After beating away the 77th Wing, Li Lin also led his men back.
At the same time, she gave up the defense line at Gaoxianzhen and prepared to shrink her troops and defend Houma before reinforcements arrived.
Previously, we relied on unequal intelligence to sap the Japs. Next, if we disperse our troops to garrison on the periphery, it will be easy for the Japs to defeat them one by one.
If the opponent is just a regiment, there is nothing to say about how to fight, but the special operations team has sent intelligence that the Japanese 36th Division is also heading towards Houma.
Although the 36th Division was crippled by Liu Shuai half a year ago, and its attack on Han Xinling a few months ago was blocked by General Chen for two days, and it has not been replenished until now, it has suffered more than 1,000 casualties today, so its total strength has been There is only a little over 10,000 left.
But this is more than 10,000 people after all.
There are two armies in the world, both main and auxiliary arms can fight. These two armies are the Japanese army and the Chinese army. In other words, the actual number of combat troops in these two armies is the same as the number of people on the books. The worst thing is that the main force has stronger combat effectiveness than the auxiliary arms.
With 2,600 troops facing nearly 14,000 Japs, and the surrounding terrain is flat except for the mountains southeast of Houma, there is no danger to fall back on. Wouldn't it be stupid to divide the troops on the periphery?
After learning that Li Lin had withdrawn to Houma, the 77th Wing also followed him again, but did not move forward after arriving at Gaoxian Town.
They traveled all afternoon and started fighting right away when they arrived. They hadn't eaten supper yet, and all of them were so hungry that their stomachs were growling.
In addition, they had been beaten badly by the airborne regiment just now, losing more than 300 people in one fell swoop. Counting the troops lost in the previous attack on Gaoxian Town, half of the brigade was gone. They needed a little rest to restore their morale.
. . . . . .
The time came to 9pm while waiting.
The 36th Division worked non-stop, and its leading 223rd Regiment and Artillery Regiment finally arrived at Gaoxian Town.
"Fujimuro-kun! Why do you stop here?"
As soon as they met, Nagamai Denou, who was also in a hurry, launched a soul torture on Fujimuro Ryosuke.
Fujimuro Ryosuke's temples were tingling. He had just explained the situation in the battle report, but this old guy Chang Wu still asked this.
"Your Majesty General, it's not that our troops are afraid of the enemy and avoid fighting, but the Eighth Route Army troops that parachuted into Houma are really powerful. Each of them holds a small machine gun in their hands. We simply..."
"Excuses! They're all excuses!"
Nagamai Denou rudely interrupted Fujimuro Ryosuke's explanation and said: "In the past two years, you have been so comfortable in Yuncheng that you have forgotten how to fight!"
"Hi!" Fujimuro Ryosuke paused and cursed "Baga" in his heart.
Then I heard him say respectfully: "Senior, please set an example for me!"
"Hmm!" Nagabu looked at Ryosuke Fujimuro with his nostrils, snorted, then turned to the captain of the 223rd Regiment and ordered: "Immediately prepare for artillery fire on Houma, and at the same time organize an officer death squad to follow the artillery fire. Extend the charge, and in an hour, I want to see you rush into Houma City!"
"Hi!"
20 minutes later, the 36th Division Artillery Regiment was ready.
At the same time, a death squad consisting of 150 officers above the rank of sergeant, led by one lieutenant colonel and three major sergeants, had arrived 1 kilometer north of Houma City.
These little devils all took off their coats and wore only a shirt with a scarf on their heads. The officer held a command knife and a southern pistol in his hand, and the noncommissioned officer held a 38-year-old rifle with a bayonet and a scarf on his head. build.
He looked like he was about to die...
While talking, the artillery wing of the 36th Division opened fire. 12 105mm howitzers, 24 75mm field guns, a total of 36 cannons bombarded the small town of Houma.
Ten minutes later, six Type 92 infantry guns, six 75mm mountain guns, and mortars belonging to the 223rd Regiment that followed also joined the bombardment.
The bombardment continued and began to extend into the city 20 minutes later, and the Japanese death squad also followed the bombing point and charged towards the north gate.
However, to their surprise, when they were only 100 meters away from the city gate, there was still no movement at the top of the city.
They didn't think that the Eighth Route Army in the city had been wiped out by the artillery fire just now. Not to mention the small artillery behind them, even if the heavy artillery brigade came, they might not be able to wipe out the troops stationed in a city with 30 minutes of artillery fire.
When something goes wrong, there must be a monster!
But we are already here. If we don’t rush in, why don’t we turn around and go back?
Just like that, the Japanese death squads roared into Houma City.
However, after rushing all the way into the city, there was still no movement on the streets. There was only the sound of shell explosions that continued to extend towards the center of the city.
The scene was very strange. The group of devils slowed down while running.
They are still thinking, is the artillery wing's bombardment so powerful? Why did the main street in the city turn into ruins?
And in a ruins about 30 meters away to their left, two pairs of eyes were staring at them.
I heard one of them whisper: "Company Commander, the Japanese are almost over. Do you want to fight?"
Another person said: "What the hell, are these hundreds of Japanese devils enough for us to show off? Let them pass, and let the 3rd company inside deal with this group of people!"
After waiting for the Japanese death squads to pass, another 10 minutes later, a large group of Japanese soldiers walked down the street towards the city. It looked like there were at least two squadrons in number.
This group of people was obviously not as high-spirited as the death squad just now. They hunkered down, slowly moved towards the city in a triangular formation, and gradually dispersed.
One of the Japs even walked to the ruins where the two soldiers who had just spoken were standing, without even noticing that there was a gap of more than ten centimeters under his feet, in which two pairs of eyes were staring at him.
Fortunately, these two warriors were not owls. Their eyes would not glow at night, otherwise they might be discovered.
About 5 minutes later, when the two squadrons all walked into the street, and when the last Japanese passed through the ruins where the two soldiers were, suddenly a gunshot was heard in the distance, and then a flare was launched into the air. .
The Japs subconsciously froze when they saw the flares. Then, in front of the street, in the ruins on both sides of the street, pieces of tiles bounced up, and then the gun barrels were exposed. These gun barrels sprayed more than a hundred There were tongues of fire, and there were more than a dozen tongues of fire making a sound like a tearing machine!
The crossfire in the form of an inverted triangle completely encompassed the Japs from the two squadrons. The Japs in the outer circle were the closest, only 2 meters away from the muzzles of the airborne regiment soldiers!
Have you ever seen wheat being cut?
Although the Japanese advanced in a triangular formation, the Eighth Route Army opened fire. They all saw the crossfire coming from three directions, but they could not react at all.
The Japs in the outer circle fell before they even had time to fire their guns, while the Japs in the inner circle most fired in the direction of the flames and fell down before even pulling the bolt.
More Japanese soldiers wanted to hide, but it was useless to hide anywhere. The airborne regiment's firepower had no blind spots at all.
Five minutes, just five minutes, the gunfire stopped.
"The 3rd platoon will leave the mines behind, everyone else must withdraw!"
Seeing that the ambush was effective, the airborne regiment commander was also very happy, but he also knew that the ambush position was useless, so he quickly ordered a platoon of soldiers to lay mines, and then moved the position with the others.
At the command, about 200 Eighth Route Army soldiers emerged from the rubble on both sides of the street and in front of them. More than 50 of them took off their tactical backpacks and each took out a landmine from their backpacks.
Some people were buried in the rubble, some were buried on the street, and a few soldiers took out grenades and strings and laid booby traps under the corpses of the Japanese on the street.
They are the 7th Company of the Airborne Regiment!
After the 7th company left, another 10 minutes passed, and another small group of Japanese soldiers walked in from the city gate.
This team is here to investigate.
Walking onto the street, the first few Japs with flashlights saw the tragedy on the street. One of them hurriedly turned around and ran out of the city to report.
When Changwu Denan heard the news, he naturally cursed.
The Japanese have a famous saying: The Eighth Route Army is cunning and cunning!
But before he could finish cursing, another rumbling explosion sounded in the city.
Then another soldier came to report that the search team that had just entered the city had encountered a landmine. The Eighth Route Army had laid mines on the main streets of the city and under the remains of the imperial army!
Then, the furious Changwu Dennan ordered another bombardment of Houma City.
. . . . . .
Move your eyes north and look outside Linfen City.
At this time, the new first division under Liu Yu had arrived in Linfen.
The minefield arranged by Ushijima blocked the armored brigade for more than 2 hours, but that was all.
After clearing the mines, the armored brigade continued its rampage.
After two hours of waiting, the main force of the 122nd Division and the new First Division had also marched to Mingjiang Town.
By 9 o'clock, the armored brigade had broken through the Japanese defense line in the north of Linfen and arrived in the eastern suburbs of Linfen. Behind it, the 122nd Division surrounded Hongdong County, where the 80th Regiment of the 20th Division was stationed.
The New 1st Division, led by Wang Zhitao, continued to follow the armored brigade all the way south, and finally came to Linfen.
They stopped when they arrived here, because according to the special operations brigade report, the headquarters of the 20th Division was in Linfen City!
What else are you talking about? Just beat him up and it will be over!
As a result, the New First Division launched a fierce attack on the east defense line of Linfen City.
Forget about the armored brigade, each wing of the 20th Division is equipped with more than 6 combat anti-aircraft guns. Although everyone can't see clearly during night operations, the tanks have to turn on the lights. This makes it more obvious that the enemy's combat anti-aircraft guns Just hit it according to the light.
It's not like the tanks turned off the lights and rushed forward. Do you know what the Japanese defense line is like in front? What if there are anti-tank trenches?
How expensive are tanks? Tank soldiers are even more valuable! The 20th Division is already a turtle in the urn, and there is no need for the armored brigade to make unnecessary sacrifices.
I won’t say what Liu Yu thinks, but that’s what Lao Wang thinks.
As a result, Lao Wang adopted the Japanese tactics. He first asked the division artillery regiment and the artillery battalions of each regiment to launch a plow-like artillery bombardment on the defense line of the Japanese 78th Regiment. The artillery fire lasted for a full hour...
However, what Wang Zhitao did not expect was that after such shelling, they still encountered stubborn resistance from the Japanese.
It can only be said that it is the most intact permanent division of the Japanese army. It is really not surprising. Jiang Fengchun commanded the 732 regiment to attack the Japanese 78th regiment position, but was repelled twice in a row!
The 28th Regiment of the Japanese Field Artillery also ran into the city. They used the city wall as a back slope, hid behind it and fired artillery, bombarding the charging route of the 732nd Regiment. When the New 1st Division's howitzers fired back, they basically hit the city wall. Or cross the city wall and break into the city.
After the artillerymen of the New First Division discovered this situation, it was hard to fire any more artillery. It was okay to break into the city and hit the Japs gathering place, but what about hitting the homes of ordinary people?
Under such circumstances, it is doubtful that the 732nd Regiment's attack would go smoothly.
As a result, they launched a crazy revenge against the 78th Wing's position...
. . . . . .
Look inside the city again.
The former Linfen County Government Building is now the headquarters of the 20th Division.
hall.
Ushijima Minoru was sitting on the chair under the map, leaning on his command knife and lowering his head, wondering what he was thinking.
On the contrary, Major General Uchida Ginnosuke, chief of staff of the 20th Division, was as busy as a top, constantly listening to reports and issuing orders.
"Report! The defense line east of the city is in emergency. The 78th Wing has lost more than half. Wing Commander Kutani Chuichi is requesting tactical guidance from the division headquarters!"
"Order Kutani Chuichi to hold the line of defense and not take even one step back!"
At this time, Ushijima Minoru suddenly raised his head and said with bright eyes: "No, change the order! Order the 78th Regiment and the 79th Regiment to return to the city defense! Order the cavalry regiment to go out of the city, cruise to attack the enemy, and attack the Eighth Route Army Logistics supply lines, contain the Eighth Route Army armored forces!"
Uchida Ginnosuke was puzzled and his eyes widened: "Sir? If we abandon the perimeter and retreat to the city defense, we won't be able to hold on for long until the Eighth Route Army's heavy artillery is in place! Then we will have to fight in the streets! So far, outside the city, The Eighth Route Army's 105 artillery has fired nearly 50 rounds of artillery shells. I think they don't carry many artillery shells anymore. As long as the 78th Wing can hold on, it will definitely be able to defend until dawn! By then, our aviation forces in Datong and Baoding will They can provide us with air support..."
"I know, Uchida-kun!" Ushijima Minoru interrupted Uchida Ginnosuke's words and said in a deep voice, "If we fight like this, we will inevitably be destroyed in the end, unless the two directions of Domen Pass and Shiling Pass can Breakthrough in a short time!”
Saying that, Ushijima Minoru laughed sinisterly: "I have a better way, which can not only reduce our casualties, but also greatly delay Liu Yu's attack time!"
Uchida Ginnosuke was stunned for a moment, and then asked suspiciously: "What can I do?"
Ushijima Minoru: "Search all the Chinese people in the city, tie them into a bunch, and push them up the city wall! Isn't Liu Yu a fierce cannon? Let's see if he dares to fire on his compatriots!"
