Hong Chengjun was indeed the battalion commander of the Hundred Battle Regiment who had experienced hundreds of battles, and the Japanese reinforcements were indeed as he expected.
The moment the gunshots rang out from the south, Yata Shibu felt that something was wrong... The enemy should be coming from the road to the west, but the gunshots rang out from the south. Does this mean that the enemy has changed the direction of attack and found himself?
Decoration?
Then Shibu Yata received a telegram: "Your Majesty Lieutenant Colonel, the Noda Squadron was attacked by the Eighth Route Army. The enemy is a mechanized force, and the strength and equipment are unknown!"
The strength and equipment of the troops were unknown because it was night and the Noda Squadron was suddenly attacked by the Eighth Route Army from behind. They were so nervous that they had no time to investigate the situation.
When Yata Shibu heard this report, he thought that this just verified his idea: the Eighth Route Army must have known about his arrangement in advance and changed the direction of attack.
"Cunning Eighth Route Army!" Shibu Yata cursed through gritted teeth.
If Shibu Yata could fully understand the strength comparison and troop deployment between the enemy and ourselves at this time, he should take advantage of this moment to pull his troops back to Laoyangcun for defense, so that part of his mechanized troops might survive.
However, how could Yata Shibu be willing to suffer successive defeats in the first battle, so he ordered his troops to go for reinforcements without thinking.
Shibu Hatta’s thoughts are as follows:
Noda Squadron blocked the Eighth Route Army's attack in the south, and Heshang Squadron and Kono Squadron outflanked them on the left and right. He himself was sitting in the rear with his reserve team, ready for reinforcements at any time. This battle was sure to go away.
Soon Shibu Yata paid the price for his arrogance and recklessness.
Because Shiho Yata had just sent out his troops when he discovered that several artillery shells were roaring from the south and hit near his hiding place.
"What's going on?" Yata Shibu shouted angrily: "The Eighth Route Army's artillery shells have already hit here, is Noda so vulnerable?"
With that said, Shibu Yata turned around and ordered his staff: "Order Noda immediately to launch a counterattack against the enemy and not let them escape!"
"Yes!" the staff officer immediately ordered the communications soldier to call.
However, not long after, the staff officer looked at Shibu Yata with a shocked expression, and said in panic: "Your Majesty Lieutenant Colonel, Noda-kun... he has been killed in battle!"
"What?"
"In addition!" the staff officer said, "Noda Squadron may not be able to stop the Eighth Route Army's attack!"
"What?"
"No..." the staff officer corrected him with another telegram: "Your Majesty Lieutenant Colonel, the Noda Squadron has been defeated, and the Eighth Route Army is advancing in our direction!"
"What?!"
Shibu Yata simply couldn't believe what he heard was true.
You must know that Noda is one of his most capable assistants. The Noda Squadron is also the main force of the Empire's mechanized forces. They are equipped with armored vehicles that far exceed other troops. Yata also plans to use this squadron to attack the battlefield, but he did not expect that it has not yet played its role.
Defeated...
However, there was no reason why Shibu Yata didn't believe this, because at this moment, a T26 tank had "rumbled" at the other end of the road. There were black and unknown objects everywhere on both sides, and the machine guns on it were constantly firing.
It breathed flames towards the position where Yata Shibu was.
Shibu Yata was instantly suppressed by the enemy's firepower and was unable to emerge from his hiding place.
The staff advised under the sound of gunfire: "Your Excellency, Lieutenant Colonel, for your safety, retreat!"
But Shibu Yata was unwilling to give in. He wanted to see what the mechanized force of the Eighth Route Army in front of him was capable of, and how it could defeat his ace squadron in an instant.
So Shibu Yata shouted: "Flare bomb, flare!"
The moment the flare was fired, Shiho Yata raised his binoculars and looked in the direction of the enemy.
When he saw the enemy's military appearance, Yata Shibu instantly understood: half-track vehicles, the Eighth Route Army had many half-track vehicles, not as he understood... only a few!
"They..." Shibu Yata wanted to ask something, but in the end he didn't.
There was much he wanted to know:
Where did the Eighth Route Army's half-tracks come from?
How could the Eighth Route Army know this tactic of using half-track vehicles to form mechanized troops!
Why did the Eighth Route Army suddenly appear here?
…
However, what’s the point of knowing this now!
The reality is that the enemy is right in front of you and is advancing towards your location.
Shibu Bata gritted his teeth and ordered: "Retreat!"
With that said, he got into his armored vehicle.
However, it was too late to escape at this time, especially when the Japanese armored vehicles were still very conspicuous when driving on the road, especially when the rear armor of the armored vehicles was still very weak, especially when Yata Shibu fired several illumination bombs into the air not long ago...
…This flare not only illuminated the Eighth Route Army, but also illuminated itself.
As a result, the armored vehicle had just started to accelerate and several mortar shells roared in and exploded nearby.
Fortunately, none of these shells hit the armored vehicle.
Just as Shiho Yata breathed a sigh of relief, there was a "clang, clang" sound from behind. Then Shibu Yata felt a pain in his chest and then lost consciousness.
Shibu Yata was actually tricked into death by himself.
His command gave Hong Chengjun an excellent opportunity to break through and penetrate directly into his command center.
Based on the original strength comparison, one battalion of Hong Cheng's army only had three tanks plus 30 half-tracks and a dozen shoulder bags, with a total strength of only more than 400 people.
This is the standard establishment of the mechanized force of the Eighth Route Army. In addition to the command structure, logistics and reserve teams, the total strength is more than 2,000 people.
But there were more than a thousand people in one Japanese group.
A battalion of more than 1,000 men versus 400 men of Hong Cheng's army, even though its equipment is inferior to the mechanized troops of the Eighth Route Army... in fact, the equipment is not much different.
Because the Eighth Route Army only had three tanks and thirty half-tracks.
But if you add up all the tanks and armored vehicles of a Japanese brigade, you can almost reach this number.
In addition, the quality of the Japanese infantry was better than that of the Eighth Route Army, so in a serious battle, Hong Cheng's fourth battalion probably would not be able to gain favor.
The problem was that Shiho Yata made a wrong judgment when the battle started, thinking that the Noda Squadron could block the enemy, so he confidently sent out troops to outflank the enemy.
At this time, Hong Chengjun seized the fighter opportunity and calculated that the enemy would outflank him. At the critical moment, he refused to retreat and instead struck out with the "Black Tiger Heart" thrust into the enemy's heart...
Needless to say what happened in the end, the Hatta Battalion lost its command due to the death of Hatta Shibu.
Losing command is not a big deal to the Japanese.
Because the Japanese have a substitute commander to take over the command at any time.
The key point was the pressure the Eighth Route Army half-track equipment put on the Japanese, and the speed with which they could suddenly launch a surprise attack from the rear and kill their commander within ten minutes, which made the Japanese completely lose their confidence to continue fighting.
As a result, a so-called elite force was disbanded.