The 72nd Division was trying to preserve its strength, and the other divisions were not stupid either. None of the military achievements, rewards, or honors were as real as their own.
These military leaders have always regarded the troops in their hands as their own private property. After the Jinsui Army lost Taiyuan, it was already Wang Xiaoer's New Year. The situation was getting worse year by year. Without the military factory, there was no large source of soldiers and taxes, and the troops were fighting The boss alone will not be able to replenish them.
Without the troops, they are nothing. Zezhou County is not attractive to them at all, and siege is just a matter of military orders.
Amid the different motives of the military leaders, the battle against Zezhou begins!
"Boom boom boom..."
"Boom boom boom..."
The divisional artillery battalions of each division began to launch fierce bombardments at Zezhou City. The city walls of Zezhou City had been repaired by the Japanese, using a large amount of stone and concrete, and were even stronger than the previous old city walls.
The artillery battalions of each division of the Jinsui Army are mainly equipped with mortars, with only a small number of 75mm field guns. The most deadly thing is that the field guns have very few shells. Every time a shell is fired, there is one less shell. Several division commanders have some Reluctant to part with it.
The artillery fire was lively, but the effect was mediocre. It was better than nothing, but it was still far from destroying the city wall.
After the artillery preparations were completed, the 1st Battalion of the 338th Regiment of the 72nd Division began to attack the south gate. Li Yuanzheng deeply understood Li Chendong's intentions and brought the Buddhist attack to the extreme!
"Kill!"
"Kill all the Japanese!"
Hundreds of people raised their voices and their momentum was loud, but the formation of skirmishers was very loose. They rushed forward with their waists bent, ready to lie down at any time.
"Ta-ta-ta..."
As soon as the Japanese gunfire rang out, everyone immediately lay down on the ground to find obstacles. The mortars trailing behind began to fire at the exposed fire points to provide fire support for the infantry.
The infantry offensive tactics of Li's Expeditionary Battalion were copied from those of the Independent Brigade. Although they only learned some superficial knowledge and did not learn the essence, the effect was still very obvious.
The two sides were going back and forth, and the fight was very lively, which made General Yang in the headquarters get excited.
Half an hour later, the first round of attack was repelled by the Japanese. This was originally a tentative attack. The Japanese were not stupid. They exposed several light and heavy machine guns. This trick was original to the Japanese.
"Boom boom boom..."
"Boom boom boom..."
Sure enough, after the infantry retreated, they prepared for artillery fire. The Japanese machine gun fire had already been withdrawn to one side. There was a small group of Japanese soldiers on each wall;
There was only one Japs hiding for ten to twenty meters. The poor artillery fire of the Jinsui Army did not pose much of a threat. Only with good luck could one Japs be killed or wounded.
After the artillery preparations were completed, the Jinsui Army began to attack in a decent manner. Li Yuanzheng's side was better, and the main attacking troops of the other two divisions began to attack with simple ladders;
The Japanese's light and heavy firepower was not hidden, and rained bullets were thrown at the Jinsui Army charging straight under the city wall. The casualties increased dramatically, but the Japanese only consumed some ammunition.
In less than twenty minutes, the three divisions could not bear the huge casualties and retreated. The second attack was crushed again. The ground was littered with the bodies of the fallen soldiers of the Jinsui Army;
Although it was only a symbolic attack, the three divisions in the second round of the attack suffered at least more than 300 casualties in total. Of course, the other two divisions were mainly responsible for the casualties. The Li Yuanzheng Battalion only suffered more than 30 casualties.
The Jinsui Army simply does not have the ability to attack a large city heavily defended by the Japs, even with ten times the force. Without heavy artillery to knock down the city walls, attacking a fortified city means losing lives.
Li Chendong would not let Li Yuanzheng's first battalion attack when it came to killing people. After the first battalion attacked for two rounds, he cleverly replaced it with the second battalion, and repeatedly told the second battalion commander to take it easy when charging and disperse. The line of troops is enlarged.
The main force of the Japanese defending Zezhou City is the 22nd Regiment, and the auxiliary force is the Japanese who have withdrawn from counties and strongholds such as Guring. There are about 1,500 people, which means that there are more than 5,000 Japanese in the entire Zezhou City!
With the tall city wall as a barrier, Colonel Saito of the 22nd Regiment never thought of retreating from the west gate.
"Onitsuka-kun, don't be too harsh, it will hurt the Chinese people too much, and they will be in trouble if they retreat!
Fishing requires patience, do you understand? "
Old Japanese Saito began to give instructions to Major Onizuka, who was responsible for the defense of the city wall. They had to hold off the Chinese for at least four days before the main force could move into place and complete the siege of the Chinese.
"Hey, your Excellency, Captain!"
Onizuka forgot about it as soon as he got it right. Fishing was a bit difficult for him with such a high skill, so Saito needed to remind him frequently.
The three divisions have been attacking for a day without making any progress. The total casualties are 700 to 800 people, which is still within their endurance range. They are all trying to get others to put in more efforts and take advantage of it themselves.
It's a pity that they forgot that there are still several tight spells above their heads. The first one is General Yang;
He had been left in the dark about the New Army, and now he urgently needed to prove himself to his boss so that he could make up for his mistakes. Zezhou was an opportunity for him.
He thought it would be easy for five divisions to capture Zezhou City. Unexpectedly, after fighting for a whole day, he didn't even touch the city wall. He saw a way out, so he gathered several division commanders together and started scolding:
"Everyone, who are you fooling? There are more than 20,000 people in three divisions. After a day of attacking, there is no sound, and the city wall has not been attacked. Do you think that military law cannot deal with you?
Or do you think I, Yang, am easy to talk to? "
None of the division commanders wanted to stand out. Among them, Lieutenant General Xu had a deeper foundation, so they kept asking Lieutenant General Xu for help with their eyes;
Lieutenant General Xu had no choice but to say stiffly:
“Vice President, it’s not that brothers are unwilling to use our full strength, it’s mainly because the walls of Zezhou City are too strong. If we can’t blow out several big gaps in the walls, the casualties from the attack will be too great!
Can you ask the boss for some more heavy artillery shells? Let’s gather the field artillery from the five divisions and blast a few gaps first, and then--"
"Xu Laosan, can't we fight without artillery? The military factory has been lost. Where can the boss get heavy artillery shells for you?"
Your suggestion reminds me that the artillery fire of each division must be concentrated. After my brothers returned, they transferred all the 75mm guns to the south gate. We concentrated the artillery fire to blast several gaps in the south city wall, and then the 72nd Division as Take the initiative, let the other two divisions feint to attack, and take the south gate in one go tomorrow!
Xu Laosan, do you have any objections? "
Lieutenant General Xu just wanted to give himself a slap in the face. This talk has completely caused trouble. The vice president has already made up his mind. Does he dare to have an opinion?
"Alas, this time I have to shed my skin even if I don't die. I can only leave this matter to this kid Li Chendong, he has many clever ideas!"
Thinking of this, he stood up and said to General Yang:
"I don't have any objections in my humble position. I will work for the boss no matter what, even if I die!"
Admiral Yang's face looked better now, and he understood clearly that he couldn't just rush in, he had to focus on it!
This is something that even a regiment commander can figure out. It took him a whole day to realize it after fighting for a general. He is really an incompetent commander and exhausted the whole army.
