Hirai Ichiro led a detachment of Japanese soldiers to invade a north-south compound. The road in Liuzhen ran east-west, and the houses all ran north-south. There were shops outside and a compound inside. This compound looked like it belonged to a wealthy family. house.
Hirai Ichiro did not expect to be able to search out the Chinese people in the yard. The entire Liuzhen was an empty city, except for the imperial army.
There were several bad guys hiding in this yard. Ichiro Hirai wanted to search them out and then eliminate them. He chose to search in one room after another;
They cautiously approached a room...
"Bagou!"
The Matsushita soldier next to Ichiro Hirai was shot and fell, and the others quickly found cover;
"Bagou"
Another shot, this time the target Ichiro Hirai escaped.
"There's a road on the roof!"
"Ta-ta-ta-ta"
The Japanese's machine guns rang out, causing bricks and stones to fly from the roof of the building suspected of being on the Eighth Road.
There was a small window above, and the Eighth Route Army gunmen fired at them through the window hole.
Just as the Japs were firing wildly at the windows, three grenades suddenly flew down from the roof behind them and landed on the heads of the Japs' machine gun crew...
"Boom boom boom!"
The large amount of debris produced by the grenade explosion covered the entire machine gun team. There were 4 people in the Hirai detachment's machine gun team, 3 were killed and 1 was injured.
"Eight o'clock, rooftop!"
Hirai's eyesight was quite good, and several gunmen quickly fired in the direction where the grenades flew. Unfortunately, they all fired blanks, and the people had already hid.
"Ta-ta-ta!"
A machine gun fired from the right rear, and two more members of Hirai's unit fell. The crossfire from three directions made Hirai not know which direction to return fire;
The Eighth Route Army set up an inverted triangle ambush formation in the courtyard. The Hirai detachment that broke in rashly was unlucky. In less than two minutes, seven people were killed or injured, and not even a shadow of the Eighth Route Army was seen.
"Ta-ta-ta"
"Bagou!"
"Boom boom boom!"
In panic, Hirai and others were shot and fell one after another. This was another successful inverted triangle ambush. All 13 Japanese in a detachment were wiped out in less than three minutes. The gunfire stopped and the courtyard returned to tranquility.
Such battles are constantly taking place in the streets and alleys of the town and in front and behind the houses. The Japanese are constantly being consumed in the battle. Three fell here and five were eliminated there. This is the cruelty of street fighting. As a The attacking party has to pay a heavy price.
The battle in the central city continued until night, and no one knew the outcome. What could be felt was that the sound of gunfire became weaker and weaker, and the enemy and our commanders completely lost control of the troops inside.
It's dark, and the battle between the two sides is still going on intermittently. You are in me, and I am in you. Even if you want to withdraw, it is not that easy. You can only wait patiently for the result.
Major General Ushijima hardly slept a wink the whole night. He was worrying about the second brigade in the city. There were few gunshots coming out of it. Was it the annihilation of the Eighth Route Army inside, or some other result? Ushijima, who always had a big heart, The island is also a little out of control.
He is waiting for the dawn!
Just as anxiously waiting for the dawn as him are Chu Xiong, Zhong Guoliang, Tan Tao and others;
At around three o'clock in the afternoon, Tan Tao added another platoon to the inside. Now he only has one platoon left. The main force of the fourth company and the mortar platoon are all inside. He is lying if he says he is not worried. !
He could use the trumpet sound to notify the troops inside to withdraw, but such a hasty withdrawal would have a great impact and might cause many unnecessary casualties. He could only wait patiently for the outcome of the battle to be determined.
Amid the suffering of the commanders and fighters on both sides, dawn is coming!
Snowflakes were flying in the sky. This morning was extremely cold for both warring parties. The gunfire had stopped...
"Kitahara-kun, give the order to retreat. The warriors have been fighting all night, and it's time to retreat to replenish food."
Ushijima finally gave up!
The Japanese's withdrawal trumpet sounded, which also woke up the sleeping central city. The Japanese who could still hear the trumpet began to alternately cover the withdrawal of the battle, and the Eighth Route Army inside did not pursue them. Everyone was tired and needed to rest.
Ten minutes later, a sparse number of Japs began to withdraw from the battle, and then slowly began to increase in number, and a little smile appeared on Ushijima's tense face...
Twenty minutes later, no Japanese came out. Beiyuan reluctantly asked the signal soldiers to give the order to retreat again, but still no Japanese came out.
Beiyuan's heart felt cold. It had only lasted one afternoon and one night. When he entered, there were nearly 100 people in the field brigade. However, no more than two squadrons left, with only more than 320 people. The infantry artillery was also lost!
Beihara reluctantly counted again, 327 people, including the wounded.
The second brigade was also disabled!
Ushijima put down the telescope in pain. This battle was beyond his control. He thought that with a heavy attack and a certain price, Chu Xiong's troubles could be completely eliminated. Now it seems that he was too optimistic.
After the Japanese withdrew their troops, the Fourth Company also sounded the rally call to withdraw. Tan Tao believed that his comrades were still there.
Shuanzi, who had been fighting all night, heard the sound of the assembly call. This night he used the 38-gai that he was not familiar with to eliminate 7 Japanese soldiers and miraculously survived.
He never thought that he would be able to leave alive. He just kept fighting against the Japanese habitually until he fell.
When he withdrew to the fourth line of defense, he met his good brother Ma Biao and some familiar comrades. There were also many comrades who did not come back. This is war.
The fourth company that finally withdrew had only 135 wounded people left. Including a platoon as a reserve team, there were only 215 people left. Among them were some members of the mortar platoon. Nearly 200 people were sacrificed. There are only 4 cannons left.
The casualty ratio between the two sides was 3 to 1. When Chu Xiong saw the list of losses, he closed his eyes in pain;
The Independence Battalion has never sacrificed so many comrades since its establishment. The cruelty of the war has finally emerged. These are the seed soldiers he has spent a lot of thought and energy training. Let alone three for one, they will let the Japanese It would hurt him to exchange five for one.
"Old Zhong, we can't continue fighting like this. It's almost over. In the next round of fighting, we will fight and retreat. We will lure the Japanese to the old camp and use the tunnels of the old camp to lose weight for the Japanese."
"Notify the Fourth Company to bury the bodies of the fallen comrades and prepare to retreat! You lead the Fifth Company to withdraw first, and I will stay in the Fourth Company. The Japanese will not pursue you until I am here!"
Zhong Guoliang also wanted to say that he would stay to attract the Japs, but Chu Xiong rejected it directly. He knew that the Japs would only be led by the nose if they knew that he was there. He did not want the Japs to be free to go into the mountains and cause trouble for the people. .
Throughout the morning, both sides tacitly chose a truce and were licking their wounds.
