Zhao Zhiguo and the others had just evacuated when the Japanese artillery shells fell like raindrops.

At this time, the Japanese troops carefully carried down the corpses piled up in the gap in the city wall, and then occupied the city wall, not daring to rush into the city again.

The Japanese bombed for more than half an hour. They stopped bombing only when a Japanese squadron occupied all the city walls near the gap and set up heavy machine gun positions on the walls.

Although the loss of troops exceeded Masao Murano's expectation, they had already broken through the Chinese army's defense on the city wall and could enter Pingcheng at any time to clean up the remaining enemies. It seemed that Pingcheng was within easy reach.

"Don't give the Chinese army time to breathe. Taking advantage of our strong morale, we will wipe out the remaining enemies of the Chinese defenders in the city in one fell swoop."

Masao Murano believed that before dark today, his troops would occupy the entire Pingcheng, and perhaps they would be able to pursue the fleeing Chinese troops.

However, what came next was the real nightmare for the Japanese army. The troops defending the city had seen how the Japanese army fought street fighting in the city, and they used everything they learned from the little devils on the little devils.

The soldiers of the special operations team also joined the battle. They were in groups of four, and even a squad of little devils could not do anything to them.

The Japs advanced no more than two streets into the city, and they suffered casualties of half a squadron.

Moreover, as the Japanese army entered the city to clean up the "remaining" Chinese defenders, the Japanese army had to disperse its forces. Some Japanese troops attacked faster and had already entered the third street. Some Japanese troops were blocked by the Chinese army.

, still staying on the first street.

The Chinese army and the Japanese army in the city formed a complicated situation where you are surrounded by me and you are surrounded by me. At this time, the Japanese army did not dare to bomb the city easily anymore, because their troops might be present on every connecting road.

If you fire artillery shells down, you might be able to wipe out one of the squads they attacked.

"The little devil's offensive is still very fierce, but we have slowed down the speed of the attack."

Chu Jie also saw that the little Japanese's combat effectiveness was unusual, but under the conditions of street fighting, the Japanese heavy artillery outside the city was completely useless.

"Commander, we still have to retreat in a planned way. We can't just defend blindly. We still won't take advantage of a war of attrition."

"You are right. After this afternoon, we still need to hold on for three days! Every day we can retreat one block away and attract the little Japs into the city little by little. The more troops we bring into the city, the more reinforcements we will receive from the Japanese army."

A decisive battle outside the city would be more advantageous."

"How are your troops doing? Are there heavy casualties?" Chu Jie asked Zhao Zhiguo.

"The casualties are much smaller than our previous battles! Only a team of nearly a hundred people is still fighting the Japanese army. I have ordered the rest of the troops to rest. As long as the division commander gives orders, we can fight at any time." Zhao Zhiguo said.

"Withdraw the squad in your hands and have a good rest. When our reinforcements arrive and we need to counterattack, I hope your Zhao Zhiguo's troops will become our vanguard."

Seeing that the Japanese offensive was contained, Chu Jie already thought about launching a counterattack against the Japanese.

"Commander, is it too early to say anything? The Japanese army still has the initiative."

Although they are in a better position now than when they defended the city wall, the Japanese attack continues and they still have the initiative to retreat.

Even if they have reinforcements arriving, I am afraid they will not be able to eat up all the Japanese troops. The best case scenario is to defeat the Japanese army. If the Japanese army also sends additional reinforcements, the situation on both sides may be reversed to the disadvantage of Jin.

The situation of the Sui Army.

In other words, at present, Zhao Zhiguo and the others only know what is going on inside the city. The situation outside the city is dim and needs reinforcements to judge by themselves. It is indeed too early to talk about launching a counterattack at this time.

"We have to give the soldiers a little hope, right? If the soldiers know that we have a force in our hands and are ready to counterattack at any time, they will think in their hearts that we will definitely be able to defend Pingcheng."

Chu Jie knows how to use troops. Only when soldiers have hope in their hearts will they continue to fight. Once despair comes, soldiers will lose the ability to resist.

"The division commander still takes a long-term view. I will order the troops to withdraw and rest now, waiting for the next order."

"It's OK for the troops to withdraw and rest, but you must not rest. We may need you as a staff officer here at any time." Chu Jie said to Zhao Zhiguo.

"Teacher, let me make a suggestion now." Zhao Zhiguo said.

"Say it quickly!"

"We need to understand the movements of the Japanese army outside the city, especially whether the Japanese army has sent additional reinforcements. In other words, we need to provide Japanese army intelligence for our reinforcements and act as reinforcements for the Japanese army."

"That's right! We don't know anything about the situation outside the city. If the Japanese army had already deployed, our reinforcements would suffer a big loss, and the result would be hard to predict. I will arrange soldiers to conduct reconnaissance tomorrow."

"There are also Japanese artillery positions. We must find the Japanese artillery positions. Their heavy artillery is not only a great threat to us, but also to the supporting troops. Once we find the Japanese heavy artillery positions, tell our reinforcements the location."

Now the Japanese heavy artillery no longer dares to bombard the Chinese troops in the city at will, but if used on their reinforcements, it will definitely cause a lot of casualties to the reinforcements.

"You are still thinking long-term. As a teacher, I am ashamed of myself!"

Chu Jie was very fond of the young man in front of him. He thought that being the leader of Zhao Zhiguo would be an understatement.

"Commander, this is just my personal suggestion. You are the real helmsman of our ship."

Zhao Zhiguo knew very well that Chu Jie was the core figure who united the division. Without Chu Jie, the troops in the city would be a piece of scattered sand. No matter how good an individual was, he would not be able to produce anything. On the contrary, a cohesive team can often

Do incredible things.

Hearing Zhao Zhiguo's words, Chu Jie felt very comfortable: "Where did you learn to fight?"

"We lost many battles!" Zhao Zhiguo said.

"I asked you where you learned to fight, but I didn't ask how many battles you had lost."

"What I mean is that after losing many battles and seeing many dead people, I began to think about how to reduce the number of dead people. Even if it means one less person died, I, as an officer leading the troops, feel a sense of accomplishment."

After retreating all the way, Zhao Zhiguo kept thinking about how to prevent the soldiers from dying!

From underground fortifications to teaching soldiers how to judge when the Japanese army is shelling, these are the most effective ways to avoid their own casualties.

"Being able to think and reflect is rare among our troops! After this battle is over, I will also reflect on it."

"Only your reflection will have no effect!" Zhao Zhiguo said honestly.
Chapter completed!