On the battlefield in the east of Baoding City, Li Yunlong always followed the commando team, ready to respond to any surprises that the attacking troops might encounter.
"Captain..." The commander of the first battalion suddenly ran towards him, panting and reporting.
"We're late, the kid Major General transferred the brigade leader away."
"The headquarters is empty, there's no one there."
"I learned from the captured puppet soldiers that the leader of the Japanese Brigade took the headquarters to the west of the city, intending to shrink the defense and wait for reinforcements there." After hearing this, Li Yunlong couldn't help but sigh: "Kawasaki is really difficult to deal with."
"They don't have enough troops to defend the entire Baoding. They will be easily broken by us individually, and the defense line will become full of holes."
"Only by shrinking our defenses and concentrating our forces to defend one place can we have a chance to withstand our attack."
"But he underestimated us."
"Our general attack does not distinguish between the main attack and the sheep attack."
"We fought for less than half an hour before entering Baoding, and the other three main attacking forces were not far behind."
"Kawasaki wants to withdraw all other city defense troops to the west of the city. That depends on whether we agree or not." After saying that, he ordered several correspondents: "The entire army of the only regiment will attack and immediately advance over the west of the city."
"Cut off all communication channels between the west of the city and the outside world."
"We must not only surround the Japanese and puppet troops in the west of the city, but also block the other Japanese and puppet troops that retreat to the west of the city."... On the battlefield in the west of the city, Major General Kawasaki finally positioned his headquarters in a courtyard less than 400 meters away from the city head. .
The room was full of busy figures. Major General Kawasaki stood in front of the city defense map, with two combat staff standing beside him, constantly marking the latest battle reports sent from the front line on it so that the brigade commander could see them at a glance.
"General..." A messenger rushed in in a panic.
"The Eighth Route Army that attacked the east of the city came towards the west of the city. There are at least a thousand troops."
"The battle in the west of the city is over?" Major General Kawasaki asked with a look of disbelief on his face. Cun Shangzhongzuo hesitated and explained: "When we moved, there were not many people in the garrison in the east of the city."
"The advantage in strength and equipment lies in the hands of the Eighth Route Army."
"If we fight fast enough, we can indeed end the battle within twenty minutes and continue to divide our forces to chase us."
"Hurry up and move a squadron to resist and slow down their attack speed." Major General Kawasaki pointed to a point on the map and ordered.
"The city defense troops in the north and south directions have not been withdrawn yet."
"If the Eighth Route Army from the east of the city comes to besiege us now."
"Those two city defense troops will be blocked by the Eighth Route Army and will not be able to reach the west of the city." As soon as the order was passed out from the left, a new report sounded again.
"Brigade commander, report from the garrison in the west of the city."
"The Eighth Route Army attacking the west of the city has already reached the top of the city."
"Three gaps were opened in the city wall by the Eighth Route Army. The troops stationed at the top of the city suffered heavy casualties. The leading troops of the Eighth Route Army have crossed the gap and entered the county. Please take action in advance to help them block the gap." Major General Kawasaki was very familiar with the scene just reported by his subordinates. .
If I remember correctly, the east part of the city was occupied by the Eighth Route Army. Unexpectedly, they could repeat their old tricks and beat the troops stationed in the west of the city to the point where they were unable to resist.
The west side of the city is your last resort to defend Baoding until reinforcements arrive, and there must be no problems.
Major General Kawasaki was anxious and quickly ordered: "The latent troops will counterattack immediately, destroy the Eighth Route Army entering the city as quickly as possible, block the gaps in the city defense, and keep the enemy out of the city." After saying that, he turned his attention to Zhongzuo Cun, and soon He asked seriously: "How many people have we brought from the east of the city? How many people can the headquarters mobilize to reinforce the battlefield?"
"Two squadrons at most." Cun Shangzhongzuo said.
"The two squadrons were divided into two..." Major General Kawasaki made a decision quickly.
"A squadron is going to intercept the Eighth Route Army coming from the east of the city, connect the troops stationed in the south and north of the city, and ask them to withdraw to the west of the city as soon as possible."
"Another squadron is going to reinforce the city west of the city."
"Help them defend the city fortifications."
"Without my order, the troops cannot take a step back even if they are exhausted." When Li Yunlong led the troops to attack the west of the city quickly, the troops suddenly stopped, and a battalion commander ran towards him at the same time: "Captain, there are people in front of us. The Japanese are blocking the road, and their strength is about one reinforced squadron." Li Yunlong snorted coldly: "This is fat meat that is put on your lips. If you don't eat it, you won't eat it."
"Set up all the torpedo cannons and mortars we brought."
"Each mortar has three shells, and the torpedo cannon fires a round of explosives. Aim and then fire. Bomb them first to severely damage them. The infantry then rushes forward to harvest the results and clean up the battlefield." The first battalion commander followed suit. Like a candied fruit, a smile immediately appeared on his face. He was afraid that the fat in his mouth would be snatched away by the 2nd and 3rd Battalions, so he quickly took the order: "Captain, don't worry."
"I will definitely fight cleanly..."
"Destroy all the Japanese and puppet troops blocking the road at the minimum cost." Seeing the commanders of the 2nd and 3rd Battalions running over to ask for a fight, staring at him with hesitant expressions, Li Yunlong raised his hand to stop them from talking and ordered smoothly.
"Your task is not easy either."
"The second battalion is going to the left, and the third battalion is going to the right, and use the fastest speed to cut off all the streets and alleys connecting the west of the city."
"No soldiers or little devils are allowed to enter the west part of the city." The Japanese army established a defense line based on the yards and street fighting fortifications on both sides of the street, waiting for work. They thought they could catch Li Yunlong off guard and let them hit each other here and get bloody.
In the end, Duyi Tuan was not fooled. When attacked, they stopped and hid in a nearby yard to shoot at the Japanese troops. They had no intention of attacking by force.
The Japanese squadron leader was very disappointed, but also very happy. The mission given to him by the brigade commander was to block the Eighth Route Army in the east of the city at all costs.
No matter how many Eighth Route Army troops he can destroy, as long as he keeps them out of the west of the city, he will have completed his mission.
"Boom, boom, boom..." Several explosions suddenly rang in the squadron leader's ears. The latest shell fell in the yard next to him, and screams reached the squadron leader's ears at the same time.
"Baga..." The squadron leader was so angry that he punched the courtyard wall. But this is just the beginning, and the most fatal blow is yet to come.
"Boom..." The explosive package fired by the thunder cannon fell from the sky. In the thunderous explosion, the courtyard wall was like a toy in a paper lake, and was instantly overturned by the shock wave.
Countless bricks were blown up into the sky and smashed into the surroundings, and the fragments of the lethal artillery shells were even larger.
When the squadron leader was about to curse something, he turned around and hit him on the head. His brain cracked and he fell to the ground without moving.
......... At the temporary headquarters of the Baoding Garrison, Major General Kawasaki was going crazy. The sounds of crossfire coming from all directions were heard in the ears, and the distance was getting closer and closer, indicating that the Eighth Route Army's offensive troops were advancing rapidly.
If the troops stationed in the south and north of the city don't come over quickly, the Eighth Route Army in the east of the city will reach the headquarters.
The situation at the top of the city is getting worse and worse. The latent troops' counterattack not only failed to stop the Eighth Route Army's offensive, but instead made the battlefield more chaotic.
Four to five hundred Eighth Route Army troops had already entered the west of the city through the gap in the city wall. There were fierce exchanges of fire everywhere at the top of the city and inside the city.
No matter how rich Major General Kawasaki's combat experience was, he could not judge the enemy's situation through the sound of gunfire. He could only wait in the war room to wait for news.
Unfortunately, there was no news from the soldiers on the battlefield, so he could only stay here and worry.
"Brigade commander..." Major General Kawasaki looked up to the stars and the moon, and finally waited for a messenger. Before he could stand still, he asked anxiously: "What news did you bring back?"
"Report to the brigade commander that the Eighth Route Army entering the city is retreating... The latent troops have launched a full-scale attack. In ten minutes, they will be driven out of Baoding and the gap in the city wall will be blocked." Major General Kawasaki heard this good news and did not expect it. So happy, but his face became more anxious, and he quickly asked: "Did they retreat on their own initiative, or were they repelled by us?"
"There are two reasons..." the messenger thought for a moment and replied.
"The latent troops suddenly joined the battle, and the Eighth Route Army entering the city was killed by surprise, with more than a hundred casualties."
"In order to reduce losses and prevent us from being annihilated in the city, they had to retreat." The anxious expression on Kawasaki's face instantly turned solemn, and he cried out: "Baga, the latent troops have been fooled."
"This is the Eighth Route Army's plan to lure the enemy deeper."
"Proactively shrink the defense by retreating, allowing latent forces to launch an attack."
"They can switch from offense to defense, widen the distance between the two sides, and use thunder cannons and mortars to attack lurking troops from a long distance."
"Hurry back and take the highway, your captain."
"We must not distance ourselves from the Eighth Route Army."
"The enemy and we will fight together as much as possible, and use street fighting to eliminate them. The thunder cannons and mortars brought into the city by the Eighth Route Army will be ineffective. Go back quickly. If you are late, it will be too late."
"Boom, boom, boom..." As soon as the messenger ran to the door, a thunderous explosion sounded two to three hundred meters away.
The solemn expression on Kawasaki's face was instantly replaced by despair, and his face turned white at the same time, without any blood. After two or three seconds, he said to himself: "It's over..."
"The Eighth Route Army in the west of the city has begun a counterattack. Our lurking troops are finished..." As soon as he finished speaking, the headquarters observation post ran in: "General, the lurking troops in the west of the city were attacked by the Eighth Route Army's flying thunder artillery and suffered heavy losses..." Another day passed. Minutes later, the loud sound of a charge bugle suddenly reached the headquarters from the top of the city, and then another observation post ran in.
"Report to the brigade commander that the Eighth Route Army in the west of the city suddenly launched a full-scale attack on our army."
"The latent troops were severely damaged in the shelling just now and are retreating steadily." Major General Kawasaki was very desperate, but he had not completely lost his mind due to anxiety.
He turned to look at the city defense map and asked while looking at it.
"Why haven't the troops from the south and north of the city withdrawn yet?"
"As long as they attack in time and engage the Eighth Route Army in street fighting, there is a high chance of driving them out of Baoding and guarding the west of the city."
"Contact them quickly and rush over to join the fight to block the Eighth Route Army in the west of the city." Chief of Staff Cun Shangzhongzuo happened to run from outside and said with a look of despair: "Report to the general, they can't come."
