The Japanese army's artillery fire was very fierce, hundreds of various artillery bombarded the fireworks, and smoke and dust were rolling on Taohua Mountain and gravel splashed.

Thousands of Japanese troops rushed to the Taohua Mountain guerrillas' positions all over the mountains.

Although the militia in Fortress Village had fought some battles with the Taohua Mountain guerrillas before, many people were inevitably a little nervous when facing so many enemies. They tried their best to pull the trigger, fearing that the Japanese would rush up.

The members of the Taohua Mountain Guerrillas, especially those special forces members, were very relaxed after many battles. Almost everyone thrust a light machine gun and fired bullets like a tide. The mortars kept firing shells, and the hillside was also blown away from smoke and dust.

The Japanese army had a large number of officers and soldiers. Although people kept falling down, the rest still crawled up desperately.

Unfortunately, although they have a large number of people, the opponent has more bullets and shells, and the intensity of the artillery fire they face is something they have never experienced before.

Many Japanese officers and soldiers who survived by luck suddenly found that there were fewer and fewer people around them.

A Japanese squad leader charged forward. When the explosion of shells passed, he waved his command knife and cheered up morale loudly, but he did not hear the soldiers responding to his shouts.

When he looked back, he was almost crying. Behind him were the bodies of his soldiers, and he was the only one who rushed up.

At this moment, a mortar shell exploded near him, and his life was still very big, but he was injured on his thigh. He knew that it would make no sense to go up again, so he rolled and crawled back.

This time, the Japanese army lost hundreds of people. The Japanese commanders still did not believe in evil. They did not believe in how much ammunition the enemy on the mountain could have, so they organized the attack again.

One morning, the positions in Taohua Mountain repelled three Japanese attacks on average. The Japanese army suffered an astonishing loss of more than 2,000 people, but they were unable to break through a mountain.

Masato Honda, the commander of the 8th Division, suddenly felt regretful. He thought that Gao Jiu was surrounded by the mountains, which was a good opportunity to completely eliminate Gao Jiu. He didn't expect that Taohua Mountain was so difficult to crack. This was just a few hills outside Taohua Mountain. There were still several hills where Taohua Cave was located. If you want to attack, each hill was the grave of Japanese officers and soldiers. I don't know how many Japanese troops would be lost.

Honda Masato looked at the towering hills with a sad look on his face.

The chief of staff of the Eighth Division, Toshi Tada, was also shocked by the number of casualties. He said to the division commander Masato Honta, "Secretary Commander, this battle cannot be fought like this. If there were no heavy firearms to destroy the enemy's strong fortifications, it would be useless for many people to go up."

Honda Masato had to call the commander of the 114th Division and suggested that the attack be temporarily stopped and new countermeasures should be discussed.

The Japanese army held a conference call this time, and the commander of the 114th Division decided to continue to launch an attack. He believed that the firepower of the Taohuashan guerrillas was so fierce and the ammunition was consumed very much, so he did not believe that the Taohuashan guerrillas could have so much ammunition and could maintain such fierce firepower.

He believed that even if so many Huang troops were fighting for their lives, they could consume the Taohua Mountain guerrillas.

He encouraged the commanders of various participating troops and said, "After a morning of fighting, our army suffered major casualties, the enemy suffered a lot of casualties, especially the consumption of ammunition. As long as you work harder, the enemy will soon be unable to hold on."

The Japanese garrison 167th Division and the Independent Mixed Ninth Brigade, believed his bewitchment and launched a fierce attack again. As a result, the bloody reality told them that the enemy's ammunition reserves on the mountain far exceeded their imagination. This time, they lost hundreds of officers and soldiers in vain.

Among these Japanese officers and soldiers, the 45th Regiment hated the Taohuashan guerrillas the most, but these guys have learned their lessons now. In the previous round of attack, they just symbolically dispatched some people and came back after doing it.

The 8th Division became even smarter. They fired a firecracker into the mountain, and the officers and soldiers shouted a few times, and the people stayed in place without moving.

This afternoon's round of attack ended.

The Japanese army lost hundreds of people in vain and decided to rest for a while. However, the Taohua Mountain guerrillas disagreed. The mountain cannons hidden in solid fortifications and Type 92 infantry cannons stretched out the fire holes toward the Japanese army on the surrounding mountains. The Japanese army had no cover on the hillside, and the number of people was dense, and they were beaten to fly everywhere. The Japanese artillery was the focus of the Taohua Mountain guerrillas. The artillery positions were destroyed one by one, and many Type 92 infantry cannons and mortars were blown into scattered parts.

The Japanese army could not withstand such a blow and retreated to the back of the mountain. Even so, the artillery soldiers of the Taohua Mountain guerrillas refused to give up. Mortar shells kept crossing the mountain and bombed blindly, as if the shells were worthless.

The number of Japanese troops was too large. Even if the artillery soldiers of the Taohuashan guerrillas fired blindly, they still killed many Japanese troops.

The Japanese commanders were almost crying. What they were puzzled was that the bandits in Taohua Mountain seemed to have endless ammunition, and their firepower could remain so fierce from beginning to end.

What they didn't know was that Gao Jiu had stored countless ammunition, and with their own bullet production line, although there were not so many shells, the amount of bullets stored was astronomical. The surrounding Japanese army had only tens of thousands of people, and an average of one Japanese killed. Even if they consumed 500 rounds of bullets, the bullets in Taohua Mountain were still more than enough.

In the Taohuashan Guerrilla Command, Feng Xiucai felt sorry for the ammunition consumed and complained from time to time.

Gao Jiu smiled and said, "These stupid devils are willing to trade their lives for our ammunition. If they think this transaction is worth it, they will go."

All the leaders of Taohua Mountain are very happy. This is all due to the loss of Jiu Ye here. Some are money and some are weapons and ammunition. It feels really good to have a wealthy and generous feeling.

The heavy losses made the Japanese army afraid to continue to launch an attack during the day, so they decided to launch a sneak attack at night.

At night that day, the Japanese Organization Department

The team carried out a sneak attack, and the Taohuashan guerrillas threw a large number of torches from the shooting hole. The Japanese army suffered losses, but still did not achieve any results and lost hundreds of people in vain.

The next morning, the commander of the 114th Division received reports from various troops. After statistics, the total loss of the Japanese army reached an astonishing 4,000 people in one day. In other words, the entire infantry regiment lost its troops.

The commander of the 114th Division was a little stunned. He didn't know how to continue the next battle. He asked the 12th Army Command to order the Third Air Force to dispatch aircraft to bomb. He didn't believe that the fortifications of Gao Jiu and others could withstand the bombing of aviation bombs.

The commander of the Third Air Force, Makio Yokota, hated and afraid of Gao Jiu. He heard that he surrounded Gao Jiu in Taohua Mountain, and he was also ready to move, hoping to kill Gao Jiu just like this.

After receiving the order to bomb Taohua Mountain, he discussed with several of his confidants. The confidants all knew that Taohua Mountain had a large number of air defense weapons and had a higher range than the current bomber flight, and no one was willing to perform such a mission.

Some people say that if you want to bomb Taohua Mountain, you can't escape the air defense firearms on the top of Taohua Mountain. If you forcefully bomb, the losses will definitely be heavy.

Someone advised Makio Yokota to say that Gao Jiu was elusive. If he couldn't kill Gao Jiu this time and was hated by him, the life of the Third Air Force in the future would be even more difficult. Think about it, the dignified Prince Asaka Palace could not escape Gao Jiu's black hand, and the Third Air Force could not escape Gao Jiu's revenge.

Makio Yokota finally accepted the advice of his confidants. He became more cautious and wanted to bomb Taohua Mountain and leave room for him to explain to Gao Jiu in the future.

He sent bombers to form a formation to bomb, but the first team of this bomber formation only had four bombers. He wanted to test how fierce the air defense firepower of Taohua Mountain is?

If all four planes can complete the bombing mission, then the large group of aircraft behind will violently bomb Taohua Mountain. If the four planes in the front are knocked out, he will immediately order the plane behind to turn around and fly back to the airport.

This gave an explanation to the 12th Army Command and left room for negotiation with Gao Jiu in the future.

At 10 a.m., the long-awaited air force of the Japanese officers and soldiers around Taohua Mountain finally arrived, and four bombers flew towards the sky above the Taohua Mountain guerrilla base.

The pilots of these four Japanese bombers were not fools. They understood that letting them bomb first was to use their lives to test the air defense firepower of Taohua Mountain. Although these four guys also had the spirit of Bushido, they still did not want to lose their lives in vain. So they flew as much as possible against the edge of the Taohua Mountain guerrilla positions, and controlled the altitude of the plane to the highest altitude they could reach.

When they flew to the target, they saw a rain of bullets all over the sky. The three bombers were knocked down on the spot. The remaining one was fleeing out with a life of life, throwing the bomb down while escaping.

Not only were these bombs not thrown into the positions of the Taohua Mountain guerrillas, but some fell into the valley and some fell on the opposite hillside. They were all places where the Japanese army gathered. Thirty or forty people were killed on the spot, and one of the Japanese brigade commanders was directly killed.

The Japanese officers and soldiers were amused and crying, and they couldn't blame the brothers of the Air Force, because they also suffered heavy losses.

Seeing this situation, the bomber group of the Third Air Force turned around and returned to Jinan Airport without saying a word.

Makio Yokoda immediately reported to General Haneda that in this case, even if all the aircraft of the Third Air Force bombed, all the losses would not be destroyed.

Although General Haneda felt sorry for the infantry, the Air Force could not lose in vain. He had to agree to Makio Yokoda's request, and the Air Force would no longer participate in the offensive operation.

General Haneda said to Lieutenant General Sakai, Chief of Staff of the North China Expeditionary Army, a little frustrated, "You have also seen that it has always been not that our 12th Army did not try our best to wipe out the Gaojiu bandit gang, but that this bone is really too difficult to crack. You are here, so please give us guidance."

Originally, the Chief of Staff of the North China Expeditionary Army believed that the Japanese army in Shandong had made a big fuss and had to use tens of thousands of Japanese troops to deal with a small Taohuashan guerrilla. Now, he really understands the helplessness of the 12th Army.

Sakai suggested that Gao Jiu's Taohua Mountain guerrillas besieged for a long time, so he did not believe that the supplies on their mountain could support the bandits on the mountain for how long. He believed that it would not take long, Gao Jiu and others would collapse because the supply of supplies was not enough.

Chief Haneda said with a wry smile: "This is useless at all, have you heard of it? Gao Jiu extorted 1 million oceans from Prince Asaka Palace this time. He has money, and it will be fine if the reserved materials have been used for about a few years. We have used so many troops to encircle Gao Jiu, and our own consumption is too great and we can't hold on for a few days.

However, if you do not use such a large number of troops to siege and reduce the number of troops, it will not take long for the troops to be wiped out by Gao Jiu."

The chief of staff of the North China Expeditionary Army was also very shaking his head. As a senior general, he had never encountered such a situation in his life.

Chief of Staff Haneda said: "I'm afraid there is only one way, that is, to transfer the second artillery brigade of the North China Expeditionary Force and bombard the fortifications of Taohua Mountain with heavy artillery."

The Second Heavy Artillery Brigade has hundreds of artillery pieces, some of which are 240 cm caliber heavy artillery. Although the fortifications of the Taohua Mountain guerrillas are strong, they still cannot withstand the bombing of such large-caliber artillery. Moreover, these artillery ranges are very long and can reach twenty or thirty kilometers. They do not need to enter the mountain and can bombard Taohua Mountain at a long distance.

There is only one heavy artillery brigade in the entire North China Expeditionary Army, and they are reluctant to use it. The Chief of Staff of the North China Expeditionary Army could not make this decision, so he asked General Haneda to draft a report to explain in detail the importance of using the Second Heavy Artillery brigade, and he would report to the commander of the North China Expeditionary Army.

The commander of the North China Expeditionary Army was very angry. He was very dissatisfied with the 12th Army and believed that they were incompetent. He also thought that the 12th Army used tens of thousands of troops to deal with a small Taohuashan guerrilla team, which was simply a joke. Now, they even had to use the Second Artillery Brigade, the guardian treasure of the North China Expeditionary Army, which made him even more unacceptable. He refused without hesitation.

The Chief of Staff of the North China Expeditionary Army, the 114th Division, and the Major General and above officers participating in this battle jointly explained the situation to the commander of the North China Expeditionary Army, and once again requested the use of the Second Heavy Artillery Brigade to come for support.

Finally, the commander of the North China Expeditionary Force approved the use of the Second Heavy Artillery Brigade.

In order to deal with the small Taohuashan guerrillas, the Japanese army actually invested so much money that the Taohuashan guerrillas were in danger of being destroyed.

This battle in Taohua Mountain touched the hearts of all Chinese people. The vast number of anti-Japanese soldiers and civilians, including the underground party base and the rear, were worried about Gao Jiu and others.

In dealing with a small Taohua Mountain, the Japanese army dispatched tens of thousands of troops, as well as the air force and heavy artillery troops. No one was optimistic about the future of Taohua Mountain, and they all felt that the Taohua Mountain guerrillas might be destroyed by the Japanese this time.

The underground party and the government were unwilling to see the Taohuashan guerrillas being eliminated, so they took active action.

The underground party in Shandong took advantage of the Japanese army's transfer of a large number of troops to Taohua Mountain and launched a fierce attack on the Japanese and puppet troops in various parts of Shandong.

In addition to ordering the 41st Army to block the 38th Division of the Japanese army from Henan to attack southwestern Shandong, the government also took a rare risk and took a special action.

The number of air force aircraft in the government is limited, and they mainly adopt defensive tactics to prevent Japanese bombers from bombing important targets in the government. Therefore, the government air force is mainly equipped with fighter jets, with very few bombers and very few aviation bombs. During the entire War of Resistance Against Japan, bombing against the Japanese army was extremely rare.

At Ouyang Xue's request, the government took the risk of using six bombers, took off from Nanyang Airport and flew to Taohua Mountain.

The Japanese army did not expect that a small Taohuashan guerrilla team could actually allow the government to use the air force to provide support, so they did not get information in time and sent fighter jets to intercept it. As a result, they were bombed by the government air force.

The Japanese army was very dense around Taohua Mountain. This time the bombing caused the Japanese army to suffer more than 400 losses.

This is not the most critical. The Military Control Commission closely monitored any information related to Taohua Mountain. After they learned that the Japanese Second Heavy Artillery Brigade had left Peking and went to Taohua Mountain, they immediately notified Gao Jiu with telegram.

After getting the news, Gao Jiu smiled and said, "Little Japan really respects our Taohua Mountain, and he is willing to afford to invest so much."

Gao Jiu originally planned to rely on the solid position of Taohua Mountain to hold the Japanese army for a period of time and consume more Japanese troops. If such a situation occurs, he has to take action in advance.

Gao Jiu planned to leave Taohua Mountain and launch a counterattack against the Japanese army. Before leaving Taohua Mountain, he still had to tell the Japanese army clearly that he was in Taohua Mountain.

On that day, after repelling a Japanese attack, the speaker set up on the hill broadcast Gao Jiu's speech.

Gao Jiu said in Japanese: "Japanese devils, welcome you to come to Taohua Mountain to die. I am in Taohua Mountain. If you have the ability, you can attack. You'd better be able to attack. Otherwise, after I go out, I will visit you well."

Gao Jiu delivered this speech with the purpose of telling the Japanese army that he was in Taohua Mountain and stimulating them to launch a desperate attack so that the guerrillas could use their strong fortifications to eliminate more Japanese troops.

In addition, Gao Jiu’s news in Taohua Mountain was provided by Liu Shengyu, which is also a necessary means to protect Liu Shengyu.

The Japanese army heard Gao Jiu's speech. The chief of staff of the 8th Division, Tada Jun, personally took Gao Jiu's call, and of course, Hamada Yoshiji, who was very familiar with Gao Jiu's voice. The Japanese army is now sure that Gao Jiu is in Taohua Mountain. They are really worried that if Gao Jiu cannot be eliminated this time, they will be severely retaliated by him in the future. Therefore, the Japanese army was determined to capture Taohua Mountain. While waiting for the Second Artillery Brigade, they were still constantly attacking Taohua Mountain and consuming Taohua Mountain's ammunition with their lives.

Gao Jiu was happy to see that he was successful and asked Zhang Quan, Wang Zhankui and others to command the Taohua Mountain guerrillas to use various ammunition to harvest the lives of the Japanese army. Gao Jiu quietly left Taohua Mountain from the underground river of Taohua Mountain.

Gao Jiuzhang took Jia Liu, Ning Wen, Ning Wu, and Li Xiaoshan from the underground river to leave Taohua Mountain. He first contacted Li Chengwu.

In Liuxinzhuang fifteen miles southeast of Taoyuan Town, Li Chengwu, Shi Jianlong and Liang Shihu welcomed Gao Jiu.

After a simple greeting, Li Chengwu said with great anticipation: "Justice Jiu, the Japanese general command center is set up in our barracks. We have buried a large amount of explosives there in advance. We are waiting for you to give your order to send the Japanese to the West."

Shi Jianlong and Liang Shihu were also proud of their preparations. Shi Jianlong said: "Jiu Master, as long as you give orders, you can keep all the Japanese officials to be ruined."
Chapter completed!