Chapter 306 Eight Ga! Do you think this is a victory?
"Why are the thunder cannons equipped by the New Second Regiment so powerful?" the guard captain suddenly interjected.
"The explosive package exploded in the air above us. Even if it didn't hit the city, the powerful shock wave would cause us huge casualties..."
After saying that, he stared at Colonel Yamamoto with a worried look on his face and asked: "They only caused forty or fifty casualties to us in just one round of shooting. If we continue to defend the city, and the Eighth Route Army continues to throw explosive packets at the city, it won't take ten rounds of shooting."
Blast us to death!"
"Sir, do you want the soldiers to retreat behind the city wall? As long as they don't stay on top of the city, the casualties caused by the explosive packs can be minimized!"
"We can't withdraw!" the squadron leader of the garrison in the east of the city retorted subconsciously.
After speaking, I realized that what I was objecting to was my immediate boss, and I immediately became hesitant, not knowing whether to continue speaking.
The guard captain became visibly humble after being scolded twice by Yamamoto, fearing that he would make some impulsive decisions that he would regret for the rest of his life.
When I saw the objections raised by my subordinates, my first reaction was that I had not considered something well. Not only did I not feel dissatisfied with the squadron leader, but I asked him expectantly: "How long have you been hesitating with me? If you have any ideas, feel free to do so."
Say, it doesn’t matter if you’re wrong…”
Only then did the squadron leader pluck up the courage to express his thoughts: "The Eighth Route Army is lying outside the city, and the nearest wall is less than a hundred meters away!"
"If we withdraw our troops into the city to avoid artillery fire, and they suddenly launch an attack, we will have no time to go up to the city wall to stop them!"
Upon hearing this, the garrison captain knew that what his subordinates said was very reasonable and could not find any reason to refute it, but the question he raised himself was also correct.
If the Eighth Route Army were allowed to continue to use thunder cannons to attack the garrison at the city head, at most ten rounds of explosive charges would blow them up to nothing.
The guard captain frowned and racked his brains to think of a way to break the situation, hoping to come up with a way to get the best of both worlds.
In the end, he found nothing. He could only look at Colonel Yamamoto with expectant eyes again, hoping that he could save everyone from danger.
Colonel Yamamoto was very entangled and embarrassed.
The worries of the two subordinates were very reasonable. No matter what choice he made, he couldn't get the best of both worlds, and he couldn't think of any other way to break the situation, so he had to resort to the next best thing.
"Withdraw half of the city defense troops behind the city wall to avoid artillery fire, and the remaining half of the troops continue to defend the city head!"
"Once there are less than 100 troops stationed at the city head, we will immediately transfer 50 people from the city to reinforce the city head to ensure that there are no less than 100 troops stationed at the city head!"
"This small amount of troops should be able to slow down the Eighth Route Army's assault speed, and hold on until the troops inside the city rush to the top of the city to join the battle!"
"Isn't this a fueling tactic?" Another question came to the mind of the defense captain.
Colonel Yamamoto was noncommittal: "This is indeed a refueling tactic, but it can allow the city defense troops to persist longer!"
"With fewer troops on top of the city, the limited troops can be further dispersed..."
"The explosive packets thrown by the Eighth Route Army on the top of the city will not be able to cause a lot of damage to us. We will be able to keep the water flowing smoothly and defend for a longer period of time!"
"It's settled, implement it immediately!"
"We will return to the headquarters immediately and send a telegram to all reinforcements!"
"The New Second Regiment used a large number of thunder cannons in the battle. The city defense garrison suffered heavy losses. Ping'an County cannot hold on for long. Please continue to speed up the march and reinforce us!"
"The city defense troops in other directions must also withdraw half of their forces into the city to avoid artillery fire!"
"If the city really can't be defended anymore, I agree with them to withdraw into the city and fight street battles with the New Second Regiment!"
"As long as the fighting in the city is not over, we will have the opportunity to attack from inside and outside with the cooperation of the reinforcements and annihilate the New Second Regiment in Ping'an County!"
On Tutu Temple, the puppet troops attacked the position. From dark on, he was so angry that the attacking troops kept swearing at him.
"It's down... Captain... the main attack force has taken down the second line of defense of the Earth Temple!" A cry of surprise suddenly reached Colonel Miyamoto's ears. He turned around and saw a captain under his command running towards him in a hurry.
Very happy to report on the side!
Colonel Miyamoto didn't think this was good news, and he was so angry that he glared at his subordinates and yelled: "There's nothing to be happy about!"
"After fighting for so long and losing so many troops, do you think this is a victory?"
"I think this is a complete loss!"
"The total number of Eighth Route Army troops defending the position is only about 200. We lost more than 400 people, which is equivalent to one Eighth Route Army having to kill two of us!"
"No, it should have been an Eighth Route Army soldier who killed three or four of us!"
"When the offensive troops captured the second blocking position, at least fifty Eighth Route Army troops evacuated the position!"
"It means that the position we just captured was abandoned by the Eighth Route Army on its own initiative, not conquered by them!"
"There were 3,500 people when we set out... Five to six hundred people were killed piecemeal by local troops of the Eighth Route Army along the way..."
"Another eight to nine hundred people were lost on the two lines of defense in front of the Tutu Temple, and the total force was reduced sharply to two thousand people!"
"If we break through their last line of defense and lose a few hundred more people, we won't have the troops to continue to reinforce Ping'an County!"
"Even if we take the remaining soldiers to Ping'an County, we won't have the troops to besiege the New Second Regiment!"
Another captain suddenly stood up and suggested: "Sir, now that we have no air support, it will definitely be more difficult than during the day, and there will be more casualties!"
"I suggest you suspend the attack..."
"Either wait until daybreak before launching an attack, or find a way to bypass the Tutu Temple to reinforce Ping'an County!"
"Anyway, we are not the only team supporting Ping'an County..."
"As long as Ping'an County can withstand the attack of the New Second Regiment and drag them outside the city... it won't be a big problem if we go a few hours late..."
Colonel Miyamoto did not answer immediately, but he was obviously moved by this proposal.
Just still a little hesitant.
He received an urgent message from Ping'an County more than two hours ago: The New Second Regiment had shown signs of withdrawing its troops.
If I arrive late and the New Second Regiment takes the opportunity to run away, the reinforcements will be empty outside Ping'an City...
The huge price the troops paid to get here will be in vain!
Just when he was hesitating, the operator appeared in his field of vision again.
"Sir, there is an urgent call from Ping'an County... urging us to speed up our march and strive to reach the outside of Ping'an City in the shortest possible time!"
"Did you tell me the reason?" Colonel Miyamoto asked directly.
"Ha Yi!" the operator nodded and replied: "The New Second Regiment suddenly dispatched a large number of flying thunder cannons to attack Ping'an County..."
"The city defense garrison suffered heavy losses, and Colonel Yamamoto is ready for street fighting with the New Second Regiment!"
"We are required to go to Ping'an County immediately to rescue them. Otherwise, once the county is broken, it will be too late!"
"Nani? How could the battle situation change so quickly!" Colonel Miyamoto felt as if he had heard a big joke, and said with a look of disbelief on his face.
"Two hours ago, the Ping'an garrison swore that they were 100% sure of keeping Ping An. They were worried that the Eighth Route Army would not be able to attack for a long time and took the opportunity to slip away... For this reason, they deliberately let go during the defensive battle..."
"It's only been so long...Ping'an County has actually fallen into crisis..."
"Where did the city defense troops' confidence in defending Ping'an County go? Can anyone give me an explanation?"
The captain who just proposed to suspend the attack stood up again: "Captain, the Eighth Route Army attacking Ping'an County should be showing weakness!"
"During the day, it is more conducive for the Ping An garrison to defend the city. The Ping An garrison can also call for air support at any time to destroy the heavy siege weapons of the New Second Regiment!"
"By showing weakness, the Ping'an garrison will have the idea of underestimating the enemy!"
"We can't call for air support after dark, so the New Second Regiment can gather all the heavy siege weapons to catch the Ping An garrison off guard and hit them hard!"
"Eighty percent of it is like this..." Colonel Miyamoto's mind was spinning rapidly, and his subordinates figured out the reason after explaining.
Then he turned his attention again to the third line of defense that the Tutu Temple had not conquered: "Ping'an County is in danger. We definitely don't have time to wait until dawn before launching an attack, and we don't have time to take a detour to avoid the Tutu Temple!"
"Inform the troops to continue the attack, use the fiercest artillery fire, capture the third line of defense of Tutu Temple as quickly as possible, and continue to reinforce Ping'an County.
When Colonel Miyamoto gave the order to attack, Huang Yu, one kilometer away, was also arranging defense troops.
There are still 2,000 Japanese and puppet troops left, and the cavalry company is still under great pressure to launch an assault. It is very likely that the success will fall short...
Huang Yu decided to use the third line of defense to kill hundreds more Japanese and puppet troops. When both sides were fighting in full swing and all the Japanese and puppet troops were staring at the battlefield, he ordered the cavalry to attack.
Unexpectedly, he went straight to the artillery positions of the Japanese and puppet troops...
By seizing the artillery position, the assault battalion and cavalry company can take the opportunity to launch a counterattack, expand the results, and defeat the Miyamoto regiment.
"Now the Japanese have no air support... Although large-caliber mortars can destroy anti-gun holes, the number of artillery is limited and their accuracy is not that high..." looked at the analysis of Wang Minghua, commander of the third company.
"You kid has a quick mind and is flexible in fighting..."
"After the attack begins, be sure to use the remaining six bunkers to repel the two Japanese attacks..."
"After the Japanese and puppet troops start their third attack, I will have the cavalry company raid their artillery positions and knock out the Japanese's only heavy weapons!"
"The remaining troops of the assault battalion will also participate in the battle at the same time, and join forces with you to launch a counterattack against the Japanese and puppet attacking forces..."
During the afternoon battle, Wang Minghua stayed at the headquarters to watch the battle. He had already figured out the Japanese and puppet attack methods clearly, and thought of countermeasures based on the third line of defense.
As soon as Huang Yu finished speaking, he vowed: "Don't worry, battalion commander..."
"Little devils are not made of iron..."
"I plan to put the six bunkers into use in three batches... and use grenades to massacre the Japanese and puppet attacking troops at close range!"
"If they don't retreat, I will send troops to launch a counterattack!"
"I borrowed the submachine guns and box cannons from the No. 1 and No. 2 companies to the No. 3 company. Forty or fifty submachine guns and box cannons were used to shoot together... I can definitely blind the attacking troops and eliminate them in front of the position.
