Okamura Neiji very much agreed with the chief of staff's proposal and immediately answered: "I will personally send a telegram to the Baoding garrison..."
"Whether it's a street battle or a city offensive and defensive battle, they have to persist for three more days..."
"Of course, it would be better if I could hold on for a day or two longer..."
"Send another telegram to the reinforcements going south, asking them to speed up their march and be sure to reach the outside of Xiongxian City before noon tomorrow."
"As soon as the intelligence provided by the intelligence department confirms that there is no problem, launch an attack, strive to end the battle before dark, and eliminate all the troops of the Eighth Route Army left behind in Xiong County."
…………
Inside Xiong County.
In order to facilitate command, all limited forces were compressed to the front line, and the combat power was clenched into a fist to severely attack the Japanese and puppet troops' southward reinforcements.
Huang Yu temporarily reduced the two main regiments remaining in the city into four reinforced battalions and four reinforced companies for mobility.
At this moment, these troops are repairing the fortifications on the top of the city.
As soon as Huang Yu climbed to the top of the city, the commander of the fifth regiment came up to him and reported with furrowed brows: "Deputy Chief of Staff..."
"The fortifications at the top of the city were severely destroyed by us."
"On the east side of the city that I am responsible for, there are less than 30 offensives that can still be used. All other fortifications have been destroyed. Even if they are not destroyed, they cannot withstand mortar attacks. They will definitely not be able to continue to be used."
"The time is short, and we will definitely not be able to repair the Xiongxian city defenses to the state they were in before we launched the attack."
Huang Yu looked at several collapsed defense fortifications in succession and replied: "There is no need to restore it to its original state. We just need to repair some one-time temporary defense fortifications."
"The more, the better."
"The reinforcements of the little devils going south are supported by tanks and a heavy artillery brigade. No matter how strong the fortifications we repaired on top of the city are, they cannot withstand continuous heavy artillery strikes."
"So the top of the city is not the real battlefield for our decisive battle with the Japanese."
"Moreover……"
"If we hold on to the city wall, the reinforcements from the south will not be able to get in even though they try their best. Maybe they will stop attacking because they see no hope of conquering Xiong County."
"This is the outcome I least want to see."
"So our troops only need to resist for a while at the top of the city, consume some of the Japanese and puppet troops and then retreat into the city, allowing the Japanese and puppet troops to follow them into the county. Seeing that they have hope of taking over Xiong County, they will keep attacking.
We were dragged into Xiong County to buy time for the commander to mobilize troops to surround the Japanese and puppet troops heading south for reinforcements."
After saying that, he pointed to a gap that was blown open on the top of the city.
"For example, here..."
"You can use sandbags to build two heavy machine gun bunkers, and then use the blown-up stones and bricks from the city top as camouflage."
"When the Japanese and puppet troops were preparing for artillery fire and conducting exploratory attacks, the soldiers hid behind the city walls to avoid the artillery fire."
"After they actually enter the position, the troops will announce their entry and fight with the little devils."
"Like the temporary fortifications piled up with sandbags like what I just said, after repelling an attack by the Japanese and puppet troops, the troops immediately moved, leaving an empty position for the little devils to blow up."
"When the Japs first attacked, we used half of the temporarily repaired defenses."
"When the Japs attack for the second time, we will use the other half of the temporary fortifications."
"The Japanese army is preparing for artillery fire. In addition to hiding people at the permanent fire points on the top of the city, it prevents the Japanese and puppet troops from approaching the top of the city under the cover of artillery fire and catching us by surprise."
"The other troops all hid on the other side of the city to avoid the artillery fire."
…………
It's about four hours away from Xiong County on the road.
A mighty Japanese and puppet army was on its way overnight, marching towards Xiongxian County.
Major General Biancheng, the leader of the brigade, was sitting in the passenger seat of a car towing heavy artillery. Although he did not have to march on two legs like his subordinates, it saved a lot of effort.
But because the journey was too long and there was almost no rest in between, Major General Bian Cheng was still shaken and felt uncomfortable all over, as if all the bones in his body were about to fall apart.
A cavalryman suddenly caught up with the transport vehicle where Major General Biancheng was sitting and reported to him through the window: "General... the front army headquarters has just sent the latest enemy situation report about Xiong County."
"The heavy artillery units of the Eighth Route Army that attacked Xiong County have retreated dozens of kilometers away and are continuing to retreat towards their base areas."
"About two regiments of the Eighth Route Army carried more than a thousand wounded and continued to move to their base in the center of the wing. The march was very fast."
"The Eighth Route Army who stayed behind in Xiongxian County have not yet received ammunition replenishment. They are repairing various fortifications destroyed by them at the top of the city and inside the city, and using sandbags to build temporary defensive positions."
"According to reports from our intelligence personnel lurking in Xiong County, the total number of Eighth Route Army troops left behind in Xiong County is less than 3,000."
"Except for mortars and a small number of mountain artillery units, they are not equipped with other heavy weapons."
"The Eighth Route Army's tank troops participating in the siege have all withdrawn from the battlefield, because they are marching faster than the infantry and artillery, and will soon return to their base in the center of the wing."
The major general did not answer directly, but frowned and asked the hurried chief of staff: "Did I ask you to send out all the cavalry scouts?"
"The battle in Xiongxian is related to whether we can gain a foothold in the wing and open up the situation. It also has a huge impact on the morale and morale of the reinforcement troops going south, which is very important."
"We cannot rely on the intelligence department to rely entirely on our understanding of the battlefield and the enemy."
"After all, they are not real soldiers, and they do not see the problem as comprehensively as we do."
"Only by mastering the situation on the battlefield and understanding your opponent can you truly know yourself and your enemy and be victorious in every battle."
The chief of staff nodded immediately: "General, please rest assured..."
"I basically sent out all the soldiers who can ride horses in the reinforcements going south."
"Divided into six reconnaissance teams."
"Four of the reconnaissance teams conducted investigations around Xiongxian and determined that there was indeed no main force of the Eighth Route Army within ten kilometers of Xiongxian. At the same time, they conducted close-range reconnaissance on the Eighth Route Army left behind in Xiongxian to further investigate."
"The remaining two reconnaissance teams are conducting reconnaissance in two directions: the Eighth Route Army's Yizhong base area and Baoding County, to prevent the Eighth Route Army in the two places from sending troops to reinforce the battlefield when we attack Xiongxian and attack us from behind."
Major General Biancheng nodded, quickly glanced at the watch on his wrist, and then said: "Judging from the time, the investigation team should have almost reached Xiong County."
"The communications team will get in radio contact with them as soon as possible and report the real situation around Xiong County at any time."
"Our marching speed needs to be accelerated."
"The commander asked us to fight to Xiongxian before noon tomorrow, end the battle before dark, and capture Xiongxian."
"According to the current marching speed, although we can reach Xiong County on time, the troops will not have time to rest."
"Let everyone continue to speed up the march and try to save half an hour for rest."
"Recuperate enough mental and physical strength outside Xiongxian City before launching an attack."
