"The 24th Regiment, the 23rd Regiment, the 22nd Regiment, the 26th Regiment, and the Shunping Garrison Regiment set out immediately, and immediately entered the predetermined combat position in company units, surrounded and attacked the Kwantung Army's middle road to sweep away the troops.
Blocked around Chenjiazhuang."
"The artillery unit is on standby to launch the first general attack on the Japanese army after dark."
"Strive to wipe out all the little Japs outside the village in one night."... The Japanese army attacked the position, and more than a thousand little Japs marched towards Chenjiazhuang.
Lieutenant General Sakuragi has been following their figures, hoping that they can win the battle and completely capture Chenjiazhuang.
"Division Commander...the offensive force has captured the outer defense line of Chenjiazhuang without any attacks..." The division chief of staff reported to Lieutenant General Sakuragi as soon as he saw the safety signal sent back by the attacking force.
"Reporting to the division commander..." The communications staff officer ran towards him.
"Aviation report: No signs of Eighth Route Army activity were found in the first and second line positions in Chenjiazhuang."
"There is a small amount of Eighth Route Army activity in the third line trenches, and they are not equipped with heavy weapons." After hearing this, Lieutenant General Sakuragi began to give orders: "The offensive troops should speed up, seize the first and second line positions in the shortest time, and storm the third line of defense."
"Taking advantage of the lack of troops in the Eighth Route Army, we pursued the victory and captured Chenjiazhuang in one fell swoop." Just five minutes after the time passed, the chief of staff of the division shouted excitedly: "We have captured it..."
"Division commander, the offensive troops successfully occupied the second line of defense of the Eighth Route Army."
"There was no attack. The reconnaissance telegrams sent by the aviation force are all true."
"Da da da..." After another five minutes, sporadic gunshots finally came from the battlefield. Lieutenant General Sakuragi watched and analyzed: "The offensive troops are at war with the Eighth Route Army defending the third line of defense."
"Judging from the sound of gunfire: there is at most one company left of the Eighth Route Army there..."
"No, it should be half a company, a group of light infantry without heavy machine guns or mortars."
"The attacking force with this small force can be easily wiped out."
"We will definitely win..." At this point, Lieutenant General Sakuragi put down the telescope for a rare moment, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, and his eyes full of longing, as if he had already seen victory before waving to him.
"It's over..." The exclamation from the Chief of Staff reached Lieutenant General Sakuragi's ears again.
"Division commander, the offensive troops successfully broke through the third line of defense of the Eighth Route Army."
"The forward commando has entered Chenjiazhuang, and the follow-up troops are following up. We have won..." In fact, Lieutenant General Sakuragi knew that the attacking troops had won without the chief of staff reminding him.
The firefight that occurred on the third line of defense only lasted for two or three minutes before it began to weaken. The offensive force had a reinforced group and could not be killed in two or three minutes.
The offensive firepower suddenly weakened, and the only possibility was that the Eighth Route Army would be wiped out. Lieutenant General Sakuragi immediately ordered: "The troops will assemble immediately and prepare to enter Chenjiazhuang..."
"Remind the attacking troops to be on alert."
"The tunnel warfare response manual given to us by the commander said that there is a kind of Eighth Route Army that particularly likes to use tunnels to fight street battles with us."
"If the Chenjiazhuang garrison has not been completely wiped out, they will definitely hide in the village and prepare to sneak attack us."
"The offensive force must find all these remnants, gather them together and destroy them, and at the same time control all the tunnel fortifications in Chenjiazhuang."
"The Eighth Route Army can use tunnels to defend Chenjiazhuang and block tens of thousands of Kwantung Army elites."
"We can also retaliate in kind by using tunnels to block the Eighth Route Army's access to the mountains and annihilate them in Chenjiazhuang." After a while, the sound of messy exchanges of fire rang out in Chenjiazhuang.
Lieutenant General Sakuragi said with certainty: "The remnants of the Eighth Route Army will definitely use the tunnels to engage in street fighting with the attacking troops."
"Tell them that there are not many Eighth Route Army troops left. We must eliminate every one we find and we will not give them a chance to get back into the tunnel as long as they show up."......
"Click, click, click..." A string of machine gun bullets suddenly flew out from the shooting hole on the courtyard wall, whizzing away in a fan shape towards the three Japs.
Screams suddenly sounded, and none of the three Japanese soldiers were spared. They all fell on the attack path.
"Baga, the enemy is behind the courtyard wall..." The Japanese squadron leader behind reacted immediately.
"The first team will engage in frontal fire suppression, and the second and third teams will circle around and outflank the opponent, making sure to eliminate the opponent." The more than a hundred Japanese who gathered together quickly divided into three troops, forming a battle formation and heading towards the target.
"Boom, boom, boom..." Several explosions suddenly sounded in the middle of the outflanking troops. Seven or eight Japanese soldiers fell to the ground in various postures. Some had their legs and feet broken by the bombing and were lying on the ground screaming.
Someone was killed on the spot, motionless, and the air was filled with the thick smell of blood and gunpowder smoke.
"Watch your steps, be careful of mines, continue to outflank..." the team leader commanded with suppressed anger. He stared at the surroundings with a pair of big eyes, cautiously.
Holding a command knife in one hand and a tortoise box pistol in the other, he was ready to pull the trigger on a suspicious target at any time.
"Da da da..." The familiar sound of machine gun fire suddenly sounded more than 20 meters away from the squad leader.
Bullets flew over in a flurry, and because Shen Cheng was so close, the bullets pierced his body when he heard the gunfire, and he had no time to react.
"Enemy attack..." Commander Cao beside him said in a voiceless voice. He led eight or nine soldiers under his command and launched a counterattack while rushing towards the machine gunner.
"Bah, bang, bang..." Several rifle shots suddenly sounded from another location. A bloody hole was instantly punched out of Cao Chang's chest, and he fell to the ground face to face.
Two other riflemen were also hit together. The sudden cold shots frightened the other little Japs, and they quickly fell down.
And it was through this stunned effort that the machine gunners who had just raided them took the opportunity to return to the tunnel and escape the Japanese's retaliatory attack.
"Boom boom..." Two more grenades flew out of nowhere and hit the Japs at their feet.
The violent explosion blew him away in an instant, and his entire lower body was blown away. When the outflanking troops tried their best to reach the yard where the machine gunner was, except for a pile of bullet casings, no enemy was found.
However, the outflanking troops were killed and injured nearly twenty people on the road. The squadron leader was so angry that he almost vomited blood, but in the end he held it back, clenched his fists, and ordered through gritted teeth: "Keep moving forward..."
"When we find a target, we first shoot it with machine guns, then blow it up with grenades, and finally send out infantry..." The Japanese captain led a squadron along the main road of the village. The view here is the widest, not suitable for street fighting, and there are relatively few attacks.
We advanced for more than 100 meters before losing more than 20 men. Chenjiazhuang was not big, and the entire main road was only more than 300 meters long.
According to this attack rhythm, Chenjiazhuang could be broken through with the loss of at most one infantry squad. Little did he know that other troops under his command were struggling painfully in the village, and a large number of soldiers were killed and injured every minute.
"Captain..." A squadron commander couldn't bear it anymore and decided to send a messenger to report the situation.
"The Eighth Route Army in the village is very cunning. They hide at the entrances and exits of tunnels and fight with us in street battles."
"The enemy is in the dark and we are in the light. If they attack, they will turn around. Even if we want to fight back, we can't find an opponent."
"The troops suffered heavy casualties, requesting artillery support..."
"Raze the houses in the village to the ground first and then attack..."
