's style. Gao Jiu decided to take the initiative to disrupt the Japanese army's offensive deployment.

After returning to Taohua Mountain, Gao Jiu discussed with Zhang Quan and others and decided that Gao Jiu, Wang Zhankui, Guo Hengming led some Taohua Mountain guerrillas to take the outside activities, and cooperated with Zhang Quan, Du Shengxi, Feng Xiucai and others to stick to Taohua Mountain.

This outside battle was different from the past. In the past, the Japanese army's troops were scattered, and the Taohuashan guerrillas of Gao Jiu and others could almost walk sideways. The ordinary Japanese and puppet troops were by no means their opponents.

However, this time, the Japanese army gathered heavily, and the Japanese army was extremely dense around Taohua Mountain. It was difficult to replenish ammunition and materials on the outside, and they would encounter great dangers. Therefore, everyone asked to go out to fight with Gao Jiu.

Gao Jiu understood the feelings of his brothers very much. He said, "Brothers! I understand your feelings. Taohua Mountain is also very important. After the Japanese army surrounded Taohua Mountain, you will fall into an arduous battle. Being able to defend Taohua Mountain and defend our homes depends entirely on the left-behind brothers."

Zhang Quan said: "Master Jiu, don't worry. If the people are in the position, we will all die in battle, and we will stop the Japanese from occupying our Taohua Mountain."

Gao Jiu smiled and said, "What does it mean to die in battle? The Japanese are grasshoppers in the autumn. They can't jump for a few days. You all live well for me. Good days are still waiting for us to live. Okay, let's not say much, let's set off now."

Gao Jiu, Wang Zhankui, Guo Hengming, Li Chengwu, Jia Liu, Ning Wen, Ning Wu and others led the Taohua Mountain guerrillas to leave Taohua Mountain. They first came to Taoyuan Town and took away 50 infantry fighting vehicles and 40 107mm rocket launchers who stayed here, and headed to Tai'an to harass the Japanese army.

The Japanese front-line commander-in-chief Haneda, deputy chief of staff of the North China Front Army, received a telegram from the 141st Division of the Japanese army that they had conquered Tai'an City and were pursuing the underground anti-Japanese armed forces. The 142nd Division of the Japanese army was attacking and advancing towards Shoucheng County. After the Japanese 3rd Division conquered Zaozhuang, they entered Tai'an City and were attacking Pingyue County along the Pingtai Highway. The 112th Division of the Japanese army was attacking Lu County along the Ji-zheng Highway.

Chief Haneda looked at the newly marked battle situation chart of the staff, and saw one of them with a small flag in his position, and couldn't help but frown.

Under the small flag, it was clearly written: Taohua Mountain.

When the three words "Taohua Mountain" were mentioned, Chief Haneda thought of the terrifying Gao Jiu.

If these Japanese troops continue to move forward, Taohua Mountain will soon be surrounded.

He felt a very bad feeling, so he sent a telegram to the North China Front Army Command and reported the situation here to Yoshiji Hamada.

Yoshiji Hamada was very nervous. The Japanese army in Shandong had indeed made great progress. Not only did they seize Tai'an City and Zaozhuang, but they also carried out a large-scale mobilization of the base areas in southwestern Shandong along the Jinpu Railway. The Jinpu Railway has begun to enter the restoration stage and is about to open to traffic.

Hamada Yoshiji Hamada was also happy about these achievements made by the Japanese army. However, the next move of the Japanese army would inevitably touch the interests of Taohua Mountain. He still had no idea about how to deal with Gao Jiu.

After thinking about it, he went to the commander of the Hong Kong Village, hoping to order the troops to stop moving forward temporarily. He had some ideas and hoped to report to Minister Too Feiyuan.

Komura understood what he meant and knew that he hoped that the battle would end here.

Now that Tai'an City and Zaozhuang have been recaptured, the obstacles to the opening of the Jinpu Railway have been cleared, it is said that this battle has achieved great results. If we can end it well, it will be a very good result.

However, the reason why Tu Feiyuan spent so much effort to transfer two divisions and a chariot brigade from the Northeast was far more than just opening up the Jinpu Railway, but also hoped to take down Taohua Mountain and attack the 41st Corps of the Fruit Army, and completely restore public security in the southern Shandong region of Shandong and the central and southern part of the Hemidao.

The commander of the Hong Village actually hoped to do this, but now he was not sure. He had heard that Gao Jiu had built a large number of strong fortifications in the mountains in order to protect Taohua Mountain. They had advanced weapons and sufficient ammunition, and they could still get support from the air force during combat. If they wanted to take Taohua Mountain, they would not know how many Japanese soldiers would be killed. In this way, they would completely form a mortal enemy with Gao Jiu and there would be no room for improvement.

Gao Jiu is elusive and his special forces are powerful. If he launches an attack, no matter which target the Japanese and puppet troops attack, basically no one can stop it. In the future, it will not be Shandong, but I am afraid that the entire North China Front Army will never have peace.

Thinking about the consequences, Hongmeng's spine began to feel cold after feeling it.

He asked, "Hamada, how do you plan to persuade Minister Toehachiyuan?"

Hamada Yoshiji said: "We are sending a telegram to the Minister here. Some things are not clear. I want to return to the base camp immediately and report to the Minister in person."

Komura praised Hamada Yoshiji's serious and responsible attitude and said, "Okay, just go there yourself and explain all the interests of attacking Taohua Mountain to the Minister in detail."

Hamada Yoshiji returned to his office and immediately asked the adjutant to notify the First Air Force to arrange a plane for him and fly back to the country.

The 3rd Japanese Division, the 112th Division and the 142nd Division were attacking and advancing towards their respective targets in accordance with the scheduled combat plan. Suddenly, the Chief of Staff Haneda ordered the troops to camp on the spot and wait for further orders.

The division commanders had just conquered Tai'an City and Zaozhuang, and swept the anti-Japanese bases in southwestern Shandong, achieving certain results. They were full of confidence and attacking towards new combat targets.

Suddenly they received the order to stop moving forward, and they felt a little angry, especially because their troops were now marching on the road, allowing them to camp on the spot. There were no so many villages on both sides of the road, and most of the people could only camp in the wild.

This made them and their officers and soldiers very dissatisfied, but orders were orders and they could only execute them.

In Jinan City, two divisions of the Kwantung Army and a chariot brigade have arrived at the designated location. The person in charge of leading the team is Shigeru Fujita, the deputy chief of staff of the Kwantung Army. The Kwantung Army was originally one of the most elite parts of the Japanese army. They have been stationed in the northeast and were originally preparing to implement the plan to advance north.

Over the years, although they have been attacked by anti-Japanese armed forces, only a part of the troops have participated in the battle. Many of them have not fought a major war for many years, and their combat effectiveness has been declining year by year.

However, they were still very arrogant and looked down on the Japanese troops who fought all day in the pass, believing that they could not manage the public security of the occupied areas well and were the incompetence of the army commander.

Shigeru Fujita had also received the order and was about to lead his troops south along the Jizheng Highway. When he learned that Chief Haneda had issued an order to stop the attack, he felt very puzzled.

He said: "Why did Haneda-kun order the attack to stop? My troops came here from outside the gates and could not stay for a long time. Why don't we launch an offensive battle as soon as possible? After completing the mission, we have to return to the northeast."
Chapter completed!