This was the only wise decision Lieutenant General Sakuragi had made since joining the war.
Although the price is a bit high, it can really kill and injure the Eighth Route Army in the village, and maybe save a lot of people from the battle.
"Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...
The artillery reacted very quickly. Half a minute after the artillery attack order was issued, the scream of artillery shells streaking across the sky sounded overhead, and the thunderous explosion then reached the ears of Lieutenant General Sakuragi.
A rare smile of satisfaction flashed across Lieutenant General Sakuragi's face.
This was the attack with the smallest casualties since the troops attacked Chenjiazhuang.
Three infantry squadrons were replaced by one main battalion of the Eighth Route Army, and the casualty ratio was close to one to one.
Although the troops won the previous attack on Chenjiazhuang's outer defense line, they suffered twice as many casualties, which was simply incomparable to this suicide attack.
“Boom, boom, boom… da da da…”
The sound of firefights coming from behind was getting closer and closer. Lieutenant General Sakuragi was happy but returned to a serious expression within three seconds. He continued to look around and ordered: "There are also Eighth Route Army activities on our two wings."
"If we retreat rashly in a roundabout way, if we are blocked by the Eighth Route Army, the two sides will engage in an encounter. We don't even have defensive trenches, so we are too passive."
"It's best to establish a defense line on the spot and wait for reinforcements."
"Order: The supplementary regiment establishes a circular position with me as the center. We will not retreat."
"Use the blocking position built by the Eighth Route Army outside the village."
"Then use explosives to cut off all tunnel connections between the blocking position and the village."
"Eliminate all potential dangers..."
"If everyone is guarding well, if an Eighth Route Army suddenly appears in the middle of the position and attacks everyone from behind, it will be terrible."
…………
At the former enemy headquarters of the Eighth Route Army in Yizhong, everyone had smiles on their faces and the atmosphere was very pleasant.
In the eyes of everyone, from the moment the Japanese army's middle-route sweep troops arrived at Chenjiazhuang, they were led by the deputy chief of staff and lost troops and generals.
As long as there are no accidents in the next operation, the Japanese army's central mopping up troops will undoubtedly be defeated.
Seeing that the Third Battalion of the Duer Regiment successfully held off the Japanese attacking troops in Chenjiazhuang and was using street fighting to eliminate them bit by bit, the smiles on everyone's faces were even wider than before.
Huang Yu's original battle plan did not include the battle at hand. If the Third Battalion could swallow these little devils in one go, it would not only greatly reduce the pressure on the participating troops in the decisive battle, but also destroy the morale and morale of the Japanese army in the middle, killing two birds with one stone.
Faced with this unexpected surprise, everyone in the headquarters seemed particularly happy.
"Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...
Dozens of artillery shells roared over and hit Chenjiazhuang instantly.
Huang Yu was stunned for a moment, the smile on his face froze on the spot, and he cried out: 'No...'
"The little devil is too cruel. He wants to risk his life and use his offensive troops to destroy the third battalion..."
"Send a retreat signal immediately and ask the third battalion to break away from the battle immediately and retreat to the tunnel. Hurry up."
"Otherwise, when the Japanese artillery fire becomes more intense and the planes start bombing, it will be too late to retreat to the tunnel."
Until then, the chief of staff on the side still hadn't recovered from the shock.
Before the Japanese army launched an attack, the artillery covered the infantry attack at close range, which resulted in constant accidental injuries to the attacking troops during the battle, which was enough to shock him.
But it's still acceptable.
After all, those accidental injuries are nothing compared to the results of taking the blocking position.
The scene in front of him was going to blow him away.
There were nearly a thousand little Japs in three or four squadrons. Lieutenant General Sakuragi said he didn't want them, so he fired artillery shells directly at their heads. This was too cruel.
Isn't he afraid that after the battle, he will be sent to a military court because the artillery killed a large number of his own people?
It wasn't until the third round of artillery shells fired by the Japanese artillery came over that he asked with disbelief: "Xiao Huang, the leader of the Japanese division is absolutely crazy."
"It is understandable that dozens of people were accidentally injured during the attack."
"These are thousands of attacking troops. They will blow up no matter what they say..."
"Aren't you worried about your subordinates rebelling?"
Huang Yu shook his head: "We underestimated the Japanese division commander."
"Not only is he ruthless, he is also very cunning and likes to take things by surprise."
"If we don't fire artillery, all the little devils in the village will be wiped out in street fighting, and the price our army pays is far less than the Japanese army's losses."
"The leader of the Japanese division did not follow common sense and bombed the battlefield indiscriminately. Although many of his own people were killed, the casualties of the third battalion will also increase sharply."
"To mitigate losses, they had to end the battle hastily and quickly retreat to the tunnels."
"Although the little devils on the battlefield will be killed by many bombs, they cannot be severely damaged by artillery fire in a short period of time."
"As soon as our men withdraw, they can evacuate the village under fire."
"No matter what, one or two squadrons can escape."
"This artillery fire coverage does have the purpose of killing both the enemy and our participating soldiers, but it also has the purpose of covering the evacuation of Chenjiazhuang by the attacking troops..."
As soon as Huang Yu finished speaking, an exclamation from the observation post sounded in their ears.
"Chief of Staff, Deputy Chief of Staff, the little devil in the village wants to run away..."
"We are dividing our troops into small groups and moving outside the village..."
No one would be willing to let the cooked duck slip away from his mouth like this.
Chief of Staff Liu Sen was no exception, and immediately suggested: "Xiao Huang, the Japanese have artillery, and so do we. Our strength is not weak."
"How about we let them do two rounds of bombardment and bombard Chenjiazhuang together with the Japanese artillery, and kill a few more little Japanese soldiers to retreat."
Huang Yu shook his head: "No need..."
"They can just bomb with their own artillery. It's not cost-effective to use our trump card just to severely damage more than one squadron."
After saying that, he looked away from Chenjiazhuang, returned to the map and asked: "The Japanese attack on Chenjiazhuang has been frustrated continuously. The twenty-sixth regiment that detoured behind the Japanese has launched an attack."
"No matter how stupid that old devil Sakuragi is, he knows that he is surrounded by us and is in danger. He will definitely not continue to waste troops in Chenjiazhuang."
"The only way out is to use the blocking position we built outside the village to establish a circular position and stand firm to wait for reinforcements."
"If the outflanking troops suddenly launch an attack under the cover of artillery fire while the Japanese have not yet completed the circular position, catching the Japanese by surprise, they will definitely be able to kill many people."
"There will definitely be less pressure in future decisive battles."
Liu Sen immediately introduced: "Three regiments have already been outflanked, and it will take five minutes for the remaining regiment to be outflanked."
"Then I'll launch an attack on the leading Japs in five minutes and try to kill one or two infantry squadrons from each regiment." Huang Yu made a decision immediately.
"Stop immediately after the attack is thwarted and establish a defense line on the spot. You must not confront the little devil head-on."
"During the battle, we must also pay attention to air defense, and the troops should try to disperse their operations in company units."
"If it is bombed by a plane, it won't blow up a large area."
"Contact the 26th Regiment, Shunping Defense Regiment, 22nd Regiment..."
"They are closest to the Japanese artillery positions."
"It would be best if there is a chance to capture one or two artillery positions. It doesn't matter if you can't capture them."
