At this moment, both the Japanese army and the guerrillas were desperate. The Japanese army launched a fierce attack on Maiba Town. Gao Xiling and the guerrillas resisted desperately. The guerrilla brigade outside the town also launched a fierce attack on the Japanese army. The Japanese troops remaining outside the town resisted the guerrilla attacks. The fighting in Maiba town was extremely fierce.
Gao Xiling and the guerrillas were surrounded in the town of Maiba. At the beginning, it was very hasty. Fortunately, in order to attract the main force of the guerrillas to come to the rescue, the Japanese army did not rush to launch an attack, which left them time to repair the fortifications.
After such a long time, the guerrillas have built relatively complete fortifications. The Japanese army launched a fierce attack. Outside the town of Maiba, there was a vast plain, and the Japanese officers and soldiers were exposed in the wilderness. Although the guerrillas' firepower was relatively weak, under such circumstances, they could still inflict a heavy blow to the Japanese army.
Soon after, the first attack launched by the Japanese army had to be temporarily suspended due to heavy losses.
Watanabe has been observing the situation on the battlefield. Seeing that the Japanese attack failed, he angrily cursed the abominable terrain outside the town. He knew very well that such terrain was very unfavorable to the Japanese army and it would be difficult for the attack to be effective. Seeing the guerrillas all around, they were attacking frantically and approaching.
Watanabe couldn't help but feel a little anxious now. He was thinking about how to capture Maiba Town as soon as possible to change the passive situation at hand. Suddenly he saw the air force liaison staff standing not far away, and his eyes suddenly lit up.
Watanabe immediately walked over and asked the air force to dispatch the bombing of Maiba Town to cover the Japanese army's capture of Maiba Town as soon as possible.
The Air Force Liaison Staff also knew that guerrilla reinforcements were coming. Although he is not an infantryman, he is a soldier after all and has certain tactical knowledge. He does not want to be surrounded here. If the 19th Regiment is finished, he will die here.
After listening to Watanabe's request, the Air Force liaison staff immediately sent a telegram to his superiors, requesting that bombers be sent for bombing.
The Air Force quickly responded with a telegram, saying that the bombers had already been prepared and would depart immediately, and were expected to arrive in Maiba Town in about 40 minutes.
Gao Cang, Tanaka and others also felt very excited when they heard the good news. Watanabe immediately reported the good news to the Japanese officers and soldiers. He ordered the infantry to temporarily stop the attack and only use artillery fire to attack the guerrillas in the town.
After Gao Xiling and others repelled an attack by the Japanese army, Gao Xiling quickly went to check the guerrillas' defensive positions while the Japanese army paused the attack. He found that many positions had been destroyed by artillery fire, and the guerrilla casualties had exceeded 60 people.
Gao Xiling was very worried that the Japanese army would launch another attack soon. The guerrillas had insufficient strength and firepower, and it might be difficult to withstand the Japanese army's continuous attacks.
Although the mayor was very stubborn, when he was surrounded by a large group of Japanese troops in the town, he began to regret and did not listen to Gao Xiling's persuasion. He knew that if the town was captured by the enemy, those who remained would be hard-pressed to survive.
Seeing that Gao Xiling's guerrillas suffered heavy casualties, he also led members of the security group into the guerrillas' defensive positions to help them resist the Japanese attack. ….
Gao Xiling ran quickly inside the town and checked all the defensive positions, but found that the Japanese army did not launch an attack immediately. Although he doesn't know why this is, for him, this is undoubtedly good news. He already knew that guerrilla reinforcements were coming. The longer the Japanese army delayed, the better it would be for him to hold Maiba Town.
At this time, he felt much more at ease and sat on an ammunition box to rest.
Xu Dalong has been observing the situation on the battlefield. When he saw the Japanese army launching an attack on Maiba Town, he was very worried that the Japanese army would break through the guerrillas' defensive positions and capture Maiba Town in one fell swoop. When he saw the guerrillas repelling an attack by the Japanese army, he finally felt more relaxed. However, he was also worried about the continuous attacks by the Japanese army. With the strength of Gao Xiling and others, they could not withstand several Japanese attacks.
So Xu Dalong ordered the guerrilla brigade on the outskirts of Maiba Town to attack with all their strength, to contain more Japanese troops and buy time for Gao Xiling and others to defend Maiba Town.
After the last Japanese attack was repulsed, half an hour had passed, but the Japanese army had not
There was another attack, which made Xu Dalong feel a little puzzled. The Japanese army clearly lacked military common sense in doing so.
Xu Dalong didn't think the Japanese commander was so stupid. He always felt that there was something wrong with it, but for a while he couldn't figure out what tricks the Japanese army wanted to play.
Ten minutes later, Xu Dalong seemed to hear something. He listened carefully, and from the fierce gunfire on the battlefield, he actually heard the roar of aircraft flying in the sky.
He couldn't help but change his face. The Japanese army would actually send out the air force. Xu Dalong didn't expect this at all.
It’s no wonder that, according to common sense, the Japanese army can only use the air force when large forces operate to conquer important cities and important defensive positions of the enemy. The Japanese officers and soldiers were very arrogant, especially with the strong self-esteem of the officers and soldiers of an old division like the Fifth Division. When dealing with a small guerrilla force, it was impossible to ask the air force to come for reinforcements.
What Xu Dalong didn't expect was that this time Maiba Town would get his own glory. Who made him so famous? In order to deal with him, the Japanese army broke the rules and used the air force in such a small battle.
Xu Dalong did not hesitate at all. He personally picked up the walkie-talkie and called each guerrilla group to inform them to pay attention to air defense.
The guerrillas have all heard about the power of plane bombings, and many have seen bombed cities and villages. However, since they joined the guerrillas, due to the small scale of their participation in the war, this area was not a target of the Japanese air force, so they had never directly experienced bombing. They had no experience with air defense.
Xu Dalong had just arrived here to seize the time and train the guerrillas as much as possible, but the training content was limited to basic guerrilla tactics. Even he did not expect that the Japanese army would be willing to use the air force to deal with a small guerrilla group. He also did not conduct air defense training for the guerrillas.
Xu Dalong wanted to make a remedy now, but it was too late. All he could do now was to yell at the guerrillas around him and tell them to evacuate and hide. As for the other guerrilla units, they can only resign themselves to their fate. ….
The Japanese bombers flew extremely fast and arrived over the town of Maiba in an instant. The liaison staff of the Japanese Air Force held a walkie-talkie to indicate targets for bombers in the air.
The six bombers circled in the air and after confirming the target, they swooped down towards the town of Maiba. When they passed by the town, they dropped a large number of aerial bombs. The aerial bombs soon exploded violently in the town of Maiba. Come.
The buildings in Maiba Town are mainly brick and wood structures, with only a few parts made of reinforced concrete. The aerial bombs destroyed buildings one after another, and the fragments of masonry and wood were blown up all over the sky by the air waves generated by the explosion. . The guerrillas, who had no experience in air defense, and many residents who had not evacuated the town, panicked and were blown to pieces, causing heavy casualties.
Xu Dalong looked at the billowing smoke and dust shrouding Maiba Town, his heart felt like a knife, and he secretly regretted it. If he could have predicted that the Japanese army would dispatch the air force, he would have made great efforts to persuade the residents here to evacuate. It's too late to regret now. Facing the Japanese air force's reckless bombing, Xu Dalong was helpless.
After the six bombers dropped their bombs, they roared away. The small town of Maiba was almost razed to the ground. Looking at the miserable scene in Maiba Town, the Japanese officers and soldiers were naturally very excited, and many people cheered towards the bombers in the sky.
Watanabe was also beaming and said to the liaison staff of the Air Force: "Kawachi-kun, the Air Force is really great. Thank you so much. Please convey to me the high respect of the officers and soldiers of the 19th Wing for the warriors of the Air Force."
Hechi also looked proud of the effects of the plane bombing.
He laughed and said: "The Yellow Army Air Force of the majestic big island country is simply killing a chicken with a sledgehammer against a small guerrilla force. What a waste."
He was so complacent that what he said inadvertently made Watanabe and others feel very hurt. They couldn't help but frown and cursed in their hearts: "This guy in Hechi is so stupid that he can't speak. Isn't it obvious that he is belittling our army?"
However, Watanabe was too lazy to worry about it at this time, and immediately picked up the walkie-talkie and gave the order to attack.
The Japanese troops outside the town were already ready to attack. After the bombers flew away, they had already assembled at the offensive starting position and were already eager to try. When they heard the order to attack, they immediately rushed towards Maiba Town with sharp bayonets in hand.
The Japanese bombing caused huge casualties to the guerrillas guarding the town of Maiba. Many people were killed and injured immediately. This fierce bombing allowed them to truly see the cruelty of modern war. Some people panicked, and some were so frightened that they threw away their weapons and ran to a place they thought was relatively safe, afraid to come out.
During the plane bombing, Gao Xiling hid at the base of a courtyard wall, and an aerial bomb exploded very close to him. Although it didn't hit him directly, the huge air wave still knocked him unconscious.
Several guerrillas not far away saw Gao Xiling. At this time, he had been hit by the collapsed courtyard wall. The two team members spent a lot of effort to pull him out of the rubble. ….
Gaoxiling came to life after being shouted and shaken by the guerrillas. He felt pain everywhere in his body, especially the pain in his left arm which was unbearable. It was obvious that the bone was broken.
The guerrilla health workers who came after hearing the news were about to bandage his wounds when they heard someone shouting: "The Japanese are coming up."
Gao Xiling endured the severe pain, pushed the health worker away, stood up, and looked outside the town, and saw a large group of Japanese soldiers rushing toward the town.
He hurriedly picked up the shell gun that fell beside him and shouted loudly: "Brothers, fight, fight and knock down the Japanese."
The remaining guerrillas fired at the Japanese soldiers. Only then did Gao Xiling realize that there were not many guerrillas left alive, so the sound of gunfire seemed sparse.
Seeing the Japanese getting closer and closer, some new guerrilla members could not bear the huge psychological pressure, so they left their positions and ran into the town. Some guerrillas were shot and died in the hail of bullets fired by the Japanese army. The density of bullets fired by the guerrillas is also getting smaller and smaller.
Gao Xiling knew very well that the town could no longer be defended, so he shouted to the guerrillas to evacuate immediately.
After all, Gaoxiling has been fighting for more than a year and has a certain amount of experience. He also had some old guerrillas who could stay calm at critical moments. They ran to greet other guerrillas and gathered at the town hall.
Gao Xiling ran to the door of the town hall, stopped, shouted loudly, and gathered the guerrillas who were running over.
Seeing that there were still sixty or seventy people gathered in the guerrillas, he called them all into the town hall, sent some people to guard the gate, some people used the wall as a bunker, and some people climbed up to the roof with ladders. Gaoxiling decided to stay here and wait for help.
While Gaoxiling was directing the team members to defend, a dozen members of the security team ran over.
The leader said with a sad face: "The mayor is dead, and everyone else is dead."
Gao Xiling had no time to comfort them and sent them to the wall to assist the guerrillas in their defense.
The Japanese army attacked very quickly. Just when Gao Xiling and others entered the town hall, the Japanese army had already entered the town and launched immediately. Sporadic gunshots continued to sound, which was the Japanese army massacring the wounded guerrillas and the civilians they saw.
Soon the Japanese army discovered that the remnants of the guerrillas were hiding in the town hall, and they immediately surrounded the town hall.
Watanabe, Gao Cang and others received reports that most of the town had been captured, and only a small number of guerrillas were still resisting inside the town hall.
Watanabe ordered the Japanese troops who entered the town to capture the town office as soon as possible. At the same time, he ordered the Japanese troops outside the town to shrink to Maiba Town and build defensive positions relying on Maiba Town.
Behind the wall, Gao Xiling saw a large number of Japanese troops coming from all directions, and knew that it would be difficult to defend the town hall with just a few dozen of his men. Now he can only place his hope on Xu Dalong. He wanted to urge Xu Dalong, but the correspondent had already been killed by the bomb, and the walkie-talkie was thrown away.
All he can do now is encourage the guerrillas to hold on and wait until Xu Dalong leads the main force of the guerrillas.
Come to the rescue.
Although Xu Dalong didn't know what the current situation of Gaoxiling and the others was, he was sure that their situation was very difficult. He wanted to rush into the town immediately to rescue them, but with the current strength of the guerrillas, he simply couldn't do it.
Maiba Town is surrounded by large tracts of farmland, with a wide view, and there is no way for the guerrillas to get close. If you get too close to the town, not only will you be hit by fierce Japanese artillery fire, but if the Japanese army concentrates a part of its force to launch a charge, the guerrillas will be in danger of being wiped out. Therefore, Xu Dalong could only lead the guerrillas to hide in the jungle around the farmland, watching helplessly as the Japanese attacked Gao Xiling and others in the town. (End of chapter)
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