"Division Commander, the Japs seem to have begun to retreat. After leaving some remaining troops behind, they retreated towards Tangtou Town." A staff officer responsible for frontline observation mission ran back and reported to Liu Zhensan.
"Is it true? Is it possible that this is a strategy of the enemy to lure them deeper?" Liu Zhensan asked.
The staff officer didn't waste any words. He stood at attention and saluted: "Reporting to the division commander, according to my humble observation, it is unlikely that the enemy's retreat was planned. The enemy retreated in a very hasty manner, leaving only part of the rear troops behind, and then headed towards We retreated towards Tangtou Town. I have a hunch that something might have happened to Tangtou!"
Liu Zhensan pondered for a moment and felt that what the combat staff officer said was true and reasonable: after all, the battle was now at a fever pitch. No matter which side retreated first, the other side would pursue them. It is actually unbelievable that the enemy army could commit such an act of severing the wrists of such a strong man.
After thinking for a while, Liu Zhensan said resolutely: "Since they are retreating and would rather leave so many troops behind to come back for reinforcements, then we should also divide our forces and pull out the 715th Regiment from the battlefield to pursue them! If there is any situation, we will Let’s report!”
"Yes! Division commander!" the staff officer responded.
In fact, in this counterattack, if you look at it from above, the main force of the Japanese army has been divided into three parts: the main force of Nagano Yuichiro's 11th Regiment in the Yihe area of Zhuge City, and the main force of Sato Masaki of Bronze Buddha Kanzhuang. The main force of the 42nd Regiment, as well as the Tangtou Town headquarters where Jun Sakamoto is located.
As for Katano Sadaimi's support force, it will naturally be included in the battlefield in the Zhuge City area. After all, the main force of this reinforcement force is gradually moving closer to the Nagano Alliance.
An aura of despair permeated the heads of the Japanese troops in Tangtou Town. Jun Sakamoto had taken off his military cap and tied a white strip of cloth like a sun flag on his head - obviously, he was going to fight on the front line in person.
For Li Chunfei, it was a pity that the First Battalion failed to break through the position before the Second Battalion, which had fierce fire support.
Lu Shaojie's Second Battalion, supported by artillery battalions, small artillery batteries, and mortars, smashed through the eastern direction of the Japanese army, and the troops basically entered the town to engage in street fighting.
Seeing that the troops of the second battalion had already entered the city, Zhang Tianhai said to Wang Yongcheng who was beside him: "Captain Wang, you lead your cavalry battalion and make full use of your unit's mobility to go to the first and fourth battalions. Let's wait and see! Little Japan won't be able to survive for long, and they may choose to break out, so you must not let them run away."
"Yes! Group seats!" Wang Yong stood up and saluted.
After issuing this order, Zhang Tianhai said directly to Guo Qiliang: "Old Guo, you and your brothers from the machine gun company and artillery battalion should stay near here for now! I'll go into the city and have a look!"
After finishing speaking, Zhang Tianhai said directly to Xu Sangou without waiting for Guo Qiliang's answer: "Guard platoon, follow me!"
"Yes! Head of the regiment!" Xu Sangou had been waiting for this sentence for a long time. After hearing the order from the regiment leader, he immediately took out the Mauser pistol from his waist and took the guards from the squads with him. The brother followed Zhang Tianhai's steps and charged forward.
The guard platoon is composed of four squads. The four light machine guns are definitely not weak in terms of firepower, so this is where Zhang Tianhai's confidence lies.
In less than fifteen minutes from the launch of the attack, the officers and soldiers of the Zhiyi Regiment directly broke through the Japanese outer positions with their fierce fire support. This was something Zhang Tianhai never expected.
Since the victory of this battle is already certain, the battle must be resolved in the shortest possible time. Zhang Tianhai will never wait until the main force of the Japanese army returns to support before finishing the battle.
The snake has been hit seven inches, and the next step is to smash its head to pieces!
Looking at the back of Zhang Tianhai leading the charge, Guo Qiliang was quite speechless - how could Zhang Tianhai be so similar to Captain Hu of the Hu family in terms of leading the charge?
The street fighting in Tangtou Town has also reached a fever pitch. Apparently the Japanese army has discovered the weakness of its lack of firepower. After losing more than a hundred people in the outer positions, it withdrew its main force back to the town in order to obtain reinforcements. time!
Bullets flew across the narrow streets, mixed with fragments flying when grenades exploded. The Chinese army relied on the bunkers they had just taken to temporarily avoid the Japanese army's bullet rain. They were looking for time to launch a counterattack!
Seeing that the offensive on the main road had stalled, Major Lu Shaojie, commander of the second battalion, ran directly to the street bunker to supervise the battle.
"Second Company Commander, what are the casualties of your company now?!" Lu Shaojie, who was not tall, asked the Second Company Commander beside him in a roar. There was nothing he could do, the previous explosion was too loud.
As soon as Lu Shaojie finished speaking, there was another burst of grenade explosions.
"Boom!!!"
"Boom!!!"
"Boom!!!"
Obviously, the Japanese army was cornered. If the officers and soldiers of the Zhiyi Regiment were allowed to continue charging, they would hit the headquarters!
"Battal Commander! The second company is in good condition and can continue to fight!" The commander of the second company, who was not very tall, responded.
After hearing this, Lu Shaojie gritted his teeth and said, "Organize a death squad immediately! After the mortar bombardment, the machine gunners will cover you!"
"Yes! Battalion Commander!" The second company commander responded loudly, and quickly turned back to organize the death squads to charge.
"Where's the mortar? Where's the mortar?!" Lu Shaojie yelled, feeling as if he had returned to the battlefield in Shanghai.
Soon, three mortars were brought up from behind. What Lu Shaojie didn't expect was that the regiment leader Zhang Tianhai also followed.
"Master, why are you here?" Lu Shaojie asked nervously.
Zhang Tianhai took Xu Sangou and the officers and soldiers of the guard platoon and ran to Lu Shaojie and said: "Stop talking nonsense, I can't worry about you. After the mortar was fired, the light machine gun immediately suppressed the remaining 20 meters." , even a woman can throw a grenade over."
"Yes. Regiment leader. Now I have ordered the second company commander to organize a death squad and be ready to charge at any time!" Lu Shaojie nodded.
"It's too late." Zhang Tianhai shook his head and said to the other brothers: "Machine gunners, prepare! In addition to the machine gunners, some of the brothers who are following the charge will leave some grenades to kill the gang of turtles on the opposite side!"
"Yes!!" The officers and soldiers responded in unison, with great momentum!
In this battle, even the regiment commander personally participated, not to mention other leading soldiers. The morale of the frontline troops was greatly boosted.
Even if you die, you must kill a few of the little devils on the opposite side to avenge your country and your family!
"Tum!" "Tum!" "Tum!"
The impact of three mortars was heard, and the three mortar shells suddenly hit near the Japanese army's firepower point. The strong shock wave carried the fragments of the shells and flew to the surrounding Japanese troops, causing screams for a while.
Seeing that the shell should have hit the target, Zhang Tianhai directly ordered: "Blow the trumpet and charge! Charge!!"
When Zhang Tianhai's charge order was given, the machine gunners of the Zhiyi Regiment quickly set up their light machine guns and launched a fierce fire suppression on the Japanese troops on the opposite side!
"Tu tu tu tu..."
"Tu tu tu tu..."
"Tu tu tu tu..."
The muzzles of the three light machine guns were spitting flames, and bullets fired brightly at the Japanese defense bunkers. A burst of debris and dust spread everywhere, almost making the Japanese unable to raise their heads.
This is the most frustrating battle that the troops of the Japanese Fifth Division have fought since entering the North China battlefield!
"Da da da da da~ da da da da~"
As a melodious charge horn sounded, countless officers and soldiers of the Zhiyi Regiment immediately launched a charge under the leadership of the regiment commander, especially the officers and soldiers of the guard platoon of the Zhiyi Regiment, they were the fastest!
"呲~~"
"呲~~"
The ends of the grenades were already emitting pungent smoke, and they immediately threw the grenades in their hands across the Japanese defense line.
"Get down!!"
Zhang Tianhai shouted loudly, but his body fell forward. The other officers and soldiers also reacted so quickly.
"Boom!!!"
"Boom!!!"
"Boom!!!"
After a series of explosions, there were some screams at first, but then there was no sound at all. Most of the Japanese soldiers responsible for guarding this line died after this series of explosions.
What was fought in the hot weapons wartime era? It's all about firepower!
The Japanese army had good things like grenades, and there were quite a lot of them, but when it came to street fighting, their troops were too scattered and could not organize particularly effective resistance at all.
There is no way, this is how street fighting is fought, and the opponent has an absolute advantage in strength. If troops are organized to resist in one place, the other place will inevitably be broken through by the enemy, which will lead to worries about the future!
Therefore, the Japanese army could only trade space for time, using blockades to delay the attack of the national army, so as to wait for the arrival of reinforcements.
At this time, the 1st and 4th Battalions of the Zhiyi Regiment, under the command of battalion commanders Li Chunfei and Han Xingle, broke through the Japanese army's peripheral positions from the southwest and northwest respectively, and began to enter the street fighting stage.
So, in less than half an hour, the Japanese army suffered nearly two hundred casualties, and the troops of the First Regiment were constantly attacking the headquarters of the Sakamoto detachment.
At this time, the Japanese army in Tangtou Town already felt that the situation was over!
Look at Sato Masaki again.
Masaki Sato is a native of Hiroshima. As the captain of the 42nd Regiment of the Fifth Division, he can be regarded as a veteran of the Fifth Division.
As an excellent wing commander, Sato Masaki realized very clearly that from the time of the incident in Yutou Town, this battle was already over, and most of the main force of the Sakamoto detachment had been encircled by the Chinese army. .
Only by returning reinforcements to Tangtou Town and saving the detachment headquarters from the current crisis can the frontline troops avoid suffering such heavy casualties, and they can also defend the Tangtou area and wait for help!
I believe that at this moment, the division commander has already thought of a way to send the main force of the troops south for reinforcements.
Just as Sato Masaki was leading the troops towards Tangtou Town in a hurry, a Japanese cavalry caught up with Sato Masaki and reported: "Report to the captain! The enemy troops fighting with our army have already separated some troops to attack our army. The troops are in pursuit! Will our army intercept the enemy troops?"
…
PS: The first update is here!
Thank you to Qidian book friend Xu Chencang for requesting two monthly passes!
Thanks to Qidian Book Friend Kinoshita Egai and Farmer Digging for a monthly ticket each!
