"Boom, boom, boom..." A row of artillery shells fell from the sky and hit the city head again. The soldiers scattered on this section of the city wall were instantly blown over, dead and injured.
New soldiers are afraid of machine guns, but veterans are afraid of machine guns.
The new recruits in the team had long been blown to the edge of collapse. Looking at the severely injured people who kept screaming around them, the broken limbs and broken arms, and the bloody minced meat, their emotions suddenly collapsed.
"No more fighting, I don't want to fight anymore, I want to go home..." Before he could finish his words, a recruit dropped his weapon and ran towards the back with fear on his face.
"I won't fight either, I don't want to die here..."
As soon as the leading fleeing warrior appeared, a dozen deserters who had the same pattern appeared at the top of the city.
Although the remaining recruits did not move, the panic in their eyes showed that they were on the verge of collapse. As long as there were enough deserters, they would definitely follow suit immediately.
"Papa..."
Two gunshots suddenly rang out at the top of the city, and Deng Jingye led a platoon of guards to the top of the city.
Facing the deserters, he raised his box cannon and fired two shots into the sky, shouting angrily: "Go back to me."
"You are the Eighth Route Army, don't forget the military uniforms you are wearing."
"Our Eighth Route Army will either defeat the enemy or die on the battlefield. We must not be deserters..."
"From now on, I will fight with you."
"When will everyone receive the order to retreat and when will they abandon the city? If anyone sees me evacuating the city before you and becomes a deserter, military law will be enforced against me immediately."
"The battle in the city is almost over. As long as everyone persists for ten more minutes, we can retreat. Please hold on to me."
After saying that, he ordered the guard platoon behind him: "The guard platoon immediately joins the battle, fills the defense holes on the city, and blocks the Japanese attacking troops at all costs..."
After saying that, he held up the box cannon and ran towards the battlements.
More than thirty soldiers from the guard platoon followed closely behind. A dozen deserters were not afraid of death when they saw the regiment leader. No matter how scared they were, they had to return to their fighting positions.
"The Japs are almost rushing under the city wall. They are attacking with grenades. Throw all the grenades on me..." As soon as Deng Jingye hid behind the battlements, he saw that three to four hundred Japs had already reached a position 20 or 30 meters outside the city. , many Japs were rushing towards the city gate hole. The newly closed city gate had been blown open by the Japs with mountain cannons. Once they were allowed to get into the city gate hole, the city wall would definitely fall.
Two corpses of fallen soldiers fell beside him. The grenade bags on his waist each contained three grenades. He decisively pulled the two grenade bags over, took out the grenades, pulled the fire, held them in his hand for three seconds, and then shook them hard.
Then he took out a second grenade and continued to drop bombs outside the city with the same action...
Two minutes later, a new round of Japanese offensive was finally repelled.
There were more than a hundred corpses of little Japanese outside the city. The two companies defending the city also suffered more than half of their casualties in the battle. There were less than 150 soldiers who could continue to fight.
"Boom boom boom..."
A new round of Japanese artillery fire came again. Deng Jingye huddled as much as possible behind the battlements and held his head with his hands to reduce the area where he was hit.
But the cannonballs fired by the little devils at the top of the city seemed to be free of charge. Round after round, the hot air waves raised the temperature of the city by several degrees.
In order to enter the county town as quickly as possible, the Japanese army stopped this round of artillery fire attack for only three minutes. Then more than 300 little Japanese launched an attack from more than 100 meters outside the city.
As soon as Deng Jingye stuck his head out from the battlement, a string of heavy machine gun bullets swept over from outside the city, and two bullets flew to the top of the city just close to his scalp.
If he hadn't reacted quickly enough, his head would have been blown off by now.
Just as he was about to call his subordinates to counterattack, three red flares suddenly took off in the city.
Deng Jingye breathed a sigh of relief and ordered: "Throw grenades, everyone covers the retreat, abandon the city..."
…………
At the former enemy headquarters of the Japanese army outside the city, Major General Kawasaki was no longer a battlefield novice. When he saw three signal flares rising in the city, he knew that the Second Brigade was finished.
His fists were clenched so tightly that his nails almost dug into his flesh.
Then I heard the good news that the third brigade successfully occupied the city head and entered the county seat.
But Major General Kawasaki was not happy at all.
The fighting in the city has ended, and the Eighth Route Army's blocking mission at the city head has been completed. There is no need to continue to defend the city head and die in vain.
To put it more directly, the city head was not captured by the Third Battalion, but was abandoned by the Eighth Route Army on its own initiative.
However, in order not to damage the morale of the troops, Major General Kawasaki did not tell this fact.
Twenty minutes later, the messenger of the third brigade ran to Major General Kawasaki: "Report to the brigade commander that the fighting in the city has ended after we entered the city. The second brigade was completely destroyed, and all participating troops of the Eighth Route Army retreated to their positions..."
"Please allow the headquarters to allow us to take over the Second Battalion and continue to attack the Eighth Route Army in the city, completely occupy Shunping, and avenge the Second Battalion."
Junping County must be captured. After guessing that the second brigade encountered something unexpected, Major General Kawasaki was thinking about the next strategy.
Staring at the messenger, he gave a serious order: "The third brigade immediately retreated two hundred meters, and at the same time provided shooting elements for the artillery. First, flatten the enemy's hiding houses and street fighting fortifications, and then launch an attack."
…………
At the underground headquarters of the Wangdu Guard Regiment, Deng Jingye heard Li Yunlong's hearty laughter as soon as he arrived at the headquarters.
"Good fight. With this little Jaap who strengthened the brigade as the base, it will be easier for Kong Er to explain. Inform the troops to seize the time to repair and replenish ammunition. I will fight back against the Japs later and try to kill another brigade." Li Yunlong gave orders arrogantly.
"Deputy commander, can we stop fighting..." Deng Jingye was frightened by Li Yunlong's decision and hurriedly walked in to persuade him.
"The first battalion and the second company suffered heavy losses on the city wall, with only two platoons left fighting. The other participating troops must have suffered heavy casualties, and the troops are very tired. I'm afraid the soldiers won't be able to hold on if we continue to fight."
"What do you know..." Li Yunlong said angrily.
"We are tired, and the little Japanese reinforcements are even more tired..."
"They attacked the city for almost half an hour and suffered very heavy losses. In order to speed up reinforcements, they hardly brought heavy weapons into the city."
“After the shelling, they must have thought that we had suffered heavy casualties due to the artillery fire coverage, and they had the idea of underestimating the enemy.
"We concentrate all our troops and firepower to launch a sudden counterattack. We will definitely catch them off guard, and if we continue our efforts, we will eat them too."
"If we let go of this opportunity, it will be difficult to kill an infantry brigade of Japanese soldiers at once."
"I know the soldiers are tired, but time waits for me. This opportunity must be seized."
"Go to the army in person. All cadres will be added to the front-line combat troops. The regiment security company will also participate in the battle. Each main company will form an assault platoon for me, equipped with the best weapons, the best soldiers and cadres, and the company The commander himself also served as the platoon commander and moved through the tunnels to the best attack position."
"After the counterattack started, the 10th Assault Platoon of the entire regiment was the first to launch the attack. They used the fastest speed to disrupt the little devils in the city, fought with them in a melee, and then used the street fighting and guerrilla warfare that we are good at to end the battle."
"After this battle, I want everyone to have a good sleep."
…………
Major General Kawasaki couldn't even imagine that the Eighth Route Army, which had suffered heavy losses and was covered by artillery fire, was still capable of launching a counterattack against them. He opened his mouth and wanted to eat another of his brigade.
The Japanese Third Battalion, which was preparing to attack, also did not expect that Li Yunlong would be so courageous.
Facing a new round of offensive by the mopping up troops, not only did they not think of blocking them, but they actively launched a counterattack against them.
When ten assault platoons emerged from under the eyes of the Japanese army, all the Japanese were frightened by the sudden blow.
By the time they reacted, the dozens of light machine guns equipped by the assault platoon were overwhelming them and they could not lift their heads.
The momentum along the way was overwhelming, quickly scattering the current attacking troops of the little devils.
The follow-up troops immediately rushed to the battlefield, and the battle situation once again fell into a chaotic situation where you were surrounded by me, and you were surrounded by me, causing the sound of crossfire everywhere in the city.
"Buzz buzz..."
A plane roared over, like a soaring eagle, dipping straight down toward the ground, hoping to provide air support to the attacking troops.
The right index finger is already pressed on the bomb release button, and the aerial bomb can be dropped by locking the target.
As a result, the city was too chaotic. There were gunshots and explosions everywhere. The Eighth Route Army and the Japanese were fighting together. They were fighting in squads and platoons, relying on houses and street fighting fortifications. They could not find the bombing target at all.
Unfortunately, the aircraft could only hover over the battlefield twice to cheer up the ground troops.
…………
The Japanese army's former enemy headquarters outside the city, because Li Yunlong did not have the extra troops to reoccupy the city and cut off the connection between the inside and outside of the city, Major General Kawasaki immediately received the bad news that the Eighth Route Army had launched a counterattack against the attacking troops.
The captain of the Fourth Brigade is impatient and is afraid that he will not have a chance to go to the battlefield, or that the Eighth Route Army in the city will be wiped out by the Third Brigade, and he will not get any benefits. When he heard the news, he stood up and asked for a fight: "General, I will lead the fourth brigade to fight in."
"No matter how strong the Eighth Route Army is in the city, it is no match for our two brigades. I am humble enough to guarantee that we will join forces with the Third Battalion to occupy Shunping."
Hearing the words 'enter the city to join the war', the captain of the fifth brigade also became anxious.
Killing one thousand enemies and damaging eight hundred. The second brigade was completely destroyed in the city. No matter how strong the Eighth Route Army was, it would suffer heavy losses.
It had been hit by artillery fire for another ten minutes just now, causing even greater losses.
At this time, the Eighth Route Army launched a counterattack against the Third Battalion. It was almost impossible to hold on and planned to fight to the death.
If you don't go to the city to pick up bargains at this time, you really won't get any benefits.
The captain of the fifth battalion then stood up and asked for a fight: "Brigade commander, I am ready to join the battle, and even the troops have been assembled. As long as you give the order, you can enter the city to join the battle immediately."
Chief of Staff Cun Shangzhongzuo was much calmer. To be precise, he should have been frightened by the Eighth Route Army in Yizhong.
Faced with the sudden and unusually large counterattack launched by the Eighth Route Army, I always felt that things were not as simple as everyone imagined. He believed that the battle reports received by the headquarters were all superficial, and there must be some unknown conspiracy hidden behind them. It was even believed that this counterattack was a trap prepared by the Eighth Route Army for the mopping up troops.
Major General Kawasaki didn't answer either. His thoughts were similar to those of the Chief of Staff, but it was too damaging to the morale of the troops and he didn't say it directly.
