At the Japanese military headquarters in Taiyuan, the chief of staff is reporting the latest intelligence from the observation post to Yoshio Shinozuka.
"Your Excellency, Commander, there is no movement from the Eighth Route Army that is blocking the inner city... There is no transfer or division of troops!"
"The Taiyuan Arsenal has been emptied by the Eighth Route Army, and no more cars are leaving..."
"But a large number of arsenal workers and their families gathered at the arsenal...it seems they are going to evacuate Taiyuan with the Eighth Route Army!"
"The Eighth Route Army really dares to think about it!" Yoshio Shinozuka said in a bad tone.
"Steal all the equipment and workers in the arsenal at once... As long as there are raw materials... the independent regiment can set up the arsenal when they return to the base... What a plan!"
"But it's destined to be a sweet dream."
"When the independent regiment is blocked by the returning reinforcements, we can snatch back all the military equipment and capture those workers!"
The chief of staff also flashed a smile, obviously very confident in the commander's arrangement.
"Report to Commander, Kishitani Nakasa's emergency call!" A communications staff officer suddenly ran towards Shinozuka Yoshio with a very anxious expression.
"They were attacked by the main force of the independent group, which was equipped with at least thirty mortars..."
"The mortar squadron and mountain artillery squadron under Kishitani Battalion have been completely destroyed, and the infantry has also suffered heavy casualties... Please set out immediately to outflank the troops, march quickly to reinforce them, attack the independent regiment's rear, and reduce their blocking pressure!"
Yoshio Shinozuka walked quickly to the sand table and asked with disbelief: "How is this possible!"
"The main force of the independent regiment is clearly still in the outer city of Taiyuan. How could it be possible that it suddenly ran more than 20 kilometers away to attack the Kishitani brigade..."
"Maybe they can't fly if they have wings!"
The chief of staff quickly read the telegram handed over by the communications staff. After confirming that there was no problem, he quickly walked to Yoshio Shinozuka: "Commander... there is no problem with the telegram. It is indeed an urgent telegram from Lieutenant Colonel Kishitani!"
"That is to say, the main force of the independent regiment has really arrived at Zhujiapo, which is being defended by the Kishitani brigade... The independent regiment remaining in the outer city of Taiyuan is just a virtual force!" Shinozuka Yoshio's face instantly darkened, and he stared at the sand table and asked.
The chief of staff saw that the commander was on the verge of getting angry and might explode at any time. He hesitated for a while before he answered bravely: "That's probably true!"
"The independent regiment was afraid that we would follow and pursue them, so they could not concentrate their forces to attack Kishitani's brigade. They deliberately left a small force behind to pretend to be the main force, surrounded the inner city, and deceived us!"
Yoshio Shinozuka said nothing, but he already agreed with the chief of staff's analysis.
First he punched the table, and then ordered: "Contact the outflanking troops immediately...March quickly to reinforce the Kishitani Brigade..."
"The speed must be fast, and we must dare to rush to the battlefield before the Zhujiapo defense line is breached, flank the independent regiment, and cooperate with Kishitani Brigade to encircle the independent regiment."
"Even if I can't annihilate all the independent regiments, I will still severely defeat them in Zhujiapo!"
"After saying that, he turned his attention to the next captain under his command: "Mr. Zhongchuan, immediately gather half of the brigade to rush out of the inner city of Taiyuan, raid the workers and their families who are evacuating Taiyuan, and drive them back to me!"
"The Eighth Route Army wants to acquire the necessary equipment and workers to set up an arsenal in one operation. Let's cut off one of their legs first!"
Major Nakagawa was afraid that the cooked duck would fly from his mouth, so before Yoshio Shinozuka could finish speaking, he loudly accepted the order: "Please rest assured, Commander, I will definitely honor my humble position!"
After saying that, he ran out of the war room.
Yoshio Shinozuka then followed, giving orders as he walked: "Everyone follow me to the top of the city!"
"I want to see with my own eyes Mr. Zhongchuan regain the outer city of Taiyuan and drive back all the workers and people who want to follow the Eighth Route Army!"
Huang Yu was lying on the roof of a restaurant, holding a telescope to observe the city head of the inner city.
"Company commander, there's something going on with the little Japs on top of the city!" Zhong Chengjun on the side suddenly reminded.
"They are mobilizing troops!" Huang Yu looked in the direction of Zhong Chengjun's finger and shouted expectantly.
"You should already know the news that the regiment leader is attacking Zhujiapo!"
"Inform the troops to prepare for battle..."
"The outflanking troops must be well concealed. No one can expose the target in advance before receiving the counterattack signal."
"The artillery unit aims at the pre-fire target... after receiving the order to fire, each gun fires ten rounds rapidly, and uses the fastest speed to drive out the shells and defeat the Japanese!"
"The enemy troops will act according to the plan...the Japanese will retreat after leaving the city with a little resistance!"
As soon as Yoshio Shinozuka climbed to the top of the inner city, the counterattack force led by Major Nakagawa began to attack the outer city.
More than five hundred Japanese soldiers were targeted for battle. They rushed out of the inner city and headed towards the independent regiment's blockade.
"Da da da... bang bang bang..."
There was only a crooked handle and more than a dozen rifles firing. The negligible blocking fire only killed three or four soldiers, and then they were suppressed by the heavy machine gun fire on the top of the city. The counterattack troops took the opportunity to kill towards the street entrance at a very fast speed...
This scene made Yoshio Shinozuka more certain that there was no main force of the independent group in the outer city.
Order without hesitation: "Let the counterattack force speed up the assault..."
"There is no main force of the Independent Regiment in the outer city. Use your best speed to block back those workers and people who want to run away!"
"Kill me..."
He led an infantry squad to kill more and more fiercely. In less than a minute, they broke through the independent regiment's blockade and entered the street.
From a distance, I saw a dozen Eighth Route Army troops retreating in panic with their guns on their shoulders.
The little devil became more confident and pursued him without hesitation with his gun in hand.
Not to be outdone, the other little devils swarmed into the street.
Major Nakagawa was very cautious. Although the commander had concluded that there was no main force of the Eighth Route Army in the outer city, he still arranged for two infantry squads to cover the attack on both wings of the main force.
The only problem is that they need to climb over the wall to advance, which is much slower than the main force.
The main force had already advanced three hundred meters along the street, and they had just advanced a hundred meters. They were still more than a hundred meters away from the courtyard where the assault company was lurking...
According to their current assault speed, it should be impossible for the assault company to be exposed before Huang Yu launches a counterattack!
Directly in front of the main Japanese attack force, two armored vehicles were blocking the street side by side.
The street in front of them, the street where the Japanese were attacking... had been cleared by the assault company, and there was not a single bunker or obstacle...
As long as the armored vehicle takes action, it can sweep across the entire street in two or three minutes!
The artillery company's nine mortars were already aimed at the street where the Japanese troops were attacking.
A heavy machine gun company with nine heavy machine guns is hidden in the houses on both sides of the street. Once the counterattack begins, they will rush into the yards on both sides of the street and attack the Japanese counterattack troops from the flanks!
The guard nearby immediately fired a red flare into the sky.
"Turn on the lights, fire all machine guns...kill..." the armored platoon leader saw the red flare and got into the armored vehicle to give the order.
Four beams of car lights immediately illuminated the street ahead, and the figure of the Japanese was clearly displayed in front of the armored vehicle.
"Da da da...dong dong dong..."
The truck-mounted heavy machine guns fired at the same time, and a total of six tongues of flames instantly intertwined a fire net on the street. The dense bullets were like rain, flying towards the Japanese.
Rushing towards the first few dozen Japanese soldiers was like running into an iron wall. They could no longer move forward and were swept to the ground one by one...
"Armored vehicles...there are armored vehicles blocking the road ahead, hide quickly..." a squad leader shouted with fear on his face.
Before the hidden word was spoken, a bullet hit the center of the mouth. His eyes immediately widened. Driven by the huge inertia brought by the bullet, he fell to the ground on his back...
"Hurry and take cover...there are armored vehicles blocking the road ahead..." A squadron leader behind realized something was wrong, and while giving the order, he ran to the yards on both sides of the street, trying to hide in the yards!
Before he could even take two steps, an explosion of "rumbling..." sounded in his ears.
The powerful shock wave instantly blew him down. Two shell fragments penetrated his body at the same time, and there was no movement when he landed on the ground...
The nine shells hit the street neatly, as if lined up.
The street was unobstructed, with no obstacles or bunkers. The rain of flying fragments swept across everything. The Japanese had no way to hide, and a large area was blown down in an instant...
"Rumble..."
The first round of artillery fire has just ended, and the second round of artillery shells has already followed...
On the inner city tower, Yoshio Shinozuka was very happy to see the counterattack troops rushing forward more than 300 meters in an instant.
Just when he thought victory was within grasp, two armored vehicles appeared, and the counterattack force was instantly blocked, unable to move forward any further.
The chief of staff's reaction was even more exaggerated. His eyes quickly widened and he shouted with a look of horror: "Your Excellency, Commander, we have been fooled!"
"The armored vehicle is the treasure of the independent regiment, and it will definitely not stay behind to take the rearguard position!"
"There must be the main force of the independent regiment in the outer city. They pretended to attack the Kishitani brigade, making us mistakenly think that there are no troops in the outer city, and took the opportunity to set up an ambush to attack our counterattack force!"
"Shut up!" Yoshio Shinozuka scolded him with a stern face. He still insisted on his original judgment and would not change his mind just because of the appearance of two armored vehicles.
But this persistence soon turned into hesitation.
The counterattack force was hit by nine mortars at the same time.
On the bare streets, the counterattack troops were like lambs waiting to be slaughtered, killed and wounded one by one!
In order to prevent the garrison in the inner city from chasing them, the independent regiment is likely to leave two armored vehicles behind to paralyze everyone.
Although two armored vehicles are very important, they are not as dangerous as the dozens of vehicles of equipment in the arsenal.
Now nine more mortars were added, killing more than a hundred soldiers of the counterattack force in an instant. It seems that the Eighth Route Army remaining in the outer city of Taiyuan is the main force, not a phantom force as everyone judged.
At this moment, another discovery made by the chief of staff completely overturned Yoshio Shinozuka's previous judgment.
"Your Excellency, Commander... There are Eighth Route Army troops in the houses on both sides of the street, carrying a large number of heavy machine guns... They want to surround the counterattack troops on the street!"
"Your Excellency, Commander, there is an Eighth Route Army that is outflanking the counterattack force..."
"The Eighth Route Army has too much appetite. They want to annihilate all our counterattack troops..."
"We must let them withdraw as soon as possible, otherwise they will not be able to withdraw!"
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
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