Tojo Hideki's headquarters was not located in Yuanping County, but in Guo County. When he heard the unfavorable news about the frontline battle situation in the telegram, he could hardly believe his eyes, and he immediately ordered all the ministries in Xinkou , stood firm and waited for reinforcements, and then commanded the follow-up troops that were rushing towards Xinkou via railways and highways to accelerate southward, giving the Chinese *** team that dared to take the initiative a disincentive.
Guarding the original county seat is the Japanese Ninth Division, also known as the Kanazawa Division. It is one of the six new divisions added after the Sino-Japanese War of 1884-1894. Since the establishment of the army, from the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War to the present, this division The unit's reputation has not diminished. It is one of the seventeen standing divisions of the Japanese army and is very well-equipped.
The division commander, Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Ryosuke, graduated from the 17th class of the Army, and then entered the Army University for further study, graduating from the 28th class. He has served as squadron leader, group captain, wing captain, division chief of staff, and general secretary of the Education Directorate. Section chief, was appointed as the division commander of the Ninth Division in August last year. If history had not changed, he would have led his troops to participate in the Battle of Songhu in September, and then participated in the Battle of Nanjing in December, and his affiliated Ninth Division He will participate in the Nanjing Massacre and his hands will be stained with the blood of the Chinese people. But now, he can only lead the troops and fight with the Chinese Communist Party in Shanxi. He does not want to see the beauty of Jiangnan again.
With his glorious service history, Lieutenant General Yoshizumi Ryosuke believes that with the ability of his division, he is fully able to cope with any difficulties.
Lu Yixuan did not give the Japanese army any breathing space. He must complete the annihilation of the original enemy as soon as possible in order to free up more troops to deal with the Japanese attack from the north and south, and to annihilate the enemy north of Xinkou. All Japanese troops in the encirclement were eliminated.
The heavy artillery, which was towed into place by military trucks, covered the predetermined targets with artillery fire according to the firing elements calibrated after the S3 reconnaissance aircraft in the sky.
"Boom——"
Two artillery shells directly hit the headquarters of Yoshizumi Ryosuke, and then more artillery shells hit the division headquarters, which was formerly the Yuanping County Elementary School building.
Yoshizumi Ryosuke pushed away the staff officer who was pressing down on him. When the shells fell just now, the staff officer jumped on him and saved the life of his division commander.
The shocked Yoshizumi Ryosuke bowed deeply to the staff officer who had been blown beyond recognition, and rushed out of the headquarters with red eyes.
At this time, the entire primary school building was in a mess, with gunpowder smoke, fire, broken corpses, wounded people, and the radio station of the division and regiment headquarters suffered a devastating blow. The loss of personnel was huge, and almost everyone alive was injured.
"Your Excellency Yoshizumi, the Chinese artillery fire is too fierce. We must strengthen our defense, otherwise the future will be worrying!" Chief of Staff Hiroso Nakagawa stumbled to Yoshizumi Ryosuke in a state of embarrassment.
"Yes, we must strengthen the defense line and prepare more suicide squads!" Ryosuke Yoshizumi looked at the sky in a daze, his original confidence gone.
"Based on the density of artillery fire, the enemy has at least five divisions or more besieging us. In addition, there are at least one to two independent artillery brigades or regiments."
Nakagawa Hirasa's analysis is touching and reasonable.
You must know that, except for the Anjia Army, at this time, even the most well-equipped so-called German weapon divisions in China were mainly equipped with 75mm Krupp Mountain Cannon or 75mm Forbes Mountain Cannon. Only independent heavy artillery brigades or regiments were equipped with 120mm , 150mm howitzers and other heavy artillery. However, the number of opponent's heavy artillery at this moment has far exceeded imagination. There are not only 150mm howitzers, but also a large number of 120mm howitzers. This is really frustrating.
"I estimate that the Xinkou battle was a trap set by the Chinese. Otherwise, how could they suddenly cut off the connection between our front and rear? Judging from the current situation, our opponent not only has a large number of artillery, but also the artillery fire is extremely accurate. Your Excellency You should have made a decision early!”
Chief of Staff Nakagawa continued his analysis.
"Yoshi! It seems that we underestimated the enemy this time!"
Yoshizumi Ryosuke turned and roared angrily: "Didn't that guy Tojo say that the Chinese people are poorly equipped and vulnerable? So what are we experiencing now? I estimate that the generals such as Seki Kame and Murakami who are trapped in the encirclement in the south, I have fully realized how ridiculous Tojo’s statement is..."
After venting the anger in his heart, Yoshizumi Ryosuke returned to his normal state: "Well, no matter how difficult it is, since the front army headquarters has issued instructions, we still have to obey them. Nakagawa, order the troops: stand firm and wait for reinforcements!"
"yes!"
Chief of Staff Nakagawa took the order and left.
...
However, what made Yoshizumi Ryosuke unbelievable was that the Chinese Army seemed to suddenly become like a nouveau riche and began to squander and waste wantonly. As if the shells were free of money, they fell like hail on the city. On top of various key points, the original city walls of South City, West City and North City were already riddled with holes.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, the assault troops dispatched by the mechanized troops of the Anjia Army and the New Fifth and New Sixth Divisions, under the leadership of officials at all levels, were ready to go.
At 3:15, the loud charge horn sounded, and the armored battle group, under the cover of 150mm-caliber artillery fire, formed a wedge formation and launched an attack on Yuanping Nancheng.
The infantry soldiers who followed the tank attack took out mortars of various calibers and the Anjia Army's secret weapon rocket launcher. After the long-range heavy artillery outside the city carried out extended artillery fire, they immediately began to accompany the tank and conduct close-in precision artillery fire.
The gap in the collapsed city wall at the south gate of Yuanping was getting bigger and bigger. Many of the Japanese death squad members who were hiding near the gap and trying to attack the tanks flew into the sky with the dirt and were shattered before they saw the tanks.
The Japanese soldiers who were accustomed to the fighting style of attacking with squadrons of bombardments and then charging finally realized the power of tank group attacks and the power of the torrent of steel.
The artillery fire continued without a break to attack the Japanese's gradually weakened nerves and bodies. Under the cover of various types of mortars, the tank guns of the Wolf and Panther tanks continued to show their power, constantly stopping to eliminate them. All the exposed firepower points of the Japanese army were gradually approaching the Japanese positions that were riddled with holes.
The tanks were getting closer and closer to the wide gap in the city wall. Suddenly, from nowhere, a group of shirtless Japanese death squads with white cloth strips on their heads appeared and rushed towards the tank group.
Almost at the same time, the coaxial parallel machine gun immediately sprayed out violent flames. However, due to the close distance and the well-hidden Japanese army's whereabouts, the incident happened very suddenly. Three Wolf tanks were blown up by the Japanese who were not afraid of death. .
But at this time, the loss of three tanks could no longer stop the Anjia army's advance.
Under the guidance, cover, and support of the tanks, the anti-aircraft vehicles quickly rushed out from the sides and rear of the tanks. Ninety-six high-level and flat dual-purpose machine guns formed an indestructible firepower line, extinguishing the lives of a large number of Japanese soldiers like a waterfall. Fire, those Japanese death squads with white cloths on their heads and bare arms as if they were attending their own funerals, were hit by the hot bullets and shrapnel spewed out by the anti-aircraft sports cars, fulfilling their long-cherished wish of "killing oneself to make a living".
The Japanese defense line was completely loosened. The Japanese who survived by chance chose to retreat to private houses in the city, using the obstacles of the buildings to confront An's army.
The Japanese and puppet troops from other directions rushed to the south gate to participate in the defense. Yoshizumi Ryosuke organized the Japanese to rely on all building construction to prepare for brutal street fighting.
Everything that happened subsequently confirmed Yoshizumi Ryosuke's judgment that street fighting was indeed cruel, but he did not expect that this cruelty was only for the Japanese who stubbornly resisted.
In the sky, Anjiajun's air force still did not rest, and the bombers responsible for the bombing mission changed to ab26 models.
The AB26 possesses powerful ground firepower. When it passes over a hundred meters in the low altitude, the violent bullets ejected from the nose and wings will destroy the front, sides and rear of the tank troops one by one, destroying everything that dares to block the vehicle. If it encounters When artillery fire couldn't solve the problem, bombs weighing 200 kilograms or even 500 kilograms were dropped one after another. Building after building, the tortoise shells that the devils relied on, quickly turned into tombs where they were buried.
The puppet soldiers who had just picked up their guns a few days ago had never seen such a heated scene. They did not want to become cannon fodder for the Japanese. If they were not afraid of death, who the hell would want to be a notorious traitor! The Japanese The highly respected Bushido cannot change the deep-seated belief of these traitors that "it is better to live than to die" in just a few months.
As a result, the traitors switched sides one after another, or surrendered with their white chess held high, and then, under the instructions of the Anjiajun officers, led the troops entering the city to exterminate the Japanese, or they simply rebelled on the battlefield and opened fire directly on the Japanese soldiers around them.
The Japanese soldiers were indeed very, very tenacious. The Japanese soldiers, who had already lost coordination with each other, led by their commanders, resolutely launched suicide attacks on the Anjia Army's tank troops. They shouted slogans or roared and threw all their weapons at them. All the explosives they could find were thrown at the tanks. Some of the Japanese were blown to pieces before they could get up, while others fell to the ground in the middle of a suicide attack.
Lu Yixuan, who had moved the headquarters to the top of the city, saw this scene through the telescope and frowned slightly: "The Japanese are indeed very tenacious! I have read the battle report sent by Gu Changfeng and Xia Jian, and the Japanese Compared with people, the French army is like a group of children who don’t know how to fight!”
At this time, Qu Muchen was sitting on the center line of the entire battlefield, and together with Yang Jiuxiao, commander of the Seventeenth Army, commanded the troops to meet the Japanese army's breakout and counterattack. Standing next to Lu Yixuan at this moment was Major General Guo Peirong, deputy commander of the Seventeenth Army. and Colonel Zhao Bohan, combat staff officer of the 17th Army.
Zhao Bohan, who entered the Special Forces Brigade of the Southern Yunnan Military Region as An Yi's confidential secretary, served successively as squad leader and squadron leader. Zhao Bohan, who was transferred back to Lu Yixuan in September last year, had a much calmer temperament. He nodded: "The Bushido preached by the Japanese The spirit is very scary. I heard that before they went on the expedition, they all said '****' when they encouraged each other, which shows that spiritual power can greatly improve combat effectiveness!"
At this point, Zhao Bohan looked around and lowered his voice: "If it was really about weapons, how could the Red Army resist Chiang Kai-shek's ever larger encirclement and suppression campaigns, and how could it successfully complete the 25,000-mile Long March? After arriving in northern Shaanxi, How to persevere under the siege of warlords and the Central Army? Therefore, the spiritual construction of the army is very important, which is what the Anjiajun has always advocated, but what they promote is nationalism, more..."
Lu Yixuan's face changed drastically and he reprimanded: "Shut up! What are they and yours? Aren't you one of them? Never mention such words again in the future!"
Guo Peirong next to him smiled faintly and said nothing. In the telescope in his hand, the battle situation was determined. Although the Japanese army was not afraid of death, they faced the soldiers of the Anjia Army whose spiritual strength was not weaker than theirs. Facing the open space of the Anjia Army,
Using an integrated tactic, a large number of Japanese troops began to turn around and run toward the north gate. Gradually, the fleeing force became stronger and stronger, and finally a complete collapse was inevitable.