Xu Rui said: "Hulin Fortress is the easternmost of the seventeen Japanese fortresses, and it is also the first fortress we want to occupy. This is just the beginning. In the future, we will occupy all the fortresses and complete the strategic concept. .”
"Old Xu, it seems that Hulin Fortress does not have surface fortifications. There should be no Japanese troops stationed there."
"Don't be careless. Take another look." Xu Rui said.
"good."
The two of them held telescopes and kept looking at the Hulin Fortress Group in the distance. After a while, Leng Tiefeng said, "Don't tell me yet, there are really people."
Xu Rui picked up the telescope and looked forward. Sure enough, two Japanese soldiers emerged from a cave, stretching and basking in the sun while talking about something unknown.
Xu Rui and Leng Tiefeng immediately put on the Japanese military uniforms and walked forward swaggeringly.
"Stop, what are you doing?" A voice came from a high place, but it was a secret whistle from the Japanese. In fact, Xu Rui had discovered this secret whistle a long time ago. Seeing the Japanese soldiers above asking questions, Xu Rui said in fluent Japanese: " We are from the 28th Division, we were dispersed by the Soviets, we managed to escape after a lot of effort, and finally we saw our own people."
"What? Are you from the 28th Division? I heard that you were fighting the Soviets in the Xingkai Lake area. Why did you end up here?"
"We were ambushed by the Soviet army in the Xingkai Lake area. Our boats were all blown up. We finally found a small boat and rowed it back. On the way, the boat was sunk by Soviet artillery. More than ten people on the boat ended up We were the only two who survived. We were washed to the shore by the lake and couldn't find the direction, so we walked around and ended up here," Xu Rui said.
"Oh, it's really difficult. You are going in the wrong direction. This is not a dense mountain, but a tiger forest."
"Brother, we are thirsty and hungry. Please give us something to eat and drink. We really can't walk." Xu Rui said.
"Hey, Mr. Xiaolin, who are you talking to?" From a distance, two Japanese soldiers came over with 38 rifles.
The secret whistle jumped down from the tree. He was wearing a camouflage made of branches on his head and holding a Type 38 rifle in his hand. The Japs immediately communicated with the other two Japs.
The two Japanese soldiers said: "There is not even a single person in this mountain. It is rare to encounter friendly forces. We must treat them well."
"Okay, I just happened to listen to them talk about the war at Xingkai Lake." Another Japanese soldier said.
At that moment, the three Japanese soldiers enthusiastically let Xu Rui and Leng Tiefeng into the cave and gave them water and food. Although Xu Rui and Leng Tiefeng were not hungry, in order to match their rhetoric, they immediately He acted like he was starving and ate canned glutinous rice and fish while rolling his eyes.
"Hey, these two brothers are really hungry." The dozen or so Japanese soldiers on the side couldn't help but admired.
Xu Rui took a sip of water and smoothed the food, and then said: "Brother, thank you very much. If it weren't for you, we really don't know what to do. Where is this place and why are you stationed here?"
"Matsumoto-kun, this is Hulin Fortress."
"Hulin Fortress? Isn't it already abandoned?" Xu Rui said pretending to be surprised.
"Matsumoto-kun, you don't know something. Although Hulin Fortress has lost its strategic value and its surface fortifications have been destroyed, a small team is still stationed here at Shangfeng to prevent the fortress from being used by the Chinese. "
"Oh, so that's the case. Are the other sixteen fortresses also like this?"
"We don't know this." The Japanese soldier shook his head and said.
"Thank you for your warm hospitality. We have gifts for you. We can't leave anyone out."
"What gift?" asked a Japanese soldier.
"It's a very precious gift. Everyone has a share. I can't tell you yet. It's a surprise for everyone."
"Hey, Matsumoto-kun, you are really good at telling lies." The Japs laughed loudly. After a while, a team of more than fifty people stationed in the entire fortress group came from all around. A second lieutenant officer asked: "Matsumoto-kun, what on earth are you doing? What gift is it that makes it so mysterious?”
"My gift is..."
"Don't move!"
The next moment, dozens of Langya men suddenly appeared around with submachine guns in hand, heavily surrounding the Japanese.
"Matsumoto-kun, what are you..." Some stupid Japanese have not yet reacted.
Xu Rui laughed and said: "We are the new group of the Anti-Japanese Alliance. From now on, Hulin Fortress belongs to us!"
"idiot!"
The Japanese second lieutenant officer shouted and was about to draw his gun from his waist.
"Snapped!"
A bullet accurately hit the second lieutenant's forehead. A red and white substance flowed out of the second lieutenant's forehead. His eyes widened and he fell to the ground...
Xu Rui easily occupied the Hulin Fortress without a fight. Although the Hulin Fortress had been semi-abandoned by the Japanese and most of the fortress' supplies had been transferred, there were still a lot of weapons, equipment and food items hidden in the underground fortifications. Xu Rui made an estimate. , the food in the Hulin Fortress Group is enough to feed a battalion for two years. If a battalion is stationed here and uses the complex terrain and underground fortifications of the Hulin Fortress Group, it can last for a long time.
Xu Rui had people put up recruiting flags in the Hulin area. In just ten days, more than 400 new soldiers were recruited. Xu Rui organized this new battalion into the Hulin Fortress Independent Battalion, with Liu Hong as the battalion commander.
After Liu Hong became the battalion commander, he continued to recruit and train soldiers, preparing to build Hulin Fortress into a fulcrum of the new anti-alliance regiment.
Seeing that the goal had been achieved, Xu Rui led a regiment of Soviet troops to withdraw to the Primorsky Krai. Of course, before the Soviet troops retreated, Xu Rui did the job of a Soviet army commander and left part of the regiment's heavy weapons to the Tigers. Lin Fortress has an independent camp. In this way, Liu Hong's strength has greatly increased.
Just when Xu Rui attacked Hulin Fortress and drove a wedge inside the Japanese army, Yamashita Fengwen, who was far away in Harbin, also completed the assembly of his troops.
Yamashita Fengfumi believes that the Xingkai Lake front line is still the best choice to attack the Primorsky Krai. Attacking from Xingkai Lake can avoid the fortresses built by the Soviet army on the northern front. At the same time, it can shorten the distance into the Primorsky Krai and can attack in the shortest time. Occupy Primorye Territory.
In order to complete his plan, Yamashita Fengwen mobilized a large number of ships. At the same time, Yamashita Fengwen also decided to divide his troops into two groups, one to attack the Soviet positions on the south bank of Xingkai Lake from the waterway, and the other to the Soviet side from the land route, attacking both by water and land.
There is no road from China to the Soviet Union near Xingkai Lake. For this reason, Yamashita Fengfumi had to give up his heavy artillery and only carried light artillery such as the 92nd Infantry Artillery. Even so, 300,000 Japanese soldiers gathered there. Near Xingkai Lake, its magnitude is shocking.
"Inoue-kun, you have fought against the Soviets at Xingkai Lake. Do you think we can capture the Soviet positions on the front line of Xingkai Lake?"
In the former enemy headquarters of the Far Eastern Front located in Mishan, Yamashita Fengfumi asked Inoue Haruyuki.
Inoue Haruyuki said: "The Soviet positions on the south bank of Xingkai Lake are very strong, and the Soviets have cleared all obstacles within a radius of 500 meters from the shore. In other words, as long as we land from the beach, we will have no cover and will be completely exposed. Under direct attack by Soviet firepower.
Moreover, our army is a lightly-armed force crossing the lake, while the Soviet army is supported by bunkers, artillery, and tanks. If we attack from the front, our army will pay a huge price. Fortunately, we have individual weapons such as rocket launchers, which can destroy the Soviet fortifications. , so as long as we persist and continue to expand the beachhead, our army will definitely be able to break through the Soviet defense line. "
"Okay, I will order now that all the rocket launchers of the Far East Front will be equipped with the first-line troops crossing the lake." Yamashita Fengwen said.
"Also, although our army does not have heavy artillery, it still needs to be equipped with a large number of mortars and a large number of smoke bombs. After landing, we can use the smoke bombs to cover the forward attack, which can effectively reduce casualties."
"Good idea." Yamashita Fengwen nodded in agreement.
"I have studied Xu Rui's tactics. His Langya is good at sneak attacks and beheadings. Therefore, our army's rear headquarters must be on high alert to prevent Langya from taking advantage of him."
"Okay." Yamashita Fengwen glanced at Inoue Haruyuki and said in his heart that Inoue Haruyuki was still very smart and was definitely a qualified staff officer. It seemed that he was right to take him with him.
"Inoue-kun, if you were to command this battle, what would you do?" Yamashita Fengwen asked.
Inoue Haruyuki said: "It depends on who our opponent is. If it is Savushkin, then it is very simple. The imperial army only needs a front-line push and can capture Vladivostok in a short time. But if it is commanded by Xu Rui, That makes a big difference."
"Oh? What's the difference?" Yamashita Fengwen asked.
"Xu Rui is good at special operations. He will definitely send a small group of troops to behead our army's command structure. If he succeeds, our army will definitely be defeated despite its large number. Moreover, Xu Rui is good at using surprise troops to win, so he is likely to follow his intentions. A sudden attack on the imperial army from an unexpected angle was impossible to prevent, so if Xu Rui was commanding the Soviet army, the outcome of this battle was still uncertain."
After listening to Inoue Haruyuki's words, Yamashita Fengwen couldn't help but think of the Battle of Wujiashan. At that time, the Seventh Army led by Yamashita Fengwen had an absolute advantage over the Wujiashan Anti-Alliance New Regiment in terms of military strength and firepower, but Xu Rui insisted on using The weak defeated the strong and almost completely annihilated the Seventh Army. This battle dealt a heavy blow to Yamashita Fengwen. Yamashita Fengwen was always thinking about how to defeat Xu Rui.
After listening to Inoue Haruyuki's words today, it played into Yamashita Fengwen's ambitions. It can be seen that Inoue Haruyuki is very knowledgeable about Xu Rui and is familiar with Xu Rui's fighting methods. Maybe, he really has a way to deal with Xu Rui.
Thinking of this, Yamashita asked Fengwen: "If the Soviet army is commanded by Xu Rui, is there any way to deal with it?"