The Japanese army's rapid counterattack did cause considerable losses to the blocking troops, but this could only be regarded as a small episode in the Eighth Route Army's encirclement and annihilation of them.
After the Eighth Route Army's blocking firepower weakened, the thirty or so Japs left in the attacking force thought they had an opportunity. They suddenly accelerated their attack speed, took out grenades, and prepared to throw them out after rushing forward twenty or thirty meters.
As a result, before they could move, the sound of heavy machine gun fire from behind stopped, and the violent sound of shell explosions reached their ears at the same time.
When he turned around, he saw several plumes of thick black smoke rising from the machine gun position behind him.
The attacking troops had mouths and before they could react from the shock, the blocking fire from the front suddenly increased.
It was obvious that the firepower point that had just been suppressed by the heavy machine gun team had found traces and rejoined the battle.
Intense firepower killed a dozen little Japs again.
The attacking force with only over 30 people left suffered more than half of their casualties once again, and only a dozen people were still able to stand up.
Even if this small number of troops were lucky enough to rush into the blocking position, they would be completely killed by the Eighth Route Army with bayonets.
…………
Japanese offensive position.
The squadron leader's eyes had turned red without knowing when. He clenched his fists and ordered angrily: "Heavy machine gun cover, the third team continues to attack..."
"Breaking through the Eighth Route Army's blocking position is our only hope of leaving here alive, otherwise we will have no chance to continue wreaking havoc in the Eighth Route Army base area."
"The remnants of the 1st and 2nd squads attacked from the flanks of the Eighth Route Army blocking position."
"We are attacking from three sides. I don't believe we can't take down the Eighth Route Army in front... kill them all..."
Having said this, the squadron leader drew out his command knife with a swipe, stared at the blocking position in front and continued to order: "I will personally lead the third team to launch an attack from the front..."
"No one can retreat unless they can capture the Eighth Route Army's blocking position..."
The squadron leader's determination boosted the morale of the Japanese army.
Every one of them screamed and rushed forward, as if they had been injected with chicken blood.
The squadron leader held a knife in both hands and rushed towards the blocking position with the third team, with a farewell expression on his face as he prepared to fight to the death.
"Da da da……"
However, in the face of absolute strength, no matter how unafraid of death and desperate the Japanese army was, it would be short-lived and could not change the overall situation.
Just when the squadron leader thought he was about to reach the Eighth Route Army's blocking position, the familiar sound of machine gun fire suddenly sounded behind him.
The two bullets hit the center of his back, and the huge inertia knocked him to the ground at the same time.
The heartbreaking pain quickly spread from the wound throughout his body, and then he felt that his strength began to dissipate, and he could no longer hold the command knife.
He tried his best to look behind him and saw all the Eighth Route Army troops within his field of vision.
Holding a rifle and machine gun, they formed a battle formation and came towards me...
He opened his mouth to give an order, but nothing came out, and then he lost consciousness.
…………
Headquarters of the Japanese North China Front in Peiping.
Okamura Neiji was in his office having a sweet dream that the Eighth Route Army in the Wing was severely wounded by him.
Little did he know that the battle situation on the front line had undergone earth-shaking changes, but he had not received the news yet.
"Your Excellency, Commander..." A cry of surprise suddenly sounded at the door of the war room.
Okamura Neiji looked up and saw the communications staff rushing towards him with a worried face. He ran and reported: "Shijiazhuang garrison urgent call..."
"They were tricked by the Eighth Route Army..."
"After the Yizhong Independent Brigade withdrew from Shijiazhuang, the Eighth Route Army that was fighting street battles with them in Shijiazhuang City immediately began to retreat."
"They thought the Eighth Route Army was giving up the attack on Shijiazhuang, but they didn't expect it to be a conspiracy."
"The Eighth Route Army destroyed two or three main regiments and secretly entered Shijiazhuang to replace the retreating Eighth Route Army and set up a large number of pocket formations on the front line."
"The Shijiazhuang garrison did not know this situation and planned to launch a counterattack against the Eighth Route Army when they retreated. As a result, they suddenly ran into the Eighth Route Army's pocket formation and lost more than 2,000 elite troops."
"The Shijiazhuang garrison, which already had a small number of troops, became even more stretched..."
"After the counterattack failed, the retreating troops of the Eighth Route Army returned to the front line and continued to attack the center of Shijiazhuang City in an attempt to completely occupy Shijiazhuang."
"Major General Fujita sent a farewell telegram directly..."
"Say...say..."
Having said this, the communications staff officer suddenly became hesitant and couldn't hold back a word for a long time.
Okamura Neji was anxious and quickly asked: "What did Fujita-kun say..."
"Speak quickly..."
"What time has it been? If there is anything else you can't say, please say it quickly..."
The communications staff officer could only bite the bullet and report: "He said that the Shijiazhuang garrison has less than 2,000 people, and that all the real elite troops have been lost in the counterattack. The remaining troops are not only chaotic in organization, but also in poor combat effectiveness, and there are even many expatriates.
Armed..."
"Even if they fight to the end, they will probably only be able to hold on until tomorrow morning."
The smile on Okamura Neji's face suddenly solidified.
This reversal happened so fast that he couldn't even accept it.
Just now I was feeling complacent in my heart, thinking that this time I would be able to severely damage the Yizhong Eighth Route Army.
Even if it cannot kill many of their main troops, it can still severely damage their base areas, causing huge losses and casualties to their base areas, thus shaking their military morale and the morale of the people.
As a result, he was slapped in the face by the Shijiazhuang garrison.
He took a huge risk and mobilized troops from Baoding and Xiong County to attack the Sixth Army Division of Yizhong, in order to defend Shijiazhuang.
As a result, they were so unsatisfied that they turned a good situation into a defeat.
If Major General Fujita had not been greedy when the Eighth Route Army retreated, and had waited until the Eighth Route Army had completely withdrawn from Shijiazhuang before launching a counterattack to completely retake Shijiazhuang, the Eighth Route Army would not have had a chance to take advantage of it, and the garrison would not have lost more than 2,000 people in just one or two hours.
.
I didn't think about my own problems at all.
There were many reasons why Major General Fujita dared to launch a counterattack.
If he hadn't asked the Shijiazhuang garrison in the telegram to take the opportunity to expand the victory, Major General Fujita, who had been frightened by the Eighth Route Army, would not have dared to send troops to counterattack.
He walked to the sand table with mixed emotions, and while looking at it, he asked the chief of staff: "This change happened so suddenly, we were not prepared at all."
"Chief of Staff, are there any troops that can reach Shijiazhuang before dawn to reinforce the Shijiazhuang garrison?"
"After the Yizhong Independent Brigade withdrew from Shijiazhuang, only six regiments of the Eighth Route Army remained in the siege force."
"According to analysis of previous battle reports from the Shijiazhuang garrison, these six regiments of the Eighth Route Army suffered at least 4,000 casualties, and the total strength was at most 6,000."
"The remaining garrison in Shijiazhuang is less than 2,000 people. If we want to withstand the attack of the 6,000 Eighth Route Army, we need at least 3,000 reinforcements."
"Now that there is no more Yizhong Independent Brigade to cause trouble there, as long as we find a way to send them 3,000 reinforcements, Shijiazhuang will be contained."
"Maybe we can take the opportunity to kill the Sixth Regiment of the Eighth Route Army that is attacking Shijiazhuang, turn defeat into victory, and win a great victory."
