The 24th Regiment followed the 26th Regiment and was the second to reach Baoding. Facing the prepared garrison and equipment supplies of the Eighth Route Army in Yi Zhong, his reaction was the same as that of Li Zhong. He could not just take advantage of Yi Zhong without suffering any losses. He must be worthy of those weapons and ammunition.
Tonight's battle is not only about killing Japanese soldiers and performing the task of annihilating the enemy, but also about giving thanks to the Yizhong Eighth Route Army for replenishing the 24th Regiment with so many weapons and ammunition.
The regiment leader Zhang Hao personally led a battalion as a commando team, killing Buddhas if they stood in the way, and killing gods if they stood in the way of gods. In just ten minutes, they advanced more than 100 meters and were less than 300 meters away from the temporary ring fortifications built by the Japanese army.
"Captain, the Japanese have set up three heavy machine guns and six light machine guns in front of us. The casualties caused by a head-on charge will be too great. It's best to find a way to destroy these firepower points, even if they can destroy half of them." A battalion commander stared at the Japanese machine gun position. Analysis with a worried face.
"Bring up the mortars." Zhang Hao ordered blurtly.
"We now have twelve mortars, and each mortar is equipped with fifty rounds of shells. Even if we use shells to hit them, I still have to kill the little Japs in front and open the attack channel." The first battalion commander did not move and reminded hesitantly: "I also want the artillery to blow them up."
"But all the mortars equipped in the regiment were borrowed by Deputy Chief of Staff Huang, and we couldn't get any of them out."
"Use the thunder cannon..." Zhang Hao then said another method that had just come to his mind. The serious face of the first battalion commander suddenly became happy.
He had used thunder cannons in the base area and knew how powerful the thunder cannons were. As long as the thunder cannon is sent under the nose of the Japanese army and the shooting is as close as possible, the accuracy is not much worse than the grenade.
Even if the shooting error is relatively large, the powerful lethality and killing radius can make up for the artillery error.
He turned around and rushed towards the battlefield without even saying he was taking orders.
"Boom..." Three explosive packets rolled and smashed towards the Japanese outpost. None of them hit the target, but one of the explosive charges was only five or six meters away from the outpost.
With the explosive pack having a killing radius of nearly 30 meters, the Japanese troops on the outpost were still within the killing radius.
Fire splashed, smoke billowed, and several light and heavy machine guns called Zheng Huan came to an abrupt halt.
"The bugler blows the charge horn, the commando team and I press forward, charge..." The regiment leader Zhang Hao immediately got up from the ground, raised the box cannon and rushed forward, four times quickly.
......... At the headquarters of the Japanese North China Front in Peking, Okamura Neiji was awakened from his sleep by his subordinates.
According to the scheduled plan, the reinforcements would not be able to arrive in Baoding until after four in the morning to find out the real situation there.
Before this, no war will break out in the Yizhong Plain. With this thought, Okamura Neji started to sleep not long after dark to recharge his energy for tomorrow's battle.
The accident happened anyway. When he walked into the war room, he asked calmly: "What is the current situation of the Nakamura brigade? Are there many casualties? How long can they last?"
"The army has been divided into two by the Yizhong Eighth Route Army..." the staff officer on duty reported seriously.
"There are less than 1,500 people in the Yamaguchi Regiment still holding on."
"Other troops follow Major General Nakamura, and there are more than 3,500 people left."
"The Eighth Route Army has surrounded them. From the analysis of the battle situation, the enemy seems to be planning to defeat them one by one."
"Besiege the Yamaguchi Regiment first, and then concentrate our forces to besiege the main force of the Nakamura Brigade."
"Major General Nakamura also reminded us that the Yizhong Eighth Route Army used more than 30 mountain field guns, more than 100 mortars, and a large number of torpedo cannons in the battle. The firepower was very powerful. This led to the heavy casualties of the troops in the raid."
"Please reinforce that the reinforcements must bring more heavy weapons to prevent them from being covered by the Eighth Route Army's artillery fire."
"Reinforcements?" Okamura Neji laughed angrily and cursed directly.
"If he thinks that the North China Front can spread the beans into an army, will he get reinforcements if he wants them?"
"They are all seconded by me from the Northeast. How can I be so embarrassed?" The scolding continued, but the problem still had to be solved.
Okamura Neiji regained his composure and asked the chief of staff: "When will the second batch of reinforcements promised to us by the Kwantung Army be in place?"
"Tomorrow night at the earliest..." the chief of staff thought about the answer. Okamura Neiji became angry again, smashed his fist on the table in front of him, and cursed unceremoniously: "If we get to Baoding tomorrow night, we won't be able to reach the battlefield until the morning of tomorrow at the earliest."
"Do you think the Nakamura Brigade can hold on until the morning of tomorrow?"
"A single surprise attack caused them heavy casualties. The more than 8,000 Kwantung Army troops were reduced sharply to less than 5,000. They were also split into two by the Eighth Route Army. The artillery unit almost lost its combat effectiveness."
"This is only one or two hours of battle damage."
"There are still two or three hours before dawn. Do you think they can survive until then?" The chief of staff was silent for a while before he dared to answer: "If more than 5,000 people from the Nakamura brigade gather together, they will definitely be able to Withstand the attack of the Eighth Route Army in the wing."
"Now that they are divided into two, the Eighth Route Army in the Wing can gather its main force to defeat them one by one. The chance of winning until dawn is indeed not high."
"Then think of other ways?" Okamura Neji became more and more irritated as he listened, staring at the chief of staff and continuing to ask.
"The North China Front has hundreds of thousands of troops. I don't believe that we can't even send out a single reinforcement." Chief of Staff He immediately turned his attention to the sand table and racked his brains to recall all the garrison troops around Baoding.
Five minutes later there was nothing but disappointment. He could only face Neji Okamura's gaze and say bravely: "Commander, please calm down."
"In order to defend Baoding, we have mobilized all the troops that can be mobilized from the surrounding areas. There are no more troops available in the surrounding military towns."
"Only Peking can dispatch two brigades for reinforcements, but they are beyond our reach."
"When they are assembled, they can march south in military columns into Baoding, and then march on foot to reach the battlefield. It will take ten hours at the fastest."
"And there are too few reinforcements for the two brigades."
"The Eighth Route Army in Yi Zhong has the guts to eat the Nakamura Brigade, and it will definitely be able to easily eat the two brigades sent by the headquarters."
"If you are not careful, the two reinforcements will never come back." After the idea of sending troops to reinforce Baoding was rejected, the chief of staff had no solution. He frowned and asked Okamura Neji: "What should we do? "
"It's impossible to just watch the Nakamura brigade being wiped out by the Yizhong Eighth Route Army."
"This will definitely have a huge impact on the morale of our troops."
"A strong man cuts off his wrist..." Neji Okamura said without a clue.
"The lion picks up the weak... Everyone just said that the Eighth Route Army in Yi Zhong will definitely attack the Yamaguchi Regiment first, and then attack the main force of the Nakamura Brigade."
"This is their only chance."
"While the Eighth Route Army in Yizhong is gathering the main force to besiege the Yamaguchi Regiment, Major Nakamura will assemble the main force of the brigade to break out. They will definitely be able to break out of the encirclement."
"At the expense of the Yamaguchi Regiment, the main force of the Nakamura Brigade will be preserved."
"As long as Major General Nakamura successfully breaks through and marches towards Beiping, the Eighth Route Army in the Wing will not be able to continue to encircle and annihilate them." Neji Okamura's idea sounds a little cruel, but he has to admit that it is to reduce the losses of Nakamura's brigade. The best way.
As long as the Nakamura Brigade successfully breaks through the encirclement of two to three thousand people, their establishment will still be there, and they can replenish new soldiers at any time and rebuild the Nakamura Brigade.
But if there is no breakthrough, the entire Nakamura brigade will be destroyed, and the establishment will be cancelled.
