The Japanese 14th Army was mainly organized with the 28th Division, the 29th Division, and the Third Tank Division, and these three divisions were transferred from outside the Pass.

At first, their main combat goal was to completely annihilate Li Yunlong's troops, but after Li Yunlong's troops crossed the Yellow River, their ambitions became even greater.

Now the Japanese army is trying to pass through the western Henan region, directly enter Shaanxi Province, and then threaten the southwest rear area, thus changing the entire battlefield situation.

However, after successive battles, they realized that if they could not deal with Li Yunlong's troops, the consequences would be disastrous.

The existence of Li Yunlong's troops can play a decisive role in combat, and they can even lead all nearby troops to actively fight.

Now Li Yunlong's security regiment is attacking Mincheng, and Chu Yunfei's assault division is attacking the mall.

This is a potential danger. In the view of military commander Sanji Oshiroto, solving Li Yunlong's troops is the top priority now!

If they cannot be dealt with, even if Lan Feng is captured, and the civilian city or shopping mall is lost, their battle plan will completely fail.

After all, only by ensuring a line between the shopping mall, civilian city, and Lanzhou can we drive the defense departments to the area west of the battlefield.

Only then could the Japanese army use these towns as the core and gradually move toward the west to suppress the defense ministries.

Finally, in the western Henan region, they were forced to engage in a decisive battle, thereby completely annihilating them.

But whether Mincheng can be defended now is unknown.

Once the civilian city is lost, their oppressive tactics will naturally be ineffective.

And in the opinion of Army Commander Saburo Ojoto, the mall may be able to be defended.

But faced with a direct attack by Li Yunlong's troops, Mincheng may not be able to defend it.

It is almost impossible for a severely damaged Fourth Tank Brigade to resist Li Yunlong's troops and defend the civilian cities that were destroyed one after another.

If Mincheng can still be defended in this situation, then there is no need for Li Yunlong's troops to be worthy of such a large-scale war by the Japanese army.

It is precisely because Li Yunlong's troops are very powerful that the Japs gathered so many troops to deal with them.

"It is true that Mincheng cannot be defended, but if we now gather troops to encircle and annihilate Li Yunlong's troops, will it cause a chain reaction?"

"According to the information currently available, there are four armies in the Lanfeng area. Once they launch a full-scale counterattack, how will we respond?"

"They even mobilized the city's defense forces to take the initiative to attack, gradually forming a strength advantage. We will be very passive in combat!"

"Your Excellency, Commander, we need to make this choice carefully. After all, Li Yunlong's troops are very difficult to deal with, and the consequences of making a mistake will be disastrous."

Miyazaki looked at the map on Monday, with a thoughtful expression on his face, and he cautiously persuaded.

With Miyazaki's ability on Monday, he naturally knew that each unit could kill a single enemy and use all their strength to surround and annihilate Li Yunlong's troops.

But he also knew that it was difficult to kill him with this carbine, after all, there were four troops in the Lanfeng area.

The most important point is that Li Yunlong's troops are not soft persimmons.

The previous encirclement and annihilation operations against them allowed them to escape time and time again.

And this force gradually grew up in combat and became stronger and stronger.

If things go wrong, there may be casualties in various ministries.

The remnants of the 29th Division responsible for the defense of the mall at this time are obviously a good illustration.

The 29th Division only had some loopholes and was directly hit, and suffered heavy casualties.

Even if the Third Tank Division and other troops had not provided timely support, they might have been completely annihilated.

"Miyazaki-kun, we don't have much time now. Once they capture Mincheng, the consequences will be disastrous."

"And once the fourth tank brigade is annihilated, we will not be able to bear a series of consequences."

"Now we should decisively seize the opportunity and immediately engage in a decisive battle with Li Yunlong's troops to completely annihilate them!"

Ojodo Sanji thought for a while, and said with a firm expression on his face.

At this time, he was still more inclined to arrange for the main force of the army to return to Mincheng and directly engage in a decisive battle with Li Yunlong's security group.

Miyazaki stood in front of the map in deep thought on Monday and did not speak for a long time.

There was silence inside the military headquarters, as if even the sound of breathing could be heard clearly.

Everyone had anxious expressions on their faces. It was obvious that the counterattack from the Security Corps and the Assault Division was beyond their expectations.

At this time, fierce fighting continued in the three towns of Shangcheng, Mincheng, and Lanfeng.

The assault division was violently attacking the mall where the remnants of the 29th Division were defending.

The General Security Regiment was attacking the civilian city held by the Fourth Tank Brigade.

As for Lanfeng, it’s the showdown between the Japanese 14th Army and the First War Zone!

The 28th Division, 110th Division, and the 3rd Tank Division conducted a two-sided attack, while the 40th Army, 55th Army, 76th Army, and 85th Army conducted internal and external defenses.

The two sides launched a fierce battle, and the defenders had suffered heavy casualties so far.

At 12 o'clock at noon, the 40th Army and the 55th Army, which were holding defensive positions south of Lanfeng, lost their core positions one after another.

The 28th Division advanced all the way. They completed the flank penetration. Lieutenant General Nobuyuki Shiabuchi, the commander of the division, changed his usual cautious approach.

He put all the troops of the division on the battlefield, and even the heavy troops were dispatched by him.

The three regiments under the 28th Division are also drawn from the permanent division.

When they came to the battlefield, their overall performance far exceeded that of the 29th Division.

This division achieved the most results, but its own casualties were not very large.

Jieyuan Xuanyi also gained experience through a series of commands.

Speaking of which, the Japanese army has very rigid rules. Whether you are entering the ranks of generals or serving as division commanders, there are strict requirements.

It can be said that those who can sit in the position of lieutenant general division commander may not all be the pride of heaven, but they will definitely not be idlers.

The two infantry regiments on the front of the 28th Division were assigned to the field artillery regiment to attack, and one infantry regiment on the flank was assigned to the engineers, with the heavy equipment regiments interspersed.

Even though the 55th Army and the 40th Army jointly defended, there were too many holes in their overall defense.

At around twelve o'clock, the two armies began to collapse.

Guo Guangxi, chief of staff of the theater, knew that if they were allowed to continue fighting, they would definitely collapse.

So he quickly mobilized the 85th Army in the city to take the initiative to cover the evacuation of the two armies.

By one o'clock in the afternoon, the 44th Army and the 55th Army gradually moved towards the area west of Lanfeng.

This time, they suffered a big loss at the hands of the 28th Division.

The transferred troops were in a very embarrassed state, and the soldiers were also listless. It was obvious that they had no morale at all.

Although the 85th Army temporarily blocked the 28th Division's attack, they were under great pressure.

The most important point is that the 3rd Tank Division and the 110th Division are almost encircling the 76th Army.

The 76th Army was even more passive when faced with the huge armored cluster of the Japs.

If they stay where they are, once they are surrounded, they will have no way to retreat.

But now that they have moved, facing the Japanese armored forces, they are seeking death.

The battle in the Lanfeng area gradually became very passive.

Of course, this is related to the decision-making of the 14th Army Headquarters of the Little Japanese Army.

Up to now, the 14th Army Headquarters still has not come up with a specific plan.

Also here in Mincheng, the troops commanded by Li Yunlong have already invaded the city.

Kazuaki Obara used the buildings in the city to fight in the streets, but they also had a difficult time fighting.

They are affiliated with an independent tank regiment, and currently have less than ten tanks left.

A large number of vehicles of the Independent Motorized Infantry Regiment were seized, leaving only a few hundred infantrymen.

Even their mobile artillery brigade only has one artillery squadron left at this time.

The only thing Obara Kazaki could do at this time was to order the communications troops to continuously generate electricity, report the situation to the military headquarters, and request tactical guidance.

However, there was never any response from the military headquarters.

At 1:30 in the afternoon, Li Yunlong began to put the Independent Regiment, New Third Regiment, and New Fourth Regiment into the battlefield.

At the same time, the Skoda 76.2MM field gun equipped by the first artillery battalion also began to enter the city to fight, directly launching shelling at close range.

The fourth chariot brigade that was entrenched in Mincheng was on the verge of being completely annihilated.

It was at this time that the 14th Army Headquarters, which had been silent for a long time, began to send power to contact the Third Tank Division.

The 14th Army Headquarters is preparing to assign part of the 3rd Tank Division to the 110th Division, allowing them to return to Mincheng to contain Li Yunlong's troops.

Of course, this was just their idea. Regarding the specific situation, they wanted to ask the commander of the 3rd Tank Division, Lieutenant General Itachi Nishihara, for his opinion.

After all, Ojoto Sanji and others are not very proficient in armored force command.

Miyazaki knew something about it on Monday, but he always believed that these armored units should be gathered together to fight.

If dispersed to infantry divisions for combat, it will greatly weaken the combat effectiveness of the armored forces.

"Your Excellency, Division Commander, this is a message from the Army Headquarters."
To be continued...