"Division Commander, withdraw..." the commander of the regiment on the side said suddenly.
"The advantage on the battlefield is in the hands of the Eighth Route Army. There are two battalions of the Eighth Route Army behind us causing trouble. If this Eighth Route Army comes towards us and the troops are attacked from both sides, they may not be able to hold on for even half an hour."
"The reinforcements sent to us by Baoding can kill at three o'clock in the morning and seize the opportunity to pretend. It's almost twelve o'clock now."
"If we break out now and retreat in the direction where the reinforcements dare to come, we can meet them in an hour and a half at most."
"The troops will surge to 5,000 people again."
"Even if we can't turn defeat into victory, we can definitely defeat the Eighth Route Army gathered here, take the opportunity to hold them back, and hold on until the troops from the left and right sweep over and fight another battle of annihilation."
Although the subordinate's suggestion was a bit embarrassing, it was still better than staying here and waiting to die.
Lieutenant General Sakuragi could not think of any other way to break the situation and made an immediate decision: "Concentrate our forces to break out from the northeast corner."
"The Eighth Route Army's offensive is weakest there. Concentrate all mortars, mountain artillery, and infantry artillery, and limit the bombardment to five minutes before breaking through."
"After breaking out of the encirclement, the troops advanced lightly, bypassing all intercepting troops of the Eighth Route Army, and marched towards the reinforcements. The faster the better..."
…………
In the former enemy headquarters of the Eighth Route Army in Yinzhong, Huang Yu was staring at the map and considering how to encircle and annihilate the reinforcements sent by Neji Okamura.
A correspondent suddenly ran in: "Deputy Chief of Staff..."
"The little devils in the encirclement seem to be trying to break out..."
"The northeastern corner of the encirclement was suddenly hit by heavy Japanese artillery fire."
"There is only one battalion of our troops there. If the Japs concentrate their forces to launch a violent attack, they will definitely not be able to hold out for long."
Chief of Staff Liu Sen immediately ordered: "Then why are you still standing here?"
"Ask the two nearby regimental commanders to immediately mobilize troops to reinforce the northeast corner."
"The commander of the division, Lieutenant General Little Devil, is probably among the breakout troops."
"Nothing can be said to make them escape from under our noses."
"We also want to take advantage of the situation and annihilate the reinforcements sent by Baoding."
"If the Japanese division commander succeeds in breaking through, joins the reinforcements, and leaves the reinforcements to run away, the light infantry regiment that Okamura Neiji has given us will not be able to capture it."
The correspondent was about to leave after hearing the order, but was stopped by Huang Yu.
"Wait a minute, what if the Japs' real breakout direction is not the northeast corner of the battlefield?"
Liu Sen reacted immediately: "Xiao Huang, you suspect that the little devil is trying to make trouble with us."
"This possibility cannot be ruled out..." Huang Yu replied seriously.
"If the Kwantung Army really wants to attack the east and the west, the two nearby regiments will be fooled as soon as they mobilize their troops."
"Immediately contact the two regiment commanders. Without affecting your own defense line, immediately deploy one or two companies to reinforce the northeast corner of the defense line to block the Japanese breakout troops. If you can't stop it, you will use a large number of the opponent's troops to inflict heavy damage. They break out of the troops.”
"Contact all out-of-mission mountain artillery and heavy artillery batteries and immediately provide artillery support to our troops stationed in the northeast corner."
"Cavalry units are also coming together to reinforce the northeast corner."
"They are fast and can kill them in a few minutes."
"As long as the total strength of the Kwantung Army that breaks out of the encirclement does not exceed 500 people, it will be a piece of fat in the mouth of the cavalry, and they can eat it as they want."
"Other offensive forces step up their offensive."
"If the Kwantung Army really plans to break through, it will definitely draw a large number of troops from the defense line."
"Now is officially the best time for us to take advantage of the opportunity and seize the Japanese second line of defense."
"If the attack speed is fast enough, maybe we can block the Japanese breakout troops in the northeast corner of the battlefield and fight a battle of annihilation there."
…………
"Boom boom boom..."
Various artillery shells rained down on the third battalion of the 22nd Regiment.
They were originally on the offensive side. After taking down the first line of defense of the Japanese army, they directly launched an attack on the second line of defense. They had limited time and did not repair any fortifications.
Without thinking, he was targeted by Lieutenant General Sakuragi and chose to break out with them.
Faced with the sudden artillery fire, the soldiers were stunned.
They could only lie on the ground with their heads in their hands and endure the bombings, praying that the bombs would not fall next to them, otherwise even the King of Heaven would not be able to save them.
The five-minute artillery barrage had not yet ended when a cry of surprise suddenly sounded in the middle of the team: "Batalion Commander, there are little Japs coming towards us..."
"At least a thousand people..."
"The Japanese and the Japanese really want to break out from us."
One of the battalion commander's arms was injured, and the blood had stained his sleeves red, making him tremble in pain.
But he still gritted his teeth and ordered: "Use the bomb crater to move to defense on the spot, stop the Japs at all costs, and keep the people in position."
He happened to see a machine gunner who was killed not far away. The machine gun seemed to be still usable next to it.
The battalion commander endured the pain and crawled over.
After pulling the bolt and confirming that the machine gun can continue shooting, he quickly checked the magazine, pressed two bullet clips into it, filled the gun with oil, put it on the ground and was ready to shoot.
"Start grabbing... click, click, click..."
The moment the order was issued, the crooked handle on the shoulder also sounded, and the bullets flew out of the barrel rhythmically, flying towards the Japanese breakout troops in a fan shape.
A main battalion of nearly 500 people was reduced to more than 200 people after receiving more than a thousand various artillery shells.
Although they tried their best to block it, they only started to cause hundreds of casualties to the Japanese army.
More and more Japanese light and heavy machine guns joined the battle, and the firepower of the third battalion was suppressed at once.
The soldiers were either shot to death indiscriminately, or were suppressed in the crater and unable to raise their heads.
…………
"Yoshi..." This was the first time a smile appeared on Lieutenant General Sakuragi's face in several hours.
He drew out his general's sword and was very satisfied with the order: "There are not many people in the Eighth Route Army's blocking force."
"The breakout troops will strengthen their offensive and destroy them immediately..."
"Let's set off too..."
"As soon as the breach is opened, we will break out of the encirclement and march towards the reinforcements."
A group of Japanese guards immediately formed a battle formation, surrounding Lieutenant General Sakuragi with their bodies, ready to escort him out of the encirclement at any time.
"Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...
Just as the breakout troops were about to break out of the encirclement, the scream of artillery shells streaking across the sky suddenly sounded over the battlefield.
A large number of fireballs suddenly appeared among the breakout troops, who had high hopes from Lieutenant General Sakuragi.
Under the firelight, the image of soldiers being blown over was clearly visible.
The offensive of the breakout troops was suddenly wiped out, and the offensive firepower became weaker and weaker.
I don't know if the Eighth Route Army's blocking force received reinforcements or something else. The weak blocking firepower suddenly became stronger, and the attacking troops who were killed under the Eighth Route Army's nose were beaten back.
A mouthful of blood instantly poured into his mouth, and Lieutenant General Sakuragi couldn't help but spit it out.
He was so angry that he vomited blood. You can imagine the frustration and anger in his heart.
