The scream of artillery shells streaking across the sky reached the ears of the Japanese chief of staff again, and the sound became louder and louder.
The last time he heard this sound was when the chariot troops were severely damaged. He still remembered it freshly. It felt like he had been bitten by a snake once and was afraid of the rope for ten years.
Leng Buding heard it again, and his first subconscious reaction was that another unit under his command was targeted by the Eighth Route Army artillery.
As a result, before he could react, more than ten orange-red fireballs shot up from among the attacking troops, and violent explosions spread across the battlefield.
The chief of staff was so frightened that he almost fell to the ground.
It was not because he was afraid of the Eighth Route Army artillery, but because he was worried that he would not be able to fulfill the fatal orders given by the division commander.
There was only one infantry brigade under his command, two squadrons outflanked him, and two squadrons attacked him head-on.
Now the main attack force from the front was attacked by more than a dozen mountain field artillery pieces. Just one artillery raid cost them half of their squad. If the Eighth Route Artillery fired a few more rounds, they would definitely lose their combat effectiveness.
If an accident occurs to the frontal offensive force, it is impossible for the two squadrons to defeat the two battalions of the Eighth Route Army in front just by outflanking them.
Therefore, he was unable to complete the task of annihilating the enemy assigned to him by the division commander.
As he was stunned, a second round of more than ten shells roared in again.
Fire splashed and gunpowder smoke filled the air... In the blink of an eye, dozens more soldiers were killed and wounded, losing their combat effectiveness.
"Chief of Staff... The Eighth Route Army has artillery support. The attacking troops are definitely no match. If we continue to fight, we will die. If we retreat now, we will save a few lives... Withdraw..." The captain next to him said with a heartbroken face.
How could the chief of staff not know this truth?
But he could not give the order to retreat.
The troops were lucky enough to block the two battalions of the Eighth Route Army by using the regiment headquarters as bait. Once the attacking troops chose to retreat, the two battalions of the Eighth Route Army would definitely take the opportunity to escape, and it would be difficult to block them again.
The attack was launched under the attack of more than a dozen mountain field artillery pieces. Although the losses of the attacking troops were heavy, there was at least a chance to kill two battalions of the Eighth Route Army.
Besides, the two infantry squadrons responsible for outflanking were not vegetarians either.
As long as they launch attacks at the same time and exchange fire with the Eighth Route Army, the combat pressure on the frontal offensive troops will naturally decrease, and they can take the opportunity to rush into the headquarters and eliminate the two battalions of the Eighth Route Army.
A quick decision came to his mind: "This enemy poses too great a threat to us..."
"Even if the entire pursuit and annihilation force is wiped out, we must kill them. Only in this way will the division commander not have to worry about his own back and can concentrate all his troops and equipment to defend the second line of defense and hold on for a longer period of time."
"The troops continue to storm the division headquarters."
The captain wanted to refuse.
The attacking troops were all the elite Kwantung Army trained by him, and they had very strong combat effectiveness.
Under normal circumstances, it is no problem for one soldier to fight against three or four Chinese soldiers.
Now he died under the artillery fire of the Eighth Route Army, without even a chance to hold his back. It was really frustrating.
However, military orders cannot be violated. He drew out his command knife and said cruelly: "I will go to the battlefield to supervise the battle in person. I will definitely rush into the headquarters and annihilate the Eighth Route Army there."
After finishing speaking, he angrily rushed towards the battlefield without waiting for the chief of staff to speak.
The roaring rain of shells would not stop just because the Japanese captain joined the battle. The third round of rain of shells once again claimed the lives of thirty or forty Japanese soldiers.
The attacking force of nearly 400 men lost about a hundred men before even engaging the Eighth Route Army. Even the chief of staff who ruthlessly ordered the troops to continue the offensive could not help but feel heartbroken.
"Sir, the troops have rushed forward, the Eighth Route Army's artillery fire has stopped..." the observation post suddenly became very excited and shouted with excitement on his face.
"Yo Xi..." The chief of staff immediately showed a pleased expression and ordered with bright eyes as he looked at the battlefield.
"It's our turn to dominate the battlefield next."
"As long as the attacking troops successfully enter the headquarters, with the soldiers' bayonet-fighting abilities, the final victory will definitely belong to us."
As he talked, the chief of staff became fascinated, as if he saw a large scene of the Eighth Route Army being stabbed to death with bayonets.
The corners of his mouth were slightly raised, and he was in a very good mood.
"Dongdongdong..."
The sudden sound of heavy machine gun fire instantly shattered his dream.
Six heavy machine gun flames suddenly burst out from the smoke-filled headquarters, and thick bullets flew towards the attacking troops in a fan shape. As long as any soldiers were touched, they would be killed or injured.
There were also many bullets that penetrated the body of the soldier in front and then continued to fly backwards and penetrated the body of the second soldier, like a skewer of candied haws on a stick. One bullet killed two people.
The chief of staff became anxious again: "Bageya Road, didn't you say that the two battalions of the Eighth Route Army are not equipped with heavy weapons? What are these heavy machine guns that are firing?"
"Eighty percent of it was captured by them at the division headquarters..." a staff officer replied.
"The guard brigade has arranged eight machine gun positions around the division headquarters, equipped with eight heavy machine guns and 16 light machine guns."
"The Eighth Route Army relied on a surprise attack to capture the headquarters, and the defenders probably did not have time to destroy the heavy equipment."
The chief of staff became even more angry after hearing this.
Unexpectedly, as the battle raged on, he would become the Eighth Route Army's helper who could run rampant on the battlefield.
Heading towards the mortar position not far away, he shouted an order: "Let the artillery counterattack immediately, destroy all the heavy machine gun fire points in the enemy's hands, blast an attack channel for the attacking troops, and cover them to advance into the division headquarters."
"Hurry up..."
"There are not many people left in the offensive force, and we must not suffer any more heavy losses."
"Otherwise, even if they rush into the headquarters, they won't have the strength to destroy the Eighth Route Army there."
The Japanese artillery was very powerful. In less than a minute, three of the six heavy machine guns were covered by artillery fire and misfired on the spot.
When the chief of staff was about to breathe a sigh of relief again, forty or fifty machine gun flames suddenly appeared around the division command.
The flame tongues fired by them are slightly shorter and thinner than those fired by heavy machine guns, but because of their large number, the bullets fired are at least five times more than those fired by heavy machine guns.
It was densely packed, like a net, instantly covering the remaining soldiers of the attacking force.
The chief of staff was stunned, and nearly a hundred of the attacking troops had fallen.
All the surviving soldiers lay on the ground, their heads pressed against the ground, bullets flying against their scalps, not even daring to raise their heads.
Only then did the chief of staff react from the shock.
He took a deep breath and said with despair: "How is this possible?"
"Our opponent only has two battalions of the Eighth Route Army. How could they be equipped with so many light machine guns..."
"There are more than our two brigades. Their firepower and terrain advantages are also on their side. How can we fight this battle?"
