Headquarters of the Japanese North China Front in Peiping.
The communications staff officer hurried to Okamura Neji with the message he had just received.
"Your Excellency, Commander, there is an urgent message from the Shijiazhuang Garrison Headquarters: The Eighth Route Army that attacked them suddenly changed its attack method. The troops suffered heavy casualties. There is almost no way to decipher the Eighth Route Army's new attack method. We can only fight with them..."
"I hope the reinforcements will gain something soon and force the Central Independent Brigade to return to support their base, otherwise Shijiazhuang will most likely not be able to hold it."
Okamura Neji did not go to answer the telegram.
As a battle-hardened veteran, he is very familiar with street fighting.
After learning that Major General Fujita used mortar counterattacks to block the Eighth Route Army's offensive, he immediately thought of a way to break the situation. It was exactly the same as the Eighth Route Army's current strategy of attacking by dividing the troops, making Major General Fujita's well-prepared artillery counterattack suddenly ineffective.
Before receiving this telegram, he had guessed that the good situation in Shijiazhuang City would not last long.
Sure enough, just over an hour later, the Eighth Route Army attacking Shijiazhuang came up with a way to break the situation.
Faced with this situation, he could not think of a good way to help the Shijiazhuang garrison to resolve the crisis. The only thing he could do was to speed up the reinforcements and make a breakthrough as soon as possible.
Staring at the communications staff officer, he asked directly: "How long can they last?"
"Three days..." the communications staff member hesitated and replied.
"The telegram said that the casualties of the troops were very heavy. According to the current casualty rate, in three days, the Eighth Route Army's offensive troops would be able to reach the headquarters and launch a direct attack on the garrison headquarters. The Shijiazhuang garrison would also be exhausted by the Eighth Route Army in three days of fighting.
All."
Okamura Neiji replied firmly: "Call back to the Shijiazhuang Garrison immediately."
"Three days is enough..."
"In two days at most, the two reinforcements attacking the Eighth Route Army base area will make a breakthrough."
"At that time, they will definitely cause huge losses to the Eighth Route Army in the Wing, forcing the Independent Brigade to return to the base area to support them. Otherwise, we will dig out the roots of their Eighth Route Army."
As soon as the communications staff officer left, Okamura Neiji turned his attention to the chief of staff: "After the reinforcements were dispatched, what was the reaction of the Yizhong Eighth Route Army staying in the base area, and did they take any action..."
"Hayi..."
The chief of staff nodded quickly.
"Every attacking unit was subject to various sneak attacks by the Eighth Route Army."
"The attacking troops acted very well, and the Eighth Route Army did not notice anything."
"According to reports from our intelligence personnel lurking in the Eighth Route Army base area, their remaining troops are dividing their forces and plan to block our attacking troops head-on."
"The remaining troops of the Eighth Route Army have limited strength. We have dispatched a total of eight reinforcement troops. If one regiment directly blocks one of our attacking troops, the remaining troops will be completely divided."
"As long as two real assault forces quickly break through the Eighth Route Army's blocking positions, they will be able to reach the hinterland of the Yizhong base area with overwhelming force, as if entering an uninhabited country, and force the independent brigade to return for reinforcements through killing and destruction."
Okamura Neiji was very satisfied and said: "Send a telegram to all reinforcements immediately."
"Whether it is a real assault force or a fake reinforcement force, when encountering the Eighth Route Army's blocking force, we must make every effort to launch an attack."
"The later the Eighth Route Army can tell whether the reinforcements are real or fake, the greater our chance of successfully reinforcing Shijiazhuang by attacking in the east and west."
…………
Yichuan Ridge is the only way for the Japanese and puppet troops to advance towards the hinterland of the Sixth Army Division in Yizhong.
The Second Independent Regiment of Yizhong is repairing fortifications here to face the coming more than 4,000 "Japanese and puppet troops".
The main trench has been dug, and regimental leader Wang Guishan is leading the soldiers to reinforce the trench with logs and dig anti-cannon holes based on the mountain terrain.
The number of Japanese and puppet troops who came over was more than 4,000, equipped with a large number of mountain artillery and mortars.
If the opponent is a pure enemy and there are no fake devils disguised as ordinary people, then the Second Independent Regiment will definitely face the first bloody battle that the army has never experienced since its formation.
As a veteran, he knew the importance of positions in bloody battles.
Buying time to dig an extra artillery hole for the troops will probably save one squad of soldiers from being sacrificed in the battle.
"Commander...the Japanese and puppet troops are coming..." A cry suddenly sounded on the road not far away. When he looked up, he saw the scout running towards him, panting and reporting.
"Get ready to fight..." The regiment leader dropped the engineer shovel in his hand, took the telescope handed over by the guard, and ran forward to get out of the position, firing orders at the same time.
"The artillery units are arranged in platoon units. I will let you fire the artillery before you can join the battle."
"I hid them all before receiving the order to fire. I will punish anyone who exposes the target in advance."
"The first battalion immediately entered the position, and the second and third battalions continued to dig trenches behind, trying to dig out the second blocking position."
"Our opponents are all real Japanese and puppet troops. We will definitely not be able to hold on for too long with just a blocking position under our feet."
Half squatting behind the trench, he raised his binoculars and looked towards the end of the road.
More than thirty Japanese and puppet troops immediately came into view.
They spread out in a fighting formation, rifles held flat in their hands, and kept firing at targets on the roadside.
After the Japanese and puppet troops advanced for more than 200 meters, the main force came into Wang Guishan's field of vision.
Just by observing with the naked eye, the main force of the Japanese and puppet troops seems vulnerable.
Their formation was very chaotic, they were straddling each other, and no elites could be seen at all.
The artillery mixed among the infantry was also pulled here and there by the mules.
But Wang Guishan did not dare to underestimate the enemy at all.
The commander told Deputy Chief of Staff Huang in the telegram that the stretched formation everyone saw was probably faked by the Japanese and puppet troops.
Only by actually fighting them can you tell the true identity of your opponent through fierce fighting.
He put down his telescope, pulled out his box cannon, and gave a serious order: "Don't act rashly."
"The thirty or so Japanese and puppet troops who went out to investigate must be real. Ordinary people can't do such standard tactical actions no matter how much they train."
"Let's eat this real Japanese and puppet army first, and then attack other Japanese and puppet armies."
"If I don't shoot, no one can shoot in advance."
The trenches at their feet were all camouflaged with thatch, and the thirty or so Japanese and puppet troops walked all the way to a position fifty or sixty meters in front of the formation without noticing the danger.
"Pa bang bang..."
Wang Guishan decisively pulled the trigger, and the bullet flew out of the barrel in a fan shape, instantly beating the two little Japs in front of him into a sieve. He didn't even let out a scream and fell into a pool of blood.
"Da da da... bang bang bang..."
The guard platoon defending the forward position opened fire at the same time. Three light machine guns and more than thirty rifles instantly fired an airtight net of bullets.
Several Japs hiding among the puppet troops were attacked intensively, and all died in the first round of fire raids. The puppet troops also suffered more than a dozen casualties.
The combat quality of the puppet army is obviously not as good as that of the real Japs.
After being attacked, he was blinded for a second or two before throwing himself on the ground and trying to fight back with a gun.
The second round of bullets fired by Wang Guishan flew right in front of them...
In the blink of an eye, more than thirty Japanese and puppet troops suffered more than a dozen casualties.
