At the main position of the Nakamura brigade, no matter how tight the time was, the guard troops built a temporary underground headquarters for the brigade commander.
The surroundings are supported by logs and the top is covered with sandbags. This can at least withstand mortar attacks and minimize the damage caused by shelling.
Major General Nakamura stood at the lookout and observed the surrounding situation, his face looking very ugly. The war situation was worse than he imagined.
The Eighth Route Army launched only one attack and captured all surrounding outposts, pushing the front line to less than 200 meters away from the circular position.
Time is limited, and one-third of the outer ring position surrounding the headquarters has just been built. If the Eighth Route Army launched an attack now, the defenders would not be able to hold out for long.
Fortunately, the Yizhong Eighth Route Army did not attack him immediately. It seems that they plan to attack the Yamaguchi Alliance first and then besiege themselves.
In this way, the main force of the brigade will have a few more hours to repair the fortifications, and maybe they will not be attacked before dawn.
When the aviation force reaches the battlefield, whether it is a breakout or a decisive battle, the chance of victory will be greatly increased. Of course, these are the best results predicted by Major General Nakamura.
If the Yamaguchi Regiment only lasted for more than an hour and was completely wiped out, aviation support would not have appeared on the battlefield.
There will definitely be a tough battle waiting for everyone at that time.
"General, the Eighth Route Army besieging the Yamaguchi Regiment has moved... They are shrinking the encirclement and compressing the scope of activities of the Yamaguchi Regiment." The chief of staff suddenly reminded.
Major General Nakamura looked over quickly. Thousands of Eighth Route Army troops were creeping forward little by little, approaching the ring defense line that the Yamaguchi Regiment was repairing.
The nearest Eighth Route Army was less than a hundred meters away and was still advancing.
"Boom, boom, boom..." An explosion suddenly sounded in the Eighth Route Army's offensive position, and countless flames spewed out from the ground.
Two or three seconds later, a large amount of fire erupted from the Yamaguchi Regiment's circular position, like giant mushroom clouds.
Many soldiers were blown away in the explosion. It took several more seconds before the thunderous explosion reached Nakamura's ears.
"It's a thunder cannon..." Major General Nakamura analyzed calmly.
"The Eighth Route Army wants to use flying thunder cannons to clear the way, kill a large number of Yamaguchi regiment troops, and then let the infantry launch an assault." The chief of staff took a breath at the same time. He had never actually seen flying thunder cannons, but he had heard of flying thunder cannons on the battlefield. of great power.
In terms of lethality, the explosive packets fired by thunder cannons are larger than those of heavy artillery shells. The circular formation was filled with fireballs rising into the air, and there were no less than fifty of them at a glance.
Even if one explosive pack only kills one soldier of the Yamaguchi Regiment, so many explosive packs combined can kill four to five hundred people.
If the Eighth Route Army takes the opportunity to fight two more rounds, the Yamaguchi United Army will be completely destroyed without the Eighth Route Army attacking. But his concerns were obviously too much.
Perhaps the Eighth Route Army did not want to waste more artillery shells on the remaining little Japanese. Before all the explosive packets falling from the sky exploded, a group of soldiers had already gotten up from the ground.
Holding the gun, under the cover of the heavy machine gun behind him, he roared and charged forward. Many soldiers held a gun in one hand and a grenade in the other. They rushed to the Japanese formation and threw a round of grenades before launching an assault.
The torpedo artillery caused more casualties to the Yamaguchi Regiment than imagined. Almost all the soldiers around the impact point were dead. Facing the oncoming Eighth Route Army, only a few soldiers were left to fight back.
The bullet fired was like a stone thrown into the sea, without causing any waves. After a while, the Eighth Route Army rushed to the position 40 meters in front of the formation.
Throw the grenade and continue to charge forward. The whole set of actions has been integrated into the bones of the soldier, clean and neat.
The ring-shaped formation that had just quieted down once again heard a series of explosions. The few remaining little Japanese soldiers were completely silent.
"General, the Eighth Route Army's offensive is too strong. Even if our circular position is repaired, it will not be able to withstand a close-range attack from the flying thunder cannon." The chief of staff concluded with a sullen face.
Major General Nakamura clenched his fists and did not answer. Apparently he was also frightened by the Eighth Route Army's fierce offensive. At the same time, he silently calculated in his mind how long the Yamaguchi Regiment could last in the face of this kind of offensive, and whether the main force of the brigade could withstand the Eighth Route Army's attack.
The result was very disappointing to him. The Yamaguchi Regiment rushed to repair two internal and external circular positions on the battlefield, and its troops were evenly distributed.
The outer ring position could not be held for even ten minutes, and the defensive troops suffered heavy casualties. If the Yizhong Eighth Route Army continues to use flying thunder cannons to clear the way and storm the inner ring position, their persistence time will definitely be shorter.
The inner circular position is much shorter than the outer position. As long as the number of thunder cannons remains unchanged, the same position will be exposed to more explosive packets, resulting in greater troop casualties.
I thought they could last until dawn, but based on this calculation, they probably wouldn't be able to last even an hour. At that time, there were still more than two hours before dawn.
No one knows whether the main force of the brigade can hold out until the aviation force arrives. Major General Nakamura expressed doubts about his command ability for the first time.
"General, there is an urgent telegram from the North China Front Army Headquarters...a telegram personally sent by Commander Gangcun, asking us to execute it immediately after receiving the telegram. If we are late, we will miss the best fighter opportunity." The operator suddenly ran behind them to report.
"Breakthrough..." The chief of staff received the telegram first. A surprised expression appeared on his face after a quick glance, and he quickly handed the telegram to Major General Nakamura.
A smooth analysis: "General, although this is unfair to the Yamaguchi Regiment, it can preserve the main force of the brigade to the greatest extent. I think it is feasible." Major General Nakamura has not thought about breaking out of the encirclement.
But I can’t live with it in face, and I feel very unwilling to do so in my heart. The mission given by the headquarters to the Nakamura brigade is to recapture Baoding. If Baoding is not recaptured, it will lose troops and become deserters. The outcome for others is unknown. The outcome waiting for you must be a military court.
Now that there is a breakout order from the headquarters, it is different. Immediately ordered: "We break out from the junction..."
"The Eighth Route Army there was attacked by our army once and lost troops and generals. It had to divide its forces to defend the Yamaguchi Regiment, so there was minimal pressure to break out."
"The artillerymen set up all the artillery that can be used."
"Twenty minutes of artillery preparation will nearly maximize the damage to the Eighth Route Army's troops. The Fifth Brigade will assume the main offensive task and open the breakthrough. The Fourth Brigade will follow up to expand the breakthrough."
"The artillery and baggage troops followed closely, with the Sixth Battalion at the rear."
"Yamaguchi United can't hold on for long. We only have one chance to break through."
"Escape from the encirclement and everyone will survive."
"If we can't get out of the encirclement, everyone in the Zhongcun brigade will be gathered here by the Yizhong Eighth Route Army."
"Let's make arrangements now. The breakout will begin in ten minutes."
"The troop deployment must be carried out secretly, so that the Eighth Route Army cannot detect signs of our breakthrough."
"Otherwise, other Eighth Route Army troops will swarm us, and even if we successfully break through, we will be surrounded again."
