"Boom, boom, boom..." The explosion sounded quickly in the north of the pocket formation, and the flames shot into the sky. In less than twenty seconds, the melee battlefield was covered by artillery fire.
Such a big movement instantly attracted the attention of everyone on the battlefield. ...... Huang Yu, the former enemy headquarters of the Eighth Route Army in Yi Zhong, was also deceived by the actions of the Japanese commander.
The encirclement and annihilation battle has now progressed, and the Japanese captain should have guessed that the Sakuragi division was killed by him. The top priority is to break out of the encirclement, evacuate the battlefield, and preserve our effective forces.
In Huang Yu's plan: the Japanese would probably break out from the south of the pocket formation. It's the closest to Baoding, so there's no need to take a detour. If you break out of the pocket formation, you can quickly march in the direction of Baoding.
It was precisely because of this judgment that Huang Yu arranged an entire main force group south of the pocket formation, intending to block them with heavy troops.
As a result, the Japanese did not follow common sense and broke out from the north where no one expected. There is only one reinforced battalion there, which will definitely not be able to stop the Japanese army from attacking with all its strength.
Huang Yu immediately ordered artillery to support the battlefield, trying to use artillery fire to block the Japanese breakout troops and buy time for the infantry to plug the gap.
As a result, the Japanese captain didn't give him this chance. More than 30 mortars were concentrated to fire artillery shells at the melee battlefield. In the blink of an eye, more than 700 people on both sides were drowned by artillery fire, and their lives were uncertain.
Huang Yu was once again taken aback by the Japanese captain's ruthlessness and generosity, and said with a shocked face: "It's too late for the artillery to intercept."
"The Japanese Prime Minister ate up the reinforced battalion we blocked in the south at the expense of two squadrons."
"The two sides are fighting hand-to-hand. If hundreds of artillery shells are thrown down, no matter how powerful the troops are, they will be severely damaged."
"The main force of the Japanese army will break through in two minutes at most."
"Now we can only rely on cavalry?"
"Contact the cavalry immediately, immediately reinforce the battlefield, raid the Japanese breakout troops, and buy time for the infantry to re-encircle them."
"Although the artillery can't stop the Japanese breakout troops, they still have to chase them and blast them. They can't assemble to cover the cavalry attack even if they break out of the pocket formation.
"The 21st Regiment to the south of the defensive pocket formation immediately divided its troops to outflank them. We must block this little devil."
"The cooked duck must not escape from our mouths, otherwise it will be too embarrassing."... At the Japanese offensive position, the regiment commander stared at his watch to count the time from the beginning of the shelling.
As soon as the allotted minute and a half was up, he drew his command sword and pointed it at the battlefield: "The main force begins to break out..."
"Kill out as quickly as possible, don't be too lazy to fight...kill them all..." Excluding the two squadrons that were used as bait, there were less than a thousand soldiers left around the commander, all lying around in small groups.
With the commander's order, these Japanese soldiers jumped up from the ground, holding rifles and light machine guns, and rushed forward like a pack of wolves.
The scattered teams moved closer to the commander at the same time, forming a powerful assault force and headed straight for the battlefield.
The explosions there continued, and all the surviving soldiers lay on the ground to avoid the artillery fire, unaware that a group of Japanese troops had already reached the edge of the battlefield.
Half a minute later, the sound of artillery suddenly stopped, and the Japanese breakout troops rushed into the battlefield. Many surviving soldiers had not yet reacted to the shelling, and the shining bayonets had already penetrated their chests.
"Click, click, click..." The light machine guns held in the Japs' arms fired at the same time, and bullets flew across the battlefield, flying wherever there was movement.
"Kill them..." the Japanese army shouted slogans and charged forward without hesitation. The surviving soldiers along the way were no match for them. It is not an exaggeration to describe them as being defeated in one blow.
The artillery fire just now was too heavy and came too suddenly. A battalion of more than 400 people has been blown into two platoons.
They were scattered on the battlefield and fought independently, unable to form an effective blockade. They could only watch the Japanese troops escape from under their noses.
"Captain, we have broken out of the Eighth Route Army's pocket formation..." the commander of the coalition said with excitement as soon as he passed through the melee battlefield.
"This is just the first step in our successful breakout..." The captain was also very happy, but he did not show it. He looked at the chief of staff and the surrounding subordinates and gave serious orders.
"The danger is far from over, and the troops may be surrounded by the Eighth Route Army again at any time."
"Inform the troops to withdraw to the east, march forward quickly, get out of their artillery fire range as soon as possible, and get rid of the pursuers."
"Ha Yi..." This time the chief of staff did not hesitate and started making arrangements after receiving the order. The captain of the regiment was not idle either. After giving the order, he led the guards to move due east, running very fast.
"Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo of of of the cannonballs streaking across the sky, once again reached the commander's ears.
For the first time in so many years of fighting, he hated hearing this sound. In the past, the imperial army used artillery fire to suppress the Chinese army. Mountain field artillery shells were fired at the Eighth Route Army by its artillery. The louder the screams, the harder the bombardment, and the greater the damage caused to the Eighth Route Army.
The co-captain at that time particularly liked this sound. Every time I hear it, I feel like I've been on stimulants. I get very excited, my hormones surge, and I want to go to the battlefield and fight the enemy.
The artillery shells at this moment were fired at him by the Eighth Route Army. The louder the screams, the more artillery shells fired by the Eighth Route Army, and the greater the casualties of his troops.
As the captain of the regiment, he certainly didn't want all his men to be killed by artillery shells. If he really couldn't escape death, he would have to die on a head-on battlefield with the Eighth Route Army, so that at least one or two Eighth Route Army soldiers could be buried with him.
Unlike now, one cannon blasts a large area, and you can't even see the shadow of the Eighth Route Army before you die. I hate it, but no matter how talented the commander is, he can't change the trajectory of the artillery shell.
"Boom, boom, boom..." An explosion soon sounded around him, fire splashed, and many Japanese soldiers who were in excitement were killed.
They had just broken out of the Eighth Route Army's pocket formation and thought they had escaped. Just when they were happy, artillery shells roared in and took their lives instantly.
When they died, many Japanese soldiers stared with big eyes and expressions of undying expression.
"The Eighth Route Army artillery shells are chasing us...speed up the transfer and get out of the artillery range as soon as possible..." This was the only way the commander could think of to break the situation in the face of the artillery bombardment.
"The troops marched dispersedly. Don't gather them together to reduce the losses caused to us by the shelling." The commander of the regiment thought for a moment and added.
When giving the order, not only did his steps not stop, but he ran faster and faster. Cannonball will not deliberately avoid it just because he is the captain of the regiment.
He was also afraid of death. Only by rushing out of the effective range of the mountain cannon could he have a chance of returning to Baoding alive.
"Rumble..." It was raining all night, and a sound of horse hooves suddenly sounded in front of him, which made him feel extremely desperate.
The light infantry regiment did not have cavalry, and the cavalry that suddenly appeared in front of them probably belonged to the Eighth Route Army. The sound is getting louder and louder, which means that the cavalry is getting closer and closer.
The captain glanced at the surrounding troops and was dumbfounded, and the expression of despair on his face became more and more intense.
