After pondering, Li Qiufan called Heizi and asked him to assemble the troops. He turned to look at Zhao Gang again: "Old Zhao, you should look after the house this time."
"Okay, I listen to you!"
Zhao Gang nodded and agreed. Although he also wanted to fight with Li Qiufan, the base area was equally important.
"Monk! Lead the horse for me!"
Li Qiufan shouted toward the door, and then walked out.
It didn't take long for the entire independent brigade to be assembled. This time Li Qiufan left the cavalry regiment behind because they were about to face a city defense battle and the cavalry regiment was of little use.
Four infantry regiments and artillery regiments, plus reconnaissance battalions and guard battalions, more than 16,000 people set out in a mighty manner.
Arriving twenty miles away from Shangyang County, Li Qiufan stopped the advance of the troops and sent out the reconnaissance battalion, thinking of first getting a feel for the situation of the defenders in the city.
"Report to the brigade commander, there are probably two groups of Japs in the city, and there are also two regiments of Japs!"
Soon the soldiers from the reconnaissance battalion came back and reported to Li Qiufan the situation of the defenders in the city.
"Er Japs? It seems that the little Japs in Taiyuan are not very strong. Even the Second Japs have been sent out."
Li Qiufan touched his chin. He didn't pay attention to the two Japs in the same group at all, mainly the Japs in the two brigades.
Although the number is small, only more than 2,000 people in total, resistance will also cause losses to the troops.
"What's the extent? Call him over to me!"
Li Qiufan turned around and shouted, he had an idea in his mind, but this idea needs one person to implement it, that is the degree.
"Brigadier, are you looking for me?"
After a while, he ran over and saluted Li Qiufan.
"Haha, you're already the chief of staff, why are you still so rigid? Relax!"
Li Qiufan patted his shoulder and said with a smile.
"Brother, I will always be your soldier!"
Su Shi beat his chest. He was also an old man from Cangyun Village and one of the closest people to Li Qiufan. Otherwise, he would not have been promoted so quickly.
"Okay, don't do that. I asked you to come over and I have something for you to do!"
Li Qiufan waved his hand and then got down to business.
"Brigadier, what's going on?"
He squatted next to Li Qiufan, took out a sweet potato from his arms and handed it to Li Qiufan.
"Hey, good stuff!"
Li Qiufan took it and took a bite, then continued: "I want you to take the reconnaissance battalion into the city and cause some chaos for the Japanese when the troops attack."
"What kind of chaos?"
After hearing this, Sui's eyes lit up. He had not led a team for a long time since he was promoted to chief of staff. He was a little excited when he heard that he could continue to lead the reconnaissance battalion.
"I will lead the troops to attack in the evening. Then you can light the firecrackers for me in the city."
"Remember to spread out the locations, set a few more fires to attract some of the Japs and puppet troops, and you don't have to worry about the rest!"
Li Qiufan explained the plan in detail. Although he could defeat it otherwise, it would still be good to reduce casualties.
"Okay, I get it, I'll sneak in with the reconnaissance battalion right now!"
He nodded and then left to find the commander of the reconnaissance battalion.
After an afternoon, Sui led the people from the reconnaissance camp into dozens of groups, pretending to be ordinary people who were fleeing and went to the city to lie dormant.
When the time came at night, Li Qiufan looked at his watch. It was already early in the morning, and the independent brigade had already moved to the designated attack position.
"Go tell Lao Ma and ask him to wait for my order. Don't fire until you get the order!"
Li Qiufan called the signal corpsman and asked him to convey the order to Lao Ma's artillery regiment.
"Heizi, prepare the troops for battle!"
Seeing that time was almost up, Li Qiufan prepared to launch an attack.
"boom!"
Li Qiufan took a rifle and killed the Japanese on guard on the city wall with one shot, firing the first shot of the battle.
"beat!"
Li Qiufan shouted, and then Heizi led two battalions of soldiers to attack the Japanese and puppet troops guarding the city.
But Li Qiufan gave an order early on, asking Heizi to lead only two battalions to attack, and they were only allowed to shoot with guns, not charge, and everything had to wait for his orders.
The Japs and puppet troops defending the city were caught off guard. The Japs immediately launched a counterattack, and the machine guns set up on the top of the city continued to burn.
The puppet soldiers couldn't help it. They were beaten so hard that they ran around with their heads in their hands. They ran to the corner one by one and trembled non-stop.
As the battle started, more and more Japs came to the city gate, and Japs from the entire Shangyang County came to support them.
In the heat of the two shootings, fires suddenly broke out in Shangyang County and there were constant sounds.
The people who were hiding in the city took action, leading the reconnaissance battalion to light firecrackers throughout the county and set off several fires.
Normally, the sound of firecrackers and the sound of gunshots are easy to distinguish, but now Li Qiufan is leading the attack, and the Japanese are also fighting back.
In this case, the sound of firecrackers in the county sounded different, and gave the Japanese the illusion that there were more enemies in the county than outside the city, so they immediately divided their troops to meet the enemies in various parts of the county.
After the Japs at the top of the city divided their forces, Li Qiufan immediately felt the weakening of the Japs' firepower and knew it was time to launch a charge.
"Communicator, go tell Lao Ma and ask him to use a cannon to blow open the city gate for me!"
Li Qiufan turned around and shouted loudly, and the correspondent quickly ran towards the artillery position.
A few minutes later, a deafening sound came, and then the gate of the county seat was blown to pieces.
"Damn it, large-caliber heavy artillery is better! One shot opened the city gate!"
Li Qiufan looked at the blasted city gate and cursed, then asked the bugler to blow the charge horn.
After the charge horn sounded, this time it was no longer two battalions, but tens of thousands of people charging directly.
The Japs on the top of the city could clearly see the scene below the city through the moonlight. Countless figures were rushing towards the city gate, looking like Yin soldiers passing through.
This scene immediately made the Japanese feel numb, and the commanders of each team directly ordered a retreat.
The charge of tens of thousands of people was indeed shocking, especially in such an environment. It added a sinister atmosphere, which made the Japanese who were always fearless feel a little hairy and had goosebumps all over their bodies.
The Japs were like this, let alone the puppet troops. The entire security group of more than 3,000 people was immediately blown away. The puppet troops scattered and fled, fearing that they would be dragged down to the underworld if they ran too slowly.
Due to the retreat of the Japanese and the collapse of the security group, Li Qiufan quickly rushed into the county with his troops.
"One regiment takes over the city gate, and the other three regiments go in three directions to clean up the Japanese in the county and end the battle before dawn!"
After entering the county town, Li Qiufan issued a cleaning order, and then asked people to find the reconnaissance camp led by him.
The cleaning work lasted for more than two hours, and then all the Japanese and puppet soldiers in the county were found, and the battle was ended before the sun rose.
