The Japanese 37th Mountain Artillery Regiment was completely destroyed. Except for a few small teams that escaped from the gap in the encirclement, most of the troops were lying on the artillery positions they built themselves.
The commander of the regiment, Taketaro, originally wanted to stay on the position to "be loyal", but his subordinates put him on a three-wheeler and escaped with the defeated troops.
It is said that when the soldiers of the main division rushed to the tank defense line, they were all stunned when they saw the masses of Japanese corpses in front of the position... There has never been such a battle in the history of the Eighth Route Army.
Their troops knocked down four or five times the number of Japanese soldiers on the battlefield.
The news soon reached Yuncheng, and Wang Xuexin knew that the battle was decided.
The Eighth Route Army had the upper hand from the beginning in the battle in Yuncheng.
The reason is still that the Eighth Route Army has tanks.
From a modern point of view, tanks do not seem to be suitable for street fighting, but this "unsuitability" is conditional.
If the Japanese also have rocket launchers, then the streets and alleys of the city can almost be said to be tank graveyards.
Because the bazooka shooter can hide in any corner, on the roof, on a broken wall, or even behind a window, and when the tank is approaching, he will suddenly lean out and shoot at the tank... This tactic can be said to be impossible to guard against, and it is not very effective even in modern times.
The only solution is to demolish the house all the way.
But now the devils don't have rocket launchers.
Not to mention rocket launchers, they did not have any artillery that could shoot directly to pose a threat to the Eighth Route Army, so they could only rush out of the house with explosive packs and cluster grenades in the hope of hitting the tanks.
This primitive tactic may be effective against stubborn troops who don't know how to coordinate infantry and tanks, but it has no effect on the Eighth Route Army tank battalions that have already been trained in this area.
The soldiers followed the tanks all the way, using Springfield rifles to deal with distant targets and submachine guns to hit close targets, knocking down the Japanese who came up one by one on the way.
Then, every time the tank moved forward, the Eighth Route Army soldiers would occupy the houses on both sides of the street and clear the houses of enemies.
This step is the most dangerous, because the Japs hiding inside are always ready to die together. Therefore, when the troops advance forward, violent explosions are heard from time to time in the house, and sometimes the entire house will collapse.
By the time the news of the victory of the T34 tank company reached Wang Xuexin, the Eighth Route Army had already compressed the Japanese to South Street... The street names in Yuncheng are simple and straightforward. The North City Gate is North Street, and the West City Gate is West Street, so there is also East Street.
South Street.
The tanks poured in from the small north gate in the north, so the Eighth Route Army fought from north to south. North Street has been completely liberated, West Street and East Street have been partially liberated. Wang Xuexin is trying to use tanks to divide and surround the Japanese.
This tactic was actually very simple. The Japanese relied on houses and buildings on both sides of the street to build firepower points, which for a time slowed down the progress of the Eighth Route Army.
Wang Xuexin, on the other hand, did not take the usual path... If we were to fight the Japanese for one house after another, how long would it last? How many soldiers and even tanks would have to be sacrificed?
So, Wang Xuexin directly let the tank ram into the side wall of the house, causing a big hole in the side wall with a "bulging" sound. Without saying a word, the infantry followed him, igniting the grenade and throwing it in... Anyway, the tank is not afraid of grenades, so it can
The one who gets hurt is the devil.
As soon as the grenade exploded, the soldiers rushed in with their guns raised and eliminated the Japanese hiding inside with three strikes.
There is an advantage to fighting like this: you can hit wherever you want, and there is basically no place that cannot be hit.
As a result, the tank troops quickly took the initiative. They could punch through the residential areas in a planned manner, cutting the Japanese into isolated pieces that could not communicate with each other and then eating them.
Wang Xuexin personally went into battle and led his troops straight into Laobei Street... Laobei Street is only a few dozen meters long, but this short street connects four main streets, east, west, north and south, and can be said to be an important transportation hub.
Just as Wang Xuexin and his soldiers braved the dust and smoke and rushed into the house to eliminate the remaining Japanese, Mao Duzi sent the information to Wang Xuexin.
"Report to the battalion commander!" Mao Duzi reported breathlessly: "The Sixth Tank Company achieved a comprehensive victory. They defeated the Japanese chariot regiment and at the same time cooperated with the main force to completely annihilate the mountain artillery regiment!"
The soldiers shouted hello after hearing this. This was great news for Yuncheng, because it meant that the Japanese in Yuncheng had lost foreign aid, and it almost determined the fate of Yuncheng.
Wang Xuexin thought for a while and then ordered: "Call the enemy's Ministry of Industry up!"
It didn't take long for Li Dachui to come up. The enemy's engineering department was still under his control, but Wang Xuexin, who was just a soldier in the enemy's engineering department, had now become the battalion commander, and he was also the awesome tank battalion commander.
As soon as Li Dachui came up, he stood up and reported: "Batalion Commander, Li Dachui from the enemy's engineering department is reporting for duty!"
Wang Xuexin sighed when he saw the old squad leader. He heard that he had been injured in a battle before. Wang Xuexin had always wanted to go to the hospital to see him but was never free. Now he is back.
However, this was not the time to reminisce about the past. Wang Xuexin raised his head to the window in front and asked: "Did you bring the trumpet? Go shout and say that the Japanese reinforcements have been defeated by us. Let the Japanese surrender. We
Ensure their lives are safe! Otherwise, we will kill them without mercy!"
"Yes!" Li Dachui responded and went up with a small speaker that could speak Japanese language.
Needless to say, this shouting shocked the Japanese.
A large part of the reason why the Japanese Ninth Brigade has been able to hold on until now is because it hopes to wait for reinforcements to turn defeat into victory.
But now...
The reinforcements were actually repelled by the Eighth Route Army!
Is there still hope for sticking to Yuncheng?
Should I choose to break out?
Otherwise, does it mean waiting to die here?
What was even more surprising was Kenkichi Ikegami, commander of the 9th Brigade, because he did not know that the reinforcements had been defeated.
Ikegami Kenji couldn't believe this was true. He even thought it was false news released by the Eighth Route Army in order to destroy the will of the Ninth Brigade.
However, when he contacted the frontline commander Anda Twenty-san on the radio, he learned that this was indeed true.
"Our department has just received the news!" Anda replied on the 23rd: "The new tanks of the Eighth Route Army have prevented our reinforcements from going to the rescue! But please rest assured, Mr. Chishang, we will send another team of reinforcements soon. Please stick to it, Mr. Chishang!"
Ikegami Kenji weakly threw the telegram on the ground.
It's an irony that Chishang actually needs to get news of reinforcements from the Eighth Route Army.
At the same time, he also understood that there would be no reinforcements in a short time.
The imperial army does not have sufficient strength in this area. More importantly, if the Eighth Route Army has new tanks that can defeat the reinforcements composed of three regiments... then the reinforcements organized casually will probably end up with the same fate.