After the two artillery leaders left, Liu Yu continued to use his binoculars to observe Xiyang City in the distance and the surrounding terrain.
Twenty minutes later, gunshots were heard from Lianhua Mountain to the north, followed closely by bursts of explosions.
Liu Yu quickly turned around and looked in the direction of Lotus Mountain.
Xu Liqing raised his telescope, glanced in the same direction, and said immediately: "It's starting over there!"
Liu Yu nodded and said to the messenger on the side: "Pass my order, everyone should pay attention to cover, the Japanese in the city will come out soon!"
"yes!"
. . . . . .
At the same time, inside Xiyang City.
At this time, He Jintang and Ikegami Miura were having afternoon tea.
The gramophone in the office was playing the traditional music of the island country, and the two of them were very comfortable sitting on the tatami.
Chishang poured a cup of tea for He Jintang and said with a smile: "He Sang, if this time we can promote the cooperation between the imperial army and Shiyousan, you will be indispensable!"
"Be loyal to His Majesty the Emperor!"
He Jintang solemnly swore an oath first, and then smiled and said in Japanese: "I am just a translator, running errands and delivering letters."
"Hey, He Sang, you are too humble. When you first came here, I was wondering how a top student who graduated from Tokyo Imperial University could be sent to a small place like mine. Sure enough, you are here to do big things!"
Chishang raised his cup: "Please!"
"please!"
Just as the two of them were toasting and drinking, there were sudden bursts of faint explosions in their ears.
At this time, another report came from the door.
"Come in!" Chishang shouted impatiently without putting down the tea cup in his hand.
Regarding those explosions, he thought it was that group of blind guerrillas coming to harass the stronghold outside the city.
It’s almost the Chinese New Year, and it’s really not easy to live in peace.
I saw a second lieutenant officer walking in quickly and reported: "Sir, the guard at the north gate reported that there was a firefight about 5 kilometers north of the city. It seems that someone is ambushing our convoy transporting supplies!"
"puff!"
The tea that He Jintang had just drank into his mouth spurted out, spraying all over Ikegami Miura's face across from him.
He didn't expect that those "bandits" would actually dare to attack the Japanese transport team.
Opposite me, Ikegami Miura wiped his face and looked at He Jintang with disgust: "He Sang, why is this?"
"Oh, hehehe." He Jintang smiled awkwardly, "I'm also worried about something happening to the supplies."
Ikegami Miura picked up the silk scarf on the side and wiped his face, and said: "The Imperial Army escorting the supplies has a squadron. Unless it is the main force of more than one regiment of the Eighth Route Army, there is no need to worry."
Then he turned to the second lieutenant who came in to report: "Order the troops to assemble!"
"Hi!"
After the second lieutenant left, Chi Shang also stood up and bowed slightly to He Jintang: "Excuse me, He Sang. I'll be right back!"
But He Jintang grabbed him: "Um, Mr. Chi Shang, can I go with you?"
Chi Shang looked at He Jintang's fat body and couldn't help but laugh in broken Chinese: "It's courageous, but let's forget it. You can't fight."
He Jintang looked down at his big belly and said dissatisfied: "I'm called thick. If you don't believe me, you're going to sumo with me? Let's see who is better!"
Chishang rolled his eyes, waved his hands and said perfunctorily: "Let's talk about it when I get back."
With that said, he walked out quickly.
He Jintang raised his hand and wanted to call him out, but in the end he didn't say anything.
The main reason is that he is afraid that the "bandits" outside will sell him after being caught by the old devil Chishang.
The Japanese army was very efficient. They were assembled in ten minutes. Chishang ordered two squads to stay behind, and then drove out of Xiyang City with the remaining people.
Two Bisan Dou vehicles led the way, followed by two trucks carrying ammunition boxes, heavy weapons such as heavy machine guns and mortars, and some soldiers. About 200 Japanese soldiers followed behind.
On Lotus Mountain, Liu Yu hid behind a bush and looked at the official road below with a telescope.
Seeing that the Japs were getting closer and closer, Liu Yu said to the messenger on the side: "Go and tell the people below who are pulling the strings not to blow up the truck, but to blow up the Japs behind them."
The landmines buried this time were mainly self-made anti-infantry mines led by Liu Yu. There was little point in blowing up the truck. With the vehicle chassis as a barrier, even if the truck was blown over and the weapons and ammunition on it were blown up, there would be no loss.
Therefore, it is better to blow people up.
"yes!"
The orderly soldier hunched over and ran down.
After about 10 minutes, the Japanese troops began to enter the ambush circle. On the edge of the official road, the Eighth Route Army soldiers who were in charge of laying mines in the grass also pulled up the thin rope and twisted it several times in their hands. , until strained.
When all the Japanese troops entered the minefield, the soldiers suddenly pulled the rope.
"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom! Boom! Boom..."
A dozen explosions in a row!
Unlike ordinary guerrillas who use black powder to make landmines, Liu Yu has no shortage of high explosives in his hands. Although the shell of the mine is still ceramic, it is filled with various iron nails, stones, and broken porcelain pieces, which can be very lethal. Still sitting.
The Japanese team was blown away on the spot, and before they could react, another rain of steel blew down from the hillside on the left.
The sound of the explosion was an order. Before the smoke from the mines dissipated, the light and heavy machine guns of the Eighth Route Army on the mountain opened fire at the same time.
"hidden!"
Miura Ikegami, who was sitting in the truck in front, ran back to the team with bow-legged steps, holding a southern pistol. There were many people following behind him, carrying heavy weapons unloaded from the truck.
There is nothing to say about the quality of the Japanese veterans. In fact, without Ikegami Miura's orders, those who could still move had already gone to the official road to hide, and many of them were shooting at the mountain with rifles.
Xiyang County is full of mountains, so the official roads are basically built along the mountains. In order to slow down the road slope, many road sections have to be dug downwards, so there are almost vertical cliffs on the roadside.
Ikegami Miura ignored the bullets whizzing by above his head and took a look at the situation on the mountain.
At this sight, my heart suddenly became cold.
I saw at least thirty tongues of fire on the mountain, and those were all automatic firepower! He was a little confused. The firepower on the mountain was too fierce, at least ten times stronger than the firepower of his squadron!
He retracted his head and looked left and right. The mine explosion just now knocked down more than 40 imperial troops. Coupled with the first round of light and heavy machine gun fire, there were already more than 70 imperial troops lying on the road. Run away. Many of those who took shelter by the roadside were injured.
Don't even think about rushing up the mountain. Judging from the firepower of the Eighth Route Army on the mountain, based on past experience, it is probably not as strong as a brigade.
Just as he was thinking about it, a mortar shell landed at the foot of the cliff more than ten meters away, knocking over three imperial soldiers on the spot.
The mortars from the Eighth Route Army are getting closer and closer. We can no longer wait to die here.
"Oda! Oda!!!"
Not far away, a Japanese military officer crouched and ran to Miura: "Sir!"
"Mortars and grenades set up!"
"Hi!"
Ikegami Miura ordered again: "Light and heavy machine gun cover!"
With an order, the six crooked guns and two Type 92s attached to Chishang's unit were set up on the slope and fired back at the position on the mountain where the muzzle flash was coming.
For a time, the sound of the light and heavy machine guns on the Eighth Route Army's side on the mountain was much weaker. This also allowed the Japanese army's two mortars and four grenade launchers to successfully set up and blast towards the Eighth Route Army's firepower point on the mountain.
The Eighth Route Army's light and heavy machine guns had to be relocated.
Given this opportunity, Ikegami Miura decisively ordered a retreat.
A group of Japanese soldiers crouched along the cliff beside the road and quickly retreated towards Xiyangcheng.
On the mountain, Liu Yu had expected this.
Being condescending, he also has the advantage in firepower and military strength. If the Japanese commander still dares to fight at the foot of the mountain, then he will be one of those melon skins in the anti-Japanese drama.
"Blow the charge!"
The loud sound of trumpets resounded through the mountains and fields, and hundreds of Eighth Route Army soldiers picked up their rifles with bayonets and rushed down the mountain!
Seeing this, Miura Ikegami wanted to organize a team to fight back, but before he could give the order, another wave of mortar shells fell. This time, he was not as lucky as before, and a shrapnel flew past his cheek and was directly sliced off. Half of his ears were broken.
The entire Japanese army was in a state of disarray. Fortunately, they were spread out and retreated along the cliffs on the roadside, so there were not many casualties.
"Retreat! Hayaku!!!" Ikegami Miura howled at the top of his lungs, running with a pair of bandy legs.
You must keep a distance from the Eighth Route Army, otherwise you will be surrounded by them when they rush down the mountain, and you will be dead.
As long as they got close to the city wall, the Eighth Route Army would not dare to pursue them, otherwise they would be severely damaged by their own city defense.
After running for a certain distance, the Japanese team finally arrived at a field in the north of Xiyang City.
As Miura Ikegami ran, he glanced back and found that the Eighth Route Army was still chasing him, and was only about 300 meters away from him.
Combined with the continuous falling of artillery shells in the team, some of the artillery shells even landed dozens of meters in front of the Eighth Route Army. If the gunners made the slightest mistake, they would hit their own people.
Ikegami Miura was also a figure, and he immediately guessed the thoughts of the Eighth Route Army commander.
"Are you planning to conquer Xiyang County in one go?"
Thinking of this, Ikegami Miura suddenly became excited. While cursing Bage Yalu in his heart, he was also trying to think of what to do.
We can't run any more. If we run any longer, the casualties will become greater and greater, and the Eighth Route Army will use the cover of shelling to rush all the way into the city!
Looking at a ditch appearing in front of him, Ikegami Miura gritted his teeth and made a decision.
We cannot let the Eighth Route Army follow their lead into the city, we must block their offensive rhythm!
When he ran to the ditch, Miura Ikegami jumped in immediately.
Other Japanese soldiers followed his footsteps and jumped into the ditch.
Immediately afterwards, the remaining four light machine guns and two grenade launchers were set up. The other heavy machine guns, mortars, etc. were lost in the retreat just now. The Japanese carrying these things ran slowly, They were either blown up by Eighth Route Army mortars or shot dead by pursuing soldiers.
When everyone retreated into the ditch, Ikegami Miura roared: "Counterattack!"
"Da da da......"
"Tum!" "Tum!"
The Eighth Route Army soldiers on Liu Yu's side were also veterans. When they saw the Japanese holding down their positions, they immediately stopped running and lay down directly on the ground.
This wave did not cause any casualties.
The two sides began to shoot at each other across a rice field. Although there was a field barrier to block the situation, soldiers were still shot and killed from time to time.
There is a small earth bag behind the Eighth Route Army. It is said to be an earth bag, or it may be someone's grave.
Liu Yu took Xu Liqing and others here to observe the battle situation.
The distance of three hundred meters was too awkward. The little Japs over there were squatting in the ditch with their heads exposed. The Eighth Route Army's marksmanship was not as good as the Japs. Only Ma Chao and a few veterans were sure to hit him. Not to mention the light and heavy machine guns, both shuttles may not be able to kill one, and the overall marksmanship of the veterans of the Little Devils is much better than that of the Eighth Route Army. Even at this time, the heavy machine guns at the top of Xiyang City began to fire, so that the Eighth Route Army suffered a bit.
But if you stand up and charge, you will probably suffer a lot of casualties when you get in front of the Japanese.
Putting down the telescope, Liu Yu said to Xu Liqing: "The heavy machine guns at the top of the Japanese city have also opened fire. Maybe people from other walls will come to support you. You go up and take the third company to withdraw. Go to the east of the city and shoot from there." Get in!"
"Okay!" Xu Liqing said without saying anything, and ran forward with his back bent.
Liu Yu glanced at the top of the city again and said to the messenger on the side: "Go tell Wang Erdou to move the mortar position forward and focus on bombing the top of the city. Fight with all your might. Even if the chamber is blown up, their heavy machine guns cannot be fired." Open fire without restraint!"
"yes!"
Liu Yu took out the shell gun from his waist, crouched down and ran quickly to where Huang Zhentang was in front.
Seeing Liu Yu, Huang Zhengtang said at the top of his lungs: "Commander, fighting like this is a bit of a disadvantage. How about I lead my men and charge forward! There are less than 80 little Japs left in total. Even if we fight with bayonets, we still have an advantage!" "
"Don't worry, let's drag the Japanese here and let Lao Xu fight in from the east! I will lead the first company to move forward slowly, and you will lead the second company back to the flank. When I reach a distance of a hundred meters, we will Charge together and kill these devils in one go!"
"good!"
Huang Zhentang left with the Second Company ducking down, and Liu Yu also crawled forward with the First Company. Several machine guns on the ridge next to him kept firing bursts to cover the First Company's detour.
