The sudden attack of the Eighth Route Army made Jiro Aritomi even more determined to induce the Eighth Route Army to attack the imperial tanks... Whenever they did not attack, they would attack only when the tank regiment was resting, which was obviously to force the tank regiment to go for reinforcements.
But Tomijiro felt that things were about to get worse.
Just because he knows it doesn't mean that others also know it. The result is that the tank regiment will have to jump into the trap after receiving the order for reinforcements.
Sure enough, it didn't take long for the staff officer to report to Aritomijiro: "Your Excellency, the Lieutenant General requested to speak with you..."
The lieutenant general is Adachi Twenty-three, the commander of the 37th Division.
The cavalry regiment and the mountain artillery regiment were both from the 37th Division, and the direct commander of the reinforcements in Yuncheng was Anda 23.
Tomijiro knew why Adachi Twenty-san contacted him at this time, so he was a little reluctant, but he still took the phone call.
"Youfujun!" Anda Twenty-three said on the phone: "I heard that you stopped advancing seven kilometers from the front line? Is there any difficulty?"
Adachi Twenty-three's words were quite kind, mainly because he knew that Tomijiro had some abilities and there were not many commanders who could win even a partial victory in the Battle of Nomonhan.
"Yes, Lieutenant General!" Jiro Aritomi replied: "I think the Eighth Route Army not only has the fifty exposed tanks, they probably have more tanks on the defense line, and the tank regiment may jump forward..."
Enter the trap set by the Eighth Route Army."
Adachi twenty-three hesitated for a moment. He thought Tomijiro's analysis was reasonable, but he didn't think this approach was right.
"Then..." Anda Twenty-Three asked back: "How do you plan to avoid this 'possible' trap?"
This actually confused Aritomijiro.
Their mission is to reinforce Yuncheng, and they certainly cannot wait here forever. Moreover, if they continue to wait like this, the Eighth Route Army will not be able to take the initiative to tell the Imperial Army about any traps.
Therefore, if you want to know what traps there are or if there are any traps, you should go up and fight them.
"What's more!" Anda 23 continued: "Don't you have more than thirty Type 97 tanks in the Youfu Alliance? Equipped with a new type of tank cannon, it is more advanced than the T26! Even if the Eighth Route Army has more
With so many chariots and traps laid out in front, shouldn’t you be able to easily destroy them and defeat the enemy?”
"Yes!" Yutomijiro could only respond. He actually didn't know what was waiting in front of him, he just felt that it wouldn't be that simple.
But since Anda Twenty-Three has said so, he can no longer object.
"So!" Then Anda Twenty-three ordered: "Go and reinforce the cavalry regiment and help them stabilize the defense line. In half an hour, the 37th Mountain Artillery Regiment will arrive, and then the battle will end!"
"Yes!" Yutomijiro responded.
After putting down the microphone, Aritomijiro hesitated for a moment, but finally gave the order for all members to attack.
Tomijiro divided the army into four parts. The second and third tank squadrons launched counterattacks against the Eighth Route Army from both wings respectively. The first light tank squadron and the fourth tank squadron served as reserves.
Tomijiro adopted a cautious battle plan, otherwise he would not have used two tank squadrons as reserves.
However, it cannot be considered cautious, because one tank squadron has twelve tanks, and two squadrons have twenty-four tanks. Moreover, it is a Type 97 medium-sized tank with strong firepower and strong defense. It is more than enough to repel the attack of a division of the Eighth Route Army.
The tank troops drove toward the front line in a mighty manner, arriving at the seven-kilometer journey in ten minutes. The troops paused for a few minutes to prepare before engaging the enemy.
Tomijiro emerged from the armored vehicle and raised his binoculars to look at the Eighth Route Army's position. He hoped to find something out of the ordinary, such as forests or hills that were conducive to hiding the tanks.
But after observing for a while, I found nothing.
In desperation, Aritomijiro had to wave his hand and order the troops to move forward.
At this time, the tank troops had already set up an offensive formation, and groups of infantry were following behind the tanks. With Tomijiro's order, the twenty-four tanks were divided into two sides and pushed towards the front line at a low speed, while the infantry held their hands.
The gun was close behind him, and from time to time he would lean out and raise his gun as a warning.
Tomijiro said to himself: "What kind of trap could it be? Could it be that the Eighth Route Army can hide more tanks here than us?"
No wonder Tomijiro thought so. At this time, the performance of the T26 tank used by the Eighth Route Army was not as good as that of the 97 Central Fighter.
The 7th Tank Regiment has 31 Type 97 tanks.
In this case, if the Eighth Route Army wants to use the T26 whose performance is not as good as that of the 97 Zhongzhan to lay a trap, does it require at least fifty T26s?
Even if we have to fight against the 95 light battle, fifty T26s will not be able to stop the imperial army's attack.
So, what is the Eighth Route Army holding in its hands?
The ensuing battle was completely within Aritomijiro's expectation. The Eighth Route Army's offensive quickly collapsed under the counterattack of the tanks, and the Eighth Route Army team after team withdrew to the defense line.
Two tank squadrons parked on the left and right on the flanks of the cavalry regiment in a straight line... The Japanese were very confident in their Type 97. They believed that the Eighth Route Army did not have any equipment that could penetrate the Type 97 at a distance of 500 meters.
Front armor, so the firepower advantage of the tanks can be better utilized by arranging the tanks in a line.
At this time, the commander of the cavalry regiment, Shimizu Nobutake, found Aritomi Jiro.
"Your Majesty Colonel!" Qingshui Guiwu said: "Order the attack. Our strength is enough to defeat the Eighth Route Army and complete the task of reinforcing Yuncheng! If we continue to wait, Yuncheng may be in danger!"
Tomijiro glanced at Shimizu Nobutake from the tall armored vehicle but did not answer.
Although they are both colonels and co-captains, their ranks and identities are completely different.
Those who can be promoted to the rank of commander of the tank regiment are all the elites among the elites. They must have graduated from a regular military academy and have considerable combat experience and meritorious service.
But the captain of the cavalry regiment... This kind of military unit that is almost eliminated is undoubtedly synonymous with the lightly armed enemy guerrillas.
For example, this time, Yutomijiro believed that Shimizu Nobutake was not actually worried about the safety of Yuncheng, but that he had been beaten badly by the Eighth Route Army in the battle just now. This can be seen from the blood stains on Shimizu Nobutake's face.
Qingshui Guiwu was eager to fight at this time, of course in order to defeat the Eighth Route Army in front of him and avenge his humiliation, and he did so with the help of the tank regiment.
After a moment of silence, Yutomijiro said: "But I have been ordered to wait for the mountain artillery regiment to arrive before attacking."
"Your Majesty Colonel, the Mountain Artillery Regiment still needs twenty minutes!" Qingshui Guiwu was still unwilling: "We may have won the victory by then..."
At this moment, only a "boom" was heard.
The sound of the cannon was not obvious on the battlefield, so neither of them noticed it.
Until the staff officer in the armored vehicle reported: "Your Majesty Colonel, Vehicle No. 27 was destroyed by the enemy!"
Tomijiro's face changed drastically. Car No. 27 was a Type 97 medium combat vehicle. It was destroyed while facing the enemy... that is, the front armor was penetrated by the enemy five hundred meters away!