On the Xiong County battlefield, after attacking for most of the night, the garrison in the east of the city who was pulled up from the bed by the commander had dropped sharply from more than 1,200 people to less than 700 people.
Although the remaining little devils are all elite veterans with very strong combat effectiveness and can still ensure that the east defense line of the city is airtight, they are too tired.
Not long after they fell asleep, they were pulled up from the bed by their superiors. This meant that they had not slept all day and all night, so they must be very tired.
Fighting is the most energy-consuming.
Facing the Eighth Route Army's continuous attacks, the Japanese army was in a state of high mental stress throughout the half-night battle, and one can imagine the amount of energy and physical energy consumed.
By daybreak, every surviving kid had a look of exhaustion on their faces.
He fired numbly out of the city and pulled the bolt. He was like a walking zombie, without any energy at all!
The Japanese captain saw this and was anxious in his heart.
Looking at the slowly brightening sky, he ordered anxiously: "After daybreak, the Eighth Route Army's offensive will definitely slow down. The troops will be divided into two. Half will continue to defend the city wall, and the other half will go to repair behind the city wall and take turns to rest!"
"The troops are too tired. If they don't take a rest, they may collapse on the battlefield."
…………
The former enemy headquarters of the only brigade outside the city.
Seeing the sky getting brighter and brighter around him, Huang Yu was also considering whether the troops should continue to attack.
If we continue to attack, the troops are likely to face bombing by Japanese planes, which will in turn cause unnecessary casualties to the siege troops.
But if the attack is suspended, the troops' efforts last night will probably be in vain.
After a hard fight, the Japanese and puppet troops were exhausted and close to collapse. If they were given time to rest for a few hours, those exhausted soldiers would definitely be resurrected with full health and regain their combat effectiveness.
The pressure on the troops to re-attack the city tonight will definitely be much greater.
The advice of several regiment leaders was to suspend the attack.
The Japanese relied on the fortifications to defend the city for most of the night, and were very exhausted. The siege troops also fought for most of the night.
Although the troops took turns to attack, and after one round of attacks, the attacking troops could withdraw for an hour or two to recuperate, but time was limited, and this was a battlefield, so the soldiers definitely did not have a good rest.
Although not as exhausted as the Japanese and puppet troops, the combat effectiveness of the troops was still greatly affected.
Moreover, what several regiment leaders were most worried about was the Japanese bombing.
Although there are not many Japs flying in the wings, there are still a large number of aircraft in Peiping. As long as the Japs are willing, they can mobilize aircraft from Peiping to support the Xiongxian battlefield.
For a moment everyone looked at Huang Yu, waiting for him to make up his mind.
"The fight... we must continue to fight. We can't let everyone's half-night efforts be in vain..." Huang Yu gritted his teeth and made a decision.
"As long as we attack for another day and don't let the little devils on the city rest, by tonight, even if they don't collapse on the battlefield, their combat effectiveness will drop sharply because they are too exhausted, and they will even lose their combat effectiveness..."
"At that time, we can launch a general attack on Xiong County, break through the city fortifications, and eliminate all the little devils in the city..."
"Otherwise, we may not be able to capture Xiongxian tonight."
"When the Japanese take a day off to recover their physical strength and combat effectiveness, our offensive pressure will definitely increase sharply, and the casualties will also increase sharply..."
"in addition……"
"There is another very important reason why I rushed to attack Xiongxian and want to capture Xiongxian tonight."
"The head of the headquarters just sent a telegram. In order to prevent us from pulling out the two nails on the edge of the base area, Okamura Neiji specially transferred more than 12,000 people from the Pingjin area to go south to the wing."
"Including the squad leaders of six brigades, three regiments of the Imperial Army, a heavy artillery brigade, and a tank brigade."
"Only by ending the Xiongxian battle as soon as possible and ending the battle at the minimum cost can we have the energy to deal with the more than 10,000 elite puppet troops who have marched south from the Pingjin area..."
"Otherwise, the Sole Brigade will be attacked from both sides on the battlefield. It would be too tragic if an accident occurs."
The leader of the fourth regiment immediately raised objections: "Then how can we avoid the planes that the little devils may send..."
"The old method..." Huang Yu blurted out...
"Don't the three main regiments all have two battalions repairing in the rear? Send them all out to collect ignition materials and set off smoke on the battlefield."
"Xiongxian County is just that big. There are black smoke rising in the sky from all four directions. Maybe the Xiongxian County town we are surrounding will be covered in thick smoke..."
"No matter how many planes the devils send to bomb us, it will be useless..."
At the head of the east city of Xiongxian City, the Japanese captain had just detached half of his troops to rest behind the city wall, when dozens of artillery shells roared down from the sky and hit the city head.
Rolling black smoke rose into the sky, and many living little Japs and corpses of soldiers who had been frightened to death were blown away...
"Sir... the Eighth Route Army has begun attacking again..." A cry of surprise sounded in the captain's ears at the same time.
The captain's face suddenly turned pale, his eyes widened at the same time, and he asked with disbelief: "How come they dare to attack when it's already dawn..."
"Aren't you worried about the aviation force bombing them?"
A squadron leader immediately shouted: "Let's set off smoke... The Eighth Route Army is setting off smoke outside the city..."
"Sir, the Eighth Route Army wants to cover the battlefield with smoke to prevent aviation from bombing us..."
"Boom boom boom..."
The explosion of artillery shells continued, and more and more soldiers were killed and injured.
Looking at the Eighth Route Army advancing continuously outside the city, the remaining soldiers at the top of the city resisted desperately, but it was of no use.
The troops were too exhausted. There were less than 300 soldiers left guarding the city, and they continued to decrease under the artillery attacks of the Eighth Route Army. The results can be imagined.
"Sir..." A squadron leader ran to the group leader and said with a panic look on his face.
"The Eighth Route Army's offensive has not weakened...but our troops defending the city have been reduced by half. Without reinforcements, we will definitely not be able to withstand it..."
The captain was so angry that he gritted his teeth and ordered: "Let the troops repairing behind join the battle immediately..."
"The Eighth Route Army launched continuous attacks on us, making it clear that they did not want us to rest and would exhaust us to death!"
The little Japanese who had just left the city and had not had time to close his eyes was very reluctant, but the military orders were overwhelming. In order to defend the city, he had to drag his tired body up to the city.
…………
Japanese Army Xiong County Garrison Headquarters.
Although the brigade commander was determined to fight the Eighth Route Army to the end, he did not expect that the war situation would deteriorate so quickly.
In just one night, the city defense troops paid a huge price with more than half of their casualties.
Moreover, they were so exhausted from being beaten by the Eighth Route Army that many soldiers were so tired that they could fall asleep as soon as they lay down!
