The Kawaguchi detachment had just been dispatched, and the independent regiment on the Zhenxi battlefield immediately discovered it. They immediately switched from offense to defense and planned to leave one battalion to block the attack, while the other two battalions quickly withdrew from the battlefield.@,
But since Kawaguchi Heiji has decided to go all out to fight the independent group, how can he let Xu Rui get his wish?
Kawaguchi Heiji immediately ordered the 1st Infantry Battalion of the 101st Infantry Regiment, which rushed to the Zhenxi battlefield first, to press forward from the front regardless of all costs and bite the Dameishan Independent Regiment.
The person responsible for blocking was the 2nd Battalion of the Independent Regiment. The combat effectiveness of the 2nd Battalion was actually the strongest among the three infantry battalions of the Independent Regiment, at least at this stage. However, due to the hasty transition from offense to defense, there was no time at all.
The fortifications were built so that they could not stop the fierce attack of the 1st Infantry Battalion of the Japanese Army.
The exchange of fire lasted only five or six minutes, and the 2nd Battalion's defense line was already in danger.
Seeing this, Xu Rui had no choice but to order the 1st Battalion, which had left the battlefield, to turn back and build a second line of defense behind the 2nd Battalion, and then order the 3rd Battalion to build a third line of defense behind the 1st Battalion, and then order the 2nd Battalion to retreat, and so on alternately.
Under cover, the three main infantry battalions were able to retreat one by one, and finally were not defeated by the Japanese.
But as a result, the independent regiment's retreat speed immediately slowed down.
Kawaguchi Heiji, an old Japanese soldier, also had a keen sense of battlefield. He found an opportunity and immediately ordered the 4th Infantry Battalion and the 6th Infantry Battalion of the 149th Infantry Regiment to make a roundabout move from the north and south wings, preparing to take advantage of the slow retreat of the independent regiment.
opportunity to complete the encirclement of the independent regiment.
The 4th Infantry Battalion and the 6th Infantry Battalion quickly attacked. Watching the two torch dragons separate from the large group of people and intercept the independent regiment from the left and right wings, Kawaguchi Heiji finally showed a smile on his face.
Kawaguchi Heiji bent down and got into the command vehicle, and then said to Tatsuya Nagashin who followed him into the carriage: "Nagashin-san, the 4th and 6th Infantry Brigades have already detoured from both wings. If the independent regiment does not want to be surrounded by us on the plain,
If so, I’m afraid there’s only one way left.”
"Take a big step back, or in other words, escape!" Yong Jinda also said, "In this way, the Dameishan Independent Regiment will completely let go of the sheep. Once they retreat, they will no longer be able to organize a decent defense. Next,
Within two hours, if there is no suitable terrain or no reinforcements arrive, the Dameishan Independent Regiment will be doomed!"
"Reinforcements? The strength of the Dameishan Independent Regiment has been exhausted. Where can we find reinforcements?" Kawaguchi Heiji shook his head and then said, "As for the suitable terrain, hey, Yongjin-san, come and see."
While talking, Kawaguchi Heiji spread out the map and ordered his orderly to turn on the flashlight to illuminate the map.
Tatsuya Nagajin put his head over and followed the direction of Kawaguchi Heiji's right index finger, but he saw a river, Meihe!
"Meihe?!" Yongjinda was stunned for a moment, then reacted and said happily, "It is the rainy season in East China right now, and the water in Meihe has also risen a lot. With the Dameishan Independent Regiment retreating at this time,
direction, they will eventually be blocked by the Mei River on the east bank!"
"To be more precise, it is Yematan!" Kawaguchi Heiji further said, "According to the current retreat direction of the Dameishan Independent Regiment, they will definitely retreat to Yematan in the end. There is no bridge across the river near Yematan. Dameishan
If an independent group wants to cross the river, they can only go upstream or downstream."
Nagajin Tatsuya said: "But no matter whether they turn upstream or downstream, they will inevitably follow the 4th Infantry Brigade or the 6th Infantry Brigade that detours from the north and south wings and bump into each other. Only the 4th Infantry Brigade is needed.
Or if the 6th Infantry Battalion entangles the Dameishan Independent Regiment for ten minutes to half an hour, the main force of the detachment will be able to catch up with the Dameishan Independent Regiment and completely eliminate them on the east bank of the Mei River."
"There may be twists and turns in the process, but the result is basically this." Kawaguchi Heiji said proudly.
Yongjin Tatsuya said happily: "The victory came so suddenly. Just less than an hour ago, we were all thinking about how to deal with the Dameishan Independent Regiment. But in the blink of an eye, the Dameishan Independent Regiment was completely wiped out.
The opportunity has been placed in front of us, and I can't even believe that this is true."
Kawaguchi Heiji smiled slightly, stopped talking, and began to close his eyes to rest.
As Kawaguchi Heiji expected, there were indeed some twists and turns during the pursuit.
After chasing for about five miles to the west, a large cornfield lay across the front. After seeing this cornfield, the Dameishan Independent Regiment who was about to retreat immediately felt like a drowning man who suddenly touched a straw and grabbed hold of it.
Holding on tightly, the Dameishan Independent Regiment did not hesitate for a moment and swarmed into the cornfield.
At this time, the corn in the cornfield had grown to the height of one person. More than a thousand people from the Dameishan Independent Regiment disappeared after rushing into the cornfield. Thousands of people disappeared without a trace.
The Japanese forward group pursued them to the edge of the cornfield and did not dare to pursue any further, so they immediately reported it to Kawaguchi Heiji.
"What I just said, there will definitely be twists and turns in the process. No, there will be twists and turns immediately. However, if Xu Rui thinks that he can save the Dameishan Independent Regiment with this cornfield, he is too naive!"
Kawaguchi Heiji chuckled and ordered Nagashin Tatsuya, "Nagashin-san, order the 4th and 6th Infantry Battalions not to stop, let them continue to pursue in the established direction, and then order the artillery regiment to use brimstone bombs,
Burn the cornfield for me!”
Kawaguchi Heiji's order was quickly conveyed, and the 36 75-caliber field howitzers of the field artillery regiment were quickly arrayed on the road. Since it was a range shooting, there was no need for precise adjustment. It was just based on experience. The Japanese Artillery
Then the shelling started on the cornfield with a radius of more than a kilometer.
In an instant, rows of sulfur bombs roared into the sky, and then fell towards the cornfield.
At this time, the corn in the cornfield is still green seedlings, and will not catch fire under normal circumstances. However, if it encounters an incendiary bomb such as a sulfur bomb, it will still burn, and once the fire spreads, the green seedlings will not burn.
The result will be much worse than dry corn stalks.
Hundreds of sulfur bombs fell, and the entire cornfield began to burn.
Kawaguchi Heiji got out of the car and looked at the fire that had become a prairie fire. Kawaguchi Heiji turned around and proudly said to Nagajin Tatsuya: "Nagajin-san, with such a big fire, the Chinese army will have to turn into mice to hide.
Go underground..."
Speaking of this, Kawaguchi Heiji suddenly stopped, and the smile on his face solidified in an instant, and it broke!
Yongjin Tatsuya also felt his heart pounding and said, "Your Excellency, Commander, there won't be tunnels in the cornfield, right?"
Kawaguchi Heiji did not say a word, but the expression on his face became gloomy. If there were really tunnels in the cornfield, then the Dameishan Independent Regiment would definitely hide in the tunnels. The Kawaguchi detachment's outburst this time would probably be in vain.
Thinking of this, Kawaguchi Heiji's heart immediately jumped up. Damn it, he can't be so unlucky, can he?
However, no matter how worried Kawaguchi Heiji was, the only thing he could do at this time was to wait.
Fortunately, Kawaguchi Heiji did not wait too long. After about half an hour, just before the fire in the cornfield completely became a prairie fire, a scout hurriedly came over to report that the defeated troops of the Dameishan Independent Regiment came from the cornfield.
The west side appeared, and now it was running away in panic along the original direction.
Kawaguchi Heiji asked urgently: "How many Chinese soldiers escaped from the cornfield?"
The scout immediately replied: "About fifteen hundred people, at least three battalions."
"That's right. It seems that the Chinese army did not dig tunnels in the cornfields, haha!" Kawaguchi Heiji was overjoyed when he heard this, and said, "Let me just say, Xu Rui is not Zhuge Liang, who is a scheming man. How can he?"
Maybe he expected tonight's battle in advance, so how could he dig a tunnel in the cornfield in advance? But I was overly worried!"
"Eongjin-san, it's time for us to continue our pursuit!" After saying that, Kawaguchi Heiji bent down and got back into the armored vehicle.
After a while, the main force of the Kawaguchi detachment began to move forward again. However, due to the obstruction of the fire, they could only detour to both sides of the cornfield, so there was a slight delay, but it didn't matter, because the 4th and 6th Infantry Brigades had already moved forward.
The northern and southern wings detoured and blocked the retreat of the Dameishan Independent Regiment.
From then on, the Kawaguchi detachment never encountered any major setbacks.
Perhaps the only twist and turn was that when approaching Yema Beach, the Kawaguchi detachment suddenly stepped on a large number of traps.
But it was a real trap. The independent group dug many large pits. In addition to the sharp wooden stakes buried in the pits, they were also filled with human and animal excrement. Many devils stumbled and fell into the trap. Not only were they killed by the sharp wooden stakes,
The wounds were stabbed by stakes, and the wounds were stained by human and animal feces in the trap. According to the words of the army doctor, most of these injured officers and soldiers were probably dead.
Kawaguchi Heiji, surrounded by Tatsuya Nagashin and a dozen guards, appeared in front of one of the traps.
Standing next to the trap, Heiji Kawaguchi covered his nose with his hands, but he could not stop the nauseating stench from entering his nose. Heiji Kawaguchi couldn't help cursing in his heart: The damn Chinese must be a cesspool.
All the excrement accumulated over the years has been dug out, otherwise why would it be so smelly?
However, the Chinese were too naive to think that these traps alone could stop the Japanese army.
Soon, a signal soldier came back and reported that the Dameishan Independent Regiment had rushed into Yematan, and the 1st Infantry Brigade had also followed into Yematan. The 4th Infantry Brigade and the 6th Infantry Brigade had also taken control.
Living at the north and south exits of the river bend, at this point, unless the Dameishan Independent Regiment can spread its wings and fly to the west bank of the Meihe River, it will be doomed.
After receiving the report, Kawaguchi Heiji proudly said to Nagashin Tatsuya: "Nagashin-san, the Dameishan Independent Regiment is doomed. You can now draft a victory report to the front army headquarters, haha."
Yongjin Tatsuya smiled and said: "I am afraid that I have to congratulate the commander, because the base camp has issued the fourth order, and the new fifteen divisions are about to be organized into an army. This also means that the empire will need fifteen
I am the commander of a division. I despise my position and think that Your Excellency the Commander is the right choice."
Kawaguchi Heiji burst out laughing when he heard this.
