Monk Wei and Sun Desheng, who were hiding far away, saw that the Japs finally came out. Although there were only more than 200 people, grasshoppers were also meat. Being able to kill this group of Japs cavalry first was not a small gain. They immediately ordered their troops to prepare for an attack.
Unexpectedly, the Japanese cavalry only chased them for more than a mile after leaving the city, and then turned their horses and went back.
Both Sun Desheng and Wei Monk felt very depressed and had to give up the ambush plan again.
The Japanese commander Katsuo Watanabe was hiding on the gate tower of the county town. He borrowed an artillery mirror from the artillery unit and was observing the situation outside.
After careful observation, he discovered the main force of the cavalry troops led by Sun Desheng and Wei Monk in the distance. He couldn't help but be secretly frightened. He was secretly glad that he had told the Japanese cavalry commander who was leaving the city in advance to let them go out to show off. Just drive the Eighth Route Army away and then evacuate quickly. Sure enough, his caution prevented the Japanese cavalry from suffering heavy losses when leaving the city.
After careful observation and information from Japanese and puppet intelligence personnel, he had learned that the number of cavalry units in the Eighth Route Army this time far exceeded the strength of the Mawushan Cavalry Brigade that they knew before. He didn't know where the Eighth Route Army came from with so many cavalry. Based on the information he had mastered before, and after analysis and judgment, he knew that the special operations brigade of Mawushan Guerrilla were all cavalry units. There is a great possibility that the cavalry of the Eighth Route Army opposite includes their special operations brigade.
The reputation of the Mawushan Guerrilla's special operations brigade is so resounding that it is almost equal to the reputation of Xu Dalong. In other words, as long as Xu Dalong is mentioned, he will be associated with the special operations brigade, because almost every time he goes out to fight, Xu Dalong It was with a special operations brigade.
Watanabe Katsuo knew how powerful the enemy's special operations brigade was. He no longer wanted to eat the Eighth Route Army cavalry. He only wanted to protect himself and return safely to the Chahar Dispatch Army. He would never come to Shanxi again in the future. Fighting.
He immediately sent a telegram to the brigade commander about the situation he had grasped, asking him to report it to the commander of the dispatched army, and either let his cavalry regiment return to Chahar, or send more cavalry troops for reinforcements. . In short, a cavalry regiment of its own is no match for the Eighth Route Army cavalry.
The Japanese brigade commander knew that the former cavalry units of the Chahar Expeditionary Army had suffered heavy blows from the Mawushan guerrillas many times. He did not want to lose one of his cavalry regiments in vain, so he reported the information provided by Katsuo Watanabe to The commander of the dispatched army.
After the commander heard this situation, he was very worried and began to retreat.
He thought about it and sent a telegram to Yoshio Shinozuka, saying that the Chahar dispatched troops had also been attacked by a large group of anti-Japanese armed forces, so he wanted to transfer the cavalry regiment back to participate in the battle in the direction of Chahar.
Yoshio Shinozuka is now counting on the cavalry regiment of the dispatched army to deal with the cavalry of the Eighth Route Army. How can he let them leave? So I sent a telegram to the commander of the Chahar Expeditionary Army, hoping to keep this cavalry regiment no matter what.
The two sides exchanged telegrams for a long time, but no one could convince the other.
Shinozuka Yoshio became anxious and sent the telegram directly to the North China Front Army Headquarters, requesting the commander to make a ruling.
Yoshio Shinozuka sent a thousand-word message to the North China Front Army Headquarters, detailing the harm caused by the Mawushan Military Division of the Eighth Route Army to the Japanese troops in Shanxi, with special emphasis on Xu Dalong's troops. This battle in the direction of Licheng is related to the safety of the entire Japanese garrison in Shanxi.
He asked the North China Front to give the Chahar Dispatch Force a death order, not only to keep the infantry and cavalry regiment of Watanabe Katsuo, but also to send more cavalry units to participate in this battle.
Xu Dalong's reputation was so loud that even the North China Front Army was troubled by the harm it caused to the Japanese army. I heard that it was to deal with Xu Dalong's troops, so of course the North China Front Army provided strong support. The commander personally sent a telegram to the commander of the Chahar Expeditionary Force, severely reprimanding him in the telegram and asking him to go all out to cooperate with the Japanese army in the Shanxi direction. The entire cavalry brigade of Katsuo Watanabe's regiment will also be sent to Shanxi to participate in the Battle of Licheng.
When the commander of the Chahar Expeditionary Army saw that the commander of the front army was angry, he did not dare to neglect. On the one hand, he issued a death order to Watanabe Katsuo, asking him to resolutely cooperate with the Japanese army in Shanxi. At the same time, Watanabe The rest of the cavalry brigade where Katsuo was located was also sent to the direction of Shanxi to participate in the Licheng Battle.
Captain Watanabe Katsuo heard the news and felt a lot more confident, so he decided to stay and deal with the Eighth Route Army's cavalry.
However, he knew that his cavalry regiment alone was no match for the Eighth Route Army cavalry. He planned to stay in the county town and wait for the main force of the cavalry brigade to arrive before fighting the Eighth Route Army cavalry.
Sun Desheng and Wei Monk saw that the Japanese cavalry troops were hiding in the county town and could not come out, so they simply dispersed some of the cavalry troops and went around to harass the enemy. They believed that as long as the cavalry of the Eighth Route Army continued to deal heavy blows to the Japanese infantry, Yoshio Shinozuka would be unable to sit still and force the Japanese cavalry regiment to go out of the city to fight the cavalry of the Eighth Route Army. As long as they dare to come out, there is a chance to annihilate them.
Sun Desheng and Wei Monk sent four cavalry squadrons and a special operations squadron to harass the enemy's transportation lines every day, causing Huang Xiejun's Second Division to complain incessantly. They continuously reported the situation to the First Army Headquarters, saying that they were no longer able to maintain the safety of communication lines and ensure the supply of materials to the Japanese troops on the front line.
After receiving the report, Yoshio Shinozuka was extremely angry and directly issued a death order to the Japanese cavalry commander Watanabe Katsuo who was hiding in the county, asking him to rush out of the city to deal with the Eighth Route Army's cavalry.
Watanabe Katsuo ignored Shinozuka Yoshio at all. Before the main force of the Japanese cavalry arrived, he would definitely not dare to leave the city to fight.
He sent a telegram to the brigade commander explaining his intentions. The brigade commander believed that Watanabe Katsuo's decision was correct and asked him to conserve his strength and wait for the arrival of the main force of the cavalry brigade.
Seeing that the Japanese cavalry unit hiding in the city refused to come out, Sun Desheng and Wei Monk were very depressed and even a little nervous.
They knew what the Japanese cavalry in the city were waiting for. If the entire Japanese cavalry brigade came over, this battle would be difficult to fight.
Although Sun Desheng had previously had a brilliant record of consuming a Japanese cavalry brigade, he also knew that the Japanese cavalry at that time was not familiar with the tactics of the Eighth Route Army. Now the Japanese cavalry must have thoroughly studied the cavalry units of the Eighth Route Army, and the tactics used before The tricks used to deal with the Japanese cavalry must no longer work.
That afternoon, Sun Desheng looked at the direction of the county seat with his binoculars and said angrily: "These damn Japs cavalry are so cowardly. They just hide in the city and dare not come out. It's so shameless. I made Lao Zi anxious. , just rush into the city and kill them."
Sun Desheng was complaining, but the speaker was unintentional and the listener was intentional. After hearing this, Monk Wei felt his eyes light up.
He slapped his forehead and said with some annoyance: "Damn it, Deputy Captain Sun, my special operations brigade follows your cavalry all day long and forgets what it is that it does.
The little devils are hiding in the county town and can't come out. It just so happens that we can go to the county town and kill them. Isn't it easier than killing them outside? Leave this matter to my special operations team. Tonight I will lead the special operations brigade into the city to kill those little devils. "
Sun Desheng suddenly woke up when he heard what he said.
He laughed and said: "You bastard monk, how can you blame me? I really don't know how you became the captain of the special operations team? You should have thought of this method a long time ago.
Let's do this, tonight you send someone to open the city gate, and my cavalry brigade and your special forces team rush into the city to kill the little Japs in the city. "
Next, the two of them discussed the battle plan for tonight in detail.
As night fell, Sun Desheng and Wei Monk led the troops to prepare for battle.
At a place 500 meters away from the county seat, all the special operations team members dismounted, left their horses behind, and walked to the county seat.
Two hundred meters away from the county seat, the large group of people stopped, and a squad leader of the special operations team quietly approached the city wall with a squad of special operations members.
During the day, the special operations team members had already taken a good look at the terrain outside the city wall. They first approached the city wall along a water channel, and then came to the bottom of the city wall. After carefully listening to the movements on the city wall, they were convinced that there were no enemy troops nearby. Sentinel, several team members took out their flying claws and climbed up.
The team members are strong and often undergo climbing training. The city wall is only more than two feet high, so it is very easy for them to climb.
Just as several team members were about to climb up the wall, suddenly several machetes protruded from behind the arrow stacks on the city wall and cut off the ropes connecting the flying claws. Several team members screamed and fell down.
Immediately afterwards, a large number of Japanese and puppet troops suddenly appeared on the city wall. Machine guns and rifles fired fiercely at the special forces members below, and they kept throwing grenades and grenades down. The special forces members under the city wall fell one after another.
The special operations team members reacted extremely quickly and evacuated quickly after knowing that they were being ambushed.
Despite this, due to the sudden incident, the number of Japanese and puppet troops on the city wall was too large, and the firepower was fierce. Only the squad leader and two soldiers had time to escape into the ditch and luckily escaped. The rest of the special forces team members all A heroic sacrifice.
The reason why Japanese troops appeared in large numbers on the city wall is inseparable from the caution of the commander. He had already determined that among the cavalry of the Eighth Route Army, there was their special operations brigade. The special operations brigade was accustomed to using night attacks, so he took precautions.
He asked the Japanese gendarmerie, Huang Xiejun and puppet police who remained in the city to defend the city wall at night. In order to prevent these guys from being lazy, he also transferred some troops from the cavalry regiment to take charge of supervision.
Since the Japanese and puppet military took precautions in advance, their observation posts were always watching outside the city. When they discovered enemy troops moving outside the city, they prepared for an attack, but caught the Eighth Route Army off guard.
Seeing that the sneak attack plan failed, Sun Desheng was very angry and cursed: "These damn little devils are so dishonest. Since the sneak attack failed, we will attack by force. Wait for Lao Zi to rush into the city and deal with those little devils."
When Monk Wei saw the special forces members sacrificed under the city wall, he was not only very angry, but also felt ashamed. This night attack plan was proposed by him. Sneak attacks are what the special operations brigade is best at. Today they suffered such a big loss. How could this make him, the captain of the special operations brigade, feel so embarrassed?
He was also anxious and said: "Deputy captain, you are right. You and the cavalry brigade are attacking here, and I will lead the special forces team to go around to the south. We will attack from both sides. I don't believe we can't defeat them."
Sun Desheng ordered the officers and soldiers of the cavalry brigade to prepare for the attack and wait for Monk Wei's signal.
Soon after, Monk Wei led the special operations brigade to the designated location and fired three red flares into the sky.
Sun Desheng ordered an attack on the city. The officers and soldiers of the cavalry brigade set up artillery and fired at the city wall. Then machine guns, rifles, 82mm recoilless rifles and rocket launchers also opened fire. The soldiers rushed towards the city wall.
In the south of the county, Monk Wei's special operations brigade also launched an attack on the enemy.
The officers and soldiers of the cavalry brigade and the special operations brigade were not good at attacking fortified areas. Although they had advanced weapons, the enemy had a large number of troops and relied on the city wall to resist tenaciously.
The officers and soldiers of the Eighth Route Army launched two charges in succession, but were beaten back both times, and many Eighth Route Army soldiers were injured or killed.
Faced with this situation, Sun Desheng gradually calmed down, and he felt that continuing like this was not an option. He decided to suspend the attack and sent a messenger to call Monk Wei, wanting to discuss with him what to do next.
Less than half a minute after the cavalry messenger left, Monk Wei himself ran over.
It turns out that after the special operations brigade failed to attack the city, Monk Wei also calmed down. He was thinking what would Lord Long do if he encountered this situation? He believed that Xu Dalong would never use the special operations brigade and the cavalry brigade to fight the Japanese. He would adjust the combat deployment in a timely manner according to changes in the battlefield situation.
Thinking of this, he began to think about how to change from passive to active in the face of the situation in front of him.
Suddenly his eyes lit up, an idea came to his mind, and he hurried to find Sun Desheng.
When Sun Desheng saw Monk Wei, he asked in surprise: "Monk, I was about to send someone to find you. Why did you come here?"
Monk Wei said worriedly: "Deputy Captain Sun, this battle cannot be fought like this. Even if the county can be captured by force, the casualties will be considerable.
The Japanese cavalry unit won't come out, so we'll let him stay inside for the time being. Now I have an idea, we might as well make use of these Japanese cavalry in the city. "
Sun Desheng was just out of ideas. After hearing what Monk Wei said, he quickly asked: "Monk, have you come up with any good ideas?"
Monk Wei told him his plan.
After hearing this, Sun Desheng laughed, punched Monk Wei on the shoulder with his fist, and said with a smile: "You monk, you look dull, I didn't expect you to have so many evil ideas. Let's do it like this."
After saying this, Sun Desheng called a cavalry squadron leader and appointed him as the temporary commander, asking him to lead three cavalry squadrons to launch a sheep attack on the county seat. He and Wei Monk led the main force of the cavalry brigade and the special operations brigade to gallop northwest. go.
