"Continue to contact, when to answer the phone and when to stop..." Neji Okamura ordered while suppressing his anger. cover
"Send another group of messengers to the west of the city, faster..."
At this time, Okamura Neji felt a faint uneasiness in his heart, thinking that something might have happened in the west of the city.
But reason quickly rejected this idea.
There are still more than 300 troops stationed in the west of the city. Relying on the strong city defenses, no matter how fierce the enemy's artillery fire is, they can sustain it for 20 minutes.
As soon as the reserve team arrived, the crisis they faced was naturally relieved.
The idea is good, but the reality is very cruel.
Just as he calmed down from the shame and anger of being fooled, he saw the deputy chief of staff running towards him in a panic. cover
"Your Majesty Commander, there seems to be something wrong with the battle situation in the west of the city."
"In normal operations, after the artillery fire coverage ends, the Eighth Route Army will gather heavy troops to attack the city desperately, and the exchange of fire will be very intense."
"But the sound of firefights from the west of the city not only did not become thicker, but actually became much weaker."
"I'm worried that the garrison in the west of the city will be hit hard by the shelling."
"It is no longer possible to stop the Eighth Route Army's siege troops..."
Okamura Neji listened carefully and found out that this was really the case.
The bad feeling in his heart became more and more intense. As soon as he banged the table, he began to give orders: "Tell the reserve team."
"If the Eighth Route Army has occupied the west of the city, they will immediately launch a counterattack and recapture the west of the city while the Eighth Route Army is not yet firmly established."
"The military police gathered immediately and went to reinforce the west side of the city."
"Deploy two more mortar teams to reinforce, just in case something unexpected happens..."
"Two hundred people were transferred from the east of the city to the headquarters to take charge of security duties. They will serve as the headquarters' new reserve team and then reinforce the west of the city."
The panic expression on the deputy chief of staff's face suddenly relaxed, as if he had taken a reassurance and regained his confidence.
…………
"Boom, boom, boom..."
Grenades continued to hit the city head and exploded. The remaining ten or so Japs in the city defense force hesitated in a small boat in the waves. They were instantly submerged in the sea of fire and became motionless.
"The troops spread their guard and notify the thunder artillery troops to come to the city. Hurry up..." the guard company commander ordered while running.
Seeing that there were still a few heavy machine guns on top of the city that had not been blown up, we continued the order.
"You guys set up heavy machine guns in the direction of the city, and provide fire cover for the troops entering the city from a high position."
"Select all the light machine guns that are still usable and send them to the regiment leader."
"The Japanese and puppet troops will launch a crazy counterattack against us."
"The stronger the blocking fire, the greater the chance of blocking their offensive, and the more Japanese and puppet troops will be killed."
On the street dozens of meters away, Huang Qi was not idle either.
With the box cannon inserted into the holster on his waist, he kept moving sandbags onto the streets to establish blocking positions.
"One company will guard the yard on the left side of the street."
"Pull out the shooting holes on the courtyard wall. If you go faster, the little Japs will kill you soon."
"Second Company is guarding the courtyard on the right side of the street..."
"The troops should be dispersed as much as possible. Don't let the Japanese and puppet troops make dumplings for us."
"Other troops established blocking positions on the spot..." Cover
As soon as a barricade was built, a little devil appeared at the end of the street.
Huang Qi turned over and hid behind the barricade.
He set up the light machine gun just sent by the guard company, pointed it at the little devil, and shouted orders.
"The Japs are coming, get ready to fight..."
"Follow my order and shoot again..."
Slowly turn the muzzle of the gun and put the two Japs at the front into the front sight.
"Da da da..."
When the distance between the two sides was still seventy or eighty meters, the trigger was suddenly pulled.
The butt of the gun hit the shoulder hard with strong recoil, the bullets flew out of the barrel in a fan shape, and the two Japanese soldiers fell to the ground.
The rifle machine guns set aside opened fire at the same time.
The flying bullets were immediately in front of the devils
A copper wall and iron wall were intertwined, and no matter how brave they were, they could not rush through.
"Boom boom boom..."
An explosion suddenly sounded behind Huang Qi, and the hot air wave almost knocked Huang Qi over.
He was so frightened that he quickly retracted his head from behind the barricade, then hid in the corner with his head in his hands, shouting reminders. cover
"Shell bombardment, pay attention to concealment... boom boom boom..."
The second round of shells came down quickly, interrupting Huang Qi's unfinished order.
The air wave coming from behind was stronger than before, indicating that the impact point was quickly approaching him.
To be on the safe side, he lay on the ground with his head in his arms to reduce the area of the bullet...
On the top of the city, the few soldiers operating heavy machine guns were getting angry.
The main force of the regiment was being bombed below, and a large number of soldiers were killed and injured every moment, but they stood by as spectators. They felt aggrieved and anxious in their hearts, which cannot be described in words.
"Company commander, let's fight..."
A machine gunner said eagerly.
"We opened fire from a high position, and almost all the Japanese and puppet troops who came back were within the effective range of the heavy machine guns."
"Guaranteed to kill them until their butts pee..."
The company commander was also anxious, but he still shook his head helplessly and looked at the gunner of the flying thunder cannon who was still preparing.
Their first task was to protect the incoming artillery units and give them enough time to launch explosive packages at the Japanese and puppet troops.
If the heavy machine gun fires in advance and exposes its position, the mortars brought by the Japanese and puppet troops will definitely bombard the city, making it impossible for the flying thunder artillery unit to launch explosive packages, disrupting the deputy commander's plan.
"We're ready..." a torpedo platoon leader suddenly said. cover
The guard company let out a long sigh of relief, as if they had eaten candied fruit, and ordered with joy on their faces.
"Then what are you waiting for? Hurry up and launch the explosive packets to kill the little Japanese counterattack troops."
"All light and heavy machine guns are ready for battle..."
"The thunder cannon fires, we fire."
…………
The Japanese army in Baoding temporarily commanded the troops. Okamura Neiji was pacing back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back. From time to time he would go to the door to listen to the sound of firefights coming from the west of the city.
Use this to judge the situation there. cover
When he reached the door again, a thunderous explosion suddenly reached his ears from the west of the city.
The deputy chief of staff ran towards him at the same time. Before he could stand still, he said in a panic: "Your Excellency, Commander, the west side of the city is missing..."
"The Eighth Route Army successfully captured the city head and occupied several courtyards in the city..."
"The reinforcements are fighting back desperately, but the effect is not good..."
Okamura Neiji did not answer the deputy chief of staff's message. He stared at him with a serious face and asked, "What was going on with the explosion just now?"
"The shells of mountain artillery can't make such a loud noise."
"The fact that Chengxi was lost so quickly must be related to the explosion just now."
"It's a thunder cannon..." the deputy chief of staff immediately reported.
After the appearance of thunder cannons in northwest Shanxi, the Japanese army conducted a special study, and Okamura Neiji even led everyone in the headquarters to see it with their own eyes.
Although it is very powerful, the range is too short, the hit rate is low, and the overall strength is not as good as the grenade launchers equipped in large quantities by the army, so it is not equipped with troops.
As soon as the deputy chief of staff mentioned these words, Okamura Neji's mind was filled with the powerful destructive power of the flying thunder cannon.
As for the shortcomings, as long as the Eighth Route Army successfully reaches close range and launches the explosives into the opponent's position, it doesn't matter.
His face turned pale instantly and he said in a serious tone: "No wonder they were able to capture the west of the city in such a short time. It turned out that they had the help of flying thunder cannons."
After saying that, he walked over to the sand table and analyzed: "First, let's lure us into being fooled by attacking in the east and attack in the west, and reduce the size of the garrison in the west of the city."
"Send the thunder cannon to the corner of the city wall and launch a sudden attack."
"As long as seven or eight explosive charges hit the city head, a defensive gap of more than 200 meters long can be blown up."
"The Eighth Route Army can take the opportunity to rush into Baoding and seize the city..."
Speaking of which, Neji Okamura
Suddenly thinking of the explosion that had just occurred, and then thinking of the battle taking place in the west of the city, his face became more solemn, and he cried out.
"Baga, our reinforcements to the west of the city are in danger."
"The Eighth Route Army has flying thunder cannons and they also occupy the top of the city."
"It's absolutely possible to mount the thunder cannon on top of the city to attack the counterattack troops..."
"Although there are many reinforcements, in the face of the explosive packets fired by the thunder cannon, this small number of troops is not enough for them to explode."
"Rumble..."
The thunderous explosion reached the command headquarters again.
The deputy chief of staff's face began to turn pale. He was too nervous to speak. Then Okamura Neiji said: "I finally know why the Eighth Route Army troops occupied some yards and established a defense line close to the city wall."
"It's too far away from the city wall and the range of the thunder cannon is too close, so we can't provide fire support."
"Your Excellency, Commander, I immediately order the counterattack troops to suspend the attack and withdraw from the effective killing range of the torpedo cannons."
"It's too late..."
Okamura Neji replied with a long sigh.
"One wrong step, every wrong step."
"The Eighth Route Army is equipped with at least twenty thunder cannons, and two salvos can contain more than forty explosive charges."
"One explosive pack killed five of our soldiers, and all the reinforcements were wiped out."
"Transfer the new reinforcements just transferred from the east of the city."
"If the gendarmerie has not yet joined the battle, let them retreat immediately and establish a defensive line beyond the effective range of the thunder cannon to block the Eighth Route Army entering the city."
The deputy chief of staff's pale face did not change because of this order, and he stared at Okamura Neji and continued to ask. cover
"What if the Eighth Route Army uses thunder cannons to continue attacking the city center?"
Faced with this problem, Okamura Neji hesitated and thought about it for a while before making a decision.
"Delay time and fight desperately..."
"I will send a telegram to the mopping up troops now and ask them to dispatch two infantry brigades to return to Baoding immediately to support them."
The deputy chief of staff continued to remind: "Are two infantry brigades too few?"
Okamura Neiji shook his head: "No matter how many troops are mopped up, we won't be able to protect ourselves, and we won't be able to continue mopping up the Eighth Route Army in the wing."
"This large-scale sweep we have carefully planned must not end with the disastrous defeat of the North China Front."
The deputy chief of staff understood.
Although he was still worried, with the situation of the war, there was nothing he could do.
…………
Li Yunlong didn't know when he ran to the top of the west city of the city. Looking at the little Japs retreating like a wave in front of him, he felt very unhappy: "*** Little Japs, I ran away before I had fought enough. I don't want to give it to us, Old Li." Save face."
Although Huang Qi was not happy, he felt a sense of relief as he faced the rapidly retreating Japs.
If the Japanese and puppet troops continued to attack, and Li Yunlong stayed on top of the city and refused to go down, Huang Yu had to keep his nerves tense at all times, for fear that the deputy commander would have an accident during the battle.
Once the Japanese retreat, Li Yunlong's chances of getting into an accident will be much smaller, and he won't have to be as frightened as before. cover
