More than thirty Japanese soldiers from two combat detachments immediately broke away from the team, formed a combat formation to take over from the machine gunners, and continued to attack forward.
Some Japanese soldiers shot with 38-meter caps, some Japanese soldiers threw grenades, and they quickly advanced thirty or forty meters.
"Da da da... bang bang bang..."
Just when these little devils were about to break through the battlefield and break out of the encirclement.
The reconnaissance company and the baggage company suddenly rushed to the battlefield from the flank and stood in front of the Japanese army.
The sudden fire attack killed nearly ten little Japs at the same time.
"The reconnaissance company and the baggage company arrived very timely. The Japanese breakout force was finally blocked by us, otherwise I would definitely regret it to death." Li Zhichang said with a sigh of relief.
Holding the gun in both hands, he quickly stood up from the ground, bent down, and rushed towards Lieutenant General Sakuragi.
He still doesn't know the specific identity of Lieutenant General Sakuragi, but to be protected by so many Kwantung Army, his military rank must be high.
Before, he was surrounded by a full infantry squad, and there was only one guard squad beside him. If he rushed over, he would definitely not be an opponent. Maybe he would be paired with his wife and then withdraw his troops, and he would be included.
Now there is only one combat unit left around him. Although the guard squad around him has also suffered several casualties, there are all members of the 26th Regiment nearby. He can call many people over to help just by shouting.
To catch the thief first, he decided to catch the big fish he was eyeing, and then deal with the other small fish and shrimps.
When they were still more than twenty meters away from the target, several guards protecting Lieutenant General Sakuragi finally realized the danger, raised their 38 caps and opened fire on them.
Li Zhiping held the San Ba Gai in his hand and fired at the same time.
Bullets were fired from both sides, and several people were quickly injured or killed.
The Japanese troops were limited. Once a guard died, a gap was created in the encirclement surrounding Lieutenant General Sakuragi.
Although several soldiers around Li Zhi also died, the gunshots also alerted other surrounding troops.
Seeing the group leader being attacked, he immediately rushed over and joined the fight with two squads.
So a scene like this appeared on the battlefield: the troops around Li Zhi were being attacked more and more, while the guards around Lieutenant General Sakuragi were being attacked less and less.
"It's a big fish... The lowest ranking is also the commander of the Major General Brigade..." Li Zhi suddenly saw the flash of gold stars on Sakuragi's shoulders and said with excitement on his face.
Pointing to the two company platoon commanders who had just arrived for reinforcements, he ordered: "Outflank you from the left wing..."
"You lead a squad to outflank from the right wing, and the others will follow me in a frontal attack."
"I can't spare any of the little devils in front of me. I must wipe them all out."
"Come with me..."
Li Zhi was the first to get up from the ground. The Sanba Gai in his hand had been replaced by a pistol at some point, and he quickly shot at Lieutenant General Sakuragi.
"Pa bang bang..."
The soldiers from the guard squad who followed him kept fighting, beating the two little devils who resisted to the end into fools.
"kill……"
Lieutenant General Sakuragi seemed to realize that he was done for the day. He drew out his general's sword, held the handle of the sword with both hands, shouted and rushed towards Li Zhi, trying to hold him back before he died.
Li Zhi didn't give him this chance. "Pop..." Three bullets drilled three bloody holes in his chest.
Walking beside the body of Lieutenant General Sakuragi, he opened his military coat and saw that the two gold stars on his shoulders were still shining brightly.
"Ha ha……"
Li Zhi jumped up from the ground in excitement, looking at the excited faces of his subordinates.
"Comrades, do you know who this is?"
"Little Japanese Lieutenant General Division Commander..."
"I didn't expect that our twenty-sixth regiment would be so lucky. When we came to Yi Zhong, we would find a little Japanese lieutenant general as the division commander..."
"The security squad listens to the order: From now on, you have one mission: to protect the body of the leader of the Japanese division."
"This is the most direct evidence that we have eliminated a main division of the Japanese army."
"With him here, no one can deny this victory."
"Correspondent?"
"Immediately report to the former enemy headquarters: Our twenty-sixth regiment successfully eliminated the Japanese Lieutenant General's division commander during the battle and captured a general's sword..."
…………
The atmosphere at the Japanese garrison headquarters in Baoding was tense and depressing.
Okamura Neiji stood by the sand table, his eyes focused on the light infantry regiment he had just dispatched.
They got off the car three hours ago and started marching on foot. Apart from a few cold shots, they did not encounter any substantial attacks on the road.
Judging from this point alone, the suddenness of sending troops from Baoding to reinforce Chenjiazhuang should have been achieved.
If the Yizhong Eighth Route Army already knew of the existence of this unit, it would definitely deploy troops to block it and slow down their march, instead of remaining indifferent and relying on a few cold shots from the guerrillas to scare them.
"Your Excellency, Commander, our light infantry regiment is only 20 kilometers away from the battlefield. We can kill it by marching in three hours." The deputy chief of staff introduced while looking at the telegram he had just received.
"In another hour, they will be able to hear the sound of firefights coming from the direction of Chenjiazhuang, and then confirm whether the Sakuragi Division has encountered any accidents."
"Hasn't the communications department contacted the Sakuragi Division yet?" Okamura Neji became particularly irritated when he thought about the bad news he received half an hour ago, and couldn't help but ask again.
The deputy chief of staff shook his head and replied helplessly: "All radio stations have called, but there is no response."
"But I firmly believe that the Sakuragi Division is still fighting the Yizhong Eighth Route Army and there are no accidents."
"The enemy situation report given to us by the commander of the Sakuragi Division showed that the troops were surrounded in a narrow strip south of Chenjiazhuang. The Eighth Route Army was equipped with a large number of mountain artillery and heavy artillery."
"No matter where Sakuragi locates the division headquarters, it may be attacked by long-range artillery fire from the Eighth Route Army."
"The division headquarters is equipped with a large number of radio stations, with many antennas and numerous people coming and going, so it is easy to be discovered by Eighth Route Army investigators."
"If the headquarters is really attacked by the Eighth Route Army's artillery fire during the battle, the radio station will be destroyed."
Okamura Neiji nodded, perhaps to cheer himself up, suddenly clenched his fists, and then spoke to the deputy chief of staff.
"Before the Yizhong Eighth Route Army launched its general offensive, there were still five to six thousand people in the Sakuragi Division, equipped with a large number of artillery, heavy artillery, and tanks..."
"It's no problem to hold up five times the Chinese army on a frontal battlefield."
"Their opponent, the Eighth Route Army in the Wing, only has more than 10,000 troops. No matter how hard they fight, it is impossible to eliminate so many elite Kwantung Army troops in a short period of time."
"There must be a problem with the Sakuragi Division's radio station, causing the two sides to lose radio contact."
"Immediately contact the light infantry regiment to reinforce Chenzhuang."
"One hour later they must hear the sound of firefights coming from the direction of Chenzhuang and confirm that the Yingmu Division is still fighting with the Yizhong Eighth Route Army before they can continue to move forward."
"The Eighth Route Army is too difficult to deal with. It always chooses the decisive battle at night, which makes it impossible for our military aircraft to take off for combat."
"If it were during the day, the aviation force would be able to confirm the safety of the Sakuragi Division by sending planes to the front line. But it's not like now, because we can't receive their telegrams, everyone is so worried that they can't even sleep well."
