The original strategic goal of the Japanese, that is, the plot to surround the two regiments with chariot troops to bring reinforcements, had been ruined with the defeat of the Yucun North Road chariot troops, and even the South Road tank troops did not dare to advance.
Who knows if going up there will lead to the same fate as the 1st Tank Squadron?
In the absence of effective new tactics and new equipment against the enemy, continuing to attack with tanks is likely to lead to a fire pit.
What's more, with such an independent regiment standing there, where else would the Japanese attack for reinforcements?
Even if they were really surrounded by Japanese soldiers, wouldn't the independent regiment just find a spot and knock in, and rescue the besieged troops inside?
Therefore, the Japanese could only have two purposes: one is to relieve the siege of Yucun, and the other is to target the independent regiment.
The former only requires the existing troops to cooperate with others to directly attack the Hundred Battle Group.
So the Japanese urgently gathered troops to reinforce Yucun... and possibly target the independent regiment.
Thinking of this, the chief issued several orders in succession:
"Order the troops along the railway and highway from Taiyuan to Yucun to look for every opportunity to carry out attacks on communication lines and telephone lines to prevent Japanese reinforcements from rushing to Yucun."
"Order the Hundred Battle Regiment and the New Second Regiment to speed up the attack on Yucun. They must capture Yucun and blast it within one day!"
"Order a certain division to immediately reinforce the direction of Yucun!"
"Yes!" the chief of staff responded, and went down with the order to report.
However, the chief of staff still had some doubts about the chief's order.
The chief of staff was worried that at this time, the Japanese were gathering more and more in the direction of Yucun, and there were also tank troops.
Although the Independent Regiment has rocket launchers that can hit enemy tanks, it is only equipped by the Independent Regiment. It can be said that other troops have no ability to resist the Japanese tank troops.
If the Japanese knew this and randomly directed their chariot troops against troops other than the independent regiments... they would probably suffer heavy losses.
What the chief of staff didn't expect was that the commander had already considered this, but he was playing a kind of psychological warfare with the Japanese... to be precise, he was playing against Okamura Neji.
This is what the commander said afterward: "Neiji Okamura may be able to confirm that the Hundred Battle Regiment that is attacking Yucun and the New Second Regiment are not equipped with rocket launchers, but he can also be sure that a certain division with new reinforcements is not equipped with rocket launchers? Just scare him.
!”
The commander was right. Okamura Neiji soon received information that another division of the Eighth Route Army was reinforcing Yucun... The Japanese had reconnaissance planes, and it would be difficult for a division of troops to hide from the Japanese when they were marching during the day.
"This is probably another army with new equipment!" Neji Okamura frowned and made a judgment: "They first used a small army of more than a thousand people to test, or test the new equipment, and then
That’s why we sent out a large force to attack in an all-out manner!”
Yoshio Shinozuka nodded in agreement. He also thought so. Otherwise, the Eighth Route Army would not have been able to send a division to attack the southern flank of the tank troops... If it was not equipped with anti-tank weapons, this division would be seeking death.
Then, Okamura Neiji analyzed: "If it is a spray-injection bomb, can we assume that it is not very accurate and has a short range?"
"Yes!" Yoshio Shinozuka immediately replied: "Because it has a short range, it can only release smoke to interfere with the sight of our tanks. This way we can attack the tanks at close range!"
Okamura Neiji nodded: "So, our tanks only need to keep a certain distance from the enemy, which means we don't need to worry about this kind of equipment!"
Thinking of this, Neji Okamura did not hesitate and ordered: "Order the First Tank Squadron to cooperate with the Masaki Brigade to attack the enemy. The tanks should keep a distance from the enemy!"
"Yes!" Yoshio Shinozuka immediately conveyed the order.
The Masaki Battalion is the infantry on the northern line of Yumura that was left behind by Shigekawa and Ichi. Its commander is Major Masaki Tatsuo, and it is a unit of the 37th Division, which is the Adachi 23rd.
Before launching the attack, Masaki Tatsuo met with Shigekawa Kazuichi to get a general understanding of the enemy's situation.
Masaki Chen was very dissatisfied with Shigekawa Kazuichi's behavior of disobeying orders and attacking without authorization. These bastards of the tank troops never looked down on the infantry and thought they were superior. Now they have finally learned a lesson.
However, Masaki Tatsuo did not say it clearly. He pointed to the map calmly and said to Shigekawa Kazuichi: "Captain, I think the Lieutenant General is right! The enemy's anti-tank equipment probably only has a range of a few dozen meters! Then, the battle
The vehicle should move at least about a hundred meters behind the infantry. It is enough to provide fire support for our army! Only in this way can the safety of the vehicle be guaranteed!"
Shigekawa Kazuichi was so angry at these words that his face turned red and white.
How could he not understand that Masaki was mocking his comrade-in-arms for needing infantry protection?
If this was normal, he would have contradicted him a long time ago, but after he had just suffered a tragic defeat, he dared not say anything. He could only lower his head respectfully and said "yes"!
"Shigegawa-kun!" Then Masaki Tatsuo asked again: "If we want to open a breakthrough and tear apart the enemy's defense line, which direction do you think we should attack from?"
"Yes!" Shigekawa thought for a while, then pointed to the map and replied: "Judging from the current situation, I think the enemy's main force is in the east. There is also a small river in front of the enemy's position, which makes it difficult for our army to move. In addition, there are
There is a hill. And the north is empty. I think we should attack from the north!"
Masaki Tatsuo hesitated for a moment, then shook his head slightly and replied: "Shigegawa-kun, have you ever thought that the open space to the north is also covered by the firepower of this hill. At the same time, what if the enemy's main force of anti-tank vehicles is to the east? Yes.
The same cannot be said for infantry! So, I think we should attack from the east!"
"Yes!" Shigekawa Kazuichi understood that this was Masaki Tatsuo deliberately mocking him, but he could only swallow his anger.
In fact, what Masaki Tatsuo said was not entirely directed at Shigekawa Kazuichi.
He is a veteran who has fought with Anda Twenty-Three for many years and knows that personal feelings should not be brought to the battlefield or even affect command decisions.
Masaki Tatsuo has his own reasons for thinking this way.
He believed that compared to the enemy's "spray bombs", infantry attacks should worry more about the enemy's two equipment: bullet mines and shotgun mines.
(Note: The Japanese did not know what the mines in the hands of the Eighth Route Army were that could shoot countless steel balls, so they called them "shotgun mines").
Masaki Tatsuo believed that the tank troops had already attacked the east side once before, so part of the bullet mines and shotgun mines on the east side should have been cleared, so it would be easier to attack the east side!
So Masaki Tatsuo did not hesitate and deployed the main force to the east, while small troops were used to harass in other directions.