"The Eighth Route Army changed the strong attack into a feint attack, and the offensive was much weaker than before. I don't know what their intentions were..." The staff officer insisted on his opinion and reported bravely.
Colonel Yamamoto was so startled that he jumped up from his chair and asked nervously: "Are you sure that the Eighth Route Army is really pretending to attack Ping'an County?"
"The humble position is confirmed!" the staff officer replied firmly.
After hearing this, Colonel Yamamoto picked up the katana on the table and ordered as he walked out: "Follow me to the city wall immediately..."
"If the New Second Regiment is really pretending to attack Ping'an County, then their real purpose of attacking Ping'an must have changed, and we must make targeted adjustments immediately!"
The captain of the garrison understood the message in his heart: "Sir, are you worried that the Eighth Route Army has transferred all its main troops and wants to encircle us and provide reinforcements?"
"This possibility cannot be ruled out!" Colonel Yamamoto analyzed with a frown.
"Based on what I know about the Eighth Route Army, they are better at ambushes..."
"Their offensive just now was easily defeated by us. Maybe the confidence of the New Second Regiment in conquering Ping'an County will be destroyed by us. We will temporarily change the battle plan and encircle the point for reinforcements!"
"We must immediately confirm whether the real purpose of the New Second Regiment's attack on Ping'an County is to capture Ping'an County..."
"If their main force is no longer outside Ping'an City, we must contact reinforcements immediately and strengthen our alert to prevent being ambushed by the New Second Regiment!"
"In addition, the feigned attack on the county seat may also be a conspiracy of the Eighth Route Army!"
"This will allow us to relax our vigilance and accumulate strength for the next storm on Ping'an County. We can suddenly launch a general attack and catch us by surprise!"
"No matter what the situation is, I have to visit the battlefield in person to make the final decision!"
When Colonel Yamamoto rushed to the head of Dongcheng, a new round of feint attack by the first battalion had just begun.
“Dong dong dong… da da da…”
The light and heavy machine gun fire was very lively, and the bullets flew towards the top of the city as if they were free, causing sparks to fly and rubble to fly across the city.
A few unlucky guys were unfortunately shot and fell into a pool of blood screaming.
Some people died on the spot, while others were screaming and squirming on the ground...
Colonel Yamamoto was unmoved and kept staring at the Eighth Route Army outside the city with his binoculars.
More than a hundred Eighth Route Army troops suddenly rushed out of the offensive position and rushed toward the city wall in a skirmish line.
Colonel Yamamoto felt nervous and subconsciously ordered the city defense troops to start a counterattack.
Before he could say anything, the sound of fierce machine gun fire rang in his ears.
After repeated battles, the Japanese and puppet troops defending the city had figured out the attack routine of the Second Regiment. When the machine gunners saw the attacking troops, they opened fire and used the strongest firepower to repel them, suppressing them in the offensive position and preventing them from getting closer. Opportunity for Ramparts…
Colonel Yamamoto was very satisfied with his subordinate's quick response and was about to praise him. However, the scene outside the city made him swallow his words.
The moment they were blocked, the attacking troops of the Eighth Route Army fell to the ground as if they had discussed it. The rifles they held in their hands were replaced by engineers, and they struggled to dig holes on the ground in front of them. All the excavated soil was piled on the ground. Close to the city wall.
In less than five minutes, a row of small mounds appeared in Yamamoto's field of vision.
As time passed by, the mound became larger and larger, and soon it blocked all the attacking troops.
It was night now, and the Eighth Route Army was lying on the ground. It was difficult for the blocking fire fired from the city to hit the target.
After the mounds appear, it will be more difficult for the city defense troops to hit their targets...
More than a hundred soldiers took the opportunity to get into the pit they dug, shrinking their bodies inside as much as possible and continuing to expand the pit...
"No..." Seeing this, Colonel Yamamoto finally figured out the real purpose of the Second Regiment's change of force attack into a feint attack.
He clenched his fists and cursed: "What a cunning Eighth Route Army. They want to push the offensive position to the foot of the city wall and shorten the attack distance!"
"Our blocking firepower was too strong and the attack distance was too long. The Eighth Route Army had no chance of capturing Ping'an County!"
"Only by shortening the attack distance to more than a hundred meters can they have a chance to approach the city wall through exhaustion and blow open the city gate..."
After saying that, he turned his attention to the offensive position of the New Second Regiment farther outside the city.
More than a dozen light and heavy machine guns were mounted on the bunker. Behind the bunker were all soldiers. There were at least six or seven hundred people. They were even more sure of their judgment: "The main force of the Eighth Route Army is still outside the city, and their ultimate goal of attacking Ping'an County has not changed!" "
"Let the grenade troops fire a few rounds of grenades at the Eighth Route Army digging bunkers, see their reaction, and further determine whether the main force of the New Second Regiment is really still outside the city!"
After a while, six grenades hit the middle of the attacking troops of the New Second Regiment, and one grenade hit the mound.
The fire splashed, and the half-meter-high mound was instantly razed to the ground. The Eighth Route Army troops hiding behind the mound were blown away together, and they fell to the ground without any movement...
"Rumble..."
The grenades continued to counterattack. With only three rounds of grenades, seven or eight mounds outside the city were flattened. The casualties of the New Second Regiment must have exceeded ten.
Colonel Yamamoto's expression was calm, and he did not show any smile because of these results. He continued to stare outside the city with a calm expression, waiting for the new second regiment to counterattack.
"Boom boom boom..."
Three explosions suddenly sounded on the top of the city. One of the fireballs was very close to Yamamoto, which scared the Japanese around him, fearing that something might happen to Yamamoto.
Several Japanese soldiers rushed towards Colonel Yamamoto at the same time, surrounded him, and used their bodies to form a human shield...
"Sir, it's an artillery attack... The Eighth Route Army has three mortars outside the city... Do you want the artillery squadron to counterattack immediately and knock them out!" the guard captain asked anxiously.
"You can fight back, but don't hit him too hard!" Colonel Yamamoto ordered calmly, but he was already happy in his heart.
The appearance of mortars means that the main force of the New Second Regiment is still outside the city, which means that their attack goal is still to capture Ping'an County...
"Why?" the guard captain asked puzzledly.
Although there is only half a mortar squadron in the city, six mortars have been strengthened. As long as Yamamoto is willing, two or three salvos can completely destroy the three newly exposed guns of the New Second Regiment.
As a result, Colonel Yamamoto actually asked them to spare a hand, making it clear that he did not want the artillery squadron to kill the three exposed mortars of the New Second Regiment.
Colonel Yamamoto smiled and explained: "Artillery is a necessary heavy weapon for siege!"
"What if we knock out all the artillery equipped by the New Second Regiment from the beginning...without artillery support, how can they attack the city...and scare them away?"
"Let the artillery squadron take their time and destroy one or two mortars!"
"If there is a chance, they will send two mortars for the New Second Regiment to destroy, so that the New Second Regiment can see the opportunity to capture Ping'an County, and we can drag them to death outside Ping'an City!"
"As for the Eighth Route Army digging trenches outside the city... just use three rounds of grenade launchers from time to time... don't try too hard to stop them!"
Colonel Miyamoto is the commander of the Japanese and puppet reinforcements that are about to pass through the Tutu Temple.
Holding two thousand imperial troops and one thousand imperial alliance troops in his hands, he kept urging his subordinates to speed up their march as soon as they left the city...
As for the dangers he might encounter on the way to reinforcements, he had analyzed them before setting off.
His marching route was not in the defense zone of the New Regiment and the Independent Regiment. There were only some Eighth Route Army guerrillas and a regiment of the Shanxi-Sui Army along the way.
The guerrillas can at most harass themselves and will not pose any threat to the reinforcements.
Although the Jinsui Army was a regular army, they never took the initiative to provoke the imperial army.
As long as you don't take the initiative to stir up trouble and just cross the border, they will most likely be blind...
Calculated this way, except for the reinforcement troops that may be sent by the New Second Regiment, I will not encounter any threats on the march.
This is indeed the case. After leaving the city, I drove forty or fifty miles without encountering any attack...
Just as he was shouting for the troops to speed up, two thunderous explosions suddenly came from the position of the forward troops. Colonel Miyamoto raised his telescope and saw two groups of black smoke rising from the road ahead.
"Bagya Road... This must have been done by the Eighth Route Army guerrillas!" Colonel Miyamoto frowned and made a judgment after just one look.
Three minutes later, a second lieutenant hurriedly ran towards him: "Reporting to your Excellency, the captain, the forward troops were attacked by landmines. Six Imperial Army soldiers were killed and three Imperial Army soldiers were seriously injured..."
"The forward troops requested the engineering team to help clear mines..."
Colonel Miyamoto was very dissatisfied and said: "Why are there so many casualties!"
"In the past, when we encountered landmines planted by guerrillas, we would only suffer one or two casualties. This time, two landmines caused nine losses to us!"
The second lieutenant hurriedly explained: "In the past, all we encountered were land mines struck by the Eighth Route Army themselves. They were filled with black powder and had very little power!"
"What we encountered this time was a standard mine, filled with high explosives, which is several times more powerful!"
After finishing speaking, he continued to ask: "Should we send engineers to clear mines...please give the order to the commander of the company!"
Miyamoto didn't know where the guerrillas got the standard landmines, but he would not be scared by the two landmines. He immediately shook his head and ordered: "The engineers are demining too slowly!"
"By the time we clear all the mines and move forward, Ping'an County has already been captured by the New Second Regiment. What's the point of us going there!"
"Let the forward troops continue to move forward. Don't be afraid. The guerrillas don't have many mines. Once a few mines are blown up, they will be gone!"
"Assign another small group of imperial troops to the forward troops to supervise the battle. If there are any imperial troops who are afraid to move forward, kill them immediately!"
The second lieutenant understood clearly that the commander wanted the Imperial Army to act as human mine detectors and detonate landmines on the road, so that the Imperial Army could advance safely without any influence.
Although it was a bit cruel, the second lieutenant didn't say much.
Like the captain of the regiment, Miyamoto, he felt that the Imperial Army was inferior to the Imperial Army, and if they did not regard their lives as fate, it would be fine no matter how many deaths they suffered. The worst he could do was recruit more strong men to replenish the troops after returning to the county seat and take orders immediately.
Behind a mountain ridge 800 meters away, Captain Zhou of the county brigade was ambushing here with dozens of soldiers, watching every move of the Japanese and puppet troops without blinking.
When I saw that two landmines only killed eight or nine puppet troops, but not a single Japanese, I couldn't help but sigh, I was very disappointed...
