The fourth independent mixed brigade, which had already been on standby in Dongdu Village, quickly began to cross the river after receiving the order.

As Nakagawa Junxiong commanded the troops to cross the river, the 37th Division on the east side of Huaiqing City quickly began to make preparations.

225th Regiment, 226th Regiment, Search Regiment, 1st Independence Mountain Artillery Regiment, 1st Independence Mortar Battalion.

The Fourth and Fifth Independent Heavy Machine Gun Battalions and the Cavalry Artillery Regiment wanted to forcefully cross the Qin River.

Up to now, Chu Yunfei's Seventh Guerrilla Corps and the independent regiment of Li Yunlong's Guerrilla Detachment have begun fighting in Motou Town and other areas.

The Japanese army formed an independent third brigade, and troops from the 35th Division were conducting diversionary attacks against them.

The two sides fought inextricably, and the New Third Regiment under the guerrilla detachment also began to join the battle.

The little devil quickly judged that at this time, Li Yunlong and Chu Yunfei's troops already had a large number of troops fighting in the northeast and north of Huaiqing City.

At this time, they arranged for the independent mixed fourth brigade on standby in Dongdu Village to cross the river, which was obviously for a purpose.

After the independent mixed fourth brigade crosses the river, they will quickly advance towards Huangzhuang Town in the area south of Huaiqing City.

In this way, the guerrilla detachment will definitely dispatch troops to intercept them and ensure the safety of the south side of Huaiqing City.

However, with such a deployment, the defenders' defense forces will be scattered on the north and south sides, and the defense in the middle will naturally be weak.

The 37th Division will take the opportunity to forcefully cross the Qin River and quickly advance to Huaiqing City, thereby capturing Huaiqing City in the shortest possible time.

As long as they can quickly capture Huaiqing City, the connection between the north and south of the guerrilla detachment and the Seventh Guerrilla Corps will be completely severed.

At that time, the little devils will naturally be able to gather the main force, defeat them one by one, and win the final victory.

Lieutenant General Nagano Yuichiro of the 37th Division ordered the troops to be prepared. He would launch an aggressive attack across the river at any time.

The fourth independent mixed brigade also speeded up to cross the river, and they did not encounter any obstruction for the time being.

Time passed bit by bit, and it was around nine o'clock in the evening, northeast of Huaiqing City.

At this time, the independent regiment under the command of Xing Zhiguo and Zhang Dabiao had already severely damaged the 10th Infantry Brigade of the Little Japanese Independent Infantry.

However, when it looked like they were about to break through the position from a distance, troops from the 35th Division hurried over to support them.

More than 3,000 infantry engineers, under the cover of 36 field artillery pieces, quickly moved into position to comprehensively block the advance of the independent regiment.

The Independent Regiment began to engage in melee with the 35th Division and other troops, and the two sides fought inextricably.

By ten o'clock, the Japanese independent fourth brigade had all crossed the Qin River.

Major General Sumio Nakagawa, commander of the brigade, sent reconnaissance troops to search around, but still no troops were found.

He quickly contacted Yuichiro Nagano and reported immediately.

After successive battles, the total strength of the independent mixed fourth brigade barely reached 5,000.

According to the previous orders of Harada Kumakichi and Nagano Yuichiro, after crossing the river, they needed to quickly advance towards Huangzhuang Town.

But now they crossed the Qin River easily without encountering any obstruction.

Nakagawa Junxiong did not dare to push forward. He was worried that the guerrilla detachment would set a trap for him in Huangzhuang Town.

If they go alone, they will naturally not be able to get support quickly if they are attacked.

After all, Nakagawa Sumio failed to achieve the expected results in several battles.

Instead, the entire chariot fleet was wiped out under his command.

The mortar unit also lost twelve mortars.

Under such circumstances, Nakagawa Sumio was originally guilty.

Once the fourth independent mixed brigade suffers heavy casualties again, he will definitely not be able to protect himself.

So now he is very cautious and dare not move forward.

After Nagano Yuichiro received the telegram, he looked at the time and saw that it was already ten o'clock in the evening.

After hesitating for a moment, he quickly generated electricity and made detailed arrangements.

He asked the Fourth Independent Mixed Brigade to give up heading to Huangzhuang Town, and instead conduct a side attack east of Huaiqing City and on the west bank of the Qin River to cover the crossing.

The troops of the 37th Division will quickly cross the river under the cover of the independent mixed fourth brigade, thereby taking the lead in annihilating the defenders on the west bank.

These two forces work together, and even if they encounter some blows, they can support each other.

After Nakagawa Junxiong received the order, he quickly directed the troops to advance, and they began to attack the new regiment's position from the south.

The artillery of the 37th Division also quickly fired artillery shells to suppress the new group of firepower.

The two infantry regiments quickly crossed the river under cover from all sides.

The new group was attacked from both sides, and they only launched a small-scale counterattack.

As the troops of the 37th Division quickly crossed the river and quickly established their forward positions, the new regiment still did not launch a large-scale counterattack.

At around 10:30, as the main force of the 37th Division crossed the Qin River, the new regiment abandoned its position and began to retreat back to Huaiqing City.

Nagano Yuichiro did not order the troops to pursue, but quickly arranged for the follow-up troops to cross the river.

At about 10:50, all units of the 37th Infantry Division quickly crossed the Qin River.

At this time, the 37th Division rushed directly towards Huaiqing City with murderous intent.

The Independent Mixed Fourth Brigade now has the 37th Division to support the operation, and they can confidently advance towards Huangzhuang Town, south of Huaiqing City.

These two groups of little devils planned to quickly encircle Huaiqing City and annihilate the defenders inside the city.

But they ignored one thing, that is, the artillery that had previously been strong in cooperating with the defense seemed to have misfired at this time.

The Japanese troops who had crossed the Qin River were now rushing towards Huaiqing City and did not notice this.

It was at this time that the northeast and north sides of Huaiqing City were already in chaos.

To the north of Huaiqing City, in Xizhuang Town, there is the Seventh Independent Infantry Brigade under the independent mixed third brigade of the Little Devils.

They strengthened four 77MM field guns and tenaciously blocked the temporary seventh regiment supported from Shennong Mountain.

To the northeast of Huaiqing City, in Motou Town, there is the main force of the independent third brigade.

The 8th and 9th Independent Infantry Brigades, equipped with twelve mountain guns and four howitzers, attacked the 358th Regiment stationed here with all their strength.

In Qinghua Town, northeast of Motou Town, the temporary ninth regiment has retreated here.

However, the 219th Regiment under the 35th Division, equipped with twelve 38-type field guns, pursued them closely.

They attacked one after another in an attempt to quickly annihilate the temporary Ninth Regiment. Fortunately, with the support of Zhang Mingxin's Third Regiment, the temporary Ninth Regiment was not quickly wiped out.

Of course, in the Guanmen area northeast of Huaiqing City, there is the 10th Infantry Brigade of the Little Japanese Independent Infantry.

So far, they have received the main support from the 221st Regiment of the 35th Division, the Engineer Regiment, and the Field Artillery Regiment.

There are more than 7,000 little devils here, trying their best to defend against the attack of the independent group.

Eleven o'clock in the evening, Xizhuang Town, north of Huaiqing City.

In the headquarters of the 7th Independent Infantry Brigade, a captain quickly came to Captain Shao Zuo.

"Your Excellency, Captain, the enemy troops attacked one after another, but they were all repelled by us. They have been unable to break through our position."

"Now the enemy has completely given up the attack. They are gathering troops and seem to be preparing to choose a detour to quickly support the operation."

"It is currently dark all around, and the artillery troops cannot accurately bombard them to intercept their roundabout movements."

"Can we launch an attack quickly and carry out combat strikes against them before they have completed their assembly?"

After the captain saluted, he immediately reported.

The temporary seventh regiment was previously stationed in Shennong Mountain. After Chu Yunfei commanded the 358th regiment, it was attacked.

After receiving the order, they quickly took action and rushed to the battlefield to provide support.

However, in Xizhuang Town, the temporary seventh regiment encountered a tenacious resistance from the Japs.

The little Japanese, reinforced with four field guns, repelled the attacks of the temporary seventh regiment again and again, but never allowed them to advance.

Speaking of which, the temporary seventh regiment was not at full strength at this time. One of their battalions was transferred to the Sun Ming Guard Battalion.

At this time, Sun Ming's guard battalion was fighting with Lu Ming, so the temporary seventh regiment lacked an infantry battalion.

It is precisely because of this that they did not break through Xizhuang Town. Of course, the four 77MM field guns of the Little Japanese are indeed powerful.

This field gun with a range of over 10,000 meters is quite powerful and can effectively support infantry operations.

Captain Shao Zuo glanced at the map with a thoughtful expression on his face.

Immediately afterwards, he decisively issued the order.

"The First Squadron and the Field Artillery Squadron stayed behind in Xizhuang Town, and other troops quickly attacked."

"We must completely defeat them before they can gather and make them lose their combat effectiveness."

"Now that the enemy's attacks have been frustrated one after another, they have suffered losses, and their morale is low. If we attack, we can easily defeat them."

Captain Shao Zuo did not hesitate and decisively issued the order to attack.

About five hundred little Japanese infantrymen, equipped with ten heavy machine guns, two mortars, and an infantry cannon, quickly attacked.

More than a hundred Japs and four field artillery pieces stayed behind in Xizhuang Town.
To be continued...