Okamura Neiji did not immediately answer the chief of staff's words. Instead, he pulled out a piece of information from the documents on the table and handed it to him calmly: "This was sent by the intelligence department more than an hour ago. You can read it after reading it."
You know why I am sure that the Yizhong Eighth Route Army will take the initiative to return Xiongxian and Baoding to us."
The chief of staff glanced at the intelligence content and showed a shocked expression: "The casualties of the Eighth Route Army's attack on Shijiazhuang? How did the intelligence department obtain such confidential content?"
"Good luck..." Okamura Neji replied calmly.
"The Eighth Route Army that attacked Shijiazhuang belonged to six different main regiments. Although they cooperated very well on the battlefield, they did not belong to the same base area after all, and the troops were very unfamiliar to each other. This gave our army's intelligence personnel a clue
Take advantage of the opportunity."
"According to their thorough investigation."
"A total of six main regiments of the Eighth Route Army attacked Shijiazhuang. The total number of troops participating in the battle exceeded 12,000. The main regiment with more troops had 2,340 people, and the main regiment with less troops had 1,670 people."
"After the siege battle, the main regiment with the most severe losses had less than a thousand men left to continue fighting."
"The main force regiment with the fewest losses also lost six to seven hundred people."
"The six main regiments lost a total of more than 5,800 people, and more than 4,500 soldiers were directly killed by us."
"The combat effectiveness of the Shijiazhuang garrison can kill five to six thousand Eighth Route Army. The combat effectiveness of the Baoding and Xiongxian garrison far exceeds that of the Shijiazhuang garrison. The city defense fortifications are not much different. It will definitely be no problem for one city defense force to kill five to six thousand Eighth Route Army. Two
The total number of city defense troops can kill more than 10,000 Wings of the Eighth Route Army."
"How many people do they have in total? There is such a large base area to defend. Do you think they still have the strength to continue fighting against our reinforcements going south?"
An expression of relief slowly appeared on the chief of staff's face.
His mind was running rapidly, analyzing whether there were any loopholes in Okamura Neji's words.
In the end, he found nothing and decided to accept the order.
…………
On the battlefield of Xiong County.
The 1st Brigade's artillery counterattack was fast and accurate. As soon as two rounds of artillery shells were fired, the shells that fell on the heads of the participating troops in the north of the city were gone.
The 4th and 5th regiments took the opportunity to speed up their attack, and it took less than half an hour to wipe out all the more than a thousand Japanese troops who had left the city.
"The cavalry battalion and the brigade guard battalion set up a pocket formation in the north of the city. If any Japanese and puppet troops leave the city, they will be eliminated resolutely."
"The three main regiments, 4,56, respectively launched attacks from the south, east and west of the city."
"Each main force regiment strengthens a tank company, a heavy artillery battalion, and a mountain artillery battalion."
"Without my order, all participating troops cannot stop attacking. They will launch a general attack on the city head in battalion units without interruption, consuming the strength of the Japanese and puppet troops."
"There are not many little Japs stationed in Xiong County. The limited troops force them all to participate in the battle. As long as we launch attacks continuously and don't give them time to rest, we will tire them out."
"Woooooooooooo...boom..."
The shrieking shells quickly hit the city head, and city fortifications were constantly razed to the ground in the violent explosions.
Many of the city battlements were blown away, leaving the city head completely exposed to the Eighth Route Army.
The heavy machine gun set up three to four hundred meters outside the city took the opportunity to open fire. Bullets flew close to the ground at the top of the city. Many soldiers who were lying down in dozens were beaten into a sieve, further increasing the casualties of the city defense troops.
"Sir, the Eighth Route Army has begun to attack..." The voice from the observation post suddenly sounded on the top of the city.
The Japanese captain was shocked. He really didn't want to go to the city to fight under artillery fire, but he had to do it.
If the Eighth Route Army sent a package of explosives into the city gate under the cover of artillery fire, it would only take one or two hundred kilograms to blow a big gap in the city wall under their feet, and then enter the city.
In order to prevent the Eighth Route Army from approaching the city head, as soon as the Eighth Route Army started to attack, the city defense troops had to go to the city head to counterattack, not giving them any chance to get close to the city head.
“Dong dong dong… da da da…”
After a while, gunshots rang out from the top of the city. Eighth Route Army soldiers were constantly hit by bullets fired from the top of the city, screaming and falling on the offensive road.
"Boom, boom, boom..." The mortars mounted on the top of the city also began to participate in the battle.
The shells hit the attacking troops steadily as if they had eyes, and nearly a platoon of the attacking troops was wiped out in just one round.
However, the attacking troops were not affected and continued to attack as usual.
There are no easy victories on the battlefield.
All victories are achieved by troops at great cost of sacrifice.
Some costs are troop casualties, and some costs are weapons and ammunition consumed on the battlefield...
The offensive force wants to drag the Japanese city defense troops on top of the city and create opportunities for the artillery to inflict heavy damage on them.
We can only launch attacks continuously to make them feel the pressure.
Otherwise, they wouldn't be so stupid as to defend the city and get bombed.
"Boom boom boom..."
The mortar group set up by the fifth regiment 700 to 800 meters away from the city wall finally opened fire.
Nearly thirty cannonballs flew towards the city head together, and with a hit rate of over 60%, more than ten cannonballs accurately hit the city head.
In the splashing firelight, the fragments of the artillery shells intertwined directly into a steel storm at the top of the city, wantonly harvesting the lives of all the little Japs within the radius of the shells.
The top of the city was bare, without even a hiding place.
Facing the flying shell fragments, the Japs had no way to hide, and many machine gun teams were blown up with their men and guns.
In just one round of artillery fire, the city defense force lost most of its squad. The Japanese captain was anxious in his eyes and wanted to give orders to avoid the artillery fire.
But when the words reached his lips, he swallowed them back.
The Eighth Route Army's offensive troops did not retreat due to this sudden artillery attack and continued to approach the city wall.
If they speed up the attack as soon as the troops withdraw from the city, and rush into the city gate at once, a huge gap will definitely be blown out of the city...
Faced with the approaching Eighth Route Army outside the city and the rain of shells whizzing overhead, the captain could only continue to hold on until the Eighth Route Army's attacking troops suffered too many casualties and withdrew from the battle.
However, no matter how heavy the casualties were among the attacking troops, they were still not as heavy as those suffered by the city defense troops.
They were completely exposed on the top of the city, and the team was very dense. As long as a cannonball hit the top of the city, some soldiers would be killed and injured.
Although the Eighth Route Army's offensive troops were also exposed to the blocking firepower of the city defense troops, their ranks were very scattered. Although the blocking firepower unleashed by the Japanese was very fierce, the casualties were still within the range of the attacking troops.
What's important is that as the Eighth Route Army hits more and more mortar shells on the city, many Japanese machine gun fire points have been affected and cannot continue to fire.
As a result, the pressure faced by the Eighth Route Army's offensive troops not only did not increase, but became smaller and smaller.
