The harsh sound of crossfire soon sounded in front of the attacking troops, mixed with the sound of several explosions of artillery shells, which were all fired by tanks during the pursuit.
"General, the tank troops are already at war with the Eighth Route Army's rear troops..." A messenger rushed to the brigade commander and reported excitedly.
"I saw it..." The brigade commander was very happy and ordered with a smile on his face: "Let the tank squadron deploy immediately..."
"Infantry cover, immediately defeat the Eighth Route Army's rear troops, and then launch an attack on their heavy artillery units. The faster the better..."
Lieutenant General Nagata sent a total of 38 tanks and armored vehicles to Gu'an County.
Originally, 48 tanks and armored vehicles were stationed in the city.
But tonight's artillery attack came too suddenly. The remaining ten tanks were either destroyed by heavy artillery shells, buried in the ruins, or trapped in the city, unable to join the battle immediately.
When attacking the blocking position on the Great North Slope, the tank force lost 11 tanks and armored vehicles, leaving 27 remaining.
After the reinforced regiments that attacked the other two heavy artillery regiments of the Eighth Route Army took away nine armored fighting vehicles each, there were only nine fighting vehicles left here.
But the brigade commander was not worried at all. On the contrary, the brigade was full of confidence in the upcoming battle.
The intelligence made it very clear that the Eighth Route Army Heavy Artillery Regiment in front of them only had one battalion of guard troops left. Nine tanks may not seem like many, but with the cooperation of the infantry, they can definitely be pushed across them easily.
"Rumble..."
With a huge roar, nine tanks rushed towards the rear of the Eighth Route Army, intending to completely crush them in one attack.
A dense crowd of Japs followed closely behind them, shooting and killing the Eighth Route Army soldiers that the tank troops had not killed.
An expected battle scene soon appeared in front of the brigade commander.
The more than one hundred Eighth Route Army troops responsible for the rear were no match for tanks.
As soon as the nine tanks were dispatched, they retreated hastily, being chased and beaten by the tank troops, and quickly moved towards the heavy artillery regiment.
"Yo Xi... No matter how strong the Eighth Route Army's fighting power is, it will be defeated by the chariot troops..." The brigade commander became more and more excited as he looked at it, as if victory was already within his grasp, he directly ordered with clenched fists.
"Tell the tank troops and offensive troops..."
"Hold tightly behind the Eighth Route Army's rear troops, take advantage of the situation and attack their artillery units, and strive to capture them in one battle..."
"Rumble..."
Nine tanks and armored vehicles lined up in a row, clinging to the rear of the Eighth Route Army, and were about to catch up with them.
More than ten groups of fire suddenly appeared in a bush directly in front, and violent explosions sounded on the battlefield at the same time.
Then I saw nine armored fighting vehicles being hit hard.
Five of the tanks were directly hit by sudden artillery shells and were instantly blown into a pile of scrap metal.
Two tanks had their tracks knocked off. They seemed not to have suffered any damage, but they were unable to move forward. Only two tanks were left intact and were not hit by artillery shells.
But he was startled by the sudden interception of artillery fire in front of him, and he quickly turned around and ran away.
"Boom boom boom..."
As a result, they turned around and ran less than twenty meters. The dull sound of artillery sounded behind them, and then the tank flew up in the explosion down the slope...
The brigade commander was stunned. He didn't react from the shock until all nine tanks were destroyed. Then he shouted to the troops beside him: "Bageya Road, we have been fooled..."
"There is an ambush of the Eighth Route Army ahead...the attacking troops must withdraw quickly..."
"The reconnaissance troops immediately dispersed and searched to find out how many Eighth Route Army troops were around us..."
"Didn't you say that the heavy artillery regiment only has one battalion of guard troops? Then where did the more than ten anti-tank artillery pieces come from... boom boom boom..."
Before the brigade commander could finish his order, a series of dense and violent explosions suddenly interrupted him, and the guard's reminder sounded in his ears at the same time.
"General, lie down quickly..."
Before the brigade leader could react, a guard rushed towards him from behind and instantly threw him to the ground.
"Rumble..."
A close explosion sounded in his ears at the same time, making his ears buzz.
"Sir..." the guard captain's report quickly reached the brigade commander's ears.
"It's a mortar. We were attacked by a large number of mortars, at least a hundred in number..."
The brigade leader quickly raised his head and looked around. He didn't know what to look around, but he was startled when he saw it.
The attacking troops had been reduced to a mess in the explosion, and fireballs were constantly rising from the ground around them. In the splashing firelight, he could clearly see the tragic scene of his men being blown away.
"Rumble..."
Before the brigade commander could react from the shock, the roar of the chariot reached his ears again.
The sound came from a few hundred meters away. The brigade commander subconsciously looked where he was looking and analyzed: "Weren't all the tank troops bombed by the Eighth Route Army's anti-tank guns? Why is there still a roar..."
After saying that, his eyes widened.
More than 20 armored fighting vehicles suddenly emerged from the bushes where more than a dozen anti-tank guns were hidden.
Turning on the car lights, they formed a battle formation and launched a counterattack against the attacking troops under their command. Behind each tank vehicle was followed by about a platoon of Eighth Route Army soldiers, holding light machine guns and holding rifles. They just followed behind the tank vehicle to protect the safety of the tanks.
.
The regiment commander lying next to the brigade commander was also frightened and shouted out loud: "The tank belongs to the Eighth Route Army..."
"General...where did the Eighth Route Army come from with so many tanks..."
"What do they want?"
"What do you think they want to do..." the brigade leader asked angrily.
"First use anti-tank artillery to kill our tank troops, and then dispatch the tank troops to launch a counterattack against our infantry."
"In order to speed up the assault, in addition to tanks, we only brought mortars and heavy machine guns, which will definitely not be able to stop the tanks from attacking."
"Once these tanks rush into our ranks, no matter how many troops we have, they won't be enough to kill them..."
"Retreat...the entire army retreats..."
"The Eighth Route Army's heavy artillery regiment attacked Gu'an County not to kill us in Gu'an City, but to force us out of the county and use tank troops and artillery units to sweep us across the field battlefield, killing and injuring a large number of our troops."
"We don't carry anti-tank weapons. Going head-to-head with their tank troops is like throwing an egg against a rock, and you're courting death."
"Only by retreating and getting rid of the chariot pursuit can everyone have a chance to survive..."
"Quickly retreat..."
The only hope to save the attacking troops during the retreat was that although the soldiers' legs could not outrun the tracks and wheels of the armored fighting vehicle, it was still better than launching a suicide attack and seeking death.
Although many people will be overtaken by tanks during the retreat and die on the way back, there will also be a large number of troops who will escape pursuit and leave the battlefield.
