Because of Li Yunlong's warning, Zhang Dabiao did not take any aggressive breakthrough approach.
He only sent one company to each wing.
The strength of a company is neither too many nor too few.
If it were the former Eighth Route Army, that one company would be completely negligible in the eyes of the Japanese. The Japanese could pull out a small team of fifty people and it would be enough to crush this company.
But today's Eighth Route Army is not what it used to be, especially when it is still a company of the independent regiment's mechanized force.
This company also only has over a hundred people, but if one half-track vehicle carries one squad, this company has more than a dozen half-track vehicles.
In addition, the Japanese artillery has been completely suppressed. Those who can deal with these dozen half-track vehicles must be at the squadron or even the brigade level.
In fact, if we really talk about it, it may be difficult for a Japanese group with thousands of people to take down a company of mechanized troops of the Eighth Route Army.
This is not a simple matter of strength comparison, but the Japanese infantry does not have sufficient mobility and anti-armor capabilities, and can often only be "kite-flyed" by the Eighth Route Army's half-track vehicles.
At this time, the Japanese were embarrassed.
Fight!
The Eighth Route Army's total strength to break through the defense line was only two companies and more than twenty half-track vehicles. Even if they were surrounded and annihilated, there would be little success. Once they attacked, they would lose their strategic surprise, which allowed the Eighth Route Army to see their response strategy.
Don’t fight!
At this time, the Eighth Route Army had formed an encirclement situation around the Tieshi troops. If the half-track vehicles of these two companies were allowed to penetrate behind the Tieshi troops' defense line, their fierce firepower and mobility would make the Tieshi troops be attacked from both sides, and the entire line might still collapse.
Yoshikawa Saki only hesitated for a moment, and then ordered the iron-blooded troops to counterattack, because Yoshikawa believed that he could not accept the second price, which was the collapse of the iron-blooded troops.
After receiving the order, Major General Kaoru Iwata responded, then turned his white-gloved hand forward and made a stroke, and the iron-blooded troops set off.
To be exact, it's not just the Iron-Blooded Troops... The Japanese named the pure cavalry "Iron-blooded Troops" and the armored troops "Iron-Blooded Troops". Although the tanks equipped by this "Iron-Tiger Troop" are all Type 95 light tanks and
Armored vehicle.
Major General Kaoru Iwata had a different idea than Saki Yoshikawa. He did not hesitate when he saw that the Eighth Route Army only dispatched two companies of half-track vehicles. He believed that this was the best time to attack.
Because what Major General Kaoru Iwata wanted was not to annihilate the two companies that broke into the defense line, he also wanted to take this opportunity to launch a counterattack from both wings.
Once the mechanized troops deployed on both wings of the Eighth Route Army can be defeated, the imperial army can in turn surround the attacking Eighth Route Army in a beautiful encirclement and annihilation battle.
Therefore, Major General Kaoru Iwata put all his troops on the battlefield as soon as the war started, and he did not even leave any reserves.
Leading the way was the "Iron Tiger Troop".
The "Iron Tiger Force" consists of a light tank squadron of nine Type 95 tanks and an armored vehicle squadron of 10 Type 92 armored vehicles.
The main attack direction is the right wing composed of 10 Type 92 armored vehicles.
This is another surprising thing about Major General Kaoru Iwata... Everyone thought that the main attack direction should be the side composed of Type 95 tanks, but Major General Kaoru Iwata unexpectedly put the main force on the side of armored vehicles.
Major General Kaoru Iwata explained this: "Although the Type 95 tank has better firepower and protection than the Type 92 armored vehicle,... I think that in this battle, what we need more is speed and external perception capabilities!"
Facts have proved that Kaoru Iwata's choice was correct. In this battle, the Japanese Type 92 armored vehicle performed much better than the Type 95 tank.
In particular, the turret of the Type 92 armored vehicle is equipped with a 7.7MM caliber water-cooled heavy machine gun. The bullets of this thing can easily penetrate the side armor of a half-track vehicle, and can even penetrate the front armor at close range, so its lethality is higher than that of the Type 95 tank.
Tank guns are much larger.
Just like now, the Type 92 armored vehicle took the lead and rushed towards the Eighth Route Army half-track vehicle with the cavalry behind it.
When the Eighth Route Army half-track car saw this, it immediately fired machine guns at the armored car. At the same time, the mortars behind the car fired shells one after another in the direction of the enemy.
But this was of no use. The machine gun bullets could not penetrate the 11MM armor on the front of the 92 armored vehicle. The mortars failed to hit the target due to lack of accuracy and the target was still moving. They only accidentally hit the auxiliary car and took away some of the cavalry behind the armored body.
.
Zhang Dabiao looked at this situation through the telescope and shouted: "Good guy, there is indeed something behind it!"
Then with a wave of his hand he gave the order: "Comrades, charge! Advance at full speed!"
This is not Zhang Dabiao being motivated or trying to be a hero.
Instead, he discovered that the Japanese were actually attacking from multiple directions at the same time.
The Japanese were actually divided into four parts: one on each wing, and each part was divided into a small part to deal with the Eighth Route Army company that had broken through the defense line, but the main force came straight towards the Eighth Route Army.
This forced Zhang Dabiao to accept the challenge.
If they did not fight, Zhang Dabiao's mechanized troops would indeed have time to retreat, but the main infantry force organizing the attack on the middle line of defense would be surrounded by the Japanese cavalry, and the Eighth Route Army would suffer heavy losses.
Therefore, Zhang Dabiao had only one choice, and that was to accept the challenge.
Zhang Dabiao understood that speed is king in mechanized troops, so if they want to fight, they should use the fastest speed, so he gave the order to "advance at full speed".
At first, Zhang Dabiao didn't understand the purpose of the Japanese pulling up the cavalry.
According to his opinion, using cavalry to hit a half-track car is not asking for death. A half-track car can knock the cavalryman and horse to the ground if he hits it forward.
However, he soon discovered that this idea was wrong.
Because he saw in the binoculars that the enemy cavalry was throwing explosives into the half-track car... The enemy cavalry's equestrian skills were very good. They controlled the horses with one hand to follow the armored vehicle, and with the other hand they used the force to pull the fuse tied with a rope.
The chunks of explosives circled in the air, like a Mongolian wielding a lasso to lasso a horse.
After the explosive block gained a certain speed due to the rotation of the rope, the enemy cavalry released its grip, and the explosive block flew towards the half-track vehicle and exploded with a "boom".
What's weird is that these explosives are still thrown accurately, as if they have been practiced for decades.
Under the pincer attack of enemy armored vehicles and cavalry, the twenty-odd half-track vehicles that broke through the defense line in a short time were blown up and only five or six were left.
Zhang Dabiao's heart sank, knowing that this time the real test was coming. This was a trap set by the enemy. If he could not escape from this trap today, his troops, including the half-track vehicles, would probably be lying here.
At the same time, Zhang Dabiao also secretly rejoiced: Fortunately, Li Yunlong warned him and did not break through across the board, otherwise he might not even have a chance to think about it now!