Standing in a dilapidated Chinese private house, Captain Tanaka looked worriedly at the map hanging on the wall in his temporary headquarters. The black spot marked Lanling had been surrounded by Japanese troops marked in yellow. But zooming in further, these yellow Japanese troops were surrounded by more dense black spots marked as Chinese troops. What made Tanaka even more annoyed was that the battle had already started for three days. What kind of Chinese troops were surrounded by the reconnaissance troop company in Lanling? I don’t know the serial number, who the commander is, or the strength of the troops. How to fight this battle? Tanaka was very distressed. The Japanese army in the direction of Taierzhuang had stopped attacking, and all the troops that could be mobilized were sent to their own front by the commander of the Isotani Division. In the Taierzhuang area, the Chinese army, which was constantly launching counterattacks, was aware of the Japanese army. Predicament, actions and courage are getting bigger and bigger. It is possible to break through the Japanese front line in one fell swoop and force the Japanese army led by Isotani towards Linyi or Lanling. In the direction of Captain Yamaguchi's blocking position, the number of the Chinese army has been identified. The number surged to 4 regiments, and reconnaissance planes reported that there are still a large number of Chinese infantry moving towards Lanling. If the Lanling defenders cannot be quickly eliminated and the lines of communication are opened, the terrible scenario of the entire 10th Division being destroyed It has appeared in Tianzhong's mind. Danger, danger. Now Tianzhong is unwilling to give up Lanling and go around the city. That will be pursued by the Chinese army in the city, and the losses will be incalculable. And the danger is even greater if the battle continues. Tanaka could not decide whether to fight or flee due to the danger of being surrounded. For the sake of his own face, Isotani would not be able to give up Lanling and withdraw back to Qingdao. However, the good news is that the base camp has transferred 5,000 troops from Qingdao. The Marine Corps came to reinforce the 10th Division, but only if they first captured Lanling. Captain Tanaka handed over the main force to Yamaguchi, asking him to block the Chinese army's reinforcements so as to give the Fuguang Regiment time to capture Lanling. The remaining troops were used by Tanaka to block the two directions south and east of Lanling. Waiting for the arrival of the two reinforcements sent by Isotani to him.
"It's raining." I looked at the raindrops falling in the sky with joy. This rain has helped us so much. Whether it rains or not does not matter to the war. Raining at this time is a huge help to us. We are in the enemy's position. The area has been sifted back and forth dozens of times by artillery shells from both sides, and the ground and soil are all loose. Now when it rains, these places have all turned into mud. It is nothing to the defending side, but to the attacking side , their forward speed will be greatly slowed down, that is, the probability of death will be greatly increased. A Japanese tank commander said: "This ghost place is not for tanks, but for submarines." This objectively reflects the difficulty of the muddy environment for the attacking side.
"It's raining." The soldiers on the front line and the soldiers in the city looked at the raindrops with joy. The city had been without water for a day. After the Japanese army blocked Lanling, the water source in the city was cut off, and the stored water was consumed a day ago. When it was over, the nurses at the field hospital cheered and brought out the big basins and barrels to collect the water.
"Commander, telegram." Wang Hongxian handed me a telegram. I took a quick look at it and slapped the table excitedly, "Okay, Mr. Hong, Commander Guan called us and asked us to hold on for at most 2 days before we can go out." Troops of 2 divisions and 1 brigade attack the Yamaguchi Brigade. At that time, we can cooperate internally and externally to annihilate the Tanaka Regiment in one fell swoop, attack with the 2nd Army from the north and south, and annihilate the Isoya Division to create a miracle." Wang Hongxian was also very happy, but he still reminded Me: "Commander, let's not be too happy. If we are not careful and the Japanese army makes dumplings for us, then the whole plan will be ruined." I disagreed, "My special forces brigade alone can defeat us." It's hard for the little devil to move forward, let alone so many loyal and brave people who have gathered under my command. Hahahaha." I let out a hearty laugh.
Based on the firepower density of the Chinese army, Captain Tanaka judged that the Chinese army in front of him had at least one division of troops, because he judged it based on the automatic weapons firepower organization of our ordinary troops. In fact, the automatic weapons of the frontline troops suddenly increased. The reason is related to my irrational assault. In that attack, after all my tanks were damaged, all their machine guns were removed for the infantry to use. The tank soldiers also captured some Japanese machine guns and brought them back to the city. The tanks distributed in the city were unable to move. Our tanks also had their machine guns removed, and the returning half-track armored personnel carriers also had their 16 machine guns removed and left in the city. In this way, the troops under my command were reinforced with at least 100 machine guns, and my rear The Yi Armored Regiment is an elite unit of the national army. Each tank is equipped with three imported German MP-18 submachine guns in accordance with the regulations. The armored infantry company is equipped with up to 30 MP-18 submachine guns. Naturally, the number of automatic weapons far exceeds the average. Troops, this also caused Tanaka to misjudge the strength of the defenders in the city, and he became more cautious.
Li Zongren, Bai Chongxi, and Lin Wei, who was sent by the Chairman to supervise the battle, all looked at the black and red arrows on the map. At this point in the battle, it was already clear that as long as Lanling was defended, the Isogaya Division would be defeated. There is a possibility of total annihilation. If Lanling cannot hold it, the Isoya Division will flee like frightened rabbits, and this God-given opportunity will be gone forever. Bai Chongxi had just returned from Guan Linzheng's headquarters. Tang Enbo's death had no impact on the junior officers and soldiers of the 20th Army. They quickly accepted the facts and obeyed the orders of their superior officers. Bai Chongxi had strictly ordered Guan Lin to mobilize as many troops as possible as quickly as possible to open a rescue channel for Lanling from the west. However, Li Zongren was deeply worried about whether Hou Yi's armored regiment could hold Lanling. The Japanese army had advantages in all aspects. , but the Houyi Armored Regiment participated in the battle for the second time and lacked experience. Lin Wei ordered the Logistics Department to send necessary fuel supplies to the Li Guang regiment stationed in Shangqiu, and launched an all-out attack on Lanling to support the defenders in their operations.
The Fuguang Regiment's attack did not work. Their infantry and tanks attacked 6 times in a row, but were all beaten back. Countless Japanese corpses lay in front of the Chinese army's position. Although the Chinese army's artillery fire was relatively weak, it still gave them a heavy blow. With the support of larger infantry, they took the risk to deploy artillery into the ruins of the forward houses and shot the Japanese troops with close-range fire. Their accurate artillery fire caused heavy casualties to the Japanese troops.
The Chinese troops at the front gave up their collapsed positions and withdrew into the city, relying on the ruins of surrounding houses to block the Japanese troops. Although the Japanese troops had already reached the city, victory was far from being returned to their pockets.
